Arizona republican., 1903-10-07
Grief for Grafters.

According to some of the daily papers
 in the east, and according to the phil
 anthropic gentlemen who mako con-
 mendable fad of the protection of h.
 dian rights, there has been an immense
 amount of grating in the Indian terri
 tory. Federal officials. we are told,
 have engaged in all sorts of business enterprises wherein they could gain an
 advantage through holding public
 office. Undoubtedly. there Is soma
 truth in the stories. although there IS
 no doubt, either. that there has been
 much exaggeration by partisan papers that are anxious to put the adrninis-
 trat.on in q hole" by making it ap- pear that there is a world of corrup- tion in the Indian country and that it has the countenance of the authorities at Washington. In any event, all the truth will come out. Secretary Hitch cock is working quietly but with great energy-and wholly upon his own ini- tiative, be it remembered-in uncover ing the wrong-doing. He has the hearty sympathy of President Roose- welt in the work. and in due season all the officials-big and little, republican and democratic-who have been guilty of any departure from the line of pro priety will be punished.
 But it is interesting and amusing to learn that there is another side to the history of graft in the Indian terri tory. A Muskogee dispatch to the Kansas City Journal says that while the In6ian territory is regarded as the grafter's paradise. and by many sup posed to be a place where tenderfeet even may engage in the game with as surance of rich returns, the fact is that the average white man is no match for the Indian. It is peculiarly rich to learn that the untutored savage has been able to bunco the most astute people in the business world-namely, the Standard Oil Company. The dis patch relates that there are plenty of men there who have served many years apprenticeship in order to be prepared to take advantage of the many opportunities for making money which always accompany the opening of a new country to settlement, but even these experts get caught in the tolls quite often, and anticipated profits go glimmering along with good money used in the game. Some of these men, it is explained, are lawyers who have served several years in the gov ernme1t service familiarizing them selves with the laws applying to the Indians and their lands. and having resigned frcm government service to engage in private practice and specu- lation. And such as these get hold of the hot ends of many deal. both for themselves and their clients. When such men get the worst of deals with Indians and negroes. it is no surprise that many a tcnderfoot who went to the Indian country with visions of "easy money" quickly obtained, found himself looking for a job or sending home for money to get out of the country instead of realizing his rose tinted dreams of wealth.
 The story is told of one Indian who had entered into six different leases for the oil rights on his allotment. each lessee having paid him money and thought himself secure in the posses sion of fortune But one day the six  cd from each Otter that they had been bunCoed by the poor Indian.' and it was to be a contest to see who would he the winner and who the loser. The attorneys for tine Standard Oil Com pany held one Of the leases and put up a stiff fight to sustain their fair repu- taticn with their clients. Others who thought themselves as shrewd, how ever. also held leases, and when the evidence was all submitted about the only point that fad been clearly es- tablished was the fact that Poor To had entered into six leases where he should have made but one, and had gotten a nice piece of money from the boys" who were among the smartest and smoothest in the southwest.
 It is asserted that there are many cases similar to this one, and it is pretty generally admit ted among these who rave had experience that the man who gets the best of an Indian CT Creek negro must be a postmaster in the art of grating. if he doesn't get the worst of a deal pretty often. There are many wOuld-be grafters who have come to grief, and have invested in experience many thousands of dollars. One well known banker of Kansas who las a weakness for speculation on the side is said to be in s2O,OOO, and would be glad to cash out at 50 cents on the dollar He made a speciality of agricultural leases. One company is reported to be