The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1903-12-17
ADMIT MAGNITUDE
Of Land FRAUDS
Secretary acknowledgements
His Real Views iii lneon-
spicuous Way.
10000 ENTRIES RoGusa
That Number, Anyhow Are Under
Suspicion and il Process 81 In
Vestieation, for Which Much
Money Is Needed.

Washington, Dec. 16.-What@ secrg-.
I5tary, Hitchcock really thinks about the
magnitude inf the p~ublicSland and tim-
DerSfrauds has appeared In a wssy least
expected. The secretary gave out a
statement several weeks ago declaring
that the reports We're Il some respects,
grossly exaggerated. Now his Views
OF The seriousness of the situation have
appeared IN an unconspicuous place.
The Voluminous book of estimates OF
needed appropriations which the sec
retary of b treasury sent t~oScongress
on the first of the session calls for
$250,000 10 protect the public lands from
fraudulent3entry, andsin very fine print;
on the same page is a long note OF sew
eral hundred words. The note Is un-
signed. but in reality its author was
Secretary Hitchcock. Among the rea-
sons which he gives in this note for the
increased estimate are the following:
From every section of the country
come complaints of the disposition Of
the public lands ina%Yiolation OF the
despoilatfon OF the timber, and the
maintenance Of unlawful Enclosures
upon the land. These complaints cite
cases where it is found upon investi-
gaIion mat spectators, cattle com
panles, corporations n individuals
are all engaged In an effort to plumber
the pubic domain.
The Fictitious Claims.
Entries are being made without res
ldence or improvement, timber lands
are being taken for speculation and
fictitious proofs are being made, espe-
clally before officers other than regis
ters and receivers as to the compliance
or the claimants with the laws. The
present appropriation furnished scanty
support to scarcely sixty agents, and
u Is only necessary to state it in order
TO emphasize the impotency of the pres
ent force to reach out over the vast
area Of the public lands and protect
them from h wholesale frauds that
are now being attempted.
THE developments Of the last six
have satisfied me that the
present appropriations are wholly in
adequate to secure anything like an ef-
fective execution of the laws and to
clear the records of any considerable
portion of the large number Of alleged
entries now awaiting ac-
tion.'s
The views of the secretary were I'M
pressed upon the president several
weeks ago, for Mr.. Roosevelt recon-
mended that a large mount Of money
be made available for prosecuting the.
timber frauds. How great these frauds
are, In the opinion OF Mr.. Hitchcock, Is
shown by this futher quotation from
his mote" attached to the annual estf-
mates:
Many Under Suspicion.
Nearly $4,000 entries are suspended
on the charge of fraud. About half of
this number are in the different stages
Of adjustment. About 5000 entries I'M
der the timber land law of June 8, 1878,
nave been suspended on a satisfactory
showing that they have not been made
in compliance with law, but in the in
terest of other persons and corpora
tons. There are about $500 entries
which have been committed under the
homestead law without a sufficient
showing of residence or improvements.
Nearly 1000 soldiers additional appli-
cations and a large number of soldiers
widows applications are also shown to
have been made in violation of the
laws. To this must be added the large
number of cases involved in timber
trespasses and unlawful Enclosures"
1t appears from the remarks of Mr..
Hitchcock, through the un~conspicuous
medium of the annual book OF esti-
mates, thai he regards the land frauds
quite as seriously as the authors of the
most sensational stories that have been
published about them.