The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-03-09
LAND THIEVES CAUGHT
Defrauded the Government: Out OF
100000 at Least. - :.
Interior Department Clerks Used az Ac-
completes Have Confessed to
Bribery and Forgery.

washington, D. C.--Astonishing de-
tails of the methods followed by. the
San Francisco ring which acquired
81, 900 900 worth Of public lands
through bribery, forgery and other
fraudulent devices have been laid be-
fore the Federal Grand Jury OF the
District of Columbia. The evidence
Is the result Of eighteen months inves-
tigation by Arthur B. Pugh, Assistant
Attorney General for the Interior De-
partment, and William J. Burns, Sc
cret Service agent, detailed to assist
Mr.. Pugh. They carried on this inves-
tigation under the personal direction
Of Secretary Hitchcock.
Three Government employees who ac-
cepted bribes from John A. Benson
and f. A. Hyde, of San Francisco, and
two persons formerly employed by
hyde and having intimate knowledge
Of his methods, furnished the most
valuable evidence to the Grand Jury.
The Government employees are Ren1a-
min E. Allen, Forest Superintendent, at
Los Angeles; William e. Walk, former
ly In the Division of Forestry, and now
in the Division Of Contests. Interior
Department, and Woodford D. Harlan,
formerly chief Of a division in th, In
terror Department, and now r."rk
there. The former employees of
Hyde are j. n. Schneider and Mlos
Bryan, a stenographer.
John A. Benson is an engineer and
real estate speculator. F. A. Hyde is
an attorney at law. Both have offices
on Montgomery street, San Francisco,
within a block Of each other. Hyde
was the prime mover in the conspiracy.
but 80 skillful was he in his operations
that he remained a mere shadow until
the confessions Of the bribed Govern
ment employees and the testimony Of
his former employees proved his connec-
ton with the frauds. Hyde was, in
fact, the inspiration and reputed au-
thor Of the Forest Reserve Lien Land
act, passed by Congress in 1897, which
furnished a basis for the operations Of
the ring. The witnesses before the
Grand Jury told in. substance the fol-
lowing story:
By means Of corrupted notaries, two
of them in San Francisco and one in
Portland, Ore; by the bribing Of For
est Superintendent Allen, and others in
the West, including Registers and Re.
ceivers Of Land Offices and State off,
cials, and the bribing in addition OF
employees Of the General Land Office in
Washington, the plans Of the land
grabbers were accomplished and kept
running smoothly for several years.
If the operators had not over-reached
themselves in their greed they might
have been working still. Their method
was as follows:
Through their spies in the General
Land Office the ring obtained informa.
ton regarding large tracts OF land
suitable for forest reservation pur'
poses. This land was then ostensibly
entered upon by dummies whose names
were obtained by the ring from di.
vision superintendent Of the Southern
Pacific Company and from land officers
and others. The afidavits OF entry.
proof Of occupation of the land and
other requirements establishing appar.
ent claim to the lands were perfected
by the notaries bribed by the oper'
ators. :.
Forest Superintendent Allen signed
these letters, and they were forwarded
TO Commissioner Hermann Of the Gen.
eral Land Office. Hermann approved
them and they then went to the Sec.
retary Of the Interior, who, accepted
Hermann's recommendation without
question and sent the executive order
to the President for his signature.
BY means Of information furnished
BY crooked land officers the ring had
it's pick of the best lands, and thus
acquired forest lands worth $50 per
acre in exchange for forest reserve
lands that had cost them $3.50 per
acre.
Walk, Harlan and the third empfoye
bribed by Benson and Hyde, are still
at work in the Interior Department.
Walk, however, was transferred from
the Division of Forestry by Secretary
Hitchcock in 1902, at the suggestion
Of Assistant Commissioner Richards OF
the General Land Office. Commissions
Hermann was absent at the time.
Forest Superintendent Allen has
been before the Grand Jury and made
a clean breast of his part in the con.
spiracy. He admitted that he was en-.
tirely in the power Of Hyde and Ben.
son. Allen told the jury that he had
received less than $1,000 from the con-
spirators for his share. 1t IS under
stood that immunity from prosecution
has been promised to him for his con:
fession. !a-i iAIsai
TO END ANARCHY.