The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-08-20
lhR MISSOURI Lana LedgU6SlT'

| in the southeast part of the state. and
became acquainted with James Lind
say. making the latter's log house MS
headquarters in the county.
Because I, am held 10 the dead ieNeI
of history in these narratives anu not
permitted to indulge In the -tempta-
tiOns to fights of romance that con-
: stantly- present themselves / am mere
forced to call attention to ualt III
the character of Grant that was in a
great measure responsible for the MIS-
souri, land thefts.
In his sojournings at the Lindsay
home, Grant conceived q strong per-
soua1 lining for his host, and after
ne was elected President he appointed
his friend Lindsay pension agent at
St. Louis. To this trust Lindsay
proved Teereant, and WAS sor5n found
$4,000 short in his accounts. This
brought about his removal from that
office but it did not deter Grant from
appointing him registrar of the Ironton
land Office in 1871, just before his. sec
ond term expired. thereby indicating
the bulldog cOnstanCy with which the
great military genius chung to his old
friendships. whether the objects OF
them were worthy or not.
Robert L. Lindsay. the son. inherited
many of the traits Of his father, the
keenness OF mind, geniaiity of manner
and. unfortunately, the Snifty standard
OF morals. The younger Lindsay was
tered his energies on the practice of
that profession along honorable lines
he would have attained place of prom
inence among lawyers Instead he
turned from the law to real estate.
and early in his career began the de-
velOpment of the most gigantic steal
Of the century It is around this swim
die. with Robert L. Lindsay as the
pivotal character, that this bit of his
tory turns
more men of heretofore high standing,
among them a United States senator,
are under fire by the government on
the criminal charge OF stealing millions
Of acres of public lands on the Pacific
coast, il seems to me to be AN espe-
cially fitting opportunity to recall the
operations Of the Lindsay ring back in
the 70s. This steal has passed into
criminal history under the title of the
Missouri Land League. The twenty
two men who were convicted for this
crime were the pioneers in the science
OF government land stealing on a
wholesale basis. Their Pacific coast
pupils, now being prosecuted, operated
by slightly different methods, to be
sure, and on a larger scale. as BELTS
the era of large operations in which
they live, but in their general plan
they have proved worthy Successors to
the Missouri pioneers.
The plot that has enmeshed Senator
uon; the plot that sent twenty-five
men 20 prison in the Missouri case was
the greatest of its generation. In Mis-
souri, the son of one of the biggest
thieves was a member of Congress.
educated for legislative career on
funds stolen from the government for
which he was to make laws. Others
were bankers, lawyers and men who
had enviable regulations lin their res
DectlNe communities. Three of them
Grant The same general feature pre-
sents itself in the current Pacific
coast case.
In my dealings with criminals / have
always been disposed to throw a heavier
mantle of charity around the evil
lack OF opportunity for better things.
has followed criminal paths. than
around the well bred, luKuriously nur-
tured thief whose wrong doing is con-
trary TO- and not because of, early
framing or necessity Such crimes as
these two gigantic land grabs. there
lore, appeal to me as being Of
peculiarly vicious kind. and the prose-
cut1on OF the culDrits ] believe to call
Tor efforts of extraordinary earnest
ness on the part of the government.
Land grabbing, as eXemRlified in the
missouri case, was COMPOSITE crime,
OF which forgery, perjury. larceny
arson and murder were the coTnponents
Incalculable wrong was done TO the
owners of millions of acres OF land. to
say nothing of the moral wrong of the
crime itself by the unsetting of titles
to the farms Of southeast Missouri
Naturally one of the richest spots in
the Countrywide valleys fertile and the
mountains of solid mineral OF inestim-
able value-the york of the land graft
ers of fhe- 'T0s was a blight on the land
Tor a generation. The probable results
OF the thefts on the Pacific coast are
not pleasant to contemplate.
If there ever was a spot in nature un~
fitted for a theatre of CRIME il is the
Arcadia valley in southeast Missouri.
Its soil is rich its streams clear as
crystal itsaair hay blue and its people,
peaceful. Yet here was the scene of
score OF crimes offV1olence growing out
Of the one big plot 10 steal land from