The Cooperstown courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., N.D.) 1902-1913, 1905-12-14

before the patent vas issued it could not
be used to nullify the patent nor punish
the guilty.
Here was pretty how-dye-do. After
years hard work had revealed a crime
involving the clear theft of from $780,
600 to 100000 acres of valuable land
from the government and thousands of
individuals had been robbed, the pro-
moters of the plot were to be restored
to liberty and their former places in
society because a judge claimed to have
discovered possible construction Of
the federal law that would attain this
result. There was no claim that the
land leaguers had not committed the
acts with which they stood charged, but
their friends claimed-and unfortunate
ly they found ready support among gov
eminent oficials-that the discovery of
this technicality justified the dismis.
sal of the cases.
My position was that merely of the Of
ficer who had been largely instrumental
in planning and carrying out the inves-
tigation at the orders of my superiors.
But was determined that the criminals
should not escape If it was in my power
to prevent. l had seen all the august
power of government arrayed against
malefactors whose crimes had been in
finitesimal compared with that of these
kid-gloved conspirators, and to me it
seemed violation of every tenet of
eternal right to allow these men to go
free because they were strong in the
councils of their political party.
Twas also convinced that the Judge in
question was in error legally, and in
support of my view had letter written
by Assistant Secretary of State Bell to
John Sherman, secretary of the treas
ury, calling attention to section 5403 of
the statutes, which provided that any
person stealing or destroying any pa
per, record or document from any fed
eral Office could be fined and imprisoned.
This section covered fully the thefts of
land patents. Besides, it had been held
by the supreme court that the actual de-
livery of patent, as with deed, was
necessary to pass title.
So far as the use of their technicality
was concerned the defendants gained
their point. On the construction re-
ferred to the cases were allowed to die
in the federal court by the Judge who
had made the strange construction of
the law.
There was but one recourse. In the
preparation of the big crime numerous
individual offenses against state laws
had hoon committed e,,oh a, for-~..,.
perjury and obtaining money under
false pretenses. We might find justice
in these state courts. This was sug-
gested. but my superiors in Washington
doubted the probability of our being
able to convict in the state courts on the
theory that they were even more SUBJ
ject to influence than the federal courts.
Most fortunately there came to the
rescue of justice at this critical moment
man with splendid fighting ability and
a deep sense of duty-Circuit Attorney
Harris. of st. Louis. He possessed in
marked degree the qualifications that
the federal prosecutors lacked. With
him went over the evidence. He leaped
into the breach with a vim that was re.
freshing. He was invulnerable to po-
litical or other influences and soon
mastered and marshaled for use the
great mass Of evidence.
In the meantime a touch of romance
had been added to the drear details of
the case in Cleveland. In the office of
Orlando Van Hise there had been en-
ployed clerk named Mary A. John
son. Her sister had married George
Linn, another member of the ring. She
was also notary public, and had taken
many fraudulent Acknowledgements for
her employer. The government had In
tended to use Mary Johnson as a witness
against Van Hise, but Cupid took hand
soon after the arrest and Van Hise and
the girl were married, thus giving the
government serious setback in the
prosecution of Van Hise, for wife could
not be used as witness against her hus-
Dand.
The dismissal of the cases in the fed
eral courts and the institution in the
state courts of course necessitated the
rearresting of the defendants and the
furnishing of new bonds. When we
went to Cleveland we found that Van
Hise and Linn had decamped for parts
unknown, presumably Europe The
others were secured, however, and the
trials were held in st. Louis, Mo-; Steu-
benville, O.. and Clarion, Pa.
| Circuit Attorney Harris had mastered
the evidence SO thoroughly and had all
the cases SO well in hand that he went
to Steubenville to assist in the prosecu.
ton Of the Ohio conspirators. Robert
Lindsay retained the most able lawyers
he could find and every artifice known
to them was employed. At the end of
the first battle in court Robert L. Lind
say was sentenced to serve nine years
in the penitentiary. This term he
served, minus the time allowance for
good behavior. do not know II he be
alive or dead. Far be it from me in these
narratives to seek to follow any man
past the point where he expiated his
] crime in the manner prescribed by the