Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-04-14
Good Work Of
Secretary Hitchcock
A Plain Business Man
With Anticipated Meth.
DDS Who has Revolu-
tlonized Land Matters
in the Nation.


Wheh Ethan Allen Hitchcock he.
came secretary OF the interior he chr.
rled INTO The department a %prlnclple ~
honesty that he applies 10 every case
u Is the most difficult department of
the goyercrnmeni 90 administer and
the hardest 10 set the square dealr
IN active ana continuous working or.
oer' Only a business man, and n
thorough business man az that. can
protect The interest of tho government
IN the multifarious transactions OF tho
interior department. A negatively
honest man, "A conyentionally honest
man. would be powerless for reform in
'hat station. You require a positively
honest man an aggressively honest
man, Il %biuntly honest man for the
work-such a man is Ethan Allen
Hitchcock.
The United States government Is an
enormous land owner, and has beer
a much bigger land owner Than II is
at present. How much of the public
domain has been stolen nobody will
ever know. stolen from right under
the nose Of many a secretary of .he
interior, and which ordinary vigilance
could not detect or prevent. Many a
man who would not pick a pocket.
or Sob a bank, or forge a bond. or ut.
ter a counterfeit. or steal a horse. will
swindle the government. He argues
that it is a partnership affair and that
he is only taking his share. No doubt
thousands OF respectable men, who go
hither and thither in society labeled
honest" can see no great harm in
~fraudulently acquiring title to a body
of public lands Some of these folks
are men of character, men of wealth,
men Of exalted official position.
Given a ~rascally commissioner and a
careless secretary, and the easies, way
in the world to make money is to plum
der the public domain.
Since Secretary Hitchcock has been
at the head of the department 2,22S
cases Of depredations upon public tim
her have been reported, amounting in
the aggregate to above $1,000, 600.
More than 10000 square miles of the
public domain were Illegally fenced
by cattle companies, and the depart
ment is making 1t exceedingly warm
laws have been eyaded for years and
years and the government has been
,lefrauded of millions ana millions of
acres of mineral lands, The domain
is vast, stretching over many degrees
Of latitude and longitude, immense
areas in sparsely settled localities, and
there is no doubt that ~depredations
and sp~eculations have been going on
ever since Jul government acquired
dominion on the west side of the Mis-
sissippi river. 1t is no reflection on
any former secretary of the interior
that an end was not put to the bust
ness, for the difficulties to surmount
were very great Public opinion was
not aroused, and seemed to care very
little about it. Fraudulent entries OF
public lands were taken as a matter OF
course. Tens of thousands of square
miles were given to railroads, and peo-
ple looked on the public domain as
something to be got rid of and they
did not seem to care for or expect a
rigid scrutiny of the matter.
But that is all changed. Minnesota
Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska,
are old states, teeming with popula-
ton. About all the available tillable
land has been entered within their
borders. immigration has peopled 9th
er states and the land-grab has been
ceaseless. Here was work for the re-
former. and the reformer came and
took 1t up. An old-laSlonSd man,
with antiquated business methods ac-
CURED in a Scotch counting room in
China, got to be secretary of interior,
and he set about a patient and labor
ious investigation of matters M
things. He no more believed in steal
ing land in Oregon II California that
he believed in stealing money in st.
Louis or Cincinnati, and so he SEE
about a rigid scrutiny. He sent a de-
tectiye and a lawyer to Oregon, ana
what they did there is history. we
could all wish it were different; but
the public conscience is quickened and
public opinion is resolute behind the
old man at the head of the interior de-
partment. The country has the ut
most confidence in him, and intends
that he shall have a square deal While
he is giving the government a square
deal.