Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-09-14
THE Land GRAbbERS
GREAT EXTENT OF The THEETS
and The men INVOLVED.
william z. LightOn ArraignS the Land
GrabberS, in the Boston Evening
Transcript. ReSpeC table Outlaws
Who Came West with TheirNerve
and elastic Conscience,

\ Withis the last fifteen years there. has
been stolen from tho public domain n0a
less than l50, ,0O0, 900 acres; an area THAI
Massachusetts. five states as large as
New York, or three. states as large as
| Kansas. When tae truth is- hnown,-as
may be by anGAby, these. figures will
| ruped. The pnssent statement rs ONE
justified by present knowledge. A rscent
grand jniy invest CATION in California,
backed mp byA other offiGialiinqniny, dis.
holds title to nearly $1,000 900 acres. nc.
quired wit-an the tins named by the
flagrant processes of theft. There are
dozens, sad even s3ores of nen whose
acres or more; the extent OF their grabs
dependiag principally npoa their ability
to swing the transactions ta successful
issue.
Nc. reference is made 10 the solemn,
semi official clicanery Of the railroad
la;Ri grants or to.the equally bald grants
in the Southwest, glossing over earlier
p,lferngs. Those deals appear by cora
lparison imgeccably honest and above
:. repr2acf.. This charge relates only to
such dognright, outright, deliberate
stealing as cannot be described LX any
other name, bearin. no stamp of iormal
official approval.
J Wherever there is body OF public
lard large enough to make a bait wor tt,
swallowing there the thefts are going
on. Lands of every description are in.
r Ecluded. Millions OF acres OF the ich
wheat valleys in California have been
stolen; millions Of acres Of grazing lands
: on the plains OF Kansas, Nebraska, Da-
kota. Wyoming and Montana have been
. stolen; millions OF acres of timber Ia,
t in Northern California, Oregon, Wash.
3 ington, Wyoming and Montana have
! been stolen. not to mention the Garlic !
( stealings in the now almost devastated
, timber regions of Michigan, Wisconsin
t and Minnesota; and now the lumber
u thieves are plying their shameless trade
=. unhindered in the new fields vi Missi
. sippi and other undeveloped districts Of
. the South; unnumbered acres of mineral
v land have been stolen--in fact, nothing
e worth stealing has escaped the clutch o.
t these bold outlaws.
. Outlaws, but respectable-oh, eminent.
i ly respectable These thieves, if you
e please, are mostly numbered amongs
the industrial and financial "barons'
t and "kings" Of the West, of whom sc
: much is being heard ana whose grip
upon political and all other public affairs
. is % sharply felt. There is the "cattle
t baron" the mining lord" the "lumber
D king"-ea'h a mighty man in his do
5 main, all but absolute in his power OF
g dictation not only in his particular per-
sonal sphere, but in matters # state.
] Get these fellows in talkative and
: reminiscent mood, and nine out of ten
: of them will tell you that they "srruck
? the West" only little while ago with "A
t capital of nothing at all save their colos.
sal nerve and their rudimentarv con
science. How have they have made
their money, think you? By the luck
OF those born undel propiious signs
Through the marvellous opportunities of
r a new country? BY natural. born bold
, ness OF initiative, helped out by thrift
and frugaliy in their chosen fields of
activity? BY any OF the pleasant, heaven
approved old wavs of tradition? The
, plain, unvarnished truth is that three
ont OF four of these vast piles of money
represent shares in the public land gratis,
in one form or another. To start with
absolutely nothing and after dozen
years or so TO have amassed fortune
representing an average annual accretion
of a million dollars or more, by none but
legitimate means: Doesn't that put