Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-03

of Idaho. The contractor was a 1alf-breed.
well known to the engineers as an honest,
reliable man. and he had kept Their stock
for several seasons This time, however,
somebody woke up and conceived the idea
that contract was necessary. SO the en-
gineer who was responsible had to ride it3
rallies across the country to get this Indian
to sign a contract with the government 10
keep those two old plugs over the winter a.
a. compensation of s. month. When the
document was signed (and there mad TO De
six copies, as has been expfained) the en-
eineer started back on his hundred-miie
Journey. He had scarcely reached his dest-
nation when the half-breed came riding IN.
his horse staggering from exhaustion ana
demanded the return of the papers, because
he could not read them and his wife had
become suspicious lest the engineer mao,
entrappe him into signing away his farm
Hence there is no contract, and. under the
regulations those two old horses are De-
Ing Illegally pastured. and nobody knows
how or when that Indian is going to get his
money
Signing Names and Initials.
Although Secretary Hitchcock and every
other member of the cabinet syn docu-
ments involving millions of dollars every
day with their initials only, the regulations
will not permit any one else to treat gov
eminent documents so informally. Other
people have to sign their full names, ana,
although the Secretary of the Interior does
millions of dollars worth of business with
the land grant railroads and has given mil
lions of acres to them and knows as much
about their existence and organization as
the officials of the companies themselves,
the regulations of the department require
copies of their articles of Incorporation and
other documents, like the abstract of title
to piece of property, to be filed with
every contract made with one of those or
any other railway company.
For example, an engineer of the reclana-
ton service down In the Colorado valley
rented hand-car from the railway COM
pany so that he could run back and forth
along the tracks of the Southern Pacific,
which parallels the canals, where his men
working. This transaction had to be
covered by contract, of which six copies
We're made, and attached to each copy, &C
cordng to the regulations of the depart
ment must be a certified copy of the artl-
cles of incorporation of the Southern Pa
cfc Railway Company, with one certificate
showing the names of the members of the
board of directors and another showing
that the person from whom the hand-car
was rented had been duly authorized by
that board of directors to represent them
and the stockholders of the company in
such transactions
The Government Gave Way.
The Southern Pacific. company granted
free of cost to the government of the United
States, sufficient amount of land for the
main irrigation canal in the Colorado desert,
which is paralleled by its tracks. Before
the Interior Department would accept the
gift the railway officials had to file GER
tificate of incorporation list of the board
of directors with evidences of their cleo
tom, list of the officials of the road with
evidences of their election) and evidence OF
their authority to confer upon the govern
ment a gift of land. A mere lease or deed
was not sufficient All these formalities had
to be gone through with. The railway ofn-
cias refused to bother with them. Inc IT.
rigation engineers urged the department not
10 insist upon them, because the railway
officials regarded them as unnecessary
ridiculous and absurd. The department
finally yielded the point, with the proVlso
that 1t was not to be taken as precedent
One of the government officials not long
ago rented a section house for storage plr-
noses from the Burlington railway in Ne
braska for s. month. The contract was
signed by G.. w. Holdridge, general mana
ger of the railroad. The Interior Depai!,
Irent refused to approve the contract until
II had received tangible evidence of the ex-
istence of that railroad IN the Ioftn Vi rs
articles of Incorporation; ana tahslpie W ~,
dance that c. w Holdridge was actlaily
It's general manager. 1t required additional
evidence that the section mouse was .iie
property of the company ana tid. W.
Holdridge was authorized to lease IT, anu
Who authorized him. Mr.. Holdridge was
n GOOD deal amused at this demand, but'
having a sense of humor, complied win
the wishes of the department ana lell no
douht as to his existence and authority
or as To the existence of the railway com
many and its undisputed possession OF the
section house.
Patience Exhausted.
Rut when the papers We're relufheo ~
him for the third time, with request lhat
no sign his full name and not his inltlals,
no proclaimed a revolution against the gov
eminent of the United States He got not
,r5 declared he would not stand any more
nonsense. He called attention to the TACT
that ..F. 4 Hitchcock had signed the con-
,rac+ on the part of the government anu
wanted TO know if his signature with hlilialS
was not as lawful as that OF the Secl , az;
Of the Interior. He had always slgheu ms
nanna &c w Holdrdge" he had never
s ll1alrio If any other way and didn't pro-
nnse to. and he further notified the govern
mant officials that they could take thei
stnff ont of that section house L: II; u.
1y,eee ahsllrdities are not the tauit Oh ing
o,Ecials but of the laws regulations anu
rnIinps relative to such things winch are
nc Gradual accumulation of years, anu con-
fontfoTs officials try to comply with them:
sTIo rnor,irements are different in dl1efehI
danortments: the rulings are cohtfaulctotS
"a the processes required are often 81
49,, nIicated and so entangled that IL soliie
times costs three or four huaufeu 49, -.
settle a bill of ten or twenty. Ing 60
eminent requires simple, iiooeti I'll
20 a,,diting accounts, like those OF the idll
vi - Co,nnanies and other big corporations
D