New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-30
HYDE And DIMOND LOSE.
Land Fraud Trials IN Washington =
FreQuent Removals. Deprecated.

WASHINGTON May 2q.-The Supreme Court, In
the cases of Frederick A. Hyde and Henry r
Dimond, charged with completely in Western
land frauds, to-day affirmed the decision OF the
Circuit Court for the Northern District Of Cali
fornfa. directing their removal to this city for
trial and denying their petition for a writ OF
habeas corpus The two men were indicted
here in connection with John A. Benson and j.
T. Schneider for conspiracy 10 defraud the gov
eminent out of immense tracts of public lands
but had resisted all processes to bring them into
this jurisdiction The operations of the alleged
conspiracy affected hundreds Of thousands OF
acres of valuable land in California and Oregon.
The decision was rendered by Justice Brown,
who decided all the assignments of error against
the defendants holding that the law justihes
removal from a judicial district in state to
the District OF Columbia; that the Supreme
Court of the District of Columbia has jurisdic-
ton over the alleged offence, and that the in
dlctment charges an offence against the United
States, etc.
While the court sustained the right of removal
the court deprecated the too frequent resort to
such practice saying:
We do not wish to be understood as approving
the practice of indicting citizens of distant
States in the courts of this district where an
Indictment will lie in the State Of the domicile
of such person, unless in exceptional cases where
the circumstances seem to demand that this
course shall be taken. To require a citizen to
undertake a long journey across the continent
TO face his accusers, and TO incur the expense Of
taking his witnesses and of employing counsel
in distant city, involves serious hardship, to
which he ought not TO be subjected If the case
be tried in his own jurisdiction.
| Continuing the court said:
The argument that this indictment cannot be
! sustained because the United States having re-
ceived the school lands in lieu of lands patented.
defrauded of nothing. If valid at ALL applies
equally to the school lands for which the States
Of California and Oregon must have received a
statutory compensation fixed at 81 % acre.
Having received this compensation, II may be
with equal propriety that they were defrauded Of
nothing. The result of the argument, then, is
that although gross imposition practised
on the States by the procuring of patents in
favor of fictitious of disqualified persons by
the of forged affldavits, assignments or other
because the States had received the same con-
sideration they would have received had the
patents been issued 70 persons qualified under the
statutes TO purchase the lands The unsound-
Of this argument needs demonstration.
The States have right to punish violation of
Notwithstanding they may have suffered no
pecuniary damage therefrom.
Judge Brown added that the same argument
been procured in plain violation Of the spirit. If
not the letter, of the statutes and by a further
step in the same fraudulent scheme. We know
of no authority for saying" he added, that a
person in possession of land under a void deed
be regarded as the owner thereof E.
We are sure that the United States may Justly
claim to have been defrauded out of the lands
patented to the defendant"
Justice Peckham dissented.