The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-03-19
MUST BE PROBED,
SAYS ROOSEVELT
Coal Land Grabs In Utah Interest the
President.
ORDERS GIVEN HITCHCOCK
MORE LIGHT THROWN ON METH
obs EMPLOYED.
n RESIDENT ROOSEVELT is talk

/ 1 Us q NNNI AAtAGA NSL III AlAc L ltlAA
coal land grabs and has ordered a
thorough investigation, according to
a.dvices from Washington.
The expose Of conditions made by
The Herald has reached the knowledge
OF the executive, and he has declared
Jhat steps must be taken to recover
The millions Of dollars lost to the gov
eminent and to secure the punishment
OF all persons guilty of fraud.
The Washington correspondent Of the
Philadelphia North American wires
that paper as follows:
Reports of the discovery of extern
SlVe land frauds in Utah by which
great areas Of lIuable coal lands have
been transferred from the public do
main 10 private citizens and corpora
tons. are confirmed by the interior de-
partment. and the assertion is made
that developments as startling as any
that have occurred in Oregon are prob
able within a few weeks.
Some Of the most prominent men OF
the state are said to be involved. and
indictments and prosecutions are tN-
pected- The frauds are understood to-
have been perpetrated through the
presumption Of coal lands as agricul-
tuTaI- lands
Will Sue to Recover Title.
I'm all cases where this has been
done the government Will reaSSert III
tie TO the land in question. inasmuch
as coal lands cannot be taken I'D and
held as agricultural lands.
The president is taking a deep per
sOnal interest in the matter. and his
informed Secretary Hitchcock that ne
looks to him to bring all viOlators OF
law and pillaSers Of the public domain
10 justice.
The secretary. it is understood. has
virtually staked his place upon the out
come of the present proceedings.
United States District Attorney J0-
seph Lippman was asked yesterday If
he intended to bring any civil or crimI-
nal proceedings in this connection.
This is a matter in which / must
be guided by instructions from Wash
inStOn," he replied In cases OF this
character the Initiative must come
from the interior department through
the attorney general, and the matter
has not yet been brought officially to
my attention. Whenever il is, 1 shall
certainly do my duty"
Continuation of the Investigation
brings to light more and more in
stances of peculiar transactions. The
records of the local land Office are re-
plete with interesting information con-
corning the methods used in acquiring
coal lands in Carbon county and other
parts of the state by the Pleasant Val
ley Coal company and its successor,
the Utah Fuel company. which have
tracts TO the exclusion Of other associa-
lions. The law as framed was intended
TO limit the holdings Of any association
TO 800 acres of coal lands. in order
that there be no monopoly Of "A public
utility. The coal companies. however.
have found many ways to cirCumVent
the law. and with vast sums of money
at their disposal have, in many cases.
Htigated contestants out of court So
expensive have they made these con-
the most hardy venture to contest the
wishes of its emissaries. The United
States land office, while BingeT Her
mann was commissioner, has quietly
submitted even when sufficient evil
dence has been adduced to warrant an
investigation If not a prosecution %
persons who have been. TO put il mild
Iyl, careless of their Oaths-
Case of Tract Near Scofield.
one Of the most gIaring cases or this
kind appears in the records and the
affidavits filed in the contest case Of
John Flowers vs. Chris X. Jensen.
Flowers and his associates found ii
valuable piece of coal land about one
mile from the coal camp Of Scofeld, and
less than that distance from the Rio
Grande railway track. which had been
held for several years by a family by
the name Of kimbau, by making entries
in different names On each entry the
person who filed the declaratOry state
ment was able to hold the land for one
year, and it was in this way. 1t appears.
that the Kimballs were able to keep the
mine in the family. They worked il.
and marketed coal, and opened the
vein into the mountain for a distance
that proved cOncIusiveIy the extension
of the coal measures into and through
the mountain to where it out-cropped
on the other side. Flowers and his as
SOciateS acquired the Kimbau right,
and then made declaratOry statements
for some other subdivisions through
which the coal was believed to extend,
offering to take it as coal lands, and
pay therefor $50 an acre In the mean
time the coal company ii Is alleged,
fearing that a rival corporation threat
ened it With competitor, induced one
Chris. h Jensen to make a state SeleC-
ton OF agricultural land Of the ground
on which the coal did not OutcrOp- In
an affidavit which was made at the
hearing which was ordered by the local
land office. James Hood sWOre that he
had a conversation with Jensen at
Scofield, Utah, or near Scoheld Utah
in the presence of one H. a. Anderson.
and that Chris X. Jensen then and
there stated to affiant and the said
Anderson. without condition, that he.
Jensen. was purchasing said land from
the state Of Utah for and on behalf OF
the Pleasant Valley Coal company, and
not for himself
Higher Price Is Refused.
The land which Jensen sought to ac-
quire as grazing land consisted of l60
acres, and as grazing land would bring
the state $24O. Flowers offered to axe
it as coal land, and pay therefore 800 an
acre, or s., 200, but the land Office turned
him down because he could not show
coal on each forty acres of the tract.
although he introduced sworn testi-
mony from persons who declared that
they were acquainted with the land,
and knew it to be valuable as coal land.
No investigation was made by an agent
of the land office as to the character OF
the tracts in question, although the
surveyor generals Office had reported
coal lands in two of the sections IN.
which this land was situated
After the local land Office decided the
case in Jensen's favor Flowers at
torney wrote to the commissioner OF the
general land Office at Washington and
requested that an examination be
ordered by that office. insisting that the
land contained valuable deposits Of
coal and that his client was ready
and eager to purchase it and pay there
for $40 an acre for it. This was in 1902.
but no action was taken by the depart
ment. Flowers interest in the Kimball
-