The Mena weekly star., 1906-07-12

Washington, July Extraordinary revelations, involving fraud and de- ceitful practices and the use of polit- ical influence in connection with the efforts of the Standard Oil company to obtain possession of immensely yalu- able oil and gas lands in Indian ter ritory and oklahoma, became public Tuesday.
 Secretary of the Interior Hitchcock has been engaged for months in struggle to prevent the oil and gas lands owned by the Osage and Cher okee Indians from passing at ridicu lously low figure to the control of the great octopus.
 The men who have been the prin- cipal actors in the fight against the policy the secretary hes pursued are T N Barnsda1l, of Pittburg, Pa, well known gas and oil man James N. Guffey. democratic leader in the state of Pennsylvania and a MT. Galley. prominent democrat of Tex as
 Mir Barnsdall succeeded in induc- ing Gov Higgins of New York to conl- plain to the president abont the atti- tude Of Secretary Hitchcock.
 Secretary Hitchcock. in letter to the president. renivine +8 that of the
 York executive, said the govern or's "politictal friend afnsdall, had willfully forfeited by his deliber- ate and admitted violation of certain oil and gas contracts the considera- ton to which he would otherwise be entitled
 Secretary Hitchcock called attention to the fact that the Illuminating Oil company, large proportion if not 9 majority of whose stock Is controlled by the Standard Oil company with which it was further stated MT Barns daIl had exceedingly close relations, had acquired a contract for mining and for the production of petroleum. and natural gas covering the entire territory known as the Osage nation in Oklahoma and amounting to 1.500.000 acres
 The original contract had been rranted in 1896 by the secretary of the interior of the Cleveland admin Istration. Strenuous efforts were made at the close of the Fiftv-eighth con- eress to have the lease extended for ten years but the department resisted, with the result that the arrangement was reduced to 6S0,000 acres Secretary Hitchcock who early took a deep personal interest in the oil and gas situation upon tho Indian lands. directed that leases he granted only under the following specific con ditfons:
 That the acreage leased to any one person or corporation should not ex- ceed 4S0o acres. the purpose of this restriction being directly to prevent combinations looking towarc monop- olies
 That each lease should be sunported by cash deposit of not less than s5.00o as guarantee that the lessee \ would operate the leases in good Faith and not hold them for speculation q That at least one well shon'a he developed on each lease within i2 months with the further ohieat of $ preventing speculation end tn wing ' up of lassnr's propertv
 II was further stirplgtea qpd print 8 ed in larea a Norinnine ef
 rh lease that the lease was "trsr z ferable only with the ~onsent of he secretary of tho Interior, nna he lessnr st was required to file m af'iaavit swe"r- ing that he was not directly or in- z directly interested in any oil and ons Ef lease within the Creek and cheroheo territories. the lands embraced n which with the tract covered by 'nnse < ttherewith presented wop'd mHNe Nmore than aso0 acres Sf Under annlication mafa nNa 'ee0H granted Mir. Barnsdall r6 ea aef'rf .7oo and Cuffey and Caiv eav'v oo0 Racres. A special inspector cf the '~- Nterior department repovted fe S~o- Iretarv Hitchcock that the acres eso7 CIV z&sred bv leases to persons seid to ho
 ssoclated together in tho narnsaeN 6 interests amounted 10 fH ~eres hled of which lasss acres hoa heen x pproved and 17.7i2 had h soa'ied #Nor. Barnsdon admitted rh het
 Ne was interested in 2 nwn'for cf 'N Arinino contracts in Indian t@r tow @ gareeatinp more thu ' fhere were oshers cononnnfe rrh sarnsdall had arranged M have " in hrest Grffev and caiev ~wiN 1e rkansas Valley Oil and GRs m (. 8anv 10 which thev assicnna a3 Nssy snproved and 'napnroved iee < Amnanv subsequently, fransa its *,'Sines tn narnedall
 ssTha transaction hefweer afr ss tnsaa'i and Calv md rn@ev sf
 itehcncs .ie direct willf7l erA n-
 vfel violatfon of ths eonaifiers of
 eorfra~s t~@emueh resfhev Af
 rnsdal' nor Mir GHaev have re-
 aestea the secretarv nf 'lle infe-r
 # the iesscf apy rannff ~ We an # Her cf fusnrefFen 1ensn wAs~h mss nsfered hv the latter to tln f@~nr
 aether with other lessf in th