Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-01-09
TRAILING THE LAND THIEVES.
Eastern View Of the Prosecution of
Public Land Grabbers.

New York Sun.
1t is not to the credit OF the American
people that the gigantic land frauds which
Secretary Hitchcock is following up so
faithfully excite barely more public interest
than would a robbery in the Bronx or a
petty defalcation in the postoffice. Never
theless the good work OF prosecution
goes on.
Among the achievements of the last few
days there appears the conviction of Me-
Kean, the district county clerk of Yuma
county, Colorado, who was found guilty on
sixteen counts and sentenced to two years
of hard labor in the Kansas penitentiary.
Stearns and Horsnell, indicted for fraudu-
lent entries in South Dakota, have been
convicted and punished by fines and i'm
prisonment. The demurrers filed by John
A. Benson, indicted for bribery in connec-
ton with huge frauds in oregon. have been
overruled by Justice d. Thew Wright of
the district supreme court in Washington
d. c. This prince of offenders must now
stand trial. The courts nave denied the
change of venue asked oy the Talmage
crew, against whom twelve indictments are
pending in the United States district court
in New Mexico, charging them with con-
spiracy, perjury and subornation of per-
jury.
In his annual report Secretary Hitchcock
makes a special reference to the case of
Richards and Comstock who are charged
with the unlawful fencing in of more than
a quarter of a million acres in Nebraska.
1t involved some years of effort and the
expenditure of several thousand dollars to
secure the Indictment of these grabbers of
public land They pleaded guilty. The
court imposed a fine of $500 in each case
and sentenced the defendants to the Gus
tody of the marshal for six hours. This
judicial farce is now developing a sequel.
The marshal has been thrown out The
district ey-Baxter-refusing to re-
sign, has been summarily removed from
Office by order OF the president Petitions
are being circulated in tceDraska asking
the president to lay before the senate the
! matter of the impeachment of the federal
! Judge, William II, Munger, who tried the
| case. 1t is probable that the Richards
| Comstock matter is long way from its
end Mr.. Bakers opinion, in which the
! court appears to have concurred, that these
grabbers would not do 1t again" does not
| quite meet the purposes OF Justice
Representative Binger Hermann of Ore
| gon will soon face, in the courts in Wash
ington, d, c., two witnesses themselves
I
been promised II they will turn states evil
J dence. The charge against Mr.. Hermann is
! in substance that just before his resigna-
! ton as commissioner of the general land
office, on February l, 1903, he unlawfully
and fraudulently destroyed thirty-hve vol
umes OF official records, with intent tC
| impair their usefulness" and, at least in
| ferentially, to hide the evidence of un
| lawful transactions. statutory law makes
! the destruction Of such records penal OF
| Tense, whatever the intent or purpose
| may be.
| Summarizing the work OF the last foul
| years in the land fr1ud cases, II may b'
said that its activities cover nineteeT
! states Thus far there have been abou
| forty convictions Nearly 800 indictments
have been. are being or will be prosecuted
by the Department OF Justice with all pos
! sible dispatch II the public wakes up AND
| takes an active interest in the prosecution
OF these hundreds OF predatory men whC
have been enriching, themselves at public
! expense the number of convictions should
| approximate that of the indictments.
More public interest and more public sup
port would greatly strengthen the hands O.
| Secretary Hitchcock and his active, abl'
| and fearless assistant. District Attorne,
| Frank J. Heney. These men are perform
ing a msgnifeenr service in the interest o
a too Indifferent public