The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1906-08-22
With Securing of Jury in Nest
Important Land Case,
Fight Is On.
OTHER STEALS WILL BE
NOT WORTHY OF MENTION
So Says Prosecuting Attorney
in Outlining Case for the
Prosecution.

PORTLAND, Or, Aug; 21.-with
the completion Of the jury in the Unit.
ed States District court today in the
case of the United States against State
Senator Franklin P. Mays, former
State Representative Willard N. John
sheriff in Multnomah county, the Gov
ernment forces cleared its decks for ac-
ton and in the opening argument Of
Francis j. Heney, special assistant to
the Attorney General, echoes were
heard of battles that are past as well
as the mutterings Of the battle that
is at hand
Mr.. Heney spoke for only an hour
and half, but during that time he
outlined clearly and definitely the al
legged wholesale fraud by which the
Government charges the defendants
and others, planned to make it the
victim Of an attempt, which, if the
Of the frauds in this State, in fact,
all Of them put together, look puny.
Mr.. Heney's outline Of what the Gov
ernment claims it can prove, in part,
follows:
We expect TO prove that tho defendants
in this cnse Were implicated in conspiracy
| whereby they obtained from 10000 to 3o,-
| 600 Of school lands from tho State
| by fraud These sections are IN the pro-
| posed boundaries Of the Blue Mountain for
|
| get the reserve created.
Mr.. Heney then quoted the State
law, showing the method provided for
purchase Of school land He said that
| when the certificates to school land
were assignable, and one person could
| hold rs much land as he was able to
pay for, "he could not cause men to
make affidavit that they were taking
| them up for their own use and bene
| fit, when a matter Of fact they had
an agreement to transfer the title at
the time of fling
Fraud Of Long Standing.
"As early as 1soo,' said Mr. Honey, '.De
| fcndant Jones commenced TO get school lands
| in the area OF country that atterward
| turned into this reserve; We will nlso show
| that man named Kelaher, who is living
in Chicago, commenced buying school lands
| thore FOR speculative purposes
| We will show that Defendants Mays and
| Sorenson had addition put tho Cascade
| forest reserve through United States Senator
John II. Mitchell-crcatcd July l; 1eol-and
the vacant school lands in this addition. 1t
| proved so successful and profitable that i'm
| mediately they conceived the scheme OF
| sting q much larger reserve, and that George
sorcnson went around various North End
(Portland) saloons and other resorts and
secured many signatures TO applications in
| blank for so cents apiece.
Mr.. Heney described the alleged hir-
| ing of two men TO circulate petitions
in eastern Oregon, asking for the es
| tablishment of the reserve, and went
on.
The Government expects TO show further
| that Senator Mitchell expedited tho new re-
| serve before the Commissioner of the General
| Land Office and Secretary of the Interior and
| kept continually writing TO Mays.
Graft Shown Here.
After Tarpley had consulted with McKin-
| ley on the subject continued Mr.. Heuey,
they offered Mays 80 cents acre the
| 1900 acres located by them. whereupon
Mays responded, Why, that wouldn't pay
for the two fellows we have in Washington
Tarplcy and Mckinley thoreupon made
examination of the tracts they had located
and asccrtaiued Tint il impossible for
| Mays TO checker board their holdings with
| out impairing his own, and Soon thoy
had found this out, thoy refused TO pay Mays
q cent.
After further relating incidents of
Ormsby's S trip TO the proposed reserve,
Mr.. Heney said:
II will be shown tho, John L. Rand, O. A.
Johns and other leading citizens (oi eastern
! Oregon) came down here TO see Senator
| Mitchell for the purpose OF protesting against
| the creation OF the reserve, and that as soon
rs they telephoped to Mitchell that they
were coming, the Senator Immediately held
consultation with Mays about it, so that when
| the delegation reached here they were met
| by the assertion from Mithcell that he did
not have anything TO do with forming the
reserve, but that President Roosevelt was
unaterably welded 10 the forestry policy and
could nos be swervcd in his determin alton