Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-06
ACRES UPON ACRES
OF PUBLIC DOMAIN
GRABBED BY FRAUD
CONTINUED from First Page.)

IoAOStobau0iA8 ApOUt tue Sale Oh Tue lkkuO
when he bought 1t, and that ne had acted
| In his individual capacity.
Vice President Clark admitted on the
stand that through him the railroad COM
pany furnished the money to men who
! bought the land and that they understood
ment for the purpose Of conveying 1t to
the coal company.
This proceeding according to the decision
in tho case Of the United States against
the Trinidad Coal Company was a direct
violation Of the law. Although these trans
actions took place two years ago. the deeds
have not yet been placed on record.
Upon this showing II IL expected that
proceedings will be instituted to recover
from the Union Pacific all Of the lands
thus fraudulently obtained from the gov
eminent.
Many Witnesses Called.
The commission has been greatly assist
ed in its work by Independent coal opera
tors who have suffered from the methods
employed by the company. After meeting
with defeat in their contests before tho
land department these operators turned
over to the commission tho evidence they
had already preserved to the land depart
ment Following out the lines Of inquiry
suggested by this evidence. the counsel for
the commission have put upon the rack
in the alleged conspiracy and dozens Of
the hirelings and tools used in the working
out Of the land grabbing scheme.
To develop the disclosures concerning the
methods by which the company secured
declaratory statements the commission call
ed number of witnesses at Its hearing In
Denver. One OF these was Henry D. Teller
an attorney and the notary public who took
acknowledgment OF persons signing most
Of the declarations.
he Broke the Law.
Teller was at the time chief clerk for
Dorsey and Hodges, the senior partner of
which firm was attorney for the Union Pa
cifo Railroad Company. Practically all OF
tho Acknowledgements were taken at the
Union Pacific depot in Denver IN the Office
of the sales agent Of the Union Pacific Coal
Company, the coal company being owned
by the railroad. Teller admitted that he
did not swear any Of the signers as the law
requires. He also admitted that the as
acknowledgements Of the ACCOMPLISHMENTS
which the men signed were left blank and
were filled in later when they were placed
on record at the land office at Evanston.
Questioned by ]. c. Marchand. one Of tho
counsel for the commission, Teller said he did
not receive any money from the persons
making the Acknowledgements and did not
explain the nature OF the papers to any OF
those who signed. His testimony was I'm.
portant In showing that even in the first
step toward Its scheme Of control the legal
formalities required were not observed by
the railroad company. Some of the tesu-
mony follows:
O. Did not all the men sign relinQuish-
ments? A. think they did.
@. They signed ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN 0lankf
A. 1 think SO.
O.. And those blanks are furnished by the
land Office here, are they not? A. pre-
Q. All these mon did In respect to tho re-
linauishments was to sign at the bottom7
A. Yes, str
Q. You took an acknowledgment Of the
relinouishments at the same timer A. Tho
relinquishments were signed by the man
and the acknowledgment was really made
later.
Q. The acknowledgement was dated at the
time the REIMBURSEMENT was placed on rec
ord at Evanstez. was It notf A. Yes. sir.
@. For example. the declaratory state
You took that acknowledgment on tho first
OF December. 1903. A. Yes, sir. 49,
Q. But subsequently wrote in the LIST OF
July. 1904? A. wrote a subsequent date.
ment were made on the same day. you GER
titled that one was made on one day and
the other on another day? A. Yes. sir.
Contrary to Law.
@. That act Of yours was contrary to
law, was 1t not? A. Yes. now I know It
was. At the time did not think anything
about It, Since then l see 1t was a big
mistake.
Q. You were then lawyer? A. Well.
had just been admitted to practice.
@. You did not swear any of these men
to the full declaratory statements? A. do
not remember swearing any. I just asked
If they signed it of their own free will and
accord.
Q. Suppose, about any Of these papers
that your certificate shows that you swore
a man. what would be the fact as to what
you did? A. The fact would be as said.
I do not remember that gave any man the
oath. $500.
Most of the declarations were taken In
December. 1902, and the early months OF
1903. In the oath which each man was re-
that he took up the land in question for his
own use and not for any other person or
association. The signers were gathered up
chiefly from the floating populat ton Of Dem
Many of them were induced to sign by
George Mossholder. a policy writer. and
were taken to the depot in squads Of from
ten to twenty at a time. Mossholder and
the city and cannot be found. In all about
100 signatures were secured. About
dozen signers were produced as witnesses
before the commission All Of these con-
firmed Teller's statement that they were
not sworn. Nearly all declared they did
not know what they were signing Thomas
Grigler said he thought he was signing a
petition for some coal companys benefit.
Didn't Know What He Signed.
II thought was signing a petition to go
to Washington" he said.
@. If q railroad wanted to get into the
town they would have petition signed, or
If 1t wanted an Officer A. Yes, that Is the
way 1t was represented. .
Q. Mr.. Mossholder represented II to you?
A. He told me that was what 1t was for
@. Did the whole twelve Of you do the
same thing when at the Office Of the coal
company? A. I would not say but think
so. We all went through the same form.
@. They other men all got their money.
too. did they7 A. Well. am confident
they dad.
O. What was being paid for coal declar-
atory statements that dayf A. got s..
The various witnesses questioned regard
ing the declarations told practically the
same story.
Money Came From Black.
J. w. Spaulding. Judge Boards partner
at the time, who also made Q cash entry
and sold the land to the company, admit
ted that the money to pay the government
price was. in his case. sent to Judge
Beard by Black He had never been on
the land and an agent did the prospecting
for him. Black being the agent. Black also
made the sale to Clark for him. he entering
into an agreement through Judge Beard
that when the land was transferred the