The Minneapolis journal., 1906-11-18
THEFT or COAL LANDS
LAID ]. TO | [ Land |! 4 \ OFFICE
Steals Perpetrated with Full
knowledge Of Department,
Smith Says.
Special to The Journal.

Special to The Journal. 81.
Washington, Nov. 17.-Affidavits are
on file with the government here and
have been called to the attention of
President Roosevelt CHARGING that +ha
gigantic land frauds Whereby the
Union Pacific Railroad company and
the Union Pacific Coal company secured
illegally coal land in the state Of Wv
oming, valued at many millions Of dol
lars, We're perpetrated with the full
knoWledge e or the government land
were known, if not tacitly assented .to.
by the department Of the Interior. =
The affldaylts are made by Artemus
J. Smith Of Smith & Bradbury. dealers
In mines and mining at Denver.
The charges he makes are sensational
in the extreme, and call into Cuestinn
the integrity of William a. Richards.
government land commissioners. and
others high in the employment .of the
government. ~ z : =
=, It t,v; was t the b khnoTyledge h Of the earlier
to the investigation made by: the inter
state commerce commission recently: at
Omaha, Salt Lake City and Denver.
and by which fraudulent land deals Of
great magnitude were uncovered.
| Shielded tho Department.
In pursuing the investigation the in.
terstate commerce commission was az
ceedingly careful not to uncover the
fact that these steals and all the de-
talis connected with them, together
with the names and dates and amounts
paid for perjury, held in the possession
OF the department of the interior for
more than three years. Acting under
the suggestion of government Officials.
the. commission. carefully avoided .ex.
posing or making an attack upon a
coordinate branch of the government
Emoldened by the disclosures Of thc
commission, Mr. Smith has again an
pealed to the department Of the interior
Tor justice, declaring that he has
prospective interest in the lands in
question, and that he desires to assert
Mr.. Smith 8 charges NAV be summar.
lied as follows: -. ~ -. - -
That on Nov. 21,. 1903, he placed be.
tore the department Of the interior
| facts and data and offered to prove. II
gwen the opportunity, that q vast aero
age OF land had been and still was be-
ing stolen from the governments. and
that little or no attention was paid to
Says Charges Were Proved.
That after insistent demands and re.
peated charges, NJ. f. Myendorff. sne.
cial agent of the land department.. made
an investigation in the Evanston dis
trlct of Wyoming, which substantiated
the charges made by, Mr.. Smith. =
That, immediately thereafter. Mr..
MyendorH was transferred permanent
furnished additional facts, making his
appeal directly to- the secretary Of the
interior, and that the latter official Off
| Ger, ordered Commissioner Richards to-
make an investigation, g 5 =.
That, altho Mr.. Smith repeatedly Of
fered to prove his charges, he was noti-
fed that a hearing and an Investigation
by the land commissioner had been
made. 70. -.-t.s3-:-5. : =. - ~
That on Dec. 2e, 1905, a star chamber
investigation was made at Evanston.
Wyo., during which only, witnesses in
the employ Of the Union Pacific Coal
company were called and were secretly
heard. >S5-::.''. ,.: l. n : = ,-',..:0
Rich Patents Issued.
That, almost Immediately after this
hearing, and on the very day the de-
partment received determined protest
from Smith, together with substanti-
atlng facts, patents were issued to stol-
en- lands valued at more than 81 1000, 900.
Regarding his attempts to arouse the
government to secure its aid in pre-
venting these frauds, Mr.. Smith says:
II reluctantly charge the general
land office, with all its helps, and the
government, with failing to keep faith
with me, and by system Of procrasti-
nation and Indifference compelling me
to resort to such indirect methods as
the records Of these proceedings dis
close. r.. '''.,' -. - =:
II make the bold assertion that
there is now in the records of this case
in the general land office, an affidavit
that carries the aspersion that this
arm Of the government is controlled
by the corporations known as the IN
ion Pacific Railroad company, the Union
Pacific Coal company and the Superior
Coal company. I do not give much
credence to this sworn statement, and
only refer to it SO that I may be iusti-
fed in my belief that I am the victim
of misplaced confidence when I appear
before the department. as an American
citizen and ask for recognition''s