Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1907-09-18


lie lands the facts are. Hagerman
as governor usurped illegally and un-
lawfully the powers of a defunct
board which had been legislated out
of existence; Hagerman illegally and
llnlawfulIy procured the seal of an
official whose Office had expired and
used the said seal to validate certain
deeds which We're in the possession of
the commissioner of lands of the ter
ritory and which the said land com
missioner declined 70 complete by
afiiXing the seal or his Office and pol
itely declined to deliver these deeds
to the parties who had purchased the
land covered by the deeds, because he,
the said land commissioner, A. A.
Keen, believed such action would be
improper, Illegal and beyond the
scope OF his duties as land commits
sioner, Hagerman acted improperly,
illegally and nnlawfully in going into
the Office of the said land commission.
er in the absence of the said com
missioner and in compelling by bru-
tality and usurption of power the
clerk in the Office to surrender the
said deeds and the seal in question to
him because he was executive and in
thereafter in atflxing the said seal and
delivering the said deeds to purchas-
ers. He had no more legal right or
lawful pretense to act in the premises
than would have had the governor of
Moscow or Odessa. 1t is likely that as
Hagerman has lived in Russia for
several years he became strongly i'm
bued with the idea that the despotic
and tyrannical powers of Russian
government were also inherent
and to be exercised by the
governor of New Mexico There
is one eXtenuating circumstance
in Hagerman's case and that
is that he acted upon the advice of
silly nincompoop who acted as his leg
al advisor and who it is believed did
not even know that the statute under
which the land in question was dis
Iored - lad been repealed and was
absolutely dead letter
The point in this case Is: that dis
patches like the above especially If
inspired by a government official are
detrimental to the we'll being of the
territory, are an injury to its reputa-
tion, a slander on its people, and are
certainly not based upon a sure and
secure foundation. If Special Assist
ant to the Assistant General e. Pey-
ton Gordon is not responsible for the
tenure of and allegations in the dis
patch he should say SO and that
promptly and vigorously. If he is he
should be compelled by the attorney
general of the United States to prove
the allegations. The people of this
territory and the officials interested
are entitled to such a course If frauds
have been committed the people of
this territory desire them uncovered,
the harm remeded and the men guilty
if otherwise their fair fame
and regulations should be vindicated
McHarg Holds Different View.
In pleasing contrast with the above
dispatch the New Mexican desires to
recall the statement made in the sec.
ond judicial district court at Albu-
querque, Judge Ira A. Abbott, presid-
ing, by another special assistant to
the attorney general, Ormsby McHarg,
in the cases of the United States
versus the Territory of New Mexico,
M. A. Otero, ex-governor of the Ter
ritory, George w. Prichard, ex-attor-
ney general, A. A. Keen, ex-land COM
the American Lumber Com.
pany, and Clark M. Carr, in which
cases alleged fraudulent transactions
in Territorial lands on the part of
the defendants are set up. 1t should
be remembered that Mr.. McHarg is
investigating in the Territory in the
same line as Assistant Special Assist.
ant e. Peyton Gordon and has charge
Of the investigations therefore, he
ought to be well posted. The gist of
the statement is that in Mr.. Nc
Harg's opinion the violations of the
law alleged in the complaints were
merely technical and not criminal
of the statutes, and in short
that he charged no former Territorial
official connected with the transac-
lions with criminal conspiracy or cor
ruption.
The New Mexican endeavors to be
fair and just in its treatment of all
public questions and especially those
official or legal 1t does what 1t be-
lieves to be right and proper in all
such matters. In this case it brings
this matter to the attention of the
people that they may know and that
even handed justice be done and that
the people of the Territory may be
shown to be innocent Of the slanders
and libels circulated and published
broadcast for some time past by de.
signing and unscrupulous politicians
and blackmailers.
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