Waterbury evening Democrat., 1907-02-06
ABOUT LAND FRAUDS.
New Order of Secretary Hitchcock
 Attacked by Senators.


 Washington, D. C., Feb 6.-At- tacks, vitriolic in their intensity, have been made on the administra- tion, particularly on Secretary Hitch cock of the interior department, be- cause of the issuance of an order re- quiring personal investigation by officers of the government of all pub lie land entries before patent to the land is granted. Naturally, these at tacks have come from representa- tives of'public land states.
 Senator Carter of Montana, Sena- tor Hepburn of Idaho and Senator Fulton of Oregon, all have fired broadsides at Secretary Hitchcock, although, curiously enough. the sec retary was only an instrument in the issuance of the order which proved to be so obnoxious. President Roose- welt himself directed Secretary Hitch cock to issue the order, because of the gross frauds which have been developed against the public domain.
 Senator Carter declared that only about per cent of the land entries were tainted with fraud, yet all the settlers were to be put to "odious, op- pressive and exasperating treatment" because of this small amount of fraud. The president holds that the issuance of the order was necessary to eliminate the fraud, whether great or small, and that it's operation will not affect seriously the interests of a single honest settler.
 At the general land office it is learned that the order put stop temporarily to the issuance of patents to public lands, because, under it, an examination of the lands will have to be made by government officers with view to ascertaining whether the land is such as may be patented and whether the patentee is bona fide settler. This will take time, but it will not jeopardize the interests of real settlers.
 In view of the attacks, some facts of record are particularly interesting. In Montana, ten indictments for pub lie timber stealing, one for setting fire to public timber, and three for illegal fencing of public lands are pending. During the year ending last July, nineteen persons were con- victed and sentenced in the United States courts for unlawful fencing of 131,S22 acres of the public lands in Montana, and the indictments pend- ing cover an acreage of 100,028 acres in that state. In Idaho, six teen indictments for various viola tions of the public land laws are pending and number of convictions already have been secured. In Ore gon the situation is far more serious. Scores of persons, inc'rding one United States senator. one member of the house of representatives and several other important officials. have been convicted of crimes against the land laws. In fact, the record of convictions in oregon alone covers three printed pages. Tn addition to the convictions, 121 indictments for violations of the land laws were pending last July in Oregon, and the end is not yet.
 It is simply the determination of the president to eliminate. if possi- ble, this sort of fraud and it was to accomplish that end that he directed Secretary Hitchcock to issue the order providing for an investigation of all land entries before the patents were granted. Many of the men whom the order will affect are pow erful financially and influential polit- ically, but, in the view of the presi- dent, that makes no difference. In fact, he has told some of these men that their position in the communi- ties in which they live make 1t all the more necessary for them to abide by the laws which have been enact ed by congress.