Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1907-02-02

Washington. Besides fixing Feb. 20
as the date to vote on the declaration
that Senator Reed Smoot of Utah is
not entitled to his seat, passing bill
appropriating $2,OOO,OOO to confine the
Colorado river to its banks, and an
other placing the management Of the
Panama railway under the Isthmian
canal commission, the senate on We'd
nesday listened to an extended speech
by Senator Carter of Montana In crit
icism of the secretary of the interior,
and another by Senator Hepburn to
the same end.
The recent order of the secretary
preventing the issuance of patents to
the public lands until after an exami-
nation on the ground by a special
agent, was the subject of the criticism,
and many senators from western
states, by casual interruptions, showed
their approval of the sentiments ex-
pressed.
Mr.. Carter said in part:
"The order of Dec. 18 is without pre-
cedent in the history Of the govern
ment. It is without parallel in the
history of any government, save as
applied to provinces, classes or in
dividuals suspected of reasonable de-
signs. 1t is the elimination of policy
unwarranted in fact and founded only
on baseless suspicion. The public
records demonstrate that the order Is
not only needless, but harsh, cruel and
oppressive.
"For the last six years sensational
reports of evil doings in the public
land states have been emanating from
the interior department from day 10
day. so sweeping in their scope as to
create the impression in other sections
that the entire western population is,
and has been, engaged in a veritable
saturnalia of criminal conspiracy,
fraud and perjury, over the whole
broad surface of the public domain.
"The exploitation of evil reports has
been a conspicuous feature of the
present secretary's administration.
Unchecked by contradiction, en-
boldened by nonresistance from the
west and unmerited applause from
other quarters, the secretary finally
violated the legal rights and assalled
the veracity and integrity of hum
dreds of thousands Of entrymen ON
the public domain, by and through the
brief order complained OF.
GAS to their several neighborhcods,
residents generally knew the eharges
we're wrong whereas all the people out
side of the public land states believed
the charges were well founded, and
90 believing, applauded the secretary
as engaged in a righteous crusade
against crime.
"The fact that every fraudulent
transaction complained OF was lnltlat-
ed and consummated under the admin
istration of the present secretary was
not given publicity.
Notwithstanding the expenditure
of an excessive amount of money by
the present secretary, the truth re-
mains to be told that the percentage
of fraudulent public land entries Tor
the last eight years, disclosed by in
vestigation, bears about the same an
nual proportion to the whole NUMBER
of entries as obtained during each cf
the preceding 40 years.
at remains to be shown by the rec
ords that the present secretary OF the
interior has been less efficient during
his eight years of service in challeng-
ing erroneous, improper or fraudulent
land entries than were his four prede-
cessors during the eight preceding
years.
81 fully realize that even the presi-
dent of the United States has been de-
ceived and alarmed by the current, oft
repeated and uncontradicted reports OF
the secretary. The president has not
been able to go through the records
and into the details of the interior
department and its operations. He has
relied on the reports of the secretary
of the interior, as have the people gen.
orally, outside the state to which his
accusations apply.
I'm the name of justice, in behalf of
more than 100000 entrymen on the
public domain, in the name of the
families dependent upon them, and of
discredited neighbors, who may be wit
nesses in their behalB-aggrega
substantially two millions of people ac-
cused and injured-I ask for a hear
ing from the senate, the president and
the country, on the cold and silent
facts as disclosed by the government
ranorda "