The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1907-06-03
ESCAPED HIS ATTENTION.
rom unnar Journal

From Albuquerque journal.
Here is a New Mexico land affair
which has evidently escaped Presi-
lent Roosevelt's attention. 1t is a
transaction a good deal more repre-
AenSible than the president regards
the n for which he removed Hager-
man, and therefore it is clear that
this n has somehow escaped his at
tentiOn, because Mr.. Roosevelt believ-
es in the square deal"-we know ne
does because he has told us so too
many times to leave room for any
mistake about it-and to remove a
having pee guilty of an error of judg
ment, and on the same day put in
charge of the same office a man who,
with others, had been guilty of a
criminal conspiracy to defraud the gov
eminent" would not be a square
DEAL" and Mr.. Roosevelt would never
have done it if facts in the ase had
not secreted themselves.
The cas- to which we refer has been
stated as follows by ex-governor Hag-
erman, in his reply to the remarkable
letter from President Roosevelt which
the Evening Citizen surrepititiously
gave to the public-we say s~urrepiti-
ously, out of respect for Mr.. Roose-
welt, because we lay too high a re-
gard for that gentleman to believe
he would a given out his let
ter for publication without giving Mr..
Hagerman a square deal. by causing
his reply to accompany it. But here is
the paragraph referred to inc the gov
eminent records will snow hat it is
entirely correct:
In December. 1908, the United States
Land Commission, with Surveyor Gen
eral Llewellyn and Secretary Ray
nolds, then acting governor, as mem
bers, e the selection of a large
amount of timber land for the benefit
of one T. A. Schomburg. The selec-
ton was made, and m territorial
board, with, I believe, Acting Cover
nor Reynolds as a member, accepted
Schomburg's application, received h
price and delivered the deeds. This
has been investigated by the Depart
meat of the interior and on February
20. 1907. Assistant Attorney General
Campbell gave an opinion that these
officers r guilty of criminal con-
spiracy to defraud the government,
and yet you retain them in office aid
make one of them acting governor
until Captain Curry's arrival"
In this connection, and out of regard
for the public good and the public
purity, we desire to call MT. Roose-
velt's attention to another cfrcum-
stance which he seems to have over
looked, and that is the fac hat his
governor pro TEN, OF New Mexico, ap-
pears to enjoy thorough immunity
from that punctiliousness which, as
indicated by all the symptoms, vas
recently so violent in his own case,
the following brief statement of
we'll known facts will show: M. Ote-
70, when he was governor of the ter
ritory, made a contract with Colonel
Hopewell, as representative of the
Pennsylvania company, for the sale OF
certain act of land to the afore-
said company. The trade was com
pleted by the gentlemen named, the
deeds made out, and all the terms
agreed upon. All this was done before
Mr.. Hagerman came into office, and
he had nothing to do with it. Then,
when Mr. Otero's term expired, Mr.
Hagerman was appointed as his lux
cessor, and in the course of his duty,
and TO secure the payment of the
purchase money to the territory, he
turned over to Col. Hopewen the deeds
to the land which the company had
long ago bought and given a note for
Now, according to Mr.. Roosevelt, in
his letter to Mr.. Hagerman-which
Mr.. Roosevelt's fool friends have Civ
Ell To the puDllc-tn1S land SAFE was
grossly fraudulent that Hagerman
was summarily removed from Office
for merely having turned over to the
the deeds to the land, which
had beer made by a former admins
and for which compensation
n b form of notes had been accept
ed. This would to show that
deal with the Development COM
pany must have been very rotten, and
that the chief parties to the transac-
ton ought to be severely punished.
what are we to think when we
that the gentleman who was ap-
to act as governor till the com
ing of Governor Curry. has just ap-
to high and honorable posi-
tons, both the gentlemen who acted
rs principals in the land deal which
so thoroughly fraudulent and so
rotten That the honor of the
administration required the removal
Of Hagerman because he had after
~ards taken a merely pro forma part
n it?
Mr.. Oteno and Mr.. Hopewell have
been appointed by Acting Governor
Raynolds as two members of three, /
have exclusive charge of the con-
.,truction OF large and valuable addit-
ons to the territorial capitole We
important board, and one demand
ng the service OF the best and most
men OF the territory. And
q this connection b Morning Jour