Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-05
CANNON'S SECRETARY
CRITICISES STEFFENS
SAYS ERRORS APPEAR IN HIS
LATEST ARTICLE
"Taming Of West" Appearing In Sep
tember Magazine, Does Not Prop
erIy Show Attitude on
Land Frauds


Busbey, secretary to Speaker Cannon,
has writeten a letter to Lincoln Steffens,
author of an article in current maga~
zine, taking exceptions to statements made
by the author relative to Speaker Can
mons alleged appointment on committee
of Representative Hermann of Oregon
The letter follows:
Speakers Room,
House of Representatives,
Washington, D. c., August 80, 1907
Dear Sir-In your article "The Tanning
Of the West" published in the September
number of the American Magazine. you
assume to give an unbiased history of the
land frauds in the west. You permit the
Detective Burns to work on theory but
you assume to set down only facts In
your narrative.
Please allow me to call your attention
to one statement which is not fact, but
the reverse of that weapon of truth, and
SO easily proven false that am surprised
any historian should have made 1t.
In summing up the case Of Representa-
tive Hermann you make the deliberate
and unqualified statement that Speaker
Cannon and the ring that runs the house
put Hermann (for some reason) upon the
public lands committee. and there he was
thorn in the side of Secretary Hitch
COCK
The Facts
If you had taken the pains to look over
the committee list of the Fifty-eigntn
congress. and also the Fifty-ninth, you
would have seen that Mr.. Hermann did
not have a place on the public lands
committee of the house in either congress-
and that there was no excuse in fact Tor
dragging the speakers 8 name INTO your
article
AS I am dealing simply with historic
facts. I have no theory to express as to
the motive OF this deliberate and unquali-
fed misstatement in your alleged history
of the land frauds.
The natural inference to be drawn from
this statement, embodied in your article
on land frauds, is that the speaker and
the ''ring that controls the house" tried
to embarrass Secretary Hitchcock in his
efforts to discover and punish those guilty
of violating the land laws. Again, let me
refer you to the public records II you
had looked over the appropriations made
by congress for the last ten years you
would have known that the appropria-
tion for protecting public timber and pub
lie lands from fraudulent entry had been
more than doubled In the last ten years.
That increase was under the direction OF
Mr. Cannon, as chairman OF the COM
mittee on appropriations in the Fifty
sixth and Fifty-seventh congresses, and
under his administration as speaker IN
the Fifty-eighth and Fifty-ninth con-
gresses The appropriation for this work
in the interior department was $110000O0
In the last session Of the ifty-ifth con-
gress, and $250,O0O in each session OF the
Fifty.eighth and Fifty ninth congresses.
This does not indicate that congress was
hostile or desired to embarrass the SEQ
retary of the interior in his efforts to
bring to justice those guilty of frauds
in securing public lands.
Special Secret Service Work
. In addition to this aid given the secre-
tary in his work, he was allowed $4,000
for special secret service work under his
personal direction, by the Fifty-ninth
congress. In his estimates to congress
Secretary Hitchcock Incorporated an item
Of $4,000 for the pay and expenses of a
special secret service agent, although he
had met the expenses of Detective Burns
out of the S25O.oOO that had been appropri-
ated by the Fifty-eighth congress for de-
lection of frauds. He explained to the
committee on appropriations that he de-
sired to try an experiment with a special
secret service agent, who should be un-
known to tho general staff OF special
agents OF the land office. and who should