Bisbee daily review., 1907-01-27
IN TER|0R DEPT INSTRUCT TING
 AGENTS
Circular Received From Secre- tary Indicates That Land Laws Will Be Strongly Enforced.

\ c. Dezendorf, chief of the specia agent for the land office of the Unite, States Interior Department. for Arizo na and New Mexico. has recently pail the Warren district. and surroundinI country visit. and will return littl later on to go over this section of hi | territory most thoroughly, a commu | nicatioR recently received by a grea many papers of the country is inter esting.
 Up until the past few years prose i cuticn of those who took possession o the public domain in an irregular oi fraudulent manner was scarcely evel heard of. That such cases were mum. erous. and needed bur the probing hand of the department to bring tt light the manner in which they had I been o6taIned and punish the culprrt was a well known fact to Ethan Aller Hitchcock, Secretary of the Interior i Information had been received 1T i Washington a couple of years 3gC | pointing to the fact that several meT high in public life were implicated ir | land frauds in the state of Oregon On account of the exalted position ot the suspects. and the wholesome effect which might be obtained by similar offenders by the successful prosecu- l ton of a case against these men Hitchcock had Francis J. Heney re- tained as special prosecutor to take ] ( NT,s, investigation Heney had convicted a Unit d States Senator.
 Ever since that time the Interior Department has been working gradu- ally over all of the public land, and has given agents special orders to in- vestigate every transaction with which is connected the slightest supicion of fraud.
 Following out this policy Dezendorf who has charge of the territories of Arizona and New Mexico, has been in vestigating all sections. and finally in the course of his examination came to Bisbee. He stayed here several days, and was called to Santa Fe. out stated at that time that he would return to the district later on, ..
 Dezendorf's visit to the district at the time when he arrived here and the arrival of the communication from the department might only have been a coincidence. but 1t is not likely.
 The order from the Secretary of the Interior reads as follows:
 Department of the Interior,
 Secretary's Office.
 Washington, T. c. Jan. 3, 1907. ORDER.
 The Commissioners of the General
 Land office:
 Sir: Referring to the circular of instructions to s1,ecial agents of your office, approved by me on January 29, 1904, relative't', their duties under the act of February 25, 1885 (23 stat, lawful occupancy Of public lands" you are advised that said circular is hereby amended and modified as fol- lows:
 Strike out from said circular para graphs and 6, and insert in lieu thereof the following:
 It shall be the duty of the special agent on receipt of any charge or complaint or upon information being acquired by him from any source, that an unlawful inclosure is being maintained by any person or persons. asoOngatior or corporatiop fo af opr,s proceed to secure sufficient data, in- cluding a description Of the lands in closed, with reasonable certainty, not necessarily by metes and bounds, nor by governmental subdivisions of sur veyed land. but only so that the in son or persons guilty of the violation, as nearly as may be, and by descrip tion if the name can not, on reasona- ble inquiry, be ascertained. and to at once submit such case, with the data thus obtained. to the United States at. torney for prosecution.
 It shall be the duty of the special agent, and he shall be so instructed. to be alert and vigilant to detect the existence of unlawful inclosures in his district and to proceed in accord ance herewith as hereinabove direct ed, and that he Is not to construe his duties as requiring that, before pro- ceeding in the matter of an unlawful inclosure. there must first be filed with him a formal complaint by some per- son or persons acquainted with the facts. but 1t shall be his duty, as here inabove stated, to take the initiative himself.
 In this connection you are further instructed. bys direction of the Presi- dent, to at once notify all of the spea ial agents and receivers and registers of local land offices throughout the United States. and to give the widest publicity thereto that the provisions of said act of February 25, 1885. for the summary destruction of inclosures and Instructions existing in violation of said act will be rigidly enforced on and after April l, 1907.
 Respectfully.
 E. A. HITCHCOCK.
 Secretary of the Interior.