The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1907-01-31
Criticises Order Prohibiting Is
Suranc of Land Patents
DEFENDS HONOR OF WEST
Land Order Says Montana Senator Is
Without Parallel In History of Any
Country Except Where Trea-
son Is Suspected.

Washington, January 30.-Severe eriti-
cism of Secretary Hitchcock was made
in the Senate today by Senator Carter of
Montana. The criticism was based on the
order of the secretary last December,
which prohibits the issuance of patent
to land under any of the land laws un-
til after examination on the ground by
special agent. Senator Carter some time
ago presented resolution which denies
the right of any executive officer to pre-
vent the granting of aepatent when the
law under which it is claimed has been
carried out
Mr.. Carter began by asserting that the
order referred to expressed the final es-
innate of the secretary as to the truth
and veracity, the honor and integrity and
the good faith of all settlers on the public
domain of the United States. 1T like
wise arralgns,' he added, "all other per-
sons seeking title to public lands under
existing laws.
1.-The order is without precedent in the
history of the government 1t is with
out parallel in the history of any govern
ment save as applied to provinces, classes
or individuals suspected of reasonable
designs It is the elimination of policy
unwarranted in fact and founded on the
baseless suspicion. The public records
demonstrate that the order Is not only
not needed but is harsh, cruel and OPP
pressive.
For the last six years sensational re-
ports of evid doing in the public land
states have been emanating from the in
terror department from day to day so
sweeping in their scope as to create the
impression in other sections that the en-
tire western population is. and has been
tn ta1al IL c1t r
inal conspiracy, fraud and perjury, over
the whole broad surface of the public
domHin.
Fraud has been constantly and vot
ciferously shouted from the house tops.
Fraud Shown.
"should some morbid moral delinquent
pay nightly visits to the dens of vice
and make morning calls at the police
courts in all your splendid eastern cities,
and then announce to the world from day
to day with loud acclaim that crimes and
moral leprosy overwhelmed you all, he
would at his pitiable best play in your
field the part the Secretary of the Interior
has played as regards the people of the
public land states.
Excluding the timbered area of the
northwest, the people of every locality in
the country concerned well know that as
to their locality the oft-repeated charges
of the secretary were unfounded to any
justifiable extent. AS to their several
neighborhoods, residents generally know
the charges were wrong whereas all the
people outside of the public land states
believed the charges were well founded,
and so believing applauded the secretary
as engaged in righteous crusade against
crime.
1.-THE fact that every fraudulent trans
action complained of was initiated and
ccnsummated under the administration OF
the present secretary was not given pub
licity.
inefficient.
Notwithstanding the expenditure of an
excessive amount of money by the pres
ent secretary, the truth remains to be
told that the percentage of fraudulent
public land entries for the last eighty
years, disclosed by investigation, bears
about the same annual proportion to the
whole number of entries as obtained dur
Ing each of the preceding forty years.
ut remains to be shown by the records
that the present secretary has been less
efficient during his eight years of SER
vice In challenging erroneous, improper
o. fraudulent land entries than were his
four predecessors during the eight pre-
reding years. Even the abuses under the
so. called timber and stone law, which
the secretary might have stopped any
day. are shown by the records to have
been shamefully exaggerated.
"I fully realize that even the Pres
ident of the United States has been de-
ceived and alarmed by the current of
the repeated and uneontradcted 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 generally. The Pres
ident and al lother that are led by the
crusade of misrepresentation are clearly
free from responsibility except to hear
the truth as told by the governments
records. and then to do justice to an.
outraged people.
'In the name of justice in behalf OF
more than 100000 entrymen on the public
domain, in the name of the families de-
pendent upon them and of their discredit-
ed neighbors, who may be witnesses in
their behalf aggregating substantially
two millions of people accused and in
1ured ask for a hearing from the Sen
ate. from the President and the country
on the cold and silent facts as disclosed
by the government records
No Patent on Honor.
Mr.. Carter defended the character for
veracity and other honorable qualities of
the settlers on the public lands.
Honor" he exclaimed, us not confined
TO cabinets; nor do special agents ap-
pointed at Washington monopollze that
sentiment"
He added:
Measuring my words with care, I say
that the order of the honorable secre-
tary of December is, last, is both unjust
and oppressive; and further still aver
that the records of the interior depart
ment do not furnish justification for the
order; but on the contrary these records
demonstrate that the order is not only
unjustified, but clearly indefensible as to
homestead settlers"
Mr.. Carter presented and analysed the
records of entries and patents issued
under the various land laws which he
summed up saying:
''It will appear from critical analy-
sis of the figures and the facts that not
to exceed one-ha1f of 1 per cent of the
final homestead entries; less than l per
cent of the final desert land entries less
than one-half of per cent of final tim
Der and stone entries. and less than l
per cent of the final coal entries are
found to be fraudulent and the percentage
OF mineral entries tainted with fraud is
small indeed. Taking the whole aggre-
gate of percentage together. and figuring
out from these percentages the average.
we VIII find that less than one final