Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1908-05-21

/
"good faith" homesteader is seeking
to break.
| A MANUFACTURED DEFENSE
4 Why was it necessary for this hon
est homesteader to say to Blount that
he would "assist him and the other
young men financially but that 81
would not under any circumstances,
agree to buy the land from them,
nor lease it, nor take the title
or possession, directly or indirectly,
from themf' Why should such things
occur to the mind of one who is doing
purely kind and lawfal acts A bene-
factor never manufactures defense
| for a possible criminal prosecution for
doing good to his neighbors. What
reason had Mr. Crawford for thinking
that he might be expected to "buy"
t'lease,' or "take the title or pos
session, directly or indirectly, from
these poor boys whom he was gratui-
tously assistinga Honest men do not
prepare evidence in advance to meet
a possible exigency. If one gives to
the Children IS Home he does not with
the gift furnish an abstract to show
the source from which he obtained the
same unless he has the consciousness of
a thief.
What did this philanthropic citizen,
this loyal statesman, want OF this
Every rough, stony and billy" pas
ture land "of little actual value?"
Did he intend to repair thither and
among his goats and sheep commune
with nature and DO pennance for his
broken pledges to his constituents He
was intended for pastoral life and
the stony and billy quality of his
chosen abode was symbolic of his past
Experiences.
! Yet he holds out to young men the
tempting offer to take this STONY,
hilly, rough pasture land and he pays
their expenses and is very good to
them and they 60 and file on crooked
lquarters, something like his own.
(These crooked, misshaped tracts are
Iingeniously selected, not by boys, but
by philanthropists who are actually in
love with their government, with the
fpure and simple purpose of leaving here
and there what are known as "isolat-
ed tracts of forty acres each, which
are never fled on but are eventually
sold outright for the minimum price OF
IFl.ZJ du dCTc HC pau Will oho" y -
Examine it. It speaks much palmer
THAN words).
Yes, he pays money for them but, as
he says elsewhere in this same de-
lfense,'' IT never expected to get IL
back in any form save and except in
the general advantage of having them
become owners Of this land rather than
more Objectionable people 1t was not
- L. Eont M Account
Of this =,
He saws he talked with the special
agent about the right of the boys 10
prove no (thus taking fatherly in
lterest in them), and he was told that
Hit would not work, and so the boys
signed relinquishments. The boys were
more sincere than the statesman. Mr.
Crawford never relinquished this home
stead, neither did he keep an 'ac-
COUNT of the funds advanced to the
boys-but he did keep their rellnquisin-
lmentsl The land department hnaiiy
cancelled Crawford's entry on the
ground Of fraud.
One Peterson. Scandinavian, had
been presumptuous enough in l9o3 TO
file next to Crawford homestead
and he was evidently one OF the more
ford and his banker, Richards, Will, we
dare say, accept the votes OF these
amore Objectionable people, to ALL
lin securing his seat in body made
great by Webster and Sumner.
Whom does Mr.. Crawford blame! Re
ferring to the investigation by the
government into his gauzy fraud, ne
4 says: Somewhere and somehow be-
hind him (the special agent) is the
4 hand OF a character assassin connected
4 with the old railroad machine of South
Dakota. Mark that True, and the
haniu is the hand Of Coe i Crawford.
i He assassinated his own character
when he made his ngood faith home
i stead entry; when he procured the boys
Ito enter the crooked tracts; when he
ATTEMPTED to clear his skirts Of the
filth that followed such entries and
when he sought to blame his govern
iment for treating him deservedly Yes,
4 and it was he who was connected
i with the old railroad machine. We
will ssmark that Verify he was
hoisted with his own petard. He
spoke wiser than he meant It was by
Ibis own hand that he was trapped; y
was BY his own confused tongue snat
he convicted himself.
Il This issue Of smud-slinging' was
lpresented ~ Mr.. Crawford when ne ~
i tempted virtucusly to blame the stat
warts for his expose and sought 60 pose
los ! martyr. Examine the plat Weign
his own statemexts given above ana
determine his guilt Or innocence.
There II mo need Of going elsewhere Cr
l0aponding mon others words CON
fesned1y fhie nan was an enemy Of his