Imperial Valley press., 1908-07-25
CONTESTANTS sUs- TANNED IN SCHEMES TO GRAB FINE RANCHES IN THE
 IMPERIAL VALLEY.
SKINNER GETS DECISION
Unless Washington lnterposes Pro- lection, Bowker Ranch Will Be Skinnerized Because Somebody It. legally Sold An Assignment to An Unsuspecting Settler.

By decision of Register Prescott and Receiver Robinson, of the Los An geles Land Office, innocent purchas- CTS of unpatented government land, which was originally acquired fraud ulently, lose their title unless the de- cision shall be reversed on appeal to the General Land Office at Washing ton.
 The cases thus decided are those of Sigel E. Skinner against Harrison M. Bowker and John F. Davis. and Bird E. Nosler against Conrad W. Brock man. It is announced that other con tests now pending will be decided in the same way.
 In the cases disposed of the proper ty involved includes rich land near Calexico and Brawley. The Bowker ranch is considered one of the show places of the valley. T regret the hardship imposed on innocent pur- chasers,' said Gen. Prescott, but the decision of this office was based en- tirely on the evidence and the law. It is the first time that MT. Robinson and myself have been called upon to adjudicate contested cases where the innocent assignee has to suffer for the unlawful acts for his predecessors.
 Heretofore we have been able to sustain men who made large invest ments in government land on the as sumption that they had good title to the property by virtue of purchase from some other assignee. But ill the cases we have just decided 9laring ' fraud and bad faith were show, to our satisfaction, at least. The con- testees, of course, have the right to appeal from this decision.
 There was not the slightest evi- dence at the hearing to show that Bowker had any knowledge of any previous fraudulent assignments, but we are forced to recommend the can cellation of his entry
 While the decision may be in ac- cordance with the law, it is manifest l ly unjust and inequitable to make an innocent person suffer for the acts of grafter who has taken his profit and gone scott free, and to confiScate an improved farm and hand it over to man who makes business of dis covering opportunities to dispoil hon. est people and selling them to spec ulators. There is a strong suspicion in Imperial Valley that there is some thing very like conspiracy to bring contests for confiscation of the most valuable improved ranches, and that the purpose is not to reach the per sons guilty of fraud but to enrich the conspirators. It is significant that re- petition of the scatter-gun charge of "stupendous frauds proceeds or ac- companies the "skinnerizing' of some body's valuable ranch.
 1 General Prescott says:
 n he government is endeavOring to distribute it's homestead and desert land as fairly as possible. Its officers are expected to see that this distribu- ! tiOn is to actual settlers and to cancel every entry which is tainted with 1 fraud before it comes into the posses sion of innocent purchasers. | But the effect of such decisions as that in the Bowker case is to take land away from the actual settler, and not only the land but the improve ments and the results of labor and in vestment of money, and give it all to a predatory schemer. The entry is not canceled before it comes into pos session of an innocent purcheaser, but an honest settler is punished for the sin of grafter.