Imperial Valley press., 1908-02-08
Contest Under New Rule
 Rejected By Land Office
IContinued from page ll

Ot erabDerS ana proved aDOruNe. we should go to Washington with clean hands, present an honest case and say plainly what we want under the law"
 Gleason Not Acceptable.
 w A. Van Horn said: If Mir. Gleason is trying to get more than 320 acres, he is not the man to rep resent us in Washington. He is not on the right footing in the depart ment"
 Gleason does not repre- sent men who are within their rights and he won't trouble himself to help them unless in doing so he helps him self. His appointment prostitutes a movement for the protection of hon. est people to the protection of graft CTS"
 R. H. Portus-'T am not a member of this body, but I am a stockholder in number one. We authorized the directors to send legal counsel to Washington, and they have exceeded their authority in sending MT. Glea- son. We stockholders do not approve their action in giving him credentials as a representative of bona fide set tiers
 Peaceful CounseIs-
 Ira Aten-'T concede that contests may be all right when directed against improper entries or attempts to de- fraud the government, but this ruling we are considering seems to encour- age contests in cases where the set tier has filed on one part of his farm and taken an assignment on another, or where he holds under two assign ments, not exceeding 32O acres all told. I don't think such contests would succeed, but it is not right that the settler should be compelled to defend himself against them. The Re ceiver of the Land Office has advised us that we may take several assign Commissioner should sustain him and protect persons who have followed of ficial advice in good faith. Possibly MT. Gleason is the right man to per Suade the department to do this. Some people evidently think so, and though I don't like their selection, I am will ling to accept the judgment of good citizens and give MT. Gleason all the aid we can. I am in favor of endors- ing the action of the water com panies"
 Rights of Entrymen.
 After further discussion, the follow ing resolution was prepared unani mously adopted and ordered trans lnitted to Water Company No. 1, to the Secretary of the Interior and to MT Gleason:
 Resolved
 By the Fl Centro Chamber of Commerce, that we endorse the action of the stockholders of I'm periaI Water Company No. in providing for the employment of legal counsel to represent US at Washington and present the issue raised by the Commissioner of the General Land Office in his letter of December 3rd, 1907, addressed to the Register and Receiver of the U. s. Land Office at Los An geles. And weerespectfuIIy show that the Desert Land Act provides that "no person or association of persons, shall hold by assignment or otherwise, prior to patent more than 320 acres of such arid or desert Iand," and urge, that in view of this language, entrymen are entitled to secure title to des- ert land by both entry and assign ment, provided the total amount held by both methods before pat ent does not exceed 32o acres.
 And we respectfully request that the rulings of the Department fol- low the language of the law as above set forth.
 Law Seems Plain.
 The desert land act as amended