The Roswell daily record. [volume] (Roswell, N.M.) 1903-current, 1909-03-09
DISCLOSURES THAT GAVE
A BLOW TO STATEAooo.

DISCLOSURES THAT GAVE
A BLOW TO STATEHOOD.
From the New York Sun. |
Washington,aFnehss 27.-ftatebDod !
for New Mexico got a blow m tie Sen
ate Committee on Territories tnday. i
The opposition became lesa perfunc-I
the part OF a probable mad1r3tyacEth e
committee led by Senators Beueridge
and Nelson. Reasons were assigned
for not recognizing the claims of New
Mexico to become a State from which
1T was made to appear that there had
been a lot OF land frauds In the Terri
tory, hat men who We're, mixed up 7.
them and that a Rough Rider pull at
Washington had held back the work
of investigation which was set on
foot a yea ago. Il
1t was said by some OF the sena-
tors who have faith in the statements
that have been made to the committee
by those charged with b duty OF car
rying on Investigations in New sMexi-
co concerning b work of land and
timber pirates that some OF. h boom
ers for Statehood b have come on
to Washington have been affiliated
| with the crowd that the Department
of Justice suspected of connection
with great lands. These Senators de-
clare that the depredatfons could not
have been committed except by the
connivance of some of b Territorial
officers, n some of the highest men
officially are mentioned in a COM
plant Of a Government employee who
was concerned in the investigation
which was laid before the committee
for it perusa1 to-day. t
1t was said that when ormpy Nc
L N, 1Nnk - hIo- 0~I 1oef
July by Attorney General Bonaparte7
to investigate frauds in the disposit-
ion of timber lands and coal lands he
was harassed from the moment he set
foot on New Mexican soil by every
one with whom he came in contact, an
Guiding Territorial officials little and
| great. At that time a change was
about to be made an the Governorship.
of New Mexico, and the then acting
Governor Hagerman, was forced to re
sign. 1t was then that George Curry
a Rough Rider, with Roosevelt in GU
ba was brought from the Philippines,
where he had been a Captain in the
army, and made Governor OF New
Mexico. This was just the time that
Mr.. McHarg found his efforts to get
information from which to institute
| prosecution for fraud were being
blocked from sources from which he
Lev S0oOA W SAPSSS
Names are given in the written
| statement pf the Government en-
| ployee that is in possession of the
committee, and it is said that a high
| official of the Territory who has been
in Washington with other officials try
ing to force Statehood Legislation
| through Congress directly notified Nc
| Harg when he was down there last
| year hat he would have to desist
from his investigation of alleged Goa
land frauds, which Attorney Gener-
al Bonaparte had expressly asked Mr..
J McHarg to look after; also that in the
event of his failure to do SO influence
| would be brought to bear to have Mr..
| McHarg recalled to Washin gton.
The statement was a little more ex-
plicit than that, in that it said that
this high officer of the Territorial
| Government told McHarg that he
must not involve this high officers's
friends, that he must not investigate
them or he would be nov from
the Territory. What purports to be
history is then recited, in that it Is al
legged that Gov. Curry, Attorney-Gen-
eral A. B. Fall and other Government
officials and rough riders went to
Washington and a few days after their
arrival when the Governments case
in New Mexico was ready for presen-
tatfon to the Grand Jury, Mr.. Nc
Harg received a telegram from the AT
torney General saying that the De-
partment was informed that there was
no use of Investigating and that it.
would disturb matters in the Terri
tory. Mr.. McHarg was ordered TO
suspend investigation. 1t is related
by this witness, nj 1t is said that
| Mr.. McHarg himself substantfates or
intends to s~ubstantiate before the
| committee ach of the statements of
the witness who had been his assis-
tant in New Mexico, that Mr., McHarg
sent a telegram to Attorney General
in reply to his suggestion, which was
in effect that he would not suspend
his prosecutions of the cases and that
he understood it was the policy of the
| Government to prosecute wherever
evidence of deliberate fraud was u
covered and that personal, political
or social prominence would not exon
crate. In his telegram Mr.. McHarg
declared that he had found abundant
evidence of deliberate fraud and that
he would conduct prosecutions for 1t
unless he was peremptorily withdrawn
from h Territory by. the Attorney
| General.
In answer to this 1T is alleged
that the Acknowledgement told Nc