Douglas Island news., 1909-12-01
The Coal Land Frauds

lands in Alaska and the various charges and dentals which have beeu made ln connection herewith, is, after all, simple oue. The complications which have arisen have been altitclally created, largely through the action or an executive department, under TOT mer chief, tot in sympathy with the laws which congress has made for the disposition of the public lands and which was deliberately trying to pre- vent those laws from becoming opera tive
 Congress sought to provide for the acquisition of coal lands in Alaska by private capitalists, who would open them and furnish the people of this coast with the coal supplies which are needed A number of capit alists, largely local men, were finally per- suaded to enter coal lands and to make provisions for the enormous eXpendi- lures necessary to open the mines and to furnish the transportation from those mines, which lie in the interior, out to the sea coast There was pros pect that the venture would prove enormously profitable, but there was also the prospect that the money in- vested would never earn interest.
 The entries were made, the final C., L,1 ,,l mo mi for the lands paid. Then an outcry arose that these lands should not have been sold, but should be preserved for posterity; that the development of Alaska was minor matter compared to this, and the action of congress in providing for the sale of coal lands was improvident 1t was also charged that the filings were speculative, were made through dummies, and that there was fraud.
 The most exhaustive inquiry which has been made has developed not the slightest evidence of bad faith on the part of any man connected with the locations; no dummy entries nor any thing of the kind, save this: that 1t seemed probable that those who have entered the mines were intending to act in harmony in their development and in the construction of the trans portation lines to reach them. This was assumed 10 be true, even without any proof of the fact, for the simple reason that in uo other manner than by the creators acting in harmony could the mines be opened and the railroad built to them, the terminals created and the shipping facilities pro- vided.
 Taking the bare wording of a certain provision of the statute and ignoring its intent and meaning, it was held by certain department officials that any agreement to cooperate was in viola tion of law The position is absurd as concerns the intent and meaning of the case. The statutory provisions were intended solely to prevent dummy en- tries; one man hiring others to enter claims for him, paying them for their claims and furnishing himself the money to pay the government cost. It was never intended by congress to prevent a number of men from each entering a claim and paying for it and them combining in a corporation or partnership to develop the properties and build the transportation facilities.
 Nevertheless, for nearly three years, since the claims were entered and paid for, patents have been held up, while testimony has been sought to prove, not an absence of good faith, not the use of dummy entries, not the exist ence of any mythical big corporation in the background which was trying to obtain these lands to monopolize the coal supply of the coast, all of which has been loosely charged, bat to deter mine whether or not the men who had entered the coal lands had agreed be- tween themselves 10 work together ln developing them and iE building theT' transportation lines through which alone the coal could reach the market. This is the sum and substance of all of the fraud charges of MT. Glavis and others. Whether such an agreement, if made, was in fact violation of law, the courts must determine.-P.-L
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