New-York tribune., 1909-01-09
CHARGES AGAINST
SENATOR TILLMAN
PRESIDENT ON 4LLEGED
LIND CRIB.
His Evidence Presented IN Letter
to Senator Hale on Operations
of Secret SerTice.
IFrom The Tribune Bureau. !

lie to-day the text of his communication to Sen
ator Hale. in which he presents evidence of the
relations of Senator Benjamin r TilIman. OF
South Carolina with the St. Paul and Pacific
Timber Syndicate, showing that, despite Mr.
TiIman's emphatic denunCiatiOn of that COM
pany in the Senate and his protestation that he
had not bought any land anywhere in the West
nor undertaken to buy any he had instructed
the members Of the syndicate to reserve nine
quarters of land.' saying. Members Of my fam
iIy are the entrynen.' Ii is declared by Sena-
tors to be incredible that United States Sen
ator could have been ignorant Of the fact that
he was violating the law when he thus sought to
make dummy entryrnen" of the members of his
family and his private secretary.
The most serious phase Of the transaction IL
shown. however. by letter which Mr. TiIlman.
under date OF February Il. 1905, just four days
before his denunciation Of the scheme In the
Senate. wrote to Messrs. Reeder and Watkins.
attorneys for the syndicate. in which he says.
| IF can succeed in having the government IN
stitute suit for the recovery OF the land, and
make it easy for others well as myself to 90
tain some OF it. shall do it without any regard
to the dealings with your firm" In this letter
/ Senator TiIlman fnclosed copy OF resolution
he had introduced in the Senate on January 81.
which read. after the preamble:
| Resolved etc. That the Attorney General Be.
| powered TO take such proceedings or INSTITUTES
/ such suit suits behalf Of the United States
| as may be necessary appropriate OF eApeoIen1
/ To insure compliance with tne above NEIL
toned conditions. to restore the lands TO the
| public domain or 70 report 70 the Congress Wny
/ such action aforesaid has not been or should
/ not be taken
| Commenting this portion Of the disclosures
/ the President says:
| II is unnecessary to comment on the proposal
made in this letter. TO use his influence as SEN
ator to force the government TO institute suit
/ which would make il easy for him personally to
| obtain some of the land
! CONDITIONS OF LAND GRANTS.
| Fully understand the situation it is neces-
sary to recall the fact that the lands referred TO
were granted to certain railroads on condition
that they were to be transferred to actual set
tiers only and in lots of not to exceed 16O acres
. 10 Individual The railroads, IL alleged.
had violated these provisions. and the proposed
suit to compel the railroads. those to
! whom they had decided large parcels. to part
/ with them.
! II is also Of interest that Senator Fulton. %
Oregon. had had his attention called to TIE
violation OF the law: that he had consulted the
( Department Of Justice and had arranged TO IL
troduce such resolution it should prepare;
/ that Senator TiIIrnan had sought 10 expedite the
/ action of Senator Fulton. and had been told that
/ the Oregon Senator was awaiting the receipt OF
the resolution being prepared in the Department
( Of Justice. and that then. unwilling to wait
/ longer. MIR. Tiliman had introduced on January
] 81 first Senate and later a joint resolution.
the latter containing the above quotation
/ 1t is also worthy Of note that the facts In this
/ case did not come to the attention of the Presi-
/ dent through the activity of the Secret Service.
but through the work Of the postofT1ce inspect
/ ors whose attention was called 10 the sup
/ posedIv fraudulent character of the syndicate
BY Mr. Tfllman's denunciatiOn the floor OF
/ the Senate. The pOstOffice inspectors investt-
gated the case to ascertain the accuracy OF Mr.
/ TiIImans charges that his name had been used
without warrant by a fraudulent concern, with
/ a view. if the facts proved as alleged, to pro-
hibiting the concern from using the mails The
inspectors found evidence of Senator TIIInan's
relations to the syndicate as fully set forth in
| the Presidents communication
! TILLMAN NOT DENYING LETTERS.
| Senator Tillman does not deny the authen-
ticftv Of the letters and kilograms submitted by
the President but maintains that between Feb
ruary L. the date Of his last letter. and Feb
ruary 49, the date of his denunctation, he discov-
| cred that the concern was fraudulent. and de-
cided to have nothing more to do with it, When
/ asked how he came to make the assertion on the
latter date that he had not Undertaken to buy
/
contented himself with saying that he would
deal with the subject at length from his place IN
| the Senate
/ In the opinion of Senators generally the Presi-
| dent has exposed a grave situation and one
fraugbt with danger to the Senator from South
| Carolina.
POINTS MADE BY PRESIDENT
As he presents the evidence 70 Senator Hale.
| in response to the Iatter's request to the heads
Of the various executive departments for
statement OF the operations Of the Secret Ser
vice the President undertakes to show the fol-
lowing points.
THAT Mr.. ,rfIlman used his influence as Sen
ator in an effort to force the government to COM
/ mol q r7iIroad corporation to relinquish its
+ troll of land grants from the United States IN
! order that he and his familv and his secretary.
/ 7 p Knight might profit through the purchase
+ of some of the land
/ That the Senator used his government frank
ing privilege in numerous instances for the con-
: duct of private business.
/ Immediately after the chapla;n's prayer on
Monday Mr.. TiIlrlan viii ask recognition
/ question OF personal privilege Departing from
/ bts custom, Of extempOraneOus speaking. he VIII
/ read his statement. thus insuring more careful
: adherence to what he desires to say than he
vro,,Id be able 10 give in off-hand speech
! The communication to Senator Hale is nearly
three thousand words long. and numerous ex-
bibits are appended including copies OF letters
written by Senator TiiInan and his agenl. Will
tam 2 Lee. showing that they did make ef-
fort To obtain several quarter sections Of the
Oregon land, and the reports of the pOstOfice tn
| s,actors who investigated the transactions OF
/ Tho land agents 1t was through this investiga-
.io that the ALLEGED interest of Senator Tillrnan