The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1909-01-15
I had done both.

| LII LILY 11FC1Sct1OA WILL luS q Y
torney general in regard to the reso-
luton which I introduced, and which
he himself prepared after we had
talked over the whole land situation
[ distinctly remember telling him
that my interest in the matter had
been first aroused by my desire tc
purchase some of the timber land and
that my coming to him was due to
the fact that I discovered upon in
vestigation that I could not buy ii
through any agency whatsoever, that
I could not buy it even by lawsuit,
because I was advised by very able
lawyers in the West, among them the
Hon. George Turner Of Washington,
that in attacking the holders Of those
land grants no one would have any
standing in court except the grantor,
the government itself.
Denies Falsehood.
F'I was perhaps disingenuous, but
a moment s thought Will convince any
honest-minded man that as I had not
signed any papers, had not paid any
money, had taken nobody's receipt,
the usual processes by which one
Undertakes to buy land, I was
speaking accurately and not falsely.
Everything hinges on the meaning of
the word undertaken and my use Of
it. Did I mean to conceal the fact
that I was anxious to buy some Of the
land? Not at all. Did I mean to at
tack Dorr as a swindler when I my
self was engaged in a dishonest and
aiahonorable transaction? That is
what the president would have peo-
pie believe. Can I be justly charged
with falsehood when, if I had told the
senate Of the. entire transaction, it
would have made no difference what
ever, while I would have been charg-
ed with intruding my private affairs
into a public discussion? Just what
law did T break? What wrong did
I do or contemplate? According to
the report Of the attorney general, in
answer to the resolution which I in
trodueed and which passed the SEN
ate, Hartman, the presidents dear
friend, still holds in defiarce Of
law upwards Of 100000 acres of the
best lands Of Oregon and California
and refuses to sell them at any price.
I never expected and could not I'M
der the terms of the law as I con-
strued it get more than seven quarter
sections, for myself and family, one
for my private secretary and one
for Mr.. Lee, making nine in all. This
in the aggregate would mean that I
would obtain through my activity
here, as the presidents charge is,
nine quarter sections Of LAO acres
at a cost of $4,000. Will the presi-
dent undertake to say that I have lost
my right to buy land because / am a
senator? Can the president deny
that my activity secured the passage
of the resolution instructing the at
torney general to bring suit for the
recovery of this land for the use of
actual settlers? If Hartman and 9TH
ers like him are made to disgorge by
reason Of these suits, shall the fact
that I was endeavoring to buy little
pittance of the land be used as the
basis Of charge of being liar and
corrupt senator to be disgraced?'
Attention Attracted.
Senator Tillman then told how his
attention had been brought to this
land while at Spokane, Wash, in
October, 1907. He wrote to Reeder
& Watkins, asking for information
and telling them of his desire to pur-
chase some Of the land if possible.
Desiring to find out if the conditions
of the grant to the State Of Oregon
made it possible for purchasers
and not "actual settlers'' to buy at
$3.50 per acre, he wired to the libra
rian of the senate for copy Of the
act. He met Mr.. Lee at Moscow,
Idaho, and talked with him on the
subject, arranging that he would go
to Marshfield and investigate in per-
son. He authorized Lee to draw on
MIN if he found that the lands We're
what they were represented to be-.
"Lee's authority as my agent never
went beyond an examination Of the
land, and if the application was filed,
to see that I got good timbered lands
instead of rocks and Marshes He
went into detail in explaining his eff
fort to learn the exact status of the
lands and got an opinion from Sena-