New-York tribune., 1909-01-13
RONAPARTE TO TILLMAN
IN 4NSUER TO SPEECH.
accuracy of assertions Denied
Senator'S Statement in Reply.

.-,57,ced by him in the Senate on January u,
zoos had been prepared by the Attorney Cen
l and that his interest in the matter had
&c 4rs+ aroused by desire 10 purchase some
.,a timber land Mr.. Bonaparte also replies
. senator T'Tman's remark made in the Senate
=. February that he had not bought any land
,n-berc in the West. undertaken to buy
any"
senator Tiliman late tonight replied TO the
.,.arney Generals statement.
The full text of the Attorney Generals state
nent is as follows:
There are two passages in the remarks of
,otor Tillman. published in to-day's Con-
sressional Record. which demand notice from
ne He says tRecord P. 134D:
], might be vel IL 10 ING, inquire Whether or not the
Attorney GeneT3 has been ordered not to obey the the
T T the .Tiir1an- Bonaparte iaw'-orderng suit to
TTlns5iiity is Of such enormlty and magnitude in
contemplating the purchase Of lac acres OF OF laqd and
gai rectitude in Others :hat it may be found that
iSahsaGtons II rs me man who announces 10 Con-
rass that he Theodore Roosevelt, assumed the
frht 10 permit the steel trust to absorb It's great S
81 rival contrary 70 law would doubtless not hesl-
s5e ;9 6o help as ss 81 tbe pubic domain simply be-
cause Ben Tillman has contemplated and wanted to
On Septen1ber l. 1905 suit was brought by the
United States OF America in the Sircuit Gu Our. r
srainst the Oregon & California Railroad Com
nauv the Southern Pacific company, the Union
Co7lpany. individually anQ as trustee,
Stephen T. Gage. individuaily ana as pusIee'
and large number Of individual defendants.
The purpose Of this suit is. IN substance; 10 oe-
clsre and enforce a forfeiture OF the puphc Ianos
claimed hv the railroads under Mr.. Hartman
control by virtue of the original grant 10 the
Oregon & California Railroad; mas oesn zen
brought IN accordance with the directions OF Ile
Joint resolution 10 which Senator IlTnan rele.s,
was Instituted s soon as practicable after tIe
massage Of the said resolution. and the tact OF
-. irstttution has been published and could
have been verified by any one, through hQutS
at this department, for more than four mon t IN,
Senator Tillman says. in another part OF ms
speech (Record. p. 1922: - C--r
In INV conversation with the Attorney General
regard to the resolution which intr9auSeo: an h
which he himself prepared af{er We nae eaInber
telling him that my interest in the mutter haa pesn
first aroused by my desire TO purchase some OF me me
10 tie fact that I discovered upon investigation
s 091d fa pot 6o6d 6y not bny h e 2g T
because I advised by very able LAWYERS in the
Washington that in attacking the holders Of those
land grants would have any standing IN
court except the Erantor, the government Itself
ANOTHER VERSION OF CONVERSATION.
Senator Tillrnan called upon me at the Depart
rlent OF Justice q few days before the introduc-
ton by him OF the resolution which see by the
Record he presented to the Senate on January
81 1908 Our interview occurred. therefore, a
little less than three weeks before his letter OF
February "a TO Messrs. Reeder and Watkins, IN
which he requested them to hold in reserve
for him eight Of the best quarter sections: and
probably little more than three weeks before
shought any land anywhere in the West, or un-
6srtaken TO buy any He told he wished
infmmation to the status of>the lands en-
hraced in these Oregon grants because he had
heard much complaint about the conduct OF
the corporations claiming them during his re-
cent Journey through the states OF the Pacific
slope He criticised, with great severity, the
policy OF granting the public domain 10 such
corporations. and mentioned that on some occa-
sion in discussing proposed land grant OF this
character he had said 10 certain OF his col
leagues: You may well give them what they
want now; you have given them pretty much
everything elsa"
He said according 10 my recollection. that the
lands had become Of great value and many per
sons wished 20 purchase them, and added that
Re would have been glad TO do so himself II he
could: but he never told me a word Of any con-
nection on his part with an ARRANGEMENT TO ac-
Quire some part OF these lands, nor that he In
tended, expected or even desired at that time 10
make any such purchase. AS stated by him, his
for making these inquiries was that he
might better discharge his public duties; and
WIS totally ignorant until saw the documents
Transmitted by the President TO Senator Hale
that Senator Tillman at the time of his conver-
sation with me had any private interest, whether
actual or in expectation. in connection with the
subject Of our conversation. 1 gave him full
statement OF the information which had been
collected by the President the result OF a pro-
tracted investigation made by Messrs Townsend
and McBlair as special counsel. and which had
continued during a considerable part of the pre-
cedins year. I told him also that we deemed IT
advisable To secure Congressional action IN the
io-m of e resolution empowering the attorney
General TO claim a forfeiture Of these lands. and
that felt some apprehension lest such action
should be opposed by the large interests which
Il would affect. Senator TiIlman then offered
70 introduce a resolution on the subject n L
would prepare one, and did prepare such a
resolution. which was introduced by him and
subsequently, adopted
During this interview I explained to him that
would be irnpracticable to compel the cor
poratons claiming these lands to sell any partic-
e!sr portion OF them TO any particular person :
although, % course " the government could
establish a forfeiture of rights under the grant
tie lands might become afterward open TO entry
on The same terms as any other portion OF tIle
public domain OF course. if il was at the time
his purpose 70 secure some part Qf the lands in
question, through arrangements with Messrs
heeder and Watkins or otherwise TINS forfeiture
might tend to promote his individual interest,
but had reason TO credit him with any such
purpose. and I dealt with him throughout as
asSlng the information anq aoElce cou'o ga, ga
only that he might fulfil his duty as public
orcer
SENATOR TILL-MAN'S REPLY.
Senator Tin1an's statement in reply to Mr.
bonaparte is as follows:
have hastily read the statement issued by
the Attorney General and. so far as gather
ns import. there is no conflict OF Veraclty pc
tween US but rather one Of memory. The At
Vo-ney General says:
According 10 my recollection the Senator stated
NAM, persons wished 70 purchase Them and added
aat he would have been glad TO 90 SO hI.S'. . -, n
sestion on his part with an arTasement to GquiTe
pected or even desired At that time TO make any
such purchase 3
Further on the Attorney General says:
vas totally ignorant gn,il is saw 9Th the oT dcfHmea5 TmaR
e. the me of he conversation with me had any
private whether actual or IN eHpect1to'
L connection with subject Of our conversation
MI. Bonaparte uses the word arrahgeiheH''
and nothing that has ever come out III this 'oiI t
toversy iusifes that word. not even the ietter
OF February Is. But I feed very sure tlat men