The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1909-05-11
Wants Grand Jury Which Is
Re-1nvestigating Charges
Dismissed
CRIME WAS COMMITTED N
THE TERRITORY, He SAYS
No Provision in Enabling Act to Per.
NIT Federal Courts to Investigate
Grimes Committed Prior to the Ad.
mission of the State.

and the six other Oklahonians will, II
is stated, move that the federal grand
jury, called to re-investigate the
Muskogee town lot cases. De dismiss
ed. This move is to be made when
the jury is organized, which probably
will be late tomorrow. The ground
set up for dismissal will be that in
the enabling act, whereby the terri
tory and Oklahoma were -rmitted to
become a state. there. is no method
prescribed by congress for investigat-
ing cases committed ia the territories
=, prior to statehood and that the fed
eral court has no jurisdiction over
such cases
The prosecution has 100 witnesses
to examine, and. District Attorney
Gregg Is quoted as saying the investi-
cation would last two weeks and pos
sibly Q month.
Haskell's Statement.
Guthrie, Okla, May 11.-Gov. Chas'
N. Haskell, issued a statement today
respecting his connection with the So
called Mott Civil Land suits. and the
action Of Federal Judge Campbell
who at Muskogee, on Saturday. over
ruled a motion Of the defendant.
The decision, the governor says.
was in the cases brought by the gov
ernment to recover additional moneys
for town lots in Muskogee aid several
other Creek nation towns.
Judge Campbell's decision" says
Gov. Haskell, merely overrules the
defendants demurrer to the govern
ment's petition which was principally
q question of the jurisdiction OF the
court to hear their. suits at the in-
. stance of the interior department, and
after overruling the demurrer. the
court gave the defendants permission
to answer, quoting the facts alleged
in the governments petition on issue
/ for future trial. In the civil cases
the government alleges that there was
a conspiracy between the owners and
schedulers of the lots and that the
Creek nation and the government Of
! f1cers had no knowledge of the plans
of scheduling. The Investigation Of
the criminal cases discloses the fact
that the United States officials not on
ly had knowledge but approved the
plan. and the decision has no bearing
on the criminal prosecutions.
"The suits included other Creek ma
. ton towns as we'll as Nuskogee
Three thousand acres of Muskogee
townsite could not be involved be-
cause the government townsite only
contained $500 acres, total area. OF
which fully four-fifths had been
scheduled to owners of improvements
:hereon, and the government does not
question such scheduling. Less than
.one-fifth of the town plat was pasture
lots and cultivated fields, without i'm
provements, and 1t is part of this
one-flfth only. that the government
now questions.
"The total valuation on all unim-
proved lands so plated by the gov
iernment was less than fifty thousand
dollars.
'The governments complaint does
not extend over more than half of the
unimproved plated land, and is to the
effect that the whole valuation instead
of one-half thereof should have been
realized by the government, SO that
in no event does the government COM
plain of the loss of more than twenty
five thousand dollars.
> These complaints in the civil cases
involve over 100 people in Muskogee
alone, but the government has seen fit
to seek indictments only against Gov.
Haskell and six other associates.
THE government claims that Has
kell is an official of corporation
that secured a small portion Of the
above unimproved lots, the govern
ment valuation of which was less than
thirty-five hundred dollars, so that the
real government complaint against
the corporation that Haskell was con-
nected with, in dollars and cents. is
less than seventeen hundred and fifty
dollars, and Haskell's interest as a
stockholder in said corporation was
claimed to be about two per cent.
"The above correction is the strong
est statement that can be made
against these defendants, from the
governments claims, based on its
final records, and the defendants al
lege they will be able to show that the
government has no cause for COM
plaint."
DO NOT AGREE
Rival (lrna niz nfi0ns m NOt Settle