Imperial Valley press., 1910-05-21
Gleason Says His Efforts Have Helped Rather Than
 Hindered.
Interior Department Favors LegisIa. tion to Protect Holders of Assign ments Who Are Not Accused of Fraud-Davis Decision Likely to be Sustained by Secretary.

According to letter written from Washington by I. w. Gleason under date of May 12, there was some hope of getting the bill for the relief of desert land claimants before the House out of regular order on Monday, May IA, but a two-t thirds vote would be required to bring it up.
 Mir. Gleason argues that his inter- vention with an amendment to the Senate bill expedited rather than re- tarded action on the bill by the House committed He says:
 The House had taken no action whatever when I got here about March 10, and I could not get the Public Land Commissioner to set a date for the consideration of any form of any bill until after they had taken up the consideration of the Railroad bill and the Presidents conservation bills, and then our case was hopeless, except by the appointment of a sub committee to hear and act on the matter in the afternoon while Con- gress was considering matters of mi nor importance and where the mem bers could be within call in case of a roll call
 "The Skinner vs. Davis decision will be sustained by the Secretary and make any legislation so unnecessary at the present time that nothing would have been done at this session if I had not come here and brought up these other matters for considera- tion, but the cloud of Judge We'll born's decision would have continued to hang over us, and it is entirely pos- sible, as MT. Lawler says, that the Hammers case may be decided on a collateral question and leave it still hanging over us.
 "This bill will pass if it can be brought to a vote and nothing Nole- man, Havens or Churchill ever has done has hindered in the least degree its coming to the voting stage. spent about three minutes time show ing Havens up, but neither that nor his attack upon me had any influence upon the legislation asked for.
 q came here much prejudiced against Oscar Lawler and I still think ho hac a worry much ovo 0uarofod ;daa of the extent and intent of fraud in Imperial Valley, but if you can once convince him that you have acted honestly you will find him willing to go as far to protect every honest per son as he has been to bring persons acting fraudulently to full punish ment."
 The substitute for the Senate bill was committed to the Committee of the whole May 5, Mir Smith reported: {:
 "The original bill had the approval of the Interior Department, but after the Senate took action thereon, the department concluded that the lan- guage should be changed in certain par ticularS. These changes are incorpor- ated in the substitute, but the intent or purpose of the bill is not changed.
 Briefly, the purpose of the bill is to allow bona fide assignees of desert entries to perfect title where the or iginal entryman had no intention of retaining the land but was in effect a dummy" The bill allows only those to take title who had no knowledge of the bad faith of the entryman.
 "The second section aims to cure a mistake made by the Land Depart ment. In a circular and form of af- fidavit required which was sent out a few years ago and which was in use for short time, those who, before patent, had disposed of desert en- try were permitted to take an assign ment of another one. About a dozen cases of this kind are known, and as the parties paid a good price for their claims and have further improved the land, 1t is thought they should not be deprived of their titles the error hay ing been caused by the Land Office,
 In letter to the chairman of this committee, the Secretary of the In, terlOr says: "The department Is mol disposed to ofrer any objections to the enactment of a law along the lines