The Athena press. [volume] (Athena, Umatilla County, Or.) 18??-1942, 1910-01-14
HERMANN ON TRIAL
His Part In The Attempt at Stupen.
dous Land Fraud in Oregon to
Be Ventilated.

| Binger Hermann, who for 16 years
represented Oregon in the national
house of representatives and for sew
eral years was commissioner OF the
general land office in the United
States district court at Portland is
facing the charge of conspiracy to
defraud the United States government
of part of the public domain.
| Facing each other before United
States District Judge Charles e. VOL
verton, on behalf of the government
is, Francis J. Heney, special proseout-
or and. senior counsel--the man who
secured the convictions in the pre-
! vious land fraud cases in Oregon; !;
John McCouTt, United States district
attorney for Oregon, and Tracey @.
Becker, assistant to the attorney gem
eral of the United States. Hermann
is represented by Colonel A. s. Wor-
.thington of Washington. D. g., who
secured his clients acquittal on a
charge of destroying 40 letter copy
books alleged to have been the proper
| ty of the government land Office in
Washington, and former United States
Senator John NJ. Gearin of Portland,
one Of the most astute lawyers in
Oregon.
The indictment under which Her
mann is to be tried was returned in
1905. and the conspiracy it alleges
was the most stupendous of all the
| Oregon land fraud cases. Hermann
was jointly indicted with the late
United States Senator John Fl. Mitch
ell, former state senator and ex-
deputy United States Attorney Frank
lin Pierce Mays, former State rep
resentative Willard N. Jones, George
Sorenson, a prominent politician, and
Fl. A. Smith, deceased. Of these
Mays. Jones and Sorenson were on
September IL, 1905, convicted as
charged in the indictment. Senator
Mitchell and Smith died without com-
ing to trial under it; Congressman
Williamson was convicted under an
other indictment and following the
procedure of the government prosecut-
ors in the Oregon land fraud cases
was not tried on this indictment. K
Hermann's trial under this indict-
ment has been postponed year after
year. some times at his own request
and some times by the inability. for
various reasons, of Francis j. Heney
I to conduct the trial.
At the trial of Mays, Jones and Sor-
enson, who were convicted under this
| indictment witnesses testified that
, they oonspired to have set apart as
! forest reserve 100000 acres of land
in Oregon and other states.
In this State the reserve was to be
known as the "Blue Mountain forest
reserve" and comprised 10000 acres
in the eastern part of the state. This
land, according to witnesses. was
then covered mostly by sagebrush and
| bunchgrass. The testimony showed
| that Mays, Jones and Sorenson sought
to benefit by securing the $4,000 acres
of state school lands embraced within
the reserve. which they proposed to
use as base" for exchange for val
liable timber land located in other
parts of the state. a privilege granted
/ by the act of congress approved June
A. 1897.
Evidence was introduced apparently
intended to show that this trio secur
cd, though fatty in violation of the
law, both advance information as to
the identity of the government agent
who was to pass on the merits of the
proposed reserve and advance infor-
nation as to the date the temporary
/ Withdrawals was made, and that the
information on this latter point was
given out by Hermann. then COM
missioner of the general lanc office.