The Washington herald., 1911-08-21
|. R. FARR FILES
CHARGES OF FRAUD
Former Indian Service Off
cial Denounces Valentine.
ALLEGATIONS ARE IGNORED
Conspiracy to Defraud Indian Al
Iotters AlIeged-Timber Cutting
Contracts Basis of New Charges.
Commissioner of Indian Affairs
Agreed with Contractor.

Joseph r. Farr, formerly general su-
perintendent of logging in the Indian
Service. who recently sued Robert G.
Valentine. Commissioner of Indian At
fairs, for slander and libel, and subse-
quently wrote an open letter to the Sec
retary of the Interior, has filed with the
Senate and House Committees on Indian
Affairs specific charges of wrongdoing
On the part of Commissioner Valentine
and other officials Of the Indian Office.
1t is evident from Mr.. Fairs course
that he is determined to force an in
vestigation, and that having made
charges to the Secretary of the Interior
which have been ignored for three
months, as related in Fairs open letter
published August 4, he now intends that
Congress shall have all the facts, and
that the long-drawn-out course Of con-
duct in the Wiley case shall not be re-
peated in this.
Conspiracy Charged.
His letter TO the Congressional COM
mittees is as follows:
Hon. Robert J. Gamble chairman Committee on
Indian Affairs United States Senate, Washing
ton, D. c.
Sir: l charge and offer to prove that
R G. Valentine, Commissioner of Indian
Affairs, and C. F. Hauke, Second Assist
ant Commissioner of Indian Affairs, have
conspired with each other and with other
persons for the preparation of a fraud
upon certain Indian allottees of the Lac
du Flambeau Reservation in Wisconsin.
Under valid contracts with said al
Iottees, the Flambeau Lumber Company,
of Lac du Flambeau, Wis, solvent
and responsible concern, was bound to
log all merchantable timber upon said
allotments, and pay for the same at
agreed prices, taking all risk of deteri-
Grafton of the timber.
The time for the performance of these
contracts having expired without the tim
Der having been completely logged. it
was necessary to require proper exten-
sion contracts to be entered into, to the
end that the timber might be completely
logged, or to enforce payment for the
timber not yet paid for, whether 1t was
cut or not.
Negotiated with Company.
In the performance of my duty as
Indian service 1 negotiated with the
Flambeau Lumber Company on March
Is, 1911, an agreement by which that COM
pany was to make extension contracts
with the said Indian aIlottees, which
would secure payment for all their tim
Der at the same rate that would have ap-
piled had the timber been all cut prior
to the expiration of the original period,
the company continuing to take all risk
of DETERIORATION Of said timber.
This agreement was submitted to the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs by me
on March 10, 1911, with the recommenda-
ton that 1t be approved. He refused to
approve it on the ground, as he falsely
alleged, that an offer OF a more advan-
tageous agreement had been made to
him by the Flambeau Lumber Company
on March 3, 1911.
Indians Rights Forgotten.
subsequently, however, the said R.
6. Valentine and the said C. F. Hauke
caused a stipulation to be entered into
on June 13, 1911, by representatives of the
Indian Office with the said Flambeau
Lumber Company, whereby the Indian
Office agreed not to enforce rights of the
said Indian allottees under their said
contracts, which Were clearly enforcible
and which it was the duty of the Com
missioner of Indian Affairs to enforce,
and for the complete enforcement of
which the agreement which I negotiated
with the Flambeau Lumber Company on
March Is, 1911, and which the said Valen-
tine refused to approve, fully provided.
These contracts covered the sale of
all the merchantable timber of the species
named, and required the contractor to
remove it, so as to prevent any de-
terioration. The record shows that a
considerable amount of hardwood and
hemlock has not been cut, and that a
considerable portion has been burned
since the contracts were entered into,
which. by reason of the consequent de-
terioration, would not at this time be
merchantable, but which, under the
terms of the contracts. the contractor is
bound to pay for as merchantable tim
ber, for the reason that 1t was his duty
to remove it prior to its deterioration.
Desirable Timber Cut.
In his operations, the contractor has
already cut the more desirable timber in
quality and location, and the timber now
in question consists for the most part
of inferior species, in comparatively
small amounts, scattered all over the
reservation, some of which would not
now be merchantable by reason of hav-
ing been burned over and not promptly
logged thereafter. but all of which the
contractor is bound by the contracts to
pay for, although on account of the con-
ditions above stated II would be very
much more expensive for him to log
than the timber which he has already
cut with great profit, and, in fact, in
certain instances, If held TO his contract
he would prefer to pay for the timber
and leave it standing rather than log it
And, as to this last, II may be said
that it would not be unfair to require
him to do so. for the reason that he
has already made a handsome profit out
of the timber previosly cut to great ad-
vantage by disregarding the timber in
question.
1T is the duty of the Commissioner
IF Indian Affairs to enforce the rights
IF the Indians under these contracts
put he has agreed with the contractor
lot to do so.
Il further charge and offer to prove
that as a part Of the proceedings re.
sulting in the negotiation of the stip-
ulation of June IS. 1911, above referred
10, the said r. G. Valentine and the
Iaid G. F. Hauke restored to official