The Washington times., 1911-07-11
HOUSE PROBERS TO
OUESTIONC P. TAFT
Alaskan Inquiry Will Also Bring Forth Daniel Guggen-
helm, Promoter Ryan, and Other Not
ables as Witnesses.

, cluded the usual requirement of thirty
| days notice before the lands could be
entered and sixty days notice before
! they could be settled. This requirement
was cut out before the order was signed
by the President
! Ryan, having exclusive knowledge that
| the lands were opened, enjoyed a long
handicap over any possible competitors.
The notice Of this Executives order was
mailed to the land office at Juneau No
vember 3, 1910-six days after II was
signed. By mail 1t would take about
two weeks to get there.
But on November /, long before the
order could possibly have got there, sur
veyors were on the lands making the
survey which the law requires before
entries may be made. 1t would have
been utterly impossible to get survey
ors there at that time unless they had
been waiting for a tip from Washing
ton by telegraph. Ryan, secure In a
monopoly Of his precious information,
could wire his waiting surveyors to get
busy and perfect the last preliminary
to entry.
By December / the surveys were per-
fected, according to the record. That
would have been utterly impossible II
the tip had not been given BY wire to
a waiting corps Of surveyors. But sun
more remarkable is the next aspect OF
the record of the case:
On December IA Ryan went the the
War Department in Washington and
filed an amended location for his rail-
road, and the terminal land to which
the claims had meanwhile been filed.
How did that map get back 10 Wash
ington so soon? Delegate WIckersham
of Alaska declares it was physically
impossible. How did 1t happen?
Method of circumvention.
The committee proposes 20 answer all
those questions about the annihilatio
Of time hU he dayalnnrY1anf
of a sordid and suggestive story. Here
it is. in brief:
Ryan got advance information that
his executive order was going to be is
sued. So as early as July l., accord
ing to the Dick Dick note, he was
able to say that the President was
making no further Objection.
II is common Alaska knowledge that
about the middle OF September Ryan
turned up in Alaska, at Controller Bay,
with five miles of wire and assistance
to help him stake off the land he
wanted
A Forest Service officer warned him
not to trespass Wake up," replied
Ryan, this is no national forest land -
Ryan finished his job ana hurried
back to Washington to file his map.
The committee proposes to snow that
that survey was actually made weeks
before the dates ii bears, aid before
the Executive order was actually is
sued. 1t is proposed to prove that the
survey made in September was filed
under later dates, so as to make 1t
appear 10 have been made subsequent
to the issue OF the Executive order.
To prove all these things, the COM
mittee will bring here witnesses from
Alaska, including probably the regis
ter and receiver of the Juneau land
office.
In substance, then, the committee
proposes to prove, entirely aside from
the question whether there ever was
"Dick-D Dick" letter, that Ryan had
advance information that the lands
would De opened: that with that in
formation he got surveys made in
September: that after he had his pre-
liminaries all set up the Executive
order issued in October; that the sur
veys made in September were filed
as of November and December: that
Immediately thereafter, while ell pos
sible competitors for this land were
still ignorant that they they were
opened, filings were made on them in
the names of Ryan's brother and
members Of the banking firm which
was backing Ryan: and that through
all these remarkable operations Ryan
got the land he wanted. and the syn
dicate will ultimately get it from
him.