The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-26
COOLIDGE OPENS TRAIL TO HUGE
 LAND SCANDAL
Asks Congress To Probe 40,O00,0 ,000-Acre Grant # Northern Pacific
WALLACE AND WORKS
 E CHARGES TO BE SIFTED
Charged The Railroad Has Failed To Comply With Require
 ments Of Grant

], WASHINGTON, Feb. 25.-President Coolidge has set Congress on the trail of what will prove to be another great scandal, in which the government was defrauded of thousands of acres of rich western lands, if charges made by the department of agriculture and the de- partment of interior are found to be cor rect.
 .s Congress has been asked by President Coolidge to investigate the land grant of 1864, conveying 100000 acres of western land to the Northern Pacific railroad to determine whether the com psny is entitled to the remaining 4yOOO,- GOO acres not yet patented to it.
 The President has written letter to Chairman Lenroot of the public lands committee. requesting investiga- .tion of the charges of Secretary of Az riculture Wallace and Secretary of In. terior Work, who allege that the rail- road has failed to comply with require ments of the original grant and should therefore forfeit its claims to the re- maining 100000 acres, covering rich forest lands, now in possession of the government.
 U. s. Has Been Generous
 'The United States has granted lav- ishly of it's public resources to aid the extension of transportation facilities, and thereby the economic development of the western states" the President wrote. "NO question as to the wisdom of that policy is involved. That the legal and equitable claims of the grantee should be fully weighed and safeguard ed goes without saying.
 But it is still more imperative that the interests of the public. both in the possession and conservation of valuable natural resources and in the accom- plishment of the purposes for which the grant was made, be adequately protect ed in an equitable settlement of this question.
 T therefore urge upon your com mittee the importance of action, as early as possible, which shall look to the fullest protection of the public in terests herewith concerned"
 Briefly, Secretary Wallace, with Sec retary Work concurring, makes the fol- lowing complaints:
 List Of Complaints
 1. Gross receipts of the Northern Pa cific from sale of public land amounts to $136, 100000, while the cost of con- structing the road was $70,000, 900, the sale of lands paying for the cost of the railroad nearly twice over.
 2. That the Northern Pacific failed to construct 1,500 miles of its line within the time required hy law, there by errRsnring the grant subject to for
 3. That the road failed to dispose of certain lands to settlers at not more than $2.50 an acre, and failed to dis pose of hundreds of thousands of acres nt public sale as required by law.
 4. That hundreds of thousands of acres of poor land in the grant were err roneously classified as mineral and turned back to the government, the road acquiring indemnity rights which were applied on more valuable lands.
 5. That the road obtained 1,500, 900 too many acres in the state of Washing ton.
 6. That 5O0.OOO acres should be de- ducted from the grant because of con flict with the grant to another road.
 z. That 640,O00 acres were erroneous ly allowed through the Tacoma overlap, and 100000 acres in the Wallula over lap.
 s. That for lands erroneously pat ented, the government should receive what the road received in sale instead of $1.25 per acre.
 3. That thousands of acres of com mercially worthless land was turned back to the government for Mount Rainier park. the road receiving there for the finest lands it could find in Ore gon. Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wiscon- sin,