Show THE LAND FRAUDS has been common knowledge tor years that the public lands of the I 1 united states were being stolen but the extant of the unlawful practice has reached proportions that in the aggregate make a surprising showing an authority on the subject william R lighten has presented i statement to the boston transcript almost beyond belief he estimates that within the last fifteen years there has been stolen from tho public domain lot less than acoca an area that would make thirty states of the size of massachusetts flye states as large as new york or three states as large as kansas when the truth Is cnown as it may bo by and by these figures will doubtless be doubled trebled or quadrupled the present statement is one justified by present knowledge A recent grand jury investigation in california backed up by other official inquiry disclosed that one man alone in that state holds title to nearly acres acquired within the time named by the flagrant process of theft there are dozens and even scores of men choso whoso lings will run from to 1000 acres or more the extent of their grabs depending principally upon their ability to swing the transactions to a successful issue no reference is made to the solemn deml chicanery of the railroad land grants or to the equally bald grants in the southwest glossing over earlier those deals appear by comparison impeccably honest and above reproach this charge relates only to such downright outright de liberate stealing as cannot be described by any other name bearing no stamp of formal official approval wherever there Is a body of public land large enough to make a bait worth swallowing there tho thefts are going on lauds of every description are included millions of of the rich valleys of california have been stolen millions of acres of grazing lands on the plains ot kansas nebraska dakota wyoming and montana have ben stolen millions of acres of timber land in northern california oregon washington wyoming and montana have been stolen not to mention the earlier lings in the now almost devastated timber regions of michigan wisconsin and minnesota and now the lumber thieves are plying their shameless trade er in iho new holds ot mississippi and other undeveloped districts of the south unnumbered acres of mineral jand have been stolen in fact nothing worth stealing has escaped the claich of thes bold outlaws amr lighten in his article in alu transcript holds the interior depan ment responsible for to frauds and he says the interior department and particularly ticul arly the general land office hag been aware of tn almost since their inception knowledge has been not merely constructive but actual the official records and latter altes are reeking with information amply sufficient to justify an upheaval at any time these last twenty years it has been absolutely shown that john A benson of california the premier thief of the lot in daring audacity was hail fellow for a dozen years or more with the gentlemen of the washington offices coming and going and conducting himself like a visiting nabob and ho was not a bit lonesome if tiro sunlight is ever let into the interior recesses of this branch of the interior department it nill certainly be apparent that banson had plenty of company of his own kind official and otherwise and lastly land affairs are now in charge of former governor richards of wyoming mr richards is a man of good repute there is nothing to be said him in the matter of his native integrity but he comas from wyoming as governor his official residence was cheyenne in the heart of the cattle country where ome of the gravest of these crimes have long been carried on cheyenne was headquarters for many of the biggest thieves mr richards meaning no disrespect is what is known as a mixer with a native faculty 0 getting next to tho people and keeping a sensitive fengar upon the pulse of affair s there was no secrecy in wyoming concerning the frauds every school boy above the kindergarten grade knows something about them only by the vanest hocus can it be urged that mr richards hag come to the present day devoid of knowledge of what hats been going on since the planting of iro fence on tho plains |