| Show 0 government DISMISSES OIL SUITS A press dispatch from los angeles says holding that the evidence of fraud was inconclusive judge benjamin F bledstein bledsoe Bledso ein in the united states district court dismissed six consolidated suits filed by the government against the southern pacific company and other companies and individuals seeking to have set aside patents to valuable oil lands in the san joaquin valley the litigation involved acres of oil bearing land valued at the government alleged the southern pacific company obtained patents to the land on affidavits declaring it to be chiefly valuable for agricultural purposes the six cases were known as the bil lion dollar suits because of the value of land involved and an accounting of all proceeds of the sale of oil taken from the property during a period of twenty years the property involved extended along the west side of the san joaquin valley for a distance of miles the sections affected were patented to the railroad under the congressional act of 1866 giving it the odd numbered sections each side of the track for a distance of twenty miles the cases were tried before judge bledsoe who personally heard all of the testimony moving his court from place to place for that purpose an innovation in federal practice testimony was taken in new york washington san francisco los angeles and fresno and covered a period of more than a year about pages of testimony were taken and several thousand exhibits introduced the government contended that the rah road selected the lands with an actual knowledge on the part of its owners and officers that they were valuable oil lands not and that an actual fraud was committed these officers C P huntington leland stanford charles crocker owners and directors A N towne general manager jerome madden land agent and william singer jr land attorney all were dead when the suit was filed all their surviving associates denied there was any such knowledge in the statements or conduct of the officers accused |
