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Show LAND BOARD BA$ I PITEAFL1RK Scrip Brokers Involve I Bookkeeper. I Agreed to Accept $192Q H to Refrain From Bidding. Story of Transaction Throws Light oa Clever Business in Public Lands. "Tho greatest disadvantage which tho Slate Land Board Is laboring under," re-marked re-marked a member roccntly, "Is that tho pcoplo do not know they have such a dc-partmenL dc-partmenL If they understood Its great Importance there would bo no hesitancy about giving thu board such legal relief and assistance as it needs." Strangely, tho people have been learn- 1 lng moro nbout tho board slnco The Tri-bune Tri-bune called attention' to Its financial ays-tern ays-tern last fall than thero has ever been known before. And Gov. Cutler, for somo purpose, Is aiding materially in the pub- -H Some say tho Governor's motives aro IH ulterior that he la desiring to find ex- J cusc for a general cleaning up of tho membership more than a purpose to servo tho public weal. Whatever his purpose, John C. Cutler Is tearing around in the land office like a bull in a china shop. He stirred up an ugly inesci a few days ago, and after mak- jH lng a few friends his confidants of his IH discovery, thus enabling them to further "get their hooks" Into former Gov. "Wells, jH he closed up liko a clam, Now some stories aro alloat that demand explanations, both on the part of the Cut- ler men, who want the jobs of tho lncum- H bents, and tho 1 'umbents themselves. Tho subject o he latent sensation la the Land bnnri' i land sale ln Cache IH county on Jni . r In which Tt couple Jl of represent ! . . 'and scrip brokers jl and a bookl' 1 .- . Utah State Land H hoard figur Slat -' iW ;- 'ame. ,H An alleged b. . 'so was in tho game, and . lnvestiga- 'H Hon made by Go "u'. on infor- nuttlon furnished h'.r. -tan; who had demanded $300 ab money. Fulling to secure th mid to havo disclosed to the e de- tails of the Cacho coui n. It Is an Interesting sto ca- sons than one. It' not o ....- a system employed by the G ' at d scrip brokers, but It shows - ' to Governor's policy that em, i.( - Tribune's stntemeut thnt th(. ' Ato- utlve Is camping on the trail of ,cnl of his predecessor. Government land scrip is procurca froi the Government through tho sale to th Government of lands purchased from the JH State for forest reserves. In other words. In the territory desirod by tho Govern-' ment for a forest reserve land is bought from tho State at a trifle per aero and IH then deeded to tho Government ln ox- , IH change for "scrip." This "scrip" is good IH for Government land in any State, re- gardlcss of tho value. Ono might buy IH for a trlflo lttO acres of tho most bar- rcn land of Utah, which he knew was I to bo mado a part of tho forest reserve, ! and obtain scrip that Is exchangeable, I acre for acre, for tho most valuablo tlm- 1 bcr or farming lands in any other State. jH Scrip Is Valuable. jJ So valuable has this scrip becomo that 'H several firms havo organized ln the JBH United States to Snap up State lands to 'H be made forest reserves. These arc pur-chased pur-chased usually for from $1 25 to 53 per acre. When a patent is received from tho Government tho purchaser exchanges the land for "scrip." This "scrip" goes i on the market. Lands worth from $5 to 5 an acre can bo purchased from tho ' Government with the "scrip," and a prof- jH ltablc business Is worked up ln this way .H by the brokers. They find purchasers of H tho scrip among settlers ln new countries. H For Instance, "scrip" socurcd from tho salo of bat-ren Utah land in tho forest reserve district will buy a like num- .H bcr of acres of tho finest grazing, timber or farming lands ln Idaho, Wash-lngton, Wash-lngton, Oregon or other Western States. One reason why tho "scrip" Is not im- H mensoly profitable is that few understand Its value. And if Its value wero under- stood, thero would be r'r " for tho forost reserve I-Stato I-Stato Tho brokers havu havo doubtless rogarded 1 their Intercuts to conduct a purchasers of tho "scrip" th. tlse their business nnd have - in tho bidding. It Is this disposition to deal quietly that developed this story. The expose Is really an accident. Operations in Utah. Utah owned thirteen sections in tho Cache county forest reserve. Tho first intention wiih to sell all of this lnnd. but, because of some objection mado by the H Interior department, owing to tho fact rnHHH that tho President had Issued a procla-ma procla-ma tion setting aside certain lands In Cache county for a forest reserve, and thero wns danger of trouble in securing patents for tho cntiro thirteen sections. 1 seven sections wero withdrawn and a B salo of six sections advertised for Janu- B 5, IM.'..' lnadequato notice of these sales and their conimonplacedness make them un- attractive, except to the brokers and a few persons who personally know the lo-cation lo-cation and character of the lands. The Cacho county forest reserve is mountainous grazing land. It Is said to rcseinblo very much tho land on tho Eftet bench. Salt Lake City, and the adjacent mountains. Tho probability is It win not bo a forest ln a thousand years. Tho sale of the six sections was not attract- It did attract two foreign scrip brokers. who have local representatives. And it attracted Badger Bros- local brokers and dealers In Government land scrip. One m of tho members of this firm is a hook-keeper hook-keeper In thu State Land office. Ho Is Jesso T Badger. Another brother lo tno H Bndgor'boys Is Carl Badger, private sec- jH rotarv to Senator Becd Smoot. H Jesse and his brother George havo bul t, VM up ciultc a respectablo brokerage- busl-ness busl-ness In this city, and havo beon dealing for some tlmo ln Goveraiu&ttt ccrlfe .which III Mipv arrived from tho sale ot Innds pur- S SmcS from the State and traded to the Government. . i Has Not Made Thousands, fi It Is stated that several "lousnnd ?ol- i lars havo been cleaned up In thin v.n. I1 " t Jcsw says tho story, is Berate.l. J as Is also tho claim that he as m do ue V of his position In the Land board to fur-1 fur-1 her his land deals. Ho says he has had I no information xhal was not on ; j records In tho L.Wd office-thai any on could havo learned as much as he or tho ! lands to bo sold by the Stato that v,cie , 'i a port of tho forest reserve. j Ho admits, however, that the puftuc ! does not undcwwnd- the "scrip deal i and It Is also true tho public makes no 1 inspection of the records of tho btatc Lje?Re 'works for S0 a month, -Ho has much to do Ho also Bays his brokerage business occupies much of his time. On tho day bof oro the Cache county . i ; je?e and representatives of two outside 3 brokers wont to Logan. One of t e re pre i m scntatlves was tho agent for William B. fi lanford of Springfield. Mo. Jcs se was I 11 not representing, th. Land board on this occasion. The sale was conducted b j 1 Herschol Bullcn, Jr., a member ot tho I M b Young Badgers presence at tho sale II disconcerted tho other broker's i aRcnJs. 1 1 They had ontorcd Into a contract to bid HI in the six sectlons-SSIO acres at tho low-31 low-31 est possible amount-at 53 per "ere. i Soon after reaching Logan the agents Nfl. of tho outsiders together approached J I Badger and after discovering his purpose 1 to attend the salo offered him 25 cents per 13 S acre not to bid. ITo declined to accept Q j I and later on they offered him 50 cents an Off 1 acre. Ho then communicated with l. is 9 f brother In Salt Lake, who suggested that At Badger Brothers bid In tho six sections ft Hi at the minimum price. S3, and contract f I to sell to the outsiders for S3.50 per ncro. 0 This was agreed on, 9 Difficulty Surmounted. . I i But a, dlfllculty presented itself on the 1 1 i j day of the sale. Badger Brothers hail 1 bought scrip from several Cache coun-1 coun-1 farmers and when it was known Jesse Igor was present it became apparont Goveral that a good thing was In it. Several of these suddenly wanted ic more scrip. It was evident there jld bo somo sharp bidding. Jesfie and agents held a conference It was dc-:d dc-:d that Badgor Brothers had bettor tend to be disinterested In the salo and mlt the other broker's agents to buy :he land, else the amount, by the very senco of Jeese. bo boosted up several ches. Theroforc Jcsso agreed to take cents an acre or 5103) and ostensl-keop ostensl-keop out of tho game. The land dldn t cgood at S3 an acre anyway. 3 soon ns Jcsso Badger evidenced no ire for the land tho Cache countlans light It was a hot brick and fought shy sale. There was but one bid. It was eed that one of the ngents bid It all ind then sell two sections to the other keep four for his principal. The sale ; mado In favor of William B. San-1 San-1 of Springfield. Mo., for $11,520. Was a Cash Sale. Ho Land ofllco was given to undcr-id undcr-id the sale was to be for cash that tlmo payment was not desired. All purchaser wanted was a patent. And the delivery ot tho patent Jesse Bad-or Bad-or Badger Brothers was to receive 5. lie patent came through with rccord-iklng rccord-iklng speed. It looked mighty good Badger Brothers. Ju3t like shaking D out of some bush, ut a breaker was ahead. Tho agents not been discreet. Anothor fellow had ked Into the confidence of Uio bro-'s bro-'s agents. Each thought he was an Delate of tho other and well, they li "coughed up" the entire deal, is said this interloper wept to Jesso iger and demanded $300 as a fee for silence. Jesse Is reported to havo deed de-ed to be "held up." Later a Salt Lako yer Is alleged to have tried to per-de per-de Jesse It was to his interest to sot-that sot-that $500 demanded. Badger said ho acted simply as u broker and that he :ld not be mulcted, hen Gov. Cutler "got next" and bc-i bc-i to tfig. ' He reported to the Land rd. A meeting was held and the mat-Investigated. mat-Investigated. The board decided that State had lost nothing that the sale i a good one considering the character the land. Tho board did not want to c up that 111.520. Badger on the Carpet, ov. Cutler had Jesse Badger on tho pet and he declined to approve of the Ivery of the patents. Two membera the board approached Badger and :ed him If he would give over his fees he patent were delivered. He answered t he was only a member of tho firm of gcr Brothers, and could not speak for rtrm . m. he patent was not delivered. The solo s declared off. The land will havo to '-fxsold. ecn last night, Jesse Badger corrobo-ed corrobo-ed In every impormnt dotall the story ounted He said he had not acted as employee of the Land board, but that was a part of his business as a iker to deal In land scrip. Tie said liad no private Information that would 1st him. He denied that he had mado ge sums In similar transactions, but 1 purchased some scrip. He recited the nsactlons In Cache substantially as 3, and said the Land board and tho pernor had inquired as to the transac-n transac-n He also said a committee had itcd on him and asked If ho would turn jr his fee to secure tho delivery of tho :ent. This he declined to do. Te says his transaction was above ml, and he has no defense to make ier than that ho acted In oj legitimate ilness capacity. ' Ic further declared that he had never rained from bidding at these sales lie acting as clerk to tho -board for a isldoratJon, as Is alleged. He did not to Logan on the time of tho board, L -was there on his own time and cx-ise. cx-ise. He said that there Is usually no alrv In bidding for Stato lands, and s fs taken advantago of by tho scrip )kers. t is said there Is a new chapter to this itter that is likely to involve others in serious way. |