| Show LAND REV ae W fraudulent En entries tiles responsibility of settlers faor efforts of land department part ment to prevent frauds editor almost ever since the passage of the preemption pre emption law the first longres enactment intended to protect the poor man against the rich purchaser e r a and nd to secure homes tor actual settlers setlers t complaints have been rite rife respecting spec ting fraudulent land entries the homestead timber coture des ert other laws have afforded additional opportunities for the perpetration pet ration of frauds which have not been allowed to pass unused from every quarter the cry of fraud is heard in conne cdon with disposals of thre the public domain so 80 rt faras far as fraudulent entries und under r what are termed settlement laws are concerned the people of every section have the remedy ta la their own hands the acquirement acquire meat of title to public land under a fraudulent preemption pre emption homestead timber culture or desert jand and entry is a matter of impossibility unless the transaction be winked at and the perpetrator of the fraud be aided an and abetted by persons la in the immediate neighborhood under nearly all of these laws tie the is required to publish notice of his intention to make fin final al proof namin the time when the tue place where and the officer before wham the proof will be submitted it his entry has been fraudulently initiated or it if he has bas not complied compiled with the requirements of the statute governing such cases his neigh neighbors borg surely know it and with very little trouble and expense they can either before or on the day of making final proof enter protest against the issuance of patent an the entry which will put the government on the inquiry and in nine cases out of ten defeat the attempted fraud but it seems that the men who are willing to put themselves to a little inconvenience for the public good are very scarce as few it if any protests of this kind arai filled tor for the sole purpose of protecting the public domain from spoliation at least seven tenths of the protests entered are the result of spite neighborhood qua quarrels aels or a desire upon the part of the protestant to secure the land himself robbery of uncle sam by taking his lands without giving an equivalent does not t seem to be considered by he massof mass of the people a very serious ot of bense men who would lire are guns ring bells and rouse the whole country should they detect a thief with his hands hanas irk in the national money vaults helping himself will VIt without hout concern or smiling over the trick that is being played witness the commission of pe perjury alie ury by three men and a robbery of the people to the extent of a quarter of a section of land valued atrom at from to men who are known to have perjured themselves in ia connection claims either as principal or witness so that acres or less of land might be stolen from the government mingle treely freely in society and are honored and respected by their fellow men while the man who steals a horse horae from his bis neighbor is by the same community 8 summarily uni marily hanged banged to ali atie e first tree the government has in its employ special agents whose duty itis to investigate fraudulent entries and the land department is ia making every possible effort to suppress ana prevent f frauds any citizen cognizant of an attempt to fraudulently acquire title to land may secure an investigation and bring the offender to tOju josf sice lee by simply reporting the facts M t the commissioner of the general land office so long as they tail lail to do so frauds will contin continue u e to be perpetrated and the people must take the blame HENRY COPP |
