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Show Land-Grabbers Make, a Business of Defrauding Defraud-ing the Natives Sulphur, Okla., A up in "Every Inch of land owned by ludlan Is looked upon as the legitimate piey of lht land grabbers." This statement was made today by a member of the commission appointed appoint-ed by tho house of representatives to investigate land contracts. Besides the charges of Senator Gore that ho was offered a $.i),000 bribe to "boost the McMurray contracts In congress," tho commission has been inquiring into tho other Indian land conditions. "Some of the land grabbers' schemes certainly Hhould be culled to the attention of cougress," said a committeeman. "One man, we have learned, has beeotuo rich He kept a i:st of the Indians who owned allotted allot-ted lands Whenever an Indian died he rushed into court, had a guardian appointed, and, with the connivance of the guardian, demanded that the land be sold under a. ridiculously low valuation. "For a few hundred dollars 'he hai bought whole sections of land This man, who Is only one of mauy starting start-ing with no capital, now owns 10,000 acres, lor which he paid the Indians no adequate compensation. "vYk there are In Oklahoma something some-thing like 20,000,000 acres of Indian la. ids, It seems absolutely imperative that congress take prompt step3 to prevent further land grabbing ." Details of J. C. Mcllurray's alleged activity at Washington to promote hi,; 10 per ccut attorney fees contracts con-tracts In the sale of $30,000,000 worth of Indian lands were related before the Investigating committee today. W. B. Johnson, former UDlted States attorney, today testified that ceitain indictments against McMurray McMur-ray In 1905 were ordered dismissed ty the attorney general. The Indlctmenu were returned against McMurray und others in connection con-nection with a J3O0.0O0 expense account ac-count which McMurroy's firm had fl.ed agaJust the Indians in prosecuting prosecut-ing citizenship cases. It was alleged in the indictment that the expense account had beeD padded. At the time the Indictments wero being investigated, Cecil Lyon, .a-H .a-H 'uol Republican committeeman for Texas, was in Washington, Mr. Lyon previously haJ testMed that he had urged the attorney general to Inves- t'.xatc the indictments, but he ue-dared ue-dared be never asked that they be dtsmissd. The indictments later wcr ordered dismissed Mr. Lyon then became Interested with McMurray in what are known ar, the old tribal contracts, and talked with President Roosevelt in regard to them. Cub Ream, an Indian, testified that be had been prevented from procuring procur-ing the position of delegate to Washington Wash-ington for the Chickasaw tribe because be-cause he was opposed to the McMurray McMur-ray contracts Ream declared he had protested to the Indians that a 10 per cent fee to McMurray would bo too high, nnd that the government already al-ready had promised to eell the lands vtthout expense to them. It would therefore, he said, amount to giving McMurray $3,000,000 for doing what the government would perform without with-out McMurray's aid. For taking this lew, he said, he was not allowed to represent the Indians aO Washington. |