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About Morning Oregonian. (Portland, Or.) 1861-1937 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 28, 1906)
PLUNDERERS OF 'S Senator Warren Said to Lead Them. HERMANN ONE OF HIS TOOLS Government Grip Tightens on Utah Land Thieves. MANY OFFICIALS INVOLVED Machinery of T.nw at Work Against Mm W ho Kuled Land Office to Hob Nation Kvlrience Against Hermann. S$.U,T LAKK :iTV. Utah. Nov. 27. (.Special.) Tho frrip of the Government and of justice is tightening slowly about the organized gang's which, it is alleged, have for yearn, with the con nivance of the and Department, robbed the public domain of coul, mineral and timber land valued at many milions of 'dollars. In the end, it is stated, every member of these praiiR.s, whether lie bo a plain citizen of the United States or occupies IiIkIi official position, will be made to answer in the criminal courts for bis complicity in the most gigantic frauds Hiil ever to 'have been rerpetratcd on the United States Gov ernment. . Here at Salt Dakc City another step is being taken toward the end which President Roosevelt Is seeking eagerly, namely, the punishment of all corpora tions and all persons who shall be shown to have assisted in the whole sale pilfering- of public lands. Inci dentally this move toward justice and toward the restoration to tho Govern ment of its own is resulting in the re organization of the Department of the Interior, including the Land Office. Few persons except those residing In tho states in which theso enormous steal ings have been perpetrated realize the enormity of the crimes which are al leged to have been committed against the Rational and some state Govern ments. All Kuiinins Down Thieves. Every agency of the Government, in cluding the Interstate Commerce Com mission, tho secret service, tlio Fed eral grand jury and the court of equity, has been set in motion to accomplish tho end desired. While the Interstate Commerce Commission is taking testi mony here tending to show that the Kio Grande railroad and its allied com panies, the Utah Fuel Company and the Pleasant Valley Coal Company, have been securing ' by fraudulent means all of the coal land in the Ptate of Utah and consequently build ing up their monopoly in this line, the Federal grand jury here is awaiting the outcome of the hearing with a view to gathering all of the guilty ones into its net. SSuits to Itecover Lund. M. C. Buivh, special attorney of the Department of Justice, who has been Riven charge of the prosecution of all land fraud cases, is here, giving his support to the Commission and gathering data with a view to bringing later the necessary suits to recover land which is alleged to have been stolen. , Mr. Bureh is preparing to bring suits in Wyoming for the recovery of many thou sand acres of lands. He already has be cun five suits in this stale against the Denver Rio-Grande Railroad Company, tiie Utah Fuel Company and the Pleasant Valley Cn.il Company, seeking to recover mure than 20.0U0 acres alleged to have been tciken illegally from the Govern ment. Owing to the statute of limita tions, the Government cannot go back beyond a period of six years, but the land frauds already uncovered and which will be disclosed during this period are to stupendous as almost to stagger the imagination. The peculations of which the govern Mayor Lane In Thankful for a "ic Year Not. mm DOM N .4 ment complains have been perpetrated in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Montana, New. Mexico, California. Oregon and possibly in other states. The robberies of the pub lic domain have been almost as extensive, it Is charged. In timber land as in mineral land. Senator Warren at Head. That uch enormous frauds, extending through a long period of years, could not have been perpetrated without the complicity of the Land Department is said to be a patent fact. During the hearing here today a glimpse of the real power behind the throne was given when it was stated by "Government land agents that they had been compelled to see Senator Francis E. "Warren regarding official business of the Land Department. Senator Warren is charged with having ruled the Land Office for a number of years. It was his influence and that of Senator Clark which secured the appointment, during Presi dent McKinley's administration, of "Willis : ' i ;' $w' "' I "HZ - wa"""'"' t I I W - ! - t4 ' a. jr ' ; -A : "'. t, -syf . ' Senutor JYaiiris K. Warren of Wyoming. Vandevanter to be Assistant Attorney General for the Interior Department. Vandervanter was tho legal conscience of the Iind Department, and Vandevanter had been attorney for the companies charged with stealing the land. It was "Warren who made Congressman Frank "W. Mondell Assistant Land Commissioner, who later put Binger Hermann in the position of Commissioner and who suc ceeded him by present Commissioner Richards. It is "Warren, it Is claimed who still controls the land offices from Nebraska and the Dakotas to California and Alaska. , . Lid Held On at Washington. The evidence today showed that special agents of the Government Land Depart ment have been protesting for several years against the fraudulent acquisition of land in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, but without avail, and that in several instances they were either suspended, transferred or told flatly that the irregu larities of which they complained wero none of their business. Michael A. Myen dorff, now agent of the Land Department at Portland. Or., was for 16 months agent of the Department at Denver and has been in the service for 2S years. Myen dorff was the principal witness today and laid bare much of the official rottenness of the gigantic land grabs. CLOSEI EVES TO LAND FRAUDS Hermann Involved In Utah Cases. Clurk Calls Lawyer's Bluff. SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 27. "It is none of your business," is the answer which the General Land Office at Wash ington gave Charles Kingston, former Register of the Land Office at Evanston, Wye. when he reported that he sus pected irregularities in connection with applications to enter coal land and asked for, instructions to allowing the entries. This is the testimony which Mr. Kingston gave today before Interstate Commerce Commissioner E. E. Clark, who began an inquiry into the coal monopoly of the intermountain country today. At the time Mr. Kingston referred to Binger Hermann, of Oregon, was Com missioner of the General Land Office. In the course qf the proceedings E. M. Allison, Jr., one of the attorneys repre senting the Rio Grande Railroad, mado a speech which Mr. Clark interpreted as a threat and was given a severe rebuke. Dynamite Keeps Out Opposition.' The principal witness at the forenoon session was Robert S. Spence, of Evan ston, Wyo., an attorney, who told of the methods of the Union Pacific Coal Com pany in acquiring coal lands in Wyoming and in keeping out opposition companies. He testified that agents of the Union Pa cific Company used dynamite in Iheir ef forts to keep men with oil-drilling ma chinery out of Uinta County, Wyoming. (Concluded on Pase 4.) THE SIX HARD Qntet John D. Is Thankful That Colnmbn Its covered America for Him TAKES FI LIS TO SECURE Wholesale Poisoningby Young Woman. HUSBAND AND CHILDREN FIRST Landlady and Her Brother Share Same Fate. EXHUMING THE BODIES Bridget Carey's Two Little Girls Killed AVith Poisoned Candy to Gain Insurance All Deaths Within One Year. PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 27. The most remarkable case of wholesale poisoning of persons to secure insurance money that has ever been unearthed in this city has been charged against Bridget Cares-, who was arrested tonight. The woman, who is 32 years old. is charged with having poisoned her husband, Pat rick, her two children, Mary aged 8 years, and Annie, aged six. who died a week ago, and Patriek and Celia Cook, tenants in the Carey house at 1942 Hamilton Street. Got $1000 for live Murders. All of the alleged victims died within elevei months, and the police allege that Mrs! Carey benefited by their deaths to the extent of J1000 through collection of insurance. Investigation is being made dt the death of her two children, which occurred last week. . It was said at the time that their deaths were caused by eating poisoned candy or candy that con tained deleterious substances. An analy sis of candy such as the children are said to have purchased showed that it con tained no poisonous substance and, when Coroner Physician Wadsworth made an analysis of the stomachs of the children he found the little girls had died from arsenic poisoning. According to Captain of Detectives Donaghy, it was learned that the chil dren were Insured for $1:55 each and that Mrs. Carey collected this amount after their deaths. The police officials say they learned that the woman had secured poison and further Investigation showed that Patrick and Celia Cook, brother and sister, who lived with Mrs. Carey, had died within a few months under sus picious circumstances. Death Soon Follows Insurance. Miss Cook had been the lessor of the house, and Mrs. Carey was a tenant. The police officials say that Miss Cook was Insured for $200 in favor of Patrick Cook, her brother, and that on August 13 she died. Patrick had been insured for $500 in favor of his sister. He collected the insurance on her policy after her death and Mrs. Carey took up the lease of the house. Thereupon Patrick Cook made his insurance in favor of Mrs. Carey, and shortly thereafter was stricken ill and died. The police officials say Mrs. Carey secured the insurance. After the death of the children the po lice learned that the woman's husband died suddenly about ten months ago and by physicians, who were called In at various times during the illness of the alleged victims, they were urged to make a rigid investigation. The bodies of Pat rick Cook and his sister have been ex humed, and that of the woman's husband will be disinterred. USED COMPANY'S MONEY State Accuses George Buriiham of Stealing for Brother. NEW YORK, Nov. 27. The jury to hear the case against George Burnham, Jr., trustee and counsel of the Mutual Re serve Life Insurance Company, on a charge of grand larceny, was completed today and Assistant District Attorney Nott outlined the prosecution's case. He said the pecuniary benefit of the lar ceny of $77O0 alleged against George Burn- 1000 - LUCK BROTHERS TELL WHY THEY ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE YEAR'S BLESSINGS life (liilfr Win. Hearst I Thankful That a Few Brick bats Missed Him. ham, Jr., fell to Frederick A. Burnham, president of the Mutual Reserve Life In surance Company, but that George Burn ham, Jr., was his accomplice and shared equally in his guilt. Mr. Nott said that J. Douglas Wells, a former vice-president of the Mutual Reserve, had sued Freder ick A. Burnham individually and that the suit had been settled by the payment to Mr. Wells of $7500 from the funds of the company. VIn. brief," said Mr. Nott, "the defend ant, Frederick A. Burnham, took the com pany's money and paid it to Wells' attor ney for the settlement of a euit brought against him on a personal loan, and en tered it on the company's books as a pay ment of another matter. We will prove that the policy-holders' money waa looted by these defendants, so that the suit of Wells would not be accounted in court and concealed by making false, entries." Black Hand Bomb' Misses lire. WASHINGTON". Pa., Nov. Z7.-An at tempt was made today by unknown per sons, supposed to be members of the VT. A. Richarda erf Wyomlnjr, Com missioner of Uenerul Land Office. Black Hand, to kill Burgess A. O. Mursh, through the medium of an infernal ma chine which he received by mail. Tho arrangement failed to explode when opened. CONTENTS TODAY'S PAPER The Weather. TESTFJRDAY Maximum temperature. 41 de- Kreej?, minimum. Ho. TODAY Increased cloudiness, followed by rain or snow; warmer. Pacilic Coast. Statement of W. TV. Plaugrhter n taken in wounded man's bedroom. Page Judge Krazer opposes commutation of tlio sentence of K. A. Shepherd, murderer. Tage J. I. Miller, aged Civil TVar veteran, ma! trta ted by tlnigs near Astoria. Page 0. h'1 io'ir te;:;.lti'inn at mine near 'J aid ilili. Or., injures four nieu. Paso 0. Sport. Burns and O'Brien fight for heavy-weight riiMrnpionsiiip of the vurld ton! g tit. Past- 7. ' Foreign. Russian nobles cry out for restrictions on HiifTrage. Page 3. British Liberals threaten to cut claws of Lords. Page French squadron sails for Morocco. Pago 4. National. Exposure of coal land frauds reaches Sen ator Warren. Hermann. Richards and Mondell. Page 1. Dynamite used to shut out rivals of coal .monopoly in Wyoming. Page 1. War Department turns down Portland har bor grab. Page 3. President makes speech to sailors of war ship Louisiana. Page 4. Metcalf and Roosevelt confer on anti Japanese boycott. Page 5. Domestic. Woman accused of poisoning five persons lor insurance. Page 1. , Promoter accused of using spirit mediums to get woman's money. Page 5. Tillman lectures on negro question in Chi cago. Page 1. . How land frauds were worked in Nebraska. Page 4. Wholesale bribery of Pittsbur Councilmen. Page 1. Lake steamer goes down and all on board drowned. Page 0. Portland and Vicinity Father of the "Hunter Idea'' and "Anti Masher" law of Texas here. Page ly. Fight over Senate presidency growing Warm. Page 10. Federal Court . docket is crowded with civil and criminal cases. Page 12. Camera Club exhibit attracts many visitors. Page IS. . Plans for East Side theater take shape. Page 12. Fire Commissioners approve Fire Chief Campbell's big budget for 1007. Page 11. Portland woman iells of visit to New York horse show. Page 12. Plans for Thanksgiving feasts in many homes. Page 10. Pullman professor lectures to State Teach ers' Asfociatlon. Page 11. Commercial and Marine. Larhinunifa review of the hop situation. Page 17. Hardening tendency in wool market. Page 17. Chicago wheat market dull and $asy. Pagft Stock market stiffened by "Union Pacific buying. Page 17. Lurline-Cacade inquiry will be concluded this morning. Page 10. . Steamer Aurelia ashore on. Desdemona sands. Page 10. Enrico Caroso Is Hood r r ' J I !: I " . ' ' f tit jC jf - &0 . iririir i -iiKM nil ifm ill (. V" . .sJ TILLMAN -- TALKS T Ignores Threats and Speaks Bluntly. MANY DETECTIVES GUARD HIM Declares Negro Is Made of In ferior Clay. SOUTH RED BEFORE' BLACK Denounces Race Equality and Says "To Hell With Such Law" Con demns Roosevelt for Dis charging Troops. CHICAGO. Nov. 27. The efforts of tlie colored citizens of Chicago to prevent United States Senator Benjamin R. Till man from delivering an address hero to night in Orchestra Hall, because of tho position he has as.sumed toward tho negro race, were unsuccessful. "When the South Carolina Senator arrived in Chicago early in tho afternoon, he was told of throats of Injunction proceedings to pre vent his appearing on tho speaker's plat form tonight and of. a money considera tion that had been offered if he would cancel his engagement, but Mr. Tillman declared that It did not make any dif ference to him what the colored people of Chicago did. he was going to fill his engagement tonight, and ho kept his word. Until he leaves for Fond du Lac, Wis., tomorrow, Mr. Tillman will be guarded by police and private detectives. This is in accordance with an order issued by Mayor Edward Dunne who was scheduled to preside at tonight's meeting, but who refused to do so after a com mittee of colored citizens had visited him a few days ago and offered strenuous objections to Mr. Tillman's appearance on the speaker's platform. Protected by Detectives. Mr. Tillman gave his address protected by 40 delei Uvea under personal oommand of Assistant Chief of Police Schuettlor. In anticipation of trouble a number of policemen were kept in nearby stations in reserve, but they were not called for. Six colored policemen mingled with the crowd of blacks and whites that blocked the street In front of the hall, to arrest any one who made a disturbance. In the audience were many colored peo ple, but they listened to Mr. Tillman's remarks good naturedly and, although' he was interrupted many times by those who wished to ask questions, the meeting passed off without trouble. . Gives Mayor Dunne Slap. In leading up to his address, "Shall the United States Annex Cuba?" Mr. Till man took occasion to criticize the Mayor's; action In refusing to preside at the meet ing. He said: I have been told that I "have been snub bed by the Mayor of this city. I never saw Mayor Dunne in my life. I-did 'not ask him to be here tonight to introduce me to this audience, nor did I ask any one eftta to do so. If any one has been snubbed, it is these gracious ladles, who planned this meeting; to secure money for the Chicago t'nion Hospital, who requested Mayor Dunne, tiie creature of a political hour, to come forward and add his nilte. I have been advertised to discuss tho an nexation of Cuba, but in view of the fact that I could not dl-scuss this subject with out discussing the race question, I am going to go at the matter hammer and tongs, straightforward, like a man. Therefore, I shall discuss the race problem pure and simple, from the American standpoint and not from the Cuban standpoint. Owttig to my experience with the question and tho diligent study I have made of 'it. I believe I am better qualified to discuss this ques tion than any otner man in America, I am going to base my appeal on facts not on theories. While discussing the llith amendment to the Constitution, which, ho declared, gave the negro every right that a white man had, he was interrupted several times by one of his listeners, who kept asking: "How about Kentucky?" Finally Mr. Tillman seemed to lose his temper and exclaimed: "Oh, shut your mouth. You don't know Thankful. That He Has m Pinch Left. Count do NEGROES If. - c"& c.V-j. ia o the ABC of this thing. I forgot 40 years ago more than you ever knew. "You make up your minds that equality before the law, which the 13th amend ment guarantees, is right and should be enforced, notwithstanding Its results. If this law was enforced, it would result in two states at least being dominated ab solutely by' negroes, while four other states would be so near being governed by the negro, that there would practically be an equal division of offices." 'To Hell With Such law." "How about the law? the law? To hell with such law." After telling in detail how the negro Is prevented from casting his tallot in the South, Mr. Tillman said: "There 13 a great deal more to this question that the little racket here in Chicago." A voice: "How about the negro Judge?" (referring to Judge Barnett, Colored, the only Republican nominee for Municipal Binger Hermann, Former Commi e loner of General Land Office. Court Judge, defoated at tho recent elec tion.) Mr. Tillman replied: Well, I will toll you about your negro Judpti and about your political machines putting nim on your ticket and hamboozltnir the. poor. iRiiorant baboons into cletlnj; him. and wben afterward you fellows who voted the ticket without knowing what wan on it. And a little truth, cheat him out of it. No matter what ihe penpb may do or nay. the white race in the outh will nver be dominated by thb negro, and I want to tell you now that, h sonic btate should ever make an attempt "to save south Caro lina.' we will show them tn their fanati cism that we will make it red before we make It black. Negro Is Inferior Clay. God Almighty made the Caucasian of bet ter clay than tho Mongolinn or tn African or .any other race. The Kthinpinn is a burden-carrier. He has done absolutely noth ing for history, nor has he ever achieved anything of great importance. There are no sxeat men among the race. Yet this people has beon picked out by the fanaticd of the North and lined up to the equality of citizenship and to the rights of suffrage. No doubt many of us have li-ttend to tho oratory of the greatest coloied man of this country, Booker Washington. He had a v.-hi I father, however, and out of hid brainv and his character ac lias gotten bin quali ties from that father. Mr. Tillman then told his audience of the attaoks on white women by negroes In the South, and declared that the people of the North werp in h frreat measure re sponsible for this stato of affairs. . In conclusion, he said: Parting Shot at Kooscvelt. Now, as & general illustration of the in justice that in sometimes done. Pre.' Ident Koosevelt discharged threo companies of colored soldiers without a court-martial, and. In doing this, ho punlsned Innocent men for the crime of a few. In dotng this, he transcended the authority of the law, and he ouht not to have done it. Mr. Tillman arrived over the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road. Ho was met at the depot by a committee of women who have in charge the interests of the hospital in behalf of which the Senator is to lecture. Mrs. Adele Keeler, the head of the committee, after greeting tho Senator, said: "VVe hope. Senator, that you will not say anything that will be likely to stir up trouble." The Senator replied: "Mrs. Keeler, I think I will say Just about what I feel like saying In my lec ture.' No other statement whs made by thej Senator, who was immediately driven to his hotel. About a dozen police officers In uni form and a number of others In plain clothes were in the depot, but there was no demonstration of any kind, nor were there any negroes in or about the depot. After visiting his hotel, Mr. Tillman was Invited by a number of friends to attend a luncheon at the Iroquois Club. While there, he made a short address, in which he said: I nave no desire to make trouble, and did not suppose that my coming here would cause a hullabaloo. I am nurprised that there has been any effort to stop my lecture, especially in the North. It is also surpris ing that a number of citizens should claim that a Senator of the Vnited Statts has no right to speak. That is tiie kind of intol erance that brought on the Civil War. In this case, however, the interference is north of tiie Mason and Dixon line and by the colored people. Goes lo Plead AVith President. OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla., Nov. 27. (Concluded on Pap 4.) Cutpllbne In Thankful That lie 8oved Hit Reputation. IliftiilliS : -""" tilted FATHERS OF CITY IN BRIBERY DEAL Pittsburg Scandal Spreads Day by Day. VOTES SOLD THROUGH BROKERS Mayor Pursues Whole Gang of Franchise Jobbers. BETRAYED BY QUARRELS Broker's Suit Let In Kay of Light and Vliole Affair of Tube C ity Railroad Is Com ing Out. PITTSBl'RG, Nov. 27. With tho re arrest of C. H. CamiTon, president of the Tube City K.illroad, and Common Couni ilman William A. Martin, on a charge of conspiracy to defraud tlio railroad out of $70,000, this time the police authorities being tho prosecu tors, and their subsequent relcaso on J1O.0OO bail each, the alleged counril nianlc bribery scandal is to be thor oughly ami publicly ventilated and promises to involve the majority of tho members. The hearing in tho caso has been set for Saturday. Mayor George W. Guthrie has taken personal charge of the 'case, directing the police investigation, and reiteratea emphatically thai every person found to be implicated, cither ccuncilmen or railroad officials, in the distribution of the $7J,000 graft money, will be ar rested and prosecuted. More arrests are to follow those of Cameron and Martin., it is said, and in each case the charge will bo bribery. Seventy-Two Councilmen in Deal. Forty-seven members of Select Councils and 25 members of Cotiiroun i Councils are said to be implicated in ' the conspiracy. The pollco have the names of theso men and are keeping them under surveillance. Any attempt by any of them to leave tho city will mean their immediate arrest. According to the evidence said- to have been gathered by tho police and now in tho possession of the Mayor, the Councilmen were to act favorably on the ordinances desired passed by the Tube City Railroad. The railroad was to distribute $70,000. Of this sum, J40,j0O was to have been distributed among 69 Councilmen, while the re mainder was to have been given to three other Councilmen who acted as agents in the deal. How Truth Came Out. The position taken by C. R. Richard son, who entered the first suit against Cameron and Martin for conspiracy, was that of a broker. Richardson has made a statement to the police, alleg ing ho loaned Cameron J70.000 at the legal rato of interest. Cameron wan to deposit this money in the bank af ter showing it to a committee of Councilmen. Tho money disappeared mysteriously and Richardson, believing a conspiracy was on to beat him out of the money, entered suit. Richard son's action disclosed several suspicious ( details and the matter was taken up by the Mayor, with the result that evi dence has been gathered, it is said, revealing to the police one of the most gigantic councilmanie bribery scandals ever known in Pittsburg. John S. Robb, Jr., assistant District Attorney, arrived from the Kast today on a summons of District Attorney Stewart. It is possible that a special session of the grand jury will be called to investigate the scandal. Futlier of Kugenc V. Debs. TERRE HAUTE. Ind.. Nov. 27. J. D. Debs, father of Eugene V. Debs, formerly Socialist candidate for President, died hero tonight, aged S3 years. A Mr. Bryan In Thankful for Whatever Happens, an Long- an It Happen to home Friend of His Vise:' Mr. Hearst. Mr. (Sullivan, et aL