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VOL. XXXV. BANK WITH THE Phone 107" 1 -yy Plione 139. She KNTBRan AT IT & First •?.?4KZ National -..<p></p>PAYS Its many safe-guards for the peoples' money: Its large capital and surplus: Its alert Board of Directors Its conservative policy are for YOUR PROTECTION Where the Manager, Mil J. W. HAUF.NAII, will be in charge and all accounts will be kept, payments made and estimates cheerfully furnished, and lowest prices given on Storm Sash, Storm .Doors and Storm Paper, Which should be ordered early so as to get them in in good season. The best Rrades TRIED--SURE--VAL.UABLE A reliable application for Cuts, Sores, Bruises. Made and sold only by R. A. DENTON. 1 Every body knows what tho ROUND OAK Standard of Quality moans. Thoy novor made a poor stove. Come in and seo the Ranges and Heaters. CARHART & NYE, "X Staple and *, W Fancy ?W ^s§s 1*08* Urtioc AT I I MAN0BKRTJCIU IOWA. AS 8«C0KD-CL4F* MATTMU. .• •5® we "The Old Reliable'*? Pv 7/f® 5%o :§yv '«5 I ESS? We Have Removed Our Books to Our City Office, of HARD and SOFT COAL and PETRO LEUM COKE on hand. Give us your business and we will try to please you. MANCHESTER LUMBER COMPANY. Yard Phone 156. J. W. Rabenau, Mgr. City Office Phone 455. •••••naBoaHnHHBBHMi TOWSLEE'S ifXCELSIOR OINTMENT -v and .-ft,"?,:- *v5 rV? Ill N. Franklin Street .A- -v Si A"1 Groceries. A. E. PETERSON. -HR-FEIIM IIR I #cv OUSTED SPECIAL AGENT GALVIS FIERCELY ATTACKS SECHE S§fE TARY BALLINGER »4 Declares Secretary Ordered Cunning .ham Cla.lms to Patent, Knowing of loira '•Jn)er Suspicion. "a- the special agent of the United States land office, re cently summarily dismissed by Secre tary Ballinger, In an article In the current issue of Collier's Weekly mak es charges of the most sensational character against bis former chief. The article deals exhaustively with the now famous Cunningham land claims in Alaska.^ The writer asserts In the most direct and positive fash ion that the land office when Secre tary Ballinger was commissioner, or dered the Cunningham claims to pat ent without due investigation, and when Commissioner Ballinger knew they were under suspicion. He also declares that Ballinger urged Con gress to pass a law which would vali date the fraudulent Alaskan claims. The article in part follows: From 1902 to 1909 I was in the field service of the general land of fice, for the last two and a half years as chief of field division. In Septem ber, 1909, I was summarily removed from my position without a formal hearing by Richard A. Ballinger, sec retary of the interior, by .authoriza tion of the president of tho United States. That removal was accompa nied by the publication of a letter of the president to Mr. Ballinger. I be lieve that my removal wasunfair. 1 believe the president's letter was grievously unfair, because in it the president gives weight to a charge against me which I never had the the opportunity to see or answer. The president states in his letter that I withheld from him Information fav orable to my superiors. I do not know of any such information with held by me, nor am I conscious of doing my superiors injustice. Never theless, I should not now make any public statement of the matter were it not still possible to save for the government many thousands of acres of coal lands which I believe the land office may in the near future grant to fraudulent claimants. The hope that my statement will help to arouse public sentiment, and that this dan ger to the national resources may be averted, is what actuates me. This statement will simply give facts and leave to the judgment of those who read whether or not the land office has been zealous in the public ser vice. The Facts Are These. The coal lands of Alaska owned by the government amoifnt to over 100, 000 acres. They are the future coal supply of the nation,- of almost in estimable value. Possession of them by private Individuals means great wealth—a monopoly of them would mean a national Iflcnace. .1...... iy h& \*b, -J&jv ±4%^ .1 On Nov. 12, 1906, President Roose velt withdrew all coal lands in Alaskt from .public entry, but previous to that time there was about 900 claims filed, covering about 100,000 acres (nearly the whole of the coal fields). The law attempts to prevent monop oly of such claims by limiting the amount of each claim and providing that each claimant must take up the land in his own interest and for his own use. This law has been inter preted by the supreme court of the Unitfld States to forbid speculating In coal lands before entry—either by dummy entrymen or by previous agreements to consolidate claims af ter entry. Of these 900 claims to Alaska coal lands—among them the so-called Cunningham group—the ma jority are fraudulent. As to the action of the land office on these claims, I assert that the land office ordered the Cunningham claims to patent without due investi gation when Commissioner Ballingei kbew they were under suspicion that while In office Commissioner Balling er urged Congress to pass a law which wouldv alidate fraudulent Alas kan claims that shortly after re signing from office he became attor ney for the Cunningham grotip and other Alaska claims that soon after he became secretary of tho Interior his office rendered a decision which would have validated all fraudulent Alaska claims. A reversal of that de cision on every point was obtained from Attorney General Wlckereham' Had It not been for Sir. Wickersham1 decision, every fraudulent Alaska claim would have gone to patent, issert that In tho spring of 1909 the land office urged me to an early trial of these cases before the in vestigation was finished, and when Secretary Ballinger, as the president has stated, knew that the Cunning ham claims were invalid. When appealed to Secretary Ballinger for postponement, he referred me to .his subordinates. The department of ag riculture intervened. I was suner sedea in the charge of the cases, and the man who superseded me Indorsed my recommendations, ant the postponement was granted. Im mediately thereafter I made my re port on the Cunningham cases to President Taft, and wa3 dismissed from the service for Insubordination. A Z,' I. 'j. First Suspicion of Fraud, "The first official communication'to the land office which suggested that some one or all of the Alaska coal claims were fraudulent was made -by Special Agent H. K. Love In October, 1905. In June, 1907, Special Agent Horace T. Jones was detailed, by Mr Fred Dennett, first assistant com missioner of the general land office, to make a complete investigation. Sut sequently Jones was Instructed by Mr. Ballinger to make the report preliminary one. Jones reported on Aug. 10, 1907, requesting further in vestigation "by an experienced and GRANDMOTHER'S MEMORIES. By Helen A. Byrom Grandmother sits in her easy chair, In the ruddy sunlight's glow Her thoughts are wandering far away In the land of Long Ago. Again she dwells in her father's homr And before her loving eyes In the light of a glorious summer day The gray o'.d farm-house lies. She hears the hum of the spinning wheel And tho spinner's happy song She sees the bundles of flax that hang From the rafters, dark a«^l I0113 She sees the sunbeams glide and dance Across the sanded floor And feels on her cheek the wander ing breeze That steals through the open dcor. Beyond -the flowers nod sleepily At the well-sweep, gaunt. a»d tall: And up from the glen conios the mu sical roar Of tiie distant waterfall. The cows roam lazily to and fro Along the shaiy lane The shouts of the reapers sound taint and far From the fields of golden grain. And grandma herself, a happy giii. Stands watching the setting sun, While the spinner rests, and the reapers cease, And the long day's work is done Then something wakes her—the room is dark, And vanished the sunset glow And grandmother wakes, with a sad surprise, From the dream3 of long ago. fearless agent." On Aug. 2, 1907, Love made a report favorable to the Issuance of patents to the Cunning ham claims. My first connection with these cas es was when in the fall of 1907 1 discovered in Seattle, while investi gating other matters, that some or all of the coal claims were not bona fide. My report of tills matter to Mr. Ballinger stated that one claim ant had refused me an affidavit on the ground that, Mr. Ballinger him self had told some of the claimants make no statement until the harges were made, In order that they might know what they had to meet, but that I could not believe this statement. Mr. Ballinger never commented to me on this phase ol my report. In December, 1907, I was called to Washington, and explain ed to Mr. /Ballinger, then land com missioner, what I had found out about all the claims, Including the Cunningham claims. I also stated that the department of justice would know these facts and would investi ,ate them it the land office did not. llr. Ballinger told me he was a friend sf many of the claimants, but that was authorized to go ahead and investigate all these claims, no mat ter what the result. He then wrote me a letter, putting me in charge of the investigation of all the Alaska coal claims. It was agreed by Mr. Salltager th^t inasmuch as Special Agent Love was a candidate tor United States marshal in Alaska, he was not in a position to make an Im partial investigation. At our con ference in December, 1907, the good faith of the Alaska entries was dis cussed by Mr. Ballinger. On Jan.7, 1908, ten days afterward, Mr. Den nett, assistant commissioner, notified me as Investigator of the whole field, that the Cunningham claims had been lppro'fed for patent 011 the Love re port. Three days before this a telegram, signed "R. A. Ballinger," was sent to Love in Alaska, directing him to forward the plats which the land of fice would require In issuing patents to the Cunningham claims. Again, on Jan. 11, 1909, a telegram was sent, signed with Mr. Balllnger's name, to Love, asking him whether he had acted on the previous telegram. Lov( telegraphed that he had sent the plats. 'The envelope of this telegram in the land office was Indorsed "Ham to Carr, O. K. Carr," Carr was then private secretary to Mr. Ballinger. Leak In the Land Office. On Jan 15, 190S, Cunningham, ag 3nt for the claimants, wrote a letter to the Juneau land office, in which he said: The commissioner (Mr. Ballinger) has furnished us with copies of all the correspondence and telegrams re lating to our entries between the various special agents and also with your office. Up to date everything 3eems to have been approved by each department chief, so now 0111 only delay will -be occasioned through failure to receive plats according to Judge Balllnger's advice." If the Cunningham claims had then gone to patent, 5,000 acres of coal land, containing, according to Mr. Cunningham's expert, 91,000,000 tons of coal, would have gone to the Cunningham group without adequate Investigation of title. When the Cunningham claims were ordered to patent, Mr. Ballinger and his as slstants must have known, from the reports of Special Agent Jones and myself, the suspicious character ol these claims. Here was my first dilemma. I did not wish to protest to Secretary the Interior Garfield against the ac tion of the commissioner, and I did not like to see 5,000 acres' of coal lands go to the Cunningham group when I believed the claims fraudu lent. I did protest immediately, by telegram and letter, direct to Com missioner Ballinger, against the is suance of the patents. Tho order -lear listing the Cunningham claims to patent was almost immediately re voked, and, on March 1, 1908, I again took up the work on these claims. Special Agent Jones and I, at Wal lace, Idaho, procured affidavits of Cunningham claimants showing theli Intention' to consolidate- their claims. Then we went to see Cunningham. Cunningham- stated, that he had .MANCHESTER IOWA. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1909. REAM heard ^lint some one complained that he was taking claims for the Guggen helms. The Jones report to Ballinger contained the allegation that all In dications pointed to the Guggenhelms but It does not appear how Cunnlug hami got this conffdentlal informa tion. In order to refute this charge, Cunningham showed us his books. These books contained a memoran dum of agreement, dated 1903, be tween the entrymen to consolidate the coal lands. This agreement was tllegai for two reasons—because It attempted to consolidate more than the law allowed, and -because the agreement showed that the entry men took up the land with the inten tion of deeding It to a company.and giving Cunningham one-eighth of the etock. Afterward, and while Jones and I were taking Cunningham's affidavit, ex-governor Miles. C. Moore of Wash ingl'on, one of the Cunningham claim ants, came In and stated that he had lnjdi a recent Interview with Mr. Bal .inger In Washington, and that Mr. Ballinger would have patented the 'uunlpghaui claims but for my pro test.. This information given Moore, and nnncum-ed by him in Cunning 's prcbence, came near prevent lilg^jsflr obtaining the affidavit fron\ Cunningham. In fi'ct, the Informa tion ohtaln^d by this claimant. Miles I^oore, from the lend office in Washington, considerably hamperet me in my effort to get evidence. The Ivlng out of such information was contrary to express regulations of the interior department. By order of Mr. Dennett, by tele gram and letter, I was taken off the Alaska cases In May, 1908, and order ed on other work. The reason given for this action was lack of funds. reported by- telegram that delay of the investigation would greatly lessen the government's chance to secure evidence. In October, 1908, I was ordered back to the Alaska cases -by a let ter of Acting Assistant Commissioner Schwartz, stating that my work haO been suspended pending investlga* tlon. Ballinger Urges Congress to) Aid. Mr. Ballinger retired as commis sioner of the land office In March, 1908. A few days before, while still an officer of the United StateB, Mr. Ballinger appeared before the house committee on public lands in favor ot the ale bill, then pending. In the cqurse of this statement he said: the last section of the bill provides for a consolidation of exist ing entries and does not call for the proof of good faith of the original en try or location. There are a great many charges pending against some of the original entries In Alaska. At the time these fields were located corporations were organized. The mei had really no method of taking ad vantage of these coal measures. I resulted in their getting Involved in conditions which upon the records of the land office, are a technical vio lation of the statute, and it is situation which should be cleared up In my estimation it hag not -been the intention of the people In the field nor in Alaska to put them In hostil ity to the laws, but they have been lu a position where they could not, by virtue of the circumstances, ac commodate themselves to the laws and with this last provision they could transmute their present entries Into the form suggested by this bill and those new entries would be treat ed as primary entries. In other words, It would be an abandonment of the old conditions which have made a great deal ot difficulty In the matter of the disposition of the land In many Instances." When Mr. Ballinger made this statement (before the committee or lublic lands) he was urging a change •a the law by which fraudulent tries would be made vlald—by which the Cunningham group and the othe' Alaska claims would have received patents ito practically 100,000 acres of Alaska coal fields. Ballinger Becomes Attorney. Of that employment President Taft has said: "In the Interval, when you were not holding office, one of the MA as ,nYraTlifrwufoilkVitiiKwutiititetWfim "Bm. mm Cunningham coal claimants consulted you.in regard to the prospect of se curing a patent upon the claims, and invited your attention to the charac ter of certain evidence wlCch W&3 be ing used to Impeach the yelUlity of the claims by Special Agent Slnvls. "The Inference which Mr,' Glavis seeks to have drawn to your' discred it In this connection Is that jfou while commissioner of the generaUland of fice, came into possession.(acts concerning the so-called CiioWifghain group of coal land claiin^'whlch made it improper for yoii-'jttf use such facts after your resi^b^ion in the course of securing thp.ypj&snts. I find the fact to be that, as -'commiM sloner, you acquired no knowledge in respect to the claims except that of the most formal character,-wad noth ing which was not properly known to your clients when they 't'ansulted you." -vy/i.. I do not quite understand pres ident's statement that Mr. jfellinger had only the most "formal-'. knowl edge" of the Cunningham oases. Mr. Ballinger had all the knowledge, any body In the department had^beoause special agent Jones and I-'tQld him all we knew. Mr. Ballinger )rii,e\v that he had revoked ithe order-Wy patent Mr. Cunningham's claims ^pVaccount of my protets that I belioVM they were not bona fide entries v' Alaeka Coal Lands in banger. It was at this time that l,Jaid .the facts In my possession regarding the Cunningham cases before ttiij presi dent. The president has, chosen to treat my report as a charge of crim inality. I made no such charge, nor do -I now. The president's letter .If a a in a nett from charges not made. In, .rny report to him. I was not ipyias^igjtli either Mr. Ballinger or brf.\ le«nett, but the Alaska coal case?j Because I knew that these cases rwere to come before Mr. Dennetts and. that there was -no appeal from his deci sion save to Secretary Ballinger. "be cause Secretary Ballinger-liad ,stated he would not act in these cape^ and because the next ranking ijffjcer of the department was Assistant Secre tary Pierce, who had signed'th$.deci sion which Mr. Winkershajn hud over ruled, I believed the Alaska'coal cas es were In danger. The president ha: seen in this nothing but overzeal and Insubordination on my [Mirt,: and an opportunity to praise the ge,cr^tary of the interior. I have not beop inform ed what answer the depaftjnent of the interior has made to n?y state ment, but the public will judKe wheth er I am right in thinking the.-Aljl^ka coal claims are still In dange/. ALDRICH IN IOWA. (From the Tes Moines Evenwig Jour nal.) ."r Des Moines doesn't ijlfte -Senator Aldrlch but Dos Moines likes Ylie ad vertising it can get through Senator Aldricli—Sioux City Journal. This is not putting It futrly. DES Moines likes Senator Aldrich,'.as well as tho advertising his visit w'ill bi-lng but it does not like him as the "lead er of the senate" nor as the spokes man of the Roosevelt policy, Senator Aldrlch Is one of the strong, self-reliant, forceful'iigiires ol our times. But when he turned the Roosevelt rate bill over to Tiljmai: rather than have Senator Dolllver get the credit, he Invited'a frank ex pression of opinion in Iowa |p Using What She Learned!" Little Mabel had spent, the after* noon at ber father's business office, where the telephones were, kept pretty busy. That night as she :weitt to bed Bhe surprised her mother by closing her prayers with: "Ameiiv Gopd-by. Ring off!"—Boston Transcript. sm I* Find Crab Useful. Students of the Crustacea often find the cod a useful assistant collector Thus the circular crab seems fo-bo favorlto food of cods and rays, and it was chiefly from the stomachs of these fish that some of the oldest nat uralists obtained their specimens. An other bunting ground of the naturalist IB the sailing ship which h^s been in foreign parts. Wttl .- 1 IT. I S« 'I Or Beat ,' All Competition fg» US THIS WEEK'S SPECIAL $1 8.50 BROWN, The Furniture Man Sells Cedarine Furniture Polish. Announcement! I desire to chased the Commercial* Department-:-Savings Department Progressive-s-Conservative sum can accommodate you on accounts and loans. .We invite your business vC' f-~' j' ft. WM. C. CAWI.EY, President. CIIAS. J. SHEDS, Cashier. R. W. TIRKII.L, Vice-President. C. W. KEAOY, Asst. Cash'r. JUST RECEIVED •r, :J S* Our New Shaker Seamless Brussels Rug I $18.50 This ling is the product of one of tho most fatn.-im Rug factories in the world. Tliev are made only 111 one qual ity, and that absolutely I'll J'1. BEST in its class that it is possible to weave. Only the finest worsted j-arns are us ed in weaving the patterns. We know of no Brussels Hug in existence that will givo such splendid satisfaction for the money and we are sure you will lind they will give satisfactory wear. The designs are the work of ex pert artists, and the color combinations are unusually handsome. This Rug is what we have been looking for. It is a semnles8 rug, smoothly finished, having the best worsted surface very tightly wovon. Remember there are no seams of any kind in this rug, woven in one solid piece. 1 Pleasing patterns and attractive and popular colorings and a great big bargain at our special price of announce that I have pur-a George E. Packer Feed and Coal Business, and will continue at the same location. Your business is solicited and'courteous at tention and full weights guaranteed. J? FRED B. JOHNSON. TELEPHONE 171 Delaware County State Bank ESTABLISHED I86T- lVlvau^i lUUIIU^ pttlUiDf Ulii uLlUAU 1 JJiJ VJXX&i.v<p></p>STANDARD PORTLAND CEMENT at Wholesale Price in CAR LOTS. C. H. PARKER. Phone 113. Corner west ol Court House Eclipse Lumber Co. Phone 117 !WINCHESTER NO 46 ml mmii a. fresh car of that famous Hour "THE SEAL MINNESOTA Every Sack is Guaranteed to give satisfaction or your money wil be refunded. I also have on hand a'lull lino ol ilourmids, Corno I hen feed, germ mids, mica grit, bran, oyster shells, rye mids, lit- v,-g| I tlechick feed, low grade, lime, corn and oat chops, cement, rock sat, wood fibre piaster, barrel salt, cement plaster, lubricatingoils, roofing, roofing paints, etc. "UNIVERSAL" THE i. ,« Us at our office Let us call on you Our prices if you ican We ask is a chance to meet Smokeless Powder Shells "DEADER" and "REPEATER" The superiority of Winchester JJ Smokeless Fowder Shells is undisputed. Among intelligent g' shooters thny stand first in pop ularity, records and shooting qualities. Always use them j*: For field or Traj Shooting. Ask Your Dealer For Them. f- 1 :1 11 ha f- 'i ?J 1 am iSr in tig W fll J* ft