Page:The American Magazine volume LXIV.djvu/513

Rh As to the extent of these operations in the good cause of preserving the forests, the report says: "Schneider alleges that about three-fourths of the school entries in the Cascade Forest Reserve in Oregon were bogus. All the school section entries in the Lake Tahoe Forest Reserve were bogus, as were most of those in Zaca Lake, Pine Mountain and the addition to the San Jacinto Forest Reserve."

Now all this was Federal corruption, but the states also suffered as Holsinger explains: Having drawn the maps for reserves, the firm had their agents, in the government employ, recommend them, and arrangements were perfected to locate "on every acre of unappropriated school land, and private land (held by persons who did not know the reservation was coming) was secured by bond or purchase as far as possible. But," the report explains, "the dummy locations were not filed in the state land offices until word was received from Washington that the recommendation for the reserve had been forwarded to the President. When this was known the dummy locations were filed, the officers of the State Land Offices being party to the fraud and receiving an agreed-upon commission.

"Surveyor-General M. G. Wright, of California, was implicated and always managed to file the dummy entries ahead of bona fide applicants. Schneider states that while in Wright's office, where much of his time was spent, bona fide applicants had several times asked for information but none ever secured a filing even though the land desired was vacant. Wright would inform him (the bona fide applicant) that the office was busy.... The person was advised to leave his application.... As soon as the bona fide applicant was out of his office, Wright informed Schneider, who at once prepared a 'dummy' which was filed and the bona fide applicant was duly informed that a further examination revealed the fact that there was an application ahead of his.

"Trouble arose several times between Wright and Schneider as to the number of entries on which Wright was entitled to a commission. At such times Schneider would suspend business and telephone Hyde, who was always able to satisfy the surveyor-general." This was a "hold-up" by a politician in office, and the report tells of another such "outrage" upon Hyde by a politician out of office: "At one time last year, ex-Surveyor-General Gardner insisted that he should have a share of the spoils which he had enjoyed while in office, and upon refusal, Gardner complained to Governor Gage that certain school section applications were fraudulent. The Governor refused to sign the patents and the claims were suspended until Hyde took Gardner to his office and paid him. Then Gardner visited the Governor, reported