Page:The Pacific Monthly volume 21.djvu/159

 conviction, are alleged to have deserted him in his extremity. This instance, whether fancied or otherwise, seems to have aroused all the animosity in Puter's nature, and in his recitals of intrigue he has struck back with venom. Discussing this phase of the situation in his introductory Mr. Stevens, says:

"Those who profited most by Puter's fraudulent operations had recognized in him a daring spirit whose early environs had stamped him with courageous instincts and they knew he was not afraid to take chances,—with law or anything else. They found out that they could use him as a battering-ram to break the laws, and open the doors to a vast treasure-trove. Sordid motives were behind all their concern for Puter, and when the time came—as come it must where dishonest methods are the incentive — and they realized that 'the jig was up,' they deserted him, as rats leave a sinking ship. To them he was simply a worked-out gold mine, and with all their assumed superior intelligence, blunted, perhaps, by constant contact with greed, and with minds intoxicated by the stimulant of illegitimate gain, they were unable to cope with the problems of retribution—the unexploded blasts in the abandoned shafts."

Such a book cannot be justly called "bad" advertising for the West. It calls direct attention to the immense resources of the Pacific Coast, and to its wonderful opportunities. The fact of attempting fraud of so stupendous a character discloses in itself that the prize was great which moved men to chance their reputations and jeopardize their personal liberty. They were at least seeking something that was worth the having. Men were not likely to take these chances unless the achievement was sufficiently alluring to excite their cupidity to the last degree. Many instances are cited, and illustrations given, showing the enormous increase in the value of timber lands since the looting of the public domain became such a recognized art. And all these facts, surrounded as they are by such evidence, are bound to produce an effect by attracting the attention of legitimate investment to a country that can offer such phenomenal returns. In the introductory Mr. Stevens makes it clear that the stigma put upon Oregon as a state by the land fraud revelations, is not justly borne. He says in part:

"Practically all the arrangements for this immense plunder originated among unscrupulous residents of distant parts—in the ranks of the devout moneyed aristocracy beyond the Rocky Mountains, and it has remained for the honest manhood of Oregon to redeem the stigma of dishonor that has been left across its fair name by the hand of Eastern commercial greed. Careful analysis of the situation indicates

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