A COMPLETE VINDICATION.
Hon. "James Laird's Connection witi
The So-called Land Frauds
Vindicated.
The Public Can Judge for Itself Aftei
Reading the Facts Herein
Set Forth.
Interesting Reading for the Omaha
Herald and Bee.
Prior to the publication of what ii
calls its charges , which are made a
part of Moore's defense , the Omaha
Herald and Bee allege that improper
influences had been used with the
local land officers at McCook in con
nection with the fraudulent entry on
Stinking Water by Hastings menj
that the same were exerted by Hon ,
James Laird in his own interests ;
that to aid Laird to perpetrate a fraud
the land office was not opened
when advertised , but the day before ;
that the Hastings entry men were not
identified , and that Congressman
Laird was present when the entries
were made , using his influence in aid
of a fraud.
These charges , and each and every
one made by the Omaha Herald and
Bee that allege or imply a wrong , are
false , and were known to he so when
made. If not , then the absence of
such knowledge was as criminal
as the falsehood , for the facts
could have been had for the asking.
In proof of this see the certified state
ment of the McCook land officers :
WHAT THE Jl'COOK LAND OFFICERS
SAY.
McCooK , NEB. , Sept. 19,1883.
To whom it may concern :
We , G. L. Laws , register , and C. F.
Babcock , receiver , hereby certify that
this office was opened June 15,1883 , at
9 a. m. , pursuant to notice , published
as required by law for sixty days in
the newspapers of McCook land dis
trict ; that Hon. James Laird was
never in this office at any time ; that
he never spoke to either of the land
officers about lands for himself or any
other person ; that he has not now and
never had a claim of any kind of
record in this land district ; that
neither of the officers of this district
have any knowledge of any interest
direct or indirect said Laird has , or
ever had , in any claim of any kind in
this district ; that on the 15th day of
June , 1883 , Harry Randall , August
Schmidt , James B. Wallace. John H.
Clark , John G. Ballard , Arthur
Williams , William F. Schulthies ,
Alonzo W. Laird , Hans M. Oliver ,
Orlando H. McNeil , Frank Stine and
George H. Hulburt made homestead
entries in the vicinity of .the Stinking
Water ; that the lands covered by all
these entries were properly subject to
such entry as shown by the plats and
books in this office rthat Harry Ran
dall , George H. Hulburt , and all
others named , had their applications
filled out and signed before coining.to
the land office on that day ; that each
man's name was read as signed to his
papers ; that each man was
identified , asked if that was his sig
nature , and if he knew the contents of
the affidavit which he had signed and
each answering in the affirmative , all
were sworn ; that no two of said appli
cations were for or covered the same
tract ; that George H. Hulburt's entry
was put on the tract he applied to en
ter ; that as he expressed at that time
some doubt as to the correctness of his
application , the register informed him.
of his rights ; told him that if he had
made a mistake , or had been misled by
any one , that he could amend his appli
cation before the record was made up ;
that after the record was made up , he
could apply to the commissioner and
have his entry amended ; that on the
16th day of June , Mr. Hulburt was
again advised by the register that if he
had been misled or had made a mistake
m his entry that he could amend , and
that if he had made settlement and
improvement as he said he had , no
one could get the land away from him :
that at that time George H. Hulburt
informed the register that he did
not want to amend his application be
cause he was not sure that his entry
as then made did not cover the land
he wanted to enter ; that we have
neither record or recollection that
Charles B. Moore ever made applica
tion to enter any land at this office
till July 20 , 1883 , when he made
homestead and timber culture entries
in township 1 , ranges 40 and 41 ; that
said Charles B. Moore never spoke to
either one of the local land officers
here concerning an entry of land any
where till after July i ; 1883 ; that
said Moore never asked to see
the plats in this office till long
after the opening of thia office ;
that neither I. J. Starbuck nor anj
other person had access to the plat *
before June 15,1883 , or on that day :
that said Starbuck did not see th <
plats before that day'and then only a
a distance , across the office counter
that George H. Hulburt , when alon <
with the register , asked to seethe
plats while that officer was taking
them out of the box in which the ;
had been shipped from North Platte
that at the same time said Hulbun
asked whether the first man hen
would not have a preferred right tc
make entry , and gave notice that he
was then "here at 8 a. m. " June 15
1883 ; he was informed that it would
be impossible to show him the plat *
then- , but when they were arranged
into towns and ranges ( which the
register was then doing ) he would be
accommodated , if possible before 9 a ,
m. , when the office was to open ; thai
that said George H. Hulburt was the
only man at the opening of this office
or since , who has sought an advantage
over other entrymen by trying to have
a secret understanding with the local
officers , and he is the only man who
has sought to make entries for parties
not here. We further certify thai
every application presented on the
15th day of June , 1883 , was received
by us and entry of the same marked
on the plats and tract books , and nc
one entry conflicted with any othei
entry offered or made on that day ;
that Mr. I. J. Starbuck was not be
hind the counter in the land office on
June 15,1883.
G. L. LAWS , Register ,
C. F. BABCOCK , Receiver.
COMMISSIONER MCFARLAND THROWS
LIGHT ON THE SUBJECT.
In the course of its summer's lying
about Mr. Laird , and in answer to the
question as to whom its information
came from and who was responsible
for it , the Omaha Herald referred that
gentleman to the records of the gen
eral land office , where it impliedly
said the report of a special agent would
be found on file , which would im
plicate him in its so-called land frauds.
The subjoined letter of the commis
sioner will demonstrate the falsity of
that charge :
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR , " )
GENERAL LAND OFFICE , >
WASHINGTON , D. C. , Sept 20 , 1883) )
Hon. James Laird. Hastings , Neb.
Sir : I am in receipt of your letter
of the 15th instant relative to an in
vestigation of certain land entries in
the McCook district said to have been
made by one Myers , an agent of this
department , and stating that you
understand the report of the agent to
reflect in some manner upon yourself
personally , and you request copies of
any papers referring to the matters
above named and particularly any
that in any wise refer to yourself.
You are informed that there is no
agent of this office by the name of
Myers employed in Nebraska , and no
report by any agent nor papers on file
in this office reflecting in any manner
upon you , or connecting you with un
lawful entries of public lands.
Very respectfully ,
N. C. MOFARLAND ,
Commissioner.
WHAT THE HASTINGS PARTY SAYS.
, The gist of the flood of charges , com
plaints , insinuations , implications ,
blackguardisms , scurrility , willful ly
ing , malice , and other venomous com
pounds of miscellaneous filth , which ,
under the general head of "Stinking
Water , " has been poured through the
columns of the Omaha Herald and
Bee for nearly a quarter of a year ,
comes to and amounts to this :
1. James Laird is guilty of making
fraudulent entries of public lands him
self , or
2. Has a secret and guilty know
ledge and interest in such entries by
others , or is to have.
The competent witnesses to prove or
disprove the case of the Herald and
Bee that remain to be called are the
entrymen themselves , and what
follows is their testimony.
STATEMENT OF THE HASTINGS PABTY.
To whom it may concern :
We , the undersigned , being the per
sons whtf have taken land by home
stead or timber culture entry on what
is known as Stinking Water creek ,
in Chase county , Nebraska , state the
facts connected therewith to be as fol
lows :
We took said lands on June 15,1883 ,
at McCook , Nebraska , at our own sug
gestion and for our own use andlbene-
tit , and not for the benefit of James
Laird or at his suggestion , or any other
person for him ; nor has James Laird
Eiy interest in these claims , nor is
ere any understanding that he is to
have in the future.
We were each personally present ,
made our own affidavits and signed
them , and were each personally iden
tified and sworn to the same by one
of the laud officers and paid our owe
fees , which fees were handed over bj
our attorney. James Laird was nol
in McCook on that day. We took
these claims in compliance with the
law and have complied with it IE
making improvements and propose tc
hold them. All charges of fraud
made against Mr. Laird in connection
with these claims are utterly false.
I Pollard , A. Yeazel ,
W. F. Schultheis Simon Kelly ,
Aug. Schmidt Arthur Williams ,
H. M. Oliver , Harry Clark ,
O. H. McNeal , James Wallace ,
Harry Randall , Frank Stine ,
A. W. Laird.
Nor can the Omaha Herald and Bee
now dismiss these witnesses by stigma
tizing them as "characterless bum
mers , " as heretofore. Some of these
gentlemen are among the prominent
usinss men of Adams and Clay
counties , and all of them are free from
bummerism : without boasting a better
average in all respects than the self-
righteous liberals who try to ride them
down.
When the jove-like manajack , or
jackal , or jackass , from the olympian
tripod of the Omaha Herald , decided
to bestow the mortal bolt which should
lay his victim low , he sent an agent of
the department of the government ,
not engaged in measuring holy-water ,
to get proof upon which to base the
charges demanded. The imbecile off
springs of cowardice , malice and im
plication were no longer available. In
the face of a demand for the facts ,
even the vacancy in the editorship of
the Herald dimly saw that something
more than the vaporings of a hired
slanderer was wanted. This tale
bearer a man paid by the great nation
for other services than licking the
sores of the democratic Lazarus
went to McCook , Nebraska , found C.B.
Moore , took his statement , said he
would put It in the form of an affi
davit , have it copied by another , lest
his handwriting should betray him ,
present it to Moore without other
change to be sworn to by him. This ,
as Moore supposed , was done , and
upon that supposition he swore to it
without further examination. Not so.
The coward , who dared not allow even
his hand-writing to see the light in
the opinion of Moore caused him to
swear to what was false , by means of a
material alteration of his original state
ment , made before or after the same
was sworn to by him , and if made be
fore unknown to him when he swore
to it. The alteration was the addition
of this sentence : "I mean James
Laird , the member of congress from
Nebraska , " who Mr. Moore now swears
"he did not intend to bring into the
matter at all , as he did not believe he
was in any way to blame. " So , and
in a manner comprehensive alone to
cowards , scoundrels , and whiffits , did
this trinity of political swill venders
procure the first affidavit of Moore. So
true is this that when Moore's atten
tion Is called to his first so-called state
ment-under oath , he , in a second affi
davit , promptly pulls down the whole
fabric of conceit , idiocy and slop built
upon it.
But for the charges : They follow
here , having been made a part of
Moore's affidavit on the cross-exami
nation , and like the cloven foot in the
story of "The Devil and Dr. Horn-
brook , " they show for themselves. If
there ever was a realization of the fa
ble of the Ass in the Lion's Skin , here
it is. The Herald played the Lion ,
but showed the Ass. The "Olla
Podrida" opens with the charge :
That Laird said he "desired" a cattle
"range. " Suppose he did ; could he ,
by the strength of that desire , take
patent to 160 acres of the public land ?
Will the Herald point us to the clause
in the statute , human or divine , where
we are commanded not to desire good
things ? Barren desire wrongs
no one. Granted he desires it yet.
It's lawful , is it not ? Laird would
introduce a bill to "lease all the vacant
public land in western Nebraska to
the stock men. " That is false. The
writer of this heard what Laird said ,
and that was not it. Perhaps you got
that statement from the man who
procured Moore's affidavit. The man
who denies his handwriting and can
not face the one whose honor he seeks
to assassinate is infamous among men
and the truth is not in him. What
Laird did say , was to ask why a bill
authorizing the leasing of the desert
and untillable land in western Ne
braska for grazing purposes , until
climatic changes should render It fit
for agricultural purposes , was not bet
ter for both the stock men and the
people , than the present way of deal-
fng with it , a way which gives neither
protection to the one nor revenue to
the other. And then through the
same deadly charge stalks the
"maimed and wounded soldier , " fol
lowed by the "hardy emigrant. " And
at the sight of these pictures of his
brain , the hired patriot of the Herald
shrieks with misery and smites the
chords of terror. Bawl no more ,
gentle Herald , this Laird learned his
lesson of love for the soldier in a
place where the sutler-fattened hero ,
the dude and the democrat of your
, stamp seldom came , and he will no
forget it while the scars of honorabli
service remain.
In the next charge this Laird is tolc
such a law would not pass. Here reac
between the lines the Herald man'i
refrain :
I bless and praise thy matchless might ,
When thousands thou hast left In night ,
That I am here 'afore thy sight ,
For gifts and grace ,
A burnin' and a shinin * light
To a * this place.
And then : This lordly Herald charg
es he was told he.could homestead anc
pre-empt , and so on to the end of thii
truthless twaddle of Simon Kelly anc
his "gin mill , " of Page Francis anc
his surveys , of sixteen miles of claims
of the dugouts and Galen Baldwin , o
solicitude for neighbors , and soon
through the ceaseless , senseless swash
swash of this drivel mill. As al
these people speak for themselvLS , thh
editor might forbear. Yet , as ther <
seems to be a persistent spite againsi
"Simon" we will say of him as th (
poet of "Bludso : "
He were no saint , but at jedgment
' with "Sime"
I'd run my chance
'Longslde of some pious gentlemen
That wouldn't shoo * hands with him. "
Barring his whisky business
which good men regret , when Simon
Kelly
"Sees his duty a dead sure thing ,
He'll no for it there and then. "
And that is as much as we believe car
be said of the pharisee who sees , in
what is more his misfortune than hit
crime , cause for rejoicing and , by the
way in all mean things said of hire
they forget to mention that "Simon'1
is a democrat.
Here follows the affidavit of C. B.
Moore , which was not stolen , is in the
handwriting of the man who took it ,
and which frankly states that the
charges of the Omaha Herald against
James Laird are false :
State of Nebraska , Hitchcock coun
ty , ss. C. B. Moore , being first duty
sworn , deposes and says : My post-
office address is McCook , Red Willow
county , Neb. I have read the follow
ing charges made by the Omaha Her
ald , and to the best of my knowledge
they are false. I know of nothing that
would justify them in making sucb
charges against James Laird.
"The gentleman from Stinking Wa
ter will please take off his hat and
listen to the indictment.
"The Herald charges that previous
to the 15th day of June last , Mr. James
Laird , the member from the Second
district , expressed a desire to obtain
in some manner a cattle range in
western Nebraska.
"The Herald charges that the same
Mr. Laird , otherwise known as "the
gentleman from Stinking Water , "
about the same time announced his
intention-of introducing a bill in con
gress authorizing and instructing the
secretary of the interior to lease all
the vacant public lands in western
Nebraska to stockmen for grazing ;
purposes , which , if carried into efFect ,
would close the land to settlement , and
prevent the maimed and wounded sol
dier , the hardy immigrant , and in fact
poor men of any class from obtaining
a homestead. How is this for a repub-
blican member of congress , and great
'friend of the soldier1 and 'honest
granger ? '
"The Herald charges that the afore
said Mr. Laird was informed that such
a bill could not be passed , and that if
by any means it should be passed it
could not be carried into effect.
"The Herald charges that Mr. Laird
then inquired of certain parties how
he might acquire control of a water
front so as to start a range , and that he
was told it could be done by homesteading -
steading , pre-empting and tree-claim
ing land.
"The Herald charges that Mr. Laird ,
the gentleman from Stinking Water ,
in company with Simon Kelly , a gin- !
mill keeper , and Page Francis , sur
veyor of Bed Willow county , went to
the Stinking Water country and
picked out and located some sixteen or
seventeen quarter sections of land in
such a manner that they would con
trol the water privileges along that
creek of odorous name , for a distance
of sixteen miles or thereabouts.
"The Herald charges that the gentle
man from Stinking Water hired and
paid a man for building the dug-outs ,
plowing the five-acre patches , and
making the other "improvements" re
quired by law on these lands.
"The Herald charges that Mr. Laird
explained his great solicitude and in
terest in the land by saying that he
was trying to help some "neighbors" of
his , who were good fellows , and ought
to have homesteads.
"The Herald charges that Mr. Laird
expects , or did expect , to 'run his
chances of buying out the holders of
these claims. '
"The Herald charges that Mr. Laird
bas admitted the truth of each and
every one of these allegations , and
that he cannot and dare not attempt
to deny them. And the Herald fur
ther asserts that it is prepared to prove
jvery allegation made above. "
I was misled by Page 8. Francis ,
surveyor of Bed Willow county , but
io not believe he did so with the in-
iaotion of dodag me-a wroBfe-for he
' gave me the following advice , towlt :
If I desired a claim on the Stinking
I Water , that I had better go on the
same and stay there until he had
time to make a correct survey of the
same. I see by the newspapers and
have heard some talk that they claim
I that James Laird is interested in the
land business on the Stinking Water.
I know that he has no claim on the
Stinking Water and do not believe
that he is interested in any way , but a
man by the name of A. W. Laird has
a claim and is the party interested in
the transaction. In my affidavit Sep
tember 15 , 1883 , which was written by
other parties , I see the following sen
tence appears , which I think was not
in the one I signed , to wit : "I mean
j James Laird , the member of congress
from Nebraska. " If it did occur it
was overlooked , for I did not intend
to bring Mr. James Laird into this
matter , for I do not believe he was in
terested or in any way to blame for
any wrong done Mr. Hulburt or my
self. In my ailidavit of September 15 ,
1883 , where the names Laird and
Kelly appear , it has no reference to
James Laird , but to A. W. Laird , and
I did not intend that it should bo
otherwise. I believe Mr. James Laird
to be a fair , square man , and would do
anything in my power to aid him at
any time. C. B. MOOKE.
Sworn to and subscribed in my
presence this second day of October ,
A. D. , 1883. JOHN B. KINO ,
Notary Public ,
Hitchcock county , Nebraska.
CHARGE OP COLLUSION DISPROVED.
The statement of Page Francis ,
which follows , puts to rest the charge
of collusion between the Hastings
men and himself as surveyor , to
overreach Hulburt and Moore :
STATE ov NEBRASKA , \ ss.
COUNTY OF BED WILLOW , /
Page T. Francis , being by me first
duly sworn , on his oath says that the
reports lately made by parties un
known to affiant and published in the
Omaha Herald and Bee , charging col
lusion between certain Hastings men ,
the McCook land officers , and myself
as surveyor of this county , in obtain
ing certain lands on Stinking Water
creek , in Chase county , are utterly
false. There was no collusion what
ever , and the following are the facts :
About the first of June , this year ,
one George Hulburt , claiming to be
from Chicago , came to me and wanted
me to survey a stock ranch for him on
the Stinking Water. He did not say
how much land he wanted. He
[ wanted me to do the work in connec
tion with a like survey for a man
named Fisher. Fisher was to select
the claims for him after the
lines were run. Fisher did not go
jor offer to go to the Stinking Water
tintil after the 15th of June. On the
12th of June I went out to the Stink
ing Water to make surveys for the
Hastings mea , if they liked the
Country , and things were otherwise
satisfactory. On the 13th of June I
ran the lines for them from a mound
and four pits found near the forks of
the creek. It being the only monument
ment I found , I made the plats from
it. I had not then seen a plat of that
section. The plat was given to Galen
Baldwin to be given to Simon Kelly
at McCook. On the 14th Hulburt and
Moore came to the creek and I gave
them a true copy of the same plats I
had given Baldwin for the Hastings
men. Hulburt asked if the survey
was right. I said it was unsatisfactory
to me , but it was right if the starting
point was right , yet if he wanted to
make sure he must make settlement
and that would hold it. On my re
turn to McCook the government plats
were there and I examined them and
became satisfied that I based my sur
vey on a quarter corner instead of a
section corner. I afterwards ran the
lines taking the corner spoken of as a
quarter corner and found nearly all
-the marks of the government survey.
I did the same work for , and gave the
same information to all these
parties. Neither Hulburt nor
Moore have paid me a cent for
my work , although Hulburt promised
to do so. Simon Kelly paid me for
the work done for the Hastings men.
Nothing was ever said by me to Moore
or any other person about Laird or any
one else intending to wrong him , and
nothing was said by Kelly or Laird
about taking advantage of any one.
Laird's only interest in it seemed to
be to see to it that the rights of others
were respected. Neither Hulburt nor
Moore had any claim in that country
to be jumped. There are no home
steads where farming is attempted ,
nearer than fifty miles from there , and
such as there has been was attempted
by the Mennonites , and with such a
succession of failures that they were
starved out and moved to Oregon.
The country on the Stinking Water ,
where these claims are , is barren of
everything save buffalo grass , cactus
and weeds a great stretch of sand
hills , valuable only for grazing.
PAGE T. FBANCIS.
Signed in my presence and sworn to