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Frontier.
VOLUME XXIII.
O’NEILL, NEBRASKA, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1902.
7‘ NUMBER 15.
1 Facts for the Consideration of the Voters.»
The action of the populist county convention in re-nomi
nating County Attorney A. F. Mullen, makes the tax foreclos
ure system the paramount issue for the second time in this
count}'. It was thought by many, previous to the convention,
that the populist parly would not have the temerity to place
so vulnerable a candidate as Mullen before the people of this
county. The convention, however, was domineered by the
Mullen-Eves-Harrington O’Neill Land Syndicate, and the
nomination of Mullen forced.
Mr. Mullen stated in his speach of acceptance that he
anticipated a “bitter” campaign. So far as The Frontier is
concerned, we wish to assure Mr. Mullen there will be no
“bitterness” in this campaign, unless the publication of his
acts as they appear upon the public records of this county
may appear “bitter” to him. We bear no personal animosity
toward Mr. Mullen except the contempt we hold for any pub
lic official who has so disgraced his office and violated the
trust the people have placed in him. We propose to discuss
his official record as dispassionately as the circumstances will
permit.
The working of the tax foreclosure system in the interest
of the O’Neill land syndicate and the fraud and corruption in
the county attorney’s office was first given publicity in the col
umns of The Frontier of October 3, 1901, and the revelations
then made furnished the issues on which the memorable cam
paign of a year ago was fought out in this county, which re
sulted in the election of a republican sheriff, clerk and board
of supervisors.
There are, doubtless, many who do not fully understand
the real nature of the county foreclosures for delinquent taxes.
A brief summary of the important features of the litigation
may not be out of place here. There is no statutory provis
ion authorizing the county attorney to bring any such action
or adopt this method of collecting taxes. The plan was con
ceived by M. F. Harringtbn, he getting his inspiration from a
decision of the supreme court in which the court indicated
that a county can maintain an action at any time to enforce
the collection of delinquent taxes.f_j The supreme court has
never passed squarely on the question. Many attorneys con
tend that the actions are wholly illegal and a recent case de
cided from Dawes county would seem to so indicate. The
system was conceived in iniquity in this county and the whole
proceedings from start to finish have been wrought with fraud
and corruption in which County Attorney Mullen has been
the star actor. The cases have not been brought for the pur
pose of collecting the delinquent taxes, as is claimed by Coun
ty Attorney Mullen and the rest of the land pirates in O’Neill,
but for the purpose of grabbing land and putting into the
pocKets or tne populist press or mis county mousanos or uoi
lars in exorbitant publication fees. In the issue of The Front
tier of October 3, 1901, it was shown that up until that time
503 cases had been tiled in which Holt county was plaintiff.
A detailed statement of the cases were published showing the
name of defendent, numbers of land, amount of tax involved
and amount of printer’s fees charged in each case. It was
shown by that statement that the populist papers of this coun
ty had received as their share of the booty in connection with
this nefarious deal the enormous sum of $9,472.64 according to
their own statements on file, divided as follows:
Holt County Independent. $6,196.64
Atkinson Plain Dealer. 2,408.50
Ewing Advocate. 755.00
Stuart Herald. 112.50
Total. $9,472.64
The notices were unnecessarily long—some of them run
ning as high as $72—when a $10 or $15 notice would have
answered the same purpose.
So manifestly unjust and dishonest were Mullen’s actions
in this that the then populist board of supervisors administer
ed to him a stinging rebuke by the adoption' of the following
resolution:
\X7\-_ Ti. _ i „ * 1. 1-1,,J_ „ C il * -1 il.,..
Whereas, It has come to the knowledge ot tins board that
pjlf] the county attorney, W. R. Butler and A. F. Mullen, have
■ caused to be published in county tax foreclosure cases notices
costing from $25 to $72; and—
Whereas, In our opinion proper and legal notices can be
■ published at an expense of from $10 to $15 in each case;
and—
Whereas, Numerous complaints and protests have been
made, and in our opinion justly, against the unnecessarily long
■ and expensive notices; and—
Whereas, Said notices as now published are an injustice
to the land owners, whether resident or non-resident, and a
H useless and unnecessary expense to the county as well as to
the tax payers and land owners, reflecting no credit on Holt
county or its people; therefore be it—
■ Resolved, That we do not approve, and hereby disapprove,
of the publishing of such notices by the legal representatives
of Holt county; and be it further—
E Resolved, That our present county attorney be instructed
to discontinue this method of making unnecessary costs to the
county, its tax payers and land owners; and be it further—
.—, Resolved, That this resolution be spread upon the records
dti and a copy be served on County Attorney A. F. Mullen by
IfsP the county clerk.
GH9 This resolution was passed on September 28, 1901, and
I can be found in Supervisors Recrd “F” at page 56r. By the
adoption of this resolution iL was supposed by the board that
no more cases would be filed and that this damnable practice
H would cease. It did cease but only for a short time. Elec
tion was held and the people of this county, by their ballots,
placed the stamp of disapproval on this method of robbing the
■ county out of thousands of dollars and unfortunate people out
of their land.
- In the face of these instructions from the board and the
j—| expressed will of the people of this county, Mullen had the
brazen affrontry to file 180 new cases from November 26,
l^pj 1901 to January 2, 1092—a period of 38 days—and the publi
EliS cation fees charged, as shown by books on file, amount to the
■ enormous sum of $4,585.25 and is divided between the Holt
County Independent and Ewing Advocate as follows:
■
| Holt County Independent. $3,565.25
Ewing Advocate. 1,020.00 j
Total. $4,585.25
Below we give a detailed statement of the tax cases refer
red to, showing number of case, defendent, numbers of land
involved and printer’s fees charged.
The above amount, together with amounts charged in
cases started previous to last election, make a total of $14,057.
89 that Holt county and the land ow'ners have paid or are to
pay the populist papers of this county for this infamous tax
forclosure system, and the amount is divided among them as
follows:
Holt County Independent. $9,761.89
Atkinson Plain Dealer..* 2,408.50 <
Ewing Advocate. 1,774.00
Stuart Herald. 112.00
Total..$14,057.89
This represents the amount the pop papers of this county
have leceived in the past three years as their share of the
plunder in this robbery. Is it at all strange Mr. Tax Payer
that they should be such earnast advocates of the system. In
one day, December 30, 1901, Mullen filed thirty-six cases in
which the printers fees amount to $769.50. Think of it, Mr.
Tax Payer, this but represents the part of a steal for one day
of this corrupt combination. It will be noted that most of
these cases were filed during the last days of December, 1901,
Mullen knowing full well that the county board were to meet
on January 2, 1902, and that they would then put a stop to
his damnable work which they did by the passage of the fol
lowing resolution immediately after calling the roll:
Be it resolved, that the county attorney be instructed to
file no more tax lien foreclosure suits in which Holt county is
made plaintiff.
Be it further resolved that the clerk of the district court be
instructed to file no more papers in any tax foreclosure case
commenced after this date in which Holt county is plaintiff.
Be it further resolved, that the county' clerk be instructed
to forthwith serve a copy' of these resolutions on the county'
attorney' and clerk of the district court.
Let it be remembered that this resolution was passed by
the old board which was populist, and there was much talk
at the time, among several of them, about impeaching Mullen
for his reprehensible conduct.
The rake off of twenty per cent, paid the county' attorneys
by' the populist papers as an inducement to bring the action
: and adopt the “long drawn out” process with the notices has
been but a tithe of the income of the county' attorneys office
as a result -of this nefarious system which has robbed many
people of their land and defrauded the county out of thousands
of dollars of taxes.
When the present republican board ot supervisors were
inducted into office one of their first official acts was to place
their stamp of disapproval on the proceedings and instead the
count)- treasurer was instructed to notify, by letter, non-resi
dent land owners to pay their taxes, which the county treas
urer has been doing, and the result has been that more taxes
have been paid into the county treasurer the past six months
than any like period in the history of the county. This fact
proves that foreclosure proceedings are not necessary to col
lect taxes except as a last resort and in very exceptional cases.
The whole system, as it has been conducted in this county,
tl\e tax payers and land ownerf have been the victims and the
county attorney, populist papers and little band of land pirates
have been the beneficiaries of the plunder. We stand aghast
at their very boldness and defiance.
As has been heretofore demonstrated through the columns
of The Frontier the greatest graft and source of revenue to
the county attorney and his co-conspirators is the means the
foreclosure system affords them for getting title to thousands
of acres of land, at a very little cost, which they are selling to
the farmers of this county at from three to ten times what it
has cost them. Lack of space prevents us from specializing
on this feature of the transactions at this time but we promise
our readers that it will be given proper attention before the
campaign closes.
ri^i i . • r ii . it f n t r , 1 i r
X lie C1CL.IIWII UL XVI L iVXUUCIJ ttIJU tl Jiupuuai UUtll U UL JSUJJCI
visors means that the foreclosure system will be renewed with
all its hellishness, as it means thousands of dollars into the
pocket of the county attorney and his coterie of land pirates.
They know this and will use every conceivable method to be
fog the minds of the voters of the county in an attempt to
evade the issue that is of so much importance to every tax
payer in the county. We will hear much braying of the
galled jades. The election of J. J. King, republican candidate
for county attorney, means that the taxes of the county will be
collected in the regular lawful way without unnecessary ex
pense to the county and the tax payer. We believe the intel
ligent voters of the county realize the importance of this and
can distinguish between a good citizen who will make a faith
ful public servant tnan a professional politician and grafter
who has disgraced the ollice he holds by a course of fraud
and violence without a paralell in the annals of Molt county
politics. Following is an itemized list of cases above referred
to:
Case No. Plaintiff. Defendants. Printer’s Fees.
6540 County of Holt Frank Jordan, boV* 28-26-10.
6642 County of Holt Wm. Erskine, ne!4 15-31-14. 30.00
6545 County of Holt Moore, ne!4 28-27-10. 25.00
6565 County of Holt E. Goodyear, nw!4 34-31-9. 32.50
6566 County of Holt Col. & U. S. Mrtg. Co., sw% 18-31-9_
6572 County of Holt Pat McDonnell, se^ 30-27-13. 30.00
6573 County of Holt M. Wilson, sw!4 18-25-13. 30.00
6578 County of Holt II. N. McKee, neti 35-32-10. 32.50
6582 County of Holt J. L. Moore, aV2 sw%, w>4 sel4 28-25-12. 35.00
6588 County of Holt W. H. Hawkins, nw}4 23-25-12.
6589 County of Holt E. A. Engler, nwt4 10-27-11. 30.00
6605 County of Holt Wm. Wilder, ne!4 3-25-12 .
6617 County of Holt J. V. McDowell, nw>4 nw>4 14, seVi ne%,
nffl nel4 15-26-10.
6618 County of Holt Geo. Keeper, sw% ne*4, w*4 sel4 30,
nwy4 ne!4 31-27-12...
6619 County of IIoltE. Drake, nw!4 7-29-10. 30.00
6622 County of Holt F. Logan, n% sw!4, sw!4 sw>4 5-27-15.. 25.00
6710 County of Holt Robert P. Field, w% sw!4, se1^ swt4,
sw% BeV4 30-27-10_ '22.50
6575 County of Holt Lester M. Hall, nV2 ne!4, sw!4 ne!4
11-31-10 . 20.0,’/
6723 County of Holt Janett B. Herbage, nwVi 8-27-11. 30.00
6580 County of Holt Richard D. Harlan, seVi 9, nw>4, sw^4
nw»4 10-32-13. 27.50
G646 County of Holt Frederick J. Burnett, ne^i aw 14, nw»4
swii, bw»4 sw>4, bw!4
se!4, swl4 swl4 30
31-16 . 27.50
, se>4 33-33-15. 30.00
6,>47 County of Holt Matilda Gardner, s% n% 28-26-11. 30 00
6548 County of Holt Sterling Glrardet, ne% 19-32-13. 30.00
6602 County of Holt Geo. W. E. Dorsey, e% ne!4 21, wl4
nw% 22-32-10. 40.00
6639 County of Holt Mary E. Arehard, n 26 acres ne}4 nw!4
4-32, w% sel4. sel4
and seVi ne>4 and
ne!4 25-30-10 . 25.00
6603 County of Holt Douglas Gandy, ne'4 1-29-10. 32.50
6546 County of Holt Unknown Heirs of Christian Martig,
sw>4 13-28-12 . 7.50
6621 County of Holt Mary E. Foss, ne^4 17-29-10. 30.00
6574 County of Holt Ford & Keith, sw>4 25-26-12. 30.00
6550 County of Holt George Graves, nwVi 13-27-13. 26.00
6703 County of Holt Henry M. Price, seVi 10-27-13. 15.00
6614 County of Holt Mary E. Foss, se»4 8-29-10. 30.00
6560 County of Holt Samuel Feugh, Be!4 27-32-16. 30.00
6601 County of Holt Mary B. Parker, wti ne!4 and e% nw>4
23-27-11 . 37.50
6598 County of Holt E. A. Engler, nw*4 10-27-11. 30.00
6564 County of Holt John R. Pointer, e% sw*4. sw*4 se!4
& se% nw!4 35-32-10 30.00
6590 County of Holt E. F. Ringer, sw% 11-27-9. 30.00
6643 County of Holt Elizabeth Collins, swV* 28-31-16. 12.60
6649 County of Holt Henry T. Clark, ne>4 sw»4, nw'4, sw>4,
swV4 sw>4, se!4 sw^
and sw!4 22-31-16_ 27.50
6630 County of Holt Wesley Colver, ne% 3-31-13 . 27.60
6657 County of Holt Joseph H. Bartley, sei4 27-30-14. 30.00
6558 County of Holt Geo. B. Ash, se!4 seV4 20, sw^4 sw%
21-32-10 . 17.50
6576 County of Holt J. Q. Clark, nw>4 8-27-13. 27.50
6599 County of Holt Wm, E. Dick, nw>4 28-29-15. 26.00
6627 County of Holt Geo. W. E. Dorsey,nwy4 10-28-13. 30.00
6598 County of Holt Geo. W. E. Dorsey, nw^. 12-29-10. 30.00
6562 County of Holt Annie M. Davis, seVi 32-29-14.. 25.00
6551 County of Holt Delia E. Bucklin, se\4 28-32-13. 32.60
6641 County of Holt Clark D. Knapp, nw^4 23-30-15.
6620 County of Holt Charles Knehl, s% sw!4 22, n% nw^4
27-26-12 . 35.00
6689 County of Holt John J. Johnson, e>4 nw%, and sw>4
nw!4 2, Be% neVi
3-32-16 . 32.50
6854 County of Holt Michael F. Harrington, lot 12, block 61
of McCafTerty’s Add..
6585 County of Holt Horace Hawley, sV4 ne%, e!4 ae'A
18-32-16 . 32.50
6695 County of Holt Joseph Harris, sw*4 34-29-13. 32.50
6570 County of Holt John T. Hanna, se»4 ne'4 and se>4
11-32-16 .
6573 County of Holt Mary E. Wilson, sw»4 18-25-13. 30.00
6579 County of Holt Henry S. Wyman, nw>4 32-25-12.
6651 County of Holt O. M. Mitchell, n% 31-28-13. 45.00
6611 County of Holt George A. Magney, e>4 se^4 9, w>* nw%
10-32-16 . 37.60
6604 County of Holt Arvilla P. Merrill, ne>4 4-21-10. 30.00
6655 County of Holt J. L. Moore, e!4 sw^4, sw!4 sw^ 6, ne\4
un o u*'iU ........ OU.UU ICiraj
6559 County of Holt J. L. Moore, nwVi 18-31-9. 30.00 r4bi
6608 County of Holt Mary A. Linnell, seVi 22-29-15. 32.60 @6
6628 County of Holt Nonie Murphey, seVi 31-28-12. 27.60 Ee
6615 County of Holt B. F. Owens, s% neVi, e% nwVi 30-25-10 35.00 }=!
6536 County of Holt Wm. A. Haynes, neVi 9-25-13. 32.50 BE
6563 County of Holt Omaha & Lincoln Realty Co., seVi ©1
30-32-14 . 30.00 “^3
6612 County of Holt George Olcott, nV& swVi and wV6 seVi EB
17-25-10 . 37.50 Egj
6541 County of Holt J. L. Moore, n% neVi 27-25-12. 18.76 Eg®
6687 County of Holt Oregon House & Land Co., nV4 sw>4, [>:;J
wVi se*4 15-27-6. 15.00 EtSl
6534 County of Holt Peter F. McKinna, neVi 29-25-12. 30.00 EE]
6645 County of Holt James McAllister, nwVi 28-31-16. 27.50 Eg]
6577 County of Holt H. M. McKee, sV& nVi 30-27-13. 27.60 rai§|
6561 County of Holt Daniel McDonald, lot 11, block 49 in Me- jggj
Cafferty’s Addition... 15.00 [-,-,751
6530 County of Holt Josie W. Shields, neVi seVi, nwVi seVi,
swVi seV4, seVi seVi, ®
seVi 33-30-10. 27.50 EE
6586 County of Holt Wm. Short, wV6 wV6 3-32-13. 30.00 }=={
6549 County of Holt Geo. West, n% swVi, seVi nwVi, swVi BH
swVi 7-32-12 . 32.50
6597 County of Holt Geo. Res, neV4 neVi, nwVi neV4, swVi
neVi, seVi neVi, neVi EB
5-30-9 . 30.00 L5][l
6720 County of Holt Ira G. Lutz, eV6 nwVi 26-29-10. 16.00 ESssI
6665 County of Holt Unknown Heirs of H. Tainter, eV4 seVi
24, e% ne% 25-29-13.. 30.00 gHs
neVi and swVi neVi, EE
6581 County of Holt . Frank S. Barnes, nVi neVi, neVi nwVi rab
3, nwVi nwVi 2-32-13. $30.00 |P?
6632 County of Holt B. F. Barto, sV£ neVi and seVi swVi Eg
27-32-14 .. 25.00 E=
6554 County of Holt Charles A. Benton, wVfc nwVi 26, swVi Sg
swVi 23, seVi seVi -(jjg|S
22-32-12 . 30.00 Era
6836 County of Holt Ella Shoemaker, seVi nwVi, sV6 neVi, —
neVi neVi 13-32-12.... 22.50 BE
6596 County of Holt Charles F. Bliven, neVi nw Vi, nw Vi nw Vi, m||
swVi nwVi, seVi nwVi iSp
nwVi 33-30-9. 30.00 EB
6699 County of Holt Charles E. Gibson, sVi nwVi 33, eVi neVi Eg
32-26-13 . 16.00 [v*\'
6696 County of Holt Robert W. Staley, nwVi neVi, eVa nwVi |!§p|
& neVi swVi 11-32-16 22.50 gUS
6650 County of Holt Handerkan Nehoff, nwVi 25-27-12. 30.00 EE
6668 County of Holt Delevan Beck, sw>4 15-32-16. 15.00 rab
6694 County of Holt H, H. Doisey, swVi 10-31-16. 30.00
6702 County of Holt Unknown Heirs of W.W., nV6 swVi, nwVi Eg
seti 26, ne|4 se%,
27-27-16 ... 22.60 SS
6672 County of Holt A. L. Hobart, w% ne^4. nw>4 Ipd
23-25-13 . 16.00
6706 County of Holt Isaac Douglas, s% se% 31-28-11, eV4 ne% f==j
6-27-n. i7.5o jaej
6679 County of Holt Wm. H. Savage, sV£ se>,4 7-29-13..,. 15.00 G™
6692 County of Holt N. C. Bagley, s% 8W*4 27-26-13. 12.60 IqpJ
6698 County of Holt Thomas Langan, e*4 sw>4, w>£ se% RJhfl
10-32-16 . 17.50 Ejnj]
6697 County of Holt David Adams, w% nw>4 32-29-13. 20.00 laffel
0691 County of Holt Conrad Thalen, se(4 17-33-14. 12.60 Ugli
6677 County of Holt Charles Simson, s% se>4 7, s>4 sw^4 pEj
8-25-12 . 35.00 [KH]
6713 County of Holt Oregon House & Land Co., sw'/i seV4, qfci
s% sw^4 26, se^i seM, SlP
27-27-16 . 27.60 rjj]g
6707 County of Holt H. H. Graham, sw*/* 13-29-10. 16.00 r={
6709 County of Holt Geo. Meltonberger, nel,4 ne^ 31 and =DE
nw*4 and Be\i (£&
nw(4 32-27-15 . 32.00
6675 County of Holt Jacob Kendis, ne*4, sw*4 ne% and —
nwl4 se% 23-31-16... 32.00 Gjj|
6676 County of Holt Hubert Williams, sw*4 ne*4, se^4 sw*4, ; '
w% 8e*4 11-32-16 ... 20.00 lap
6688 County of Holt J. Q. Clark, nw’4 12-27-13. 15.00’ falS
6673 County of Holt Mary A. Byrnes, seV4 10-31-16. 30.00 EKE
6685 County of Holt Mary S. Cohen, nwVi 13-25-13. 15.00
6701 County of Holt Joslah G. Adams, n% sw!4, swJ,4 sw^4,
se>4 nw*4 24-27-16... 20.00 PE
6714 County of Holt Alida F. Herchey, n% sw^4. sw*4 sw*4 rjnjj
10-29-10 .. 17.50
(Concluded on Page 8.) NM