Mr. SUMMERS. I will turn over any records I have that the committee wants. (The records thus referred to will be found at the end of today's proceedings.) Mr. MASON. We have to identify them. Senator CAMERON. Identify them and put them in the record. Mr. SUMMERS. There are some of these that are duplicates, but I will go through the records and make it complete and put it in this record. The CHAIRMAN. Is it necessary for all of that to go into the record for publication? Senator NYE. I would not think so until we determine what we are going to do, at least. Mr. SUMMERS. I directed communications to the Attorney General. The Attorney General answered them. There were several of them. His letters and my letters are in there, as well; I sent them all to the President. The CHAIRMAN. Those are to be filed with the committee. Senator NYE. The subcommittee, if one is appointed, might want to have them for the record. The CHAIRMAN. Very well; file them with the committee. That will be all. The committee will now go into executive session. (The records heretofore referred to are inserted herein, as follows:) LOMAS DE SANTIAGO Before the applicants made and filed any applications to homestead any lands, they appointed Ben McLendon as their representative and directed him to go from Los Angeles, Calif., to Washington, D. C., and there ascertain if in fact certain lands in Orange County, Calif., a part of the Lomas de Santiago grant, were public land, and what views were entertained by the officials of the Land Department. Witnesses as to this: GERTRUDE M. CALDWELL, Ben McLendon left Los Angeles, Calif., went to Washington, D. C., and examined the records of the Land Department, conferred with the officials of the department and was assured the lands concerning which he inquired, a part of the Lomas de Santiago grant, were public lands of the United States; that they were open to homestead entry, and that if he and his associates would make applications to homestead any parts of them the applications would be received and the homesteads would be allowed. Letters of introduction, references to official records, reports of Commissioner of General Land Office of 1885, 1886, 1887; official communication giving description of the lands on which to file, over the signature of the assistant commissioner. The following witnesses will corroborate this: CHARLES D. HAMEL, When the applications to homestead were filed, this, of course, was followed by publicity. James Irvine, who is in possession of the lands applied for by the applicants to homestead, stated that he had retained possession of the lands on former occasions by the use of his check book, and he would proceed to use it again. 36388-27- -3 A short time thereafter Irvine announced that the hour of danger had passed; that he had secured control of the Land Department and that the applications to homestead would be rejected. A short time after Irvine made the statement, the applications to homestead were rejected by the local land office, and thereafter the Commissioner of the General Land Office, Spry, was in the city of Los Angeles and conferred with a number of men greatly interested in alleged Mexican grants that are known to have been fabricated after the lands described had become public domain of the United States; and after this conference, the commissioner is declared to have stated at the Federal building that "not a damned homestead application would be allowed," and that he would "see the homesteaders in hell before the United States ever got an acre of that land." Witnesses to the foregoing: A. C. ROUTHE. R. D. MORRIS. The applicants to homestead were notified over the telephone, by unsigned communications, and in other ways, that unless they filed relinquishments and quit any effort to secure these lands as homesteads that all kinds of punishment would be meted out to them. Some of them were threatened with death. Every effort possible was made to find some charge that could be lodged against the applicants, and finally the use of the United States mails was given consideration. The inspectors for the Post Office Department declined to handle the case on the ground that there was no offense. Following this conclusion, agents of the Land Department were put in charge of the case and they called on many of the applicants to homestead and attempted to get them to relinquish their applications; and failing in this in many instances, told them they would be made to regret it; that they would be indicted and punished. Witnesses as to these statements by Land Office agents: V. E. CLARK. The United States attorney, Joseph Burke, under the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, William Spry, and James Irvine, who was and is in possession of what is known as the Irvine Ranch (Lomas de Santiago), filed an information before the United States commissioner against several of the applicants to homestead and had warrants issued for their arrest. Under these warrants they were arrested and were required to give very heavy bonds. The United States commissioner indicated that the defendants could not be held by reason of the fact that in his opinion they had not violated any law. Thereupon, and before the commissioner could dismiss the action brought, the United States attorney prevailed upon the grand jury to return an indictment. The indictment against the applicants is No. 5885-J. It charges the violation of section 215 of the United States Penal Code, the violation of section 37 of the United States Penal Code, and a conspiracy to violate section 215 of the United States Penal Code. There are 11 counts in the indictment. Count No. 2 is as follows: "And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: "That the said defendants, William R. Price, Ben McLendon, Gertrude M. Caldwell, V. E. Clark, and Clinton Johnson, having devised the scheme and artifice fully described in count 1 of this indictment, and intending so to do, to defraud the said Edith Campbell at Los Angeles, Calif., within the jurisdiction of this court, on or about the 14th day of February, 1923, the defendants did, knowingly, willfully, unlawfully, and feloneously and for the purpose of executing the aforesaid scheme and artifice to defraud, place and cause to be placed in the United States Post Office establishment of the United States, an envelope addressed to Edith Campbell at 21152 Santee Street, Los Angeles, Calif., containing a copy of a writing called a decision, signed by William Spry, Commissioner of the United States General Land Office, and dated Washington, January 18, 1923, affirming action of the register and receiver rejecting, among others, homsestead application of Edith Campbell filed in the United States land office at Los Angeles, Calif., under serial No. 035417, in the records of the Department of the Interior, contrary to the form of the statutes in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the United States of America." Count No. 3 is as follows: "And the grand jurors aforesaid, upon their oaths aforesaid, do further present: "That the said defendants, William R. Price, Ben McLendon, Gertrude M. Caldwell, V. E. Clark, and Clinton Johnson, having devised the scheme and artifice fully described in count 1 of this indictment, and intending so to do to defraud the said Edith Campbell at Los Angeles, Calif., and within the jurisdiction of this court, on or about the 6th day of May, 1923, did knowingly, willfully, unlawfully, and feloniously, and for the purpose of executing the aforesaid scheme and artifice to defraud, take and cause to be taken from the United States post office at Los Angeles, Calif., a registered letter and package sent and delivered by the Post Office establishment of the United States to the said victim, the said Edith Campbell, containing a decision dated April 30, 1923, from the office of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, which said decision is in words and figures as follows: A-4911. Edith DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Campbell, applicant. Los Angeles, 035417. Homestead application rejected. Affirmed. APPEAL FROM THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE This case is now up for consideration on the above-named applicant's appeal from the General Land Office decision of January 18, 1923, which sustained the rejection by the register and receiver of the above serially numbered application; and inasmuch as the controlling facts and the issues presented by this appeal are practically identical with those on which this department, by its decision of even date herewith, affirmed a similar rejection of Ben McLendon's like application, Los Angeles 035363, the action appealed from in this case is hereby affirmed for the ample reason given in that decision. A. E. C. FINNEY, First Assistant Secretary, "Contrary to the form of the statutes in such case made and provided, and against the peace and dignity of the United States of America. If desired, a certified copy of the indictment will be ordered for the committee immediately. Under this indictment the defendants were arrested, arraigned, required to give outrageous bonds, and the indictment was used to widely and notoriously advertise the defendants and those named who were in the indictment as victims. In addition thereto the indictment was used by the Land Department and the Department of Justice to embarrass, humiliate and coerce the applicants to homestead. It became known that the United States attorney had asked the grand jury to return an indictment. Then the applicants went to the United States attorney's office, saw him and asked the privilege of going before the grand jury and showing the communications they had received from the Land Department in Washington, and telling the grand jury that the lands for which they had applied to homestead were lands that were designated by the Land Department as public land and open to homestead. They were denied the hearing with the statement on the part of the United States attorney that what was wanted was an indictment, not a hearing. Witnesses as to this: GERTRUDE M. CALDWELL, R. D. MORRIS, Thereafter, and before the indictment was returned, the United States attorney was informed that if he did not know, he ought to be informed that certain affidavits in his possession had been made for a money consideration, and that the contents of the affidavits were false; that the inducement to make these affidavits had been furnished by an agent of the Land Department. Witnesses as to this: JOHN M. COOPER, Thereafter, and without inquiry as to whether or not the affidavits were true or false, the United States attorney secured the signature of the foreman of the grand jury to a true bill, and the indictment that had previously been prepared was filed. |