The CHAIRMAN. You have referred to two men but you have not endeavored to name them. Miss FRASIER. They did not give their names. The CHAIRMAN. Did you know who they were? Miss FRASIER. I did not. The CHAIRMAN. Have you since learned who they were? Miss FRASIER. I have not. The CHAIRMAN. Do you see either of them here now? Miss FRASIER. I think the gentleman sitting next to Johnson is one of them, and the other was a man with a crippled leg. The CHAIRMAN. That is Mr. Wilhelm sitting there? Miss FRASIER. I don't know his name. They didn't give names. They simply came up and almost insulted me, and I fairly_closed the door in their faces after the conversation. That is all I have to say, except Judge McLendon informed me afterwards that there had been a special meeting of the Finance Committee in Washington held to make these checks valid or legal. Mr. SMITH. I do not know anything about the occasion referred to, but the checks are returned to these people on these homestead applications and represent their filing fee of $16. Did you file on 160 acres? Miss FRASIER. Yes. Mr. SMITH. They were returned in the ordinary course of business under instructions from the Secretary of the Interior when the applications were finally rejected. On final rejection the checks are returned to the claimants and that is what she received from the Treasury Department. The CHAIRMAN. To-morrow morning we want to hear Mr. Wilhelm, Mr. Smith, Mr. Bligh, and Mr. Romero, and if there are other witnesses who wish to be heard, if they will hand their names in to the clerk, opportunity will be given in the morning for them to be heard. At this time we will recess until to-morrow morning at 9.30. (Whereupon, at 5.15 o'clock p. m., the subcommittee recessed until Friday, April 5, 1929, at 9.30 o'clock a. m.) MEXICAN LAND GRANTS IN CALIFORNIA FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 1929 SUBCOMMITTEE OF COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS AND SURVEYS, Los Angeles, Calif. The subcommittee met, pursuant to the recess, at 9.30 o'clock a. m., in department 5, Superior Court, County of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif., Senator Gerald P. Nye, presiding. Present: Senators Nye (chairman), Dale, and Bratton. Present also: The various representatives of the parties appearing before the committee. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will be in order. We will here Lieutenant Bligh. TESTIMONY OF LIEUT. JAMES BLIGH, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT (The witness was duly sworn by the chairman.) The CHAIRMAN. Please state your full name. Mr. BLIGH. James Bligh. The CHAIRMAN. And your occupation? Mr. BLIGH. Detective lieutenant, Los Angeles police department, assigned to the bunco squad. The CHAIRMAN. You have a statement you wish to make with relation to the matter which is under inquiry by the committee? Mr. BLIGH. There was an investigation made by the police department in January, 1927, of which I have a report here, which may be of interest to the committee, if I may be allowed to read it. The CHAIRMAN. Very well. Mr. BLIGH (reading): J. F. WILLIAMS, LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT, January 17, 1927. Acting Captain of Detectives, Commanding Bunco and Pickpocket Detail. Subject: Activities of Johnson & Summers, 571 I. W. Hellman Building, SIR: Having been ordered by Chief of Detectives H. H. Cline, to make an investigation regarding Spanish land grants" being hndled by Johnson & Summers, 571 I. W. Hellman Building, the following report is submitted: 66 Acting upon the suggestion made by Chief Cline, a meeting was arranged with Mr. Fricke of the district attorney's office, Inspector Wilhelm of the United States Land Office, a representative of the press, Mrs. M. Dinuzzo (policewoman), and myself. At this meeting it was decided by Mr. Fricke that Mr. Tracy Becker of the district attorney's office would be a good man to handle this matter, and a request in writing was made by Mr. Fricke to Mr. Davis, asking that this assignment be made, which request was granted. Mr. Becker then advised us regarding what information he desired, pertaining to the representations made by Mr. Johnson and Mr. Summers to persons who called on them relative to "Spanish land grants." Through Mr. Alymar Harding, Hotel Fremont, 401 South Olive Street, who wrote a letter to the chief of police regarding the activities of Messrs. Johnson and Summers, a meeting was arranged with a woman named Gertrude Caldwell, 1160 West Twenty-seventh Street, who is an associate of Mr. Clinton Johnson. Mr. Harding and myself went to 1160 West Twenty-seventh Street and interviewed Gertrude Caldwell regarding Spanish land grants in California. We secured at this time a letter of introduction to Mr. Clinton Johnson, 571 I. W. Hellman Building. He Mrs. Lulu Lane and Mrs. Marie Dinuzzo, policewomen, called on Mr. Johnson at the above address and interviewed him to some extent concerning the abovementioned land grants. Mr. Johnson at this time stated that he had two contracts that could be made, one for $100 and another for $1,000. explained that the $100 contract called for 50 per cent share in whatever price the property acquired would amount to if their filing for a homestead claim in the United States Land Office should become a valid one, while the $1,000 contract called for 25 per cent of the valuation as their share of this land whenever the property filed on was secured. This information was given to Deputy District Attorney Becker, who stated that he would like to see one of the contracts if it were possible to obtain one. From a list of homestead applications in the United States Land Office, appeared the name of William T. Carpenter, Badge 1045, address 3976 Third Avenue, a mail carrier employed at the Arcade Station. Arrangements were made to meet him, at which time his contract with Mr. Johnson and Mr. Summers, was obtained and photographed. Mrs. Dinuzzo and myself called on Mr. Johnson in regard to these contracts he was making which concerned the filing of homestead claims in the United States Land Office of alleged fraudulent Spanish land grants. We obtained the blank form of each contract that they had, one for $1,000 and one for $100. (See attached forms of contract.) The points brought out by Mr. Johnson in the interview with Mrs. Dinuzzo and myself, were briefly these: That homestead filings could be made at the local land office on the San Fernando grant; that this San Fernando grant was invalid and the land was Government domain and therefore open to homestead entry. A map was shown us by Mr. Wheeler, who is an employee in the office, showing San Fernando and vicinity, and a sketch was made from it showing several desirable locations that we could file a homestead entry against. (See sketch attached to this report.) Mr. Johnson stated that he could not guarantee that we could get possession of this land; however, both he and Mr. Summers would fight in order that we might gain possession, should our filing be rejected, and if necessary, would carry our appeal right to Washington, D. C. Mr. Johnson further stated that he had taken in about $22,080 from people he had interested in the filing of these homestead claims. We were told by Mr. Wheeler, when we objected to filing on any land on which a home had been built, that the owners of many such homes had filed claims with him; in other words, people who actually were bona fide owners of land have been convinced by these men that their titles to property are invalid, and as a result, had filed their claims with Johnson and Summers. We were shown maps which contained numbers of the contracts filed on by some of these property owners. We also called at the local United States land office and interviewed A. A. Wilhelm, chief of the field division of the Interior Department of southern California, in regard to the claims made by Mr. Johnson. Mr. Wilhelm stated that briefly the facts were as follows: No. 1. The land is embraced in an unrejected Mexican land grant. No. 3. Neither the United States land office nor the Secretary of the Interior has the power to ignore or to question the validity of the land grant. No. 4. The issuance of patent deprived the land department of all powers to allow a homestead entry. No. 5. The land can not be restored to homestead entry unless the patent should be canceled by the court of competent jurisdiction. No. 6. No land can be entered until it has been opened to entry by an order of the Secretary of the Interior. No. 7. If the land were subject to entry, former service men of the World War would have a 90-day preference right to entry. No. 8. The land has not been surveyed and there is no such description as inserted on the applications offered. Clinton Johnson was indicted with Ben McLendon and William R. Price, Virgil E. Clark, and Gertrude Caldwell for using the mails in a scheme to defraud in 1922, and Clinton Johnson is familiar with all the decisions rendered in the case at that time. Clinton Johnson was defended by Mr. Summers at that trial, and Johnson and Summers are now associated together and apparently are operating in the same manner as they were before. Price and McLendon, who were indicted with Johnson, et al., have since died. Due to the fact that Mr. Becker, of the district attorney's office, is in Chicago, and Mr. McNabb, United States attorney, is ill, a meeting could not be arranged. However, as soon as Mr. Becker returns, they will hold a conference and reach a decision as to which department shall prosecute this case. Supplementary report will be submitted following the conference between Mr. McNabb and Mr. Becker. Respectfully, The CHAIRMAN. Are there any questions? J. N. BLIGH, Detective Lieutenant. Mr. LAWLER. Are the papers referred to in that report attached to it as indicated? Mr. BLIGH. We have those in our identification bureau at the police department. This is a copy I gave to the land office and they were kind enough to let me read it this morning. The originals are in our identification bureau and can be had. Mr. LAWLER. You referred in the report, if I understood it correctly, to certain papers that were exhibited to you in the course of your investigation. Are those attached to this copy? Mr. BLIGH. Not to this copy, but they are in the police department. Mr. LAWLER. If the committee should desire to have they they can be made available? Mr. BLIGH. I believe they can, Mr. Lawler. The CHAIRMAN. Proceed, Mr. Bligh. Mr. BLIGH. We had complaints concerning the activities of these men continually. I have made a brief report here of the call that Inspector Finlinson, Lieutenant McCarron and myself made, and of the conversation we had with Mr. Wheeler on September 21, 1928. This has already been testified to, but if you wish I will read this as relating to our conversation. The CHAIRMAN. Proceed, Lieutenant. SEPTEMBER 21, 1928. INSPECTOR FINLINSON: Inspector Finlinson, Lieutenant McCarron, and myself called on Mr. Wheeler, at room 571 I. W. Hellman Building, about 2 p. m. September 21, 1928, regarding a complaint from C. F. Lander, Chatsworth, Calif., and held conversation with him regarding this complaint, and among other things inquired of Mr. Wheeler if any of the hundreds of people he had taken money from to carry on a fight of their homestead claims that had been rejected by the land office had ever received anything for them. Mr. Wheeler stated "No, they had not." I then told him about he being investigated several years ago, and that it was just too bad we could not stop him from operating in this manner; that is, commercializing on some alleged flaw he may think existed in early Spanish land grants, and taking peoples money for the past several years. He replied by saying "Why man I have put my own money in this thing" and showed a picture of a beautiful home at the Palos Verde Estates that he stated was to be his some day, through a filing he had made at the local Government land office. I asked him if he was really sincere in believing he could acquire such a valuable home as he showed me a picture of for a $16 filing fee at the local land office, and he replied that he was 66 never more sincere." I told him he "must be either insane or a good confidence man and left his office." Respectfully, JAMES BLIGH. The CHAIRMAN. Do you have knowledge where the complaints upon which you acted had their origin or inception? Mr. BLIGH. Well, we have had a lot of complaints. They would come to the police department in the form of letters. A lot of them are anonymous and are not signed by the people who wrote them, apparently because the people didn't want to get mixed up in any criminal investigation or any action that we might take in the matter; but we are receiving letters continuously, but unless they are signed by some respectable citizens we do not pay much attention to them. The CHAIRMAN. Do you have any knowledge of whether or not any of these complaints under which you have operated have come from those who have made applications for homestead entry? Mr. BLIGH. I do not believe any complaints have come to us from the homesteaders themselves. In fact, they seem to be of the opinion that their claims are perfectly sincere and honest in every way and they won't complain to us in that regard. The CHAIRMAN. In other words, there seems to be no complaining on the part of those who have put their money into this thing? Mr. BLIGH. None that we know of. The CHAIRMAN. That is all. Is Mr. Harris here? (No response.) The CHAIRMAN. Is Mr. Leonard Barnes here? Mr. WHEELER. Mr. Barnes just left here and will be back shortly. The CHAIRMAN. Mr. Armstrong or Mr. Morris? TESTIMONY OF RUFUS D. MORRIS, LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (The witness was duly sworn by the chairman.) The CHAIRMAN. Please state your full name. Mr. MORRIS. Rufus Daniel Morris. The CHAIRMAN. And your residence? Mr. MORRIS. I live at 5411 Hillmont Avenue, Eagle Rock. The CHAIRMAN. The mining business? Mr. MORRIS. Yes. Senator BRATTON. Mr. Morris, where is your office located? Mr. MORRIS. I have been for some time in the Hellman Building, No. 571. Senator BRATTON. With whom were you associated? Mr. MORRIS. I am not associated with anybody. I am associated with myself. I am not there all the time. Senator BRATTON. Have you had any business association or connection with Mr. Summers and Mr. Wheeler? Mr. MORRIS. Well, I am a homesteader. |