Soon after entering upon his duties, it was shouted in clarion notes by various Washington correspondents, that the new Commissioner was the Moses that was going to lead the poor homesteader out of the slough of despond. With little regard to the law or the significance of prevailing conditions, it was asserted quite freely that the poor, honest settler was going to get his patent without delay, so that he could sell his land and be enabled to live in luxury the rest of his life on the proceeds. It was never brought out in the course of any of these sudden manifestations of assumed virtuous concern, that if a homesteader has faithfully complied with the land laws, and has proven up on his claim and secured his final certificate, that this evidence of title is just as good as a patent for all practical purposes, and that no human power on earth can ever deprive him of his rights.
That wasn't the idea. I have before me the Portland Morning Oregonian of September 3, 1907, wherein is printed more than a column tirade from the pen of Harry Brown, its Washington correspondent, reflecting severely upon Ex-Secretary Hitchcock for his plain duty in suspending a lot of bogus Oregon homestead entries, and proclaiming that it would be Commissioner Ballinger's policy to patent everything where there was no protest. In a little three line sentence at the bottom of this article, Brown made allusion to the fact that all lieu selections would also be approved, and I was forced to conclude that his 1.200word preamble about the benefits that were going to be derived by the poor, honest settler, was merely the cloak to the real intentions of Commissioner Ballinger. It was simply his artistic way of breaking the news gently to the public, little realizing that the American people have heard that sort of buncombe with such religious frequency, that it has ceased to excite comment.
In accordance with the Commissioner's determination, as outlined by press-agent process, Ballinger instructed the Chiefs of Field Divisions in Oregon, California and Washington—and, I presume, elsewhere—to make field investigation of the different homestead, timber and desert land claims within their jurisdictions, and in cases where there was no evidence of fraud, or where no protest had been filed within two years, that the entries should be passed to patent. When this sweeping order was issued, Horace Stevens was officiating as assistant to Special Inspector Thomas B. Neuhausen, who was then Acting Chief of Field Division No. 1, comprising the State of Oregon. In that capacity, all the notices of intention to make final proof on homestead, timber and desert land entries at the various United States Land Offices of Oregon came under his personal observation. Pursuant to instructions from headquarters, these notices of final proof were sent direct to Acting Chief Neuhausen by the Registers and Receivers of the Portland, Roseburg, Lakeview, Burns, La Grande and The Dalles Land Districts. Fully 4,000 of these final proof notices were thus received within a very short time, and as only a limited period was allowed in which to make field investigations, it can be readily surmised how much progress was made in this direction, especially when it is considered that Acting Chief Neuhausen had but seven Special Agents available for that service.
Under cover of the humane spirit displayed by Commissioner Ballinger, in seeking to have the poor, honest homesteader get his patent in a hurry, there was a grand rush from all parts of the State to get aboard before the Government pulled in its gangplank. Instances were numerous where claims were steeped in fraud, and how many escaped detection may perhaps never be known, but a large percentage of those investigated by the Special Agents was found to be bogus, and they only represented a small proportion of the whole, as it was utterly impossible for such a small force as Neuhausen had at his command to consider properly so many claims, situated as they were in remote districts of the State.
At all events, under cover of this seeming concern for the poor settler, the lieu selection lists of the Northern Pacific have been approved without question, until the corporation has practically exhausted its supply of base thrown on the market by the creation of the Mt. Rainier Forest Reserve, and its bi-product, the Page 377
