"No," said Heney. His theory now was that Hall had meant to let him try the weakest case and lose it; then he, Hall, would go on alone to try the better cases and win.
"Or lose," said Burns." You think he's bent only on 'doing' you. I tell you he is protecting somebody. He wants you to be beaten, but that is only part of his game to regain control of the whole situation and—save it."
Francis J. Heney is the most remarkable example I know of that typical American who, having eyes, saw not, and having ears, heard with them, but not with his mind. This ex-political boss of Arizona, while in Washington that summer, induced the Attorney-General to pledge the President to reappoint Hall United States District Attorney!
Heney went home by way of Portland, and, telling Hall what he had done, instructed him to prepare another, the second Puter case, and to make use of Sorensen as a witness. Hall promised. But when Heney and Burns returned to Portland to put on the case, Sorensen had "skipped," Hall said. Bums laughed. Even after that Heney let Hall open the case and conduct the examination of witnesses—for two days.
Meanwhile Burns was at work. The reason this, the so-called "7-11" case, was better than the other was that the persons were real who had sworn to having lived upon and improved the land Puter and his gang had obtained by fraud. It was hard to prove that fictitious persons did not exist, but these real persons could be found, frightened and brought in as witnesses. Bums sent out his son, George, with a photographer to take affidavits of these persons and pictures of the claims and the "improvements." George Burns discovered, as his photographs reproduced in these pages show, that none of these claims had ever been improved. They couldn't be. Part of township seven-eleven was up above the snow line on the mountains. Snow lay till June on the alleged "strawberry patches." Some claims were inaccessible, upon a mountain peak, or down the sides of precipitous cliffs. All were worthless, for, you understand, Puter and his gang did not want this land in the forest reserves to keep. They sought only the right to exchange it for other land and these rights, called scrip, were sold to timber men who used it to "lay down" upon (claim) rich timber and grazing lands "anywhere" in the public domain.
To help find and bring to court the persons who acted as dummies in this business, Heney and Burns had the service of Capt. Ormsby, a former forest superintendent of the Interior Department, who had worked on the case. This old man was telling things. One day, however, when he was "coming through" to Burns, Hall saw him and called him out. When Ormsby returned to Burns, he was a changed man; he had nothing more to confess.
Heney is a fighter. A case to him is a fight. He was fighting a case then. Everybody that was helping him was his friend, everybody that was against him was his foe. This act of Hall was like a blow, and, as with President Roosevelt, so with Heney, a blow makes him see what no argument can. Heney saw now at last that Hall was crooked. And Heney has another trait in common with Mr. Roosevelt. What he sees fighting, he will fight.
Heney Takes Charge
Up to that time Heney had sat silent at the trials. Hall was the man. The papers of that period show it; they have large pictures of Hall, a little tintype of Heney. Local pride was glad to give credit where credit was due and Heney meant to let Hall have all the glory in his own state. But the day after the Ormsby incident, Heney said quietly to Hall that there would be a change. He offered no explanation." I will examine all witnesses, Mr. Hall," he said.
Hall pleaded, but Heney was a rock. He tried the case. It made a difference, too. The evidence began to go against Puter and his gang. Leading citizens were alarmed. The papers began to "hit up Heney," the pictures were caricatures, but from this on he was the man. Other influences appeared, in front and behind. No matter. Heney makes jurors, and judges too (as I've heard them say), believe in him; they see that he is sincere, fair but fierce in his sense of duty to the state. He taught this Oregon jury that the crime of Puter et al. was not merely conspiracy, not only stealing, but a violation of the public policy of the United States and a menace to good government. And those jurors understood. To the amazement of the whole Northwest, Heney convicted Puter, McKinley and the
