The Shadowy Dealings of a Public Land Official
Citizens call for an investigation into whether an official is using his position to benefit a coal company.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Ira M. Krutz repeatedly stated that he would resign his official position on the 15th of April, but he has not done so. Perhaps the reason is that just at this particular period he is necessary to a great corporation. Would any settler have the temerity to arouse Mr. Krutz out of his bed at midnight to consult about land office business? And if he did, would not Mr. Krutz slam the door in his face? Yet this has been done by an agent of the N. P. coal company, and has resulted in a very private and apparently satisfactory audience. If Mr. Krutz is working for this or any other corporation, to the detriment of the settler, it is time the government made an investigation; and if he is not doing so, why is he traveling on a Northern Pacific pass? And who are his associates and how did he get into the South Cle-Elum land company? The columns of The Herald are open to Mr. Krutz for a reply to these questions.
“If Mr. Krutz is working for this or any other corporation, to the detriment of the settler, it is time the government made an investigation.”
Conflicts of interest and the 'revolving door' between regulatory offices and the industries they oversee remain a potent subject in Washington state politics, much as it was in the era of early railroad expansion.
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