The Myth of the Great Land Scandal
A federal official dismisses widespread rumors of a $50 million land fraud, even as regional timber speculators continue to exploit loopholes in the law.
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.
Washington, D. C.—The interior department ridicules a story recently put in circulation that Uncle Sam has been defrauded out of $50,000,000 worth of public lands. Acting Secretary Ryan dismissed the report, stating, 'It is ridiculous to talk of the government losing fifty million dollars through land frauds last year. No such loss was possible.' While admitting some fraud exists, Ryan denied that any United States senators were involved or that a general overhauling of local land offices was planned. Operators and manipulators have been able, under the timber and stone act and the lieu land law, to acquire control of large tracts of timber land in Washington, Oregon, and northern California. To a great extent, these persons have kept technically within the law, taking advantage of the statutes to corral valuable timber land before bona fide entrymen arrive. Secretary Hitchcock recognizes that the only way to stop these losses is to repeal the timber and stone act, which allows land worth $100 an acre to be sold for $4.
“This law gives away for about $4 an acre, land that would often bring in the market as high as $100, or even more.”
This story highlights the perennial tension between public resource management and private speculation in the American West. The manipulation of the 'Timber and Stone Act' remains a classic case study of how federal policy—or the lack thereof—can facilitate the transfer of public wealth into private, corporate hands.
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