USA > New Mexico > History of New Mexico : its resources and people, Volume I > Part 40
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The passage of the tenure of office act early in 1867, designed to re- strict the authority of the president in his appointments generally, and specifically to prevent his removal of the secretary of war, tending to make the latter not only independent of his chief, but the immediate instrument of Congress, appears to have been one of the prime acts which persuaded Senator Ross to stand by the president. Another condition which impelled him to take the stand he did was the fact that Johnson was so badly ham- pered by his "lack of political finesse and intricate knowledge of state- craft." Representing, as Mr. Ross did, an intensely radical constituency, his predilections were sharply against the president and his vote had been
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counted upon accordingly. But he had sworn to judge the defendant, not by his political or personal prejudices, but by the facts elicited in the in- vestigation. In his judgment those facts did not sustain the charge of high misdemeanor, and when the question was put to a vote he voted "not guilty."
A conspicuous service performed by Mr. Ross while in the senate was the introduction of a resolution providing for furnishing government arms to the Kansas state militia for protection against the marauding In- dians of the plains. In spite of determined opposition the measure passed and the equipment of the state troops with adequate arms ended the In- dian depredations.
Upon the expiration of his term in the senate Mr. Ross returned to Lawrence and applied for a position at the printer's case in the office of the newspaper he had formerly owned, but was refused a place, as he was not a member of the printers' union. This was a specious plea, the fact being that the political ring which he previously had fought so strenu- ously feared his return to the local political field and persuaded the pro- prietors of the newspapers to refuse liim admission to the offices. In the fall of 1871 he went to Coffeyville, Kansas, and began the publication of Ross's Paper, in the columns of which he exposed corruption in state and federal politics. ' The Coffeyville office was destroyed by a tornado in 1872, and, returning to Lawrence, he founded the Evening Paper in January, 1873, through the agency of which he procured the political downfall of United States Senator Pomeroy. A month later he and his sons became interested in the publication of the Spirit of Kansas, a weekly, published at Lawrence. In the fall of 1874 he became foreman of the Law- rence Journal, where he remained a year. Then, with F. J. V. Skiff, he purchased the Daily Standard at Lawrence, and with him and later part- ners published the paper until the fall of 1880, when he removed the plant to Leavenworth, where it was later sold to a stock company. In 1882 he came to New Mexico and secured employment at the printer's case in the office of the Albuquerque Journal, remaining with that paper most of the time until his appointment as governor of New Mexico in 1885.
From the earliest days of his tempestuous administration Governor Ross found himself confronted with every conceivable obstacle. The twenty-seventh legislative assembly was overwhelmingly Republican, and Colonel J. Francisco Chaves, president of the council, and Manuel C. de Baca, speaker of the house, hampered him as no executive in New Mexico had ever before been hampered in his efforts to procure a reform in terri- torial affairs. He waged a relentless warfare against corrupt officials. Nominations to office which he sent to the council were held by President Chaves two months, the latter refusing to allow the council to act upon them. Before the close of the session Governor Ross withdrew his orig- inal nominations and presented new ones, but President Chaves, who was one of the shrewdest political intriguers known to the history of the Ter- ritory, instead of offering the new nominations for confirmation took from his private drawer the first list, which the governor had withdrawn, and forced their confirmation, having succeeded in the meantime in securing the support of two of the original nominees in his fight to override cer- tain executive vetoes of bills passed by the legislature. To two of the men thus confirmed Governor Ross refused to issue commissions. His
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vetoes were sustained, however, notably those of the Socorro disincor- poration bill, the bill for tlie relief of Benigno Jaramillo, the bill prohibit- ing any person from holding two offices, the general county bill, the bill creating Logan county and the bill providing for the regulation of practice in cases of torts. To insure rendering the governor's vetoes null, the next legislature took the precaution to unseat most of the Democratic rep- resentatives, giving the Republicans an overwhelming majority and en- abling them to override any of the vetoes. The legislature during this administration literally ran wild. Special legislation of the most iniquitous character was introduced, and much of it became a law in spite of. the governor's dissent.
The romance and tragedy combined in the career of this striking figure in political life in the west, well illustrated in the incident at Lawrence when he returned from the United States senate and, in his poverty, asked in vain for a position "at the case" on his old newspaper, is similarly illustrated by his experience immediately after the appointment of his successor as governor of New Mexico in 1889, when he entered the print- ing office of the New Mexican at Santa Fe and engaged in typesetting by hand. From Santa Fé he went to Deming, where he edited the Headlight until 1893. During Cleveland's second administration there was a con- siderable sentiment in favor of his reappointment to the executive office, but the younger element in the party prevailed and the appointment of William T. Thornton followed. During the first two years of Governor Thornton's term Mr. Ross was secretary of the bureau of immigration. Since 1895 he has lived in retirement in Albuquerque, where two of his children, a son and a daughter, with their families, now reside.
William T. Thornton, governor of New Mexico from 1893 to 1897, was born in Calhoun, Henry county, Missouri, February 9, 1843, a son of Dr. William T. Thornton. His mother was. Caroline V. Taylor, of Louis- ville, Kentucky. He served in the Confederate army, and after the war began the study of the law, being graduated from the law department of Kentucky University in 1868. In 1877 he opened a law office in Santa. Fé, served in the council in the twenty-fifth legislative assembly, and in 1891 was elected the first mayor of the city of Santa Fe. He retired from the practice of his profession in 1885 and was afterward engaged ex- tensively in the cattle business and in mining. In 1893 President Cleveland appointed him governor of New Mexico, an office that he filled. four years. One of his biographers, in referring to his administration; says: "The re- sult of his crusade against crime and against financial delinquency, which he inaugurated and carried on with much vigor of purpose and action, signalized his administration and gave him a distinguished place in the history of this Territory as the most executive and useful governor New Mexico has ever had. These results have done more to establish the supremacy of law, to secure peace and good order and to assure the se- curity of life and property, and hence to advance the cause of civilization and social development, than the works of any of his predecessors in his high office. High crime, including political assassinations, involving both Republicans and Democrats, committed prior to his inauguration, but still undiscovered, were speedily detected and prosecuted to conviction by the peace and prosecuting officers under his forceful inspiration." While it is possible that this writer overdrew the picture somewhat, there is no
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doubt that Governor Thornton was responsible for a considerable, though temporary, reform in the administration of public affairs in the Terri- tory, a good work which was largely undone by succeeding administra- tions.
A radical change in the political conditions in the Territory was in- augurated in 1906 under the administration of Governor Hagerman. For many years the administration of public affairs had been characterized by a deplorable indifference to the interests of the people as a whole and a most diaphanous subservience, in some departments of the government, to private and corporate interests. Vast areas of timber, grazing and agri- cultural lands, some of which had been property of the Territory for many ycars, but most of which were donated to the Territory by the fed- eral government under the Fergusson act, so-called, of June 1, 1898, were disposed of to special interests in a manner which brought forth whole- sale condemnation from those citizens not identified with the political cabal in power. Great corporations were permitted to obtain, for an incon- sequential sum of money, title to tracts of land of great value. Lands which, if sold at public auction to the highest bidder after proper adver- tisement, would have added millions of dollars to the territorial treasury, were sold at the lowest possible price allowable by law to corporations and associations of individuals.
These transactions, which deprived the Territory of a vast sum of money, created in the minds of many of the honest citizens of New Mexico the impression that devious methods had been resorted to by territorial officials for the purpose of increasing their wealth at the expense of the people. Accusations of dishonesty, of intrigue and of the consummation of plans for the robbery of the people by the application of an interpretation of the law that favored the private interests rather than the interests of the whole people, and especially the interests of the schools, were freely and openly made. These accusations affected men in high stand- ing in official circles, holding their offices under presidential appoint- ment.
So flagrant was the apparent abuse of official favor that the proprietor of one of the most influential newspapers of the Territory, after a series of bitter attacks upon those in power, was indicted for criminal libel. This action resulted in a general awakening to a state of affairs to which many people had remained in a state of apparent indifference, as the result of what they considered the hopelessness of all efforts to effect a reform, and the appointment of a new executive was hailed with feelings that the protracted era of wrongs perpetrated might at last be righted.
At the beginning of Governor Hagerman's administration resignations of public officials holding office under appointment by his predecessor fol- lowed in rapid succession. Hardly had the new executive taken posses- sion of his office when a wave of apprehension passed through the entire body of appointive officials. Fearing that resignations would be de- manded, some tendered their resignations at once. In one case a resigna- tion reached the governor by telegraph. These vacancies were at once filled by the appointment of men whom the executive believed would co- operate with him to the fullest extent in carrying out the public policies which he was known to favor. By the end of the first five months of
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his administration the new régime was fully installed and the work of reform in the administration of the people's affairs was in full sway.
For so long a period had the spirit and intent of the law in the ad- ministration of public lands been violated that an incident occurring late in the spring of 1906 was hailed with great surprise and still greater pleasure by those who had led the fight against the gross mismanage- ment of the land interests, of the Territory. Soon after Governor Hager- man assumed his office the attention of the secretary of the interior was called to the manner in which large private interests had been allowed to obtain control of great bodies of land by methods which were believed to be contrary to the provisions of the Fergusson act. Secretary Hitch- cock soon afterward directed that an investigation into these conditions be made, and April 2, 1906, E. P. Holcombe, a special agent of the general land office at Washington, arrived in New Mexico upon that mission. The specific matter which he was directed to investigate was the proposed sale to an association of individuals of 9,971.27 acres of lands located in Luna county at one dollar and fifty cents per acre.
The application for these lands was made to the commission of irri- gation on September 3, 1904. This board accepted the proposition for the purchase, the contract, when completed, to be made in behalf of James S. Delamater, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, as trustee. Sixty-two bids were presented, each for one hundred and sixty acres, at the uniform price of one dollar and fifty cents per acre, were accepted by the commissioner of public lands, and deeds to the various applicants were subsequently pre- pared. These deeds were not executed or delivered, however, owing to a doubt in the mind of the commission as to whether the sale could be con- summated without violating the act of 1.898, which provides that not more than one quarter section of land shall be sold to any one person, corpora- tion or association of persons.
When the matter was first referred to the land office it reported that, as the title of the land had become vested in the Territory, it was not a matter over which it could exercise any administrative jurisdiction. March 6, 1906, the matter was referred to the assistant attorney-general for an opinion as to whether the facts disclosed constituted a violation or evasion or attempted violation or evasion of the provision of the act of 1898.
That official advised the secretary of the interior to make an in- vestigation and report to Congress, and suggested that the governor of the Territory should be advised that the best interests of the Territory seemed to require that for the time being the delivery of the deeds should be withheld.
The investigation made by the special agent of the interior department disclosed these facts: The various applicants for the lands referred to had signed their applications at the request of the attorneys for the "trustee" of the proposed association of individuals, with the understand- ing that it was a mere form, and there was nothing illegal or wrong in it; that they did not pay for the land and did not expect to have any interest in it, and at the time of signing the applications thev likewise executed deeds conveying the land to others and gave the deeds to the attorney who secured their signature. The attorney who conducted the negotiations with the commissioner of public lands stated to the latter that it was the
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purpose of the applicants to transfer all the land to a company as soon as the deeds were delivered. "The admitted fact that all the applicants to purchase had executed deeds to J. S. Delamater, trustee, for the lands described in their several applications," reported the special agent, "is con- clusive of the fact that the original application to the irrigation commis- sion for the recommendation of the selection of the described lands was made in the interest of a corporation or an association of persons formed for the purpose of acquiring title from the Territory of more than one hundred and sixty acres of land, and that the several applicants were procured that the record facts might show a strict compliance with the letter of the law." After making a careful examination of the records. the report continues :
"Studied. care appears to have been taken that the record should show a close observance: of the requirements of the letter of the law, the better to conceal the disregard of its spirit and intent. There is no warrant of law authorizing the board of public lands of the Territory of New Mexico to enter into a contract for the sale of lands in quantities in excess. of 160 acres to any one person, association or corporation: * * * Power to contract for the sale of 50 per cent of all lands granted, which are salable under the granting act, does not imply nor can it carry with it power to contract for the sale of more than 160 acres to any one person, asso- ciation or corporation, where such a limitation is imposed by. Congress on the sale of lands granted to the Territory. The facts disclose an attempt to· evade the restriction of the act of June 21, 1898, under a colorable com- pliance with the terms of the federal and territorial statutes, a scheme in all essential respects similar to that used by the Trinidad Coal and Coking Company to obtain title to public coal lands and declared fraudulent by the Supreme Court of the United States (U. S. vs. Trinidad Coal and Coking Co., 137 U. S., 160). The sale has not been consummated, and it is within the power of Congress to enforce the conditions of the grant (100 U. S., 61-69)."
In this manner was begun a reform which, under the guidance of courageous and honest officials, may amount to a revolution in the adminis- tration of the public lands of New Mexico. It was not long after the in- stitution of a new order of things that the combination of territorial poli- ticians which had been in power for so long a time, and the "special interests" which had been nurtured at the expense of a hitherto helpless public, began insidiously and by devious methods to plot for the downfall of the reform element. The situation in the early summer of 1906 had become tense and critical. The question of statehood had been so thor- oughly involved in that of the private interests threatened that the appoint- ment of Bernard S. Rodey, former delegate to Congress, to the federal bench in Porto Rico was hailed with delight by those who had fought for a continuance. even a perpetuity, of the territorial form of government. Judge Rodey had long been recognized as the implacable and tireless foe of the corrupting forces who had been appropriating territorial lands to their personal use under cover of a literal interpretation of the laws, and as a most devoted advocate of statehood. Aside from the new executive, whose temper under a slight trial had not shown him to be as pliable as some of his predecessors had been, Judge Rodey had been a most discon- certing factor to these interests, and after his removal from Albuquerque
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the attention of his clique was turned to the formulation of plans to thwart unwelcome acts.
The view taken by most of the citizens of the Territory who had watched the progress of events was that the Otero administration had taken the wrong side on these questions, on which there was practical unanimity among the people, and had failed at every step. For a long period it struggled to push a bill through Congress enabling the Territory to dispose of its lands in larger parcels than the Fergusson act permitted, ignoring the interior department, the proper channel through which the Territory should approach Congress .. When it became apparent that Con- gress was not disposed to grant the relief asked for, the territorial admin- istration took the matter into its own hands, and had the New Mexico legislature pass an act setting aside all the objectionable provisions of the law of 1898 (the Fergusson. act), and under the authority conferred upon itself, by itself,. the territorial administration proceeded to violate the federal statute by disposing of vast areas of the public domain. with a very liberal. hand. Timber lands which, if sold in the open market to the highest bidder, after proper advertisement, would have brought three to five times the price received, were in this manner sold to favorites at three dollars per acre, and lands for agricultural purposes were sold for half that sum. At the close of the eight-year administration of Governor Otero more than three hundred and sixty thousand acres of the public lands of the Territory had been leased to private parties under this. arrangement, in open and direct violation of the very plainest terms of the- act of Con- gress, and the work was still going on when the new administration came in. Not only was the land leased in large bodies when the law of Con- gress declared positively that it. should not be so leased, but the leases were never submitted to the secretary of the interior for his approval, though the law declared that every lease should be thus submitted. And, further, the act of Congress conferring the land upon the Territory provided posi- tively and specifically that the net proceeds of all the land disposed of sliould be used solely for the benefit of the particular territorial institution for the support or endowment of which the land was granted, but under the authority which the territorial administration had. conferred upon itself, the money derived from the leasing of lands was devoted to an en- tirely different purpose. This left on the lips of the people a pertinent question : How are these institutions to secure the money which is theirs by act of Congress, but which has been diverted to other uses?
This was the condition of things when the new administration came in, but the new governor recognized the fact that Congress was superior to the Territorial. legislature, and hence he refused to dispose of any more of the public land in a manner that violated the statute of the United States. He knew that the law of Congress governing the disposition of the land ought to be changed, but he knew, also, that the territorial legislature did not have the power to change it, and hence one of his first official acts after being inducted into office was to lay a plain business-like statement of the situation before the Secretary of the Interior, calling the attention of that official to the fact that owing to the arid character of the land granted to the Territory by the act of Congress in question, it could only be used for grazing. and that to utilize it for this purpose parties would have to be permitted to lease it in tracts very much greater than 640 acres. The
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Secretary of the Interior at once called the attention of Congress to the necessity of making such change in the law as would fit it to the natural conditions existing in this Territory. Congress promptly took the matter up, and an amendment was proposed which would fit the law to the case .. This amendment was very simple, but it covered all the ground of complaint. Following the clause declaring that "not more than one section of land shall be leased to one person, corporation, or association of persons," it proposed to insert the words, "except when in the opinion of the Secretary of the Interior the leasing of a larger area is deemed advisable."
On June 21, 1898, the bill commonly known as the Fergusson act, because of the fact that it was drawn and introduced into Congress by H. B. Fergusson, delegate from New Mexico, became a law. This law virtually affects one of the most important-in some ways even the most important-interests of the Territory and the passage of the measure re- ferred to was hailed with joy by those citizens of New Mexico who desired to see an honest administration of the public lands. The Fergusson act provided that all sections of school land numbered 16 and 36 in every township of the Territory (where such sections are mineral or have been disposed of under any act of Congress, other non-mineral lands equivalent thereto, and as contiguous as may be to the section in lieu of which the same is taken),-the Territory be granted the right to lease this land, consisting of about four million acres, for the support of its public schools (exemption public reservations). Fifty sections were granted for the erection of public buildings at the capital of the Territory when it should be admitted to the Union; two townships were reserved for the estab- lishment of a University of New Mexico, and sixty-five thousand acres, together with all saline lands, were granted for the use of the university ; one hundred thousand acres were set aside for the use of an agricultural college.
The proceeds of the sale of these lands were ordered set aside as permanent funds for the purposes of the university and agricultural col- lege. Five per cent of the proceeds of the sales of public lands sold by the United States subsequent to the passage of the act was set aside as a permanent fund for the support of the common schools. Further grants of non-mineral and unappropriated lands were made as follows: For the establishment of permanent water reservoirs for irrigating purposes, five hundred thousand acres ; for the improvement of the Rio Grande in New Mexico and the increasing of the surface flow of the water in the bed of the Rio Grande, one hundred thousand acres; for the establishment and maintenance of an asylum for the insane, fifty thousand acres; for the establishment and maintenance of a school of mines, fifty thousand acres ; a school for the deaf and dumb, fifty thousand acres; for a reform school, fifty thousand acres; for an institution for the blind, fifty thousand acres; for normal schools, one hundred thousand acres; for a hospital for dis- abled miners, fifty thousand acres ; for a military institute, fifty thousand acres; for the enlargement and maintenance of the territorial penitentiary," fifty thousand acres. The ancient governor's palace at Santa Fé and all lands and appurtenances connected therewith were also granted to the Territory. The act also specified that it was intended to affect a partial grant only, the question of the total amount of lands to be granted being
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