The Huntsville Daily Times
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Description: Majority Committee Report Phillipine Land Investigation;
Date: March 2 1911Newspaper published in: Huntsville, AL
Source: Library
Page/Column: Page 1, Column 1; Page 2, Column 3
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Majority Committee Report Phillipine Land Investigation
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By Associated Press
Washington, D. C., March 2 – The administration of lands in the Philippine islands has been fairly and honestly conducted, and charges and insinuations to the contrary, directed against officers either of the Philippine Government or of the Government of the United States, are unwarranted and unjust—this is the conclusion of the majority of the House Committee on Insular Affairs, in the report of an exhaustive investigation of those matters, made public today by the chairman of the committee, Representative Olmsted, of Pennsylvania. The report expressly exonerates W. Cameron Forbes, governor-general; Charles H. Sleeper, director of lands; Frank W. Carpenter, executive secretary and Dean C. Worcester, secretary of the interior of the Philippine Government, of any improprieties in the management of the Philippine Islands, and describes them as “able, earnest, patriotic men, honestly performing the duties allotted them under more or less trying circumstances.”
Representative Martin, of Colorado, precipitated the investigation now reported upon, by various charges made on the floor of the House in the later part of the session of 1909-10, in which he alleged improper sales and leases of the friar lands, especially to persons who, he charges desired the land for the benefit of the so-called sugar trust. And while the report undertakes to refute a number of charges connected with the sale and lease of lands in the islands, it is devoted largely to discussion of a transaction by which one E. L. Poole bought 56,000 of the 400,000 acres of the sugar lands.
Representative Martin contended that under the “organic law” of 1902, which gave a civil government to the Philippine Islands, and which definitely limited the amount of “public” land that might be sold to individuals and to corporations, Mr. Poole, could lawfully obtain only 40 acres as an individual and only 2500 acres as representative of a corporation.
With this contention the majority __ committee explicitly disagrees; it concludes that the “friar” lands were not subject as a matter of law, and ought not to be subject as a matter of practical expediency, to the restrictions upon “public” land. In support of this position as to the legal status of the friar lands, the report cites opinions of George R. Harvey, solicitor general, approved by Ignacio Villamor, attorney general; Louis C. Knight, attorney of the bureau of public lands of the islands, and of Attorney General Wickersham; and includes also a introverting opinion Moorfield Storey of Boston.
The transaction of Poole, to which the larger part of the discussion is addressed, was the purchase of the “San Jose estate.”
“There has not been disclosed,” the report says of the transactions, “the slightest irregularity or impropriety on the part of Dean C. Worcester, the secretary of the interior, Capt. Chas. H. Sleeper, the director of the bureau of lands in the Philippines; the war department of the bureau of Insular affairs at Washington; or any other official either of the Philippine Government or in the United States government in connection with the purchase or sale of the San Jose estate. It was a perfectly plain and square business transaction.”
“Poole’s purchase covered 56,000 acres, the evidence shows that he made the first payment January 4, 1910, and on March 5, 1910, executed a deed setting forth that in making the purchase he was acting as the agent of Horace Havemeyer, C. J. Welch and Charles H. Senff, “who furnished him the money with which he paid for the property.” The majority report says of him, in part:
“The familiarity of the public with the names of Havemeyer and Senff for a number of years in connection with the American Sugar refining Company, gave rise to the impression widely circulated, that the purchased of the San Jose estate was made by, or either directly or indirectly in the interest of the Sugar Trust. It appears, however, from the emphatic and uncontradicted testimony in the case, that the American Sugar Refining Company was not in any whatever, directly or indirectly, concerned in the purchase.
In reviewing the incidents that led up to the sale of the “San Jose estate,” the report makes mention of the fact that John Henry Hammond testified before the committee that in his inquiry on behalf of his clients, Havemeyer and Welch, as to the title of certain lands in the Philippines he was ‘unconnected in the matter with the other members of the law, among whom is Henry W. Taft, a brother of the President.
This circumstance of indirect relationship to the administration, the report declares, led Mr. Hammond to withdraw as counsel for Messrs. Hevemeyer and Welch.
Mr. Poole, the report adds, had no interest in the purchase, acting solely as the agent of Messrs. Havemeyer, Welch and Senff, “and no other person now has or has had any interest therein, except the said Havemeyer, Welch and Senff.”
They caused to be chartered under the laws on New Jersey a corporation known as the Mindoro Development Company, but the report declares “this company cannot hold more than 2,500 acres of land, and as a matter of fact, it does own only 200 hectares or 500 acres; the balance of the estate still stands in the name of Edward L. Poole, but it appears from the evidence before the Committee, that he executed a deed of trust setting forth that he was acting as the agent of Horace Havemeyer, Charles J. Welch, and Chas. H. Senff who furnished him the money with which he paid for the property, and in which he agrees to convey the said property to such persons, firms or corporations as the said persons shall from time to time direct.”
Taking up various sales of land against which criticism has been directed, the report comments on the transaction in which E. L. Worcester, a nephew of Dean C. Worcester, secretary of the interior of the Philippines, figured. The report says in part.
“Dean C. Worcester, the secretary of the interior, had not and has not any interest whatever in this lease. He has, however, been very unjustly criticized for permitting it be made to his nephew. He declined at first to act upon the application and desired that the Governor General should act in his stead. The director of lands called his attention to the fact, however, that under the provisions of the statute the secretary of the interior himself must act. Thereupon that official approved the application but instead of returning it to the director of lands, as in the ordinary course, he did return it through the Governor General.”
A letter from Dean C. Worcester himself to the Governor General calls attention to the transaction “so that no claim whatever may be made that due publicity did not attach to it.”
The report speaks also of leases obtained by Frank W. Carpenter, executive secretary in the Philippines, and of this compliance with an executive order for government employees to secure permission from the Governor General in order to engage in business.
“In leasing this land,” says the report, “Mr. Carpenter acted entirely for himself, no other person directly or indirectly being interested with him. He holds the position of executive secretary but his official duties are in no way connected with the administration of public lands or friar lands. He has not control over them whatever, and not voice in their management. The agreement with Mr. Carpenter seems to have been highly satisfactory to the Filipino people.”
Three California corporations have acquired public land in the Philippines,” the report says in conclusion, “and the stockholders in these companies are all relative or friends of Charles J. Welch, one of the purchasers of the San Jose estate and the public lands thus acquired by them are adjacent to that estate. None of the purchasers of the San Jose estate are stockholders in any of those three corporations, and none of the stockholders in any one of these three corporations are stockholders in either of the other two.”
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Will Oust Negro Postmasters
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Senator Percy Arranges for Charges in Several Mississippi Officers
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Special to The Daily Times
Washington, March 2 – Senator Percy discussed this morning with President Taft some matters of local interest to Mississippi. He had the satisfaction of learning that several negro postmasters in the state will be removed and white men appointed.
One positively decided upon is Bay St. Louis and a couple more down on the coast will follow soon. Changes in post offices at Pensacola and Scranton are also said to be scheduled.
When the sundry civil bill reaches the senate Senator Taylor will offer an amendment appropriating $20,000 to commence construction of a public building at Huntington, Tenn.