And since Benson and Hyde were getting land ahead of honest men, and in quantities not contemplated in the law, they *' had to " have, and pay for, an unlawful standing in the surveyor-general's office. They had such a standing. Schneider told Holsinger that he spent most of his time there, not only furthering the business of his principalsy but hindering that of honest men.
Proving the Detective's Theory
Burns' "theory" then was that the state government represented corrupt business. He had to prove his theory as to the land business. He engaged detectives to "shadow" the officials and the business men who "must be crooks." He induced honest men that had suffered from the system to tell him their experiences and he verified or, as he puts it, "ran out" their stories. This all by way of working up circumstantial evidence. To clinch his case, however, he had to "get" as witnesses for the government the only men that could testify to a personal knowledge of the graft—grafters. He went after B. F. Allen. The Forest Superintendent at Los Angeles "had to" be either a "crook" or a fool and Schneider's story indicated that he was no fool. Allen therefore must "come through." The detective's first step was to find "something on" Allen and he had foreseen and prepared for this need at Washington. He discovered there that Allen's record contained a charge of making false expense accounts. Binger Hermann had whitewashed the matter, but that only increased Bums' suspicion. He had taken copies of Allen's subsequent expense accounts. These contained charges for work done in certain weeks; in San Francisco Burns ascertained that in those same weeks Allen had gone to Yosemite for an outing with his daughter. There were charges for railroad tickets; in San Francisco Burns learned that Allen traveled on a pass. Having "run out" enough such things to convict his man, Bums proceeded to Los Angeles. Confession of an Ex-Banker Allen proved to be not a professional politician, but a former banker of Des Moines who bad come west for his health. He did not have to hear much of Bums' "theory" to be persuaded that the detective knew the whole game. Allen "came through." He confessed that his recent accounts were "doctored" and that the old accounts, which had been whitewashed, were false also. He said Schneider's story was true. He admitted that he had allowed Hyde to draw the maps, which he, the superintendent of forests, should have drawn, and, not only that: Hyde had written his reports to the Department. In proof of this, Allen showed some of his correspondence with Hyde. One letter that accompanied a report which Hyde wrote for Allen to send in, closed with the remark that "I (Hyde, the author of it) am satisfied that you will be highly complimented on this report." Allen said it was Hyde who first did business with him. The railroad helped; it was the Southern Pacific Land Department that furnished him his annual pass. And Hyde did a great deal of land business for and with Mr. Herrin. But Allen showed on the Hyde-Allen maps of reservations how he and Hyde had "done" the road sometimes. The railroad was in the lieu-land business, too, and since the price rose and fell according to the amount of scrip on the market, it was to the interest of Hyde and Benson to draw their maps so as to get around railroad land. Allen showed the crooked lines they had drawn to take in Hyde and Benson's school sections and to leave out those that belonged to the road.
Looking Higher Up
Having Allen, the detective looked for the ex-banker's superiors. For, according to Burns' theory, Allen could not have carried on this corrupt business without corrupt connections higher up. Burns asked about Binger Hermann. Allen replied that he wasn't "in with" the commissioner; he worked with his own chief, H. H. Jones, the head of the Forestry Division of the General Land Office. Thus Burns was balked as to Hermann the sly, but he had extended one line on his graft map of the Interior Department back to Washington again.
From Los Angeles Burns went to Tucson, Arizona, to see Schneider, whose letters had started all this "trouble." Schneider was obdurate. Bums had a "theory" to account for the change that had come over Schneider. He remembered that Schneider had explained his willingness to tell all
