The School-Land Swap

A San Francisco businessman, his partner and two agents were accused of acquiring state school lands in California and Oregon — sections set aside to fund public education and sold cheaply to residents in limited amounts — through dummy applicants who used fictitious names and swore false affidavits claiming to be the true owners. A federal law let holders of land inside new forest reserves exchange it for valuable vacant public land elsewhere, and prosecutors said the plan was to swap the school land for federal land and sell it at a profit. They alleged clerks at the General Land Office in Washington were bribed for inside information and quick approvals. The case was tried in Washington. The defence argued it could not be tried there because any conspiracy was formed in California.