The Arkansas banner., 1844-08-28
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1Fand Jury; and fled by them, as such. e.ror the consideration of the succeedino Grand Jury" To this plea, demurred; and tbe Court (Judge Johnson) gave an elaborate opinion, now of record ill Pulaski Circnit Court, which concludes as follows; C. .4dmii- f3ng t4at tIte Grand Jarycnceedcd Hscir 00prer a"a si jurisdiction, iR matimg and dezceriag @G 5,3 aer'tlng or libel complained Of 5y Mo ffat7a!g, shll, in nly judgment, tic Jurors arc SHIELDED by the Lav, and cannot 6e catleG upon to dnSaeer i1s tbe present actioa7o Fms Judgment, overriding the Demurrer, was an eHectual bar to the farther progress of my suit, had no alternative but to dismiss the suit; and It was accordingly done.
 now ask of candid public, if I could nave done more to meet a charge concocted and brought forward, by my persona. ene- mics, to gratify their malice, and serve their selfish parposes2 was not willing to rest upon the common sense maxim of our laws, that !" every man Is presumed to be innocent, until proven to be guilty.'' But, called my aceusers before the civil and criminal tribd- nals ot the country, and demanded an inves- tgatlon in every mode known to the law.
 One word more about the Loveley land claims: While they were selling, purchased all good claims that had the means of pay ing for; and, in all the purchases made by me, l never bought one that has been shown to be fraudulent.
 ] eheerfully submit this whole subject to an impartial public, without another word of comment.
 IhesneXt charge made against me, which l wlilsnotice, Is in relation to the BOWIE LAND CLAIMS, which were confirmed by the Superior Court of the late Territory of Ar kansas, and afterwards reviewed, and the con- frmations set aside.
 The facts in this case, are simply these :: Mir. JAMES BOWIE, of Alamo memory, whose character, at the time, stood as far as any mans in the Union, applied, i'll 1927. to the late Robert Crittenden, and myself, then in partnership, to attend to the confirmation of divers land claims, before our Court. We were employed at a specified fee, and pre- sented the applications, in accordance with the forms of law Before the trials came on, at my suggestion, the witnesses were called into open Court, and tfsre examined by the Court. Upon this examination, the witnesses supplied such evidence, that the Court, and all who heard the witnesses, be- came fully satisfied of the genuineness and validity of the claims and, accordingly, the Court confirmed some ninety or one hundred claims part of them presented by Critten- den & Ashley, and the residue by others After this, Crittenden and myself agreed to receive, in satisfaction of our fee, certain number of these confirmed claims; and they were, accordingly, some five or six claims each, conveyed to us. Those that fell to ny if share, disposed of 10 various persons, wholocaled them. Some months afterwards, the Government alleged that these claims were spurious; and instituted proceedings to cancel and annul the combinations. Upon this, l immediately notified those persons to whom l had sold, that 10 payments would &e required of them, until the matter should Be decided. Investigation proved these claims to\ be spurious, and the combinations were set aside. After this, l never claimed, and d6 not now claim, payment, for the claims thus sold. That the Court and the Attorneys were imposed upon, in this case, by fraadu- lent land claims, Is true But We had no other means of aseeraning or knowing their invalidity, tEan Was possessed by the Court that passed upon them. Moreover, do not admit that, as an Attorney, am responsible for the justice of my clients cause, in such case, any more than would be responsible for the crime of murderer, whom 1 might be employed to defend. In this-wholo busi- ness, MT. Crttenden and myself were as un- fortunate as the Lawyer who defended counterleiter, and, supposing him to be inno- cent, was imposed on by the payment of his fee m counterfeit money.
 Again:-I have been charged with disre- garding the rights of PRE-EMPTIoN CLAIM ANTS, and of OWNERS OF IMPROVEMENTS, in inc entry of lands, for myself and others. This is foul falsehood. At the public sale of lands, at Little Rock, in 1886, the only one at which 1 purchased land, 1 notified the bidders, of all Improvements; and the owners were uniformly suffered each to enter his own. l never entered any mans improve ment, in my life, except in two instances, by mistake; and, in those two instances, the lands were immediately and voluntarily con veyed to the owners of the improvements, at Government price
 Lastly:-I hear that have been charged, from the ''stump," with having received pub lie money from the late Capt Collins; the charge intimating, in addition, that his delal- cation was, in part, attributable tome. This is a gratuitous and malicious islander. Inever received a dollar of public money from Col lins, have borrowed money of him, and lent money to him frequently, in small sums On one occasion, only, did a sum of any magnitude ever pass between us:--and then received of him 5000 in gold, to take up draft drawn upon him, by the late Col. Rec tor, for the sum of $8,000, payable in the State Bank, at Little Rock, and which duly paid at that Bank. This was no transaction of my own; but was, alone for the accommo- dalton of Capt. Collins, as he expected tc
 leave the city, and might notreturn in time te
 meet the draft. All these transactions between
 Capt. Collins and myself were closed, some
 time prior to his aeath, and full receipts were
 passed; duplicates of which are now in my possession.
 For many years. engaged in extensive bu-