Weekly national intelligencer., 1851-08-02
NATIONAL lNTELLIGENCER.



THE GARDINER CLAIM. q fN
As the affair Of the Gardiner claim" has at
sracsed great share Of public attention, and there
have been various and very contradictory statements
published respecting it, we have, for our own sats-
facuon as well as that Of our readers, obtained from
a Gentleman who has devoted some time and atten-
ton to ascertain the facts, and who is perfectly
dsiuterested and entirely unconnected with the
claim, the following statement, the correctness Of
which he has no doubt will be fully and satisfac-
torily established under the legal investigation TO
which it will be subjected. Wehsye ourselves not
had the opportunity 70 verify the facts BY personal
examination; bat from the character Of our iufor-
mant, have no doubt of his entire convection Of the
truth Of all the points which he has taken the trouble
TO collate:
The claim Of DR.. GARDlNER was foF loss and
damages sustained by him for having, al few days
notice, been driven from and obliged to abandon
silver mine which he owned in Mexico, and which
he was working to great profit during the late war
with that country, and from which he was thus
suddenly expelled on the approacho Of the AmericaR
armies, under the pretence that he might render
services or communicate important Information to
The invading force.
The original and principal coussel employed by
DR.. Gardiner to prosecate his claim before che
Board Of Commissioners in this city was the Hon.
WADDy TnoMfseN. of South Carolina- and the do
cuments which he 6rst produced to Mr. Il. in sup
port Of i, being Ill that he then had, were HIS books
of origaz en,ry, letters bills, receipts, and other
papers connected with the purchase and working
Of his mine, bearing the undoubted impress Of crig-
nality and authenticity.
Though forming the crude materials and founda-
tion Of his evidence, these papers not in such
form or so authenticated as to be considered sf-
cient to establish his claim under the rules which
had been adopted by the Commissioners, and he
was obliged TO visit Mexico in order to have them
duly authenticated and to obtain the legal testimony
Of the parties connected with these original vouch
ers. Having, as he thought, accomplished this
object he returned to Washington, and his claim
was submitted to the. Commissioners, who made a
preliminary decision thai the claim was admissible.
The substance of this decision, which was the
usual mode adopted by the Commissioners, was
merely that the Mexican authorities had inflicted a
pecuniary injury upon DR.. Gardiner; and that as
he was an American citizen, he was entitled to
indemnify under the provisions of the treaty of
Guadalupe Hdalgo, the amount of which indem-
documents had been examined upon that point
The proofs, however, 10 establish the whole
amount to which DR.. G. considered himself enti-
tied were not .complete, and it became necessary
for him to make second visit to Mexico. In this
visit he also had another object in view, which was
to endeavOr to compromise in whole or in part with
his creditors in Mexico to whom he was very heavily
indebted for the means to work his miae. OF the
very large sums he had procured for ihis purpose
portion had been refunded from the produce
of his mining operations, but stl leaving
very heavy Indebtedness existing at the time he was
forcibly expelled from his property. To enable
him 10 make these compromises, as well as to
defray the needful expenses Of his trip, he was
obliged to sell portion Of his claim, as the only
mode by which be could obtain money for he had
been left entirely destitute Of available means In
the completion Of his testimony he was successful; !;
bu. only rar,ialiy 90 in his other object, and he
still left unsettled demands against MIN IN Mexico
70 the extent Of more than 800 900, being the ba-
lance due for money which he had obtained origi-
nally to procure the needfu machinery, and to open
and work his mine, as his whole expenditure on
il amounted to $S3O, 200, part of which was de-
frayed by the produce fit. The above balance Of
debt was to be paid (and part of il has already
been pad) from the amount which might be award
ed to him for his claim.
AHc WIOc pfOCccQingS Oi LII. VI, anu ali the
collateral circumstances connected with this claim,
putting aside the overwhelming documentary evi-
dence in its favor, tend rresisliby to establish its
genuineness, both as TO its authenticity and its
amount 1t was not case completely and fully
made up from the very commencement, with the
documents and proofs all complete and duly ar
ranged in legal and undeniabe order but the papers
originally produced by him to his counsel were in
their original and crude condition, and just in such
state as man might be supposed to have his
books and papers who, at a very short notice, had
been obliged to pick them up in his Office, in order
that they might accompany him in his hurried and
forced departure; and it was his counsel who had
to point ou. to him the legal deficiency in his evi
dence, and what was necessary to be done in order
to comply with the rules which The Commissioners
had established. This would not have been SO
had the claim been fraudulent or made-up one
but, on the contrary, in that case he would have
come forward with every thing in due and COM
plete order.
Among the statements put forth is one that he
was always considered poor man in Mexico, who
neither possessed the means nor could procure the
credit to work such a mine; and some have even
denied that he ever owned mine, or ever work
ed one, or even that such mine ever existed.
As regards the former, the acknowledged and
undoub.ed fact Of his present heavy Indebtedness in
Mexico shows that he not only had credit but that
he had ef.,,lx cod th,fc sba be