The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1854-09-06
TESTIMONY IN THE MINNESOTA
LAND BILL CASE. a..

I.AND BILL CASE. "a,
The +" Galena Advertiser" the organ of Mr.
Was.burne, has published garbed extracts
from the testimony Of the Hon Geo, W Jones
Gen. Patton and Mr.. Billings, and attempt.
thereby to convic. Gen. Jones of falsehood
We publish to-day the testimony of these
three gentlemen, in order 10 show t., The public
that Gen. Zones is perfectly exhonora'ed from
any censure and that Washbnrne and his. edito.
rial champion, have entirely failed 10 shuttle any
OF the responsibilities OF this business, from the
shoulders Of the GaIena Represen alive to the
shoulders of Gen Jones. The "Advertlser''
attempts TO show discrepancy between the
testimony Of Gen, Jones, and Mr.. Killings,
wherein Gen. Jones answers the following aues
:. tons in the following manner
Ques'iou.-Do you know by wham, and
when and where this change was made
Ans,oer,-i do not.
Question. Did you know of the change be-
ing made
.ans,oer II don't know where, when or by
whom the change made
Questions which follow the above eIici, all
The conversation which Gen. Jones had with
MIR. Billings, upon the subject and show that
all Gen. Jones did, was simply TO go to Gen.
Patt"L, the enrolling Clerk of the Senate, and
request him to ascertain whether the alteration
could be made, refusing h,mself as Chairman
pf the Committee enrolled Bills, 10 make
the alteration.
! All that We find ip the testimony of Mr. Bill
lings, in relation to Gen Jones, is the follow
ing:
Nothing Of moment occurred till after the
passage Of he bill. | went to the Senate and
found the bill lying on the table, took it up and
read il; saw Gen Jones, and called his atten,
ton to the error in the word "or,' aud asked
him whether it could be corrected; he said Ger,
tany, that it read very badly. and that he
would go and get it corrected. saw him, i
think in the afternoon, when he told me that
the error was cor; r;ected."
| Now, where is the discrepancy. FIR. Bill.
lnss says, that Gen. Jones told him that the
error could be corrected. Gen. Jones ,estifies,
that he went TO Gen. Patton, the enrolling
| Clerk Of the Senate, and asked him, whether
| the error, could not be corrected? Gen Pat.
| ton replied that he could not make the correc.
| ton, as it was House bill, but that it would
be competent for the Clerk Of the House to
make the correction. Gen. Jones requested
that Gen Patton, would see whether the cor.
rection could be made, which he agreed to do
and which he did without any further conversa.
ton with Gen. Jones.
There is no discrepancy whatever between
the testimony of Gen. Jones and MIR. Billings,
and there is nothing in the whole investigation,
which duplicates Gen. Jones in any wrong, or
any motive to do wrong, while the testimony
OF Messrs. Billings and Lowber, shows concu.
sively that MIR. Washburne, is the chief tricks.
ter in all this business and has acted from first
to last the part of selfish, splenatic, insneers,
inconsistent, stupid, tricky and corrupt public
servant.
Daniel Buck suorn.
@. Are you employed in the Clerks office
of the House of Representatives; if so, in
what capacity? -
A. l am employed in that Office. and have
charge of the files of the office and o: the
House. :, -
q In whose hands come the bills of the
House first
A. DeK Harris.
@. When did you first see this bill No. 342s
A. cant recolect. When it FIRST came to
the Office, | numbered it.
G. Look at the third section. Did you make
copy of this bill for any one; if so, tor whom
A made copy for Mr. Stevens, at his re-
quest which went into the hands of Mr. Rice
made but one copy, which was prior TO- the
passage OF the bill, Of the word /" future,' in
the third section. So "
G. Did you see the erasure at the time Of
the making of the copys
A I don't rec0llect that I did
@ Do you recolect anything about the
change Of the word :" and for the word or
in the same section?
A. few days after the bill passed the
House, and went to the Senate, General Pat,
ton, clerk Of the Senate, cane to me to
change the word or for the word s. and,'.:
saying it was the intention of Mr. Stevens and
Mr.. Jones tn have it " and instead of "Or.'
On my refusal 10 do it, he Mr.. Patton, stated il
was Mr. Stevens's intention to have the word
f" and instead of 6 or" inserted; that il ought
10 be done; that it would save. tire, and save
Mr.. Jones having the bill amended in the Sem
ate. He then left me, and went to Nj Forney
in company with Mr. SpToule, believe. Gem
eral Patton, at that time, said it was customary
to make such changes, and that the Secretary
of the benate would hl We allowed such change
or amendment to have been made in his Office,
did not observe the change until last Friday,
when my attention was called to it BY Mr.
Rosser, secretary of the Territory, who stated
that the bill was passed in adifferent form from
what it was understood in Minnesota.
Mr.. Buck discharged for the present
q Have. you had any conversation with
Colonel Forpey in regard to the change or al
leration of this bill, as above referred to /?
A. have not, until yesterday, the 23d inst,
then called on him and stated that | had un-
derstoood the matter was to be brought before
the House, He then said the alteration was
made at the request Of Gen. Stevens that Gen.
Stevens had stated to him that he had intended
originally to have used the word "and' instead
Of The word aor,' and being informed that it
was customary to make such alterations, he Mr..
Foruey, had consentad, or told Mr.. Sproule to
q How long have you been in the CLERKS
office.e
A. Since l843
G. During your service there, has it been
customary in that Office to change bills, by the
clerks, after they have been engrossed, TO oon1
form to the alleged intentions OF the member
drafting or introducing the bill?
A. have never been employed as engross:
ing or enrolling clerk regularly; but it has
been always customary to change bills so as TO
make them grammatcal-so as not to alter the
sense meaning.
@ Have you ever before Known material
change or alteration made by clerk; or any
one, in a bill after its engrossment upon the apr
plication of member OF the House, or any other
person
A. do not recollect that have, and should
no: likely know if such had been done, unless
i, became a matter of conversation in the office.
G. From your knowledge Of the business Of
The office, and your experience there, state whe..
ther or not it has been customary tor the clerks
in the Office to make alterations similar to the
one in this bill after its en- grossment
A. cannot answer that q .eston. do not
reme d,bsr any such alterations,
Hon. George W. Jones, Of fo,oa, sworn.
Question Have you ever seen this bill Tori.
ginal billO
Answer. No, never before.
Question. Did YOU ever see the engrossed
bill, 80 :
Answer. Yes. as member OF the engrossing
committee.
Question. Has any alteration been made in
n 6rst ,v