Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1855-08-15

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SIX: IS / promised in NV BRIT n,te OF
the 18th inst. from New York. avail my
self Of the tirst opportunity ,crspiy TO your
iettcr pf the l3;h. That letter mentions as
causes of complaint against me in Il opin-
ion of the President, "pnrehts OF Kansas
half breed reservations. made By me IN the
Territory of Kansas, and also sso:her spec
ulations in lands Of the Territory OF KAN
sas, apparently in violation of Acts OF Con-
gross and Of regulations OF the Depart
ments;r and at the same time invite any ex-
PLANTATION which may desire to give in re-
gard to the character and extent Of the tran
sacsions referred to in the letter of q. W.
Clark, Indian Agent, dated My 8, 1853.
am thus put upon my defense to two sep
arate charges first. the purchase OF hall
breed Kansas lands; and secondly, other
spccuations in lands of the Territory, APP
parenily in violations OF acts of Congress
and regula ions Of the DEPARTMENTS. The
very general manner in which the charges are
stated, the entire absence of any specihca
ton on which to make point or raise al is
sue and the omission to state in what par
tcular the President sees any wrong to have
been committed, and what act of Congress or
regulation of the Departments have been
violated, arc matters Of regret and emhar-
rasslnent to me, because they preclude conf
denee in the pertincncc of my reply.
| need not inform so eminent jurIst as
yourself how impossible it is on matters Of
elimination and defense to attain justice and
truth without q distinct and equivocal speci-
feation of the charge on the one side and n
direct, full and pointed answer to 1t on the
other. In the absence of these, parties may
wander in side issues. departures, evasions
and uncertainties, without ever reaching q
conclusion; and therefore, with the high
est respect, take the liberty of calling your
attention to this feature of your letter, as a
full apology for myself in case | shall en-
gage in the discussion of matters which the
President may not consider in issue, or shall
not be sufficiently full and certain in speak
ing of the point in which he sees the wrong.
In relation to the first charge, of purchase
Of half breed Kansas lands, have to say
that have purchased no such lands at all.
With others, have agreed to purchase them
in case the contemplated purchase shall re-
ceive the sanction and appreciation Of the
President and this, in mysopinion, is ma
terial and substantial difference. Until the
President, by his appreciation, and the ven
ders by the execution Of their deeds, consum'
mate the contract, it precludes US from any
interest in the land, and eventhe privilege Of
entering upon or possessing it. Vendors and
vcndoes until then preserve all their rights
unchanged and unaffected; and if the Pres
ident shall not assent to the contracts, it
will be the same as though they had never
been made. IL there is any wrong in the
matter, it is not n wrong committed, but at
most only a wrong attempted, and in the
face of all probability wrong which we
expected to be sanctioned by the President.
The papers were submitted by us to the
President on the - day of January last
for his approval, and rs the Government has
been for years in the habit of approving sim
liar contracts, we did not apprehend any
difficulty whatever. They were referred to
the Indian Bureau, and the Commissioner re-
ported adversely to the confirmation, alleg-
ing that the vendors had 70 right to sell,
that there was no evidence Of their compe-
tcnce to manage their own affairs, that there
was no evidence produced by us Of the value
of the land, that the transaction had not
been brought to the notice of the Indian
Agent, that no certificate was presented to
the President to prove the official character
of an officer whom the President had ap-
pointed, and that the purchase money (Which
was to be paid in cash when the deed was
made) had not been sufficiently secured, and
that in the opinion Of the Commissioner the
contract was demoralizing and disgraceful.
Whether this last reason was based upon
the assumption of actual fraud in the con-
tract, or on the Commissioners idea that
public officers had no right to purchase,
confess have never been able, after care
full examination of the report, to discover
On receiving this report the President, on
the - day of January, without rejection
or approval, ordered the papers to be re-
turned, DOUBTLESS with view 70 enable us to
supply the formal deficiencies demanded by
the business regulations of the Depart
ments, of which we had been ignorant. We
inferred, of course, that the last reason
above was not concurred in by the President
or he would at once have disapproved the
contracts and terminated the whole proceed
ings.
We proceeded to supply the formal de-
fciencies, and in the beginning of May last,
again laid the papers before the Presiden,
with an argument and brief from myself,
to prove by the opinions of Attorneys. Gen
cral and the decisions of the Supreme Court,
that the vendors had Alright to sell--depo-
sitions proving their identity-their compe-
tency to manage their own affairs, and the
value of the land-proof that the matter
had been brought to the notice of the In
dian Agent, and that he had made no objec-
tons, to which add now my own assertion,
that | distinctly stated to him that we had
agreed to purchase one tract, aud would en-
dcavor to contract for others; and although
Mr.. Clark denies, in general way, that the
matter was brought before him. he is contra
dicted by my allegation and the deposition
of dsinterested witness.
These papers were not acted on by the
President up to the 25th May, and have no
knowledge that they have been acted on up
to this time. To the matters contained in
their and my letters of April l., 1855, to
Commissioner Manypenny. which the Presi-
dent informed me he had re d, have but
little to add, unless my attention shall be
called to some particular point We know
that the vendors were entirely competent to
manage their own affairs, and would have
the aid of the President in doing so. We
knew that the transaction was honorable and
fair throughout, free from all fraud and de-
ceit; we believed they had the righl to sell,
and we believe 80 still and although it is
possible we may be mistaken in this particu-
lar, yet We would not be guilty of so much
disrespect to the President, as to believe that
he would consider such m error cause of re-
moval. We also believed that we had the
same right to buy rs any other individual,
provided the transaction was fair one, and
marked by no imposition, deceit, or fraud.
We have already shown that tho transact
ton was marked by fair and honorable deal
ing throughout, and that the vendors had
ample opportunity for consultation and de-
liheratinn and for this rafer To tho danoc;