Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1859-07-26
THE GAZETTE.
THE HISTORY OF THF GREAT GARDINER
FRAUD" CASE
TUESDAY MORNING. JULY %. 1859.

gigantic fraud. by which the Treasury MAS 50
successfully robbed:
'lrhe inception of this fraud the manner in
which 1t WAS prepared in Mexico" the skill OF
the torgeries, and the ingenuity OF the mann
party, were only supposedly the t,"ldness and
perseverance Of those who terreled IT out and
exposed it 10 condemnation and punishment
By means of these torgeries George \. Gardi-
her went before a board ui commissioners. or
ganiz,,l under the treaty ofGaudalupe liidal-
go, Tor the purpose at adjudicating al the
claims against our Government. and recover
ed the enormous sum Of S5Sl $50 from that
commission. and obtained it from the 'rreasu.
nv ofthc United States. This was immed
ately after the war with Mexico Subsequent
events led to the belief that the claim MAS
originally false and simulated, and the pro-
ceedings of Congress, and the action ct the
courts finally proved it to be 81. His claim
consisted in this, that under the Mexican law
he had, to use a technical expression, deno"n
ced certain mines near Lagunilas, which Is
one of the departments of the State Of San
Luis Potosi He claimed, furthermore. that
on the breaking out of the war between Mex
leo and the United States, he had engaged
in mining operations. employing hundreds
of men. thousands OF cattle. and investing
enormous sums ofmoney. Not being citi-
zen ofMexico, he alleged that on the breaking
out of the war he WAS driven away from his.
mines, that his people were scattered, that
his property went u waste. and that not one
cent of compensation was furnished him 10y
the State Of San Luis Potos or by the Fed
eral Government of Mexico. The claim. as
stated, was one " hich came within the pro-
Of h. N mt ont int hefyy
the high contracting parties mt the close of
the war. and. as such, and upon the teStmo-
ny upon which it was considered and adjudi-
Gated. the award already stated was allowed
The whole story OF the inception Of this
fraud, the venality of the officers of the
Mexican mint aud of the officials of the State
of Tamaulipas, of San Luis Potos and pro-
badly of Nueva Leon would make up thrill
ing romance Philip r. Fendall, EST. the
worthy ex-District Attorney Of the District
of Columbia, Was so impressed with the won
deriul development Of the testimony which
could not possibly be brought before the
court, together with the evidence adduced IN
the case, that he determined to collect all the
facts aud give them to the public III the form
of book. Ii the book is ever published. 1t
will constitute most interesting page III the
romance of crime.
Manuel verestesui who held high office
In the State where the mines we're falsely SAID
to be located, in consideration ct certain
sum- some S21 900, to be paid hun when the
award was made, certified to false papers and
to false book, pretending t. give items rum
ing into hundreds of thousands OF dollars,
items Of expense for the daily aud weekly
carrying on ui the operations at the mines
When this man heard that the fraud had been
sxposed by one of the clerks OF the State
Department, whose duty it was to file away
the papers, and who, having lived IN Next
co for seventeen years, saw the intnrmalities
of some of the papers. which induced HIM
to closely scrutinize them, he immediately
gave orders to his guerrillas (tor he was not
only an officer of the Government, but the
CAPTAIN of band of robbers. that n" Amer
lean agent should be allowed to come any
where within the State. Capt Barry, an
American officer in the Mexican war, was
paid large sum per day to 60 to Lagunillas
and ascertain whether or not there Was
any mines, a. alleged and all the lntorma,
ton bearing upon the case that he could
procure. Purchasing mule and y lot OF TIN,
wae, he peddled his way through rugged
and mountainous district, beset by shares on
all sides. and through his courage and his
knowledge of the Spanish and Indian Ian
guapes, he successfully achieved the object OF
his mission. Afterwards. when Il commits
sion went out under Henry May, esd. II con
ference was held with Neresesni. aud
he, on a pledge being given by the represen,
tatives of the U. 5. Government. that he should
not be prosecuted. confessed the facts that
had been practised at Gardeners instIgatl"n
His written confession is now in the archives
of the State Department. Nerestegui was
not the only Government official concerned.
Gutierrez, one of the Secretaries Of State OF
one of the States Of Mexico also, for IA consid-
Grafton paid him, gave the seals and certlh-
Gates of his department to the proofs sent on
to this city to 60 before the board OF comm's-
siOners.
1t ia interesting to state how one or two
forseries were detected. When Captain
Barry first called ut the alcalde's office ~
Lagnnillas, he found among the papers there
no announcement Of these pretended mines;
but when Henry May, esq. went "ut"n the
next mission, and after the first trial. which
terminated in hung jury, they saw u paper
amongst the files, regular and legal IN ITS
phraseology and certifcatiOn, but after M
spection, they discovered thut it had been but
recently placed there. On bending thn oo"K
back they saw that the thread with which TIA"
Gardiner title was sewed in was in some
places perfectly white and new. md also that
u large stain upon the paper, immediately
preceding it, exactly fitted u stain upon til"
paper which followed'it. Some OF the paper
AS well as some of the thread, escaped the
ATTEMPT to stain th~m These facts went to
show that the paper had been snrrepttlonS'y
placed there Again. when taking " piece,
of tissue paper and tracing the signatures and
rubrncas, Ia rubrica being II ti"nr'sl, to asis-
nature, and which, under the Mexican lnw'
is enough without the name being written.
while the name without the rubrlca Is not Il
legal signature, it was made Palpable that
those in one paper. constituting the inning
title. were in reference to their position to
one another, and the size OF the writing pre-
cisely similar to those of each of tn" other
pages. In twenty Or thirty pages no SIX or
seven men could sign their names $" that the
tracing of tn Sc ON one paper would be per-
feet copy. in every way, of those t" dozen
other papers. The certificates were thus
shown to be forgeries.
When this case came before ours courts
oH,rtS rprn made to