, 1861-02-01
A CARD.

.IVereu oy MN IN Olympia, took occasion
to reflect upon my motives in renortin" ~
the Land Office, that he had iIIero,Igs 70
ceived certain moneys for which be rot,,oS ieI
to account, claiming that he held them 'eu Gu
private deposit. u' VI
lie also made statements in vindicatioD
of himself SO totally opposed to wb"t T
consider the proven facts, that deem !.
proper to publish statement of the wLo,S
matter that the public and the partiaS 0 ;U
terested may judge between US.
Whenl entered upon my duties AZ R.,.
lister, on the 9th of April, 1860, I foNnS
on file instructions from the General Lana
Office, dated Dec. l8, 1855, and Jan Ia
1859, not to allow any payments on upsnr,
veyed lands, or on surveyed lands, WHERE
full compliance with the law had not beaU
proven. Such payment being illegal and
void In the instructions to the Receiver
then and now on file in his office, and dated
before Mr.. Garfeld's appointment, he was
instructed, in cases existing under the nrs.
emption law, to allow no payments, ex.
cept on the written certificate, of the Rec.
ister, showing the quantity and description
of the land to be entered.
In fact, no payment for land can be IA.
gally made without the official approval of
both Register and Receiver, either under
the donation or pre-emption law.
1t is part of the official duty Of tbs
Register Ito which my attention has been
twice called by the Secretary Of the Treas
ury) at the end Of each month, to examine
the books and accounts Of the Receiver
to compare them with his own-to certify
to his accounts as Receiver and U. s. De.
positary, to count the money in his hands.
and make special report to the secretary
Of the treasury.
That it was therefore my duty 10 exam.
inc and report upon the accounts Of the
Receiver, is evident.
That my report did not misrepresent him,
will appear evident from the following stgte.
ment of facts:
Shortly after my appointment, l found
that Mr.. Garfield had illegally received
certain moneys, which were not entered
upon bis books, and for which be had not
accounted to Government.
In the case of Andrew Prebstel, who
paid for bis land in 1851, he refused to is
sue an official receipt on account Of alleged
irregularity in the papers. He refused,
also to report the payment to the land Of
fee, and intimated that it was not my busi-
ness to inquire into payments made to him,
on private deposits, as be termed it.
then stated that justice to the claim
ants, required that l should report the
matter TO the commissioner Of the land
Office.
l have reported to the land Office a SIM
pie statement Of the facts, SO far as they
had come to my knowledge, and asked for
instructions.
My report was dated Aug 3, 1860, and
shortly after Mr.. Gar6eld's term Of Office
expired, aud Mr.. Van Cleave, the present
Receiver, was appointed to succeed him.
No money held on private or public &C
count was turned over by Mr. Garfield, nor
did be make any statement as to what
money he held in a private capacity.
In the case of Mrs. Mary Hasted, he
issued in October, 1859, an official receipt
for $50, which be stated in his speech,
could not be entered on his books, because
there was no Register to cooperate with
him.
l myself, called his attention by letter,
dated July 3Olh, 1860, to this case, and re-
ceived for answer, that as his successor had
been designated, he was not at liberty to
act except in cases of absolute necessity.
This money has never yet beeu accounted
for. The Commissioner, by letter dated
Sept. 9th, 1860, in answer to my report,
directed US (the Register and Recovery
to make report, showing the facts in each
case, the tracts for which payment bad
been made, the date Of payment, sc, and
if possible, the reasons why, in our opinions,
the proper returns had not been made.
1t was also stated, that, after careful
examination, no returns were found for
the moneys alleged to have been received,
aud that justice to the claimants demanded
an early investigation Of the cases.
On the l4th Of Nov, 1860, forwarded
a copy Of this letter to Mr. Garfield, en-
closing it in letter Of that date, 10 order
that he might send in list Of payments.
Receiving no answer, the Receiver and
published the commissioners letter, and
called upon the parties interested, to send
in list of their names, the amount paid,
&c.
The following list includes all cases,
which have come to our knowledge:
$500 paid by ]. B. DickersOn to S. Gar
feld in 1851.
5000 paid by John Buchanan, in 1857.
5 so " by Mrs. Mary Hustled, 1859.
200 by And. Prebstel, 1859.
200 " McNatt, by G. c. Terry.
25S " j. & w. Prebstel, paid to W.
B. Ranken.
S40O by David Parker, paid to s. Garfield
200 by J. B. Knapp, " to s. Garfield.
200 - Murphy, " to S. Garfield.
1877 Bennett Creecy, to S. Gar6eIdc.
The payment of J. B. Dickerson was
taken up at my instance last spring, and
that Of John Buchanan, q week or two
since. ln neither case was payment made
until it was demanded.
The balance, amounting to $l645, is