, 1862-12-13
Letter From Hon. J. w. Nesinith.


EDS. WASHINGTON STATEsMAN-G Gentlemen :
In advance of the arrival of your paper here,
am indebted to friend for slip cut from your
columns containing communication under the
1 caption of-"Fhe UmG.ilia agency" and signed
by person bearing the singular misnomer Of
Charles Goodnough
This GoodnOugh Gt should have been Bad
enough after pompously exhibiting a string of
charges against Mr.. Barnhart, seeks to make me
the victim of his lying and slanderous tongue
He say: Notwithstanding the overwhelming
amount of evidence we have of the gross fraud S
| practised on the Government and Indians on the
Reservation, we are surprised to learn that the
| Honorable U. S. Senator from Oregon writes to
one of his friends, high in office, saying, among
other things, 'llet them dare remoUe Barnhart.'"
Those charges are exhibited to the world, as it
would appear, for the first time, by the virtuous
and indignant Goodnough, on the 25th of August,
/ 1862, and reach me on the 18th of the following
October, and are the first intimations l have of
| their existence. Notwithstanding the over
whelming amount of evidence" which, up to that
time, appears to have been locked up in the pure
and unde6ed bosom ofthis Gnodnough, he would
feign to make me know all about it, and repre-
! sentS me as writing some months previously to "a
friend high in office" saying, among other things,
"Let them dare remove Agent Barnhart" 1t is
hardly necessary for me to state, that could not
have written letter sustaining an officer in fraud
uent practices long before they are alledged to
have been perpetrated, and months prior to the
time when the upright Goodnough is first impress
ed with the heavy sense of his obligations to
make them public. Bat, do state, emphatically,
that GoOdnough tells an unmitgated lie when
he says that l wrote "let them dare remove Agent
Barnhart" The President of the United States
alone possesses the power to remove an Indian
IL T. Il GfTH.
Goodnough" to explain the "They" which exists
In the lie OF his own coinage.
Again. this dog not content with uburdenng
his mean soul with what relates to Mr. Barnhart
goes out OF his way to say in reference to myself
Il ask those who are posted, if he did not, by a
slight turn Of the wrist, make thirty thousand
dollars out of Government on salary of about
three thousand How is it about that flour con-
tract on the Sound l think there is a man not
far from the Powder river mines who could tell
US something about it, if those connected with it
in Portland will not" AS he has called upon
"those who are posted" to substantate a calumny,
l trust that he will be accommodated with an an
Swer; and hereby invite him to push ais invest-
cations and publish the result. | deny that l
ever made, or had anything to do, either directly
or indirectly, with "a -four cuntract on the Sound"
Come, now MIR. GoOdnough, produce your proof
| made two contracts VIII lie | was Superintendent
of Indian Affairs with parties in Portland, for
the delivery Of -four at the Siletz Indian Agency
l presume that the gentlemen with whom | con-
racted are still in Portland, and in order to facil-
iate Goodnough in his Investigations, I will give
him their names. One contract was made with
Meade Company, and the other with Capt
J. G. Ainsworth and John Green. | should like
to have the erpdrte evidence of all these gentle
taken by Goodnough together with that of all
] W obO nf
"the Powder river man." and see the result pub
lished in yonr paper. Come Goodnough, here
IS fine field for the exercise of your talents; pur
sue your Investigations or swallow your lie. This
creature seems incapable Of telling the truth
about matter so notorious as the salary to which
| was entitled as Superintendent 1t was not
"aoout three thousand dollars, but exactly twen-
ty-hve hundred to which was entitled as Super
intendent of Indian Affairs That amount did
receive, und defy my bitterest enemy to show that
| ever took or received more 1t is well known
among my friends that by reason of the neglect
of my private affairs retired from the office of
Superintendent poorer man than l entered it,
| shall await with some curiosity to see Good
nough account for the "thirty thousand dollars"
about which he lies so glibly;
Ii Mr. Barnhart has been guilty Of of mafea-
sance in office that is his fault and not mine; and
when it is substantated, so far from defending him
in the wrong, would be the first to ask the Pres
ident to remove him. 1t is simply preposterous
to suppose that should volunteer to defend
man against such charges before Icoud properly
know Of their eXstance, and while, according to
GOodnough's own statements, they seem to have
been confined to the pure regions of his own yir-
tuOus bosom. l have no knowledge of this
Goodnough beyo what l read of him in his
own article in your paper. My estimate of his
veracity is based upon the palpable talsehoods
which he there utters relative to myself, and
should require some stronger evidence than what
falls from his lying tongue to support any charge
which he might make. With reference to his
publication, he says in the article alluded tc, and
with great selfcomplacency, that he thinks it
"wOud be mean and cowardly to withhold it."
BY his unprovOked ISLANDERS against myself, he
has given the most conclusive evidence that he is
all of that and q UeJy great liar besides.
! am very respectfully your ob't serv't.
J. w. NEsMITH,