Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1864-04-16
The Charges Against Victor Smith, and
the the Evidence upon which They were


the the Evidence upon which They were
Based.
We publish the evidence in full, with the
exception af few documents on file in Wash
ington, of which copies were not made. The
statement of Dr. Henry, is likewise given, al
though it was published in our columns few
weeks ago, in order to show the relation te-
tween the charges preferred and the evidence
upon which they were submitted:
WASHINGTON, March 18th, 1904.
ask the President to remove Victor
Smith from the Office of Collector of Port
Angeles, Washington Territory, for the rca
sous following, based upon the proofs to
which reference is herein made:
lst-That he Victor Smith) procured the
removal of the Custom House Of the Puget
Sound District, in defiance of the public in
tcrcsts, and for the purpose Of spcculating
off of the change of the Custom House to Il
new town site, of which he was the principal
owner. As to the propricty of the removal,
/ refer to the petition of the Puget Sound
also tho statement of Capt. Geo. Chase,
(rclativc to the Secretary of the Treas.
ury,) with the endorsement Of James Lamb
and others.
As to the design of Smith in making the
removal as a personal and pccuniary spccula-
tion, refer to the evidence of his purchase
Of the Port Angeles town site, contained in
the cxculpatory report made by Mr.. Brown,
Special Agent of the Treasury Department.
Sec also Report of the U. S. District Attor-
ney for Washington Territory, Oh file in the
Office of the Treasury Department. Sec also
exhibit 6 b." being copy of Smiths Custom
House Book, items of October 18th, 1861,
Dec I'd, 1861, Feb. 7th, 1862, two items,
all showing the payment Of the sum of 1902
Al for property in Chcrbourg, alias Port
Angeles.
The statement of Lieut.. White, coupled
with the admissions of Brown and the entries
referred to, show that long bcforc the remova!
of the Custom House from Port Townsend,
he had been engaged in purchasing the prop
'erty of the town site of Port Angeles, and
that when he had secured this to himself, he
Immediately started to Washington City to
procure the removal of the Custom House,
as aforesaid, which he accomplished in the
month of June following.
pate Smith from this attempt to speculate,
by saying that while it is true that he had
purchased lGO acres af land, it was done for
the Government, for hospital purposes. But
this is answered conclusively, when the dates
show the purchases made, commenced in
Dec. 1861, and ended in April with the pur-
chase from White, at least two or three
months before the act passed removing the
Custom House, and the explanation is there
fore clearly an after thought.
That his object was speculation, is further
proven by the fact, that-while the proof
shows his interest beyond question-hc has
all along strenuously denied that he had any
interest, whatever, in Port Angeles. This
denial was made to the Representative elect
from Oregon. Mcbride, Mr.. Harding, U. S.
Senator, and Col. Wallace, Delegate from
Washington Territory, since Mr.. Smiths ar
rival in Washington this winter.
2d-That he has acted corruptly in the
discharge of his official duties. in this /:
That he deposited the public money with
one Hastings. Of Port Townsend. evidently
to secure promissroy note of Smith to Hast
ings. (Sce Mcrrymans and Browns rcports.)
That he also deposited money belonging to
Government, with the Hudson Bay Compa-
ny, at Victoria, in British Columbia, to Sc
cure debt for the purchase of goods. (See
Merryman's rcport.) The attempted
explanation of this latter transaction,
on the ground of mistake of the clerk
in making the entry, as set forth in Mr..
Browns report, is too shallow to be worth
moments notice, when the facts are all un-
tlerstood. That Mr.. Smith, in turning over
the Office and funds to Mcrryman, should
have forgotten that it was his own deposit.
instead of one for the Government; that the
Company, when called upon by Merrynan, in
the presence of myself and the United
States Consul, at Victoria, Allen Francis,
should have also forgotten the fact. although