The national Republican., 1869-03-02

he land 'sE v%wh,s % ne saa, ssssfse' "a .nnsss nm
Leagues, aud MeasrfAhan claims that he has
rlsht TO locate his four leagues aaywhsrs
,sll99 .rus II tss % location -as asss wishls rsssos
Here, however, the facts are re. that u q is
country @ and Rnd . mins which they open ssd
york Three o. iSnr ,ss sTs's: 70 <. s:,.s
mining company have made their iInprevs-
ss ,Ss ~. Ts:s; = srsy y .GS . =.
ss.,aa %s: .Ss,..d {. ss soa sss'. 90 fss.on
o,s.r ~ sopns p.r.on. nI bsc.a.s &c /, oi more value
titiosed Tor agricultural land, but his grantee
McGarrahan pretended, nftcr the former
report Of this committee, that he wanted FUR.
ther time In which 10 procure evidence OF |
his possession, as though that report had |
first disclosed the necessity Of such proof.
In 1855 his claim was rejected BY the |
board Of commissioners because there was
no proof Of possession, and the Supreme
| Court, in their opinion In this case, place
great stress upon that defect In the evidence.
II Ia assumed In tho House report that
there was no possession under the Mexican
title, and In all the arguments made 10 this
committee prior TO Its former report, and In
all the printed briefs and reviews submit
lted, II was not pretended that Gomez or
McGarrahan ever had possession Of the land
In dispute.
Since this case was recommittcd McGarra-
han has filed with the committee some
papers, among which Is deed from McGar-
rahan 10 some parties In Boston for an In
terest In the Picacho quicksilver mines.
This deed is dated in 1893, long AFTER the
Supreme Court had decided that McGarra-
| ha :, had NJ tltla In panorha Grnnde.
Some Of the parties to whom this deed Is
made say that they have expended money
upon those naines- Whethsr the Pinanho
mines arc upon the land In question or not
does not appear.
who now claim the New Idria quicksilver
mines were in possession Of them at the time
J McCarrahan purchased into the Gomez
claim. These papers are the loosest aud
most unsatisfactory sort Of cx-parte evidence,
and do not show that the claimant or his
grantor was ever In possession Of the land
!. described In this bill.
Sixty-nine California land cases have been
) decided BY the Supreme Court, commencing
! with Fremont's case, In the nth Of Howard,
! and ending with Stearns vs. The United
!, States, In the 9th Of Wallace. In 30 OF these
cases the claims have been rejected, and In
= 33 confirmed. This report affirms, and con-
a tradiction from any source Is challenged
h that not one Of the 80 claims rejected was &C
I. weak In the Supreme Court as this claim O.
n Gomez VS.. The United States, upon which
" Congress Is asked to give to McGarrahat
a property worth hundreds Of thousands o
G. dollars, made by the labor aud means
O. other people.
nj Many Of the town aud cities Of California
4. and most Of San Francisco, are covered b
A. these rejected claims; and II Congress is
n- rcadjudlcate and reverse one case upon Q
"a parte evidence, then the other 35 will b
resurrectcd, and an army Of land-shark.
r. lobby agents, and lying witnesses will inynd
in the Capitol and defle the halls OF legislS
4. tion with their schemes Of forgery and Pc
u Jury.
.. Considering the progress that this case hs
al made In legislation, how ought the farm'
a. and miner In California TO tremble for the
he homes and lands, covered by some old Mexica
M claim that has been condemned as fraudulci
by the Supreme Court, when II Ia brougl
d. before Congress, and a bagfull OF drunkt
re- and yenal Mexicans, who can be hired 4
ia five dollars apiece to swear TO anything,
nv produced to show the Supreme Court vi
az mistaken In Its decision.
on Attorney General Black, In his report
.at Congress, In 1860, Ex. Doc. 81, 30th Co
set gress, says;
of Under the act Of 1881, to ascertain and sett
nv | private land claims In Cslifornis, sos claim
qScssd %'i ~ .nd
OF sionefs, and nearly all Of them werS condrmr
lie either by the bostd or by the district court
by which they were appealed,
m. A very large portion OF the best mineral ~
~ agricultural region In Dali fnrnis-the port
ne commercial points, sites for fortincstion
he wehs sSSsfsa BY % MssI sTsa1s real or a
lse ricsted. In all the territory conquered or pr
Island or % pisse % for a fort, eastom.Souss. Ell he
In upon his own terms from some. private elai
.l (rn -.
,an Micheitofena, or Pio Pieo. II wss ineredii
w. that such grants could have been made In fai
IT, Ws BY any goyernmenii but they were support
rlct otfioials and other witnesses as to render
re- fence hopeless, unless, by some vigorous mes
the obt.inei that would demonstrate the fraud
ase Under the last naturalization large app
pri.tion had been made for the purpose OF I
lies examination led to the conclusion that e,
lat the archives Of that government had Ia 20
arv way become AZ instrument = Of ssneiioni %
In! OF title were produced from the ofnclsl dep
rra- itories Of the supreme govern nent suppo
''i'u large part OF the city OF San Francisco, y
Point, the island Of Aleatraz, farallon, q
$50 Polnt Tiburon, on which the fortinsations
The lighthouses ofthe United States were be
The These documents bore the signatures o
line former msxissn governor & snd mesiean y, II
was by a hiEh Mexican ofnciAl, once q membsr
cal, their congress, who, with the permission Of
IT'S IT'S miaister, had LETT his public duties in Mex
anu to go to San Francisco and bear witness to
70 validity ufthe olsim. II was youched, mS
the public 10 the governor Of Usiiiornis, and
ded the bosrd Of land oonmissionersi but, notw
ieht standing all this, the iltle paper. were y .
mere forgeries. Under these eircumstanee
out was resolved by the President to employ Q
,upe l,I pfepsrs = just dsisnSs ssslnst the cas-.
i,paa limantour, and other land claims pend
itles there, and to provide him with sdequ
pur. Ia the ~ month Of February, fsSs, MT. Stan
peal vas employed, and sent to San frsnoiseo
der i%srSstioS gSpy ghsSi !; hsrsto
the departed for Cslifornia, and was enss
has there for nearly year, and until the anal
favor as of aSs Tasa ts.
N, n accompanied by Lieutenant Harrison, OF
,Gt ,at navy, and Mr; James Buchanan, jr., who v
su- Aportion only OF the archives Of the NJ
held can government had been placed In the
sShy q ths sory,syo, ana hsd
tue Of the most Important were scattered over
m OF State, some 10 the custody Of unauthor
ct IN and others In boxes which nobody guar,
nort and which had never been opened T
part value to the United States as evidence In q
d an directions given from the Interior Der
min ment, backed by a penal act Of Gong
ri min soon Afterwhfds passed ht the instance OF
= ONCE. they were collected in the dine
u, 70 towns and Pueblos, wherever they eoul.
ana found, from sacramento to San Diego. 7
were carefully ooliated and bound, and
upon now number about 900 large folio volu
III a. The most important documents were .
y, ~ rntely translated and printed. A large vol
&C OF Of Photographic copies Of oticial corresp
and | ence, olficlal seals, and fraudulent grants
lain made aud bound together for the use of
,ress. courts and the department. The neees
| appropriations to do this work were aske,
take aud explained In the letters thereto anne
liners marked b, U, ID.
ARA The archives thus collected furnished
ont sistible proof that there had been an or
force ized system Of fabricating land titles cal
49, on for long time In OAliforniA By Mex
peeh ohicialsi that forgery and perjury had bee
zen duced to q regular oooupationj that the
sht to | ing OF false grants, with the subornAtio
ptlon false witnesses 70 prove them, hsd bseo
s'Sus ren rocks and projecting promo ontories,
tne less to Individuals, but OF priceless vAlt
ltent. the Government, had been seized upon u
ldsay these spurious titles with a view OF extoi
90 N millions from the United States for site
w - cessAry to defend the national possession
the Pacific, and light and guard the oomu