The New York herald., 1871-01-18
THE M'aARRAHAN LAND CLAIM.

THE M'aARRAHAN LAND CLAIM.
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OniciaIs NIutIatiss Public Records-Import-
amt Testimony.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 10. 1871.
In the McGarrahan case the House committee, at
the instance OF the New Idrla Mining Company, to-
day examined Joseph s. Wilson, the retiring Land
Commissioner, and three OF his clerks, k.:-Messrs
Stokes, Stock and Buell., also w. II. Lowery q
former CLERK In the ofice but now and for several
years past an attorney Of the New Idria
Mining Company, and employed, as he
states, to prevent an issuance or u patent
to McGarrahan. All OF these witnesses made last
summer voluntary eI parte afldavits. designed to
Justify ex.secretary Cox, OF the Interior Department.
In defacing and canceng the recently discovered
record OF patent In that department to McGarra-
ham, This was done In the interest of the New Idra
Company. These afidavits were To the effect that
the record book, volume four, pages $40
to 32l OF California Land Claims, where
patent to McGarahan appears ON record duly
dated, signed and sealed, could not be relied upon
as proof Of an original patent OF which 1t purports
to be an original record copy. Mr.. Stokes, who en-
crossed this record in the book testified to-day that
he did not make 1t from an executed patent but
from printed form which had not been executed:
but as this patent Is very peculiar
one, being SUI generis and containing mat
ter reciting decisions or courts, field
notes OF surveyors aud opinions OF former secreta.
ries OF the Interior, which could not be on any
printed form or blank for patent he seems to have
taxed his memory mot wisely, but too welln 1t
was shown that there could not have been SUCH
printed form, but that testimony and afldavirs OF
his colleagues on the witness stand contradict this
statemehs stat mt cnI;, MT; Stokes at last testified
mai OF this record was not an executed
patent. Another witness, Mr.. Stoeck produced to
discredit the record OF the patent testified upon his
direct examination chat 1t was the custom of the
Land Office TO record these California land patents
in advance OF their execution. or in other words,
to record them as complete Instruments, Including
the dates, SIGNATURES % ana places Of the SEAL
way 10 a,emntea .helr to execution cann1 In THIS
record of the patent to McGarrahan; but the
record Do0K, volume -FOUR, produced and examined
much as 1t showed that i'll case were the date
signature and place OF the seal written until alter
showed that in every case when the record OF q
patent contained the date, the signature OF the
the pase Of or ana
marked on the margin OF the first page Of the record
IN RED INK "exd., or examined and in all such
cases Is conceded that tue patents executed.
The record Of the patent to McGarrahan on this book
contains the date the signature OF the President and
thus sRow & eass xnIch IL fss sa
custom sworn 70 by stoeck was founded was McGar-
can Sy the
which has ensea Seos ana az the erce contest
OF the government that this exception Would make
the rule sworn to. This book also contained re-
corded forms or drafts Of unexecuted patents-that
Is, patents tnat seem to have been ordered, but
never siRned-and on these the witness sought to |
base the usage; but IN none OF these cases were
the "exd.n written In the margin. The wit |
nesses testified that the .'exd.,n or exammedr IN |
ing the original patent and the form In which It was
engrossed with the record, by three clerks one hold.
ing the form, one the original parchment and the |
other the book In McGarrahan's case the wit |
ness Lowery, then CLERK In the Land ONCE now an
attorney OF the New Idria Mining Company, held |
the book and the witness StOeck wrote the ''exd.D
on the margin. L0wery also drafted the form OF the
patent which was produced before the committee |
with all It's interllneations erasures ana aIbrevia-
tons, thus showing as previously stated, nat the
witness (StOKes) could not have cngrossed the re.
cord from printed form. The record Of this patent,
as now produced, has pencil marks drawn across |
the date the signature the place OF the seal and un-
der s attessnx clause set the words in pencil mot
as he himself testified, but he does not remember
was acting Recorder In the absence OF Judge |
Granger at the time this record was made. and
though, In his direct examination and IN his aii-
daylt, he swore so as to convey the Idea that the
patent was never executed, he said to-day chat he
did no not know av,,sv whether Il was executed
have procured himself to have been called
to testify for no other purpose than
mutilating this record, for he aomitted that the
record was some evidence OF the execution or the
patent and stated that he did not know whether
the statement written the face OF the recorded
patent which contained declarations that 1t had
never been executed by the written order OF
the supreme executive head OF the department.;
that he never advised Secretary Cox never sug-
gested this mutiat0n, and that he never contributed
to IL except by the written order OF the secretary,
with whom he never had any consultation on the
subject. he also testified that he knew nothing Of
the truth or falslty OF the declarations OF the state
ment as written across the face Of the record. He
sad far as he knew, the history Of chs mutllaon
originated with the written order OF the Secretary and
ter except subscribing his ofciai signature to It.
which he did in obedience 10 the orders OF hts
superior officer. The venerable Commissioner
could not refrain from telling the committee that for
1Ss Se Essna d s'd s Ss with ssoas to
leave the same same in day Or two his
Senate. He seemed TO be all unconscious OF a
suspicion, not confined to General Grant that he
was not clothed with every official virtue, There
are those and they are not q few who believe that
he knows where to find the offical survey of the
Land Commissioners ofice for the purpose Of
defeating Fremonps claim 70 that grant: It
Is said there are several other lost things
which 1t ls possible ne may now find, including
corder Of the Land once from January to June,
1868, which embraced the time when this McGarra-
han case was made up, whose abstraction Judge
Granger the Recorder testified to in the case at the
might afford conclusive proof OF the execution OF
the patent TO McGarrahan. The result OF the eX-
animation fully sustains the record, o record. OF
an original instrument which has been signed for
who has testified that he remembers having signed
this patent. The case was closed and submitted at
the conclusion OF the examination to-day.
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