The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1872-08-15
GRANT AS A LAND SHARK.
The Story of the SOscoI Ranch
The Government Robbed OF
NIillioIis of Dollars.
tFfom. the New York SUM-

hIiHions of Dollars.
- tF4ona- the New York Sun. -
We commend to the attention of
readers the letter from our cores
pondent at Washington which we
publish this morning. It contains
detailed account of the manner in
I which Ulysses S. Grant, when secre-
tary of the war, illegally permitted
the sale of governments lands, worth
ten millions of dollars for less than
three thousand. q sfaSff s@tff -
4hthe year 1850 AIilliafd Fillmore,
then President Of the United States,
| by public proclamation issued through
the war department, exempted from
sale and reserEedof for RHblic purposes
certain pieces and tracts of land in the
| State of California. q Among them
| was the reservation indicated upon
the map which accompanies our cor-
respondents s letter, and known as res
erVation No. z.
Some time subsequently this reser-
walton, together with the cites of the
llcity of Benecia, the town ofoyaliejo,
the United States navy yard and the
depot of tine Pacific Steamship Com
pafy, alt of which had formed part
of tract called the Soscol or Suscol
Ranch, were claimed obyIa Mexican
under an alleged title from the old
| government of California. The
United States disputed has claim, and
eventually obtained final Judgment
against him in the supreme court at
| Washington. This was in December,
| 1861. - bsqssts glsgoitifsqgs nsTa yfiiiil4gss
Meanwhile, s,hoWeyer many. inno-
cent purchasers had bought portions
of the tract in question from the Mex
lean claimant. and after the decision
against him they at once, applied to
Congress for relief. In 1868 bill was
passed permitting such bona tide pur-
chasers to enter the land purchased on
certain specified conditions; which
bill contained the following proviso
| 6 Procided, That no entry shall be
made of lands reserved and occupied
for military. naval, or othels public
uses, or which may be designated for
such purposes by the President, nor
shall any claim under this act extend
tomineral lands. ssPosas 7deni > n
So numerous were the claims anGer
this statute that they appear 10 have
caused great confusion at the land of
flee, and the commissioner, instead of
ATt
IlactDal purchasers, entertained applica-,
tiens from other claimants in no wise.
i entitled to it's benefit. aThissiopened
i the way for the Bank of CalifoEniay
Eflfe eatrsmonopoly sof6thel Pacific
fcoast. .Aalaud patent foio reservation
No. of the Soscaf ranch was at once
iEappIied for by the agefFfs of this rich
and poweffiii corporation. The qties-
/ Ition then arose whether the govern
timent did not still Holdsit by President
Ffifnore's proclamation and the pro-
viso which we haye, e,qloted. Written
bipquiry on this point was made, of the
II war department. by the commissioner
4 of the land Office on October "a 1866,
to which, by order. of Secretary STAN
4 ton, Assistant Adjutant u General
4 Townsend responded on November 8,
of the same year; adopting the LAM
Il lguage of the chief engineer of the ar
,timy-as follows. "The reservation
lin question has not been released and
Ilshouid nqtbe at present. But in fact
there was law ohibftfng snch re-
Ilinquishment, in the following section
-hof an act approved June II, 1853, pro-
Ividing "that all existing laws or parts
of laws which Sauthorize the ksafe of
.llmilitary sites which are or may be-
slcome useless for military purposes be,
land the same are hereby repealed !;
land said lands shall not be subject TO
sale Or rspreemption under aayA of the
laws of the United States u .&A.t&- 2
Il But the commissioner had apparent
/ ly determined to convey the reserva-
i ton to the Bank of California at all
hazards and they obtained from the
land Office in Washing gton, patent for
i it under. date OF. April 9, 1867 on pay
Ement of 1882 51,1saIts actual value
was probably not less than ten mill
4 ions of dollars.
/ On leaning Of this transaction the
Secretary Of the Interior demanded
an explanation. There was none at
hand, and Commissioners Wilson de
| layed his response. Several months
Ipassed. An honest and upright Sec
retary of War, in the person of Edwin
/ NJ. Stanton was replaced by the Cen
eral of the army, who undertook the
duties of the office ad Interim An
explanation could be ntdsaaf dctuTed
now. In spite of the opinion of the
chief engineer officer in the service, in
Ispite of the refusal of Mr.. Stanton,
/ and in spite of the statute which for
babe it, Ulysses IS! Grant, within a
month after he entered the War De-
partment, caused the, Commissioner
of the Land Office to be notified that
the reservation was .relinquished by
the Secretary Of War; And SO the
property off thev vt5overnment was
Isquandered, to the amount, not of
Il hundreds of thousands of dollars, but
Of million sIotaa} e. 'sa q isslAs-siI sH IN
II The man who did this has exhibited
the sameT c5pspicu0uss ID isfegafda Sof
law throughout his whole administra-
ton as President. He has violated
the laws himself, and sanctioned their
violation by his associates and subor-
dinates. But the most painful fact
about these Illegal transactions is that
they SO frequently result in private
Epecuniary advantages as to induce the
belief that it is only the prospect-or
the certainty--of sharing in those BEN
efits, which has rendered infringement
ofaaw by government officials so conn
mon that they scarcely attract notice.
.a4A Au fnorggPPsace?TATT
1t is little odd that every effort to
convict northern Democrats through
rebel archives, of reasonable practices
have resulted in proving them advo-
Gates of peace, which in the eyes of
RADICALS is the, most henious foffense
| they could be guilty of. The N. Y.