The sun., 1872-11-29
,SWINDLING THE RED MEN.
ASTOUNDING TRANsAC CTTONs III
GOTERHMENT OFFICIALS.
Ths Exploits Of a Friend Of senator Harlan
Did the Late Secretary of the Interior
secure n Dividendf-Ths Way the Peo-
ple's Money Gocs.

astounding frauds practised upon the Pay De-
partment by jew named Lowenthal, who by
Wholesale forgery, perjury. and bribery, and the
coniIvance Of the Paymaster-Go oncral himself,
swindled the Government out OF a vast sum Of
money and defrauded thousands of negro sol
dlers of their bounty money. I have now an
almost equally startling revelation to make Of
frauds perpetreted against certain Indian sol.
diers, which duplicates high ofHcials, and among
tho rest Senator James Harlan, late Secretary OF
the Interior, and now the principal manager Of
Grants campaign committee In this city. The
story OF this fraud ia told In House Document
No 20, Forty-second Congress, second session,
entitled ALLEGED Frauds Against Certain In
dian Soldiers" IL was ordered to ne printed on
the sth day OF June last, and has just como from
the hands Of the Public Printer. The history OF
this remarkable case IL about az follows:
AN INDIANA JUDGp IN WASHINGTON.
One John W. Wright, who was formerly
oudge OF one OF the inferior courts Of Indiana
at Logansport, had by some means drifted to
this city toward the close OF the war. He had
been connected with the Fort Wayne and Chi
cago Railroad In some way, and came here
originally In the interest of Western railroad
that wanted special legislation. The Ewings-
old Tom and young Tom-werc in those days
The heaviest operators about Washington.
land subsidy bills to getting Fat Indian Ind POs con
tracts from Secretary Harlan. Through them
Wright made a connection with Harlan, out OF
which he must have realized a handsome for
tune. for he was comparatively poor when
ne came here, and now he lives in fine
ntt"rney for certain Indians does not appear
from the papers that have come into my posses
less, drunken son named John II. Wright, who
was married to "a half-breed squaw, and was liv-
hhS ih f.l fort HPson a. an adopted member 81
man Wright waa on visit To this son during the
fall Of lctt. and that he managed to got posses
Indians who had belonged TO tho First, Second,
and Third Regiments of Home Guards-troops
that had served In the regular service during the
war He saw there was splendid chance TO
make his pile" In collecting the back pay and
bounty that was due these Indian soldiers, IL he
could only get n monopoly of the business. Here
his acquaintance and former connection with
Mra from F. of s10G h At
1875, to Secretary Harlan, representing that he
had been attending to business for the Cherokee
and Crock lndi- ns, and asking that the Secretary
would allow no other Indian agent 20 obtain any
moneys due the Indians who had belonged to
Home Guards.
THE JUDGE sTRIKa MINE.
This was asking for the exclusive control ~ the
pension and bounty claim business for the In
retary Harlan not only agreed that Wright
should have monopoly OF this business. but. in
cessfully Mr.. Harlan appointed him a special
agent OF the Interior Department TO collect and
several departments OF the Government. There
were some ostensible conditions TO which
Tnn MTh' w was m to TSnf9Tm Hs VI was to pay oyer
entitled to the same. He was to 80 to the In
dian country and tender the money 70 the
soldiers or their heirs, less only reasonable fee
to be fixed by the department, and was to take
a receipt OF the claimants. witnessed by the
United states Interpreter and Agent for the
tribe to which tho Indian belonged, aud to file
such receipt with the Commissioner Of Indian
Affairs. II he was not able TO md { q Indians
and pay over the money due ther, within a
period OF four months from the dat Of its nrst
receipt, he was TO deposit the sar with the
secretary Interior
him to the faithful observance OF these condi-
tions. Wright was held bound in aPenal bond in
the sum OF $4,000, himself aud his two sons,
John Is and Irwin u. Wright. u. 7. Holloway,
JohnG. pefrees, ana Thomas Ewing, sr. being
THE JUDGE CoMMEsCEs BUSINESS.
Having received his appointment and executed
this bond, Mr. wright proceeded TO collect the
and p tensions Were due R e%povyed UHd,y
eral agents In the Indian Territory, and among
Others an agent for the Government named
Alex inder Capperton, who forwarded to him
applications from the indiana. These applioa-
tions were gotten up in about the aame wsy that
bounties' Wright and his agents arst obtained
the discharge papers OF the Indian soldiers, and
then they proceeded deliberately To forge to the
application for bounty the siI'natures Of the
indians as well as the signature Of the Judge of
tion and 10 afnx TO the same the impression OF
abogus seal, w2ich they represented to be the
ofncial seal Of the Cherokee Nation; In this
way they went on forging applications and
receiving the money, and aging over only a
moiety Of Il to the Indians until the 18th day OF
October, 1862, when Wright had received on ac-
count If back pay and bounty, as reported 10y
the Paymaster-General, sSsSsis.40. He had
dtions Of his bond he had failed entirely to
hie any receipts with the Commissioner Of In
10 time had reminded the Secretary Of the In.
terror OF this failure on the part OF Wright 10
comply with the conditions Of this bond.
THE JUDGE REQUESTED TO FILE HIS PAPERS
Finally the Commissloner, Of his own accord,
on the 25th OF May 1867, wrote TO Mr.. Wright,
requesting him to nle in the Indian once the
requisite papers, contormaole TO the terms Of
his bond. Wright replied, promising to furnsh
the Information, but took good care never To do
50. Il was not until Secretary Harlan had left
The Interior Department and Mr.. Cox had be-
come Secretary that Wright was forced to make
alth and l2th Of August, 1883. he filed some re
ceipts with the Commissioner OF Indian Affairs,
but a. Secretary Cox n big letter 10 the Attor-
These youcher.sre deficient irregular and Illegal in
several respects
They only accounted for about $4,000. leaving
balance uhaccounted for Of tls7,Osl33 None
OF the vouchers nlod were dated, and, as Sec
retary Cox states, None ~ them are in accord
nnce with general usage or commercial law q
The object OF Secretary CoK's letter TO the
ATTORNEY General WAS To ascertain whether the
one upon which the United States might re.
cover damages whether Wright was an oflcer
Of the Government and guilty Of embezzem
WITHIN the meaning Of the 10th section of the
Act of Congress approved Aug q, 1916
SECRETARY DELASo BECOMING ANXIOUS.
For some reason unknown and unexplained
lu tho documents before me, no attention what
ever wa pad to this letter by the Attorney
General and the case remained In stdtu qiiO until
the 9th OF December, 1871, when Secretary
Dolanp addressed letter to the Attorney -(ien-
eral asking for an answer to tho letter of Mr.
Cox dated sept. 3, lo10 On the 2lst December
u. II, BristOw, Solici:or-General, replied in an
elaborate opinion, in which he held that Secre-
tary Harlan had no power TO give Wright q mo-
nopoly OF the collection Of the claims Of the In
dihns, nor 10 make him special agent Of the De-
partmcnt; that this appointment did not con
sntutc him an officer Of the United States. He
says: $50 far az can be learned from the papers
referred 70 mo, II does not appear To be claimed
that Mr.. Wright was appointed In pursuance of
any law OF Congress, or that his compensation
was hGed by law and " seems that he was not
70 receive any cOmpe pensation from the United
States, but was 10 he paid out OF the funds col
lected Tor the Indians such fees as the Secretary
OF the Interior might allow. His appointment
was necessarily limited In duration and specific
In its Objects II seems TO me, therefore Gle al
that MIR. Wright did not become by virtue oil
this lettcf Of Instructions, or by the execution
of the bond, or Of any Of the acts referred 10 il
tho papers before me- an Of1cer OF the United
States within the meaning Of the sixteenth sec
tlon Of the act Of lS40. lttherefore follows tina
ne cannot he proceeded againsf criminally un
der that section"
But the Solicitor @ Gonoral was clear In his opin
lon that the bond voluntarily executed TO th'
United States, and founded upon sufficient con
Bideration and not prohibited by statute no