The Portland daily press., 1878-03-20
McHarrahan and New Tdria.

Inc McGarrahan claim thought to be final
ly disposed of by the revelations, of the
letters purporting to be written by McGarra.
han to bis friend Frank, seems to be in good
case again. Judge Black, the attorney for the
New Idria people, acknowledges that no de-
pendence can be placed upon the statements
contained in the letters, and the general be-
lief is that they are forgeries. Those jour
nails that hasten to condemn men on the tes-
timony of these forged papers are now in
dulglng in the unpleasiDg reflection that
they did very foolish thing. The discovery
OF the fraud does not make the McGarrahan
claim any stronger. but it does 60 to show
that the opponents of the claim have not
hesitated to resort to vile means to further
their cause.
OF the justice or Injustice of this famous
claim, few If any men have knowledge, and
not many men have sufficient acquaintance
with the circumstances to form even an opin-
ion. The original claim consisted of an al
legged grant of land, known as the Panoche
Grande Rancho, made to Vicente Gomez by
the Mexican Government of California in
1874. A few years since McGarrahan came
forward and alleged that the grant had come
into his possession by purchase, and that it
covered the land on which are situated the
quicksilver mines OF the New Idria Mining
Company. This land was taken up by the
Company in 1851, in accordance with the
mining laws of California and the land laws of
the United States. McGarrahan had no title
papers to exhibit, saying he had lost them,
but presented much oral testimony to the
Board of California Land Commissioners es-
tabllshed by act Of Congress to pass upon the
validity of land grants made by the Mexican
government. The Board rejected the claim,
and the case was taken to the United States
Court for the Northern District of California.
The District Attorney was part owner in the
grant, and presumably through his influence,
the aomez title was confirmed. The New
ldria Company did not, however, let the mat
ter rest there. An appeal was taken to the
Supreme Court Of the United States. That
tribunal held that the decree of the lower
court was fraudulently obtained, and so re-
versed it. McGarrahan at once demanded a
rehearing of the case before the courts, and
has appealed to Congress to grant him the
necessary means. A bill to effect this is now
before the Senate.
The value of the contested property is very
great, and there seems to be little doubt that
both parties to the suit have resorted to very
questionable means to secure their ends.
Heretofore it has been thought that McGar-
rahan was doing the most of this bad work,
and that be was driven to chicanery to sup.
port very weak case. But it would appear
from this latest exploit of the New Idria peo.
pie that little confidence was placed in the
strength or justice of their claim. A suit
which has to be supported by forgery is open
to great suspicion to say the least. 1t. is al
legged THAT Judge BIack's Hands are not alto.
gether clean. and that the decree of the
supreme Court was owing to misrepresenta-
tions made by him while Attorney General.
His character may suffer far more than the
characters of those assailed in the letters
which he now repudiates. The case in its
last aspect is not a pleasant one to contemi-
plate, and the men concerned in it on both
sides do not seem to have been at all scrupu-
lous in their methods.