, 1880-04-10

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out in the statement that this expes Of
,,fie .diispr of the Umioa is not of my seek
ing. considered the souDe from which
the attacks came. unworthy Of attention;
but, being continued, justice to myself
and family required me 10 heed them
Mr.. johnson, IN his communication. de-
nies every thing his known char
acter this was expected As before said,
his performances As quarter master, were
only known To me by common and pub
lished reports; but if his answer is the
best that can be made, after fifteen years
consideration. and most Of the knowing
ones dead at einicrated, he Is Ia be plticd-
He says h. reeeipted for government
property "withou; counting the articles
enumerated An extraordinary way oi
doing business, and liable 20 lie hard ON
his bondsmen. He sold government axes,
because he had TN, many. For this adj
mitted act. he made himself liable T. I'M
prisonment and Was fortunate 10 escape
the penalty. He offers 500 reward II
any one viii prove that he WIS party to
the robbery Of government Hour This Is
childish. will give =. b. johnson 500
If he will prove that any other man took
the -four. II p. B. johnson was an hon
est quarter master, he has certainly been
unfortunate in his attempts 10 convince
the public Of the fact.
charged that he, as Register. collect
ed fees not provided f"r by law. and SAID
! would make good the charge. He was
in the habit Of charging fifty cents or
more for delivering patents 10 those hav-
ing perfected titles 10 land. For the
proof OF This. herewith find the affidavit
of James W. Cochran; | have others Of
the same Purport
rrnRlI"n. y W,,ESTIoS' W.. M!S;,o ss. .
Il. Jane, ". Cochran. "i said e1anty. do
shlemnly swear that since 2. Il. johnson has
been Register of the Walia Walla Land Office,
h.. the said T. h. johnson, A. Register oi the
United States Walla Walk Land Office, has
demanded of myself and others one half dol
lar each for the United States Patent t" our
land which Wa> paid u said Register
JAMES ". COCHRAN.
Witne->. q. y. Lacy and T. J. Anders. a..
There is IL law or authority for col
lecting this Zee. and he might, with the
same propriety, have charged iive dollars;
IN either case it would be Just so much
money unlawfully taken from the settler
| have afiidavits showing other excessive
fees collected, but space will net permit
their publication
charged that as register he collected
a large sum Of money provided for by law
and APPROPRIATED the same TO his own use
in violation Of law. have quite num-
Der of affidavitS of settlers, who paid HIM
five dollars for proving on pre-emptIon
claims. During the time Mr- Johnson
WAS Register, the Colfax land district was
included in this, and the business conse-
quently large, and taking proof in home
steads and prescriptions vas an important
part of the business The law provides
that the Register and Receiver shall col
Iect 22b cents per hundred words for such
work, and in contest cases, and it Is pro
vided by the regulations that the money
50 collected shall be covered into the |.
:. treasury the same as other fees. Dur
ing Mr.. Johnson's term Of office several
hundred claims we're proved up and many
contest were had, and but So 30 cents
was turned into the treasury for such
work. All Of the balance was approprl-
ated, and not dollar was turned in until
Mr.. Painter and others had made 1t hot
for him with charges of corruption Ii
is sufficient 10 say that during the short
term of the present ncumbents of the
land office there has been covered INTO
the treasury for the fees named some
twelve hundred dollars.
Mr.. johnson thoroughly understood
that he had no right tn this money, and
that his salary fee; an1 commissions were
payable tn him by the Receiver acting rs
disbursing agent out Of money received
from the United States treasurer, on
requisition from the Receiver. After he
saw tha. exposure Of his corrspt acts was
inevitable. he wrote to the commissioner
brazenly As sumins ignorance, saying that
during all his great services for his coun-
try Il" never shirked 4 lawful duty or
claimed part of the reward received by
another for his labor hope | never
shall sink low enough in my Own cstlma-
ton 10 DO either. In this letter he
seemed to have lost all knowledge OF law
or regulations, and treated the matter as
if Receiver Painter was trying to rob
him of his - honest earnings and that It
was only question of take and divide. He
seemed entirely oblivious of the fact that
his compensation came via the Receiver,
and was not from conhscation Of fees.
In another letter he says that the only IN
tereSt he has in the fees for taking testi-
mony was To- protect himself, " as the re-
ceipts Of the Office far eyreed the maxi
mum, this fully admitting that said fees
We're retainable 10 the government. If
the business of the office was small he
grabbed the revenue, and thereby robbed
his associate officer Of his proportions of
the fees, and the half he would have re-
ceived hal the money been turned into
the treasury as the regulations direct. II
the business of the office was large he had
no interest in the fees because the fees
amounted to the maximum, but he
grabbed them all the same These charges
were made to the commissioner, sup
ported by a large number of afidavits,
and strongly backed up by letters from
W. c. Painter, then receiver and now au-
ditor of the county The case was fully
made before the commissioner, and by
him reported to the secretary. After the
expose Mr. Johnson's letters to the com
missioners were of the most innocent ma
ture He did not seem TO have any
knowledge Of the law or regulations. He
Will plead custom and assert that others
have been equally guilty. If any officer
ever had such custom, it is one that Is
only :. honored in the breach II is the
custom Of many men 10 steal horses, hut
they are none the less horse thieves
His general conduct as an officer was
So scandalous, and many believing that he
was in league with land jumpers, that the
people Of Columbia county became so in
dignant that he was notified through a
public Journal that his person wonld not
be safe in that vicinity.
Thanking you fer valuable space in
your paper. and hopin" that shall never
again find IT my duty to lay bare the
record 0i such man.
! am, Very Respectfully Yours,