, 1890-02-06
Has Not Been Prosecuted. AL
though He Is Still in This
Country.
A Strong Appeal Made on Be-
half OF the Losers by
Register Adams.
Some Favorable Recommendations
Made by Land Commissioner
Croft to Secretary Noble.

then receiver of the land Office here,
dcinultcd, taking with him some
$1,000 which did not belong To him.
4 special agent of the Interior de-
purtmcnt came out here, cNunlincd
Barucys books, and reported his
findings To his superOrs. Notwlth-
standing this no effort was made tn
prosecute the dcfaultcr, although hc
remained in the country.
several poor people who were
yictimiIcd 10y the oN-rccaiver appar-
, entity wcrr out and injured to the
full extent of the amounts they gave
him. Register j. NJ. Adams care
fully looked up the law hearing on
such cases and found that the only
way Ia yet redress for the donultcr's
victims was toappcal to the senators
of this state. lie accordingly wrote
long letter to Senator John B.
Allen, nllly explaining the matter.
Following il u synopsis of the letter:
REGISTER ADAMS LETTER,
have u matter to which | desire to
invite your attention as It is one which
seems to me worthy OF serious consider.
alton.
About the Goth of January, 1SsS, NJ.
g. Barney, who was at that timc re.
cciyer of public moneys for this land dis.
triCt, abandoned his office and never
after returned to 1t to perform his Oili-
Ciul duties. lie was addicted to the
gambling habit and also to thc abit OF
drunkenness, and Just prior to the
abandonment of his office lac lad been
frequently drunk for several weeks ut a
time, aud was also known To- be eNtou-
svcly engaged in gambling and
other habits ot prostitution.
An examination into his official affairs
reveals the fact that he has made way
with several thousand dollars ia money,
which he had received wrUugtully and
otherwise, from numerous settlers and
land claimants Of this district, besides
some Ssn of government funds Tor which
he WAS held accountable,
Here Mr. Adams cites several case,
whore men and women paid in hundreds
of dollars apiece. which Barney upprp-
ptiatCd tp his own use.l
\ large humber uf other eases, in the
main similar Co thOse here named. e..
tend the deialUnttnu uf the receiver tp
some Si,upp The government hults that
In all such cases the pariiss in iu
terrst made the receiver thtif arrut
and that the government 10 rHt rr-Is1u.
siblc to thou for amD 30, tuus lost
Those who sustained loss
through iianuyy mi-ouudurt nf- mum.
erpus ami II may d. said that thuv nrc.
a. class, mon and women who Cnu 80
alloul to sustain such loss. II ss,ms
to me their claims are worthy of Tucsly.
ing the attention OF congress, and with
this belief IN view, ! takr the liberty uf
thus submitting the iHrts In brief Tor
your consideration, Following tui- MIR.
Adams gives his reasons for arguing that
barney victims should lie remembered
. 10y COugtuss.l
IL is held that the government il not
rcs punsible for the money thus lost in
" n,inuuh as the receiver issued no entry
receipt thereof. | have not been able to
reconcile my own mind To the consist.
sncy of such n ruling, but | presume II
il well established ns the rule In law, II
seems to me, however, that the cirCum-
stances under which these innocent and
cOuiidiug citizens paid thiir money into
the hands of a government officer at
east establish strong claim in equity
which may properly receive the consid
Grafton OF congress,
WHAT SENATOR ALLEN DID.
Senator Allen received Register
Adams letter in due time, and after
carefully noting the facts contained
therein, came To the conclusion that
ifany ono had power to grant re-
lief In the matter Il would he John
w. Noble, secretary of the interior.
lie accordingly laid the matter be-
fore the latter official.
secretary Noblc in turn referred
the matter to L.. \. Croft, commis-
sionor of the general land Office. ON
january ~ the commissioner wrote
Secretary Noble long letter, giving
the law on the subject aud masking
recommendations. lie sent Senator
Allen II duplicate of the letter and
} the latter forwarded It to Register
\Adnms, who received II IA few days
{einCc.
Mr., Adams showed u REVIEW IT,
porter the letter yesterday. With
his permission the following cX-
trnCts were made:
COMMISSIONER GnoFPs ANSWER.
The letter Of Nv. Adams was rufe rrcd
to me through Hon. George Chandler,
first assistant secretary, for report and
recommendation,
The writer of tho letter refers to three
cases on which Barney received money
from settlers, and squandercd the same,
and the letter raises tile question a. to
the extent OF the liability of
the surotics on the receivers
bond Tor tho money received by
him, ns stated, ami suggests that II it
should be determined that In cases like
those given, the su retics are not liza blc,
congressional action should bo invoked
In behalf Of parties who sustained losses,
relying innoCentlY and in good faith
upon one whom they supposed To be-
responsible officer OF tho United States
government,
have the honor to state that for sew
arnl days past this Office has been en-
Gagged in inycstigat ing the legal liability
81 receivers and their sutetics IN these
ond Kindred cases on tho present
form of bond, aud with view of deter
mining whether any and what changes
are necessary to he made In the form
|. aud language thereof.
4. Tie letter states that "the government
kholds that III all such cases Us those rc-
Hfcd to tho parties In interest made
tHe receiver their agent and that the
government is not responsible to them
Tor the amounts lost"
section 1885, revised statutes Of the !
United states, requires the receiver TO
Mrnlsh bond aud security for the
inltilul discharge of his trust.
lho bond nuN in use Is conditioned
tbai ne receiver carefully discharge tic
duues OF his office. faithfully dishurse
al pubiir moneys honestly account for
all public moneys, and for all public
FUNDS, property, etc.
Section 2,2i5. Il. >. provides that he
shad make monthly returns 10
tile secretary OF the treas
ury and pay over MONEYS r,-
lie shall make like returns to the com
missioner OF the general land office aud |
transmit quarterly accounts. The |
language used IN this section contem-