San Saba County news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1874-19??, 1893-04-14
McGAUGHEY INVESTIGATION.

e The special committee to whom
e was referred the report of the join
e committee on the McGaughey lane
d Office Investigation made their re
e port to the House Thursday Apr
: 9th, and recommended that he dc
It be impeached. The charges
g against him being briefly stated as
: follows:
4 l. That W L McGaughey did
classify 81 sections of school land
: in Harris county as isolated and
: detached land, sold same to others
r than actual settlers, the which was
r in violation of the law.
2. That he did wilfully and er-
! roneously classify 26 SECTIONS 4
, school land in Liberty county as
detached and issolated land and
sold same to others than actual
settlers, the which was in violation
of law.
3. That said land in Harris and
Liberty counties were known to
McGaughey to be worth from 49,
so to $500 per acre, but he sold
said land at $500
1. That said land in Liberty aud
Harris counties were sold to a
coterie of land agents and specula-
tors without having given proper
notice to the residents of the coun-
ties in which said lands were loca.
ted that the residents might have
fair chance to become COMPETE
tive buyers.
5. That W L McGauhey refused
to call upon the Attorney General
for advice when in doubt as to the
meaning of the law, and did there
by sell said land illegally and to
tho injury of the State.
6. That W L Mccartney did in
violation of the law, so classify
timbered school lands in Jasper,
Newton and Orange counties as to
greatly reduce the actual valuation
of said lands, and did with out no.
tice sell said lands at the reduced |
prices.
Z. That one Joseph Funk, being
the lessee of five sections of school
land in Tom Green County, and
whose term of lease expired on
Sept. l, 1891, did file on July 81,
1891, his application for o renewal
of his lease, the law giving the
lessee the preferred right of renew
al. But McGaughey did wilfully
refuse to lease said lands to Joseph
Funk and leased them to Chas.
Schaver, whose application for the
lease of the lands was filed after
the application of Funk.
s. That McGaughey has kept at
the head of the public free school
land department an inexperienced
and incompetent clerk, his son
John McGaughey
TO- That he has in violation of
the law allowsd persons to remain
in the office after office hours and
have free access to the archives
of the Office.
IL. That he has allowed D H
and j W Snyder and others to re-
main in possession of leased land
after their leases had expired, and
without authority of the law ex-
tended the time for payment of
rentals and that leased price and
rentals have never been paid; the
State thereby losing.
u. That he has in violation of
his official duty retained in his EN-
ploy as clerks persons who have
accepted presents of value from
persons doing business in the gen.
eral land Office.
Five of the committee agreed to
Of impeachment. One
W NJ Peck, brought In a minority t
report in opposition to the i'm I
parchment. ,
If the above is true. and we 7
have no reason to doubt it, nc 4
Gaughey should be removed at i
once. I
See elsewhere in this paper the {
resolutions ofimpeachment recon- J
mended by the committee.