The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1894-04-28


the proceedings as they appeared
on the records Of the district
court was prepared in the at
torney generals Office in Washington,
u. G.. forwarded to the district attorney
IN California, certified by him out Of his
district without comparison with the
record and merely from memory, ana
from which transcript were omitted ma
terlal parts OF the record, and returned
to Washington. Upon the transcript
thus made up the case was again
brought before the supreme court,
which being discovered bv the claimant,
motion was made to strike off the ap-
peal, which was refused, although it, as
II seems to the committee, was out of
time and the transcript had been made
up without reference 10 the actual
records OF the district court. Not
Wlthstandlng the supreme court refused
to strike oil the appeal taken in the
manner indicated q new transcript was
obtained from the clerk Of the
district court and filed at Decem-
her term. 1855. eight wears and
halt alter the decree OF the district
court confirming the title was first pro-
nounced and more than three wears
after the period had elapsed within
which the law allowed an appeal to be
taken in the case. Upon this appeal
the supreme court in March, 1866, de-
CIded the case against the claimant, and
thus matters now stand. 1t was then
that Mr. McGarrahan appealed to Con-
gress and introduced a bill To have the
title conferred upon him
Such was the history of this remarka-
bic ease as reported by this House COM
mlttce To the Fortieth Congress in 1868
The House promptly passed the bill, or
dcrlng the immediate transfer of the
property to Mr.. McGarrahan But the
bill got entangled in the complicated
machinery Of the Senate and was there
indefinitely postponed.
The rest of the story is told by the
House committee of the present Con-
gress, which has again brought the mat
ter up IN connection with similar bill
Ia give the title of the land to Mr. Nc
Garrahau
Mr.. MCGarrahan, who was never at
rest moment in the prosecution of his
claim after his failure with the Fortieth
Congress-, appealed to the Forty first
Congress. 1t was then that he
learned that patent to the land,
heretofore unknown to be in cx-
lstcncc, was on file in the gen
CTal land office. This was undoubtedly
the patent that President Lincoln had
ordered given to Mr. McGarrahan, but
which had been lost in the tangled mass
of official red tape and filed eventually
without notice. But when John A.
bingham, OF the House committee
called at the general land office to see
the files he found that the record of the
patent had been mUtllated. That end
ed that hope.
And so in each succeeding Congress
Mr.. VI rarrdhJn has pressed his claim
aSSlduousIy. and several times bills To
restore him his property have passed
the House, but have failed to pass the
Senate. once, indeed, a bill for his re-
lief did get before President Harrison,
and then Mr.. Mctiarrahan thought that
bus. shin had at last come in. 1t was the
+ lily second Congress that passed the
bill comforting upon INN ne ttiIre ~ tiI9
land. Both the Senate and the House
conCurred in it, But Mr.. McGarra-
han ; evil genius followed him, even to
the White House. There were tech
meal errors in the bill, and for this rea-
sen the President vetoed it.
After the veto a second bill was intro
duced into the Senate so amended az
To make 1t conform to the Presidents
objections, and passed twice in one Con-
grcss But the bill did not reach the
House until the day of adjournment
700 ltlt lbl tbIrllffdJltll, ana 80 tlldL
hope went along with all the rest.
Every Congress has had its turn at
Mr. MCtiarrahan's claim and several
times it has received favorable reports,
and the present Congress is no exCep-
ton, the old bill now being in commit
tee.
Some Of the most famous lobbyists
Congress has ever known have had
charge of the Mctiarrahan claim. In
the Fifty second Congress an eX-news-
paper man secured the passage of the
bin that President Harrison found
defective, and was to have re-
cciyed ~ per cent. of the amount
secured by the claimant. The
share of the lobbyist would have been
between $500 600 and >2,00O,OO0. One
of the most prominent men who be-
came interested in McGarrahan'a claim
was the late Senator Matt ii. Carpen-
ter, Of Wisconsin, He was firmly con
WINGED of the riChtfuIness OF the claim
and worked pcrsistentiy to get the Nc
Garrahan bill through Congress.