Santa Fe daily New Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1885-1897, 1895-06-06
PERALTA- REAVIS CASE.
Further Hearing Postponed Till Mon.
day-Frank and Manly Explana-
ton of Judge Kinney.

As announced in these columns yester.
day, awaiting the promised arrival OF
James Addison Peralta- Reavis from Cali
fornia, the further hearing OF the Peralta-
Reavs land grant case was postponed
until Monday, June 10.
Explaining his relation to the pending
hearing, Judge Kinney, of San Diego,
addressed the court substantially as fol-
lows:
81 feel as though it was due to this
honorable court, and due to my clients,
and due to myself that make a further
statement of the position that I occupy,
especially as the case that | had the
honor of commencing in this court of the
Peralta heirs and the one filed by Mr..
Reavis have been consolidated and must
be tried together. So far we have relied
entirely upon Mr.. Reavis to collect the
testimony to establish the grant which he
claims. l represent what are known as
the Peralta heirs, LOG in number, lineal
descendants of Don Miguel Peralta. Be-
| fore assuming the position of attorney
for these persons, who live 500 miles
from where l reside, l had them gathered
together and personally spent number
of days in personally ascertaining that
they were without doubt, in my mind, such
lineal descendants of Miguel Peralta
That was about three years ago
and they we're induced to take this step
from the fact that Mr.. Reavis had pub.
lished to the world through the news.
papers that he had indubitable evidence
that there was grant made by the vice
roy of Spain to Don Miguel Peralta. Pro
ceeding upon TINT basis then my clients
instituted this suit, aud not being 1inan
cially able themselves to accumulate the
evidence to establish this grant, they de-
pended entirely upon Mr.. Reavls. Now
if twenty years of labor, and something
like quarter of a million of dollars
which is said to have been expended
have failed to establish such grant
then we necessarily fall with it, for We
based and predicated all our hopes ans
expectations upon the fact of the grant
being established by Mr.. Reavis. Now
if your honors please, the government
attorney, on yesterday afternoon, placed
in my hands the printed evidence upor
which he largely depends, and to my
mind it did seem, from the cursory ex
animation l was able to give to the evil
dence, as though the grant, or supposed
grant, was fabrication, and as such, il
such it turns out to be before this honor
able court, 1 want it distinctly under
stood, by the court and by the govern
ment attorney, that we have nothing te
do with it. We wash our hands from al
of it. only saw Mr.. Reavis once in my
life, and that was at Tucson for three OIL
four minutes, and in that conversation
merely called upon him to get his book
which he refused to give me. He also
insulted my clients by saying that theil
petition was nothing but a matchmaking
affair.""
Continuing, the speaker disclaimed any
possible connection with Mr.. Reavs OF
any frauds that he might have committed
and said that the consolidation of tht
cases was source of embarrassment te
him. In the absence of Reavis he hardly
knew what course to pursue, as he hat
no evidence to introduce. His clients
came before the court as heirs of Migue
Peralta, and, if the alleged grant was es
tablished, expected to investigate thei
rights in the lower courts. Concluding
he paid high tribute to the court, say
: ing that, if he we're obliged to go away
he felt that he would leave the interests o
his clients in safe hands.