Collection: Directories and Documents > Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection

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Title: Malfeasance or Indirection [California Indian Superintendency] Collection Type: Directories and Documents Collection Name: Tanis Thorne Native Californian & Nisenan Collection # of Pages: 12 Download PDF: User Login Required Download OCR Text: User Login Required

Date Scanned: 2024-09-03 22:12:09 OCR Software Version #: tesseract 5.4.1 Item Sourced From: PDF First Created: 2025-03-17 03:22:44 Last Updated: 2025-03-17 03:22:44

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The Historical Society of Southern California were innocent of any wrong doing; for they had no way of knowing the extent of the commission’s authority. The issue was the (California, Democrat) also followed this line of reasoning. He parties and innocent persons should not suffer on account of incompetence or dishonesty of Government agents.” E . . K ventually, claims amounting to $287,000 were paid,” the # largest being John C. Frémont’s $183,875 beef contract. This amount plus 10% interest was funded in 1854, probably through the intercession of Frémont’s father-in-law Thomas Hart Benton."® A House committee arguing in favor of payment, adopted the commission’s reasoning. Speaking in favor of Prenouve contract with Barbour, the committee reported, “. . . the general authority with which he was clothed to treat, coupled fe ch the emergencies of the occasion, fully justified him in assuming that — the legislative and executive departments would sanction his purchase. ... The emergency was too pressing for him to await instructions. ... Even though this assessment and payment of Frémont’s claim, according to Commissioner James W. Denver, “acknowledged the validity of these claims,” the majority were not funded by Congress.** Congressional indecision and inaction had, in effect, resolved the key questions. There was to be no general investigation. Most claims, except those obviousl legitimate or held by the politically powerful, were rogue Ten years later, the bureau still had not devised a method to control debt contraction. Supervising Agent or Superintendent George M. Hanson during the two years (1861-1863) of his administration had, according to the bureau, ‘“‘created a large debt.” But the precise amount was unknown. As his successor Elijah Steele put it, “I have nothing in my office to aid me either in certifying to or judging of the correctness of claims, neither have I any instructions.” Superintendent Austin Wiley, too, experienced “much trouble in getting any correct Sttement? of Hanson’s accounts.'” In view of this confusion and ‘So large a number of discrepancies and irregularities,” the bureau requested the assistance of Treasury Officer J. Ross Browne. But even [ 276 J California Indian Business Affairs ( Browne, who had earlier proven his ability in ferreting out misapplication of funds, concluded a thorough investigation was preservation of “public faith, as well as national character ...n0 Bap tort intiposeible, since many of Meideene a ae matter at what cost in dollars and cents.” Joseph McCorkle state. The only solution, in his mind, was to accept Hanson’s ex‘ planations in the absence of evidence to the contrary. Albeit maintained the government was responsibl ad * ind Mp Hanson had “acted without sufficient SD eee p eandargued “... third 7 and committed irregularities in others,” Browne found “no evidence of dishonesty.’’*? Again as in the case of the treaty commission, delayed payment, according to Wiley, had caused ‘Great hardship . . . in some cases resulting in reducing the parties to actual want.’ Clearly, the fiscal problems raised by the treaty commission were still unsolved. Delayed payment remained the rule and the bureau still experienced difficulty in obtaining sufficient information with which to judge many claims. Hanson, meanwhile, was in an untenable position. Creditors were growing impatient; his letters to the bureau regarding final settlement were unanswered; Steele had not replied to similar requests; Browne had not even called for his mail and Wiley claimed he had no instructions.** Hoping to expedite matters, Hanson requested permission to visit Washington at government expense. When unanswered, Hanson applied pressure through California Congressman J. M. Bidwell who was also a creditor. Commissioner D. N. Cooley yielded to this implied political coercion and allowed $500 for expenses. Arriving in Washington, Hanson proceeded to run up bills amounting to $1,305. Cooley refused to be pushed further and allowed only the $500.** Apparently, Hanson’s oral explanations, pursuant to Browne’s suggestion, proved satisfactory. In all Hanson’s indebtedness totaled $30,000 of which $11,000 was in excess of appropriations.” The fiscal conduct of Hanson and the treaty commission are only two examples of a persistent problem. Of the seven superintendents appointed during 1860-1867, four left the service debt free?” But three of these served less than a year and, thus, had less time to purchase on credit. Of the remaining four, George M. Hanson, Austin Wiley and Charles Maltby had exceeded appropriations by $57,312. And these were just the proven claims accepted by the bureau. Bills filed for the 1860-1867 period, reported Commissioner N. G. Taylor, amounted to $102,249. Dur[277] LET a Se rr Se IS a SS SEPT See,