In the Senate of the United States. Letter from the Secretary of The
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University of Oklahoma College of Law University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 4-20-1894 In the Senate of the United States. Letter from the Secretary of the Treasury, in response to the Senate resolution of December 21, 1893, transmitting a report from the Third Auditor of the Treasury and accompanying papers relative to the Indian war claims of the State of California. Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.ou.edu/indianserialset Part of the Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons Recommended Citation S. Exec. Doc. No. 84, 53rd Cong., 2nd Sess. (1894) This Senate Executive Document is brought to you for free and open access by University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in American Indian and Alaskan Native Documents in the Congressional Serial Set: 1817-1899 by an authorized administrator of University of Oklahoma College of Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 53D CONGRESS, } SENATE. Ex. Doo. 2d Session. { No.84. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNIT.ED STATES. LETTER FROM THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY, IN RESPONSE TO The Senate resoliition of December 21, 1893, transrnitti'ng a report from the Third Auditor of the Treasury and accompanying papers relative to the Indian war cla,im,s of the State of'Oalifornia. A.PRIL 20, 1894,-Referred to-the- Committee on· Military Affairs-and· ordered to bO •····· """''"• ·· ·printed. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, . OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D. O., April 18, 1894. Srn: I arri in i;eceipt of the ·resolution of the Senate of December 21, 1893, as follows: · Resolved, That the Secretary of the Treasury be, and he is hereby, directed to r.eport to the Senate any and all matters not heretofore reported relative to the0 Indian war claims of the State of California, referred to and .recited in the resolu tion of the Senate adopted December 19, 1889, and in so doing he shall report the amount of money the State of California claims to be yet due her by the United States as a full indemnity for all moneys by her expended, and for all liability by her assumed under her laws not fully reimbursed by the United States, in any matters growing out of her efforts to suppress Indian depredations in said State, and upon the borders thereof, and to aid the United States in maintaining the "common defense." In reply thereto, I have the honor to transmit herewith the report of the Third Auditor -of the_Treasury, dated April 17, 1894, ~nd accom- panying pa,pers. · . Respectfully, yours, J. G. CARLISLE, Secretary, The PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE THIRD AUDITOR, Washington, D. O., April 17, 1894. , SIR: I have the honor to return Senate resolution of December 21, 1893, relative to the Indian war claims of the State of California, which you referred to me on December 22, 1893, for report. The resolution directs the Secretary of the Treasury to report to the Senate any and all matters not heretofore reported relative to the Indian war claims of the State of California. referred to and recited in the reso lution of the .Senate adopted December 19, 1889, and in so doing to report the amount of money the State of California claims to be yet due 2 INDIAN WAR CLAIMS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA. it by the United States as a full indemnity for all moneys byit expended and for all liabilities by it assumed under its laws not fully reimbursed by the United States, in any matter growin~ out of its efforts to sup press Indian depredations in said State, and upon the border thereof, and to aid the United States in maintaining the '' common defense." In compliance with Senate resolution of December 19, 18S9, two reports were made by the Third Auditor, dated January 13, 1890, an~ May 8, 1890, respectively, embracing complete statements upon_ all Cali fornia Indian war claims then within the knowledge of this office. ( Vid-e Senate Ex. Doc. 122, Fifty-first Congress, first session.) On December 26, 1893, California filed a further statement, _together with a mass of papers and exhibits, setting out in great detail all _the items of its claims, including not only the matter which the auditor has considered in the two reports referred to, but additional claims not heretofore presented. A careful analysis of the matter now presented shows that the entire amount which California claims to be yet due it from the United States as a full indemnity for all moneys by it expended, and for all liabilities by it assumed in. the suppression of Indian hostilities, etc., is as follows: Item A.-For expenses in suppressing Indian hostilities prior to January 1, 1854 ·----- -··· •••. •••·•· .....••••. ····-· ··--·· •••••• ••.•.••••••••• $271,849.73 Item B.-For Mendocino expedition in 1859 .•.•••.• ___ • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 9, 294. 53 Item O.-For Carson Valley or Washoe hostilities in 1860 ..•••• _.... •• • 12,106.87 Item D.-For miscellaneous claims, as per schedule . _..... _•••.. _...... 54,907.03 Item E.-For expenses in suppressing Indian hostilities in the years 1854, 1855, 1856, 1858, and 1859 .. _.... • • . • . • • . • • • . • . • • 219, 075. 95 Item F.-For amount of noninterest-bearing State obligations (Indian- war bonds and certificates of indebtedness) issued under State acts of April 25, 1857, and March 30, 1858 ..•••••••••••••••••.• _... • • • • • • • • • • 92, 795. 96 Total .•••.•••••.•••••.•••••..•. _. _... • • • • . • • • • . • . • • • • • • • • • • • 660, Q30. 07 So far as relates to the claims of the State treated in reports of Janu ary 13, 1890, and May 8, 1890, it is assumed from the language of the resolution that no further recommendation or opinion respecting them is desired, but that the present investigation and report is to be d_irected and confined wholly to claims by California new and addi• tional thereto. I have, however, for convenience and ready reference-, group~d together all the claims, and shall briefly review their history, as shown by the records, in the order in which they appear in the above schedule. • ITEM A. EXPE SES IN SUPPRESSING INDIAN HOSTILITIES PRIOR TO JANUARY 1, 1854, $271,84-9. 73. INDIAN WAR CLAIMS 6:h, THE S'l'A'fE OF CALIFORNIA. 3 in relation to the same, and proposing also to deliver to him. the bonds before payment of-the mnount :i'ntff the- State·tre3;sury.· · ·The" Secretary of War, in ·reply; stated"'iri'suos'tance that .. tlie.proofs .. s11.bmitted were insufficient,.. that he could -not recognize. the .bonds .as .evidence of the indebtedness, but that the act of 1854 required him to go into an exam ination of the original vouchers. On this point the commissioners, in a report to 1lie:gov.er:rior .. or Qalifodii~:~: ~~y: _· - ·_ " ... : ~ .. : _: · .... -, -~ · .. · · As this course of procedure would have involved great delay and difficulty, and being satisfied ·from·the ·conditi"6Ii ·of thit ottgtn:tt v"O'uchets, wbrch were ·:rn very many instances informal, that a large portion of them would be disallowed, we applied to Congress for relief, and a bill was introduced at our instance directing the Secre tary of War to pay over the full amount of the appropriation, as directed by the legislature of the State of California. The bill meeting with violent opposition, to a great extent by the holders of the 7 per cent bonds who felt aggrieved at the man ner 0f distributing the apptopriation by said ruct, and being unwilling to give our sanction to any Congressional action which might clash with the act of the State of California, we :finally submitted to the Secretary' of War all the books and original paipers in our possession, offering to make all necessrry explanations, etc. As we had anticipatecl, the examination was delayed, and after several interviews with the accounting officers, to whom the vouchers had been referred by the Secreta:ry of War, and being convinced that the interest of the State would greatly suffer should a settlement be made upon such a basis, we finally agreed with the bondholders to a biHproviding a pro rata distribution of the appropriation, v:i:z) the payment of the principal of all the bonds issued prior to January 1, 1854, and interest on the same up to that date. About two. years~~. after. °jibe~<t;>assag.e' .. of the act of 1854 Congress changed the-entire progFamme b;Y ··tihe p-ass:age of the act of August · 18, 1856, which provided that the original appropriation made by the act of 1854 shoulcf he applied to pay the.holders of the bonds and not the State, as at first directed. Under the terms of this ·· a-ct· the holders of the bonds were paid principal and interest-the aggregate sum of $916,439.58, and the unex pended balance of $8;362.16 has long since been carried to the ,·,·surplus fund'. " and n.o longer .available. .. A few of the 7 per cent bonds of 1852, it appears, were presented hy the commis"Sionet'S whiclr-bl5r~ --dat~;s- of issue subs~·qffent t() January 1, 1854,. but it was decided at the time that they could not be: paid'., as they formed no part of the estimate by the State of $924,259.65, named in the act of August. 5, 1854. This objection was, however, obviate-d by the passage of the act· of June 23, 1860 (12 Sta·t., 1:04), whi~h pro vided for their payment. A careful reexamination of the entire bond account.was made itr this office in 1890, and, by comparison with th:e ori'ginal bond tegi1ster loaned by Mr.