Question 4.-Produce and read the vouchers for your payments to Purser Reynolds. Answer. This is the first order from the accused: FLAGSHIP OHIO, La Paz, Lower California, August 21, 1848. SIR: Of the military contributions fund now in your charge, transfer fifteen thousand dollars to Edward D. Reynolds, purser of the United States sloop of-war Warren, who will receipt to you for the same in form and object as you gave receipt. Respectfully, &c., THOS. AP C. JONES, Commander in chief U. S. Naval Forces, Pacific Ocean. Purser SAMUEL FORREST, United States Navy. And this is the receipt given for that sum: LA PAZ, August 21, 1848. Received from Samuel Forrest, special agent for military contributions, the sum of fifteen thousand dollars, being for military contributions collected at the port of Mazatlan; for which I hold myself responsible to the commander-in-chief of the United States naval forces in the Pacific ocean. [Signed in triplicate.] E. D. REYNOLDS, Purser. ($15,000.) The other order is as follows: SIR: You are hereby ordered to transfer, out of the military contribu tions now in your hands, to Edward D. Reynolds, special agent, the sum of eleven thousand two hundred and seventy three dollars. TO SAMUEL FORREST, THOS. AP. C. JONES. Special Agent for Military Contributions. And the receipt as follows: UNITED STATES SHIP OHIO, Monterey, November 8, 1848. Received from Samuel Forrest, special agent for military contributions, the sum of eleven thousand two hundred and seventy-three dollars, being for military contributions collected at the port of Mazatlan; for which I hold myself responsible to the commander-in-chief of the United States naval forces in the Pacific ocean. [Done in triplicate.] ($11,273.) E. D. REYNOLDS, Purser. Approved: THOS. AP C. JONES. The witness desires to correct his testimony given on his former examination; and leave is given him to do so. He then proceeds as follows: I find, upon reference to my papers, that some small payments of the military contribution fund were made by me to other persons than those mentioned by me. I desire, also, to say that the language of Commodore Jones, in regard to the gold he spoke of sending to the mint, was that "Uncle Sam could have his share." And the witness is now cross examined by the accused as follows: Question 1.-Did you, at any time previous to your leaving California, send to the Fourth Auditor, or to the Secretary of the Navy, a copy or duplicate of the rolls showing the payments made to the Lower California refugees? Answer.-Never. Question 2.-Please examine the account current now shown you, headedDr. Military contributions," &c., and say if that account was not rendered by you to Commodore Jones on or about the time of its date-say December 8, 1848? Answer.-Yes; that account was rendered by me on or about the datesy December 8, 1848-and is as follows: DR. Military contributions in account-current with Samuel Forrest, special agent. CR. 1848. Dec. 8..To amount paid, per vouchers here. with, from No. 1 to No. 12.. 1848. ..... $60,433 43 To commission of 23 per cent. on By this sum received from H. W. $15,058 50 1,510 82 July 13 Do... .do. .do. 46,885 75 61,944 25 61,944 25 U. S. SHIP OHIO, San Francisco, December 8, 1848. SAML. FORREST, Special Agent. Question 3.-Also examine the paper now shown you, purporting to be "Amount paid to California refugees," &c., and say if that paper was not made out and delivered by you to Commodore Jones at or about the same time as the account last mentioned? Answer. This paper is in my handwriting. I do not recollect the specific fact of delivering it to him, and cannot say when it was delivered. It bears no date. I have no doubt, from the fact of his having it, that I did deliver it to him. The paper is read as follows: Amount paid to California refugees $37,698 16. sand six hundred and ninety eight dollars.) (Thirty-seven thou Question 4.-Is not the amount of $37,698 16, in the memorandum mentioned in the last question and answer, included in the sum of $60,433 43 charged in the said account-current? Answer. It is. Question 5.-Did you know at the time you rendered the said account. current that any portion of the said amount of $37,698 16 had not been actually paid to the refugees from Lower California? Answer.-I did not know of any of them being unpaid. Re-examined by the judge advocate. Question 1.-Do you now know of your own knowledge that all the said awards had not been paid at the date of your account-current, viz: December 8, 1848? If so, state the particulars. Answer. I do not know it of my own knowledge. Question 2.-Upon what basis did you state the account to include the whole amount of the awards? Answer. The account includes only the amounts I paid myself either to the refugees directly or to Purser Reynolds. Question 3.-Do you mean to be understood that, if the account includes the sum of $37,698 16 as the total paid to the refugees, it had been in fact paid to them, and you had the vouchers for it before charg ing it against the fund? Answer. I would not have charged it without vouchers. I cannot recollect anything about the memorandum marked H H. I do not remem ber upon what occasion, or for what purpose, the commodore required it It may be a statement of the whole amount of those awards paid by myself to a certain extent, and the residue believed to have been paid by Mr. Reynolds. of me. Question 4.- Did you exhibit, or deliver to the accused, the vouchers for the amount charged against the fund in that account-current at the time of rendering it, or at any time? Answer. I furnished to the accused the vouchers with the accountcurrent. Question 5.-Have you duplicates of those vouchers here? If yea, please examine and exhibit them, and state what amount is thereby vouched as paid by you to the refugees, and what amount paid to Purser Reynolds, and assumed on the memorandum HH to have been paid by him to them? Answer. The amount, by my vouchers, actually paid by me, is $22,268 25, so that the residue of the amount must have referred to pay. ments made by Mr. Reynolds. I now exhibit the vouchers. I did not know of any other person responsible for making such payments except Mr. Reynolds. Question by a member of the court.-Had you any appointment as special agent? If yea, produce it. Answer. I find that there is none among my papers. I thought, before I examined them, that I had. I was addressed by the accused as special agent, and signed my name always, in connexion with the mili tary fund, as special agent. Question by the accused.-Did you, at the time you rendered the said account-current, or when you gave him the said memorandum of the amount of payments, or at any other time, say anything to Commodore Jones as to any portion of that amount not having been actually paid; or were you not yourself, at the time, impressed with the belief that the whole sum so charged as paid to such refugees had been actually paid, in part by Pur. ser Reynolds, and the residue by yourself? Answer. I really do not recollect any conversation at the time of rendering that memorandum, or the account-current. I was under the im. pression it had been all paid, except a small sum, which Mr. Reynolds told me he had not paid to one of the refugees who was out of the way, and which, I understood, the refugee had written about to Captain Naglee, a broker at San Francisco. Question by the accused.-Can you recollect whether the communica. tion just mentioned from Mr. Reynolds was not some months after the rendition of your said account-current; or can you say, with any certainty, that the fact of a refugee claim being still outstanding was known to you when you rendered your account current? Answer. I cannot speak with any certainty as to dates. I merely became accidentally acquainted with the fact on shore. I think the conversation with Mr. Reynolds was between the month of November and Christmas, 1848. I think he requested me to say something to the commodore about it. I do not think it was after our return from Mazatlan; but it may have been. I am quite uncertain about it. Question by the accused.-Did you ever mention to Commodore Jones, or, if at all, about what time, that any unpaid and outstanding refugee claim was included in the amount charged as paid in your said acCount-current and memorandum? Answer. I have no recollection of having mentioned anything about it, except that I think I told Commodore Jones what Mr. Reynolds had requested me to tell him about the one claimant referred to in my last answer. Upon reflection I think the conversation with Mr. Reynolds took place after we returned from Mazatlan, which was not till February. I think so because Mr. Naglee had not established his broker's office when we went to Mazatlan. And the accused having no further questions to put to the witness at this time, his testimony is read over to him as hereinbefore recorded, and is acknowledged to be correctly recorded, and he is discharged. Samuel L. Harris recalled by the judge advocate. Question 1.-Have you here the official record of despatches from the Secretary of the Navy to the accused? If yea, produce it. Answer. I have it, and now produce it. It is contained in two volumes, marked "Record of Confidential Letters." |