John T. Doyle, then of New York, acting as the attorney in fact of the said Archbishop of San Francisco, and the said Bishop of Monterey, whose jurisdiction then extended over the whole State of California, the Bishopric of Grass Valley not having at that time been erected.

The claimants are unable to produce any original documents in support of their said claim, because the originals of all the documents relating thereto exist only in the archives of the Mexican Government, and of its various departments, bureaus and officers. And the copies thereof which were in the possession of Bishop Diego during the interval between his appointment as such Bishop, and the issuance of the above decree of February 8th, 1842, were taken by the said Government of Mexico and its officers from the possession of the agent and attorney in fact of said Bishop (one Pedro Ramirez), shortly after the date of said last mentioned decree.

In support of their right as such Archbishop and Bishops to claim and demand from the Republic of Mexico the arrears of interest on the property and proceeds of the said "pious fund" as herein claimed and set forth, the claimants beg leave to refer to the following precedent taken from Mexican history and sanctioned by the Republic of Mexico itself.

After the conquest of the Philipine islands in 1564, the fact that the successful expedition for the purpose had been fitted out in Mexico, and was commanded by officers drawn from that vice-royalty, led to an intimate connection between those islands and New Spain, which the commerce between the Philipines and the mother country, passing through Mexico, drew still closer; and a fund destined for the propagation of the Catholic faith in those islands was raised by contribution in Mexico. With the details of its origin and history the claimants are not familiar, and therefor refer to authentic information thereon whenever the same may be procured. In its general character and the objects to which it was devoted it was analogous to the "pious fund" of the Californias. Its income had been, down to the severance of Mexico from the Spanish dominion, periodically remitted to the ecclesiastical authorities in those islands. Shortly after the declaration of Mexican independence, the properties of this fund were seized and embargoed by the Mexican government," and further remittances of their proceeds forbidden. This embargo was afterwards raised;" but two haciendas belonging to the fund had been appropriated by Mexico, so that their value with indemnity for past rents remained due to the Philipine missions, and this was made the subject of diplomatic representations by Spain to Mexico after the recognition of her independence by the former power. These negotiations resulted in the convention of November 7, 1844, whereby the Republic of Mexico bound itself to pay to the President of the Missions of the Philipine islands-he being the superior ecclesiastical authority thereof, and therefore entitled to receive the same-the sum of $115,000, the agreed value of the property, and $30,000 of indemnity in satisfaction of said claim; the total of 145,000 dollars was to draw interest at six per cent. per annum until extinguished, from the particular revenues which were specifically pledged for the purpose.

"Orden de Julio 4, 1822-Coleccion de Ordenes y Decretos de la Soberana Junta Provisional Gubernativa y Soberanos Congresos Generales,” etc., vol. II, p. 53; Mexico 1829 Id. ib., June 19, 1823, p. 135. Id. ib., Nov. 27, 1823, vol. III, p. 5.

b

The text of the treaty is to be found in the "Coleccion de tratados con las naciones estrangeras, leyes, decretos y ordenes que forman el derecho internacional Mexicana," published in Mexico in 1854, at page

516.

In the claim presented on or about July 22, 1859, to the Department of State of the United States, as before stated, nothing was included for damages or in the nature of interest for the appropriation and use by the Government of Mexico of the property and money, or otherwise, composing the "Pious Fund."

In presenting this memorial, the said claimants do not relinquish but expressly reserve their right to claim against any Government liable thereto for the principal sum of the moneys and other property composing the "Pious Fund," and received and appropriated by the Government of Mexico, as before set forth.

M. R. JOSEPH S. ALEMANY,

The Roman Catholic Archbishop of San Francisco,
a Corporation sole; the

Rt. Rev. THADDEUS AMAT

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Monterey,

a Corporation sole; and the

Rt. Rev. EUGENE O'CONNELL,

The Roman Catholic Bishop of Grass Valley, a Corporation sole.

By their Attorney in fact,

John T. Doyle,

HUGH P. GALLAGHER

Nath'l Wilson,

Of Counsel for Claimants.

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, County of Washington, to-wit:

Be it remembered that on this 28th day of December, 1870, before the subscriber, a notary public in and for the county and District aforesaid, personally appeared Hugh P. Gallagher, who, being first duly sworn, deposes and says that he is the attorney in fact for the memorialists named in the foregoing memorial; that the facts stated in said memorial of his own knowledge are true, and those stated upon information derived from others are true to the best of his knowledge and belief; and further, that said memorialists are absent from the District of Columbia.

(SEAL.)

EDM. F. BROWN,
Notary Public.

EXHIBIT.

Referred to in the foregoing" Memorial and History," setting forth as far as the same are known, the several items of the property composing the Pious Fund, including real estate, urban and rural, and the rents thereof; demands on the public treasury for loans made to the State; moneys invested on mortgage and other security, &c.

REAL ESTATE.

The houses Nos. 11 and 12, Vergara Street, with outhouses, and the garden of Betlemisas lane, sold or given, in emphyteusis, to D. Ignacio Loperena and D. Francisco Arben, upon condition that a rent of $3,500 should be annually paid, as stated in the deed made the 30th of January, 1841, before D. Manuel Garcia Romero, notary public. The heirs of Da. Josefa Paula Arguelles are entitled to receive the fourth part of this rent, and the " Pious Fund" will thus only receive.....

The hacienda" (large farm for rearing cattle and agricultural purposes,) named "De Ciénega del Pastor." The heirs of Mrs. Arguelles are also entitled to the fourth part of the rent of this farm, amounting to $17,100. The "Pious Fund" will thus receive per annum.. The hacienda, "San Pedro de Ibarra." The rent of this estate

amounts to

The haciendas, "San Augustin de Amoles," "El Custodio,' "San
Ignacio del Buey," and "La Baya." The rents of these farms

amount to

$2,625.00

12,825.00

2,000.00

12,705.00

MORTGAGES, ETC.

66

The heirs of D. José Maria Barrientos had mortgaged their hacienda, 'Santa Lugarda," and others, for the sum of $42,000, at the interest of five per cent. a year..

The firm of Revillas & Co. also mortgaged the hacienda, "Arroyozarco," for the sum of $40,000, with interest of six per cent.

D. Luis Vazgner has also mortgaged his hacienda "San José Muizo,' for $3,000, with interest at five per cent .............

ASSETS OF THE "PIOUS FUND."

Twenty thousand dollars due by the Government since the time of the Spanish rule in Mexico. The interest, at the rate of five per cent., was paid up to 1812. The capital and interests accrued from that date up to the 30th of April, 1842, amount to...

The Government is also indebted in $201,856.75, whose interests, at the rate of five per cent., were paid up to 1812. The capital and interests accrued from that time up to the date aforesaid amount to.. The Government is, moreover, indebted in the sum of $162,618.37 1/2, acknowledged by the ancient court named "del Consulado", in 1810. The interests were regularly paid up to 1820; and the capital, together with the interests due after that time, amount to... The College of Jesuits, named "San Gregorio", was indebted to the Pious Fund in $38,500, with interest at 3 per cent. The Government took possession of the property of said college, and is bound to pay the principal sum and interests. The interests were paid up to the year 1811, and the whole debt up to the 30th of April, 1842,

amounts to

In 1825 the sum of $68,160.37 1/2 was deposited in the National Mint, in pursuance of a decree of the Government...

In October 20, 1829, the sum of seven thousand dollars was paid by the Fund, by order of the Supreme Government

In pursuance of a decree dated September 19, 1836, the "Pious Fund” was obliged to pay $3,000.

The sum of $15,973.62 1/2 in Government stocks.

The estate of Da. Dolores Reyes, deceased, is indebted to the "Pious
Fund" in...

D. Juan de Dios Navarro is indebted in..

The estate of the late D. Estaban Velez Escalante is indebted in.

The daughters of Gen. Corio are indebted in

D. Manuel Prieto is indebted in.

Da. Augustina Montenegro is indebted in

D. Ramon Vestiz is indebted in

Total

Add to the above:

Moneys received by the Government out of sales of, or otherwise from, property donated or bequeathed by Don Josefa de Arguelles to the Pious Fund", amounting in the aggregate to

Grand total

BRIEF HISTORY OF THE "PIOUS FUND" OF CALIFORNIA.

From the time of the discovery of California in 1534 by the expedition fitted out by Cortez, the colonization of that country and the conversion of its inhabitants to the Catholic faith was a cherished object with the Spanish monarchs. Many expeditions for the purpose were set on foot, at the expense of the Crown, during the century and a half succeeding the discovery, but though attended with enor mous expense, none of them were productive of the slighest good result. Down to the year 1697 the Spanish monarchs had failed to acquire any permanent foot-hold in the vast territory which they claimed under the name of California."

b

The success of the Jesuit fathers in their missions on the northwestern frontier of Mexico, and elsewhere, induced the Spanish Government as early as 1643 (on the occasion of fitting out an expedition for California under Admiral Pedro Portal de Casanata,) to invite that religous order to take charge of the spiritual ministration of it and the country for which it was destined, and they accepted the charge, but that expedition like all its predecessors failed."

The last expedition undertaken by the Crown was equipped in pursuance of a royal cédula of December 29, 1679. It was confided to the command of Admiral Isidro Otondo, and the spiritual administration of the country was again entrusted to the Jesuits, the celebrated Father Kino being appointed Cosmógrafo Mayor of the expedition. Various circumstances conspired to delay its departure, and it only sailed on the 18th of March, 1683. Many precautions had been taken to ensure its success, but after three years of ineffectual effort and an expenditure of over 225,000 dollars it was also abandoned as a failure, and at a junta general, assembled in the City of Mexico under the auspices of the Viceroy, wherein the whole subject was carefully reviewed, it was determined that "the reduction of California by the means theretofore relied on was a simple impossibility," and that the only mode of accomplishing it was to invite the Jesuits to undertake its whole charge, at the expense of the Crown. This proposition was made; but it would seem that the conduct of the royal officers, civil and military, must have contributed to the previous failures, and probably for that reason, it was declined by the Society, although the services of its members as missionaries were always freely placed at the disposal of the Government.

e

Individual members of the Society, however, animated by a zeal for the spread of the Christian faith in California, proposed to undertake the whole charge of the conversion of the country and its reduction to Christianity and civilization, and this without expense to the Crown, on the condition that they might themselves select the civil and military officers to be employed. This plan was finally agreed to, and on the 5th of February, 1697, the necessary authority was conferred on fathers Juan Maria Salvatierra and Francisco Eusebio Kino, to under

Venegas, "Notica de la California y de su Conquista," &c., vol. I, pp. 142-240; Madrid, 1757.

"See Letter of October 13th, 1643, from Garcia Sarmiento y Sotomayor, the Viceroy, to Fr. Luis de Bonifaz. Venegas, vol. I, p. 213.

Id. ib, 219.

Id. ib., 213, 218, 219; 236, 237. Greenhow, Oregon and California, 98, 99. Forbes, California, p. 13.

Venegas, Vol. II, pp. 13, 14, etc.

27629-02-2

take the reduction of California on the express conditions, however: 1. That possession of the country was to be taken in the name of the Spanish Crown, and 2. That the royal treasury was not to be called on for any of the expenses of the enterprise, without the express order of the King.

In anticipation of this result, fathers Kino and Salvatierra had already solicited and received from various individuals and religious bodies, voluntary donations called limosnas, or alms, contributed in aid of the enterprise. The funds thus collected were placed in their hands, in trust, to be applied to the propagation of the Catholic faith in California by preaching, the administration of the sacraments of the church, erection of church edifices, the founding of religious schools and the like, in a word, by the institution of Catholic missions there under the system so successfully pursued by the Jesuits in Paraguay, Northern Mexico, Canada, India, and elsewhere.

The earliest contributions thus obtained will be found detailed in Venegas Noticia de la California", vol. 2, p. 12. Besides sums given to defray immediate expenses, it was determined to establish a fund or capital, the income from which should form a permanent endowment for the Missionary Church. Towards this latter object, the first recorded contributions seem to have been by the congregation of N. S. de los Dolores, which contributed $10,000, and Don Juan Caballero y Ozio, who gave $20,000 more. These donations formed the nucleus of the fund destined for the propagation of the Catholic faith in California. It was increased from time to time by others, and in a comparatively few years attained magnitude and importance." It was invested and administered by the Jesuits in pursuance of the trust on which it was confided to them, and its income was the source from which was defrayed the annual expense attending the Missions in California. In time, it acquired by common acceptance the name of The Pious Fund of the Californias."

Among the most important contributions to the fund was one by the Marquis de Villa Puente and his wife, who, in 1735, in addition to large previous donations, conveyed to the Society of Jesus, by deed of gift inter ricos, estates and property of great value and productiveness." During the seventy years that the Jesuits pursued the spiritual conquest of California, they gradually extended their Missions from Cape San Lucas up the peninsula, to the northward, and at the period of their expulsion, they had established those of

See the "Papel anonimo", and Father Palou's arithmetical comparison of it, with the "Informe del Director general de Temporalidades, y Fondo piadoso", etc. Documentos para la Historia de Mexico," 4th series, vol. VI, pp. 174, 175, 176, 590 and 597. Id. ib., 564 and 565; Mexico, 1857.

Duflot de Mofras, “Exploration du Territorie de l'Oregon," etc., vol. I, p. 267; Paris, 1844. (Text and note.)

An interesting Informe on the condition of these missions will be found in the "Documentos para la Historia de Mexico," 4th series, vol. VI, pp. 137 & seq. For the mode of life of the missionaries, the hardships they underwent, and the perils to which they were exposed, see Venegas, "Noticia de la California," etc., passim, and a portion of the private diary of Father Kino, in vol. I of the same series of the "Documentos" etc., pp. 403 & seq.