Polack

The title of the claimants is derived from a grant alleged to have been made by governor Alvarado, Nov. 8th, 1838, to Juan José Castro. The authority under which the governor acted is a dispatch from the secretary of the interior to the governor of the Californias, dated July 20th, 1838, directing him to grant the islands on the coast in private ownership. There can be no doubt of the governor’s authority to make the grant. The only dispute is as to its genuineness. Neither the petition of Castro nor any other document is produced from the archives. So far as appears, the records of the former government do not contain the slightest trace of the alleged transaction. Even the grant itself is not produced, and the claimants rely upon an alleged copy recorded in the recorder’s office of this city in 1849. To prove the existence and genuineness of the original, the claimants have introduced a large number of witnesses. The United States have, on the other hand, sought to show that the grant was made by Alvarado, in the city of San Francisco, in the year 1848, and antedated. Juan José Castro, the original grantee, testifies that he presented a petition to the governor in November.…