all the money and evidences of indebtedness of every kind I have received of the State on account of these checks or any bonds issued for them. The bonds are already deposited as security for the circulation of the State Bank. I will indemnify the State against all Hability on these bonds, and provide for the repayment of any money or evidences of indebtedness received as aforesaid, by and with any kind of security that may reasonably be required therefor. Of course it may take some time to replace so large an amount, and I propose that upon my giving the security above indicated, satisfactory to the proper officer, the bonds remain and be held as security for the circulation of the State Bank, with the privilege to me, from time to time, to replace them with other securities, and as thus replaced they shall be canceled by the Governor. The same regard for my reputation (which is of more value to me than any amount of money), that, in connection with my unwillingness to profit by the loss of the State, has prompted the foregoing proposition, also leads me to ask, as an act of justice to myself, that the investigation commenced by the committee should be continued. I will lend every assistance in my power to render it thorough and searching, resulting in the discovery of the commencement of the wrong, if not the perpetrators. For this purpose, I hope, if necessary, the committee will be authorized to act in vacation. From my acquaintance with the gentlemen composing the committee, as well as from the courtesy already manifested by them to me, I doubt not they will be willing to continue the investigation even after the adjournment, if necessary. J. A. MATTESON. The investigation continued until 1861, through this and other committees acting under authority of the General Assembly, and although an elaborate report was finally made, the names of the perpetrators of the fraud were never revealed. On Record "F" we find that judgment was rendered against Mr. Matteson in the Sangamon Circuit Court, October 28, 1862, for $250,000. Agreeably to the proposition made in his letter of February 9, 1859, Mr. Matteson executed to the State a mortgage on real estate, which included his elegant residence in Springfield, in an amount deemed sufficient to pay the judgment, and by an act of the General Assembly approved February 14, 1863, Alexander Starne was appointed trustee. The mortgage was foreclosed, but the property did not sell for sufficient to satisfy the judgment, and subsequently A. B. Safford, of Cairo, turned over to the State, for the benefit of Mr. Matteson, lands in Henry county valued at $30,000. We are informed by the trustee, Mr. Starne, that the property has all been sold except a few tracts of land in Peoria and Henry counties, and some town lots in Joliet and LaSalle, worth altogether about $15,000, which, when sold, it is believed, will satisfy, in full, the principal of the judgment, if not the interest. Whatever may have been the real facts in regard to this fraudulent proceeding, so far as Gov. Matteson himself is concerned, considering his previous high character and the exalted position he had held at the hands of the people of his State, the charitable reader will give the statement in his letter relating to his personal connection with the fraud the consideration it is entitled to. In 1859, there was a similar attempt to defraud the State out of a large sum of money, through what is known as the Macallister & Stebbins bonds, but it was unsuccessful. An effort was made to fasten its responsibility upon the administration of Gov. Bissell, but he was prompt to deny all knowledge of it in terms that had no doubtful meaning, and which carried with them a belief of his entire innocence. |