"Windham's got a scheme to answer
him," said Brannan.
That day the _Evening Picayune_ printed the Committee's defn. It was as
follows:
San Francisco, Aug. 20, 1851.
"We, the undersigned, do hereby aver that Governor McDougall
asked to be introduced to the executive committee of the
Committee of Vigilance, which was allowed and hour fixed. The
Governor, upon being introduced, states THAT HE APPROVED OF
THE ACTS OF THE COMMITTEE and that much good had taken place.
He HOPED THEY WOULD GO ON and endeavor to act in concert with
the authorities, AND IN CASE ANY JUDGE WAS GUILTY OF
MAL-ADMINISTRATION TO HANG HIM and he would appoint others."
To this was appended the names of reputable citizens--men whose
statements no one doubted. It was generally conceded, with a laugh, that
Governor McDougall's private opinion differed from his sense of
public duty.
That afternoon representatives of the Committee met an incoming vessel
and examined the credentials of all passengers. Several of these not
proving up to standard, they were denied admittance to the port. The
outraged captain blustered and refused to take them back to Sydney.
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