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i. ' . - - . .'- t-tf r . . - '. i - . c 1 A ; . . . .... . . - , - . .1 t , jlr- ra'. iVcm lA JNUa'nwl Intelligencer. Review of Mir. Smiles Address. (COXCLOPKD.) .friV& 11. Mr. trying t actoVnts "Wehavc read of ancient laws by which a ca umnftor.wbo did pot substantiate hit accusations was adjudged to suffer the same punishment as the accused would have undergone had the crimes been proved Now as Mr, Smith labors to make it appear, that the Secretary of State mf intimated to Mr. svg i 18H, bj order cj tU fttttdent, that ke mi&bt make a eturre ct 2 ter cent in A account far all ux reuronl by brm, and tlat Uf equity U Its cUtm stxrtd be reguiuriy brvugU bfe tie HxcrKtneat, it iobtg t 4.jC and fkxr tnot viiuaUi and as we can provei Trom Mr. fcmiih anil others, that neither inditidu als nor the government ufleredjjr this just a?d reasonable compnsa.ion or dertd bj Mr. Jefferson to be allowed to Mr. Erting, and confirmed by Mr. Ma dison, it'having been drawn out of the fund called the exiencc account," cre ated by th boaid of commissioners to reimburse the exptnees tncumd in the prosecution of the claims, wc shallleavc the public to judge whatought to be.the punishment of.Mr. Smith for this atro-; city, since such a law docs not exist in our codes. George W. Erring was appointed In i . i cr I hv Mr. I7V-i-rn rnntnl cf the port of London ; to which office was annexed the lav agency, held before by Mr. Williams, the amma rial agency held by Mr. Cabot, ana the agency for the protection of seamen held by Mr. Le nox ; for which several offices he re ceived only 3000 dollars a year, although the gentlemen who filled them before rcceivtd together 8500 dollars a year. Mr! Jefferson appreciating justly Mr. Emne's talents and being well aware that 2000 dollars was no reward for his services ; that sum not being sufficient to bear his expences in London, he gave him the appointment of assessor to the board of commissioners then bitting in London under the 7th article ol the Bri tish treaty. Oo Mr. Firing's arrival in London, the board of commissioners refused to receive him as their assessor, and insist ed on their right to appoint their own assessor; which they did accordingly by naming another person with a salary cf 1500 dollars per ann. and an appro priate commission out of certain claims, which commission is said to have a mounted to 24.000 The progress of the public business beinj threatened with .serious conse quences from a contention which now ax&e between the assessor appointed by the President and the one appoinfed by the board. Mr. Erring, animated by that desire for the dispatch of public business which so much distinguishes him, with drew his pretensions and contented him self with stating the affair to the Presi dent, throwing himself on hi justice for sucn remuneration as ne mign. inins vasdoe to hm, representing at thesame time tht he was then in the discharge cf functions becoming every day more arduous and important and for which hi predecessors received S3500 annually. The late President in consequence of these representations ordered Mr. Ma dison, then Secretary of State, to say to Mr. Erring that the result of his rejecti ons for the moment tuert that he might chart e 2 1-2 per cent on all the awards actually received and paid by him, that be might st3te thi item in his account vfiih the publici which would bring the equi'y of his claim before the gov'ment. Does this look like defrauding the poblic? Does Mr. Smith intend to in sinuate by his remarks on Mr. Madi abn' letter bcing'a private one that any thirg unfair was meant either by htm of Mr. J;ffcrson ? Such an insinuaticn would be as absurd as base. The letter jwas a private answer to a private letter and; could not possibly have any con cealed effect, because it could have no effect, but as a public voucher.. v There was every probability also that this a ffair would be brought, to a. final settlement during Mr. Jefferson's administration, (the letter of Mr. Madison being dated in .1804) In whicrj case the decision of Mr. Jefferson andnot this letter would have been the authorttyvfor he allowance - Thus it ii seen, to jhe eternal disgrace of Mr. S truth,' that the remuneration of two and a half per 'cent amounting to 22,3S2 dollars which Mr. Evng was allowed to charge, did not amount to an equivalent for the lost. of the assessor ship, and that, calculating it even as an additional annual compensation. as-Mr. Smith has done,; his salary, fell short uearly 2000 dollars per annum' of what had been allowed his predecessors for performing the same functions. It iv proper here to observe, that all the officcrs.of the Treasury department allow Mr. Erving's accounts to be the xnosi correct ana sausiaciory.oi any mai have ever been exhibited to that depart meur. This is highly honorable to Mr. Elrvine, particularly when it is known that upwards of a million and a half of dollars of public money passed through his hands. Those merchmtsof the U. Slates wno were witnesvs to the promp titude and ability with which he brought f .rward and supported their claims,have been uniform in their applause ot Mr Ervi g ; and the board of commission era, wejiave been told by one of them within these few days, were- highly sa- (Lfird with' his activity and vigiunce; by which alone great suras were saved both to the government and citizens of the U. States. This same gentleman assures us that the business ot the board was greatly accelerated by Mr. E. and that the masterly manner in which he classed these; claims and pursued tjiem throuch the different stoces must have established his reputation with the go vernment, as it did with all those who had recourse tohimVasa man of outincs's, of integrity and talents, , When in the December following that renowned epoch his accession to the Department cf State, Mr. Smith made the discovery so very dist res sing to his feelings, that several American claim ant under the British treaty had in vain presented their claims forpayment be cause Mr. Ervihg had deducted two and a half per cent, from said claims, why dd he not pursue his enquiry and dis cover, what would havt relieved his dis tresses and gratified an honest Secreta ry of State, that a great unclaimed jur plsfay 60,000 dollar's J still remain ed inthe Treasury arising from deduc tions made by order of the board of commissioners from awards generally, for the purpose of reimbursing to the U. States the expences incurred in the pro secution of these claims. Why could not MrSmith fjj0?erthat Mr. Erving, in closing his accounts with the govern ment, had charged this two and a half per cent, to the " award account" in stead of charging it to the "expence account, and that in order to adjust this error and render justice to Mr. Er ring, to the government and to indivi duals, all that was wanting was an ap propriation authorising this sum of 22,392 dollars to be takn from the award account" and placed to the ex pence account ? Why did he not disco ver that in closing his accounts with the public Mr. Erving notes this item in these wordsi Balance remaining in I mm. ' 44 my hands retainer, as a commission of two and a half per cent, on awards " received and paid bf me, subject how- ver to the decision of gnvetnment as u ptr voucher," which voucher was no o'.her trun this identical private let'er of the former Secretary of State ? We know how every honest man will ans wer these questions. 1 f- But if this charge of two and a half per cent, was so heinous a crime, why did Mr. Erving's account pass ? Were they not submitted to Mr. Smith, ex plained to his apparent satisfaction, sign ed. and approved by him and sent to the Treasury, accompanied by a favorable letter ? Did they not pass the Audi tor's office, the Comptroller's office, and were they not reported on by Mr. Gal latin to the President and stated by him as M correct in every, respect" and by the President, on a special call, laid be fore ' Origress, and there debated and past ? Yet, notwithstanding all this, and six months after these accounts hare been thus adjusted, Mr. Smi'h works them into the silly memoirs of his own negativeness, for no other purpose than defaming his benefactor, the chief ma gistrate of the na'ion, whose stern inte grity through a life, of public service it was to have been expected no man of common honesty or common decency would have dared to impeach. Mr. Smith knew that Mr, Erving was four (-thousand miles off, and that the impres sion could be made to serve his purpo ses bt fore that' gentleman could' replyi He did not drt am that any person,' for the pure love of justice, would take tne pains, if he had the sagacity to bunt up the following documents, which are inserted here, that the iniquity of the Secretary's insinuations might appear in their, true colors v. REPORT. i- Treasury Department, Feb- 8th, 18U Sir I have the honor, in compliance with the resolution oX the Senate of the 7th instant, to transmit a copy of the summary statement of GeereeW. Erving's account, in -relation to awards trader the 7th article ot the ttnrisb trea ty' Thecommissjon of 2 1-2 percent, is charir ed-on . tt. 217,009 3 9 being the amount j ac tuallWeceived by Mr. Ervin g,4 en account of claimants wno had not appointed any special agentto prosecutejheir claims and receive tlje amount; The accounts themselves are volum inous, have passed the offices of. the au-Jitor and comptroller and are, as 1 sin informed, correct in every respect. There is another account rendered fay Mr. Erving, to theTreasury, for a sum exceeding 55,000 . f. and whicbis not sent, as it is not finally settled, and no commission is charged upon it. .That sinn consists, of deductions made from awards jgenerally, by direction of the board of commissioners for the benefit ot the United States,' in order to reimburse, them for expenses incurred In the prosecution of the claims A portion wasaplW by Mr Ervitg towards the dischargee of the prooor accounts, for which-the United States had become re sponsible, and a balance exceeding 160,000 dollars was paid by him into the treasury. It was from that Tund, which was at the disposal of t!e President, for defraying the expenses incident to the prosecution of claims, that the compensation allowed to Mr. Erving should have been deducted. But the unexpended ba lance of that fund having been carried to the surplus fund, a new appropriation is necessary fur the purpose of settlinghe account and of repaying to the award fund, which belongs to individuals, tbe sum retained by Mr. Erving for the commission abovementioned. ' " . There is no other information at the Trea. sury respecting Mr Erving's services, but what resulis from tbe accounts and from the letter annexed to the enclosed statement The ser vices were altogether performed, in conformi ty with the instructions which he may have received from the department of state. I have the honor to be. etc. ALBERT GALLATIN. Tbe Ptctident of tbe United States. . j LETTER. . Washington, Nov. 25, 1810. To Fohert Smitb, Secretary of State Sir It appears that the sum of 22 392 dol lars, 67 cts which stands charged upon the " award account' of my ageocy in London. under tbe 7th article of the late British treaty, as compensation for my services in thai agen cy. ought to have been charged against, and deducted by me out of that fund whfch was immediately applicable to the expences inci dent to the execution of the said 7th article : hence a difficulty in point of form exists in ad justing the said award account at the trea sury, which renders necessary a reference ol the subject to the President, through your de partment As all the business under the said treaty was concluded ptevioua to your coming into the de part me nt of state, and this special matter can not therefore be familiar to yon, permit me briefly to explain how this necessity hasansen. The per centage oi 2 wrvch makes up the sum of g22,392 67, charged as is above mentioned, was so charged by authorisation of the then Stcretary of Scate. ziven in conse. quence of a representation made by me in the year 1804. At that time, and during the whole period of ray service in .ng;aud, I held, by ap pomtment of the President, three several effi- ces of very great trust and responsibility, indc pendent of the consulate of London, vz : , Is'., the law agency of claims under the treaty ; this had been previously held by Mr. Williams, at a salary of 2 500 dollars per annum ; 2dly, the commercial agency, under the same treaty, held by Mr. Cabot, at a salary of 2.5U0 dollars per annum ; and 3dly, tbe agency for obtaining the discharge of se-men from the British navy, called " agency tor the reiiet and protection of seamen," held by Mr Lenox, at a salary of 3,000 dollars (or 3,500 dofls.) per annum ; of the whole of these salaries, making 8,000 dollars (or 8,500 dolls ) per annum,. I received only 2,000 duRart ! pr annum; to the claimants under the treaty, I did not charge any commission ; nor did I derive one cent of profit, in any shape or form, from the large sums of public and private monief which were constantly in my hands ; in adjusting the proctor's accounts, I saved large sums of mo ney to the government ; these, together with the sums which I obtained from the board of commissioners, enabled me to reimburse, to a great extent, if not wholly the expences which the United States had incurred under the 7th article of tbe treaty. . The important and profitable office of ' as sessor" to the board of commissioners: had beeti alo conferred upon me by the President, and this had been intended as part of roy compensation- ; but the board having asserted a right of appointing itaown assessor," a con flict hence arose, ' which embarrassed the pro gress of tbe public business, and menaced very mischievous conseauencea ; on this account I withdrew my pretensions, and the President acquiesced in those of tbe board. '. I cannot es timate that assessorship to have produced less than 6.00Q guinea over and above the salary of 1,500 doUare per annum which was attached to it ! . . : rt A IT these matters having been fully submit ted to the secretary of state, in my representa tion abovementioned, and by him laid before the President, the President determined to al low me a suitable compensation by hrs order, the secretary of state wrote to me in the month' bf November, 1804, the. authorisation before adverted to, which was in these words:. " 5 "Your observatiopa oo the reasonableness, of some remonerauon for yo'ojc ; services have, as yon wished, been submitted to the President. The result of bis reflections for the present is, that I should suggest that you retain oat of the next instalment, to its passage through your; hands to the Birinrj. a per Cestage of 2 1-2 on the awards actxjaj,vy received, .and to.be re- ceived by you and thatyou state it as Tan item tin your account with the publ'CflThis will bring the equity of yoor claim regularly before the government, and willleave the-.way open for. the choice of modes and funds,: 5 may finally appear mos; proper."; T - . v Tee commission of 2 L2 per cent, hereirt kl lowed, as you will perceive, was not chirgea ble on alhhe awards made bytbeboard of com missiorers, but only n that portion of them, wnerem x nad been made payee wnicn reau ced it in fact to a commissonpon about oneC third of the business which I did .at the board ; a commissioh to that extent, "however,' iveuld have, been a full compensation for ihe loss of tne assessorship 3 but desirous ot adherjog to the strict letter of the Secretary of State'ain. strucrns, I deducted only on .that portion of the awards made pajableco me, on which I finally received payrnent from the British go vernment, which I suppose was only about wp-thirds of the awards in which 1 was made payee, one third of them havin&been previous iy transferred by me to the private agents of the respective awarders ; so that in effect I had not more than about 1-2 per cent on the busi ness which I did at the board of . commission ers f not to mention that which was done in the court of admiralty ) Thus this commission now stands charged (pursuant to the strict let ter of .the instruction), against the awards on whichXZ"recrt'e payment of. the English go vernment, in what is called the award ac count though as it was in fact a cdropenia- tion for the whole business transacted at the board, it might with propriety have been, and? probably it should have been, deducted out of a sum of g 160,000 paid by me into the treasury, upon what was calfed the "spoliation account.' As the case stands,' there has been carried to the public credit from the last mentioned ac count too much, by the a.mounfof the coromis-. sion : that fund of 160.000 dollars owes there fore, and should pay back to the award fund" the same amount. This is ihe p6int.now submitted, and on which an explanation to , the, Secretary of the Treasury, from the Department of State, is requested. 1 have the honor to be, sc GEORGE W EKV1NG. And now, Mr. Smith, let us ask you where did you get the original and du plicate of this private letter of Mr. Ma dison ? Did 4vou at last discover it in . ... . the office ? Then it was a public docu ment. Did Mr. Madison or MrEr- ying furnish you with a copy- or did you find it annex. d to Mr. Erving's ac counts as a public vouchet ? Ifyou did, it proves that neither Mr. Madison nor Mr.Ervingconsfdered it in any other light than as a public document,; for Mr. E. however incomprehensible it may7 be to some people, is an officer of too high a sense ot nonor to divulge confidential and private communications.- 7 he Appendix. This is composed of a few extracts of tetters, the publication of which will be quite harmless to all the world, unless it be to Mr Smith and ta him they can be no otherwise de trimental than as a proof of his imbe cility m publishing them ; for of his axity of principle in betraying confi dence, both public and private, we could not want mis additional proof. He is now a servant out of place and while he is offering himself for furi- ther service, with the usual cry of tuhd wants me, he naturally concludes that we bhail require a character from his last place. Unluckily Mr. Smith, by his confession that he stood in need of a character, and this mode of raking one together, has taken a lower stand in the scale of public estimation than we should have assigned him. We knew, indeed, his want of capacity oui'did not sup pose the fact would be put by himself in so glaring a point of light. What a pity that during his eight or ten years of pub lie service, he could hot have done some useful thing some one , act that would mark him as a noun substantive, and cnrable him to stand alone, 'Ask Mr. Jefferson whether, on his retiring from the sjine department of state some years ago, ke thought it necessary to print himself into our good opinion, as a man of talents in business, by publishing scraps of old letters from his correspon dents j And if f ne says Yes, ask him if they were private and confidential Jet J trs noi mtenaea lor tn puDiic eye. There isoneJitttTe incj of deception that Mr. Smith VtVeippts to play off up on us in this very act of hunting up a character. . .The mangled extract of Mr.; Jefferson's letter: of Sept. 810, is given' uS .to crcsle the beljef that the Jet ter was accompanied by ihe inanuscript of a literary work tobc corrected and amended for the press "; Robert Sth correct the writings ,of Thoinas Jeffer son JNo; genlfe reader J thej yor k in qfuestton was an fBcial document intend ed for pubJicaUohi laberaupfeorted end elucidated probably corrected, by facts; deposited in 'the department jof State, ;of which Mr.: SmttlTwaa then the official and only depositary. If e is catted upou thereforer as; public ? officer, and n6t,? thank Gcd, as a man ot letters, j Wc ,iQtenaed; hereto terminate our review of the pamphlet before yns j theccidentarnaminoirc . neciionvwiin jterrecsisjrem&ri, we Mdnoted onoj ; which betray iwant iacquln witK the . EngliE lahijaiHses thisexpresfion' more than onef since , my iicceision to the eparfimenf ofita1eJ Ihe word accession only used in the recral fies to come to the throne by ry sucCession.;;,Butyhen:a mancbroe$ even to Ani:r by election o,idi)Poini !n ment ot otner men, or even by cdnquestt it would not be accession.,, We blamec ; not Mr.'broith (or any thing ahii-fepuD ? licanJrt the oh rase, r Hisnp-Aoraocefof I language will excuse him fromHWV it is a mere grammatical blunder. Another little error language: we; J will notice in; this plac, tjiat someiof ; our newspaper, feditorsas welyi Mr. Smith maytak& yarning y.it'tuenBr ror of Vising the auxiliary toistfeadt of shall, in forming the- fir st r person of ' verbs in the future tense ; as ihvthes5 phirases-- I trust J I evfciviit fcetayifi; mst sense'- Thfyt we lhave?to look Uie ttV near next ot Mr. bmith's acxesston to a j. bench in. a grammar schoblin which case;the word might apply'as,he'would I imetdaime with certainuidei iti&L eret2 afloat,' and pass currenlwitlicuratichl ''C cAaiuuiiuiuu. xvnion?" inee r we Jiavo e long noticed' theJe?rq)Us iupjitjob that thountrylojep fence, and that the;conduct of the Exef r.utive in this respect fa feeblepd insuf On ibe: first of these heads Vwevwill M-- just, observe that thej United' States in 1 time oi peace were never so well prepa red for dt fence as nGJ4housrhit ii confessed that .teyarey not, "isojvfeiraa they might be.' ! The number qfvarms rapidly increasing ' Tbe army e: blisbment ' has been augmented V-r-tha militia is better 6rgan,iied, artnediitii formed and dsci piined, than" heiret oTorclj though not so well as : it. should The fortifications, .'particularly afcifcif ' York, are much.''ni6''T6VmidabIeaii'.i they ever have ben1 That port,withthe ' means now in operation, maV.be ' cohsi t dered as pretty well, secured. Mt?-&fc: Our little murine, lorce is ukewisis more efficient than at any period'bf bur ; - history except during thi? active prepa-- rations against France in the yeara179S and 99. .::; ; ? :U 'srM-W-' . Qrt the second head we i wiU sayi'ieV ' ' President has generally, if not n evei y . - instance recommended stronger mer sures than Congress have adppted and ' ; stronger than any of his pre decessorsV; s except perhaps in the shoi't busje abave -alluded to, in the time of Mr.Adams. : NOTICE X X THERE A S, Tames B lack wU did. on the VV, day of October m the year.i809, apply to and bb'lof Lew.ia L'ljMayftlreftwt'' ot 185 dollars, tor which aid i51ackwelt did or. " the same day deliver into the possesstoh Of said . . lie sMay, one Negro vVVomaa of the riaroe oi , ' ; Katevwhefe she wasf-to rersa 'aMheroPertV v M of sa:d Le""'May'iiAtil thjittonejr was.irep and 'whereas-' saidKewodid'codne iii session oi sato js may uuci nrs uecese catKl ' for about 10 1-2 months, or theneaboiitsirafter, . say till on or aboirt the 26th; Maylasi,when he , in this '&Tiie:tet& ' iCyle.iafl'sfOTi:' come to that throne in Bis own riht; .1 M Tie public is;neallrmsed;fronv iSlfi Lewis j;'MaideVd-i-;ao4;whetH by ; the' insinuation directly fromThejt fbrrner'inas- Ci w 'tMii ter, the said Jas ' Blackwell or indirectly from". fcl any part of his farnilyi is unknown toall-ihe ; W restc Kate Kate size homely featores--tbick; or what may, by trnly - called blubber,, lips -a short chroUarge 'Jzrzc eyeshfgh forehead 'ii,Ja!hd)iesi1t0st;e.' speaks quick, and is ap 6 turn herce; a KrleJ ? to' one side and casts her ,ejcs towards the ground ss shewstbiendijf he "tongue between Vi her teeth, as thppgh'sberas fockiue somethW tf bas:a Is: eiscar MdeTtechjradjoinin r nedae4rly from the poiht of onejaw bof.'fo -'. Ihe 'other ; had on: when she went awa'i tii. i t tie worp. noweyer tne case may be remains still absent Hj.'iiHs'A .. is a Very, black Nejrro of the,iddle ton', honwpah i-jorhp, cVd'-;eardatii ptjj with her sundry other articles of amre)yvi2. AM T a enttori homesnun! habits strined in thV watt .i?tvL rChs i, f Wiia owe a coppcra uytr, gUiicu in witn rue same colota ad hearly'the sameitrirje'i r Anv person irho jwillapprehend 4aM Negro and de Irver her toMrsLticy iMayat4Cios RoaiiiinviIlBVbT tecure her4 jhiaifi a ' that se rnay!; .a'th.ap.'ia;' lrewaW r h expences paw. ; j.fvif pcrsori s. r iprewarnea hirhorin? -at tZtffiTi&allvia out of tVi Hi' i State For tbetfkpreir viixrtf: ;f d & V T il ' .11" m .M'?:''s-.f ill? ' -A. Si - T-l ,i '' my ".vl'N -a' mm I i' nV 3 II 'i- r ' it 'MJ' 11 '1 1.1 -i''if'L',tli't I mm i M .111 n l f; J i'' i it- Uti hi X ; . i-ff'M ' -We I - ,'if:;S'1.' ':ili'i'J .1- n. " lis I w. r' ' : t I v
The Weekly Raleigh Register (Raleigh, N.C.)
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Aug. 2, 1811, edition 1
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