North Carolina Newspapers

1 " ' - ' " ! ' ' i 4 1 1 . j ' . - . .-. .. :' .H-' 4 v M'-v : i m;. i . : ;, t-' ' . . . . VA f.-: t.'j HM. k''t ' ' s " i i'. ; i -flfTTQ T1 TIv M' W i I. 1? I; . . .: - 'J r 3 pCVOTliD TO AGU1CULTURE, LITERATURE, MORALITY, SCIENCE, JfEWS, POLITIC AND AMUSEMENT. I VOL. V. - SALEM, m. C, SATURDAY, JUiVE 4, 1830, - fl !K "l! 11-1.5 1 . K I '' &ljt CfjronCcle antr iFarmcs Hcfltetci: : rUBLISHED ETBKT S 4TURDAT AfORMNQ ' ("BY BLUM & SON? TERJIS-Otk Doltuk ant! Fiftt CrRtsVer ahnum.Dav 4 ahU within ftree TJioniii'fmm the of the first num. t ........ . J - rf 1-k -ill)-! '"!!! ." r, ! wci (cueiea,nr i wo . uo LLAR9 win oqinvanaDiy eiacied immediatftv aftortlie expiration of tliki period. 1 1 .1 ADVERTISEIENTS h .t exrecdin- tiveutj lines, neatly Tncjted,ttiree U m es fr otw dollar, and twenty rivecen ' lor arh iucccedin; insert ioik' i'i.ht' V'TilMf . All letters Atk bocuiedv must be roTj iaid, or they will ". not be attended to. , . I ' - . v '.' , t JNV Piper wiZZ fce discontinued until all arre&ratrts are paid, unJtss at the Editor sx option? " Ai failure to notifri a - J.' . .1.;. A -..r ..-.- .-f T nwcyiuintuiure at me a vac oj euct suvatruicr w term, icui s be consider rd k new envitsrement -1 iH ii' !i'ffc.rh:rff;t t-j KEMAUKS '- . i ;. : ". - y OF - i - Kir.! A.. II.- SItE k?PERI, OF, . &NOR Til CAROLWAj 4y oti the Contingent Appropriations for the Diploma -' 'Itc Expenses of the Government, Jbf S30? V BOT7S E OF BE PRESK N T ATI V ES, A PK JtL 1 5 , 1 8 36." ! In Committee of the Whole; on the State of the Union. ' Upon a .motion to strike ftomthetfa! Making Apl propriations Jbr tlie Civil and Diplomatic Expenses J of ; Governniqnl, for the year 18S6,-' lhe 'hems of thirty" thousand dollars,"for . con tihgen t expenses of foreign inlercourse ;w and thirty thousand dol. 1 Jars, for contingent expenses of alt the missions a l broad : and, lalso, to reduce the appropriation for the : expenses of Intercourse with the Barbary Powers, from $17f40a to S10,000,w J . I . Mr. A. H.pSHEPPERD addressed thev com mittee, as follows vMr. Chairman, In the observation thajt lam about to Submit, upon the pending propositions to amend, I wish to be understood as doing soj not merely as an individual member of this body, but. as in obedi ence, in some degree, to the direction of the com mittee, charged with the duty of exa hining into the : accounts of the Stat Department. , i . r , . . I know; airr;. that. by this efTort we may ser- seek a consequence, and give to ourselves an ik, tance which, perhaps, we re not intended, nor desir ed; in the arrangement of the corriuiittees of this house ; but much as others may naye undervalued or flighted the! duties, peculiar to' this committee, I hope we shall. be pardoned . for attempting. to show that there is, at least, a preprietj, if j not necessity, in instituting "and prosecuting the various .enquiries which rightfully fall within the scope of the authori ty delegated td us(rby.the rules oC Aus houte ;yet ' I come not charged with a long and formal retrench, raeut.report, nor am I expected in any way to point to, or discuss the peculiar political opinions of those who have beeri copecrtted in any of the government transactions to which I may advert: oar labours have Thbpe been prosecuted uith a purpose that rises far above that miserable ptiy party bptvit which has unfortunately too often become prevajleiit in our at tempts to reform lad correct tho abiiscs of govern ment ; of which a Jameniable illustration, is afforded in the famous retrenchment reports tlpt were made during the session of 1827-1S28 Pdjt content wiMt noticing practices in the adniinistration, which evj- dently deserved the public censure, and pointed to the nccessitv' of legislative correction! the excess ol nartv Teal destroved. in a crreat d firruelhe useful-- ness of the laborious efforts of that day, by attaching grave importance to. circumstances td trivial to de serve a moment's serious consideration. . We have not only sobered down from the ekci tmeiit of lliat period, but really seem to be. fast falling into an , opposite extreme. . . -- '.'' r v;--":" t; ' "H In 1828, it Was maiter of grayecAsirge.againstthe; then secretary .of state, that out of the contingent fund intended for the use of his department he had, amongst other! things, been guilty or me exirava- gance, of purchasiug Tor-his. owice a pnnt ot the President of the United State, at the price of 4hirr . teen dollars ! But what have we now, sir ? instead of disposition to i question the character or extent of contingent disbursements, 1 was unable to carry a 1 majority the other day upon a proposition to reduce the contingent appropriation,' for the,tcp:irtnient of State, from $25,000 to $ 1 7,000 ; j knd that top, without waiting to scan so nicely, S in days gone by, the propriety and extent of every jpptty. disburse went, that thc'Sccrctary oY State, may have author ized : but bv a statement of lact and, figures, clearly showing that this retrenchment might benade, with out aov embarrr-isincnt to this branch of the public aervice. There is, therefore, now not only a dis position to 'give what is necessary bnt even ; to be stow more thap can be faj rly estimated for; and o fer are we going upon this extreme o" confidence, and indulgence, that the gentleman from Tennessee, (Mr. C. Johnson,) has .clearly intima'ted, that, as we cannot foresee precisely what amount may be needed, under any contingent head of appropriation. we have only to adopt his amendment,1 (requiring an ' Annual nublication of the exoendituresi and we may then free ourselves from the trouble ofjtrvitig to as certain how little of the people's money will probably doi . only care will then be, to be surej and gire enpns.h ! This nrincinle wi'l verv'erreatlv diminish and simplify the labour of leislat ion : indeed we shall then have veryj little to do, other than to place' tne surplus revenue of the country at Ihediscreuona rv disposiiion of the President; and the Heads of penrtmeiirs. Andihere, sir, we are again forcibly reminded, of the striking contract, or rather ihconsis tency, to which the extreinesol paity are continiially eiJtosetf.'-Today tfiinlis it unimportarit to -look to the amounts of cohlirigent appropriation? ; yet, in i 1 828, -a. member from the same state ( M r Dai r ) and li k"e I he present geptleman,' who opposed to thje tlien admitiistra tion, in a report, toiihing this vjer'y Derartjnent of the Government, recommends, not merely to dimin ish -the contingencies applicable to ' missions a broad," but that no appropriatioq whatever be made for that object, fh my estimate of public men, and in my pursuit oi puuuc measures, ! nave ever laoour ed to ffuard against jiiat political excileuient under the influence of which we are iop apt to condemn mat, ,to-aay, wiiicn a cuange oi party yiews may lead us to appiove to-morrqw v and altltough in this way, I may have acquired the unenviable idistinc-! tion of not being thorough in my devotion to party, 1 have an abiding consciousness, that it is the only course of conduct that can meet my self-approval ; or that would tend to 'promote the permanent iiiter- est, of those whom I have the noiior to represent , Pardon, sir, this monientary) digression from the mere matter of business, for which I mainly riseto address vou. Before entering, however upon a no-. tice of any particular items of expenaiiuie,: upon which I feel myself ka I led to remark, I must here pause to express mv isurmise that the Secrcfarv of State; should'have sent in .an. estimate, and that the .Committee of Ways and Means should have report en i the bill now under consideration, with a -clause giving thirty thousand dollars foe the Contingent expenses of foreign intercourse,' and a like sum for contingent expenses ot all the missions wbroadC Perceiving from the books of the Treasury and the detailed disbursement furnished the committee to which I belong, that neither of these heads of expenditure usually exceeded twentv thousaud dol- Jars, annually, and that; for the last year, that 44 for missions Abroad was only lo, 1,37 dollars, I was ready to object ; and ! did intend, even under this view of the subject, to propose to reduce aporonria- ions to something like the expenditure; but, sir. what was my surprise when by relerence to the balances in the'officej of the Register of the Treasu ry" I j ascertained the fact, that at the close of the last year there was on hand thirty thousand dollars, apjil liable to the scrvceoY the -present year, tinder the liead of. Contingencies of Fofeigu-lntifcouise.' and the sunuol SM.003,00 belonyint to that of 44 all the missions abtbad.'- Thus we see. sir: thai. under tw o heads of appropriation, .'usual I v coveriug an annual expenditure! of rit quite foriv thousaiKi dollars, there is already at life service of the pi e.s-1 ..! .U. - -i . " .1 ':''-J Cl.- 1 I. .. 1 I . . i . , i i i ... i cut .year, ine eum oi eevcruy inouisana .iitc nunmii ndeiight dollars :. and yet the Secretary of Slate requires a further appropriation of. sixtythousand dollars I :, . ..-..'.; j '' ' : :i : j ' - j lit is true, sir, that the chairman of the commit- l is tru of Way lee suiid Means, (Mr. Cambreleng) second- edl by the. chairman of the committee on Foreign AfT: ai s, (Mr. Mason) now moves .to strike this sum afs from the bill, and I should of sixty thousand dol proba bly have coritcuted myself, on this pari of the case, not a with merely voting lor the amendment, had very strange attempt been made by the latter gentleman (Mr. Mason) to show, that the JSecreta ryjof State could. not!, jat the llui of his estimate, lot the year .18:)6 (wjlijch was imad about the first of October 1835) know that any very considerable balance would rcrnaip, at the end of the year 1835, or that the, add it Ion of thirty.lhousapH dollars, un der .each of tiicse heads, would not be' rcqtiisite. We isa ye already seen, that if 1 Up re had been noth ing on hand, the stuns proposed in the bill, and akcn roy tuc secretary J uoukl have .bcenj abun'Jant- ly large, a,nd . indeed more than sumcient. but what disposition can the secretary, or his. friend, make of this enormous sum, of .upwards of seventy inpusaiid dollars ; 'tor it it oc saioa ne could not knpw in October, how th close of December, 18G5, le balance wouhl be at the close of December, 18G5, certain!? there could ccrtaiulf there could have bejen no difliculty i Ascertaining' how jit stood at ihh end of tin year 1 S4. By reference irt the S3me undoub:ed source of infornialion,- and by a mere moment's inspection we are informed that! under the head of Cpqtingencics of missions abroad,''' the'sum on. hand. on the Dlst December,! 1S34, a 26,729 ; and for a contingencies of foreign intc r- course," tbiTc was 20,000; yet for there was also appropriated $80,000 to each of tliese ob jects; giving, fur 1S"J5, an entire sum ofj$106,7U, 00. Suppose then that no other, or later data ol calculation were attatnoblet by the Secretary, that! those to which I. have 'just referred,-, does not everv botlv see that, unless! bv direction of the! President, Jie had greatly tnigmerued the dUbursenient?, do ring the ycat IS05, enough an abundant balance must have remained for the present year, without any additional appropr iation -'But at the ven? lime pf asking these additional suiqps Jor ISiJ viz. 1st October, the unex- , 1. pended balance, under: the bead of contingencies; for foreign intercourse was in truth 53003, and lor missions abroad, 16,683,87. . . . .Thus the three first quarters of the year had been met, and irrorehid jtnel, without trenching on the appropriation of 1S35;; purely tiieh on short quar tef iol the yearV was riot fikejy to domuh in dimin ishing this anKtunt ;butir,really ejy little, was at that finieyefttoonjccturei oreitirlute : for by reference to jfie Warrant book of thelTreasury," it will be seen that on the 4th of Alay.llhe agent of thc"departinent of State had upon the requisition of, the secretary drawn' from the Treasury! the sum of lWeniy'thbusaud .dollars, on account of 'contingent expenses of foreign intercourse whii "embraced ; the whoIei expenditure oi the year wit the excep tion of $1 ,430,06, which remained ofthe' amount drawn-out of theTVeasury, in 1834.; 1 . It has not been usual for the agent to be possess, ed, at so early a dty, of the whole siimf Jikely to be disbursed Vluring tfie entire year fbut i presume it was so done to this instance, for the Reason, thai more titan the usual amount of the annual eipendi tuie was abul being incurred at an early period, and within the first quarter of the yelr ; of this 1 may speak hereafier: there was therein bt'tober last, nothing left to conjecture and fstimatfe under the head of cdntihgencies of foreign intercorseV and by reference to the expenses of missions! abroad, we find that only $5,375, 89, was rcquiredl during the last quarter of the year 835. This ufn then liiriis ut to be the only basis upon which it now coti tended that, notwithstanding the balacrs I have: shown to he on hand, at the beginning of 183"and at the cloe of theHliird quarter of tfiat fear, thj&se'. crelary could not have known, that iTiefjsuui of sixty thousand dollars would not be necessary5, in addition thereto for year 1 8;G.. 4 It has. indeed been inti mated by the gentletnan!fromiiginia,Vlr. Mason) that, in. order to make a safe estimate, ttie Secretary of State must wait'iiotil. ajl the various Items; or ac ' c ou 1 1 s 1 o f d i s b if r sc iirten tj, Ii a v e. b ee n 1 prei t e dj a lid audited at the Treasury ; -but 'instead Jif this view being correct, in jM-inciple, or lending (0 justifyhe course of. he secretary,! it.wtll, if admitted, show '.a s i! I large r .balance, cspeci ally of the. funds a pplica Die. to coniiniu expenses, or missions aoroaa ior even now sir, the whole amount transmitted for set tlement, and passed by the fifth autlilftr, does not exceed five thousand dollars. Yet the expense in curred, ui.dcr this head for the year, Ji6o5, is set down at $'10,22 : that bring the stfm:,actually paia out of 1 lie Treasury, upon ind:vidtal accountr br by funds placed in the hands of fbien Bankers wr o?her agents ol the government, to be (tit-bued ii the jvavmeiit of the munerous items of account j nio which stK'h a head- of expenditure fivides itself, but which cannot in t necessarily jBinsevs be ookcU to, as the-standard of expenditure under any wirltcular head of appropriation, and arj not sofcon iderod at the Treasury!; bm, ohtbe oihcr hand, he .sriius so drawn froiii he Treasury, apd, the fund's ucliascdj a iid placed the hands of our Bank ers. nd oilier agein s, ar,e considered a nd trkfaled as ex- bended, ailliondi it mav. anil fremieiitlv does hiD- pm, that upon the ultimate and dctailedl settlement pflill the accounts invoked, balances mav be found unexpended, in the bauds of these agents', but which are considered as so entirely out of th? Treasury, toration, 10 the head of hey were taken. " appropriation from which actual diebursiJnent under Thus you see, sir, ihe any particular head of appropriation, miy prove to be less, but cannot well turn out to befmore, thin the sums so advanced by the govern nient. It is horpfnr nnt nnlr id In. hut rrallv the! rentleman frem Virgi nia ( Mr.Masou,) I doeV both limself and the Secretary of Slate great injustice, wleri he con lends that the est i males for the Derartieht are're gnialed bv the actual state of the iudividuiilaccounts, hs settled at the J reasnrv ; ior, I repeal-,. were.. this he case, it -'iron Id Vijiakji the matter stiH worse, by howirig ih'.l the presentLesti'niatc. of si xly thousand Iol fa rs for Contingencies; of Foreign Intercourse and Missions, abroad, had been made, with i much lar ger balance on hand, than even that for which I have ConirnnVd : -nd, instead of justifying th appropria tion of 817,400 a$ked;for the present year's expense f op r lntei course with he Carbary Powers w ould !how that ihc Deparlment was fet nnaijjhorizcd to ;isk any amount w baleter for tfiis sc.r!c,.a no.dis liursements for the last! year's appropriation have (iccii forwarded by pur Consuls and seilcd a the Treasury. 7 '. .;-; k. . - , , vli ':- But the truth is. as I have asserted, and as the books of the-TVfcasury, ow, the year's expenditure U considered as regulated by the sums drawn out for disbursement : t!iee amounts can m serti'' at a moment's glance.. The Secretary of the State had only to ask, and the infotm3tion won't jjhave bceo atTotdtd. But, it seems, .that 'even this I tile trouble has not been submitted to : the onlr enquiries have robablv been, How much; wss voted lit vcar ! - Was that enough 1 How much more'tlda enough, r .t' l .1. it i .l ift1 i . . ps a maiier tjiat nas wn iroumeu me neau oi ise Dpnartrripnt- until tniil rrrntlr. r 11 I ...... 3 ....... i ,i. . i ou will bear in mimf, sir, ttiat I am nt now in dulging in any objctroo to tbe amevnts ttanaDy expended, under t'tiese fiends of appropriation, of. which J am speaking ; but I have purposely con fasted the smallness of these disbursements rith the continued i'epitittn of annual demands :fer ex? travagitit and Oselesskppropriations. Certainly it is no good ire asjbu to urge, in favor of such a courso of legislation, that the inouey is not wasted, and that; we should reward the economy of tbo who baro -" charge of the public funds, by placing tens of thour . Sands at their will and pleasure, ovef and above tlie4 accustouied wants of the government. Such blind confidence is unworthy of that vigilance and care, which should ever characterise the Keprcsentativcs !of the people. ! ; , r r Although, sir, as I have just iutinaatedcl baveoo particular charge of extravagance . to make, touching the disbursements that I have examined, yet in the progress of that minute investigation, which by the. commit lee I Was authorized to make, Vnict with some items of expenditure, which , were at least, in their cbaractif booiewhat exlrlprdidaryj' if tibt wholt ly objectionable. In this class I would place th .' sunn paid out of the appropriations for Contingencies of Foreign Intercourse, by direction of the President of the United States, to one Edmund Roberts, a cit tizeu of New Hampshire. .'. t .' Iu .the year lS33,Mr. Roberts was commissioned or empjoyed, by thoPresideBt of the United States, tcHrisit the countries of Muscat, Siam, Cochin Cht jha, and Japan; The object of this Eastern Mission , seems to have beeri the formation of treaties with the Sovereigns of these !eiiii.barbarous nations: tq aid io' jts fulfijmen behalf of our gor ernmruu, wereade o abontthe amount of threo ibousarid Ujreeliuhd cbmpensatioq, of this go'veruiiicot agent wns'at tbis'time fixed at $Q eY daybot be was also allowed, in the settlement, of his accountsVfie percent, commission upon the lirps so disbursed by hiui in -presents. He retunit jeiijnthe spring of l 834, 'having. ig V'L understand,, concludeii a treaty, with tbo Sullan'of Muscat ; but failed in doing so with the other powers, to who in ne was scni. i . v v 1 'In theSpring of last year, JMr. Roberts was again despatched, with fresh instructions, at an annual sir lary of fou:iho4tnd4f.hui'(drdtt!r -was directed to be paid him from the first of the year : and to strengthen 'the hopes of still 'greater, success, presents amounting in $ 1 9,580,70 were pur chVsed in the city of New York, and placed at his. disposition wiih a view of boing employed by him. in buying or conciliating the favour of those powers lo whom he had been before, in some degree, secret jtliled. This expenditure was incurred within thq ast quarter af.thcyear 1834, andthe first quarter of J8:)5. I have not merely contented myself with atocertainiug the amount of this bounty or do nation; on behalf f our Government, but in obedience ts a sense of duty, have looked through the entire list, r series of articles, of merchandise of which it has - been composed, and have taken care to see that. kecordingto law sn4 the practice of tho Government, nis large arm unucuauiisonrsemeni nas receiver! the propcr;ct rtincatps ot tne President and the Secret a y of Nate, with the drroction for its payment, out of the fuiiS fr Contingencies ( Foreign Intercourse . Hie gentleman employed in this busioess, is very avorably spoken of, by those who know hiin, and Ijticjginglfroui wiat' knowledge my investigation has alloided me ot his character, I am disposed to think well ol Jns qua lineal ions for such a mission. JVor am I sir. now prepared to call in question the policy of our Government which seeks; to extend and strengthen our commercial intercourse with the na-r uons, embraced in this enterprise, and .that; too al- hough gils may benecesssry to propitiate their "avor, or secure to us the mere privilege Of tradrig "t wiih them. No, str. all this marwcU be. anf be iglit ; 'and yet very grate question jnay ariseas to he pvoprlctyr'of applying the contingent fund 4 the . laymeut of a salaried officer, who, though'Be has jbr years sustained a sort of diplomatic character a croad, and lias actually negotiated a treaty ,T and is mw gone upon a second mission, at an expense ot' wentyfour thousand dollars,' has never, during all his time been nominated to the Senate for anpoinU ment . or in any other way been made known to the country, as connected with an important foreign ser- I know it is said that to gvjsrd against t!be H'al- us interference of rival nations, secrecy was neces- sary in this, as it haa 4cen thought to te in many' fnher tg'iciationshut, for one, I believe not in it. .t:m.m vji puck prvtuiion, ior inffican oi iuo , disguised negocistor succeeding "m eluding suspi cion, and efllcttng the.btisincss of his gtrernment wittioot disclosure; the mere fact of attempting to ill, in most instances', bo found to awaken unuual cnrio?tr, and ttf give a conseqtience to the. pbj'.cts of the mission which would not have obtain ed, had plain and open dealing been observed," ruif n mis was reany lo iave teen a ceciet busi- iese, the Presideat slvould hara sheltered the ex- crditure under the power given hire to allow a dis Vursement, without specifying tbo objects for which it h3 been made ; yet, bo has in this, instance,' as Well as every other, duritig his arnlstration, with hi uual frankness ai.d independence of character, refund tv treat any pm cf th appropriations hf. i '! - i '" ' .; . 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