Republican gazette — Concord, N.H., 1802-05-25 00:00:00, page 1

REPUBLICAN GAZETTE. ^
™LIBERTY and the CONSTITUTION. . .
TUESDAY, May 25,1802.]
# ===^fr=====z=====fo
g . S-T ^f^•g-jw^,<wfffl>l^«W*WM*>*^^
FEDERAL PORTRAIT.
PUBLIC MONEY..
-Federal PROFUSION—WafIe &
Misapplication of PUBLIC Money. ;
CITIZENS of New Hampshire,
READ ! READ! READ!
^REPORT 4 =- The Committee,
appointed " to enquire & report whe
, ther Monies draw:, horn the Treasury
have been faithfuHy applied to theob.
jeds for whiah they were appropriate
ed, and whether the fame have been
regularly accounted for ; tnd to report
likewise whether any further arrange
ments are necessary to promote econ
omy, enforce adherence to legiflatte
reftriaions, and secure the accounta
bility of persons entrusted wih public,
money," Submit ,
The following Report :—
TN order to afeertain generally
4 in what fhanner, and under
what checks, monies were drawn
from the treasury of the U. States,
and were afterwards expended &
accounted for, the committee ap
plied to the secretary of the treas
ury, dating the several objects to
which they intended to direct
their enquiry ; his answer under
date of the 2d.of March, and the
9th,of April, are annexed to this
report, to which, as well as to the
ftatemenfs of the accountants of
the war and navy departments, on
the fame fubjea, they beg leave
to refer.
The committee deem it fuffi
cient to ft&e here, that allpublic
monies are drawn from the treas
ury in virtue of warrants signed
by the secretary of the treasury,
and countersigned by the comp
troller, and are paid to the officers
and agents to whom the fame are
due, or who are entrusted with
their application ; or when relate
ing to the war or navy depart
ments, they ate placed in the
hands of the treasurer as agent for
those departments, who disburses
them on warrants drawn by the
secretary of the department, and
countersigned by the refpe&ive
accountants.
For the general conftruftion
heretofore given by the treasury
department to the various appro
priation laws, the committee re,
fer touhe communication made
<o them by the secretary of the
treasury on the 2d of March, and
more particularly for the con
ftru&ion given to the annual ap#
propriations for the support of the
navv and army refpe&ively, they
refer to a report made by the late
secretary of the treasury oil the,
day of May, 1796, to the
committee of waysand means.—
From both of these it appears that
the appropriations for the army
and navy refpe&ively, have been
considered as constituting but one
general fund for each of these ob
^je&, although in most of the laws
making appropriations a variety
of baads o(expenditure were dif
tin&ly fpecifi^d.'lf the general
|conriru&ion be correft, it may^
perhaps be laid that in most in
stances mooies have been draw*
from the treasury in the manner
prescribed by law. Some irreg.
Parities are stated to have occur
red, where monies'have been W
IPUBLISHED BY E. RUSSELL, CONCORD, N. HAMPSHIRE,?
v^nced upon the simple applica#
tibn ofthe secretary of the treas
ury by'letter, without the formal
ity ofa wariant, and fometinfes;
even without a previous appro
priation, but in these cases the ir
regularity has been afterwards
coveredtyby subsequent warrants
and appropriations, and the com
mittee do not discover that it has
been produaive of ^ny injurious
consequences to the U, S. The
fecretaiy'of the treasury, io his
communication of the 2d March,
having expressed a doubt whether
the monies advanced on account
of the removal of the feat of gov
ernment from Philadelphia to
Washington, had been authorifed
by any previous law, the commit
tee dire&ed their attention to that
obje&, and now offer the result.
The law establishing the perm
anent and temporary feat of gov
ernment (pa fifed on the 16th of
June, in the year 1790,) provid
ed, " that all offices attached to
the feat of government should be
removed toihis diftrift on the 14
day of Dec.ifl the year 1800, by
their refpe&ive holders," and de
clared that the necessary expense
of such removal should be defray
ed out of the duties on impost &
tonnage. 'This .appropriation is
indefinite in its nature, and per
haps some contrariety of opinion
may exist as to the extent of the
expense it was intended to cover;
but the committee conceive that
a ffiW^ffi'ercWe' to~the Tetter of
the law, would confine the appro
priation to the expenses actually
incurred in removing the books,
papers, records and furniture of
the refpe&iye offices. From the
documents (marked G) hereto
annexed, it appears that the sum
of 153293 dollars and 23 cents
were paid for the tranfportatibn
of the books, papers, records and
furniture of the several offices, &
the furniture pf the President ; &
the sum of 32,872 dollars and 34
cents for expenses incurred by the
officers and clerks for the remov.
al of themselves and families. In
general the vouchers produced in
support of these last mentioned
expenses, are the stated accounts
and the declarations of the officers
and clerks, to whom the fame
were allowed. Transcripts ofthe,
accounts of the officers only are
annexed, those of the clerks be.
ing too numerous to be detailfl
From these accounts (whiffi'are
markedg 1 to g 12, inclusive) it
will be leen that ihc charges con
lift of travelling expenses, lofles
on the sale of articles thought too
inconvenient to remove, packing,
breakage and transportation of
.furniture, house sent in Philadel
phia, & tyro expenses after their
arrival at the city of Washington
—As all the^ officers ^and clerks
Were,at the lime, in the service
and pay of. the government, and
received the full amount of their
salaries, exclusively of these ex
traordinary allowances, and as the,
48 of June 17903* provided otily
for the expenses incident to the
;removal of tie offices, fehepconH ;
ret^e ^ of opinion ,that this
sum of ^2,872 dollars & 34 cen^ ,
^^CTB^9m#CTrcpmCTCTWHranßeflrarapfflQßCTiaCT.nreranrere
was drawn from the treasury and
expended without any legal au
''thority.
The manner in which monies
drawn from the treasury under
previous appropriations have been
afterwards applied, presents afub#
jest of enquiry of more difficulty
and importance.
The expenfesio relation to the
civil lift, being cHify for salaries,
are not ptherwife liable to abuse,
than in cases where monies ad
.vanced to agents have not been
applied to the obje&s for which
the advance was made, and have
not bee- >afterwards regularly, ac
counted for. Amongst the fu
fordinate agents to whom monies
have been advanced for miscel
laneous obje&s, of a civil nature,
some appear to be "delinquents,
and some not to have rendered
their accounts, as will be seen by
a reference to the document
marked D, herewith reported.
The monies necessary to defray
the expenses incident to the in
tercoufe with foreign nations,
have, till lately, been paid to the
secretary of state, who used to dis
burse the fame. The accounts
of Messrs. Jefferfon, Marshall and
Madison, who haveat various pe
riods filled that appointment, have
been settled, & no balance
is due thereon. A suit not yet 1
decided,has been inftiiated against
Mr. Randolph, formerly secretary
of state, fora balance unaefount#
ed fgr.fy^ttrtrc'-Tfr
Mr. PICKERING are not yetfi-.
na\l, fettled. He remains charged
with a sum of 8,383 dollars and
20 cents, erroneously paid by
him for the freight of a vessel fupz
posed to have been employed by
the ronful at Tripoli, and with
another sum of 3,289 dollars and
50 cents, being the balance ofan
advance made to Saml. Hodgdon
for the purpose of being remitted
to Mr. Humphreys, at Madrid,
in part of his salary, which Mr.
'Humphreys did not receive—
Both these fams, it is believed,
may and will be recovered from
the perlons to whom they were
refpeaively'advanced. But the
principal reason which appears to
have prevented an ultimate fettle,
merit with him, arises from the
circumstance of his not having
applied the whole of the money
drawn by him from the treafury,'
So the fpecific obits' for which
it was appropriated by law. For
the extent and result of this ipif.
Application, the committee refer
to the fta^ement marked C, ac
companying the communication
of the secretary of the treasury
tynder date of the 2d of Marche
From this ftafement it appears,
that Mr. Picketing drewtelte^
treasury under the appropriations
made " for defraying the expens
es incident to the rintercourfe
,#ith foreign nations, for negotiat
ing treaties with the Barbary pow
ers, and for the contingent ex#
„penfes of government,' the> fem
of 63 999 dollars ai^.ty, cents
more than he applied to those
several objefls, which, together
with the sum of 14,582 dolls, and
,54 cents gained by him on diel
purchase of bills of exchange for
;the use of the government, form °
an aggregate of 78,582 dollars &
11 rents. The fame statement
C, will fllew that the whole of
this sum was expended by hint on
objects of a public nature, (as far
as the committee can afeertain
' the fafl), bur this expenditure
having Deen piade from applet
tuitions defined for other ob
jetts by law; the niifapplicatioh us
the money has prevented the
comptroller of the treasury ftom /
felling his accounts.
Although the committee will
not fay that there are no cases in
which a public officer wtfyCTbe
juftified in applying monies ap
propriated to one objefy to est
;penditures on another, yet they „
are of opinion that in every del
viation the necessity for the ap
plication ought to be for fome'ob
vious benefit to the U. States,&
in every such case, a difclofute
thereof to Congress ought tube
made, at the next session which
should immediately thereafter /
ensue.-
The monies which have been
advanced to the several secreta
ries of state, have been remitted
by them principally to ministers,
confuLs arid other agents abroad,
whole accounts are not yet ren
dered, (although many of them
are of an old date) and the com
mittee cannot fay how orin'what
manner the money has been ex.
pended, fr;,=^& ,
The advances necessary for de
fraying the expenses of the mili
tary and naval ellablifhments were
formerly made in part to individ
uals who fiave accounted dire&ly
with that department; but fined
the law of thei6th of July 1798,
the whole of the monieshave been,
paid to the treasurer as agent for
these two departments, and have«
been fubjett to the drafts of the
refpeaive fec+retaries. _ Tlfe let
ter of the secretary of the treasury
underdate of the g:h of April,,
accompanied by sundry abilra&s,
(marked A 1,@&9, inclusive)
together witli the ftaemeh!o)f
the two accountants herewith re
ported, exhibit the amount ad^
vanced, fettled and remaining un-^
accounted for, in each depart,
ment, From these it appears, that,
from the ift day of January. 1797,
to the end of the year 180'1, the
advances made by the treasury on
account of the war department,
have amounted (exclusively of a '
fem in the hands of the treasurer)
to D. 9,8469634§ cents.
To which is -to be added 4^l#
ance remaining unaccounted for
on the books of the accountant,
onghe ift Jan., 1797, 1,756,391
D. 36 cents.
^ Making in the wholea sum
chargeable to the Var department
;from the: yeat 179, to 18oi,bpth
tincluftve, ^fD.lo^Q,ll6 45>\?'.
1 Os which the accountant ha,
fettled and rendered to the trea^
ury, accounts to the amounttof\
6,335,9^3^ and ^3 cents;
leaving a balance .of 3^77#^
.I D ° L per annum.