Virginia Argus. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1796-1816, 1815-12-30

\ -" "aniuS tnc dDove acknowledgment,
however, am not to be understood, as adj
uniting the right of every Editor, to draw
an officer before that tribunal either upon
| ordinary occasions, or upon false or frivo-
ious pretences. lndscriminate or mispla-
ced censure, Is as Objectionable as in
discriminate or misplaced praise, and in
the end rs ,aal to the true prerogatives and
real freedom OF the press. Ii at every per-
ceptIon OF Inconvenience, or every sugges-
ton OF ire fal inpatieace, an Editor with
OUT proof and perhaps without enquiry, is
justified IN venting his iii -humor upon a
public officer, although that officer may in
another paper vindicate his conduct, his
situation Is even nure a MEL & ;anzerous
uaif 1t has generally been allowed to be-
ms character rs at the mercy of those who
conduct newspapers, aud good men seeing
tins evil may be induced TO wish that some
restraint shonld be imposed upon the licen-
tiousness OF the press, which might proDa
Diy aifeoi Its iibe-ty.--fts conductsrs vino
value this freedom, ought therefore to lie
extremely cautious how they give way to
iitst emotions OF prejudice and passion.
and the public should look with distrustful
and jealous eye, upon charges, resting a.
e
The evil becomes m0re serious, when the
assailant clothes mself, as gentle men of
this stamp generally do, in the garb of uS
trigtlsin. iiis motives, which are frequently
triiilng and sometimes vicious. are thus
disguised under a specious appearance,
and ne receives implicit credit, because he
IS Supposed to be governed by the public
god alone--Draw the curtain however, &
what does this pretended patriot, this yea
lous reformer, this modern Cato, who affects
IN the name of justice and for her sake a.
lone, to pursuea public delinquent, turn
out TO be Some secret enemy to the man
he attacks---or some one desiring for him
sell or his friends the Office which the other.
holds--Or one, who unable to grace his
columns with the speculations uDon the
great questions in which society are inter-
ssted, thinks to acquire tempo q applause
and ilii his meagre print, by sol.idng the
! alarm of public delinquency, and CRYING
shame! shame! upon the supposed .olten-
der. @
Whether these remarks growing out of
the subject, apply to all, or any of the
persons who have brought charges against
! me, avn lot sufficiently acquainted with
their characters, or their papers to deter
mine but must say, that those charges
are conceived in a spirit of asperity,
and urged witha coarseness of expression.
neither warranted by the occasion, or by
facts.
Before answer to the. specific ACCUSE
tons inquestion, beg leave to lay before
| the public short and condensed statement
of the Transactions in the Post Office since
t,ylltc %
of the irregularities complained of When
alter the death ut my predecessor, | was
appointed To the Office, | found in it, two
| young men who had been under nim-they
were retained-yery soon deficit to the
! amount ct several hundred dollars was
/ Observation-Disclosures of these young men
could be particularly charged with having
caused it--one however was DISCHARGED,
the other retained, and All assistant pro-
cured-at length the Post-0fFice is robbed
and the drawer with several hundred doll
lars more carried OFT The assistants in
! the P0st-Ofice, through whose negligence
at least, the TACT occurred, were also dis
charged, and young man well acauaint-
ed wIth the business, procured from dis
lance. For time all went well. but up-
on his leaving ME, several serious losses
from time to time again occurred, which
not merely diminished the profits of the
Office, but nearly ifnot altogether CONSUME
ed them during this period, attended in
| person To the duties of the Office as far as
1T was in my power to attend to them (;
But, could neither prevent or recover
losses, because all the young men, being
upon the same footing OF responsibility, it
could rest exclusively on none of thein-I
now came to a TeSUlution--a resolution
which deemed absolutely necessary, to
entrust the management of the Office to
some one person, who should for certain
sum lind his own assistants-manage the
business in his own way, expressly sub
IJect however to my direction and super
attendance, and to instant removal for
misconduct, and be alone responsible 10
me for any deficit in the receipts of the
Office or for any irreguIarity in his own or
his assistants conduct in managing its bu-
siness. Upon this footing it has stood e..
yer slnce--and the beneficial conseauen-
ces have been felt, have no doubt. by the
public, as well as myself The mode of
payiog the salary alone has been CHANGED
IRON time to time-ln March last, Mr.
POnsOnby was offered certaia salary. mr.
certain portion Of the gross profits Of the
Oitice--he preferred receiving the latter
When from his i'll health, 1 lost his seryi-
Al