Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1824-05-07

o'ef,oohes; or, II the former were purpo.ely
suppressed there IS nothing imp, obale in tbs,
oeiiei tnat the latter has shared the same fate.
Hit tins letter may have been received by
'hr r.; crawford, and he may have forgotten it.
presume, may fairly demonstrate,
showing tnas his memory has been extreme
~ 're2cberoaS in other instances. Of far pre..
lterconsequence. To, this nurposr bao 49,,
IN Inc iiret place, 10 call the attention of xo,,r
honorable body TO hiS oath, before the commit.
tee oo'''''i'-
hcgardiess of the SOLITARY atirnonitiops of the
proverb ''oi the glass windows, - he has treated
my oath somewhat freely, aud he can have no
reasonable cause TO complain if his o,cn shall
undergo slight investigation.
On ms examination before the Committee.
ne says, ~ neUer sanctioned TIE omission oFANY
fARI q Inc correspondence
Now let us hear Mr. DicLius. his ro,G,ye,,;,,
Clerk. On the examination OF this gentleman
before the same Committee, Re SAYS, SIT is the
general direction of the Secretary, when infor-
nation IS called for, to give epc,y thing that re.
lates to the subject. When the cali was made.
looked OYER c1 the papers, jiicd aud unified,
relating to the subject. The papers, after Sc
'ected, arc. laid before the Secretary and IN this
case. he directed me to collect ecery thing in
the oihce relating 10 the subject. Ihcy were
selected and subhaiieit to ms iaspcrtion In this
case, IRON the urgency of it. took the ORIGINALS
ana 'oWs'i dry.S. The papers remained some
tiine before the Secretary, while he was ma
KING thc report, after gave them to him, and
before ne communicated to the House,
Let 1t be recollected that Mr.. DiclSius is one
oil ar. t'rawford's witnesses against me, and
enjoys his highest confidence. Now, if this
gentleman swears the truth, would ask. how
IL would have happened that so many letters of
The correspondence with the Banks of Hunts
vile and Missouri alone, were suppressed with
out Mr.. Crawfords sanctions
Inc document, No. li9, before referred to.
most in'lisputably proves that upwards of TWEEN
~ letters OF the correspondence with the latter
bank were suppressed, Oh the first call for them
and that these very letters were cen The office. y
II, then, MIR. Dickins did collect, AID law be-
lore Mr.. Crawford, sail the papers, fled and
aHfed, relating 90 the subject" which he was so
strictly ordered TO do, and swears he did; by
whom could The suppression of so great a por-
tion oil the correspondence with the Bank of
Missouri have been effected If not by ,g;r.
Crawford, his own statement shows that IL must
hare been done by MIR. pickins. To permit So
fragrant breach OF trust and confidence to mass
with impunity, is TO saisction IL. fthis suppress
sion escaped Mr.. Crawforg's notice, achen he
answered the first call for those letters, he could
not have been ignorant of it, achen he shortly af
terwards complied with the second call. by
transmitting the gerry letters that had been sup
pressed. Vet, we have never heard that Mr..
Dickins has been punished, III any rnanncrw what
ever; and from the relation in which these gen.
tiemen stand to each other, it cannot be pre-
sunled that he has been even blamed
Again Fir. Crawford, in his testimony, saws,
ut Is usual when resolutions require nforna-
ton which the records or files of the Office af-
ford, to send copies; but when there is press of
business. the ORIGINALS are sometimes sent.
as IN Ike present case"
Thus, itappears, from the oaths OF these two
gentlemen, that Mr.. Dickrs delivered all the
''orginals and rough drafts' to Mr.. Crawford;
and that the latter sent them all to the House.
NO one therefore could reasonably expect to
find COPIES among them. Yet, upon an OK
animation OF The correspondence with The Hunts
vile Bank alone, it will be found that about one
third of the pages it occupies, and more than
that proportion of the letters, are given as EN-
TRACTS. These, surely, cannot be ORIGI-
NAILS, unless Mr.. Crawford and the President
ofthe Bank of Huntsville were III the habit of
sending EXTRACTS of their own letters TO
each othcr--a novelty that can scarcely be be.
lieycd to have occurred.
But besides the striking variance between
Mr.. Crawiord's statement of having sent the
originals to the House, and the fact of this case,
the transformation of those originals into er-
tracts, re9aires explanation, at least. II is DIFF
extracts, instead of the originals, unless,
it was for the purpose ofomihing and withhold
ing something which the latter contained; and if
Mr. Crawford ''neUer sanctioned the omission, of
AN Y PART of the correspondence by whom,
and with what motives, could these extracts have
been made, ard foistcd into the place of the
originals?
1t cannot be too much to say that there ap-
pears to have been considerable forgetfulness in
some part OF this affair.
MIR. Crawford must also have forgotten the
| resolution of 1916, when, in direct violation of
| its positive Djunctions, he received from GER
tain local banks, in discharge of their debts to
the United States, and at par, the large amount
of uncurrent notes which, in his report, he ad-
mits he did receive from them.
/ But his memory must have been much more
| unfortunately treaChcrous to him, in two other
particulars, relating TO this business, for shall
show that he has made two paipable and inipor-
tant m'sstaiements in regard TO it.
Being called on by a resolution of tic House
Of Representatives 10 the state the amount oftin-
current paper, which he received from the To-
cal banks, t!iat had been made repositories of
| public money, received from Inc sale of public
lands, he admits the receipt of Il large amount
| from the Banks of EIwarIsvilIc, Missouri, and
! Tombeckbec. But rs III crc,Lsc for his conduct
be represents those notes to have been deposit
ted iii these banks "bcfDrc the date ofthe;r con-
tracts" under which, they agreed TO account
for thc public defositcs % specie.
| This do most unequyocaiy and posiliyel,
aver to be II misrepresentation and an Indciensi
bic apology, and your honorable body cannot
! fail TO be convinced of il, by aiyc,;ilg - the
contracts themselves. viii rc,cr e. )niv one
Of them at presest. The very first article o
the contract with ,i,a Bank Of EdwaIdsyiiie, an.
der which it received The first cent OF pa lie de
nnsifns is in Iia ill.r prnrls ~, ~ ?. N -