Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1830-06-19


tlsnan himself, but only ffoo tho indignation which
come Of the justly conceived against the
manor n which had been ousted from my Office to
make room for hin In that body teo. il was well
known. that there was distinguished man whom
have tho honor 10 call my fend, and who 10 sso the
friend Of the present administration although he is
not the spprover Of all its acts, who happened DO
well acquainted with my accounts, and stood prepa-
red.o defend them 1t was thought prudent and pol:
itic therefore, to shift the scene Of the attack upon
me from the Chamber to the Hall. and the resolution
was accordingly moved in the House, to which the
letter was sent only day before the close of
It's IN order that, in the hurry OF business it
might escape the exposure which richly deserved.
1t isossy, then. to zee that although the letter
written in obedience to the resolution Of the House.
the resolution of the House in fact the contri-
vance OF the Secretary and very c'everly got up
give him an opportunity of indicating his own
duct IN relation 20 and, OF course, by aspcrsing
my accounts.-Ths apparent motive Of the writer,
furnishes the true key the interpretation of this
letter. end will serve explain that curious style Of
insnuaton which he has ingeniousy adopted. at
once TO veil AMI to accomplish his design. The whole
document indeed. Is singular specimen Of ignorance
and cunning united Tho result perhaps of cu bling
Of wits) which filter myself shall very easily ex-
pose.
"Fherc is also. transmitted" continues the Secre
tary. "narked A, copies Of certan vouchers pr.sen
ted to the Department by the said late agont which
have been rejected, each of which, respectively ia
given The for their rejection or disallowance
the Department" These copies Of certain vouch.
wing waited for days past, to see them il, vain
may take it for granted, presume. that the publ
cation Of them has boon suspended far sDaue good
cruse, which it has not been deemed proper TO state
q may be conjectured, however, ] think, that the
reasons for their rejection disallowance by the De-
partment" endorsed upon them, will hardly seem rs
satisfactory to the public they must have been to
the writer himself.
But the oa Secretary proceeds to inform the House
u the public, that lin addition the reasons assigned
on these vouchers for their rejection may be proper
to state BY way of explanation a part of them,
thar the salary of the Navy Agent is limited by law
Ia 1000 per annum; and that oil allowed TO the
Agent over and above his amount, are intended to
cover expenses which have been necessarily incurred
in the discharge Of the duties of his office for clerk
re, Office rent stationary, fuel, &c., and he goes
on 20 add hat Sin the vouchers alluded to, il appc
that the demands Of Mr.. King to cover these cxpcn-
ditures were made FROM time TO time, allowed by the
respective Secretaries and the several sums carried
tn his credit, on the books Of the Treasury"-and
yet "atter lapse from ten TO thirteen years these
charges for clerk hire &c re- produced and the
rems considerably inereused in uuounf." Tie infer
Ace which he would have drawn from tho premises
Is obvious enough, but it is his language only that
leads TO 1t, and not the fact which his ge dseu
scs and little explanation will serve to shew that il
would be entirely fa!lacous and unjust For the truth
on this point is that for the rst ou7 years of nv ap
pontmcn', that is from 8i6 to 1920, had brought
no charge whatever sga'nsi the government for any
Of these exras but had pold them oil oct Of nv own
pockets but III the latter year, being Informed that
such chirges had BEEN siways allowed in the accounts
OF every other agent, Deemed it proper add them
also TO nine, end accordingly did so charging only
the sum Of 3255 for them all for the tour year which
had elapsed that is little $500 wear: At this
time, however. vas not apprised OF fact which
discovered only IN September October last in look
ing over The papers relating to my accounts in the Au-
dHnrs onice, to Vit, that the 9th Of June 1917
Circular had ben addressed frc,n the NAVY Depart
men. to the Navy Agents of He~ York, Piiadelphin
and B'stnn, fixing the amount of those extras at
tFlnIcr A.
Sir TIC nature and eztsnt Of tde Gustoess ar pour
dgenc2 involves the question Of rrasonab bic a!lovan
ces FOR contIngen expenses and for which you are 10
distinctly understand that The following allowances
will be admitted in full of all Office expenses, viz, for
Office rent $50; clerk hire $1,000; porter $40, sta
tionary, books, &c 80; fuel aud candles S8O total
amount per annum 1900" Eovas it vas topeth.
or clear to my mind tina, this CIRCULAR although cd
dressed to the Agen,s at Eew York, Phila ielphia,
and Boston alone, ought, in oil fairness to regulate
the charges at Norfolk also, where 'the nature and
extent of the business Of the agency" made il obci-
ousy "a applicable and proper in either of those
other cities, & as my accounts subjected to
the most captious criticism all possible points
deemed 1t entirely correct to prefer my claim for nv
extras according to these established rates; and T.
therefore, made out q new account against the De-
portmon' IN which charged them at those sums,
from the commencement Of my vice, and gave j,
credit for the said sum Of $685., which had ares
oy received, as for SO much account. Phe items
thus only corrected. and not exactly "reproduced,"
sO'S Va Souioo CouslueIaniy iBCIeaSou IN amount"
but only because had Ignorantly wronged myself by
undercharges for them in my former accounts II may
be proper to state. however that this new account
did contain one single new item which vas placed By
itself, and was Ito clerk hire from the 10th OF
April 1890, to this date 6th April, 1857 al $500
por annum, $1,000: for q similar charge had been
allowed to other Navy Agents. as oven to myself also
from that period0 could good reason why it
ahoud not be allowed TO me. l will only odd, that
the grounds on which I made all those charges, as
given above. were particularly stated in note at the
foot OF the account itself, which the Secretary must
have seeni 1t is entirely clear, hereore after this cx
PLANTATION, uhirh ras before the gentleman himself,
that the truth of the will not eounte nance tho
impetaton which bis phraseology has been srtfully
fashioned 10 convey. And indeed NV right to these
additional allowances which claimed IS so apparent,
That must believe that neither the Auditor nor the
Secretary would have found any difficulty in admit
ting It at once lift had moi become necessary By this
time for their own excupa patton, to make me OUT De-
faulter BY oil possible means.
But the Honorable Secretary proceeds to say, in
answer TO that part Of the resolution which calls for
information as to the manner in which DIR KING bas
md 10 "A