Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1830-08-13

oofe oetson gave WILKINSON the contract winch neo
sen, TO him. and II be gave Il toWkinson. il e more
likely that be sent f0r Wilkinson to come and Get IL.
than that he went to Wknson to hand it to him; and
u he sent for Wilkinson he probably sent for him BY
ms porter or runner" But, IS NJ. Lattimer states
that Jear'es Wilkinson told him that be thought at
the ilme the Stone it for the purpose This
may be- for Wilkinson was not exactly ordered sny
whether he thought It fit for be purpose, but whe-
Their II was according to the contract. tits, how
ever more probably mistake; for it appears that he
was careful and particular in inspecting and receiving
the stone, (See Cert. No ~ Mr. Lai,imer is one Of
the " three gentlemen" who condemned the stone
that Wilkinson received. pass tho other
t1cates for the present because of them do not
touch THIS point, and the rest of them may be more
conveniently answered another place. as will soon
appear Thus far then, at least, the main fact, that
Jcffics Wilkinson inspected and received the stone,
a, the instance Of Com Barron, remains unshakcn.-
Indeed It Is even more fully proved by the facts
which have been brought INTO the case by our Aud
tors certificates For it appears by ,hem,a well
oy Jeries Wilkinsnns statement, tbet the stone
carted around to The wall, E the coping of which
was intended But could this have been dono without
Com Barron's order9 WAS he not tho Captain of the
Yard But II appears further, that il lay there for
about eight weeks stewards for Jcffries Wilkinson
receipt, for dated the 9Th of August and that OF
the "threo gentlemen condemning it the iTth of
September. And could it have laid there all that
time without Com Barrons ord.R WAS he not the
Captain of he YardS Clearly, then. it must have
been received al least and could it have been recev-
cd, without having been first inspected, and found
cording To the contract Surely we must all agree
with the Commissioners. that 'if the stone had
been according to the provisions specified in tbs con
tract" (which according to thcir Instructions
Som Barron would not have permitted it TO be re-
ceved 1t appears also from the certificate OF Lem
uel Langley, that the Commodore put the contract
tor hestone INFO his hands ut time. I, is plain
therefore hat the Commodore had receive il. and it
IS thus read iscd probable that he gave it to
Wilkinson also at another. And lastly it appears
fromthe certificate of Barker which have had taken
see cert M that the carriers Of the Yard, of whom
be was one al the time took the from Taylors
wharf as it was received andirspectcd by williamson
who was there with paper in his hand noting the
measure each particular piece asst handed out
from the vessel, and carried it round The wall under
the direction of Lieut.. Smoot or Sailing Master
Potts. both Officers in the Yard and it is plainly i'm
possible that either of these officers could have or
dered the carts this service without uhortv from
The Captain of the Yard. The proof is then even
more full on this point than it before; s. the GER
ti6cates instead ofinvaidatng, only confirm aud es
tab.ish Wilkinsous receipt. u 10y. .t.,.--...e.
But perhaps it will be said on the other hand that
Commodore Barron has expressly denied that Jcfries
Wilkinson inspected and received this stone by his
authority. Yet ns-I do not think that he hus-and
should be sorry, for his sake if re had after the
fact has been so thoroughly proved. But have
looked into both his letters and any thing
like that clear and explicit DENIAL Of The fact which
we ought TO require in the case 1t is true, in his
first letter TO the Secretary he says; Il author
ised any person to receive the and knou nothing
about the receipt Uhieh your letter aludes to- But
the Secretary in his letter says, Il wish YOU to for
ward to the Department by the return of the steam
bot, such information as you may be in possession
Of connected with the delivery, receipt and payment
of certain quantity, of stone said to be delivered
and receipted for by IchaJod Scranton at the Nary
Yard, Gosport Now tie Commodore in his reply,
probably neans say, that he knows uoihinq about
suy stone rcceiptsd for by ichubod So,rlton at the
Macy Yard; and there was truly such believe;
though there certainly some receipted for by
he
have heard, and il too before be does not even
mention in his let,er-At any rate he does not here
deny that he gave Wilkinson the contract with Scran
TOM and is possible that he may not use the word
"autirorise" exactly os the rest Of US do Indeed,
our Auditor himself seems to have thought that his
hrst letter vas not quite explicit enough the poin:
for 1t appears he wrote to him for a second little
more to the purpose. Il sorry, By the way, he
has not given this c,ter Of his also, as always
like to see the whole Of thing; perhaps, however,
be kept no copy of it,. Bet the Commodore is not
yet quite expiici! enough, IN this second letter. for
oe-Por in the FIRST place, obse that although he
does not exscty say,ns Auditor represents that
"JeHfies Wilknsppdid not even belong 10 the Yard
yet he takes sors pains remark that his name toas
lIot roll at the time that he is represcnted to
be Master Inspectors" and this while lie admits dis
tnctly that he was working in the Yard as s'one of
the Contractors and Stone Masous or the new foup-
dplioD under Ship House, No l." as Wilkinson him
self has stated. and nm led to suspect that he had
some reasons for noting this apparently immateral
\ was
ordered by me to inspect the stone alluded 10 in your
communication" il strikes me there is something
canious and guarded in the phrase and cannot help
suspecting, at least, that, as Wikinsons name was
not ION our roll" the Commodore may have thought
that he had not exactly right order him to inspect
the stone; and am confirmed in my conjecture on
this point by observing that the "threc gentlemen
who were not son our roll" bot who afterwards in
spected the stone, only certify that they were caiied
on" by Commodore Barron, &c; and Mr Lemuel
Langley, also, see, in like manner, ceti6es that
he was called on" by tho Commodore at another
time. This then is the Conmodore's phrase for the
things and when he says that Jefries Wilkinson
I"was never ordered by 10 inspect the stone" he
only means to say that, although he was SCALED on
or requested, be was not as be would ssy, ordere
(nor yet exactly duthorixed) to do IT, So then, the
Conn odore has not cobtrsdicted tie statement OF
! Wilkinson on this point, and sure he could not
have intended to do so; for it may be seen that
Mr. Murden cerifes, that he ptesen cd the bill for
the stone with the certificate Of Wilkinson attached
to u. 20 the Commodore both before and after made