Liberty advocate., 1839-06-06

lJdHlcS GTdZlcT - III CHuTuclCT 10 SucCGCu I
the office.
All which is respectfully submitted.
OLIVER WOLCOTT
Secretary file Treasury
To The President ofMe U. States.
| Let any man, after reading the foregoin,
letters, turn to the correspondence ofMr. Wood
bury with the defaulters, Of the last six or sew
en- years; and he must be deeply stepped in par
ty prejudice ifhe be not mortified and chagrin
ed by the humiliating contrast. Month allei
month, some Of these officers, unable TO pay
into the treasury the public moneys which ha:
reached their hands, because they had expen
ded it in their private speculatons, we're repor
ted to the Department as delaulters. What die
Mr.. Woodbury. do! Did he report them to the
President, and ask their dismissal, as the ony
proper atonement TO the violated laws Of the
country, and the ouly possible security agains
future rogueries2 No: He contended himself
time after time, with informing these delinquent:
that, II they did not, by "a named day, pay up
the amount of their deIinquencies, they aUouid
be reported TO the President, and their dismissa
asked for. But these officers knew too we'll the
motives that led to their appointments, to fear
until, like flies upon dead carcase, they had
'waxed fat" upon the "spoils" of their plumber
led country. Hence, they treated these mis-.
sives of the Secretary with perfect contempti
and the only rebuke which they received for
each repetition of their contumacy was a fresh
depression of "regret,' on the part OF the Sec.
rotary, that he was "again compelled to com.
plain Oftheir failure" TO account for and secure
the public money in their possession! No re.
porting TO the President, however, or, if repor.
ted, no removals from office! Whenever this
lstep bt came probable, these defaulting officers
had only 10 prompt some leading politician
such as Col. J. f. II. Claiborne Of Mississippi
for example, TO suggest to the Administration
that these delauters were ".rue Democrats
and "men ofextensive influence, ,"-and all idea
Iol their removal was instantly abandoned! ln.
deed, to such an extent was this game CT otfi-
Icial peculaton and plunder carried, that Mr.
Garesche, special agent sent to the West by
the Treasury Department, 10 report the amount
Of public losses, after informing Mr.. Woodbu'
ry that one OF his Receivers had pocketed some
80 or $40 900, absolutely advised that he should
not be removed, for the very philosophical
reason, that he was already gorged, and would
perhaps be content with the share Of Spoik
which he had placed on especial deposite" ii
his brooches pocket, whereas, if another took
his place he would 60 into office with beaE
whetted airesh for plunder!! And the complai
SAINT Secretary, having we suppose studied the
fable Of the Fox and Flies, was convinced by
this knock down argument, and permitted this
Iseli-convicted robber of the public chest to re-
main in oHino taopor Of tho laws of tho
Land Office Subtreasury. lfthis were an iso-
lated case, their conduct could not be defen-
ded, it might be excused: But acts ofthis kind
we're of such common occurrence, that their
very frequency seems 10 have dlvested the
crime Of much of its odium, and to have screen
ed its perpetrators from the punishment, which,
as feons, they richly merited.
We respectfully put it to the judgement Of
all impartial men, OF all parties, if an admins,
tralioh acting upon such principles, deserves
their confidence? WeaSk them, if they are so
welded 10 Van Buren,, that they are willing not
only to vote for him themselves, but to permit
him to suffer the public money, wrung from the
people by taxation, to be stolen by his officers,
because they are "good Democrats" and Weld
an "extensiye influetce" in favor of his Admin
tSttdLlOH! we tHlIh tlloI IL 10 poyH ioNSi
too dearly for the whistle. We cannot see any
such distinguished merit in its measures, rs to
counlerbalance and overshadow even this SIN
gle cause ofcomplaint. Were there no other
as there are many other-objeclion to the
reelection of Mr.. Van Buren, the loose and cor
rupt administration ofthe fiscal concerns ofthe
country, and almost the total absence OF ac.
countability in public officers, would to us be
sufficient ground of uncompromising opPosi-
ton. An administration which seeks 10 per-
petuate is power by tolerating these Ielonies,
because the men who perpetrated them are his
friends and exert great influence over public
sentiment, is unworthy Of the confidence and
the sulfrages Of the country. II deserves, on
the contrary, signal rebuke and condemnation
not only as a just punishment for its own often.
ces, but as warning to its successors IN all
time to conio-that they must rely for support
upon the intelligence and patriotism of the peo-
pie, and not upon the influence exerted over
public sentiment, by rogues and swindlers,-
an influence Of which thoy would have been as
they ought TO have, been, shorn, if the Treasu-
ry Department, instead Of concealing, had EN-,
blazoned their crimes, and had arraigned them
before the legal tribunals, as it did poor TOBIAS
Watkins; tho scape goat OF the Adams admins
traton, for an offence not a twentieth part rs
great in magnitude as those which are now per-
mt,ed to 60 unwhipt Of justice.
A Phisioldgtcal Fdct.--A correspondent of
the ST. Louis Gazette says: "a surgeon IN the