Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1839-01-24
ayNCmRunG, JANUARY II, 1850.
"GIVE US BUT LIGHT"

..onp the officers Of the government within a few
,s,r, mast, without being struck with the sinsuari,y
II ,l,e main argument by which the friends Of the ad-
rini.,ration ate mpted TO prevent this exposure OF
their nagran, malprac,ices-acts which call as loudly
mon the people for stern and decisive condemnation,
.a,sJ The aims Of SOdom. of old, for the vengeance
G{eaven. Never, in the history Of free govern
pns n,-certainIy our own b,ief annals record no simi-
T1kr instance Of official hypocrisy and popular credu-
G,y-ncver was there before exhibited such a striking
example of imposture on The one hand. and Of dclu-
sion on the other. as ,ha, through which tins nation
has recently rasscd-an era, in which high Pre'en-
,icps, though every day broadly contras,ed with the
nractice Of those who made them, passed as current
eoiu. and in which they who olamored most loudly
Of their own virtues, though they knew them only by
mans, we're more honored than they who spake less
If villa, ,hcy assiduousIy illustrated by their conduct.
l, is mol, therefore, perhaps, astonishing that men
Vim have so long proGtcd by trickery continue to
,,sor, to the same weapon to maintain the position
,h,y have reached, as they who obtained power by
fraud are mos, ap, to suppose, and perhaps justly.
thu, by fraud only can it be perpc,ua,ed.
The. remarks have been suggested by the prin-
cipal ground assumed by the friends Of the admins.
ton in debate on the occasion above referred to.
Tba, ground is, the great crPense which pouid be IN
cured by tie government IN The printing Of The doca-
mentS designated by MtsSrs. Hise and Garland.
Nh. Boon, one OF tlie leaders Of - the party" cx-
claimed, - Here was to be another item OF cxrara-
,Ance set down."-Ile :" WAS no, prepared to so for
,uch a was,eful expenditure Of the public money As
VAS here poposrd." How economical this gentle
man aud his friends have all at once become! But
.:.,.Lc they very much uudPF The Ih0l-
enc. Of the same feeling some twelve years ago,
when they denounced the extravaganza" Of MI.
Adams administration, ard gave a solemn pledge TO
she people to rc,rencl,'' the expenditures OF the
g,,erunent il they should he invested with The
CHARGE and contiol of the treasury. How they have
redeemed tina, solemn pledge, lie, the history Of the
country, from 1923 10 the present hour answer.
Th,ir cla,nors now are not a Whit more sincere
,h.n they we're then. II is not because the printing
Of the documents asked for by Messrs. Wise and
Garland may involve an expenditure Of seine hun
drcds of dollars-parhaps of some iiiousands-tha
,hi. hue and cry Of extravaganza" is raised; but IT
is because the publication of these documents will
reveal some Of the secrets OF that foul cha rnel
house, the corrt itions Of which, if fully exposed,
~onid arpal the people, who, having no interest il
unfolding public planderers and their abcitors. but
having every motive to detect the "spoliators' and
10 punish those by whom they have been permitted to
nestle in and rob the - public crib" need only an
authentic exposure of their crimes to induce the APP
plca,ion of the appropriate remcdy-expulsion from
office, the privileges Of which they have so grossly a
bus.d, aud the withdrawal Of a tiust which they
h.v. 80 unfaithfully executed.
That We are no, a, all uncharitable in this assump-
,;o, -, J.,,,ntr,Il. f,n,, tho E,ct In, l., r.I,t,o,
10 no other subject has this protcslaiion against 'ex-
.nraganc.'' been heard. Every thing else ask ed
for may be prlnted-but when il is demanded that
light shall be thrown npon the corrupt acts OF the
officers of the goyernment-acts committed with per
feet impuniiy, although known to those who should
have punished # they could not have prevented them
when it is asked that the people shall be informed
Df how much and by whom they have been robbed
aud swiudled,-tl,ese gentlemen are all in arms a.
gains, the enquiry - not because they fear to lay
the truth beiure the people = oh no but simply
because il will cost TOO much money! And will the
public believe it, that, almost at the very moment
that Mr.. Boon and his jealous coadjniors in arrest
ing ~prodisal expenditures were urging tbs objection
an the House of Representatives. their great file
leader and iugleman in the Senate, Thomas II.
Benton. supposed to be the confidential adviser Of
Mr.. Van Buren,. as well as the chief prop Of his
m'nistration. asked for the printing OF $4,000 CO.
les Of a Report of Il select of the Brit
"h House of Commons, &c. &c. connected with
the duty on Salt, and making nearly $50 folio pages!
Surely if il be "extravasance' to print a series Of Of
fetal documents, connected Immediately with
the public interests, and will, the safety of their
money, it is the most monstrOus %prOdigali-
pD squander a large sum in printing a h
document, for the purpose Of Calculating the
operation Of the salt duty in Great Britain And yet
while the leaders oftie party in the House Of Rep
sesentAtives endeavor to prevent the expenditure in
the former instance, their distinguished Chief in
the Senate is urging it in the latter. Is i, not evil
dent, therefore, that their newborn zeal for ecOno
my 10 a mere subterfuge, to avoid the exposure o.
their d:linquencies, which have been for so many
years accumulating in the dark recesses oftheir Sub
treasury vaults, and which, il known to the grea
ma''of the people, would surely crush them
though they had the broad and massive shoulders o
an Atlas to sustain the load ! In the language o
ten. Waddy Thompson, An we want is light
IL ever the prayer Of Ajax, Give us, grea, God, blu
a's"' were applicable to the condition Of any party
" so mere i" reference to the Opposition. Civ
usout hgh'. and victory and triumph await that par
" ANU - precisely for this reason that III
friends Of the Administration desire IN .xcinde IN;
Ugh. fro" the people. They love darkness ra,he
d.