, 1840-06-20
FOR THE

LfTs EIttOI -
The next cause assigned by .'Cincinnatus''
for an unusual expenditure of the public
money, under the administrations of Gen.
Jackson and Mr.. Van Buren,, and which was
said not TO have existed under the federal
coalition administration of Messrs. Adams
and Clay, .was the purchase oflarge and va
luable tracts of lands from tie Indian tribes
in different sections of the Union.' This is
the first item in the catalogue of unusual ex-
penditures BY the administrations of Gen.
Jackson and Mr.. Van Buren,, which "Duane''
has attempted to a~ssail; and it would have
been well for him if he had passed it over in
silence. | again charge that his statements
in relation to the purchase of public lands
under the administration of Mr.. Adams and
of Gen. Jackson and Mr.. Van Buren,, are not
correct; they do not agree with the only al-
thentic information which we have upon this
subject. 1t is possible that he may have Ia
ken his calculations from "a table" publish
ed in ran Almanac" yet as | cannot recog-
Mise such authority, when it is at variance
with documents prepared and published by
order of Congress, he will, | trust, excuse me
when | say that his tables "come in such a
questionable shape" as to render them I'M
worthy of serious attention; and were | to
Judge from the hurried manner in which sDu-
ane'' passes over them in his second commu-
nication, | should conclude that he did not
view them as being authentic: had he here
supposed or known them to be true, is it rea-
sonable that he would have passed over this
subject in so rapid n manner? | think not.
He was anxious to show not only that the
statements of "Cincinnatus" were false, but
that | 'had proved them to be so;" and if he
had possessed the testimony to sustain his
charge, will any one suppose that he would
not have used it? think he would. But
the fact is, when writing his first communi.
cation, he did not suppose that testimony to
sustain the statements of 'Cincinnatus" was
SO easily to be had ;-knowing that he did
not possess it, he concluded that it was not
in the country, and therefore supposed that
he might, with much safety, charge the state
ments as being false, and thereby, to some
extent, p~aralyse the efforts of "~Cincinnatus"
to spread before the public 4 fair and true
exposition of facts. Unexpectedly, the tes-
timony was at hand. .Duane" finds himself
caught, his trickery exposed, and by way OF
a decent retreat, he gives ga table" purport.
ing to have been extracted from San Alma
nac!" yes, a table for which he cannot and
does not pretend to vouch as being authentic
and yet tits upon such testimony thathe would
convict "~Cincinnatus" of both ignorance and
falsehood. ] appeal to the 'tax-paying PEG
pie" to the honest of all parties, TO know i
they sustain such a course? if they do, | an
very far from having correctly estimated the
intelligence of the people.
will only remark upon this subject, that
the exposition of the purchasers OF public
lands, under the administrations Of Mr.. Ad
ans and Of Gen. jackson and Mr.. Van Blu
rem, as given in my former communication t.
the aJournal," is true; and that whilst Mr.
Adams purchases of lands amount to a sun
exceeding nine millions Of dollars, his actua
payments for lands are only S2,8O9,s75 80!
Ia beautiful illustration of "the glorious ere
dit SYSTEM"
The next item stated by .Cin%cinnatus," o
an unusual expenditure blythe administration
of Gen. Jackson and Mr.. Van Buren,, whicI