The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1840-08-18
ds0v. H.FNc0Hns~--EAT OSac"~-isaa'
tbc Presidents House.

ders the foIlowing'GueT rem MT I1'uc"''' ~ VIC
National lntoliigoncer, ms necessary ~ Pc'l''.
understanding OF his 'posilIon,' Wh"h III our
i,,,,,,Ile iudrIncnt, has been wIlfuly misrepre-
,ontnd The reader will sec Ivy the following
,h,t the speech attributed TO Gov Lincoln Nv
the G lobe, is wilful pcrversion OF what he ana
sny ii is II settler to the larications in The tory
| papers attributed to Gov. L..
| WORCESTER, MASS July 20, lS4o.
Mcssrs. Gales 81 Seaton
| | nave seen with the utmost surprise, IN the
| lnteiligencer of the ODD instant, which rcnched
me this morning several cerli hcateS from w h'g
members of Congress- OH the subject oil "a pune
LEGATION in the Globe of the 10Th OF July Io4o,
! ,nder the canton of Messrs Lincoln and Ogle,
and il has now become proper tor me, personal"
" to notice both the certificates and the matters
10 which they refer. | shall certainly have no
controversy with either of the gentlemen who
have seen it TO give these certificate. fo those
of Messrs S,nnly, Allen, and Naylor, l nave
nothing to object. Iudeced to that of tho latter,
in HON mn happy to recognize personal MS
well as political friend, ! would myself most
willingly have subscribed; and the substantive
tnets stated Ivy all! so far as respects The pro-
curenent QCHe furniture 'n the Presidents House,
4 no more question than themselves. nave
never snd, or authorized to be snil or Reported,
single word which those certificates gnlnsay,
aud feel entirely con scious of having afforded
no cause, on my part, for any inIerposItion he.
tween Mr. O4le and myself.
| In the one certificate, however, of Mr. Johh-
| G. Clark and others, there arc expressions 10
| which feel bound TO olfer word OF reply. !
find in it. the following paragraph: The under
signed do not undertake to say whether Mr. Lin
! coin used the language imputed TO him by the
Globe or not hut ms he has permitted lis publ
cation to remain ten days without public con
tradic,ion, VIC presume he now adopts me IAN
guage ascribcd to him, if he did not Originally
utter it, If these gentlemen heard the remarks
which did, in fact, make on the Occasion
referred to in the Globe, they must have
known that l did not " originally utter
tho languagG' nsrribod 10 me by that pa.
per, in the extract they have taken, nor any
! lhing else like it. Or, if they heard my reply
to MIR OaIe II fortnight afterwards, when upon
my return to my seat from; temporary absence
| he alluded to the same misrepresentation of my
remarks they must have heard my unequivo.
cal denial Of the fidelity Of the Globes report, &
! Ii full and frank expression OF what It'll say on
! that occasion.
From another part of the same certificate, in
iconnexion with thc extract from the Globe, i!
might he inferred al had spoken of the pur.
chase of furniture ~ being under the direction
OF the Committee OH pnblic buildings, OF which
was chairman. Nothing could be further
from my meaning, or the statement made by
me. Even the remark, us given in the extract
troNl the Olobe,greatly erroneous rs it most sure
| ly is would hardly warrant the inference drawn
from it by the signers OF the certificate. What
! did say Wus in substance, that since l had
| bcen nj the head of the committee, for peri
| oil of nearly three years. 10 APPROPRIATION, 10
| my Knowledge, had been at the request OF the
| President, that the committee had always acted
on The acquisitions and estimates Of the Com
missioncrs Of Public Buildings, and that on one
occasion when thcprcsidcnt had been relGrrcdto
ms to the need of Il proposed appropriation, le had
declined expressing any opinion Cor wish upon
| the suhie o. the purchases which had been
nude, explicitly dscnimed all knowledge.
Ind neillcr seen the bills, at that time, nor did
| speak of. or in any manner refer to them. M y
Remarks were exclusively applied 10 Gppro
prtGiionS and To the appropriations only. 1T is
well known that there is Il ittec on CXpCn
oturcs, distinct and iudependcnt Of the Com.
mttcc on the Public Buildings and by tho for
mer, and not the hitter, all such disbursements
as are now spoken Of arc properly subjects off
inquiry and uniniadvnrson. Aud here distinct
iy and explicitly declare lhnt, to the character of
the purchases of furniture by Mr. Van Buren,
| between the Ath OF March and the 9th of Deccm
her, 1887, to which the certificate refers, utter
ed not word Of remark for knew nothing,
! s., before the delivery of MIR Ogles speech, lad
heard nothing OF tho articles of the bill, which
are Tho sub ects of his comments. When the
appropriation was granted under Which these
purchases were made, was not chairman of
the committee, This in the second session
OF tho 24th Congress, and my appointment was
in the Congress after. | repeat that, since that
period, whatever has been asked for either for
the public grounds or the public buildings, in
Improvements, repairs, or furniture, has come
through the usual and formal estimates furnish
Ell by the Commissioners, with no request
made to the committee, directly or indirectly
to my knowledge, from the President, This
observation is. Mt least, due TO the Independent
action of NV associates.
The appropriation under which Sit appears
from the said vouchers, that more than eighteen
thousand dollars We're expended in furniture for
the Presidents house, between the All, day of
March, 1887, and the 9th of December,
1897, was doubtless made IN genernliern,s,
with no direction to the specific articles
orhe cost atwhch theywere procured; &besides
having no agency myself in directing tie ex.
pcndIturcs, was, in fact, during The whole in.
,ervoning period between those dates at my
residence in Massachusetts. 1t was for appro.
priations made since that time, and not for the
manner Of their application that said the com
niucc were responsible. Whatever there has
been OF prodigali,y or extravaganza in the er.
pendiiUes, has never been, and will not he is.
lifted by me. The item in the bin which gave
rise TO the discussion, embraced only the daily
ray of the laborers, some ordinary supplies for