Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1847-02-17
BY REQUES |

BY REQUEST.
To the Editor Of tie Gresnoiltc tHountaincer::
Sir.-Seeing in your paper Of the 25th,
as well as in the Spartan of tie 23d ult.,
some comments on the accounts of the
Secretary of State aud Surveyor General,
| feel it duty | owe 10 myself, both as an
oiiicsr and citizen, to give a plain stale
ment of FACTS in referencet 10 the Sur
veyor Generals account.
Under a: resolution of the session Of
l845, the Governor appointed Commis
sioners 10 have the work executed, for
which my account was presented. :. and an
idea Of Its magnitude may be inferred,
when it is known that besides a volume
of Pla,s, and a volume Of memorials, :"
which have been copied, that Indexes in
lexicosraphical order have been. made 10
every document in The Office, from the first
settlement Of the country to the day | took
charge Of it that these Indexes present
at one glance The names Of the grantee,
the location of the land, lhe number Of
acres, volume and page Of record, as well
as the day and year Of survey and that
besides myself, thirteen oIher persons have.
ut difleren; times, and for different peri
DDS, been employed iu The prosecution ard
completion Of this arduous undertaking.
1t may not be amiss also to stale the mo.
dus operandi employed, which was as fol.
lows: lst. Transcrbe from The original
records The various particulars above men,
lioned, until the whole selt of books have
been gone through. 81. Cut into slips
the paper on which The above has been
written, and arrange these slips in alpha
bclical order. 3d. Arrange them in leXi-
Geographical or dictionary order. 4lh. Ar
range in chronological order, where there
are more Grants Than one to persons Of
the same name. Sta. Arrange the whole
on wires or strong thread, aud place them
on an extended frame for recording. 9th.
and lastly, From This frame, take down
the slips one by one, and transcribe them
into the new General Index" In this
way, II volumes of Memorials, containing
7.5al pages, 81 volumes of Plats contain
ing l0,445 pages, and 237 bundles con-
'taiue 46,352 Pla!s, have been indexed. So
much for The labor, aud now for The COM
peasalion.
Though no agreement was made as to
the amount tf compensation, yet prece.
deu., If not a rule, was established by The
amount heretofore paid for similar servi.
ces. Thus, it appears from document
in this office, that d. II. Tilliughast, a
former Surveyor General, got $500 for
single uolume Of lnder, which Index has
been lad aside for reasons do not like
publicly to state; that he received tue
further sum of Sl0,029 90 for copying
other papers in this oifice-thal Col. B. I.
Watts got, for preparing six volumes ol
Indexes and copying some Grants, The
sum Of Sl2,O96 Sc; and that Martin Slro-
Bile got, for making certain Indexes in
Charleston, at the rate Of s cents per
uame. See Statues at large, vol. 8,
pages l75, ,s03 land 1885,. After reading
the above, presume my bill OF SIG, las
81 (uot $4,000, as stated in The Noun
laineer1 will hardly be thought extrava
CANT for copying volume of Pats, vol
ume of Memorials. and preparing eight
large jolio voiumes Of Inderes. 1t was
not so regarded by one well qualified Ia
judge of such work, and whose certificate
accompanied my account. received
however, bu, $500 for the whole of my
seryices-that is TO say, about S3lS lol
each volume of the General Index, after
deeucling the amount Of the volumes cop
led, at only copy-sheet price about "a cts
a name, whereas MIR. Slroble got S; ant
about 5000 less than the work would come
to by the copy-sheet, to say nothing # IN
arranging, which is by. far the most ar
duous part Of Of The business.
The reader is doubtless asionished a
this statement, and desires to know tht
reason, especially as the work, by univer
sal consent, was acknowledged 10 be wei
executed. In answer to this very natura
inquiry | would calmly say, that howeve
harshly have been treated, l wish RIO
hastily 10 expose either The follies or til,
faults Of eyenny enemies. Some Of thsi
devices were not. known until after lb'
appropriation bill passed the Senate, wheI
it was of course too. late to meet the I
there. Mr.. Carew, of the House, ant
Chairman of.the Committee charged will
The subject, did me the justice 10 read al
affidavit made by one of the writer's in m,
Office, stating al the same time, that hat
Committee known the facts there sci forth
they would have. fixed a much highe
amount Of compensation. Mr.. DeSaus
sure. The Commissioner in the case, Col
Hunt and Gen. Wallace, men of practica
knowledge, also showed the House tint
entire inadequacy of,the appropriation 10
SO great an amount Of labor; but at surl
a time last night Of the session but one
members were not disposed to augmen
an appropriation made by the Senate.