Southern sentinel. [volume] (Plaquemine, Parish of Iberville [La.]) 1848-1858, 1848-08-24
The land Speculations Once Mere.

The land Speculati0ns Once More.
In the columns of the Louisville Jour-
nal of the 9Th, says the Bee, a letter ap-
pears signed with the name of B. B. Kerr
cheval, Secretary ofthe Washington City
Western Land Association of 1886. The
letter is said by the Journal to be written
by Gen. Cass himself, because a compa-
,rison ofthe manuscript with a fac simile
ofhis handwriting in the possession ofthe
Editors leaves no doubt of the fact. The
gist of this letter is hat Gen. Cass is lnno-
cent of the charge of %defrauding his asso-
ciates. The writer says, the Company
was formed and the money paid as charg-
ed-that public lands were bought with it,
as intended-but that, owing to the great
revulsion which took place in 1887, the
speculation turned out badly, and the
parties of course lost a good share of their
money-Gen. Cass along with the rest.
Mr.. Kercheval, it seems, or rather Gen.
Cass himself, confines himself to the at
tempt to prove that the ex-Secretary Of
War did not embezzle the money confd-
ed to him. and swindle his associates
This may be So. We have never heard
asserted that he did. We only stated on
the authority of the louisville Journal
which in its turn was authorized by one
ofthe parties to the contract, that such a
charge had been made against Cass. This
has been %republished in the
place of Mr.. Hubbard's residence, and
he has been repeatedly called upon to
verify or refute it; but as yet, he pre-
serves a profound and, under the circum-
St ances, a suspicious silence. 1t may be-,
however, that Hubbard did write the let.
ter in question to Gen. Cass, and yet that
the latter was innocent. At least, under
the signature of Mr.. Kercheval, the tx
Secretary asserts his innocence, and we
are bound 70 believe him.
Mr.. Kercheval does not scruple to de-
fend Gen. Cass for engaging in these
speculations, He sees no improperly
whatever in the Secretary of War availing
himself of the advantages of his official
station to become the head and front of a
scheme ofmonopolys for the ex-
press purpose Of making money out of
the poor settler and squatter. A wide
Of opinion must exist between
this writer and all honest unbiased men.
It is very certain that the Democracy
once thought the simple charge
Of speculuting in the public lands sufi-
important for them to get up a
white-washing Committee in the House of
Representatives, and to proclaim the ac-
cusation an atrocious calumny. None Of
the party in those comparatively hale
and undegenerate days" ever dreamed Of
admitting tie charge and then defending
Cass on the ground that he was doing
but what he had a right to do
They knew better. The following re-
aarks ofthe Louisville Journal are SO ap-
oropriate that we transcribe them:
Cen. Case tries tn give us tn understand
n his Kercheval letter, that there was
at all extraordinary in a Secre-
AIRY of Wars engaging in land specula-
ions. We do not pretend to say or know
What may possibly have been done by
,ther cabinet officers under Jackson and
Van Buren, and Polk, but if Gen. Cass
AN show that any other cabinet officer,
,rior to the inauguration o. Jackson, ever
ook part in land speculations and land
nonopolies, We will admit that his own