The State guard., 1848-09-05

| SoiOh sfAh rOOhhhnA aoSOttiVhs Aa tht. man was stockholder, and paid his mo- ney to the treasurer, he could not pay it to any one else; he had either sold out pre- vious to the division, or he received his share at the time the division was made.
 renew my challenge to him. Let him show ever received dollar of his mo- ney, and did not account for it, and he shall be repaid with interest, as soon as the amount can be counted down. It will be difficult to make any man who knows General Cass believe that your informant has had a just demand against him for ten or twelve years for the sum of $l0.- 900, without even asking him to pay it He has not, indeed, evinced much shrewd- ness in his story but he is certainly shrewd enough to know that such debt is worth asking for, and, almost anybody else would say, worth prosecution 1; such forbearance is, of itself, rare merit.
 What Gen. Cass's position as Secreta- ry of War had to do with his interest in such a company, am certainly at d loss to conjecture. Certainly the honor. able men with whom he was associated have spurned the idea of joining with him in company, in order to take advantage of his official influence and position; and your informant but reveals trait of char acter the more, in confessing, in fact, his participation in such motives.
 But he need not fear any remorse of conscicnce: General Cass, Secretary of War, had no more to do with the sale of the public lands than with the sale of land in the moon; nor did his official situation give him the least control over the sub ject. There is no law, no usage, no pro- priety, which prohibits any member of Congress or officer of the government from purchasing public lands, excepting those directly controlling the sale; and from the foundation of the system, there has never been any hesitation upon the subject.
 The pubic land is sold in the respec- tive districts wsere it is situated, and he who pays his money there has the right to any unsold tract. The cnly prohibition as to purchases is in respect to the regis ter, who keeps the books, and receives the entries, and he can only make them "by application in writing 10 the surveyor gen. eral,' and in that manner he even can buy all the, land in his districts. o ft
 As to tbe receiver, the other officer charged with the sales, he is under no pro- hibtion, aud these officers have always purchased as much as they please. 9
 l know nothing of any such letter as you state Governor Hubbard wrote, nor do believe he did write such a one. He can speak for himself All know is, tha; a letter in those terms could not be truly written by any one. Ea.a4Cr Y g..
 Very respectfully, your obcdient ser want. B. B. KERCHEVAL.
 The Advertiser in publishing this says |:
 GEN. CAss's LAND sPECULATIoNr.-- We most cheerfully make room for the following statement by Mir. B. B. Ker- cheval, of this city, who, il appears, was the agent of the ''Westcrn Land Associa- tion''' referred to by the Louisville Journal. Mir. K. is one of our oldest and most re- spectable inhabitants, and we do not ima- zine that he, in the legimate business of the agency of said company, had any hand in any fraud that might have been practised. If there is fraud, it doubtless lies somewhere else. t4{ r-is
 We cannot either readily believe that General Cass would be guilty of acting unfairly or dishonesty towards his asso- citations but, as the statements were authorized by memher of the company, who, the Journal says, is of high stand ing, we think the public have a right to demand satisfactory explanation of the whole affair. As to the private transac- tions of the company, wo care but little about them. The propriety, however, of General Cass's entering into an extensive land monopoly while occupying the impor. tant and influential post of member of General Jackson's Cabinet. may well be questioned. In the language of the Jour. nal, ''To use the advantages of his high office--one of the highest in the govern ment-for monopolizing lands, through the SC of an immense capital, to the great disadvantage and deteriment of the poor emigrant," is quite another question from the private dealings of the association, and one, in our judgment, that member of the cabinet should not be engaged in. We anxiously wait a satisfactory expla- nation. -e 31-
 
 To further push this lie down the mouth of the author, we give the following: MT. Francis Markoe, who was a party to the Great Western Land Speculator:"
 Extract of letter from Francis Markoe,
 esq.,, of Washington, to K. McClet-
 land, August 4. l74S, relatice to the
 charges n the Louispille Jonrnal.
 q can only say that l never heard, till read your note, that any charge had ev- CT been made against Gen. Cass in con nexicn with the Land Association, to which you refer. I have known Gen. Cass and all his family well, for many years, and I believe him to be, in all his dealings, as pure and upright a man as liyes." gan fs
 Listen honest men, to what the Nashua (N. H.) Gazette says, which is published