Democratic banner., 1849-12-24
"tNlrEp VS. Sr4ND-DrEIDED VS. FALLF'e

la AVSkCto " NLbO lhy ~
I~tention was called TO the performance Of duties
communicated to this office in previous letters, Of
various dates in 1918, which had not been at
tended to, or fully carried out. had examined
among all the letters and circulars that l could
find in the office, to Col. Davies, and on W oc-
l~casions enquired Of him for those letters, with
out receiving any information. / then wrote to
THE Department, whichwas the only thing ] could
ldo, hat the letters to which INV attention, had
lbeen called were not to be found in The Office
When. the Colonel came to the Office with his
witnesses, / suppose to prove the falsehood and
Islander spoken Of by teCitizer, - he then, for the
first tame, showed me where he, had filed the let
tiers in question with his applications III a differ
eri purtofth The office furniture from where The 9th
Ter letters and circulars were found" - as'i:n
Although Mr.. Mahan had treated me very un-
kindly and unjustly, by incorporating me in
Ibis official communications to the Department at
Washington City, and otherwise, / felt no dispo-
sition to pursue him, being entirely satisfied with
his humiliation and the apologies he offered at
THE time / called on him for explanation. But
las he has in a qualified form renewed his state
ments. made to the Department. and impesched
me as a disorderly officer before :he public, / am
compelled to say a few words on this point also.
Mr.. Mahan says he had Hexamined among all
The letters and circulars he could find in the Of
flee" (which had been addressed to mel and on
tro occasions. inquired Of (me) for those letters
without receiving any information"-after which
he ''wrole TO the Department that the letters to
which his attention had been called could not be
found" This language is not quite so emphatic
as that employed in his letters to the Department.
He there states three different times In one let
ter, that he has made careful and dligent search
lin all the probable sources Of information in the
office" for these letters, &c., and that "only tro
could be found" describing their date) Out of a
correspondence corering nearly the trhoLe four
years Of my official term. He also states in his
letters to the Department, that sfhe papers and
circulars Of the Office were in the greatest disor-
der and confusion" which had caused him great
embarrassment and delay in the performance Of
ibis official duties.
In reply to all this l have only to remark
that ! have no recollection OF: having ever
been called on by Nj. Mshan to inform him
respecting the locaiity Of papers Of any sort
more than Once, since / transferred the Of
flee to his care, and then his inquiry related
to certain circulars, which / pointed out to
him. am quite sure it would have given
me pleasure to furnish him any information
possessed in relation to any branch Of
the business ofthe Office. Besides there was
no necessity for making inquiries for letters
or other papers belonging to the Office, Of
me or any one else. All the different des.
criptions of papers with q fswexceptions, }
were kept in seperste. cases, md each bum
die properly labeled showing the date and
nature Of lis contents. The letters Of cor
respondence addressed 10 me by the De-
partnent, were put up in the same way and
KEEP. in the same case used for that purpose
Iby my predecessors, and when ! called at
the Office in compsny with MeSsrs. GKibby,
Taylor, Valiant and Blakey, TO investigate
the truth of the statements made in the let
ters of Mr.. Mahan TO the Department a.
lgainst me, | opened the case. in which the
correspondence Of the Office had always
been kept, and pointed out my whole cor
~respondence at a single glance. The left
hand pigeon holes in the large desk case of
the Registers office, always has been the
place Of deposit Of official letters. That is
where they have been kept for 90 years.
There is where I kept them, and persons
going into the Office will find them there
now, unless they have been removed since
| pointed them out in the p~resencsaof the
gentlemen above named a few days since.
For further confirmation Of the various
points embraced in this, to me, unpleasant
controversy, 1 present the following certi6-
Gates Of gentlemen to- whom / addressed
notes soliciting their statements: ade ga
PALMyRA,' Mo, Dec. Sd, ls49.
Col. DAiyIlEEsy.Sir:: In answers your note
of this date, I viii State I was duly sworn in
as a, clerk. in your employ as Register Of
public lands at this place, and that ] assist
ed in adjusting and arranging the files Of
applications, Letters from the General Land
Office, and other papers Of The Office, SO as
to leave every thing as you said in a neat
end uniform condition for the convenience
of those who might, succeed you-that you
had resigned, & expected togo out of Office
which you did, on the Both Of June last. =
The papers Of your office were neatly
tied up, labelled and arranged in their
proper places; and it was your custom to
Keep them III that way. Indeed !. have Of
ten Had occasion to remsfkl that,yop were
too scrnPulously particular about the order
lof vour H;csesin farfi Have frenuenflv