The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1850-05-29
DUBUQUE.
.i1 Report on the ealphin !" Claim.


be found in our columns to-day. The report of
Mr.. sClayiis on the all engrossing subject of
slavery and the territories, and possesses an in
trinsic interest in itself, apart from the manner
in which it is treated by the distinguished gen
tlcman at the head of the committee of thirteen.
We hope that this report will be read and stud
led. .,, ..- ,aol},. .,,r ,-r. I /.
The next subject to which we would call the
especial attention of our readers is synopsis OF
the report made by committee Of the House of
Representatives on the famous GALPHlN
CLAIM. .,4s .',a s-.t If. .'as." 1"-' +. ~
Our readers have heard, and read that this
ssmodcl government presided over BY Zachary
Taylor, has been paying off old claims of doubt
full validity amounting in the gross to nearly ST.
100000 in defiance of law, equity and precedent.
This has been denied by the Wing press and
Wing party; and now comes the report of a
Congressional committee, confirming all that has
been asserted afirmatively on the subject of the
Galphin claim, and proving beyond question or
cavil that VIM. Crawford, the present Secretary
of War, is the agent of the claimants, and that
he is interested in the amount of 1894 JIG, "a ! :!
This is the action of the ..model government
when the people of the United States were pro-
missed by the Wing party and the friends of "a
chary Taylor. ,,... -.. - d.. 49,. i
When the Democratic party was in power, cv-
cry act by which money was taken from the
Treasury whether by law or precedent was de-
nounced by every opprobrious cpithet in the vo7
cabulary of abuse, and from the supposed or
sumcd extravaganza of the administration, the
Wing party founded an argument in favor of a
change of government. The change came, but
with what RESULT Let the report of the Con
gressional committee answer Let the hundreds
of thousands of dollars paid out of the treasury
in violation of law and without precedent, an
swer. nrr .., .~
And does the Wing party sincerely believe
that the people will sanction these proceedings
that they will confirm this payment of money
by saying it was we'll done?-that they will con-
tinue to elect men to Office who advocate the
course and conduct of these public peculators?
Can they suppose these things seriously and give
the people any credit for virtue and intelligence
or have virtue and intelligence ceased to be re-
ly virtue worth man s while to learn, respect
and practice? Alas! such seems to be the
state Of public opinion if we may Judge from pub
lie action. We sincerely trust that the report
of the Congressional committee on the Galphin
claim, will make healthier state of feeling in
public sentiment, and tend to unscreen the un-
lawful ,peculations of public Offices, be they
H. 10,
sympathy for either. We shall neither WELD
onr pen or raise our voice in defense of any pub
lie officer, who taking advantage of official posi-
tons, defrauds either the public or individuals,
but we shall on the contrary hold them up to the
gaze and scorn, the contempt and condemnation
Of their fellow citizens. And now we COM
mence with Zachary Taylor and his Cabinet
We charge them with plundering the public
treasury by paying from it a vast amount of mo-
ney unlawfully and without precedent, and to
sustain our assertion give the following synop-
sis of Mr.. Burts report. go
..,,.. Galphin Case.
Mr. Burt, from the majority of the select COM
mittce, made report. lie said that upon some
of the questions involved under the resolution
of the House, the committee were unable to
agree; particularly in regard to the payment of
the interest On the part of the committee he
submitted resolution that the report, and the
two several reports or arguments of other mem
bers of the committee be printed.
MIR. B. said it was the wish of the committee
that the report should lie on the Speakers table,
until it and the document accompanying be
printed, when they would ask that it be taken
up for the purpose of being disposed of or refer
red.
Mr.. Brooks, on the question of printing, went
fully into the history of the claim, which he
said arose in 1878, under the British Govern
ment. He said the original claim was $43,5lS
81. The interest which commenced May I'd,
1875, amounted, when paid, to $191,352 49,.
The ball which then commenced rolling in South
Carolina, under the British eGoyernment, has
accumulated to the enormous sum above. The
claim originally belonged to one Galphin, an
Indian trader, to!whom the British Government
issued acertifcate of debt for 50 ,7lO, whether
Georgia currency or British currency he did not
know The claim was not recognized by fGeor-
gia in any shape or form until 1880, and then
under the .22d section Of the act appended to q
sale of town lots at Augusta, Georgia. He
traced the history of the matter to its payment.
Galphin, he said, died in 1850 n The first appli-
cation was made on the part of the heirs of Gal
phin by an eminent lawyer Of South Carolina,
in 1871, to the, State Of Georgia for the payment
of his alleged claim n,,E ,ban, lss3g 40 AVID Or
He1referred to the report of Henry A. Wise,
in which he attempted to fix upon Mr.. Forsyth
an interest in tlie claim Of Galphin which was
being prosecuted Mr.. B. showed that an effort
was made to have the claim recognized by the
Indians under the treaty of New Echota, That
John Ross spnrncd the proposition. Il It was put
in, however, as section 20, but was scrutinlzed
and rejected from the treaty by the Senate 'o1
the United States by vote of26 to 12,siiIt was
in fact reprobated BY England; by the Indiansi
and by Georgia ,aH He showed that an attempt
was subsequently made in the Georgia Legisla.
ture to instruct yet. the members Of Cen gress from
that State to vote for it. =, He showed that the
bill was finally passed BY Congress without at
tracing particular attention for the payment Of
the claiiiliwithout Interest. Z HEIOt
He quoted the opinions ofal1 former Attorney
Generals against the payment of interest upor
such claims The policy Of the Government
he said, had always refused interest in suct
cases. He contrasted the conduct Of Mr.. Mon
roe in refusing to let the administration, Of which
he was part, Investigate the claims which he
had against the government So delicatc was he
4 .<,r,>