The southern press. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1850-1852, 1851-03-22

party, and l dare to believe interesting "a NV
country; but, fortunately for me, have bssn able
70 obtain successor who il worthy Of the conf
dence Of our party and of his country"
The thrice-repeated sneer, that am san able
bodied man, fit to dig potatoes and gather caba-
ges," Is somewhat neautralized by the assertion
that appropriations for my Congressional work
are made "aoithoM sitting my claims--,0iihout
sending me 10 The ordeal Of three committees,
which IL ,oas his fortune TO encounter" And,
then, does not Mr.. Richie mar one or the other
OF his aims when he gives the public to under
stand that the man who is fit to dig potato~band
gather cabbages had sufficient power to mislead
Congress, and defeat his well-founded applica-
ton for relief?
Mr. Richie follows up the subject of relief
in another article, thus ave have every conf
dence that, as both Houses would have relieved
us but for the parliamentary tactics TO which the
opposition resorted, we shall obtain it at
longer session. Upon this rock we repose with
perfect confidence" And he concludes the APP
peal by saying ave have lived an honest man,
and we trust we have never sunk the gentleman
or the editor And now we shall see whether
there are decency or dignity enough in the Amer
can press to protect the retiring editor from the
assaults of fanatics and blackguards"
The whole scope of Mr.. Ritchie's last appeal
is to leave the impression that have been his
persecutor-that through the favoritism of Con-
gress, by means of unsifted misunderstanding
the ordeal committees, and fashioning my course
on the advice of lagO, have "put money in nv
purse" while have contributed to defeat the
just demands of an honest man and a gentleman.
He has often said that Congress granted relief to
me on the Congressional Globe and Appendix.
Congress never voted relief to me on my con-
tract Inever asked it. The House of Repre-
sentatives paid me 81 30 a column for report
ing and publishing its proceedings in the Daily
Globe. This is what he andes to. The SEN
ate paid him the same column for publishing
its proceedings in the Union. Congress pays
me no more than the contract price for the Con-
gressonal Globe and Appendix $50 for a
Short and sc for a long session--although it
costs me about fifty per cent more to print them
now than it did when l made the contract
owing to the increased quantity of matter, and
the increase expensed of setting up most of the
type at night. He carries his appeal to the next
Congress to do him justice against what he
brands as the tricks Of the last aud the false ru
mors, ascribed to me- that resulted in his defeat
AS Mr. Richie has thus staked up my charac-
, ter with his own in thispubIic demand for new
trial assumes to himself the part of the perse-
cnted, injured, honest man, who has stood the
ordeal OF committees while he gives me that of
the prosecuting, favored, dishonest man, flushed
} with gains acquired by means of unsifted claims
| will join him in this appeal to the next Con-
gress, and will ask it to investigate the whole
tissue of false allegations which embrace nv
dealings with Congress during nineteen wears
connection with it. | will pledge everything
have on earth to make good my delinquency
which may appear on reauditng my accounts by
a committee or commission appointed by Con-
gress-throwing all my books and paprrs open
to it, submitting myself to be questioned under
oath touching everything connected with nv
business, and Mr. Richie may act as prosecutor,
as he makes himself the accuser If Mr.. Richie
will submit himself to similar ordeal, and shall
obtain the verdict of Congress in his favor, he
will be restored in reputation and deserve the
sympathy he invokes.
But the reasons which he assigns for discontin-
uing his newspaper show that the justice which
he asks is the last thing he will allow to those
cludes his career by doing the grossest Injustice
to the friends who have gone furthest to serve
him; and makes most disingenuous appeal to
the public sympathy at their expense, and in
violation of truth. He says: al repeat was
willing to remain at my post, though l was
more willing to retire. But in fact, the last
has become the only alternative which was left
to me- Congress have thrown an immense
oantty of e-ark on my hands, even in the
expiring days of its last session, although at
tempted to persuade them to assign the printing
on hand to another Office" In a subsequent
paragraph he specifies portion of the in
creased burden which his cruel friends put
upon him, and which he pretends had broken
him down like the last feather on the camels
back. Here it is:
"THE RESOLUTION THE EXTRA SENATE
We pass over the circumstances connected with
the resolution passed by the Senate for obtaining
forty-hve thousand copies of the last report of the
Patent Office. 1t has been said that it was profit
able job to us, and even friends have congral-
. uated us upon our success in obtaining it. When
we tell them that they are laboring under gross
= mstake-that We cannot, without making addi-
tionai sacrifice, print the copies on the stipulated
terms in which we were obliged to print the copies
Of the House of Representatives, which were
ordered under our contract, and by which we are
bound-when we remind them that these facts
were made known to several Senators before the
resolution was passed, particularly to Mr.. Bor-
land bmself-the public will see at once that the
copies cannot be printed for the Senate without
serious loss to our Office. Even our friends NAV
be as much surprised as our opponents may be de-
lighted by this communication
Let me tell the public the truth about this
matter. The friends who had supported Mr.
hltchle wanted 10 get nd OF him, and the wish
to pay him to go--not compel him. The first
plan to accomplish this was resolution TO give
| him the prices of 1919, less fifty per cent, for
the work done by him under his contract This
| can say, certainly, would have yielded him
more than 100000 clear profit; and think
considerably beyond it, in consequence of the
large number of extras voted. After Congress
adjourned, the attempt was renewed in the Sen.
ate; but it was thought too dangerous pre-
cedent for one branch of Congress to change the
price Of work fixed by the legislative act, and
the contract under it, His supporters, there
fore, sought to reach their object by increasing
the most profitable portion Of the work under
his existing contract, so as to give him consd-
cradle bonus on quitting. They therefore gave
him in the called session forty five thousand
copies of the last report Of the Patent Office,
which with the House copies, according to his
own showing, will yield for the last session