The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1852-09-29

Commodore CHARLES w. SKINNER, we un-
derstand, has been appointed by the PRESIDENT
Acting Secretary Of the Navy in the absence OF
MIR. KENNEDY.
Senator Meriwethcr's "Pay and Allow
ances''-A Contrast
Mr.. MERIwETHER, the short term Senator
from Kentucky. has labored TO win Immortality
as an economist He felt the force of the honor
which a melancholy accident conferred upon
him, and appears to have resolved 10 snow
himself worthy of it by diving deep into the
financial mysteries of the Government lie
came to Washington with patriotic notions OF
Senatorial purity; and took his seat IN the oen
at, with a determination to be at once bright
example in his own person, and terror to evil
doors throughout the Union. The public purse
had been plundered, Mr.. MERIwETHER fancled;
and what mission could he have more worthy
of his fleeing distinction than to bring to light
the culprits, and to fix upon their heads the In
dignation Of outraged peoplol
But Mr.. MERIwETHER is mortal, and,
worse still, Democrat. He had aims lofty
and pure, but the fraity of manhood and the
o'ooo
self and their accomplishment. His inquiry,
lofty and pure in its inception, was uncon
sciously turned into narrow channel, and In
stead of embracing the wide range Of abuses
which originally presented themselves to his
mind, it was limited to the imagined dellnquen
ces ola single officer. BY strange coincidence,
WINFIELD SCorT was nominated for the Pres
idency shortly after the period at which MIR.
MERIwErHER assumed Senatorial honors; and
the occurrence seems to have suggested to the
Senator the manifold advantages which would
accrue TO him if he, member of the Demo-
cratic party, could kill politically the nominee
of his opponents.
service of his country, and for that service had
received the pay and allowances to which his
position in his profession entitled him. Mr..
MERIwErHER looked into the public ledger
and found that in this way the General had
received an amount which struck his-the Sen
ator's-modest mind as monstrous. MIR. MER-
IwErHER rose before his colleagues TO demand
assistance, that the Generals misdeeds might
be ascertained and proclaimed. A committee
was granted, and in due season MIR. MERl-
wErHER's report was presented to the Senate.
This document revealed the fact that General
ScorT, during forty four years Of active public
service, has received 1921 ,2S67Oas the amount
of his regular pay and allowances, and &39,-
300 AZ as extra allowances TO meet extra ser
vices and extra expenses occurring In the same
period. The whole account stood thus:
General Scott, for forty four ears military and
civil service, including all extras. S29O,57 Is
Mr.. MERIwErHER stood aghast at the result
Of his own labors. He had never dreamed Of
such extravaganza in republic. The receipt
of it. he declared, was grand larceny" and
General Scorr must be the most extravagant,
extortionate, and corrupt public man living
The vocabulary of Kentucky contained no Ian
guage too strong to be employed in reProbatlon
of such conduct and after recovering from his
establishment, Mr.. MERIwETHER concluded not
only that he had blasted the reputation of the
Whip nominee, but that he had secured for
himself a large corner in the heart of Mr..
PIERCE. That the report of Mr.. MERIwErH
rR was not fair towards the subject of 1t mat
tered little; that it omitted some material points
and directly falsfied others weighed not upon his
soul. for he is a Democrat; that it did scanda-
lous injustice to one who has contributed more
to the glory of his country than any other living
man, was small defect, for the hero whom 1t
wronged is Wing; that the report was alto
gether partisan document, and as mean, un-
true, and ungenerous as the rankest partisan
ship could make it, was, in short, merit, not
a fault, and one on which Mr.. MERIwETHER
was prepared to stake his Senatorial reputation
The country thought that the threatened
revelation ended in smoke, and that instead OF
damaging General SeorT it only damaged Its
authors Mr.. MERIwErHER, of course, thought
otherwise; and having contributed his quota to
the canvass, he balanced his accounts, packed
his trunk, and returned to his constituents
with full measure of Democratic glory upon
his head.
Mr.. MERIwErHER though absent in body
vet fingers in spirit in the public ledger lie
has left his mark there as a public man, and
must consent to be Judged by 1t now and here
after. He figures there as recipient of pub
lie money. and we have taken trouble to looI
there, that we may make better estimate o
the man. Ii cannot he d""eied that the ex-
animation will rebound to his honor 1t cannon
be imagined that he. perfect purist in finance
has left fraction which future MERIwErHER
may not scrutinize. Let us see.
Mr.. MERIwErHER, before he left, did no
forget to charge the usual per diem for his ser
vices, and the mileage to which his conscience
,,,rbt him he WAS entitled The record shows
that he labored in the Senate forty eight days
and the world knows that he came from Louis
vile His Senatorial receipts, under the two
heads, were these:
Forty eight days. service 1884 W
MILEAGE S52 GO
Total ,236 OO