Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1852-09-30

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adde's ,pere upon the same bill Nth those belonging to
he State, or not" In August, 1921, he "dd not
recolect whe her they were in the bill or not
bnt now he recoecs that they were in 1t, what ne
said to Col Boyd about the bill, what Colonel BOYD
said to him, and that the bill was put on ME Oh
the 18th of February 1852, more than SIX months
after he had been notified he paid orty~hve dollars
into The treasury Of the State, Tor the two saddles
he had paid for of the public money, on the 18Th
of September, 1850 -
NV fourth charge is, that Gen. DevereuX sold
to Mr.. Alger two brass cannon, with inscriptions
commemorating Revolutionary events, upon lhehi,
The sale was made to MIR. Alser on the zOlh oil
February, 1850 AT the time oil the sale, he gave
as a reason for it that he wanted money At that
time he had on hand $706,l9 Mr.. Ager, finding
that these pieces of ordinance had patriotic M
scriplion uoon theG placed there by the Leslsa'
ture, had them FURNISHED and repaired at an ex-
pence Of nearly 500, and was about to present one
of them to the Commonwealth, to be preserved aS
6 relic (" of the Revolution. and the other TO the
Washington Monument, when Gen. Stone discover
ed that they had been sold to him by Cen DeVer-
eux Without authorty, phateu9, and the proceeds
pocketedby him.
NV ffh charge against Gen. Devereux is, g that
he sold these cannon without any authority, ana
made no record of the sale"
Gen Devereux had no authority, none wha'eVer'
for the sale of these guns. He says, that " while
in office two orders in council we're passed; the
one authorizing the sale Of unservceable muske's
and euuipuenls-the other OF unserVlceabe cannon
in the Arsenal" aud that the sale was made under
these orders This is simply untrue, ana 1enerai
Devereux ought to know 1t to De SO, Ne'lhei VI
these orders authorized him TO sell these cannon
The order of lS4S authorizes him to sell lltON
cannons and these Iron cannons were sold IN &C.
cordance with that order. No authority was asked
for or given to sell Brass cannon and these Brass
cannons were not disposed OF, Oh the olh OF
Ir,1 F,r sntthE " IN
June, 1919, Gen. Devereux asked Tor au.nolnS
sell certain property at the Arsenal, IN the follow
ing words: A--.-rrrusKrrr,
1.-The sas Of HI s carriages the cahnon belonging
to which have been melted up, and which are, in
themselves, wholly unserviceabe, together with
lot of condemned caJridge boxes, belts, and other
small equipments, is recommended"
mot one word of selling cannon-lea7t of all,
revolutionary relcs.)
On the same day the committee to whom his APP
plicaton was referred, report, that the Adjuant
General having asked for authority to sell " several
hundred damaged m1lskets and number of old gun
carriages and stores, &C., the proceeds of which
sale are TO be applied, &C., they recommend" that
authority be given to the Adjutant General forth.
with sell the aforesaid gun and gun carriages and
stores, Sc, and the proceeds thereof" &c
k3Authority was here asked and given to sell GER
tain property, aud in compliance with this author
itv, the Adutant General sold this property at auc
ton. No authority was asked for given TO sell
the two Concord cannon, and they were not sold
until the 10Th of February 1850, and no record
was made Of the sale, and no credit given for the
proceeds.
These sales were made, and the proceeds used by
Gen. Devereux, until by the vigilance of General
Stone, the transaction discovered. Is it not
little singular hat Gen. Devereux would use SS427,r
20 of the public money, without being conscious
of the fact? The public officer who would sell
property on three occasions, make record of the
SaieS hoo fha
use, without being aware Of all, ought TO be very
careful how he &c challenges any investigation into
his conduct Should the friends of the General
carry the State at the next election, would suggest
to him the proprety of getting up white-washng
committee, authorized to examine the records Of
the Council, and If need be, perhaps the expurgng
process may he resorted to, and black lines drawn
the records Of the Council, where may be found
the report of the Councils committees in regard to
the sale of these cannon.
Ny sath charge against Gen. DeVereux is, sc that
he took Mr.. Ayers note for these four
months, and had the note shaved in Stare street,
paying extra interest therefor, and pockeled The
money"
Gen. Devereux admits that he took MIR. Ayers
note for the guns, but he says "Ihs note tcas not
shaved IN State street, p but was paid to me by Mr.
Ager himself, as is.shown by copy OF his account
from his books which have now before me. The
exact amount received from Mr.. Alger was found
Generals office, noted in my own handwriting, aud
presume il is there still. These transactions
Fe, s " WHEN one thousand copies were printed
and distributed in all directions, both in and out Of
the State.''
/ am amazed at this statement, ssThis note was
not shaved in State street" he says, e but was paid
to me by Mr.. Ager himsef.' 1t is not surprising
that public officer could forget 10 put into the
Treasury the net proceeds Of four months note
for 1925 % should forgot how that money came
into his hands. II he is that the note swas
not shaved in State street," at this late day. it is
quite strange that he did not recollect that he had
not paid into the Treasury the money &c paid TO me
by Mr.. Alger himself He is sure that the note
twas paid to me by MIR. AIger himsef''-this he
remembers, but he could not remember from the
9th of March, 1850, TO the 9Th Of May, 1852 that
he had not paid over the money. and while appro-
priating it TO his own private use, he could not
think Of his duty 10 pay into the public Treasury
What an unfortunate memory! What an unparal-
leled loss the Commonwealth has sustained in losing
the services of an officer Of memory SO accurae!-
This note, however, assert in spite of the reten-
tive memory of the Aajuant General was carried
into State street. and Nlessrs Head & Perkins, brok-
ers in State street, obtained of Mr. Ager check for
il, dated March 9th, 1850, for S2l9.24. The note
had then three months and half to rum deducting
the interest at six per cent, the net proceeds would
he $225.25 less the interest of SS3.9 leaving 1921.
81, which proves that the note was shaved "a ri-
fle less than one per cent per month.
But Gen. Deyereux says that 'sihe exact amount
received from MIR Ager, was found, upon examma.
ton Of ny book, left in the Adutant Generals office,
wrote in my hand writing.' This is most
extraordinary statement. The guns were sold on
the 10Th Of February, 1850; record Of sale is in
the books. On the 9Th Of March, as Mr. Ayers
books show, the note was paid by check for $2l9.
"a. In the month Of January, more than one month
before the sale, and two months before the note was
paid, there is in vay fint pencil mark the following
words: "Net Of mote, Alger, $2lS.24." This cum
is not carried into The column, does not 60 into The ac
counts, and must haze been put there months after
The time. II is in faint pencil mark TO be read only
with dillicultydoes not go into the account, or az
feet il in any way. There is nothing in the book to
explain it. Il is private pencil mark, known only
% Gen. Deyereux, and see it without
feeling that it is most strange proceeding. hone
Wing editors will just visit the Adjulant Generals
Office, and hook at this private mark-this new mode
of keeping books.
'sThese Transactions says Gen Devereux, nthe
extract above quoted, ssarc also specified in my An
nua Report to the Legislature, Of which one thou
ca nj cnnias ,vatt, i,ri.,f<d T,;s =. fayaa