The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1853-07-13
From the Nashville Union and American, June .,
THE WING NATIONAL COMMlrTEr
OF 1859

The people IF Tennessee have h,t f.;..
Idea Of the sinister and corrupting practice. al
opted at the last election BY the wb;o m.n.
gers to effect the election Of Scott and Graham
We have received information of Some IF fha..
practices, the substance of which we now nre~
sent to the public, and Of which we CHALLENGE
an authoritative denial.
Last summer and autumn Truman Smith. the
notorious Scott wing senator from Connecticut.
and Fitz Henry Warren, ex.whir Ass.,an.
Postmaster General, were members Of the COR
mittee above mentioned, and stayed most Of the
time, until the election was held, at Washinoton
They occupied extensive rooms in Al street. and
were employed in corresponding and in distri-
butlng documents throughout the country
Some half dozen clerks, some of them attach.
ed to the departments, aided them in their
''dulies Smith did most Of the ranking of
the committee, except in those States where il
was supposed his frank would iniure the whir
cause.
The funds to defray the EXPENSES ar tb;s
committee We're raised by voluntary con,r;hn-
ions from VIII G members or Congress and
o'h IS ana means were resorted to BY the com
mttee 70 enforce The payment, by whio ineum
nts OF of1ce IN different portions of HE JIo;on
OF assessments upon their office and patronaoe1
to promote the triumph Of the whir cause
Aget Is and collectors were sent throuphout the
country TO collect tins tax. 1t has been esti-
mated that nearly tsc0 hundred houssnd doII.r.
We're raised by the com in different WAYS
We have been informed ofo case dese,v;nr
P rtlc liar notice. 1t is the attempt 10 lew
dick mail VI on the postmaster at Boston On
the 2lst Of August the firm Of uSmith and
Warren addressed letter to the postmaster
dated at the Wing Committee Rooms. Wash.
,ngton, advising him that the committee had
found 1t "lmperatively necessary 10 call upon
the wing Office holders throughout the Union TO
contribute money to 'promote the election Of
dence that the postmaster would respond to the
call and that on such confidence they have
procured the money from r Greedy, IT.. the
wing collector of the customs at Boston. and
they forward draft on the post Office throuub
Greeley for one thousand dollars from which
Greeley is to "reim6urse" himself They state
that the just assessment on the office and nat
ronage OF the postmaster would be elhree
thousand dollars" and claim credit for their
lberay in drawing for one thousand only =
The whole epistle, we are informed, is rich
exempliication of the politicel morality of it's
authors 1t is signed by "Smith" and by
warren Greeley in presenting the draft.
writes to the postmaster another letter, dated.
"Custom- house, Boston, September 18th, 1882
| soliciting the postmaster to comply with the
| Iequistion The postmaster, on the Goth Of
l oCPeSHDCI3 lCo<, WIIlc6 10 1reelV fetuSlnU In
pay the draft, and giving his reasons, and refi,..
ing to levy any contributions on his clerks or
letter carriers for any such object, and on terms
somewhat indignant. Greeley then writes to
the postmaster another letter, dated. "Custom.
house, Boston, September 81, 1885, inquirine
II the objection was TO the ssamount' specified.
and Wanting to know how much the postmaster
would contribute. The postmaster, who was a
Union Websterite, promptly replied on the
sane day. refusing to make any contributions as
| requested, and stating that his aid to promote
the success of those he agreed with would be
"beral," but he should choose his own time
and select his own recipients; and that he
should not yield single cent to Smith and
| Warren" and that the collector must therefore.
seek his reimbursement from some other
quarter. The collector Greeley, jr,) then
wrote to the postmast letter, dated, aCustom.
house, Boston, Sept %, 1859" stating that he
intended to tell the committee of the postmaster's
conduct. The postmaster replied on the same
day, stating that he hoped full copies of all the
correspondence would be forthwith sent to the
committee. The collector, Greeley, IT,, then
wrote somewhat spiteful letter to the post
master, dated, "Custom house, Boston, Sent.
% 1852, saying that the committee did not antic-
ipate, from what "they were told and knew of
| the postmaster's "antecedents (" &c, that he
would pay up; but that he (GreeIey, il. } had
told them different story, and besought them
''not to condemn him before trial, but athat the
trial had now been made" He scores the
postmaster severely, insinuating pretty plainly
that he is niggard, stingy locofoco in disguise,
and no better than he should be. The postmas.
ter did not answer this letter, nor did he paw
up, but, On the contrary, supported Pierce and
! King.
All the letters of the collector are written on
Uncle Sans finest official paper, and have
"Custom House, Boston engraved in copper.
plate at the head, and the word "sir" also, to
which last word in the first letters, while trying
TO wheedIe and coax the postmaster out of tho
dimes and dollars to ssresmburse" himself.
Greeley, jr., afectionately pre6xes the word
'sdear" in his own handwriting. The postmas-
ter at the time, in self defence against misrepre-
| sensations OF his enemies, was constrained tn
exhibit the correspondence to more than one of
his friends, who took careful note Of its purport,
and We are not merely enabled from information
thus derived, but from other authentic sources,
to give the dates, &c of several of the letters
as above. We repeat our challenge of an au-
thoritative denial OF the foregoing statement
AS this correspondence was clearly official
and between official personages upon office af.
fairs, it should be found on record in the post
office letter-book and on that Of the custom
| house. 1t may, however, have been suppressed
| from the record. We trust the Postmaster Gen.
eral will call on the postmaster, and the Secre-
tary Of the Treasury on the collector, for a full
copy Of it. 1t will then be ascertained if it has
| been suppressed.
| This correspondence and all like practices
corrupting the elective franchise should be ex-
posed and the guilty parties punished. If there
be no express municipal law for the correction
of such offences against public morality, public
| opinion will do much to punish the offenders
Congress should, however, enact law making
such practices in federal elections fetonies, and
the Senate of the United States should prompt
ly expel any senator WI would dishonor and
disgrace his position by such conduct.
we learn that Greeley, jr., who has been
cashered by President Pierce from the collec-
torship of Boston, advanced to the "Smi,h &
| Warren committee upwards Of se0entcen thou
sand dollars! An investigation should be had
to ascertain whether any of this sum was Unce
| Sam funds A senatorial committee shouldUe
raised at the next session Of Congress to probe
the whole matter, well to this end with a
| view to preventive and remedial legislation
against such courses, and also TO expose and
punish, by expulsion or censure, any and every
senator who has been Particeps in such disrepu.
table proceedings.
The public is deeply interested that answers
be made to the inquiries as TO what the firm of
"Smith & Warren did with all this money,
and the tens of thousands of dollars levied and
assessed in addition upon wing office-holders
throughout the country. Some dozen postmas-
tiers in New England were taxed large sums,
and most of them paid, and others paid 800
and $50, and on, upon the requsitIon of
"Smith q Warren" The postmasters of 1852,
at Charestown, Mass Springfield, Worcester,
and Lowell should be brought to the book by
| the Senate committee.
The full extent and amount of the taxation or
"forced loan" paid by the trembling Office hold
ers in fear of losing their Offices if they refused
is not, and probably never will be, fully known,
even after congressional investigator. 1t is
doubtless not less than the amount stated How
much of this common fund was honestly appro-
prated by the firm of sSmith q Warren for
printing, and how much "otherwise, it is prob
able also will not be known. Who was all this
money paid to Is any part of it yet on hand
| If in sSmith Il Warren's" pockets, what use
is it to be applied to- Was any part of it en-
ployed to buy votes-are all important inqui-
res.
lfthere is any balance unexpended it ought
to be dsgorged. 1t should be handed over to