The miners' express. (Dubuque, Iowa) 1849-1854, 1853-02-09

years IS47 and lS45, and in The spring Of lS49,
was elected City Marshall and by the Counc
appointed tax collector for that year. Soon al
ter entering upon the duties of my office, | wa
directed by the council 10 ascertain the amour
of city scrip then in circulation, as the books O
the recorder were in such a condition to rem
| der it impossible to come at the information b,
any other means than an actual inquiry anon!
the scrip holders of the city. In the perform
ance OF this duty l soon learned that Mr.. Alex
ander d. Anderson, was selling scrip to con
siderable amount, and went to him, and askes
him how much he had. He informed me tina
he had none. Still in the process Of my inquiry
and collection of taxes, could hear of sales o
scrip by the same MIR. Anderson.
| In submitting my report to the council as te
| the amount of scrip in circulation, ! inforrheC
that body of the impossibility Of knowing the
exact amount, and related to them what had
transpired in relation to Anderson, telling them
that it "seemed impossible to know the bottom
of Andersons pile" had then ascertained
the amount of his sales ofscrip to be something
like $4,000, and in my collection Of taxes, all Of
which was paid in scrip, found little or none
of that identical scrip which had been purchased
| of Anderson to have been issued in his name,
but much of It the issues of years previous to
his being elected City Recorder. The mem
bers of the Council, then consisting of Warner
Lewis, Mayor; John G. Shields,sF. V. Good
rich, John Gum, J. J. E. Norman, Thomas
Hardie and Powers Aldermen, will doubtless
recollect the conversations had upon the sub.
ject at the time, as vii also the City Attorney
BENZ. NJ. Samuels, Esq.
The question naturally suggested itself TO my
mind at the time, as it did also to the minds of
the council as to where and by what means Mr..
Anderson came by so much scrip His salary
L,.a
in the one year of l349, the first succeeding his
official term, he had disposed of between two
and three thousand dollars If he purchased
scrip for purposes Of speculation, he can doubt.
less show where he made his purchases. If it
was Reissue of scrip, which came INTO his
hands through the hands Of the Treasurer, as
the proper officer 10 destroy it as fast as it
cancelled, then the public have a right to know
il, and it is my province tax payer, and
more particularly as the person designated by
the city council 10 examine into this matter. to
provoke the enquiry, and no denunciations, or
'sunmitgated contempt on the part of Mr. An
derson, shall deter me from the performance OF
this duty.
strange, unaccountabie arrangement of the
financial affairs Of this city began to exhibit it.
self about the time TO which have alluded, and
this same arrangement has been an acknowl.
council from that time to this, and even the un,
paralelled exertions of the present council, aided
by the well known clerical abilities of the pres
ent Recorder, have not been able 10 reconcile
the condition Of the books with the amount Of
scrip actually found to be in circulation. Can.
not Mr.. Anderson come 10 their assistance, by
showing where he obtained the $1,000, which he
sold in l349, and the additional amount which
he sold in 1850. That he sold it, have the
word Of individual tax payers, who if called up
on, will doubtless testify to their purchases, moi
will Mr.. Anderson, | presume, deny having
made these sales. Will he deny having paid
Mr. Robbins several hundred dollars in scrip,
for the purchase of jewelry? will he deny hav.
ing passed to F. e. & E. II. Smith, some hun
dreds for purchase of goods a, their store? A
large amount to DR.. T. Mason for the purchase
of Drugs Will he deny having paid two OF
three years meat bill at Geo. Strauser's, in city
scrip? Will he deny having furnished Schaf;
ner, Kenne, Reinfred, Zugenbuller. Luck, Du
fit, Mangold, Yeager and others with the am,
ofscrip necessary to pay their grocery licenses
and taxes for two years?
presume he will not nor is there any cal
for this denial, that he fails not to US, ,ehert
he got the scrip. Mr.. Anderson has as good a
right to trade in city scrip as any other man,
and dollar made in this way,is as legi'ima,ely
made as in any other calling. l myself made
some little addition to my income in 1S49, by
this kind Of traffic, and this was an additional
motive for me to look sharp, in order to find ou
who had the scrip, and at what price it was he
bought and sold.
Apropos of the price of scrip. was paying
during the spring and summer Of lS49, from 6,
to So cents on the dollar, for scrip and kept i
on hand for sale to any one who might wish t.
buy for the payment of taxes On asking the
grocery keepers and others, if they were in wan
of scrip, they, many of them informed me, thai
they either had or expected to purchase scrip
Of Mr.. Anderson, end what astonshed me more
han all, was the information that he was selling
o! As cents on the dollar! figure somwha
lower than have ever known it to be Sold
When called on Mr.. Anderson, for the purpose
of ascertaining the amount of his scrip, had
the double purpose of purchasing all he had, as
/ could get it of no other man for less than sc
and Is cents. If Mr.. Anderson purchased tins
scrip on speculation, he certainly exhibited o
lack of financial tact. No man could make
money at that time, by selling scrip at 45 cents
on the dollar, unless he had some means of &C.
curing possession oft quite peculiar to him
SELF
But perhaps I have SAID enough upon this
subject, especially as Mr.. Anderson asks to be
"excused from hereafter noticing any insinua
ton coming from c. G. H." / should proba
bly, not have disturbed the quiet obscurity into
which MIR. Anderson is sinking, but for the fec
ofa petition being circulated in this community
asking the President elect, to appoint him to the
responsible office Of Receiver Of the public mon
les at the Dubuque Land Office. When such
offices are to be filled it is the duty ofevery ap.
plicant to first clear his skirts of all suspicion
abuses of anv trusts which have been commit
ted 10 him, and the duty of every good either
to use his influence in behalf of him who i:
above suspicion
] close this communication by dropping the
sc. G. H." and signing myself what am,
Your humble servant,
CHAS. G. HEWITT.
The E xpress will copy and send the bill tt
G. e.. Hewitt.
MEssRs. EDlroRs:-My attention has beer
called TO an insidious article in the "Herald,
over the signature of Chas c. Hewitt, but writ
ten nv an abler man vhosa fool he il 10 wh,ch