The Empire County argus., 1854-11-11

taken to yourself all the credit of the transaction
may ask you if you did not,in the fall of so pro-
pose terms to Mr. Broderick to secure his success.
ion your seat in the Senate, in the event of your
going into the Cabinet Were uou not then na
Broderick man ?" Did you not last year. in San
Francisco and your tour through the State sound
various influential persons as to the policy of bring.
ing the election last winter, and only gave it m
when you found that you would have been defeat
ed Upon all these matters, at some future duy
in the event of your silence, | may endeavor to
throw some light. -lLfl
have charged you with the establishment of the
assay Office, by which the miner has been pfunder-
ed OF more than half million of dollars directly:
and has lost indirectly half as much more. Its
true. you introduced bill to repeal the law estab-
fishing that institution bm 1t did not pass You
had not your usual success-even yo,t failed Did
you try your very best And by the way-have
yu seen letter now in the possession of Purser
Wclch, of San Francisco, on this subject Read
it, and you will believe every word say You sue.
cecded in passing bill for the repeal of the assay
Office when the mint should 60 into operation;j'
and have proved in former letter, beyond all
controversy. that you introduced section to repeal
the mint BILL after it had passed--whlch would
have made the assay Office permanent. Your friends
denied that you introduced the section. and made
Mr. Hunter, of Va. responsible for it.. | have pro-
we'd that Mr.. Hunter could not be the author of it,
and that it must have been yourself. Your friends
then justify the repeal of the mint upon the ground
that the appropriation of $500 900 was insufficient
But this pretext is unfortunately met by your own
acts and declarations. You agreed at the time
with all your colleagues, to accept, and did public
y accept the sum, to carry out the object and bids
were put in by responsible contractors with good
security to complete according to plans and speci-
fcations and for the sum appropriated, a mint Of
double the capacity OF the present one. At this
hov hokh
up new one admitting that there was fraud
meditated. they charge it on Mr., Corwin, Secreta-
ry IF the Treasury They saw that he was in the
interest of the assay Office, (the letter to Welch
don't say SO y and reported that the of $780,
900 was insufficient to build mint, because he de-
sired the repeal of the mint bill and the continu-
ance of the assay office. Now sir he based his re-
port more upon information derived from YOU, than
any else, at any rate. he could not mslead
YOU hy his report, because you had examined the
subject. and had deliberately advised your col
leagues to accept the 100000, enough for the
purpose You may have deceived MIR. Corwin--
he could not have deceived you Or you may have
c0udcd with him to procure the report which was
ia justify you in repeating the mint bill and perpet-
ualing The assay office. If no bids had been put in
10 build the mint for the sum named you and MIR.
Corwin might have succeeded in doing what after
wards you partially effected, by the purchase of the
assay office But the contracts which were offered
to the Department. foiled and exposed the dishon
est Secretary, and the dishonest Senator.
In your multifarous and complex legislation on
the subject | would ask you if you did not pass
bill or resolution by which slugs suddenly ceased
to he received for government dues =! ask if com
did not rise some per cent. in consequence |
ask if the house of amer Cook & Co.. of which
you were reported to he secret though not Sleep
i,y partner did not realize many thousands by
the sale of coin the merchants of San Francisco!
charged you with having induced violation of
law for the advantage of the assay Office, in this:
/ he appropriation Of 100000 was for the erection
and putting in operation of "a branch mint in Cali
tornn, and not for the purchase fany building for
that purp Sc !" and yet the $500 600 was squander-
ed ON the purchase Of the old assay Office. have
heard but I scarcely credit it. that the owners
of that Office urging, through you, further ap
preparation of $4,000 for their rellef. Every one
acquainted at all with the subject. knows they
must have already cleared by the sale nearly one
third of the purchase money. Will they never have
done but in the case of this inquity, as in all in
detensble cases. your, friends seek to lay the blame
ON some one else. They said at first that Mr. Guth-
re the Secretary Of the Treasury, was the respon-
sible party; they now say it was Major Hammond
THAT the Secretary of the Treasury purchased the
buU.ug, which the law said should not be purchas-
ed. by Major Hammonds advice. Now don't be-
Heve il word OF this. doubt if the Secretary would
have advised with Major Hammond, who of
course very ignorant Of the Legislation and every
ting else relating to this subject---or would have
given any weight to his opinions if he was consul
ted. Major hammond had not read the law or
if he had. did not understand it. You, sir, must
have been consulted and for you there is no plea of
ignorance You went into the transaction with
your eyes open. and advised violation of law, with
your conscience fully informed. In taking leave
of you for time, permit me to correct erro-
ncous impression which seems to prevail among your
friends do not seek difficulty with you, and
would not sufe. myself to be drawn into one by
any of your subordinates. | am opposed to your re-
election. because think that from your place in
the Senate you cast fatal shadow over the for
tunes of our State. shall devote the time have
u. intervals. to candid but not licentious exami
nation of your merits public offcer--and |
tcW not --even though the Times = TtanscriW bid
me--'stop it, INTERIOR.