Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1858-03-16
The PRINTING AND BINDING OF con.
GRESS.
senator johnson not Connected with these
Conracts-His Statement and Evidence
Who Is p. G. smith!

" no H L. U. Smtth.
To the Editor of the Nep York Herald:
WAsHINGTcN, Feb 26, 1883
L request that this note, with the accompany
ing extracts and correspondence, may be pub
iished in your paper
L have sought In vain to ascertain the au-
thor, and / regret that you should have deemed
il proper to publish at once my letter to you of
Feb. 10, 1858, demanding the authors name,
and that you should have failed to make me
any reply.
The extract which SANDERS me was taken
from your paper Of Jan. 2l.
1t Is very gross SANDER, and cites no other
name or authority in its support than that of
Maj. Jno p Heiss
My letter to you of the 18th Feb, 1853, I
request, shall be again published in its proper
order, and that the enclosed copies Of CORES
Pondence with Maj Heiss may then follow
Having failed, as yet, to uncover the au thor,
VIII trespass upon you no further than to de-
clare the charges to be false and sanderous
and to ask the justice of publication of the sc
papers in your columns, where this SANDER first
appeared.
In my power to do in the premises. Your obe-
dent servant, r. W. JOHNSON.
z. 5. Unless you conclude to publish this en-
tire, you will please return the same to me with
out publishing any part oft. K. WI
From the Herald of Jan. 81, ls5sl
The printing of the House and of the Senate
arc not the only fat jobs about the Capitol.
The binding is another, the profits of which are
also considerable; and il was at one time the
thought Of the Ohio and Virgins combination
to go in for that also The lucky recipient of
the Senate binding however, as have already
said, Is Mr.. BOteler of this CITY, who is un-
derstOOd to have also a sort of connection wi h
Wendell, though Of what sort am unable to
say. BOteler Is neither an Administration man
n DpmOPrat hut fha
organization of the Know Nothing order. has
been a violent red-mouthed leading mem Der of
that party In Washington; and the circum-
stance that such a man has obtained from a
Democratic Senate so large slice of the pat
ronsge which is suppOs d to be the peculiar
reward Of the faithful, is in itself sufficient to
excite series OF curious inquiries. Happily
Il am able to explain a circumstance which, to
the unlnitiated, mustinevitably seem abstruse
but the explanation, as L have previously re-
marked, involves another exciting e5p0se Of
Congressional and lobby intrigue
Ii appears that some time since, Mr. Boteler
and the Hon. X from the state of
4 were mixed up together in certain
mysterious, but no doubt perfectly honest bust
ness transactions, the result of which was as il
is said, to leave considerably in
Boteler's debt. Mr.. however. be-
came member of n r
whlle Mr. Boteler became, through what Mr..
II o.
incidence" a candidate for Senate binder. To
overbalance the fact that he was a violent mem,
Der OF the opposition. he had that little biil-
against = y n and neyoti,
tions are understood to have been commenced
on that basis. Boteler offered to cancel his
little bill, or the largest part of it, in consider.
alton OF receiving the very comfortable lob he
asked for, and matters were thus partially ar
ranged, when Mr.. . conceived hirber
notions Of the profits he ought to derive from
the job In question, and advanced his estimates.
Major Heiss. of the States, was then called in,
and told eonfdentially, without Mr. Botelers
knowledge that he might have it if he would
consent To divide the. profits. 1t is said that
went himself to Major Heiss and
made the offer, and the only bright spot about
the whole transaction appears to be that the
latter Indignantly declined entering into u bar
gain, and threatened to expose the attempt to
tamper with his integrity. 1t seems almost
impossible to conceive that virtue of such re-
freshing greenness should exist in this hotbed
of corruption; but the old stagers here will
certainly say that Major Heiss must have had
more cogent reason than sheer honesty for
reJecung such tempting offer However re-
Ject 1t he did, and Bcteler came in and took the
prize. lie will, probably, first learn from this
letter bow near he was to losing it entirely,
through the greediness of an honorable and
chIvalric Southern Senator. "To encourage
all yalorous (hOnesD hearts, and show them
honorable examples as old Froissart would
say, feel bound to add, on authority derived
from a source very near the White House. that
MAJOR Heiss did inform the President of the
proposition which had been made to him. and
that the conduct Of the chvalric Senator re-
ceived a severe rebuke from the incorruptible
and impartial chief magistrate of the nation.
WAsHISGTON, Feb IS, 1853.
James Gordon Bennett,
E1itOr Of The New York Herald.
Sir: On ny return, yesterday, from New Or
leans, after an absence of several weeks your
paper of the 2lst Of January last was banded 70
me, and in IL L find an article upon public
printing, over the signature Of Peter j. Smith
which charges corruption upon a Southern SEN
ator in the appointment Of Mr.. BOteler az pub
lie binder Of the Senate, but gives no name of
any Senator.
This appointment or election is made by the
Senate Commit tee on Public Printing, and the
committee is composed of but three members
one from the North and two from the South Of
the two from the South l was the only one who
supported the firm of PettibOne Boteler. who
were duly elected and appointed public bind
ers; and, of consequence, I am the Sou thern
Senator against whom these charges are leveled
1he charges are detamatOry to the last degree.
request you TO read them in your paper Of the
2lst alt
The charges are without foundation, and are
utterly untrue / never had business trans
action with Mr.. Boteler, and certainly never
was his debtor for fifty dollars in my life. 1
have known him for some years rs a merchant
OF this city, and always an honorable man
and gentleman. In supporting him for this
appointment was governed by no interest,
direct, contingent or remote, and had no motive
other than that Of befriending him in a manner
entirely legitimate, and not inconsistent with
the public sarvice.
So much for that charge.
The charge that sought to confer upon Mai
HeIss the appointment Of Public Binder. upon
condition that he would share the profits with
me, IS equally wholly untrue. The truth is
that neither sought nor ever had conyersa-
ton with MAJOR HeiSs upon the subject of the
nublic binding, or any other subject: from the
hour of my arrival in this city up to the instant
of the appointment of Pettibone Il Boteler, nor
did the name Of Major IIeiss ever cross my lips
but once, when, being asked if would have
any objection to voting for Major Heiss. as he,
Mr.. BJteler desired TO form n copartr ersbip |