New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1861-03-11
PLOYD,s SPECIAL PLEA.

undenable facts, and an atmosphere OF log
thrown around such facts as could not be dis.
torted or illogically cOlocated, he has so stated
his case as perhaps to impose on some weak
minds, whose Incidence allows them to retain the
impression made by the last communication reach
ing them. But, in trutt, this plea is one of the
most brazen attempts at selfjustidcatiou ever put
before the public, and, Of itself, furnishes the
strongest proof that the ex-Secretary wrthfs
under the consciousness Of well-earned con-
tempt.
Mr.. Floyd commences by the automatic but
whnlly irrelevant remark that " the best men
"who have ever held Office in the Government
" have, been traduced by the foulest calumnes.'
He goes on to say, " the most commendahle acts
" of my public life have been those for which l
have been most slaudcrOusly assalled;" the
modesty which causes him to set hmself up as
the proper Judge Of the character of bis own acts
against the animadyersons Of those who observe
them from distance and whose interests are
affected by them is worthy OF Floyd, which is
the most that can be- said Of IT. He then
proceeds to remark that, were he assailed only
by the newspapers, he should not mind It, for he
SAYS that nothing published iu them can be true;
and he does his best to make good this word by
procuring the insertion Of bis long delruse in the
columns Of this very public press be so bitterly
rcyles. Its untruth(ul character is however,
shown in other ways than By its appearance in a
newspaper.
The course Of the late Sccretary's argument
may be thus stated: The ncceptances were legal,
and the act Of granting them was meritorIous
acts the amount Of the acceptances was less than
the amount Of the earnings OF Russell, Majors,
and Waddell for the time the acccptances COW
cred; the acceptsnces outstanding amount TO less
than 5000, 000 aud this IA secured by an hssign-
NEXT Of property from The contractors. These
are absolutely all the important points OF the
case, and what Mr.. Floyd says about them might
be contained in two-thirds Of column. The re-
naming three columns are made up of self lnuda-
ton, abuse Of the Committee of Investigation. and
cloud of words which purposely darken the air.
He says the acceptances were legal and quotes
from the acts Of other Administrations to show
that precedents were not wanting. There is this
fatal difference between the act he defends and
those he brings up in justification: the accept
ances he cites precedeu,s were made in favor
of parties ,ohO had absolutely earned the money
they thus procured. The acceptanccs now lurk-
ing in the country, to the everlasting iDfamy of
Floyd, were given to run against aHcarnod
money.
His second point is, that the amount Of the ac-
ccptances MAS less than the amount % the earn
iDgs Of Russell, Majors and Wnddell for the time
the acce,tances covered. Here the inevitable du-
plicity of Floyd shows itself ngoin; for although
the fact thus stated may well enough be true,
yet another very important fact is omitted from
the history. IL is this: while Russell, Majors,
and Waddell were paid in advance by these ac-
ceptances, hfy rere paid thar eHrrom earnings all
he time IN MONEY so that when The acceptances
matured, the Government was not indebted in
any amount TO the contractors. The effect OF
this wise method Of doing business was shown
by the act Of the Secretary when the contractors
saw that they must fail Of taking up the
original acceptances; he made Dew acceptances,
conditional on future earnings, and Issued them
TO take up the maturing paper which would else
come back in q disgraceiul cloud upon Floyd and
his department. These conditional GoeeptdHces, it
may be remarked iu passing, amounted TO
s2l3, 900 more than the very highest estimate Of
the amount Of the contractors earnings for 1861.
The next point made by this special pleader
is, that the acceptanceS outstanding amount to
less than 5000, 900, and that this is secured by
sufficient assignment Of property. To this it may
be replied that the first statement is absolutely
untrue, according to the figures both of Floyd
and the Committee Of Investigation, and that the
second statement is entirely irrelevant, for if
such security were given, it was only when
the Joint arrangements of the Secretary aud the
contractors collapsed, aud not when the liability
was formed, TO secure which such assignment
was made, If made at all. As TO the first state
ment under this head, that the outstanding &C
ceptances wcre less than 100000, Mr. Floyd,
with his chror:c disability TO speak the truth,
says of the Committees They confess in
another part of their report that
- there were but S575, 900 Of them outstanding
#" known to the Department, which would Of
course, receive notice of them ALL" Now,
what the Committee really did say was this:
The Evidence that the acceptance. have been sold In
va ions phs Of the United States wherever bank private
d Of those Ssi have been traced Directly Ito he
LANDS psent hoders constitute. but small fraction Of the
sum sin nnaccouued for and daily hig addi
tions claims the War Department IL doctned unnect to
give detailed statement Of the di'covefed sccepanc or TO
other mention Of them than 70 refer to the Pzpes rsps
thereto presented by the War Department. aud the general
II however to remark In this connection
tnat while your Committee do not deem necessary give
them In s,si tho data 10 tho WsI Department hr the mint
mum amount known 10 that bepTt
ueI as 0CO Mr. Richard H. irwin the faithful md In
10 whom reference has been made elsewhere In
ibis report HE evidence; There Of ~, DO
other Of the whereabouts OF with the
Department has no lnowledge'" I'D.
- a., xo,t,or aIso tba faati,opv