Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1864-02-13
SATURDAY MORNING, FEB. ID, 1864.
A Card.

A Card.
EDITOR STANDARD Sir There APP
,,..red in the last number of your journal
copy Of the charges preferred against Victor
Smith, ESQ.,, late Collector Of Customs, by
DR.. A. G. Henry, Surveyor General, which l
should not notice did not a considerable por-
ton of the people Of this Territory know
that must he more or less acquainted with
the facts touching these charges, and silence
on my part might be construed into an adj
mission of their truth. do not propose to
notice them further than to deny the truth of
each and all of them, as the public will hear
from Mr.. Smith in due time. and l regard
him as fully competent to defend himself.
In this denial of the truth of DIR. Hcnrys
charges, l do not mean to say that DIR. IL.
intended to SANDER and misrepresent MIR.
Smith, for he may have been misled by
partial knowledge of the facts. 1t is note
worthy fact, however, that. these charges
have all been answered and explained to the
entire satisfaction of the Government, and
that Mr.. Smith ras not remored from office
because of any or all Of them, but because
he was represented as unpopular in the Ter
ritory, and therefore an obstacle to the sue
cess of the Union cause. leave it with the
public to Judge how well DR.. Henry supports
the Government, (among other things, in as
sailing the Treasury Department. which fur
nishes the sinews OF wary and promotes the
success of the Union cause in our midst.
am, Sir, Very Respectfully,
PHILIP D. MOORE.
We cheerfully publish the above, if for no
other reason than to sift this matter to the
bottom. There is not shadow Of doubt in
our mind as to the truth of the charges made
against Mr.. Smith, while acting in his capac-
ity Of Collector at Port Angeles, but there
may be some of our readers who have not
had the opportunities for forming as just an
opinion as ourself. While we had hoped
that this controversy was finally settled, and
that we would not be called upon to burthen
our paper with matter of such secondary
importance, we now tender to DR.. Henry the
$50 of our columns to publish such authenti-
cate evidence as will, We hope, convince even
Mr. Moore that he is mistaken in the man he
seeks to defend. And whilst we have not
Tie slightest idea but that Mr.. Moore is sin
cere in all that he says, and really has an
abiding faith in the ability Of Mr.. Smith to
establish his own innocence, we cannot re-
gard his testimony in any other light than
that of mere general endorsement by an in
terested witness. II the public assumes such
an intimate knowledge of the facts upon Mr..
MORRIS part that he must either speak or by
his silence acquicsce in the charges published
last week, long after they had been heard
and sustained at Washington, it must be
upon the ground that lie, having been the
deputy as we'll as the intimate friend Of Mr..
Smith, the latter must necessarly hare posted
Lin IN regard to the matter.
The denial of the specifications, followed
by full admission Of the conclusions and
consequences naturally resulting from them,
i piece Of special pleading and avoidance
that could only be made, and certainly only
believed by Mr.. Smiths very true and faith
full friends. If it is true that he YVES removed
"bseauss he was represented as unpopular in
the Territory, and therefore an obstacle to the
success Of the Union cause" can any one
having confidence in the fairness and just
ness Of the Administration at Washington
insert that Mr.. Smith would have been re-
moved from Office but upon the establishment
Of . state Of facts from Which such result
would necessarily flow! In what way could
INV man be convicted before fair and Just
tsibunaIof being unpopular in country two
thousand mikes away, without showing the
reasons that mads>him sol The cause Of
his removal. assigned by Mr.. Moore. was a
concession made not too Mr.. Smith, but to
those mistaken and powerful friends who had
sustained him too long and we'll, and who only
gave up the battle after the most overwhelm.
iag proofs had been produced. This idea
that Mr.. Smith was really removed upon mere
general grounds of unpopularity, based upon
nothing. is too ridiculous to be seriously en-
tertained.
In answer to the insinuation that the Gov
eminent 10 not supported by "assailiug the
Treasury Department, which furnish the sim
ems Of VA" we have to say that we not only
dlesidsr It our right, but our duty as an Ad-
ninistration journalist. to criticise and point
out whatsvsr may be calculated to bring the
Administration into,bad reputs with the peo-
re. To say that any Department Of the
Government IL above criticism would be to