The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-06-17
Presidents Before Him Charged
 With Bad Faith
JEFFERSON WAS THE FIRST
Issue of Veracity Between Jefferson and James A. Bayard Re-appeared Many Times-Monroe's Trlbula-
 tions Haunted Him Till Death.
From the New York Sun.


 tory the issue of veracity or of bad faith
 his been squarely made between the Pres
 ident of the United States and some other responsible public men. In every case the question has greatly interested and moved
 the country, and in some instances the echoes of the controversy have been
 heard for the better part of a genera
 ton.
 The charge that Jefferson obtained the
 presidency in 1901 by definite bargain 1 with a few leading federaists brought
 about an Issue of veracity between Jef- ferson and James A. Bayard the elder that appeared and reappeared long after
 the end of Jeffersons life.
 Bayard declared that Senator Smith, l publican, acted as q go-between, and ar- ranged the bargain in the minutest details.
 Jefferson at the time and always after i ward denied having authorized Smith to
 make any such bargain, though he ad-
 mitted that from several quarters came
 intimations that few promises on his
 part would end the effective opposition | of the federalists to his election. Bayard put the accusation In the form
 of an affidavit, and Jefferson, in his | 'AnaS, puDnSneu long allerWdru, dBdlh
 made denial In 1880 the thing fared up
 again. and Smith from his place In the
 Senate denied having been party to any
 bargain.
 i Then the sons of Bayard published l pamphlet renewing the charge and bring | ing forward a remarkable array of con l temporary evidence upon their fathers | side In extreme old age Albert Gallatin
 declared that Smith In his dealings with 1 Bayard confused his own ideas with those 1 of Jefferson. Most historians agree that
 there were negotiations looking to a bar | gain, but some acquit Jefferson of any ! direct part in the bargaining.
 Charge Against Monroe.
 When Jackson offered in setting out up- | on this Seminole campaign in 1918 to make
 Florida United States territory In 60 days
 if only President Monroe would signify his assent to the proposal he laid the ] basis for a charge of bad faith and un- | truth that haunted Monroe to. his dying 1 day.
 Jackson bade Monroe signify his assent
 to the proposal through some such safe 1 channel as Representative John Rhea, of i Tennessee. Long after. when the eXgen-
 cies of Jacksons quarrel with Calhoun l over the question of notification made 1t apparently good politics to revive this l old scandal, Jackson induced Rhea to Il declare in a savage letter to Monroe, then I | New York city, that Monroe had author 1 ized him to assent In the Presidents | name to Jacksons proposal to seize Flor I ida.
 II Monroe. what proved his deathbed, II made affidavit denying Rhea's accusa- ! tions. but the whole matter even yet re- | mains in cloud of doubt, though Schoul- | CT. the historian, finds In the Jackson pa l pers recently given to the library of Con l gress evidence to satisfy him that Rhea's 1 charge was the result of something like l a conspiracy between Rhea and Jack | son.
 Five Were Involved. | Jackson, Buchanan, John Quincy Adams | and Clay were all involved in the famous 1 bargain sale" story of 1S24-25 when | Adams was accused of having promised l to make Clay secretary of state and heir | apparent so to speak, in return for Clay's | aid in the contested election, which re-
 suited fin the choice of Adams as Presi l dent. Washington bristed with rumors of | corrupt bargains at the time, and in- | trigue was rife.
 | The story was. indeed, an article of l faith with sound democrats for twenty l years, and Adams and Clay kept on deny l ing 1t to the end of their lives. As to | Buchanan he denied Jackson's version of part of the story. but in his denial con
 victed himself of having been pretty deep | in the ugliest of the intrigues. | Jackson never wavered in his belief in | the story. and never forgave either Adams
 or Clay. It required the affdavits of near l ly every representative who voted for | Adams to satisfy some of the doubters l that no bargain was made. | Many volumes were written upon the | charge of bad faith brought against Tyler l when he vetoed the whig national bank | bill after apparently assenting to all the | essentials of the measure There were l solemn declarations on the subject by the | members of his angry retiring cabinet and 1 Tyler's son wrote an elaborate defense of | his fathers conduct; but the result of all | this discussion is to leave impartial his l torans somewhat in doubt whether Ty- | ler's conduct was case of deliberate l treacnery or of a political conscience fam | tastically delicate.
 Attack on Buchanan. | Buchanan was crcumstantially charged ] with bad faith by certain public men Of 1 the south when he sanctioned the With l drawal of the United States garrison from | Ft Moultrie to Ft. Sumter a few weeks ! before the outbreak of the civil war. The | group of southern leaders who had been l negotiating with Buchanan declared that he had given definite assurance that no such move would be made without notice i to them Buchanan acknowledged the ne- gotiations, but denied that he had given any pledge, and one side and the other | held by its own view of the matter. The attack on Sumter gave rise to charge of bad faith against the admins