University of South Carolina Libraries
V? ; . . - . . " . ' - " j" jv ?wtmbbttuf11 J.'.?y " ,''.'rfgfg3bm|p=s33s REPORT OF MR. POIN^TT On tendering his Resignation. War Department, March 2,1841. Sir?In tenderingio yon my resignation of the office.of Secretary of War, I think it my duty to set forth briefly the condi * . 1 - .1. t i tion ot the department wnii-u i wave u?'ndueted for the last four years. More than forty thousand Indians have been removed peacefully,and arc happily settled beyond the frontiers of the Western States. Tranquility has been preserved and reigns throughout the whole of that border, and there exist no causes which are likely to lead to its disturbance. The Indians are generally contented, and are gradually advancing in the peaceful arts of life. The only exception to universal peace ? the condition of the Indians in Florida. There, too, I am happy to have it in my power to say that hostilities are being rapidly brought to a close, by the successful interference of the Seminole chiefs who: have been brought there from the West.! Contented with their lot in their new residence beyond the Mississippi, they are anxious to persuade their brethren to abandon a hopeless contest, and join their) kinsmen in the West. My last advices ' seem to regard these peaceful efforts as likely to prove altogether successful, and the war may be considered virtually at | an end. The necessary employment of the mi-' litia of Florida during the late recess of Congress, will give rise to arrearages amounting to about 866,118 66, but according to the exDeriencc_of the Depart mcnt in settling claims of jina character,1 not more than one half or^hissurh will! probably be found valid, which will have : to be discliarged from the appropriations that have been asked for the purpose.?; Besides this amount, there is due the Che-; rokees about a million and a half, and the J balances of former appropriations for In- j dian Affairs, which still remain in the Treasury, about to a million more. IIow ! much of this may be required to discharge j arrearages is not known; though it is not j supposed that the whole will be necessary for tliat purpose. It was never contem-j plattiili by tlie Department to invest the amouflts for the interest of which the faith of the United Stales is pledged by treaty. It is deemed safer to keep these sumsifi the Treasury forever, and appropriate annually the amount of interest due ' thereon, to the several tribes. They are not, therefore, considered as a part of the arrearages. The amount due for pensions in the Dresent month and until September next. Kave ail been sent to the several pension agents, so that nothing is due on that ac1 - count. | Immediately on the passage of the act authorizing the issue of Treasury notes, I y directed that all the outstanding claims against the Department which were ready '* for settlement, and for which appropriations had been made, should be immediately liquidated. All those arrearages for work done on the fortifications and at the arsenals and armories, have accordingly been provided for, except only about sixty thousand dollars, the payment of . which has been delayed only because the accounts have not been presented. For the other various objects entrusted to the Department, the unpaid claims are estimated to amount to not more than $200,000 which have not been paid for a similar niason. Arcardinor to the renorts of the differ ent disbursing bureaus of the Department, j the unliquidated in their respective branch-! es of the service, as claims this time, are probably not so great, and ccrlajnly not ; greater than they were four yeXrs ago; so that the amount of payments*made j' since I took charge of the Department,: fully equals all its liabilities created within that period. The army is in a high state of discipline! and is composed of 10,009 men. part in Florida, and the residue stationed along our extensive frontiers. Notwithstanding the many causes which have existed during the last four years, tending to increase the expenditures of the army, growing out of its operations in Florida, and its employment in the removal of Indians, ar?d along our Northern frontiers, by the enforcement of a system of rigid economy and accountability, the relative expenditures have been considerably diminished. In a report recently made by this Department to the House of lleprescutatives, it is shown by an average made of the whole expenses of the army during each of the four years, that the expense ** 1 ?1 ftnoh VAUr lor eucn maiviuuai uas j ~? gradually reduced, with the exception of the year 1838, when an increase took place that was necessarily incident to the raising, organizing, and equipping the additional force. The expense for each person in the army in 1837, was $400 15, and in 1840, $275 96; showing a reduction of $24 10, or more tlian six per cent. The Ordinance Department has been rendered very efficient, and regulations adopted for its government, and for the better ordering of all matters connected with the foundries engaged in manufacturing cannon for 0bfreramcnt. Since the return from Europe of the board of Ordnance officers, models for guns of se*y v v ^ 1,. \ Y' ^ y r ' " ' / ' ... '' ?. :,; frS .' " ' * ' " :' . '< :* >/< -;v-. vcral calibres, authorized to be used in otar service, have been submitted to the Department' of War, and have received my approval, and orders have been given to furnish the artillery regiments with their proper arms. The Engineer office lias been conducted in a manner to command my entire satisfaction. The forts have been and continue to be as rapidly completed and repaired as the amounts appropriated for that purpose will permit. The institution of a corps of sappers and miners will tend to keep them in good condition hereafter. The Corps of Topagraphical Engineers is organized and employed so as to pro| duce the most useful and beneficial results j to the country. The manner in which its I duties have been, and continue to be per! formed, has been highly satisfactory to | the Department. I The improvements introduced into the Medical Staff, render it equal to that of any service in the world. The Quartermaster General's Department has discharged its duties in a manner to secure the most economical disbursements of the public funds committed to its charge. Through the agents of the Commissary | General of Subsistence, the army is abun-1 dantly supplied, at diminished cost, with rations of the best description. The duties of the Commissary General of Purchases are likewise performed in a satisfactory manner, and the army is regularly furnished with substantial clothirg of our domestic manufacture. The army is regularly paid at stated intervals, in legal currency, and the extensive duties of this branch of the service ltn?.o Knftn norfnrmpft dnrinir the last four i years without any loss to Government. The long contested claims arising out of Indian reservations under the Creek treaty, are very nearly brought to a close. More than three thousand have been decided by this Department since 1838, and those arising under the contract made by Government with Watsonobo have been decided by the special commissioner appointed for that purpose, and await only the final action of the Department Having in many cases found that cither the titles to the lands on which forts and fortifications are situated were incomplete, or the proper evidences of them did not1 exist in the Department, measures were promptly taken to remedy this deficiency. This desirable and important object has been accomplished, and the titles are all now believed to be perfect, except that of the Pea Patch Island in the liver Delaware, the right to which the Department i has not yet succeeded in settling, not with-! standing every effort has been made for that purpose. The expenses of the Department have been gradually reduced, notwithstanding the cost of conducting hostilities in Flori- i da. In 1837 and 1838 the gross amount j of expenditures was between eighteen i "" * " - _ I and twenty millions, owing cmeny 10 me profuse appropriations of those and the preceding years; in 1839 they were reduced to less than fifteen millions, and in 1840 to less than ten millions; being a reduction of more than eight millions in the annual expenditure, without injury to the service. Very respectfully, Your most obedient servant, J. R. POINSETT. To the President of the U. States. From the South Carolinian. PUBLIC MEETING IN ABBEVILLE. At a meeting of the citizens of Abbpville District, b'*ld in the Court House,on Monday, the 3d of May, Benjamin Y. Martin, Esq. was called to the Chair, and J. F. Marshall, appointed Secretary. Dr. H. II. Totrnea having siated the object of the meeting', submitted the following Resolutions, which after a short discussion, were adopted, with but a few dissenting voice*: Resolved, That we deprecate the ap prnnching Extra Session of Congress ns the source of a series of measures peculiar, i'v pernicious to the Southern St?:es and subversive of the great conservative principles of our federative system. Resolved, That we consider the extraordinary convocation of Congress a great public e xpense, and at a period when the necessary expenditures of the Government are rapidly decreasing, ns a barefaced abandonment of the principles of economy and reform on which the present administration came into power. Rcsolvd, That we should regard the establishment of a National Bank in the face of the frightful exhibition recently made of the arrangement of the Bank of the United States as indicating a reckless disregard of the admonitions of experience, and as creating an engine of political power and corruption calculated to destroy the purity of the government and finally the liberties of the country. Resolved, That we look upon the projected measure of distributing the proceeds of the public lands among the States, as one of the most comprehensive schemes of bribery and corruption ever devised, and as tending at the same time to produce the two fold calamity of degrading the sovereign Stales of the Union into servile pensioners dependent nn the bounty of the Federal Government, and of creating the necessity for a permanent increase of the duties on imports, thus laying the foundation of a new tariff*, burdenj" * *'r, ' r ' 0*;' : ** $ r -< - - ^ ,? ^rV-^ rfff ' : * # "i' ' * ... # some to the whole Union and unjast and oppressive to the planting and exporting States. . ' Resolved* That Wm. C. Preston was elected to represent this Stale in the Congress of the Uuited States, as an opponent upon constitutional grounds of a National Bank, a protective Tariff, and the scheme of distributing the proceeds of the Public Lands among the States, and thai in becoming an electioneering advocate of a political parly whose principal objpet known to him (though not openly avowed) was and is the adoption of all these measures, he compromitted the dignity of his office, disregarded and contemned the known oppinionsand wishesalmostunanimously entertained by the people he professed to represent, and has totally forfeited their confidence. Resolved, That if under these circumstances he should vote for a Biink of the United States, he would sacrifice the principles, upon the faith of which he was elected, and betray the high trust committed to his hands by the State of South Carolina. Resolved, That after having rendered I this degrading service to the AdminislraI lion, :f he should accept . office under 'them, it could,be considered in no other light by an impartial world, than as thel tendering on their part and as the accepf^-j mice on his of a reward /t?r his.abnsiacy | and treachery. Resolved, That these Resolutions*Mie published, to the en/1 that should he rise in the Senate lo'suppdii a Bank of the U. States, he may do it with a sligna on his i front placed there by the people whom in assuming to represent he would in fact betray. On motion it was further Resolved, that " -r ka ruth. tMfi proceedings ni wiis.ti lished in the Charleston Mercury and South Carolinian, and that the Chairman of this meeting forward a cffyy of these reaolulions to Col. Pre*ton. The meeting then adjourned. BENJ. Y. MARTIN, Chairman. J. F. Marshall, Secretary. MR. PRESTON'S REPLY. Colombia, May II, 1841. To Bcnj. Y. Martin, Esq. Sir,?I have had the honor to receive your note enclosing to me certain resolutions passed in a meeting of a portion of the citizens of Abbeville. The temper and language of those con- j cerniug myself, savour so much more of | personal bitterness, than of poliiiral dis- | cussion that 1 should hold myself dis- , charged from any obligation to notice ' them, but that I feel it due to the public | not to permit some assertions contained in ( them to pass without contradiction. I In the fifth resolution being the first in | which my name is mentioned, I am de- | nounred for acting with a party whose | !. principal objects Known w mc, ..... ....... publicly avowed, were a National Bank, ft|( Protective Tariff, and the distribution of|| the proceeds of the public lands. I It is not the fact that the Whig parly ( hud any object known to me and not , publicly avowed. It could not be the ,, fact, for the Whig party consisting o(j^| ^ vast majority of the United Slates murt? i <?f necessity act upon puhlicy avowed j principles, and consisting too of a great , majority of the Southern States, it could not be implicated in a conspiracy against Southern interests. I It is not the fart that the distribution < of the proceeds of the public Isnds, has | ever been considered a Whig party mea- i sure. i It is not the fact that in any just mean- ' ing of the phrase it comes in as the High | Tariff party?either secretly understood ( or publicly avowed?for it is notorious to ( the whole country that as far as pledges i could be made by a political parly?the | Whigs are pledged to the Compromise i Act of 1833. Their candidates for Presi- , dent and Vice President were deeply, re- < peatedly and publicly pledged to it, and i the most leading men of all the party i hound to its maintenance by every possi- ; ble obligation?while on the other hand, i the candidates of the other party for Presi-'1 j?,. ?n.5 Vi/?p President, and their most', Uirilb aim ? leiding anil able partizan, (Mr. Wright of.: New York) were at ail times the advocates anil supporters of the most extravagant, tystern of Protection. The vote of the I ami-THrifT States of Georgia anil North i Carolina?and the present altitude of Vir- | ginia, vindicate the Whig party agaiust i this charge. i It is not the fact that I was elected Se- i nator a? an opponent upon constitutional i grounds of a National Bank or a distribulion of the proceeds of the public lands? neither of those questions were thought of or agitated in the State at the period of my eli'c.tion. If my sentiments in regard ! to a National Bank were an element in that election?it was not that I was of the Republican Slate Rights School of Madison and Crawford?and had never denounced them and the whole body of the Republican party who followed their lead in the financial emergencies of 1816. My strong aversion to a Bank of the U. Stales existed then and exists now?neither decreased or diminished, by the recent failure of a State Corporation of Pennsylva nia, an aversion which could yield only to a paramount necessity, such as overruled the objections of wise and patriotic men in 1816?whose rhaiacter and fame must be aspersed, before a denunciation can reach me for following their example. So far from this question entering into the consideration of' my constituents at either of my elections, the notorious circumstances then existing, prove it to bare been impowibie. it > , . . % , y ^ V->vV * ->hr-. - . . - . ; ^ .' . . ' ' ' 1 f'.1 wm elected shortly afterMr .Cs lhouB, who had heen the! principal agent in establishing, the Banlc or the United States, and who in the session subsequent to my election, declared this fact in the Senate of the United States, accompanied by a 1 strong panegyric upon the bank. He did not forfeit the confidence of the State thereby. The immediate representative of your own district, Mr. M'Dufiie, always the zealous partizan of the Bank?had at the moment of my election signalized his advocacy of it upon every ground of constitutionality and expediency?had eulogized its conductors?and proposed its re-charter in an elaborate and powerful document. He neither forfeited the confience of Abbeville District or of the State, to the highest office, in which he was sub sequently elevated. Although I did not and do not concur in all the views and conclusions of that celebrated report. I do not believe that I was elected to the Senate on account of my dissent from them. And I cannot refrain from remarking that in the proceedings of the meeting at Abbeville, there is a striking forbearance of expression of any opinion as to the Constitutionality of a United States Bank r-the objections to it being selected from the frightful exhibitions made in the Pennsylvania Bank, and other topics of policy, entitled unquestionably to the very highes$?onsidrration. The meeting seeks to bind' me to an ojiinion which it does not entertain. During the period that I had the honor to serve the State in her Legislature, I do not remember that the Bank question was agitated. Engaged as we were in the prosecution of a great enterprize, in which energy nnd concert were necessary to success?when it was kn.twn that many con?" AnvixiotX in tli0 main. spinous men ticc-pij uc....v? ... ,?v tenance of the principles upon which the Stale was acting, entertained various sentiments upon this subject, it would not have been prudent to have agitated it; and this is, perhaps, one reason why it was not agitated at that lime. My course upon the high questions then settled, undoubtedly procured me the honor of an election to the Senate, and second to these, and scarcely second, my opposition to the men and measures of the Jackson and Van Buren administration. To prosecute this opposition, mainly, I was sent, and i if, at any time, 1 have enjoyed the approbation of my sentiments, it was when I i have been fearlessly and vehemently as-* i m'sting in beating down that dynasty.? < The only doubt that was thrown upon my i re-election, was, that I might relax in i these efforts to prostrate the Proclamation, < the Fierce Bill and the Tariff party, al- ; though that party was then distinguished bv a hardy opposition to a Bank. If it bad faltered in my opposition to that parly, I never could have been elected or reelected. If I had faltered in that opposi- ! lion, I should hare been false to mv conn try and my conscience; aiul having prose- ; ruled it to a glorious success, I find no i matter for regret, but that in the moment i af that victory, I am separated from a I portion of my constituents, whose countenance and encouragement had sustained and rewarded me through so many vicis- ' si'udes of the eventful struggle. i That the meeting in Abbeville ha9 thought proper to censure me for thus persisting to the consummation of what 1 set out to pffect, is matter of regret to me?that it has impugned my modves by the insinuation in the 7th resolution, can excite, even at the utmost, but a momentary irritation. i The tenor of my life has put me beyond the reach of such shafts. If I had been ambitious, the party in power lite moment r>f its ascendancy was accessible, when I might have chosen it rather than the doubtful despairing cause of the country. If the allurements of popularity, of that dearest popularity which is found at home, cottltj. fyave seduced me from the rough and ihontijPtvay of duty, the primrose path was straight before me. If I was servile, I < might have surrendered my conscience at i the kicking of others and been safe. If I i fiail heen venal I might have joined the j spoils party. I have preferred to mscnarge according to the dictates of my conscience, ihe high and responsible obligations o( a patriot Senator, for the promotion of the honor of our common country, and I estepm it a piece of good fortune, that in performing Uiiis duty, I have crossed no material opinion once entertained?have denounced no principle once avowed?and avowed none once denounced?that I have deserted from or to no party, but have maintained a strait forward and direct course, from the beginning of my career to the present moment. Even on that policy which has been the occasion of the greatest difference between me and my constituents, I am entitled at their hands, at least, to the credit of con- < sistency. Before ray re-election, rnv jw/g- ? mpnt was fixed in regard to it. Experi- i ence and the verdict of the country, have ; proved how just my estimate was. It has I fallen and amidst its hediousruin has-'rag- i ged down the party which supported it.? I Amongst the evils which I deprecated in the establishment of that system, was the ? olloriuttivp with ' danger of making ? ?? the bank, and of foicing the country to | escape from o?'erwhclmning' difficulties, I and intoleiable sufferings, under the pro- ; lection of a" institution, to which I enter- | lained the most decided objections.' In the future prospects of our country, I confess I am unable to delect any thing incident loathe jgte political revolution f which can make ii^yloubt the propriety of , the course I have^nrsued. If there be 1 some things in the principles of the ma- ! f do not approve,^ an>not the less sensible of: the advantage of having escaped?' from the practices of thai which fees been? expelled. I repoaprWitb the-hope^ml trust upon the order of thinjffl asestablisKed by the will of the peoplein the election of Geftft Harrison, and I equaHy/well believe that the dispensation of providence which fciaf , placed Mr. Tyler at;the head of the" Ret public has neither, endangered . the prosperity of oar country or of btirpsrticu- * lar section. As I know of no more fir*hod*>f brings ? ing this letter before the gemjeineir ifka; composed the Abbeville meeting then by sending it through the press, I hope yonr win excuse me tor uoingso?ana oe assumed that I am, with great reepe'ef, Your obedient sertant,. Bern. Y. Martin, Esq., Chairitmi^Sc^. 6 AN ENGLISH LETTER, The Bortnn Courier presents ? ^ from "a71 English gentleman to (. his friends in the vicinity" (ffosSpigSpf which contains much instruction for tfci? South. It points out, most truly and di?> tinctly, the embryo of the. growing eyrlip ^' which threaten to embroil as-in fqr^gn-r^p possibly, in a civil and a serrile war. All the world knows that England's* . jeal >usy for her trident .is directed notrO' f . -I. _ I L 1J ' ' . ' ' agmnsi me unneu eiaiea. .tier ?T?ricr . ?> and ambition are both concentrnted in her. commerce, and dominion of the seas.? The youthful and growing energies and ? enterprise of the Great. American Republic?its great agricultural riches, embracing all that is most,valuable Vnd , to make its commerce universal?the surpassing intelligence and invention of people in manufactures, and jn the strength, . of capital necessary to prosecute the/re most advantageously?the vigor,.ability*. , ^ and adventurous spirit which'characteriseall classes of American seamen, whether- 1 in the commercial or national marine, filfs-Vi ' the little island of Great Britain with>nvy and apprehension, while she IdbJts tolhe long line of teeming shores and cities?y the deep rich continent of back; country* and the abounding rirers which penetrate it, all contributing to the agricultural,, manufacturing, commercial, and wcrl^ke enterprise of the indomitable rac<v, which ^ she has twice, in vain, sought to crush in . the cradle. Thpt she now should make the anti-slavery policy a, pretext for the J suppression of our commerce on the coast ^ ['" of.Africa and in the Indian Archipelago^" itnd should look to the result of the efl as likely to produce a war in whrch our own people would be separated; the against the whites, and the free .Skates against the slave States?to lie terminated, by the successful accomplishment of. the wish which England has so l<mg indulged, . ~ 'of destroying the Union," is Certainly but the natural course ?f erent&v i)ur whole past history show* this to be the . tendency of her views; and the circumstances of the present time, ns given-jjK. 7y>/ i" the outline marked in the letter eppied ' ' from the Boston Courier, certainly mattir fest that rapid movement, giving indiea-r. tion that the current approaches a cataract. That this letter is found in the Boston. Courier, we consider a good omen. It i* proof that the more honest of the Fed eral party are not disposed, as of yore, to enter into a secret cons-piracy to .accomplish the aims of Great Britain.?Globe. ** ftX* v -v.* .. A Torch Light Procession took-placo at Albany, New York, on Saturday even- > in? last, in commemoration of the death of Gen. Harrison. It vras arranged'6y the Firemen of that city, and 'vas composed of the merr.bera of the different Com* panies, in their Firemen's-dress, accompanied by a full band of Music, aod beai> ? ~: i.? ing a Funeral Urn covered with its p?TI-^? - ' ^ the whole illuminated by the light of 000 . , torches. It passed through the prineipwt streets of the City between 8 and 10 o'clock. The night was stilt and very dark; and the effect, produced by the longarray uf mourners at that usual hotpr^ejfa. I neral emblems?the solemn music, and the strong red glare of the torches, revealing the gloom and lighting op Willi picturesque effect the houses and crowds of spectators which thronged the win* dows as they passed, left an impression which will not soon be effii.ced from the memory of those who beheld the scejie. - ' Raleigh Register. . t I m -- ' y, V,^ ? " ta- strr*t Philosopher.?lately JL 1(1/ vt Wv r ? - . ,, ^ i . came across an anecdote in an English' paper whicli furnishes a fine lesson in the study ol human nature. A miserable beggar, in piteous accents,, implored ijbm charity of a well dressed;lady, who wad passing by, but he was not gracioniily re- : > t reived. 'I hare no small change, said ~ 3hp, with a repulsive look. 'Then, most % tharming madam*, said the philosopher.iiv itgs, 'allow me the privilege of kissing four beautiful lilly white hand!* 'No, my ?? friend,'replied the pleased fair one, with . t smile, 'I cannot do that, but there'* *. half a crown for von.' "' s ? Another use for Caoutchouc.?A man in - i Texas whose ear had been lopt off* in a Fight with the Indians, has had it replaced by one made of India rubber, whtch jooks as good as new, and answers all the pur- -v*':: poses of hearing. This experiment may \" -J ._ : be caueu a new car-am auigcij. Married in Michigan, Mr. Henry Bills to Miss Mary Small. We hope the issuing of small bills is not prohibited in that y-M State. r v:, jSj ' . K % v- 3 7> v 1 :,v"M