The Camden journal. [volume] (Camden, S.C.) 1836-1851, May 19, 1841, Image 2
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?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
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