©a 0(1
A NATIONAL PAPER, PUBLISHED WEDN ESDAYS AND SATURDAYS BY JOHN FtNNO, No. 34, NUPTH FIFTH.STREET, PHILADELPHIA
[No. 87 of Vol. IV.]
CONGRESS.
HOUSE or REPRESENTATIVES.
FRIDAY EVENING, March I.
Subflance of the observations made by Mr. W. Smith,
on the debutes cn theJallowing refo/ulion y viz.
RESOLVED, that the Secretary of the
Treafurv has omitted todifcharge an el
fential duty of his office, in failing to give
Congress official information in due time of
the monies drawn by him from Europe into
the United States ; which drawing commenc
ed in December, 1793, and continued till Ja
nuary r 753, and of the caufss of making such
drafts.
Mr. Smith faicl, that after the vote which
hadjull prevailed by so considerable a majori
ty 011 the preceding resolutions, the commit
tee could not with any propriety criminate
the Secretary of the Treasury lor failing to
give the information alluded to, because by
that vote it had been eftablHhed that the Se
cretary had only acted under the authority of
the President, and conformably to his inftruc
tio« 5 tf tiicrs bad been amifljon lr> com
municate information to that omis
sion was surely not chargeable to the Secieta
ry. But it had been already clearly Ihewn
by documents in the poftelfion of the house
that the neceflary information had been com
municated. The Treasurer's accounts which
had been from time to time laid before the
house, exhibited the amount of monies pro
ceeding from the sale of bills, and the Secre
tary's report of 1791, conveyed full informa
tion of the drawing. It was true there was a
sum of about 630,000 dollars, the proceeds of
bills which, as had been remarked by a gen
tleman (Mr. Madison) did not appear in the
Treasurers account, but this was owing to
the sales of the bills by the bank not having
been closed at the time the lalt quarterly ac
count was rendered, and confequentlv that
sum could not appear in the treasurer's ac
count. [Mr. Madison said he had not
to blame the treasurer.l '
Mr. Sn.kh The gentleman,
hou«-<vrpiaa attributed milconduet to the
Secretary, for withholding information of the
amount of monies in the treasury, accruing
from foreign loans,when directed by the house
19th Jauary, 1792, to report whether the ex
isting revenues were adequate to face the ad
ditional expence of the Indian war. Mr.
Smith could not forbear expressing great sur
prize at this remark of the gentleman from
Virginia (Mr. Madison) when he recollected
what had been just before said by the fame
gentleman in fupportof the former resolution.
The gentleman on that occasion, in his at
tempt to disprove the right of the Secretary,
cx-ofncis to superintend ths monies derived
from the foreign loans, had endeavored to ef
tablifli a nice diftindtion between the ordinary
internal revenues of the country and the re
fourc£.s resulting from foreign loans. The
law constituting the Treasury Department,
he had said, gave the Secretary power only
over the revenues, which embraced onl> the
ordinary relources, whereas loans were dif
tin<fl things, the management of which was
specially entrusted by law to the supreme ma
gistrate, and in relation to which the lecreta
ry could exercise no authority whatever that
was not derived from the President. The
gentleman now argued that the secretary was
blameable in not giving information of the
state of these extraordinary resources, which
were not within his department, when only
called upon toftate the amount of tHe ordina
ry revenues, which were within his depart
ment. He left it to the gentleman to recon
cile this contradi<stion ; for certainly his doc
trine was erroneous on a former occasion, or
it mull be so now ; if the monies obtained
from foreign loans were to be deemed the re
venues of the country, then th?y fell of course
under the management of the head of the
treasury department, and it was wrong in
the gentleman, to impute mifcondudt to the
secretary for exercising a legal authority ;
if on the contrary those monies weie viewed
as an extra resource, and not within the pur-
View of the (ecrelary's functions, then it was
wrong to censure him for not communicating
a {late of those monies when required only to
report the ordinary revenues.
Without admitting the foundnels ofthedif
tin&ion set up by the gentleman from Virgi
nia, Mr. Smith (aid that it was never in the
intention of the house, nor in the idea of any
individual member, to call for a Kate of the
monies proceeding from the foreign loans,
when they palled the order of the 19th Janu
ary, 1792-
That order was in these terms, " Ordered
that the Secretary of the Trealury be direct
ed to lay before this house, such information
with rff|Ktl to the finances of the United
States, as will enable the legislature tojudge
whether any additional revenue will be necefl
farv in consequence of the proposed increase
the niilitaryeftr.blifhment." Tbiscallwas
coniplicd with, for the iecretary laid be
fcre the home an eftiuiate of tlie internal re
venues, wliich unquefiionably were the only
Saturday, March 30, 1795.
revenues in contemplation of the hoiife at the
time, and the house being fatisfied that they
were incompetent, laid additional duties.
The house knew as well as the Secretary
that loans had been made, and that monies
had under them, been drawn into this coun
try ; but they knew that those monies had
been specially appropriated to the finking
fund, and it never entered into the ideas of*
any member to divert them from that bene
ficial object, in order to apply them to the
current service : 'Twas not to be preftuned
that the secretary would have recommended
such a diversion.
To impute blame to him for not conutiuni
cating the amount of monies drawn from
time to time, there nmft have been fbme Jaw
or order of the house requiring the communi
cation, or it (tiuft have been neceflary to some
object depending before the house. What
law or order of the house made it neceflary I
None : The law authorized the Joans and pre
scribed their objects; the reft was mere ex
ecutive bijfinefs ; and no communication was
neceiTary to any me a sure depending before
the House.
But though the Secretary would not have
been censurable for omitting tci give the in
formation, the truth was, that the Prefideut's
speech of Bth December 1790, the fccretary's
report of 25th Feb', and the a£t of the 3d of
March J7gi, were conclusive proofs that the
legislature knew that the proceeds of the loans
were in a train of being brought to the Unit
ed States, and the accounts of receipts and
expenditures presented the fir ft week of the
felllon informed the house that a large sum
had been drawn for, and the treasurer's quar
terly account contained further information
on the fubjeft, all which was prior to any call
of the house for such information. Hence
Mr. Smith deduced, that it was not a fadl that
the secretary had failed to the informa
tion, .as in the refolution,and that even
had he so failed, would not haVe been cen
* furable for a breach of an %flential duty of his
officer
It had been said by a member from Penn
lylvania (Mr. Findiey) that the lateness of
the information from the secretary, made it
inconvenient togo into an enquiry of his offi
cial conduct sb near the cloie of the feflion.
To this, Mr. Smith replied, that he did not
expert such a remark »Vom ~f
the house. ir the gentleman had not been
prepared for the enquiry or thought it an
improper season to enter upon it, why did he
fecorrd the motion for bringing forward the
charges ? It'fufpicion had so long existed a
gainst the integrity of the fecietary, why was
not information called for at the beginning of
the feflion ? Why was the call delayed till the
feflion was within a few weeks of its termi
nation ?
It was admitted that the secretary had
obeyed the order of the house with wonderful
alacrity aiad promptitude; it was indeed
strange that the gentleman, who brought for
ward the charges Ihould be the firft to com
plain that there was not time for their consi
deration.
Mr. Smith concluded by noticing the ob
servation of Mr. Mercer and Mr. Madison,
that the opinion of the house on the preceding
resolutions would not change the truth of
fa<sls, and that the public would ultimately de
cide whether the fecretarf's conduct was cri
minal or not. This, said Mr. Smith, was like
the conduct of a prosecutor, who having cho
sen his jurifdi<stion, and being nonsuited, wifil
ed to appeal to another tribunal; why were
the resolutions brought before the house ?
Was it not to fub'ftantiate the truth of them
by a vote ? And bad the prosecution succeed
ed, wouid the secretary have had an appeal to
the public ? No, the resolutions would have
been sent to the President, and the secretary
would have been removed, disgraced, and ru
ined forever, without appeal.
(Debate to be continued.)
For the GAZETTE of the UNITED STATES,
An account tj the fate of (olovel Hardin, Major
Tr u e ma k, andfeveral other perjons, who were
hi/led by the Indians, while bearing Flats oj Truce
to the hojlile Tribes—as containedin a Letter from
William Goforth, Esq. of Cincinnati,
Wejiern Territory, to a Gentleman in this City.
" the 8;h January, 1793, William Smally,
W who hMj accompanied Major Trueman
on hii embafiy to the Indian Nations, was be
fore me, and gave me the following accoutit of
hi» journey, to wit.—That they left Fort Wafti
ington about the 26th or 27th of May, 1792
that thev were bound to the Maumee towns,
but fell about 60 miles below said towns, near
to the town of Glaiie, whichis fituatcd on a
point of land formed by the Maumee and Glaize
rivers; that when thev left Fort Walhington,
their companv confided ot Major Trueman, him
fclf, and the Major's waiter ; that about 30 miles
before they arrived at the town of
Glaize, thev fell in with three Indians, an
elderly man, the other a young man, and the
third a boy of abojjt 11 or 15 years of age, who
were cncampcd on their hunting ground by the
fide of a little trace ; the Indians allied them to
encamp with them (tins was fuu about two hours
345
'■ t.
high, being t,he eighth dav after .they. left Fort
Wafhmgton) telling the Major tlfev wouM go
into the town with ihrm the next morning;
the Major agreed to encamp wnh them ; they
made a flipper of chocolate, and asked the In
dians to partake with them ; thart all three of
the Indians cat supper with them,and appeared
very friendly ; that Major Trueman informed
the Indians of the bufiuefs they were on, and
read over the speech to them, which he(Smallv)
interpreted to them, and with which they ap
peared to he pleated ; but they were none
of the Chiefs, and could not tell how it would
be approved of, and that they must go into the
town. Major Tiurman and the oldest man fat
and talked and fmolted till near midnight—that
the Indian seemed very chearful and jocose—
after which the Major wishing to lay down, the
old Indian spread a skin lor the Major, and for
each of them ; the Major and the waiter laid
down; he (Smally) himfelf fat up some time
talking with them ; alter which the old Indian
told him to ask his Captain if he would be wil
ling that one of them should be tied, faying the
two boys would be afraid, they could not sleep,
fet'.tjw there is three of you and but two of us,
counting ihe Indian boy, as ol no confluence ;
that he then informed the Major what the Indian
had be*u fayiog, on which jWcijor Trueman 10M
him to inform them that they might tie bis wai
ter; the Indian then tied the waitei, girding
his elbows backward, and made them fad with
an old hopos, and th< - tied his feet across each
other with a bridle; rhe waiter then lav down,
after which the old Indian came and fat down
by him, and began to talk again with great seem
ing friendship and chearfulnefs ; that he then
asked Smally to po and fctape fomr baik off a
small beech bush which was about two or three
roc!s from the fire, but within the light of it, in
order to mix with his tobacco for smoking;
that he went and scraped the bark, and brought
it to him, and then laid down with his head
within about a foot of the Indian's thigh ; that
the Indian then took up his gun and set it on the
breech, and was observing what an ugly gun it
was, and said it was so bad he could hardly kill
any deer with it ; that he happened to turn his
head about (but cannot favfor what cause, whe
ther to look about or to spit) that his head being
turned, the Indian immediately brought down
the muzzle and (hot Major Trueman—the ball
entered his left breall, and came out at the small
of the back, which killed him immediately. ;
the Major only just turnrd, he heard him fetch
one groan ; that he himfelf jumped u£ and ran,
-2x»l Wc±ii-ixd_a_Larcc lar>lit>:r, the young Indian
man then took up his gun to moot him—that he
flood behind the tree and begged and rrafoned
the cafe with him, the young fellow, for about
two minutes, as near as he can iecolle&; that
the Major's waiter, who had been tied, llartled
and hioke the old hopos with which his arms
had been pinioned, and got his feet loose and
ran; that the old Indian ran after him, and
brought him back to the fire ; a fcuffle enl'ucd,
when the waiter cleared Imnfelf and lau off
again; the old Indian caught him, and brought
him back a fccond time, during which time rhe
young Indian was trying to lhoot him (Smally)
the old Indian then called to the young Indian
man to come and shoot the waiter, faying he
was Wronger than he was ; that the young man,
after bring called several times, ran up and (h<>t
him ; the old man then ran up to the fire and
called so him, who was on the opposite fide at
but a small distance, and within the light of the
fire ; that he called to him to come up to him ;
that Smally told him if fie came theie, he would
kill him ; he answered, he would not hurt him ;
he told him that a little while ago he had
him he would not hurt any of them— but that
now he had killed them ; that he then went to
wards him about half way, when he said fit
down—he anfweied he would not, for then he
would run up and tomahawk him—the Indian
answered he would not, and persisted five or fix
times that be should fit down; that he still re
fufed, faying, do you fit down, and then I will;
that he then fat down, and they reasoned the
cafe-for near a quarter of an hour—when he
asked him what he had killed them for ? He
answered, then horses, and what they had;
faying, if he had taken them to town, he should
get nothing—that now he should get ali. That
the old Indian then got up and went and ftript
the Major ; and the other went and ftript the
waiter; the old Indian then told the boy to go
and scalp them, which hedid,fetching the scalps
to him, who threw them down by him, and
told the boy to go and get a couple of little
(licks, and bend them round like a hoop, and
tie the scalps in and dry them. That he then
took out all the things and looked them over,
and burnt all the papersexcept the speech, which
was faflencd to the belt. After which they di
vided the plunder, and fat down till day-light,
when they threw the Major into an old blanket,
and after carrying him about sixty yards, threw
him down by the fide of an old log, and then
carried his waiter, William Lynch, and laid him
down by the Major, and threw the old blanket
over them, and covered them with chunks and
poles ; they then returned lo the fire and made
some chocolate, and eat breakNft ; after which
they mounted, and went ?bout fix cr seven
miles to the old Indian's hdufe, and stayed all
that day ; the next morning they fat out tor the
town of Glaize, where they arrived about two
o'clock. That be stayed with the young Indian
three or four days, when he and au Indian were
sent to the King of the Buokunga*
hela, who told him he wa» sorry thev nad kilicd
the men—that they ought to have brought them
[Whole No. 409.]
to iHe lowus; anA foid, itve'o if ib<y did nor like
the mc fT.ige, ihev could have'killed them thfrej
fhty could not have got away fiom ) licit). The
K ing told hiin to stay at f lie houfc wiie»e he was,
and not to go about, lift ihe \ rung Indians
should kill him, tiil he could go down to where
his Indian b;oiher lived, of whom he had told
him. [You will obfeive Smally had formerly
been among the Indians, and was adopted, aU
ter which he had made hisefcape, and had bren
a way several years.] In a day or two after this,
the Shawanefe Chiefs sent for him, who lived in
the said town of Glaize. Alter he told
them what he could about the flag, they told
him he might go back to the house where he
flayed. That he continued about 14 or 15 days
in the town ; after which he went down to his
brother, into whose family he had formerly been
adopted, in the room of hts adopted brother's
brother, who had bren kilted ; he lived theie
till the corn was laid by (by which is meant the
the hilling of ii) with his brother's
wifr, his brother being out a hunting ; that he
stayed there till after council about eight days :
from this place, about 600 Indians darted with
a view to take Fort Jefferfon, expe&ing to be
joined by othes to the amount of 600. By
consent of his brother, whp he made believe hfe
should return, he -fat out for Dclioit; ar
rived there, he went to thfc commanding officer,
and told hira he wanted to get into the fettle*
ments tn the United States—who informed him
he should go in 1 he firft veff< 1 going from thence j
and at the departure of the boat, he gave hnn a
pass and seven days provisions. The officer used
him with a great degree of kindness, and order
ed him to stay with the clerk of the Indian store
till the veftel was ready. That the vefTel in
which he went proceeded to Fort Ontario; fiom
which he went to Navy-hall, where General
Simcot lives, \a ho behaved to him with as great
kindness as it was poflible for a man to do, giv
ing him a pdfs and seven days provisions ; from
thence he pafled through the Genefee country
so Sufquehannah, at Nfw-Town Point; from
thence to Violvev, where he lay Tick a month at
a Mr. Amos's, who treated him with great ci
vility; from thence to Harrn'-Ferry, where he
crofTed, passing through Carlifteand Bedford to
the Monongahcla. at George-Creek, about 120
miles above Fort Pitt; from thence to General
Wayne's head-quarters, at LPgs-Town; and
from thence to Columbia, the place of his refi
rtence and family—where he arrived the 304b
December, 1792.
Mr. Smally farther relates, that while he was
at the town of Glaize. he met wi'h an Indian,
who told him he had met with Messrs. Joseph
Gerrard, lfaac Freeman, and a Mr. Lavara (as
near as he can recoiled the name) a Frenchman,
who were also on an embassy to the Maumee
towns. The Indian said thev camp across them
about four days after they left Fort Wafhingron;
that they travelled w'th them about two days
and a half, when they killed them in the follow,
ing manner: Fir ft they tomahawked Mr. Joseph
Gerrard, then (hot the Frenchman, who was
spreading out some things to dry; on which
Mr. Freeman ran—that he himfelf (hot at him
and broke his arm—that he then came up with
him and tomahawked him.
Mr. Smally also informs me, that he saw some
of Colonel Hardin's things which were brought
into the town of which he deems the
greatest of the Indian towns, (this Col. Hardin,
with a Mr. Thomas Flinn, had also been sent on
an embassy to the Indian Nations) but dif.
patrhed to the St. Dusky towns among the Wv»
andots. The Indians informed Mr.Smally that
they were out a hunting when Co). Hardin came
up to them in a plain with the flag ; that after
,he y g ot 10 camp, where they were altogether,
they consulted what to do with them ; that they
were all for killing them but one, who infilled
to rake them to town and hear their message,
and that they could but kill them when they got
them theie; but as the reft were for killing
them, chey ihot Mr. Flinn through the head a*
he was fitting by the fire cooking; on which
Colonel Hardin fled—an Indian puifucd him
when the Colonel saw the Indian was like to
come up with him, he turned and caught hold of
the Indian's tomahawk ; that while they were
in the fcuffle, another Indiau came up and to
mahawked the Colonel ; that they brought the
things into the town of Glaize, and fold some of
them to the Englilh.
Mr. Smally is of opinion that much the great
er part of the Indians are for wai. He fays he
talked with Simon Girty near two hours, that he
abused him a good deal about our army, that
they were so easily defeated. He told Mr Girty
he had come cut with a flag. Girty then asked
him what Congress meant by fendingout letter■
totheGirtys, offering them a pardon it t,hey
would come in ; that he damned (hem, faying,
I reckon when they get us in, they think to banc
us. He asked Mr. Girty when he knew Con
gress to be guilty ol fach a treacherous tiick as
that ? He aulwered, when they killed the Mo
ravians.
On a iking Mr. Smally what he thought re.-
I peeling the numbers of the Indian* at war with
us, he said he could only foim a judgment from
the report of the Indians—they fay they expefl
at the next battle to but he much
quellions if they could raise more than 5 or 6000
among ihe confederated nations at war with us.
Mr. Smally seems of opinion thatthe Britilh are
not at this time a&ive loaflift the Indians in the
prcfent war; he believes they only give'them
ycaily what ihey had agreed to give them it the
peace with the United Siatrs [ but whether this
ihould be conliJcicd it 1; aI y as presents, or a*