. i & wo i EA = i Bellefon BELLEFONTE, CENTRE COUNTY, i PENNSYLVANIA, \ F » PRINTED BY W. BRIN ape ei Coameigiir ei pitted hes rae it DLE. £ Vol. 11. SATURDAY, March 11, 1820. & Fe Sh Pennsylvania Legislature, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 5 L Than «Wednesday ich. 16. vs RANDALL made the following re- te. Ra ; Pe sto eid he declkaraiion of Mr. Wilson that ie had received 1t some lime before to ave am ngage og : : cs us his eclining heal: would permir,” aid fied abSutthe 12h of February, 1819. Imme- Lately after his ‘death captain farl paid to his vidow sixty-two dajlars ; and here the matter nded. In addition to this detail of facts, captain Earl vhose inflexible integrity (1s admitted by all, emphatically declared; that the arrangement was nade by lim solely t¢ oblige his valuable niend, Gustavus Conyngllam, who happened, also, to be the fiend of Wilson ; that he was not induced to make ft by the prospect of he commission, nor by duy cowsideration for Alexander Wilson : that, kt the time be did not view it as having any influgnce upon his appoint- ment: that the governor, Ju his personal inter- view with him, never mgntioned the name of Alexander Wilson, and hid nothing to do with die arrangement, and thit there were no pains taken to keep it a secret, sided to 14 or 35 dollars. After this Mr. Wilson, who was then in his last illness. I'he messenger regurned with the money to My. take up the note. Tn a condensed view of the whole of the evidence adduced by the petitioners, to sustain their allegation of ¢- pecuniary obligations™ on the part of the governor, towards Alexander W son What does it amount to? Ye yninittee are at a loss to discover in it any Aning m re than those common features whieh distinguish oc- currences of the kind between friends and ac- aquaintances. Do the expressions of friendship AH to an acknowledgement of * pecuniary obligations 2” Does not the avowal ot generous feelings and a disposition to serve anold frien i L ulay sinking under an incurable malady, and going to a residence amongst strangers, evince any particular or * pecuaiary obligativ But from these private and ordinary transac- tions draw, for a moment the CoN GLusidn, thai the alleged pecuniary obligations” id exist ; does it follow as a matter of course, Bat either a private oficnce or a pubic crime 1s theie aleo to be found 2 Are not all men whether in nub- lic or private lite, not merely liabl:, but entiti-d, ty incur obligations ot interest, atlection or friendship? Is itmot a personal right, as well as 09 Nn & ii nark, as negativing the supposed influence of Mexander Wilson in the procurement of the corfimission, that his letter, written on the 12th or [14th of September, 1818, recommending captaip Earl, must have lain upon the table of the govérnor without effect a the commission did abt issue until early i e It is also worthy of'r , * : Se Wilson rendered such servi-lanly pretendged of the fiatures of occurred two years Ag Qy. HA Hei thd tsome ¢h he was proved to be wrong. Your committee feel reluctant to press the point farcher s to them the funs damental and essential tact, to which John Binns dir ecied his testimony, remains witha out adequate and sausfactory proof. But what was the fact ? What was the alledged in‘erference with a legislative commi: tee ? - It will be remembered, that during the session of 1817-18, a coramit- ec was appointed by the house of renre- sentatives to enquire into the official cone duct ot Witham Findlay, while he acted as ‘reasurer of the commonwealth. chat investigation, and shortly before the testimony closed, John Binns, itit averred by himself, was requested by the governor to draft a report tor that committee of ine quiry, and was afforded an opportunity to spect some bouks and papers for that pur, He acceded to that request ; he ‘made examinations among the members dof Pending © a common failing, of which official promotion alone cannot deprive the individual? if, indeed, official wets be sdlely iniuencd Gy ghie iligy ions thus incuriéd, then would there be ground of accusation and condemnation ; buy, in them ie excercise of priv- © a corrupt condition, eiili- i, upon which a comnnssion ti These 're-i i 1 | or OD anyng. » i oe € 0 Coasequeiice. {hat Co wk would ed 4 ne » aed e committee of the house of repre- ntatives. he 8th day of De- . sentatives to whom on ih yor comber 1819, was referred the petition from sundry citizens of this commonwealth. praying for an inquiry into the conduct ol the governor, MAKE REPORT :— ( Concluded from our last.) 8th CHARGE. * That the goverdor corruntly issued a com. mission, on the express condition that the per. son therein named should, from time to time, pay over a certain portion of the fees to another person, to whom the governor wus under pecu- niary obligations.” 5 4a) : Upon the examination of this charge, three Snquiries arise: 1st. Who is the individual to whom it 1s alledged the governor was under ¢ pecuniary obligations ” Js , 2d. Did these ** pecasiary obligations” in reali- Ry exist ? | aga nd:3d. Was ther Cer express or is assued. - an dicate Judging from what passed in the presence of | selves they oly ind Oe ota the committee and from the avowels and a rr as Den ¢ Span a) st atte RE a 0 sel of the petitioners, | ion to free ya Rn 7 5 pid BR ALY as the flections lead Your ein he third ny person to whom the governor wus under these lquiry arising ne I J age i > 0 pi oe allcdged ¢ pecuniary obligations ;” such obligi-jammation 2 me. wiih le a ie Vid tions as would iiduce a governor of k hos coms | pointment 2 nh p : ie Bs A ops 2 monwealth to lose sight ot his oath of ellice ; toler f the Sat) ox Th dias "of . al) er go abandon all claims to moral and political neg .fed that the gorsppt C a I a) over, &i ity, and to become the corrupt perpetrator of alporucn a 44 joes 1 if Pe Xan Er MWihon, was) high crime and misdemeanor in office ! annexed to that appos men, ; *\ detail of ‘the acquaintance and connection if] Shortly after the election of the goyertior, at S36 be su called, which existed Letween the the removal uy I ym the station : ti srovernor and Alexander Wilson, will throw arhiyenesten 0 Jie phi, was ei much light upon the second branch of the liga. furged ros Hibs Ne : ap hn : high arly at. v and enable the house of representatives tol aged gentdeman of g eu worth, anc in indigent Yan © : 2 of these *¢ pecuniary obli-€ircumstances, was recommended as the sue Judge or the existce of th £ AR 5 cessor Pending the application, and uncertain fr acquaintance was formed and thei ofits result, capt: Earl in April 1818, accepted Friendship nd: by the occupation of Aldex-i the command of i vessel, and aited upon a voy. ander Wilson as chief tlerk in the treasury of | age io Liverpool, Wy thin a ay 2 tv after his state, whilst the governor was at tie head this departure, his commission “s harbor-master a ie artment, In the hope of obtaining reached Philadelphia. In this situation of the een eminent physician of Phila affair, capt.” Hawkes visited the goverior at © idelphia, a restoration 10 health, Mr. Wilson re- Har hse dulutsd big Ag furs gipstance moved to that city in October, 1817. Upon parta uf captain ard vg Salles Jo Europe solicted Ing with an old acquainance, and ong certainly f the goin ment a eteive it wot in affluence, and of very reduced heulth,{ In Saptember fi owing Saptain Earl returned William Findlay, probably then the governor and, by the julvice of is powest friends, re. «lect, gave him a common letter of introduction) vived lis Spplisgtion, Ang waited upon the gov- to Mi. John Humes of that city , the only lcticriernor im person at JL avisburg, In his conver. of thekind, as fur as appears from the testimo- | sation with him, the governor acknowledged that ny, that he carried with iim. Mr Humes testi-! his recommendation was a fied thut this letter contained merely a request, that captain. Hawkes was also, highly recom - ghat he would endeavor to get Mr. Wilson a sit. mended, ; wation as a clerk, and ‘nothing more than the [little gonversatoe wath he Bverhor, and re. customary language apa making & request of (turned again (o ! hiladel hin willicui any larder, the kind. Li assurance than that the governor would think of | Jumes Graham. who became the agent of the the aifuir, } widow of Alexander Wilson and lad thereby! About the middle of the same month, capt. access to his papers, found amongst then let- Gustavus Conyngham, ROW deceased, and who ters with the signature of the governor subserib- Fas 4 man of high characte 's called Rpod capt} ed, wriften before and subsequently, to lis: Earl, and wished him to tike Alexander Wil. | election, These letters contained expressions SOn as 2 deputy, 01 #3 a clerk, Eari expressed; of friendship and a willingness to serve and tuihis No hlige mr. C. who had always been oblige him. Mr. Graliam also saw notes and his Stem Fast friend, and was very instramentai) other papers bearing the name of William Fiud-40 nde ro ny lo procure him the ahpointment | Jay, which induced him tg believe that the gov. EH €¢ some objections to employ ing Wilson ernor was indebted to the deceased. However 10 either capacity At the request of capt. C. wpon further inguiry and examination, and {the Qiarties mot at his house upon the same af- correspondence with the governor, connected [161 Ron. he suhbijéet was resumed. Alexan-| with the declaration of the widow, that nothing | 4¢t W ilson stated hie was a iil health, and mere- | was due to her husbahd, this impression of M rly wished employment until the spring ; that he Graham seems to have been shisken ; and nojrotld keep a book of arrivals, and hoped to be demand was ever made, nor any claim persisted | Song enough 10 he able to go out and collect | an. the Hees. When he mentioned that he only { Mr. Redmond Conyngham, also, {testifies to “ished to be employed un':I the spring, it struck an examination of papers shewn to him by Al] capt Lart as so trifling an englgemont, thar he wxander Wilson, but does not materially diffe! turred round to eapt C evagham and said that Arom Mr. Humes or Mr. Graham, The letters it Was amaiter of indiflerence ; he would rea- which he saw were written in friendly terms jo HY agree to the employment of Mr. Wilson expressed a desire to serve Mr, Wilson, to pro- {until Mareh, if it would be any sadsfaction to him wure for him a situation in consequence of his | ¢aPt Conyng am i that the time was so short, «disappointment in not getting into the Bank of he considered it of no mmportance. At this mn- the United Staes ; and one of them contained '€7V'€W there were no terms whatever m’ ntion- | nn extract from the letter before spcken of to Jed. The conversation bre ke oft, with the under. Mr. Humes. At the same time, and with these | standing that if captain Earl obtained the coms=| papers, were shewn his: hank book, and notes | Miss1om, he would give Mr. Wilson employ ment drawn by Alexander Wilson, and indorsed by Unt! March. "William Findlay., Mr. Wilson’ made no claim | About the last of October, a second petition of any pecumary demand, nor of any account { W33 forwizded to the g vernor, fortified by pri-| against the governor ; and during the conversa [Vale letters and a certificate from the clerk oft tion, mentioned that he had come to Philadel. [the district court of the United States. that phia because ofhis ill health, and the promise of capt. Hawkes held an appoiutment under the Mr. Findlay to endeavor to procure for him {general overnment. situation in the bank of the United States and}! Abuut the 7th of November, capt. Earl was] if not there, with Mr. John Humes. {appointed, and reccived his commission through | Mr. John Steel states, that about four months] the hands of the then recorder of the city of | before the death of Alexander Wilson, in Phila. Philad:lphia. He waited upon capt: Conyng.| delphiahe indorsed a note at sixty days, at thelham and Mr. Wilson, and told them that hel request of, and drawn by, Alexander Wilson, | was ready to rulfill his promise, and left it to! for five hundred, or five hundred and ten doliars. | them to fix the terms. Captain Conyroham | Whed M maturity, and about to be renewed] said he supposed ubout one half the fees would Mi. Wilson told him there were som: small be vight in such acase. Wilson replied. that he | monied transactions between himself and the | did not wish the one Ralf; he would be satisfied governor and that the proceeds of the note were | with six fourteenths of thefees. Thev had pre-| for the use of the fatter. At the same (ime Mr. viously leftit to captain Earl himself to make | Steel told him that it was no matter, that he any offer he pleased He declined, because he | would indorse- for a much greater amount forlthought it a matter of n either of them, The note was indorsed and re-i riffing was the cngageme en d ; When again at maturity, Mr. Steelihaye aiven the whole, if it | being informed that na provision was made for) could only continte for six the payment or renewal of the note. o . chieck for the amount, and immediately oo OF ve hist ing allowance for the usual win sent to the navigation. eig g fOr nano in S0me s¢asous; 1 wot id 1d JUG exclusively fiom the gratctul feelii gs of captain Lmission | \ very strong one, and {00 written charges, addused ui ; : . i (uencrs, your commitice will p In this interview, capt. Earl had but ‘nated a hi led by uibers, or ‘has practised ail the arts and powers of de- it weells, mak- only tsations with the goveraor and ot month of Novefnber toliowing, and not untilf the coi lier the second petition, accompanied by ori oie vite fete Fiaid the certificate abready mentio ony ed, irresistibly called upon the execuiive 10 be- i: stow the commission upon Captain Eael, © miltee ; collected notes of testimo- piel (hb | government lor oniising to transmit the re- 1t ars, Some time, however, prey a suit had been instituted by Thomas Elder, esquire, acainst John Buns, for an aliedged libel published in the. Democratic Press, involving facts then in- vestigating before the counmittee, and in relation to which it was an object of the miter’s attention in Harrisburg, and of his anxiotis luquiries, to obtain important in- aview to relieve himself from *¢ pecuniary obli-] OFMation necessary to his own defence ms gation I Caa it be possible that a chief magis-| Whether, as is stated on cath by Mr. Tlho:n- trate of Pennsylvania would prostitute his office as Sergeant, he offired, without being so- tor the paltry purpose of securing a few dollars to licited, to draf. the report, in order to I= an obscure and dying individual? Hus that day corporate in it what micht be material to arrived in Pennsylvania, when even the harbor bet 3k 2, . master at Philadelphia cannot receive his com-| 1S defence on the teal of the case. of Ll , without the fees of a single winter sea. Jer against Binns, pushing hirveelf forward sou becoming a temptation to public crime!|for a selfish object, without we desire of how prone to distort facts and fauey the exis:| ithe executive. your comuniitee must leave tence of public evil must that imagination be to the determination of the house. which could see in this transaction an honorble man Jike captain Conyngham, a soldier of the revolution, descending und becoming the tainted instrnment of another, inn zgouating an expr Here, then, is the whole transaction; a trans- action unequivocally proved 10 have proceded Earl towards bis {friend and benefactor, Gustavus Conyngham. Your committee look in vain for the evidence of a corrupt interference on the part of the governor. ‘Where is the slightest grool that the commission issued under any res- tricrion unlawfully imposed by the governor, with Clear it is that he afterwards sent to Me. Sergeant but little more than a preamble tor the report 3 and thal portion Loo, priuci- pally consisted of paragraphs which, accoi+ ding to his own declaration, he contempla- ted adducing as material evidence on the above mentioned trial, This preamble aud these paragraphs undergoing amendments and alterations, were afterwards embodied in the report. It does not appear that tne porticn thus written by John Binns, nor i+ deed any portion of that report, was shew by any person to the governor. My. Scr zeant, indeed, in whose hands all the p= pers unon that subject were deposited hy the chairman of that committee, who al- fedged himself too unwell and too much engaged on othet business to devote his attention to the subject, most emphatically declares that he had no conversation or communication of any kind with the chic magistrate relative thereto, and that he never did shew him what had been wrii« alledged interference with a legisiative com-|'®0 and forwardeq by John Bions. 1 is mittee consist ? And 34. Was it aniile-{hotin proof Lat the governor BVEr: Con. gal luterierence, or such as can be denemi | ¥6¥sed With, ov in any manner Influenced, 2 gh crime or misdemeanor in| single member of the committee of inqui- ry. On the contrary, the: surmise is di. Every witness should be free from the] rectly repudiated by the evidence of gene operations. of favor, interest oF prejudice |8val William Marks, and colonel Freder- Upon tis esseatially depends his compet | 1k Eichelberger, members of that commits cncy or credit. To trust to a naked, un-{t€€i to the former of whom, owing to a corruboraied oath, taken by a man whose [Ong exisung friendship and intitaacy, the hostility is notorious and avowed, would|{%0vernor would, in all probability, have tend to put the happiness, property and rep- [Deen most likely to address himsclf, utation of individuals, at the mercy of un-{| Thos itresults that the alledged inter- principled enemizs. Too much caution|ferrence with the committee of inquiry ine therefore, canniol be exercised, in believing |to the conduct of the late state treasurer, htm whom declared animosity urges for |giving, for a moment, full credit to the ward, aud whose statements are unconfivm-| fierilous vath of John Binns, consists 1 by circumstances. naving barely wished an individual to draft It 1s well known 10 every member of thela report, without directing the mode in fegislature—it is well known throughout which it was to be done, without speaking the state and the union, that John Binns|to, or in any manner influencing, a single Las for many months ossailed, unceasingly,| member of the committee, and without, fi- in the columns of a daily newspaper, thelnally, being made acquainted with a single character and happiness of the chief mag-|syilable of the matter which constituted istrate : and it is also well known, that helthe report. But, arriving at the last point in which this subjectis 10 be cousidered, by what cxtraordinary process of refined logic can ‘tbe argued, admitting the witness to have deposed the truth, that the simple expres- sion of 2 wish from the governor, that a person wholly unconnected with the com- mitteey should draft the report, amounts to an illegal interferrence with legislative du« ties, Is corruption, and should be punished asacrime ? Was it not natural, was it not laudable, that the chiet magistrate should. desire that the anpbunciation of an innocence. of whichy it is presumed, he lek conscicusgy $ ess “eondinon” forsuch a petty consideration ! {With this unvarnished expodition of the affair ‘of captain Earl and Alexander Wilson, what juaprejudiced man will not unite in opinion with ‘thie comieiitee, that it unfolds no manner of guilt ut fault on the part of the governor ? Having thus disposed of all the CXpress Dy the peti- rocecd Lo in vestigate the remaining one, which was brought forward, without any previous no- lice, in the testimony of Jolin Binns. It is as [odows : : ¢« That the governor of this common wealth, during the L:gislature of 1817-18, did interfere with the proceedings of a com- tite appointed to enquirgt into his of cial conduct, while Treasurer of the state. In rejation to this subject, let us inquire, 1st, Is the fact satisfactorily established by credible evidence ? 20d In what does the office ? clamatory composition to raise the founda- tion of an impeachment, upon the very charges he now comes forward to substan- tiate. Such a witnéss cannot meet with the usual confidence. The human heart is conscious of is own frailty, and the human wteliect 1s aware how certainly an habitual indulgence of passion will warp its judg ments. Upon the present charge he stands lone, unaided by collateral evens, and op sosed by many probabilities. He speaks 00 in relation to casual and brief conver. ers, which on “ sha
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