4 certificate,' on ihe confidential files of one of
tho Executive Departments, they do not, in any
proper sense, become thereby public records.
They are never seen or examined by the ac
counting officers of the Treasury when they
fettle an account on the "President's certifi
cate." The first Congress of the United States,
on the 1st of July, 1790, passed an act " provi
ding the means of intercourse between the Uni
ted States and foreign nations," by which a
similar provision to that which now exists was
made for the settlement of such expenditures
as, in the judgment of the President, ought not
to be made public. This act was limited in its
duration. It was continued for a limited term
in 1793 ; and between that time and the date of
the act of May 1, 1810, which is now in force,
t'le same provision was revived and continued.
Expenditures were made and settled under
Presidential certificates, in pursuance of these
laws.
If the President may answer the present
call, he must answer similar calls for every
such expenditure of a confidential character,
made under every administration, in war and
in peace, from the organization of the Govern
ment to the present period. To break the seal
of confidence imposed by the law, and hereto
fore uniformly preserved, would be subverstre
of the very purpose for which the law was en
acted, and might be productive of the most dis
astiotis consequences. The expenditures of
his confidential character, it is believed, were
never before sought to be made public; and I
should sireatlv annrehend the conseauences of
establishing a precedent which would render ,
such disclosures hereafter inevitable.
1 am fully aware of the strong and correct
public feeling which exists throughout the
rountry against secresy of any kind in. the ad
ministration of the government, and especially
in reference to public expenditures; yet our for
eign negociations are wisely and properly con
fined to the knowledge of the executive during
their pendency. Our laws require the ac
counts of every particular expenditure to be
rendered and publicly settled at the treasury
Department. The single exception which ex
ists is, not that the amount embraced under
Presidents certificates shall be withheld from
the public but merely that the items of which
ihese are composed shall not be divulged, To
this extent and no farther, is secrecy observed.
The laudable vigilance of the people in re
gard to all the expenditures of the Government
as well as a sense of duty on the part of the
President, and a desire to retain the good opin
ion of his fellow citizens, will prevent any
sum expended from being accounted for by the
President's certificate, unless in cases ofurgent
necessity.-- Such certificates have therefore
been resorted to but seldom throughout our past
history.
For my own part, I have not caused any ac
count whatever to be settled on a presidential
certificate. I have had no occasion rendering
it necessary, in my judgment, to make such
a certificate; and it would be an extreme case
which would ever induce me to exercise this
m iii '
authority; yet if such a case should arise, n !
would be my duty to assume the responsibility
devolved on me by law.
During my administration, all expenditures .
for contingent expenses of foreign intercourse
in which the accounts have been closed have
been settled upon regular vouchers, as all oth-
er public accounts are settled at the Treasury.
It may be alleged that the power of impeach- j
ment belongs to the House of Representatives, '
and that with a view to the exercise of this ,
power, the House has the right to investigate ,
the conduct of all public officers under the
Government. This is checrfullyadmitted. In
such a case the safely of the Republic would
be the supreme law; and the power of the
House in the pursuit of this object would pene
trate into the most secret recesses of the Exe
cutive departments. It could command the at
tendance of any ajid every agent of the Gov
ernment, and compel them to produce all pa
pers, public or private, official or unofficial, and
to testify on oath to all facts within their
knowledge. But even in a case of that kind,
they would adopt all wise precautions to pre
vent the exposure of all such matters, the pub
lication of which might injuriously effect the I
public interest, except so far as this might be
necessary to accomplish the great ends of pub
lic justice. If the House of Representatives,
as the grand Inquest of the nation, should at
any time have reason to believe that there has
been malversation in office, by an improper
use or application of the public money by a
public officer, and should think proper to insti
tute an inquiry into the matter, all the archives
and papers of the Executive Departments, pub
lic or private, would be subject to the inspec
tion and control of a committee of their bod)',
and every facility in the power of the Execu
tive be afforded to enable them to prosecute
the investigation.
The experience of every nation on earth has
demonstrated that emergencies may arise in
which it becomes absolutely necessary for the
public safety or the public good, to make ex
penditures, the very object of which would be
defeated by publicity. Some Governments have
very laige amounts at their disposal, and have
made vastly greater expendituresthan the small
amounts which have from time to time been
accounted foron Presidents certificates. In no
nation is the application of such sums ever
made public. In time of war, or impending
danger, the situation of the country may make
it necessary to employ individuals for the pur
pose of obtaining information, or rendering oth
er important services, who could never be pre
vailed upon to act if they entertained the least
apprehension that their names or their'agcncy
would in any contingency be divulged. So it
may often become necessary to incur an ex-
penditure foran object highly useful to the
country; for example, the conclusion of a troaty4
with a barbarian power, whose customs require
on such occasions the use of presents; but this
object might be altogether defeated by the in
trigues of other powers, if our purposes were
to be made known by the exhibition of the ori
ginal papers and vouchers to the accounting
officers of the Treasury. It would be easy to
specify other cases which may occur in the
history of a great nation, in its intercourse
with other nations, wherein it might become
absolutely necessary to incur expenditures for
objects which could never be accomplished, if
it were suspected, in advance, that the items
of expenditure, and the agencies employed,
would be made public.
Actuated, undoubtedly, by considerations of
this kind, Congress provided such a fund, coe
val with the organization of the Governmeut,
and subsequently enacted the law of 1810, as
the permanent law of the land. While this
law exists in full force 1 feel bound, by a high
sense of public policy and "duty, to observe its
provisions, and the uniform practice of my pre
decessors under it. With great respect for the
House of Representatives, and an anxious de
sire to conform to their wishes, I am con
strained to come to this conclusion.
If Congress disapprove the policy of the
law, they may repeal its provisions.
In reply to that portion of the Resolution of
the House which calls for "copies of whatever
communications were made from tho Secreta
ry of Stale during the last session of the 27ih
Congress, particularly February, 1843, to Mr.
Cushing and Mr. Adams, members ol the bom
mittee of the House on Foreign Affairs, of the
wish of the President of the United States to
institute a special mission to Great Britain,"
I have to state that no such communications or
copies of them, are found in the Department
of State.
"Copies of all letters on the books of the De
partment of State to any officer of the United
States or to any person in New York, concer
ning AlexanderMcLeod," which arealso called
for by the resolution, are herewith communicated.-
JAMES K. POLK.
Washington, April 20th, 1846.
Secret Service Fnnd and Mr. Webster
The following are the closing paragraphs of
Mr. Webster's remarks in the Senate, on the
resolution offered-by Mr.- Jarnagin, calling on
the President for information relative to the
'Secret Service Fund:'
"And I here say, "Sir, that all declarations,
averments, statements or insinuations made
anywhere or by anybody, which impute per
version, misapplication or waste of the funds,
committed or made by me while Secretary of
Stale, are utterly groundless and untrue. And
I will conclude with one remark, the bear
ing of which I shall leave to the Senate and tho
country.
Whoever charges me with having either
misapplied or wasted the public funds, while
in the Department of State, has either seen the
Pal'b' t v tiaa cuing uuiui noj uutaiiiuu
knowledge on the subject, or he has not. If
he has seen no paperS an( has no knowledge,
then his imputations are purely wanton slande-
r0U3, f he has seen ,he papers, or has any
knowledge, then he would be sure to state
whal he knowa f he knows any th;n l0 sus.
tain him in hia char e Sllencet under such
c5rcumslancea is conclusiv. that he knows
nothing; because he is under no obligation of
secrecy, and, in absence of all other proof, he
would of course tell all he knew, if he knew
nnnnre iw hto in enma nthoF w t nhln rct
. t
any ihing which could, in the slightest degree,
bear him out. The charge, therefore, waseith
er made in utter ignorance .of any facts to sup
port it, or else wiih the knowledge that the facts
which exist would, if made known, entirely dis
prove it. As to the source of this miserable vi
tuperation. I have nothing to say. I am afraid
I shall be thought to have paid too much atten
tion to it already. Sir, 1 leave the author of
these slanders where he is I leave him in the
worst company 1 know of in the world---l
leave him with himself.
Tbe ZHormons.
We learn from the Nauvoo Eagle that all the
Mormon publications have been discontinued.
The archives and trappings of the church have
been removed, and are now on the way to Cali
fornia. The church (says the Eagle) has
ceased to exist, the "Twelve" have gone, and
with them the acting spirit of Mormonism.
Camp of Israel is the name which tho advance
company of Mormons have assumed. The la-
Inof qnrnnnlc f mm iftn m clnfo flint lliflt' li'ifl
, ., r , p , .
crossed the head waters of the Chariton.
They were travelling very slow, and their
siock was much reduced for want of food.
The trustees of the temple offer to lease it to
any religious society or literary institution. A
wealthy gentleman from the South, a bachelor,
far advanced in life, has gone to Nauvoo, to
purchase the temple, if it can be bought for a
reasonable price, and convert it into an A.sylum
for destitute widows and females, and io pur
chase lands and (own lots, and endow it out of
the results of them.
The Crops.
Tho Wheat crops at the Souih promise abun
dantly. The prospect for the Cotton crop is
not so favorable. In many paris of Georgia
the backwardness of the spring and the wet
ness of the soil have compelled replanting.
The Indian nnnulalion within the Stales and
tcrritorics-of tho United Stales, Including Orc-1
t-un, i t'&tiuraiud at ,350,0.00 "souls.
JEFFERSONIAN REPUBLICAN
Thursday, April 30, i16.
Terms, 2,00 in advance: $2,25, hiUrycsirly: and $2,00 if not
paid befoicthe end of the year.
(I?3 V. JS. PALMER, Esq. is the Agent for
this paper at his office of real estate and Country
Newspaper agency in Philadelphia, North-Wesl
corner of Third and Chestnut streets ; Tribune
buildings, Nassau St., N. Y.; South ICast corner
of Baltimore and Calvert sts., Baltimore, and No.
12, State street, Boston. Mr- Palmer will receive
and forward subscriptions and advertisements for
the Jeffersoniah Republican.
Messrs. MASON cj- TUTTLE, at 38 William
street, New York, are also our authorized Agents,
to receive and forward subscriptions and adver
tisements for the Republican.
Democratic Whig Candidate1.
FOR CANAL COMMISSIONER
JAMES M. POWER,
OF MERCER COUNTV.
2
fcf" A press of business has prevented us from
bestowing that attention to our editorial columns,
for this week and last week, which has been our
custom. Ve hope, however, to be able soon to
make up the deficiency. In our next we shall en
deavor to attend to all back matters, including the
unsettled account with our neighbor of the Pi ess.
LIGHTNING- TAMED !
Our citizens will please bear in mind that Dr.
Boynton lectures in the Court House, this evening,
on the subject of Electricity and Morse's Tele
graph. He has one of Morse's Machines, which
will be put in complete operation. Will explain
and exhibit Colt's Sub-Marine Battery, &c.
Doors open at half-past seven. Tickets 112 1-2
cents.
Restitution.
The following appears in the Harrisburg pa
pers: State Treasurer's Office, )
April 13, 1840. 5
I acknowledge the receipt of the following
letter with the enclosed amount slated, post
marked New Hope, April 11.
JAS. II. SNOWDEiW
copy.
"Dear Sir, Enclosed you will find $40,00,
being the sum and interest that I kept back from
the State, which does not belong to me. You
will therefore place it to the credit of the State.
The word of God tells me to restore that which
was illegally obtained. Yours truly,
CONSCIENCE."
State Central Committee.
At a meeting of the Whig State Central Com
mittee held at Harrisburg, on Saturday last, the
committee was permanently organized by the
election of J. P. Sanderson, Esq. as Chairman,
and James Fox, Esq., as Secretary. Afier
transacting some other business the xommittee
adjourned, to meet again at the call of the
Chairman.
The Trenton N. J. Gazette cautions the
public aginst receiving any of the notes of the
long since exploded State Bank of Trenton. It
says, we do so because a large number of
notes of the denomination of Is, 2s, 3s, to 10s,
20, &c, are in the hands of a greai many per
sons, which might easily be palmed off on the
unsuspecting.
C. J. Inoersoll, A Tory. In the course
j of the debate in the House of Representatives,
which sprung upon the attempt of Mr. C. J.
Ingersoll to extricate himself from ihe position
in which ho was placed by Mr. Webster, the
j following admission was made by Mr. Inger
soll. We give it because it has been denied
by his friends.
Mr. Dixon went on to vindicate Mr. Web-
slcr from the particular aspersions cast upon
hiin b Mr. In,,er8oli and Mr Yancey II
j designed to retori, and would ask first the grn-
tleman from Penna, if he had ever said i hat
-nau tie uvea in me days oi tne revolution neg0S C4 jIrsers 22 chaplains, 484 midship
would have been a Tory." . i i i . j ,
Mr. li.oersoll-"! d.dsay so." men' f,assed m'dsh'Pme". masler s d master'.
- ..., u .... m mt
The Potatoc Disease-
Tho accounts of Irish distress in the papers
arc heart rending. The Evening Post gives
ihe following extract of a letter from ihe Rev.
W. R. Townsend, recior of Aghadda, diocese
of Clyon. The communication is addressed to
a medical friend in N. Y. City: "In this part
of Ireland we are in a frightful state, the hum
bler classes all living on ihe contaminated po
tato. The sides of fields and gardens are liter
allg covered wiih roiten ones, thrown away.
The detail of desiruciion is endless, That em
ployment should be wanted for the people, while
one-third of Ireland is as much waste as the
WO(uIs fn Canada, and the resi badly cultivaicd,
not affording half laboris a strange anomaly."
r.,r. '-"-------- - ----m
ill IH'I i I I IIJu 'I 'ill mi i. i I
FOREIGN NEWS.
, Arrival of the Caledonia.
, " Sixteen Bays Later from England.
.., The steamer Caledonia, Capt. Lott reached
Boston on Monday the 20th inst., at 13 o'clock.
Her intelligence is sixteen days later than that
brought by the Unicorn, and will be found highly
interesting. . .
The Caledonia sailed from Liverpool on the 4th
inst. She brings Liverpool dates to the time of
sailing ; and from London to the 3d inst. inclusive,
having made the passage in 15i days.
The victories of the British arms in India and
the termination of the bloody war constitute the
chief interest of the news. The slaughter was
truly awful. The Oregon question stood as it did
at the dates brought by the Unicorn. We refei to
an article from the London Daily News, as con
taining all we have on that subject; about which
nothing further has been said in Parliament.
The British Tariff and the Irish Coercion divide
the attention of Parliament and the press. The
former had passed through its second stage in the
House of Commons by 88 majority, a diminution
of 9 votes. It is said to be uncertain wliPtl.pr tlir.
subsequent stages can be so accelerated as to launch
the bill into the House of Lords belore Parliament
adjourns for the Easter holidays. A strong oppo
sition to the measure had been organized by mem
bers of the House of Lords. But the Times ex
presses the opinion, that the Peers will pass the
Bill, " if it reach Mem." Its fate, according to that
Journal, in the Commons, is in great jeopardy.
From Willmcr i Smith's European Tunes.
Two Great Victories over the Sikhs
Termination of the War in India.
Since the dispatch of our paper by the " Uni
corn' our advices from Bombay inform of two
more great battles having been fought in India,
between the British and Sikh armies, both termi
nating in decisive -victory to the former. The first
was under the command of Sir H. Smith, and the
latter Sir Hugh Gough, which was, perhaps, one
of the most bloody on record. In Sir II. Smith's
battle, the whole army of the enemy has been driv
en headlong over the difficult ford of a broad riv
er; his camp, cannon (5G pieces), baggage, stores
of ammunition and of grain his ail, in fact, wrest
ed from him by the repeated charges of cavalry
and infantry ; and in that of Sir Hugh Cough's,
the Sikhs lost 12,000 men and G5 pieces of artil
lery. The English had 300 men killed, 13 of
whom were officers, and 2,500 wounded, of whom
101 were officers. Her Majesty's 53d and 62d
regiments suffered enormously. General Dicke
and Brigadier Taylor are among the dead.
The action commenced in the morning, and the
work of destruction had closed by 11 o'clock in
the forenoon. Sir Hugh. Gough's account of this
battle proves it to have been, while it lasted, one
of the most terrific on record. Unlike the able
manoeuvering of Sir II Smith, this affair 3eems to
i have owed its success to the daring intrepidity of
0Ur men, who stormed the enemy's entrenchments,
bayonet in hand, defended, as thoy were, by 30,
000 Sikhs and 70 pieces of arti'lery. The slaugh
ter was immense, for our troops braved the ene
my's fire by reserving their shot until they got
within his entrenchments. The action termina
ted in the complete rout of the enemy, the capture
of his guns, and the loss of his camp and baggage.
An awful sacrifice of life took place on the Sutlej,
in attemping to cross which, our troops mowed
down thousands of the flying foe, and tfiose who
escaped the fire were drowned in the stream.
This victory has put -the finishing stroke to the
war. It has brought the Sikhs to their knees
and they are now humble supplicants for mercy
and forbearance. They have agreed to pay a Mil
lion and a Half sterling, in the course of four
years, toward the expenses of the war, the pay
ment to be enforced by the occupation of Lahore.
Warlike Preparations. The greatest activity
continues in all the dock yards in England, and
the recruiting for the army is still going on with
great spirit. 6000 soldiers were ordered to India,
3000 of which to proceed by the overland mail
route. It is now stated that that order will be re-
iscinded. There is a rumor current that nn addi
tional number will proceed to Canada.
The R'avy of the United States.
It appears by the Naval Register of 1846,
that the naval force of the United Slates con
sists of eleven ships of the line, one razee,
twelve first class frigates, two second class
frigates, twenty-ihree sloops of war, eight brigs
nine war steamships and four store ships.
There are G7 captains, 97 commanders, 326
lieutenants, 134 surgeons and assistant sur
males, besides petty officers. There is one
colonel of marines, 1 lieutenant colonel, 4 ma-
jors, 12 captains, aud 40 lieuicnants. There
are also G7 engineers and assistant engineers,
1 6 naval consiructors, 8 store keepers and 15
navy agents.
The London Times, under date of the 9th,
proclaims that if the United Slates should dis
cover during ihe year, any hostile intents "by
voles of money, aud warlike preparations, the
British Government will not wait to be attached."
Population of the United States. Es
timating the increase ai three per cent, per an
num on tha .census of 1840, the population of
ihe Unwed Slates" will 'amount lo 20;140,370,
on: ihcl'it of Jtinc, 1 8 4Gf
tO.-i .-.
il II RJtlJ
Gen. Taylor and his Position.
The New Orleans Delta of ihe laiest dates
contradicts the rumor that a battle had been
fought by Gen. Taylor and the Mexicans, and
says: The whole story has probably oriin
ated from the fact that Gen. Taylor appeared
before Matamoras, and afterwards moved to
the camp between Matamoras and Point Isabel
which he had selected before the movement
from Corpus Christi. There is bui one road
from San Patricio to the Rio Grande. That
road leads to a point opposite Matamoras; an
other road leads thence to Point Isabel or the
Brassos Si. Iago, ihe port of iMatamoras, to
which place all the supplies of the American
army had been directed. The position of Gen.
Taylor is upon the latter road, near his port
of supplies, and in order to reach it he was ne
cessarily obliged to pass Matamoras, and hU
advance lo his point of destination has been
represented as a retreat. From this movement,
we believe, all ihese rumors have risen. Wo
have no news of any battle, and we never ex
pect to have any of a defeat. The present po
jinon of General Taylor, if he be where he nt
ended to go, is one of ihe best that could pos
sibly be taken it commands the upper and
ower ferry; it preserves the communication be
ween ihe army and the Gulf, the only source
f supply; and while it enables the General io
ac
t on the offensive whenever he thinks propur,
e cannot be attacked even by a superior force
ith any prospect of being beaten. Taylor,
Worth and Twigs have been fighting Iuduiis
too long io be caught in ar trap."
A letter from Washington to the N Y. S in,
says: " Mr. Slidell, our late minister io Mex
co, has sent despatches to Washington. Al
though Gen. Ampudia has been direcied not to
commence hostilities, yet Gen. Paredes being
aware lhai his position is very insecure, may
secretly instruct the commander of ih troops,
now on their way to Matamoras, to open a lire
on the American camp, within a short distance.
n hopes that after a blow has been struck, ihe
people may with more unanimity rally round
his administration. He set out with so much
hostility to this country, that he is I think un
willingly compelled to keep up appearances.
fhere will be some 7000 or 8000 troops short
ly in the neighborhood of Matamoras, and it is
expedient to increase our strength by a few
batalhons."
Death of Governor Fenner.
The Hon. James Fenner, for many years
Governor of Rhode Island, died on Friday ihe
17th inst, at his residence in Providence.
Gov. Fenner was highly estcemad for the firm
ness of hfs character, and his high principled
integrity. He was in tho 77th year of his
age.
DB.G-. BENJ. SMITH'S
PILLS SUGAR COATED ARE THE VE
ry best and most pleasant remedy known for the
permanent cure of coughs, colds, headache, indi
gestion, and all derangements of the stomach and
liver, impurities of the blood, piles, worms, all bil
ious complaints, and obstructions of all kinds.
Thousands upon thousands have experienced the
truth of the above, and from their recommenda
tions thousands more are making the successful
experiment in all parts of the country where these
Pills are so deservedly popular. I am so confi
dent of their entire efficacy in all the above cases,
that I will bind myself to charge nothing if the
pills do not perform a cure. One thing remember,
the genuine " Improved Indian Vegetable Sugar
Coated Pills," have G. BENJ. SMITH written
on the bottom of each box. Office 179 Greenwich
street, large brick block. Also sold by Ilushton
& Co. 110 Broadway and Guion, Bowery, corner
Grand st. G. BENJ. SMITH.
Agents in Monroe Co.
Schoch & Spering, Stroudsburg.
R. Huston & Co. do.
Jno. Marsh 4' Co. Fennersville.
N. B. Beware of frauds, an infamous scamp
having attempted an imitation.
February 12, 1846. tf.
Jfotice.
The subscriber wishes to inform the ciiizens
of Stroudsburg and the public generally thai
he has removed his
Flour ant! Feed Store
to the building formerly occupied by Win Ur
ferty, opposite J. J. Postons' Hotel, wheie U
will sell cheap for Cash. He has also an as
sortment of refined
BAR IRON,
consisting of square, scollop, and horse shoo
hfirs? wacrnn ivrfl nf all sizna? saw slabs. Cf0v
bars, sledge and plough moulds, and a general
assortment of round iron of different sizes, and
American spring and cast steel, constantly 011
hand and will be sold cheap for cash or ap
proved credit by
Wm. WALLACE.
Grain and Pork taken in exchange for If0
April 16, 184G. "