The Augusta chronicle and gazette of the state. (Augusta [Ga.]) 1789-1806, May 29, 1802, Image 1

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SATURDAY, May 29,1802. THE AUGUSTA CHRONIC AND GAZETTE OF THE STATE CV. — : ■■ ' - —— *■> ■■ ■ -- FREEDOM of the PRESS asd TRIAL bt JURY shall remain inviolate. ConJUtution of Gt AaJ „ AUGUSTA: Printed by JOHN E. SMITH, near the market. £3 Dolls, per Annum.J GEORGIA. ;,N' his Excellency JOSIAH TATT NALL, iun. Governor ani Comman der in Chief of the Anfiy and Navy cf this State, and of the Militia there ■ 4 "J 9 A Proclamation. the conrtitution of this * ftacc provides that the governor L«av, on extraordinary occasions, con vene the legiflamre thereof. AND WHEREAS an oecafion exists | Jf convening the legiflaturc, and matters’ importance claim their conlideration : I Have therefore thought fit to con vene, and do by this iny Proclamation convene the legislature of this state at Louifrillc, rhe fear of Government, on Thursday the tenth day of June next ; licreby requiring the Senators and Repre fentarives, and every of them, to then and there meet and affembie, in order to fake into their conuderation the important matters which relate to their convention. GIVEN under my hand and the great f, al of the State, at the State- Uotj'e in Lcufville, this \c,th day of May *7 the year of our LORD eighteen hundred and tvoo, and of the Inde pendence es the United States of A merica the twenty-fxth. J O3l AH TATTNALL, jun. By the Governor, Horatio Marburj* Scc’rj. GOD SAVE tAe STATE* =-=*=:==== From the National Intelligencer, REPORT. The Comm;ttee*app ointed “ to enquire ani report whether monies drawn from the Treasury have been faithfully applied to the objefts for which they were ap propriated, and whether the fame have been regularly accounted ferr; and to report likewfe whether any fur ther arrangements are necessary to pro nine economy, enforce adherence to le gijlative rejlriftions, and secure the accountability of psrfons entrujlcd with public money," submit THE FOLLOWING REPORT In order to afeenam generally in what manner, and under what check, monies were drawn Irom the trealury of the ki nked States, and were afterwards expend ed and accounted for, the committee ap plied to the Secretary of the Treasury, lhting the fevered objects to which they intended to direst their enquiry ; his an i'wers under date of the fecund March, and the 9 I 10; April, are annexed to this report; co which, as well as the state ments of the accountants of the war and Levy departments, on the fame fubjeft, thev beg ieave to refer. The committee deem it fuffieient to Hate here, that all public monies are drawn turn the treasury in virtue of war raats fiFiled by the Secretary of the Trea sury and counterfigric-d by the comotrel let, and are paid to the officers or agents to whom the fame are due, or who are trot ruffed with their application ; or when relating to the war or navy departments, they are placed in the hands of the trea urer, as agent for those departments, who ikourfcs them on warrants drawn by the ecrvtarv of the department, and coun teriigficd by the refueftivc accountants. For the general conliruftion heretofore Nven by the treasury departments to the Vinous appropriation Jaws, the committee ■- t r 0 t ;- c communication made to them v f hc Secretary of the Treasury on the •3 March, and more particularly for the endruction given to the annual appro priations tor thr- fepport of the navy and rniy refpcdivciy, they refer to a report lade by the rate Secretary of the Trea ts’)' or the day of May, t.:.e thou tud Even hundred and to the lomrr.ittee of Ways and Means. I'tom f’h of these it appeals ilia: the mpropri- ! tor the arit.v w;d va. y iftprttive :» have.been confidercd rouitituinig w bed. far et ch of the*'* ob- i je<fls, although in mod of the laws mak ing appropriations a variety of heads of expenditure were diftinftly fpecified. If the general conftruftion be corrcft, it may perhaps be find that in most inflances mo nies have been drawn from the treasury in the manner prescribed by law. Some ir regularities are stated to have occurred, where monies have been advanced upon the Ample application of the Secretary of the Treasury by letter, without the for mality of a warrant, and sometimes even without a previous appropriation, but in these cases the irregularity has been after wards covered by subsequent warrants and appropriations, and the committee do not difeover that it has been productive of a ny injurious consequence to the United States. The Secretary of the Treasury, in his communication of the second day of March, having expressed a doubt whether l the monies advanced on account of the removal of the feat of government from Philadelphia to Washington had been au thorized by any previous law, the com mittee directed their attention to that object, and now offer the result. I'he law eftablifliing the permanent and temporary feat of government (pall ed on the 16th of June, in the year se venteen hundred and ninety,) provided, “ that all officers attached to the fear of government (hould be removed to this ddtrift on the firll day of December, in the year one thousand eight hundred, by their refpeftive holders,” and declared that the ncccffary expence of such remo val should be defrayed cut of the duties on import and tonnage. This appropri tion is indefinite in its nature and perhaps feme contrariety of opinion may exist as to the extent of the expends it was in tended to cover; but the committee con ceive that a drift adherence to the letter of the law, would coniine the appropria tion to the cxpcnces actually incurred in removing the books, papers, records and furniture of the refpeftive offices. From the document (marked G) hereto annexed, it appears, that the sum of 15,293 dol lars and twenty-three cents were paid for the transportation of the books, papers, records and furniture of the several offi ces, and the furniture of the Presi dent; and the sum of 32,872 dollars and thirty-four cents for cxpcnces incurred by the officers and clerks for the removal of themselves and families. In general the vouchers produced in support of those lart mentioned expcnces are the stated ac counts and the declarations of the officers and clerks, to whom the fame were al lowed. Transcripts of the accounts of the officers only are annexed, those of the clerks being too numerous to be detailed. From these accounts (which are marked g 1, to g 12, inclusive) it will be fecn that the charges consist of travelling ex pences, losses on the file of articles thought too inconvenient to remove, packing, breakage and transportation of furniture, house rent in Philadelphia, and extra expences after their arrival at the city of Walhington. As all the officers and clerks were, at the time, in the ser vice and pay of the government, and re ceived the full amount of their falarics, exclusively of these extraordinary allowan ces, and as the aft of June, 1790, pro vided only for defraying the expences in cident to the removal of the offices, the committee are of opinion that this sum of 32,872 dollars ar.d 34 cents was drawn trom the treasury and expended without any legil authority. The manner in which monies drawn from the treasury under previous appro priations have been afterwards applied, presents a fubjeft oi enquiry of more dif ficult v and importance. 'l"hc expen cs in relation to the civil lift, being chiefly for fabrics, are not otherwise liable to abaft, than in cases where monies advanced to agents have i not been applied to the objects lor which the advance was made, and have not been afterwards regularly accounted fcr.—A j mm est the fuberdinate agents to w hom GEORGIA monies have been advanced for miscella neous objefts, of a civil nature, some ap pear to be delinquents, and some not to have rendered their accounts, as will be seen by a reference to the document marked D, herewith reported. The monies ncceflary to defray the ex pences incident to the intercourse w’ith foreign nations, have, till lately, been paid to the Secretary of State, who used to dilbarfe the fame. The accounts of Messrs. Jefferfon, Marshall and Madison, who have, at various periods, filled that appointment, have been fettled, and no balance is due thereon. A suit not yet decided, has been instituted against Mr. Randolph, formerly secretary of state, for a balance unaccounted for by him. The accounts of Mr. Pickering are not yet finally fettled. He remains charged with a sum of 3,333 dollars and 20 cents, er roneouily paid by him for the freight of a vcffel supposed to have been employed by the coniul at Tripoli, and with another sum of 3,239 dollars and 50 cents, be ing the balance of an advance made to Sa muel Hodgdon, for the purpose of being remitted to Mr. Humphreys, at Madrid, in part of his salary, which Mr. Hum phreys did not receive. Both these sums it is believed may, and will be recovered from the persons to whom they were re fpeftively advanced. But the principal reason which appears to have prevented an ultimate settlement with him, arises fro n the citjcumflance of his not having applied the whole of the money drawn by him from the treasury, to the fpccific ob jefts for which it was appropriated by law. bor the extent and result of this misappli cation, the committee refer to the state ment (marked C) accompanying the com munication of the Secretary of the Trea sury, under date of the 2d of March. From this statement it appears, that Mr. Pickering drew from the treasury under the appropriations made u for defraying the expences incident to the intercourse with foreign nations, for negociating treaties with the Barbary powers, and for the contingent expences of government,” the sum oi 63,999 dollars and 57 cents more than he applied to those several ob jefts, which, together with the sum of 14,588 dollars and 54 ccnt6 gained by him on the purchase of bills of exchange for the use of the government, form an aggregate of 78,588 dollars and 11 cents, 'I he fame statement (C) will {hew that the whole of this sum was expended by him on objefts of a public nature (as far as the committee can afeertain the faft,} but this expenditure having been iriaile from appropriations designed for other objefts by law, the iniftmplication of the money has prevented the comptroller of the treasury from fettlinghis accounts. Although the committee will not fay there are no cases in which a public offi cer would be j unified in applying monies appropriated to one object, to expendi tures on another, yet they are of opinion that in every deviation the necessity for the application ought to be for some ob vious benefit to the Uniied States, and in every such case, a disclosure .hereof to congress ought to be made, at the next feuion which should immediately thereaf ter cnfuc. The monies which have been advanced to the several ftcretakes of fiate, hate been remitted by them principally to mi nisters, eonfals and other agents abroad, whose accounts are not yet rendered, (al though many or them are of an old dan) and the committee cant-o; fa}* how, or in what manner, the money h_s been ex pended. The advances receffurv for defraying the expenses of >’uc military and naval cftabliihmcnts verc ormerly made in pjrt to individuals vvh a have accturned diteft. ly with rh;t department; but ftr.ee the law of the 16 I1 of July 1798, ti e whole of the ir-mics have been paid to the trea- f firvr nsagent for these two departments, and hp'c uc n fuhjcft to the diaf.s of the ! rcfpe U.x fc:rc:a:i;s. The letter of the i [Vet. XVI secretary of the t the ninth of Apri nied by sundry a A i, to A 9, in the Itatements of (marked E, e 1, e tively) herewith r amount advanced, unaccounted for, From these it appeal day of January 179 year 1801, the ad treasury on account mcnt, have amounteu sum in the hands of u\ 846,963 dollars 29-iodl Os which there have been paid to individuals who have accounted with, or are accountable to the treasury, a sum of . 11390,238 23 And there have been paid by virtue of the warrants of the secretary of war, . or to individuals accoun table to the war depart ment, the sum of 8,456,72; 7 Making an aggregate equal to the above sum of 9,846,963 29 to which is to be added a balance remaining unac counted for, oa the books of the accountant, on the jtt January, 1797, 1,756,1913® Making in the whole a sum chargeable to the war de partment, from the year 1797 to 1801 (both in clusive) of 19,213,1 r 6 46 Ot which the accountant has fettled and rendered to the treasury, accounts to the amount of 6,335,923 dollars and 5 3 cents; leaving a balance of 3,877,192 dollar* and 50 cents unaccounted for, or not yet fettled. The monies advanced to the navy department, from its eftablilhment in 1798, to the 31 ft March, 18oi,exclufiveof the sum paid by the treaf-iry to individuals, amount to 91931,313 Ji Os which sum, accounts have been fettled by the accountant and rendered to the treasury, to the a mou.nt<>f 5,810,661 98 Leaving an unaccounted for or unsettled balance of 4,170,651 75 Dollars. 9,981,313 73 These sums differ in amount, nominal ly, from thofc contained in the statement annexed to the letter of the secretary of the treasury, of the 2d of March, but the deference is explained, and the aftua! amount proved to be the fame in the let ter, and itatements of the 9th of April. The itatemenrs of the accountants, al though they exhibit balances apparently unaccounted for, to a large amount, will like wile shew that accounts have been rendered for a considerable portion, which, arc in a train of fetdement but not final!'- closed. J 1 he late hour at which the voluminous, documents accompanying this report were, received by the committee, (upon the 9th. of April,) and the labour necefTary to in veiiigate luch a ixufs of at counts, and of advances unaccounted tor, particularly in I he war and navy departments, embracing an expenditure of 20 millions or dollars, have rendered it impolfi'ole for the commit tee. con intently with their attention to their other duties, to form an opinion to the manner in which this sum has been expended. Hut »rom the partial view which they have taken, they beg leave to prefert fomc facts and principles which they believe to be worthy of notice efton grefs. Tr.are are two previous requires w'" -’1 .re ntvcft.iry to juflify the expeu -01 pu..»; money, and without ::■* *.rg.. . e can be made; -i-o d.at v.'rc i:: the object