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Vol VII. 1 ©arien <oascrte | EDITED AjYD tubushed Bt BY ■H-VS. F. GRANDISON. § {ON THE BAY) ft g 5 annum, payable in advance. s^Bl* l ** * ssMmimSK ‘ V l " m ” ‘**’ fth.OUN rs OF THE LA I E PRESIDENT | I J{oue of Representatives, 1 7th Jan. 1825. ftSiRJ I have lhe honor to transmit, |H c iosed, a copy of an order of the jft )U se of Representatives, on the Ist Hunt, and I am directed by the Com ftt te appointed in pursuance of it, to fftorm the President that they are rea §■ t 0 receive such communications and ftid-ince as lie shall think proper to Htnnit to them, in any manner that may H most agreeable to him. Hi am, with very great respect, ■ yours, See. I S. D. INGHAM. rHThe President of the U. States. I Washington, Fctf. 1, 1825. ■ Sir: It being intimated to me that ■would be agreeable to the Commit ■e to receive a statement, in detail, of But I conceive to be the amount of Bv just claims I have prepared, and | 'Hiewilh transmit it to you. B\Vith great respect, I am, I your very obedient servant, fl JAMES MONROE. ■lt is known that I have been em jßnred in two missions to Europe, the to France, w hich commenced in me second to France, Spain, and fliui Britain, which commenced in and that about eight years were itßvoled to those Missions. It is known, that I was called into the Depart- of State in April, .and have re Billed in the Administration since, in Bi Department, in the Depai mcin ■War, and in-this high trust. I men- Bitliese instances of the public confi flice, because they ate seveialiy jßught in view, and are connected flh the claims under consideration. B\s I think mat justice has been vvith- Bd from me, in several instances, in ffti Missions, I will commence with Hirst, that to France, in 1794, in fi there were two examples of a ■iked character The first consists ■1 premature suspension of mv com- in that Mission. It will b Bn, bv the public documents, that I B'c< ailed from it, without any pievi ■ a >tic.e, aind that my pay was sus ■d ion the 6tJi December, 1796, the B on which I received my letter of Bill, uul when it was impossible for Bin leave the country, without expos ■my family to the dangers of vvin voyage. The fact is, that I did Hand could not leave France, before ■ 20th of April following, during Belt tirt.e no allowance wnatever was ■tie to me. Had I resigned, or ask ißnv recall, the period at which it (Bild have taken effect, would have n arranged in a manner to guard inst suen inconvenience and loss.— o.ilcl, doubtless, have been postpon ed the Spring, the lime when I did . It is unjust that my recall should rale in such manner, as to take from the compensation allowed tp the ision, for the term during which I Id not sail. No other example of kind exists, so that the case depends j its own circumstances, without the j of precedents.* I believe the sact’ >e, that, had I been willing to have i ountered a winter’s passage, with family, I could not have procured essel to bring us home. Our com rce with France was then much in rupted by British blockades, as well French restrictions. Documents, wing the difficulty of obtaining a isage from France at that season, are tched to these remarks. They are m characters of great respectability, o tvere present at the time, engag-‘ in commerce, and well acquainted ill the state of affairs. The allowance made to me for con gent disbursements in that Mission, ntolher instance of the kind in ques i. It bears, manifestly, no proper lt is believed that, in some instances, un particular circumstances. Ministers c been permitted to receive their corn nation, like other officers of the Govern it, on return visits, during their absences, while at home. Any decisions, which ay have made since I came into the Ad. “stration, under’ the admonition of my ’ experience, will not be considered as dicable to my claims. Reference will, of ‘se, be had qply to the decisions which ’* made by my predecessors, DARIEN mSfel GAZETTE. - .. ..... DARIEN, (GEORGIA,) tgquai anil <£ract justice.- TUESDAY, MARCH 29 1825. tion to the amount expended, nor does it include all the inevitable and autho rized objects of expenditure. It is con fined to three items only. Ist. News papers sent to the Department of State for two years of the time, amounting to 70 livers; 2d. Fora flag presented to the National Convention, amounting to 200 iiveis; and 3d. For p stage of let ters for the same term, amounting to 340 livers; making in the whole 110 dollars. No allowance was made to me for stationary ot newspapers for the Legation, for usual presents, and other contingencies; and, what equally de serves attention is, that the allownnce made for the articles specified, was con fined to a portion of my service only, none having been made for five mouths of the term during Which I Remained in office, not to mention the subsequent space which intervened befqpe I sailed, and during which I was necessarily exposed to similar expenditures, to a certain extent, incident to the Mission which had ceased. If If this allowance tome for contin gent expenses be compased with that to other Ministers in Foreign Missions, its inadequacy will be apparent. An official statement from the Accounting Department of the Government, here with presented, shows the allowances which have been made in all other in stances, from the commencement of the Government to the piesent time. By comparing those allowances with that made to me, you will be enabled to decide on the justice of the latter.— It will be recollected that, eluting the Mission, I was always at my post, the epoch being peculiarly interesting,and its ordinary duties very heavy; that my correspondence, owing 10 the frequent seizure of vessels, was extensive, and that the aid I was occasionally call ed on to afford to our citizens, at a time of such general distress, was considers ble. I will enumerate one instance of such aid, it being to a c itizen who bad rendered important service in our Re volution. It was to Thomas Paine On my arrival in Paris, in 1794, I found him in prison, from which he was dis charged on my application. He was without resource. I took him to my bouse, and supplied him for a year and a half, with every necessary. I fur nished him, also, with money, of which about 250 Louis remained unpaid, when I left France, and have never since been paid. That I also exerted my mmost abilities to obtain the liberation of Madam Lafayette, who was then confined in prison, and advanced her money, aflei her release, foi her im mediate accommodation, and to carry her to the relief of her husband, the il lustrious friend of human rights, who was then immured in the prison of Ol mutz, will likewise be shown by my coirespondence with the Department of State, of that epoch. For these ad vances to her I was afterwards repaid by the Government. For those to Thomas Paine, no claim was ever pre sented on my part, nor is any indemni ty now desired. My account for this Mission tied in my absence by my friend Mr. Dawson, and a general idea of my in structions to him, as the conditions of the settlement, is all that I can rejol-, lect respecting it, which were, in con sideration of my then relation to the Administration, and the difficulties I | had to encounter, to mike none as to ; money. Other cares and duties then pressed on me, compared with which, money weighed as nothing, in the op posite scale. ~ In my second Mission, the instances in which I thought that justice had been withheld from me, were more nu merous. The first to which I will in vite your attention, relates to an outfit in the special Mission to France. None was allowed me at the time of my ap - pointmer.t, as had beers to all other Mi , nisters, nor until after my return, when, ;on the settlement of my account in j 1810, tlie’heavy losses which I had sus tained, were made apparent. The difference between the allowance at ithe one, and at the other period, can i not be fairly estimated, by the mere interest of the money for the term dur- which it was withheld. In few in stances, and even under the most favo rable circumstances, can a settlement on this principle, indemnify the party from whom such sum is withheld, —*! In none ran the withholding it operate more injuriously than to one of our Foieign Ministers, who leaves his coun- I try in haste, and his piivate concerns, unsettled, and is thrown into heavy ex penses abroad, in the discharge of his public duties. In my instance, the effect was the mdft sensibly felt, in consequence of the losses which I had sustained in my lormer Mission, from which, being taken from home, short ly after my return, by the consoling confidence reposed in me by my native state, I had not recovered. That the motive for not allowing the outfit, at the time of my appointment, was pat riotic and just, isjfrell known. It was founded in a beliefjthat our intercourse with Foreign Powers might be main tained on a proper basis, without mak ing such allowance to such Missions. Had not that belief existed, well satis fied I.am, that the experiment would not have been made. The high confi dence reposed in me by the President, by the very important Missions to which I was called, as well as by the manner of the call, without consul ting me, is a full proof that it was made in my instance, with regret. Bui I wanted no such proof, having receiv ed many others from him in early life, which have been continued since,’ through a long ootirse of public ser vice together, and of private inter course, which 1 seize this occasion to acknowledge. The second instance, though ot infe rior moment, nevertheless deserves at tention, because every sum, however trifling, was felt at that timers Being in formed, when iny appointment was communicated to me, that I must has ten my departure, a passage was taken fair myself and family, by my friend Mr. Knox, at New-York, in a vessel just ready to sail. My instructions for the Mission, however, were not prepar ed in time* and, in consequence, she sailed without me. For this disap pointment, the owner of the vessel claimed an adequate compensation, which was paid, and for which no al lowance w<ts made me. This item was casually omiltedfwhen the account was settled. 1 he allowance made to me for con tingent expenses in the Mission to Great Britain, is the next item of which I have complained. In presenting the account for that Mission, I regulated it as to this item, by the amount which had been allowed'to Mr. King fora like term,* to the same Government, and under a firm behet that it was just ly due to me. A less sum, however, by 82,000 wasallowed only. It is pro per to remark, that the claim was not rejected, but, observing some hesita tion in the then Secretary of State, re specting the vouchers, and being re solved to settle the account, I struck from it that sum of my own accord, and not at his instance. On the con trary, I thought by the sensibility which he manifested, that he was hurt by the occurrence. For contingent expenses, especially in the heaviest item, that of postage, vouchers are seldom taken, more particularly by a public Minister, who has.go many duties to attend to.— The disbursement is generally made by servants. Tite amount must, there fore, be judged of by circumstances, and hence, it was presumed, that a bet ter criterion, could not be adopted than that on which I relied, the allowance which had been already made, for like expences, for the same term, to a Mi nister to the same Government. The Bth item of my account in this my second Mission to Europe, is the last which I shall submit to your consi deration. This claim is for an adequate allowance for expenses incurred in England in 1805, 6, and 7, after my re turn from Spain, when I was permit ted to return home, and should have sailed immediately, had I not been pre vented by a series of important events, whicn succeeded each other, at short intervals, and detained me there two years and four months. The causes both of detention and increased expense, were explained in documents which were presented to the proper depart ments with the account. It may not, however, be impropet to advert to them concisely in this paper. The first cause of detention was the seizure and condemnation of our vessels on the principle of the order of 6th No * The statement of the allowance made to Mr. King for contingencies, made when my account was presented for settlement in 1810 on the representation of the Accounting De partment at that time. It has suggested, lately, that some items included in that state ment, ought not to be comprised under that head. If so, that will of course be consider ed vember, 1793, which took place at the moment of my return to England from Spain, in July, 1805. I considered it my duty to remonst-ate against that measure in the strongest terms that I could use, and in the hope of produ cing a change of policy in the British government, in time to enable me to sail for the United Stales during the favorable season. In this I as disap pointed. No decisive answer was given, although it had been repeatedly pro mised and in consequence, it was in cumbent on me to remain at my post, to watch the movement, and continue the pressure. t This detained me through the winter. The special mis sion in which I was associated with Mr. .-Pinkney, formed the second.— This took effect in, 1806, and oc cupied 113, by its various duties, until peake formed the third. As the sta tionary Minister, it was enjoined on me to demand reparation- for the outrage 1 which I did, and by means whereof, ! and the conespondence which ensued, | I was detained there several months j longer. Thus, instead of sailing lVom F.ngland for the United States in a; few weeks, after my returning, from 1 Spain, in July, 1805, it was rendered impossible for me, by these ocrunen- J ves, to.leave ihe country until No> em- ; ber, 1807, a term of two years and four months. An increased expense was the neces sary consequence of a detention under such circumstances. Earnestly wish ing to return home, and expecting to do it soon through the whole of this in terval, all my arrangements were made with a view to that object. I took a furnished house, in the first instance, by thd week, and afteiwards by the months and at double prices; hired ser vant sjhorses, See. for like terns; See. from the merchants paying the duties which might and would have been expected, nad I anti cipated so long a detention. To these expenses the special mission added con siderably, as may readily be concejved. I was, infact, exposed to all the expen ses of a special mission, and, having my family with me, which is not usual in such missions, on the most expen sive scale. I was, also, subjected to the further disadvantage of having my expenses as the Stationary Minister, much augmented by the special mis sion, the duties of hospitality, (tom which the latter is always exempted, devolving on me, or rather the obliga tion to return the attentions w hich we received, from those with whom we had political relations and intercourse, and which the national honor required that I should return, It will be seen by the documents re ferred to, that this item of that account the equity of which wa.s admitted, as I understood,-was reserved lor further consideration, by the special order of the President. The Secretary of Stale proposed to me, then, in conference, that I should write to him a letter on that item, on my return home, which I did, bearing dale on the 6th Decem ber, 1810. To that letter, with my ob servations on the whole account, which I presented with it, and the order of the President for the suspension of this item I beg particularly to refer. To have a full view of the whole subject, it may be useful for you to recur to a decision which I made in , on a reference to me by the Accounting Officers of the Treasury, of the claims of Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay, in which I examined all the pretedents, as to salaries and outfits, which had been al lowed to our ministers in Europe, from the commencement of our gov ernment until that day. Through the whole of this my se cond mission, in which I was employ ed nearly five years, and to three pow ers, France, Spain, and Great Britain, I was exposed, by the nature of my du ties, and the force of circumstances, to the greatest expense to which any mis sion can be subjected. My first ap pointment was as Envoy Extraordinary to Franee and Spain, in which I was as sociated with the Minister Plenipoten tiary of the United States, to each pow er, with Mr. Levingston at Paris, and Mr. Pinkney at Madrid. Wfth the notice of my appointment, it was inti mated that my absence might be long, and, in consequence, I took my family with me. I repaired first to France, and the object with that government having been accomplished, and Mr. King, Minister ai London, having re- signed, I was appointed to Gieat Bri tain, with an order, to be prepared to proceed to Spain, whenever the state of affairs might justify it. I went to England in July, 1803, and remained theie till October, 1804, when I tecei ved the ordei to pioceed to Spain, and to take paris in my route, to obtain ot ihe ot the French Government, in the ne gotiation with Spain. The mission to Spain occupied ten months, at the ex piration of which, I returned to Lon don in ihe expectation of sailing 1 hence in a lew weeks tor the United Slates, but where 1 was detained two years and tour monins, by the causes above recited. ‘1 nus I was exposed to all the expenses of a special mission, from the commencement of my setvite to its let ruination, and having my family with me on the most expensive scalej j for even while I was in England, before 1 went to Sain, expecting the order to proct ed thither,anct intending to -ail for | ihe United Slates, soon after that mis : sion should cease, I could make no ar ! rangement, such as Siationiaty Minis -1 leis make, with a view to a residence for bevcial years. The same siau of ; things occurred, afer my return font | Spain, and which lasted more tnana yeai before the special mission, in | which I was associated with Mr \Vm. Pinkney, took effect -a longer teim than is usually employed in such mis sions. The special mission afterwards occurred, and next the attack on the Chesapeake, by w hich I was detained more than a year longer. I memion these circumstances, because it will be impossible to form a just estimate of the claim piesented in the Bth item of 1 this my second mission to Europe, or indeed ot the other items of that mis ion, submitted to your consideration, with out a correct knowledge of them It may not be isnpteper, indeed it | belongsio the subject, to observe, that the epoch referred to was, in the high est degree, important and diffic un, that vvewtie menaced with was. a whu h the powers ol Euiope thought out gov ernment unequal, as did many of our own citizens, and am >ng them those who were most friendly to ii. The situation, theiefore, of a person, w hose official duties connected him, at the same time, with tne three great pow ers, from whom that menanre come, and whose movements he was bound to watch, an to report to his govern ment, could not be favorable to a strict supervision of expendituies, ot to econ omy. With respect to these claims, the first question to be decided is, Are they just? The second, if just, Has any tiling occnned to bai them? On the firs', point I have nothing more to add. On the second, I have to observe, that, if just, the delay in allowing them was undoubtedly an injury to me, and the longer the delay the greater the injury. That I have not pressed them neieto fore, on any branch of the government is true When the cause of this for. bearance is duly considered, the c om mittee will judge, how far it ought to operate to my prejudice. On this point some further explanation will, it is presumed, not be deemed impro per. If, in the account presented by Mr. Dawson, for the settlement of salary, 4| ™ contingences, &<:. in my first mission to France in 1794, the first item was omitted, and if the second included only the sum which was allowed, the cause, suggested in my letter to the se cretary of State, of the 17th December 1810, to which I beg leave to refer, was the true one. There could be none other. I always thought that I was justly entitled to the usual compensa tion, which accrued after my recall, during my detention through the win ter, and until I sailed for the United States in the Spring following. Nor could I ever doubt that an inadequate allowance was made to me for contin gent expenses, in that mission. In the settlement of shat account, my object was, as already observed, to bring for ward no claim which could be dispu ted, and, if brought in debt by the set tlement, to meet the demand at any sacrifice, and with the greatest promp titude; and I acted on that principle. I had, also, an insuperable repugnance to claim of a succeeding administra tion any thing which had not been al lowed me by a preceding one. It ac corded better with my feelings to sub mit to the entire loss, than to make such an appeal to any snbsequent ad- C Continued on fourth puge.J A'o. 13.