The republic. [volume], July 26, 1849, Image 2

About The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853

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NAVAL.
The New Mall Atraiutn Olilo aud U?or|(la.
in nothing iuis the progress of this country been
more marked than in naval architecture within the
last few years, and particularly in the construction
of steamships. Science, ingenuity, competition,
, and enterprise, have already produced wondrous
results, and the present is but ''the beginning of the
end." in the building, rigging and fitting up of
our merchant marine, we have had long the undisputed
ascendency of the seas. In our river steamers,
too, we stand unapproached by any nation.
But there was one class of vessels in which we
were left far behind, both by England and France.
We mean Ocean steamers. The attention of our
i scientific merchants and capitalists has been turned
to the fact, and, with the go-ahead character of true
Americans, they seem determined not to be surpassed
by any other nation even in Ocean steam
navigation. We have reported progress from time
to time. We have now something more to report,
that will deeply interest, if not astonish our readers.
A new line of inuil steamers was contracted for
some time since by the Government with George
Law, esq , who budl the Oregon, and the "High
Bridge" for the Croion Aqueduct, which cost two
millions of dollars, and is the noblest structure in
the country. The contract wus for four steumers,
(and u spare one to meet accidents,) two to run with
the mails twice a month to New Orleans, touching
at Charleston and Savannah, and two to Chagres,
touching at Havanu. The Government contracted
for steamers of only 1.600 tons burthen. Mr. Law,
by the advice of the Board of the Naval Department,
has built vessels of 3,1)00 tons?not only firstclass
steamers, but so udapled for purposes of war,
that in two or three days they can be ready for action,
and it is confidently asserted that no war
steamer afloat will equal them.
The Government are buikling four more to vie
with them, one at Brooklyn, one at Philadelphia,
one at Gosport, and one at Kiltery, Slate of Maine;
but Mr. Law has resolved to show what private
enterprise can do, and to beat the Government; and
judging from the two already built, he has every
prospect of coming oflf victorious. His contract for
the mails, we have just mentioned, is $290,000.
His estimate of cost for each of his ships was $400,000;
but he now finds the cost will exceed that sum.
The delay in their completion has been occasioned
partly by the skill and care requisite in their construction,
upon the improved plan suggested after
ihe contract, and partly by the delay of their mammoth
engines, which Secur & Co. engaged to have
completed by the first of April, but owing to
the amount of work upon them could not get them
completed in that time. The engines of two are
now completed; those of one be ng nearly put together
in the ship, and those of the other are being
got in. Mr. Law, who is a scientific and practical
man, has superintended me enure worn nimseir.
There is not a piank, nor almost a bolt, he has not
seen go in There is not an inch in those vessels
be does not know thoroughly, and the use and value
of every bit of iron and wood in their structure.
He baa spent some time in Europe, and particularly
in England, with a view to the examination of
steamships, and being a sharp observer he has net
spent that time in vain. He has adopted all the improvements
he saw, while he has invented some of
his own. that are entirely new. These vessels have
been built, too, under the inspection of one of the
most scientific officers in the American navy, Commodore
Perry, who has from time to ume expressed
his opinions and made his suggestions. We saw
him on board one of those vessels when we visited
them, a day or iwo ago. Ii will be recollected that
he supervised the erection and finishing of that
model of steamships, the Missouri, which was
burnt on her first trip, in the Bay of Gibraltar.
The Ohio and Georgia are lying at the foot of
, Ninth street, in the Gut river. We will now describe
what we saw, for there is not a foot of these
vessels, from the spar deck down to the kelson, and
from stem to stern, that we have not examined minutely.
We will make this general observation before
entering into the details of each ship?that they
exceed in strength, far and away, any neval structure
we have ever seen. We shall begin with
THE OHIO.
The hull of tiiis vessel, which is the smaller of
the two, has been built by Bishop and Bimonson.
, Viewed externally, she is a beautiful mod*!,
aeems expressly built for fast sailing; and 11 is 6*^7
when you go on board that you find combined with
that beauty a strength that so far eiceeds expectations
as *? fill you with amazement. But let us first
give her dimensions.
The len?th of keel 240 feet.
Soar dec/.' 265 "
Depth of hold from spar deck 33 "
Bread h of beam.? 46 "
She will draw about fifteen feel of water when
her coals and all are on board. Her tonnage, before
the spar deck was attached, was 2,600 : with
ihat deck, her capacity is 3.000 tons.
Descending to the bottom of the hold, you find a
floor so strong and firm, and so close, that if (here
was not a plank outside her timbers, she would not
let in a drop of water. It is twerity-one inches
(hick, laid solid, and bolted lengthwise. In most
uiher vessels. the floor is open. A huge oak kelson
runs fore and aft. laid on the middle of the floor
limber*, over Ihe keel, fastened with long bolts nnd
clinched, and thus binding the floor limlieni to the
keel Then there are immrnw rroaa kelaona at
8 either end. to hold the timbers called the cant frame,
which could not be fastened to the longitudinal kelHOti
Tlien, to impart additional strength, there is
a gigantic centre cross-kelson, with a bulkhead,
tunning right across the vessel At the stem and
atern latere is what is called a breast hook, being a
curved piece of wood, shaped like the buck of nn
nrni-chair, and not made hy carpenter work, but
l?eing the natural fork of the oak. enormously thick;
. these are exceedingly strong. Then there ia running
lengthwise on either side, what is called a bilge
kelson, with fire bilge streaks resting on it. Here
the vessel is thirty-two inches thick. The main object
of this strength is to suppoit the engines laterally
against the tremendous pressure. With one
hundred ami fifty tons of pressure when the engine
is working, there is a yielding produced at either
side, and the vessel is kept constantly straining, unless
there is a powerful resistance. There is another
contrivance for keeping the ship firm in this
direction. When vessels roll there is always a
straining on one aide, and the deck is seen to spring
To prevent this, there are great thick iron braces
from the kelson right under the deck to the side of
the ship Then to keep her from springing longitudinally,
there are iron alays three inches in diameter,
with screws and bolts, to draw them tight,
running diagonally from stem to atern. Each of
these is tapable of supporting two hundred tons
weight, and it is impossible for the vessel to spring
lengthwise without breaking these stays. The
ceiling of the vessel is seven inches thick, and every
plank of about a souare yard contains about thirty
iron bolts running through the timbers,and clinched
in the planks outside In addition to these, they
mi* l>olied down edgewise, a bolt being run through
Mfry three, and then that operation repeated at
rtrrry streak Theae bolt* ran never draw. They
are oiled Irefore they are driven, to protect them
front the arid of the timlier. They are fir snnertor
to wooden bolts. There wn? not a drop of w *er
tit the hold of thia veaael, though launched since
last fall Her floor waa aa dry a* that of a drawing
room. We obaerved that her floor and side#
were atrewrd with strong aaJt, which is found to be
a (Treat pre?ervative of wood. Her timber* are all
of the heat oak, a* also her plank under the water.
Her upper streak* are of live oak, loeuat, and radar.
The huge knee* are of the beat oak, from the eastern
shore of Maryland, the nmt>er growing on the
roast heme firmest and most durable. They are
not limb# hot the natural curve of the root In
most other veaaels, hackmatack, which is little l?et
ter than pine, is uaed for this purpose. In the
f>fito, too, the kneea are bolted through,and rest on
the massive water ways. Under the beam thai
support# the water wheels, is to he found on each
mdr what is called an " A" brace, being a set ol
knees presenting s shape somewhat of the figure o(
that letter. At the Imitom they are spread about
nine feet asunder. The other leitmn are supported
by immense knees, with horizontal knees bet weei
each. The lieam conner'mg the pillar blocks at the
top i? plated with two iron plates S-4 inch thick ; ii
is sixteen tnche* by twelve thick, attd bolted ant
riveted In fact, strength appear* to be the para
mount consideration, and nothing that art and
money could do wa*Sf>ared for the ae< omplithmew
of thai object.
We nhall now deaci-i'ie bar accommodation f?n
na?Mtnear? Mr Law claim* the dark cabin a? hu
own in rent ion for ocean airamera, having miggr*i?-t
II in Mr. Morton for iha Empire City,after havini
daridad uimn it for hia own vaaaal? after thry war
lannrhad TV apar dark thai covera it in ik im
manaaly wrong, aupported by atoul tnnrhioiiK, am
having all round on lop a railing to prolan iha pan
?engcr? who may wiah to promanada on thai alava
lion Out'ida thia railing, on tha dark, will ha th
nhip'a boat*. mataad of awkwardly hanging hi
iha aida.
Tha cabin dark i? alaganlly fitted up with berth
7 feat long and 2 feet ? inchea wide. There ? ai
-
! excellent arran^^eut in these stale-rooms. They
do not open direcSkinlo the saloon, but are entered
j on lite side by hrnfcdjetween every two rooms.
> This prevents any oifftioin seeing into the rooms
, from the saloon, when they are ooened. They are
adinirubly ventilated by means of lockers, that close
and <ij>en at will and receive the Ireshairby the
rapid motion of the ship through the water. This
ventilation runs from stem to stem. The saloon
can be divided in any proportion, by means of folding
doors, to suit ladies or others who might wish to
live apart. The store-room is on the deck insteud
of below; it is at the side and is open at bottom, as
well to admit the air as U> permit its being washed
out. This is an excellent arrangement, for it saves
the necessity of bringing lighted candles into it, by
which accidents so often occur. The air in it of
course will be better than below. The kitchen is
roomy and well furnished; it is lighted from the
side by a skylight, covered at the top with wood
to keep out the sun. The ordinary glass frames
render the rooms into which they admit the direct
rays of the sun as intolerable as hot-houses.
There is a separate kitchen for the crew. From the
kitchen down to the cabin are two openings, by
which breakfast, dinner, supper, <fcc , are let down
by dumb waiters, instead of being carried down the
siuirs to be cooled, or to dash against the passen
?i ra. 1 lie puntry unci pusiry-rooiu are in Keeping
with the kitchen.
The cabin is divided into two immense rooms,
capable of dining three hundred pussengers. The
bed-rooms off the cabin ure of the same commodious
description as those on deck The bed-room
ware, and tea and dinner services, are of the very
best description of china and cut glass. There is
an accommodation for two hundred and fifty firstclass
passengers, besides eighty permanent steerage
erths. There is a fine room for the officers in the
rear of the bout. The entrance to the cabin is lighted
by a circular skylight with glass in the side, and
darkened at the top. There is a bath-room attached
to the cabin. There is a private pantry for the
steward to lock up.
The water tanks are capable of carrying 10,000
gallons of freih water, and there is besides an apparatus
for producing fresh water from salt, if necessary.
The Ohio has two pilot rooms?one on the main
deck for steering when at sea. the other on top for
steering in the river. The helm is double-rigged,
so that if one set of chains gives way, there is another
to fall back on.
This vessel is called the Ohio from the river or
State of that name, and bears the arms of the State
on her stern, being figures of commerce and agriculture
hand in hand.
The figure-head and stem are all of one piece,
which is a novelty, combining beauty with utility.
The construction is such that it is almost impossible
for the vessel to ship a wave over her bow, especially
as she sits high in the water forward. She
is as graceful us the swan, with the strength and
swiftness of the eagle.
We now come to
THE GEOROIA.
She is constructed, in ah respects, the same as
the Ohio, with the exception of size and shape, and
therefore it is unnecessary to do more than notice
the poinu of difference. The hull of the Georgia
was built by Smith & Diamond. Her dimensions
are?
Length of keel 245 feet.
Length of spar deck 270 "
Breadth of beam 49 "
Depth of hold from spar deck 33 "
The tonnage, measured from main deck, is 2,700,
from the spar deck 3,300 tons.
It will thus be seen that, while the depth is the
same, the Georgia is fire feet longer, three feet
wider, and has a greater capacity for freight than the
Ohio. She now draws but nine feet of water; when
her machinery is in, with coals, dkc., it is calculated
she will draw thirteen feet. The build is also different.
The Ohio is full forward, and sharp aft ;
the Georgia is the reverse. And as the materials
of which the two vessels are constructed are the
same, and their engines of the same power, the
sailing qualities of each would be fairly tested by
experiment, and the point about which nauucal
men nre much divided sausfactonly settled.
It was hitherto supposed that a vessel could not
be made sharp without drawing much water; but
the Georgia is as sharp-stemmed a vessel of her
size as was ever built, and yet draws the smallest
depth of water. Her stem is exceedingly beautiful;
it is like the Ohio's, in one piece with the figurehead,
but much finer. Her figure-head is the wild
horse of Mazeppa.
it m only when on board the Georgia you see
hPr ,. xnbtnanon of beauty and strength. Standing
i' . tmd looking liack along her sides, you
cannot see a 1,,,e>?[ ?.ne r \ ,n h"SlhThe
curved line, u/* flhe l>ettUIl,fu ' contl"u<?
_ j ,. *'roni stem to stern. This
its proportions gradually ? ^p| f Bntlah
vessel is furthest removed in he ,lL f?
steamers. The Ohio is much miT** .. * -'Jl*
The perfection of steamships, we take it,
the same amount of machinery to have a large capacity,
carry more freight, and attain at least the
same speed The cylinders of the largest British
steamers are the same size as the Georgia's, and
yet their burden is only 18,000 urns The accident
that occurred on Saturday last has amply tested
her strength. A weight of forty tons fell from a
height of twenty feet on her rail, which of course
it rut through, crushing to pieces one of the strong
stanchions; but it was slopped when it came to
the heavy water ways on the gun deck. It did not
, make ihe slightest impression on them; and though
that weiahl still rested in the nick it had cut for it
elf, mo broad and buoyant in the vessel, and no
little did ahe heel, that you would acarcely perreive
any inclination to that aide. Speaking of raila, we
may here point out a difference between theae and
other vessels. The rail la always cut for gangway*.
In them it ta uncut, and goes all round,
which, comudering ita atrength, ia a powerful support
in prencrving the shape unwarped. It ia
found that no matter how strongly the boat ia built
in other reaped*, if her rail in cut, ahe will warp
more or leaa. You enter these veaaela by a ladder
to the *par deck. Built aa the Georgia and Ohio
are, with a view of being turned, in a week's notice,
into first-class war steamers, we may remark
that the af?r deck i* fastened on by means of screws,
ant^an lie removed at once. In other ocean a learners,
for instance, the Hermann and United States,
the gun deck is dotarn in the body of the vessel, and
i they should be rut down, in order to make them
available for the naval service. The water ways,
1 also absolutely necessary for the support of the
guns, are on the main deck in the Georgia and
l ' ?hio, which is not the case in other steamers.
We shall now proceed to describe
tub machihebt.
The engines, boilers, and water wheel*, are the
same in both steamers, and the same description,
therefore, applies to both They are built by Secor
dr Co., who had to enlarge their establishment for
the purpose, and were superintended all through by
the eminent engineer, Mr. Joseph Scott. Each
boat has two engines, which gives a larger area of
cylinder, and double power. In England the power
i of engines is measured by that of horses. These
engines are each according to the measurement of
the cylinder, which determines the amount of power
what the English would call 600 horse )>ower.
They are low pressure, side lever marine engines.
The following is their capacity:
Fret. Inrhr*
Diameter of cylinder 7 6
Stroke of piston .? 0
There are four boilers to each pair of eneines.
neighing 160 ton*, and capable of laoling P20 ton*
of water. Tley are worth $50,000. The Hermann
and Waahington hate two engine*, but hare
only two boilera. The advantage in having four
la, that while the fire* are b*ing hauled, the *peed
need not be alac.kened, a* muat lie the caae wriere
I there are only two. The engine* are on the aame
plan aa the Niagara'*, lait much heavier. There ia
no Enghah ateamer, large or amall, without two eni
giriea. Two are not nr<e*aary for river *'canter*,
but are of great advantage tor the ocean. The
Empire and other river steamer* have two engine*;
[ ' but they are not connected. They ar.iindepenr
dently. In the Cieorgia and Ohio they are coni
nee ted aa in the Miaaouri, M **i**i[>pi and Kam|
' *< liHtka. The ad vantage over the atngle engine* ia
, this, (hat with the latter, when it ia on the centre,
> ! if a wave atrike* the ve**el, the wrong valve will
t be opened and ahe will be driven hack, inatead o(
| forward. Tbi* cannot take place with a double
. j engine, the stroke being alternate. Every time,
I too, that an engine i* on ita centre, or when the piaI
ton ia highest or lowest, there ia a moment in which
I Uith valve* are cloaed, namely, after one haa juat
r abut and tiefore the other it opened. In that moi
merit, with a tingle engine, power ia I oat, and no
| *ream ia applied. VV itn the double engine it ia difj
Icrent, for the nieam in no inainni of lime au*|>enda
h it* propelling force. There hre two valve* alwnya
i- open, while two are cloaed There i* more *te?m
d required for a tingle engine, ami therefore it n
moie ex|>enaive. It i? alto more dangerous Al
i- tea, in a atotffl. ^camera muat often alack down to
e five in tha minute ; but no amgle engine can do
y , ? "'Miiiif uiin
do not.
k The bottom of the cylinder in thene enginea u
g cut on the bed plate*, and thu* six feet of room in
, I
height is saved. The consequence i?, that the engines
are under the deck, and thia is of 110 small
importance in war steamer?, u* exposure of the
machinery to shot would aoan disable the boat
There is another advantage in this: the weight is ut 1
the bottom, und then/ being more base than height,
there would be a vast difference in a rolling sea, or
in tiie recoil of guns.
The engines are boiled down to the immense
thick door with aixty iron bolts in each bed plate.
This is not usual The English fasten them with
wood screws; but Mr. Law found they would draw,
and were by no means so secure as the bolts. They
are not fuslened to the sides of the vessel, but stand
independent in the centre. There is a powerful X
brace between them that corniecls them and makes
them uue In the centre, and also cast on the bed
plate, is the condenser. The boilers, instead of
being all on one side, are two fore and two aft of
the engines, und thus serve very important purposes;
besides giving the engineer an opportunity of seeing
ull .the firemen together, and ascertaining whether
they are doing (heir duty, while he can look at the
same time at his glass gauge, without leaving his
post, they will enable the water-wheel to be pluced
as near the centre as possible, while they form
each, when filled with water, a resistance of seventy
tons against the uplifting force of the engines, just
in the very spot where resistance is wanted. The
Ohio has her engines ten feet abaft of the centre of
the vessel, the Georgia twenty feet. They are supported
with braces and rods of great strength, instead
of a number of small ones, that never pull together,
and are always in the .vuy- So wide are
these steamers, that you have ample room to go all
round the engines, an advantage not possessed by
other ocean steamers.
The waier-wheels are thirty-six feet in diameter,
and the bucket ten feet on the face. The beam that
supports them has been already described. The
bruce underneath it outside is not attached to the
side of the ship in the usual way, but is fastened to
a strong iron knee tailed to the boat.
These leviathan steamers are by no means deficient
in ornument; but, considering the objects for
which they are constructed, ornament weighs but
a feather in the balance against the stupendous
strength that is visible in every timber, and knee,
and brace, and bolt, and plank.
It is expected they will be ready for sea in about
three weeks, and then it will be seen what American
enterprise has accomplished.
THE REPUBLIC.
WASHINGTON:
THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 26, 1849.
TWENTY YEARS' WAR ON THE
TREASURY.
If was a rpmarlr of N a pni enN that **voii
* J ?
cannot at the same time rob people and
persuade them you are their friends."
This is the full and perfect explanation
of the present condition of the Locofoco
party; their leaders have been engaged
in the wanton and reckless plunder of the
public Treasury; they have been exposed
and driven from power. This is a short
political history of the last twenty years.
It is not true that the military renown
and personal popularity of General Harrison
in 1840, or of General Taylor in
1848, captivated the people and caused
the political revolutions of those eventful
years. With a very large number of the
people who voted for them, their military
character was an objection. They were
elected substantially by the efforts and the
votes of the great Whig party of the
Union. They were the types of a sentiment;
they embodied and represented a 1
characteristic of the American people?
their love for personal honesty and integrity.
A sordid man, with the opportunities
of General Harrison for profiting by his
public position, would have made himself
opulent. In the acquisition of 60,000,000
_r i _i* a * a il a*
j acres 01 inuian territory; in me negoua- |
of thirteen of the most important In-1
dian treati 0,1 ever enteret^ into by our Gov-1
ernment; in the ^owledge of lands and I
reservations acquired du7'Il& bis official j
career, it was only necessary (ot General I
H arri on to have willed it, to become one
of the largest and wealthiest land-holders
in the United States. With a chivalrous;
regard for his reputation, General Harrison
adopted an honorable and rigid selfdenial
as the rule of his public conduct.
The people found General Harrison in
his old age, destitute of fortune, living in
an humble position on the fruits of bis J
daily toil. So with General Tat lor. The j
people found in him not only a soldier
who hitd never lost a battle, but a public
officer who had never pocketed an extra;
a man perfectly free from the taint of;
peculation, a man of high and incorruptible
integrity and honor.
As Presidential candidates these great
men represented the principles for which
the Whk.s have been contending, for >
many year*?the purification and reform of
the Government. Mr. Van Buren was
identified with the principle of corruption,
a* it had been understood and practised by
the Albany Regency in the State politics
of New York, and as it w as afterwards (
introduced into national politics. On this ,
issue General Harrison defeated him.
General Cash was identified with the same
principle, not only as the representative
of a party, but in his individual case. His
pluralities of office and salary, his extra
allowances and treble charges, his large
accumulation of property in the public '
service, made his case stronger and more
marked than that of Mr. Van Bur en.
The unpopularity of General Cass on this
ground contributed largely to the success
of General Tavlor.
It is as long ago as 1834 that the Whigs
made their first efficient demonstration on
the subject of official corruption. It was
in that year that Mr. Ewinc. brought for
ward hi* celebrated resolutions of inquiry
into the condition of the Post Office Department.
All who are familiar with the
history of that period remember the developments
elicited by that investigation.
The Locofoco leaders gave up the game.
The abuses, j?eculations, and frauds practised
in the Dejiartment were proved, admitted,
and left undefended. If they had
been pressed home upon the Locofoco
leaders a* they might have been, the
Whigs would have defeated Mr. Van Buren
in 1H36. But, after their exposure,
THE REPUBLIC
they were permitted to sleep, and by fore
of the marvellous organization of the Locc
focos, with the aid of their efficient an
able press at the seat of Government
which conducted the campaign on othe
issues, they were able to sustain them
selves long enough to elect Mr. Van Bu
ren to the Presidency.
The Post Office was reformed by th?
wise legislation of the Whigs, and furthe
opportunities for frauds and abuses in tha
Department were arrested. But many so
ber and reflecting men were, at that time
and in consequence of these develop
ments, driven from the ranks of the Ad
ministration, and have been acting evei
since with the friends of Reform.
The peculators made their next descen
upon the land-offices, custom-houses, an<
district attorneyships. In the interva
between 1834 and 1839, the peculators
changed the scene of their labors, because
they had been driven from the Post Office
by the vigor and perseverance of Mr.
Ewing. During the five years last mentioned
alone, there were u sixty cases o!
defalcation fully known to the Secretary
of the Treasury, where the defaulters
were warned, watched, reproached, threatened,
fcjrgiven?and their defaults, while
still existing and continued, in some case*
actually sanctioned by a renomination
to ofmce." We all remember the Congressional
investigations of 1839, and theii
results. The Whigs of those days pointed
to the Prices, Swartwouts, Sterlings,
Boyds, Allens, Hawkinses, Pollocks,
Linns, Mitchells, Childresses, Spencers,
Owens, Stephensons, M'Neils,
Hollands, Breedloves?and called upon
the people to say if the leaders of a party
which had placed power and emoluments in
the hands of such an army of defaulters
and peculators, were worthy the confidence
of the American people ? Those
leaders on these issues were arraigned,
condemned, and repudiated by the American
people.
It is a remarkable fact, that the administration
of John Tyler never threw of]
the force of the influences under which
General Harrison was elected, to the
extent of peculating on the public Treasury.
There was a soit of armistice in
the war. We recollect no instance of defalcation
among the men whom Mr. Tyler
appointed to office. False as he was to
his party, and unscrupulous as he was in
all his operations, there is no known instance
during his career of those gross violations
of public trust which had distinguished
the administrations of General
Jackson and Mr. Van Buren. This was
mainly owing to the restrictions and remedial
legislation which had been adopted
in consequence of the exposures, in
1834 and 1839, of the corrupt condition o!
the Executive Departments. The Whigs
are entitled to all the credit of it.
In the Presidential canvass of 1844, the
attention of the ueonle was withdrawn
from the corruption*, frauds, and abuses ol
the Locofoco leaders, by local and sectional
issues. The Texas question at the
South?the Abolition question at the
North, and the Tariff' in Pennsylvania?
became the issues on which that campaign
was fought; and by the course of
the Abolitionists in New York, and the
Democratic Tariff men in Pennsylvania,
Mr. Polk became the President of the
United States. And now a new theatre
of corruption was to be sought, not in defalcations
altogether?for that game was
partially blocked?but in the lavish and
peculative expenditure of the public money
under the pretence of defraying the cost
of collecting the revenue.
Just before the close of the last session
a bill passed the Senate, and was approved
on the 3d of March by Mr. Polk, which
provided that the "expenses of collecting
the revenue from customs shall not hereafter
exceed the sum of one million five
hundred and sixty thousand dollars per an
aum, together with such sum* as unoermc
law are paid into the treasury for dray age,
cartage, labor, arid storage, and in proportion
for a less time." This sum was some
fire hundred thousand dollars less than
was exjiended by the late Secretary o!
the Treasury for the same purposes. Il
is, therefore, an admission of record thai
the late Administration expended idly,
uselessly, and therefore corruptly, in the
ct>llection of the revenue, $500,000 more
than was necessary; for we cannot suppose
that any set of men could have con
spired, with the factious and base purposf
of distressing the new Administration, tc
compel them to do with $1,560,000 whal
could be properly done only by an expen
diture of $2,060,000.
The old peculators and defaulters ol
1M34 and 1K3H, who rallied in the last election
about Mr. Van BuRF.it and Genera
Cabs, knew they could hope nothing from
the success of General Tavi.or, and wil
never come into his support. But th*
people have no sympathy with the corrup
leaders of a party, and they have not s<
soon forgotten the history of the past ai
to unite with these men in a war upon th<
Administration, with the view of restorinj
tnr ascendency o! tne old peculators an<
defaulters.
We have given in this article a bird's ey<
view of what the Which have done in tin
way of exposing and reforming abuses n
e the last fifteen years. We have tracked
h the Locofoco leaders in their plunders, first
d to the post oliices, then to the laud offices,
audfinally to the custom-houses. There we
r leave them for the present. We shall re
sume the subject, and shall give before we
- have done with it, in detached sketches
and chapters, a complete history of the
e Locofoco* Twenty years' War on the Trear
sury of the United States.
t
TAMMANY HALL.
The Democratic General Committee of
New York refuse to accept the right hand
of fellowship held out to them by B. F.
Butlek and his friends. Old Hunkerism
declines going to the Barnburners, so the
t Barnburners will have to go to the Old
Hlinl/pru ITnifo fK/iif urill -urv'ifo
j .t.u witj
I must, on some terms. Locofocoism can(
not and will not stand exclusive from the
offices. Any thing but this might be borne.
This is intolerable.
The Old Hunkers go for the Baltimore
Platform, which nominated General Cass.
They refuse to recog: ise any organization
of the Democratic party in New York, ex(
cept that emanating from the Syracuse
Convention of 1847, and none in the
county of New York but that having its
head-quarters at Tammany Hall. They
refuse to enter into any negotiation or
treaty with a body of pretended Democrats,
of a spurious organization; and avow
I that they can only admit of a political fellowship
with them when they, as individuals,
support the principles, measures,
and organization of the party.
All this tends to nrnve the saoraritv of
__ r D~ J ?
Mr. John Van Buren in announcing the
dissolution of the Locofoco party as a national
party. We are well persuaded that
there is a considerable portion of the Old
Hunkers in the State of New York, who
will never unite with the Free-Soilers,
Barnburners, and Abolitionists. They are
not prepared to join a reckless and violent
opposition to President Taylor, on the
ground that he is a southern slaveholder.
P They do not sympathise with the outcry
of the office-holders, because they have
always advocated and practised on the
doctrine that an administration cannot
support itself, and permit the public offices
to remain in the hands of men who seek
its overthrow.
Some of the Barnburners are equally
pertinacious with the Tammany Hall
Hunkers. They will insist on opposing
President Taylor because he is from a
slaveholding State. The chances are,
therefore, that the attempted reconciliation
in New York will result in dividing
the Locofoco party by three instead of two.
There will be the ultra Old Hunkers, the
ultra Barnburners, and the middle men of
P easy virtue, who are ultra upon no subject
| except their solicitude for the spoils.
It is probable that the attempt at reunion,
then, will strengthen President j
Taylor, and the great national party
j. which elected him and which will sustain
him.
11 I
INDIAN OUTBREAK IN FLORIDA.
At the close of the Florida war, the
Seminole Indians remaining in the peninsula
were assigned, as a temporary residence,
a tract of land lying between Char:
lotte Harbor and the Lake Okeechobee,
i General Worth, who made this arrangement
in 1S42, reported the number of
1 warriors left in the country at less than
one hundred. In 1S45, Captain Sprague,
1 who had been acting in Florida in the
stead of an Indian agent, reported the
numberof warriors at less than one hundred
and thirty; and estimated the entire Indian
population, of all ages and sexes, at some- i
thing short of three hundred and fifty
souls. Since that time we do not know
that any report oi tne numDcr 01 Indians
; in Florida has been officially made. 1
The recent reported outbreak of the
i Seminoles has arisen from the following
. circumstance: On the Atlantic side of the
i peninsula some four families were settled
, upon Indian river, nearly opposite Fort
. Pearce. Four warriors visited this settle.
ment recently, where they were received
i in a friendly manner. After receiving ref
freshment they departed; but a short dis- '
I tance from the houses they discovered a
I man by the name of Barker, and another,
, working in an open field, upon whom they |
i fired. Both Barker and his companion
were wounded. They ran, taking diffbr
ent directions. Barker was pursued, overtaken,
and killed with knives. The other
reached the settlers' houses, and succeed>
ed in making his escape, with all the rest,
t to San Augustine. Indian river is ra.
ther a sound of the sea than a running
ati-oam- ?nd the settlers made their wav
? ~ ^
f to San Augustine in boats, where the news
. created a great deal of excitement. The ,
I settlements upon Indian river are some i
i forty or fifty miles distant from the tract '
I of country assigned to the Seminole* re- 1
? maining in Florida. From this circum- J
t stance it is feared that the murder of ,
> Marker is the beginning of a concerted <
n outbreak. No other corroborating proofs
? have reached the Government; but the j
? War Department has made preparations to I
I despatch a sufficient force to the country to
repel the Indians if they contemplate other
? hostilities, or to bring the murderers to jusM
b tice, if this is merely the violence of a few
a stragglers. (
ALLStiKD NATIONAL. OUTRAOB.
It will be remembered that a few days
ago we published a telegraphic account of
the alleged arrest of a Spanish refugee in
New Orleans, and forcibly conveying him
beyond our jurisdiction. The following
account of the same transaction, luller in
its details, we copy from the New Orleans
Delta. The date of the last of the
despatches was 19th July, two days subsequent
to that of the journals, at which
time the agitation in New Orleans had
not subsided; on the contrary, public
opinion seemed to point to the Spanish
consul as the instigator of the abduction,
and the greatest excitement pervaded all
classes of the population of the city.
"It become* our duty, tie public journalists, to cull
the attention of the proper authorities to the following
extraordinary case. If we are correctly informed
of the facts, they exhibit a gross violation
of international law, and call lor immediate investigation
on the part of the district attorney of the
United Stales. The authorities of Cuba and their
emissaries should be taught that they cannot violate
with impunity American soil; that even those
who may have transgressed the penal laws of Spain
are protected from outrage while under the American
Hag, and if surrendered at all to the ugents of
their own government, must be surrendered in the
cases provided, and according to the mode designated
by treaty stipulations.
"In u communication addressed to the Fatria, of
Sunduy last, by Mr. Jos Morante, an honorable
and well-known Spanish gentleman of this city, he
slates, that on the 8th June, ultimo, he admitted into
his house, at the solicitation of Mr. Fulgencio
Llorente, the editor of the Spanish paper called
'?1 Fad re Cocos,' a young man named Juan
Francisco Rey, who was in bad health; that he became
quite sick, and Morante called in Dr. Moll 10
attend him; that at the end of three weeks Llorente
succeeded, after much objection on the part of the
young man, in persuading liirn to quit the house;
that in this he was assisted, during five hourt^ by a
person well known to Llorente; that this person,
pretending to be a physician, procured a coach, in
which were two persons, and, placing Rey therein,
they got m themselves and drove off. Mr. Moraine
denies positively that he had any connexion whatever
with the outrageous kidnapping of this unfortunate
youth.
"It appears that he was then taken to a restaurant,
where, it is reported, he was well plied with
wine. He was then taken by force on board the
schooner Mary Ellen, Capt. McConnell, which immediately
set sail for the Havana.
"Thisextraordinary case of kidnapping has caused
much excitement in the city, and given me to many
strange rumors, whiph, at this stage of the matter,
it is not proper to repeat. It is understood, however,
that Juan Francisco Rey was the turnkey of
the prison of Havana, and that two prisoners had
recently escaped therefrom to New York, the charge
against whom was of a political nature, in relation
to which the agents of the Spanish Crown are exercising
the utmost vigilance. Rey, it seems, is
charged with facilitating or conniving at their escape,
and look refuge in this city; his punishment,
if convicted, being death We believe the existing
treaty between the United States and Spain makes
no provision for the extradition of offenders of any
character. We understand the Spanish (>opulation
of our city are indignant at this gross outrage, perpetrated
against one of their own countrymen, and
we are anxious that the authors of tins atrocity
should receive the punishment they so justly merit."
The Spanish Consul published the following
letter, to explain away the allegations
made against him personally, and
which common rumor represented as well
sustained:
Consulate op Spain, )
Arte Orleans, July 17, 1849. ^
Hon. Joseph Genoii,
Recorder of the First Municipality:
Respected Sir: The editors of various papers
in this city having, for lack of something better to
do, published and circulated rumors, calculated to
make a certain portion of the public believe that a
subject of her Catholic Majesty, who had taken
refuge in Louisiana, has been, by force and violence,
and in contravention of the laws of the coun
try, carried on board the schooner Mary Ellen
which left this port on the 5th inst., by certain
agents of the Spanish government, who conducted
him a prisoner to the Havana, in order that he
might be delivered up to the authorities to undergo
his punishment, conformably to the laws of the
aforesaid kingdom; as consul of her Catholic
Majesty in this city, 1 feel it to be my duty to communicate
to you all the official documents, which
establish, in the most clear and explicit manner, that
said rumors are false and entirely calumnious.
But inasmuch as it concerns my Government
that the aforesaid documents should not be at present
made public to you alone, or to any other competent
authority of the State, (which you will have
the goodness to designate,) I will exhibit them,
thoroughly iiersuaded, as 1 am, that when you shall
be informed upon the subject, you wil I be the first
to take the requisite means to cause the aforesaid
rumors to cease. At whatever hour you may be
inclined to receive me I shall be at your disposal,
remaining, in the mean time, with much consideration
and respect, your most obedient servant,
CARLOS dc ESPANA,
Comul of Her Catholic Ma jetty
On the same day the following commu- |
nication, which we translate from Iai P<i \
fri'a, made it* appearance: >
" Desiroua of clearing myself entirely of the scandal 1
;au*ed by the disappears nee of the second turnkey 1
)f the prison of Havana, Hon Juan Garcia, and not 1
Don Juan Franeiaco Rey as has been aaid, I have '
bought proper to make some declarations of the *
esult of the inquiries I have made, to satisfy myself <
ind to maintain the fair repute of my oountrymen.
"I have seen the declarations made voluntarily by
he supposed Juan Rey, by which it is proven that
he almve-named turnkey released Don Vicente
Fernandez, nephew of Don Pedro Rlanco, of Harana.
who had tieen arrested in that c.ity on a
harge of fraud; and the hefnre-mentioned turnkey,
Don Juan Garcia, had therefor received the sum
if $19,000 as an inducement to accompany Ferlandei
in hflight. It ia, besides, unrstablished
hat Don Juan Garcia, alias Don Juan Francisco
Rey, has lieen deceived or kidnaped, but it is
known that he voluntarily embarked for Havana,
(laving, in conaideration of his confession made
here, received a pardon. The aouuaations made
igairiat the Spanish consul in this city arc not dewived,
and jfrsons who wish to inform themselves
if the truth of what I have said, may, if they please,
ee the same documents which I have been enabled
lo examine.
" I may moreover remark that one of the officials
<>f this place area fully informed of all the oiroumttancea
which have any relation to this affair, and
isaures me thai the Spanish Consul hail no motive
, ? - -1 ,
for the action of which he ia neruaed Nor ia it ?
it all nerialn thai the turnkey had nny partictpa- |
lion in the flight of peraona accused of political
iffcncea, na aome have anid, Inn hia offence relatea I
sxcluaively to the fraud of Qoo Vioente Fernandez." B
MANUKL MDRKNOTf.
Naw OnLkAMt, July 17, 1849
At the date of our last despatch, one l>
rlay later than the last mail advices, the l}
pxcitement wit* not only undiminished, "
but, on the other hand, continually in- rr
rrearfed, and highly inflammatory articles (j
had appeared in more than one of the ir
New Orleans papers. J
It would be an insult to the intelligence
of the country and to the charact* r of the
Hon. Truman Smith, to imagine either
the people or hib reputation are at all alfected
by the coarse and rabid assaults
which are made upon him by the Union.
He may safely leave his defence to his
countrymen.
Hungary.
Flic London Standard nf Frrtdom, of July 7, after
recounting the reverses reported lo liuve been undergone
by the Hungariuns, sees no reason why
their defence should not terminate us gloriously us
it began. It must be remembered that the dangerous
stnitcfelic course tins lieeu minuted >(' ?nr
^ ?_r.? ... ?
rounding Hungary with u cordon of forces, and that
a similar attempt was fatal to the operations of the
Spanish generals ugauiBt France, and which was
fatal to Windisgratz in the commencement of the
present campaign, by weakening too much each
Ke(>araie point of the circumference of the circle.
" To understand how this monstrous coil is contemplated
to be wound, it must be explained thut
Hungary and Transylvania are protected on the
north and east and part of the south by the continuous
Kurpalhian range, uHording only one passage
to armies (hy the Eperia road) into Hungary, and
three (by Fojanistampi, Kronstudt, and Orsova)
into Transylvania 'i t.e western frontier is naturally
defended by the rivers Wang and Raab, and
the mountains and morasses behind them. The remainder
of the southern frontier is covered by the
Turkish provinces. The Theiss, dividing the whole
of (his country into two, winds amongst wide
E tains and marshes, which constitute the strongolds
of the Magyars, and where their arsenals and
reserves are situated.
"On the line of the Woag and Raab or Danube,
(his centre resting on Comoro,) the young but very
cautious Hungarian general, Georgey, commands
the main army of ninety thousand men, whose attack
in advance of that line we last week noticed.
He has returned to occupy h, and, indeed, would
seem to be retrograding his left wing from the Raab
to the Danube, if the evacuation by him of the for- *
tiiied city of that name be, as there is reason to believe,
authentic.
"Through the northern pass, sixty thousand Russians
under Paskewitch have penetrated and advanced
without opposition to Kaschan; Dembinski's
force, (thirty thousand men,) having opened,
like (he waves of the Red sea, right and left, to
occupy the valleys and overwhelm him. unless he
pause to clear the mountain districts through which
his line of communication lies.
" At Pojana-stamri twenty-five thousand Russians,
and opposite Cronstadt twenty-five thousand,
were preparing to invade Transylvania, but are
positively ascertained not to have crossed several
days after they were reported at Vienna to have
done so.
" Bern, with fifty thousand men, defends Transylvania.
About Debreczin and Grnsswardein the
reserves of the Hungarian army?situate midway?
are disposed to carry succor, as occasion may require,
to Dembinski or to Bern.
" Perczel, in the Banal, is opposed to Jellachich
with about twenty thousand men ; but it is reported
that Perczel is likely to be superseded, and the important
command or the aged Uembinski given to a
younger general."
The Standard also states that news of varied
character had been received from Constantinople.
It wits reported that a revolution had occurred in
Ervntia,-by which Jellachich had been deposed,
and Bern substituted in his place as Ban. This decidedly
good news for the Hungarians was, however,
for a lime, counterbalanced by intelligence
that a new application had been made to the Sultan
for permission to march troops through the Turkish
territories. Hungary on this side is least defensible,
and the English and French representatives
at the port had advised' the denial of the
request, but at the same time had intimated, that it
must be done on the exclusive responsibility of the
,i. ; ..... . r. 1 .1 ? j
f,... ii i.iu> ui uin ihiicu, mug nunnaoneo,
would yield to the demands of its too powerful
neighbor. The Turkish government, however,
displayed unwonted firmness and explicitly refused.
Hl'RREN DKR OF ROME.
The apparently sudden surrender of the eternal
city to General Oudinot, after the enthusiasm with
which the people was said to have pledged itself to
be buried in its ruins, has created much surprise.
This circumstance, the length of the siege, and the
evident valor with which the city has been defended,
has constrained all who know any thing of the history
of Italy since the first French revolution, to
doubt if the Romans had ever a great deal to do
with the warlike o|ierations. It was notorious that
the chief resistance was made by the Swiss soldiers
and the legion of Garibaldi, composed of adventurers
from every portion of the world, and that in the
accounts of the sorties scarcely a reference was
made to the natives of the city. The triumvirs
themselves, with one eiception, were not Romans,
and the two prominent leaders were Garibnldi and
Avezzana, the first of whom had fought for and
against the governments of the South American
republics; cruised on his own account on the Brazilian
and Boenos Ayrian Coasts, and approached an
near to piracy thot the nicest casuistry wa? necessary
to distinguish his conduct from that court#
against which all nations war Avexzana was undoubtedly
a brave man, who had seen much seme#
in Mexico, but it may be doubted if that ousmiry
k- .U. I ?I ? vi- ?* -
ltc mr urn scnooi ui repuuiicanism II ia f*>asilde,
iherefore, that the people of Rome majr hare Iteen
svrrawed by (hia hand of hardy adventurers, but '
nothing definite can be known until another arrival
hall bring the particulara of the surrender and of
ihe reception of the Pope, who it ia said haa d,*lermined
to return to hia capital, and by fwrumal
ibaervation to satisfy himself aa to what share hia
i*n subjects have had in the recent troubles.
From Trias.
By the arnvul here yesterday of ily steamer
Palmetto, Chaplain Smith, from Galveston the 15th
nst , brought datea from that place to (he 12th,
utd also papers from other points of Texas.
The election ranvasa ia still going on warmly,
he various candidates addressing the jmnple at difrerent
places
The trade of San Antonio, it ia stated, has been
vinsiderably diminished by the Indian forays, but
hia loss has been more than compensated by the
rods with the army.
TV I s v..?i i? '
? w. . ...? Ii.auii n icfiuri ?JI nil eX|>SOI:ion
from Austin to Rl Pssn He made the journey
n twenty-two days. The distance hy the nearest
<?ad he computes at fire hundred and eighty-nine
tulea. They we.nt out by some Indian camps on
he Colorado, and followed up Brady's creek a
westerly course to its head, crossed to the .South
oncho, thence crossing its tributaries to the main
Poncho, or Blue river, thence to the Pecos, which
hey followed up for twenty-eight miles, arid
truck offS 4.r> W , when at forty-eight miles they
nade the Toyah, a swift stream forty feel widie
ind eighteen tnehea deep. The party travelled
hence hy the northern end of Pah-Cut to Puerto
'aariso, upwards of sixty miles, before reaching
termanent water; thence forty miles to Kaglctait
bias, which is fifteen miles from the Rio Grande,
nd one hundred miles from El Paso.
A project is on foot, snd a auliscription has been
pcncd at Henderson, Texas, for clearing out the
inhine river and making it navigable for steamoats
of ordinary size
Another party of tmmgraphiral engineers hn* )
een sent out hy (ien. Hnrney to explore the route
i El Paso hy the bead of the San Saha
A gentleman informs the (Jalveaton .Veiei thai a
isn by the name of Bostwir.k was killed in fvi
lr?nge on ihe 7ih hy Gen Msyfitld.
Mr. Kufiia Chandler was killed on Sunday mornig,
the Kith ult., in the town of Rusk, iiy Gen
os. L. Hogg.