Congressional Plundering

Some weeks since, under this head, we gave a chapter setting Ibrth the manner in whicli 8133,000 had been taken from the national treasury dttring the last session, in ihe shape ot' books voted to the mombers of Congress by tbemselves. According to our iuformotión, our Michigan membérs took :he books, butdid not vote against the apnropriatiön: consequently they were fully responsible for the transaction. The A rgus affinned that Lhe Michigan delegntion voled twice (igainsl lbo appropriation, and called on na to set the matter right with our readers. To ascertain the facts, we npplicd directly to the Editor of the Boston Morning Clironicle, and the following is the expositiun which comes to us in his last paper. "THE BOOK PLUNDER. The Signal of Liberty assen.-, on the allegf d mithur.ty of thÍ9 ier, that the yens uncí mij 9 werc not rulled bó ti.e repolutinn of tho last Hi)ii..e of lloprt'sentaiives. npnropriating several liundred dollars' worth of bqoks to cach niem!er, at tl:e rjepense of the United Stntes. If c ever made th.it sintPnient tlius abóOluteiy', it wai:in error. The y'tfas tind htífú oto twicc colled, unco on the motion to lar the resolittion on the iab!e, ;iti(i iIrmi.hi lhe m..t;in to reconsider ilie voie by wliicli il was pnssed. Tlicy wete not culhd on tkeresotvtion ifsr[f. nor a s ml for! - The groceedingi wei e as foüows, us we fiml ilicm ia ihc Congrcsdional Gluhe: Jane 14. 1844. Mr. 'Winihrop nsked lenve to ulier :i resolution piving menibers of fhe present House, ihe simt; houl.d tfiat ere fnrnisi;ed to meinliers of ihc l;ist Hotise, incluJing the Congrcssiunal Globe aml Appendix! Ohjeciion bcmg iiiatle, he moved a 6ÍisperKÍón of uiü rüfes. wliieh was cnrrieJ. Mi. G. W. Jones n k "1 ilic yens nnd rirtys. l)iit ihev Wdfe riot onlere(i; hir. W. moveJ lhe previous qticstioii. which wfl'BWntted: Mc. .'. .iskeii the yens nnd nayp 011 rfnteráfg the nain 'inestion, hut thoy were nol orduie ', oaiy twenty rising in fuvor, nol oncfit'.! ■ ■ Mr. Cnvc johnoi moved to lay the rcsolu'.ion osi ihe lal.le. and dom:n)deJ the yens ;ir.'l n)s. whicli vveicoidertd; .MrX'-iroll mado an immi. svliiuh w.ib aiisu-crci!; .Mr. Djoidj-ooIo ioc tfJ make ui iinjiiiiy, !ni! Mr. Wnülimi) nhjclul iü iny i-ujnii!, ichfittXtrl TJip --n 'ir s;iidno debate could be eniortnined. The Mif3 [hen takeöofl Inyirig the resoliitïon 911 i!k' tnble, and the nHjrtion were U-t- ve.Ks (4, n;iá III. Thu Micliisr.-iu menibers, J. !!. J!i;i'. Lyon. nnd M'ClelInnd. voted lor luy111:; it on the tnble. Give them all due credit, and ack them whciher they s!o d uj tnnong 1h: twtsniy in cdling the yens and nuys. If they did, so njur'i the more credit. Tuo Whigs, Ba ker, nd P. J). Johnson, voted for Inving on the table, The resoluiion was then passed without n divis ion. Aí-k your Michigan neighbors whether any rule of the House preelndcd theni from at least aSïïhg for tho yeos and ni t. Mr. Vlnihrop tluii moved a reconaderation of ilie vote- the object ai itiis being t V" fude ■1 mm ion to reconsider afier the JJous; had timeto retlrct. Mr. C. Jonnfon mked the veas tfnd ncys, which viere oidercd, èiid were, jtas 61?, n;is Jl 5; namcs nol given in tho Congresslonal Glolu. but doubtlets nt-arly the samo ns the formiT vote. The Michigan Argiusays, ' 1 he l n.-il anioui.t uf the ost o' the books,wc re in.oniicd. was about .mI'M). Tho Michigan delegation voied, ai two diiV-reni time?, ngainst ihe app upriiitum; bul it was pnssed, and onsh ot uu niei)il)C!8 tooi; iht ir poriion ut the books. - Mr. M'Clelluhd biougln liis home, and ihuv are now ai inéWrvice of ony of !iíb cuiidtiiuenis wliu inay vvisli 10 peiuso Ikim." The MichíjjS'n lelegntion áid not "vote eg unit the oppropriation." nor did thi-y seek the opportunityof voüng agaitist it directly. And they look the books." This statement needs but little comment. Our Michigan members did not vote against the reoolulion llsellj nor did they ask for the yeas and nays on its final passage in order that they might do il. So far tlien they wcre culpable in not resisting the project in every stage. But so far as they did oppose it, they acled right. But some have contended that cur mernbers, as honest men, should have refused to receive the books at all. Peihaps our neiglibors of the Argus nre of thia opinon: for they say, - "As regards the nature oí the act, we agree with the Signal exactly - that it was a species of plunder ichick cannol be too strongly condemncd. So, gentlemen, we hope you are satisfied on this point." Plunder, says VVebster is "that which is taken by f orce, robbert), heft orj'raud." If these books were obtained by any one of these nieans:, it would scarcely be honorable in the Michigan delegation to accept any portion of the spoils. It amounts to a virtual robbery of property under prelence of laiv. We, therefore, "strongïy condemn" the transaction, asa dishonorable trick of those engaged in t to swindle the people of Seven Dollars a day, when their wages already amounted to Eighteen Dollars a day. The responsibihty of this plundering, however, seems to fall heavily on Mr. Winthrop, a prominent Whig member of Massachusetts. According to :h record here cited Trom the Globe, he first asked leave to oiTer resolution. When olijection was made, he moved to suspenc the rules. To cut off all discussion, he moved ihe previous question: when inquiries were made, he objected to any inquines whatever: and after tho vote had been taken just t.$ he wislied. he moved a reconsideratien so as to make it certain that the members would not reverse the decisión after they had had time to considerlhe shameless nature of the transaction. It appears also by this statement 'rom the Chronicle that only two Whigs out of sixiy or seventy voted for laying the resolution on the tableí We should like to get tne opinión of the Detroit Advertiser and of the Express on this specimen of Whig reform originated by Mr. Winthrop. Do you justify or condemn it, gentlemen? Will you answer, yea or nay?The attack in the Signal of Liberty upon Gov. Woodbride mighl be chara c'.enzed as the most contemptiblekind of narrow mindedness. Mr. Woodbridge is a gentleman who cannot be reached by the base nsinuations ol a wolf in sheep's cToihini;. Since its perfidious conrse with regard to Texas !.st year the standers of the Signal upon the Whig party linve been tiüerly impoient. We consider ihcKignul one of the best Locofoco papers in the State. We will comply wiih his request to exchongo, btit he must oxpect to be treated, as we decm it oor duty to trent those who carry two face?, or wlio peTeist m injnrirtr a fjood cause by their fanaticisin. - Monroe Ga zette. We clip the preceding frora ihe new Whig paper at Monroe as a speeifnen of tho manner in which mobt papers of that party attenrrpt to prejodice their readers against us. - Not being able or willing to meet onr posiiions lairly, they retor: to calJinnr approbrious na mes and 10 bare assertioH, without attempting to substaniiate them by argnfïunt. We do ooi cxpecl full justice from thcm, but snrely the publicalion of teven pafpably folse statements in iwice thut nutuber of lines is too large a poportion of untrulh to be inferted in one nutuber of a paper. We do not expect the editor of the Gazette to pruve his poïitions, or to relract thcm; hut as Jie ha cbmmeuïed a nerv papor, we confess wedesire to have our true posiüon pluced before hi& reader?, for uiany of whom we have respect. - We thorefore respectfully requoít tiitn lo say to thera that re affirm that our stateniL-nls respecting Gov. Woodbridge's course liave not bficii tlenied by anj Wliig paper: tfiat we huve made no "bate intinuations?' nboui liim : t'liat we are nul "a woff in sheeis cl-tlniig:'' that onr course on the Texas ]ietion has been open nd unchanged: ilidt we have nut "olandered the Wliig parly; ' that the Signol s not "a Locofoco paper:" that we d no' ciirry "two faces:" andaré not fiiaotw;1 thal we deny a!I l!iese charges, and alí candil) persons not to beiïeve them until proved.flC Mr. McDoweíI, a clergyman of Detroit, w.ho commonly preaches in the st reets, as recen ti y arresteJ and held to bail on a charge of exciting riot, noise, iusulting Janguage, &c. The severity of lis prcaching ogninst grog-selling seems to have given ottence to ihose interested ni the business. After a trial of two Jnys, he ttas acuitted.