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Subject Area: Political Theory

GALLATIN TO JOSIAH MEIGS. - Albert Gallatin, The Writings of Albert Gallatin, vol. 1 [1879]

Edition used:

The Writings of Albert Gallatin, ed. Henry Adams (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1879). 3 vols.

Part of: The Writings of Albert Gallatin, 3 vols.

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GALLATIN TO JOSIAH MEIGS.

New York, December 4, 1815.

Sir,—

I had the honor to receive your friendly letter of 17th ult., and have delayed so long answering it from hesitation respecting the propriety of publishing the extract of my letter of 19th September, 1810, to Judge Thruston. There are in that letter some allusions to a circumstance which had taken place during the preceding winter,—I mean a most unfounded and wicked charge, that I had speculated or was in some shape connected with purchases or speculations of the public lands of the United States. The charge first appeared in the Virginia Argus, whose editor refused to name the author; and it was expressed in so vague a manner, without specification of facts, that it was to me unintelligible, and left me no means to refute or repel it otherwise than by a simple denial. Some member of Congress moved for an inquiry, which motion, the charge being vague and anonymous, was rejected; and thus the matter has ever since remained, false in itself, unsupported by names or facts, and yet, I dare say, propagated by enemies and believed by some. It could not, therefore, be but agreeable to me that a favorable opportunity should offer itself of proving by the general records of the land office that my conduct (whilst it was under my superintendence) was uniformly dictated by a conscientious sense of duty, and altogether inconsistent with the supposition of my being concerned in any purchases of any kind. None appears in my name, nor is there any act of mine, a single one of favoritism, such as may create a suspicion of my being concerned in the transaction, or as might be expected from an officer guilty himself, afraid of detection, and compelled to show undue forbearance to speculators less culpable than himself; yet I apprehend that the publication of my letter to Judge Thruston, which is but my own evidence in favor of myself, might be charged to improper motives, and, not being called for, would have the appearance of ostentation and self-applause.

Since, however, your letter offers me the opportunity, I beg leave to avail myself of it for the purpose of placing on the files of your office my explicit denial of the charge, and such observations on my landed property as may prove its falsity.

I suppose it unnecessary to say anything respecting my (home) property in Pennsylvania, on the banks of the Monongahela. All the other lands I own, or have ever owned or been concerned in, are in the States of Virginia, Ohio, or Kentucky. Of these there is but one acquired since I was Secretary of the Treasury, and in the following manner. A Nova Scotia refugee, named Samuel Rogers, being in Washington in the year 1803, destitute of money, I lent him one hundred dollars, for which he pledged to me a tract of 36 acres in the State of Ohio, being one of those allowed to him for his losses as refugee. I gave him an instrument of writing obliging myself to reconvey the land on his repaying the money within a limited number of years, which has expired. He has not redeemed the land, nor have I heard of him these ten years. Considering the land as only pledged, I have uniformly refused to sell it, although several offers have been made to purchase it. Mr. Nourse, Register of the Treasury, was a witness to the whole transaction, and [had] the goodness to draw the necessary writings.

With that single exception, all my other lands lying as above stated in the States of Virginia, Ohio, and Kentucky were acquired prior to my holding the office of Secretary of the Treasury, and, moreover, not an acre ever was the property of the United States, being all derived from Virginia titles; most of them purchased and located in the years 1784-1785, some in 1795, two by exchange in 1800. For three of them, containing together 1700 acres, being Virginia military lands located in the State of Ohio, I obtained the patents subsequent to my being Secretary of the Treasury. The warrant on which they were founded I had purchased in 1784; they were located for me by Major Hardin, who was killed by the Indians in 1794; they were all three surveyed prior to my holding the office of Secretary of the Treasury. The patents for all the other lands are of a prior date.

I will add that I sold no lands whilst I was at the head of the Treasury. What I now have I had (with the exception of Rogers’s tract) when I came in office, and what I had then I now have; I neither acquired or sold, increased or decreased the amount whilst in office, nor, with the exception of that tract, am I or was I ever concerned or interested, either in my name or that of any other, directly or indirectly, in the purchase, sale, grant, or acquisition of any of the public lands of the United States.

You will excuse my having said so much on that subject. It is with great reluctance that I can bring myself to answer accusations so unfounded, so absurd (since, if true, I was liable to be impeached), so unworthy, I may say, of my general character. I felt equally reluctant to trouble any person with a subject of a personal nature. But I have stated my motive for saying what I have; and the friendly motives which dictated your letter have encouraged me in doing it.

Wishing that you may fully succeed in your honorable endeavors to defend and preserve the patrimony of the people of the United States against every unprincipled attack, I have the honor to be, with sincere esteem and respect, sir, your obedient servant.

P.S.—I may still add that all my lands (those at and near New Geneva on the Monongahela excepted) are not together worth and would not sell for twelve thousand dollars.