HISTORY OF A DEFALCATION.
On meeting my friend again to day, I was as much amused as ever with
his humor, in describing a public defaulter. And as he makes his own
reflections upon it, I will without farther preface give his own words,
as near as I can recollect.
PUBLIC DEFAULTERS HONEST MEN.
“When we parted yesterday” said he, I was speaking of defaulters. The
history of a public defalcation, beginning with its inception, and
carried through its “rise and progress” to a final developement, is
full of amusement and instruction, and if more thoroughly understood,
the public mind would be disabused of its prejudice against the
innocent authors of them. A public defaulter, is the most honest man
in the world. If any other proof were necessary, there is abundance at
hand. But the law of the land declares all men honest, until convicted
of guilt, and its argus eyes would surely discover the truth, if it
were otherwise. The history of the country gives no instance of a
defaulter ever being tried, or committed. A public defaulter, is a true
republican, an advocate and supporter of the people’s rights, who scorn
to be controlled by laws, not of their own choosing. He is in favor of
the distribution of surplus revenue, and he takes the best and shortest
method to accomplish it. He saves congress the trouble of legislating
about it, and the people from quarrelling about its appropriation. He
is a public benefactor, and distributes his wealth without stint to the
poor, especially if they have a vote to give; provides accommodations
for public meetings, at his own expense, is a leader in their debates,
a firm supporter of the government, a liberal supporter of trade, a
patron of the arts and sciences, and a leader in fashion. He promotes
the interests of commerce, and sustains stocks, in his untiring
efforts to make up the deficiencies, which his liberality has created,
and when he has done all the good he can here, he goes abroad at his
own cost to acquire new treasures of knowledge wherewith to benefit his
countryman.
The baseness of ingratitude, and the malice of envy, could never be
more manifest, than in the persecution of such a man. Yet, how strange
it is! There are some men living, who do not hesitate to heap calumnies
on his head. But if we go strait onward, those prejudices will soon be
done away. The frequent occurrence of default in this age proves its
enlightened character, and that intelligence is fast dissipating the
benighted superstitions of ignorance.
THE TRUE LIGHT.
The people of Wall-street, are more enlightened in this matter, than
the croaking herd of business men, and property owners are, who are
always afraid of being taxed to make up deficiencies. They regard
such a thing as the husbandman does the rain from heaven, watering
the parched earth, causing verdure and blossoms to spring forth, in
all their beauty, and timely fruit to satisfy their hungry souls. And
when the wisdom of government is exercised, in the appointment to the
emoluments of office, and the care of public monies, of one of their
true friends, who is ready to sacrifice every thing, even his “sacred
honor” to promote _their_ success, the event is hailed with little
less than a bacchanalian triumph. They know their men, and they know
enough of human nature to know, that, he who has once been a stock
gambler, will be again, as soon as he has the means of becoming so.
And, although they may have plucked him to his last pin-feather, and
then left him exposed to the cold frosts of a world’s charity, as soon
as his commission is in his pocket, their respect and gratulations know
no bounds.
MORE OF DEFAULTS.
A public default, is a thing which seldom stands by itself. There are
many inwoven secrets, which do not meet the public gaze. The first
stimulating cause,—the arts to prevent disclosure, and the natural
sympathy between the friends of the appointor, and appointed, are
rarely scanned. When truth bears rule, and honest men are in power, the
checks, and balances are such, that one alone would not long maintain
his secret. And as this seldom happens, the next point of wisdom is,
when disclosures are made, so to arrange matters, that the crimes of
all may be visited on the head of but one; and he, instead of suffering
by the unrelenting knife, and having his carcass roasted on the altar
of sacrifice, may, like the scape-goat of the Mosaic law, be turned
into the wilderness, to bear all their sins beyond the camp.
JACK DOWNING IMPLICATED.
I cannot better describe to you, the beginning and conduct of a
great default, than by reading a detected letter, from a notable
correspondent of General Jackson’s, who, from his great personal
intimacy, could not have failed to know the truth.
JACK’S LETTER TO ——
Perhaps, as this letter somewhat implicates, the redoubtable major in
an infidelity to the bank, and the government, should it ever come
to his notice, he may insist that it is “Kounterfit;” but as it was
by mistake, inclosed in a package, and directed to a friend, by the
first recipient, when he was leaving in haste, I have no doubt of its
genuineness. And as the major’s fortunes are known to have risen nearly
in inverse proportion to the fall of the bank, and Apalachi lands,
even his friends will find it difficult to disbelieve it. Never having
had an opportunity to return this letter, I make it public now, that
justice may be rendered to all the parties.
_Washington_, 1835.
To squire S——
in New-York.
DEAR SIR. Your letter to the ginral, was received in Washington, as
quick as the mail could fetch it. As soon as it got to the P. O. here,
Amos Kindle came right over to the white house with it, and says
he—“Ginral, here’s a letter from York, and I raither guess—there’s
some news in it.” As soon as the ginral took the letter in his hand,
he knowed by the outside, that it was from you. The ginral is plaguey
cunnin, and he knowed as quick as a weazle’s scent, that Amos wanted
to find out what was in it. So, says he to me, major, says he, these
ere friends of Mr. Van Buren in York, pester me amazinly. And then
he laid the letter down on the table, and lit his pipe, and went to
talkin politics. And it warnt long afore he drove Amos away, by tellin
a story about a man, who turned traitor to his patron. The ginral all
the time meant Mc Lane and him, but he told the story so cutely, that
it suited Kindle and Clay, just as well. As soon as Amos was gone,
says the ginral to me, says he, “Major”—now we’ll read this ere
letter from Swartwout. That Kindle, “says he,” wanted mightily to know
what was in it, but though he’s sharp as a needle, it wont do to trust
him with secrets, unless he has a hand in making on em; and then we
read your letter all over, backwards, and forwards, side ways, and
cross ways. And when we got through, says the ginral to me, says he,
“Major, this ere letter is amazin puzlin.”
GENERAL JACKSON “RILED.”
He was considerable riled; and says he, major, this looks mighty like
your game of hocus pocus, that you larnt me to play with the cups and
balls. What does Swartwout mean by being flunked? Why says I, that’s
a Wall-street word, and means that he has been outwitted, in tryin to
make up the money he was behind. And the ginral riz right up, and says
he, major, I knowed Swartwout in New Orleans, in Burr’s time, and I
know he’d stand a shot with every one of them fellows in Wall-street,
as quick as he’d wink, if they tried to play hocus pocus with him, so
dont tell me any more of your stories, major, and as you know, says
he, that to-morrow morning I’m off to the rip raps, you must send
Swartwout an answer, but remember, for by the Eternal,[4] and then he
ketched off his specks with one hand, and he smashed the other hand
down on to the table so, he broke his pipe in ten thousand shivers,
and his eyes looked like coals of fire, and I looked round to see if
the door was open, and just then Woodbury came in, and the ginral,
was quiet as a lamb in a minit. But I warnt in sorts to talk about
the treasury then, so I went to bed, and the ginral he was off afore
day-light this mornin.
HIS PASSION—AND OPINIONS.
The ginral always said you did right in payin for printin things agin
Biddle and the bank—because says he—as you say major, what is sass
for goose, is sass for gander, and the only discounts, I’ve lately
heard tell on by the bank, is to pay for printin things agin us. When
he was in York, he was a good deal consarned to know that you had been
obliged to take money, that ought to gone into the treasury. And I
raly believe, if it had’nt been for that, he never would have moved
the deposites, without Congress to back him. But when I tell’d him
that you could make it all up, and three times over by speckilation on
the money, he was as chipper _as a bird, and says he, major_, seein as
the deposites are moved, we can play them double game.
JACK AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MISCHIEF.
In respect of the loss you made, by the bank stock, that I recommended
you to buy of my cousin Zekiel Bigelow, in Wall-street, I did’nt tell
the ginral any thing, because the deposites bein moved that proved a
bad spickilation. But in respect of the Apalachi land co., I advise
you to vest more largely, for the ginral says, that if I think best,
he’ll establish a knavy depo there, and then it will be worth double.
J. DOWNING, MAJOR
2nd brigade.
CAUSE OF JACK’S DISGRACE.
It is proper to observe here, that the major was the owner of the
stock above alluded to, as sold by his cousin, and that he was also a
director and proprietor in the Apalachi land company. He was never
publicly accused of being either a coward or janus faced, but his
confession in this letter, with the unraveling it gives to the default,
lays him open to the charge of both; for it seems that, while he was
professedly the firm supporter of the bank, he was speculating on its
stock, based on the expected removal of the deposites. And while the
defaulter was consulting with his patron, how to get out of a dilemma,
into which his personal devotion had led him, he was “flunked” by the
major, his patron’s confidential adviser, in a “spickilation” which he
had recommended to him as a means of relief, which made his situation
much worse. And when we consider, that these things were done in the
face of General Jackson, who was deeply interested, and his most
devoted friend, we cannot wonder that the major looked round to see if
the door was open, nor that he was shortly afterwards relieved from his
high responsibilities.
Although the characters of public men, are public property, they should
not be sported with, too rudely, and it is to be hoped, that for the
honor of the major’s past reputation, he will be able to clear his
skirts of this.
NON PLUS’D.
When the defaulter found himself deceived by the major, and his
Wall-street operations all going against him, and he thereby involved
in still greater pecuniary embarrassment, his soldier like spirit was
roused within him, and as the general said, he would have “stood a shot
with every man in the street, if that would have relieved him from his
difficulties.” But he had been long enough there, to know that cold
lead, although the heaviest of metals, was in fact but the lightest
kind of argument, and his discretion, the better part of his valour,
discovered to him, that if, among them all he should chance to meet a
good shot, and himself receive a quietus, it would establish no truth
but that of his real condition, and default. When this truth stared him
in the face, he is said to have uttered horrid imprecations, and with
alternating curses and relenting, to have bewailed his fidelity to his
long loved friend and companion in arms, the general.
A GOOD FINANCIER.
Not that the general ever prompted him to such acts; they were
volunteered by himself, out of pure love, from old companionship, and
he never thought of the wrong, much less of his inability, to pay
his expenditures, until the fatal truth was pushed upon his notice.
How could he think of such a thing, when money was flowing through
his hands, like water through a mill-race? how could he tell that
there would be a balance against him? he had never kept an account
in his life, nor even examined one. He was too liberal to be exact.
When his shoemaker presented his bill, he looked at the foot; and if
money was in his pocket he paid it, and if not, he kicked the impudent
fellow out of the house, if he presumed to urge his suit, by any
word of expostulation, or plea of necessity. It was unsoldier-like,
and ungentlemanly to be exact in any thing, but the point of honor,
viz.—if a man should say his coat was brown, when he knew it was
black, call him out, and settle the truth by an exchange of shots.
And here I cannot forbear the remark, that, when government wants
soldiers, they should look for fighting men. When they want judges and
attornies, they should seek for those learned in the law, and when
they want some one to take charge of financial affairs, they should
seek those whose habits of exactness, promptitude, and experience in
finance, give them some fitness for the duty.
IN A DEEP STUDY.
But the die was now cast with the defaulter, and no repentance could
make atonement to offended justice. Thus far, his attempts to relieve
himself from the first deficiency, had not only been unavailing, but
had led him deeper into difficulty. Something more must be done, or the
fatal hour of disclosure must come. The general would soon lose all
patience, as well as all confidence. Should he implicate him, and clear
his own skirts? No—that thought was too repugnant to his honorable
feelings, it would be unjust, for if the general knew his default, he
had no hand in creating it, and if, he allowed him time to escape its
consequences by retrieving it, it was the kindliness resulting from old
associations. It was his own want of prudence in the first place, and
of skill in the second, that placed him where he was. But something
more must be done. And what should he do? The finale of his Apalachi
land stock, was not yet realised; he thought well of it—he thought
well of all land speculations. Yes, the landed interest, must, in this
country, as in every other, in time, become the wealthiest—cities were
springing up every day—fortunes were made in a moment—there could be
no loss—the land would not run away—the Wall-street sharpers could
not “flunk” him there.
RESOLVES—AND GOES AHEAD.
Yes, he’d try a land speculation, east and west—honest man!—he
never thought how much easier it was for one of these landlopers,
to make a city in the woods on paper, than to be at the trouble of
cutting the timber all down, and building it up again into houses,
stores, churches, and academies. And that even a flowing river with
beautiful falls, and “mill privileges,” with fertile valleys skirting
its chrystal waters, could be made, where nature had never taken
that trouble, in a thousandth part of the time that De Witt Clinton
could make a sluggish canal. In short he wanted the experience, which
has proved these Yankee land speculators to be the genuine breed of
land-sharks, which sailors so much detest for their cunning, and
voracious propensities, and who, to use one of their own descriptions
of themselves—“are as much sharper, than a Wall-street sharper, as
a Wall-street sharper, is sharper than a needle.” But the decision
once made by the defaulter, his practice was to go ahead, and he
usually left out the preliminary of the renowned Crocket, as implying
a disagreeable necessity. If he was _not wrong_, he _must_ be _right_,
was the result of his logical reasoning; and certainly, no more
self-evident conclusion was ever drawn from premises.
With the accuracy of judgment, therefore, which might be expected
in such a case, he bought lands, to a very large extent, in various
sections of the country, along with the most _respectable_ companies,
and from the handsomest drawn maps he could find.
An anecdote occurred about this time, which I believe has once got into
the newspapers, but it is too good not to be repeated here, especially,
as it will show to future generations, the value of a clean and
handsomely drawn map—in other words, that it is better to do things
well, than to do them clumsily.
ANECDOTE.
The defaulter had in his possession, a title to an old soldier’s
patent, the papers of which had been carried in a dirty pocket book,
and handled with dirty hands, until the location of the patent could
hardly be distinguished on the map. It had been “thrown in to him,” to
bind a bargain with some speculators, much the same as a huckster woman
puts on to the measure too peaches more, when she sees her customer
about to depart. He esteemed it of very little value, and thought no
more of it, until one day a stalwart Yankee, with slouched hat, came
into his office, and, says he, “mister hain’t you got a piece of land
there in Miss-soori, up on the Black river. Yes, was the reply, after a
moment’s reflection.”
A YANKEE.
“Well mister, what will you take now, for that are land?”
The defaulter, who had begun to understand, a little of the mode of
bargaining practiced by these men, answered “a thousand dollars,”
though he would have accepted five hundred.
“Did you say a thousand dollars, mister?”
“Yes.”
“That’s raither high. Jest let me see them are papers, mister.”
The papers were handed to him, and, after being critically examined,
and found to be all right, the Yankee, still holding on to the papers,
from fear of not being able to bind his bargain otherwise, asked—
“Won’t you take no less, Mister?”
“No.”
“Well, I’ll take it, just make me the title.”
COME OVER BY A YANKEE.
The title was made out, and the money paid, when the defaulter,
surprised at the bargain, asked, “what did you buy that land at such a
price for? I would have sold it to you for half the money.”
“Why,” said the Yankee, “there’s a darned good lead mine on it.”
“There is, eh!—how much is it worth?”
“Well, I don’t know, but I’ve dug out ten thousand dollar’s worth
a’ready, and I expect to get a great deal more.”
“The d——l you do?”
“Yes—good bye, Squire.”
Report says that this was the only valuable piece of land the defaulter
ever bought, and that this was all the money he ever got back again,
from all his investments. I have even heard it whispered that this
same Yankee was one of the speculators concerned in making the large
sale to him, in the first place, and that the “throwing it in,” was
but the cast of a die, to bind a profitable bargain, trusting to their
ingenuity to get it back again; and, having cheated him at any rate,
whether they should get it again, or not.
DOCTRINE OF CHANCES.
A mind as cool, even, as the defaulter’s, could hardly retain its just
balance, under such accumulations of misfortune, and accordingly, we
find him sometimes afflicted with gloomy forebodings of the future,
sometimes brooding over the disappointments of the past; and always
taking that course that will lead him deeper into difficulty.
Whether it is right or prudent for a man involved in embarrassment
to attempt to relieve himself by a single coup de main, may be a
very fruitful theme for those who like to calculate the doctrine of
chances; but, in my opinion, a chance, which may be operated upon in
so many ways, as may the rise or fall of property, or the success of
speculation of any kind—and, instead of being governed by any such
natural laws as may be supposed to belong to chance, wherein the
_aggregate_ results must be always the same, although we do not know
before hand how they will come up particularly, is overruled and
affected, more or less, by the changing opinions and volition of almost
every one in the community—deserves not the name, even of chance,
and, in my opinion, involves the certainty and necessity of failure.
And, although such a thing hath been as success in this way, yet all
my experience goes to show me, that the “chance,” so called, is not as
one in the hundred. The fact that a man is embarrassed signifies, also,
that he is unable to control his affairs, and, if he cannot control
them in the state they are, their expansion, out of his legitimate
course, will not help him much.
TRUE SECRET OF SUCCESS.
I believe every successful man will tell me, that the secret of his
success has been, the preserving this ability to himself; and my own
experience has shown me, that whenever the case is otherwise, one
not only has the caprices of chance against him, but the caprices,
cupidity, and contrary interests of his fellow men, to contend with,
and the sooner he comes to a stand, the better for himself, and his
friends. These reflections are not suggested by a default, when viewed
in any other light, than as a pecuniary embarrassment; and, in this
particular, they are alike applicable to all embarrassed men.
DEFAULTER IN DESPAIR.
When men, for insufficient reasons, have raised their hopes too
high, their disappointment commonly brings with it a corresponding
depression; and so with the defaulter—he now despaired. But let me not
be understood that despair took away his appetite; far otherwise—there
was no sickliness in his despair. He merely gave up all hope of being
able to save himself from that very small modicum of attainture
to his honor, which is comprehended in the name of a defaulter;
and, as despair, in all its shapes and degrees, is always rash and
unreasonable, he is said to have given himself up to an unaccountable
fondness for those fashionable, yet too animating amusements, where
gentlemen are supposed to stake largely. Here he met many pleasant
companions, but among them, one particularly, a public functionary,
who, although he had met him every day for years, in his attention to
the duties of his office, he never before esteemed his acquaintance
to be a jewel of such Price and value as he now found it to be. An
intimacy of course grew up, which led to the denouement that must form
the conclusion to this chapter.
FINDS A FRIEND.
This friend of great Price had every requisite of character for a
gentleman. He would eat heavy, drink deep, and play high, and not the
least of his accomplishments was, that he had no respect, whatever,
for the character of Joseph, as claimed by the Hebrews. To add to his
value, as a friend, these excellent qualities were made more seductive,
by an agreeable exterior, and manner. He was also a man of business
withal, and never gave more than an occasional hour of relaxation, to
those refined pleasures.
As they chatted, and talked, and drank together, the defaulter
sometimes looked at him with unmingled pleasure, sometimes with
feelings akin to envy. What would he not give to possess the quiet
and unruffled mind and temper of his friend? to be as free from any
danger of exposure—from the haunting, disturbing influence of self
accusation. Alas! the first step from the path of duty inevitably leads
to ruin, unless immediately retraced.
Sometimes the thought would arise in his mind, “Is it possible that,
like myself, he comes here as a relief to his burthened spirit?—to
seek a solace for the cares of an anxious mind!” He banished the
thought at once; but who is there that has not often found these random
suggestions of thought were in fact the premonitions of truth?—and to
this fact we are about to come.
BOTH IN THE SAME BOX.
One night, when the stakes had run high, and were swept by their
opponents, and the two friends had set themselves down to the solace of
their wine; and its inspiring qualities had heightened into extacy the
love that glowed in the bosom of each, with that mellow frankness which
wine always inspires, and the longing which friendship always feels,
to make its loved object the co partner of its cares, the defaulter
whispered in the softest accents, “Bill, I am ruined—the money I lost
belongs to the Treasury.”
“So did mine!” was the full and sonorous response.
Had the thunder-bolt, which Abdiel let fall on the crest of Satan,
struck the defaulter, he could scarcely have received a greater shock,
and almost like the arch-fiend—
Ten paces huge he back recoiled;
The tenth on bended knee.
But, recovered in some degree from the shock, the friends were both
astonished at their own imprudence, and, shaking hands, they separated
for the night; the one to go home and ponder his lot, the other to
regret his folly.
THEY TAKE COUNSEL TOGETHER.
But the disclosure had been too mutual to rest here—something must be
done for their protection. It could only be done by concert, for each
had the power to ruin the other, any moment; and, as a result of this
necessity, it was the part of wisdom to extend their mutual confidence.
If both could not be saved, one of them might. The government was
passing into new hands, new interests would arise out of it, new
applications would be made for office—perhaps they would both lose
theirs. If they did not render their accounts promptly, they would be
suspected, and lose their offices of course. They must, therefore, work
speedily.
THEY ABSQUATULATE.
But the day of retribution always comes sooner than we expect. The
government _had_ changed hands—new interests _had_ arisen—new
applications for office _had_ been made. They _had_ become more than
suspected, before they could possibly arrange, out of the chaos of
their affairs, and the wilderness of their crimes, any such jumbled up
accounts of interchanged receipts, costs, &c. &c., as could save even
one of them. And, as a consequence upon the unfaithfulness of their
friendship, they were both compelled to fly in disguise and disgrace,
from the presence of their countrymen, and from the joys of home.
And now, if I have not given a true account of a default which
cost the government more than a million of dollars, solely in
consequence of a few thousands wrongfully spent in the first place,
for electioneering purposes—if this account does not prove the total
unfitness of gambling politicians to hold offices of trust—and if
these circumstances will not apply in more quarters than one, public
and private—it is because my powers of description are feeble, and not
because the truth is wanting to establish these facts.
FOOTNOTE:
[4] The secret of the major’s disgrace at Washington has never been
publicly known. But this passage of his letter, taken with the results
of his subsequent advice to the defaulter, and his almost immediate
discharge from employment afterwards, leave little doubt as to the
cause.