1801 Examination 10 · Founding Made Plain

1THE EXAMINATION.

2Number X.

3[New York, January 19, 1802]

4The same Subject continued.

5As to Holland—

6 being the second power

7 which acknowledged our independence,

8 and made a treaty with us,

9 a step which involved her

10 in war with Great Britain,

11 it was deemed proper

12 to treat her with a marked respect.

13Besides this,

14 from the time of our revolution

15 to the present,

16 we have had large money concerns

17 with her people.

18A trusty and skilful public agent

19 was for a long time necessary

20 to superintend those concerns;

21 and by the annexation

22 of a diplomatic character,

23 a double purpose was answered.

24The honorable nature of the station

25 enabled the government

26 to find a competent agent

27 at a less expense

28 than would have been requisite

29 to procure one

30 merely for the money object.

31It is not meant to deny,

32 that the great change

33 which has lately happened

34 in the affairs of that country,

35 making it in effect

36 a dependency on France,

37 rendered a removal of the minister proper:

38 but it does not follow

39 that it ought to have been done sooner.

40It is also known,

41 that Mr. Murray, the late envoy,

42 has been for a considerable time past

43 employed in our negotiations

44 with France,

45 which probably was a collateral reason

46 for not recalling him sooner.

47In respect to one,

48 if not to both these agents,

49 it may be observed,

50 that a time of war

51 was not the most eligible moment

52 for the removal of a minister.

53As to Berlin,

54 the inducements

55 for keeping a minister there,

56 have never been fully explained.

57It is only known,

58 that our commercial treaty with Prussia

59 had expired,

60 and that a renewal has been effected

61 by the envoy sent thither;

62 but influential as was

63 the court of Prussia

64 in the affairs of Europe,

65 during the late dreadful storm,

66 it may have been conceived

67 that a cultivation

68 of the good will

69 of the Prussian monarch

70 was not a matter of indifference

71 to the peace and security

72 of this country.

73If this was the object of the mission,

74 though there may have been

75 too far fetched a policy in the case,

76 it offers a defence of the measure,

77 which exculpates the executive,

78 at least from the charge

79 of a desire to multiply officers

80 improvidently.

81On the most unfavorable supposition, then,

82 here was one diplomatic agent too many,

83 and two others were continued longer

84 than was absolutely necessary.

85This surely is not of magnitude

86 sufficient to constitute a serious charge,

87 where malevolence does not inspire

88 a spirit of accusation.

89In considering this question,

90 it ought to be remembered,

91 that it is the prevailing policy

92 of governments

93 to keep diplomatic agents

94 at all courts

95 where they have important relations.

96As to the navy agents,

97 it is sufficient to say,

98 that they were temporary persons

99 who grew up

100 out of our rupture with France;

101 who, when they were appointed,

102 were useful

103 to accelerate naval preparations

104 at as many points

105 as could be advantageously occupied,

106 and that it was only proper

107 to discontinue them

108 when an accommodation

109 had been effected,

110 and after they had had time enough

111 to wind up the affairs

112 of their agency.

113This was not the case

114 previous to Mr. Jefferson's administration.

115Accordingly, in some early instances

116 of removal,

117 it was only done

118 to substitute members

119 of his own sect.

120And though several of the navy agents

121 were afterwards discontinued,

122 spleen itself cannot imagine

123 any color of blame,

124 either as to the appointment

125 or continuance of them.

126As to the inspectors of the revenue,

127 the case in brief stands thus:

128 When the excise on distilled spirits

129 was established,

130 three different descriptions of officers

131 were instituted to carry it into effect—

132 supervisors, inspectors, and collectors,

133 distributed to districts,

134 surveys and divisions,

135 one to each.

136A district comprehending an entire State;

137 a survey some large portions of it

138 or a number of counties;

139 a division for the most part

140 a single county.

141In some of the small States

142 there were no distinct officers

143 for the surveys—

144 the duties of inspectors

145 being annexed

146 to those of supervisor;

147 in larger ones there were inspectors;

148 more or less numerous,

149 according to their extent.

150As other internal revenues

151 were established,

152 they were put under the management

153 of the same officers.

154The bare statement of the fact

155 shows the necessity of these officers.

156The revenues of no government

157 were perhaps ever collected

158 under a more simple organization,

159 or through a smaller number

160 of channels.

161It is not alleged

162 that the first and last classes of officers

163 were unnecessary.

164It is only to the middle class

165 that any specious objection can be made.

166Let us conjecture the reasons

167 for employing them.

168In some of the States

169 great opposition was expected,

170 and was actually experienced.

171In such States especially,

172 it was evidently useful

173 to have the exertions

174 of some men of weight and character

175 in spheres of moderate extent,

176 to reconcile the discontented;

177 to arrange the details of business,

178 and to give energy

179 to the measures for collection.

180In others, similar officers

181 were probably useful

182 in the early stages,

183 for the purpose of establishing

184 the details simply.

185The subdivision was in all cases

186 favorable to an active

187 and vigilant superintendence.

188Nor does it require

189 extraordinary penetration

190 to discern

191 that the policy was wise

192 at the time

193 when the measure was adopted.

194It is possible

195 that upon the complete establishment

196 of the plan,

197 when all opposition had been vanquished,

198 and when the collection

199 had become an affair

200 of mere routine,

201 that this intermediate class

202 may have ceased to be essential.

203But till this had become perfectly evident,

204 it would have been premature

205 to alter the original plan.

206Though it be true,

207 that some years have elapsed

208 since the excise law was passed,

209 it is not very long

210 since it has been

211 in full and uninterrupted operation.

212Other laws,

213 introducing other branches

214 of internal revenue,

215 have been subsequently passed

216 from time to time,

217 and the agency of the same officers

218 has probably been found useful

219 on their first introduction

220 and execution.

221Hence it is easily accounted for,

222 that the inspectors were not

223 before discontinued,

224 if indeed experience has shown

225 that they are not still necessary,

226 which is itself problematical.

227Nothing is more easy

228 than to reduce the number of agents

229 employed in any business,

230 and yet for the business

231 to go on with the reduced number.

232But before the reduction is applauded,

233 it ought to be ascertained

234 that the business is as well done

235 as it was before.

236There is a wide difference

237 between merely getting along

238 with business

239 and doing it well and effectually.

240These observations sufficiently show,

241 that in the instances which have been cited

242 there is no evidence of a disposition,

243 in the preceding administrations,

244 improperly to multiply

245 offices and officers.

246Acting under different circumstances,

247 they conducted as those circumstances

248 dictated,

249 and in all probability

250 in a manner the best adapted

251 to the advancement

252 of the public service.

253A change of circumstances may,

254 in some instances, have rendered

255 a continuance of some of the agents

256 thus employed unnecessary;

257 and the present Chief Magistrate

258 may even be right

259 in discontinuing them;

260 but it is not therefore right

261 to attempt to derive from this

262 any plea of peculiar merit

263 with the people;

264 and it is very far from right

265 to make it a topic of slander

266 on predecessors.

267Perhaps, however,

268 this is too rigorous a construction,

269 and that nothing more was intended

270 than to set off to the best advantage,

271 the petty services of petty talents.

272If this was the true aim,

273 it is to be regretted

274 that it was not so managed

275 as to avoid the appearance

276 of a design to depreciate

277 in the public estimation,

278 those who went before.

279Had this delicacy been observed,

280 the attempt would have attracted

281 neither notice nor comment.

282At most it would have been said,

283 "Commas and points

284 he sets exactly right,

285 And 'twere a sin

286 to rob him of his mite."

287Lucius Crassus.

288New-York Evening Post, January 19, 1802.