Winchester Virginia Republican

Mr. Crockett has issued a circular letter to his constituents, which is a sensible, straight-forward exposition of facts as he found them at the last session of the last congress. His known honesty gives to his statements a weight, which more varnished and highly wrought productions do not always carry with them.

The following is an extract from his circular:

"You know what a noise was made about Mr. Adams and Mr. Clay spending and wasting the public money, and that the friends of Gen. Jackson made us believe, if they got in power, that they would reform the government, and retrench the expenses thereof. I am sorry to say that none of their promises have been performed; the expenses of every branch of the government have been increased; and all their boasted economy was a mere trap set for us—they caught us and we put them in power; they now not only do what they denounced, but they push their waste of money further—the appropriation bills will show it. They have sent a minister to Russia, paying him $9,000 outfit to furnish a house, and $9,000 a year salary; and before he went they granted him the right to leave there and go wherever he chose, and he went to England, staying in Russia but ten days or so. He is not going back to Russia; he is coming home, and has been announced a candidate for congress, and I am told he says he was only sent out for one year. I may ask you what you think of this most unprincipled waste of your money, (to give it to a rich favorite) practised by men boasting of their political honesty and love of economy; search every department of the government from its commencement to the present time, and nothing like it can be found: this shows what little reliance can be placed on those who have the management of public affairs.

The men now in power used to argue in congress that our ministers abroad were too numerous, and paid too high. They have not reduced their number—they have tried to increase their pay; and the secretary of state, professing to act in obedience to the wish of the president, has recommended the most extravagant and splendid embassy that was ever dreamed of in this country. He recommends that a minister should be sent to the grand Turk at Constantinople, at an expense of nearly eighty thousand dollars for the first year; $50,000 of which are for the contingent expenses, to be laid out in presents to the grand seignior. The secretary does not state how the 50,000 are to be laid out—that he has left to the discretion of the ambassador. The clerks in the departments, when Mr. Adams was in power, they said were too numerous and too lazy; now further pay is asked for them, and their number is too small! It appears, also, that the post-office department, instead of supporting its own expenses, must now be supported by the treasury."