Berkeley And Jefferson Intelligencer

To Mr. ERASMUS GANTT

SIR

IN your address to the Citizens of Berkeley County, by which, you offer yourself as a candidate to represent them in the Legislature of this State, you profess to have but a very limited knowledge of the electors, and I am sorry to observe that this is, perhaps, the only truth in your publication. It is evident that if you had known the people, you would have been more guarded in your assertions. But you must have presumed much on their ignorance, when you ventured to tell them that Mr. Jefferson had extinguished 8 or 10 million of dollars of the national debt, without the aid of Stamp act, excise on Stills or Direct Taxation. You must be as ignorant as you supposed the people to be if you did not know that Mr. Jefferson has had the aid of the Stamp Act, excise on Stills and Direct Tax to extinguish what you are pleased to call 8 or 10 millions of the national debt (but which, by the bye, Mr. Gallatin calls about five and an half millions.) If you know any thing of the laws of the country of which you want to represent a part you must know that the Stamp duties, Carriage Tax, License to Still Tax, continued till July, 1802-that the Direct Tax were nearly [all] thereby been paid [during] Jefferson's [tenure] and a very large [portion of] Stamp[t duties], Still and Carriage [taxes remained], sir will you excuse yourself [to the] cople for this attempt to impose upon them? You cannot plead ignorance, for I am told you are a man of learning and a lawyer. You must then plead guilty, and tell them that it is a privilege which you have in common with democrats. If you had come forward with candor, and told the people that the duties on Merchandize and Tonnage had increased considerably, that the sale of Western Land brought a large sum into the treasury, that large arrearages of Stamp and Still Tax, and almost the whole of the Direct Tax, together with the sale of our Bank Stock, had enabled Mr. Jefferson to pay five and an half millions, instead of 8 or 10, your services would have been much more acceptable to the people, and your veracity would have stood in a much more favorable point of view.

A CITIZEN