Rhode Island Republican

Two Millions of Dollars!

This sum voted at the last session of Congress, for the purpose of "defraying any extraordinary expense which may be incurred in the intercourse between the United States and foreign nations," has been the subject of nearly two millions of lies and slanders in the federal prints! By many of them, with brazen effrontery it has been published to the people, that this sum was voted to the President, to be at his own disposal, and for which he was never to account. This falsehood, however, is contradicted on the very face of the Law itself, which specifically declares, that "the President of the United States, shall cause an account of the expenditure thereof to be laid before Congress as soon as may be."—Here at once the accountability of the President is established by law.—But they declare this sum to have been already 'Squandered' by Mr. Monroe's embassy.—How can they know this fact? How can they presume to assert on any foundation, that that minister took with him a single cent of the United States' money? The law does not specify Mr. M's mission; and perhaps contemplated the Barbary powers as much as those of France or Spain. The fact is, none of us know to what uses this sum may be expended at all—nor shall we obtain the knowledge until the President makes the report to the next session of Congress. If then the federalists find it has been squandered, it will then be time enough to abuse. But it seems not to suit those gentlemen to wait so long—they want calumny for immediate use—and finding a falsehood may be fabricated concerning every dollar in the whole two millions, they have too many workmen to suffer such a stock of raw materials to lay by.