Richmond Enquirer

Lieutenant Randolph.—We lay before our readers a statement made by R. B. Randolph, late a Lieutenant in the Navy of the United States, from which he has been recently dismissed by the President, relative to his accounts as acting purser, in the room of Mr. Timberlake, together with the decision of the President in relation to the report of the court of enquiry, appointed to investigate his accounts. Those documents contain a statement of the principal facts connected with the case; and with a few explanations taken from a statement made by the fourth auditor relative to the causes which led to an examination into the case, after the account had been closed by his predecessor, and from the report of the court of enquiry, both of which are published in the Globe, will afford a clear insight into the subject. There has been so much said upon this subject that the public will naturally, we presume, be anxious to know something about the facts of the case; and the late assault made by Randolph upon the President, on account of his dismissal, will, we presume, increase the desire in the public mind to know more about the matter. With the view, therefore, of gratifying the curiosity of our readers upon the subject, we lay before them such a statement as will give them a full view of the matter.

The documents, which will be found in subsequent columns, show in what manner Mr. Randolph came into the situation of acting purser, and from those statements it will clearly appear that, to say the least of it, there was a gross neglect on the part of Mr. Randolph with regard to conforming to the rules of the Navy, in taking upon himself the discharge of the important duties of purser. Taking his own statement, it appears that he grossly violated those rules, by taking possession of the money and property which was left by Mr. Timberlake before an inventory had been taken of them. But from the statement of Captain Patterson, whose statement we have certainly as much right to believe as that of Randolph, (particularly as the former is given upon oath, and by one who has no direct interest in the matter, and the other is the mere naked assertion of one deeply interested.) it would appear that the inventory was directed to be taken, and that Randolph declared to him that it had been transmitted to the proper accounting officer at Washington, but it was never received there, and is now alleged never to have been taken. This omission, if we suppose it to have been an omission, was so highly improper that the court of enquiry, composed of Randolph's friends, condemn it in decided terms. But it seems that he not only neglected an attention to the rules of the Navy in this particular, but omitted to charge himself with the property thus received, or to give to the accounting officer any account respecting it; and for this he is also condemned by the court. It appears moreover, that by taking receipts for money paid on Mr. Timberlake's account, as if they had been paid before his death the accounts were so blended that it was almost impossible to separate them, and for this he is condemned by the court; besides various other matters. Mr. Randolph pretends to justify himself for his neglect in relation to the taking of an inventory by asserting that the rules of the Navy did not require it, but gives an extract from the rules which clearly commands it to be done. Notwithstanding all these circumstances, however, the accounts of Randolph were allowed by the accounting officers under Mr. Adams; and Mr. Timberlake and Major Eaton were accused of the defalcation which now appears to have been the result of the funds and property left by the former, having been appropriated by Randolph to his own use.

In the statement of Mr. Kendall we are informed, that the large amount of the defalcation which was charged to Mr. Timberlake, led to an enquiry into the manner in which the money and other property left by him at the time of his death had been disposed of, and the amount of money which had been received and expended by Mr. Randolph as his successor; and from the statement of the accounts of the latter it appeared that he had received in slops at Port Mahon $742 50, and $11,000, at Gibraltar, and is credited with $20,729 98, for money paid and stores returned, being an excess over his receipts of near $9,000, which amount was paid to him on the settlement of his account, by the accounting officers under Mr. Adams. Being at a loss to conceive where the funds were received from which this large excess of payments were made, Mr. Kendall requested of Mr. Randolph an explanation. This, however, he either could or would not give; but met the request with a violent display of temper, on the ground of its indicating on the part of the Auditor a disposition to injure him. On this subject the court of enquiry remark that the large amount of this excess ought to have suggested to Mr. Randolph the propriety of asking for an examination into the situation of his accounts without waiting to be called upon for an explanation; and Mr. Randolph's display of temper, so far from deterring Mr. Kendall from pressing the subject, seems only to have had the opposite effect, until the examination was made; and the result is now laid before the public.

Without taking any notice of the excess of payments over the amounts stated in his account as having been received by him, amounting, as we have noticed, to near $9,000, the court decide that he is indebted to the United States in the sum of $4,303 11. Since this examination was made, and this report has been given of the result of it. he has presented a new account to which the President alludes, in which is embraced charges for which he has already been allowed, and others which are not admissible, by which he attempts to show a balance in his favor of $600. And this he calls a decision in his favor by the court of Enquiry; and such he represents as injustice done to him by the government.

The public may now judge whether Mr. Kendall is deserving of the censure which has been so liberally cast upon him by the Opposition for the course he has pursued in this matter, or whether, on the contrary, he is not entitled to praise for his vigilance in watching over the disbursements of the public funds.—Balt. Republican.
Extract from the Report of the Fourth Auditor to the Secretary of the Navy, in relation to the accounts of John B. Timberlake and Robert B. Randolph—May 25, 1830.

It recently occurred to me, that it might be ascertained with tolerable certainty what were Lieutenant Randolph's receipts and payments from the 2d April, the time he assumed the Pursership at Port Mahon, to July, the time of the ship's arrival at Boston; and again, from the ship's arrival to the settlement of his accounts. A minute investigation exhibits the following result, viz.—

His receipts and payments before arrival, were as follows, as shown by his account and vouchers, viz,-

Received in slops at Port Mahon,

$742 50

Received in cash at Gibraltar,

11,000 00

Total receipts,

$11,742 50

He is credited with payments to officers and men, disbursements in the Mediterranean, slops and stores issued, and slops returned to Naval store, $20,729 98. Excess of payment over receipts, $8,987 48.

There was no known fund out of which this could have been drawn, other than Mr. Timberlake's money received at Port Mahon. But in addition to these payments, he paid for Tobacco at Gibraltar, 148 72, little of which was sold to the crew, in consequence of its inferior quality; and a considerable sum for other stores. How much of this was replaced by issues of the same stores, the papers do not enable me to ascertain.

After arriving at the above result, I examined into Lieutenant Randolph's receipts and payments after his arrival in Boston. The result exhibited a balance of receipts, over payments corresponding with the excess of payments over receipts before his arrival.

From these views of the subject, it was apparent to my mind, that Lieutenant Randolph must have had left in Bank at Boston, after paying off the crew, appropriating all his own commissions, compensation and expenses, and after returning into the Treasury the amount found due from him on settlement, at least $10,000. At my request the Secretary of the Treasury applied for his bank account. The reply of the bank, with Lieutenant Randolph's account is annexed, (marked A.) It fully confirms my previous conclusions. It shows, that after Lieutenant Randolph had finished all his payments, he still had left in Bank $19,873 23. Before he left Boston, he drew out $9,873 23, of this sum, $718 06 in cash; $155 17, in a check on the Norfolk Branch, and $9,000 in a check on the Richmond Branch, leaving precisely $10,000 in bank. This, with $257 43 afterwards deposited, was all of the $19,873 23, which ever came into the Treasury.

But a comparison of Lieutenant Randolph's bank account with his account in this office, makes it apparent that he had during the progress of his payments, drawn out considerable sums on his own account. His account current, and abstracts from his pay roll, are annexed, (marked B.)

Had he deposited all the money he received in Boston, and drawn out none except for the payment of the ship's crew, the balance in bank would have exceeded $22,000. A careful examination of all the accounts gives the following results; which I have no doubt are accurate within a few cents:

1828, July 5, Lieutenant Randolph received of the Navy Agent in Boston,

Leaving in Lieut. Randolph's hands, wholly unaccounted for. after allowing all his pay, emoluments. commissions and expenses,

$8,987 48

To this amount in cash. must be added, to ascertain what was really detained by Lieutenant Randolph, the money on hand when the vessel arrived, the value of all stores on hand, deducting his profit on those sold to the crew, and any debts which might be due to him for money left to other officers

Is it possible that all this could have been Lieut. Randolph's money? By acting as Purser less than four months did he make by means unknown,

$8,987 48

By commissions,

2,207 42

By Lieutenant's pay,

262 89

In all

$11,457 79

And in addition to this. an unknown amount in stores and other things which do not enter into his public account.

These facts admit of but one construction

Most of Mr. Timberlake's money was paid to the officers, and men, or

12. Received the amount of $93,000 remitted, deducting the foregoing item, Received for Timberlake's stores, sold at auction, Received for dead men's and deserter's clothes sold,	$1,500 0091,500 00
Total receipts at Boston,Whole amount paid officers and men at Boston,	$93,648 3071,394 49
Surplus remaining on hand; $19,873, of which was in Bank as his account shows, Of this sum there was returned into the Treasury only,	22,253 3610,257 43
Leaving in Lieut. Randolph's hands, Of this sum he has accounted for the following items, only, viz- Expenses at Charlestown, Postage, Paid R. Calder, ps. clerk, His own commissions allowed, Travelling expenses and per diem while settling accounts, His own pay on pay roll, His own pay for August and Sept'r.,	$11,995 932 0778 152,267 42107 40262 89200 52

These conclusions, in the opinion of the President are incompatible with Lieut. Randolph's failure to charge himself with the money and effects of Mr. Timberlake, with the misinformation given by him to Commodore Patterson in relation to sending the inventories to the Fourth Auditor-with the appropriation to his own use before the settlement of his accounts of $10,000 of the money sent to him at Boston to pay off the ship's company, showing that he had an accurate knowledge what would be the result of that settlement-with his payment of $600 to Mr. Norman after the settlement of his account, which is a confession of his knowledge that he had retained money belonging to the U. States or to Mr. Timberlake, -with his refusal to give information in relation to the money and property left by Mr. Timberlake, as he was bound to do, as Purser of the Navy by law--and with the manifestation of excitement and the violent language used by him when called for explanations.

And, finally, instead of coming forward and correcting the errors in his account which have been developed by the court of enquiry, and returning into the Treasury the $4,303 11-which that court, after liberally admitting every claim advanced by him with a show of evidence, find to be still in his hands, unaccounted for, he has presented to the accounting officers of the Treasury an account current, composed in a great degree of items which have notoriously passed to his credit, or are unfounded and frivolous, showing a balance of about $600 in his own favour against the United States, thereby evincing a determination not to refund any portion of the money which he has improperly applied to his own use, if it be possible to avoid it.

In the opinion of the President, the facts which appear in this case and the conduct of Lieut. Randolph throughout the investigation, prove him to be unworthy the Naval service of this Republic, and an unfit associate for those sons of chivalry, integrity, and honor, who adorn our Navy. The Secretary of the Navy is therefore directed to dismiss Lieut. Robert B. Randolph from the Naval service of the United States.

And the President trusts that the most efficient means will be resorted to by the Navy Department to prevent in future that total neglect and disregard of the rights of deceased officers and their families which form striking characteristics in this case.

(Signed) ANDREW JACKSON.

April 18th, 1833.