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 COERUPTIONS AHD FRAUDS OF 
 
 ■-^wcE>-»^gy -^IB»^— 
 
 When the present Republican Administration as- 
 sumed federal power, it found itself confronted with 
 events of the gravest import to the safety, honor, 
 and welfare of the Union. Everything conspired to 
 make men serious, unselfish, and patriotic. The 
 fabric which the men of the revolution had erected, 
 out of decaying nationalities, the keen jealousies of 
 states, and earnest differences in respect to treatment 
 of the great problem of slave labor, was tottering to 
 its fall. In such an hour, it is next to impossible to 
 conceive that the leaders of the dominant party could 
 find it in their hearts to place personal objects above 
 considerations of the public good. But so it was. 
 The spectacle of a great nation struggling for life, 
 only seems to have inspired the motley horde of 
 office-seekers, who followed Mr. Lincoln to Wash- 
 ington, to confederate together to see how they 
 could best rob and plunder the national pocket. The 
 rapacity of these Republican leaders presented an 
 example of indecent lust for pecuniary gain, amid 
 the agonies of death, which has been only equalled 
 by rebel wretches on a smaller scale, on so many 
 battle fields. 
 
 It would require volumes to give even an outline 
 of the myriad cases of pecuniary fraud and corrup- 
 tion which have marked the track of the present 
 Federal Administration since its advent to power. 
 If it were possible to group together all the mon- 
 "ptrous frauds, presided over by Mr. Lincoln, as Chief 
 Executive, it would be stilj impossible for the mind 
 to grasp and realize their enormity. Our faculties 
 would be no more equal to the tremendous task, 
 than they are to take in, and duly appreciate the 
 awful suffering and agony of a great battle, wliere 
 ten thousand of our kindred, neighbors, and coun- 
 trymen are maimed, butchered, or killed by the iron 
 weapon of releailess war. The manly nature, whose 
 sensibilities are overcome by the ""spectacle of even 
 o?ifi human being in the struggle of mortal pain, is 
 struck dumb by the contemplation of ten thousand 
 in the same frightful state. So with the pecuniary 
 frauds of the present Administration. If presented 
 as a whole, they paralyze the conscience and judg- 
 ment of honest men. We can only consider them in 
 detail, and it is the purpose of the present paper to 
 call the attention of voters and tax-payers of the 
 country to one or two of the wretched schemes of 
 peculation and plunder into which the prominent 
 partisans of Mr. Lincoln have embarked. 
 
 We begin with the Xew York Custom House, and 
 from one case we may learn all. 
 
 President Lincoln, having to select his cabinet 
 advisers, elected upon the doctrines of Helper's 
 " Impending Crisis" proceeded to select his cabinet 
 advisers, upon much the same theory as a successful 
 pirate chieftain would parcel out plunder among his 
 followere; the Treasury Department fell to the por- 
 tion of Mr. Chase, who, in the secondary distribu- 
 tion of opportunities for pecuniary gajn, selected 
 Hiram Barnky to be collector of the great port of 
 New York, in which is collected the chief part of all 
 revenue of the United States derlTcd from duties on 
 imports. Mr. Barney w^s quite unknown to the 
 country. He had never held Federal office of any 
 kind, elective or executive, and had never received 
 mark of distinction in the public affairs of New 
 York. No large delegations of merchants requested 
 his appointment. The controlling ground of his se- 
 lection was the personal relation, of money and 
 business, v/hich had existed between himself and 
 the Secretary of the Treasury. 
 
 When Mr. Barney entered upon his new duties, 
 his first acts developed how little of patriotic devo- 
 tion to an agonized Union, and how much of pur- 
 pose to fill their own pockets, entered into the 
 thoughts and purposes of those who were his supe- 
 riors in office, and his associates in politics, and who 
 were, among other things, looking forward to the 
 time when ill-gotten gains could be qsed by office 
 holders to perpetuate party power and cover up 
 misdeeds. 
 
 It had happened that, under a previous Adminis- 
 tration, certain persons had conceived the idea of 
 proposing to do the labor required at the appraisers' 
 stores, the Custom House, and elsewhere, by contract, 
 the price to be estimated upon each case or package. 
 This labor, made necessary by examination of mer- 
 chandise by the goverment appraisers, to fix the 
 dutiable value of importaitions, had always been 
 done by laborers, cartmen^ and draysy hired by the 
 United States, by the month or year. The Treasury 
 Department, being of opinion that the proposition 
 of doing the work by contract, presented the same 
 class of advantages "to the United States that con- 
 tracts do to private individnals, made sm agreement 
 with Messrs. McIntire, Bixby & Co., to do the work. 
 The contract turned out to be an advantageous 
 one, both to the Government and the contractors. 
 

 tmcst^ 
 
 It was for a term of years, which was unexpired 
 when Mr. Barnet came into ofBce, and yet could 
 on certain conditions be annulled by the Treasury 
 Department. 
 
 This contract was among the earliest of the things 
 for which, while all New York beside was flinging 
 away every thought of self, in one supreme emotion 
 and desire to vindicate the honor of the flag struck 
 down at Sumter, the Republican clique, headed by 
 Messrs. Chase and Barnky, made desperate efl'orts. 
 The rich prize was quickly in their possession, when 
 it was decided to use the power and terror of the 
 Government to deprive the inventors of the contract 
 idea, of that property in their invention and subse- 
 quent agreement, which was as clearly their own, as 
 is a man's house or hind. It was authoritatively rep- 
 resented to Messrs. McIntire, Bixby & Co., that un- 
 less they sold their contract to certain persons, to be 
 named by Mr. William Allen Botler, or those, 
 directly or indirectly, associated with him, the Ad- 
 ministration would cause it to be annulled altogether. 
 The result was that the contract was assigned over, 
 and conveyed to Luther B. Wyman (a book-keeper 
 in the house of Charles H. Marshall & Co.) and Si- 
 mon Stevens (a cousin of Thaddeus Stevens, of 
 Pennsylvania, then a controlling Republican member 
 of the House of Representatives). These were the 
 assignees named in the writings. The original con- 
 tractors having given bonds to the United States, 
 for due performance of the contract, on their part, a 
 bond of indemnity was given to them, as their sure- 
 ties, which was signed by Charles il. Marshall 
 (father-in-law of William Allen Butler, of the law 
 £rm of Barney, Butler, and Parsons) ; John D. Scott 
 And Simon Stevens, each justifying in the sum of 
 thirty thousand dollars. Ip the management of the 
 business, under the new contractors, Mr. Bixby, one 
 of the old contractors, was employed, or continued 
 in charge, and he accounted to William Allen But- 
 ler ever}} week for all money receipts^ and there is 
 good reason to believe that the law firm of Barney, 
 BuTi.ER & Parsons, was the real assignee and 
 owners of all but one fourth of the contract, which 
 one fourth was the property of Messrs. Stevens and 
 Bixby. 
 
 This subject of the labor contract, as it came to 
 be known, was so full of badness, in its every aspect, 
 that Congress could not, in consequence of Demo- 
 cratic clamor, resist making it a matter of legislative 
 inquiry ; and how completely the peculators man- 
 aged to evade the scrutiny of a congressional com- 
 mittee, can best be seen by the following extract 
 from tlie report of ils chairman, Colonel Van Wyck, 
 a member of Congress from New York. 
 
 Let the witness Lutiikr B. Wyman, one of the 
 a.ssignees, speak first: 
 
 Q. Were you, or were you not, interested in what ia 
 called the labor contract at the public stores? A. I 
 was. Q. From what time to what time? A. From 
 the lUh of .May, Isijl, until about tlie 0th or 7tli of 
 Sc;)tenibcr, ISiJ'i. Q. Who else was interested in the 
 contract during that time? A. Mr. Luther 15. Wyman. 
 Q. .Any other pcr.son ? A. I know of no otuku pkr- 
 BON niuKCTLY interkstud. Q. Amv other person indi- 
 rectly? A. I represented one half of the contract and 
 Luther i{. Wyman represented the other half. Q. lie 
 kind enough to tell us whether anybody else had any 
 direct or indirect interest in it? A. I loprescntcd one 
 half of it, it was in my name; I bought it and paid 
 for it. Q. Did unybody have any indirect interest in 
 any [)oition of the contract cxcc))t what you have rep- 
 resented? A. I have only my 8uiiposition.s. Q. What 
 
 do you know about that matter? A. That I was re- 
 quested to pay one half of the prolits, whatever they 
 might be, over and above expenses, to William Allen 
 Butler. Mr. Butler slated that he was the attorney for 
 Mr. Wyman. Payments were so made and receipt 
 therefor given by William Allen Butler, as attorney 
 for the two first payments. Subsequently, receipts 
 were given by him for money paid to him, signed in 
 initial " W. A. B." Then and from that day all 
 payments were made to him and receipts given to^ 
 him, and so signed, with the exception of some few 
 payments which were made to George W. Parsons, 
 who sometimes receipted for them, simply, " G. W. P." 
 on some occasions, " W. A. B. per G. W. P.," and 
 sometimes " G. W. P. for W. A. B." Q. Who is this 
 William Allen Butler? A. He is of the law firm of 
 Barney, Butler & Parsons. Q. Who is this Mr. Par- 
 sons? A. He is of the firm of Barney, Butler & Par- 
 sons. Q. Who is the Barney of that firm? A. Hiram 
 Barney, collector of the port of New Yoik. Q. Is that 
 firm now in business here ? A. Yes, sir. Q. Did you 
 pay any of these proceeds to Jlr. Wyman himself? A. 
 No, sir. Q. Did Mr. Wyman himself direct you where 
 to pay those proceeds? A. He did not. Q. Did you 
 have any authority directly from Mr. Wyman to pay 
 them as you did ? A. Simply on the day of the exe- 
 cution of the papers, JIi\ William Allen Butler said, in 
 the presence of Mr. Wyman, this in purport : " As I 
 am the attorney for Mr. Wyman, the net proceeds of 
 this contract will be paid to me." Q. Did Mr. Wyman 
 assent to that? A. Mr. Wyman nodded assent. Q. 
 You took no paper to pi-otect you for such payments? 
 A. I did not, nor have an}' such papers. Q. Do you 
 know, from Mr. W^'man or otherwise, whether Mr. 
 Wyman had any interest in this contract beyond the 
 use of his name? A. Mr. Wyman has, on several 
 occasions, stated to me that he had no interest, di- 
 rect ok indirect, in the contract, otherwise than 
 THE csE OF his NAME. Q. Did lie tell you who had the 
 interest represented by his name? A. He said he 
 knew of nobody in ihis matter except William Allen 
 Ikitlcr, who claimed to act as attorney for the parties 
 actually in interest. 
 
 Mr. William Allen Butler was subsequently 
 sworn, and Col. Van Wyck comments on his exam- 
 ination in this wise : 
 
 On the 3d day of January, Mr. Butler was sworn : 
 I was not present at his examination ; I say this in 
 justice to myself, for it seems almost impossible that 
 his examination should have been concluded, and he 
 not asked who were the real parties in interest whom 
 he represented when that was one of the subjects of 
 investigation. Only three questions were put to Mr. 
 Butler. The first, as to his residence and business; 
 the second, " have you read the testimony taken before 
 this committee, touching tlie transfer of the labor con- 
 tract?" and the third, ''have you any statement to 
 make touching your connexion with that transfer of 
 interest under the so-called labor contract?" Mark 
 the gentleness of the interrogatories. Was it because 
 he was the law partner of Mr. Barney? I know not. 
 Among other things, to the last question he says : " But 
 whatever intbnnation I hud on the subject was derived 
 in the course of my professional em|)loymeiit, and I 
 acquired no positive knowledge about it. Funds were 
 placed in my hands by parties in interest." He evi- 
 dently did not niean Stevens or Wyman ; he nowhere 
 states Avho were the parties in interest, and, most 
 strange of all, he was not asked. 
 
 The connexion of the general orders with this con- 
 tract shows irresistibly who were behind the scene, 
 because they were worked in happy unison. 
 
 These loyal patriots, not content with thus grasping 
 the labor contract, before described, forthwith set lust- 
 ful eyes upon the general order business of the Cus- 
 tom House. 
 
 When a vessel arrives in the port of New York, 
 the captain obtains an order to send all gooda on his 
 
ship, which are unclaimed at the end of a certain 
 time, wliich time is longer in case of sail than steam 
 vessels, " under general order," as it is called. This 
 means to send them to one of the stores designated 
 by the Collector for the reception of "general or- 
 der" merchandise. The quantity of merchandise 
 thus sent under "general order" from steamers, is 
 immense, and the profit to the owner of the ware- 
 Tiouses is great in proportion. By law and regula- 
 tion, the Collector is bound to send the "general 
 order " goods to the warehouses nearest the discharg- 
 ing ship. The port of New York is divided into two 
 general divisions; one on North River, and the other 
 on East River. It is estimated that "general order" 
 warehouses on North River are worth not less than 
 one hundred thousand dollars a year. 
 
 When the present Administration came into power, 
 successful ellbrts weie made to constrain the then 
 proprietors of "general order" stores to pay over 
 io certain parties, one third of their receipts, on pain 
 of being deprived of orders altogether. It was de- 
 veloped by Col. Van Wyck's committee, that fore- 
 most among those who thus levied black-mail by Re- 
 publican authority, on the East River division, was 
 the firm of BowEN & Lambert; and it is reported 
 that BowEN is brother-in-law of Collector Barney. 
 On the North River, the " general order " business 
 all passed into the hands of Bixby & Co., in which 
 firm James Humphrey and (so says witness Charles 
 Squire, jr.) young Marshall, son of Charles H. 
 Marshall, before alluded to, as bondsman on the labor 
 contract, were partners. 
 
 This Mr. James Humphrey is a conspicuous Re- 
 publican, was formerly Member of Congress from 
 Brooklyn, and partner of Collector Barney. And 
 it is a further curious and suggestive fact, that the 
 Charles H. Marshall, whose book-keeper was 
 stool pigeon of this elaborate contrivance of dis- 
 honorable peculation, whose son V7as partner in the 
 "general order" stores, and who was also bonds- 
 man for the ring, is the same man who was so in- 
 dignant at the suggestion of illuminating his house 
 at the recent monster Democratic gathering in 
 Union Square in behalf of the Union, and wrote a 
 letter expressing his excessive trouble about the 
 Chicago platform. ' 
 
 So true is it, in the present canvass, that wherever 
 is found a man, bitter in denunciation of McClel- 
 tAX, or loud-mouthed in adulation of Lincoln, it 
 can be safely predicted of him, that he is either a 
 contractor, or office-holder, or a man, in some purely 
 private matter, benefited by Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 The conduct of the Republican politicians, headed 
 by Mr. Barney, in the matter of these "general or- 
 der " stores, can not be better stated than in tlie 
 words of the congressional committee : 
 
 Whereas, the evidence fvdly shows that there not 
 only was favoritism, but the Collector did not make 
 the selection, but gave the general orders to certain 
 parties who had no stores, bonded or otherwise, and 
 suffered tliem to go among those having general orders, 
 and compelled them to give a bonus of thirty per cent. 
 for the privilege of retaining it. This was certainli/ 
 ' a refinement of extortion or corruption vpon the prac- 
 tices of former Administrations. Such a thing was 
 never known before, and was reserved for the party 
 who had promised ourselves and the nation tbatolficial 
 corruption was to cease, and retrenchment and reform 
 were to be once more inaugurated. Alas ! " like Dead 
 Sea fruits, they turned to ashes on the lips." 
 
 It does not appear that Mr. Barney received any part 
 of this thirty per cent., but it is clear that he was no- 
 tified of the outrages, committed by the men on whom 
 
 ' he had showered this bounty, and he did not condemn 
 or check it. 
 
 It was generally believed, by those familiar with 
 the facts, that the firm of Barney, Butler & Par- 
 sons was a. pool, into which, on the one hand, went 
 all the earnnigs of the firm as lawyers, and Republi- 
 can lobby agents, and on the other, all the money 
 which Mr. Harney received, directly or indirectly, 
 legally or illegally, as Collector. It was behoved 
 that the Collector was thereby directly and pecuniarily 
 interested in the labor contract, which the old con- 
 tractors had been compelled, by threats, to sign over tc. 
 Republicans. And nobody could well doubt that if all 
 this Wiis true. Secretary Chase must be more or lesa 
 cognizant of the facts. The public was confirmed in 
 all this by what happened during the investigation 
 of a subsequent committee of Congress, of which Mr. 
 Hulburd, of New York, was chairman, and which 
 made a report in June last. 
 
 This committee was, to be sure, by reason of the 
 conduct of its chairman, Hulburd, one of the most 
 partisan and dishonest that ever disgraced an Ameri- 
 can Congress. In his conduct of the examination in 
 New York, he surrendered himself entirely to Mr. 
 Barney and his chque. The earnest efforts of the 
 only Democrat on the committee, Mr. Le Blond, 
 could not withstand the partisan dishonesty of Hul- 
 burd, who seemed to have no purpose but to shield 
 and protect infamous frauds upon the public treas- 
 ury ; acts so bad as to even excite the denuncia- 
 tion of his Republican colleague, Rollins, of New 
 Hampshire. The sacred cause of the Union, for 
 which he professed to be a loyal devotee, the im- 
 portant interests of the taxpayers, among his constit- 
 uents, whose rights he was bound to maintain, were 
 all pushed aside to screen political associates who 
 were caught with arms in the public crib, up to 
 their shoulders. The report of Hulburd is one 
 mass of deception. Important testimony is sup- 
 pressed, in the interest of political thieves and plun- 
 derers. The evidence of more than twenty wit- 
 nesses examined by him, is kept out of his printed 
 report. Shame on such personal and pubUc infamy 
 on the part of a man pretending to be honest ! 
 
 But, even with all this apparent purpose of Hul- 
 burd, acting under dictation of the Administration at 
 Washington, to cover up the practices of Barnet 
 and his Republican confederates against the people's 
 money, now more than ever needed to maintain the 
 people's flag, the complicity of Barney, with his law 
 partners, to prostitute the office of Collector to un- 
 lawfully get money to enrich themselves, and to re- 
 elect Mr. Lincoln, was satisfactorily uncovered. 
 
 During the examination of Barney, as a witness, 
 the only members of the committee present, were 
 Hulburd, chairman, and Le Blond, and the former 
 insisted that the witness should have opportunity to 
 consult with his confederates in order to revise and 
 re-write his testimony. Mr. Blond made effort to 
 probe to the root of the matter of the labor contract 
 in respect to which Barney evaded a previous com- 
 mittee, and with the following residt: 
 
 Q. I will ask you whether you received a part of 
 the income of your law firm? A. I will say that nom- 
 inally I do, but I give as much as I receive ; I keep my 
 place. Q. I will ask you, farther, whether your law 
 partners receive any part or parcel of your salary, or 
 the perquisites of your ofice ? A. They do not; but I 
 give them a sum that answers their purposes to retain 
 me in, and they not lose anything. They have nothing 
 to do with my accounts. Q. An annual sum, do you 
 wish to be understood, or a sum in the aggregate. A. 
 
It depends somewhat upon my receipts. Q. I confess 
 that the answer which you give me seems to require 
 that I should ask you a still further question, and if 
 it turns out to be a purely peisonal matter or arrange- 
 ment in which the leceipts of the Custom House do 
 not constitute a part of the business, why it shall be 
 stricken out. About what amount do you annually 
 pay to your co-partners ? A. I am unable to answer 
 that question without reference to my books and 
 memoranda. Q. How much money do you receive 
 from the lirm of Barney, Butler and Parsons annually, 
 and how much do you i)ay said firm t)tii of the. eviolu- 
 meiUs of your ojict ? (To tftis Mr. Barney demurred 
 answering, claiming it to be foreign to the purposes of 
 the committee's investigation, and a needless inquiry 
 into his private afiairs.) (Thereupon Mr. Le Blond 
 stated that he was informed that the firm of Barney, 
 Butler k Parsons had taken fees in cases against the 
 Government growing out of seizures made by the 
 Custom House authorities ; and further, that said firm 
 had an interest in what is known as the labor contract, 
 connected with the Custom House, and declared if these 
 things were so, his question was pertinent, and ought, 
 as connected with public interest, to be answered.) 
 (There being but two members of the committee pres- 
 ent, and they ditfering as to priority of time in which 
 the questions should be put, and answers required, the 
 further examination of Mr. Barney was deferred, and 
 the committee adjourned.) 
 
 It is obvious from this report that if IIulburd had 
 sustained Le Blond, and compelled the witness to 
 make answer, the whole cou.spiracy of plunder, the 
 illegal act of having a partner in the salary dud per- 
 quisites of a revenue office, would have been ex- 
 posed. Even the questions of Le Blond permitted 
 by HuLBURD to be put, terrified the witness into pre- 
 varications which would be mortifying enough to an 
 upright man, or a man not utterly given over to lust 
 of pecuniary gain in the midst of the unspeakable ca- 
 lamities of a civil war, which makes poverty and want 
 stare laboring men in the face. And all this while 
 the legal perquisites of the Collectorship are not 
 much less (see p. 23 of Report) than twenty-five 
 thousand dollars a year. One would suppose that 
 even a Black Republican maw would be satisfied with 
 a sum equal to the salary of the President of the 
 United States ! but not so, think loyal leaguers, who 
 shout for the Union, and rob the treasury at the same 
 moment! 
 
 If the record of Black-Republican faithlessness to 
 important public trusts, stopped here, the country 
 could, perhaps, endure thus mucli of disgrace. But 
 there is yet a lower depth of national humiliation to 
 be sounded. 
 
 The e.\igency of a war begun avowedly for the 
 Union, but now carried on otttsiJe the Union, to se- 
 cure abandonment of slavery, in obedience to that 
 logic and rhetoric of sectionalism, and hatred of 
 slaveholders, which has, for three years, blotted out 
 or rolled U|) in blood one half of the map of the 
 Union, compelled Congress, in 1802, to enact that 
 certain restrictions be placed upon commerce, from 
 our northern ports, with foreign ports around the 
 Gulf of Mexico. The object was to prevent sujjjjlies 
 of war going to aid lobel* in arms, by way of ports 
 in the West India Islaiuls, or in Mexico. The pro- 
 visions of the law explicitly decarcd : 
 
 That whenever a permit or clearance is granted for 
 cither a foreign or domestic port, it shall be lawful 
 for the collector of customs granting flic same, if he 
 shall deem it necessary, under ilie eiicumstanccs of 
 the case, to rei[uire n bond to be executed by the nuis- 
 ter or the owner of the vessel in a penalty equal to 
 the value ol' the cargo, and with sureties to the satis- 
 faction of such collector, that the said shall be deliv- 
 
 ered at the destination for which it is cleared or ,ier- 
 mitted, and that no part thereof shall be used in 
 aftbrding aid or comfort to anj' person or parties in 
 insurrections against the authority of the United 
 
 States. 
 
 The Treasury Department, tbcr'^fore, issued in- 
 structions to Collectors as follows: 
 
 In all cases where, in your judgment, there is 
 ground of apprehension that any goods, wares or. 
 merchandise, shipped at your port, will be used in 
 any way for the aid of the insurgents or the insurrec- 
 tion, you will require substantial security to be given 
 that such goods, wares, or merchandise shall not be 
 transferred to anyplace under insurrectionary control, 
 and shall not in any way be used to give aid or comfort 
 to such insurgents. 
 
 It is easy to see that this law, and the instructions, 
 if executed by an honest Collector, and efficient 
 subordinates, would ctl'ectually stop all illicit trade 
 between New York city and the rebels. The men 
 who were engaged in the business — a majority of 
 whom were filling the air with their piercing shrieks 
 of denunciation of all Democrats, and Gen. McCIellan 
 in particular, and filling their pockets with some- 
 thing else, at the same time — saw, that unless they 
 'could neutralize the law, by fraud and stealth, their 
 business of treason was gone. Let the published 
 record tell ho\." successful for themselves, and their 
 republican confederates in office under Mr. Lincoln, 
 but with what inexpressible humiliation for the Em- 
 pire city and State, the work of giving aid and com- 
 fort to the enemy was done! The pen of history 
 will pause benumbed, as it records how Collector 
 Barney permitted, and most prominent Rebublica i 
 gentlemen in office actively cooperated in this 
 scheme to supply the rebels with means to torture 
 our fathers, sons, and brothers who had gone out to 
 battle on our behalf! Treason and treachery have 
 rarely accomplished a more infamous project ! And 
 yet, the men who are now the great pillars in ilr. 
 Lincoln's reelection temple were uppermost in the 
 work ! While General McClellan was risking 
 life at the head of his brave soldiers, men who now 
 revile him, were conspiring to send aid to the en- 
 emy, against which he was contending, and some of 
 those men high in office under Piesident Lincoln ! 
 Of such is a party "based on moral ideas! " 
 
 The blockade runners were not long in perceiving 
 the now universally accepted fact that ever)/ Black He- 
 publican office-holder has his price, and iliey began 
 at once to approach Mr. Lincoln's appointees. There 
 wore men, in the New York Custom House, quick 
 and ready to seize the bait. The scheme of taking 
 straw bonds, and straw bail, or of purloining, by 
 official aid, bonds once given ; or of bribing the in- 
 spectors of the revenue, who had charge of loading 
 suspicious vessels, was inmiediatcly matured. The 
 pecuniary inducement was anqtle. TIio traitors, 
 in the Republican ranks, were easily found, and seven 
 thousand, nine hundred and thirty -two bonds were 
 executed between September, 1801, and May, 1864, 
 in the New York Custom House alone. 
 
 Among the persons who have been conspicuous in 
 the fraudulent practices growing out of Mr. Lin- 
 coln's election, is a man named Alueut M. Palmer, 
 He was examined by Mr. IluLnuun's white-washing 
 committee, while a prisoner in Fort Lafayette, and 
 stated that he was commended to Mr. Barney as a 
 man useful for collecting i)uri oses, by Mayor Of- 
 oyke, a prominent Republican, who has figured ex- 
 tensively in a way very undesirable to a njan who re- 
 spected the tea commandments. Opdyke secured 
 
Palmer's appointment, and in tlie hands of the lat- 
 ter, Mr. Barney threw almost unlimited power of 
 control in the Custom House. Mr. Deriiam, a most 
 iEtelligent witness, examined by the Committee, 
 swears (p. 238) that " Mr. Palmer, everybody 
 around the Custom House supposed to be principal 
 mau there, and he, in fact, was said to bo the Col- 
 lector.' 
 
 Another witness, appointed in the Custom House, 
 says : 
 
 " I had a situation in the Custom House, which 
 was given nie without solicitation. I had been very 
 active in my party, and had spent between two and 
 three thousand dollars, and was active in getting 
 places for my friends. Mr. Palmer told me that I 
 ought to have some place for myself. I told him I 
 could take no place which required active duty. I 
 was appointed a debentured clerk. ... -I was there 
 a year and a quarter. Itliink a dozen days will cover 
 all I was on duty.'''' 
 
 The following extracts, from pages 146 and 147 
 of the report, Avill present a pretty clear idea of the 
 kind of men Republicans, high in office, collect 
 around them : 
 
 By Mr. Le Blond : Q. What were Palmer's circum- 
 stances? A. He was a clerk in the Custom House at 
 §1,500. Q. Was his salary his only source of living, 
 and his only means -df paying you back again? A. 
 He had commissions on the collections fur the 2^ciri>/. 
 They collected so much every year from the Custom 
 House, and I believe he used to receive a percentage 
 on the full amount that was collected. I tliouirlit 
 when he was collecting last November or December 
 that he would pay me back what he owed me; he 
 owed me then .$t)00 or §700, but he did not do it. 
 
 By Mr. Kolliiis: Q. You say that some 20 men in 
 the I7th ward were appointed to office on your re- 
 commendation and the recommendation of otlier men 
 in the ward ; did any one of these 20 men ever pay 
 you directly or indirectly, any money or other vain- 
 able consideration for your influence in securing their 
 appointment ? A. ^fost of them owed me money ; 
 were pour devils ivlio had no money to pay rents ; they 
 were the best working politicians in my ward. 
 
 By Mr. Le Blond: Q. What business did Palmer 
 follow before he went into the Custom House ? A. 
 I never knew him before he went to the Custom 
 House. Q. Do you know whether he is a professional 
 man? A. I have understood that he was; that he 
 passed examination as a lawyer. 
 
 By Mr. KoUins ; Where did Palmer live during 
 his term of olKce in the Custom House? A. He lived 
 in the ITth ward. Q. Did he board at a hotel ? A. 
 When I first knew him he boarded at private houses, 
 and was afterwards at a private hotel. Q. Was his 
 mode of living expensive? A. More expensive than 
 mine. Q. Did he keep horses? A. No, Sir ; housed 
 to drive mine ; I generally kept three ; sometimes he 
 would take his wife out with him, and get my team, 
 and sometimes he would take a single horse ; he left 
 my ward and lived at the Metropolitan hotel. Q. 
 How long since ? A. "Probably in August or September 
 last. Q,. Upon what terms did he live there? A. He 
 told me he paid $35 a week. Q. What was his salary, 
 do you say ? A. §1,500 a year, and he used to have 
 his commission, 1\ per cent. 
 
 The introduction by Opdtke ; the ready promo- 
 tion by Barney to the power portrayed by the wit- 
 nesses cited ; the small legal receipts by Palmer as 
 salary, and the large expenditure, sufficiently explain 
 what was the function of the latter, in the scheme 
 of peculation and plunder concocted by prominent 
 Republicans. And no one is surprised, when at last, 
 exposure of what has been done hmds Mr. Paljier 
 in Fort Lafiyette, a prisoner of state. He was ar- 
 
 rested by Marshal Murray, without a suspicion by 
 Collector Barney that the practises of his young 
 friend had been discovered, and the facts, touching 
 Republican complicity with blockade runners, all 
 laid bare. 
 
 Besides Palmer, there was, in the Custom House, 
 another eminent Republican, a most controlling man 
 in that organization which elected Mr. Lincoln on 
 the basis of " moral ideas." He had outrun the 
 swiftest in denunciation of Democrats who did not 
 think it the sum and substance of all philanthropy 
 and patriotism, to " avoid " and " abhor " the people 
 of the slave-labor States, with whom we, of the 
 North, had entered into the most sacred, and tender 
 relations of country. He had addressed wide-awake 
 processions inmtmerable, in advocacy of the honesty 
 and statesmanship of Mr Lincoln, and he was not 
 forgotten when the latter entered into the seats of 
 power, and made up his jewels. Of such was Henry 
 B. Stanton. > 
 
 It was a part of the Republican plan to make him 
 Deputy Collector, and it was done. Stanton says 
 that Mr. Chase told him that the salary was small, 
 but his income could be increased. He was put in 
 charge of the bond bureau of the Custom House, 
 through v\'hich shipments to the rebels were made. 
 He prepared the bonds, as he says, by Mr. Barney's 
 request, and with his approval of the form adopted. 
 And here crops out the first step in the iniquity ! 
 The law requires the bond not to furnish the goods 
 to rebels to be given by the master of the ship, and, 
 will it be believed, it was drawn so as to shelter the 
 master, and substitute the owner of the goods ? All 
 the bonds so taken were thus illegal, good for nothing, 
 and so the shipper went free in his work of treason ! 
 More than that, it was proved that bonds were can- 
 celled at the Custom House for direct pecuniary 
 consideration. On this point, let a witness, Mr. Al- 
 fred T. CoNKLiN, called before the Committee, tell 
 his own story- of his experience : 
 
 Alfred T. Conklin sworn and examined (commission 
 merchant, No. 42 New street), by the Chairman. Q. 
 How long have you been a commission merchant ? 
 A. About 12 years. Q. Are you engaged in importa- 
 tions and exportationa ? A.I receive flour from the 
 West; ship goods to the West Indies and the British 
 Provinces; also receive goods from England ; not a 
 great many, however. Q. You say that you have 
 shipped to the West Indies somewhat. We under- 
 stand that there have been some new treasury regula- 
 tions since the Rebellion commenced, diftering from 
 what formerly prevailed, and especially requiring 
 bonds that were not formerly given ; has your busi- 
 ness required you to give any such bonds? A. I 
 have not shipped any such goods myself thnt re- 
 quired me to give any such bonds, but I have become 
 bondsman for other parties who shipped. Q. Have 
 you done very inuch business of that kind ? A. 1 have 
 only been bondsman for one firm, with the exception 
 of one other instance, I was bondsman for Middleton 
 & Co., and in one instance for Wm. M. Sniith. I 
 tliink the bonds in that case w-ere for .?000 and 
 §1,500. I have been on the bonds of Middleton &Co. 
 for $80,000 or §90,000 on ditferent shipments from §900 
 probably up to §30,000 on different vessels, from a 
 period commencing last June. Q. The committee 
 liave taken some testimony in reference to the nature 
 of these bonds and the parties. I want to ask you 
 whether the bonds that you have r,igned have all or 
 any of them been cancelled or surrendered afterwards 1 
 A. Some six or seven have been surrendered. Q. 
 The committee wish a full history of this transaction 
 just as it took place. A. It occurred in this way; 
 it was the general talk hero that these bonds could bo 
 
bcufht up. I was pnssins through the Custom House 
 oae'cla.v on business, and I asked one of tlie brokers, 
 bv mere clianec, if such things com 1.1 be done. He 
 sa'id he thouslit it conk! be. I asked him if he ever 
 knew it to be" don.;; he said he had. Tiie broker's 
 name was Henry Sniitli ; 1 think he resides in Jersey 
 City. He is a broker in the Custom House. 1 told 
 hira that I was on some bonds, and if thiit was tlie 
 case I would like to Imy them np, and 1 told him to 
 see how it was. He reported wh.it he had done, and 
 the result of it was that we' bought up six or seven 
 bonds. Q. What was the price paid? A. The whole 
 amount was about §l,iiOO that 1 paid for the bonds. 
 Q. That is the amount you paid Mr. Smith ? A. 
 Yes, Sir. Q. How long a time intervened, in your 
 opinion, betwixt Mr. Smith's saying to you that things 
 were arianged, and your entering, with Mr. Middle- 
 ton, Stanton's office? A. Mr. Middlcton, previously 
 to the bond being given, asked me if I would have any 
 objections to gomg on a bond with him. I told him 
 no. He stated that they had got into difficulty with 
 the Custom House, and that was the first occasion that 
 a bond had been required of them. I told him that I 
 had no objections to going on the bond at .all. So the 
 nestdav, or the day alter, I think— I will not be certain 
 which— I went up to the Custom House with him to give 
 this bond, and as I said that I had negotiated with 
 Smith in reference to it, I will state how it took place. 
 I happened to be passing along through the Custom 
 House within a few days of the time that this bond 
 was given, and having "heard about the getting up of 
 bonds, I asked Smith about it. He said he thought it 
 could be done, and wanted to know why. I told him 
 I understood those things were done, and if other peo- 
 ple are doing it, I didn't know why we should not do 
 it. He afterwards told me that it could be done. 
 When I agreed to go on this bond of Middleton, I did 
 not know that the bond was for so large an amount, 
 and that I would have to justify to the amount of 
 $64,000. As soon as I went up there and found that 
 this was the case. I turned to Smith, " You say you 
 can buy up these bonds. AVhat will it cost to get up 
 this bond, the penal sum of which is $04,000? I can- 
 not swear that I am worth $64,000." Says he, " I will 
 see." He goes to Mr. Stanton's room and comes back. 
 There was some little difference about the price, I think 
 he asked §650. He went back and forth two or three 
 times, and finally came down to |600 ; and when we 
 got as far as that I said to Mr. Smith, " Now, if Mr. 
 Stanton is going to sell this bond, what difference does 
 it make whether I swear I am worth $64,003 or sixty- 
 four cents? I cannot swear that I am worth §64,0W. 
 If he has a mind to take me and not swear me, I will 
 go on the bond. It makes no odds to him if he sells 
 his bond." Smith says, "I will go in and see him." 
 He went to see ; was gone some time; came back and 
 said, " That will be all right, he will not ask you any 
 questions at all" I said, "Are you sure of that?" 
 and he said, " That is understood." " I want it dis- 
 tinctly understood," says I, " that I will not swear to 
 any amount at all." He went away, came back, and 
 said, "It is all right, you will not be asked any ques- 
 tions at all." When he went into Mr. Stanton's room, 
 Mr. Middleton came up, and Mr. Stanton says, " Is 
 this Mr. Middleton ?" " Yes, sir." " Are you worth 
 the amount of that shipment?" Mr. Middleton says, 
 " Yes, sir." He then turns around to me. " Is this 
 the bondsman?" .Says I, "Yes, sir." "Will you 
 swear?" (waving his hand) and that was all there was 
 about it. Q. Now, I want to recall your attention to 
 the point about which I was enquiring before this state- 
 ment. What, in your opinion, was the intervening 
 time between the last interview with Smith and your 
 entering Stanton's i-oom with Mr. Middleton? A. I 
 do not think it was ten minutes, because about that 
 time I stood there waiting for Mr. Middleton to get his 
 p.apers through. He had sent for me to come up to the 
 Custom House. I went to the Custom House, found 
 Mr. Jliddleton, and he said, " I will be through in a 
 few minutes." He was standing in a line, and I stood 
 there talking to Mr. Smith while Mr. Middleton was 
 
 getting his papers through. Q. In your former testi- 
 mony you stated that for some reason you had occa- 
 sion' to open the door that led into Mr. Stanton's 
 office, vou found him leaning on the desk, and talking 
 toSmi'th? A. That was not upon this occasion, but 
 another time; Smith was then negotiating for some 
 other bonds, and staid a long while. I was in a hurry, 
 as it was just before 'change, and I went to the door of 
 the front office, but I could not see him in there, and I 
 opened the door, went in, and looked through the other 
 door, and he was leaning on the desk talking with Mr. 
 Stanton. Q. Was that in reference to an arrangement 
 for the surrender of a bond? A. Yes, sir. Q.M)oyou 
 recollect what one? A. I do not. Q. Was it previous 
 to or after this arrangement about the $64,i'00 bond? 
 A. It was after the first bond— the §64,000 bond— in 
 the course of two or three weeks ora month after that. 
 Q. Y'ou do not remember either, I suppose, the spe- 
 cific bond or the amount of it, when you saw Smith 
 leaning on the desk and talking to Stanton ? A. No, 
 sir, it was a small bond, I think he asked §1"0, and I 
 told him that was an exorbitant price, and he went 
 back and forlh two or three times; Mr. Stanton would 
 not yield at all. Smith said that Stanton said it was 
 just" as much risk to take a small bond as a large one. 
 On another occasion, when he was negotiating lor the 
 surrender of a bond, $25 split them, and finally it was 
 settled by his agreeing to pay §100 before three o'clock, 
 Stanton "saying that he wanted to use that amount. 
 This was abou^ two o'clock. 
 
 Maech 22, 1S64. 
 
 Alfred T. Conklin recalled. 
 
 By the Chairman: 
 
 Question. Do you recollect whether the bonds that 
 came into vour hands were surrendered or given up 
 without the word " cancelled " being upon them, with- 
 out Mr. Stanton's name being upon them? Answer. 
 The names were cut out. Q. Who cut them out ? A. 
 I cut them out after they came into my hands. Q. Do 
 vou recol!ect how long it was after the execution of the 
 "bonds before you obtained them through Mr. Smith? 
 A. I obtained" one of these bonds inside of an hour 
 after it was executed. Q. Can you recollect who the 
 principal of the bond was? A. It was Middleton & 
 Co. ; I was the security on it. 
 
 Bv Mr. Rollins : 
 
 Question. Did vou go in with Middleton when he 
 executed it? Answer. Y'es, sir. Q. Did he charge 
 you a surety fee upon it? A. I think a dcdlar and a 
 half or two dollars ; that was paid, and within an hour 
 from that time I had the bond in my jwssession. Q. 
 Do you know what that bond cost? A. Six hundred 
 dolfars. Q. When the bond came back the word 
 " cancelled " was not written across it, it was simply 
 handed to you as you left it? A. Yes, sir, that bond 
 is destroyed ; all the rest of the bonds are intact, with 
 the exce"ption of the signatures of Middleton & Co. 
 Q. What was the cause of this bond being destroyed ? 
 A. That was the first bond that was ever got up. Q. 
 For what amount was it given ? A. About $64,000 
 was the penal sum. When this bond came up it was 
 a bond of a larger amount tlian I was willing to swear 
 I was worth ($64,000). I told Mr. Smith, " These gen- 
 tlemen want me to go on a bond for $64,000, and I do 
 not feel as if I wanted to swear that I am worth that; 
 and the consequence is that if I do not swear to that I 
 cannot go upon that bond, but as Mr. Stanton is going 
 to give us that bond back immediafdy, what odds does 
 it make whether I swear I am worth $64,i''00 or S'xty- 
 fpur cents? The bargain was made before the bond 
 wa= given that the amount to be paid for it was $600. 
 Q. How do yen know the bargain was made? A. I 
 made it. Q. With whom ? A. Mr. Smith. Q. And 
 he made it with whom ? A. I suppose lie made it \vith 
 Jlr Stanton. Q. How was he spoken of generally ? 
 what desisnation was given him? A. Mr. Stanton; I 
 did not know there was a younger Stanton there, 1 did 
 not know Mr. Stanton nor the boy. I made this agree- 
 ment, and I will tell you bow it proves that it is Mr. 
 Stanton who is concerned. When I told Mr. Smith 
 
■^ 
 
 that I would not swear that I was worth $i54,000, says 
 I, if you will go to Mr. Stanton, and get him to agree 
 not to swear me, I will become bondsman on the bond. 
 lie went I'rom me into Mr. Stanton's room ; I stood in 
 the rotunda ; he went in tlietc ; was gone from three 
 to live minutes; came back again, and he says it is all 
 right. Within ten minutes atterwurds the papers had 
 progressed so far that Ihev went in to Mr. Stunton to 
 have clearance made and the bond taken. We went 
 in there before Mr. Stanton ; Mr. Stanton turned to 
 Mr. Middleton and savs, "Is this Mr. Middleton? 
 " Yes." " Do you swear that you are worth the 
 nmount of this shipment (raising his hand)?" "I 
 do." "Is this the bondsman (turning to me) ?^ "ir^^' 
 sir." "Do you swear (raising his hand)?" " 1 es, 
 Bir." So we carried out the programme 
 
 When all this infLimv was made known to Presi- 
 dent Lincoln, was Mr. Stanton ignommiously ex- 
 pelled from office ? Not at all ! He toa.'J permitted 
 to honorably resign. Why was he not arrested and 
 imprisoned in Fort Lafayette? Who shall say? 
 Rather, who shall deny that neither Mr. Lincoln, or 
 Mr. Chask, or Mr. Baiiney dared touch one hair of 
 Stanton's head ? He knew too much ! He could 
 tell who were his accomplices and abettors, in the 
 wretched business of furnishing supplies to rebels, 
 during the day, and making Republican stump 
 Bpeeches, in the evening, denouncing George B. 
 
 McClELLAN. iTr • * 
 
 During all this time, if Mr. Thurlow Weed is to 
 be believed, and reference can be had to his letteis 
 piiblishod in his Albany Journal, Collector Barney 
 
 ' " Fold up his tents like the Arabs, 
 
 And quietly steal away." 
 
 In the meantime, corruption grew apace. An ap- 
 praiser was convicted of' stealing merchandise, and 
 yet nothing was done. Lincoln, for some reason 
 dared not move. The Republican politicians were 
 purloinin" millions. At last, however, public opin- 
 ion could be appeased no longer, and Mr. Barney 
 was just as the political canvass was coming on, per- 
 suaded by his confederates to give up his office and 
 avoid exposure, and save Lincoln. 
 - But who succeeded him? Here is touched another 
 chapter of Rei)ublican honesty and patriotism ! 
 
 The facts of the blockade of the ports of the se- 
 ceded States bv the loval States, the capture by our 
 navv of manv 'valuable ships and their cargoes, and 
 their final judic'al condemnation and sale as prizes 
 of wai-, are well known. In the early part of the 
 rebellion most of the prizes were sent by our gallant 
 navil officers into the port of New \ oik for adjudi- 
 cation and s:de. This was of great commercial bene- 
 fit to the city and Slate. But, at last, when the 
 navv came to' get their allotted share of the prizes 
 it was found that a large portion of the proceeds had 
 been pocketed, under one pretence and another, by 
 Mr. Lincoln's loyal (?) office holders in New lork 
 Conspicuous among these men, who thus in effect 
 conspired to rob our brave sailors of the just reward 
 of many a ni-ht of anxious watching, wore District 
 Attorney S.^iTn, Marshal Mcrray, Mr. Simeon 
 Draper, and a ring of gentlemen who managed to 
 get themselves appointed appraisers, in almost every 
 c'se The result of all these official practices was 
 Siat'naval officers sent no more prizes to ^ew \ ork. 
 and a committee was appointed to investigate he 
 Bubject. During this investigation, charges of the 
 moT serious claract^r were made, and pro.W 
 a-ainst Ma Draper, who had been appointed to be 
 aSoncer of the p^-i.e vessels and their cargoes. 
 
 He was accused of extortionate fees, of wrongfully 
 deducting these fees from the proceeds of sales, 
 and of keeping back government funds. His fees 
 were so exorbitant that they excited the astonish- 
 ment of everybody but those denounced by Mr. Up- 
 ton as cooperating with him to represent his exao. 
 tions as proper. The charges against Mr. Draper 
 cannot be bettor stated than in the language of Mr. 
 Upton, who was counsel for the naval officers. 
 He says: 
 
 Mr. Draper kept no separate bank account of the 
 proceeds of the i)rize property. It was all mixed in 
 with his own, and might at any time have been seized 
 by his creditors. 
 
 The deposit of a fund so large, in his own name^ 
 even using the puerile disguise of the words " in trust, 
 was certainlv not the act of a cautious business man, 
 if it was that of an honest one. That he did not 
 promptly pay the fund when demanded is fully proved 
 by witnesses and written papers of demand, notwith- 
 standing the statements to the contrary of himself and 
 son and clerk. Day after day and week after week, he 
 retained large amounts of these moneys upon frivolous 
 excuses, in spite of incessant demands for its payment 
 by the marshal ; and this was not the act of a faith- 
 ful man. „ . . , . , . 
 
 That it was his habit to make fictitious bids at auc- 
 tion sales, thereby running an eager purchaser up be- 
 yond the fair price of the article sold, and thus com- 
 mitting a fraud upon him, and bringing the govern- 
 ment sales into disrepute, is proved by the young man 3 
 confessions, as well as by other testimony; and t.iis 
 was not the act of an honest man, or of one whose 
 " skill tended to promote the interests of the govern- 
 ment." . , 
 
 In one case, sworn to by O'Donohue, it appears that 
 Mr. Draper allowed a reclamation without the assent 
 or action of any government official whatsoever, solely 
 on his own responsibility; and it appears that he fa- • 
 vored and urged with persistent pertinacity the first 
 reclamation which was made in favor of a purchaser 
 of prize property, and this may be regarded as tae 
 "eausa sine qua no u " ol' idl the irregularities and 
 frauds in such proceedings which succeeded. 
 
 The learned counsel says that Mr. Draper charged 
 for his services the usual and customary commission. 
 This is correct, for this— that the commission paid to 
 auctioneers for the sale of merchandise of ordinary 
 amounts and in the ordinary way, in ordinary times, 
 cannot lay the basis of a custom for a commission on 
 prize sales of enormous amounts in time of war, and 
 where the auctioneer has no care, no custody, no re- 
 sponsibility. It is neither proper nor jiist to speak of 
 a custnmaiy commission for such a service. 
 
 There has been nothing like a precedent in our com- 
 munity to establish such\i custom. The truth ts, he 
 charqed and retained an enormom and wholly 'unwar- 
 rantable, unprecedented, and exorbitant commission ; a 
 commission so utterly disproportioned to the trifling 
 service perfoi-med, that it -was, in truth, nothing short 
 of an imposition— a shameless imposiiwn-vpon the 
 Kaiy Pension Fund and the naval cariors, of more 
 than three fourths of the large sums retained. And 
 when we think that the continuance of thut imposition 
 operating upon the very large amount of prize proper- 
 ty in the di.strict yet unsold, would have increased the 
 sum retained by this auctioneer for his service to an 
 amount not much, if any, short of one hundred thou- 
 sand dollars, we cease to wonder at the desperate ef arts 
 made hi/ him and his friends to coerce all parties into 
 tame submission to his exactions, and the unworthy 
 means resorted to by him and them to wreak revenge 
 upon all such as could not be induced at his or their 
 bidding to disobey the instructions they had received 
 from their superiors, to violate their official obligations 
 and quietly assent to the perpetration of his extor- 
 
 ^*But this is not all. The learned counsel seems to 
 think that the law has now stepped in and made pro- 
 
vision for the employment of the auctioneer and his 
 compensation, this investigation has nothing now to 
 act upon in the matter of this wrong, so tar as Mr. 
 Draper is concerned. Not so. It has been truly said, 
 that one great purpose of thi.3 investigation is to as- 
 certain what has become of the proceeds of the prize 
 property. The testimony shows that Mr, Draper now 
 has in his hands a sum amounting to nearly $3,.500 
 belonging to the Navy Pension Fund and the captors, 
 that he has retained this amount as his claimed 2h per 
 cent, commission out of the proceeds of sales madeby 
 bim after the consent for its allowance no Jonger e.xist- 
 ed; that its allowance at any time was based solely 
 upon consent and the ta.xation of the court; that the 
 consent ceasing, the court has refused the taxation ; 
 and this sum,' although demanded frorh him by the 
 marshal, he has re/used, and now refuses to return. 
 How, in the foce of this, can counsel seriously assert 
 that there is nothing disclosed by this investigation 
 militating against Jlr. Draper? ^ 
 
 As the counsel representing the interests of the cap- 
 tors in these causes in which the money has been thus 
 retained, the undersigned respectfully asks if it comes 
 within the sphere of the official duty of the Solicitor of 
 the Treasury, tliat instructions may be given forth- 
 ■with to the district attorney to take such steps as may 
 be requisite to enforce the return of this money. 
 
 The testimony has proved that until the opposition 
 arose to a continued compliance to the exorbitant im- 
 positions of Mr. Drapei-, the auctioneer, no complaints 
 were ever heard of the character of those set forth in 
 the document signed by Moses H. GrinnoU as chair- 
 man of this committee; that the information upon 
 which these statements were made all came from 
 Draper; that GiinncU procured the employment of 
 Draper us auctioneer; that Grinnell 'urged the dis- 
 trictiiittorney to take such action as should insure the 
 prizi sales toDraper, with a commission of two and one 
 half per cent. : that Grinnell is the personal, intimate 
 friend of Draper ; that after Grinnell had been inform- 
 ed that the Fecretary of the Navy objected to the al- 
 lowance of this enormous commission to Draper, and 
 afier he had become apprised that the district at- 
 torney had been instructed by his official superior, the 
 Solicftor of the Treasury, to "oppose the continued al- 
 lowance of this enormous commission, he went to the 
 district attorney and urged him to violate his official 
 duty, to disregard his instructions and consent to such 
 alhnvance ; that to induce him thus to violate his duty 
 and disregard his instructions, he furnished him with 
 a certificate, signed by himself and others, stating that 
 two and one half per cent, was the customary commis- 
 Bion paid to an auctioneer for the sale of merchandise 
 in New York ; that one of the gentlemen (Mr. Min- 
 turn) who signed this certificate ;and probably others) 
 was not aware to what it was designed fo apply, nor 
 apprised for what purpose it was oGtained ; that so far 
 from flie truth is the statement of that ceriificatc, that 
 a gentleman of large experience, called as a witness 
 from the insurance office of Mr. Grinnell himself, 
 swears that one half of one per cent, would be the ex- 
 tent of a fair, reasonable, and customary commission 
 paid to an auctioneer for performing the precise ser- 
 vice jierformcd by Mr. Draper, as detailed to him by 
 the Solicitor; and his evidence is fully corroborated 
 by that of other witnesses ; that when the efforts of 
 Mr. Draper and Mr. Grinnell proved unavailing to co- 
 erce the further allowance of this extraordinary deplo- 
 tion of the proceeds of prize property, then, and not 
 till then, was heaid the outcry of frauds and coi-rup- 
 tion, of robberies and i)cculations, and fraudulent re- 
 clamations; then, and not till then, were the ears of 
 tlic Secretary of the Navy assailed with the charges 
 
 from Draper and Grinnell against the Government 
 officials connected with adjudications and sales of 
 prize property ; then, and not till then, were thenews- 
 fiapers resorted to to fill the public mind with poison- 
 ous suspicions that the captured property in this dis- 
 trict was being absorbed by the ravenous spoliations 
 of a set of hungr}' vultui-es and sharks, and robbers ; 
 and then, and not till then, did Mr. Grinnell, under 
 the advice and with the assistance of his friend, Mr. 
 Draper, constitute his committee of merchants (who 
 never met, and never organized, and never saw the 
 written statement of charges signed by him, as chair- 
 man of the committee, to originate, direct, and con- 
 trol this organization). 
 
 Some idea may be formed of the amount of money 
 Mr. Draper thus withheld as fees, by his statement, 
 (p. 3 1) that his commissions as auctioncer,from August, 
 1861, to December, 18G2, were thirty thousand 
 
 EIGHT HUNDRED AND ONE DOLLARS AND THIRTT-FITE 
 
 CENTS. A pretty little sum, and not a small induce- 
 ment for Sustaining the extraordinary pretensions 
 and assumptions of President Lincoln ! 
 
 Mr. JouRDAN, the Solicitor of the Treasury, who 
 has, within the last three years, earned a most un- 
 enviable notoriety, as a willing and most unscru- 
 pulous tool of the Administration in covering up the 
 improper practices and frauds of Mr. IjINCOLn's 
 friends, vainly attempted, in his report, to palliate 
 the corruptions in prize business, as Mr. Hulburd 
 had made efi'ort in the revenue transactions of Bar- 
 net, Butler, Stanton, and Palmer, but the Navy 
 Department was too weak already, in public estima- 
 tion, to bear such a load of obloquy, and Mr. Dra- 
 per, as punishment for his improper conduct and 
 pecuniary greed, was removed from office, and de-' 
 prived of such further opportunity to withhold the 
 hard earned money of the brave officers and sailors 
 of our gallant Navy, who have so often, in this civil 
 war, borne the naval thunders of the Union in honor 
 and in triumph. 
 
 But Mr. Draper's removal, for cause, from one 
 relation to the Government, was only to be followed 
 by promotion to a better position. Comment is un- 
 necessary ! 
 
 It is not to be argued from all this record of 
 official infidelity, that all members of the Republican 
 organization are rogues, who look upon their coun- 
 try's woes as so many opportunities for enriching 
 themselves. Far from it. The fads., however, do 
 show that Abraham Lincoln cannot, or will not, in 
 his administration of public affairs, call around him 
 tire integrity and ability of his party. He travels 
 only in the circle of shameless and polluted parti- 
 sans, who can be bribed by chances of plunder to 
 abstain from just and loyal rebuke of his untold acts 
 of folly and crime. If a man is known by the com- 
 pany ho keeps, Mr. Lincoln's real character ought 
 to deter honorable men, of all political parties, from 
 giving countenance and support to his impudent pre- 
 tensions for a reelection. If all sense of public 
 honor has not fled from among us, and if a free bal- 
 lot box bo not a thing of the past, a verdict of con- 
 demiuition of Abraham Lincoln will be uttered in 
 November which will stand as significant warning to 
 all future Presidents. 
 
 ^. My '/3