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THE CAMPAIGN TEXT BOOK.
WHY TIE  PEOPLE WANT A CHANGE.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY REVIEWED:
Its Sins of Commission and Omission.
A SUMMARY OF THE LEADING EVENTS IN OUR HISTORY UNDER REPUBLICAN
ADMINISTRATION.
NEW YORK:
1876.
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THE D)EMOCRATIC PLATFORIM.
()     Adopted by the National Democratic Convertion, held at St. Louis,
June 28, 1876.
REFORM A PATRIOTIC DUTY.
We, the delegates of the Democratic party of the United States in National Convention assembled, do hereby declare the administration of the Federal Government to
be in urgent need of immediate Reforni; do hereby enjoin upon the nominees of
this Convention, and of the Democratic party in each State, a zealous effort and cooperation to this end, and do hereby appeal to our fellow citizens of every former
political connection, to undertake with us this first and most pressing patriotic duty.
THE UNION AND CONSTITUTION.
For -the Democracy of the whole country, we do here reaffirm our faith in the
permanence of the Federal Union, our devotion to the Constitution of the United
States with its amendments universally accepted as a final settlement of the controversies that engendered civil war, and do here record our steadfast confidence in the
perpetuity of Republican self-government.
NOBLE PRODUCTS OF A HUNDRED YEARS.
In absolute acquiescence in the will of the; majority-the vital principle of Republics;
In the supremacy of the civil over the military authority;
In the total separation of Church and State, for the sake alike of civil:and religious
freedom.
In the equality of all citizens before just laws of their own enactment;
In the liberty of individual conduct, unvexed by sumptuary laws;
In the faithful education of the rising generation, that they may preserve, enjoy
and transmit these best conditions of human happiness and hope;
We.behold the noblest products of a hundred years of changeful history;
But, while upholding the bond of our Union and great Charter of these our rights,
it behooves a free people to practise also that eternal vigilance which is the pric of
Liberty.
MISRULE AND HARD TIMES.
Reform  is necessary  to rebuild and establish in the hearts of the whole
people, the Union, eleven years ag,o happily rescued from the danger of a Secession or
States; but now to be saved from a corrupt Centralism, which, after inflicting upon ten
States the rapacity of carpet-bag tyrannies, has honey-combed the offices of the Federal
Government itself with incapacity, waste and f aud; infected States and' mnnicipalities
with the contae,ion of misrile, alnd locked fast the prosperity of an industrious people
il the paralysis of "Hard Times."
HARD MONEY.
Reform is necessary to establish a sound currency, restore the public
-credit and mltaintaiin thie national honor.
We denounce  the failure for all these eleven years of peace to make  good the
promise of the leg,al tender notes, which are a chani'ing standard of value in the hands
of thie pI)eople, anod the nonpayment of which is a disregard of the plighted faith of the
nation.
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THE PLATFORM.
We denounce the improvidence which, in eleven years of peace, has taken fronm
the people, in Federal taxes, thirteen times the whole amount of the legal-tender notes,
and squandered four times their sum in useless expense, without accumulating any reserve for their redemption.
RETRENCIHMENT AND RESUMPTION.
We denounce the financial imbecility aid immorality of that party which, during
eleven years of peace, has made no advance towards resumption-no preparation forresumption-but instead has obstructed resumption by wasting our resources and ex —
hausting all our surplus income; and, while annually professing to intend a speedy return to specie payments, has annually enacted fresh hindrances thereto. As such a
hindrance we denounce the Resumption clause of the Act of 1875, and demand its
repeal.
We demand a judicious system of preparation by public economies. by-official retrenchments and by wise finance, which shall enable the nation soon to assure the
whole world of its perfect ability and its perfect readiness to meet any of its promisesat the call of the creditor entitled to payment.
We believe such a system, well devised, and, above all, entrusted  to competent
hands for execution, creating at no time an artificial scarcity of currency, and at notime alarming the public mind into a withdrawal of that vaster machinery of credit by
which 95 per cent. of all business transactions are performed-a system open, public
and inspiring general confidence, would from the day of its adoption bring healing on,
its wings to all our harassed industries, set in motion the wheels of commerce, manufactures and the mechanic arts, restore employment to labor, and renew in all its
natural sources the prosperity of the people.
IEFORM IN FEDERAL TAXATION.
Reform  is necessary in the sum and modes of Federal Taxation, to the ends
that capital may be set free from distrust and labor lightly burdened.
We denounce the present Tariff, levied upon nearly 4,000 articles, as a masterpiece
of injustice, inequality aud false pretense.
It yields a dwindling, not a yearly rising, revenue.
It has impoverished many industries to subsidize a few.
It prohibits imports that might purchase the products of American laboir.
It has degraded American commerce from the first to an inferior rank on the high
* seas.~
seas.
It has cut down the sales of American manufactures at home and abroad, and depleted the returns of American agriculture-an industry followed by half our people.
It costs the people five times more than it produces to the treasury, obstructs the
processes of production and wastes the fruits of labor.
It promotes fraud, fosters smuggling, enriches dishonest officials, and bankrupts
honest merchants.
We demand that all Custom House taxation shall be only for Revenue.
REFORM IN PUBLIC EXPENSE.
Reform  is necessary in the scale of Public Expense-Federal, State and"
Municipal.
Our Federal taxation has swollen from 60 millions gold, in 1860, to 450 millions
currency, in 1870; our aggregate taxation from 154 millions gold, in 1860. to 730
millions currency, in 187(), or in one decade from less than $5 per head to more than
$18 per head.
Since the peace,' the people have paid to their tax gatherers more than thrice the sum
of the national debt, and more thani twice that sum for the Federal Governmnent alpne.
We demand a rigorous frugality in every department, and from every officer of the government.
THE PROFLIGATE WASTE OF PUBLIC LANDS.
Reform is necessary to put a stop to the profligate waste of public lands and
their diversion foiii actual settlers by the party in power, which has squandered 20t) ranillions of acres upon rail'oads alone, and out of more than thrice that aggregate has diposed of less than a sixth directly to tillers of the soil.
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THE PLATFORM.
THE SHIELD OF AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP.
Reform is necessary to correct the omissions of a Republican Congress, and
the errors of our treaties and our diplomacy, which have stripped our fellow citizens of
foreign birth and kindred race recrossing the Atlantic, of the shield of American citizenship, and have exposed our brethren of the Pacific coast to the incursions of a race
not sprung from the same great parent stock, and in fact now by law denied citizenship
through naturalization as being neither accustomed to the traditions of a progressive
civilization nor exercised in liberty under equal laws.
We denounce the policy which thus discards the liberty-loving German and tolerates
the revival of the coolie trade in Mongolian women imported for immoral purposes, and
Mongolian men, hired to perform servile labor contracts, and demand such a modification of the treaty with the Chinese Empire, or such legislation by Congress within constitutional limitations as shall prevent the further importation or immigration of the
Mongolian race.
SECTARIAN S.TRIFE AND SECTIONAL HATE.
Reform. is necessary and can never be effected but by making it the controlling issue of the elections, and lifting it above the two false issues with which the
officeholding class and the party in power seek to smother it.
1. The false issue with which they would enkindle sectarian strife in respect to the
public schools, of which the establishment and support belong exclusively to the sev~ eral States, and which the' Democratic party has cherished from their foundation, and
is resolved to maintain without prejudice or preference for any class, sect or creed, and
without contributions from the treasury to any.
2. The false issue by which they seek to light anew the dying embers of sectional
hate between kindred peoples once estranged, but now reunited in one indivisible republic and a common destiny,
CIVIL SERVICE.
Reform is necessary in the Civil Service. Experience proves that efficient,
economical conduct of the govermental business is not possible if its civil service be subject to change at every election, be a prize fought for at the ballot-box, be abrief reward
of party zeal, instead of posts of honor assigned for proved competency, and held for
fidelity in the public employ: that the dispensing of patronage should neither be a tax
upon the time of all our public men, nor the instrument of their ambition. Here again
promises falsified in the performance attest that the party in power can work out no
practical or salutary reform.
OFFICIAL CRIMES AND. MISDEMEANORS.
Reform is necessary even more in the h'igher grades of the public service. President, Vice.President, Judges, Senators, Representatives, Cabinet officers, these and all
others in authority are the people's servants. Their offices are not a private perquisite;
they are a public trust.
When the annals of this Republic show the disgrace and censure of a Vice-President;
A late Speaker of the House of Representatives marketing his rulings as a presiding
officer;
Three Senators profiting secretly by their votes as law-makers;
Five chairmen of the leading committees of the late RIouse of Representatives
exposed in jobbery;
A late Secretary of the Treasury forcing balances in the public accounts;
A late Attorney-General misappropriating public funds;
A Secretary of the Navy enriched or enriching friends by percentages levied off
the profits of contractors with his department;
A Minister to England censured in a dishonorable speculation;
The President's Private Secretary barely escaping conviction upon trial for guilty
complicity in frauds upon the revenue;
A Secretary of War impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors;
The demonstration is complete that the first step in reform must be the people's choice
of honest men from another party, lest the disease of one political organization infect
the body politic, and lest by making no change of men or parties we get no change of
-ineasures and no real reform.
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THE PLATFORiM.
REPUBLICAN REFORM IMPOSSIBLE.
All the abuses, wrongs and crimes, the product of sixteen years' ascendancy of the
Republican party, create a necessity for refornl confessed by Republicans themselves;
but their reformers are voted down in Convention and displaced from the Cabinet.
The party's mass of honest voters is powerless to resist the 80,000 officeholders, its
leaders and guides.
A C[VIC REVOLUTION NECESSARY.
Reform can only be had by a peaceful Civil Revolution.
We demand a change of system, a change of administration, a change of parties,
that we may have a chaage of measures and of nen.
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GOV. TIL-DEN'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.
ALBANY, July 31st, 1876.
GEN-TLEMEN: When I had the honor to receive a personal delivery of your letter
on behalf of the Democratic National Convention, held on the 28th of June, at St.
Louis, advising me of my nomination as the candidate of the constituency represented
by that body for the office of President of the United States, I answered that, at my
earliest convenience, and in conformity with usage, I would prepare and transmit to you
X formal acceptance. I now avail myself of the first interval in unavoidable occupations
to fulfill that engagement.
The Convention, before making its nominations, adopted a declaration of principles, which, as a whole, seems to me a wise exposition of the necessities of our country,
and of the reforms needed to bring back the government to its true functions, to restore
purity of administration and to renew the prosperity of the people.  But some of these
reforms are so urgent that they claim more than a passing approval.
REFOR-M IN PUBLIC EXPENSE.
The necessity of a reform "in the scale of public expense-Federal, State and
Municipal,"-and "in the modes of Federal taxation," justifies all the prominence given
to it in the Declaration of the St. Louis Convention.
The present depression in all the business and industries of the people, which is
depriving labor of its employment, and carrying want into so many homes, has its
principal cause in excessive governmental consumption.   Under the illusions of a specious prosperity, engendered by the false policies of the federal government. a waste (of
capital has been going on ever since the peace of 1865, which could only end in universal disaster.
The federal taxes of the last eleven years reach the gigantic sum of 4,500 millions.
Local taxation has amounted to two-thirds as much more. The vast aggregate is not
less than 7,500 millions.
This enormous taxation followed a civil conflict that had greatly impaired our aggregate wealth, and had made a prompt reduction of expenses indispensable.
It was aggravated by most unscientific and ill-adjusted methods of taxation that
increased the sacrifices of the people far beyond the receipts of the treasury.
It was aggravated, moreover, by a financial policy which tended to diminish the
energy, skill and economy of production, and the frugality of private consumption, and
induced miscalculation in business and an unremunerative use of capital and labor.
Even in prosperous times, the daily wants of industrious communities press closely
upon their daily earnings. The margin of possible national savings is at best a small
percentage of national earnings. Yet now for these eleven years governmental consumption has been a larger proportion of the national earnings than the whole people can
possibly save even in prosperous times for all new investments.
The consequence of these errors are now a present public calamity. But they were
never doubtful, never invisible. They were necessary and inevitable, and were foreseen
and depicted when the waves of that fictitious prosperity ran highest.  In a speech
made by me on the 24th qf September, 1868, it was said of these taxes:
"They bear heavily upon every man's income, upon every industry and every business in the country, and year byyear they are destined to press still more heavily,
unless we arrest the system that gives rise to them.  It was comparatively easy when 
GOVERNOR TILDEN'S
values were doubling under repeated issues of legal tender paper money, to pay out of
the froth of our growing and apparent wealth these taxes, but when values recede and
sink towards their natural scale, the tax-gatherer takes from us not only our income, not
only our profits, but also a portion of our capital.   *   *   *   I do not wish to exaggerate or alarm; I simply say that we cannot afford the costly and ruinous policy of
the Radical majority of Congress. We cannot afford that policy towards the South.
We cannot afford the magnificent and oppressive centralism into which our government
is being converted. We cannot afford the present magnificent scale of taxation."
To the Secretary of the Treasury, I said, early in 1865:
"There is no royal road for a government more than for an individual or a corporation. What you want to do now is to cut down your expenses and live within your
income. I would give all the legerdemain of finance and financiering-I would give the
whole of it for the old, homely maxim, Live within your income."
This reform will be resisted at every step, but it must be pressed persistently. We
see to-day the immediate representatives of the people in one branch of Congress, while
struggling to reduce expenditures, compelled to confront the menace of the Senate and
the Executive that unless the objectionable appropriations be consented to, the operations of the government thereunder shall suffer detriment or cease. In my judgment,
an amendment of the Constitution ought to be devised separating into distinct bills the
appropriations for the various departments of the public service, and excluding from
each bill all appropriations for other objects, and all independent legislation. In that
way alone can the revisory power of each of the two houses and of the Executive be
preserved and exempted from the moral duress which often compels assent to objectionable appropriations, rather than stop the wheels of the government,
THE SOUTH.
An accessory cause enhancing the distress in business is to be found in the systematic and insupportable misgovernment imposed on the States of the South. Besides
the ordinary effects of ignorant and dishonest administration, it has inflicted upon
them enormous issues of fraudulent bonds, the scanty avails of which were wasted or
stolen, and the existence of which is a public discredit, tending to bankruptcy or repudiation. Taxes, generally oppressvlye, in some instances have confiscated the entire income of property, and totally destroyed its marketable value. It is impossible that
these evils should not react upon the prosperity of the whole country.
The nobler motives of humanity concur with the material interests of all in requiring that every obstacle be removed, to a complete and durable reconciliation between
kindred populations once unnaturally estranged, on the basis recognized by the St.
Louis platform, of the "Constitution of the United States, with its amendments universally accepted as a final settlement of the controversies which engendered civil war."
But, in aid of a result so beneficent, the. moral influence of every good citizen, as
well as every governmental authority, ought to be exerted, not alone to maintain their
just equality before the law, but likewise to establish a cordial fraternity and good will
among citizens, whatever their race or color, who are now united in the one destiny of
a common self-government. If the duty shall be assigned to me, I should not fail to exercise the powers with which the laws and the constitution of our country clothe its
chief magistrate, to protect all its citizens, whatever their former condition, in every
political and personal right.
CURRENCY REFORM.
"Reform is necessary," declares the St. Louis Convention, "to establish a sound
currency, restore the public credit and maintain the national honor;" and it goes on to
"demand a judicious system of preparation by public economies, by official retrenchments, and by wise finances, which shall enable the nation soon to assure the whole
world of its perfect ability and its perfect readiness to meet any of its promises at the
call of the creditor entitled to payment."
The object demanded by the Convention is a resumption of specie payments on the
legal tender notes of the United States. That would not only "restore the public
credit" and "maintain the national honor," but it-would' establish a sound currency"
for the people. ~
The methods by which this object is to be pursued, and the means by which it is
to be attained, are disclosed by what the Convention demanded for the future, and
by what it denounced in the past.
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LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.
BANK NOTE RESUMPTION.
Resumption of specie payments by the Government of the United States on its
legal tender notes would establish specie payments by all the banks on all their notes.
The official statement, made on the 12th of May, shows that the amount of the bank
notes was 300 millions, less 20 millions held by themselves. Against these 280 millions of notes, the banks held 141 millions of legal tender notes, or a little more than
fifty per cent. of their amount.  But they also held on deposit in the Federal Treasury,
as security for these notes, bonds of the United States, worth ill gold, about 360 millions, available and current in all the foreign money markets. In resuming, the banks,
even if it were possible for all their notes to be presented for payment, would have 500
millions of specie funds to pay 280 millions of notes, without contracting their loans
to their customers, or calling on ally private debtor for payment.  Suspended banks
undertaking io resume, have usually been obliged to collect from needy borrowers the
means to redeeni excessive issues and to provide reserves.  A vague idea of distress is,
therefore, often associated with the process of resumption. But the conditions which
caused distress in those former instances do not now exist.
The government has only to make good its own promises and the banks can take
care Cf themselves without distressing anybody.  The government is, therefore, the
sole delinquent.
LEGAL-TENDELt RESUMPTION.
The amount of the legal-tender notes of the United States now outstanding is less
than 370 millions of dollars, besides 34 millions of dollars of fractional currency
How shall the government make these notes at all times as good as specie?
It has to provide, in reference to the mass which would be kept in use by the
wants of business, a central reservoir of coin, adequate to the adjustment of the temporary fluctuations of international balances, and as a guaranty against transient drains
artificially created by panic or by speculation.
It has also to provide for the payment in coin of such fractional currency as may
be presented for redemption, and such inconsiderable portions of the legal tenders as
individuals may, from time to time, desire to convert for special use, or in order to lay
.by in coin their little stores of money.
RESUMPTION NOT DIFFICULT.
To make the coin now in the treasury available for the objects of this reserve, to
gradually strengthen and enlarge that reserve, and to provide for such other exceptional demands for coin as may arise, does not seem to me a work of difficulty.  If
wisely planned and discreetly pursued, it ought not to cost any sacrifice to the business
of the country. It should tend, on the contrary, to a revival of hope and confidence.
The coin in the treasury on the 30th of June, including what is held against coin certificates amuounted to nearly 74 millions.  The current of precious metals which has
flowed out of our country for the eleven years from July l, 1865, to June 30, 1876,
averaging nearly 76 millions a year was 832 millions in the whole period, of which 617
millions were the product of our own mines.
To amass the requisite quantity, by intercepting from the current flowing out of
the country, and by acquiring from the stocks which exist abroad without disturbing
the equilibrium of foreign money markets, is a result to be easily worked out by practical knowledge and judgment.
With respect to whatever surplus of legal tenders the wants of business may fail
to keep in use, and which, in order to save interest, will be returned for redemption,
they can either be paid or they can be funded. Whether they continue as currency,
or be absorbed into the vast mass of securities held as investments, is merely a ques tion of the rate of interest they draw. Even if they were to remain in their present
form, and the government were to agree to pay on them a rate of interest, making
them desirable as investments, they would cease to circulate and take their plaqe with
government, state, municipal and other corporate and private bonds, of which thou sands of millions exist among us.. In the perfect ease with which they can be changed
from currency into investments lies the only danger to be guarded against in the
adoption of general measures intended to remove a clearly ascertained surplus; that is,
the withdrawal of any which are not a permanent excess beyond the wants of business.
Even more mischievous would be any measure which affects the public imagination
9 
GOVERXNOR TILDEN'S
with the fear o' an apprehended scarcity.    In a community where credit is so much
used, flutctuations of values and vicissitudes in business are largely caused by the temporary bel;efs of mien even before those beliefs can conform  to ascertained realities.
AMOUNT OF NECESSARY CURRENC Y.
The amount of the necessary currency, at a given time, cannot be determined
arbitrarily, and should not be assumed on conjecture.  That amount is subject to both
permanent and temporary changes. An enlargement of it, which seemed to be durable,
happened at the beginning of the civil war by a substituted use of currency in place of
individual credits. It varies with certain states of business. It fluctuates with coilsiderable regularity at different seasons of the year. In the autumn, for instance, when
buyers of grain and other agricultural products begin their operations, they usually
need to borrow capital or circulating credits by which to make their purchases, andl
want these funds in currency capable of being distributed in small sums among numerous sellers.  The additional need of currency at such times is five or more per cent. of
the whole volume, and, if a surplus beyond what is required for ordinary use does not
happen to have been on hand at the money centres, a scarcity of currency ensues, and
also a stringency in the loan market.
It was in reference to such experiences that, in a discussion of this subject, in
my annual message to the New York Legislature of January 5, 1875, the suggestion
was made that:
The federal government is bound to redeem every portion of its issues which the
public do not wish to use.  Having assumed to monopolize the supply of currency, and
enacted exclusions against everybody else, it is bound to furnishi all which the wants
of business require."    *      *             *    " The system should passively'allow
the volume of circulating credits to ebb and flow, according to the ever-changing wants
of business.  It should imitate, as closely as possible, the natural laws of trade, which it
has superseded by artificial contrivances." And in a similar discussion, inii my message
of January 4, 1876, it was said that resumption should be effected "by such measures
as would keep the aggregate amount of the currency self-adjusting during all the process, without creating, at any time, an artificial scarcity, and without  exciting the
public imagination with alarms which impair confidence, contract thle whole largemachinery of credit, and disturb the natural operations of business."
MEANS OF RESUMPTION.
"Public economies, official retrenchments and wise finance" are the means which
the St. Louis Convention indicates-as provision for reserves and resumptions.
The best resource is a reduction of the expenses of the government below its income; for that imposes no new charge on the people.
If, however, the improvidence and waste which have conducted ius to a period of
falling revenues oblige us to supplement the results of economies and retrenchments by
some resort to loans, we should not hesitate.  The government  ought not to speculate
on its own dishonor, in order to save interest on  its broken promises, which it still
compels private dealers to accept at a fictitious par. The highest national honor is not
only right, but would prove profitable.   Of the public debt,, 985 millions bear interest
at six per cent. in gold, and 712 millions at five per cent. in gold.  The average interest is 5.58 per cent.
A financial policy which should secure the highest credit, wisely availed of ought
gradually to obtain a reduction of one per cent. in the interest on most of the loans.  A
saving of one per cent. on the average would be 17 millions a year in gold.  That
saving regularly invested at fLur and a half per cent. would, in less than thirty-eight
years, extinguish the principal. The whole 1,700 millions offounded debt might be paid
by this saving alone, without cost to the people.
PROPER TIME FOR RESUMPTION.
The proper time for resumption is the time when wise preparation shall have
ripened into a perfect ability to accomplish the object with a certainty and ease that
will inspire confidence, and encourage the reviving of business. The earliest time in,
which such a result can be brought about is the best.  Even when the preparations
shall have been matured, the exact date would have to be chosen with reference to the
10 
LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.
then existing state of trade and credit operations in our own country, the course of
foreign commeree, and the condition of the exchlanges with other nations. The specific
measures and the actual date are matters of detail having reference to ever-changing
conditions.  They belong to the domain cf practical administrative statesmanship. The
captain of a steamer, about starting from New York to Liverpool, does not assemble a coumcil over his ocean chart and fix an angle by which to lash the rndder for the
whole voyage. A human intelligence must be at the helm to discern the shifting forces
of the waters and the winds.  A human hand must be on the helm to feel the elements
day by day, and guide to a mastery over them.
PREPARATIONS FOR RESUMPTION.
Such preparations are everything. Without them, a legislative command fixing a
day, an official promise fixing a day, are shams.  Theya re worse-they are a snare and
a delusion to all who trust them. They destroy all confidence among thoughtful men
whose judgment will at last sway public opinion.  An  attempt to act on such a command or such a promise, without preparation, would end in a new suspension. It would
be a fresh calamity, prolific of confusion, distrust and distress.
THE ACT OF JANUARY 14TH, 1875.
The Act of Congress of the 14th of January, 1875, enacted that, on and after the
1st of January, 1879, the Secretary of the Treasury shall redeem in coin the legal tender notes of the United States on presentation at the office of the assistant treasurer in
the City. of New York.  It authorized the secretary "to prepare and provide for" such
resumption of specie payments by the use of any surplus revenues not otherwise appropriated; and by issuing, in his discretion, certain classes of bonds.
More than one and a half of the tour years have passed. Congress and the President have continued ever since to unite in acts which have legislated out of existence
every possible surplus applicable to this purpose.
The coin in the treasury claimed to belong to the government, had, on the 30th of
June, fallen to less than 45 millions of dollars as against 59 millions on the 1st of January, 1875, and the availability of a part of that sum is said to be questionable. The
revenues are falling faster than appropriations and expenditures are reduced, leaving
the treasury with diminishing resources.  The secretary has done nothing under his
power to issue bonds.
The legislative command, the official promise  fixing a day for resumption, have
thus far been barren. No practical preparations towards resumption have been made.
There has been no progress. There have been steps backward.
There is no necromancy in the operations of government.  The homely maxims of
every. day life.are the best standards of its conduct.  A debtor who should promise to
pay a loan out of surplus income, yet be seen every day spending all he could lay his
hands on in riotous living, would lose all character for honesty and veracity. His
offer of a new promise or his professions as to the value of the old promise, would alike
provoke derision.
RESUMPTION PLAN OF THE ST. LOUIS PLATFORM.
The St. Louis platform denounces the failure for eleven years to make good the
promise of the legal tender notes.  It denounces the omission to accumulate  "any
reserve for their redemption." It denounces the conduct "which, during eleven years
of peace, has made no advances towards resumption, no preparations for resumption,
but instead has obstructed resumption, by wasting our resources and exhausting all our
surplus income, and while professing to intend a speedy return to specie payments, has
annually enacted fresh hindrances thereto." And having first denounced the barrenness of the promise of a day of resumption, it next denounces that barren promise as a
"' hindrance" to resumption. It then demands its repeal, and also demands the establishment of "a judicious system of preparation" for resumption.  It cannot be doubted
that the substitution of a "system of preparation," without the promise of a day, for
the worthless promise of a day without a "system of preparation" would be the gain of
the substance of resumption in exchange for its shadow.
Nor is the denunciation unmerited of that improvidence which, in the eleven years
since the peace, has consumed 4,500 millions of dollars, and yet could not afford to
1.1 
GOVERXOR TILDEN'S
give the people a sound and stable currency.   Two, and a half per cent. on the expenditures of these eleven years, or even less, would lhave provided all the additional coin
needful to resumption.
RELIEF TO BUSINESS DISTRESS.
The distress now felt by the people in all their business and industries, though it
has its principal cause in the enormous waste of capital occasioned by the false policies
of our government, has been greatly aggravated by the mismanagement of the currency.
Uncertainty is the prolific parent of mischiefs in all business. Never were its evils
minorefelt than now.   Men do nothing, because they are unable to make due calculations
on which they can safely rely. They undertake nothing, because they fear a loss in everything they would attempt. They stop and wait. The merchant dares not buy for the
-future consumption of his customers. The manufacturer dares not make fabrics which
may not refund his outlay. He shluts his factory and discharges his workmen. Capitalists cannot lend on security they consider safe, and their funds lie almost without
interest. Men of enterprise who have credit, or securities to pledge, will not borrow.
Consumption has fallen below the natural limits of a reasonable economy. Prices of
many things are under their range in frugal, specie-paying times before the civil war.
Vast masses of currency lie in the banks unused. A year and a half ago the legal
tenders were at their largest volume, and the twelve millions since retired have been
replaced by fresh issues of fifteen millions of bank notes. In the meantime the banks
have been surrendering about four millions a month, because they cannot find a profitable use for so many of their notes.
The public mind will no longer accept shams. It has suffered enough from illusions. An insincere policy increases distrust. An unstable policy increases uncertainty.  The people need to know that the government is moving in the direction of
uliimate safety and prosperity, and that it is doing so through prudent, safe and conservative methods, which will be sure to inflict no new sacrifice on the business of the
country.  Then the inspiration of new hope and well-founded confidence will hasten
the restoring processes of nature, and prosperity will begin to return.
The St. Louis convention concludes its expression in regard to the currency by a
declaration of its convictions as to the practical results of the system of preparations
it demands.  It says: "We believe such a system, well devised, and, above all, intrusted
to competent hands for execution, creating at no titae an artificial scarcity of currency,
and at no time alarming the public mind into a withdrawal of that vaster machinery
of credit by which ninety-five per cent. of all business transactions are performed-a
system open, public, and inspiring general confidence would, from the day of its adoption, bring healing on its wings to all our harassed industries, set in motion the wheels
of commerce, manufactures and the mechanic arts,,restore employment to labor, and
renew in all its natural sources the prosperity of the people."
The Government of the United States, in my opinion, can advance to a resumption
of specie payments on its legal tender notes by gradual and safe processes tending to
relieve the present business distress. If charged by the people with the administration
of the executive office, I should deem it a duty so to exercise the powers with which it
has been or may be invested by Congress as best and soonest to conduct the country to
that beneficent result.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
The Convention justly affirms that Reform is necessary in the civ'l service, necessary to its purification, necessary to its economy and its efficiency, necessary in order
that the ordinary employment of the public business may not be a "prize fought for at
the ballot-box, a brief reward of party zeal instead of posts of honor assigned for
proved competency, and held for fidelity in the public employ."   The Convention
wisely added that "Reform is necessary even more in the higher grades of the public
service.  President, Vice-President, Judges, Senators, Representatives, Cabinet Officers,
these and all others in authority are the people's servants.  Their offices are not a private perquisite; they are a public trust."
Two evils infest the official service of the Federal Government.
One is the prevalent and demoralizing notion that the public service exists not for
the business and benefit of the whole people, but for the interest of the office-holders,
who are in truth but the servants of the people.   Under the influence of this pernicious
error public employments have been multiplied; the numbers of those gathered into
the ranks of office-holders have been steadily~increased beyond any possible require
-12 
LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.
ment of the public business, while inefficiency, peculation, firaud and malversation of
the public funds, from the high places of power to the lowest, have overspread the
whole service like a leprosy.
The other evil is the organization of the official class into a body of political mercenaries, governing the caucuses and dictating the nominations of their own rarty,
and attempting to carry the electrons of the people by undue influence, and by iminense corruption funds systematically collected from the salaries or fees of officeholders. The official class in other countries, somnetimes by its own weight and sonietimes in alliance with the army, has been able to rule the unorganized masses even
under universal suffrage. Here it has already grown into a gigantic power capable of
stifling the inspirations of a sound public opinion, and of resisting an easy change of
administration, until misgovernment becomes intolerable, and public spirit has been
stung to the pitchi of a civic revolution.
1 he first step in reform is the elevation of the standard by which the appointing
power selects agents to execute official trusts.  Next in importance is a conscientious
fidelity in the exercise of the authority to hold to account and displace untrustworthy
or incapable subordinates.  The public interest in an horest, skillful performance of
official trust must not be sacrificed to the usufruct of incumbents.
After these immediate steps, which will ensure the exhibition of better examples,
we may wisely go on to the abolition of unnecessary offices, and, finally, to the patient,
careful organization of a better civil service system, under the tests, wherever practic able, of proved competency and fidelity.
While much may be accomplished by these methods, it might encourage delusive
expectations if I withheld here the expression of my conviction that no reform of the
civil service in this country will be complete and permanent until its chief magistrate
is constitutionally disqualified for re-election; experience having repeatedly exposed
the futility of self-imposed restrictions by candidates or incumbents.  Through  this
solemnity only can he be effectually delivered from his greatest temptation to misuse
the power and patronage with which the Executive is necessarily charged.
CONCLUSION.
Educated in the belief that it is the first duty of a citizen of the republic to take
lhis fair allotment of care and trouble in )public affairs, I have, for forty years, as a
private citizen, fulfilled that duty,  Though  occupied in an unusual degree during all
that period with the concerns of government, I have never acquired the habit of
official life.  When, a year and a half ago, I entered upon my present trust, it was in
order to consummate reforms to which I had already devoted several of the best years
of my life. Knowing as I do, therefore, from fresh exl erience, how great the difference is between gliding' through an official  routine and working  out a reformi of
systems and policies, it.is impossible for me to contemplate w hat needs to be done ilt
the federal administration without ai anxious sen.e of the difficutlties of the undertaking.  If summoned  by the suffrages of my countrymen to ittemnpt this work,  I shall
endeavor, with God's help, to be the efficient instrumnent of their will.
SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
To Gen. JOIN A. McCLERRNAND, Chaiirnian, GenI. W. B. FRA, KLIN,-, HonI. J. J. ABBOTT,
Hon. H. J. SPA.NNIORST, Hlon. HI. J. RE rFiErD, Honi. F. S. LY<)oN and others, Com    mittee, &c.
13'. 
Gov. HENDRICK>' LET]'ERoF ACCEPTANCE.
INDIANAPOLIS, July 24, 1876.
GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication
in which you have formally notified me of my nomination, by the National Democratic
-Convention at St. Louis, as their candidate for the office of Vice-President of the
United States.  It is a nomination  which I neither expected nor desired; and
yet I recognize and appreciate the high honor done me by the Convention. The
choice of such a body, pronounced with such unusual unanimity, and accompanied with
so generous an expression of esteem and confidence ought to outweigh all merely
personal desires and preferences of my own. It is with this feeling, and I trust also
from a deep sense of public duty, that I 110W accept the nomination, and shall abide
the judgment of my countrymeln.
It would have been impossible for me to accept the nomination if I could not
heartily endorse the platform of the convention.  I am gratified, therefore, to be able
unequivocally to declare that I agree in principles, approve the policies, and sympa thize with the purposes enunciated in that platform.
The institutions of our country have been sorely tried by the exigencies of civil
war, and, since the peace, by a selfish and corrupt management of public affairs, which
has shamed us before civilized mankind.  By unwise and partial legislation every in dustry and interest of the people have been made to suffer; and in the executive de partments of the Goveinment, dishonesty, rapacity and venality have debauchedthe
public service. Men known to be unworthy have been promoted, while others have
been degraded for fidelity to official duty. Public office has been made the means of
private profit, and the country has been offended to see a class of men who boast the
friendship of the sworn protectors of the State amassing fortunes by defrauding the
public treasury and by corrupting the servants of the people. In such a crisis of the
history of the country I rejoice that the convention at St. Louis has so nobly raised
the standard of reform.  Nothing can be well with us or with our affairs until the
public conscience, shocked by the enormous evils and abuses which prevail, shall
have demanded and compelled an unsparing reformation of our National Admninis
tration, "in its head and in its members." In such a reformation the removal of a
single officer, even the President, is comparatively a trifling matter, if the system
which he represents, and which has fostered him as he has fostered it, is suffered to
remain.  The President alone must not be made the scapegoat for the enormities of the
system which infests the public service, and threatens the destruction of our institutions. In soime respects I hold that the present executive has been the victim rather
than the author of that vicious system.  Congressioinal and party leaders have been
stronger than the President. No one man could have created it, and the removal of
no one man can amnend it.  It is thlioroughly corrupt, and must be swept remorselessly
away by the selection of a government composed of elements entirely new, and
pledged to radical reform.
REFORMS NEEDED.)
The first work of reformin must evidently be the restoration of the normal operation of thle Constitution of the U lited StaLes, with all its  ameodments.   The necessities of war cannot be pleaded in a tim  of peace; the right of local self-,government as
guaraonteed  by the Constitution of the Union imust be everywhere restored, and the
centralized (almost personal) imperialism  vhicho has been practised  niust be done
aw-ay. or the first principles of the republic will be lost.
Our finaucial    systeim of expedients must be refornimed.  Gold and silver are the
real statndard of values, and our national currency will not be a perfect mediumi of exchange until it shall be convertible at the pleasuire of the holders.   As I halve heretofore said, no one desires a return to specie payments miore earnestly than I do; but I
do not believe that it will or can be reached in harmony with the interests of the 
LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.
people by artificial measures for the contraction of the currency, any more than I believe that wealth or permanent prosperity can be created by an inflation of the curreilcy. The laws of finance cannot be disregarded with impunity. The financial
policy of the Government, if, indeed, it deserves the name of policy at all, has been in
disregard of those laws, and therefore has disturbed comniercial and btisiness confidence, as well as hindered a returA to specie payments. One feature of that policy
was the resumption clause of the Act of 1875, which has embarrassed the country
by the anticipation of a compulsory resumption for which no preparation has been
made, and without any assurance that it would be practicable. The repeal of that
clause is necessary that the natural operation of financial laws may be restored, that
the business of the country may be relieved from its disturbing and depressing influence, and that a return to specie payments may be facilitated by the substitution
of a wiser and more prudent legislation, which shall mainly rely on a judicious
system of public economies and official retrenchments, and above all on the promotion of prosperity in all the industries of the people.
I do not understand the repeal of the resumption clause of the Act of 1875 to be
a backward step in our return to specie payments, but the recovery of a false step;
and although the repeal may, for a time, be prevented, yet the determination of the
Democratic party on this subject has now been distinctly declared. There should be
no hindrances put in the way of a return to specie payments.  "As such a hindrance,"
says the platform of the St. Louis Convention, "we denounce the resumption clause of
the Act of 1875, and demand its repeal."
I thoroughly believe that by public economy, by official retrenchments, and by
wise finance enabling us to accumulate the precious metals, resumption at an early
period is possible, without producing an "artificial scarcity of currency" or disturbing
public or commercial credit; and that these reforms, together with the restoration of
pure government, will restore general confidence, encourage the useful investment of;
capital, furnish employment to labor, and relieve the eountry from the "paralysis of
hard times."
OUR INDUS?RIES.
With the industries of the people there have been frequent interferences. Our
platform truly says that many industries have been impoverished to subsidize a few.
Our commerce has been degraded to an inferior position on the high seas; manufactures have been diminished; agriculture has been embarrassed, and the distress of
the industrial classes demands that these things shall be reformed.
The burdens of the people must also be lightened by a great change in our system of
public expenses. The profligate expenditures which increased taxation from five dollars per capita in 1860 to eighteen dollars in 1870 tells its own. story of our need of fiscal
reform.
Our treaties with foreign powers should also be revised and amended, in so far as
they leave citizens of foreign birth in any particular less secure in any country on earth
than they would be if they had been born on our own soil; and the iniquitous coolie
system which, through the agency of wealthy companies, imports Chinese bondmen,
and establhes a species of slavery, and interferes with the just rewards of labor on our
Pacific coast, should be utterly abolished.
In the reform of our civil service, I most heartily indorse'that section of the platform which declares that the civil service ought not to be " subject to change at every
election," and that it ought not to be made "the brief reward of party zeal," but ought
to award for proved competency and held for fidelity in the public employ." I hope
never again to see the cruel and remnorseless proscription for political opinions which
has disgraced the administration of the last eighlt years.   Bad as the civil service now
is, as all know, it has some men of tried integrity and  )roved ability.  Such men, and
such men only, should be retained in office; but no man should be retained on any con sideratio(n who has prostituted his office to the purposes of partisan ii;timidatitn or
compulsion, or who l,Is fiurnished money to corrupt the elections.  This is done  and
has been done in alnmost every county of the land.  It is a blight upon the morals of
tlhe country, and ought to be reforlmed.
OUR SCIFOOLS.
Of sectional contentions, and in respect to our common schools, I have only this to
say: That in mny judgment, the ma.n or partv tlit would involve our schools in political
or sectarian controversy is an enemy to the sclhools.  The common schools are safer
1 i5 
GOVERNOR HIENDRICKS' LETTER.
under the protecting care of all the people than under the control of any party or sect.
They must be neither sectarian nor partisan, and there must be neither division normisappropriation of the funds for their support. Likewise I regard the man who would
arouse or foster sectional animosities and antagonisms among his countrymen as a dangerouis enemy to his country. All the people must be made to feel and know that once
more there is established a purpose and policy under which all citizens of every condition, race and color, will be secure in the enjoyment of whatever rights the constitution and laws declare or recognize, and that in controversies that may arise the government is not a partisan, but, within its constitutional authority the just and powerful
guardian of the rights and safety of all. The strife between the sections and between
races will cease as soon as the power for evil is taken away from a party that makes
political gain out of scenes of violence and bloodshed, and the constitutional anthority
is placed in the hands of mnen whose political welfare requires that peace and good
order shall be preserved everywhere.
GOV. TILDEN.
It will be seen, gentlemen, that I am in entire accord with the platform of the Convention by which I leave been nominated as a candidate for the office of Vice-President
of the United States.  Permit me, in conclusion, to express my satisfaction at being
associated with a candidate for the Presidency who is first among his equals as a representative of the spirit and of the achievements of reform. In his official career as the
Executive of the great State of New York, he has, in a comparatively short. period, reforimned the public service and reduced the public burdens, so as to have earned at once
the gratitude of his State and the admiration of the country.  The people know him to
be thoroughly in earnest; he has shown himself to be possessed of powers and qualities
which fit him, in an eminient degree, for the great work of reformation which this country now nee(dls; and if he shall be chosen by the people to the high office of President
of the United States, I believe that the day of his inauguration will be the beginning
of a new era of peace, purity anl prosperity in all departments of our government.   I
am, gentlemen, your obedient servant,
THIIOMAS A. HIENDRICKS.
To the Hon. JoIiN A. McCLERNAND, Chairman, and others of the Committee of the    National Deimocratic Conrvention.
16
0 
SAMUEL J. TILDEN'S REFORM RECORD.
TEST!MNl 0N Y (F'" TiHE l E 1 for YORK T[;'fl."I
PART I.
EXPLIANATORY.
The newspaper from which the subjoined articles are copied, is the identical
NEW YORK TIMES that is now published in the city of New York under that name
and title.   The SAMUEL J. TILDEN referred to in the following extracts is the
:SAMUEL J. TILDEN who is the Democratic candidate for President. This explanation is deemed essential, because, without it, the readers of the Times would tail
to recognize in the present' great apostle of sham reform," the very SAMUEL J.
-TILDEN who but four years ago was called in the Times "an honest and hightoned Democrat," and "a gallant, conscientious and efficient foe to corruption."
And lest it might be presumed, as the only rational solution to a transition so
phenomenal, that the Times has become the property either of the late CANAL
RING, or of WILLIAM M. TWEED, or of PETER B. SWEENEY, or of GEORGE G. BARNARD.), the impeached and disfranchised Judge-one and all the mortal enemies
of MR. TILDEN not without cause-it is but proper to state, incredible though the
assertion may appear, that the persons who at present own and control the New
York Times, are the same parties who owned and controlled it at the various times
when the articles that follow were published. After perusing these pages an
comparing the panegyrics on MR. TILIUN that the Timnes sung so loudly and pe
stently four years ago, with the harsh diatribes with which its columns are at
present teemining, the question that will naturally suggest itself to the reader is
"Did the Times speak falsely four years ago, or does it speak falsely now?
The position assumed by the Tin es towards Mr. TILDEN during the present campaigln is not less absurd and ridiculous than if-simultaneously with its denunciatory articles against Mlr. Tilden-it were to publish leading editorials lauding
to the skies the honesty and integrity of WILLIAM M. TWEED or PETER B. SWEENEY.
The Times is as consistent in its attacks on Mr. TILDEN as it would be in praising
the thieves of the late Tammany Ring.
The following extracts from the Times, published in that journal at a period
when Mr. Tilden was a private citizen; when there existed not even the remotest
probability of his holding any public office whatever; when if any person had prophesied that Mr. Tilden was destined to be the Governor of New York, and the
Democratic candidate for President of the United States, he would have been pronounced an idiot; and when no motive nor incentive was offered to distort the
facts, or prejudice honest convictions-these extracts published at such time and
under those conditions, in a leading Republican newspaper, are, beyond all question, entitled to the most implicit belief by all fair-minded men.
CHAPTER I.
I)II) MR TILDEN ASSIST TNWEEI) ANDl) SWEENEY IN PASSING TIlE "RING CHARTER"
THROUGH THE LEGISLAqURE?
In 1870 the Taimmany Ring, by corrupting the Legislature, secured the passage
of what is now called the "Ring Charter," by which they were enabled to obtain
undisputed control of the municipal govNe-.i'eint.  It has been asserted, since the
beginning of the present campaign, that.tlilh)n,eh Mr. Tilden was fully aware of
the nefarious scheme, he held his peace, stooli aioof, and permitted its coI'nUllminaticna without remonstrating against it.  RIearken to the Times of August 17,
1871, in an editorial on the subject:
There were a few indignant protests against the scheme uttered by such hightoned Democrats as SAMUF.L J. TILDEN and others of his character, but they were
without effect, for Tweed and Sweeney had the voters already bought up. Or ALL
THE REPUBLICAN SENATORS, SENATOR ]'IIAYER ALOiE 1IS ON RECORD  AS VOTING
AGAINST IT.
i 
SAMUEL J. TILDEN'S REFORM RECOIID).
DID MR. TILDEN OBEY TWEED'S ORDERS'?
On October 5, 1871, the Democratic State Convention assembled at Rochester to
nominate State officers. There were two contending delegations from New York
city-the Tweed and Sweeny delegation, or Tammany, and the anti-Tammany.
As this Conventionr was held in the midst of the great excitement that succeeded
the exposures of the enormous frauds perpetrated by the Ring, it was currently
reported that the Tammany delegation would not be admitted to seats in the Con  vention.  The day before the Convention met, the Times published the following
from its correspondent at Rochester
"The old guard are coming to the front again, and such men as Horatio Sey  mour, Samuel J. Tilden, Francis Kernan, and the like, who have been thrust aside
for years past by the thieves and bullies of Tammaiiy Hall, will to-morrow guide
the councils of the Democracy."
Let the fact be noted and remembered that the Times here admits that
Mpssrs. Seymour, Tilden, and Kernan were thrust aside from the control of
party politics in the State for years by the scoundrels of the Tweed and Sweeny
ring.
DID MR. TILDEN PROVE HIMSELF A SELFISH POLITICIAN?
In the'Tintes of October 6, the Times in its report of the proceedings of the
Convention, says;
"Mr. Tilden proceeded to denounce the Tammany organization,  and declared
~ that he would not, this Fall,vote for any of the nominations for Assembly made
by that organization, and if that was undemocratic or irregular, he would resign
his position as Chairman of the State Committee, and retire to the bosom of his
plundered fellow citizens,"
The Times correspondent, in describing the effect of the above speech on the
Convention, and the unpopular reception it met with, wrote:   As further and conclusive evidence of this fact it should be noted that when
Mr. Tilden told the Convention that he should go back to New York and work and
vote against every local candidate nominated by Tammany Hall, he was greeted
with a storm of hisses, accompanied by very feeble applause.
And in the report of the proceedings of the same date, the following were the
editorial comments of the Tim?es on the course pursued by Mr. Tilden at the Ccn vention:
There would be no doubt where a gentleman of Mr. Samuel J. Tilden's character
would be found in such a contest as this. He tried every argument and every
expedient to induce the Convention to come before the people with clean hands.
No portion of the blame for the suicidal course of the Convention attaches to
him. He did all that an honest and high-minded man could do to save his party
from wallowing in Tweed's sty.
CHAPTER II.
WAS MR. TILDEN A SHAM REFORMER?
The Convention over, and Mlr. Tilden returned to the city to resume the arduous and delicate work of examining the books of the Broadway Bank,where the
accounts of Tweed, Garvey, Ingersoll, and other plunderers were kept. On October 17th, 1871, the Times published the following:  Mr. Samuel J. Tilden, on behalf of the Committee of.Seventy, has concluded his
examination of the books of the bank in reference to the City's accounts, and is
now engaged in the preparation of his report thereon.   The publication of this
report will be looked forward to by the public with eagerness, and by the thieves
of the Ring with fear. There have been grave difficulties to overcome in the
tracing of the stolen money. The bills, certificates and vouchers in the Controller's
office have been found apparently all right, and it was left to the books of the
Ring's Bank'to find and fasten the men who have profited by the losses of the city.
The forthcoming report of Mr. Tilden will settle this, will set this and many other
matters straight, and it is possible that the golden circle will find it necessary to
devote more time hereafter to their own salvation and less to the annoyance of theDeputy Controller.
1 8 
TESTIMONY OF 6 THE  NEW  YORK TIMES."
MORE FROM THE SAIE SOURCE.
Again, on October 26, 1871, the Tites referred to the man it now calls a
wrecker of railroads" thus: —
If anything can arouse the New York public to that pitch of indignation which
alone becomes them in the present crisis, it is the accounts which we publish today.  Here we have, thanks to the labors of Mr. SAMUEL J. TILDEN, full and conclusive evidence that William  M. Tweed  differs only from a common thief in
having stolen tens of thousands instead of tens of dollars.  *  *  *  * We refer
to the affidavit of Mr. Tilden for a detailed account of how the disposal of the
money was traced.  *  *  *  *
Here is also another little editorial extract on the same date as the above:  If the people will not believe Relpublicans. surely they will find it hard to refute
heevidence of Democrats like SAMIUEL J. TILDEN, CHARLES O'CONOR, etc., etc.
A NEW ERA IN IMUNICIPAL POLITICS.
Also the following Some of the ablest men of both parties will speak at the Cooper Union.   The
appearance on the same platform of SAMIUEL J. TILDEN and Wm.  JI. Evarts, is a
significant evidence of a new era in municipal politics, and should convince every
honest man that the issues before us in the present election are above the region
of party strife, and rest upon principles higher and more essential than those in
dispute between Republicans and Democrats. 
WAS S. J. T. TWEED'S PLIANT TOOL WHEN CHAIRMAN OF TEIE DEMOCRATIC STATE
CO3MMITTEE.
On November 4, 1871, Mr. SAMUEL J. TILDEN, Chairman of the Democratic
State Committee, was thus spoken of  Remember that the frauds of Tweed, Hall, Sweeny and Connolly are no longer
mere newspaper talk. They are matters of official record. They have formed the
basis of suits in the Courts, under the advice of Mr. Charles O'Conor, the leader
of the New York Bar.  They are denounced in language quite as strong as we
have used in the Times by Mr. SAMUEL J. TILDEN, Chairman of the Democratic
State Committee, &c., &c.
VOTE FOR SAMUEL J. TILDEn.
The following explains itself:             [From The N.ew York Times, Noveember 6, 1871.]
VOTE FOR SAMUEL J. TILDEN.
THE VOTERS OF THE EIGHTEENTH ASSEMBLY DISTRICT OUGHT TO ESTEEM IT AN
HONOR AND A PRIVILEGE TO ELECT SAMUEL J. TILDEN TO THE LEGISLATURE.
HE HAS SHOWN HIMSELF A GALLANT, CONSCIENTIOUS, EFFICIENT FOE TO CORRUPTION.
WE APPEAL TO EVERY REPUBLICAN TO VOTE AND WORK FOR HIM, AND TO DO SO THE
MORE CHEERFULLY-AS WE MAKE THIS APPEAL-BECAUSE HE IS AN HONEST DEmHOCRAT.
AFTER THE BATTLE-WAS MR. TILDEN IN BAD COMPANY AGAIN?
The election of 1871, as is well known, resulted in the overthrow of'a majority
of the Ring candidates.  From the Times of November 9, 1871, the following
editorial comments are gathered:
"The significance of o01I success on Tuesday should not be misunderstood by the
regular professional politician, nor should its honors be misappropriated. Let no
one presumptiously claim it as a party triumph. It was a movement of the great
body of the people, irrespective of i;arty distinction. Thehonest citizens suddenly
took the management of their own business into their own hands.    *    *
But it was not, we repeat, the work of any one party-it required the union of
honest men of both parties. And that, warm thanks to the intelligence, energy
and courage of prominent merchants, bankers, lawyers and others of both political
parties, was gloriously successful.    *    *   *    Amongindividuals, however
deserving others areof commendation, it will not be deemed invidious to say that
to WILLIAM F. HAVEMEYER, CHARLES  O'CONOR  and SAMUEL J. TILDEN a large
share of credit is due."
19 
SAMUEL J. TILDEN S REFORM RECORD.
Mr. Tilden having been elected to the Assembly, the  Tintes of November 17,
1871, speaks of him as follows:
On the Democratic side in the Assembly, Mr. Tilden will undoubtedly be the
leader, and as such ought to be able to promote the cause of sound reformatory
legislation in a very marked manner.   His judgment in regard to municipal affairs
is ripe, and his independence has been proven by the severest tests. His voice will
be entitled to great weight.
HONOR TO WHOMI HONOR IS DUE.
[Itom Ithe New York Tiwes of Nov. 18th, 1871.]
"After a battle is fought and victory won it will generally be found that those
soldiers who are the most boastful of their prowess, and the most forward to claim
credit for their valiant deeds, are the very men who, during the progress of the
fight, were seen skulking in the rear, or hiding themselves behind trees and hedges.
*   *   *   *     It thus appears that in spite o! all the exposures of the Tammany
thieves, and in spite of all the efforts of Mr. Tilden and otherhonest Democrats in
l)ellalf of the Reform ticket, the great bulk of the Democratic candidate (party?)
still cling to the thieves' candidate, while only a comparatively small portion joined
tt reform movement."
CHAPTER III.
MR. TILDEN IN THE LEGISLATURE —WAS HE IDLE Tl-tlHE?
-The'mos,  important Act of the Legislature which convened in January, 1872,
was thle imp..e chment of Judges B,trnard and Cardozo.  Mr. Tilden was indefatig,tble il his effo:ts to punish the corriiupt Judges.  He was a member of the Judiciarv
Committee that conducted the preliminary investigations. and ultimately reported
in flavor of impeaCmelit.  The Assembly, however. in a mcst ungrateful manner,
denied him a place among the nine managers chosen to prosecute the impeached
Judges.  The editorials' that follow indicate in a most unmistakable manner what
opinion the Times entert ined of this neglect on the part of the Assembly.  We
are also treated to some -verv plain talk concerning Mr. Husted, speaker of the last
Republican Assembly, Mr. Alvord, a leading Republican Assemblyman, and Mr.
Vedder, of Cattoraugus, now State Senator, and the Republican TIegislature generally..o
THE TIFrS SOMEWHAT   SOLICITOUS.
[,Tew Y~ork' Tine,es, YfIay 13, 1872.]
The prospect of getting Judge Barnard fairly tried is at present a poor one.  To
be sure the Legislature has directed a trial and managers have been appointed, but
who alre these managers?  *  *  *  * The Court managers have, in fact, been deliberately packeeZ. Some underhand influence must have been at work to produce
such a result as this.  *  *  *  There were some gentlemen engaged in thie )relinliinary investigations whose honesty vi,as beyond all question.  One or two are retained on the list of managers —but why should Mr. SAMUEL J. TILDEN, Mr. Tobey
(who has proved himself a sterling friend of the public this session), Mr. Strahatii
and Mr. Flammar have been omitted? There appears to be no doubt whatever
that Tammany's allies in the Republican party worked very hard to secure the exelusion of these gentlemen. * * * * It was by means of Republican votes
that thev succeeded in leaving out Mr. Tilden, Mr. Strahan, Mr. Tobey and Mr
Flammar.  What right had Mr. Hays, Mr. Hill or Mr. Vedder to be on a Board of
Managers appointed to try Judge Barnard? Every body acquainted with the facts
must see various reasons why these men should have been left out —none why they
should be put in.  It is impossible to have any confidence in such a Board. 
*  *  Surely the least the Legislature can do is to at once appoint MIr. Tildl(,,
in the place of Mr. Hill, and Mr. Tobey in the place of 5lr. Vedder.   Thll
exclusion of these gentlemen can only be prompted by an understanding tlhat
Barrnard is to be "put through."
Will not some hciaest member of the Legislature try a direct vote to-day on the
question?  *  *  *  *  Once more we entreat some decent man in the Legislature
to get a test vote on the question whether or not Mr. Tilden, Mr. Tobey ard Mir.
Stralian shall be placed on the Board of ilanagers?'
2i-) 
TESTIMONY OF "THE NEW YORK TIMES.'
[.iew York Times, az(ay 14, 1872.]
Messrs. Alvord, Husted and Vedder (all Republicans) appear to have taken up a
good( deal of the time of the Assembly yesterday evening in denouncing the Times.
That our criticisms upon the constitution of the Board of Impeachment managers
were fully deserved received emphatic illustration in the refusal of the Assembly
last night to associate Mr. Tilden in the prosecution of charges which he has done
so mmuch to mature.  Mr. PRINCE (Republican) ought to be a very good judge of the
necessity of having Mr. Tilden associated with the Impeachment Managers, and
we greatly prefer his approval and that of the forty-eight members who voted with
him, to the opinion of the fifty-two who voted on the other side.
THE 7.I.ES ESSA YS A COMPARISON BETWEEN  MR,  TIL DEN  AND SOME  \VELL                             KNO\WN REPUBLICANS
LNew  York Times, May 15, 1872.]
The Legislature adjourned yesterday-so much the better for the people of the
State. A more incompetent or perhaps a more corrupt Legislature has never assembled.  It was elected to carry out vital reforms, every one of which it has neglected.  The two most influential men in it have been  Alvord and Tom  Fields.
*    *    *    If'we cannot do better in electing future legislative bodies, it is a
slight consolation to know we can never do worse. It is a current story that at
the outset of the session., A. D. Barber, the professional brilber, looked over the list
of names and made this pithy comment: "I have never seen a cheaper Legislature."
We consider it a great compliment to us that the last hour of such an infamous
body were spent in abusing the Times. We are, according to Alvord, "a common
sewer," and the same gentleman proposed to trample "the said sewer beneath his
feet."  We are also "infamous liars and base slanderers."  In like manner, Husted, of gravel contract notoriety, denounces us as "cowards, liars and slanderers."
Mr. Vedder is of opinion that we ought to be "sunk to the deepest, damnedest
depths of political perdition and deeper still."  We  are very much  obliged for
these complimentary expressions. We should be deeply mortified if the Legislature had expressed any other opinion of our  conduct.  We  are aware that it
boasted of a Rtepublican majority; and frequent appeals were made to us by
"friends" not to attack or expose the members because it "might injure the
party."  But we happen to have made some sacrifices in the cause of Reform, and
care more for its success than for the success of any party. We did our part at
least toward inducing the public to come out and vote last November against
thieves and swindlers. It was therefore a disgusting spectacle to us to see a Legislature obviously in league with these and swindlers    *    *           *    There
were two or three dozen honest men among them at the very most.  Mr. TILDEN,
Mr. Prince, Mr. Tobey, Mr. Strahan, and some others whose course we shall
hereafter discuss, deserve great credit for the good work they did and the evil work
they frustrated.     *    *    *    We  are prouder of Alvord's  and IlHusted's
curses than we should be of their blessings. We utterly rejected suggestions of
peace" offered to us on the part of rLttflIns like Tom Fields, or discredited
"politicians" like Rusted.
CHAPTER IV.
HOw- MIR. TILIDEN WAS REWARDED  AT THE END OF HIS LABORS.
The Democratic State Convention met at Rochester, on May  15, 1872, for the
purpose of selecting delegates to the National Convention of that partv that was to
be held at Baltimore. The Times correspondent at Rochester, writing of Mr.
Tilden, May 16, 1872, said:
The management of this Convention has been taken entirely out of Mr. Tilden's
hands, although he is permitted. for appearance sake, to go through the motions
as Chairman of the State Committee.  The Young Democracy will never forgive
him for the part he has taken in breaking down the'rammany corruptionists.
And the next day the Times, speaking on the same subject, said 
The only parties who are really satisfied are those Democrats who chiefly desired
to put the knife to the throats of other Democrats. Mr. SAMUEL J. TILDEN is one
of the victims. He has been snubbed and thwarted throughout. He was denied
a place which he greatly coveted on the delegation to Baltimore, and the boast is
21 
SAIAMUEL J. TILDEN' S REFORM RECORD.
loudly made that he will, at the next Cona,ention, be deposed from his place on the
State Committee.
The closing paragraph of the preceding extract is invested at this time with
more than ordinary importance.  It speaks volumes.  After MIr. Til(len's brilliant
record in the crusade against the Tammany thieves, and his transcendent services
in restoring to New York City a pure and chaste judiciary, his political influence
had waned to such an extent that, to use the words of the Times, "he was denied
a place he greatly coveted on the delegation to Baltimore."  What better evidence
than that furnished by the Times is needed to sustain what has so oftenl been
asserted by Mr. TILDEN'S friends, that his position in the Democratic party was
always antagonistic to those elements from which sprung the Tammany Ring and
the Canal Ring, both of which larcenous cabals he was so instrumental in annihilating.
PART 11.
CHAPTER I.
TWO YEARS LATER-OPENING  OF THE CAMPAIGN OF'74-TIIE Times AND
MR. TILDEN.
We now approach the interesting period preceding the Fall election of 1874.
Two years had elapsed since that day at Rochester when MIr. TILDEN had been
denied the paltry pittance of a place on the New York delegation to the Democratic
National Convention held at Baltimore in 1872.  In the mean time, however, a
marvelous change had occurred in the municipal government of New York City.
Its augean stables had been purified.  Judge GEORGE G. BARnARD, of the Supreme
Court, had been tried, impeached, and disqualified frein forever thereafter holding
any office.  Judge MIcGuix, of the Superior Court, had shared a similar fate, but
did not survive his disgrace longer than a fortnight. Judge Cardozo resigned to
avoid a like sentence. Boss Tweed had lived to fill a convict's cell in the Peni tentiary.  Sweeny, Connolly, and other small fry, were wandering abroad in igno minious exile.  And so the old adage that the darkest hour always precedes the
dawn, had been again signally verified.
The welcome era of true and genuine Reform, thanks to such men as Samuel J.
Tilden, Charles O'Conor, Wm. F. Havemeyer, and good men, had begun its new
life.
In this improved condition of affairs, the eyes of leading Democrats naturally
turned toward Mr. Tilden, as the person most available to be the standard bearer
of the party in the approaching contest.
The Times, in one of its first editorial articles on the approaching canvass,
alludes to Mr. Tilden in the following exceedingly flattering terms
[From the New York Times, July 24, 1874.]
STATE POLITICS.
As the "Beecher" case seems likely to be the cause of stormy words and bad
feeling in all directions, -a strong attack of it being about as inconvenient a thing
to have as the bite of a mad dog, we will endeavor to divert the attention of our
contemporaries to-day to another subject.  *    *    *    *    Let us then leave
M1r. Tilton a little while and turn to a gentleman of another kind-Mr. TILDEN.
The reason we wish to withdraw the attention of our readers to him is, that he is
being "mentioned" pretty generally, as the Democratic candidate for Governor
this Fall. Mr. TILDEN has not, indeed, mentioned his own name, because he has
been a long time in politics, and he is well aware that a man may speak too soon,
as well as too late.  This we will say,-that MIr. TILDEN WOULD MAKE A VERY
GOOD CANDIDATE, FOR HE IS A GENTLEMAN, AN ABLE MAN, AND A MAN OF VERY
HIGH CHARACTER.
Mr. TILDEN is not much liked by the less reputable portion of the Democratic
party, and perhaps there are men even in Tammany Hall who do lot exactly love
him.  *    *    *    *    He is at any rate a Democrat of long standing in the
party; A MAN OF UNSULLIED HONOR, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE; A GOOD, PUBLIC SPIRITED
MAN, WHO WOULD BE NO D)ISCREDIT-BUT MUCH THE REVERSE, TO OUR STATE.  This
we may say with perfect sincerity. Nevertheless, if Mr. TILDEN were to ask us, as
his old friends and'advisers, whether he sho)uld stand for Governor if he were invited to do so, we should feel it our duty to dissuade him from that course.  We
22 
TESTIMONY OF "THE NEW YORK TIMES."'
should like much to see him happy, but would it render him so, to undergo a
signal defeat? If the Republicans nominate Gen. Dix, Mr. TILDEN could not run
successfully against him. Incidentally he would do his party a great deal of good,
for he would improve its moral tone.
Air. Tilden's majority over General Dix, was in the neighborhood of 54,000.
MR. TILDEN A VERY SUPERIOR DEMOCRAT.
A fortnight later, and the Times suddenly became seriously alarmed lest Mr.
Tilden should fail to receive the nomination, and again took to singing his praises
louder and more boisterously than ever.
[From the New York Times, Sept. 8, 1874.]
It is evident that a vwry large number of Democrats in this State are in favor of
nominating Mr. Tilden as their candidate for Governor.  *    *    *       *   We
cannot positively promise MIr. Tilden our support, should he run for Governor this
year, but this we will say, that he is so far superior to the ordinary run of Deniocratic candidates in this State that we do not believe any Democratic Convention
can be got together to nominate him.
A CANDID ADMISSION.
And although it hardly seems credible, the Times did actually make the following candid admission in its editorial columns on Sept. 11, 1874, respecting the
motives that impelled Mir. TILDEN to assist in ridding New York City of the Tamlmany thieves.
"No ONE EVER SUPPOSED  THAT  -Ur.  TILDEN ACTED  FROMI  INTERESTED
MOTIVES IN 1872."
TWEED AND THE CANAL PLUNDERERS OPPOSED TO MR. TILDEN.
The Times and the Republican Press generally do not scruple in the present
Presidential canvass to connect MIr. TILDEN'S name with the Tammany Ring or
with the Canal Ring.  What excuse will the Timnes proffer for having published
this editorial?
[From the ATew York Times, Sept. 16, 1874.]
Mr. TILDEN has been opposed solely on the ground that he assisted to fasten
personally upon Tweed, in a court of law, the proof of his guilt. There has been
no other objection urged to him.  The Republicans could well afford, from a party
stand-point, to stand by and see him rejected.       *         *        *          *
On the other hand, we must all admit that Tilden is not supported by the Canal plunderers. 
CHAPTER II.
MR. TILDEN NOMINATED FOR GOVERNOR-HE IS A HIGHLY RESPECTABLE CANDIDATE                [Fromn the New York Times, Sept. 18, 1874.]
THE NEW YORK DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION MADE AN END OF
ITS WORK YESTERDAY, BY NOMIlNATING MR TILDEN FOR GOVERNOR.  MR. TILDEN IS A HIGHLY RESPECTABLE CANDIDATE,
AND NO MAN IN THlE STATE WHO WISHES TO SEE THE RETURN
OF THE DEMIOCRATIC PARTY TO POWER NEED BE ASHAMED FOR
HIM.
MR, TILDEN STILL A VERY NICE MAN, BUT CAN'T BEAT DIX, OH! NO.
The Republican State Constitution met at Utica on Sept. 23, 1874, and renominated Gen. John A. Dix as its candidate for Governor.  The following morning
the Times commented on the circumstance as follows:
[From the N. Y. Times, Sept. 24, 1874.]
Here, then, our readers have before them the Republican ticket and platform for
the present year in New York State, and we make no rash prediction when we say
that it will prove to be the winning ticket.  Mr. TILDEN is a tery respectable man,
but who would dream of electing him Governor in preference to Gen. Dix?
A SLIGHT CHANGE PERCEPTIBLE-THE  TIA.ES BEGINS TO WEAKEN.
[From the N. Y. Times, October 5, 1874.]
'The Democrats of New York State have so seldom presented a candidate of good
23 
SAMUEL J. TILDEN' S REFORM RECORD.
personal character to the community that we need not feel surprised at the pride
which they now take in exhibiting Mr. TILDEN.    *    *    There is every motive for working energetically against the Democrats in New York State.    *  *
It is not Mr. TILDEN, but the men behind Mr. TILDEN whom the public have to
fear.
CHAPTER III.
THE DAY AFTER UNCLE SAMIUEL WAS ELECTED  GOVERNOR-THOSE  FEW  PERSONS
IN WASHINGTON-THAT VENAL " ORGAN" OF THE ADMINISTRATION-THOSE
NOMINATIONS FOR CHIEF JUSTICE;
From this time until the day of election, the Times attacked Mr. TILDEN in
pretty much the same fashion that it is doing now, with what result it is well
known.
The article that follows is almost a fac-simile of what it will publish on the day
after the next Presidential election, and as such is deserving of careful study:
[Ptrom the fTimes, Nov. 4, 1874.]
THE DEMOCRATIC VICTORY.
The result of the elections yesterday, in this and other Eastern States, will not
be a surprise to anybody, except perhaps to a few persons in Washington, and it
certainly will not surprise any of our readers, who have been kept tolerably well
informed as to the causes which inevitably tended to produce the present overthrow of the Republican party. All that could be done honorably to avert this
defeat has been done by us, but since the last Presidential election many of the
party leaders have been deaf alike to advice or remonstrance. They have apparently believed that the people would quietly submit to anything and everything,
and that the party which they represented was indestructible. Nothing short of
the events which we record this morning could have opened their eyes to the truth.
If a newspaper warned them in a friendly but firm spirit against the policy of
blundering which they were pursuing, it was treated with a mixture of the insolence and arrogance which they exhibited toward all opposition. The immediate
friends of the administration possessed themselves of an " organ" at Washington,
and filled it with disgusting slanders and with besotted arguments in favor of Gen.
Grant for a "third term."  It will be the lot of the President to discover, in common with many great men who have gone before him, that foolish flatterers and
venal newspapers cannot turn aside the current of public opinion. The truths
which he and his immediate supporters refused to hear from the lips of friends
they must now listen to to-day from the people at the polls.
The great and signal defeats of yesterday virtually began last year. The panic
did much to injure the Republican party, but the effects of that disaster might
have been greatly lessened HAD A WISE COURSE BEEN ADOPTED BY CONGRESS IN
RELATION TO THE FINANCES.         *    *    *    *    *    *   *    *    *
THE MISMANAGEMENT AT THE TREASURY, THE SANBORN FRAUDS, and the general
series of blunders in nearly all the public departments, were in the mean time causing incalculable mischief. THE FIRST TWO NOMIMATIONS FOR CHIEF JUSTICE
WERE SHOCKING BLUNDERS, AND DISGUSTED THE WHOLE PEOPLE.
For the sake of the country it is to be hoped that the Democrats will use their
victory in a spirit of moderation and prudent statesmanship. We doubtless see,
to-day, the Democratic Presidential candidate for 1876, and if the Republican party
is not conducted with greater.wisdom and good fortune during the next two years than it
has been during the last two, MR. TILDEN is the most probable successor of Gen. Grant.
The career of Mr. Tilden as Governor of New York, is too fresh in the minds of
all to require much comment. The extracts subjoinel attest the good opinion
*c   [From the N. Y. Times, January 1, 1875.]
The Democrats come into power to-day, and we wish them nothing worse tban
that they may give the people a thoroughly good a-d honest government. *;
*  li have not the slightest doubt that he (Gov. TILDrEN) means to do his duty
24 
TESTUIONY OF' THE NFW YORKI TIMIES."'
SOMETHING FOR GEN. DIX AND HIS "BOYS IN BLUE" TO READ.
The following address was delivered by Gov. Dix when he surrendered the executive power to Mr. TILDEN, on Jan. 1, 1875, As Gen. Dix threatens in a recent
letter to have something to say why Mr. Tilden should not be elected President of
the United States, it would not be remiss for him to recall the sentiments he uttered on that memorable occasion. Although Gen. Dix may possibly not remember
the fifty odd thousand majority against him and in favor of Mr. TILDEN in 1874,
because that was the work of others, he will not so easily forget the address that
follows, since that was his own work.
[N. Y. Times, January 2, 1875.]
Mr. TILDEN: Thie people of the State have called you to preside over the admin.
istration of their government BY A MAJOC.ITY, which manifests the highest confidence
in your ability, integrity andfirmness.  I need not say to you who have had so long
and familiar acquaintance with public affairs, that in a state of such magnitude as
ours, with interests so vast and diversified, there is a constant demand on the chief
magistrate for the essential attributes of statesmnanship.   It is gratifying'to know
that the amendments to the Constitution, approved and ratified by the people at
the late general election, by limiting the powers of the Legislature in regard to
local and special laws, will in some degree lighten the burden of your arduous and
responsible duties.  While a material progress has been made during the last two
years in the correction of abuse-, much remains to be done, and the distinguished
part you have borne in the work ot municipal rejorrm  in the city of New  York
gives assurance that under your auspices the great interests of the State will be
vigilantly guarded. I tender you my sincere wish that your labors in the cause of
good government may be as s',cces.fietl here as they have been elsewhere, and that
your administration may redound to your own honor, and to the lasting prosperity
of the people of the whole State.
GOV. TILDEN'S FIRST MESSAGE, AND WHAT THE TIMES THOUGHT OF IT.
Next comes the opinion of the Times on Gov. Tilden's first annual message to the
Legislature.            [        Tme     aa     6 185
[N. Y. Times, Jan,uary 6, 1875.]
It is full of suggestions upon which every man would do well to ponder, and there
are special subjects which are treated withP that wisdom which only comes ot p ractical experience.  We refer particularly to that part of the message relating  to
breaches of trust, committed by responsible officials. In the Tweed prosecution, Mr.
TILDEN had the opportunity of making himself thoroughly acquainted  with the
practical working of the present laws. The Governor had ample means of detecting the loopholes through which dishonest officials contrive to escape, and few elvle
are better fitted to devise expedients by which these loopholes may be stopped.     *
*    *    Upon the whole, we may congratulate  Mr. TILDEN on having sent in a
very fair, sensible and business-like message; and we have only to hope that his
acts and those of his party will do no violence to his promises and professions.
G(OV. TILDEN WILL NOT DO A WRONG TO GRATIFY POLITICIANS.
[New York Times,  Feb. 20, 1875.]
*  *  *  Ie has so far shown that he will not abate one jot of his honest convictions, or consent to any act which he believes to be morally wrong, to gratify
any set of politicians whatever.
CHAPTER V.
GOV. TILDEN'S \VAR ON THE CANAL PLUNDERERS.
Towards the middle of March, 1875, it became generally accepted as a fact in
political circles that Gov. Tilden was preparing to begin a vigorous and effective
campaign against the Canal Ring, and that he would shortly address a message to
the Legislature on the subject. Trhe Times thus anticipates the Governor's action:
[N. Y. Times, MIarch 17, 1875.]
The Governor's message on the canals is said to be nearly ready, and it is reported to be a document calculated to spread dismay through the ranks of the
Canal Ring.    *   6*    *    As a political power in the State, the Canal Ring
has been steadfastly opposed to him in the past, and he has certainly nothing but
hostility to expect from it in future. Iiis ('rILDEN'S) qnatural antipathy to admini.'trative corruption will therefore be strengthened on this occasion, atc., etc.
25, 
SAMUEL J. TILDEN'S REFORM RECORD.
Gov. Tilden's message was transmitted on M,arch 19.
The Albany correspondent of the Times thus describes the effect of Governor
Tilden's famous message to the Legislature, on the Canal frauds.
[I'rom the 1N. Y. Times, March 20, 1875.]
ALBANY, March 19, 1875.
The campaign against the Canal Ring is fairly begun, and the first advance upon
that stronghold of fraud and corruption was made by Gov. TILDEN, who sent his
anxiouslv looked-for message on this subject to both Houses of the Legislature today.  The document is a strong one, but is not to be deemed inexhaustive on the
subject.  A perfect state of panic exists among all those who have been and are involved in the matter. Since the contents of the message have become known, it is
everywhere admitted that no such assault had ever before been made on this Ring,
and that its mome,ttum was too great and too direct to be either resisted or averted.
And on the same day the following editorial comments appeared:
GOV. TILDEN AND THE CANAL RING.
The brevity of the Governor's message in regard to the canals may be a,urprise
to the public. Its ability, pungency and comprehensive grasp of a somewhat intricate subject, will surprise nobody-unless, perhaps, the corrupt gang against whose
system of plunder it is mainly directed.  X  *  X  *  As a searching analysis of
one of the most long-lived systems of official peculation in the State, the message
has an interest for the general tax-payer far beyond the subject to which it immeditately refers. To those directly interested, as merchants, boatmen, or forwarders,
in the lowering of canal tolls and the making of canal expenditures more productive of solid results, the Governor appeals as one who has made a long and careful
study of the subject of internal water resuits, and who is thoroughly competent to
reveal the very source and center of the abuses which have helped to divert the
legitimate commerce of the State into other channels.
On March 25, when there was some doubt that the Legislature would appoint
a proper committee to investigate the rascalities of the canal thieves, the Tines
ag,ain reiterates its confidence in Governor Tilden.
[New York Times, IJlarch 25, 1875.]
Gov. TILDEN is not likely to disappoint the popular expectation that, committee
or no) committee, he will track the canal frauds home to their authors, and bril)ng
those who have profited by thein to justice.
THE Times PROPHET FOR ONCE RIGHT.
We end this collection of extracts with the following.  It strikes some people
right between the eyes:
[New York Times, Xarch 27, 1875.]
For a time he will be praised, but after that he will be abused all around.
i;*    *    *    *'    A man  who attempts to break down an abuse of long
standing creates many bitter foes, and attracts a few supporters; and lucky  will
it be for him if in the end the rogues whom he has brought to grief do not
contrive  to make  out  his  charactet blacker  than  their own.   That  was
a very wise warning of  COLERIDGE,  "Truth is a good  dog; but beware
of barking too close at the heels of an error, lest you get your brains kicked out."
Mr. Tilden is barking close at the heels of a great fraud, and he will get much
encouragement just now; plenty of people will spur him on; but when we are told
that he looks for public gratitude after his work is done, we must dismiss it as an
idle tale, for Mr. Tilden is a shrewd man, and knows perfectly well what sort of a
world we are living in.
We have no inclination to indulge in comments-upon the foregoing. This is
strictly the work of the NEw YORK Times, a leading Republican newspaper, and
regarded as reliable authority upon political matters, by the party of whose opin ions it is an exponent. We have thus culled the Times editorial views of Mr. TIL DEN from the beginning of his service against the Tammnany Ring, down to his destruction of its counterpart, the Canal Ring, one year ago.  Gov.  Tilden's latest
,exliloit is reducing the State debt from FIFTEEN MILLIONS to EIGHT MILLIONS.
26 
PARKE GODWIN'S LETTER.
THE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDA TES ALONE OFFER
GUARANTEES OF REFORM.
[Fromt the yewv York Tr)ibutle of Jtldy 22, 1876.]
To the Editor of the Tribune:
SIR- As one of the Executive Committee of the Conference held at the Fifth
Avenue Hotel in May last, I desire to say a word to its members and constituents.
I am led to it by the fact that several of my colleagues have already expressed
opinions of the political situation with which I cannot agree. But a more powerful motive with me is the belief, that while the action of the Conference has had
no little influence in shaping recent events, its adherents may do an infinity of
greater good if they will continue to act in the spirit which brought them together, and which is seen in the manly words of their address to the people.
THE SPIRIT OF THE C01NFERENCE.
rhe call for that assembly, it may be remembered, was sent to men of all parties who were interested enough in the correction of acknowledged abuses to cast
off their patty trammels and to act in a body as reformers.   Mr. Carl Schurz, who
initiated its proceedings by a brief speech, said that, in issuing  the invitations,
"no inquiry had been made as to any man's party connections, and only as to the
sincerity of his faith."  It was accordingly formed of no professed politicians, but
of gentlemen of distinction in the various walks of life, who preferred country to
party, and whose single aim was to rebuke, and to remove, that fearful decay of
civic virtue which had come partly out of the war, but mainly from an utter perversion of policies, both in theory and practice.  President Woolsey, on taking
the chair, remarked that " for the last ten years the country had been groVwing
p~olitically worse, and that.those who had acted with the dominant party had fre.uently had reason to blush with shame for its leaders."  An address subsequently adopted by the Conference, as the declaration of its thought, more largely described the painful condition of things in these words:
A national election is approaching under circumstances of peculiar significance. Never be")re in our history has the public mind been so profoundly agitated by an apprehension of tihe
Mangers arising from the prevalence of corrupt tendencies and practices in our political life, aid
Liever has there been greater reason for it.  We will not display here in detail the distressing catalogue ot the disclosures which for several years have followed one another in rapid succession, and
seem to have left scarcely a single sphere of our political life untouched. The records of courts, of
State Legislatures, and of the National Congress. speak with terrible plainnuess, and still they are
adding to the scandalous exhibition. Our republic, but a century old, and lust issued from the only
trreat civil conflict we have had to deplore, is so strong in resources and organization that it stands
in the foremost rank of the great powers of the earth; and yet, with all these splendid results on
record, it cannot be denied that at no period during the century now behind us, the American people have been less satisfied with themseves; and that the centennial anniversary of the Declaration
of Independence, in so many respects to all Americans a day of sincerest pride and rejoicing, is
felt to be in other respects not without self-reproach and humiliation. Of this the corruption revealed in our political life is the cause.
THE EVILS COMPLAL-ED OF.
The thoughtful and conscientious men who gave utterance to this description
had long observed the growing indifference to sound principles and the growing
degeneracy in practice, and they asked themselves, What is to be done? They
had seen, only a few years ago, in the metropolis of the continent, a horde of
.bandits possessing themselves of almost absolute power by the mere force of party 
PARKE GODWIN'S LETTER
machinery, and after gorging themselves with plunder  toX the amount of fifteei
or twenty millions of dollars, fastening their own creatures upon legislatures,
courts, and the Executive chair.  They had seen the judiciary bench occupied by
vulgar and venal scoundrels, who gave away their decisions as favors to accomplices or flatterers, or who sold them more or less openly for gold. They had seen
a large number of the representatives of the people in the National Legislature,
many of them prominent leaders,. accepting gratuities in the shape of stock from
the gigantic moneyed corporations to which they had voted, or might be called
upon to vote, enormous subsidies out of the public lands; a Vice-President of the
United States falling into disgrace because of his complicity. They had seen those
samue members of Congress, with others, at a time when the nation was groaning
undler an excessive taxation, voting themselves salaries for services which they had
never rendered (from $2,000 to $5,000 each), and only giving them back, when
they were given back at all, with reluctance-sometimes in ambiguous ways that
would admit of fiture recovery, and at the rebuke of an outraged opinion and an
iniignant press.
They had seen the Southern States, recently in revolt, seized upon by rapacious
phlmnderers, who, on the pretext of protecting the rights of the freedmen, outraged
all the rigbts andl all decencies of civilized society, and those once flourishing communiities, now struggling to recover their lost prosperity, subjected to the degradations of an Eastern satrapy. They had seen the District of Columbia surrendered
by the National Legislature to a conclave of peculators, who made themselves
rich at the expense of the people, by heaping debt and taxation upon the people,
through a shameless perversion of all the duties of office. They had seen a widespread conspiracy for defrauding the revenue, with its principal agents in the
revenue departments, and its accessories in the White House, arrested with difficulty by the courts, because of the iiitimate relations of the criminals with high
political personages. They had seen an Embassador of the Republic, an intimate
personal friend of the President, connecting his name as patron with a swindling
mining company, and so lost to a sense of common decency, not to speak of person al and national honor, as to justify his conduct until rebuked by a vote of the
House of Representatives. They had seen a Speaker of the House coquetting secretly with railroad jobbers, and evading inquiry now by disgraceful shifts and
tricks, and now by a-,dclaiotis coups de thegtre intended to baffle and mislead opinion by a false glare of frankness.  They had seen, in the State of New York, the
principal channel of communicati(on between tide-water and the lakes in thie
hands of a comnbina.tion of swindling contractors, professedly of both parties, who
levied their blackmaili indirectly upon the enterprise of the merc,hant and the
hard toil of the farmer. They had seen the custom-honses in New York, New Orleans, and elsewhere used as the asylums of political tricksters, who harried commerce by false accusations of fraud and irritating persecutions, as the citadels of
soldiers whose arms were turned, at the will of those tricksters, against the lives
of citizens who were honestly in the discharg-e of their duties as citizens.  And,
finally, tlihey had seen a Cabinet Minister arraigned anld imnpeached, on his own
confessions. fi,r conspiracy with post-traidwers, who skinned the poor soldiers of the
fiontier, thlit the confederate felons  igllht riot iii ostentation and luxury at the
Capital.
TIIl DECISION AS TO A IREMIEDY.
Well might good and patriotic mneii everywhere ask, in view of these widespread venalities taid scounn&relistns, What is to be done?  It was s'-gogested that
the formation of a third party would in time meet the evil, and the Conference
stood ready to become the nucleus of so forlorn a hope.  But the nmore consideratemembers, dliscovering in the undisg'uised d(lissatisf,action of both the existing political organizations the signs of a desire for improvement, counseled a waiting
and expectant policy.  It was resolved, in the first place, to make an earnest appeal to the people, in order to influence the Conventions about to assemble; and,
in the second place, in the event that such an appeal should pass unheeded, to
resort to ulterior (measures.
That there nig(ht be no mistake as to its position, the Conference put forth
this declaration, which we may call a New Declaration of Independence, in every
way worthy of its predecessor and of this Centennial year:
We therefore declare, and call upon all good citizens to join us in it. that at the coming  Presidential election we shl! su,pp,ort no candidate who. in public position, ever countenanced corrupt
practices or combinations, or impeded their exposure aid pLinishment,,or opposed necessary imeasures ot reform.
We shall support no candidate who, while possessing official influence and power, has faile to,
2 
PARKE GODWIN'S LETTER.
use his opportunities in exposing and correcting abuses coming within the reach of his observation; but for personal reasons and party ends has permitted them to fes.er on; for such men may
be counted ou not to uncover and crush corruption, but for the party's sake ready to eonceal it.
We shall support no candidate, however conspicuous his position or brilliant his abilitv, in
whom the impulses of the party manager have shown themselves predominant over those of the
reformer; for he will be inclined to continue that fundamental abuse, the employment of the government service as a machinery for personal or party ends.
We shall support no candidate who, however favorably judged by his nearest friends, is not
publicly known to possess those qualities of mind and character which the stern task of genuine
reform requires; for the American people cannot now afford to risk the future of the Republic in
experiments on merely supposed virtue or rumored ability to be trusted on the strength of private
recommendation.
In one word, at present no candidate should be held entitled to the support of patriotic citizens of whom the question may be fairly asked:  "Is he really the man to carry through a thorough-going reform of the government? Can he with certainty be depended upon to possess the
moral courage and sturdy resolution to grapple with abuses which have acquired the strength of established custom, and to this end firmly to resist the pressure even of his party friends? " Whenever there is room for such a question (and doubt as to the answer) the candidate should be considered unfit for this emergency.
: *          *.   *       *      *     *      *      *      *     *      *      *
Every American citizen who has the future of the republic and the national honor sincerely
at heart should solemnly resolve that the country must have a President "whose name is already
a watchword of reform; whose capacity and courage for the work are matters of record rather
than of promnise; who will restore the simplicity. independence, and rectitude of th - ewvly administratioas. and whose life will be a (guaranty of his fidelity and fitness;" a man at the mere sound
of whose name even the most disheartened will take new courage, and all mankind will say:' The
Americans are indeed in earnest to restore the ancient purity ot the government."
The first three paragraphs of this eloquent manifesto were intended to guard
against the nomination of that class of aspirers to the highest office which was
aptly represented by  Messrs. Blaine, Conkling, and Morton; and the remainino
paragraphs were expressly written and were understood to cover such mere makeshifts as Messrs. Hayes and Hartra,nft, one or the other of whom it was feared
might be brought forward at the last moment as a compromise, and for the defeat
of the friends of reform. I need hardly say that these ringing sentences, as they
were read to the Conference by Mr. Schurz, were received and adopted in the sense
here given them, amid the most tumultuous plaudits and congratulations. Each
man, as he heard the sentences, made the application, and cheered anew.
Let us now see how this plain and unambiguous manifesto was met by the respective Conventions.
THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION.
The Cincinnati Convention met on the 14th of June, and was organized in the
interests of Mr. Blaine, who was by far the most popular name presented to the
suffr:age of the Convention. Throughout the ballotings, Mr. Blaine, seriously
smirched as he was by the recent publications of his overtures to jobbery, continued the leadling candidate.  Mr. Bristow, who, because of his courageous onslaught upon the Whisky Ring, had become the standard-bearer of the reformers,
only succeeding in getting, at the highest, 126 votes out of 756.  The adherents of
Blaine, Conkling, and Morton were largely in the ascendant, and might at any
time have determined the result.  But they could not agree in their personal preifrences, and then, after seven balloting, at the instance of a notorious trading
politician of Pennsylvania, Mr. Hayes, of Ohio (whose only vote had been that of
his own State, and a tw individuals, 68 in all) was selected as the Dues ex ma(htina.
He was selected because of his comparative insignificance.  His neutrality of
tint, it was supposed by the managers, would harmonize the more pronounced
colors.  He was a man of exemplary character, who had served honorably, though
not conspicuously, in the war and in Congress, and who, as Governor of Ohio, had
given general satisfaction to his party. His talents were respectable, but no
more. He had never been a leader in any of the relations, civic or military, in
which he had acted. In that respect all his competitors were greatly his superiors. He had never been, in any sense of the word, a reformer. Indeed, it is said
-though I cannot vouch for the report-that he refused to accede to the resolutions of the New York Reform Club when they were presented to him for accepttnce.  Certainly, through all the dreadful exposures, which, as our address says,
brought shamne to the face of henest At-llericans," hlie lhadl r,ised no voice of reI;,,ke. In his ca-tndidaLture for the Governorship of Ohio, hle tooli position in favor
of the evasive Restumption act, but his opinion, further than titat, were either unlknown or equivocal. He had simply kept step with his party, acquiescing in all
its dilatory anti ineltective measures, but never pushing one inch in advance.
THE CANDIDATE DOES NOT MEET THE CONDITIONS.
Now, it would be simply ludicrous to discuss whether such a candidate comes
up to the high require,ments of the Conftireuce address.  5Ir. Inves never hayvin
29 
PARKE  GODWIN'S LEI'TEtR.
in any way identified himself with the sentiment of reform, what assurance have
we that he ever will I What guaranty is given us that he will not fall into the
hands of the old political ring-masters, without whose concurrence he could not
have been nominated, and will not be elected? Is he, in the words of our symbol,
' publicly known to possess those qualities of mind and character which the stern
task of genuine reform reqires? "  Is he "really the man to carry through a
thoroughgoing reform of the Government? Can he with certainty be depended
upon to possess the moral courage and sturdy resolution to grapple with abuses
which have acquired the strength of established custom, and to this end, firmly to
resist the pressure of party friends? "  Has he won, again as our address demands
and conditions, "not only the confidence of honest men, but the fear and hatred
of thieves "  Is his name "already a watchword for reform, whose cspacity and
courage for the work are matters of record rather that of promise; who will restore
the simplicity, independence, and rectitude of the early administrations, and
whose life will be a guaranty of his fidelity and fitness; a man, at the mere sound
of whose name even the most disheartened wili take new courage, and all mankind will say,'The Americans are indeed in earnest to restore the ancient purity
of their government? I"
These words do not apply to Gov. Hayes; and it would be a disingenuousness
hard to characterize, for those who wrote and adopted them, to select one of the
very persons against whose possible candidacy they were leveled as their ultimate
exponent.
THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM! NO LESS DEFICIENT.
But from the candidate let us turn to the platform or declaration of principles
on which he is presented. Will that improve his position I Not at all. The platform, in its reformatory aspects, is even weaker than the nomination. One of the
journals. The LVew York Evening Post, which most strongly sympathized in the
objects of the Conference, said of it, on the day of its publication, that it was
"half-hearted" and "timid." "The recent history of parties contains many
pages of feeble resolutions," it adds, "buLt in a competition of weakness the declarations adopted yesterday may confidently challenge comparison with any
others." It was a tissue of platitudes and commonplaces, such as we are usually
treated to on such occasions, which literally say nothing that ought to be said, and
say muchthatitisindifferentwhetheritbesaidornot.  Welookthrough it in vain
for any watchword or key-note of reform. The adminstration of Grant, which
has been, and to this day is, a source and instigation of many of the most monstrous abuses that we deplore, is commended to our approval and gratitude.
Its recreant abandonment of the attempt at civil service reform passes unre
buked. Not a word is said in denunciation of the enormous conspiracies and
frauds which had converted the Government from a protecter into a despoiler.
No allusion is made to the painful perversion of high trusts which have broughtdisgrace upon the nation. No stern, resolute, unspairing determination is expressedf to rectify known wrongs, but only a feeble promise to punish them if, peradventure, they are discovered; no broad or statesmanlike scheme for the retrenchment of our oppressive expenditures is broached; no hearty condemnation
of the bad practice which divides the spoils of office among the henchmen of
Congressional leaders; no whisper of approval, even of the law, declaring a day
for the resumption of specie payments, which some zealous Republicans would
persuade us is a solemn National pledge, and the sum and text of orthodoxy, on
the currency problem. The members of the Conference whose hearts were yet
aglow with the beaming eloquence of Schurz, Adams, Seelye, Bullock, and Welsh,
must have read its jejune and costive phrases with the sensation of one that passes
from the vapor bath into a cold plunge.
THE LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE BETTER BUT NOT ADEQUATE.
The letter of Gov. Hayes, since written in acceptance of the nomination, is in
some respects an improvement to the meaningless symbols of his party. It recognizes the need of correcting the present mode of appointing to office, which has
been one of the foulest spots of a thoroughly foul system. But its manner ofcorrecting it-that is, by giving all the present incumbents of office an indefinite
tenure-would simply perpetuate their hold of the trusts they have so many of
them abused. Its principles, admitting them to be sound as principle, would, in
their practical operation, be an act of indemnity for all the felons and rogues who
now infest and pollute the public offices. It is also more emphatic, though still
quite general and inexplicit on the subject of resuming specie payments.  In his 
PARKE GODWIN'S LETTER
speech at Marion, Ohio, July 31, last year, Gov. Hayes declared that he was firmly
opposed to "contraction," and that " he left the work of placing our currency at
par to the influences of time and the inherent energy and resources of the country "-Mr. Boutwell's much ridiculed scheme of " growing up to it;" but how we
are to reach resumption by that process I fail to perceive. Resumption in that
form means no resumption. As a whole this letter does not meet the exigency.
It proposes to trim away a few branches of the upas tree, while it leaves the root
untouched. Its omissions are as fatal as those of the platform. It does not even
refer to, much less reprobate, that dangerous perversion of all right theory and
practice of government which, under the significant name of Grantism, has become the dominant spirit of the party. Those prodigious and profligate expenditures that have maintained hordes of useless placemen, and furnished food for the
corrupt manipulators of politicial machinery, while they have almost paralyzed
the industries of the people, are hardly mentioned. No tnatured plans of economy; no systematic scheme for the readjustment of our absurd and oppressive
methods of taxation; no change in the loose, procrastinating, and incompetent
treatment of the finances is so much as hinted at, and thus the letter leaves us
in doubt whether the writer even comprehends the vital necessity of a thorough
revolution of affairs.
THE ST. LOUIS CONVENTION.
The Democratic Convention met in St. Louis on the 27th of June. It differed
from all previous conventions of the same party, according to a writer in The
Tribune, in this remarkable particular: It was composed mainly of young men,
or of those who had grown up since the time when that powerful unity, making
its fatal mistake on the slavery issue, was broken into pieces, and a large fragment went wandering into the wilderness. The friends of Mr. Tilden, the acknowledged New York reformer, easily obtained the organization, and from beginning to end held the upper hand in all the proceedings. Only two ballots were
taken-the first merely formal and complimentary-when Mr. Tilden was unanimously nominated. He was, however, not unopposed in spite of his ascendency,
but the opposition to him came chiefly from what are regarded as the most ques-.
tionable elements of his party-the representatives of Tammany Hall at the East
and the abettors of financial eccentricity at the West.  Thus, by the manner of
his selection, Mr. Tilden became not simply the candidate of a faction of his party,
but the exponent of a principal.
Who, then, is Samuel J. Tilden?
In reply, good friends of the Conference, let me speak to you from my personal
knowledge. I have been intimately acquainted with Mr. Tilden for nearly forty
years, and though I have often differed with him politically, sometimes even lamenting his strong reliance on party agencies, I have never had the slightest occasion to suspect his absolute integrity of purpose and sincerity of conviction. In
all the relations of private life he is purity itself. At the same time he has always
been a public-spirited citizen, taking an active part in whatever concerned the
welfare and progress of the community in which he lived. His devotion, indeed,
to public affairs began while he was still a youth, and his early discussions of intricate questions of finance attracted the attention of maturer minds by their singilar penetration and judgement.  Professionally, he has taken rank with Van
Buiren, Brady, O'Conor, Graham, Evarts, Kirkland, and other foremost lawyers,
and in a peculiar class of cases-heavy and complicated railroad litigations-he
is admitted to be facile princeps.  His counsel, when important and decisive action
was involved, has been deemed invaluable. In still higher relations Mr. Tilden
seems to me to combine, more than any man now before the public, hardly excepting Mr. Adams of Massachusetts, the two great kinds of quality, theoretic and
priactical, which form the true statesman; a profound understanding of the philosol)lhic grounds of political opinion, and the sagacious tact and energy of the man
of business.
This union of theoretic insight with practical capacity has been singularly
shown in his administration of the affairs of this State. New York is the largest
commonwealth of the Union, the largest in population, in agricultural products,
in manufacturing enterprise, in commercial capital-in a word, in the diversity
and importance of its business relations; and the Governorship there is not a mere
clerical function, confined to the appointment of notaries andthe signing of commissious, as in many of the ne wer Western States, but an onerous, intricate, andresponsible trust. The Governor is invested with the veto, which makes him a part of the
31 
PARKEI (;3()D~<N'S  LETrTER.
egislative power, while his executive cun e( ti,,l with the complicated busines
of the quarantine, the salt works, the States elrisa ls acl[ chlarities, and an immense
system of canals, imposes upon him the most varietd and difficult duties.  Mr. Til.len, in his short tenure of the place, has evinced,{ masterly fitness for all its duties.  He has defeated a multitude of ill-considered and improper bills, rectified
many minor errors of administration, overthrown a frtudulent and gigantic conspiracy, and reduced the taxation from over $15,001),OO0 in 1875 to less than $8,000,000 in 1876, with an assurance that if the changes he has suggested are followed the decrease will be two or three millions more in 1877! A part of this reduction is due to the extinction of the bounty debt, but the rest to Gov. Tilden's direct efforts and influence.
I have said that Mr. Tilden was more of a partisan than suited my own ternmperament, but I ought in justice to add that he was never so much of a partisan
as to render him insensible to the higher duties of the citizen.  He separated from
the bulk of his own party in this city, with other Free Soilers of this State, when
we thought it advisable to protest against certain encroachments of slave power.
He separated from the bulk of his party when he undertook to beat down the inftnious Tweed gang, intrenched by the laws, and possessed of an almost overwhelming force.  It was against the advice of many of the most eminent men of
his own party that he assailed the Canal Ring, whose ramuifications extended
through nearly every county in the State, and whose wealth and influence were
supposed to be invincible.  And it was against a large and well combined faction
of his own party that he lifted it at St. Louis out of the quagmires of doubt apnd
,error in which it was floundering, and placed it on the high ground of its ancient
traditions.  Mr. Tilden is cautious and wary, and never acts until assured of foothold on truth and right; but then he is as tenacious in pursuit as a sleuth hound,
and absolutly inflexible.
THE ST. LOUIS PLATFORM HIGHLY COMMENDABLE.
The platform adopted at St. Louis reads to me, from beginning to end, as an
earnest and vigorous cry for a better condition of things.  It is clear, outspoken,
iiid positive, evading no real issues and treating those it touches with refreshing
boldness and decision. The philosophy of politics which pervades its general utterances is, to my mind, the soundest, greatest, truest that the human mind has yet
attained.  It is the philosphy on which our institutions are distinctively built.
The enormous centralization which has grown up since the war, almost imper
ceptibly, perhaps-it denounces as the most formidable danger in our existing
position; and while it frankly and manfully accepts the war, and the legislative
results of the war, in a permanent and unchangeable settlement of a conflict now
forever past, it demands a thorough regeneration of essential political practice
and doctrines. It demands a reduction in the public expenditures; it demands a
readjustment of our costly and oppressive modes of taxation: it demands a cessatioi in the profligate misuse and waste of the public lands; it demands a reorganization of the civil service, which is a fruitful source of the prevailing corruption; it demands a change in the bad practice which has rendered appointments
to office the reward for service to Congressmen and Senators; it demands frugality,, simplicity, capacity, and honesty in all public offices; and last, though not
least, it demands, in the place of that imbecile, dilatory, inefficient, and deceptive
policy which has hitherto marked the treatment of the currency problem, instantaneous, active, systematic, and rigorous effort for the restoration of a sound
financial condition.
THE CURRENCY PLANKS COMPARED.
Let us consider the doings of the late conventions in respect to this most im.
)ortant point.  Here is, first, the resolve passed at Cincinnati:
In the first act of Congress sifgned by Presidenit Grant the National Goveri-ment assumedt to
remove any (doubts of its pllrl)ose to discarge all just obligations to public creditors, and solemnly
pledged its faitll to male provision, at the earliest practicable )period, for the redemption of United
states notes in coin. Commercial prosperity, public morals, and( national credit demand that this
promise be fulfilled byr a continuous and steady progress to specie payments.
'Vhen this rcsolution was reported by Gen. Hawley, Chairnan of the  Committae on Resolutions, Mr. Davis, of Texas, of the minority of the Committee,
moved a substitute, declaring distinctlythat their should be no further postponenent of the resumption of specie payments beyond the date already fixed by the 
PARKE GODWIN'S LETTER.
law of Jan.14, 1875. He remarked that a resolution of the majority was indlefinite, and that the effect of it would be lo "remit the question involved to the domain of vague promise." Gen. Hawley opposed the substitute, on the ground,
first, that "in dealing in principles for the guidance of a party for a year or for
four years it is best to confine yourself to a declaration of them, and not tie yourself to mere details;" and, secondly, it was doubtful "whether the Resumption
Act could be carried out in two years from next January." He argued  that the
requisite legislation could not be perfected in time to compass the result, and that
it would only embarrass the canvass by the recognition of a law which might
prove altogether impracticable. He would not himself vote for it in Congress,
and he could not call upon the people to support what he could not vote for.
Gen. Hawley's view prevailed; the substitute was rejected, and the fixed day,
which certain orators hold "a sacred pledge," was quietly abandoned for "a continuous and steady progress to specie resumption." What was meant by this
phrase we may, perhaps, gather from the reference in the outset of the resolution
to the Act of 1869-when "the progress" was begun, and which in seven long
years "steady and continuous" movement has arrived at this wonderful conclusion, that we ought to go on in the same way-that is, in doing nothing.
What said the Democrats on the same subject I
Reform is necessary to establish a sound currency, restore the public credit, and maintain the
national honor.
We denounce the failure for all these eleven years of peace to make good the promise of the
legal-tender notes, which are a changing standard of value in the hands of the people, and the
non-payment of which is a disregard of the plighted faith of the nation.
We denounce the improvidence which, in eleven years of peace, has taken from the people in
federal taxes thirteen times the whole amount of the legal tender notes, and squandered four
times their sum in useless expense. without accumulaiing any reserve for their redemption.
We denounce the financial imbecility and immorality of that party which, during eleven years
of peace, has made no advance toward resumpl)tion, nopreparation for resumption, but instead
has obstructed resumption, by wasting our resources and exhausting all our surplus income; and
while annually professing to intend a speedy return to specie payments, has annually enacted
fresh hinderances thereto. As such a hinderance we denounce the Resumption day clause of the
act of 1875 and demand its repeal.
We demand a judicious system of preparation by public economies, by official retrenchments,
and by wise finance, which shall enable the nation soon to assure the whole world of its perfect
abili ty, and its perfect readiness, to meet any of its promises at the call of the creditor entitled to
payment.
We believe such a system, well defined. and above all, intrusted to competent hands for execo.
tion, creating at no time an artifical scarcity of currency, and at no time alarming the public mind
into a withdrawal ofthat vaster machinery of credit by which 95r per cent. of all businesstransactions
are pertormed-a system open, public, and inspiring general confidence, would from the day of its
adoption bring healing on its wings to all our harrassed industries, set in motion the wheels ofcommerce, manufactures, and the mechanic arts, restore employment to labor, and renew in all its natural sources the prosperity of the people.
It is proper to recall before we scrutinize the scope and meaning of these
phrases that were so stoutly opposed, both in committee and convention, by the
inflationist leaders. Whatever their real purport, these men saw in them a flat
contradiction of their own schemes. Gen. Ewing and Mr. Voorhees, who spoke
for the minority, denounced them as a complete surrender to the hard-money
theorists. The former, in order to obtain a partial recognition of his ways of
thinking, moved a substitute proposing a repeal of the whole Resumption Act
"forthwith." Mr. Dorsheimer, of the majority of the committee, refused to acceed to it, saying: "I propose right here to make a straight issue between hard
and soft money. By that we stand or fall." He was sustained by the Convention, and the substitute rejected by a vote of more than two and a half to one550 to 219. The result was regarded as a decisive victory for the advocates of the
sounder doctrines. I cannot doubt that such is the right interpretation of the
result; for I discover that these resolves are mainly a summary of the teachings of
(xov. Tilden, to be found in his luminous messages to the New York Legislature,
wherein he speaks in no ambiguous language.  Gov. Tilden   as originally opposed to the issue of irredeemable notes, and counseled Secretary Chase against
the expedient, which he averred would greatly enhance the cost of the war, and
lead to the embarrassments and disasters we have since experienced. When they
were once issued, he insisted that they should be held redeemable at all times in
the interest-bearing obligations of the government, which Mr. Spaulding, the
author of the Legal Tender act, tells us was the original intention of its framers.
At the close of the war, one of his grounds of quarrel with the party in power
was, that it did not at one  engage actively and efficiently in preparations for
their redemption. The process, as he showed at great length in his messages,
was easy and practicable, providing it should be persistently pursued. Demon
33 
PAKKE GODWIN'S LETTER.
strating with the clearest perception of the fiundameiital principles of currency,
that even after the reaction of 187,'3 began a moderate issue of greenbacks would
do no good, or have no effect toward arresting it, while an indefinite issue would
provoke additional disaster, he advised, in the first place, tnat the revenues of
the government be increased so as to produce a surplus without resorting to new
taxation; secondly, that a sufficiency of gold should be amassed in the treasuiy,
from our outflowing streams or from markets abroad, to form an adequate reserve
to meet the demand for exportation, and to assure the people that the supply
would not be exhausted; and, thirdly, that the legal tenders be converted into
interest-paying investments on termins the holders would accept, and in such ways
as would keep the aggregate amount of the currency self-adjusting during all the
process, without creating an artificial scarcity, and without disturbing the natmral operations of business.
WISE SUGGESTIONS BY THE DEMOCRATS IN REGARD TO THE CURRENCY.
Now, in the light of this brief exposition, it will be seen that there is a w ide
difference in the treatment of the currency question by the two platforms. The
one simply evades it by a barren generality; the other meets it with wise practical
suggestions.  The one simply says that we are to get at the end, the resumption
of specie payments, some time or other, in some way or other not disclosed; the
other, that we must set about it, not by promises, but by actual preparations.
The Democratic symbol is much the more explicit, full, and peremptory.  It states
the end to be aimed at. viz., "to establish a sound currency, to restore public
credit, and maintain the national honor.   It denounces the legal-tender notes for
the first time in any political credo, as broken and dishonored promises. It points
to the means for their redemption-" economy, retrenchment, and wise finance'and it arraigns the party in power for their dilatory, unmeaning, and futile pretexts, which have fed us with words without deeds, and delayed and hindered recovery to the detriment of every business interest.  I am aware that  many men
of excellent judgment and purpose hold that the clause of the law of January,
1875, designating a precise day for resumption, is the shibbeloth of the whole
cause. Our eloquent colleague, Mr. Schurz, though he denounced the general law
in the Senate as a mere decree which would accomplish nothing, has come to regard this clause as a pledge of our national faith and honor. But I cannot so look
at it. That clause, like the law itself, was passed in the ordinary course of legislation, and only engages us to resume at a given time, provided that such resumption is found to be possible and practicable.  If, however, it should turn out thtit is not possible or practicable, it ought to be repealed. The whole thing, as Gen.
Hawley said, and the Republican Convention enacted, is a question of detail, and
not of principle.  Resumption itself is a question of principle and a question of
honor; but the exact time for resumption, the specific measures, the discreet preparations, are, as Gov. Tilden argues, business questions to be dealt with, in view
of the state of trade and of credit operations in our own country, the course of
foreign commerce, and the condition of the exchanges with other nations, the
amounts of the precious metals, and the stocks from which a supply would flow
without undue disturbance of the markets of other countries. All these are considerations for practical administrative statesmanship, and are not materials for
party cries and the hullaballoo of a heated electoral canvass.
The designation of a particular day for the performance of an act, in an adverse or torpid state of opinion, may have a beneficial effect in stimulating the
necessary preparations; but it may have also a contrary effect by lulling opinion
into a false security by means of a promise when the circumstances demand deeds.
Mr. Edmund Dwight, of this city, one of our ablest and most experienced financiers, a Republican and a contractionist, in a most elaborate and carefully considered discussion of the subject (see Eveniizg Post of March, 1876), reviewing the
experiences of other nations, as well as our own, showed that, while the law itself
was unconstitutional, this particular clause was equivocal and delusive. It could
not,. under any circumstances, be executed, and would only involve us in new
failures and confusions, putting off indefinitely the period of resumption.  Other
high authorities share Mr. Dwight's opinions, and, if they should turn out to be
well founded, we are put in the position of those wreckers who wave their flags
to the storm-tossed mariners ostensibly to show a port of safety, but in reality to
lure them to a miore certain destruction.
AN OBJECTION CONSIDERED.
But admitting Tilden to be all right, there is Hendricks, nominated with him
for the Vice-Presidency! Now the Vice-President has no legislative function
34 
PARKE GODWIN'S LETTER.
whatever, save in one not very probable contingency-the death of the President.
Mr. Tilden is of a long-lived family, has never had any organic disease, is in good
health, of temperate and active habits, and likely to live out the ordinary span of
life. But supposing he should not, Mr. Hendricks, in accepting the nomination,
puts himself upon the Democratic platform.  He may, like Mr. Ferry, whom  a
Republican Senate made Vice-President, have entertained loose notions of money;
he may, like Mr. Morton, one of the leading candidates at Cincinnati, have given
in unduly to a transient hallucination of his State; he may, like Mr. Sherman,
Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Senate, prefer greenbacks to bank
notes; but whatever his views in these respects he now stands up for the principles enunciated at St. Louis, which are henceforth the accredited creed of his
party. Unless a thoroughly base and dishonest man, which no one has yet averred,
he must abide by the policy to which he is so solemnly committed.
And now, appealing to every impartial member of the Conference to dismiss
his ancient party animosities and prejudices, I ask him to consider the words of
our address describing the political situation as I have just quoted t mem; I ask
him to consider the demands it made of the Conventions, and the character of the
candidates it presented, as a sine qua won; and then say which of the parties has
most nearly met the requirements. The Republican party, which is responsible
for the greater part of the wide-spread demoralization, is substantially unchanged.  It will be for the next four years what it has been for the past eleven
years. A candidate chosen expressly for his neutral qualities will not direct its
tendencies or infuse vigor or consistency into its councils. Its leadership will
continue to be, as heretofore, in the hands of its Blaines, its Conklings, its Mortons, its Camerons, its Logans, and its Kelleys. On the contrary, the Democratic party, abjuring its former errors, and rising to the full demands of the
situation, puts itself into essentially new hands. Its standard-bearer, a sagacious,
prudent, most accomplished statesman, inured to management and fresh from desperate conflicts with the enemies of pure government, has lifted it to a higher
plane of faith, and will also lift it to a higher plane of practice.  But he must be
sustained by good men everywhere who sympathize in his objects. He has
brought us the re-enforcement of a mighty organization ready to adopt our cause
and to fight our battle;-can we turn it away? Can we, sinking into the blindness of mere partisan feeling, neglect this glorious opportunity, which puts an
overwhelming vote at our disposal for the rescue of the government I I do not
see how there can be two answers: but be that as it may, I, who have for many
years stood by this noble man, and been the eye-witness of his gallant fights
with "the beasts at Ephesus," would be recreant to the labor and aspirations of
my whole life not to lend him my heartiest support.
PARKE GODWIN.
ROSLYI, L. I., July 18, 1876.
WHY CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS WILL VOTE FOR GOV. T[LDEN.
[Front the Sun.]
QUINCY, Aug. 5, 1876.
H. F. MCDERMorr, Esq., Jersey City:
DEAR SiR: I am one of the class now denominated Independents, asking no
favors and voting for the best men without regard to party lines. I propose to
retain my position. But as to the choice offered me between Mr. Tilden and Mr.
Hayes, though having no prepossessions against either, I do not hesitate to say
that the former is far the most fitted to meet the emergency in our politics, in iiy
opinion, and I intend to vote for him.
Very truly yours,
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS.
35
CONCLUSION. 
TIILDEN AS A RING-BREAKER.
THE TWEED RING AND THE CANAL RING
THE TWEED RING.
Republican newspapers have sought to create the impression that Governor Tilderr
did not attack the Tammany Ring until its doom was already apparent; that he
waited long enough to make sure that he was not attacking a power that might yet
destroy him, and then claimed the whole honor of its overthrow. The truth is exactly
the reverse of this. It can and will be shown that Governor Tilden attacked the
Tweed Ring while it had control of all departments of the State and City governments,
owned both parties in the Legislature, and had a willing or ignorant tool in the lNe
York Times, which years afterward published facts which came into its possession
with regard to the Ring, and has since attempted to seize the credit of the destruction
of that gigantic conspiracy.  Its claim is false and impudent.  The overthrow of
Tweed and the Tweed Ring is dclue to Samuel J. Tilden and Charles O'Conor.
The Tweed Ring originated in the Board of Supervisors, created in 1857 by a
Republican Legislature and Governor, but it did not reach its full organization and
growth until 1869, when Oakey Hall became Mayor.  The New York Times published
two years and a half later accounts largely fraudulent amounting to $11,000,000, of
which one-third were passed in 1869, nearly two-thirds in 1870, and the remainder in
1871. In 1869 the open attacks of Mr. Tilden upon the Ring and its return blows at
him began long before the New York Times ceased to be its ally, for at that time many
seemingly respectable papers and men succumbed to its corrupt and dreaded influence..
So far from Mr. Tilden's being hand and glove with these men, as Republican newspapers charge, the hostility between them began as soon as the Ring began to form.
Mr. Tilden opposed one of their schemes of plunder as early as 1863, years before he
was made chairman of the State Committee, and they became bitterly hostile to him
in consequence. During the rule of the Ring Mr. Tilden usually appeared in State
conventions as a delegate from his native county, Columbia, because the Ring would
not allow him to go from New York City.
Mr. Tilden has himself stated why he took the position of chairman of the State
Committee:
';I desired to save from degradation the great party whose principles and traditions were mine by
inheritance and conviction; and to make it an instrument,f a reaction in the community which  could
alone save free government.  Holding wearily the end of a rope, because I feared where I might go if
I dropped it, I kept the State organization in absolute independence. I never took a favor of any sort
from these men, or from any man I distrusted. I had not much power in the Legis'ature on questions
which interested private cupidity; but in a State convention, where the best men in society and business
would go, because it was for but a day or two, those with whom I acted generally had the majority."
At this period neither Mr. Tilden nor the general public could sustain any definite
charges against members of the Tweed Ring.   He had no faith in them, and they
feared him. They determined to get rid of him as chairman of the State Committee,
and get the organization into their hands. They made their attempt in the State Convention of 1869; Mr. Tilden fought them, and carried seven-eighths of the convention
to their one. Before this he had denounced in the courts the orders of the infamous
Judge Barnard, in certain cases in which Tweed was interested-Tweed's son being
also Barnard's receiver,-in the terms they deserved, and had begun the movement for
judicial reform, which ended in the impeachment of Tweed's worst judges.
The elections of 1869 gave the Democrats the law-making power for the first time
in 24 years. The Tweed Ring would rather have had a Republican Legislature.  The
latter they could always corrupt, while the control of a Democratic Legislature might,
be taken out of their hands through the party machinery.  The infamous Tweed
Charter for the City of New York finally made its appearance in the Legislature of
1870, and its progress was rapid. It was well understood that it would pass, because
it was known that a very large sum of money would be expended to carry it.  It is
said that $1,000,000 was taken to Albany to carry this charters much of which was 
TILDEN AS A RING-BREAKER.
doubtless pocketed by the people who handled the money. Notwithstanding the certainty of its passage, Mr. TILDEN went to Albany-this was in the Spring of 1870and denounced it in a fearless speech before Tweed, who was himself chairman of the
Senate Committee on Cities which was to pass upon the charter. He branded it as a
charter that would put self-government in New York City "in abeyance for from four
to eight years," creating a" Mayor without any executive power, a Legislature without any legislative power, and elections without any power in the people to affect the
Government for that period " This speech enraged Tweed, who vowed that he would
depose Tilden from the State Committee, but was warned by prominent Democrats not
to attempt it, and thought better of it. The charter passed with the vote of every
Republican Senator save one, and received a large Republican vote in the Assembly.
Judge Noah Davis, a leading Republican judge, was the authority given for the statement subsequently, that six of these Republican Senators-the leaders-received
$10,000 each for the charter, $5.000 each for similar bills that year, and $5,000 for like
services the following year. The New York Times pronounced the passage of this
infamous bill-against which Horace Greeley, Jackson S. Schultz, William M. Evarts,
and other Republicans, protested, with Mr. Tilden, and which put the City of New
York absolutely at the mercy of the most powerful and most unscrupulous of Ringsa "most important and salutary" work, and two days after said of another project
that "Senator lTweed was (is) in a fair way to distinguish himself as a reformer," and
added: " We trust that Senator Tweed will manifest the same energy in the advocacy
of this last reform which marked his action in regard to the charter."  The following
day, April 9, ]870, Mayor Hall appointed Tweed, Sweeney and Fields to the most
important offices under this charter, and the Times said that the appointments "are
far above the average in point of personal fitness, and will be satisfactory." Within
less than a month the great robbery of the Tammany Ring was committed under this
charter, passed over Mr. Tilden's opposition, aided by Republican votes, and approved
by Republican papers like The New York Times. The Board of Special Audit, consisting of Hall, Tweed and Connolly, held the only meeting it ever held, and audited
bills amounting to $6,312,000, of which about 90 per cent. was theft. This was only
a part of the money stolen under this charter, opposed by Mr. Tilden and favored by
'The Times.  From April to December,  187(0, the aggregate of fraudulent bills was
$12,2.50,000, and in 1871 $3,400,000.  Of this $14,00,000 was sheer plunder.
The ring had now gained what seemed absolute control, and every one  hastened  to
make relations with it. Even Senator Conkling and George William Curtis, address -
ing the Republican Convention, had nothing to say against it. They could not, in the
face of the action of their party associates.  Mr. Tilden stood alone.
The Ring had now absolute control ot all departments, all Courts below the Court
of Appeals and the State Government. Mr. Tilden saw that its power must be broken
by the same means by which it was obtained-its hold on the Legislature must be
destroyed. The Ring feared his attacks, and distinctly proposed to allow Mr Tilden
to name all the delegates from New York to the State Convention of 1871, so as to
have no contest. He refused, and made the objective point of the campaign of 1871
the capture of the New York City delegation in the Legislature. He sought the aid
of distinguished Democrats like Charles O'Conor, Horatio Seymour, Francis Kernan,
and Oswald Ottendorfer.  With Mr. O'Conor was arranged the plan for suits against
the Ring, which was afterward carried out. This was all done before the Committee
of Seveity, the association of citizens, was formed.  Early in September Mr. Tilden
issued a letter to 26,000 Democrats throughout the Stpte, calling on them "to take a
knife and cut the cancer out by the root."  Comptroller Connolly was now alarmed,
and was anxious to betray his associates of the Ring, if he could receive immunity.
Mr. Tilden, by study of the law, found that the Comptroller could appoint a deputy
and confer upon him for a definite period all his powers; Andrew H. Green, Mr.
Tilden's life-long friend, who has since been Comptroller of New York, was made
Connolly's deputy; and thus the key of the whole position passed into the hands of
the Reformers. The Comptroller could refuse to pass bills, and could make public
all expenditures.  By.this master-stroke of Mr. Tilden's, not only was an e(ld put to
the thefts of the Ring, but the means were provided for the collection of the proofs
on which Tweed and others were afterward tried.   The Ring now tried to force
Connolly to resign, so that the powers of the deputy might cease, and then assumed
to remove him.  Mr. Til(len checked this last attempt with a legal opinion which he
obtained from Charles O'Conor. Mr. Tilden was watching the Ring unceasingly, aind
a carriage stood at his door night and day, ready to take him to an honest and fearless
judge who would vacate fraudulent orders by Ring judges as fast as they were
granted. In the State Convention that month Mr. Tilden did'not have the success
he had hoped for, but he boldly announced that he should oppose the Tammany
nomination for the Legislature from New York City. He did not relax his efforts for
37 
TILDEN AS A RING-BREAKER.
a moment. He worked hard during the whole of this campaign, made agreement
with Charles O'Conor and William M. Evarts that they should be candidates for the
Legislature to continue the fight there, and when they abandoned the intention, went
alone.  On the eve of the election Mr. Tilden furnished $10,000, for booths and ballots
to the Reform organization, and raised as much money for the contest, including his
own contributions, as the whole Committee of Seventy, composed of wealthy men and
representing all the citizens of New York City without distinction of party, raised for
the same purpose from a community of a million people.   This election was a
Waterloo to the Ring, and its power was completely broken.
It now only remained to obtain judicial proofs of the frauds.   These Mr. Tildeii
got by a laborious examination of the books of thile Broadway Bank, which occupied
ten days, and absorbed all the energies of himself and five assistants. Mr. Tilden
himself analyzed the results, and discovered, firom a skillful and intelligent study of
the great mass of figures, that but one-third of the amount of the fraudulent bills had
reached the persons in whose names they had been made out, and that two-thirds had
been divided among the public officers and others composing the Ring.   Mr Tilden
also traced some of these dividends directly into the hands of some of the thieves.
This examination furnished judicial proof, and was the only one which did so. On this
evidence, and on Mfr. Tilden's affidavits, the action brought by Mr. O'Conor, acting for the
Attorney-General of the State, was founded.  The New  York Times said, October 28,
1871, in referring to the Broadway Bank investigation:  "Here we have, thanks to the
labors of Mr. Samuel J. Tilden, full and complete evidence that William M Tweed
differs from a common thief only in having stolen tens of thousands instead of tens of
dollars."  The Times had now published its figures, and was fiercely assailing the
Ring whose charter it had the year before approved. Some notion of the skill with
which these thefts were committed, and the difficulty of detection, may be had when it
is learned that Sweeney's share, and the devious ways by which it reached him, were
only discovered after an investigation of six months, made by an expert under Mr.
Tilden's direction.
At the great Reform meeting in Cooper Institute during this campaign, Mr. Tilden,.
although Chairman of the Democratic State Committee, advised a union of all elements
against the Ring, without reference to State or national politics.  For this he was
bitterly denounced; but the result was, that nearly 4(),000 Democratic votes were cast
for the Reform ticket, and, under the weight of them, the Ring was crushed.
After the election he continued his investigations until the opening of the Legislature, of which he had been almost unanimously elected a member, and at every
interval afterward which he could command.  Nearly every judicial proof obtained im
the suits against the Ring was derived from these investigations, made personally by Mr.
Tilden.
In the Legislature Mr. Tilden devoted himself to the work of driving Tammany
judges from the bench. The infamous Barnard was impeached and convicted, and
the no less infamous Cardozo was compelled to resign.  What was said before of Mr
Tilden's unwillingness to claim the credit of his work, can be illustrated here.  When
the Bar Association of New York, sent their memorial to Mr. Tilden, then in the
Legislature,'as the most prominent representative of the movement for judicial reform,
he sent it back, suggesting that it be put into the hands of a prominent Republican,
because the work might prosper better in his hands.
Mr. Tilden had thus far devoted sixteen months of unremitting and exhausting
labor to this task,- giving up all his immense private practice, and suffering a loss of
actual income, together with the expenditures involved, amounting to what would bea handsome endowment of a public charity.
Even when the Tweed Ring had passed into the hands of the Courts, Mr. Tilden
did not relax his efforts to aid the prosecution, and when he became Governor his firstwork was to carry through the Legislature bills facilitating the prosecution of unfaithful public officers, under which successful suits were brought against the Ring.  In
one action against Tweed, brought under these laws, $600,000 was recovered. He
also pardoned Ingersoll, by whose testimony an important suit against Tweed was.
won. This plain statement of facts which cannot be disputed, and which could be
fortified by countless details if it were necessary, shows   I. That Mr. Tilden began the attack on the Tweed Ring.
II. That he began the attack when the Ring was at the height of its power, and
was in complete control of every branch of the City and State governments.
III. That, while enjoying one of the largest and most lucrative legal practices inthe country, he gave up sixteen months of his time to the work of destroying this
powerful combination.
IV.- That he finally succeeded in turning 40,000 Democratic voters against it and
overthrew it.
38 
TILDEN AS A RING-BREAKER.
V. That his personal investigations furnished almost every item of legal proof on
which the suits against Tweed and his guilty confederates were founded, and that he
arranged the machinery by which these suits were brought.    k  -
VI. That he drove Tammany judges from the bench, and perfected legislation by
which official plunderers might be punished.
THE CANAL RING.
The Canal Ring of the State of New York was a much older organization than the
Tweed Ring. Its career was more prolonged, and the territory it covered was larger,
though its operations were not of such magnitude.  Nevertheless, it was an organization more powerful for evil in the politics of the State. It was a clique of contractors,
who, by means of fraudulent devices in contracts for repairs, &c., by false measurements, estimates and audits, plundered the canals of their immense revenues. To secure confederates, the Ring joined itself to both parties, nominated, where it could,
all canal officers, and took care to have a sufficient proportion of its friends in the Legislature, and also to have the canal appropriation committees made up of its tools.
This secret combination, which always avoided publicity and display, had an immense
influence in the politics of the State, and especially in the Democratic party, and dated
back many years in its history. It was this powerful organization which Mr. Tilden
conceived it to be his first duty to attack on taking the Governor's chair. In his first
annual message to the Legislature he asked for the passage of laws facilitating the
punishment of official defaulters and peculators, which had been prepared by himself
and Charles O'Conor.   While the public understood that these had been framed
especially to enable certain suits to be brought against the Tweed Ring, they did not
know that they were framed, while intended to cover all such cases, with especial referonce to the Canal Ring, which Governor Tilden was getting ready to expose. In this
message he has outlined his policy of administrative reform which he has steadily adhered to since. Meanwhile he was collecting his proofs, and on the 18th of March,
1875, addressed to the Legislature a long and able message, describing in detail the
method of frauds practised for many years upon the canals, showing the extent to.
which the robborics of the Ring had run the State in debt, and asking an investigation.
The disclosures made by his message aroused a storm of indignation throughout the
State, and the frightened Ring, though having great influence in the Legislature,
could not prevent an investigation. A commission was appointed, headed by John
Bigelow, which devoted the remainder of the year to the investigation, and disclosed
astounding frauds. So much of the fraud had been accomplished through Acts of the
Legislature and awards of boards, that the work of obtaining judicial proof was difficult almost beyond belief, but the Commission, by dint of great industry and skill, succeeded in unearthing and proving great thefts. The facts they obtained were reported
to Governor Tilden as soon as they could be got into proper form, and were by him
at once transmitted to the Attorney General, with instructions to bring suits. These
suits are now pending in the Courts, and, if successful, will restore large sums to
the treasury of the State. This is only a part, however, of the results achieved.
Governor Tilden's disclosures not only destroyed forever the political influence of the
Ring, but put an immediate stop to its fraudulent practices, and the triumph of his
Reform ticket at the Fall election of 1875 put the canals under the charge of honest
men. The reform in the management of the canals is complete; the work of punishing the thieves still goes on as fast as the Courts can reach it.
The result of Gov. Tilden's action was seen at once in the appropriations for that
year, as well as elsewhere. Notwithstanding his recommendations for retrenchment
in his annual message, the appropriation bill for ordinary repairs, as it passed the
Canal Committee of the Senate, was nearly as large as in 1874.  The bill for extraordinary repairs, or new work, promised also to be nearly as large as that of 1874,
appropriating nearly $2,000,000. At about this time the special message on the canals
was sent in. The result was that the appropriation for ordinary repairs was reduced
$200,000 below that of the year before, and, counting the provision made for deficiencies,
$415)630.  The appropriations for new work were reduced from $2,000,000 to
$'6(;,000, and the balance was vetoed by the Governor. Other appropriations were
also vetoed by the Governor, amounting to $400,000, the whole reduction being
$2,400,000.
Some notion of the extent of the robberies of the Canal Ring may be gathered from
the statement, that while the total revenues of the canals of the State since their construction, had amounted, iicluding gains resulting from the management of the sinking
funds, at the close of the last fiscal year to $138,407,129, the total payments, including the cost of construction, were $167,003, 357  leaving a deficiency of$28,596,22S.
39 
TILDEN AS A RING-BREAKER.
This was the premium paid by the State of New York in taxes in 50 years to secure
and encourage the use of these water-ways, amounting to a subsidy each year of
$560,000. Part of this was doubtless honest deficiency, but there is no reason to
doubt that much of it was the result of fraud. These were the totals of the canal
revenues and expenditures during 1875, the year in which Gov. Tilden exposed the
Ring:
Receipts —. —-.. —-—. —... —....-...-......  --- - ----  -   $1,902,090
Expenditures:
Repairs and maintenance —..-.-.. —.............  $2,247,297
Damages-..................... — -—. —-.   305,796
-     2,553,093
Balance against the State-...-................. —......... —- $650,103
This amount, however, did not include the interest on the canal debt, the cost of
collections, and the difference between the miscellaneous receipts and expenditures.
Including these, the loss to the State during the fiscal year of 1875, was $1,412,470.
One of the favorite devices for fraud on the canals was that of building vertical wall
where slope wall only was required, the first kind being much more expensive.  The
investigations of the Canal Commission showed that in six years the State had been
robbed in this way of$1,300,000.  The Commission, beside disclosing all the rottenness of existing canal management and destroying it, proved improper payments to
the amount of $398S,875.  They showed that the amount expended on new work on
the canals in the six years which their investigation covered was $8,444,824, of
which a good share was undoubtedly fraudulent. They detected, exposed, and drove
from his Office the Republican Auditor of the Canal Department, who had been carrying
on a brokerage business in the obligations he was required by law to audit, and was
"shaving"' them to the amount of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  Now all this is
changed. The canals of New York are managed under Gov. Tilden's administration
with the same strict business economy and honesty as if they were a private enterprise
in private hands.  Gov. Tilden's motto has always been that the government existed
for the people, not the people for the government.
IN IMPROVING METHODS OF ADMINISTRATION.
Gov. Tilden builds up after tearing down. After ridding the City of New York of
the Tweed Ring, he saw the necessity of erecting every possible barrier to the formation of Rings in future, both in that and other cities.  He therefore addressed a message
to the Legislaiture in 1875, calling their attention to the crushing burden of municipal
debts, the need of restricting municipal expenditures, and lightening the load of local
taxation, and the necessity of providing some uniform and economical system of
government for the cities of the State. This message showed the aggregate debt of
the twenty-four cities of the State to be $175,000,000; the aggregate of city taxation,
$36,000,000;  the aggregate county and State taxati,n, $13,000,000; the aggregate of taxation, $50,000,000.   The Legislature authorized Gov. Tilden to appoint
a commission, which he composed of many of the ablest lawyers and most distinguished
specialists in the State, without regard to party. This commission has now been at
work for more than a year in preparing a general charter for all cities in the State,
which is expected to put an end to many of the worst abuses now existing in municipal
governments.
Gov. Tilden's exposure of the Canal Ring blasted all the projects of the Ring, and
put an end to the wasteful expenditure of the people's motley.  But, not content with
this, Gov. Tilden, during the winter of 1876, urged upon the Legislature a number of
improvements in the canals which would greatly increase their carrying capacity, and
which could be made with the money-the corrupt expenditure of which on the canals his
disclosures had prevented.  Measures were at once taken to carry these recommendations into effect, and to introduce further reforms in the canal management.
IN REDUCING TAXATION.
In 1874, the year in which Mr. T'ilden was elected Governor of New
York, the State tax amounts to............ —...-..-........ —...... - -  $15727,482
In 1876, the State tax amounts to. -----------------------............ -,26196
Reduction...................................... -------------------------—. -$7,459,286
40 
TILDEN AS A RING-BREAKER.
This remarkable reduction of taxes is very largely a direct result of Gov. Tilden's
work in administrative reform in New York.  lie had been in office less than three
months when he made his exposure of the Canal Ring, which compelled, by the storm
of public indignation it aroused, a marked reduction in the appropriations for-the
canals, especially for new work. Gov. Tilden was not, however, satisfied with this
reduction, and vetoed many items in the canal re-appropriation bill, and vetoed the
whole bill, making appropriations for new work. The result was that no tax was
levied in ]875 for canal purposes, such appropriations as were made being paid out of
accumulated funds.  These are the items on which a reduction of taxes was effected;
REDUCTION IN 1875.
1874
1875     Reduction.
none      $1,898,144
479,800      333,690
3,696,117      493,358
New work on canals. —----------- $1,898,144
Asylums and Reformatory. —-------  813,490
General purposes.. —--------------- 4,189,475
Total.... —--------------------------------- $2,725,193
Gov. Tilden, in vetoing the bill for new work on the canals, expressed the opinion
that of the $11,000,000 expended under that head during the last five years, probably
not more than one-fourth had resulted in any practical good to the State. The reduction in the appropriations for asylums was made, with Gov. Tilden's concurrence,
with a view to expending only so muah as would put the completed portions of these
costly institutions in condition for actual use. The reduction of half a million in the
appropriation for general purposes was due very largely to Gov. Tilden's recommendations and vetoes. The figure named above represented what would have been the
reduction if the State Assessors had not increased the valuation, and thus increased
the amount of taxes received. The result, however, was to leave a surplus to aid
ill the reduction of taxes the following year. The actual reduction was $1,520,801,
and the surplus to be devoted to the reduction of taxes the following year was
$1,033,875.
REDUCTION IN 1876.
In Gov. Tilden's last annual message, he laid before the Legislature a statement
of the way in which, in his judgment, the taxes for 1876 might be reduced to one
halfthe total of 1874, without detriment to tile public interests. lie showed that while
$4,458,888 had  been necessary for payments  on the State debts in 1874, only
$2,353,356 was necessary in 1676, one of these debts-the bounty debt-having been
largely reduced, and that, therefore, a reduction under this head was to be had of
$2,105,531.   The reduction which could be made in canal expenditures he estimated at $2,200,000, cutting down the appropriation for new work, as before,
from $1,898,141 in 1874, to nothing, and the amount necessary to pay canal appraisers' awards-a favorite channel of fraud with the Ring —trom $474,536, in 1874,
to $]72,680 in 1876. The reduction by means of the surplus taxes of 1875 would
be $1,033,875. The same economy in appropriations for asylums as was pursued
last year would, he showed, with one or two other items, bring the total of the
reduction in taxes for 1876 to $6,009,496. In order to effect a diminution of onehalf, there remained to be effected out of the other appropriations, which usually
amounted to about $8,000,000, a reduction of $1,854,244, or a little less than onequarter of the amount. This saving was effected, substantially, by different econonies recommended by Gov. Tilden.
Governor Tilden's' message estimated a tax for 1876 of $7,863,741; the tax
actually levied was $8,268,196.  The entire savings recommended  by  him in his
message would have been worked out to the letter, and the tax would have fallen even
below his estimate, if the tax for schools had not been increased $276,000 by aln
increased valuation applied to a system which makes the assessors the real arbiters of
the amount of the tax, and which has increased it a million in the last few years; and
if the decision of the United States Supreme Court against the legality of the emigration laws, had not made it necessary for the State to appropriate to the Emigration
Commission $200,000,,in reality a loan.  Makling allowance for these, the total saving
is $7,936,155.  Three-quarters of a million dollars was realized to the State to aid
in these reductions by disposing of securities held by the State which were at a
premium in the market.
41 
TILDEN AS A RING-BREAKER.
As may be seen by the foregoing statement, $1,712,830 of the whole saving is in the
diminished payments on the State debts. All the remainder, more than $69000,000,
or nearly 80 per cent., is in real economies.  This brief statement shows the items:
The application of saving from former taxes, and from the expenditures for which
they were levied, furnishes $1,949,004.
The saving in canal taxes is $2,372,680. The taxes for these purposes were in
1874.     1876.
New work.................................... $1,898,144    None.
Awards and expenditures exceeding appropriations,   474,536    None.
$2,372,680 Nothing.
The general expenses, including the new capitol, asylums and reformatories, were -
1874................................................. $6,087,620
1876............................................................ 4,005,887
Saving.......................................   $2,081,733
RECAPITULATION.
Saving applied........................................ $1,949,124
Canal retrenchments.................................. 2,372,680
General retrenchments.................................2,081,733
Total........................................ $6,403,527
SAVINGS IN CANAL EXPENDITURES.
The ordinary repairs of the canals are paid out of their revenues, and retrenchment
in this particular does not affect the tax account, though it lightens the burdens of the
people. In the ordinary repairs a saying was effected in 1876 over 1874 of $397,031,
and in re-appropriations of $917,379.  The total reductions in canal expenditures in
1876 over 1874 are as follows:
New work... —------------------------------------------...$1,898,144
Ordinary repairs. --------------------------—..    397,031
Awards and outlays in excess of appropriations. —--------—........... 474,536
Re-appropriations ---------------------------------------........................................917,379
$3,687,090
EIGHT MILLIONS THE TOTAL SAVING.
The actual saving from taxation given above, $6,403,537, inadequately represents
the saving in 1876.   The following expenditures, although they come  from  the
revenues and funds of the State, ultimately affect the taxes:
In  1874, the expenses  for ordinary  repairs were............. —--------- $1,674,510
In 1876, they were ------------------------------------........................................ 1,277,479
Making a saving in 1876 of........................ —-------------------------—. $397,031
In 1874, the re-appropriations of cash already in treasury
were. —-------------------------------------— $917,379
In 1876, they were. —-.         -—..............-......None
Making a saving in 1876..... —--------—. ---------— $917,379  $917,379
Another saving of.  ------------------------------------ $1,314,410
Add actual saving from taxation.. —---------------------- $6,403,537
Total Saving in 1876 —------------------------..........$7,717,947
t 42 
TILDEN AS A RING-BREAKER.
Thus, leaving entirely out of account the contributions to sinking funds, it is
evident that retrenchments alone have saved the State in 1876, under Gov. Tilden,..
over the amount in 1874, under Gov. Dix, the immense sum of $7,717,947.
In addition to these sums, the reclamations from expenditures
going onl when Gov- Tilden came in, under appropriations
made in 1874, and provided by taxation, were ---------— $1,604,000
Deduct part included in foregoing statements.. —------------ 754,207
Balance.         -----— $849,793
This reduction has been accomplished, notwithstanding the increase of $276,869,
in the school tax, and the advance of $200,000 to the Emigrant Commission.
The Reduction of Taxes is nearly $8.000.009.
THE WHOLE SAVING IS MORE THAN $8,000,000.
A PERMANENT RETRENCHMENT.
This is a permanent saving, not a temporary retrenchment, to be paid for subsequently in increased taxes. Governor Tilden's own words:
"The people may have the satisfaction of feeling that while half of their State
taxes are remitted-$8,000,000 out of $16,000,000-it is accomplished without improvidence of the future or temporary retrenchment which cannot be maintained; and that
the appropriations have been kept clearly.within the means provided by the taxes
levied; so that no temporary floating debt will be created or invasion of the sinking
fund made, as has often and to a large extent, happened hitherto, in disobedience to
the express commands of the Constitution, and in violation of the whole scheme and
policy of that instrument, in respect to the State finances."
WHAT THE TAXES HAVE BEEN.
It will, perhaps, be easier to understand, what Governor Tilden has accomplished
in a brief administration, after reading this table, showing the growth of the State
taxes in the last sixteen years.
Rate of State Tax, in
Mills, on each Dollar
of Valuation.
$5,440,640.48
5,586,848.79
6,884,193.75
7,272,274.08
7,880,249.35
7,230,976.53
8,517,464.85,
12,647,218.71
10,243,317.01'
10,463,179.33
] 4,285,976.55
11,613,943.61
19,580,882.30
14.800,903.38
15,727,482.08
14,206,680.61
8,268,196.00
This table shows that the taxes have been reduced in amount to the lowest figure reached
in the past eleven years, and nearly to the figure which obtained before the war, and that the
rate of taxation is lower than it was before the war, or has been at any time since.
i
i
I
I
I
-I
i
4X
I
i
I
State Tax Levied,
including
School Tax.
Year.; Aggregate Equalized
i Valuation.
1860
1861
1862
1863
1864
1865
1866
1867
1868
1869
1870
1871
1872
1873
1871
1875
1876
$1,419,97,520
1,441,767,430
1,449,303,948
1,454,454,817
1,500,999,877
1,550,879,685
1,531,229,636
I,(;64,107,725
1,766,089,140
1,860,120,770
1,967,001,185
2,052,537,898
2,088,627,445
2,129,626,386
2,169,307,873
2,367,780,102
2,390,803,696
3 5-6
3 7-8
3 3-4
5
5 1-4
4 53-80
5 9-16
7 3-5
5 4-5
5 5-8
7 41-156
5 79-120
9 3-8
6 95-100
7 1-4
6
3 11-24 
TILDEN AS A RING-BftEAKER.
THE FOLLOWING TABLE SHOWS:
1.-The amount of State tax levied on each county in 1874, the last year of
Governor Dix's administration.
2.-The amount of State tax to be levied on each county this year (1876), the
second year of Governor Tilden's administration, according to assess        ment of 1875.
The valuation of 1875 is used, as the valuation of 1876 has not yet been adjusted
by the State assessors.
State Tax 1876,  Saving to Each
on Valuation
of 1875.          County.
Albany —-------------------— $
Alleghany........    9853
Broome —---------------------           
Cattaraugus —--------------—.
Cayuga             -       - ----- - - - - ------
Chatauqua.O.s.64002.                                            9
Chemung —-----------------—.
Chenango —------------------ 
Clinton. —--------------------
Columbia... —-------------------
Cortland...... —------------------—.
Delaware —-----------------—.
Dutchess...2..113.     122
Erie —------------------------          
Essex ------------------------
Franklin —----------------- - - - -
Fulton —-------------------—.
Genesee —-------------------- 
Greene                                  2         23468           21344
Hamilton —-----------------—.
Herkimer --------------—. —--
Jefferson. —-------------------
Kings                                   7        734839          6246
Lewis —---------------------- 
Livingston ------------------—.
Madison...........
Monroe —-------------------—.
Montgomery —--------------—.
New York...........
Niagara -----------------------
Oneida.. —---------------------
Onondaga —----------------—.
Ontario —---------------------          
Orange -......     2,      14 04
Orleans.. —---------------------
Oswego -..4.,.7...6
Otsego....                  47999-142
Putnam                                  3         206971866.
Queens —-------------------— 2
Rensselaer........271.. 0926.     77
Richmond —---------------—.8
Rockland. —-------------------
44
State Tax
1874.
COUNTIES.
$360,102 45
63,961 90
68,101 67
67,226 07
138,163 77
123,264 05
69,426 51
87,490 61
46,269 97
158,547 76
46,655 11
64,55.1 93
234,404 28
407,545 65
43,687 32
38,756 34
26,868 12
98,636 54
44,771 27
4,058 59
78,466 14
115,462 42
1,435,944 79
30,760 90
101,354 64
74,705 22
277,529 77
70,924 05
8,012,386 00
105,960 09
212,239 53
242,350 70
128,781 30
203,888 71
74,184 91
110,553 45
89,352 50
39,316 31
208,289 58
207,718 00
58,976 92
68,303 71
$188,950 31
32,892 55
36,545 94
35,274 37
71,837 22
64,090 22
36,428 97
45,907 43
24,057 72
82,435 73
24,257 98
33,563 30
124,113 02
213,844 36
22,714 80
20,151 07
14,098 04
51,285 33
23,416 82
2,110 23
41,172 18
60,584 59
753,458 39
15,993 90
52,698 59
40,089 66
145,623 38
37,214 75
4,169,130 05
55,598 60
1.16,426 80
127,164 48
66,95, 88
110,446 90
38,925 76
58,008 79
47,949 94
20,629 76
111,776 09
108,992 26
31,649 25
36,654 36
$171,152 14
30,369 35
31,555 73
31,952 70
66,326 55
59,173 83
32,997 54
41,583 18
22,212 25
76,112 03
22,397 13
30,988 63
110,291 26
193,701 29
20,972 52
18,605 27
12,770 08
47,351 21
21,354 45
1,948 36
37,293 96
54,877 83
682,486 40
14,767 00
48,656 05
34,615 56
131,906 39
33,709 30
3,843,255 95
50,361 49
95,812 73
115,186 22
61,822 42
93,441 81
35,259 15
52,544 66
41,402 56
]8,686 55
96,513 49
98,725 74
27,327 67
31,649 35 
TILDEN AS A RING-BREAKER.
REDUCTION OF STATE TAXES-Continued.
State Tax 1876,
on Valuation
of ]875.
Saratoga ------------------—..
Schenectady... —--------------
Schoharie... —-------------------
Schuyler  --------------------
Seneca                                5        36637         3804
St Lawrence ------------------
Steuben. —-------------------
Suffolk —-------------------—.
Sullivan.... —----------------- 
Tioga... —---------- -----
Tompkins.. —------------------
Ulster.....- -----------------------
Warren.... —--------------------  
Washington...6                           5,51          47
Wayne............ I'  1055
Westchester    -----------—.-    - -
Wyoming.... —--------------------
Yates   -------------------------
$15,727,482 08
LOOK ON THAT PICTURE, THEN ON THIS.
The Republican heads of departments asked Congress to appropriate, for
the current year's expenses of the Federal Government, $203,099,025.
This amount was reduced by the Democratic House of R1epresentatives, which
impeached Belknap, to $138,752,340.   The amount was increased by the
Republican Senate, that refused to punish Belknap, to $158,260,598.  This
sum was again REDUCED by the Democratic House to $14,719,074.
This is $29,994,253 less than the appropriation of last year.
It is $55,39, 951  less than the amount asked for by the Administration.
It is $10,000,000 more than it would have been but for the obstinacy
of a factious Republican Senate.
Wvhy should the Republican estimates this year exceed those of last year
$25,435,698?  Was it to provide an election fund with which to perpetuate
the dynasty of Grant, Babcock & Co., under the new firm of Hayes & Wheeler?
45
I
I
State Tax
1874.
Saving to Each
County.
COUNTIES.
$43,089 87
20,366 91
18,622 62
13,661 94
33,804 47
50,260 12:
47,606 39
40,367 96
9,671 95
20,136 94
29,185 95
46,380 48,
10,049 43.
47,250 56
52,334 42
256,250 51
28,996 53,
26,765 40
$92,993 95
42,851 78
39,181 80
29,484 37
70,417-54
105,746 81
99,232 95
84,089 85
20,873 41
44,606 32
61,406 95
100,095 56
21,143 90
99,393 68
110,111 12
450,495 03
60,362 95
55,754 56
$49,904 08
22,484 87
20,559 18
15,822 43
36,613 07
55,486 69
51,626 56
43,721 89
11,201 46
24,469 38
32,221 00
53,715 08
11,094 47
52,153 12
57,776 70
194,244 52
31,366 42
28,989 16
$8,188,572 85 
R. B. HAYES'S RECORD.
A COMPLETE HISTORY OF HIS CONGRESSIONAL CAREER.
MR. HAYES ALWAYS A SUBSERVIENT FOLLOWVER OF PARTY LEADERS.
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES was elected a Representative from Ohio, in 1864, to the
Thirty-ninth Congress, and served on the Committee on Private Land Claims,
and as Chairman of the Committee on the Library. He was re-elected to the
Fortieth Congress, which met on the 4th of March, 1867, pursuant to an act of
Congress of January 22d, 1867, and adjourned on the 20th day of March, 1867,
until the first Wednesday (the third) of July, 1867. Congress met July 3d, 1867,
and continued in session until the 20th day of that month when it adjourned until the 21st day of November, 1867. Mr. Hayes resigned (luring the recess, and
SAMUEL F. CARY was elected, and served the unexpired term.
During Mr. HAYES'S service in Congress, THAD. STEVENS was the leader of the
House of Representatives, and wielded the party whip with all the arrogance and
intolerance of his domineering nature. He not only shaped the policy of his party
on political questions, but he exercised a predominant influence in moulding all
the important legislation enacted by Congress while he was a member of the
House.
Mr. HAYES is now the candidate of the Republican party for the Presidency,
and it is claimed by some distinguished men who formerly acted with the Republican party, but who cut loose from it in 1872, because it had become a mere
machine,' controlled by selfish party leaders, that he, if elected, will be independent, and not subserviently accept the dictum of the CAMERONS, MORTONS, CONKLINGS, CHANDLERS, BLAINES, SHEPHERDS and SPENCERS, who have run the present
administration, but that he will prove a genuine reformer, and fearlessly lay the
axe to the root of the many evils which afflict the public service.  This claim is
made by some so-called reform Republicans, who acted with the Democratic party
in 1872, in face of the fact that Mr. HAYES' nomination at Cincinnati was made
by delegates who  were  owned  and controlled by CAMERON, MORTON and
CONKLING, three of the most uncrupulous politicians of the Republican party.
THE MEN WHO NOMINATED MR. HAYES.
It was SIMON CAMERON who was made Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Foreign Relations when the Republican party leaders in that body determined to
46 
R. B. IIAVYES'S RECORD.
depose and degrade CHARLES SUMNER, who had for many years been at the head
of that important  Committee, simply  because he would  not surrender his
principles, and as THAD. STEVENS upon a memorable occasion exclaimed, "throw
conscience to the devil!" and blindly follow the lead of the administration in the
SAN DOMINGO',job! It was MORTON, the chosen defender of the administration,
and champion of the SAN DOMINGO job in the Senate, who led in this crusade
against Charles Sumner.
When the question of the annexation of San Domingo was under discussion in
the Senate, Morton, in reply to a speech made by SUMNER, said:  "If the Senatoi
means to impute to me the fact that I am a friend of the President, personally llnd
politically, he is quite right. I have been his friend and admirer ever since the battle
of Fort Donalson; and although  I sometimes disagree with him, perhaps in
regard to appointments, or perhaps in regards to measures, I always try to differ
with him in such a way as not to assault his personal character or to demor(atlize tla,
I)arty of othich he is the head.  A series of assaults have been made on the President, from time to time, ever since his inaufguration * scarce has one subsided before another is begun *  * but, sir, one by one these assaults have failed, utterly
failed; they have been exposed and have become contemptible to the people of this
country; the arrows of calumny have fallen harmless at his feet; and although it
has been frequently announced that the President has fallen, he always manages to
fall upon his feet; and so he will, I predict, throughout his administration, or his
connection with public life. * * * The assaults are of a personal character, and do
not touch the merits, the wonderful success of the administration."
THEY CONSIDER GRANT'S ADMINISTRATION GRAND BEYOND PRECEDEITT.
"The general results of this administration are grand-grand aliiost beyond a
precedent.    *    *    M1. PRESIDENT, the people do not look to these personal
considerations; they do not care whether Mr. Cox is Secretary of the Interior. or
Mr. DELANO; whether Mr. MOTLEY is Ambassador to the Court of St. James,
or Gen. SCHENCE.    *    *    I must say that the assault of the Senator from
Massachusetts upon the President this afternoon was most unprovoked and indefensible; it was not a difference from the President on mere political principles,
but he charged the President withi usurpation-with crimes. He compared his administration to that of BUCHANAN and to that of PIERCE, and denounced it as he
formerly denounced the administration of those predecessors; and, sir, he drew a
comparison, and I was pained to hear it, between SAGET, the murdering usurper
of the government of Hayti and President GRANT, much to() the disparagement of the
President of the United States.  SAGET, who murdeired SALNAVE in cold bloodSAGET who had led the'dance of blood' of which the Senator speaks-has
been held up to the admiration of the American people, in favorable comparison
with President GRANT!"
CONKLING, during the same debate, speaking of the proposition to depose
Mr. SUMNER and place another Senator at the head of the Committee on Forelign
Relations, said: "We are engaged in grave business, and without meaning personal offense to any man, and without anybody being responsible for it but myself, I say that not only in justice to that great party now charged wzth the admillit)-ation of the country, but in justice to the majority of this body and the modles
by which the public interests are to be conserved, the Committee on Foreign llelations should not be composed of those who have added insult to injury; who
array themselves not only in opposition to the administration, but are arrayed
thus in manner and in substance so as to make it impossible for the administration
to confer, as it has a right to do, with all the committees of this body."
CONKLING, MORTON AND CAMERON NOMINATED HAYES, nBUT BLAINE COMES IN.
Without the votes controlled by CONKLING, MORTON and CAMERON, or by either
one of them, Mr. HAYES could not have been made the nominiee of the Replublican party at Cincinnati.  Will he set himself up in opposition to these men if lihe
is elected President of the United States and presume to have a policy which is
not in accord with their views? His hrst act after receiving the news of his
nomination was to answer a congratulatory dispatch received from the jobber,
BLAINE, who would have been the.nominee of the Republican party had it not
been for the personal jealousy of CONKLING and MORTON. Immediately upon
the recept of the ners of HAYES' nomination, Mr. BLI,AINE, anxious to be on good
terms with his successful rival, and to have a voice in the control of his administration if he should be fortunate enough to be elected, sent the following dispatch:
4 j 
R. B. HAYESS RECORD.
WASHINGTON, Jutne 16, 1876.
l2o Gov. R. B. Hayes, Cotimbots, Ohtio:
I offer you mny sinicerest congratulations on your nomination.  It will be alike my highest pleasure, as my first political duty, to do the utmost in my power to promote your election.  The earliest
moments of my returned and confirmed health  will be devoted to securing you as large a vote in
Maine as she would have given for myself.                                        J. G. BLAINE.
Quiick as the lightning could speed it, Mr. Hayes sent the following answer
COLUMBUS, Ohio, June 16.
To JIon. J. G. Blaine, Washington:
Your kind dispatch has touched me most deeply, and I hardly know how to respond in fitting
terms.  The assurance of your sympathy and support nerves me for the contest in which we are
about to enter.  With your returning health and strength,I see all omen of Republican success.  I
trust that all trace of your recent illness will speedily disappear, that you may speedily be restored.
to your family and country.  I send you my first dispatch since the nomination.
B. B. HAYES.
If Mr. HAYES was so overwhelmed by this mark of attention on the part of the
jobber BLAINE, that he hardly knew "how to respond in fitting terms," what
must  be his feelings towardi CAMERON, CONKLING  and MORTON, who  defeated
BLAINE and secured his nomination!
MR. HAYES VOTED FOR EVERY SUBSIDY JOB.
There is still another test by which it can be determined whether MR. HAYES
is or is not a man of sufficient independence of character to set himself up in
opposition to the acknowledged leaders of his party and fashion the policy of his
administration according to the views of Mr.  SCHURZ or Mr. BRISTOW.   He
was a member of Congress during the period in which the Republican majority
of that body was led by THAD STEVENS in the House, and by MORTON, CAMERON,
and CONKLING in the Senate, and he was always a subservient follower of these
men. He never once dared to oppose a single measure which they championed;
his name is always found recorded along with theirs in the aye votes, by which
the legislation they originated was enacted. The flood-tide of jobbery and corruption which followed upon tne close of the civil war, was then at its height.
The Republican party had a "policy" in regard to subsidy and other jobbing
legislation, as well as in purely political matters.  The  " subsidy policy" was to
put through every job, no matter how enormous in its character, or how great its
demands upon the public domains, or the National Treasury.
There was a whole army of contractors, who, not satisfied with the millions
upon millions which they had wrung from the public treasury in the hour of our
country's direst needs, were beseeching Congress, during Mr. HAYES' service
in the House, for additional allowances.   Among others were the iron-clad
contractors.  These men had obtained contracts from the Navy Department during the war, to build iron-clad vessels. They alleged that the price of materials
had advanced after the contracts had been awarded to them.  This was admitted
by the Government and a Board composed of thle most experienced officers in the
Navy was appointed to supervise the building of the iron-clads, and to pass upon
the claims of the contractors for extra work required in consequence of the
changes made in the specifications by the naval constructors, and on account of
the increased cost of material.  All these claims were passed upon at the time,
the board of naval officers being familiar with all the details and disposed to deal
liberally and fairly with the contractors.  Mr.  WELIES, Secretary of the Navy,
testified in 1872, before at committee of the House of Representatives, not one of
these contractors ever complained that extra work done by them had not been
fairly paid for; and further that the application of these men to Congress for
further allowances was backed by one of the "strongest lobbies he, Mr. WELLES"
had ever seen about Washington."
MR. HAYES VOTES FOR THE IRON-CLAD CONTRACTORS' JOB.
The application of the iron-clad contractors for "relief" was made at the first
session, 39th Congress. Their claims amounted to a very large sutn, and, to provide for their payment, Congress enacted an" onmnibus" law, entitled "An Act
for the relief of certain contractors for the construction of vessels of war, and
steam machinery." This act was approved March 2d, 1867. [See Stats. at Large,
65, 67; vol. 14, page 424].  On a motion to postpone the consideration of this bill
in the House of Representatives, Mr. HAYES voted in the negative. [See Houm
Journal, 2d Session 39th Congress, pages 405-6.]
Mr. GLASSBRENNER, of Pennsylvania, (Dem.) moved to lay the bill on the
table.  On this motion Mr. HAYES voted in the negative and the motion did not
48 
R. B. IIAYES'S RECORD.
prevail.  The  question was then put, "Shall the bill pass." when  Mir. HAYES
voted in the affirmative. [See -House Jour., 2nd. Sess. 39th Cong., pages 472-3.]
The amounts obtained by these contractors under this legislation, are as
follows:
Secor & Co. and Perine, Secor & Co. ------------------------— $115,539 01
(tarris Loring ------------------------------------------— 38,513 00
Atlantic Iron Works of Boston. —------------------------------ 4,852 58
Aquilla Adams -------------------------------------------- 4,852 58
M. F. Merritt ----------------------------------------------- 4,852 58
T1omlinson, Hlartapee & Co. -------------------------------— 15,171 00
Harlan & Hollingsworth. ----------------------------------— 38,513 00
Pool&  Hunt. —-------------------------------------------- 3,694 81
Total. —--------------------------------------------  $225,988 56
There had been paid to the same contractors previously, to reimburse them for
alleged delays and for alterations which the Government caused them to make
in the vessels, over $1,400,000.  This  sum was in addition to the original con-tract price.
Secor & Co., and Perine, Secor & Co. had contracted to build three vessels for
the sum of $1,300,000. They had been paid in addition to this sum the sum of
'of $521,195.58 and Congress paid them the further sum, as above given, of
.$115,539.01.
HOW THE COMIANCHE JOB WAS PUT THROUGH WITH MR. HAYES' ASSISTANCE.
At the first session of the 40th Congress, one of the most notorious jobs that was
,ever manipulated by the lobby, was put through, by which $179,000 was taken
from the National Treasury.  It was for the iron-clad  Comarche.  It came up
in the House of Representatives on March 28, 1876, when JOHN A. LOGAN asked
and obtained leave to introduce a joint resolution which authorized and directed
-the Secretary of the Navy to return to the contractors Donohue, Ryan and Secor
the iron-clad Comanc7li, delivered at the Navy Yard at Mare Island, California, on
return of the amount paid the contractors by the Government for the construction
of said ship, together with the cost of guns, ammunition, and stores on board at
the time of delivery, and that Donohue, Ryan and Secor should have authority to
dispose of the same. After Mr. LOGAN made his statement, Mr. SCHENCK, of Ohio,
,asked leave to offer an amendment which Mr. Logan granted. Mr. WARD, of
New York, stated that this claim had been included in the "omnibus" bill above
e6ferred to, and objected to the consideration of the resolution, which could only
;be by unanimous consent, or by a suspension of the rules. The rules were susTpended, and Mr. SCHENCK offered his amendment.  The Speaker decided that it
was not in order unless the amendment contained the substance of the original
Tesoluition, whereupon Mr. SCHENCK said: "I ask what is the exact sum that is
named in it (the resolution), if it is not $179,000.80?"
"THE SPEAKER; It is.
- Mr. SCHENCK: I understand the contractors do not care about the 80 cents,
and therefore I will offer as an amendment the same resolution changing the sum
named to $179,000.
"THE SPEAKER: That is in order.
"Mr. WARD'  I believe it is not in order without a suspension of the rules.
This is a distinct proposition.      *
"THE SPEAKER: The rules having been suspended to allow the joint resolution, it is now in order that the iron-clad Comane7te resolution be considered in the
Hlouse; therefore an amendment which is germane is in order.
"Mr. SPAULDING: Is it not an amendment making an appropriation?
"THE SPEAKER: It is.
"Mr. SPAULDING. Then I object.
"The  SPEAKER:  The objection comes too late; the rules have been suspended.
"Mr. SPAULDING' The House, by a two-thirds vote, allowed this resolution to
'be considered, and on an amendment making an appropriation, I believe we have a
right to have another vote taken to suspend the rules requiring a bill or resolution making an  appropriation to be considered in the Committee of the
Whole.
"The SPEAKER: The rules have been suspended to introduce this resolution,
and it has been explained at some length; his armendment is germane, and is in
order; the suspension of the rules covers that point."
49 
R.  B.  HIAYEs'S  lECORD.
TAKING MONEY OUT OF THE NATIONAL TREASURY UNDER FALSE PRETENSES.
"Mr. SPAULDING: It enables them to get money from the Government under'
false pretenses.
"The SPEAKER: It does not, because a majority of the House is required to
pass the amendment; the only reason why bills containing appropriations are required first to be considered in Committee of the Whole is that members shall not
be surprised by the introduction of bills for the relief of claimants by appropriating money directly; hence the rule requiring that they shall be referred to the
Committee of the Whole."
The amendment of Mr. SCHENCK was to strike out all after the resolving clause,
and to insert the following:
"That there shall be and hereby is appropriated for the purpose of paying Dolln.
ohue, Ryan & Secor for loss sustained by them in the construction of the monitor
Comanche, the sum of $179,000, and the Secretary of the Navy is hereby directed
to pay the same out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated."
The question was taken on the adoption of this amendment, on which the ayes
and nays were ordered, and the result was, ayes, 63; nays, 41.  Among  those
voting in the affirmative was RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.  [See Coingressional Globe,
1st Ses. 40th Cong.; pages 421-25]
The Speaker who made the outrageous decision above quoted was SCIIUYLER
COLFAX, who was proved to have been concerned in the Credit Mobilier steal, by
the positive testimony of OAKES AMES, who produced the original checks with
which he paid him the price of his infamy.  The two men whose lead Mr. HAYES
followed in putting through the Camanche job-JOHN A. LOGAN and ROBERT  C.
SCHENCK-are too well known, having figured too recently in scandalous jobbing
to require further notice here.
THE SUBSIDY POLICY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY.
The policy of the Republican party in regard to "subsidy legislation" first assumed a definite character by the incorporation in 1862 of the Union Pacific Railroad, and the subsequent Act of July, 1864, by which the odd number of sections of
public land within twenty miles of the line on both sides were given to the Central
Union Pacific and Kansas Pacific Railroad Co's.; and, in addition, each company permitted to issue bonds equal to the amount per mile loaned by the
Government, the lien of the latter being subordinate to that of the former. The
amount of landed subsidy accruing under these grants to the above-named railroad
companies was, according to the report of the Commissioner of the General Land
Office for thie year 1869 [see page 70], about 35,000,000 of acres, or an area almost
equal to the whole of New England, and the total amount of Government bonds
issued to them and their branches, under the legislation of 1864, was $64,623,572,
and for this vast sum of money it must be remembered that the Government has
only a second mortgage security
During Mr. HAYES' service in Congress this policy of squandering the public
domain upon railroad corporations was the ruling one, and no less than seventeen
acts making grants of public lands to such. corporations passed while he was a
member of the House of Representatives.  On only seven of these acts were the
Democratic minority who opposed them able to obtain an aye and nay vote. But
every time a recorded vote is found in the proceedings of the House, Mr. HAYES.
is always found voting for these jobs.  He never, during the whole term of his
service in the 39th Congress, and the first and second sessions of the 40th Congress, opposed either by his voice or vote one of these land grant acts.
GRIDIRONING MINNESOTA WITH RAILROAD LAND GRANTS.
At the first session of the 39th Congress, the following was passed: "An  act
to amend an act making a grant of lands to the State of Minnesota and aid in the
construction of the railroad from St. Paul to Lake Superior, approved May 5th,
1864."  Approved  July  13th,  1866.   [See  Stats. at Large,  1865-6, vol. 14,
page 93.]
This act provides that in case it shall appear, when the line of the Lake Supe-'
rior and Mississippi Railroad is definitely located, that the quantity of land intended to be granted by the said act in aid of the construction of the said road,
shall be deficient by reason of the line running near the boundary line of Minnesota, the said company shall be entitled to take from the public lands of the, 
R. B. HAYES'S IECORD.'
United States, within thirty miles of the west line of said road, such an amount
of land as shall make up such deficiency, provided that the same shall be taken
in alternate sections as provided for in such act.
Mr. DONELLY, of Minn., from the Committee on Public Lands, reported back
the bill on the 28th day of June, 1866. At the same time he reported back a
bill of the Senate making an additional grant of land to the State of Minnesota,
in alternate sections, to aid in the construction of railroads in the State.  Also a
House bill granting land to the State of Minnesota for the establishment of an
asylum for tho relief of disabled sailors and soldiers of that State and of the
United States. These bills were reported together in order that, under cover of
the last, providing for the relief of soldiers and sailors, the two jobs embodied in
the two first-named acts might be smuggled through. The bills were severally
passed without a division.
When Mr. DONELLY reported the bill to amnend the act making a grant of
land to the State of Minnesota to aid in the construction of the railroad from St.
Paul to Lake Superior, Mr. MORRILL said, "I would like to make an inquiry or
two of the gentleman in relation to this matter. I would like to know how many
more of these bills there are behind. We seem to be passing these measures
without knowledge, so far as I can understand, as to what they are. We have
already passed a bill living 640 acres of the most valuable land in the United
States (meaning that donated to the Soldiers' and Sailors' Asylum). I do not
know that the gentleman has seen a map of the State of Minnesota, such as I
saw a day or two since. If I had it here, so as to show the House the lines
drawn across it indicating the grants that had been given the railroads, I think it
would rather surprise the House. And it is the same with other Western States.
These Western States are covered all over with railroad grants as with a gridiron; the whole country completely braided. I think that no bill in relation to
these railroads ought hereafter to be passed without a close inspection by the
House.
Mr. LEWIS W. Ross said: "I will say that if we have not given Minnesota more
than a fourth of our public lands in that State, it might be as well for the gentleman (Mr. Donelly) to introduce a bill to give the State the balance." [See Contgresionatl Globe, vol. 59, page 3464.]
Mr. MORRILI, moved to lay the bill on the table, and on that motion demanded
the ayes and nays.
Mr. HAYES voted in the negative to lay the motion on the table. The bill was
then passed. [See House Joul-., 1st session 39th Congress, pages 923-4.]
MR. HAYES HELPS ALONG THE CREDIT MOBILIER JOB.
At the same session there was passed an act "To amend an act entitled an act
to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River
to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure the Government the issue of the same for postal, military and other purposes, approved July 1st, 1862, approved July 2d, 1864."
This last named act amending the two former was approved July 3d, 1866.  [See
Statutes at Large, pages 65-7; vol. 14, pages 79 and 80.]
The act authorizes the "Union Pacific Railroad Company, eastern  divisioj
(Kansas Pacific), to designate the general route of their road and to file a map
thereof, as required by law, at any time before the 1st day of December, 1866; and
upon the filing of the said map, showing the general route of said road, the lands
along the entire l'ine thereof, so far'sthe same may be designated, shall be reserved
fromn sale by order of the Secretary of the Interior
" Pri-ovided, That said company shall be entitled to only the same amount of the
bonds of the United States to aid in the construction of their line of railroad and
telegraph as they would have been entitled to if they had connected their said line
with the Union Pacific Railroad on the one hundredth degree of longitude, as
now required by law
"Protded furthter, That said company shall connect their line of railroad and
telegraph with the Union Pacific Railroad, but not at a point more than fifty miles
westwardly from the meridian of Denver in Colorado.
"That the Union Pacific Railroad Company, with- the consent and approval of
the Secretary of the Interior, are hereby authorized to locate, construct and continue their road from Oipaha in Nebraska Territory, westward, according to the
best and most practicable route, and without reference to the initial point on the
one hundredth meridian of west longitude, as now provided by law, in a continuous, completed line, until they shall meet and connect with the Central Pacific
51 
R. B. hIAYES'S RECORD.
Railroad Company of California, and the Central Pacific Railroad Company of
California with the consent of the Secret'ry of the Interior, are hereby authorized
to locate, conduct and continue their road eastward, in a continuous completed
line, until they shall meet and connect with the Union Pacific Railroad:
"Provided, That each of the above named companies shall have the right, when
the nature of the work to be done, by reason of deep cuts and tunnels, shall for
the expeditious construction of the Pacific Railroad require it, to work for an extent of not to exceed three hundred miles in advance of their continuous completed line."
The bill passed the House of Representatives on the 26th day of June, 1866.
The question being on its passage, Mr. HAYES voted in the affirmative.  [See House
Joturnal, 1st Session, 39thll Congress, page 911.]
ALSO HELPS ALONG THIE KANSAS PACIFIC STEAIl.
The Pacific Railroad, eastern division, known as the Kansas branch, was required by the Statute to locate its route within a given period of time, which period
had elapsed. The object of the first section of this bill was to extend that time
until the 1st of December, 1866, otherwise there was a forfeiture of its property,
franchises, &c., to the United States.
Originally the branch roads of the Union Pacific Railroad were to go to the
initial point on the one hundredth mcc'idian. The route of the Kansas branch, west
of the meridian of Fort Riley, was to be determined by the President of the United
States, on actual survey   Two years were allowed them to file their maps in the
office of the Secretary of the Interior, for the purpose of having their route designa-ted. The President never determined the route. The Act of 1864 gave either
of the branches a rigilt to unite with the Union Pacific Railroad, and go westward as far as they pleased without reference to the initial point, provided they
should have no more than $16,000 per mile up to the one hundredth degree. It
also extended the time for filing the map. After the Kansas route had been extended to Fort Riley, and had one hundred and sixteen or one hundred and twenty
miles in running order, they came to the conclusion that the best route was upon
the Smoky Hill branch.  They filed maps for the purpose of taking up the Smoky
-Hill route,' but the Attorney-General decided that the maps were filed too late.
The company, therefore, asked that the act might be passed giving them until
December 1st, 1866, to file their maps and designate their route the same as if it
had been done within the time required by previous acts.
This bill came up in the House June 26th, 1866, THAD. STEVENS of Pennsylvania having charge of it. In calling it up he said, "This is a very short bill;
and I gave notice yesterday that I would call it up to-day and ask a vote upon itit in fact does not propose an enactment of a new law; it is simply designed to
correct a mistake in an act already passed."
Mr. WILSON, of Iowa, wanted to have the bill referred to the Committee on
Pacific Railroads, with leave to report at any time, and he proposed an amendment which provided that no mineral lands should be included in the grant already made to these companies, but his principal object was to amend the clause
in the bill which repealed that portion of the act of 1864 allowing the Union
Pacific Railroad to build up to within one hundred and fifty miles of the California State line.
STEVENS CRACKS THE PARTY WHIP AND HAYES FOLLOWS.
"Mr. STEVENS objected and said it would kill the bill.
"Mr. DAWES of Massachusetts wanted Mr. Stevens to consent to set a day for
the discussion of this bill.
"Mr STEVENS  I do not see how setting it down for discussion on a particular
day would do any good.
"Mr. DAWES: I understood the gentleman to say that it would be the death of
the bill  upon what ground could it injure the bill to have it fairly discussed so
that it could be understood on all sides?
"Mr  STEVENS. I suppose that every man who desires to understand it, knows
what it is now. I am sure that my intelligent friend from Massachusetts understands it.
"Mr. DAWES. I will say frankly that I am not in favor of the bill, while I feel
if it was set do'wn for a fair discussion on some day, perhaps some of us could so
explain it to tlie House that the House would understand its merits, but the
gentleman says that would kill it.
52 
It. 13. IIAYES'S RECORD.
"Mr. STEVENS: NO, it would loit kill it if the House understood it, but my friend
is so good at mystifying that lie might possibly so encloud it that some gentlemen
would vote against it without knowing what it was."
STEVENS with his usual success cracked the party whllip, and those opposed to
the bill were not able to have it even referred to the Committee on Pacific Railroads.  While MAr. STEVENS was explaining the provisions of the bill, MAr. HIBY,
a Representative from California, asked and obtained permission to have read at
the clerk's desk, the following extract from the remarks of Senator CONNESS,
which had been made in the Senate five years previous:
"Mr. PRESIDENT, I ask the attention of every Senator in the Senate to a statement I am now about to make, and I challenge a contradiction of it.  IHow did
that provision of the law obtain-how (lid it come to be the law? I will tell you,
Senators.  In 1864, the Senate passed ai Pacific Railroad bill; I had a copy of it
before me this morning. Tlhe  louse of Representatives passed another; the Senate
refused to pass the House l)ill, and the House refused to pass the Senate bill; the
matter was referred to a committee ot conference upon the questions of disagreement. In neither of these bills did this abitrary condition that I have nanmed confining one of these great companies to one hundred and fifty miles east of the Califor
nia line, occur. It was not in either bill; there was not ai, word ol a title of it in
eitliher. I was a meml)er of the Conference Committee that met in the room on
Public Laids in the Senate.  The Hon. Senator who is now Secletary of the
Interior, (Mir. HARI,AN,) was chairman of that conference. I sat there pending that
entire conference; point by point, the differences between the two Houses were
arranged and agreed upon, and I undertake to say here that that arbitrary condition now of the law and in the law when it was printed never was considered in
that conference.  It was stolen in through the corruption of some parties or the
clerk who eventually made up the report."
A FIGIIT BETWEEN TWO MONSTER CORPORATIONS.
This was a fight between the monster corporations, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad Companies. By thlLe paragraph which was stolen into the
bill of 1864, as stated by Senator Colness in the above extract, the Union Pacific
Railroad was allowed to build westward until it reached a point within 150 miles
of the eastern boundary of California.  The men who controlled this corporation
were, by means of the Credit Mobl)ilier swindle, stealing the entire proceeds of the
government bond subsidy, and of course the longer their road the more they
c(ould steal.  The Central Pacific Railroad had a Credit Mobilier arrangement
also-the Contract and Finance Company —)by which they were stealing the governmient bonded subsidy also, and hence they did not want to be confined and obliged
to stop at 150 miles beyond the eastern boundary of California.   On the passage
of this bl)ill Mr. HAYES voted in the affirmative. [See Coigr'e.siotal Globe, VYol. 59,
pages 3420-4.]
Tile Union Pacific Eastern Division, or Kansas Pacific Railroad was originally
chartered( as the Leavenworth and Pawnee and Western Railroad Company.  Gen.
Jolhn C. Fremont was the leading spirit in the enterprise, at least his name.was
used, and his influence with prominent  Republican politicians was expected to
car'ry tlirouehI Congress any job the promoters of the scheme might originate.
Associated with Fremont was Mr. Hallet, who was a capitalist.  An arrangement was finially made through Joe Stewart, the intimate friend of Speaker BLAINE
and a famous Washington lobbyist, by which the conflicting interest between the
Union Pacific Railroad and the Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railroad Company were adjusted, and the latter company, after being known for the time as the
Kansas Pacific, finally became the Union Pacific Eastern Division. In settling
the liabilities of the old company, which were assumed by the new organization,
a paper was furnished the managers of the Union Pacific Eastern Division in
which all the cash liabilities, as well as the contracts to convey lands granted to
this company, were set down.  This document is interestinig in this connection
because it shows themanner in which such legislation was granted at the 1st
session of the 39th Congress through the support of RUTRHERFORD B. HAYES and
other Republicans who. followed blindly party leaders like TIIAD STEVENS.
53 
R. B. HAYES'S RECORID.
THE PRICE OF SUBSIDY LEGISLATION.
Cs7t Lial7zta'8, otiter than Compuny'8 Delaware Laxtl8 ad dents de &oae, ict,
and iifDowell, April 13tn, 1863
T. F. Cowan, Penn., 5 notes of $1,000 —-----------------------— $5,000 00
R. G. Corwin, Dayton, Ohio —------------------------------— 10,000 00
R. W. Thompson —---------------------------------------— 5,000 60
Balance due certain Pottawattamie Chiefs —--------------------— 1,883 60
Whitely, of New York llr(f id —-------------------------------— 200 60
W. W. Backus, of Leavenworth —-----------------------------— 116 60
Gen'l James Cooper, Fredenek, Maryland —--------------------— 1,000 00
Mark Delehay, Surveyor-General, Kansas —----------------------— 593 32
C. B. Gunn, Engineer, Leavenworth, Kansas —-------------------    242 20
Sylvester dbury, Columbus, Ohio —--------------------------— 250 60
Clark, Gruber & Co., supposed overdrawn bank account —---------— 1,715 48
$20,000 60
With the exception of the item in the above statement entitled Balance due
certain Pottawattamie Chiefs, " and three other small items, the whole of this
amount was for services rendered, or supposed to be rendered, at Washington
to secure legislation from Congress.
The manner in which lands obtained by this Company were also given away as
lobby fees for services in Washington, will be seen by the following extracts from
the document above referred to:
"Del((w(t'e L((td8 coarelled and contracted to  conveyed y the Leavenworth,
P(fwncc and TVc8te)i Railroad Company to sundry persons, to wi.t:-A general
statement from the Secretary of the Company, now in our possession, shows the
number of acres conveyed by quit-claim deed, without a cost consideration, but
The number of acres conveyed ----------------------------— 11,441 56
R. AIcBratney (Gen'l Pomeroy's friend), a contract for $2,500; hlie has
selected and received a quit-claim deed for all but ----------------— 640 00
S. A. Simpson (Kansas) has a contract for ------------------------- 320 00
Thomas G. Gladding and others, Leavenworth City                 -------- 2,560 00
W. P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs ------------------    1,280 00
R. W. Latham, Washington City, Attorney's fees, and editor of Leaven     worth Con,sercvative, and brother of our M. C.. ------------------ 960 00
$17,231 50
In addition to the above the following list of stock promised to be issued to secure a ratification of the Delaware and Pottawatamie Indian treaties, and the
passage of the Pacific Railroad bill, was furnished to the new company, and the
stock as set down thereon was afterwards issued.
LIST OF STOCK
Issued and to be issued, slebject to assessiment, and not subject to assessment; and the
naames of the parties of the leaveitworth, Pawn)ee and Wester g Rctilroad Company:
We have compared the within with the original Confidential Statement of Stock,
issued and to be issued, and find it a true copy.
(Signed)                         CLARK BELL,
28th MIay, 1863.                                              J. H. McDOWELL.
Thle Leavenworth, Pawnee and Western Railway Stock Contracts, made for
the Company, to secure the ratification of the Delaware and Pottawatamie Treaties, and the passage of the Pacific Railway Bill:
No. OF SHAREs
NAIES.                     REMARKS.            ISUBJECT TO ASSESS- NO O F SHARE S
M~~~~~~~~~~~~~1ENT.I
______   ENT.  -NOT SUBJECT.
R. McBratney, Kansas....... Supposed to be for S. C. Pom- 2,600 issued $130,000.
eroy 
W. W. Gaylord.............. ".... 2,000 issued $100,000 Think you under                                                                                                                                stand this g'tl'n.
E. W. Chase, Chaseville, N.Y. But  little service rendered................ 1,000 iss'd. $50,000
mostly blackmail.
Henry Bennett, Elmira, N. Y. Supposed to be for H Bennett, 20,000 iss. $1,000,000..................
J. P. Usher,Caleb Smith and,
R. W. Thompson.  Usher
and  Bennett  right;  let
Smith and Thoml)sonl slide.'
54 
R. B. HAYES'S RECORD.
No. OF SHARE     S
SUBJECT TO AssEss       MENT.
(Services rendered)...........
(Right).......................
Magall..................~~~~kn' o~w..n'o't'h i''g''a'b' o' u't' i't.33 0"ss.$00.
(Right).............................
Know nothing about it.......
........
,Right)......................
(See note above).............
Right........................
200 n't iss'd$10,000
..................
900iss'd...$4510,000
..................
200 iss'd... $10,000
..................
I................:..
800 iss'd...$40,000
..................
200 iss'd...$10,noW
..................
I..................
..................
400 iss'd...$20,000
700 iss'd...$35,000
300  iss'd...$15,000
1,000 n't;ss$50,000
100 ni't iss'd   $5,000
100 iss'd....$5,000
200 n't iss. $10,000
400iss'd...$20,000
100in't iss'd.$5,000
100 iss'd.... $5,000
........................
..................
100 ni't iss'd  $5,000
..................
200 iss'd...$10,000
..................
............. I....
....'''.........
500 iss'd... $25,...
260 iss'd...$118,000
330 iss'd...16,500
80 iss'd.....$4,000
..................
..................
..................
I..................66
400 n't iss. $20,000
2,000 iss'd $100,000
.........................
400  iss'd...... $20,000
...................
.300 iss'd....$15,000
100 iss'd.....$5,000
...................
200 issued  and  trans  ferred..... $10,000
..................................
200  iss'd....   $10,000
500 iss'd...  $25,000
5,900 iss'd.. $195,000
....................
.....................
....................
I....................
.....................
....................
..........................
....................
....................
800...iss. $20,00
100 iss'd.... $5,000
......................
2,400  iss d.. $120,000
1,000 iss'd...$50,000
..,0.............$.
40 iss'd...... $2,000
200 iss'd..... $10,000
l00 iss'd...... $5,@00
....................
....................
4.00   n tiss $200,000
:3,000 iss'd.. $150,000
............... $20,000,
10,000 n'it iss$50,0(00
1,000 n't iss.. $50,000
..................
....................
..............,..............................20.ssd.$1,0
Supposed to be for C. Mitch  ell, of Indiana.............
(Right)....................
Supposed to be for T. Ste  vens.......................
Know nothing about him....
L~th~os                                                              70is's350
Rightha................d.
BieKnow nothing abo ut him....
Ba o   ae...Right.........................
Right........................
(Do no t know)..............
Right........................
Black-mail....................
Do not know................
Supposed Forney's friend (do
not know).............
(Right).........................
California Friend (right).....
.....
Do not know................
Right.......................
Do not know................
(Right).......................
Black-mail..................
.e.......................
ght)......................
~. F. Camp, N.Y. City &.,th.........30isd..$150.000
(Out Camp to t'the red.)
Supposed to be for Carlisle,
of Va......................
.............................
Supposed to be for Wilkinson
A      ct in reference to the future
Supposed to be for T. Ste  vens and others.
No obligation for the past;
look to the future.
.............................
Supposed to be for Simmons,
R.I. The s rvices contem  plated were not rendered in
full.
Supposed to be for Simmons,
R. 1. See note on Cheever.
(Right).......................
Do not know.................
Right.................$                 0.
Right........................
.,
......................
No service....................
(Right).....................
Hold it over them in terror...
(Right).......................
Gen'l Lee's son-in-law, (right)
(Right).......................
Right........................
(No service)..................
Right..............
Gen'l Lane's friend.  Right..
...................
100 iss'd.....$5,000
1,0   i.s s... $60,000
100 iss'd......$5,000
50  i'ss......$25,00o
1,400 iss'd.. $120,0(K)
100 n't iss'd... $5,000
50n't's ssd... $2,500
91400 n't iss. $470,000
40iin't iss'd.. $20,00
100 iss'd.... $5,000
10 iss'd...... $5,000
I. F. Bennett, Colorado....
Whiteley, N.Y. Herald....,
Martin, California............
..............
'Frat4-g)ot, N. Y..............
............
J. N. Cuitt...................
Hon. S. S. Pllins, Mo.......
Ross,  Fletcher., Holliday
and Stinson, Kansas.....
Fielding Johnson,;Kaasas...
.C. Adams.....................
W. W. Bochus, Leavenworth
Gen. J. H. Lane.............
J. Moran, Mo...............
"Josiah Miller, Kansas.......
.Chester Howard..............
I
55
No. or SHARES
NOT SUBJFCT.
4 O
NA31ES.
REMARKS.
G. W. Weston, Washington
Henry Bennett, Elmira,
11               11
Magall..................
11
..................
.J. M. Shackelford, Kentucky
Wm. Holloway...............
E. W. Chase, Chasevi-Ile.....
S. Reynolds...................
11
...............
-Hon. T. L. Price, Mo.........
,J. F. Cowan..................
Marsto . 11................
Lathlm- p.....................
IKing.........................
,Brown......................
R. W. Latham...............
Bridges.... t.................
Blaine, of Maine..........
Mrs. Wallis, of N. Y. Herald
Thornington.................
J. i'4. Winchell...............
Dewey, N. Y.................
Walker.....................
,Jones........;..............
,,C A. Trowbridge, Detroit....
.....................
Bel",g. - - -..............
'Wilson, e'S'.'.".'
B, P. Poore..................
M. J. Parrott...... - - - - - - - - - -
Siii-ipsoi-i, liansas.............
R. S. Steve'ls, Kansas........
Gen. J. Cooper.
S. W. Jo as......
J3. F. Cap, N.Y. City & oth'k;
-. G.'Usher..................
,C. Babcock, Kansas..........
11
...........
-J. F. Cowan, Penn...........
100 iss'd.....$5,000
...................
.....................
F. P. Stanton, Kansas......
..................
100 iss'd.... $5,000
500 n't iss.. $25,000
,6......... W................
heever, as ingtoil........
R. W. Lathani...............
300 n't iss.. $15,OW
i)' I d.'$'5,'0'0'0
i's,3'd'.'$'1'0','0'0'0
..................
..................
..................
A' i's's "d'.'.''$'1'0','0'0 0
..................
..................
..................
................
..................
. —, ---- ---- 
It. B. HAYES'S RECORD.
No. of Shares subject to Assessment.
70,140 Shares $3,507,000.
Original Stock Subscribed to Orgaaize the Comn
2,350
72,490
Add Stock not subject to
Assessment,
Aessesment,       13,020                     651,000
82,510                    $4,275,500
Pottawatamie Lands contracted to be conveyed to sundry persons by the L&even
wtorth, Pawnee &  Vestern Railroad Company, as follows, to wit:
R. McBratney, Register of the Land Office, Junction City, Kansas, Pome     roy's friend —------------------------------------------ 2,500
Lathrop ----------------------------------------------—'- 500
Blaine, of Maine                      —. —------------------------------------— 1,000
R. W. Latham, Washington City ---------------------------- 160
F.-P. Stanton, Kansas -------------------------------------- 640
W. P. Dole, Commissioner of Indian Affairs. ----------------- 1,280
Pottawatamie Men -------------------------------------- 1,920
W. W. Ross, Pottawattamie Agent. —----------------------—. 320
For Catholic Mission, on Pattawatamie reservation ------------- 960
C. E. Mix, Indian Officer, Washington ------------------------ 640
Ash White. —-------------------------------------------- 320
10,240 acres
Governraent Lands conveyed and contracted to be cotveyed by the Leavenworth
Pawnee & Western Railroad Company, to sundrylpersons, to wit -:
R. McBratney, Register of the Land Office, Junction City ------- 20,000
G. W. Chase, New York -------------------------------—. 5,000
J. F. Cowan --------------------------------------------- 2,500
Marsten, New Hampshire. —-------------------------------- 2,000
Lathrop.. —---------------------------------------------- 3,000
Brown, supposed to be Forney's friend. —-------------------- 5,0.00
Bridges. —---------------------------------------------- - 500
Blaine, of Maine. —------------------------------------- 2,000
Thorington ------------------------—' —----------------- 2,500
Jonfes, Forney's friend —----------------------------------- 1,280
C. A. Trowbridge, Detroit. —-------------------------------- 2.000
J. F. Cowan, for persons unknown -------------------------— 5,000
F. P. Stanton, Kansas ------------------------------------ 2,640
Cheever, of Washington City, supposed to be for Simonis, of R. I. 10,000
R. W. Latham, supposed to be for Simons, of R. I. —-------- 1,000
W. P. Dole,Commissioner of Indian Affairs. —--------------- 3,840
68,260 acres
ANOTHER LARGE JOB SUPPORTED BY MR. HAYES.
An act was also passed at the same session of Congress entitled "An act grantinglands to the State of Kansas, to aid in the construction of a Southern Branch of
the Union Pacific Railway and telegraph, from Fort Riley, Kansas, to Fort Smith,
Arkansas," which was approved July 26, 1866 [see Statutes at Large 186(t-6,7, Vol.
14, pp. 289-90-91].  It grants to the State of Kansas, for the use and benefit of theUnion Pacific Railroad Company, southern branch, to aid in the construction of said
railroad fromn Fort Riley, Kansas, to Fort Smith, Arkansas, every alternate section
of land or parts thereof, designated by odd numbers, to the extent of five alternate
sections per mile on each side of said road, and not exceeding in all ten sections.per mile.
While the bill was pending in the House the question was taken, shall the bill.
be read a third time? and it was decided in the negative.  Mr. RADFORD moved
to reconsider, then moved to lay the motion to reconsider on the table. The,
House refused to lay the motion to reconsider on the table.  On the motion to lay
the motion to reconsider on the table, Mr. HAYES voted in the negative.  The vote
by which the bijl was rejected was then re-considered, Mr. HAYES voting in the
affirmative. The bill was then passed. [See House Journal, 1st Session 39th Cotngress, pp. 1094-5-6.)
56
Nq* of Shares not subject to Assessment.
13,020 Shares, $651,000.
117,500 (cut them off.)
$3,624,500 
R. B. HAYES'S RECORD.
There was a grant of land nMade to a railroad March 3, 1863, from Fort Leavenworth by Lawrence to the southern boundary line of Kansas, in the direction of
Galveston bay. In connection with that grant there was a grant from Fort Riley
running in a southeastern direction to intersect that road near the southern boundary of Kansas. This act repeats that grant and brings the two into one line; and
also extends it from the road running from Lawrence in a southern direction towards Galveston bay. The act extends the Fort Riley road across that road to
Fort Smith, in Arkansas, so as to make a continuous railway from the Mississippi
river, by Little Rock, to Fort Riley, thence in a southwestern direction to Fort
Smith, connecting with the Pacific Road.
Pending its consideration in the House, Mr. LAWRENCE, of Ohio, said:  "This
bill grants ten sections on each side of the road for each mile of load.  It covers
an extent of forty miles wide, the grant being by alternate sections. It is not ten
sections per mile, but ten on each side of the road, equal to twenty sections per
mile.  If that )be the design of the House, let the House understand it.  If it be
not, let that also be understood.  Let the bill be made to conform to and carry out
the purpose of the House."
"As the bill is now drawn, it is not ten sections per mile, but ten sections per
mile on each side of the road; and being in alternate sections it will extend over a
country forty miles wide.  It strikes me that is twice as much as was ever granted
before. It admonishes us of the evil of having these bills passed hastily without
proper examination. I do not want to object if this is in the usual form of such
bills. I know there are grave objections to disposing of our public lands in this
-way. It destroys our homestead system. It withdraws public lands from settlement and places them in the hands of corporations. But I do not expect the
H ouse to change its policy of granting lands for railroad purposes.' * * [Cong.
Globe, Vol. 60, p. 4061.]
The bill was subsequently amended by striking out "ten" and inserting "five"
to meet the suggestion of Nir. LAWRENCE.
THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFIC RAILROAD JOB.
The following act was also passed at the same session of Congress, to wit"An act granting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph
line from the States of Missouri and Arkansas to the Pacific coast," and it was
approved July 27th, 1866 [See Statutes at Large, 1865-67, vol. 14, pp. 292 to 299. ]
The act incorporates the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad Company, and grants to
them every alternate section of pubilic lands, not mineral, designated by odd numbers, on each side of said railroad line through the Territories of the United States,
and ten alternate sections of land per mile on each side of said railroad whenever
it passes through any State.
The bill passed the House of Representatives July 26, 1866, Mr. HAYES voting
in the affirmative on its passage.
The route of said road is fixed by the act as follows: Beginning at or near the
town of Springfield, in the State of Missouri, thence to the Western boundary
line of said State. and thence by the most eligible railroad route as shall
be determined by said Company, to a point on the Canadian river,
thence to the town of Albuquerque, on  the  river  Del Norte, and thence,  by
the way of Aqua Frio, or other suitable pass, to the headquarters of
the   Colorado   Chiquito,  and   thence,  along   the   thirty-fifth  parallel
of latitude, as near as may be found most suitable for a railway route, to the Colorado river, at such point as may be selected by said company for cro(ssing; thence
by the most practicable and eligible route to the Pacific. The said company shall
have the right to construct a branch from the point at which the road strikes the
Cadadian river, eastwardly, along the most suitable route as selected, to a point in
the western boundary line of Arkansas, at or near to town of Van Buren.
FIFTY MILLION ACRES OF TIlE PUBLIC DOMAIN GIVEN AWAY.
The capital stock of said company was fixed at one million shares of one hulln-,
dred dollars each. During the consideration of the bill in the House, Mr. WILsON,
of Iowa, said:  "I wish my colleague (Mr. PRICE) would state to the House how
much land per mile and how much in the aggregate this bill grants."
Mr. PRICE said:  "I will answer my colleague (Mr. WILsON) by reading from
the bill. (Here he read the clause of the bill fixing the amount.) And, as I said
before, that is about as much as is granted to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company."
57 
Mr. WILSON, of Iowa:  "I ask the gentleman to state in round numbers the
number of acres of land that is given."
Mr. PRICE: "I have as high respect for my colleague as I have for any gentleman upon this floor; and I will say now, for I may not have the opportunity
again, that if I was delivering his eulogy I would say that he is a good lawyer and
an honest man, and it is with great respect that I ever differ with him."
Mr. WILSON, of Iowa:  "Of course, I am  very glad to hear all that; but the
gentleman does not answer my question."
Mr. PRICE:  "Before you can tell how much there is in anything you must
know how wide it is and how long it is.  Now, I only know how wide this road
is, but I do not know how long it is."  [See Corkq. Globe, Vol. 60, p. 4182-83.]
Congress passed at the second session of the 39thl Congress, "An act granting
lands to the State of Oregon to aid in the construction of a Military Wagon Road
from Dallas City, on the Columbian River, to Fort Boise, on the Snake River."
It was approved February 25, 1867. [See Statutes at Large, 1865-67, ~ 14, p.
409.]
The road is about two hundred and seventy. five miles in length.  The act
grants alternate sections of lands designated by odd numbers to the extent of
three sections in width on each side of said road. It passed the HIouse of Represenltatives on the 19th day of December, 1866, and on its passage Mr. HAYES voted
in the affirmative.  (Hotuse Joiurna(l, 2d Session 39th Congress, 99,)
OTHERS ALARMED BY MR. HIIAYES S SCHIEME.
Pending its consideration in the House Mr. LE BLIOND said:  "It certainiy
has become alarming to see the quantity of land donated by the Congress of the
United States for these private purposes. As I understand it, this bill is based
upon the alleged necessity of a military road in the State of Oregon.  If I understand the history of these land grants, the real object of all such bills as this is to
confer public lands upon private corporations organized within the several States.
I think Congress should consider whether they are willing to donate the public
domain in this wholesale manner, without any beneficial result being obtained for
the Government of the United States. I think it is time that we put a stop to
this wholesale system of disposing of the public domain."  (Cong. Globe, vol. 61,
p. 201.)
An act granting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad from the city of
Stockton to the town of Copperopolis, in the State of California, was passed at
the second session of the 39th Congress, ant was approved March  2, 1867.  [See
Statutes at Large, 1865-67, Vol, 14, pp. 54849-50.]
SMITTI'S GIFT ENTERPRISE.
It grants alternate sections of public land, designated by odd numbers to the
extent of five alternate sections, on each side of said railroad.   The road commnences at the city of Stockton, in the State of California, which is at the head
of navigation on the St. Joachim river, and is to run easterly to the town of
Copperopolis, a distance of about 38 miles.  It was estimated that the company
would get from 125,000 to 150,000 acres of land. It passed the House of Representatives March 2, 1867, and upon its passage MR. HAYES voted in the affirmative.  [See Hoi.se Jo'r i,al, 2d Session 39thl Congress,  pp. 592-3.]
Pending its consideration in the House, Mr. WRIGHT said: "I think this is a
gift enterprise, and the less we have to do with it the better." (Conr. Globe, vol
63, p. 1769.)
It will be observed that Mr. Price, who  managed the bill incorporating the
Atlantic and Pacific Railroad, stated, in answer to the inquiry of Mr. Wilson,
of Iowa, that the land grant conveyed by this act to the corporation was equal
to that given to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. Now, the Northern
Pacific Railroad Company grant, according to the report of the Commissioner of
-tlie General Land Office for i6.', amounts to about fifty millions of acres.  The
extent of the pul)lic domain granted to railroad corporations by these various
ac'ts supported by Mr. HAYES, is equal to an area greater in extent than that
covered by the States of New York, Pennsylvaninia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and
Iowa.  The fegislation by which this vast extent of public  land was given
away did not all originate in the Thirty-ninth  Congress, but  the legislation
of the Thirty-ninth Congress revived old grants and extended in others the
-time for the completion of' the r(oad(s, so that pra(tically' the domain was alienated
. 13. I:IAYES'S RECORD.
'58 
R. B. IIAYES'S RECORD.
by the various acts above referred to, just as much as if new grants had been
made by them. For without this legislation, which received the support of Mr.
HAYES, the grants would have lapsed, and thus the public lands would have been
left for the benefit of settlers.
WHAT IS TO COME IN THE FUTURE.
Three of the monster corporations which have already, through the friendship
of the men who control the Republican party, been gorged with enormous land
grants, are still seeking still other favors at the expense of the tax-payers. The
Atlantic and Pacific in conjunction with the Texas Pacific has for two years
past sought legislation which will require more than one hundred millions of
dollars eventually to be taken from the National Treasury.    They/ ask the
United States to guarantee their bonds to the extent of $40,000 per mile
for the whole length of their roads. Both of these corporations have Credit
Mobilier companies connected with  them, which  are to build the roads and
absorb for the benefit of a favored few at the expense of the many, the whole
of the government subsidy, provided they are fortunate enough to secure it.
The Northern Pacific is also demanding legislation' extending their grant, and
holds in reserve a proposition similar to that of the Atlantic and Pacific and
the Texas Pacific Companies; - moreover the Atlantic and Pacific, the
Missouri, Kansas  and  Texas,  and  the Leavenworth, Lawrence  and  Galveston Railroad Companies have a scheme which they have been persistently urging for years, to establish foi the Indian Territory a territorial
government, and at the same time, in violation of treaties with the Indians occupy'ing this territory, enable the above named corporations to obtain millions of
acres of land guaranteed to the various Indian tribes forever.
Rutherford B. Hayes is committed by his votes while a member of Congress to
the "subsidv nolicv " of the Republican party, and in his letter of acceptance he
utters not a single word which indicates that lie has changed his mind on this all
important question. The Cincinnati Convention it is true declared in the ninth
resolution of the platform that "we reaffirm our opposition to further grants of
the public lands to corporations and monopolies, and demand that the national
domain be devoted to free homes for the people." 
But the "opposition" of the Republican party  to " further grants of the
public lands  to corporations and monopolies"  has already resulted in the
alienation of 296,000,000 acres of the public domain, an area greater than that
of the New England States; New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware,
Maryland, Ohio and Indiana.  And moreover it will be seen that this plank of
the Cincinnati platform does not cover the proposition of the Atlantic and Pacific
and Texas Pacific Railroad Companies which is to have the Federal Government
grant them a bonded subsidy in exclhange for their land grants, almost forfeited.
A LIST OF ACTS MR, HAYES VOTED FOR, NOT ENUIMERATED ABQVE.
There were, as above stated, a large number of acts passed by the Thirty-ninthl
Congress, without a division, in accordance with the well-known policy of the
majority, granting lands to corporations.and amending and revising previous
acts of the same character. Mr. HAYES always voted with the nmajority on these
questions, and in no instance is he recorded in the negative upon a vote granlting
the public lands to private corporations.
The following is a list of these acts, viz.
"An Act to extend the time for the r version to the United States of the lands
granted by Congress in aid of a railroad from Amboy, by Hillsdale and Lansing,
to some point on or near Traverse Bay, in the State of Micligan, and for tile
completion of said road.  Approved July 3, 1866."
"An Act granting certain lands to the State of Michigan, to aid in the construction of a Ship Canal to connect the waters of Lake  Superior with the lake
known as Lac La Belle, in said State.  Approved July 3, 1866."
"An Act granting lands to the State of Michigaii, to aid in the construction of
a Harbor and Ship Canal at. Portage Lake, Keewenaw Point, Lake Superior, in
said State. Approved July 3 1866."
"An Act making a grant of lands, in alternate sections, to aid in the construction and extension of the Iron Mountain Railroad, fronm Pilot Knob, in the State
of Missouri, to Helena, in Arkansas.  Approved July 4, 1866."
"An Act concerniug certain lands granted to the State of Nevada.  Approved
July 4, 1866."
59 
RI. B. IIAYES'S RIECORD.
"An act granting lands to the State of Oregon, to aid in the construction of a
military road from Corvallis to Acquinna bay.  Approved July 4, 1866."
'-An act making an additional grant of lands to the State of Minnesota, in alternate sections, to aid in the construction of railroads in said State. Approved
. July 4, 1866."
"An act granting lands to the State of Oregon, to aid in the construction of a
military road from Albany, Oregon, to the eastern boundary of said State.  Approved July 5, 1866."
"An act granting aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from
the town of Folsom to the town of Placerville, in the State of California.  Approved July 13, 1866."
"An act relating to lands granted to the State of Minnesota to aid ill constructing railroads. Approved July 13, 1866."
' An act for a grant of lands to the State of Kansas to aid in the construction
of the Northern Kansas railroad and telegraph.  Approved July 13, 1866."
"An act granting lands to the State of  Kansas, to aid in the construction of the
Kansas and Neosho Valley Railroad, and its extension to Red River. Approved
July 25, 1866."
"An act granting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph
line from the Central Pacific Railroad in California, to Portland, in Oregon.  A-pproved July 25, 1866."
"An act to revive and extend the provisions of an act granting the right of way
and making  a grant of land  to the States of Arkansas  and Missouri, to
aid in the construction of a railroad from a point upon the Mississippi opposite
the mouth of the Ohio river, via Little Rock, to the Texas boundary, near Fulton
in Arkansas, with branches to Fort Smith and the Mississippi river.  Approved
February 9, 1853, and for other purposes.  Approved July 28, 1(866.
"An act to amend an act entitled, "An act granting lands to thle State of Oregon,
to aid in the construction of a military road from Eugene City to the eastern
boundary of said State. Approved December 26, 1866."
"An act to amend an act entitled,  "An act to extend the time for the reversion to the United States of the lan(ls granted by Congress to aid in the constructionI of a railroad from Amrboy, by Hills(lale and Lansing, to some point on or
near Traverse bay, in the State of Michigan, and tbr the completion of said
road," approved July 3, 1866.  Approved March 2, 1867.
THE BOULIGNY CLAIM.
During the time that RUTHERFORD B. HAYES was in Congress, he made but one
speech, and that under the following circumstances: On Matrch 2, 1867, two dyas
before the 39th Congress expired, an act for the relief of the heirs of John A.
Bouligny was passed.  It confirmed to:Mary Elizabeth Bouligny, Corinne Boiuligny, and Felice Bouligny, the widow  and children of John A. Bouligny, onesixth part of the land claim of Jean Antoine Bernard D'Autrive, in the State of
Louisiana, amounting to 75,840 acres.
It was alleged that the lands embraced in this claim had been appropriated by
the United States to other purposes, and thlerefore land certificates in eighty-acre
lots were dire (ted to be issued to the w idow and minor children of John E. Bouligny, locatable at any land office in the United States, upon any public lands
sul)ject to private entry, at a price not exceeding $125 per acre.
On March 11, 1867, one week after the beginning of the 1st Session, 40thll Congress,
Cadwallader C(M. Washlburn, of Wisconsin, offered a joint resolution in the House
of Representatives, directing the Secretary of the Interior to suspend the execiution of the Act above referred to.  This joint resolution set forth that the claim
of John E. Bouligny to the land in Louisiana was adjudged null and void by the
Supreme Court orf the United States, in 1853; that Mr. Justice Nelson, who delivered the opinion of the Court, declared there was no recorded evidence of any
such land grant as w-as set up; that none had been produced, though a thlorough
examination of the archives of that date, )othl- at New Orleans and Paris, had been
made, and no records could be found; that it had its origin in 1777, and was a
part of the celebrated Mississippi scheme, with which John Law, known for his
connection with the South Sea bubble, was a party; that because it was believed
that the Act of March 2, 1867, was passed under a miapprehension of the facts,
therefore the Secretary of the Interior should be directed to suspend thei execution of that law until a further or-der of Congress.
60 
R, 3B' HAYES'S RECORD.
ACCORDING TO MR. WASHBURN IT WAS A GROSS FRAUD.
Mr. WASHBURN made an explanation in regard to the joint resolution, in
which he said: "I served on the Committee on Private Land Claims four years,
and this is an old acquaintance of mine; I will say to the House a more fraudulent clailn was never presented to the Congress of the United States  if gentlemen will only readl a decision of the Supreme Court referred to, they will see
that it is a fraudulent claim. The bill passed not merely sanctions these claimiis
to the amount of 75,000 acres of land but a claim to the amount of 450,000 acres
and other claims will be legalized which will require millions on millions of acres
to satisfy them. "  The joint resolution offered by Mr. WASHBURN was passed
by a vote of 107 yeas, to 27 nays, Mri.'HAYES voting in the affirmative. During
the discussion of this joint resolution, Mr. HAYES, in explaining his course as a
member of the Committee on Private Land Claims, in regard to this ease said.
HIIAYES'S ONLY SPEECH.
"The committee was called together to consider this matter during, I think, the
last week of the last session; the majority of the  committee had examined the
matter and were ready to vote in favor of the measure. Two members of the(
committee, the gentlemani from Illinois (Mr. BAKER) and myself, had no opportunity to examine it; the papers were very voluminous; the case was one requiring
a good deal of investigation, and my recollection is very distinct that the gentleman from Illinois as well as myself declined at that time to take any part in deciding the case.  We had no opportunity to make such examination as was required
in order to form an intelligent judgment, but a majority of the committee having
examined the case, the Chairman, as I understood, was authorized to report, as the
opinion of the majority, that the measure ought to pass. The papers, it is said
by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. WASHBURN), can't be found.  I recollect that
upon that occasion I was not able to get the papers for examination because another miember of the committee desired them for the same purpose. I will state
further that after coming out of the committee I went to the Law Library and
found the case referred to by the gentleman from Wisconsin [15th Howard, containing the decision of Judge Nelson].  I read it hastily, and'the impression was,
ad(le upon my mind corresponding precisely with the statement embraced in the
resolution presented by the gentleman from Wisconsin.  I went to the Chairmnan
of the Committee and said that suchl was the impression made upon my mindl
but the nmajority of the committee had decided the matter, and I could do nothilng.
I did not know till I saw the statement in the papers, that the measure had been
called up and passed.  If my attention had been directed to the bill at the time
of its passage, I should have stated the impression I had received from reading the
case in 15thl Howard. I will say further that my present impression is, that if
the claim is a perfectly good one, as perhaps it may be, if it will bear examination,
it seems to me right that we should, if possible, procure a postponement of action
by the Department, and that the resolution of the gentleman from Wisconsin, or
something similar to it, should.be adopted."
MR. HAYES'S CHARACTER AS DRAWN BY IIIMSELIF.
We refer to this speech of Mr. HAYES, and to the action on the claim of
Bouligny's heirs, not for the purpose of questioning the meritoriousness or legality
of the claim, but simply to show the character of Mr. HAYES.  He was ai member
of the Committee on Private Land Claims, and it was his duty to examine into
this, and every other case referred to that committee.   He was not bound to
accept the judgment of the majority of the coimmittee on the question of the
legality of claims before it; on the contrary, it was his bounden duty to examine
and satisfy himself; but it will be observed that he took no adequate steps to
inform himself in regard to the merits or the demerits of the Bouligliy case, and
he states in justification of his negligence that hlie could "do nothing" I)ecause the
matjority of the committee had decided the matter It was by this rule that Mr.
Hayes's conduct while he was a member of Congress appears to have been guided,
for he blindly followed the leaders of his party and supported every measure of
the majority. He says, it will be observed, that he was not satisfied about the
legality of the claim, but he, as hlie admits, thought so little about it, that the bill
passed the House without even attracting his attention. If it is true, as Mr.
WASHBURN says, that this bill legalized claims that would require millions upon
millions of acres of public lands to satisfy, Mr. HA.YES was recreant to the trust
61 
R. B. HAYES'S RECORD.
reposed in him as a representative of the people, in not exerting himself to the
utmost to ascertain the real merits of the proposed legislation; at all eyents he
was guilty of a gross piece of negligence to suffer a bill to be reported from his
committee, and passed by the House, about which hlie had great doubts.
JUST THE SORT OF A MAN THE POLITICIANS WANT.
It is evident, however, that one of the defects of Mr. HAYES'S character is lack
of decision in forming his judgments, and of firmness in adhering to them after
his opinions were formed. This is undoubtedly the quality which commends
him to the BLAINS, CAMERONS, CONKLINGS, MiORTONS, SPENCERS, CHIANDLERS and
SHEPHERDS, and other men of like character who control the Republican party,
because they want a man who will, if chosen to be the chief Executive of the nation, be simply a puppet in their hands.
62 
THE RECORD OF WM. A. WHEELER.
PART FIRST.
HIS EFFORTS TO PREVENT AN INVESTIGATION OF THE
WAR DEPARTMENT UNDER SIMON
CAMERON IN 4861.
CORRUPTION IN THE WAR DEPARTMENT IN 1861.
In obedience to a proclamation issuedby President Lincoln, an extra session of
the 37th Congress convened at the capital on the 4th of July, 1861.  The war of
the rebellion had but fairly commenced. The first active measure to subdue the
rebels was the call for 75,000 volunteers, which was issued April 15th, and supplemented by another on the 3d of May for 42,000 volunteers,' and an increase of the
regular army by an addition of 22,714 men, and the navy by 18,000 seamen.  In
this hour of almost universal gloom and sadness, when serious apprehensions for
the future agitated the minds of all thoughtful men, and the most hopeful
looked  forward  to a long and weary  struggle, in which the best energies
and all the resources of the North would be taxed to the utmost, there were painful rumors abroad affecting the integrity and the management of tile War and
Navy Departments.   The character of the gentleman who had been called by
President Lincoln to the administration of the Navy Department was above suspicion, but the same could not be said of the SECRETARY OF WAR.
SIMON CAMERON had obtained this high office by a political bargain for which
Mr. Lincoln was not responsible, and which he would most willingly have repudiated had he not been restrained by considerations of policy constantly urged
upon hinm by men high in the confidence of the party, to whose advice he thought
some deference was due, even if it did shock his moral nature and cause him
much mental disquietude.  The story of the "bargain and sale," by which Simon
Cameron became a member of Mr. Lincoln's cabinet, is told as follows by one of
his ablest and most impartial biographers:
THE BARGAIN AND SALE.
"Simon Cameron of Pennsylvania, was nominally a candidate, but in the language of Col. McClure,' it meant nothing'; it was a mere sham, got up to enable Cameron to make a bargain with
some real candidate, and thus secure for himself and his friends the lion's share of the spoils in the
event of a.victory at the polls.  The  genuine  sentiment of the Pennsylvania people was
divided between Judg,,e Bates and Judge McLean. But Cameron was in a fine position to trade, and
his friends were anxious for business.  On the evening of the 2d day of the Chicago Convention
63 
THIE RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WHEELER.
these gentlemen were gratified. A deputation of them, Casey, Sanderson, Reeder, and perhaps
others, were invited to the Lincoln headquarters at the Tremont House, where they were met by
Messrs. Davis, Swett, Logan and Dole, on the part of Mir. Lincoln. An agreement was there made that
if the Cameroll men would go for Lincoln, and he should be nominated and elected, Cameron should
have a seat in his cabinet, provided the Pennsylvania delegation could be got to recommend him.
The bargain was fulfilled, but not without ditfficulty."
Mr. Lincoln's biographer, in describing his mental and moral disquietude over
this bargain when lie was elected, and found himself squarely face to face with
the question of its fulfillment, says:
MR. LINCOLN NOT RESPONSIBLE.
"He had authorized no man to make such bargains, and would gladly have repudiated the contracts if it could have been done with honor or safety."
*      *      *      *       *      *      *.*        *      *
"At Chicago Camieron's agents had demanded that he should have the Treasury Department;
but that was too much, and the friends of Mr. Lincoln tried, pushed and anxious as they were, declined to consider it. They would say that he should be appointed to a cabinet position, bult no
more; and to secure this he must get a majority of the Pennsylvania delegation to recommend
him.  Mr. Cameron was disposed to exact the penialty of his bond, hard as the compliance might
be on the part of Mr. Lincoln. But Cameron had many and formidable enemies who alleged that
he was a man notorious for his evil deeds, shameless in his rapacity and corruption, and even more
shameless in his mean ambition to occupy exalted station for which he was utterly and hopelessly
incompetent; that hlie had never dared to offer himself as a candidate before the people of Pennsylvania, but had mnore than once gotten high offices from the Legislature by the worst means ever
used by a politician; and that it would be a disgrace, a shame and standing offense to the country,
if Mr. Lincoln should consent to put him in his cabinet.  On the other hand, Mr. Cameron had no
lack of devoted friends to deny these charges, and to say that his wvas as "white a soul " as ever
yearned for political preferment; they came out to Springfield in niiumbers-Edgar Cowan, J. K.
Moorhead, Mr. Sanderson, Mr. Casey and many others-besides Gen. Cameron himself.  On the
ground, of course, were the powerful gentlemen who had made the original contract on the part of
Mr. Lincoln, and who from first to last strenuously insisted upon its fulfillment.  It required a hard
struggle to overcome Mr. Lincoln's scruples; and the whole force was necessarily mustered in
order to accomplish it.' All that I am in the world,' said he,' the Presidency and all else-I ownve to
that opinion of me which the people expressed when they called me honest old Abe. Now wvhat
will they think of their honest Abe when he appoints Simon Cameron to be his familiar adviser I'"
THE CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION.
The honest, upright and patriotic Lincoln was compelled to yield to the pressure brought to bear by his political friends, and Simon Cameron was made Secretary of War.  Four months after Cameron began "to run the machine" ifi the War
office, the extra session of the 37th  Congress commenced,  and so wide-spread
and startling were the stories of his reckless extravagance, stupid incompetence
and shameless corruption in the administration of this important department of
the Government, that one of the most imperative duties of the people's representatives was to institute a thorough and searching investigation into his conduct.
There were loud complaints also of fraud and corruption in the administration
of the Navy Department, and therefore it was proposed to institute a general inquiry "to ascertain arid report to the House of Representatives what contracts have
been made by any of the Departments for provisions, supplies and transportation,
for materials and service, or for any article furnished for the use of the government without advertising for proposals as required by the statute of 1861; the
parties to whom given, the compensation and terms thereof, and the reasons
therefor."
A resolution covering all these points of inquiry was offered in the House of
Representatives, on the 8th of July, by Mr. Van Wyck of New York, and
adopted. It raised a committee of five members, who were empowered "to
send for persons and papers, administer oaths, examine witnesses and report
at any time." Before, however, this committee was appointed, it was increased
to seven members who were appointed July 10th, as follows:
"Mr. CHARLES H. VAN WYCK, of New York; Mr. ELIHU WASHBURNE, of Illinois; Mr.
RREUBEN E. FENTON, of New York; Mr. HENRY L DAWES, of Massachusetts [Republicans];
Mr. WILLIAM L. HIOLMAN, of Indiana; Mr. WILLIAM G. STEELE, of New Jersey, and Mr. JAMXFS.
JACKSON, of Kentucky [Democrats]." I        I
64 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WHEELER.
THE COMMITTEE WANT THEIR POWVERS INCREASED.
On the same day it was instructed, on motion of Mr. Vallandingham, to inquire
also into the chartering of the steamer Cataline. On July 17th, the committee
organized, and on motion Mr. Holman was requested to present the following
resolutions to the House, and ask for their adoption, viz..
"Resolhed, That the provisions ofthe resolutions appointing the select committee
to inquire into, and report in relation to certain contracts made by the department for provisions, supplies, &c., be so extended as to embrace an inquiry
into the facts and circumstances of all the contracts and agreements already
made, and all such contracts and agreements hereafter to be made, prior to the
final report of the committee by or with any department of the Government in
anywise connected with, or growing out of the operations of the Government in
suppressing the rebellion against its constituted authority.
Resolved, That the' said committee be authorized to sit during the recess of
of Congress, at such times and places as may be deemed proper.
Resolved, That said committee be authorized to employ a stenographer as
clerk, at the usual rate of compensation.
Resolved, That the Sergeant-at-Arms of the House be directed to attend in
person or by assistant, the sittings of the committee, and serve all the subpoenaes
put into his hands by the committee, pay the fees of all witnesses, and the necessary expenses of the committee.
Resolved, That the speaker of the House, during the recess of Congress, is hereby authorized and directed to issue subpenaes to witnesses, upon the request of
the committee, in the same manner as during the session of Congress."
THE EFFORT OF THE CORRUPT RINGS TO DEFEAT INVESTIGATION.
These resolutions vastly increased the scope of the investigation, and gave it
generally discretionary authority as an inquisitorial body, with the right to visit
every quarter of the country and inquire into contracts hereafter to be made. as well
as those which had been entered into by the War, Navy and Treasury departments.
Of course the ability of the committee to interfere with the arrangements of the
banded public robbers who were ready to prey upon the Government in this, the
hour of its supreme peril, by exposing and breaking up their unlawful combinations, depended very largely upon the adoption of these resolutions. Every rogue
who was engaged in a conspiracy to plunder the public Treasury, and was getting
rich with amazing rapidity, was interested in limiting the power of the committee
and in restricting the exercise of its functions, to the period of time occupied by
the regular sessions of Congress.  The members of the House of Representatives
who voted for these resolutions were voting for something more than an honest
administration of the government, because the preservation of the nation itself
depended very largely upon the overthrow of the corrupt combinations which
were rendering the prosecution of the war so costly, that its successful prosecution
was, even in the very outset, from this very cause, becoming problematic. The
rebels who were fighting to destroy the Union were no greater traitors or more
formidable enemiies than the faithless public officers and corrupting contractors
who, under the guise of pretended patriotism, were selling to the government t.t
fabulous prices, worthless arms, rotten transports and damaged Army and Navy
supplies of every description. On the question of the adoption by the House of
these resolutions, Mr. Dawes, Republican member of the committee, said:
WHAT MR. DAWES SAID:
"I was appointed on that committee without any knowledge on my part.  I
have consented to serve on it in good faith,,ithl no disposition to do injustice to
the Administration.    *    *    *    *    *    I have in mny possession no evidence against outside parties who have embraced this occasion to fill their own
pockets out of the public treasury.   But, sir, no man can have failed to take notice of the fact that the country is full of rumors in this respect.  *    *    *
*    *       If the committee enter upon their duties at all, they must have
their life extended beyond this session of Congrel. The House has agreed to adjourn on Friday, and between this and Friday we can do nothing. * *
~*    *    *  The committee, in short, supposes it has the confidence of
the House. A majority' of the committee is composed of men commonly ranked
65 
THE RECOR1) OF WIl,1,IAM A. Y'NHEELER.
as friends of the Administration, and I know of no member of the  committee
upon whom may justly rest the charge of a disposition to pursue any man, whether
he be of the Administration, or of those who have entered into contracts with the
Administration, one single inch beyond that which the facts may justify."
WHAT MR. VAN WYCK SAID:
Mr. Van Wyck, the Chairman of the Committee, said:  "The gentleman has
stated that there are no specific charges of fraud and corruption. I state that
there are specific charges of fraud and corruption on the part of public servants
[cries of order].   I make the statement distinctly.    *    *    *      *    *   *
*~*    *  *   I venture the assertion that in a few short months of
this warfare against the rebels, there has been, oa the part of some men, a system
of plunder upon the Government which will excel in audacity  and wickedness
any that has characterized previous administrations."
A motion was made by Mr: Kellogg, of Illinois, to lay the resolutions on the
table, which was rejected, 49 yeas to 76 nays.  The yea and nay vote on the motion to lay on the table was as follows
Yeas. —Messrs. Appleton, Ashley, Baker, Beamnan, Bingliam, Blake, W. G.
Brown, Campbell, Chamberlain, Clark, Roscoe Conkling, Conway, Curtis, Davis,
Diven, Edwards, Ely, Franchet Goodwin, Granger, Gurly, Hale, Hickman, Horton, Hutchins, Kelley, F. W. Kellogg, Win. Kellogg, Lansing, Leary,  McPherson, Moorhead, J. H. Rice, Riddle, Robinson. Sedgewick, Sheffield, Sherman,
Trowbridge, Upton, Van Horn, Wallace, C. W. Walton, Webster, Train,
William A. Wheeler, A. S. White, Windom, and Worcester-49.
Nays.-Messrs. Aldrich, Alley, Allen, Ancona, G. Bailey, Joseph Bailey,
Baxter, S. S. Blair, G. A. H. Browne, Buffinton, Cobb, F. A. Conkling, Cooper,
Corning, Covode, Cox, Cravens, Crittenden, Cutter, Dawes, Delaplaine,
Duell, Dunlap, Edgerton, Eliot, English, Fenton, Gooch, Griden, Haight, Harding,.Harrison, Holman, Jackson, Johnson, Julien, Killinger, Law, Lozear, Lehman, Loomis, McKnight, Mallory, Menzies, J. S. Morrill,Morris, Noble, Norton
Nugen, Odell, Olin, G. H. Pendleton, Perry, Pike, Potter, Reid, A.  H. Rice,
Shanks, Shellabarger, Sloan, Smith, Spalding, J. B. Steele, W. G. Steele, Stevens,
Vallandingham, Van Wyck, Vibbard, Wadsworth, Wall, E. P. Walton, Ward,
C. A. White, Wickliffe, Wood, and Woodruff-76.
WHEELER COMES TO THE AID OF THE CORRUPTIONISTS.
Beaten by a square vote, the men who opposed the effort to unearth fraud
and bring to punishment the public plunderers who were consuming the people's
substance, sought to defeat the adoption of the resolutions reported by the Committee by points of order, and the person put forward for this work was WILLIAM
A. WHEELER.   He said:  "By one of the standing rules of the House it is provided that the committee on so much of the public expenditures as relates to the
War Department shall inquire whether the claims from time to time satisfied and
discharged by the Department are supported by sufficient vouchers, establishing
their justness both as to their character and amount. By another standing rule
it is provided that no standing rule or order of the House shall be rescinded or
changed without one day's notice being given of the motion therefor, nor shall any
rule be suspended except by a vote of at least two-thirds of the members present.
My point is that no one day's notice was given of the motion for the appointment of this select committee, nor was the committee created by a vote of twothirds of the members present."
THE SPEAKER RI'LES AGAINST WHEELER.
Had this point of order been sustained it would have been fatal because more
than one-third of the members present had voted with MR. WHEELER to lay the
resolutions on the table
"  THE SPEAKER.  The Chair would say to the gentleman from New York, that
the House can raise a select committee upon any subject they choose, even though
it be in charge of a standing committee of the House.",
66 
TH-IE RECORD OF WILLIA3I A. WIIEELER.
WH.IEELER PERSISTS IN HIS EFFORTS TO DEFEAT THE INVESTIGATION.
"Mr. WHEELER. Then I ask that the question of jurisdiction of these respective committees be settled by the House itself." (MR. WHEELERI was Chairman of
the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department.)
The resolution was adopted 81 yeas to 41 nays, those voting in the negative
being    " Nays.-Messrs. Ashley, Baker, Beaman, Bingham, Blake, Campbell, Chamberlain, Clark, Roscoe Conkling, Conway,  Covode, Davis, Delaplaine, Diven,
Edwards, Ely, Franchot, Goodwin, Granger, Hale, Hickman, Hutchins, Kelley,
F. W. Kellogg, Wm. Kellogg, Lansing, McPherson, Moorhead, Olin, Riddle,
Robinson, Sedgewick, Shoiman, Stratton, Train, Trowbridge, Upton, Wallace,
Wm. A. Wheeler, A. S. White, and Windom.
More than one-third, as it will be seen, of the members present voted " Nay,"
and thus there were enough to defeat the investigation, had MR. WIIHEELER'S point
of order been sustained. The results of the labors of this investigating committee
whose lease of life WILLIAM A. WHEELER did his best to terminate are briefly
stated below from the various reports made to the House of Representatives.
A SPECIMEN FRAUD.
The first report was submitted December 17th, 1861, and the facts in regard
to the chartering of the steamer "Cataline" are summarized as follows: This
steamer belonged to Margaret Corlies, and on the 25th of April, 1861, a Captain
Comstock, who had been instructed by Major-General John E. Wool, commanding the Eastern Department, to charter two light draught steamers to ply between
Havre de Grace and Annapolis, made a contract with M. M. Freeman, a ship
merchant of New York, for the use of the "Cataline," for not less than three
months, at $10,000 per month, payable monthly, with the privilege on the part of
the Government to purchase her during that period for $50,000; and, in the
event of her loss by any accident of war, the Government to pay for her at that
price. Before this contract had been made with Freeman, Comstock had ascertained from the owner of the "Cataline" that she could be purchased for $18,000,
and actually made a conditional contract for her purchase at that rate. Then he
informed John E. Devlin of the firm of Stetson & Devlin, proprietors of the
Astor House, New York City, that there was a good chance to charter such a
vessel as the "Cataline" to the Government.  The next day Devlin purchased the
vessel for $18,000, and M. M. Freeman & Co. furnished money to pay for her and
to provide her with an outfit. The vessel was in the employ of the Government
for two months and eight days, when she was destroyed by fire. Freeman & Co.
received one-tenth of the profits and furnished all the money, while Stetson &
Devlin received the other nine-tenths.
HOW THE GOVERNMENT WAS DEFRAUDED IN THE PURCHASE OF VESSELS.
In treating of the purchase of vessels for the Government, the committee, in
their report, say: "The exigencies of the public service has required the expenditure of a large sum of money in the purchase and fitting out of vessels for
the expeditions against the Southern coast, and for other new duties imposed by
the rebellion.   More than seventy vessels of different capacities and valued at
a first cost of nearly three millions of dollars before fitting and furnishing them
respectively for the peculiar service for which each was designed, were purchased
by the Government in the single port of New York, in the short space of
six or seven weeks."
Instead of detailing proper officers from the Navy, whose education theoretically and practically fitted them for the exercise of the peculiar duties devolving
upon the agents of the Government, for making these purchases, politicians having no experience whatever fitting them for the position were appointed. Of
this the committee say, that they regret to find that "these plain rules governing
all successful business transactions were disregarded." They then proceeded to
instance the following case.
STARBUCK'S COMMISSION.
Early in May 1861, the Government wanted two or three sailing vessels and a
Wall street stock broker named Starbuck was sent to New Bedford to purchase two
67
r 
'TIIE  I'E( O(lOD  ~1'! I,lIAAM  A.  WIIEEI.EI:.
sailing ships. He purchased, in the name o(f Henry L. Tlhomas, the "Roman " and
the" William Badger," for $6,500, and turned themn over to the Government tbor
$14,500, and( in addition to tilhe clear profit of $8,000 which he made on this transaction, hlie chargded the Governient five per cent. commission on   $14,500, for his
services his agent to make the purchase.  Starb)uck was compelled, after the facts
were developed by the inivestigation, to refund $6,166.  The vessels were found
on examination to be totally unfit for the service for which they were procured,
and the Government was subjected to a further expense of several thousand dollars and a delay of several weeks to make them suitable.
Again the committee say: " On the 8th of May last, the purchasing of vessels for the Navy Department, at the Port of New York, was taken from  Commiodore Breese, the Commandant of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and shortly after
transferred to Mr. George D. lMorgan of New York, under an arrangement between him and the Secretary of the Navy, of a lmost singular and extraordinary
(chiaracter, and one, the committee feel called upon to pronounce most reprehensible in its nature, and demoralizing to the public service."
MR. MORGAN'S COMMISSIONS.
This Mr. Morgan was a relative of Governor E. D. Morgan, of New York,
and a member of his firm. The committee say he had not "the slightest experience in the new and responsible duties which he was called upon to discharge
either in the naval service, the building, or buying and selling of ships, or in any
pursuit calling for a knowledge of their construction, capacity or value; never
having spent an hour in either."  One of the first purchases made by Mr. Morgan
was the steamer "Stars and Stripes" from the New Haven Propeller Company.
The President of this company was C. S. Bushnell, who subsequently became
famous as one of the active spirits in the Credit Mobilier swindle. He negotiated
the sale with Mr. Morgan, and got $55,000 for a vessel that cost $35,600, and
which had under a charter to the Government earned in two months $15,000.
Bushnell represented to the company owning the vessel, that he had to pay a
great deal of money in Washington, to effect the sale.  Mr. Benedict, one of the
stockholders of the New Haven Propeller Company, testified in regard to this as
follows
CORRUPTION FUND TO BE DISBURSED IN WASHINGTON.
"Q. What assistance did he represent that he was obliged to get?  A. He
said to us that it was impossible to approach the heads of Department at Washington, without letters of introduction, and that it was necessary to get men of influence to approach them.
Q. Did he represent that he was obliged to pay persons in Washington for
letters of introduction? A. He said he was obliged to pay persons in Washington for their influence.
Q. More than one person? A. He spoke of persons.
Q. Did he speak of having to pay for the influence of persons residing in
Washington?  A. No, sir; he spoke as if they were members of Congress or exmembers, or something of that kind, whom he paid for their influence.'I will
not say positively whether he spoke of ex-members.
Q. And he stated that he was obliged to pay out this entire $8,000? A. Yes,
sir; at least he stated that there was not a penny that came to himself."
NINETY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS IN FOUR MONTHS.
In regard to the compensation which Morgan received for his services as agent
of the Government, the committee say: "That arrangement is a system of commission usually 2+ per cent. of the purchase money paid for each vessel, and
one under which Mr. Morgan received as compensation during the period of
seven weeks previous to the 6th day of September, when this testimony was
taken, the enormous sum of $51,584 as admitted by himself before the committee. When this testimony was taken, information of its extraordinary character and import was communicated to the Department, in the hope that an
abuse so glaring' when pointed out, might be corrected. Yet, notwithstanding
cl, 
the Department became thus possessed of the information that its own agent was
by this system of commissions amassing a private fortune, the Committee have
been surprised to learn from a recent communication from the Navy Department furnishing them with the number and prices of vessels purchased by Mr.
Morgan for the Government since said 6th dclay of September, that the cost of
those thus purchased by him amounts in the aggregate to the sum of $1,736,992.
If he has received the same rate of compensation since as before that date, there
must be added to the sum of $51,584 paid him before that the further compensation
of $43,424 for services rendered since, making in all the sum of $95,000 paid to
a single individual for his service as agent for the Government since the 15th
day of July-a period of four months."
In commenting upon this fact, the committee say: "No citizen can justify
any such attempt to convert the public necessity into an occasion for making
private fortunes."
It was not necessary in order to secure experience and practical knowledge,
the requisites Mr. Morgan did not possess, to pay this compensation.   On this
point the committee is very emphatic. "The evidence was abundant," they say,
"before the committee, that if it had been necessary to obtain the services of any
gentleman outside of the Navy itself, those gentlemen combining from experience and education the knowledge most calculated to fit them for this duty, independent of outside aid, could have been secured without the slightest difficulty,
for a salary not exceeding $5,000 for the year."
THE PURCHASE OF ARMS
for the large army suddenly brought into the field afforded a fine opportunity for
the jobbers. General Fremont had his own agents in New York to purchase arms
for the arming of the troops under his command in the West. He permitted them
to purchase a lot of 25,000 Austrian condemned muskets, whose calibre was not
that of the regulation musket, and therefore required special ammunition. The
testimony taken by the committee was all to the effect that as to their value these
muskets were worthless. They had been offered to Major Hagher, the ordnance
officer at New York, for $5.50 apiece, and he would not have them at any price
Yet Fremont's agent paid $6.50 for them.   Such of them as were afterwards
used, had to be altered at a cost of $4.50 -apiece. The cost to the Government for
these guns and special ammunition was $166,000.
THE HALL CARBINE SWINDLE.
The Government had a lot of worthless Hall carbines which it sold in June,
1861, to Arthur M. Eastman, of Manchester, N. H., at $3.50 each. He had them
slightly altered at a cost of 75 cents to $1.25 apiece, and sold 5,000 of them to
Simon Stevens of Pennsylvania for $12.50 each, who immediately sold the entire
lot to General Fremont for $22 each. Of this transaction the Committee say:
"These arms seem to have been sold privately (by the Government), and
without inviting any competition, and sold, too, for an almost nominal price.
The sale was made by order of the Secretary of War, on the recommendation of
the Ordnance Bureau. No Government that ever has existed can sustain itself
with such improvidence in the management of its affairs. One agent of the Government sells these arms at $3.50 each, in the midst of a pressing demand for arms,
and a few weeks afterwards, without any increase in this demand, the same arms,
slightly altered, are resold to the Government through another agent for $22 each,
the Government losing in so small a transaction, if permitted to be comsummated,
over $90,000."
At the time of making the purchase, Stevens was an aide-de-camp of Fremont, and was acting as an agent of the Government. The sale was made direct
to him by Fremont, but the arms were billed to the Government in the name of
J. Pierrepont Morgan.
GREAT FRAUDS IN PURCHASE OF ARMY SUPPLIES.
In the purchase of army supplies, the Committee points out the fact that
"the Act of Congress opl the subject of advertising for supplies for the various
Departments" had been, "either through corrupt motives, or from a want of
reasonable prudence," altogether disregarded, and was "almost a dead letter even
69
OF k.  N\'IIEI"I,EIZ. 
THE RECORD OF 11ILLIAAI A. WIHEELER.
in that large class of cases where it could have been properly applied. Immense
supplies both in the Navy as well as the War Department, the necessity for which,
in the ordinary course of things, was easily foreseen, have been purchased privately under contracts, express or implied, without any competition being invited."
One firm in St. Louis,.on a "requisition" of a Quartermaster, furnished over
$800,000 of supplies, on which they admitted they made a profit of 40 per cent.
The purchase of supplies in New York City was entrusted to two civilians, politicians, of course, who had no qualifications for the duty; and two millions of
dollars of the Government money was placed in a private banking-house subject
to the order of these two politicians, or either one of them. They were not
restricted in any way, but left entirely to the exercise of their own judgment; and
the Government had no security whatever for the faithful performance of their
duties. The supplies they were purchasing proved altogether worthless, and in
the settlement of their accounts with the War Department they were not required
to file any vouchers.
FRAUDS IN THE FURCHASE OF BEEF CATTLE.
The frauds in the purchase of beef cattle are but incidentally touched upon.
"There is much evidence," the Committee say, "of gross mismanagement
and culpable carelessness in making contracts, together with a reckless improvidence of the means of the Government. Evidence exists of large contracts for
cattle having been made without any advertisement for bids, or any effort being
made by the agents of the Government to satisfy themselves whether the prices
to be paid were exorbitant or even extortionate. Cattle were furnished at prices
per pound, live weight, very little, if any, below the retail prices for the meat in
any of the markets of the country; and the contractors, without themselves furnishing a single hoof to the Government, made large sums of money by subletting
the contracts to other parties, who assumed all the responsibility and all the risk,
and still made in profits nearly as large sums as the original contractors. * * *
We have here not only evidence of gross mismanagement and total disregard of
the interests of the Government, and a total recklessness in the expenditure of the
funds of the Government, but there is every reason to believe that there was collusion upon the part of the employees of the Government to assist in robbing the
Treasury; for when a conscientious officer refused to pass cattle not in accordance with the contract, hlie was, in fact, superseded by one who had no10 conscientious scruples in the matter, and cattle that were rejected by his predecessor were
at once accepted."
ALL MANNER OF MEN
seem to have been engaged in preying upon the Government in this hour of its
greatest peril.  In investigating the contracts for " the purchase of horses and
wagons in New York," the Committee found that "there was evident consent
and collusion" on the part of some of the officers of the Government, and that
the "most shameless frauds and peculations" were practiced. A  Rev. Sidney
Corey, a clergyman residing in 37th street near 5th avenue, New York City, obtained a contract from Lieut.-Col. Kilpatrick, to purchase two hundred horses,
Kilpatrick to inspect them himself. "The reverend gentleman informed Mr.
John O. Taylor that the Lieut.-Colonel was a friend of his and gave him the contract as a special favor, and that hle could obtain a contract for the purchase of
one thousand horses if he desired it." Taylor gave the Rev. Mir. Corey a bonus
of $200 for the contract, and agreed that lie should have one-half the profits.
Taylor purchased seventeen horses, and Kilpatrick came along to inspect them,
having with him a fellow named Chase, who demanded of Taylor $2 a head for
passing them, which was paid. However, Taylor got disgusted and threw up the
contract, and the Rev. MIr. Corey resold his contract for a bonus of $500.
CONTRACT BROKERAGE.
As a sample of the contract brokerage which was practiced on a'large scale at.
Washington, the Committee gave an account of the manner in which Mr. Wood,
then Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds, was blackmailing contractors. By his own confession, lie was interested in 6btaining the contract for
the printing of the Treasury notes and bonds for the American Bank Note Com
70 
THE RECORD OF WA'ILLIAMt A. WVHELEER.
pany, and claimed that Dennison, Naval Officer at New York, F. P. James and
W. H. Marston, were interested in the same way for the National Bank Note Company.
THE EXTRAVAGANCE, RECKLESSNESS AND FRAUD
which characterized all the transactions in the Department of the West under
General Fremont, was treated at great length by the Committee. The fortifications at St. Louis they showed were not only useless, but in their construction a
vast sum of money was plundered from the Treasury- for a "favorite" contractor.
After more than one-half the work had been done on these fortifications by days'
labor, at a cost of only $60,000, General Fremont permitted a contract to be
made with one E. L. Beard, for their completion, and a scale of prices was agreed
upon by which hlie was to be paid. Under this contract he was paid in thirtythree days, $171,000 when the contract had been executed only eight days, and
before scarcely any work had been done. The Secretary of War directed work
to be suspended, but in defiance of this order, Fremont ordered $60,000 more to
be paid the contractor, which sum was only saved to the Government by the
refusal of the paymaster to turn over the money. In commenting upon this fraud,
the Committee say:
"The money appropriated by Congress to subsist and clothe and transport our
armies, was thus in utter contempt of law and of the regulations, as well as in
defiance of superior authority, ordered to be diverted from its lawful purpose and
ordered to be turned over to the cormorant Beard. While he had received
$171,000 from the Government, it will be seen from the testimony of Major
Kalppner that there had only been paid to the honest German laborers who did
the work on the first five forts built under his direction the sum of $15,500,
leaving from $40,000 to $50,000 still their due, and while these laborers whose
families were clamorous for bread, were besieging the Quartermaster's Department for their pay, this rapacious contractor, Beard, was following up the army,
and in the confidence of the Major-General who gave him orders for large purchases, which only could have been legally made through the Quartermaster's
Department, and which afforded him further opportunities for still plundering
the government."
THE HORSE AND MULE FRAUDS.
The operations of the Horse and Mule Ring in Missouri are summed up as
follows:
"Your committee found that the most astounding and unblushing frauds have
been perpetrated in the purchase of horses and mules made by the Quartermaster's Department; and the evidence left no doubt on their minds that the Quartermaster himself was in collusion with the corrupt and unprincipled men who
combined together to swindle the Government. In these purchases fraud was
perpetrated in every possible way. In the first place, matters were so arranged
that it was impossible for the original owners to sell their horses or mules directly
to the Government, but all such sales were made by middle-men and go-betweens,
who it appears alone could get any horses or mules taken by the Quartermaster's
Department. The maximum price fixed to be paid by the Government for ordinary cavalry horses and for mules, was $119, and that appears to have been the
sum paid by the Government for every cavalry horse and every mule purchased
in Missouri. The maximum price for artillery horses was $150. The prices paid
by these go-betweens to the owners or the legitimate dealers immediately representing the original owners, ranged from $85 to $105, $108 and $110 for cavalry
horses and mules, and $125 for artillery horses. The difference between these
prices and the prices paid by the Government, that is $119 for cavalry horses and
for mules, and $150 for artillery horses, went into the pockets of the favorite gobetweens. This difference of price in the purchase of a vast number of horses
and mules, amounted in the aggregate to a very large sum, the greater part of
which your committee think could have been saved to the Government had the
purchase been made honestly, openly, and fairly, for the best interests of the
Government."
A REGIMENT FOR A PLAYTHING.
As illustrating the reckless manner in which the public money was at this
time being squandered, the committee instance the affair of one Col. Ward
71 
1 TIE r]ECOIRD OF WILLIAM A.'IWHEELEE.
H. Lamon, who was Marshal of'the District of Columbia, and assumed the rank
of Brigadier-General. Lamon visited the West in October, 1861, and at Springfield, Ill., called upon E. H. Castle, who was in charge of railway army transportation in the Western Department, and stated that he was a Brigadier-General on
an official tour, and wanted a special train to take him to St. Louis. As hlie wore
the uniform, and sported the insignia of a Brigadier-General, and was known to
Castle as the close friend of the President, the required transportation by special
train was furnished, with orders to those in charge "to show him attention and
contribute to his comfort." Arriving at St. Louis in grand state, Lamon procured General Fremont to order the 39th Regiment of Illinois Volunteers to be
transported from St. Louis to Williamsport, Maryland, to join Lamon's imaginary
brigade.  This was done at a cost to the Government of about $30,000.  At this
time troops were being sent from the East to the West, and this very regiment
had but a short time previous been ordered from Chicago to St. Louis. In regard to this transfer, the Secretary of War stated officially to the committee that
he was "not informed of the military or other reasons that existed for the
transfer of said regiment as aforesaid."
"The removal of the regiment," the committee say, "had no other object
except the gratification of Mr. Lamon. But at such a time as this, when every
dollar in the Treasury is needed to crush out the rebellion, they submit that the
sum of $30,000 is too large a sum to be expended for the purpose of flattering
the vanity of any single individual The removal of the regiment was not only
without authority of law, but was inexpedient and without justification. Thirty
thousand dollars of the public money has been worse than squandered in this
transaction, which should receive unqualified condemnation."
This same Col. Ward H. Lamon, was a candidate for the nomination on the
Republican ticket for Governor of West Virginia, but withdrew from the contest,
and is now elector-at-large for that State on the Hayes and Wheeler ticket.
DAMAGED BLANKETS.
Another example of the shameless manner in which the Government was
robbed, was the purchase of army supplies and clothing by a member of Fremont's
staff.  This officer bought a large quantity of "rotten and condemned blankets "
from his son, who was a clerk in a Philadelphia store. The blankets, were billed
to the staff officer instead of the Government, at $1.45 apiece, and he turned them
over to the Government at $3.85 a piece, he being the quartermaster and approved
of the purchase himself. The loss to the Government and profit to the quarter master was about $20,000.
SELLING COMMISSIONS.
The jobbery in the Department of the West under Fremont was not confined
to the purchase of horses and mules, the building of useless fortifications and the
purchase of worthless army supplies, but there appears to have been carried on a
regular brokerage in commissions. The committee report that they had uncontradicted proof of the fact that Judge Edward P. Cowles, of New York City, was
recognized in St. Louis as the "Tycoon" who controlled and dispensed commissions. Governor Barstow of Wisconsin, according to unchallenged testimony, actually paid Cowles $5,000 for a colonel's commission, and gave as his reason for paying this high price that he could with this commission in his pocket make from
$25,000 to $30,000 in the purchase of a thousand horses.
NO COMPETITION IN LETTING CONTRACTS.
Another scandalous job discovered by the committee at St. Louis was the
manufacture upon the order of Gen. Fremont of one hundred railroad cars to be
used for army transportation. This was a contract given out through Judge Corwine
of Cincinnati,afterwards awell known Washington lobbyist,to Albert S. Mowry of
Cincinnati. There was no advertisement, and of course no competition. Corwine simply vouched for Mowry's responsibility, and was allowed to draw the
contract, which the quartermaster approved and executed. Of this transaction
the committee say that they "are clearly of the opinion that these cars were not
required by any public necessity, that the cars on the Pacific Railroad were fully_
equal to the locomotives on the road, and with the slight alterations suggested
by the president of the road fully equal to the demands of the army. In the
72 
THE RECORD OF W,ILLIAM A.'rHEELER.
judgment of the committee the expenditure of over $80,000 to $90,000 in building
these cars, and the expenses of building twenty-five street cars in St. Louis, as
testified to by Mr. Schaffer was entirely uncalled for, and inexcusably extravagant, because an unnecessary expense, and that $250 per car, say $25,000 of profit
in the aggregate, and the fact that a lower bid is entirely overlooked, and the
contract itself receives the special attention of the commanding general and his
judge advocate, and still no security whatever is required, are facts which cannot
be overlooked."
AS BAD AS ARMED TREASON.
Is it any wonder that the committee with all these facts before them, should
deliberately record it as their opinion that there was running all through these
transactions which they have discussed in their report," a system of brokerage as
unprincipled and dishonest, and as unfriendly to the success and welfare of the
nation as the plottings of actual treason."
THE SECOND REPORT.
The committee, for several months after they had submitted their first
report, from, which the facts above set out are quoted, continued their investigation into the abuses of the War and Navy Departments. They submitted at
the next session of Congress another lengthy report, in which they say that they
have since the date of their first report "examined 350 witnesses," and taken
"testimony which covers 1,600 printed pages."  As a result of the exposures
made in their former report, they say, "It is estimated that the sum of fifteen
to twenty millions of dollars have been saved by the tax-payers of the country"
and further that "the exposures of glaring abuses, which have been made by
the committee have led to many important reforms, which are saving large
amounts of money daily."
CENSURE DID NO GOOD.
The committee charge, that notwithstanding the severe censure in their first
report of the Secretary of the Navy on account of the employment of Mr. George
D. Morgan for the purchase and chartering of transport vessels, the practice
had been continued, and that the War Department under Cameron's administration had countenanced it to a much larger extent than the Navy Department,
and Mr. John Tucker of Pennsylvania, a man without the "slightest experience
in the building, purchase, sale, command  on sailing of a vessel,'  had been
appointed "general transport agent of the Department." Tucker appointed
a number of "sub-agents, and agents of sub-agents, or persons professing to act
as such, who appeared in Philadelphia. New York, Boston, and other places,"
and monopolized the business of selling or chartering vessels. These men reimbursed themselves for their patriotic services by charging persons from whom
vessels were bought or chartered, from two and a half to five per cent.
of the purchase or charter money. The quartermasters instructed by the War
Department to procure ships for transport purposes, acted in collusion with
these agents, and persons who attempted to deal directly with the Government
were invariably snubbed.
SOME OF TUCKER'S JOBS.
One of the first purchases made by Mr. Tucker in Philadelphia, was two ships
belonging to Marshal Roberts, which cost him $111,000, but were sold to the
Government through Tucker for $200,000. They were loaded with provisions
axd stores for the troops at Port Royal, and one of them foundered on her
first voyage, her crew barely escaping, and the other was so badly damaged, as
to be scarcely able to reach port with all of her cargo ruined.
The steamer Governor, another worthless vessel purchased by Tucker,
foundered on her first voyage to Port Royal. The crew barely escaping death,
reached the coast of North Carolina, where they were taken prisoners.
IN THE NEW ENGLAND DEPARTMENT.
A quartermaster named Paul R. George, conspired with a man named Johnson to defraud the Government in the purchase and charter of shlips. The com
73 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAMI A. WHEELER.
mittee in summing up the transactions of these two rogues, say
"It came soon to be understood that no regular ship broker could effect a
charter, and the owner who succeeded in person, without the aid of this Johnson,
with his commission, was an exception. Nor was this all; the privilege of
chartering vessels to the Government, in this Department, was distributed through
the channel already described, among political and personal favorites. Vessels of
a given capacity and price were tendered to the quartermaster, and by him refused, and others of less capacity chartered the same day at a higher price, not in
a single instance only, but repeated over and over again, day after day. * * *
In some instances one sum was agreed upon to be received by the owner, while a
much larger sum was named in the charter, and paid by the government. The
difference came into the hands of intermediate parties, or middle-men, that bane
and almost universal curse, well nigh inseperable from all transactions in the supply of the Government during the war.
PAYING FOR IDLE VESSELS.
But it was not only by these two methods that the Government was defrauded. Vessels were chartered in great numbers long before they were needed
by the Government, and, while anchored in some secure harbor for. months at a
time, the Government was paying millions of dollars in charter money.   A few
instances of this kind are pointed out by the committee.
"In this way, vessels laden with army supplies, which went out with the
Sherman expedition in October or November, remained in the first harbor till
midwinter and Spring without being unloaded, or ordered into other service or
home, each one quietly and peacefully earning upon the unruffled waters of Port
Royal'and Beaufort $500, $1,000, $1,500, or $2,000 a day, according to its capacity, month after month.       *     *    *      What is true of the Sherman
expedition, and Port Royal in this regard, is equally true of the Butler expedltion and ship Island.   The steamer Constitution, chartered for this expedition at $2,500 a day, and one dollar in addition for each person, carried over 2,500,
was put in commission and pay at this enormous rate, on the 16th of November,
but never left the wharf at Boston on her first voyage until after the 8th of January, having earned her owners before she weighed anchor, $135,000,
but the Government nothing. On the 5th day of March last, she had
earned her owners $315,000 charter money. but she had not earned
Government, in all, to that date, what could have easily been done in that time by
a steamer chartered for $350 a day.  This steamer is still under pay, and her
charter money approaches a million dollars.   The small steamer Saxon, costing
her owners new but $24,000, was chartered and put under pay on the 5th of December, at $300 per day; yet she did not leave the wharf on her first trip till the
5th of February, having earned her owners, in the meantime, $18,600, without
having earned the Government one cent.   She had earned on the 12th of March,
$29,000 and made one trip to Ship Island. She took on that voyage eleven hund
red barrels of provisions, which Captain Brigham, Commissary of Subsistence of
the army stationed in Boston, testified could have been shipped to the destination
for $825.  The sailing vessel Idahlo, chartered November 27th, at $6,000 per
month, never left her moorings till the 7th of February."
ANOTHER OF BUSHNELL S FRAUDS.
A Mr. Charles Mallory, of Mystic, Conn., had an unfinished vessel on the
stocks which he called Varuna. C. S. Bushnell purchased her for the Government, agreeing to pay Mallory $135,000, he to finish her in a specified manner.
But after these terms had been agreed upon, Bushnell proposed to take her for
$110,000, and fit her up himself. Mallory accepted, and Bushnell, after the ship
was launched, had her towed to the shipyard of Messrs. Westervelt, in New
York, and had her finished at the Government expense, and turned her over,
charging the price originally agreed upon with Mallory, $135,000; thus putting
$25,000 in his own pocket.
CAMERON AND SCOTT'S BONANZA.
In treating'tlle subject of the transporting.of troops and military supplies
by railroad, the committee comment very severely upon the appointment by
74 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAMi A. WHEELER.
Secretary Cameron, of Thomas A. Scott, Vice-President of the Pennsylvania
Central Railroad, as superintendent of railroad transportation   Scott was appointed in April, 1861, and continued to act in this capacity until August, when
he was appointed Assistant Secretary of War. During all this time he was receiving his salary as Vice-President of the Pennsylvania Central Railroad. Mr.
Cameron was himself interested in the Pennsylvania Railroad and the Northern
Central Railroad. His brother-in-law was the President, and his son the VicePresident of the latter road. These two roads transported the bulk of the troops
and army supplies from the West to Washington City. In view of this fact the
committee say that "the employment of Mr. Scott was inexcusable." Acting as
the agent of the Government, Mr. Scott fixed a tariff of charges against the Government to be paid to the railroad companies, which the committee pronounces
"outrageous and indefensible."  They say:
"The body of the testimony taken by the committee establishes the fact that
the prices fixed by this schedule for transporting freights will exceed by 33i per
cent. the prices paid by private parties for like transportation.    *    *    It is
not necessary to say that under this arrangement the Pennsylvania Central and
the Northern Central Railroads realized an unjustifiable profit. The report of the
Pennsylvania Central of February 3d, 1862, shows the net earnings of that road
for the pending year to be $3,646,338.19, being an increase of $1,350,235.95 over
the preceding year, an increase of about, forty per cent. The same is true of the
Northern Central; indeed, as to that road the net proceeds were nearly double."
The committee conclude what they have to say upon this subject as follows:
"We are compelled to say that the testimony which is submitted in this connection establishes the fact that the Government, in consequence of the mercenary
interests of public officials, has been made the victim of extreme injustice; that
within reasonable limits a just and fair competition between the various rival
railroads would not only have resulted in reasonable prices, but would have prevented the corrupt and dishonorable dealings which were instigated by the extraordinary prices fixed by the Secretary of War through Mr. Scott for railroad
transportation. In the judgment of the committee there is no possible excuse for
allowing local rates, when persons less conversant with the subject than the
Secretary of War or Mr. Scott must have known that through transportation
would be almost universal unless indeed, as in the shipment of cattle and horses
to Harrisburg, and then their reshipment to Baltimore, the avarice of public
officials overrode the public welfare."
FRAUDS AT CINCINNATI.
In addition to the frauds connected with the purchase of supplies for Fremont's army in teie West, which weire treated of in the committee's first report,
they devote considerable space to a review of the fact subsequently brought
out in regard to the purchase of supplies for the Western Department in Cincinnati.  In August 1861, Fremont established a kind of subordinate military headquarters at Cincinnati, with his Judge Advocate R. M. Corwine as a sort of purveyor general. There was no authority of law for this, but Corwine having
obtained permission of Governor Dennison commenced his operations; he
appointed one John A. Lynch, who had been his law clerk, as a quartermaster,
and then gave his brother-in-law Captain Dart, a contract to supply an indefinite
quantity of army clothing. Two regiment of cavalry were raised, and equipped; 
the cost of the recruiting and the equipment of the regiments was very extravagant, all parties thereto being paid by commission on the amount. expended.
At the same time John E. Reeside was appointed by Fremont inspector of horses
at Cincinnati, )ut his duties were also those of a purchasing agent, and he was
allowed a commission of two and a half per cent. on all his purchases. Fremont
limited him to $130 per head, as the price to be paid for cavalry, horses; his
purchases in the aggregate amounted to $909,910, on which he was entitled under
the terms of his appointment by Fremont, to a commission of $22,000. At the
same time a regular army officer was purchasing horses at Cincinnati, and thus
a competition was created, which was of course detrimental to the interests of
the Government; the prices paid by Reeside ranged from $125 to $130 per horse,
while those paid by Captain Dickinson, the regular army officer, averaged $101
per head. In regard to the purchases of horses and mules at other points, the
testimony taken developed the same state of facts, viz.:  that the Government
75 
76               TI!E RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WrHEELER.
was invariably defrauded most shamefully. The following extract from the
report is especially interesting now, in view of the fact that the son of Simon
Cameron therein alluded to is now Secetary of War. The committee said:
WHERE DON CAMERON CAME IN.
"Mr. Cox (a dealer in horses residing near Indianapolis), sold horses to one
Calder whom he understood to be the partner in business with the son of the late
Secretary of War, Simon Cameron. This son of the late Secretary appears to
have been interested in this "horse contract" as he arranged for the payment of
money due Mr. Cox for'the horses he furnished."
"The testimony of Mr. Cox on this point to which the committee refer, is as
follows:
Q. Who were the contractors of the Government? A. I sold one lot of stock to
Calder, a contractor at Harrisburgh. My understanding was that Secretary Cam eron's son, a bankerat Harrisburghl, was interested with Calder.  I cannot say it
was so. Cameron and he were in partnership in the banking business and I sup posed they were in partnership in this matter. Beltzhloover agreed to furnish
Calder so many mules at a certain lprice, and I furnished I believe, about one hun dred head that went to Calder.
Q. At what price? A. I got $105 a h]lead at Harrisburgh for that lot of
stock.
Q. Do you know what the Government contract price for those horses was?
A. I do not know what Calder's contract was, I believe it was $127.50.
Q. How large a contract had he?  A. A contract for 500 mules.
*      *      *       *      *       *       *      *       *      *
Q. Did you find it necessary to borrow sums of money in connection with
this transaction from the banking house of Fletcher & Sharp of this city (Indianapolis)? A. I did borrow some money to enable me to fill my contract.
Q. Do you remember of saying to those gentlemen, or either of them, that the
payment would be promptly made by the Government and giving as a reason for
it that the son of Secretary Cameron was interested in that contract?  A. Yes,
sir; it was my understanding that he was interested.
Q. State how that understanding arose. From what did you understand that
a son of Senator Cameron was interested?
DON RAISED THE MONEY.
A. Beltzhoover is a citizen of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and he is acquainted with
him. He purchased in Illinois some $7,000 wosth of stock and could not pay for
it. He came here and I had to raise the money for him. He told me that Calder
and Cameron were good men; that they had a bank in Harrisburghl and that this
money would be promptly paid.  He remarked to me that Colder was an old citizen of Harrisburgh, and that he and Cameron's son owned a bank and were partners; and I supposed they were partners in the whole thing.
*      *      *      *       *      *      *      *       *      *
Q. Did you see Cameron? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did you see about the contract out here?  A. No, sir; Cameron just assured me he would arrange the whole thing and that the money would be all paid.
That is the only acquaintance I have with Cameron, I never saw him before
that morning.
CALDER'S AND DON'S BONANZA.
The committee further state that Calder furnished 3,600 horses to the Government on contract which he obtained without competition. In regard to the
prices paid for horses the committee say:
"The average price paid by the Government for horses was, according to the
testimony before the committee, about $125, while the price paid to the original
owners seems to average from $90 to $100. Irwin, quartermaster's agent at Cincinnati, who had purchased over 1,8000, says that the profits on the horses sold to
the Government-at $130, could not have been less than $25 per head.  *  *  *  *
It seems that it was very difficult for original owners anid breeders of horses to 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WHEELER.
get contracts. We - find that they were given out to bankers, publishers, hotelkeepers, distillers, dry-goods men and men of all sorts of business, more or less
foreign to the subject of such contracts. Contracts obtained by such parties were
of course, frequently let out to other parties more experienced in the business and
even sub-let to third parties.  The effect of this was, as seen from the above, that
about $25 per head went into the pockets of contractors, while the. original owners and breeders, many of whom would have been able and anxious to fill contracts far cheaper if they had been properly informea by' advertisements and had
found no difficulties thrown in their way in obtaining the contracts or disposing of
their stock, had to put up with very small profits."
The facts quoted from the two reports made to the House of Representatives
by the committee whose lease of life WILLIAM A. WHEELER attempted by parliamentary subterfuges to limit to the short duration of time covered by the extra
session of the XXXVII. Congress speak for themselves, and need no comment here.
IN CONCLUSION.
It is only necessary to say that the Simon Cameron who was driven from Mr.
Lincoln's cabinet in disgrace by the exposure of his official misconduct made bv this
committee, is the same Simon Cameron who is now Chairman of the Repulblican
Congressional Executive Committee, and that the son of Simon Cameron who is
charged by the committee with being concerned in horse contracts with Calder is
now Secretary of War, and headed the Pennsylvania delegation to the Republican
Convention at Cincinnati, and as is universally conceded, secured there the nomina
tion of Rutherford B. Hayes as the Republican candidate for the Presidency.
PART SECOND.
William A.  Wheeler's Record  in the Forty-first,  Forty             second, and Forty-third Congresses.
ALWAYS FOR THE FEW AQAINST THE MAY.
The following pages contain the Record made by WILLIAM A. WHEELER during
his term of service min the Forty-first, Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses.
From March 4, 1869, to the close of the Forty-second Congress, Mr. Wheeler was
Chairman of the Committee on Pacific Railroads of the House of Representatives. This was one of the most responsible positions in which he could have
been placed, as a representative of the people, during that period of time. Two
great corporations, gorged with subsidies which they had obtained from Congress
by purchasing the influence of the leaders of the Republican majority, had still
other schemes of plunder which they expected, by similar means, to have
sanctioned and in addition, two other Pacific Railroad companies, with their
gigantic undertakings just started, were also seeking favors at the hands of the
people's representatives. The policy of the Republican party upon the question
of subsidy legislation had assumed definite form long before this, and it would be
requiring too much of the average politician, like Mr. WHEELER, to have expected
him to array himself against the well-settled policy of his party and the tremendous influences exerted by the corporations to be benefited thlereby; but had he
been a statesman-a conscientious representative of the people —he would have
exerted the power which he, as Chairman of this important committee, possessed,
to guard in every possible way the rights of the many, which the grasping
monopolies and their purchased supporters in Congress always disregarded.
An examination of Mr. WHEELER'S record will show that he was always the
champion of the Pacific Railroad corporations, and utterly regardless of the rights
of settlers as well as of the government of the United States. This will be found
true, even after he became chairman of the Committee on Commerce in the FortyThird Congress. When the bill to relieve the Commerce of the Ohio Valley from
the exactions of the Louisville and Portland Canal Company came to the liHouse
from the Senate, Mr. HEI'LER exerted to the utmost, his influence with the Republican majority, to fasten upon the measure restrictive features which would postpone for two years the relief which the great valley of the west was clamorously
77 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WHEELER.
demanding.  He was successful, but the Senate struck out this amendment, and
finally after a long and desperate struggle, the great measure was carried over his
head. Of course, Mr. WHEELER had a plausible pretext to justify his opposition
to the government's assumption of the Louisville and Portland Canal. But how
shallow it was! The man who, as Chairman of the Committee on Pacific Railroads,
had championed every job in the interest of those monster corporations, and opposed every effort to hold them to a strict accountability to the government, became, all at once, very so4icitious about the interest of the United States, when it
was proposed to legislate for the many against the few who were joint stockholders
along with the United States in the Louisville and Portland Canal Company!
But let Mr. WHEELER's record speak for itself!
WILLIAM A. WHEELER has been a member of Congress from the 19th District of
New York, continuously from the 41st Congress to the present'time. He was
made Chairman of the Committee on Pacific Railroads when the House was organized at the beginning of the 41st Congress, and was continued in that important
position until the commencement of the 43d Congress.
THIE BURLINGTON AND MISSOURI RIVER R. R. JOB.
On April 7th, 1869, he reported back from the Committee on Pacific Railroads,
Senate resolution No. 29, which provided that the act of Congress approved July
26, 1864, granting lands to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company,
to aid in extending its road through the then Territory of Nebraska, to connect
with the Union Pacific Railroad, should be so construed as to authorize that
company to assign and convey to the Railroad Company to be organized under
the laws of the State of Nebraska, all the rights, powers, and privileges granted,
and conferred by the act, and subject to all the conditions and requirements
therein contained.
In making this report, Mr. WHEELER explained to the House that the railroad,
which had received a grant of land across the State of Iowa, and the Territory of
Nebraska, was then completed within 80 miles of the Missouri River; that the corporation desired to continue it to the Junction with the Union Pacific Railroad,
but that Nebraska having become a State, and enacted a general railroad law, the
parties interested desired to have the benefit of it. With this brief statement Mr.
WHEELER demanded the previous question, and the joint resolution was read a
third time,and'passed without division-[See Cong. Galobe, Vol. 74, p. 500.]
There has been as much jobbery, fraud and cornruption connected with the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad as with any of the main Union Pacific Rail
road schemes.  The object of the men interested in this railroad in desiring the
legislation which they obtained at the first session of the 41st Congress, was to enable them to have the advantage of the general railroad act which had been passed
by the State of Nebraska a short time previous.  This general railroad law
granted corporations organizing under it greater privileges than was possessed by
the charter the company had obtained from the State of Iowa and the:United
States.  Another scheme'which the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad
Company had in view, was the gobbling up of more lands in Nebraska than' had
been originally granted to them by the Act of 1864. The 19th section of that Act
gave them ten alternate sections of public land, designated by odd numbers, for
every one mile of road, on each side of the road not sold, reserved or otherwise
disposed of. The railroad company claimed that this was a grant without lateral limits, that is if they could not find the number of sections of land per mile
granted within the ten sections wide on each side of the road, they could go beyond that and select lands north and south of their land at an indefinite distance
therefrom. They had before this time presented their claim for this remarkable
privilege to the Interior Department, and Secretary Browning had made an adverse decision thereon, but at this very time this legislation granted by the joint
resolution, was pending in Congress, they had renewed their application to the
Interior Department, and Secretary Delano reversing the decision of his predecessor, Mr. Browning, had recognized their right to go beyond the lateral limits of
the grant, and select lands wherever they could be found unoccupied. The joint
resolution No. 29, which Mr. WHEELER put through the House, as above stated,
on the 7th day of April, 1869, had been introduced in the Senate on March 16th,
by (Subsidy) Pomeroy, who. then demanded its passage, but on account of the
absence of one of the Senators from Nebraska, it was suffered to lie on the table
until March 18th, when it was called up by Pomeroy and passed without division.
78 
THE RECORD OF WrILLIAM A, WHEELER.
This was the only bill reported by Mr. WHEELER from the Committee on Pacific
~Railroads during the first session of the 41st Congress. On April 9th, two days after
he secured the passage of Senate resolution No. 29, for the benefit of the Burlington
and Missouri River Railroad, he asked and obtained leave of absence for the re mainder of the session.
TEN LITTLE JOBS.
On January 19th, 1870, second session of the 41st Congress, Mr. WHEELER reported a bill granting the right of way to the Utah Central Railroad Company,
and had it printed, and re-committed.-[ee Cong. Globe, Vol. 75, p. 576.]
On February 12th he asked unanimous consent to report back the same bill
from the committee on Pacific Railroads, but Mr. Dawes of Massachusetts objectee.-[See Gong. Globe, Vol. 76, p. 1235.]
On June 16th, Mr. WIHEELERreported this bill from his committee, and it passed
without division. It granted the right of way through the public lands from near
Ogden City on the Pacific Railroad, to Salt Lake City, and gave all the material
necessary for its construction from public lands on the line of the road; and all
the land necessary for station buildings, &c., and 2200 feet of the public land on
each side of the road. The bill was, on recommendation of Mr. WHEELER alone,
passed without division.-[See Cong. Globe, Vol. 79, p. 4512.]
On January 25th, 1870, Mr. WHEELER, by unanimous consent, introduced a
joint resolution [House Resolution, No. 134] authorizing the North Pacific Railroad Company to issue its bonds for the construction of its road, and to secure
the same by mortgage, which was read a first and second time and referred to the
committee on Pacific Railroads and ordered to be printed. This bill was not
reported back during the second session.
On March 3d, 1870, Mr. WHEELER introduced, and had referred to his
committee, House Resolutiu, No. 1404, granting lands to the Territory of Wyoming, to aid in the construction of a railroad from a point on the Union Pacific
Railroad, at or near Church Bute Station, in said territory, to the head waters of
Smith Fork, in the Unita Mountains.-[ See Cong. Globe, Vol. 76, p. 16.~/Ihis
bill was not reported back during the second session.
March 8th, 1870, Mr. WHEELER reported to the House a bill, introduced and
referred to the Committee of Pacific Railroads, by Mr. Palmer of Iowa, authorizing the construction of a railroad bridge across the Missouri River, from Council
Bluffs to Omaha. - The bill was read a second time, ordered to be printed, and
re-committed.  On June 21st it wa reported back and passed.- [See Cng. Globe,
Vol 79, p. 4685.]
On March 8th, Mr. WTmELER also, by unanimous consent, reported from the
Committee on Pacific Railroads, a bill relating to the central branch of the Union
Pacific Railroad, which was read a first and second time, ordered to be printed,
and re-committed.
The same day, he reported from the same committee, a bill to amend an Act,
entitled, "an Act granting lands to aid in the construction of a railroad and
telegraph line, from the State of Missouri and Arkansas to the Pacific Coast, by
the Southern route," approved July 27,1876. It was read a first and second time,
ordered to be printed, and re-committed.
Also at the same time, a joint resolution concerning the Southern Pacific
Railroad, of California, which was read a first and second time, ordered to be
printed, and re-committed.-[See Gong. Globe, Vol. 77, p. 1762.
On March 24th he reported with amendment, Senate Bill, 447, to incorporate
the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad Company, which was read a first and
second time, ordered to be printed and re-committed.-[See Gong. Globe, Vol.
77 p. 2176.]  This bill was not reported back during the second session.
In April he reported a bill to incorporate the Kansas, Indian Territory and
Gulf Railroad Company, to enable the Missouri River, Fort Scott, and the
Leavenworth, Lawrence and Galveston Railroad to unite upon and construct a
single track through the Indian Territory, which was read a first and second time,
ordered to be printed and re-commited.-[See Gong. Globe, Vol. 77, p. 2459.]
On April 25th, Mr. WHEELER introduced a bill granting lands to aid in the constructlon of a Railroad and Telegraph line from Columbia River to Great Salt
Lake.-[See Gong. Globe, Vol. 78, p. 2961.
THE BIG NORTHERN PACIFIC JOB.
On May 5th, Senate resolution No. 121, same as House resolution 124, referred
79 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WHEELER.
to above, authorizing the Northern Pacific Railroad Company to issue bonds and,
secure the same by mortgage, came up and Mr. WHEELER advocated its passage.
This act greatly enlarged the grant of land to the Northern Pacific Railroad Company, because it provided that, "In the event of there not being in any
State or Territory in which the main line or branches of the same are located at
the time of the final location thereof, the amount of lands per mile granted by
Congress, within the limits prescribed by its charter, then the Company was entitled to receive so many sections of land belonging to the United States, and
designated by odd numbers in such state or territory, beyond the limits prescribed in said charter, as will make up such deficiency on said line or branches
to the amount of lands having been granted, reserved or sold, occupied by
homestead settlers; pre-empted, or otherwise disposed of, subsequent to the passage of the act of July 2, 1864."  During Mr. WHEELER'S speech, urging the
passage of this bill, Mr. Randall asked him how many acres of land were donated by this grant.
," Mr. WHEELER: I am utterly unable to tell the gentleman now, but he will
understand what is the extent of the grant before I get through.
"Mr. RANDALL: I am surprised that the gentleman should support a bill when
he is unable to tell us the number of acres granted by it."
Mr. WHEELER in advocating the bill said: "This second continental enterprise
which is to unite by iron bands the great lakes with Puget Sound and the Pacific
Ocean, which the war and the financial condition of the country temporarily suspended, is now inaugurated under such auspices as to command its speedy completion. Backed by wealthy capitalists, the ground has been broken upon the
road, and henceforth the work is to be pressed with all the energy and indomitable will which characterizes all American enterprises. The day for arguing the
absolute necessity for this road, has long since passed. By every consideration
of {foreign and domestic policy, it has confessedly no superior among the public
works of the country; Congress has declared this by its previous liberal grants to
this company. The company is not here to-day to ask for money or enlarged
sudsidies in lands. It seeks by this legislation three things."
TE THE TEE THINGS THE LOBBY DEMANDED.
""These three things were first, that it wanted the national impress upon its mortgage, and, as WIHEELER expressed it, "Uncle Sam's sign manual on its bonds to
make thom more desirable to foreign capitalists;" second, to change the route of
its main line so it could build by way of the Columbia river; and thit4d, it wanted
made good to them all the lands originally granted, no matter if they had been
occupied by settlers. In regard to Mr. Randall's question, Mr. WHEELER.8aid, "If
more land is taken, it will only be because the line is lengthened by this change
of route."  Mr. WHEELER allowed, altogether, only ten minutes to opponents to
the bill to oppose it.
Mr. Cox, of New York, and Mr. Vanwyck, protested against this course in choking off debate; but Mr. WHEELER demanded the previous question, and on this Mr.
Randall demanded tellers. The House, by a vote of 78 yeas to 59 nays, seconded
the previous question.  Mr. Styles, of Pennsylvania, then moved to lay the bill
on the table, on which Mr. Cox demanded the yeas and nays, which were ordered. By a vote of 58 yeas to 85 nays, the House refused to lay the bill on the
table. Mr. Cox then moved to adjourn, on which the ayes and noes were ordered, and by a vote of 54 ayes to 93 noes, the House refused to adjourn. Mr.
Farnsworth, of Illinois, then moved to re-consider the vote by which the main
question was ordered, and demanded the ayes and noes, which were ordered; and
by a vote of 60 ayes to 83 noes, the House refused to re-consider. Mr. Ela, of
New Hampshire, then moved that the House adjourn, on which the ayes and
noes were ordered, and again, by a vote of 54 ayes to 89 noes, the House refused
to adjourn.
BLAINE AND WHEELER WORK TOGETHER TO PUT THE JOB THEOUGH.
The opponents of the bill then attempted to fillibuster by demanding a call of
the House, but the Speaker ruled that the previous question was operating, and
that dilatory motions were not in order. Mr. Styles, of Pennsylvania, appealed
from the decision of the Chair, on which the ayes and noes were ordered, and the
decision of the Chair was sustained. It being apparent that the opponents of the
bill would fillibuster, the House finally adjourned; but the Speaker [Mr. Blaine]
80 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAMI A. WHEELER.
ruled that this bill would come up on Monday as unfinished business, immediately
after the reading the Journal. The object of the opposition in fillibustering was
to compel Mr. WHEELER to admit an amendment which would secure the rights of
the actual settlers; but Mr. WHEELER resolutely declined to even allow such an
amendment to be considered as pending, so that it might be voted upon.
On May 10th the bill came up as unfinished business, and Mr. Farfisworth of
Ill. was allowed one minute to make astatement.  He said * "Mr. Speaker; there
are two amendments which gentlemen of this House desire to have voted on; one
is reserving to Congress the right to fix the tariff of rates for freight and fare upon
this road, and the other to confine the sales of land in limited quantities to actual
settlers.  With the right to yote on these two amendments and with a brief discussion of this joint resolution which grants over fifty mlillions of acres of land to this
corporation, and it may be 75 to 100 millions of acres from the phraseology used,
only one hour of debate having been allowed on it, and that portioned out to those
only to whom the gentlemen having charge of the joint resolution saw fit to yield;
with the right to vote oni the amendments I have suggested, and a brief discussion,
I think the members I am operating with, will be content. Without that, I for
one, am disposed to fight the proposition; it is too big a dose."
Mr. WHEELER in reply, said:" The matter of charges for Government transportation is fully regulated by the original charter. I have repeatedly declared that
I do not regard it as equitable to attach a provision to this old grant, limiting
the price of land.  In this opinion the Senate has by a very large majority con
curred; so has the House Committee on Pacific Railroads, and on Public Lands.
The bill as it now stands has been sustained by a decided majority of the House
at every stage. I do not, therefore, feel at liberty, if I had the power, to consent that it should be changed. The responsibility Qf delaying its passage, and
of stopping the wheels of legislation is entirely with those who are not content
with the action of the majority.  I insist on the previous question."
WHEELER CONTRADICTED FLATLY.
"Mr. Hawley: Mr. Speaker  "The Speaker: For what purpose does the gentlemen rise?
"M r. Hawley: I rise simply for the purpose of denying that the majority of the
Committee on Public Lands ever consented to the passage of this joint resolution."
The remainder of the day was consumed with dilatory motions. Mir.WHEELER
declining to admit the amendments insisted upon by the opponents of'the bill,
and the House finally adjourned. The next day the bill camle up again on the
demand of Mr. Schenck of Ohio, for the regular order.  Ir. Orth of Indiana.
who had hitherto voted and acted with the minority in inilsting on the amendments, gave way and went over to the majority and fav6ret the passage of the
job.   Mr. Van Trump asked Mr. Orth if he intended to yield'vthout some understanding.  MIr.' Orth with his usual sincerity  reptd, that "he did not yield
anything.
Mr. WHEELER in explanation of his ~'irannical course int'.e qanagement of the
bill said: that he "was simply carrying'out the will of thi great majority of the
House" in denying all opportunity for the consideration of aiehdmehts to the
act.  In regard to the dilatory motions of the appointments of the bill he-said: "I
have simiply to say further, that nothing is to be gained by delay.   This question
may as well be met to day as ever.  Gentlemen understand its merits and if they
are disposed to vote the joint resolution down,  I-t'them do it in a manly and fair
fashion.  I am not contending here now at this'stage of the proceedings, for the
Northern Pacific Railroad; it is simply for the right of the majority of this
House to shaLpe its legislation, and I cannot consistently abandon this'contest untill the right of this majority so to do, is either vindicated or surrendered."
TEMPORARY DEFEAT OF THE LOBBY.
On' a motion to order the bill to a third reading; th' yeas and nays were demanded by Mr. WHEELER, and the result was, yeas, 77; nays, 91. Mr. WHEELER
voted in the negativo in order that he miglit enter a motion to re-consider the
vote by which the House refused to order the bill to a third reading, which he
did, and also movedl to re-commit it to the Committee on Pacific Railroads.  A
great number of amendments were then admitted, and it was moved to refer the
resolution and amendments to the Committee on Public Lands., Mr. Maynard of
81 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAM~ A. WNrHEELER.
Tennessee, moved to amend by substituting the Committee on Pacific Railroads,
which was agreed to, ayes, 113; noes, not counted.-[See Cong. Globe, vol. 78,
pp. 3,263-71, 3,344-49, 3,365-68.]
On May 25th, Mr. WIIEELIER reported back the resolution from the Committee
on Pacific Railroads without amendment. He allowed an hour for debate on the
resolution and then called the previous question, and reserved an hour for him.
self and the other friends of the measure.
Mr. Sargent of California: "Do I understand the gentleman that hlie proposes
to yield one hour to the twenty-four gentlemen who propose to offer amendments
to this joint resolution?"
Mr. WHIEELER: "I did so say."
TWO MINUTES TO THE OPPOSITION.
Mr. Sargent: "That is a little over two minutes to each gentleman."
After a discussion as to the time for debate, Mr.  WHEELERl said: "I do not
desire to limit debate to two hours if the rules of the House do not require it."
The speaker stated the parliamentary condition of the bill; that the House
having given leave to report at any time, it had its place as having precedence of
all other business until it shall have been disposed of; and  stated further that
"whenever the gentleman reporting the bill notified the Chair that he desired to
test the sense of the House on bringing the debate to a close, it would be the duty
of the Chair to recognize him."
"Mr. WHEELER: With that understanding I am willing that the gentlemen may
proceed in such a way as may suit themselves."
Mr. John B. Hawley then addressed the House in a speech occupying eight
columns of the Globe, and forty-one minutes, in advocacy of an amendment  fixing the prices of the land to actual settlers at $2.50 per acre, in quantities not
exceeding 160 acres. At the close of his speech Mr. WHEELER gave notice that at
3 o'clock he would call' the previous question. Mr. Clark of Kansas said that
that was not the understanding.
CHOKING OFF DEBATE.
"Mr. WHEELER: I give notice now, that at three o'clock I will demand the
previous question."
Mr. Haawley offered his amendment and Mr.  Sargent followed in a  brief
speech and offered an amendment. Mr. Cessna of Pennsylvania, objected to the
second one, the rules permitting but two amendments to be pending at one time.
The Speaker ruled that the power of members to offer amendments was exhausted
at the time they were referred and ordered to be printed. Mr. Clark of Kansas
called attention to the presence of the lobby on the floor. After debate, the previous question was seconded, 93 yeas, to 43 nays. The main question was ordered,
yeas 106, nays 66.  Mr. WHEELER then took the floor to close the debate, yielding a portion of his time to Messrs. Fitch, of Nevada; Smith, of Oregon; Cox,
Hew York, and Poland of Vermont.  Mr. Cox was only allowed a three minute
peech, and said among other things, "I have fought these land grant bills against
gentlemen who, now, for some reason, are opposing this joint resolution; shave
no sympathy for any of these schemes, and therefore I speak so frankly. I have
en  members whose constituents have been gorged with plunder out of this
system of land grants, pressing these schemes; with the pockets of their constituents gorged, they now oppose any competition with their peculiar roads, which
have been built with money and lands of the whole people.  *  *  * I have
opposed them as I told the member from Maine, (Mr. Lynch,) at the beginning of
this session, because
THEY WERE RUNNING SORES
upon the body politic' evils, not merely of the present, but reaching far out into
the future affecting land tenures hereafter, and unless the Republican party shall
hereafter oppose these schemes by a larger vote, and by a stronger body than they
have dore heretofore, their doom is sealed as certainly as if they opposed free
trade, or a revenue tariff."
The amendments offered by Mr. Hawley and Mr. Sargent were rejected by
almost two to one.
On May 29tlh, the bill came up again, and all amendments were voted down,
the bill was passed. Yeas, 197 nays, 85, as follows:
82 
THE RECORD OF WII,LIA3[ A. WVHEELER.
THE RECORD VOTE.
YEAS: Messrs. Allison, Ames, Archer, Armstrong, Atwood, Axtell, Ayer, Bailey, Banks, Barnum, Barry, Bennett, Benton, Bingham, Blair, Booker, Bowen,
Boyd, G. W. Brooks, Buckley, Burdett, R. R. Butler, Cake, Calkin, Churchill,
Wm. T. Clarke, C. L. Cobb, Conger, Connor, Covode, Cowles, Dawes, Degener,
Dickey, Dixon, Dockery, Dox, Garfield, Gibson, Hamilton, Harris, Hays, Hoar,
Hooper, Hotchkiss, Johnson, A. IH. Jones, Kelley, Kellogg, Kelsey, Ketcham,
Knapp, Laflin, Lash, Logan, Lynch, Maynard, McCarthy, McKee, McKenzie,
Morphis, D. J. Morrill, Morrissey, Myers, Negley, Newsham, O'Niel, Peck,
Perce, Peters, Phelps, Poland, Pomeroy, Prosser, Roots, Sawyer, Schenck, Scliumaker, L. A. Sheldon, P. Sheldon, Sherrod, Shober, J. S. Smith, W. J.  Smith,
W. C. Smith, W. Smyth, Starkweather, Stokes, Stoughton, Strickland,  Taffe,
Tanner, Tillman, Townsend, Trimble, Trichard, VanAuken, C. C. Washburne,
Wm. B. Washburn, WHEELER, Whittemore, Wilkenson, and Eugene W. Wilson
-107.
NAYS: Mlessrs. Ambler, Arwell, Asper, Beatty, Beck, Biggs, Bird, Jas. Brooks,
Buffington, Burchlard, Cessna, Sidney Clarke, Cleveland, Amasa Cobb, Coburn,
Cook, Cox, Crebbo, Cullom, Dickinson, Donnelly. Duvall, Dyer, Ela, Eldridge,
Farnsworth, Finklenburg, Getz, Griswold,  Haight, Holdeman, Hale, Hamill,
Hawkins, Hawley, Hay, Heflin, Hill, Holmnan, Ingersoll, Kerr, Knott, Lawrence,
Lewis, Marshall, Mayhlam, McCrary, McGrew, McNeeley, Murcur, E. H. Moore,
J. H. Moore, Wmin. Moore, Morgan, Orthli, Packard, Packer, Paine, Potter, Randall, Reeves, Rice, Rogers, Sargent, Scofield, Shanks, J. A. Smith, Stevens,  Stevenson, Stiles, Stone, Strong, Swann, Taylor, Tyner, Upson, VanWyck, Voor,
hees, Ward, Willard, Williams, J. T. Wilson, Winans, Witcher and Woodward,
-85.
WHAT THERE WAS IN THE JOB.
The reason of the anxiety of the Northern Pacific Railroad lobby for the passage of the above act was this: A company had been formed known as the Lake
Superior and Puget Sound Land Company, in which all the principal ground
floor stockholders of the Northern Pacific were interested.  This company was
selecting all the valuable town sites along the line of the road, and acquiring
title not only to the lands granted to the railroad company, but, with an army of
hired squatters, was fraudulently preempting the even-numbered sections whichli
were not granted to the railroad company, near to the town sites which they
were locating.  Thus the men interested in this huge job were acquiring not
only all the lands granted to the company, but were gobbling up those reserved
to settlers, and now, by the bill which WHEELER passed for them, they were to
hasre made good to the railroad company those which they were stealing with
their army of hired squatters.
A FIVE MILLION JO]B ATTEMPTED.
On June 2d, same session of Congress, Mr. WHEELER reported an original bill
from the Committee on Pacific Railroads, granting the Island of Yerba Buena to
the Western Pacific Railroad Company, for its terminus; the bill was read a first
and second time, and Mr. WHEELER announced that at 15 minutes of two o'clock,
he proposed to call the previous question. The Western Pacific Railroad was
only another name for the Central Pacific Railroad. The bill provided that
whereas the Western Pacific Railroad, the Western link in the chain of railroads
connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is now completed to Oakland, opposite San Francisco, and it is important that the Western terminus of said railroad
should be as near as possible to San Francisco, and should have sufficient accommodations for the travel and commerce passing over said road, therefore, the
bill provides that the Island of Yerba Buena, or Goat Island, in the bay of San
Francisco, is hereby granted to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, its successors and assignors for a terminus for its railroad, provided that one-half thereof
shall be reserved for the United States for fortifications and military purposes, to
be selected within six months from the passage of this act, by, or under the
authority of the President of the United States. In the case of necessity, in
actual war, the United States had reserved to it the right to use any and all
portions of the Island. ~ The railroad company had the right to build trestle or
pile across the channel, and all railroad companies had the right to run their
83 
THE RECORDi) O\ WILI[A-~~ A. WA'HEELER.
cars from the main land over the track of the Western Pacific Railroad to tihe
Island, under such rules and regulations as that Company might make.
Mr. WHEELER, in advocating this bill, spoke of the accomplishment of the grand
project of uniting the two great oceans, binding the Republic by iron bands, and
then argued that the donation of this valuable piece of property to the Rail road Company will not interfere at all with the rights of the Government, if it
ever became necessary to use the Island for military purposes, and said it was the
duty of the Government, having invested fifty or sixty million dollars in the Union
Pacific and Central Railroad Companies, to foster them in every way.
SHALL THE FANGS OF THE VAMPIRES BE LOOSENED?
Mr. Knott, of Kentucky, moved to amend the bill so as to require the railroad
company to pay $2,000,000 for this island. Mr. Knott said in support of his
amendment, "M ir. Speaker, in the remarks which I shall have the honor to sub  mit on the amendment just offered, 1 wish to make no allusion to the fact that the
title to the island proposed to be given away by this bill is in litigation, that it is
claimed by private parties; nor shall I have any animnadversions to make upon
the enormous subsidies which have already been given to this company, by which
it has been able to complete its road, as I am informed without an outlay of a
solitary dollar by the stockholders; but I propose now to ascertain whether it is
possible that any of these corporations that have fastened their fangs like vampires
upon the throat of the body politic, shall have their hold loosened, or whether
they are to be permitted to gorge themselves yet fuller on public plunder; whether
after the Congress of the United States has given themr untold millions of dollars,
we are now to leave them to sustain themselves, or whether we are to permit them
to ride this government as the Old Man of the Sea rode Sinbad the Sailor, until all
its energies are utterly prostrated. * * * I am informed by authority which I
can credit, that this island, Yerba Buena, is worth in cash  $5,000,000.  I am in formed by gentlemen in no wise interested in this question, that if the island
were put up at sheriff's sale to-morrow, the first bid would be $1,000,000. If
there is anybody, natural or artificial, on God Almighty's green earth that is able
to pay for this island, it is certainly this enormous corporation which has fed fat
upon the blood of the bbdy politic."
THE MINORITY GAGGED, CAN ONLY FILLIBUSTER.
After a speech from Mr. Axtell, of California, in favor of the bil, Mr. WHEELER.
moved the previous question on the bill, when Mr. Holman moved that the House
adjourn, and called for the yeas and nays; subsequently he' substituted for the
motion to adjourn one to lay the bill on the table, upon which the yeas and nays
were ordered; by a vote of 65 yeas to 99 nays the House refused to lay the bill
on the table.  The previous question was then seconded on. the bill and amend  ments; the yeas and nays were called on Mr. Knott's amendment and it was
rejected, yeas 76, nays 91; the House then adopted an amendment offered by'tMr.
Maynard, of Tennessee, which provides that whenever the President of the United
States shall direct it, the railroad company shall erect a drawbridge over such
portion of the channel as the engineering department of the United States shall
direct.  Another motion was made to lay the bill and pending amendment on
the table, which was rejected, 73 yeas, 92 nays. There were some further dila  tory motions, during which MAr. Wood, of New York, said: "Would it be in
order for me to offer $2,000,000 for this island which it is, now proposed to give
to this corporation? If such a proposition would be in order, then I make that
offer to the Government."
"Mir. Mungen: I will see the gentleman from New York (Mr. Wood) and go
$500,000 better, if I can have ten hours to go to New York to make arrangements
for the money."
The bill went over as unfinished business and came up the next day in the
morning hour.  On the question, will the House order the main question on
the passage of the bill, Mr. Holman demanded the yeas and nays and they
were ordered, and by a vote of 77 yeas to 74 nays the main question was
ordered. On the passage of the bill there were some further dilatory motions, and
an arrangement was made by which Mr. WHEELER allowed the opponents of the
bill 15 minutes to discuss it.
THE ISLAND ESSENTIAL FOR THE DEFENSE OF SAN FRANCISCO.
Mr. Washbuene, of Wisconsin, consumed this time. He said, in the course of
his remarks, that "If the member from the Brooklyn  District, State of New
84 
-J
THE  RECORD  OF AXILIIAM  A. AtWHEELEIR.
York, should come in here with a proposition to give Governor's Island to the
Long Island Railway, and allow.the Long Island Railway Company to bridge the
channel between Long Island and Governor's Island, that proposition would be
identical with the one now before the House."   He called attention to the fact
that a commission of the ablest officers of the Engineer Department had reported
that it would be most disastrous to the Government to part with the island of
Yerba Buena; that it was necessary for the defense of the city of San Francisco
and Harbor.  He quoted the following extract from the report of the commission:
"This island is regarded in this city as a very valuable piece of property, if the
public mind could be disabused of the idea thlat it may be obtained for railroad
and commercial purposes by an act of Congress; and if the Government were disposed to sell the island, and were to put it up at auction to be sold to the highest
bidder, it would probably bring $5,000,000. -
Mr. WHEELER, after speaking 15 minutes in support of the bill, forced a vote
on it, and it was rejected; yeas, 80; nays, 8S, Mr. WHIEELER voting in the affirmative, and, immediately after the vote was announced, entered a vote to re-consider. -[See Cong. Globe, Vol. 79, pp). 4,512-16, 4520-26.]
This bill did not pass and go to the Senate, and as there was very little business transacted at the first session of the 42d Congress, another opportunity to put
through the Yerba Buena job did not offer to Mr. WHIIEELER until the second session of the 42d Congress.
THE SAME JOB IN A NEW FORM.
On February 16th, 1872, Mr. WHEELER from the Committee on Pacific Railroads, by unanimous consent, reported a bill (H. R. No. 1553) relating to the
Central Pacific Railroad, which was read a first and second time, and re-committed.  On March 5th, Mr. WHEELER reported back this bill from the Committee on
Pacific Railroads with an amendment. The first section grants one half of the
Island of Yerba Btuena to the Central Pacific Railroad for the terminus of its
road, free use for military purposes "during war being reserved to the United
States. Second section protects private interests if any existed and authorized
the Company to build its line from Oakland to the Island, provided it be done
within three years from the passage of this act. Section third provides that if at
any time tile wants of commierce shall require it, upon the direction if the President, the Central Pacific Railroad shall erect a draw-bridge, under the direction
of the Engineering Department. Section four provides that all railroads shall
have the right to pass over the track under such rules and regulations as the Cent..
tral Pacific shall prescribe, but they shall first pay to the Central Pacific Railroad
a just proportion of the improvements on the Island, and the expense of reaching
the same from the main land. The amendment grants the use of one half of the
Island to the Central Pacific Railroad Company for a terminus for its road to be
used exclusively for railroad purposes, and this grant shall continue so long as the
said premises shall be used by the said Company, its successors, and assigns, for
the purposes above named, and no longer.
Mr. WHEELER advocated the bill in a speech of ten minutes, and then yielded
ten minutes to Mr. McKinney of Ohio, who moved to add at the end of the bill,
the following: "Provided said company shall pay into the Treasury of the
United States annually a sum of $50,000, for the use of one half of said Island /
as provided in this bill." Mr. Coburn obtained leave to have read an amendment
which provided that all after the enacting clause should be stricken out, and the
Secretary of War be required to have the Island surveyed by officers of the
Engineer's Corps, and report whether the whole or part of the same was necessary for purposes of protection and military defense.  Mr. WHEELER refused to 
allow this amendment to be considered as pending.
AT THE LOWEST ESTIMATE THE ISLAND WAS WORTH $2,000,000.
Mr. McKenny of Ohio said in support of his amendment,  "The Union Pacific
Railroad Company, embracing the Central and Western, have received from the
Government of the United States subsidies of land to the amount of over 2.5,000,000 acres, and they have had subsidies in l)onds tothe amount of over $55,000,000:
they have received more in subsidies from the Government than it cost to build
their road. The Government has lbuilt their road, and left enough in their hands \
to make them a wsealthy corporation, one of the most wealthy in the world, and 
now, sir, they come into this IHouse and ask that they shall be sul)sidized again;
85 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WHEELER.
they ask, as is shown by the testimony, for property worth from two to five miIlions of dollars, or I can say from two to ten millions; the lowest reliable estimate.
I believe that has been made is $2,000,000."
Mr. WHEELER announced that he would call the previous question at the end
of the morning hour. Mr. Banks said that this proposition should not be hurried
through without debate. The debate was continued beyond the morning hour,
and Mr. Killinger and Mr. Cox spoke in opposition to it. The next day, March
7th, it came up in the morning hour as unfinished business, and was opposed
by MIr. Kerr of Indiana, by Mr. Hay and by others.  The next day, March 8th,
Mr. WlHEELER demanded the previous question, and Mr. Banks moved to adjourn;
it was carried and the bill went over until March 12th, when it was called up by
Mir. Garfield of Ohio, demanding the regular order of business. Mr. Sargent of
California, who acted as an agent of the Central Pacific Railroad while a member of the House made a long speech in support of it. Mr. Holman of Indiana
moved to lay the bill on the table, which was decided in the negative, yeas 73,
nays 94-the question recurred on seconding the previous question to recommit
the bill oni which the yeas and nays were ordered, and by a vote of 95 yeas to 67
nays, the House seconded the previous question. The motion to recommit was
taken and agreed to.
PLAYING FOR TIME TO GIVE THE LOBBY A CHANCE.
This course was taken by Mr. WIIEELER, who submitted a written proposition to'
the effect that the bill be recommitted, with liberty so to amend as to provide that'
within one month from the passage of the bill the President shall appoint three
commissioners, who shall be authorized, at the expense of the Pacific Railroad
Company, to hear the proofs and allegations of all parties interested in the subject-matter of this bill, and shall, within three months after their appointment,
award such sum for the use of said one-half of said island granted in this bill as
in their judgment be deemed just and equitable, which said award shall be paid
by the Central Pacific Railroad Company before it shall avail itself of this grant.
Immediately after the vote was taken to recommit, Mr. WHEELER entered a motion
to reconsider, but did not press it at that time.
On April 22d Mr. WHEELER called up the motion to reconsider, and proposed a
substitute for the bill, which was read; the substitute makes the premises liable
to taxation, as is every like property, under the laws of California, and includes
the provisions for the three commissioners, and that the Government may take
possession of the whole island in time of war, or anticipated war, and that the
track shall be placed on pies not less than thirty feet span. Sir. Sargent, of California, obtained the floor, by the courtesy of Mr. WHEELER, and advocated the
bill. After a running debate the main question on the motion to reconsider was
orderered, yeas, 100; nays, 72. Mr. Holman, of Indiana, as a test, moved to lay
the motion to reconsider on the table, which was rejected; yeas, 73; nays, 99: the
vote to reconsider was then taken and resulted in the affirnmative, whereupon Mr.
WHEELER withdrew his motion to recommit and offered his substitute.
MR. HOLMAN WANTS THE COMPANY TO PAY UP.
After a long debate Mr. Holman, of Indiana, offered an amendment that the
Act should not take effect until the Central Pacific Railroad shall have paid into
the Treasury the sums paid by the United States as interest upon bonds issued by
the United States for the benefit of said company.   Mr. WHEELER declined to
admit this amendment.   He also declined to admit an amendment proposed by
Mr. Randall, of Pennsylvania, that the award of the Commissioners be submitted
to Congress for ratification.  Several other propositions to amend the subsidy
were refused by Mr. WHEELER, and tJie House took a recess in accordance with a
previous order.  On April 24th, the bill came up again.  Mr. WHEELIER refused to
allow any amendment. whereupon Mr.  Killinger moved to lay the lll on the
table, which was rejected by a vote of 79 yeas to 96 nays, and the main question
was ordered, yeas 100, nays 80.  Mr. Beatty then moved to adjourn, which was
disagreed to, yeas 39, nays 140.  Mr. WHEELER then consented to allow a vote on
the two amendments offered by Mr. Holman, in consideration of the assurance
that if a vote was allowed uponi them there would be no further dilatory motions.
The amendment to the original bill, requiring the company to pay $50,000
annually into the Treasury of the United States was rejected, yeas 84, nays 94.
Mr. Holman's first amendment to the substitute requiring the Commissioners to,
make an award of not less than $50,000, to be paid annually, was rejected, yeas 86,
a
86 
THE RECORD OF WAVILLIAM A. WAHttEELER.
nays 93.  The second amendment requiring the payment of the interest on the
)bonds of the Railroad Company  then due, amounting to $5,089,212, prior to
availing themselves of the grant, was rejected, yeas 79, nays 92.  The substitute
was agreed to and the bill passed, yeas 101, nays 86. L&e Cong. Globe, 2d Sesion
42d Congress, pp. 1092 to 2736.]
THE JOB IN THE SENATE, AND HOW IT WAS FINALLY BEATEN.
On April 26th, the bill was received in the Senate and read a first time. Mr.
Cole, of California, objected to the second reading, and it went over. On May
9th the bill was called up by Mr. Stewart, of Nevada, and' read a second time. Mr.
Stewart moved its reference to the Committee on Pacific Railroads, and Mr. Cole,
of California, moved to substitute Military Affairs.  Pending the action the
morning hour expired and the bill went over, and was not taken up again during
the session. On January 6th, at the third session of the Forty-second Congress,
the bill was referred to the Military Committee. On February 17th it was reported from the Military Committee by Mr. Logan, without recommendation, and
placed on the calendar, and nothing further was done with it.
It was during the third session of the 42nd Congress that the famous Credit
Mobilier exposure was made, and the Republican majority frightened,  demoralized, with all its old leaders being investigated and found connected with that
great fraud, Mr. Randall of Pennsylvania, offered a resolution re-calling from the
Senate the bill passed at the second session granting Yerba Buena Island to the
Central Pacific Railroad, and under a suspension of the rules passed the same.
Thus the final death blow to this enormous job was given by the present leader of
the Democr'atic House of Representatives.
WHEELER'S BOWELS NEVER YEARN FOR THE POOR SETTLERS.
On June 22nd, 1870, House resolution No. 86., with Senate amendments suspending the sale of certain lands in California granted to the Southern Pacific
Railroad, was taken up from the Speaker's table. Mr. Julian of the Committee
on Public lands wanted it referred to his committee, but the Speaker said it belonged to the committee on Pacific Railroads.  Mr. WHEELER said that the committee on Pacific Railroads had already considered a bill identical in all respects
with the one as amended by the Senate, and was in favor of the passage of this
one. Mr. Julian said that the resolution as it passed the House originally, protected the rights of a large body of settlers in California, but as it came back
from the Senate it disregarded the rights of those settlers, and he wanted it referred to the Committee on Public Lands. Mr. WHIEELER declared that it did not
interfere with the rights of settlers, and insisted upon the passage of the bill and
called the previous question, and put it through by a vote of 94 yeas and 72 nays.
This was another California job in which Mr. Sargent and the Central Pacific
Railroad rinn  of that State were interested.  [See Cong. Globe, Vol. 79, p. 4701.]
WANTS TO GAG THE MINORITY.
On January 31st, third session, 41st Congress, Mr. WHEELER wanted the House
to adopt a gag rule, and submitted an amendment to the Rules of the House
that provided that, "after the previous question is moved, no motion shall be
entertained except to adjourn, to fix the day on which the House will adjourn,
and to lay on the table, and the said motion shall not be repeated and after the
previous question is seconded, no original motion whatever shall be entertained
except a single motion to adjourn." This was referred to the committee on rules,
but no further action was taken on it.  This was the origin of the great effort
that was made at the last session of the 43d Congress to adopt a gag rule in order
to put through, under its operations, the infamous force bill which would have
placed all the Southern States under the control of Federal bayonets. Finally,
after a desperate struggle, in which Mr. Randall succeeded by dilatory motions in
delaying action, the gag rule was adopted, but the end of the session was so near
at ha'nd that he was enabled by adroit parliamentary maneuvers to delay the final
vote on the force bill until Mr. Blaine and Mr. Poland and others who were interested in railroadjobs in Arkansas, which would have been injured had the
Republican majority, at the dictation of Grant, succeeded in forcing through this
infamous measure, rallied enough Republican votes to enable the Democrats to
defeat it.
87 
TIlE RECORD OF WVILLIAM A. WrHEELER.
TOM SCOTT'S GREAT JOB.
On February 13th, 1871, third session, 41st Congress, Mr. WHEELER introduced
proposed amendments to senate hill 647, to incorporate the Texas Pacific Railroad,
which was ordered to be printed and referred to the committee on Pacific Railroads. February 16th he gave notice that hlie would call up the Southern Pacific
Railroad bill on the next Tuesday. February 21st Mr. WHEELER reported a substitute for the Senate bill, which was read,
There had been a struggle going on for years between three different parties who
were anxious to acquire from Congress a charter for the Southern Pacific Railroad
Company. The old Memphis and EI Paso Company of which Gen. John C. Fremont was the head, had, after expending a corruption fund of $11,000,000 composed mainly of various securities of that Company, failed to secure a charter from
Congress. Nevertheless Mr. Fremont went to France, where he sold about $4,000,000 of bonds of the Memphis an'd E1 Paso, representing in the prospectuses and
advertisements published in the Paris newspapers that the company was chartered by Congress, and moreover, that the bonds were guaranteed by the United
States Government. This great fraud had been, previous to February, 1871, discovered by John A. C. Gray of New York City, a scheming, unscrupulous man,
who wanted to get possession of the valuable franchises and land grants which the
Memphis and E1 Paso Company had obtained from the State of Texas. Gray
had, by various devices, procured, by the assistance and connivance of Mr. Juslice Bradley of the Supreme Court o the United States, a decree of bankruptcy
against the Memphis and Il Paso company, and had been made the receiver of it.
He thus came in possession of between eight hundred thousand and.one million
dollars in gold, and other property belonging to the Memphis and E1 Paso Co., and
had been intriguing, along with Marshall O. Roberts, to get a charter from Congress for a new company known as the Southern Transcontinental, which was to
have the right to purchase the franchise and land grants of the Memphis and El.
Paso.  Looking forward to the consummation of this desire, he had procured by
various fraudulent devices foreclosures on the franchises, land grants, etc., of the
old Memphis and E1 Paso, and had the same sold and bought in by his agents. To
attempt to unravel and tell in detail thie story of this conspiracy and innumerable
illegal devices which were employed toconsummate it would require a greater space
than we can afford in this document.,
THE vUlLTURES GATtER ABOUT THE CARCASS.
However, it is sufficient to say that Tom Scott, and other capitalists, had also
a scheme to obtain a charter for that company, to be known as the Texas Pacific,
which was also to have the right to acquire by purchase, or otherwise, the property and franchise of the old Memphis and El Paso.  Associated along with Scott,
was William Pitt Kellogg, the present usurping Governor of Louisiana, and a
whole raft of carpet-bag Senators and Memnbers of the House.  The New York'
parties had introduced in the Senate a bill incorporating the Southern Transcontinental Railway company, granting the right of way, and lands, in aid of its
construction. hlie corporators were John C. Fremont, John A. C. Gray, E. L.
Fancher, Marshall O. Roberts, William M. Vermilye, W. C. Sheldon, Charles F.
Livermore. Charles G. Miller, Charles Gould, Edmond E. Randolph, Henry I).
Cook, William S. Huntington, Morton C. Hunter, Thomas A. Morris, August H.
Whitney, John A. Goodwin, Powell Clayton, Sam. Tait, R. C. Brinkley, J. B.
Chaves, J. J. Hinds, O. H. Bynum, J. C. Goodloe, S. W.  Morton, Markus L.
Ward, R. M. Bishop, and George B. Upton.  The majority of these gentlemen
named were the friends and representatives of Gray and Roberts. In the House
of Representatives, Fremont was very strong, and in the Senate he had many
warni personal friends. This bill provided in the 6th section the authliority to
purchase the rights, franchise, land grants and stock of the Memphis and E1 Paso
and Pacific Railroad Company, which was to form a portion of the railroad line
under new auspices to the Pacific.  There were other parties, however, on the
ground watching with eager interest the movements of Fremont, and patientlv
awaiting an opportunity to slip in and cut him out by themselves, obtaining a
charter with right of way and land grant for another company to build a road
along the 32d parallel.  These parties were Thomas A. Scott, and the capitalists,
who were then combining to gobble up all the important Southern railroads, and
form a continuous line of railw-ay from Baltimore via Washington and Richmond, and thence to various points in the South and West.  It was the same
88 
THE RECORD OF AiLI.IAM A. AIIhELER. E
combination which afterwards became the Southern Security Company, and
which now manages in the interest of the Pennsylvania monopoly more than
fifteen hundred miles of Southern railway.
THE STRUGGLE IN THI SENATE.
On the 9th of March, Kellogg of Louisiana, who together with the entire
carpet-bag ring in that state had become allies of Scott, introduced a bill in the
Senate to incorporate the Texas and Southern Pacific Company. In introducing
it, hlie said, that the bill conformed substantially with the suggestions contained in
the report made by the Louisville Commercial Convention in regard to the proposed route to the Pacific, and also the suggestions contained in the reports of
several commercial conventions held in the Mississippi Valley duiing the previous
summer.  These conventions had all been worked up, managed and controlled in
the interest of the Memphis, E1 Paso and Pacific, by the agents of Fremont, and
were intended to mould public opinion in favor of his enterp)rise.  It is not
strange, therefore, that lie should be alarmed when he saw his own thunder being
appropriated by his enemies, and realized the imminence of the danger which threat.
cued to blast all his fond hopes and perhapslecave him a ruined and dishonored man.
TIIE PACIFIC COAST RING ALSO.
The Pacific Railroad Committee in the Senate was always adverse, and a faint
perception of his previous ill fortunes in that body began to dawn in Fremont's
mind. The Pacific Coast ring, under the lead of Emma MIine Stewart, was maneuvering for an alliance with the Scott party whereby the same share of the spoils
should be accorded to the Bank of California in the Southern scheme as had formerly been granted in the Union Pacific steal.  There was evidently an understanding of some kind between the b)ands of public plunderers, and unless something
was done to disunite them, Fremont and his New York friends would be ruined
Their only hope was to strengthen themselves in the House and make them
selves so strong there that they would be able at the proper time to drive a
favorable bargain with Scott, who would naturally choose them as allies, if he
was finally forced to take anybody into this job.  The $800,000 of gold vwhlich
had been saved out of the proceeds of the bonds sold in France was in Gray's
hands, and a part of it was undoubtedly used to secure friends in Congress. Dick
Parsons of Cleveland, Ohio, who was associated subsequently with Gen. Garfield
in favoring the contract frauds in the District of Columbia, had a contract from
the New York party to put their bill through the House of Representatives for
$1,000,000 in stock and securities.  Parsons was then Marshal of the Supreme
Court, and his office was the headquarters of the Fremont, Gray and Roberts lobby. The bill introduced by Kellogg in the Senate was reported back from the
Committee on Pacific Railroads of that body, by Senator Howard, amended so as
to be in reality a new bill. It contained a section (the 25th), which was put there
by the influence of the Paefic Coast Ring, and gave the Bank of California the
Tiglit to build their road to a point on the Colorado River and thence westward
along the 32d parallel, but when the test vote came on retaining this, it was
:stricken out, very nuch to the surprise of that combination. The cause of this
unexpected turn in affairs was made plain shortly afterwards wlien Nye of Nevada
moved ani amendment which substituted for the corporators originally named in
the bill over one hundred others, nearly one-half of whom, with Fremont at the head.
were identical persons who were put in as corporators to the Southern Transcontinental Railroad Company. This amendment was adopted in tlhe Senate and the
bill as amended passed the Senate.
WHEELER FULFILLS HIS PART OF THE BARGAIN.
The bill which Mr. WHEELER reported in the IHoise on February 21st was a
compromise bill agreed upon by Fremont, Gray and  loblclts with Tom Scott
and his party; the corporators nanmed in it were about equally divide(l between
the Fremont-Gray party and Scott's party proper, but there wvere b)rought in a
number of the Louisiana crowd, who subsequently acted with Scott anLid gave
him sufficient strength to throw the Fremont party overl)oard when lhe proper
time came.  The compromise bill gave the Texas Paicific R-ailroad (coinpaiiy the(
right to purchase stoclt, land grants, franchises and appurtenances, an(! consoli,date on such terms as might be agreed upon between the parties, with any rafll
89 
THE RECORD OF AVILLIAM A. WVHEELER.
road company, or companies, heretofore or may hereafter be chartered by Congressional, State, or Territorial authority. This provided the necessary provision
to enable the company to acquire the old Memphis and E1 Paso, which was subsequently accomplished through Gray, the receiver of the Memphis and E1 Paso,
who, by fraudulent foreclosures, and other infamous illegal proceedings, had got
the concern in a shape where he could sell it out. In this proceeding, the right
of the French bond-holders, the innocent purchasers of the securities
placed upon the French market by Fremont and sold by means of false
representations, were not protected, and proceedings are now pending by
which the representatives of these bondholders hope to compel the Texas Pacific
to secure them in their rights.  Mr. WHEELER'S bill was put through after allowing one hour only for debate. All amendments were rejected, and the bill was
passed-yeas, 135; nays, 70.  The Senate non-concurred in these amendments,
and ordered a conference, and February 28th, John A. Logan moved to suspend
the rules and appoint a committee of conference on the part of the House, to
meet that of the Senate.  Mr. Randall, of Pennsylvania, objected, because the
House bill appropriated but 13,000,000 acres of land, while the Senate bill,Ippropriated 26,000,000.  Mr. Logan thought it was an act of courtesy on the part of
the House to accord a committee of conference.   Mr. Randall asked if the gentleman thought it an act of courtesy to give 13,000,000 acres of additional land?
The rules were suspended and a conference ordered, the vote being taken by yeas
and nays, and resulted in 139 yeas to 59 nays. The conferees on the part of the
Senate were Senators Howard, Kellogg and Flanigan, and on the part of the
House, Messrs. Wheeler, Logan and Sherod.
On March 3d, Mr. Wheeler submitted a conference report.   This report had
been secured by the Senate receding from its disagreement to the amendment of
the House, which it agreed to with some trifling amendments. There was also inserted two additional sections, one of which gave the New Orleans, Baton Rouge
and Vicksburg Railroad Company, chartered by the State of Louisiana, the right
to connect with the Texas Pacific, and grant to it the same number of alternate
sections of public lands per mile in the State of Louisiana as were granted to
the Texas Pacific in the State of California. This was done in the interest of the
Louisiana ring.  The report was finally agreed to, yeas 125, nays 64, Randall and
Holman opposing by every possible maneuver.  The same day the report of the
conference was submitted and discussed in the Senate and finally agreed to without division, after a motion to table had been rejected by a vote of 13 ayes to 40
noes.
STILL SERVING HIS MASTERS.
On February 17th, 1872, second session, 42nd Congress, Mr. Wheeler introduced a bill (H. R. No. 1765,) to amend an act to incorporate the Texas Pacific
Railroad Company, which was read a first and second time and referred to the
Committee on Pacific Railroads, and ordered to be printed.  On April 26th, he
gave notice that he would, on the following Monday, move to suspend the rules
for the purpose of considering Senate bill in relation to the Texas Pacific Railroad. On April 29th, Mr. Wheeler in pursuance of this notice, moved to suspend the rules for the purpose of taking from the speaker's table and bringing before
the House Senate bill 724, supplemental to the act entitled an act to incorporate
the Texas Pacific'Railroad Company, and to aid in the construction of its road,
and for other purposes; approved March 2nd, 1871.  In lieu of this bill, he had
read a bill from the Committee on Pacific Railroads, changing the name and style
and title of the Texas and Pacific Railroad Company to the Texas Pacific Railroad Company.  The second section authorized it to issue construction and land
bonds not exceeding $40,000 per mile, and the mortgages made to secure these
bonds should be filed and recorded  in the Department of the interior; that,
American iron and steel should be used in ironing the road; that it should commence its construction at or near Marshall, Texas, and proceed westerly towards
Santiago in the State of California on the line authorized by the original act, but
requiring it to construct, maintain, and control and operate the road between
Marshall, Texas and Shreveport, Louisiana. This bill hlie wanted considered as a
substitute for the Senate bill. Pending action on the motion to suspend the rules,
Mr. Holmnan said: "If this bill is to be open for amendment and reasonable
consideration, I have no objection to the gentleman's motion.
"The SPEAmER:  The gentleman from Indiana (Mr. Holman) suggests that the
bill be open for amendments and consideration."
90 
THE RECORD OF AWILLIAM A. WHEELER.
There was no division on the motion to suspend the rules and after the amendments reported from the committee were acted upon, Mir. WHEELER  demanded
the previous question; Mr. Holman proposed an amendment; when Mr. WHEELER
would not yield for his amendment Mr. Holman said: "I understood the bill was
brought before the House subject to amendment."
"The Speaker: That is for the House to determine."
"Mr. Holman: I submit to the gentleman from New York that unanimous consent was obtained to bring the bill before the House, on the understanding that
when it was brought, it would be open to any amendments on which the members might desire the decision of the House."
"Mr. WHEELER: Every amendment which has been proposed by the gentleman
from Indiana has been of a tendency to impair the original rights granted to this
company, and I cannot consent to yield further to admit such amendments."
"Mr. Holman: Then I raise the question of order, that the bill comes before
the House open to amendments; while there is an amendment to be proposed to
the bill the previous question cannot be sustained without bad faith."
The speaker declined to rule on the point, the previous question was sustained,
and the bill passed without division.
DON'T WANT HIS OLD FRIENDS COMPELLED TO PAY UP.
At the 3rd session of the 42nd Congress, January 14th, 1873, the legislative
appropriation bill being under consideration in the House, Mr. Hibbard offered
in an amendment, repealing the 9th section of the Army appropriation bill of
March 3rd, 1871, and making it the duty of the "Secretary of the Treasury to apply
all such sums of money as now are, or shall become due to either of the Pacific
Railroad Companies embraced within the provisions of the said section, from
the United States, for the transportation of troops, supplies, and materials, or
otherwise, to the payment of indebtedness of each Company to the United States
for interest paid by theUnited States on bonds issued for the benefit of said Companies."
It must be borne in mind that it was at the third session of the 43d Congress
that the Credit Mobilier exposures were made, and with the Republican side of the
House demoralized, the Democrats ware determined to force through a measure
to compel the Pacific Railroads to pay~ the interest which the Government had
already paid on their bonds. With Dawes, Garfield, and the other leaders on the
Republican side demoralized by being caught in the Credit Mobilier, there was no
person on that side of the House to come to the rescue of the companies but Mr.
WHEELER,who promptly proposed an amendment to the amendment above referred
to, providing that "the repeal shall not take effect until the Attorney-General shall
certify to ttie Secretary of the Treasury that the Railroad Companies, or either
of them criated by the act of July 1st, 1862, and July 2nd, 1864, or either of said
acts, are liable under said acts, or either of them, to the Government for any
amount of interest paid by the Government, upon the bonds issued in aid of such
companies, or either of them."  Mr. Holman made the. point of order that the
amendment was not germane, or if germane to the pending amendment, not
admissible; that it came ufider suspension of the rules. This point of order the
speaker overruled.  After a general debate, the amendment of Mr. WHEELER was
rejected by 45 yeas, to 91 nays.   On  motion of Mr. Donan, that portion of
Hibbard's amendment relating to applying money to the payment of interest was
stricken out, leaving only a clause repealing the 9th section, and the amendment
was agreed to.
On March  1st,  Mr.  WHEELER  called  up Senate bill 1425, supplemental
to the act to incorporate the Texas Pacific Railroad Company, legalizing the,
currency bonds of the company, and it was passed without division. On March
3d (9:30 a.m., March 4th) business on the speaker's table being under consideration, Senate bill 1537, supplemental to the act to incorporate the Texas Pacific
Railroad Company, was reached. This supplemental act authorized the companies to lease or consolidate with other roads.  William R. Roberts of New York
objected.  Mr. WHEELER sought to have it passed, and on a division the vote was
ayes 56, nays 53.  No quorum voting, it was laid aside.  Mr. WHEELER called the
bill up again, and moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill. The vote resulted
yeas 89, nays 79. The hammer soon after fell and the 42nd Congress expired before
the bill could be engrossed and signed by the Speaker and President of the
Senate, and so it failed.
91 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WIIEELER.
THE LOUISVILE AND PORTLAND CANAL.
At the beginning of the 43d Congress, William A. Wheeler was made Chairman of
the Committee on Commerce, and the only important measure reported by him
(April 30th, 1874,) from this Committee was Senate bill No. 350, providing for
the payment of the bonds of the Louisville & Portland Canal Co., with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. This substitute provided that the appropriation made by the act of March 3d, 1873, for the payment of the debts of the
Louisville & Portland Canal Co., shall be continued and made permanently applicabl)le to the payment of the debts of that Canal Company, and so much as
might be necessary should be applied to the payment of the interest as it accrues
and(l the principal of the outstanding bonds as they mature; it also provided that
the Secretary of War should take possession of the canal and of the property, real
and )personal, belonging to it as the property of the United States, as provided for
by the act of the General Assembly of the State of Kentucky approved February
22d, 1844, subject however to the mortgage lien on the property in favor of the
trustees, made to secure the bonds which had been issued.  The Directors of the
Company -were to be paid for the stock held by them, being the sum of one hundred dollars to each director (five) with interest at 6 per cent. since the 9th of July, 1864. Notice was to be given to all persons and corporations having debts of
any nature against the Canal Company, except the bonded debt, and they were to
present them on or before the 1st day of July, 1875.  The debts of the Company
were to be audited and examined and allowed if they were binding, but no sum
of money was to be allowed on account of any claim for either city, or State taxes
assessed or hereafter assessed against the Company.  The Canal and property
thus assumed by the United States Government was to be free of all tolls and
charges except such as are necessary to pay the current expenses, and to keep the
Canal in repair, and the tolls for the next year ensuing after the passage of the
act shall be 10 cents per ton capacity on vessels propelled by steam, and 5 cents
per ton on other vessels, and provided, that the rates were to be fixed in accordance with the estimates of the expenses from year to year.
WHEELER'S ATTEMPT TO DEFEAT THIIS GREAT MEASURE.
Mr. Wheeler said, "As an individual member of the Committee, I offer the
following as an amendment-to be regarded as pending-to the substitute, adding
to section first the following:'Provided, further, that said Secretary shall pay no
money under any of the provisions of this Act, nor shall the Secretary of War
take possession of said canal, as authorized by the next section, until the State of
Kentucky shall cede to the United States jurisdiction over the said canal, with
all its property, lereditaments and appurtenances, and relinquish to the United
States the right to tax, or in any way to assess said canal, its property, hereditaments and appurtenances, or the property of the United States that may be thereon
during the time that the United States shall remain the owner thereof.'"
Mr. Wheeler then yielded the floor to Mr. Holman, of Indiana, who yielded
ten minutes to Mr. Banning, of Ohio. Mr. Banning sent to the dleskl, to be read,
resolutions of the Board of Trade of Cincinnati, which were passed March 28th,
1874.  These resolutions represented to Congress that the failure of the Secretary
of the Treasury to put in operation the Act of March 3d, 1873, and assume on behalf of the United States the control and management of the Louisville and Portland Canal Company, have been oppressive to the commerce of the Ohio River,
because the onerous tolls imposed l)y the Canal Company were continued, and
the merchants of Cincinnati earnestly appeal to Congress to see that this act of
justice was rendered to the commerce of the Ohio River, by appropriate and
immediate legislation.
11t  HITR   FTIECNL
THE HISTORY OF THE CANAL.
MIr. Banning gave the history of the Louisville and Portland Canal
Company, which was incorporated in 1825.  The original stock was $600,000,
divided into sl)hares of  $100 each, the United States sil)scribing for 1,000
shares at a cost of $100,000.  The stock was afterward increased to $1,000,000,
divided into shares of $100 each, bI)y authority of an Act of Conogress and the
Legislature of Kentucky.  The dividends belonging to the United States were
applied to the purchase of slhares of private individuals.  By these means the
United States became, in 1855, the owner of aill the canal stock except five shares,
which were retained by the five directors of the company, at the request of the
'D2 
THE RECORD OF AWILLIAM A. WVHIEELER. 
Secretary of the Treasury, until provision was made by Congress for taking possession of the canal. In 1869, the directors of the company made a loan of $1,600,000
for the enlargement of the canal and locks. This amount was not sufficient to
finish the work. Congress then appropriated the amount of money necessary,
and under the charge of General Weitzel of the Engineer Corps of the Army, the
improvement was completed. General Weitzel, in his report, stated that from
1831 to 1872 the total amount of tolls collected by the Canal Company was
$5,157,247. If the general government assumed the indebtedness of the canal,
and provided the money to complete all the improvements necessary, General
Weitzel said, it would cost the United States barely one-half of the enormous sum
which had already been received as tolls, and the oppressive burden to the commerce of the great Ohio Valley would be removed. He said the real estate alone
was worth at least the amount which the Government was asked to pay for the
canal.  He estimated the tolls, if they were continued at the rate then established,
at fifty cents per ton, would amount to $350,000 a year, which would be much
more than was necessary to operate the canal. He estimated that $50,000 a year
would be ample, and seven cents a ton would provide more than that amount.
WHEELER S AMENDMENT ONLY A PRETEXT.
Mr. Banning argued that there was nothing in the claim, which was set up by
parties anxious to defeat the measure; that the City of Louisville had attempted to
levy and collect taxes on this property. He said it was true the City of Louisville
has asserted the right to tax the canal property, and had brought suit to recover
back taxes, but he wasadvised that since the bill had passed the Senate the authorities
of the City of Louisville had dismissed the suit. He said that the property belonged to the Government of the United States, except five shares of $100 each,
and nobody would assert that a State had a right to levy a tax upon property belonging to the General Government.   He said, "Surely, Mr. Speaker, there is
nothing in this whatever worthy of argument or deserving the consideration of
the House." He called attention to the Act of January 1st, 1842, passed by the
General Assembly of Kentucky, which provided "that in the event of the United
States becoming the sole owner of the Louisville and Portland Canal Company,
the jurisdiction of this commonwe alth over said canal shall be yielded up to the
Government of the United States."  And also the Act of March 28th, 1872, by
which the Legislature of Kentucky provided for the transfer of the property to
the United States Government.
WHAT THE GREAT OHIO VALLEY CONTRIBUTES.
Mr. Standiford, of Kentucky, in advocating the substitute reported from  the
Committee on Commerce, said:  "The territorial interest directly in the navigation of this river, embracing an area containing more than 300,000 square miles,
and several thousand miles of river navigation, and fully one-fourth of the population of the United States, is, I believe, richer in all that provides for the wants of
man than any Qther country in the civilized world; with its genial, healthful climate, its varied  productions, diversified in its great agricultural and mineral
wealth-Pennsylvania, with her inexhaustible fields of coal, iron, and oil; Ohio
and West Virginia, with lumber, salt, oil, coal, grain, and hay; Illinois and Indiana, with their golden fields of corn, oats, wheat, and barley; Kentucky, Missouri
and Tennessee, with hemp,  tobacco, grain, and iron; and with all these States
producing fine horses, cattle and hogs in surplus quantities sufficient to supply
Germany, Ireland, France, and England with food; and the Southern States, withi
cotton, sugar, rice, and the tropical fruits, with ample capacity to contain a population equal to Europe.  Well may the Ohio Valley be called the land of milk and
honey.       *       *      *        I know that if careful examination be made,
it will be found that the portion of the country interested in the navigation of this
river pays fully two-thirds of the internal revenue of the country.   My own State
alone paid nearly $5,500,000 last year, which exceeds the annual internal revenue
tax of the States of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined, by more than $200,000.  And just here I wish to say that, while legislation
has been conducted in the interest of an equal reduction of taxation, the members
have deluded themselves into the belief that great advancement has been made in
that direction. A few facts will show how such legislation
IIAS AFFECTED TIIE EAST AND WEST RESPECTIVELY.
By the last act which came to be a law, Massachusetts was relieved from taxa
93 
THE RIECORD) OiF WsILLIAM A. W'HEELER.
tion about 50 per cent., or more than $2,500,000, while the effect was to increase
the burden upon the people of the Ohio Valley; as, for instance, in 1872 Illinois
paid $15,799,000, and in 1873 she paid $16,500,000; Indiana paid, in 1872, nearly
$5,500,000, and in 1873, $5,678,000, showing an increase in these States; Virginia's tax was increased more than $3,000,000, while Ohio, which pays oneseventh of the internal revenue of the nation, was relieved by this bill only $50,000. Sir, all this kind of legislation has been in favor of the East against the West;
and now, when we come to ask so small a favor as this, we are met by opposition
from gentlemen whose debts and taxes we have been so long furnishing money to
pay. Why, the fact of the matter is, that the States bordering upon this river-I
mean Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, and Illinois, to say nothing of Pennsylvania and
West Virginia
PAY ANNUALLY OVER $42,000,000
out of the $106,000,000 internal revenue tax collected in the country.
We know that the Government has lent its credit to the enormous
sum of $64,000,000, and given millions of acres of land to capitalists
to extend the iron horse to the Pacific coast, containing a population of less than
one million. Upon this debt the Ohio Valley has been paying the interest, which now
exceeds $20,000,000, in the proportion, as I have just shown, of 42 to 106 or 281 of
the whole amount. While we agree that we have been benefited by this great
national outlay, the East has received treble benefits and we have paid the expense
of the improvement.      *    *    *    The tax on the commerce of the Ohio
river, by reason of the tolls exacted by the United States, amounts to a prohibition
of trade, as smaller classes of boats built for navigating the tributaries of the Ohio
cannot afford to pay tax upon their freights and tonnage in passing through this
canal."
In regard to the claim of Louisville to tax the canal property, Mr, Standiford
quoted a letter from the city attorney, in which he stated that: "since the suit had
been brought, it had been found that the amended charter of the city prohibited
the imposition of the tax upon the canal property, and that accordingly the suit
has been discontinued."
THE SUPREME COURT AGAINST MR. WHEELER.
Mr. Sayler, of Ohio, in discussing the bill, said: "That the amendment proposed by Mr. Wheeler would have the effect, if adopted, to postpone for two
years the assumption of the canal property by the United States Government, because the Legislature of Kentucky was not in session, and would not be in session for two years, and therefore the legislation which Mr. Wheeler insisted
should be enacted before the United States took possession of the canal, could not
be enacted for two years to come, and, in the meantime, the oppressive burden to
which the commerce of the Ohio River was subject, would continue."   Mr.
Sayler also showed that the State of Kentucky had as fully and completely ceded
to the United States entire control over this property as it was possible to be
done in any words. He argued that the Government of the United States had a
vested right, and that under the legislation of Kentucky in 1844, the property
was completely ceded to the United States; he showed that the Government of
the United States did not assume possession and control of the work in 1855, because James Guthrie, then Secretary of the Treasury, of his own motion, asked
that five shares might be retained, one by each of five individuals, in order that
they might formally perpetuate its corporation for the benefit of the United
States, and until the United States saw fit in some proper form to take possession
of it, and the necessary arrangements had been made to do that. He contended
from that time these five men simply became trustees, holding for the benefit
of the United States; that they were the depositaries of a naked trust.
THREE REPUBLICANS AGAINST MR. WHEELER.
Mr. Stannard, republican, from Missouri, and member of the Committee on
Commerce, also advocated the substitute reported by that Committee, and opposed
the amendment of Mr. Wheeler.
Mr. Negley, republican, of Pennsylvania, also supported the substitute; he said:
"I would appeal to the gentleman from New York (Mr. Wheeler), Chairman of
the Comnmittea on Commerce, to the representatives of the cities of Boston,
Buffalo, New Orleans, Charleston, and the Lakes, whether in view of the liberal
'94 
THE RECORD OF VILLIAM31 A. WHIEELER.
expenditures of the Government to improve those harbors, they would tolerate an
assessment upon commerce carried in and out of the harbors of their own cities to
refund to the Government those expenditures? I anticipate the answer, that
they would not. I also appeal to the gentleman who speaks so earnestly on this
floor in favor of our internal commerce, and in favor of the material interests of
the country, to favor the passage of this bill without restriction."
Mir. Coburn, republican, of Indiana, also advocated the passage of the bill without the amendment to the bill proposed by Mr. Wheeler; hlie said: "This canal
is already made; the money of the Government has been expended for it; the prop-'
erty is there; it is in the public use; it is not a case where the Government is
about to construct a Custom House or Post Office, and makes it a condition precedent that the jurisdiction yielded shall be yielded to it before the work is done.
The thing is accomnplished-the work is done. The canal is being used; there is
no reason now for attaching the condition, which at the most will be useless and
inoperative, because nothing can attach to this condition, and nothing can be
the consequence of imposing the condition if attached; all that was intended to
be done has been done without the condition. It is too late to talk about conditions now."
Mir. Woodford, of New York, made the following pithy speech: "Mr. Speaker,
educated to believe that ours is one great nation, that all that makes for the true
welfare of any part makes for the true welfare of the whole. I believe that these
internal rivers should be improved precisely as the mouth of the Mississippi has
been cared for, and as the commerce on the coast has been protected. I shall
not weary the House by prolonged remarks; let me simply suggest that I believe
that the great State of New York, with its far-reaching commercial interests,
heartily favors everything that will develop the internal commerce of the country
precisely as it favors that which develops the external commerce of the country.
We shall gladly do all in our power to make these great navigable rivers free,
sufficient highways of the commercial future."
JUDGE HIOLMAN'S CONCLUSIVE ARGUMENT.
Mr. Holman, of Indiana, closed the debate in favor of the passage of the bill so
amended. He called attention to the fact that the United States already owned
9,995 of the 10,000 shares of the canal stock and that it had done so ever since
1855; the question was whether the Government should take charge of its own
property and apply it according to its original purpose as a free channel of commerce, or whether this important public work shall remain in the hands of the ir
responsible parties, irresponsible to the Government now considering it. He also
quoted from the decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which in
deciding a case in 1872, affecting the interests of the United States in this property, said: "The United States is the only stockholder of this corporation; the
directors have really no personal interests in the corporation or its property; they
are to all purposes what equity calls trustees, without an interest, the depositaries
of a naked trust." He also showed that the act of 1873, which appropriated
money t,) enable the Government to become the purchasers of the five shares of
stock held by the directors of the company, and to assume the indebtedness of the
same, would not be required immediately, but would be paid out in installments
covering twelve years. He called attention to the fact that Kentucky had not up
to that time indicated any want of good faith.
WHAT THE COUNTRY HAD A RIGHT TO APPREHEND,
he said, was that "these five gentlemen, who, without any authority from the
United States, are using your revenues derived from taxation of your commerce,
to the amount of $350,000 a year, and fix their own salaries and dispose of this
money as they may think proper, might not be as careful of your interest and the
interest of the Government as your own officers might be, and as Congress should
be. They may act fairly, but you have no guarantee of that beyond the personal
character of these gentlemen, and yet the amendment of the gentleman
from New York proposes to perpetuate that anomalous state of  things for the
next two years."
Wl]HEELER CARRIES HIS MEASURE.
On March 31st, Mr. Wheeler consumed an hour in opposing the substitute
reported by the Committee on Commerce, and in urging the adoption of
95 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WHEELER.
his amendment. His argument was disingenuous and unworthy a statesman. He
fought persistently, point by point, for his amendment, and rallied to its support
nearly the entire Republican strength from the Eastern States, and carried it by a
vote of 130 yeas to 95 nays. The substitute reported from the Committee thus
amended was adopted and the bill was passed.
IN THE SENATE.
Senate bill 350, which was, as above stated, passed in an amended form by the
House, had been introduced in the Senate on January 20th, 1874, and partially
read a second time, when, upon motion of Mr. Edmunds, further reading was dispensed with and the bill was referred to the Committee on Finance and ordered
to be printed with accompanying papers. On January 23d, it was reported from
the Committee on Finance by Senator Sherman, with two amendments. Mr.
Sherman asked to have the bill read, but Mr. Edmunds objected, and it went over
until the afternoon of the same day, when Mr. Sherman called it up, and it was
considered and passed without division.  The  bill, with the amendments suggested by the Committee on Finance of the Senate, as passed and sent to the
House, was practically the same bill as the substitute reported from the Committee on Commerce of the House, save that the House bill provided greater security
for the Government of the United States, and guarded against the assumption by
the United States of any other than the just indebtedness of the Canal Company.
THE SENATE THROWS OUT WHEELER'S BILL.
When the bill as amended by the House came back to the Senate, it was referred to the Committee on Finance, whence it was reported back to the Senate,
on April 17th, with recommendation to strike out the Wheeler amendment and
insert the following: "That if at any time it becomes necessary to enforce the
lien mortgage upon the said Canal property for the benefit of the bondholders, it
shall be lawful for the trustees named in said mortgages, or any other trustees
who may be appointed in pursuance of the laws of Kentucky, to commence proceedings thereon, in any court having jurisdiction thereof, with notice to the
United States as terre tenant proforma and serve process upon any of the officers
of the United States who shall have superintendence of said Canal, whose duty it
shall be to notify the United States of such service, whereupon the said AttorneyGeneral shall enter an appearance in said case, and take all necessary steps to
defend the interest of the United States in such proceedings, so that the same
may be conducted in the same manner and with the like effect as if the said
Louisville and Portland Canal Company were still in existence."
WHO STOOD BY WHEELER?
Senator Scott, of Pennsylvania, supported this amendment, as did Senator Stevenson, of Kentucky, and Mr. Thurman, of Ohio. Senator Howard, of Wisconsin, opposed it.  It was adopted finally, yeas, 33; nays, 8.  The question then
recurred on the amendment of the House of Representatives as amended, whereupon Senator Edmunds, of Vermont, Conkling, of New York, and Howard, of
Wisconsin, did their best to defeat the bill. It went over until April 21st, when
Senator Scott again called it up.  In the meantime, Conklingl, Edmunds and
Howard rallied to their side Carpenter, of Wisconsin, and a long debate ensued.
Conkling contended most strenuously for the Wheeler amendment put on by the
House, but on a final vote to strike out the Wheeler amendment and substitute
the one proposed by Senator Scott, from the Committee on Finance, as above
given, the vote was, yeas, 40; nays, 4.  Those voting in the negative-practically
for Wheeler's amendment-were Messrs. Conkling, Edmunds, Frelinghuysen and
Hamilton, of Texas.
BACK IN THE HOUSE.
The bill, with the amendment of the Senate to the amendment of the House,
came up in the House on April 30th, and Mr. Wheeler moved that it be referred
to the Committee on Commerce, and allowed an hour for debate against the reference, to be portioned out by Mr. Holman, of Indiana. In concluding a very able
argument ill favor of the passage of the bill as amended by the Senate, Mr. Arthur, of Kentucky, said'  "Throughout a period of now more than thirty years,
the legislation of Kentucky has been all that the Government required. For now
96 
THE RECORD OF WILLIAM A. WHEELER.
nearly twenty years, one-fifth of a century, this public work has been a standing
tender to the Government. Throughout both periods has gone on with unrelenting obduracy the drain upon every pore of the commercial West. Appeal after
appeal to this body has been made, from year to year, and action as often deferred
without any apparent cause other than
UNREASONING PROCRASTINATION.
"Petitions, memorials and deputations from all over the valley of the West have,
session after session, for a quarter of a century, poured in upon and besieged the
Legislature of the Union, and although beguiled by every promise of relief, still it
has not yet come. The records and proceedings of this House, and the chamber
at the other end of the Capitol, are loaded with petitions, proofs and letters of
Heads of Departments, reports of engineers, correspondents, reports, resolutions
and bills, all recognizing the propriety and sound policy of this bill; and in the
meantime agents have risen and fallen, and now for the first time the heroic navigators and oppressed commerce of the great island seas of the West are to be
postponed to a pigmy in the form of a technicality, and such are
TIIE WHIS AND SCORNS OF TIME,
the oppressors' wrong and the proud man's contumely. Let technicality, if there
be such now, wait, let commerce now advance, let us be wise with speed, and
just without delay. Every consideration which ought to weigh with this Congress demands the passage of the pending bill in the form in which it comes from
the Senate to the House."
Mr. Lawrence of Ohio also supported the bill as amendment by the Senate, and
so did Mr. Garfield and Mr. Foster of that State.
WHEELER FIGHTS HARD, BUT IS BEATEN.
Mr. Wheeler occupied an hour in closing the debate on his motion, and made
a characteristic speech, but on his motion to substitute his original amendment
slightly modified for the Senate amendment. The yeas were 73, the nays 143, and
then the Senate amendment was concurred in, and the bill passed.
97 
LOUISIANA.$
THE FORM OF GOVERNMENT THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
GUARANTEES TO THE SOUTHERN STATES.
These pages present a brief and truthful history of a typical carpet-bag government of the South:
1. It will be shown how the carpet-baggers of Louisiana were protected, assisted
and sustained by the strong arm of the United States Army, in all their crimes
knd usurpations.
2. It will be shown how, for two years, the Federal officials under the United
States Marshal and the Collector of the Port, who was the brother-in-law of President Grant, and the State officials under the leadership of Governor Warmoth,
combined and conspired to rob the people of Louisiana, not only of their property
to the amount of thirty millions of dollars, but of their liberties, by the passage of
laws which legalized frauds at elections, and annulled the will of the people as
expressed through the ballot-box.
3. It will be shown how this same combination of Federal and State officials
fastened corrupt Legislatures and corrupt J udges' upon the people in order to
carry out their schemes of plunder with safety and impunity.
4. It will be shown how these Federal and State officials subsequently quarrelled over the spoils, and scandalized the country by the disgraceful scenes that
attended each quarrel.
5. It will be shown, how at the election of 1872, Mr. John  McEnnery was
elected Governor of the State and so declared by the Executive of Louisiana, in
an order promulgating the result, and how a drunken and corrupt Judge of the
United States Circuit Court issued an order at midnight, out of court, and at his
lodgings, by which the United States Army took possession of the State Capitol
and held it for six weeks with a view of overawing the people and showing them
that the usurpers had the support of the General Government.
6. It will be shown low by other orders from the same drunken and corrupt
Judge the legal State Government of Louisiana was overthrown and the usurper
Kellogg enthroned. 
7. It will be shown how the Administration at Washington were cognizant of
the scheme of the conspirators before it was carried into execution, and sent troops
to New Orleans in anticipation of the outrage.
8. It will be shown how the Federal Government has persistently used the
army, not in the interest of a suffering and oppressed people, but to protect and
bolster up the marauders and plunderers.
8. It will be shown how the United States Army again took possession of the
legislative halls of Louisiana in 1874, and removed by force from the House of
Representatives certain members who were opposed to the Kellogg usurpation.
9. It will be shown how President Grant and his administration APPROVED
of General Sheridan's banditti dispatch, wherein that officer asked that Congress,
or the President, should declare all those opposed to Kellogg's despotic and corrupt government as banditti, in order that he might try them by drumhead
court martial, and exterminate them.
10. And, lastly, it will be shown how JAMES F. CASEY, Collector of the Port of
New Orleans, and PRESIDENT GRANT'S BROTHER-IN-LAW, has turned that Custom
House into a corrupt political machine, defrauding the Government of thousands
of dollars by means of fraudulent pay rolls, and by other numerous venal practices, to which he has not dared to interpose a defence, but, on the contrary,
feigned sickness in order to escape from testifying before a Congressional Committee and undergoing a cross-examination.
These are the outlines of the subjoined sketch.  Just at this period, when
the cry of the "Bloody Shirt" is being shouted by those who, to subserve base
partisan ends, would forever foment and keep alive the memories of a deplorable
civil war that ended eleven years ago, and when these same demagogues are
busily circulating all manner of false charges against the Southern people,
accusing them of disloyalty and of carrying elections by violence, intimidation
and fraud, it is high time that TRUTH appeared and silenced the slanderers, and
that the people, north, east and west, and everywhere, knew who are the wronged
and who are the oppressed.
PART FIRST.
FROM TIE INAUGURATION OF GOVERNOR WVARMOTH, IN 1868, TO THE QUARREL
BETWEEN THE WARMOTH AND CUSTOM HOUSE FACTIONS OF THE CARPET    BAGGERS, IN AUGUST 1871.
The story of the re-admission of LOUISIANA to the sisterhood of States properly
begins with the ratification of her present Constitution, an event which occurred
at a popular election held on April 17 and 18, 1868.  Simultaneously with the
adoption of the Constitution, HENRY C. WARMOTH, republican, was elected Governor, and a Legislature, republican in both branches, was chosen. On June 25,
1868, an Act of Congress was passed admitting the State to representation.   On
June 29, the State Legislature convened and subsequently ratified the Fourteenth
Amendment to the Federal Constitution and elected United States Senators. Governor Warmothl was inaugurated on July 13, 1868, and the State government,
whlich, from the capture of New Orleans by the Uni)n troops (May 1, 1862) had
been in the hands of the military, was tranferred to the civil authorities.
With the advent of Governor Warmothli's administration began that organized
system of plunder and spoliation that continued uninterrupted until the thieves
quarreled amnong themselves, and turned State's evidence against each other.  But
for the latter fortunate circumstance, there never would have been held up to an
astonished world, the full extent of this villainous conspiracy against the liberties, but more particularly against the exchequer, of a people claiming to live under a republican form of government.
Having reached power, the first step of Warmoth and his fellow-adven
..:.'
LOUISIANA.
99 
turers was to adopt such measures  as  would  perpetuate their  rule.  This
could only be accomplished by securing such control over the l)all)t-b)ox and
the election machinery as would enable them to elect or defeat who they pleased,
and to overthrow the popular will whenever it was antagonistic to their interests.
The enactment of laws, no matter how infamous,was an easy task to these Louisiana
carpet-)baggers.  The Judiciary was ready, the Legislature was eager, and the Executive was clamnorous, for plunder.  The three coordinate branches of thle State
Government displayed an aptitude for grand larceny, that finds no precedent in the
criminal reports.  Such unanimity in favor of robbery, forgery, l)ribery, perjury
and every kind of villainy on the part of the executive, judicial and lIaw-mnaking
powers of a government was never witnessed l)befolre, and it is to be hoped never
will again.  The first Legislature of Lousiana  after her restoration to the Union
was composed of a few chlaracterless wliite alventurers from the North who acted
as leaders of their less intelligent. but emphatically less disu)nest, colored colleagues.
The Democrats were in a very large mialority-I)arely a corporal's guard in each
chamber.  Both Senate and hIouse were under the undisputed and absolute sway
of Goverinor Warnothl.  The Governor was tlhe source of all power; an autocrat,
witlhout check save his own will.  Whaitever bl)l hle favoredc became a law; whatever bill he opposed suffered defeat.  His Excellency was a daily visitor to the
floor of both Houses, superintending the work and directing the miianouvrcs. The
passage of bril)ery laws was studiously neglected, the Legislature liaving, too fond
a regard for thle interests of its members.  The Judiciary were likewise the creatures and tools of the Governor.  They were selected for tbieii uiiscruipulousness
and sul)serviency to thle Governor.  One of his most obsequious Judges was appointted to preside over the Eighlth District Court of New Orleans, otherwise called
te Ploliticial Court, which was vested with exclusive original jurisdiction in all
cases of summary pirocess, such as injunctions  m,nmlaimises and the like, wherein
the City, oi State or corporations were parties, and in all pI) o(ee(lin,s inrstitn ttt(l to try
contests for office.  The people of Louisiana lhave never elected(l   sin(lec Judge of
~a Court of Record since the reconstruction of the State, except one, and lie was
legislated out of office shortly after hlie qualified.  To citizens of the North Nwho are
living peaceabcly and lhappily under Constitutional and Republican Gove rnments
this deplorable condition of things in Louisiana will doubtless scem incredible.
Didl not Louisiana have a Constitution? some  will ask.  Yes,  but bv its provisiols, the intellect, the integrity and the malnhood of the State was ostracised and
insulted.  From tlhis Constitution, and the government organized  under it, emanated those disgraceful scenes and events a description of which will be humbly
attemted to be portrayed in these pages.  It was a Constitution born of malice,
conceived in hlate and prejudice, aind must necessarily, if it lives, be enforced by
vengeful power.
GOVERNOR WARMOTII'S ABSOLUTE CONTROL OF TITE ELECTION M-ACIINERY.
Before referring to the specific laws passed under this Constitution in relation
to the exercise of the franchise, let it be remenll)bered that by the military and police laws of Louisiana the Governor had, and exerted an amount of authlority and
power, possessed and exercised by no ruler of any people on earth having fixed
laws.  His forces were as obedient, as swift and as faithful as any Swiss ever were
and for the same reason, but without  the dignity of character that l)elonged to
this mercenary class of soldiers, and, without l)eing content with stipendiary pay,
were quartered upon a disfranchised and helpless people, whom  they #recklessly
plundered.
By  the provisions  of  the  Registration  and  Election  Laws,   all voters
were required to register their names in their respective parishes, and to obtain a
certificatc of registration from the Supervisor of Registriy, before the right to vote
could be acquired.  One Supervisor of Registry for each parish was appointed by
the Governor and removed at his pleasure.   The concurrence of the Senate was
not necessary.   The Supervisor was required to have his headquarters  at the
Court House in each parish, but it was left to lhis discretion  to establ)lish other
places for thle reogistration of voters. Th7e decision of any Sutpervisor of Reyistration
on all q?testions rel(tive to the reqistry of voters was final, and not s?ubject to revision or
correction by any Court.  Ihe Coturts were especially p oh1ibited from interfering, by
writ of mandam'us, il j?'nction or other legal proceeding, with the S?tpervisor7s of Registration or thezr assist(tnts. and the Jotdge (f any Cout t so interfering was subjected to
a fine of not less t7aa $500, and to imprison2ment for not less than siv mont7ts, and was
liable to impeachment and removal from offnce.   Upon  the Supervisor of Registra~... ~ 
!~' ":"@'
too
LOUIS I-AN A. 
tion, who, as above stated, was the creature of the Governor, devolved the appointment of three Commissioners of Election to every polling-place in each parishl, the Supervisor establishing as many polling-places as hlie saw fit  And if,
perchance, only one of the three commissioners designated by the Supervisor attended at the polling-place, it was the duty of the attending commnissioner to name
the second comnissioner, and then both commissioners to appoint the third.  The
Commissioners of Election were empowered to order the arrest of any disorderly
persons, and the law expressly directed that persons arrested by order
of the  commissioners  were  to  be kept  in  custody   until  the  close  of
the   polls.    The  commissioners  received   $5  for  every  day  actually
employed in dis(liarging their duties, but it was necessary that their accounts
should be approved and countersigned by the Superisor and the Gover)lo/ before
being paid.  Immed(iately after the close of the polls, which were kept open from
six in the niorning until six at night the Commissioners of Election sealed the
ballot boxes and conveye(l them to the office of the Supervisor of Registration,
and the lattter counted the b)allots in the presence of the three Commissioners of
Election (whom hle had appointed), and the three freeholdlers.  The result was not
promulgaited,.but was reduced to writing and forwarde(l to the Goveriltoi in duplicate.  lThe Constitution required the returns to be transmitted to the Secretary of
State, but although the spirit of this provision was completely ignored, yet it was
virtually complied with, l)because the Governor forwarded the returns to a Returnini" Boardi, of which the Secreta,'y of State was a menmber, together with the
Lieutenant-Governor and two Senators qvlo wtere narmed in the lagp, to wit.: John
Lynclh and J. C. Anderson.   The Governor was a meml)er of this Board, of
course.  The  result as declaredl by these returning  officers was prima facie
evidence  of election, until set.aside after a contest in the courts presided
over by Warrmoth's judges.  If, lhowever, the Commissioners of Election or the
Supervisor of Registration accomp,anied their returns by a statement that there
was either a disturbance, or a riot, or a tumult, or intimidation, or bribery,
or corrupt influences, at any polling-place, then the Returning officers were empowered to defer counting the votes cast at that polling-place until the subject was
investigated, and if they found the allegation to be true, the vote was rejected.  It
is hardly necessary to add that good care was taken to surround eacli polling-place
with what the law by courtesy called "suitable persons to attend the Coimissioners of Election and obey all legail mandates of such commissioners in keeping
order, suppressing disorder, and iimakin, all arrests ordered. etc."  In other words,
that the ready agents of imperious power should, if necessary, and other schemes
failed, stuff and cram the ballot-box, and thus defeat the will of the people.
CARPET-BAG OPINIONS OF WARMOTIU'S ELECTION LAW:
But lest it might l)e thought that our strictures upon this vicious election law
are exagg,erated, and prompted by partisan prejudice and for political purposes,
we crave the reader's attentive consideration to the following extracts upon this
subject, taken from the testimony adduced before a Republican Congressional Committee, which was sent to New Orleans in January, 1872, and investigated in a
very thiorou,gh manner the origin and character of the difficulties that occurred in
that 3year.
GEORGE W. CARTER, Republican, Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives in 1871 and 1872, testified:
"Q' Is it in his (Warmotlih's) power to elect or defeat any man who holds an
elective office? A. Yes; hlie controls all the election machinery-the police, the
constabulary and the militia.  He controls all the forces necessary to carry out
his purposes; anti through the printing law he can control public opinion, so far
as public opinion is affected in the newspapers.  Taking them as a code of laws,
if you will examine them carefully I think you will say they are marvelous laws."
S. B. PACKARD, Republican, U. S. Marshal for Louisiana, and present Republican candidate for Governor of the State, testified:
"Q. Under the power with which you have vested the Governor, cannot he declare any person he chooses elected? A. It would amount nearly to that.
Q. Is he not able to control the Legislature as hlie pleases? A. I think it was
the use of the power'derived from the election laws that gave him what amount
of strength he has ii the Legislature.  I think the Legislature would have been
101
L OU ISIANA.
I-::,-,.:1 
anti-AVarmoth, from its inception to the present time, if it had not been for the
men who were injected into it through the operation of those election laws."
GEORGE E. BOVEE, Republican Secretary of State, elected on the same ticket
with Governor Warmoth, testified:
"Q. Were you one of the officers who under the laws of thie State counted the
votes and made the returns of persons elected? A. As Secretary of State, I was
one of the Board of returning officers.
Q. Were these returns always promulgated as returned to you by these officers? A. The law requires that all statement of votes shall be sent to the Governor, they remain in the Governor's hands until all come in, or until the Governor calls the returning officers together; then they proceed to examine the
statements and compile the returns.
Q. Were these returns opened by the Governor before they were submitted to
the five officers whose duty it was to promulgate them? A. They were all
sealed when we commenced the work of compilation. What had been done twith
them before I don't know.
Q. From any information you have had do you believe there was any tampering?
A. Well, take the parish of Ascension: it is well known that the votes of two polls
only out seven were returned from that parish. The law requires that the
Commissioners of Election shall bring their boxes to the office of the Supervisor of
Registration and that they shall be counted in the presence of the commissioners
and three citizens.   Five of the ballot-boxes of this parish were brought to the
Court House, the proper place designated by law, and two were taken to another
place designated by the Supervisor; the two boxes were afterward brought down
here to the city of New Orleans and taken to the City IHotel, where they remained
a few days and were then carried back to the parish andcounted; and upon these
two boxes alone the result of the election in that parish was determined.
Q. Do you not believe, from what took place before the Board of Returning Officers, that there were many frauds perpetrated? A. I have not the slighlest doubt
of it. I think there was a regular system of fraud entered into with a view of
electing certain men."
ONE OF WARMOTH'S JUDGES PRONOUNCES THE  ELECTION LAWS OUTRAGEOUS.
HENRY C. DIBBLE, Republican, Judge of the Eighth Disrtict Court of New
Orleans, testified:
"Q. As a Judge of the State of Louisiana, with a full knowledge of the election
laws of the State as administered by the Governor, do you believe it fair and just
that hlie should be a candidate for reelection? A. I do not. I believe the present
registration laws are infamous in many respects.  They allow the most outrageous
frauds to be perpetrated."
J. D. MONCURE, Representative in the Legislature, from Shreveport, and a citizen highly respected by both parties, testifies:
"Q. As your registration and election laws stand niow, can the Governor elect
anybody that hlie wants to office? A. I am perfectly satisfied of it. I will give
you a short illustration.  The Registrar is appointed by the Governor and is removable at his pleasure; the Registrar appoints the place of election, and goes
where lie pleases and opens offices; he appoints all the Commissioners of Election,
whose duty it is to receive the votes at each of the various precincts. The Registrar can check and throw out any box he pleases by simply marking opposite it:
"There w as a disturbance or a riot at this box."  For instance, if I got a thousand majoiity at a p)articular polling place, and the Registrar were to mark against
that return:'Here there was a riot, or a disturbaice,' whether there was or not,
that vote might be thrown out, and there is no appeal and no investigation; he is
an absolute autocrat.
Q. Is he bound l)by law to state the reason for o marking the return? A. Ile
is required to do nothing l)but simply make a memorandum-Riot or Distlurblanceand that box may be thrown out if the Governor and Rleturning 13oarl( think it.
The Returning B3oard consists of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, the Secretary of State-lhence the necessity of hlaving the Secretary of State in liharmony
w;thl).the GovoIrwor-and two Senators, Messrs. Lynch and Anderson, who are
~. Is tkte~ n' r-appeal from their decision?  A. None.
102
LOU I SI A N A. 
Q. Then the election of every officer in the State is absolutely under his conorol? A. Yes, sir."
Mr. J. B. EUSTIs, a prominent lawyer of New Orleans, testified:
"Under these laws what is the power of Governor Warmothli? A. Well, if you
ask me what is the limit of his power, it is very difficult to define it. The popular
belief is that it is absolute; that is to say, if hlie controls the Board of Supervisors,
and wants to abuse his power. I have told my constituents, that if Governor
Warmoth maintains this one-man power in this State, I do not intend to vote or
take any part in any election in Louisiana, as I consider it a waste of time.
Q. Is not a popular election a farce under existing laws?  A. Yes, Sir; a criminal farce in my opinion."
C. B. DARRALL, Republican. Congressman from the State of Louisiana, testified
as follows:
"Strangers, citizens of New Orleans, and even of Texas, were appointed Registrars in many parishes, with special instructions to elect themselves to the
Legislature.  In my parish a man came with instructions, as he said, from Governor
Warmotht, to runfor the Senate. This was the case in various other parishes, particularly those of Herville, St. Martins, Iberia and West Baton Rouge, in all which the
Supervisors of Registration either elected themselves or the candidates of Governor
Warmoth to the Legislature.  They were not voted for by the people, and returned
themselves as elected, though not voted for. In some instances they resigned two
or three days before the election, and had other men appointed (as Supervisors of
Registration) in their stead, and, when the returns were made out, were returned
as elected, although in some of the parishes no one was known to vote for them
at all. No tickets bearing their names were seen or known to be in the parish.
There are fourteen parishes in my district; of that number, nine had Registrars
appointed who had never resided in the parishes; and of these nine, four were
returned as members of the Legislature. Three of the other members had not
been residents of the parishes they were returned as representing more than a
month or two."
It is not necessary to pursue this subject further. Enough testimony has beer,
adduced to prove conclusively that the elections in Louisiana were a sham and r
fraud, and legalized as such by the carpet-bag Legislature of the State.
THE GOVERNOR OF LOUISIANA A GREATER DESPOT THAN TIIE CZAR OF RUSSIA.
The voice of the ballot-box having been thus effectually stifled, and the Legislature having passed the military, police, and other laws which vested in the Governor a greater autherity ant more unlimited power than is possessed and exercised by
the CZAR of Russia, the attention of the "truly loyal" was then concentrated
upon their objective point-the people's money. And, although there was no need of
haste, because every prominent official, from his Excellency Gov. Warmoth,
downward, was numbered among the band of public robbers, yet, with the insatiable greed and rapacity that characterizes every professional criminal, these Louisiana Republicans succeeded, in the short space of two years, int filching over THIRTY
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS from the people of that State. The expenses of the General Assembly, which in 1861 were $175,000, amounted in 1871 to nearly
$1,000,000.  The tax in the State is $2 upon every $100, and in the city of
New Orleans it is $5 upon every $100.  Well did JAMES B. EUSTIS, Esq., an
eminent lawyer of New Orleans, testify before the Congressional Committee
"Q. In your opinion, is the present administration of the State Government in the
way of the prosperity of the people of Louisiana? A. It is. For instance, if we
were threatened with the continuance of the power which has administ'ered this
government, the conflagration of Chicago would not be more desolating than the
effect of the continuance of this legislation would be upon the City of New
Orleans; and the reason of it is this: when the city of Chicago was burned to the
ground, the people had at least the land left, and Northern and Eastern capitalists
have come there to rebuild it, while with us capital is flying from the State,
commerce is decreasing, and everybody who can is trying to get away. What
was formerly considered very good security-for instance,  mortgage paper-is
now of little value, for the reason that, in a few years, at this rate of taxation,
you could not sell or pass the mortgage papers, for if you foreclosed you would
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LOUISIANA. 
LOUISIANA.
have to take the property at 5, 6, or 7 per cent., which would leave you  no
revenue.
Q. If things continue then as they have been, it is only a question of time wnen
you will all be bankrupt? A. Only a question of time. I had occasion, some time
ago, to examine the question of the returns made of property under the taxation
we have in New Orleans, and m would not to-day take as a donation all the property
belon  Canal street and bind Thyself to hold it twenty-five years, and pay all the taxes
on it, if the taxes now existing are to continue."
Governor Warmoth, with a due appreciation of the value of printer's ink,
caused, at an early period of his administration, a certain law to be passed which
enabled him to subsidize in his interest nearly the entire Press of the State. The
New  Orleans Republican, a newspaper in which his Excellency owned a third
interest, alone received $700,000 in two years for publishing public advertisements.
ONE OF WARMOTI'S MANY RASCALITIES.
But of Warmoth's most audacious of his many rascally performances, was his,
course in what is known  as the "Weil Claim."  In 1864 a certain Mr. Weil
furnished within the confederate lines supplies, for which the State Auditor gave
him fifteen certificates of indebtedness, amountingto $150,000. These certificates
were presented to his Excellencyin 1869, and he was asked whether, if the Legislature
passed a law validating them, the same would meet his approval. His Excellency
replied that he would consider such a law to be in direct violation of the Con stitutional enactment which prohibited the payment of debts of that character,
and hlie would deem it his duty to veto it in the event of its passage. The Legislature subsequently passed an act authorizing Mr. Weil to sue the State in the Courts
for the amount of his claim, and Governor Warmoth vetoed the bill. But in the
Auditor's report which appeared afterwards, it was found that Mr. Weil's claim
had been funded and that Governor Warmoth was one of the liquidators.  It
had been allowed by the Funding Commissioners selected by Warmoth himself,
and so anxious was he to get the money, that the bill which authorized the adjustment of this and similar claims, was approved by him before the Speaker of
the House had signed it; and although the bill became a law on Saturday, the
Bonds with which to take up the claims were distributed on the Monday following. The testimony of Governor Warmoth in connection with the funding of
these and other certificates, is too interesting and suggestive to be omitted.
"Q. Under that Funding Bill, you funded a large number of certificates for yourself and friends? A. Yes, sir, under the Funding Bill. I was present when
there was funded some $300,000 in Bonds.
Q. How long after you approved the Bill did you receive these certificates from
our friends, before you funded them? A. Before I received the Bill, I received
large amount of warrants from various individuals.  I took those warrants
amediately to the Citizens' Bank and filed them with Mr. Gaines.
Q. Was that before or after you approved the Bill?  A. Before.
Q. At what price did you fund your certificates? A. At seventy-two cents on
tne dollar.
Q. Was that not 10 cents lower than could have been gotten for them? A. I
think not. 1 am not sure but that 10 cents more could have been gotten.
Q. Did you not favor the passage of the Funding Bill under which you are one
of the liquidators? A. I approved it.
Q. Did you not sign the bill before the Speaker of the House of Representatives
signed it? A. I did.
Q. Do you know the amount of the floating debt funded? A. I think there
was $290,000.
Q. Were there bonds enough to fund the whole debt? A. No, sir.
Q. Then there was some desire to have a preference? A. Yes, sir.
Q. To get it on the ground floor? A. Yes, sir.
Q. You andl your friends got in? A. I got in as many as I could.
Q. Did you hold any for members of the House and Senate? A. Yes, sir, etc.
Q. Do you know that citizens went to the Bank and were unable to get their
warrants funded? Yes, sir, etc."
The haste of his Excellency in signing this Bill hardly requires further explanation   But his is not the only illustration of the profitableness of Louisiana
politics.  One of his appointees, "GENERAL" GEORGE A.'SHERIDAN, who is now
stumping Ohio and other States for Hayes and Wheeler, and is no doubt telling
104 
1u t    S1IANA.                                105
the honest yeomanry  of  the  agricultural  districts how  the  Democrats  of
Louisiana carry the elections by fraud, violence, intimidation and bribery, was
Warmoth's favorite tax-collector, and received in fees and commissions alone
between $60,000 and $100,000 a year.
PINCHBACIK AND OTHERS AS BRIBE TAKERS.
The subjoined extract from the testimony of S. W. SCOTT, Esq., will throw
some light on the "dark ways" of the Legislature.
"Q. State whether you are a resident of New Orleans, and how long you have
been here? A. I am.  I came here with the army, on the staff of General
Augur, the latter part of 1862.
Q. Have you any knowledge of any money being paid to any members of the
Legislature for the purpose of supporting or defeating Bills? A. I have seen
money paid to members of the Legislature by one or two different parties.   I was
asked, in one instance, to go with a party who told me hlie had a large
amount of money to pay out; as he supposed some members would object to giving him a receipt, he asked me to go along. s a witness. I saw him
pay money to Mortimer Carr (Speaker of the House) and Mr. Dewees, members
of the Legislature. He asked me to go to 180 Canal street, where those gentlemen had their rooms.  I went with him and saw the money counted out to them.
I did not count the money myself, but the talk between them was loud enough
for me to hear it. This was intentional, so that I could be a witness to their having received it, if they ever denied it. They said they did not receive what had
been promised them; that it was understood they were to have $1,250 each.  The
g,entleman who went with me said to them that he was short of funds, and
that lihe was only paying a portion of his engagements; that he would pay the balance at some future day. About six or eight months afterward this gentleman
came back to New Orleans, came to my office, and told me he had come to settle
the balance of his indebtedness; that he had bargains with several gentlemen to
carry out. He then counted out seven fifty-dollar notes on my desk, put them
into an envelope, and asked me to take them to Mr. Carr, and get his receipt if
possible. About a week after that Mr. Carr passed my office and I told him what
had been said. He remarked, "All right; I will go into your office and write a
receipt." He wrote a receipt and delivered it to me for $350, which I took and
sent to the gentleman as I had promised.
Q. For what Bill was that paid? A. For House Bill No. 282, commonly known
as the Jackson Railroad Bill.
Q. Who was the gentleman who gave you the money?  A. His name is Kimball.  I think lie is in Philadelphia now, and that he resides there.  (He was the
agent of Tom Scott and Henry S. McComb, who succeeded, through the legislationl he procured, in stealing valuable railroad property and franchises.)
Q. Do you know of any other payments of money, notes, stocks, or any other
valuables to members for their votes? A. At the time Mr. Kimball was here
lobbying the Jackson Railroad through, he came to me one day, and said that certain members of the Senate had gone back on him, and wanted me to raise $4,000.
I did not like to let him have the money. The next day hle said that if I would
indorse his note for $4,000 he would give me such a document as would compel
his principal to pay the money if he did not do it."
PINCHBACK SELLIS HIS VOTE.
Afterward Mr. PINCHBACK presented one of those notes, and demanded payment on it. The amount of the note was $1,000. I said to Mr. Pinchlback that I
had indorsed those notes as an accommodation to a man, not knowing what was
going to be done with them; that I had never received any valuable compensation
for them, and would not pay his note, as I was satisfied from what I had since
learned that it had been given for his vote on the Jackson Railroad Bill; and that
if he undertook to collect it I would make an affidavit to that effect and hlie could
not collect.
Q. Name the gentleman? A. I believe Senator Campbell and SENATOR PINCHBACK, and one or two members of the House; I forget who they were. I know
the ones whom I did see were PINCHBACK and Campbell. He told me that his principal had gone back on lim; that he had raised a portion of the mnoney, and asked
me  to go and offerPINcnBAcK $350 for his note.  I told him  I did not want
anything to do with it. I subsequently did see Mr. PINCHBACK, and made the
LOUISIANA. 
offer. His answer was that be had kept his engagements, and that if Mr. Kimball
did not keep his, he would keep the note. That is the last I ever heard of the
note. H. S. Kimball is the name of the gentleman for whom I gave it.
Q. How long since you had this conversation with Mr. Pinchback in regard to
the note? A. I think a little over a year ago. The Jackson Railroad Bill was
passed in the session of 1871."
The witness then testified that Mr. Kimball had informed him that he had paid
members of the Legislature nearly $30,000 for voting in favor of subsidizing the
Jackson Railroad, but still owed $15,000, and handed to witness a list of members
of both houses, with the price of each annexed. The amount set opposite the
Senatorial bribe-takers, was $600, with the exception of three or four. SENATORS
PINBHBACK and Campbell were down for $2,000. The witness was then asked:
"Q. Did. Mr. Kimball say it cost him more to get the bill approved than to get a
member to vote for the Bill? A. I don't say that. He stated to me that it cost
$80,000 to get it through.
Q. Where did the balance go? A. I didn't ask him. I don't know.
Q. Who got the other $40,000 to get to the Bill passed? A. As I told you, I
have not the list of names, and it is sometime ago. I disremember them.
Q. There seems to have been a fair division of $40,000 to members, and the same
amount to still other parties; have you any reason to believe who got the balance?
A. I heard it was distributed among the members, and to some officers of the Government; Ialso heard that Judge D)ibble opened his Court about 10 o'clock at night to
insse an order relieving the injunction, after Hoyle had been bought off, and it costs
something to open Courts in the city at that time of night.
Before dismissing this branch of the subject, we beg to introduce the following extract from the testimony of MR. EUSTIS:
"Q. What is the general opinion as to the character and integrity of the Legislature? A. My own opinion of that body is, that if I wanted to get an article of
the code of practice amended, I would have to pay for its passage.
Q. Legislation is bought and sold?  A. Bought and sold.   I have been told by
gentlemen who have seen it, that the corruption of that Legislature is so common and frequent, that they have not even time to write their promises to pay so
and so, on the passage of such and such a bill, but have to resort to printing and
use printed blanks."
Thus did corruption ooze out from every department of the government. The
extracts which have been presented above might be extended indefinitely, but
enough has been said, at least on the subject of Executive and Legislative venality. What would be thought if such a state of affairs existed in Massachusetts,
or Ohio, or New Hampshire, or Maryland, or New York? And yet this is the
Government that the Republican Administration has upheld and defended for
eight years. Let it not be forgotten that the PINCHBACK who took the bribe of $1,000
in the manner explained in the testimony of Mr. S. W. SCOTT as given above, is
the same individual who recently came so near obtaining a seat in the United
States Senate, and to whom, on motion of Senator Morton, the Republican Senators voted $20,000 of the people's money as a recompense for making the attempt to rob the State of Louisiana of a Senator in Congress.    Pinchback, although in New Orleans, and Lieutenant-Governor of the State when Mr. Scott
accused him, under oath, of bribe-taking, very prudently refrained from asking
to be called upon to testify and subject himself to a cross-examination.   Hence
Mr. Scott's testimony stands unimpeached to this day, and Pinchback, confessedly a corrupt bribe-taker, is still a shining light amoung Louisiana Republicans.
A GOVERNOR DEFIES THIE CONSTITUTION AND REMOVES TIlE SECRETARY OF STATE.
The contempt of Governor Warmoth for the constitution and laws was superbly
illustrated in the manner le adopted of getting rid of Mr. Bovee, the Secretary of
State. This gentleman had been elected on the same ticket and at the same time
with Warmoth.  He was a Constitutional officer, and could only be removed from
office by impeachment.  Mlr. B()vee. it seems, was charged under the law with
promulgating, through the official journal, the measures that l)ecame laws.  The
laws only become operative when they have been promulgated. Under the Constitution a law that is not returned b)y the Governor within a specified time, becomes a law by limitation, and it becomes the duty of the Secretary of State to
promulgate il as such. There was a bill called the "Crescent City Water Corporation" which was sent to the Governor and not returned within five days. A question
of fact was involved. It was delivered at the private residence of Governor War.
106
LO U ISIANA. 
moth on a Saturday night, and his housekeeper, a Mrs. Dean, receipted therefor.
The Legislature adjourned on the following Thursday, and as the Governor did
not veto or sign the Bill during the interval, Mr. Bovee procured a certified copy
of the law, and promulgated it.  Warmoth, on hearing this, issued an Executive
Order suspending Bovee from office and appointing General Herron as Secretaiy of State pro tern, and to carry the order into effect, he ordered the Chief of
Police to accompany General Herron to the office of the Secretary of State and to
place him in possession. The Chief of Police, with a small force of policemen,
marched to Mr. Bovee's office.  Upon arriving there General Herron  handed
iMr. Bovee Governor Warmoth's order of suspension.  Mr. Bovee denied the Governor's right to depose him and refused to be ejected.
" After a few moments," said Mr. Bovce in his testimony," General Herron went
into an adjoining room where the seal of State was kept, and b)rought it out and
put it on the desk, sitting down alongside of it. About ten minutes afterward
I attempted to take possession of that seal, as I had the right to do; I was then
seized by General Herron, and Captaint Etdgeworth ordered his policemen to take
charge of me and lock me up. The policemen came forward and took me out
of the office to the police station, and I was kept there until Captain Badger came
in, when I was released. A charge of assault and battery was made by General
Herron; since that time (Aug. 29, 1871,) I have not performed the duties of
Secretary of State up to the present day, (Feb. 2, 1872).
WARMOTH'S JUDICIARY TO THE FRONT.
Mr. Bovee brought suit in Warmoth's political court-the Eighth District Court
of New Orleans-for the recovery of his office, but, as might have been expected,
the suit was decided against him.  He appealed to Warmoth's Supreme Court and
the latter tribunal dismissed the appeal upon the technical ground that it had not
been taken within the ten days allowed l)y law. Mr. Bovee's counsel had excluded
Sunday in counting the ten days, and the Supreme Court, evidently anxious for
a pretext to shirk the responsibility of passing upon the case, included Sundays in
their count, and thus found an excuse to deny Mr. Bovee any standing in Court.
The removal of Mr. Bovee, upon its face a palpable violation of law, was not on
account of his alleged wrongful promulgation of "The Crescent City Water Works
Bill," which the Governor it was said opposed because he had been refused an
interest thlerein. That was only a cover for the true cause, which was that Mr.
Bovee had pronounced himself, a short time before, a political opponent of the
Governor, and as Mlr. Bovee, by virtue of his office, was a member of the all-important Returning Board that counted in whoever Warmoth  desired, and counted
out whoever hlie ordered, it was of vital consequence to hlis Excellency that this unfriendly official should be got rid of, by fair means or foul.
In the exercise of his imperial powers, Warmoth also removed, about the same
tirme, the Judge of Sabine Parish, and the Distriet Attorney of the 9th Judicial District ~ but lie was not so successful against these officers as hlie had been against
MIr. Bovee.  The Judges of the Appelate Courts, bI)ecoming alarmed for the tenure
of their own positions, unless they checked his Excellency in his revolutionary
course, re-instated both officials and declared their removals illegal and unconstitutional.
BEGINNING OF TIIE QUARREL AMONG THE PLUNDERERS.
For two years after the "Reconstruction" of the State harmony and unity
reigiied amniong the thieving carpet-baggers of Louisiana and their colored allies.
The work of plunder and larceny went nobly on.  But, when, in 1870, Gov.
Warmotli caused the ILegislature to submit to the people an amendment abl)rogating that provision of the Constitution Mhich rendered the Governor ineligible
for the succeeding four years after the expiration of his term of office, LieutenantGovernor DUNN, (colored), S. 13. PACKAn,D anId others who aspired to succeed
Warmoth as Governor, organized a formil)le oppositionI to his Exce(llency's scheme,
and from that date, (18'0) the battle l)e(iin.  Warmotli, having complete control over the Returnin,r Board, carried the ('onstituttiolnal amendment, and thus
renioved( the only legal ob)stacle to his ie-eleclion for a second time.  In the Sumrmer of the same year, 187 0, the RPelul)lican State Convention assembled.  Governor Warmoth and Lieuteiaatnt-Governor l)iunn, were, respectively, candidates for
the Presidency of the body.  This was the first real test of strelngthll between the
factions.  On the side of the Governer were Mit. JAMES F. CASEY, brotherin-law
LOUISIANA.
107 
of President Grant and Collector of the Port of New Orleans, Custom House
office-holders, the bribe-taking PINCHBACK, the larcenous  MORTIMER CARR,
Speaker of the House, and the flower of carpet-bag corruiptionists, including
Judges, District-Attorneys, Tax-collectors and- others who held office by the grace
his Excellency. Against the Governor were S. B. PACKARD, United States Marshal
of Lonisiana, C. W. LOWELL, Postmaster of New Orleans, and afterwards a defaulter to the Government in the sum of $60,000, Lieutenant-Governor DUNN,
and the colored element of the party generally.    Warmoth  sustained  his
first defeat and Dunn was elected President of the Convention.  Encouraged by
their success, Packard, Dunn & Co. organized a regular opposition to the Warmoth party throughout thie State, and tiom this time onward the war between
the factions was waged with a vindictiveness and bitterness seldom equalled in
political contests. Collector CASEY up to this time had aided and co-operated with
Warmoth.  Casey was very eager to be elected U. S. Senator from Louisiana.  He
was President Grant's brother-in-law, and it would be so nice to sit in the Senate
with a brother-in-law in the White House.  Besides, he knew it would be a great
pleasure to President Grant to have one of his countless office-holding relatives in
Congress, and particularly in the Senate. The Senatorship was the goal of
Casey's ambition.  He had set his heart upon it.  But, alas, "the best laid plans
of mice and men "-even if those men are brothers-in-law of President Grant —
"gang aft aglee," and when the Legislature convened irk january, 1871, BROTHERIN-LAW CASEY was defeated by General West, the present Senator.  Casey then
abandoned Warmoth and joined Packard, Dunn and Lowell, the very men who
had demanded his removal as Collector from Grant a-few months before.
UNITED STATES SENATOR WEST.
Let us pause in our narrative in order to inquire into the antecedents of Mr.
West.  It is said, and not without reason, " that birds of a feather flock together,"
and we are curious to test the accuracy of the adage. We are also curious to
become acquainted with the man for whom the President's brother-in-law was
thrust aside.  From the Congressionoal Directory,  we learn  that J. R.  WEST
was born in New Orleans, September 19, 1822; that he attended for a brief period
the University of Pennsylvania; that he served in the war against Mexico; that
he went to California in 1849 and engaged in commercial pursuits; that hlie entered the Union army as Lieutenant-Colonel of a California regiment of Infantry
and served "arduously" in New  Mexico and the southwest, and was breveted
Major-General; that he settled temporarily in Texas but removed to New Orleans,
where, after serving as a Deputy United States Marshal and Auditor of Customs,
he was appointed Administrator of Improvements by Gov Warmoth, and, lastly,
elected U. S. Senator for term ending March 3, 1877. The above is Mr. West's
statement; now for ours. In early life, young West was a super-cargo on a vessel
belonging to the firm of Zacharie & Co., but his employment terminated in his
dismissal for dishonesty.  He afterwards became a member of the American Hook
and Ladder No. 2 Fire Company, and was chosen foreman. About 1849 he
absconded, taking with him one thousand dollars in cash of the funds of the
Company, together with the proceeds of silver plate and other valuables belonging to the same association, from the disposal of which he realized several hundred dollars additional. He next turned up in California, where his dishonest
inclinations again found excellent opportunities for development. He did engage
in "commercial pursuits," as he tells us in his official biography, but he heartlessly deprives us of some interesting particulars. He omits to tell us that he perpe
trated a forgery: that he "raised" an order for one hundred barrels of flour on a
warehouse which was given to him, to one thousand barrels; and that he was
saved from being measured by the prison tailor, through the timely generosity of MR.
BEN HALLIDAY, who advanced the money required to pay the amount of the forgery.
After the war, when he returned to New Orleans, he was suggested by Commissioner of Internal Revenue, ROLLINS, for the position of Supervisor of Internal
Revenue, but his operations in California were made known to SECRETARY
MCCULLOUGH, who prevented his appointment.  As Administrator of Public Improvements under Governor Warmoth, he feathered his nest sufficiently to purchase his seat in the U. S. Senate.
Fearful of incurringthe danger of being treated to a second edition of Mr.
West, even a Republican Senate, since West was admitted, has not had the stomach to tolerate another Senator from Louisiana, and there has been none,
108
LOUIS IAN A. 
THE LEGISLATURE OF 1871.
The Legislature of 1871, which elected Gen. West to the United States Senate,
was the second since the reconstruction of the State, and was, thanks to the kindlyoffices of Warmoth's Returning Board,  overwhelmingly  Warmoth and overwhelmingly corrupt.  In the Senate, the power of appointing the committees wals
taken out of the Lieutenant-Governor's, Dunn's hands and( in the HIouse, Mloritimier
Carr was elected Speaker.   About the miid(dle of  the session Car- had become so
unpopular by his flagrant violations of parliamcntairy rules, and his indecent conduct while in the Chair, that hlie was compelled to resign his position as Speaker,
and George W. Carter was selected in his place.  In Lousiana each  Legislature
lasts two years, and holds a session limited to sixty days in each yeil' of its existence.   We mention thisfact l)ecause this Legistatireof 1871 was tle same whiich
satin 1872, when the riots and  disturbances, that will })e narrated hereafter,
occurred.
A FAMILY QUARREL-WARMOTII CARPET-BAGGERS AND CUSTOM-HOUSE
CARPET-BAGGERS.
Another Republican State Convention was called to meet in New Orleans on
August 9, 1871. There was ino State ticket to be nominated, and the only duty
to be performed by the Convention was to appoint a State C(entral Conimittee.
And yet over such an apparently trifling and uinmportant a matter as this, the greatest excitement in the party prevailed, and each wing of  it-W,arnioth an(d antiWarmoth-made extraordinary efforts to secure a majority of the delegates to the
Convention.  The convention was to consist of one hundred and eighteen delegates, but so fierce was the contest between the two factions that the credentials
of not more than forty were undisputed.  From a large majority of the districts
there was either a double delegation, each claiming regularity, or a contesting
delegation, accusing  the regulars with having been chosen  tlirough violence
and fraud.  It was believed that the faction which should ob)tain the temporary
organization, would indubitably secure the final control of the Convention.  United
States Marshal Packard, w ho, as Chairman of the State Central Committee, was
entitled to call the Convention to order, bI)elonged( to the Dunn faction.  This was
supposed to (ive some advaintage.  The call for the Convention did not state the
particular hall in whlich it was to assemble.  The day b)efore the Convention was
held public notice was given by Packard that it would convene in the CUSTOMHOUSE.  Before Marshal Packard made this announcement, the Warmoth party
did not know in which building the Convention would meet; but on the same (lay
that the notice above referred to was published, the following requisition was
made:
NEw ORLEANS, LA., August 18, 18l71.
GENERAL JOSEPH J. REYNOLDS, U. S. A.
San Antonio, Texas.
The Republican Convention meets here to-morrow, and much fear is anticipated
from thugs and bruisers.  I desire to have a guard of soldiers from the barracks
to protect the Custom House and other public property.   Please give Gen. Sully
the necessary orders immediately.
S. B. PACKARD,
U. S. Mlarshal, District of Louisizant.
Marshal Packard thus confessed that he placed the Government in such jeopordy as to necessitate the presence of troops.  In other words, he deliberately orders a political convention to be held in the U.S. Custom House, when he knows,
as hlie admits above, that by so doing, not only is the public property endangered,
but the lives of our soldiers are placed in unnecessary jeopardy, merely to protect a
miserable gathering of rascally carpet-b)aggers in a political wrangle among themselves. Supposing that a riot had occurred, and that the Custom House had been
fired, public property destroyed, and fifty or more of our soldiers killed, by reason
of holding this Convention in the U. S. Custom House, would not Marlshal Packard have been responsible? And yet this man, who holds the property of the
Government and the lives of our soldiers in such light estimation, has been kept
in office by Grant for nearly eight years, and is to-day the Republican candidate
for Governor.
THE CUSTOM HOUSE FACTION OBTAIN, THE SUPPORT OF THE ARMY.
The troops were of course not needed to protect Government property at all.
This was a deliberate falsehood of Packard's. In all these years of oppressive
109
LOUISIANA. 
Government, burdensome taxation, and maladministration, in not a single instance has a Southern hand been raised against the flag of the United States.
The appearance of a handful of men has always been sufficient to enforce order,
even when several thousand men under arms, their patience exhausted, were on
the ground, ready to drive out their corrupt and lawless rulers once for all. Then
again, this was a quarrel among the "truly loyal," and were these patriotic souls
this endless array of Union Generals, Colonels, Majors and Captains, actually
going to injure the property of the Government? In response to Packard's dispatch, Gen. Reynolds ordered Gen. Sully, the commanding officer at New Orleans,
to detail one lhundred men for duty to MAISTIAL PACKARD, and accordingly, on
the morning of August 9, Captain J. H. Smith marched to the Custom House
with one company of the 19th Infantry, and, ascending one flight, stacked arms at
the head of the stairs. In addition to this force, Packard appointed a hundred
or two special deputy United States Marshals, all armed with pistols and other
weapons, thus swelling the numl)er of guards to a goodly size. The United
States Court Room, in which the Convention met, is on the second story of the
Custom House. It communicates by two doors, with an adjoining room, but can
be entered from the corridor only through one door. Persons in possession of
the adjoining room could enter the court room in which the Convention was
held, through two different doors, without being seen by those outsidle in the hall.
Marshal Packard's office was on the same floor, close by.  All the regulations necessary to secure an entrance into the Convention were admirabl)ly made to secure
the purpose desired. No person was admitted into the bl)uilding without a ticket,
and no ticket was obtainable until after 9 o'clock in the morning of the same
day that the Convention was held, and then only at the iio?,ey order qrindow of the
Post O'ice, so that the latter branch of the public service was also enlisted in Packard and Casey's cause.  However, all persons claiming seats-regular delegates and
contestants-were given tickets. At 11 o'clock Governor Warmothli, in company
with ninety-five delegates, some of whom weire contestants, proceeded to the Custom House in a body, and demanded admission.
THE CUSTOM HOUSE CONVENTION-AN EXCITING SCENE.
They found the main entrance and the gates, closed, barred and bolted, and
guarded by a large force of armed men, white and colored, mostly employ6s in
the Custom House, and the letter carriers of the Post Office, besides the U. S.
Troops, and Packard's battalion of "Special Deputy Marshals." After some delay
the Warmoth faction were admitted into the lower floor one at a time.  When
they went lup to the second floor, they were confronted by a line of U. S. Infantry
which faced the stairs and completely covered the delegates as they ascende(d.
Another detachment, more imposing than that which guarded the entrance, did
duty on the second story.  The delegates then passed through a file of deputy
marslhals and soldiers and walked to the door of the U. S. Circuit Court Room.
There they were stopped by two persons (assisted by  Packard's special deputy
marshals), who distinctly informed the Governor that they had received instructions from Marshal Packard to admit none into the room until 12 o'clock. While
standing in the hall near the door of the Court Room, parleying withl the guards
for adm(lnission, the door of the other Court Room which a(ljoined that in which the
Convention was to meet, opened, and Warmoth and his party saw the Custom
House delegates holding a caucus therein. They also perceived that the two doors
comlnmunicating between the rooms were also open, and the Custom House people,
who hal b)een secretly admitted into the building,, were entering the room of the
Convention from this adjoining Court Room.  Packard's scheme was then made
manifest.  The Convention was to be packed with his followers, so that when
Warinotli's faction should enter, it would be a very easy matter for those already
inside to rush through the work of preliminary organization and secure control
of the Convention before their antagonists could possibly participate.  Not wishing to be caught in the trap that Packard had set for them, the Warmotli people
withdrew andt held a Convention of their own in another Hall.  The Custom
ouise party proceeded with their Convention also, and Marshal Packard was retaineil at the head of traii' State Committee.
Thus, under the pretense of protecting public property, Packard secured U. S.
troops, for the sole purpose of enabling him to control the Convention and,
re-elect himself to the position he coveted. The excuse, and the only excuse
for hliol(ling the Convention in the Custom House b)uilding, was that no suitable
hall was to be had for the purpose except the Mechanics' Institute, used at that
110
LOUISIANA. 
time as the State Capitol, which Packard alleged would hlaVe been  under the
control of the Governor and the police of the city, of which his Excellency was
in reality Commander-in-Chief.  If it be true that each of these factions of the
Republican party required armed force to protect it from the violence of the
other, it should be remembered that no principle was at issue between them,
and that the struggle was solely for political power and party leadership.  The
pesence of Federal soldiers, under the virtual command of the leader of one of
the contending factions, was both an insult and anll outrage.
'COMIPLAINT WAS IMMEDIATELY MADE TO TIE PRESIDENT,
By a committee of Warmoth men, of which Judge Dibble  was spokesman.
In his evidence before the committee  the latter person testified as follows
'Q. Did you complain to the President?  A. Yes, sir; I made  a very emphatic representation to him at Long Branch.
Q. What did the President say? A. He said that the charges against these
gentleman were very extraordinary, and hlie would investigate them.
Q. Were any Federal officers removed in consequence of the proceedings? A.
No, sir; they ought to have been.
Q. Do you hold, then, that the approval of the President is fairly to be inferred from his continuing these gentleman in office? A. Yes, sir; I think he
knew the facts, etc.
Q. Di(l the President justify the conduct of the Custom House officials in
bringing armed soldiers into the building? A. He  made use of a very curious
phrase in regard to that.  Ilie icanted to know what objection we had to the troops, if we
did not intend to do any harm.
Q. lie then justified the bringing into the Custom House of these United States
troops?  A. I think the President has a very poor opinion of the Republican
party down here, and that he had come to the conclusion that anything was jusitfial)le to overthrow Governor Warmothl. I think that the President's personal
dislike to Governor Warmoth has as much to do with his opposition as anything.
If the Pe,sicldeat haid told these gentlemen down here ini the Custonm Elouse, to quit, they
would lwmve quit long ago.  I think the President is in that way responsible for the
division in our party.
Q. And to that extent responsible for the recent trouble you have had? A. Yes,
sir.
Q. Then it is your opinion that the President is morally responsil)le for the
troubles that have recently occured in New (O)rleans?  A. The question of intention comes in there.  He may not have intended to do what he has done, but
I think his attidude has encouraged these people, and in that way he is responsil)le.
Q. Does not his refusal to remove the Federal officers here fix the responsibility definitely on him? A. I think it is his intention to sustain this Custom
House wing of the party down here as long as possible   That is merely my
opinion. I only infer it from the fact that hlie was ftully acquainted with all the
circumstances attending the assembling of the Convention in the Couston House
and the use made of the United States troops there. He must have known that
it was in violation of Republican institutions, and I think he must have been of
the  opinion  that almost anything was justifiable in overthrowing Governor
Warmoth.
GOVERNOR WARMOTH'S DESCRIPTION OF PRESIDENT GRANT'S BROTHER-IN-LAW.
The rupture of the factions was the signal for criminations and recriminations
among the carpet-baggers. We are indebted to Governor Warmothli for some
excellent political photographs of his principal opponents.
Of BRIOTHER-IN-LAW CASEY, his Excellency swore before the Congressional
Committee as follows
"Mr. CASEY, Collector of the Port, was interested in the scheme (the "Act to
incorporate the New Orleans Shed Company," monopolizing the front levee from
Common  to Poydras streets, with the power to build sheds and tax merchandise
landed under them, and oni steamboats that land their goods on the wharf), which
I voted and killed. This franchise was so valuable that money was used in the
Legislature to pass it, and Mr. Casey was the custodian of the coiruption fund
ill
LOU ISIAN',. 
and returned the money to the parties interested when it became a failure by my
disapproval.  Mr. Casey was also an incorporator in the celebrated Warehouse
bill, and which passed over my veto, which appropriated $1,400,000 of State
Bonds as its Capital Stock, and his office was the place where the directors held
their meetings."
Of MARSHIAL PACKARD,  the present Republican candidate for Governor of Lou
isiana, his Excellency said, under oath: 
"Mr. Packard, another Reformer, caused to be prepared and introduced in the
Legislature an Act providing for the construction of the Nicolson pavement, from
the Tivoli Circle to the upper line of Carrollton, a distance of about seven miles.
It would have cost about one and a quarter million of dollars, one-quliarter of
which was to be taken out of the State Treasury, but which was defeated by my
veto.  Jir. Car,' (a( member of the Ioutse) informs me tcit it. Packard offered himn
$500 to votefor this bill.  I WAS OFFERED $50,000 TO SIGN TInS BILL."
His Excellency, extending the description of his ex-coadjutors, testified:
"POSTMASTER LOWELL, another reformer, was the champion of the celebrated
"Ship Island Canal Bill," which pocketed all of the swamp land in the vicinity of
New Orleans, and the drainage fund of the city, and which they passed over m+
veto.  It has since died from popular strangulation." 
"Mr. HERWIIG, a Senator, and chief Deputy Collector of the Port under Mr.
Casey, was also interested in the Shed Company referred to above."
PHOTOGRAPHR OF THE SPEAKER OF THE LOUISIANA HOUSE.
"Mr. SPEAKER CARTER was the father of, and had introduced in the Legislature of 1869, an "Act incorporating the Louisiana Transit Company," and giving
the aid of tihe State, at the rate of $25,000 per mile, to build a railroad from New
Orleans to Houston, Texas, after the Legislature had already incorporated the New
Orleans, Mobile and Chattanooga Railroad Company, and given it the aid of the
State by the indorsement of its bonds for $12,500 per mile for the same purpose."
"MIr. Carter had an interest in the Louisiana Levee Company,which he demanded
and was conceded to him, in consideration of his potent and valuable influence as
Speaker and Member of the House of Representatives. Mr. Carter was also, and
is now, the paid attorney of the New Orleans, Mobile and Texas Railroad Coin
pany, from which he receives $833.33 per month, or $10,000 per annum, and for
which lie has never done one hour's service. The contract for his employment
was made with him by the company after he had kept in his pocket, for thirty or
sixty (lays, a bill which had passed the Legislature almost unanimously, providing
for the subscription of two millions and a half of its stock in lieu of the indorsement of its second mortgage bonds, and immediately after this contract was made
by which he became the attorney of the company the bill was signed by him. He
has also been the paid attorney of the New Orleans, Jackson and Great Northern
Railroad Company, and has likewise performed no service, except to suppress an
infamous and slanderous report, a plan devised by him for the purpose of injuring
the company in case it would not submit to being blackmailed by the Chairman
of the Railroad Committee, a creature of Mr. Carter.  He receives $5,000 per
annum from this company.  He was also interested in the Levee Shed Bill, as he
was in almost every measure that passed the Legislature. Mr. Carter introduced
the Steamship Bill, which gave $1,000,000 bonds subsidy to a steamship company,
which was killed by my veto. Mr. Carter gave additional evidence of his sincerity as a reformer by inserting or interpolating into the Journal of the House,
on the last night of the session, a number of resolutions which hlie stated were
introduced and passed that night, when it is notorious that they were not introduced up to 8~ o'clock that evening, and from that moment until the adjournment the House was in a constant state of uproar, during which time it was
impossible for the Houseouse to do any acts of legislation whatever."
HION. JOHN RAY-A GREEDY CARPET-BAGGER.-CASEY HOLDS A CORRUPTION FUND.
"SENATOR RAY, a prominent candidate for U.S. Senator, has received $546,000
in State bonds, in aid of his railroad from Vicksburg to Monroe, on the condition that he would pay the interest and principal as it became due; the
State is to-day paying $40,000 per annum interest on these bonds, owing to Mr.
112
LOUISIANA. 
Ray's default.  Mr. Ray also received $70,000 from the State Treasury for revising
the Statutes and two Codes of the State, which was authorized by an Act of the
Legislature which he was instrumental in having passed, a work generally condemned by the bar.  He was interested in the Louisiana Levee Company; wass
its champion in the Senate; brought down the previous question and would
not allow discussion oin its merits, and when that body adjourned was elected
president of the company, at a salary of $10,000 per annum.  The Act incorporating this company gives it authority to build fifteen million cubic yards
of levees, at the enormous price of 60 cents per cubic yard, and assesses a tax of
ten per cent. on the cost of the property of the State for twenty-one years;
authorizes it to issue its bonds in anticipation of the taxes, which it is made
the duty of the State to endorse and guarantee."
"Mr. Casey,"-(President Grant's brother-in-law),-thle minority report of the
committee says, " is clearIly pr'oed to heave been1 interested ink (iald the holder of, a co}ruption fttind of $18,000, p(ut}t of a $50,000fet,d raised by himself (a,d others to bribe
tIhe Legisl(tttlce to pas8s a bill it qViwclb he wa8s ab iitcoi'porotoi'.  Herwig, his deputy
collectoir, was, at the time, a State senator, and when I vetoed the bill, Casey unlocked his safe in the Custom House and Herwig took out of it and returned
$18,000. It required just ei,qlteei, senators to pass the bill, and ei9jhteen thousand
dollars would have divided nicely among them."
Having given his carpet-bag Excellency's opinion of the brother-in-law, and
Packard, Carter, Lowell, Herwig and the rest, it would hardly be fair not to give
the other side a hearing. They were all equally complimentary in their remarks
on the Governor, but the following firom Speaker Carter embodies the sentiments
of Packard, Casey and the rest.
A PIIOTOGRAPHI OF WARMOTIH BY SPEAKER CARTER.
"Louisiana is affected with worse laws and worse administrators that can be
found in any ten States of the Union.  Henry Clay Warmoth is the'Boss
Tweed,' of Louisiana, except that that amiable villian, with all his infamies, is a
gentleman and a saint compared with the unscrupulous despot who fills the
Executive chair of this State. From the great depth of the popular heart comes
up the demand for bo'iafide and radical reform.  Who is Henry Clay Warmotlih?
I knew him before hlie was Governor. He came in your midst poor and an adventurer, and hlie has been elected to office, and gradually, by corruption and
all the questionable means resorted to by the political demagogue, abusing the
confidence of a simple-hearted and confiding people, he has gradually acquired
and holds poicei more despotic than any King in Europe, and patronage more
abundant and potent than any five Governors in the Union.  Through the registrition and election laws hlie makes voters and controls  elections.  Through
his pa troniige lie poisons public virtue and corrupts public officers; and through
the MIetropolitani police, militia, and constabulary laws,, he intimidates and coerces those whoni hlie cannot corrupt. With executive powers the greatest possible,
he has nefariously absorbed, in many instances, judicial power, and manipulated
and controlled the legislative department of the State; and  all this for  the
perpetuation of his power,  and the aggrandizement of his partisans, rather
than- for the public weal.  He had kingly prerogatives given him, not for persona-l ends, but for the benefit of the people,  and it was expected, in the
exercise thereof, to confer royal benefactions upon the people, who elected
him to power, and charged him with the safe-keeping of their interests.  What
return has lie made?  This beggar, made a king, has done nothing adequate to
his opportunities and his powers, but made most beggarly returns for the trust
put in his hands."
POLITICAL COMIPLICATIONS-DEATII OF LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR DUNN.
As the timne appr oaclhed for the assembling of the Legislature, on January 1, 1872,
there began to be some talk of impeaching the Governor.  Under tlhe Constitution of
Louisiana the passage by the House of Representatives of articles of inipeachment,
suspends the functions of the Governor until hlie shall l)e accquitted.  In the latter
event, Lieuteinait-Goverinior Duin would have b)ecome Chief Magistrate for the
time being.  If two-thirds of the Senate could not be relied upon to convict, a
majority had it in their poweri to postpone the trial indefinitely, and thus secure
all the advantages of convictioii.  But whilst the Custom House party were arranging the preliminaries for a grand coup d'etat against Waanmoth, Lieutenant
LOUISIANA.
113 
114                              LOUISIANA. 
Governor Dunn, on Nov. 25, 1871, died, some say l)y poisoning;  This was a great
Allow to his faction.  He was a colored man and had the confidence of his race.
WhIlo should succeed Mr. Dunn became ian important question, especially in view
of the proposed impeachment of Governor  Wa-imotli.   The duty of electing
Dunn's successor devolved upon the Senate, which was very evenly divided. If a
Warmotli man should be chosen, not much could lbe gained 1)y a temporary suspension of the Governor.  But if, on the other hiand, the House should pass articles of impeachment before any personl was elected President of the Senate, the
Speaker of the House,    a r. Carte, would become Governor.
In this exigency Governor Warniliotli called an extra session of the Senate, for
December 6, 18i71, for the purpose of filling the vacancy ill the oflice of LieutenantGovernor.  Under the Constitution of Louiisiana, the Governor mlay, on extraordinary occasions convene the General Asselmbly, and upoln the principle that the
greater includes the lesser, the Governor held that thlie power to convene the CTGei?eral Assembly necessarily embraced the power to convene the Senate alone.
EXTRA SESSION OF THE SENATE-WVARMOTIH WINS ItIS POINT.
The assembling of the extra session of the Senate caused considerable excite,nent, as it was well known that both factions were anxious to control the election
of a Lieutenant-Governor.  The Louisiana Senate consists of thlity-six members;
two were d(lead, leaving only thirty-four living Senators, anid this number met.
The first business transacted was to ballot for Lieutenant-Governoi.  The first
vote stood seventeen for PIC&HBACK, the bribe-taker, who was Wai moth's candidate, and seventeen for COUPLAND, a Deputy Collectoi of the Ctestomt Hortse.  It
seemsimpossible to say a word about Louisiana carpet-bag rule without being
compelled to mention the Custom House. In this emergency  however, SENATOR
LEWIS, a Custom hlouse Inspector, who had been acting with the Custom House
gang, changed his vote from COUPLAND to PINCIIBACK, thus electing him.  He
had been bribed by DR. SOUTIIWORTII, Warmotli's confidential agent, with a
promise of $35,000, out of which hlie was sulbsequlently cheated.  By these means
did Pinchback, a mulatto of New Orleans, become Lieutenant-Governor.
The Senate then adjourned. The action of the Senate was pronounced unconstitutioual by the anti-Warmothli faction, on the ground that the Governor had no
right to call an extra session of either branch of the Legislature separately.  The
Governor claimed, on the other hand, that he clearly had the power to assemble
either house, to take any action which did not require the concurrence of the
other.  As the Legislature would assemble on January 1, enlsuing, being then only twenty-five days distant, it was alleged with much plausibility that the object
of the Governor, in the exercise of this doubtful power, was to have the President of the Senate selected before any articles of imnpeaclhment could be agreed to
by the House, and before his opponents could ciombine upon a candidate antagonistic to him. In the meantime, it appears that a coalition between the Democrats
and the anti-Warmoth members had been fol'med for the purpose of deposing
Warmoth and repealing the obnoxious registration and election laws.
MEETING OF THE LEGISLATURE OF 1871-THE REVENUE CUTTER "WILDERNESS"
AND TO WHAT USES SHE WAS PUT.
On January 1, 1872, amid the wildest uproar, the Legislature convened in
the Mechanics' Institute, which was used as a State Capitol.  In the Senate, only
seventeen Senators, all Warmoth men, attended. Of the balance fourteen were
in the city, but refused to appear until the arrival of three absent Senators, whom
they anticipated would join them in repudiating the election of Pinchback and
electing one of their own number.  It may here be stated that two Senators had
died, but the Governor, doubting his ability to succeed them with his partizans,
took care that no official notice of the vacancies should )be sent to him, and hence
he never issued orders for an election. The attending Senators directed the Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest the absentees and arraign them at the bar of the Senate.
o protect them from arrest,  President  Grant's  brother-in-law, COLLECTOR
CASEY, and U. S. MARSHAL PACKARD, who were opposed to Warmothl, gave
orders to the captain of the U. S. Revenue steam cutter Wilderness to receive them
on board and to sail up and down the river.  This was done, and the absconding
Senators remained in a United States vessel for five or six days, and would doubtless have remaiped longer, but for the peremptory orders of the Secretary of the
Treasury to disembark them.  When forced to leave the Wilderness they sought 
refuge in the Stateof Mississippi, where they remained until January 20, 1872,
when they returned to the Senate Chamber, and continued, until the final adjournment, in regular session.
The history of the other branch of the Legislature during the same period was
more eventful.  As each legislative term consists of two sessions of sixty days
each in separate years, Itr. GEORGE W. CARTER, Speaker at the first session, called
the House to order on this, its second session.  An adjournment until the next
day without transacting business was had out of respect for the memoryof the
late Lieutenant-Governor DUNN.   On the second day, January 2, a resolution of
confidence in 3h'. Carter, and confirming him in the speakership, was passed by
a vote of 49 to 45.  This was a triumph for the anti-Warmoth combination, and
there was great rejoicing in the victorious camp.
W-ArMOTII'S TACTICS-FEDERAL OFFICIALS INTERFERE AS USUAL.
But during the nigtht, his Excellency resorted to the same tactics that he pursued in securing the election of Pincliback, so that, when the House assembled on
the third day of the session, (January 3,) the question of approving the Journal of
the preceding day, which included the resolution confirming Carter as Speaker,
wa(s lefeated by (a rote of 49 to 46.  This test vote convinced the Custom House
party, represented by Carter, that they were in a minority. The Warmothl mem I)ers immediately attempted to elect a new Speaker in the place of Carter, but failed
to get the floor for that purpose.  Finally Mr. Carr made the motion to depose Car telr, out of or(ler, put the question to the House himself and declared it carried. The
hall and( corridors were all this time swarming with Warmoth's policemen.  An
effort was made to place the new candidate in the chair by a demonstration of force,
but as Carter and his friends made a show of resistance by force, the matter was
IropIl)ed(l, and amidst the greatest tumult an(d excitement the House adjourned.  It
was now the opportunity of the Custom House party to turn the tables upon their
-opponents, and they selected the least expensive of the several methods that suggeste(l themselves.  They procured warrants for the arrest of Gov. Warmoth,
Piniclil)ack, several Senators, and eighteen members of the House, all Warmothli's
friends, from United States Commissioner Woolfley, a former deputy under
Packard, on the charge that they were conspiring to resist the execution of the
laws of the United States. - About noon on the fourth day of the session (Thursday, January 4) Marshal Packard's deputies entered the capitol and began  to
-make arrests. This proceeding, perfectly infamous in its character, accomplished
its object for the moment.  The Warmoth members of the House were thrown
into temporary confusion, and nearly all left the hall. Their withdrawal left the
.House with only fifty-one members, not a quorum, because a full house consist,ed of one hundred and six members, and the Constitution having provided that
-not less than a majority of the members of the house shall form a quorum, it was
,evidQnt that fifty-four members were necessary for a quorum.  Yet with fifty-one
membl)ers, three less than a quorum, the Cuistom House party unseated seven
Warmioth men, and in their places admitted six anti Warlmotli meml)ers, leaving
-one seat vacant, thus making a qutorum and placing the Custom House faction
again in the majority.  If at this juncture the H-ouse had impeached Warmotlh,
the current of subsequent events woul(l have been materially altered.   But
instead of availing themselves of their great opportunity, the Custom  House
members adjourned the House about 1:30 o'clock in the afternoon, until the next
,day, Friday, at'noon.
WARMOTH'S cotp d'etat.
Governor  Warmoth,  conscious  of the great  peril that threatened him,
-and realizing the imminent danger he stood in, of being dethroned, became desperate, and determined to oppose one outrage by the commission
of a greater.  Hardly  had  the House  adjourned, when  he issued a proelamation convening the Genleral Asseml)ly in extra session, on that same Thursday
afternoon at 4 P.M.  Notice of this proclamation was given only to those menm)ers an(i senators who were acting in accord with him.  The Senate met in extra
session at the hour inamed, l)but there being no quorum, they adjourned. The
meml)ers of the House who had been notified, assembled in the Hall, and after
half an hour's delay, a quorum of fifty-five meml)ers was obtained.  Whereupon
the proceedings of the mowning session were expunged and declared void, the once
of peaker'decla-ed vacan?t, and O. H. BREWSTER elected Speaker in'Carter's place.
LOUISIAN A.
115 
Then, to complete the coup d'etat, Carter was expelled from membership of
the House by a vote of forty-nine to five. The next morning, Friday, the Custom House party learned for the first time of what had occurred.  Carter
proceeded to the capitol, but found it in possession of an immense body of armed
policemen, who refused him admission. Thus excluded, the Custom House members attempted to organize the House in the hall of the "' Gem Saloon," and remained in continuous session for the purpose of getting a quorum, but the most
they succeeded in obtaining was fifty members.
BLOODSHED-REIGN OF TERROR.
Mleanwhlile the sergeants-at-arms of the rival Houses, with armed assistants,
scoured the city and arrested members wherever found and brought them by
force to their respective Ilouscs.  One of these, MIR. WAL,TER WHEYLAND, an
anti-Custom House member, in defending himself from the arrest by four sergeants-at-arms, two of whom were Ctstomi'foiese e-mploye&, WAS MURDERED BY TItEM.
The city was in a terrible condition.  Stores were closed and business was suspended. Large bodies of armed men patrolled the streets, and at times collisions
attended with loss of life took place. An armed body from the Gem Saloon, being in need of arms to equip converts to their cause, attacked and robbed an armory of a number of muskets, on Friday evening, January 5th, and paraded with
them through the streets of New Orleans.
UNITED STATES TROOPS, OF COURSE.
At the beginning of the disturbances and at the request of U. S. Marshal Packard and those acting with him, the United States troops were brought to the city
by General Emory and quartered in the neighborhood of the capitol. The object
of this movement was to give the Custom House faction the color of having the
support of the National Administration and the Army; the same identical trick
they played so successfully at the Custom House the preceding Summer.  But
when it was found that the presence of troops did not accomplish the desired effect, it was determined to withdraw the troops from the city and return them to
the barracks.
THE PRESIDENT OFFICIALLY INFORMED OF THE INTERFERENCE OF CASEY, PACK                                 ARD & CO.
When Warmoth was informed of this, hlie sent the following telegram to the
President:
NEW  ORLEANS, January 4, 1872.
To His EXCELLENCY, U. S. Grant, TVactshington, D. C.
Sir: Six Senators, employes in the New Orleans Custom House, have formed a
conspiracy with the Democratic Senators to prevent a quorum of the State Senate, and have succeeded throughout the entire week.  It this plot they haver the
support of the Collector of Cistomi, the  US.  Marshall, and several of your
appointees here, AND THE REVENUE CUTTER Wilderness has been and still is employed to take these conspirators beyond the reach and jurisdiction of the sergeantat-arms empowered to arrest them in order that a quoruim may be secured and
public business transacted.
At the moment of assembling to-day a number of Deputy United States Marshals armed with warrants from a United States Commissioner, based upon the
frivolous affidavit of members of the conspiracy, suddenly arrested eighteen Representatives, four Senators, and the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor. The effect of this was to break the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. During the confusion consequent upon this outrageous procedure the conspirators claiming to be tlihe' House, but not numbering a quorum of that body,
ejected six Republican members. Threats by violence, backed by United States
troops to carry out this plot, are freely made.
I respectfully request to be informed, if, as claimed, you sustain the Collector,
the Marshal and the other Federal officials in this revolutionary attempt to overthrow the State government, an attempt which, if not discontinued by your appointees, must result in anarchy and bloodshed.
H. C. WARMOTH."
A SECOND DISPATCH TO THE WHITE IIOUSE-THE CITY IN A STATE OF SIEGE.
As Mr. Casey, the President's brother-in-law, was arrayed against Governor
Warmouth, Mr. Grant was not so eager to assist Warm6th with federal bayonets.
116
LO UT ISIANA. 
as he was to protect the usurper Kellogg a year later.   So he simply replied that
Governor Warmoth's "report of proceedings of the United States Marshal was
of such an extraordinary character that he would have the matter investigated at
once."
Warmoth telegraphed to the White House again, saying that a riot was
imminent; that there was no quorum of the Senate, owing to their being beyond
the reach of the sergeant-at-arms on board the cutter Wilderness, and that General
Emory be instructed to cooperate with him in preserving the peace." No
answer from Washington.
Meantime the city was as if in a state of siege.   Both factions were supported
by several thousand men under arms. Between January 6th and 15th, several attempts were made to capture their respective headquarters; the Custom House
army marching towards the Capitol and the Warmoth army marching on the
"Gem Saloon," but in each instance General Emory appeared upon the ground
with a few companies of regulars and prevented a collision.
On January 14th the President ordered the troops to retire to their barracks
and not to return again to New Orleans without orders from him.
'THE PRESIDENT REFUSES TROOPS WHEN REQUESTED BY THE LEGISLATURE.
On the next day a joint resolution passed both Houses of the Legislature, calling upon the President to place at the disposal of the Governor such military forces
as might be necessary to enable the Governor to preserve the public peace and enforce and maintain the Constitution and laws.
In view of the President's eagerness to send troops to New Orleans a few months
later, and even without being asked, the following reply of the Attorney General
merits the closest attention:
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
WASHINGTON, January 15, 1872. 
SIR:-The President has referred to me your dispatch of this date, representing
that the Legislature of the State has asked to have the military forces of the United
States placed at your disposal to preserve the public peace.  There is a contest as
to the legality of the election of Lieutenant-Govcrnor, and also as to the existence
of the lower bratchl of the Legislature, dispatches having been received here from
two persons, each claiming to be the Speaker thereof, and the President does not
feel that he w'ould be justified in deciding taose questions at this time, and, under existing circumstances, is unwilling to interfere, in State gnateers, with the military
power of the Government, except in a clear case of legal right and overruling
necessity.
Your obedient servant,
GEORGE H. WILLIAMIS,
.  Attorney- General.
His ceellency,
H. C. WARMOTH,
Governor of Louisiana."
'To which Warmoth immediately replied as follows:
"NEW ORLEANS, January 16, 1872.
The President misapprehends the nature of the request of the General Assembly. It does not ask him to decide whether the Lieutenant-Governor was legally elected, or which of the two bodies is the legal House of Representatives.
Thi is a question qhich the General Assembly can and will settle for itself, unless it is overpowered by the mob.  The question of the Lieutenant-Governorsliip
is one to be settled by the Senate and the Courts.   The existence of the lower
branch of the Legislature is one to be settled by the members thereof. There met
yesterday a quorum of the Senate, and no question was raised by anybody as to
the legality of the election of the Lieutenant-Governor. There has been a quorum
of the House of Representatives every day since the beginning of the session.
Not a single member has been arrested by either House in order to make a quoim.                      *
H. C. WARMOTH.
HON. GEO. I. I. V Ii,LIAMS,
,A (itor net- Gene'al."
117
LO U  ISIANA. 
LOU I SIANA.
WAR.MOTH DISPERSES THE CUSTOM' HOUSE FACTION-END OF THE REIGN OF TERROR.
The course of the National Administration, as might have been expected, and
as doubtless was intended, encouraged the Custom House party, and the news was
rapidly spread through every quarter of the city that the President had declared
for Packard, Casey, Carter and their faction, and Carter immediately issued a proclamation fixing Monday, January 22, at 11:30 A. M., as the time when he would
march on the State House; and "all citizens, irrespectife of race orparty, were earnestly invited to organize anid arm themselves as well as they might be able, and report in
force in the neighborhood of 207 Canal street, where they would be sworn in as
-we were about to say deputy United States Marshals-assistants to the Sergeant-at-Arms of the'Gem Saloon' Custom-House Legislature."
Governor Warmoth, satisfied that President Grant would not lend him any support, called out and armed the entire police and militia forces of the city, and
stationed them in position in the vicinity of the State House and prepared for the
coming battle.  But on the morning of the 22d General Emory informed both
Warmoth and Carter that he had received orders from Washington to suppress
any conflict of armed bodies that might occur.  The result of this announcement
was that Carter at once disbanded his forces, and the Custom House faction, bereft of the Federal protection they had been promised, dispersed to their homes,
leaving Warmoth master of the situation. Thus ended the reign of terror that
that had prevailed for upwards of a fortnight by reason of this disgraceful
struggle for the spoils of political patronage among a miserable gang of contemptible carpet-baggers.  Within a few days after these events the "Gem Saloon Legislature" ceased to hold further meetings, and some of its members were received:
back at the State House.  The Senators who had been-disembarked from the cutter Wilderness somewhere on the Mississippi coast, seeing that Warmoth had secured a quorum without them, returned to their seats in the Senate, and the Legislature thus finally organized, continued its sessions without interruption until it
expired by constitutional imitation on March 1st, 1872.
The responsibility for the scandalous scenes attempted to be described above,
belongs to the Republican party and the Administration.  But for the support and
countenance extended to these adventurers, they would not have existed an hour
Their infamous laws, their oppressive governments, their corruption and venality,
would have departed with them, and peace and liberty would have again dwelt in
their borders.
PART SECOND.
THE USURPATION OF THE LEGITIMATE STATE GOVERNMENT OF LOUISIANA BY
THE ILLEGAL ORDERS OF A DRUNKEN FEDERAL JUDGE, SUSTAINED AND UP —
HELD BY THE PRESIDENT AND THE ARMY.
We are now come to the most disgraceful chapter of all this Louisiana business,.
namely, the overthrow of the legally elected State Government by the orders of a
drunken and corrupt Federal Judge-Durell-assisted and upheld by President
Grant and the United States Army.  But before proceeding to narrate the events
which occurred at that exciting period, we will hastily review the political situation of Louisiana from the adjournment of the Legislature in March, 1872, to the;
issuance of Judge Durell's outrageous order.  Our information continues to be
gathered from the testimony taken by Republican Congressional Committees,
which conducted their investigations with an exhaustiveness and expensiveness.
which, in the light of some fifteen or twenty volumes of closely printed evidence
and reports, will be readily conceded.
The rupture between the Warmoth party and the Custom House faction was
not healed, after the adjournment of the Legislature in early March, 1872.  On
the contrary, the breach was widened to an extent that rendered an amicable adjustment impossible. Efforts'were made by the Administration to re-unite the
party, especially as the Presidential election was drawing near and Grant was.
desirous of obtaining the electoral vote of Louisiana, which he knew would be sure
to attend a reconciliation with Governor Warmoth, who, as has been previously
demonstrated, controlled the election machinery of the State.   But as Grant
would not remove his brother-in-law Casey, the Collector of Customs or the voluble Packard, the U. S. Marshal, as desired by Warmoth, the negotiations were
dropped. 
118 
LOUISIANA.
A COALITION BETWEEN WARMOTH AND TEE DEMOCRATS.
Warmoth then made overtures to the Democrats. to join forces and nominate
a "fusion" ticket for Governor and other State officers.  Many leading Demo
crats opposed having anything to do with the man who had contributed more
than all other men to bring about the ruin of their State. They said that as
Warmoth wvas infamous, to establish a political partnership with him would be
like forming an alliance with INFAMY.  But the, majority, while conceding these
truths, believed that a combination with Warmoth was the only feasible plan by
which it was possible to shake off carpet-bag rule and redeem Louisiana from her
plunderers. Hence a State ticket headed by JOHN MCENNERY as candidate for
Governor and D. B. PENN as candidate for Lieutenant-Governor, was nominated
by the Democrats and Warmoth's Republicans.  It was called the "fusion"
ticket.
The Custom House Republicans nominated WM.  P. KELLOGG for Governor,
and a mulatto, C. C. ANTOINE, for Lieutenant-Governor. In the City of New
Orleans there was also an important election to be held for the position of Judge
of the Eighth District Court, otherwise called, "The Political Court." Judge
DIBBLE was the Custom House candidate for re-election to tIte bench of this
Court, whilst Judge ELMORE was the fusion candidate. Candidates for members
of the Legislature were also nominated by the two parties.
The election was held on November 4, 1872. It was conducted in pursuance
of the laws of the State, the Registrars being chosen by the Governor, and the
Commissioners of Election being selected by the Registrars, and the returns being
made by the Registrars to the Governor, and by the Governor to the Secretary of
State and the Returning Board.  The latter body, which consisted of the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor PINCHBACK, Secretary of State HERRON, JOHN LYNCH
and T. C. ANDERSON (who was absent), met on the 13th of November as a Canvassing Board, and after organizing, by the election of Governor WARMOTH as
Chairman, and LYNCH as Secretary, adjourned until the next day, November 14,
at 12 I.
THE GOVERNOR REMOVES ANOTHER SECRETARY OF STATE.
At 10 A. M3., November 14, the Governor removed HERRON and appointed Mr.
JACK WHARTON in his place. At 12 o'clock the same day, when the Board met,
WHARTON appeared and presented his commission as Secretary of State, and
claimed a seat in the Board instead of HEERON. The latter disputed the Governor's right to displace him, and protested against the act.  The Governor, as
chairman of the Board, refused to regard him as Secretary of State or member of
the Board any longer, and would only recognize WHARTON. The question of the
legality of Mr. WHARTON'S appointment assumed a vast importance, because as
Messrs. PINCHEBACK and ANDERSON were disqualified from serving on the Board, it
devolved upon the three other members, to wit, the Governor, the Secretary of
State and Mr. Lynch to select their successors.  Mr. WHARTON and the Governor
acted in accord, and appointed Mlessrs. HATCH and Daponte in the place of PINCHBACK and ANDERSON.  LYNCH and HERRON, who were identified witlh the Custom
House people, named General LONGSTREET and Mr. HAWKINS to fill these vacancies.
This difference gave rise to two Boards of  Canvassers  WVARMOTH, LYNCH,
WHARTON, HATCH, and DAPONTE being the Board recognized by the  "FUSIONISTS," and WARMOTH, LYNCH, HERRON, HAWKINS and LONGSTREET, being the
Board recognized by the Custom House.  It will thus be observed that the misunderstanding which arose as to the legal construction of the Board of Canvassers,
and the lamentable occurrences that followed, had their sole origin in Governor
Warmoth's unwarranted and illegal suspension, in August, 1871, of Mr. Bovee,
the Secretary of State, who had been elected by the people in 1868, at the same
time as Warmothl.  Had the Governor caused the impeachment of Mr. BOVEE,
which hlie could easily have effected with his irresistible power over the Legislature, then the legality of the tenure by which his appointee held the office would
have remained unquestioned.  But as tlhe Legislature of 1872 adjourned without
taking any action on the charges preferred against Bovee, because the Governor
did not press them urgently, Mr. Bovee brought another suit, and Judge Dibble, of
"The Political Court," who had meantime become a political antagonist of Warmoth, decided that Bovee was entitled to the office on the ground that the commission of HERRON expired with the session of the Legislature next after the removal of BOVEE. But Bovee was still prevented from resuming his office, as this
decision was carried tO the Supreme Court, where we shall leave it and Bovee.
119 
LOUISIANA.
KELLOGG, IN ANTICIPATION OF DEFEAT INVOKES THE AID OF JUDGE DURELL.
Both Canvassing Boards at once rushed to the Political Court which was presided
over by JUDGE DIBBLE, a Custom House partizan, for injunctions against each
other, and on the 19th of November, DIBBLE (who ought to have been named
DEVIL, right out) granted an order restraining the Warmoth Board from proceeding
with a count of the returns. Whilst this legal battle was being fought in Dibble's
Court, WILLIAM P. KELLOGG, the Custom House candidate for Governor, well
knowing that hehad been defeated by Mr. McEnnery by at least 10,000 majority,
and in order to prevent the Warmoth Returning Board from so declaring, begun
proceedings in the United States Circuit Court before Judge Durell against Governor Warmoth, John McEnnery and others, and averred that he was going to be
cheated out of his election, that about 10,000 persons had been denied registration,
and that from 3,000to 5,000 blacks had been deprived of the right to vote on account
of race and color; that a number of ballots sufficient to have elected him had not been
counted; that Warmoth was about to destroy the returns and all evidences of the
election, so as render it impossible for him ever to establish his right to office, and
that it was the intention of Warmoth and his Board to make a false canvass and declare Mr. McEnnery elected.
WHAT REPUBLICAN U. S. SENATORS THINK OF KELLI,OGG'S CASE.
The majority of the Senate Committee on Privileges and Electicns, who inves tigated this subject, made a very elaborate report of their findings and conclu sions. This report was signed by Senators CARPENTER, ANTIHONY, ALCORN and
ANTHONY, all Republicans.  Referring to Kellogg's Bill of Complaint, the report
says:
"It is at least questionable whether this bill on its face presented a case within
the jurisdiction of the Federal Court. Although it is alleged that about 10,000
persons had been denied registration on account o'f Vace and color, yet this wrong
was completed at the time the bill was filed, and it wcas not in the power of the Court
to undo it. In the subsequent part of the bill the pleader appears to ignore the fact
of race, color or previous condition of servitude, as an element of jurisdiction.
Again, it can hardly be claimed that Kellogg had been deprived of his office of
Governor at the time the bill was filed.  Conceding, hlowever, that the bill did present a case within the jurisdiction of the Court, that jurisdiction was limited by
the scope of the bill, and gave no warrant to the extraordinary proceedings whive
were,subsequently had in the ease.  *  *  *  *   The subsequent attempt of the
Court, on a bill in equity, to determine'the title of Warmothli, Wharton and others
to act as State canvassers, was a matter w/olly beyond the jurisdiction qf the Pederal
Cour ts.  The bill shows  that WARMOTH,  WHARTON,  HATCH  and  DA  PONTE
claimed to be members of the Board and were acting as such; and alleges that
they were not members of the Board, but that LYNCH, HERRON,  LON,STREET,
HAWKINS and WARMOTH were the legal members of said Board.   What jurisdiction had the Federal Courts to determine the rights between these conrteidinig Boards?
They were State officers, and it is not alleged in the bill that any colored man was
deprived of any right which had resulted in the election of HATCH and DA PONTE.
The utmost which the Court had authority to do upon this bill was to restrain
the destruction of the returns and documents, to preserve which the bill was filed.
They were State Records, and the Federal Court had no right to take possession.
of them.  The Bill did not ask the Court to do so, but only to require copies to
be.filed."
JUDGE DURELL'S FIRST INJUNCTION.
But Judge Durell, in flagrant violation of all precedent, issued an order declaring the, Lynch  Canvassing Board the legal Board, and enjoining the Warmoth Board from canvassing or considering the returns  of the election or
from acting as a Board of Canvassers at all.  And'Mr. McEnery was  enjoined, restrained and inhibited from in any manner acting or pretending
to act as Governor of the State of Louisiana, and from making  any pretension or asserting any claim to the office of Governor of said State by virtue
of any pretended evidence of election, &c. &c. made by H.  C. Warmoth, Jack
Wharton, &c. &c.  And  the official Journal was also enjoined from publishing any official announcement of the election emanating from the Warmoth
Board.  Thlis injunction was served on Governor Warmoth and the other gentlemen concerned on the 17th of November.  On the 19th, Kellogg entered
120 
L O U I S I A N A
a complaint before Judge Durell that he was "advised and informed" that Warmoth and his Board were disregarding his Honor's injunction. Whereupon, on
the same day, an order was issued against Warmoth & Co. to show cause why
they should not be punished for contempt.
Warmoth was now between the heavy artillery of two lively courts. A brisk
fire of orders and-injunctions from the whiskified DURELL assailed him on one
side, while on the other, the vindictive DIBBLE discharged volley after volley of
the annoying missives.
The situation had become critical. But Warmoth's fund of political craft was
inexhaustible. The facility with which he untied gordian knots was simply wonderful. We have seen how hlie got rid of Secretaries of State, Judges, Legislators,
and indeed of every obstacle that obstructed his path, but people were on tip-toe
of expectancy to see by what device he was going to extricate himself from the
meshes of Durell's and Dibble's Courts.
WARMOTH S MASTER-STROKE.
His Excellency was fully equal to the occasion.  He out-Heroded Herod.  On
November 20, 1872, while his political antagonists were holding a mutual-admiration-champagne nwatinee in the office of Brother-in-law Casey, Mr. Warmoth
unlocked his safe, and took therefrom an act which had been passed by the last
Legislature in the expiring hours of the session, but not vet considered by him.
This act abolished all previously existing canvassing or returning boards, and repealed all other election laws. It directed that five persons taken from all political
parties, sho0ld be elected by the Senate and henceforth constitute theBoard of Returning Officers for all elections in the State, and directed that the act should take effect
froiin anid after its approval.  Governor Warmoth claimed that inasmuch as the
act took effect during the vacation of the Legislature, hle was authorized to appoint the board under the following provision of the Constitution of Louisiana:
ARTICLE 61. —The  Governor sh,tll have power to fill v(acancies that lay htalpea
during the recess of the Senate, by grantaiyg Comminsions, which shcll expire at tile end
of the next seesion thereof, &e.
At the same time that be approved of the above named act, he' issued a proclamation calling an extra session of the Legislature to convene on December
9th, 1872. It was conceded by all, that the members of the Legislature, elected
at the election held on Nov. 4, preceding, were authorized to meet under this
proclamation.
THE SENATE COMMITTEE'S VIEWS ON THE SITUATION.
"After this," say the Republican U. S. Senators in their report "it is difficult to
see what was left of the case made by Kellogg's bill in the United States Court.
Warmoth exercised the legislative power of the State, took the whole subject
away from the United States Court, and on the evening of December 3d, 1872,
appointed DE  FERIET, WILTZ, ISABELLE, AUSTIN and TAYLOR, under the act
which he had approved November 20."
Governor Warmoth, at the same time obtained an injunction from the Eighth
District Court, over which Judge ELLMORE, who had been elected over DIBBLE
at the previous election, presided, restraining the Lynch Board from acting any
longer as such, on the ground that it had been abolished by the act of November 20, previously referred to. The Lynch Board, upon being served with their
injunction from the State Court, obtained an order from Judge Durell to the
State Court to remove and transfer the case to the United( States Circuit Court.
The State Court treated Durell's order with contempt, and as no attempt was
made by the Lynch Board to enforce obedience to the order of the Federal
Court, it followed as a necessary and logical sequence, that the case still remained
in the State Court, and the injunction of the State Court on the Lynch Board
continued in full force and effect.
THE GOVERNOR PROCLAIMS THE ELECTION OF MC ENNERY.
Warmothli once more held the field, and, as time was precious, immediately ordered the new Board of Canvassers to the front; and their Board, on December 4,
1872, made their canvas, and declared that John McEnery had been elected Governor; Penn, Lieutenant-Governor, and the other officers throughout the State
named on the "fusion"-ticket.
121 
LOUISIANA.
On the same day the following proclamation was issue&:
STATE OF LOUISIANA,
Executive Department.
NEW ORLEANS, December 4, 1872,
"Whereas, P. S. WILTZ, GABRIEL DR FERIET, THOMAS4ISABELLE, S. A.
TAYLOR and J. B. AUSTIN, RETURNING OFFICERS APPOINTED by the Governor
to fill vacancies existing, in nccordnce with the Constitution and Laws of the
State of Louisiana, leave made declaration of the result of an election held November 4, 1872, and have declared certain persons elected to the Senate and House of
Representatives of the State of Louisiana, as will appear from the returns herewith attached and made a part of this proclamation, and
Whereas, such return are oompiled foni t1e official returns of Commissioners of
Election and Supervisors of 1?eyistration, ON FILE IN TillS OFFICE, aud are ia fact
and in form accwrate ar correct, and made IN ACCORDANCE WITH LAw.
Now, therefore, I, Henry Clay Warmoth, Governor of the State of Louisiana,
do issue this my proclamation, making known the result of said election aforesaid,
and command all officers and persons within the State of Louisiana to take notice
Given under my hand and seal of the State, this fourth day of November, A. D.
By the Governor,
T. A. WOODWARD,
"Assistant Secretary of State."'
WARMOTH, and those acting in political accord with him, regarded this as the
end of the pending difficulties, and all rejoiced at the peaceable termination
of what had been regarded as an interminable war of injunctions and legal proceedings which would have caused incalculable mischief to the State.
THE  CONSPIRATORS  ARMING-OMINOUS  DISPATCH FROM  GRANT'S ATTORNEY                                                    GENERAL.
They were egregiously deceived.  Whilst the "fusionists" were enjoying their
triumph, KELLOGG, PACKARD, CASEY and certain high officials in Washington
were skillfully laying their plans to overthrow the legitimate State government*
set aside the election, and inaugurate Kellogg as Governor.  And how well Judge
Durell was supported in all these revolutionary and hlighhanded outrages will
appear by reference to a few facts disclosed in the evidence taken before the
U. S. Senate Committee on Privileges and Elections.
No call had been made for U. S. troops.   Ostensibly everything was quiet.
Not even the apprehension of a disturbance requiring the presence of the Federal
,!oldierv, existed in the public mind. And yet, on December 3d, the same day
that the Governor appointed the new Board, the following ominous and significant dispatch was ticked over the wires:
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
December 3, 1872.
S. B. PACKARD,
United States Marshal,
Netw Oleans, La.
YOU ARE TO ENFORCE THE DECREES AND MANDATES OF THE UNITED STATES
COURTS, NO MATTER BY WHOM RESISTED. AND GENERAL EMORY WILL FURNISH
YOU WITH ALL NECESSARY TROOPS FOR THAT PURPOSE.
GEO. H. WILLIAMS,
Attorney General
Does not the sending of the above dispatch furnish pretty conclusive proof that
the President and MR. WILLIAMS was cognizant of the plan of the conspirators?
Otherwise why was he no aixions to place "all necessary troops" at PACKARD'S
disposal? Both the President and Mr. WILLIAMS peremptorily refuse to furnish
troops a few months before, when Governor WARMOTH and the Legislature
demanded them.   The President was not then satisfied that PINCHBACK was the
legal Lieutenant-Governor, nor that there was a quorum in the senate, nor that
the lower House was properly constituted.  But now that nobody asked for
troops-at least officially- the attorney-general hastens to assure Marshal Packard
that hlie can have the entire United States army if he requires it!
122 
LOUISIANA.
DURELI,'S MIDNIGHT ORDER.
On the evening of Deceml)er 5. just one day after Governor Warmoth had
issued his proclamation promulgating the election of John McEnery and the other
officers returned by the New Board of State Canvassers, Marshal  Packard was
summoned to Judge Durell's lodgings. The following account of this now
historical event is from Marshal Packard's evidence before the Senate Committee:
"Q. Who sent for you? A. The Judge (Durell).
Q. Where was he when he sent for you?  A. At his roomns.
Q. At what hour was that? A. Between 9 and 11 o'clock at night.
Q. Who did you find there with him? A. No one.
Q. Was he alone? A. I think there was one person in the room.
Q. Who was in the room? A. My recollection is, that a man named Roach
was inside the room at the time.
Q. Who is he? A. He is a friend of the Judge, but has no official position.
Q. Who was outside? A. I think one of my deputies that I had sent there for
preventing assassination.
Q. Did the Judge hand you the order? A. No, sir; the order was not completed when I first got there.
Q. Who drew it up?  A. One or the other of them [referring to Mr. BECKWITH
and Mr. BILLINGS, solicitors for Mr. Kellogg]. Perhaps both of them made it.
Q. Who is Mr. Beckwith [Kellogg's senior counsel]? A. He is United District
Attorney here.
Q. Was it (the order) drawn by the United States District Attorney?  A. No,
sir; I think not; I think he suggested some things when I went around.
Q. Do you know the purpose for which Mr. Billings and the District Attorney
were sent for? A. To draft the order, I suppose.
Q. Then they were to draft the order; and it was not the Judge's order?
A. They were solicitors in the case, and he probably wanted to consult them as
to the form.
Q. Who agreed upon the form? A. The two attorneys.
Q. Then it was the attorneys who agreed upon the order; and not the Judge?
A. The particular form of the order? The Judge stated what he wanted the
order to be.  It was to maintain the dignity of his Court and its jurisdiction,
and I don't know what all."
In justice to Mr. Beckwith, and to show how much reliance can be placed in
Packard's testimony even in matters which cannot but be indifferent to him, it
must be stated that Mr. Beckwith swears that when he arrived at the Judge's
house, he was handed a draught of the order by Durell, and that he (Beckwith)
made a few slight and unimportant changes in the phraseology.   That neither he
nor any of Kellogg's counsel applied for the issuance of such an order. That the same
twas made on Judge Durell's own motion as far as he knew.
THE EDICT OF USURPATION.
The celebrated order is as follows;
"Whereas, Henry C. Warmoth, one of the respondents herein, has, in viola"tion of the restraining order herein, issued the following proclamation and re"turns of certain persons claiming to be a board of returning officers, all in viola"tion and contempt of the same restraining order, as follows: (Hetre was inserted
"Governor Warmoth's Proclama(tion already given.) Now, therefore, in order to
"prevent the further obstruction of the proceedings in this cause, and further, to
"prevent a violation of the orders of this court, to the imminent danger of dis"turbing the public peace, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that the Marshal of the United
"States for the District of Louisiana shall forthwith take possession of the build"ing known as the Mechanics' Institute, and occupied as the State House for the
assembling of the legislature thlerein, in the City of New Orleans, and hold the
"same subject to the further order of this court, and meanwhile to prevent all un"lawful assemblage therein under the guise or pretext of authority claimed by
"virtue of pretended canvass and returns made by said pretended returning
"officers, in contempt and violation of said restraining order; but the Marshall is
"allowed to allow the ingress and egress to and from the public offices in said
'building, of persons entitled to the same."
"E. H. DURELL."
128 
LOUISIANA.
"It is impossible to conceive," observe the Republican majority of the Senate
Committee, "of a more irregular, illegal and in every way inexcusable act on the
part of the Judge. Conceding the power of the court to make such an order, the
Judge out of Court had no more authority to make it than had the Marshal. It
has not even the form of judicial process. It was not sealed, nor was it signed
by the clerk, and had no more legal effect than an order issued by anyprivate eitizen."
ARRIVAL OF UNITED STATES TROOPS FROM FLORIDA-CAPTURE OF THE CAPITOL.
It is generally believed that when Dure]l signed the order, he was intoxicated.
About the time that the drunken Durell was issuing his order overthrowing the
State Government of Louisiana, Captain Jackson, with two companies of United
States troops, was approaching New Orleans from Fort Barranca, in Pensacola
Bay, Florida, which point he had left that afternoon, so that these soldiers
started for the Cresent City many hours before Durell signed his order. Can any
sane person doubt that the Attorney General's dispatch of December 3d, to the
United States Marshal, and Captain Jackson's arrival in New Orleans just in season to be utilized by Packard, do not prove that Durell's unwarranted order was
anticipated?
At two o'clock in the morning of December 16, a Deputy, Marshal supported
by  Captain Jackson's two batteries of artillery marched, to the Capitol of
Louisiana, expelled the police why were in the charge of the building, and took
possession. Two guards were stationed at the entrance, and suffered no one to
enter the building except by permission of the United States Marshal, one of
whose deputies was at all times present.
On the same day, at the opening of the United States Circuit Court, DURELL
delivered an Opiaion on the application of Kellogg for an injunction to restrain
WARMOUTH, AMCENERY, and all other persons from interfering in any manure
with the Lynch Board of Canvassers, and which injunction the Judge granted,
as prayed for in Kellogg's bill.
The Republican Senators thus speak of this last order and injunction:
" View?ed in any light in which your Committee can consider them, the orders and
injunctions made and granted by Jutdge I)urell in this cause, are most reprehensible,
erroneous in point of law, and are wholly void for want oj'jrisdiction; and your
Committee must express their sorrow and humiliation that a Judge of the United
States should have proceeded in such a flagrant disregard of his duty, and have so far
overstepped the limiits of Federal jurisdiCtion,"
DISPATCH OF CASEY TO THE PRESIDENT.
These, were the opinions of Senators CARPENTER, LOGAN, ALCORN and ATiONY. Now, mark the tone of the following telegram:
" NEW  ORLEANS, December 6, 1872.
"PRESIDENT GRANT:
"Marshal Packard took possession of the State House this morning at an
early hour, with military posse, in obedience to a mandate of the CIRcUIT COURT,
to prevent illegal assemblage of persons under guise of authority of Warmotli's
Returning Board, in violation of injunction of Circuit Court. Decree of the Court
just rendered declares Warmoth's returning board illegal, and orders the returns
of the election to be forthwith placed before the legal Board. This Board will
probably soon declare the result of the election of officers of State and Legislature, which will meet in the State House with the protection of the Court. The
decree was sweeping in its provisions, and if enforced will save the Republican
majority, and give Louisiana a Republican Legislatture and State Government, and
check Warmoth in his usurpations.   Warmoth's Democratic supporters are becoming disgusted with him and charging that his usurpations are ruining their
Icluse.                                                     JAS. F. CASEY."
The next dispatches are as follows, and tell their own story:
[Telegr,ami.]
"NEw ()ORLEANS, December, 6th 1872.
Attcrney-Gencral WILLIAMS,
"Ikashington, 1). C.
"Returningi- Board, provided l)y Act of seventy (1870), under which election was
held and which United States;Court sustains, promulgated,  in official journal
this morning, lesult'of election cf Legislature: House stands seventy-seven Repub
124 
LOUISIANA.
lieans, thirty-two Democratic; Senate, twenty-eight Republicans, eight Democratic.
Board counted ballots attached to affidavits of colored persons wrongfully prevented from voting, filed with Chief Supervisor.
"S. B. PACKARD
I,              " ~"United States Marshal. -
[Telegram.]
* NEW ORLEANS, December 9, 1872.
"Hon. GEO. H. WILLIAMS,
"Attorney- Geeral, Washington, D. C.
"Returning Board has officially promulgated in official journal this morning,
the result of the election for State officers-Kellogg's majority, 18,b61.
"S. B. PACKARD,
"United States Marshal."
THE KIND OF RETURNS BEFORE THE LYNCH BOARD.
The Returning Board, referred to by Mr. Packard, is the Lynch Board, which
never had an official return before it, as Lynch himself admitted in the following
testimony:
Mr. LYNCH. We took all the evidence we had before us and our knowledge of
the parishes and their political complexion, and then we decided.
Senator CARPENTEB. You estimated it, then, upon the basis of what you
thought the vote ought to have been.
"Mr. LYNCH. YEs SIR, THAT WAS JUST THE FACT, and I think on the whole, we
were pretty correect."
Upon cross-examination it transpired that much of what LYNCH called evidence
consisted of newspaper reports, letters andforged affidavits.
A few more dispatches are now in order.
[Telegram. ]
NEW ORLEANS, December 9, 1872
"Hon. GEO. H. WILLIAfMS, Attorney-General.
"Governoi Warmoth has been impeached by a vote of 58 to 6.  Warmoth's Legislature returned by his Board, has made no pretense of a session.
"S. B. PACKARD,
-    "United States Marshal."
[ Telegram. ]
" New Orleans, December 9, 1872
"Hon. GEO. H. WILLILMS, Attorney-General.
"Senate, by vote of seventeen to five, have resolved into High Court of Impeachment. Senator Harris elected president of the Senate, Lieutenant-Governor
Pinchback being now Governor.
"S. B. PACKARD, 
I United States Marshal."
[Telegram.]
" New Orleans, December 6, 1872
"Hon. GEO. H. WILLIAMS,, Attorney-General.
"Lieutenant-Governor  Pinchback  qualified and  took  possession of  the
Governor's office to-night. Senate organized as High Court of Impeachment,
Chief Justice Ludeling presiding, and adjourned to meet Monday next. It is believed that all the Democrats, Members of General Assembly, will qualify and
take seats to-morrow.
"S. B. PACKARD,
"Unifed States Marshal."
A BOGUS LEGISLATURE,-BRIBE-TAKER PINCHBACK BECOMES GOVERNOR.
The United States soldiery guarded all the doors to the Capitol on D)ecember 9
the day that the Governor had designated for the meeting of the New Legislature in
extra session, and no one was permitted to enter the chambers of either branch unlesshe had been returnqd by the bogus Lynch Board.  The impeachment of the
Governor was done within a few minutes after having organized, and that, too,
125 
LOUISIANA.
in disregard of a statute of the State, which provides that the officer sought to be
impeached, shall be first summoned before a Committee of the lower House; shall
have permission to cross-examine witnesses that are brought against him; shall
only be liable to impeachment in the event of the committee reporting in favor
thereof, and if the committee report adversely thereto, shall be acquitted without
further action on the part of the House. No such proceedings were had in this
case. The resolutions of impeachment were hurried through without being half
read. Having impeached the Governor, this sham legislature, that had the audacity
to pretend to represent the majority of the people of Louisiana, and which was
holding its sessions only by the grace of federal bayonets, next passed a joint
resolution supplicating the President of the United States by telegraph, to send
on more troops for their protection, and Pinchback's first official act was to
telegraph the President the following dispatch:
"NEW ORLEANS, December 9th, 1872.
PRESIDENT GRANT:
"Having taken the oath of office, and being in the possession of the gubernatorial office, in devolves upon me to urge the necessity of a favorable consideration
of the request of the General Assembly, as conveyed in the concurrent resolution
of this day, telegraphed to you, requesting the protection of the United States
Government. Be. pleased to send necessary orders to General Emory. This
seems to me a necessary measure of precaution, although all is quiet here.
"P. B. S. PINCHBACK,
"Lieutenant Governor, Acting Governor of Louisiana."
TROOPS! TROOPS! TROOPS! FOR THE CARPET-BAGGERS.
And again, two days later, this time to the Attorney-General, who seems to have
been the guardian angel of the usurpers:
[Telegram.]
" NEW  ORLEANS, December 11, 1872.
"Hon. GEO. H. WILLIAMS, Attorney-General:
"I1 have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your dispatch. May I suggest
that the commanding general be authorized to furinish troops upon my requisition
upon him for the protoction of the Legislature and the gubernatorial office?  The
moral effect would be great, and in my judgment tend greatly to allay any trouble
likely to grow out of the recent inflammatory proclamation of Warmoth. I beg
you to believe that I will act in all things with discretion:
"P. B. S. PINCHBACK,
"Lieut.-Gov., Acting Governor."
On the same day Collector Casey joined the petitioners for more troops, and
telegraphed his brother-in-law as follows
"President GRANT: 
"Parties interested in the success of the Democratic party, particularly the
New Oilean8 Tines, are making desperate efforts to array the people against us.
Old citizens are dragooned into an opposition they do not feel, and pressure is
hourly growing; our members are poor, and adversaries are rich, and offers are
made that are difficult for them to withstand. There is danger that they will
break our quorum.  The delay in placing troops at disposal of Governor Pinchback, in accordance with joint resolution of Monday, is disheartening our friends
and cheering our enemies.  If requisition of Legislature is complied with, all
difficulty will be dissipated, the party saved, and everything go on smoothly.  If
this is done, the tide will be turned at once in our favor'.  The real underlying
sentiment is with us, if it can but be encouraged. Governor Pinchback is acting
with great discretion, as is the Legislature, and they will so continue.
"JAS. F. CASEYI
Collector.
The usurpers were evidently in great danger of falling to pieces on this same
Dec. 11th, if we may judge by the dismal and tearful tenor of their frequent dispatches to Washington. All this time, it must be remembered, the State House
continued, as it did for several weeks later in charge of Captain Jackson's two
batteries of U.. Artillery.   But this was not enough.   The following is a
frantic appeal from the usurper Kellogg:
126
I
II NFw ORLEANS, December 11, 1872. 
LOU I SIANA.
[Telegram. ]
" NEW ORLEANS, Dec. 11. 1272.
HON. GEO. WILLIAMS (he was in such a hurry that he omitted the H. which is
Mr. Williams' central initial).
"If President in some way indicate recognition Governor Pinchback and
Legislature, it would settle everything. Our friends here acting discreetly."
" W. P. KELLOGG."
And another from Casey to his brother-in-law:
[Telegram.]
"NEW ORLEANS, December 11, 1872.
PRESIDENT GRANT:
Democratic members of legislature taken their seats. Most, if not all, will do so
in next few days. Important that you immediately recognize Governor Pinchback's legislature in some manner, either by instructing General Emory to comply
with any requsition by Governor Pinchback, under joint resolution of legislature
of Monday or otherwise. This would quiet matters much. I earnestly urge this
and ask a reply. 
NO SAFETY FOR THE CARPET BAGGERS WITHOUT FEDERAL TROOPS.
On the 12th Mr. Casey telegraphs the following account of the condition of
affairs to the President:
NEW ORLEANS, December 12, 187P.
"PRESIDENT GRANT:
"The condition of affairs is this:  The United States  Circuit Coturt, has decided
which is the legal board of canvassers. Upon the basis of that decision a legislature
has been organized in strict conformity with the laws of the State. Warmoth was
impeached, and thus Pinchback, as provided by the Constitution, became acting
governor,  The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court organized the Senate into a
Court of Impeachment, and Associate-Justice Tallafiero administered oath  to
Governor Pinchback. The legislature, fully organiz(d, has proceeded in regular
routine of business since Monday. Nothwithstanding this Warmoth has organized a
pretended Legislature, and it is proceeding with pretended legislation. A conflict
between these two organizations may at any time occur. A conflict may occur at
any hour, and in my opinion there is no safety for-the legal government, without
the Federal troops are given in compliance with the requisition of the legislature
The Supreme Court is know, to be in sympathy with the Republican State Gover,ment
If a decided recognition of Governor Pinchback and the legal legislature were
made, in my.judgment it would settle the whole matter.  General Longstreet has
been appointed by Governor Pinchback as Adjutant-General of State militia.
"JAMES F. CASEY."
In reply to these frantic appeals of the terrified usurpers, the Attorney-General
answered.
[ Telegram. ]
"DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, 
December 12, 1872. 
"Acting Governor PINCHBACK;
"Let it be understood that you are recognized by the President as the lawful
Executor of Louisiana, and that the body assembled at Mechanics' Institute is the
lawful legislature of the State, and it is suggested that you make proclamation to
that effect, and also that all necessary assistance will be given to you, and the legislature herein recognized to protect the State from disorder and violence.
"GEO. H.  WILLIAMS,
Attoriwy  General."
APPEALS FOR FAIR PLAY WHICH WERE DISREGARDED.
The following telegrams were at the same time sent to the President by the
friends of the State Government which was being subverted:
NEW YORK December, 11, 1872.
II THE PRESIDENT Or THE UNITED STATES:
" Under an order from the Judge of the United States District Court investing
James Longstreet, Jacob Hawkins and others, with the powers and duties of re
127
"JAMES F. CASEY." 
LOUISIANA.
turning officers under State election law, and charging them with the duty of
completing the legal returns and declaring the result in -accordance therewith,
those persons have promulgated results, based upon no returns whatever, and no
evidence except exparte statements.  They have constructed a pretended general
assembly, composed mainly of candidates defeated at the election, and those
candidates protected by United States military forces have taken possession of
the State House, and have organized a pretended legislature, which to-day, has
passed pretended articles of impeachment against the Governor in pursuance of
which the person claiming to be a lieutenant-governor, but whose teirns had expir-ed, proclaimed himself acting governor, broke into the Executive Office under
the protection of United States soldiers, and took possession of the archives.
In the meantime the General Assembly has met at the City Hall anid organized
for business with sixty members in the House, and twenty-one in the Senate,
being more than a quorum of both sides. I ask and believe that no violent
action be taken, and no force used by the Government, at least until the Supreme
Court shall have passed fiinal judgment on the case.  A full statement of the
facts will be laid before you and the Congress, in a few days.
"H. C. WARMOTH,
Goveriior of Loisictna."
* LTelegi-am. ]
" NEW ORLEANS, December 12, 1872.
"His Excellency U. S. GRANT,
President of the United States
"Claiming to be Goveinor-elect of this State, I beg you in the name of all justice to suspend recognition of either of the dual governments now in operation
here, until there can be laid before you all facts and both sides touching the legitimacy of either government.  The people denying the legitimacy of Pinchback's
government and its legislature, simnply ask to be heard through committee of many
of our best citizens on eve of departure for Washington, before you recognize the
one or the other of said governments. I do not believe we will be condemned
before we are fully heard.
"JNO. McENERY."
To these respectful appeals on bebalf of the legitimate governor and people of
Louisiana, asking for a hearing before a usurping Executive and Legislature should
be forced upon them., the President, tlhrough the Attorney-General and the War
Department, returned the subjoined answers 
A REPLY WORTHY OF THE MAN WHO COMMITTED,PETTY LARCENY.
[ Telegiam. ]
"DEPrRTMENTr o0  JUSTICE,'
Deceeiberi 13,1862. 
"Hon. JNO. MCENERY.                  
Your visit with a hundred citizens will l)e unavailing so far as the President is
concerned. His decision is made and will not be chlang-ed, and the sooner it is
acquiesced in, the sooner good order and peace will be restored.
GEO. H. WILLIAMS,
Attorne'- Geieractl "
[Telera-n.],,            -,.,
- -  /-'' WASHIXG-T,i -)eeem-. 14, 1872.
"General W. H. EMORY,- U.S. A..
Commandiiing Neto-: Orlean,  sa. 
"You- may use all necessary force to preserve the peace, andi will recognise the
the authority of Governor Pinchback. 
"By the order of the President,
"E. D. TOWNSEND,.
Adjutant  General."
The history of the world does not furnishl a more palpable instance of usurpation than that hy which- Pinchback was made Governor, and the persons returned
by the Lynch Board, as the Legislature of Louisiana;; nor can a parallel be found
*for the unfeelig and -despotic replies sent by order of the President to the rspect
ful appeals of the people of Louisiana... 
128
I 
LOUISIANA.
And so by the power of the army was the legal Government of Louisiana overthrown.  The respect or the people for the authority of the United States, even
when such authority was used to sustain an illegal, corrupt and oppressive government, was such that there was no disturbance of the public peace. In Janualy
both Governors, with their respective State governments, were inaugurated, and
each of the two legislatures elected a United States Senator. The McEnery Legislature appointed Mr. WILLIANI L. AIcMILLEN as United States Senator, whilst
the Kellogg Legislature elected JOHN RAY, the same gentleman who figures so
unenviably in the first part of this narrative.
REPORT OF A REPUBLICAN COMMITTEE OF THE U.S. SENATE.
The Committee on Privileges and Elections of the United States Senate, after
an impartial investigation of all the facts and circumstances, thus conclude their
report:
"And your Committee cannot refrain from expressing their astonishment that
any Judge of the United States should thus UNWARRANTABLY HAVE INTERFERED
WITH A STATE GOVERNMENT, and know  no language  too strong TO  EXPRESS
THEIR CONDEMNATION OF SUCH A PROCEEDING. It is the opinion of your Committee that but for the unjustifiable interference of Judge Durell, WHIOSE ORDERS WEREi
EXECUTED BY THE UNITED STATES TROOPS, the canvass made by the DeFeriet board
and promulgated by the Governor, declaring McEnery to have been elected Governor,
and also declaring who had been elected to the Legislature, would have been acquisced
by the people, and that government would have entered quietly upon the exercise of the
sovereign power of the State.  But the proceedings of JUDGE DURELL, and the support given to him by the United States troops resulted in establishing the authority de facto of KELLOGG and his associates in State offices, and of the persons
declared by the Lynch Board to be elected to the legislature. We have already
seen that the proceedings of that Board cannot be sustained, without disregarding
all the principles of law applicable to the suEect, and ignoring the distinction between good faith and fraud.
"Your committee are, therefore, led to the conclusion that, if the election held
in November 1872, be not absolutely void for frauds committed therein, McEnery
and his associstes in state offices, and the persons certified as members of the Legislature by the De Feriet board, ought to be recognized as the legal government of
the State.  Conside?ing all the facts established before your Committee, there seems no
escape from the alternative that the MeEnery government must be recognized by Congress or Congress must proide for a new election."
A FAWNING SENATE SUSTAINS USURPATION AND REVOLUTION.-DURELL'S INFAM                                  OUS END.
But the Senate, which has become of late years a species of tender to the White
House, could not brook the idea of administering such a slap in the face to President Grant as that contemplated in the recommendations of Senators CARPENTER,
LOGAN, ANTHONY and ALCORN, the majority of the Committee. But while the
Senate did recognize Kellogg as Governor in obedience to President Grant's orders
and in direct opposition to the report of the Committee, they did not dare to
admit the Senator elected by the Kellogg Legislature, and they did not want to
admit Mr. McMillen, the Senator elected by the McEnry Legislature. The Senate
thus stultified itself. Because if Kellogg was legal Governor, his Legislature was
thy legal Legislature; and therefore the person elected Senator by that legislature,
was clearly the legal Senator. To admit the legality of Kellogg's election was to
sanction the outrages that were perpetrated, and by which alone Kellogg mounted to the governorship of Louisiana. The Republican Senate thus stands recorded as having confirmed and ratified Durell's revolutionary orders and their consequences.
Although GOVERNOR. MCENERY and the State officers elected with him continued to claim, as they had a right to do, recognition as the lawfully elected
government of Louisana, yet no laws were passed by their Legislature, nor did
they discharge the functions of a defacto government.
Louisana remained with two governments, one the McEnery, de jure, which was
recoginzed as such by the Republican Committee of the Senate, above mentioned,
and the majority of the people of the State, and the other the Kellogg, de facto,
which was recoginzed as such by President Grant his brother-in-law, collector
Casey, and the White House Senate, until subsequent events changed the complexion of affairs.
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LOUISIANA.
As for the drunken DURELL, the cause of all these and later evils, loathed,
contemned, and deserted by the miscreants who had used him, he resigned the
ermine he had so foully tainted, in order to avoid the further ignominy of impeachment.  Since then he has sunk into obscurity.  In history he will take his
place by the side of that other Judicial monster-JEFFREYS.
PART THREE.
FROM THE SO-CALLED COLFAX MASSACRE IN APRIL, 1873, TO THE INYASION OF
THE LEGISLATURE BY THE FEDERAL TROOPS, AND GENERAL SHERIDAN'S
BANDITTI DISPATCH IN JANUARY, 1874.
This condition of affairs plunged the State into anarchy and confusion. Disorder reigned and the utmost bitterness of feeling between the partisans of the rival governments prevailed. Governor KELLOGG, under the shadow of Federal
bayonets, commissioned officers in the various districts and parishes throughout
the State. Governor MCENERY also, believing himself to be the rightful Governor,
made such appointments as were required by existing laws.  Thus, as previously
observed, it will be seen that there were two Governors, two Legislatures, and two
sets of officers throughout the entire State.  The Fusion Legislature was meeting
at Odd Fellows' Hall, in regular and constitutional session. The Kellogg Legislature
was holding forth at the Mechanics' Institute.  The Louisiana case was before
Congress. Kellogg's government was maintained solely byforce of Federal plower,
'and not one, not even Senator MORTON, its chief champion and friend, had dared to
call it a lawful government. Under Federal protection, KELLOGG organized an
army and equipped a gunboat with which to enforce obedience to his rule. In other
portions of the State, the officers and appointees of the MCENERY party were filling the offices and exercising their functions. The latter acknowledged only the
authority of Gov. MCENrRy. This state of feeling and disorder extended all over
Louisiana, but especially in the interior parishes.
THE COLFAX MASSACRE.
This brings us now to the so-called COLFAX massacre.  At the November election of 1872, Alphonse Cazabat and Columbus C. Nash had been the fusion candidates for the offices of Parish Judge and Sheriff. That election resulted in their
success by large majorities. They were commissioned by Governor Warmouth
during the last days of his administration, and towards the latter part of December,
1872, entered upon their official duties and discharged them up to the 25th of
March, 1873. Upon the same ticket, James W. Hadnot, who was afterwards
killed,by the negroes at Colfax, was elected to represent Colfax in the Legislature,
and had been meeting with the MCENERY body at Odd Fellows' Hall. Early in
March of that year, two prominent citizens-W. R. Rutland and W. A. Richardson
-were sent on a mission to New Orleans to endeavor to prevail upon Mr. Kellogg
to commission the officers who had been elected by the people-that is to say,
Cabazat and Nash.  had this been done, all excitement would have been relieved, and the riot and bloodshed of April fully prevented.'But Mr. Kellogg
had learned that bayonets were stronger than popular will-had learned to look with
contempt upon the idea of local and self-government, and although he promised
to commission Nash, and had gone so far as to have his commission made out, so
that his appointment was announced officially in the official organ, The New Orleans
Republican, of the 27th of March, 1873, nevertheless with that duplicity and hypocrisy which seems to be a part of his nature, he did not commission Cabazat and Nash,
but commissioned, in absolute defiance of popular demand, R. C. Register, Parish
Judge, and Daniel Shaw as Sheriff. It will be borne in mind that Judge Cazabat and
Sheriff Nash up to that time had been in undisputed possession of their offices,, and
were still exercising their functions, but on the 23rd of March, Register and Shaw,
Kellog-g's new appointees, took forcible and violent possession of the court house at
Colfax. No one resisted. There was no one to resist. That same night, for
reasons best known to themselves, they began to summon armed negroes from the
surrounding country into the village of Colfax. At first, Shaw, the new Sheriff,
acting under the order of Register, the new Judge, pretended to summon these
negroes as a Sheriff's posse. But within five or six days Shaw's authority was set at
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LOUSItANA.
naught and no longer regarded, and he was himself detained at Colfax where he
was virtually a prisoner, and when he attempted to escape was pursued and
brought back under guard. Thereafter the assemblage of negroes increased in
Colfax. From the 24th of March to April 13th the crowd of negroes in Colfax
was variously estimated from one hundred and fifty tofour hundred men.  After
the deposition of Sheriff Shaw's authority, the assemblage assumed a semi-military
character. Captains, lieutenants, serjeants, corporals, &c., were chosen. The men
were regularly enrolled into companies. One of these muster rolls, made out on
the blank leaf of a court record, was found near the court house and was offered
in evidence on a subsequent trial.  The negroes were armed with shot guns and
Enfield rifles, and, seizing upon an old steam pipe, they cut it up, and by plugging
one end of it and drilling vents, they improvised and mounted three cannons.
They constructed a line of earthworks some three hundred yards in length, and
from two and a half to four feet high around the court house. Drilling was regularly kept up under the leadership of Captain William Ward and others. As
this Captain Ward was virtually the leader of the blacks, of this improvised negro
mob, we will digress for the purpose of furnishing a short sketch of him.
SKETCH OF CAPTAIN WARD.
He was a full-blooded negro, some thirty-five years of age, and at present represents the parish of Grant in the Kellogg Legislature. In his face he bears the
indications of all the worst qualities of his race, and none of the better.  He commanded company A, Sixth Regiment of Infantry, of the Louisiana State Militia,
composed entirely of negroes. The arms which were furnished to  this company
were taken by the individual members and conveyed to their cabins.  Ward was
in the habit of convoking and running wild with them all over the parish. Men
were halted and arrested at their caprice, and one person wa8s killed outright for refusing to permit himself to be arrested. The scandal produced by this marauding
militia company attracted the attention of General Longstreet, the Adjutant-General of Louisiana, who ordered this company and Captain Ward out of the service.
But Captain Ward and his banditti refused to comply with the order, retained their
arms, and continued their course of robbery, pillage and outrage, until, emboldened
by their success, they endeavored to seize by force the Government of the parish, in
imitation of Kellogg, and to have themselves recognized as defacto officials, although
they were in mutiny and insubordination against the State, and should have been
sent to.the penitentiary for crimes and offences, among which were mutiny, riot,
theft, embezzlement of State property, arson, murder, burglary and treason.
WHERE THE RESPONSIBILITY PROPERLY BELONGS.
It will thus be seen that whatever troubles subsequently ensued in that parish
were occasioned by the lawless and criminal acts of Captain William Ward  and
his company of negro militia.  It may also here be stated that Captain Ward and
his lawless band killed a certain Jeff Yawn, and a Mr. Bulllock, both inoffensive
white citizens, in 1871. But to return to affairs at Colfax: while negroes were
thus arming, the white citizens of the parish were filled with apprehension and
alarm. It was proposed to hold a mass meeting of whites at Colfax, to which the
colored people were invited, and an attempt was made to compromise the existing
difficulties. The delegates who were chosen to represent the whites at this meeting,
inview of the state of feeling that prevailed, were instructed to go unarmed, but they
were prevented from doing so bythehostile attitude of the negroes in Colfax. On the
day of the meeting Mr. Hadnot,with about fifteen of his neighbors, came into Colfax,
but left when it was ascertained that no other white people had come to attend it,
and that the town was full of armed and bitter negroes. As the party left, they
were followed some distance by a crowd of armed and mounted negroes.
On the fifth of April a party of fifteen white men, armed and mounted, approached Colfax and came within a mile of the town.  The negroes, two hundred
in number, advanced to meet them, and began firing upon them with shot guns 
and Enfield rifles. -The whites returned the fire with their pistols, and then retreated, pursued by the negroes.
Of this affair the great bandit, William Ward, wrote to the Reverend Jacob
Johnson, under date of April sixth, "I am in command.   I had a battle with the
whites yesterday and repulsed them.  One msn was seen to fall, but got off." -In
the same letter he called for aid, and exhorted the  "brothers to come to each
others'' sistance' as the whites does."  Meanwhile affairs grew alarming.  Rapine,
131 
riot, and outrage held undisputed sway in Colfax. The Postmaster was obliged
to close the Post Office and remove the mails.  The negroes drove several of the
white inhabitants away amid threats and insults.  They perpetrated depredations
of every character.
On the night of the fourth of April, FLOWERS, a little' sleek, black negro-a
schoolmaster-at the head of a band of negroes broke open'the house of Judge
Rutland; plundered it; broke open and threw on the gallery of the house the
coffin containing the body of a little child which had died; rifled the trunks and
bureaus of the house  carried away all articles of value and then with one or two of
Judge Rutland's casks of wine spent the rest of the night in riot and debauch.
The house of MADAM LECOUR, the mother of a beautiful young lady, who a few
months after the riot was brutally' violated in the presence of her mother by five
negro men, was broken open and robbed.  But without following numerous individual cases, it is enough to say that about forty families of white people were
compelled to leave their homes, taking their household goods with them, and to
flee twenty or thirty iniles into the interior for safety.  In'this "connection it is
worthy of note that of the nine men who were subsequently tried in the United
States Circuit Court for participating in the so-called Colfax Massacre, four of
them with their families were among the refugees, and on the day of the fight were
over twenty miles away from Colfax'to avoid the danger.  This fact was shown
by twelve or fourteen witnesses, as the record will show, and yet the three embittered and prejudiced negroes on the Jury persisted in declaring for their guilt.
The white men and childcien who left their homes slept in the woods at night,
while the armed band of negroes continued scouring'the country, pillaging and
robbing. They even forced peaceable. negroes who were at work, under threats
of instant death, to accompany them to Colfax. The evidence of a dozen witnesses"
before the Congressional Investigating Committee adduced this fact. The most
terrible and alarming threats of murder and rapine were made by the negroes and
carried to the ears of the whites, and terror, uncertainty and lawlessness prevailed
from one end of the Parish to the other. Intelligence of all this was sent to Governor KELLOGG and to the United States District Attorney Beckwith, at New
Orleans. The Usurper, and the United States District Attorney, and all other partisans of,the Custom House clique, knew the exact condition of affairs in and
around Colfax fully six days before the so-called massacre.  JUDGE RUTLAND
himself bore a petition to Kellogg from citizens of Grant Parish for assistance and
protection. Col. R- A. HUNTER, an old and distinguished citizen of Louisiana, advised. Governor Kellogg by letter of the fearful state of affairs in Grant'Colfax)
Parish, and warned him that unless the authorities intervened there would be
bloodshed.  JUDGE RUTLAND afterwards visited MA JoR GENERAL EMORY, WhO
commands the United States Troops in the Department of the Gulf, the same
officer who upon so many occasions came to the front to protect Governor
Kellogg  and Collector Casey, and Marshal Packard in their usurpations-and
laid before him the perilous situation of the white.people'in Colfax.  This was on
the tenth of April.
GOVERNOR KELLOGG REFUSES TO SBD AID.
There was  ample time to send aid to Colfax,.   Why Governor  Kellogg
refused to send such aid will perhaps  never be known, but it suffices to
say that he did not.  He had men, he had mneans.'He was fully aware of the situation. He had many times dispatched forces to various other parishes to install
his minions in office over the will of the,people, but now, to save life, he could
send no aid.  Perhaps it was that Governor Kellogg was uncertain of his position.
He knew that he and his Government were just then on trial before Congress, and
from past experience he knew that tales of blood and stories of Ku-Klux outrages
would arouse and inflame the passions and prejudices of the dominant party in
Congress, and obscure reason and judgment, in the light of which hlie could not
stand. And it is not doing a person of his antecedents any injustice to say that
he weighed his chances for place and power in the scale of blood, and cast into
his own trembling balance the lives of his fellow-beings. Like his celebrated
fellow Governor in Mississippi, the notorious AMES, he doubtless thought that the
lives of thirty or.forty negroes at that juncture would help the Republican
party.
BUT  THE CRISIS AT COLFAX wAS RAPIDLY APPROACHING.
The banditti chief, WARD, Kellogg's new Judge, REGISTER, and others of their
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LOUISIANA.
ilk, having fomented the trouble, having assembled the negroes, having inflamed them with speeches, having drilled and organized them, and knowing
that the fatal hour was approaching, like the cowards and miscreants that they
were, they quietly and secretly left Colfax for New Orleans, leaving the poor
deluded, ignorant blacks, to fight their own battles as best they could. WARD,
Register, and the others arrived in New Orleans on the evening of the same day
that DEPUTY MARSHAL DEKLYNE and COLONEL WRIGHT, who had been ordered
to proceed to Colfax, and who had actually gone on board the boat and registered to go.  But upon the arrival of the bandit chief WARD and JUDGE  REGISTER, the orders to DEKLYNE and WRIGHT were countermanded,  and they returned ashore.   This circumstance wears a very suspicious look, and certainly
gives color to the charge-that has been frequently made, that KELLOGG and his
gang were apprised of the approaching collision between the whites and the
blacks at Colfax. In Kellogg's official organ, the Republiean, of the 12tt of April,
the day before the fight at Colfax, the following article appeared:
"There is one thing apparent.   The local majority of Grant Parivh (referring to
the negroes) is prepared to clean out tihe local minority of Grant in twenty-four
hours or less if not prevented.   In Grant Parish it seems there is a local majority of
colored men not only accustomed to the trade of war, BUT THEY KEEP ARMS OF THE
MOST PERFECT CHARACTER."
Another article, of the same date, contained the following:
"According to the last report from the scene of conflict, the difficulties in Colfax Parish seem to have been more serious than is believed.    The colored population seemed to have reached a high height of exasperaton and resolved to obtain a redress of the wrongs they had suffered, or believed they had suffered, and not
to disband until they had obtained guarantees for the future.   According to
statements most worthy of belief THEY ARE WELL ARMED, WELL DISCIPLINED,
AND  CONFIDENT  OF  SUCCESS.    The  provocation  wohich has driven them  to
that attitude is not very clear-at least we have heard nothing to justify
it.   THE NEGROES, NOT EVEN THE FIELD HANDS, ARE NO LONGER THE WEAK
AND SIMPLE CREATURES THEY WERE BEFORE THE WAR.   The years of freedo
which they have enjoyed have had their effect on them, AS WELL AS THE MILITARY EDUCATION WHICH MANY OF THEM HAD RECEIVED IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY.
The time is past, if ever it existed, when -a hand ful of whites could frighAten a
regiment of colored men."
Such were the cold-blooded utterances of Kellogg's mouth-piece.   They could
only spring from a full knowledge of the:situation in Colfax. Did Kellogg and
his partisans make the slightest attempt to protect "the handful of whites "in
Colfax from "a regiment of colored men?"  No; the miserable'lives of the carpetbag Governments of the South, and the Republican party of the North, have been
fed and sustained by stories such as would be sure to be told and believed of this
Colfax affair. In the conflict that was about to take place in Colfax,'Kellogg knew
that he would be the gainer. If the negroes were vanquished and blood was shed,
each red drop would be coined into a mintage of new political capital, and the
whites be tried, punished forsooth, and their action held up as proof of the "lingering feeling of rebellion and treason" in the hearts and minds of the people of
the South, calling for more  reconstruction, more hostile laws, more bloody
codes, a larger lease of life for carpet-bag Governments in Southern States.  If,
on the other hand, the whites vanquished the blacks, neither Kellogg nor the Republican party would lose anything but a few Democratic votes, at best.
Kellogg's relations to the mutinous blacks at Colfax were similar to those of the
wily knave Iago toward Roderigo:
"Whethei he kills Cassio,
Or Cassio him, or each do kill the other,
Every way makes my gain."
THE CONFLICT BETWEEN THE WHITES AND THE MUTINOUS BLACKS.
During the week prior to April 13th, SIHERIFF NA.SH, the duly elected, commissioned and acting Sheriff of Grant Parish, of which Colfax was the County seat,
was busy summoning a posse of men to retake the Court House, and to put down
the lawlessness that had filled the parish with terror and alarm. On Easter Sunday, April 13th, he found himself at the head of about 150 armed men, four miles
northwest of Colfax. Advancing upon the place, he halted at a distance of twelve
133 
LOUISIANA.
hundred yards from Colfax. Besides his posse of mounted men, he had a small
piece of artillery mounted on wagon-wheels, and for which he had obtained some
oblong slugs of iron. Halting his men, he advanced to the quarters of the emboldened negroes, under a flag of truce, and asked a colored man, John Miles,
he there met, who was in command. "Lev. Allen is in command," was the
reply. Sheriff Nash then said, "Go and tell Lev. to come here; that I want to
see him."  Miles obeyed, and soon Lev. Allen and a few other negroes came out
to where Nash was. From the testimony of Miles, we learn that Allen acknowledged he was in command; that Nash told him he had come to retake the
Court House; that he had force enough to accomplish it; and advised him that he
had better disperse his men, and assured him that none of them would be molested. Allen peremptorily refused to disperse his men, and informed NAsH that
he and his men intended to fight to the last.
Nash then told him to remove all the women and children, and that half an
hour would be granted for that purpose, and he and Allen separated; the former
returned to his men, and the latter ordered the women and children to leave the
quarters, and the town of Colfax.
Up to this hour, every effort at pacification had been made, and each time the
advance had been made by the whites: and now, in the very hour that preceded
the conflict, the whole of the white people had sought, under a flag of truce, to
prevent the shedding of blood. About noon SHERIFF NASH advanced his line to
within one hundred yards of the Court sIouse. The negroes at once opened fire
upon this force from the two pieces of improvised cannon which had been posted
there. The whites returned the fire with similar arms, and the negroes shortly
after retreated to within their line of works near the Court House, and, lying
down behind them, kept up a breast fire with their shot guns,
rifles and  pistols.   The whites  fired  several shots  from  their cannons,
which seemed to have done no harm whatever.   The fire continued uninterruptedly two hours, when, about two P. M., the force under NASH having secured
a position for their cannon, which commanded the inside of the line of works,
fired upon the negroes, who, finding their position untenable, retreated in all
directions.  Perhaps one hundred and fifty retreated into the woods and fields,
and about one hundred took refuge in the Court House. SHERIFF NASH then fired
upon that building, and one or two shots seem to have struck its walls without
material damage.
NEGRO VIOLATION OF A FLAG OF TRUCE.
Up to this time, remarkable to assert, no blood had been shed.  At this juncture, however, the Court House was set on fire.  It is doubtful as to how the fire
originated. Some of the negro witnesses testified that it was fired by combustible matter projected from the cannon, while others assert that it was fired by a negro
prisoner who had been sent on purpose by the whites. -At all events, the building
was wrapped in flames, when two white flags were displayed from the windows.
Instantly the firing ceased. MR. JAMES W. HADNOT and MR. HARRIS, unarmed,
and with hands raised to show that they were unarmed, approached the Court
House, calling upon the negroes to throw down their arms and that they would
not be troubled. Approaching to within ten or fifteen feet of the Court House,
these gentlemen were met by a volley from the negroes (who by this time were
coming out. of the burning building), and both fell, mortally wounded. The
whites, exasperated beyond endurance at the cowardly and treacherous murder
of their comrades, thlus allured to their death by the flag of truce held out by the
negroes, closed upon them and slaughtered a large majority of them. The Court
House was entirely destroyed, together with its books and records.  Sixty-four
negroes were killed and wounded. The loss of the whites was four wounded and
three killed. This is the story, and the true story of the Colfax massacre, President Grant and other slanderers of the Southern people to the contrary. That
excesses were committed in the heat of the conflict by the outraged and exasperated whites there can be no doubt, and none will attempt to palliate them,
but let it be remembered that the whites had applied for aid; that none came;
that they tried four times to avoid bloodshed, and without avail; that their
families were fleeing in terror from their homes; that rapine and pillage and
lawlessness' held high revel, and made their lives, their property, and all they
held dear, totally insecure. And, finally, let it be remembered that in the midst
of the fighting they saw two prominent citizens,-their comrades,-go upon an
errand of peace; summoned by flags of truce displayed by negroes; unarmed and
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LOUISIANA.
with words of peace upon their lips;-shot down, killed by the very persons
the: wished to save, and by the very hands that held the white flags of peace.
he usurper Kellogg deserves the scorn and contempt of all men for the
false  and  craven  part  he  played  in  this  bloody  drama.   He   knew
there would be trouble.  He had ample means at his command to -prevent it; he
had a gunboat that could have reached Colfax in a comparatively short period
of time. He also had a brigade of troops, of which he was commander,
in   New   Orleans,  and   he   had   four   full  days'  warning,  within
which he could have marched to Colfax. If it had been election time,
and he had been informed that there was danger of the wvhites obtaining a
majority against the Republican ticket in Colfax, there can be no doubt, judging
of his previous course in like instances, that he would have instantly sent either a
horde of Packard's marshals, or a company of United States troops, or both, to
the spot to protect the interests of the Republican party.  But as, according to
his newspaper organ, only the lives of a handful of whites were at stake, it was
hardly worth while to bother about it. Yet even admitting, for the sake of argument, that the whites were the real aggressors, is it fair to hold the people of Louisiana responsible for every life that is lost in the State in political
brawls? They are no more responsible theref r than the people of Pennsylvania
are responsible for the terrible Molly Maguire assassinations. Then again, ought
they to be held to an accountability for crimes committed in their midst, which
they have not the power to prevent. If the people of Louisiana were permitted to
wield the powers of their own government, and failed to use those powers for the
purpose of suppressing lawlessness and punishing crimes, then they would certainly be deserving of the severest condemnation. But as the machinery of their
Government has been wrested from them, it is difficult to see upon what principle
they can be held responsible for a failure to ferret out and arraign criminals at
the bar of JUsTICE!
POLITICAL MURDERS.
On the subject of political murders, so-called, the grossest falsehoods are daily
fabricated and sent broadcast throughout the country.  The air continues to be
filled with them by the Kellogg officials.  Indeed, it is the capital by which they
aim to elicit the sympathy of the North, and aid in perpetuating their own larcenies and usurpations. An examination and close scrutiny of the testimony
taken before the Congressional Committee of 1874 and 1875 will satisfy any impartial mind that at least nine-tenths of these stories are without any just foundation.
The recklessness and disregard of the common decencies and proprieties of life with
which some officers of the army, such as the notorious MAJOR MEFRRILL, have gotten
up these atrocious fabrications and sentthem to the world with their official sanction,
thus aiming to bolster up the monstrous usurpation that now, uncontrolled, domi
nates over the people of LOUISIANA, should be strongly condemned.   They have
neither witnessed any of these acts, nor taken any testimony In regard thereto,
but have recklessly and unscrupulously covered up the slanders with which the
usurpers have poisoned the air, and hoped to give them credit by their official
promulgation.  The cause of the so-called " Colfax massacre," above narrated,
bears out the truthfulness of what is asserted.  Those who have not carefully ex
amined, or read truthful accounts of this Colfax affair, have doubtless regarded it
as a repetition of "St Bartholomew's massacre," and of those other sanguinary
events in history which stand as monuments of blood to the barbarity of man;
whereas the testimony before us shows that the blacks themselves were the real
aggressors, anid that Kellogg and his partisans in New Orleans believed in the ample ability of the blacks to overcome the handful of whites at Colfax.
The article in the New Orleans Republican, Kellogg's organ, extracts from which
appear above, conclusively sustains this statement of the case. In a great mniajority
of instances the murderers and the victims were alike negroes.   Indeed the
cases in which negroes were assaulted or killed by negroes were so frequent and
common as to have scarcely attractedl attention outside of the immediate circle of
the victims.
While the Committee of the House of Representatives was in New Orleans
investigating the Louisiana difficulties in 1874, two negro Republicans, both high
Kellogg officials, had a drunken quarrel at midnight in a drinking saloon, and
one, the Assistant &eretary of State, was instantly killed; and yet this homicide,
although occurring in such distinguished political circles, elicited no special
attention and was scarcely the subject of a passing remark. If the man killing
135 
this high public functionary had been a white man, and a Democrat, it is needless to aver that the event would have been heralded all over the country as
another evidence ot the barbarity, cruelty, intolerance and disloyalty of the
white people of the South, and it would doubtless have found its place in long
and high-wrought sentences in the pages of a Congressional report.
KELLOGG'S ADMINISTRATION.
After disposing of these so-called massacres and political murders, which may
answer very well for inflammatory campaign pamphlets, but are not regarded as
valuable material from which to gather the truth that ought to compose history,
we will now proceed to review other portions of Kellogg's administration. We
have seen how he was inducted into office by the orders of the drunken and corrupt
Judge Durell, and the United States Army. And one would naturally suppose that'a
man who held his position merely by physical force would have aimed, at least,
as a matter of policy, to gain the respect and good will of the oppressed people
of Louisiana by endeavoring to correct abuses, curtail expenditures, and
establish long needed reforms. But no, Kellogg was even more despotic, more
venal, and more avaricious than Governor Warmoth. The conspiracy that began
under Warmoth, to perpetuate the power of the carpet-baggers, regardless of the
will of the people as expressed at the polls, continued with unabated vigor, under
Kellogg. The character of the legislation which was enacted during the first two
years of Kellogg's administration carries upon its face the patent purpose of
accomplishing this object. We will briefly refer to some of the most vicious
of these laws.
FIRST.-The registration and election laws retained their most infamous
features, and the whole machinery of registration and election remained as be fore, under the control of partisan officials, so that by corrupt exercise of the
extraordinary powers conferred upon them they shaped and perverted the
results to suit their will.
SEcoND.-The Returning Board Lawt still confers powers which are alone suffi cient to perpetuate the domination of the Kellogg party forever.
THIRD.-Dhe Pitia  Court, established by Warmoth, for the purpose of con trolling the cases arising from contested elections, etc., and over which he placed
one of his tools, was abolished, but only to make room for an instrument of Kellogg's. This was brought about in the followingmanner: At the election of 1872,
Wm. C. Elmore, a gentleman of probity and character, was elected and returned
by both the conflicting Canvassing Boards, but as Judge Elmore was opposed to
Kellogg, the Kellogg Legislature abolished Judge Elmore's Court by changing
its name, and provided that the Judge of the new Court should be appointed by
Governor Kellogg to hold his office until the general election in 1876. When at
the election of 1876, if the Conservatives shall elect a Judge of this Court, it is not
improbable, if the Legislature is Republican, that the Court will be abolished
again and a new one created under a new name, in order that another Judge, who
will be a tool of the carpet-baggers, may be appointed, as in the case of Judge Elmore above recited.
FOURTH.-The law whiech regulated proceedings in contest between persons claiming
judicial offiee provided that the Commission by the Governor, issued to any person as a Judge of any Court in the State, was to be considered primna facie proof of
the right to hold and exercise such office immediately, and if any incumbent refused to vacate, the person so commissioned by Kellogg, had the right to proceed
by rule returnable in twenty-four hours, which was to be tried immediately and
Without jury by preference over all other business. It became the duty of the
Court to render judgment the same day, and an appeal was to be taken within
three days after judgment, returnable in the Supreme Court in five days, and there
to be tried immediately by preference over all other cases. With such hot haste
were the most important cases that can arise for judicial determination to be rushed
through the Courts.
FIFTH. —It was made a crime to assume o7 pretend to be an officer of the State, Executive, Judicial, or Legislative branch of the government without the authority of the
eturninig Board.
SIxTH.-After ab,sobing all tihe civil judicial pocers ofa political character, thie Kellog party next seized control of the criminal courts by creating' a new Court, presided
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LOUISIA NA 
over by an appointee of Kellogg, and in addition to its high criminal jurisdiction
vested it with exclusive jurisdiction of all violations of the election and registration laws of the State and offenses thereunder, of all offenses against officers of
the State, and Municipal officers as such, of offenses under laws which comprise
everything remotely affecting the political power of the State.
SEVENTH.-The Legislature having thus given the Governor the selection of the
Judge in the criminal cases, it only remained to give him control of the juries. So,
abolishing former laws on that subject, the Governor was empowered to appoint
two jury commissioners to hold their offices at the pleasure of the Governor, and
these commissioners were invested with thefullcontrol of drawing alljuriesfor the
criminal courts of New Orleans.
EIGHTH. -As the rate of taxation was beyond the ability of the people to pay, and as
the chief end of such a government is to collect money, it was deemed necessary
to  impose  extraordinary  penalties  on  delinquent   tax-payers,  especially
as  the   tax-payers   were    all  political  enemies   of   the    usurper,
and   therefore  entitled  to  no   money.    Hence,   the  Legislature  enacted that on failure to pay taxes under thirty days from the time when they became due, " Such delinquent taxpayer shallforfeit his right to bring suit, or to be a
toitnessfor or in his own behalf, and every court having jurisdiction within the State
shall deny and refuse to issue a civil process of any kind or nature for his own benefit, until he shall procure a certificate that all his delinquent taxes and costs thereon have been
paid."  As might have been expected, this clause was declared unconstittitional
by the courts: But it is sufficient evidence of both malignity and ignorance
that it was passed by the Legislature and signed by Governor Kellogg.
NINTH. - The Metropolitan police was and is the police of the city of New Orleans,
paid exclusively by that city, and employed for the purpose of policing the metropolis of New Orleans; but the legislature having, by the passage of the outrageous
laws above enumerated, deprived the conservative people of the State of all possible redress in the courts or at the polls, it became necessary to guard against possible forcible resistance, and hence Kellogg's Legislature passed a law which was
entitled "An Act authorizing the muster of the Metropolitan police as a part of the
militia of the State" by which the police of the city of Yew Orleans was transformed
into a virtually standing army increased to. three thousand men, placed under'the supreme command of the Governor, who was specially authorized to order them on
military duty in any part of the State. In this. connection, attention is directed to
the clause in the general appropriation bill of 1874, wherein the appropriation for
the maintenance of the militia (an organization entirely distinct from the police
force of New Orleans) WAS UNLIMITED.
TENTH.- Under the tlirty-fourta article of the Constitution of the State, which provides that "each house of the general assembly shall judge of the qualifications,
election and returns of its members," there remained, it was thought, one hope
of possible escape from the net work of tyranny that had been so adroitly woven,
around the people of the State, but the Kellogg Legislature, with the deliberate intent of defeating even this last resort, placed the organization of the House
of Representatives under the control of the partisan clerk of the outgoing House
and provided in effect: "that no members should participate in such organization
except those returned elected by the returning board," and thus the right of representation in the General Assembly of the State, falling in the train of every other
political right of the people, passed under the yoke of a partisan, unscrupulous
and subservient returning board.
These were the laws enacted by the usurpers, Kellogg and his Legislature.
Even a usurping government has sometimes presented claims to recognition and
support by wise administration: has sometimes commanded and enforced obedience by strength and vigor; but a government which is a mere usurpation and is
at the same time weak, corrupt, and hostile to every interest, moral and material
of the government, disgraces both those who support and those who submit to it,
and should be suffered to tumble into that depth of tyranny over which it has hung
suspended, during the last two years, suspended by nothing but the support of
President Grant and the Federal army.
A TERRIBLE FINANCIAL CONDITION-CARPET-BAG REPUDIATION.
The prevalence of  a general   wa nt o f co nfidence in the   integrit y of   the existing
State and local officials was followed by the paralyzation of business and the de
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LOUISIANA.
struction of values. The securities of Louisiana have fallen in two years under
Kellogg from seventy or eighty to twenty-five per cent., and the bonds of the
city of New Orleans from ninety to thirty per cent., while the fall in bank
shares, railway shares, city and other corporate companies have, in a degree,
suffered a corresponding decline. The Kellogg government claims to have reduced taxations, but how has this been effected? By repudiation, by passing a
law allowing the debt of the State to be funded at sixty per cent of its par valuein other words, the carpet-bag legislature authorized the issuance of fifteen
millions of bonds which were to be given to the holders of the old bonds of the
State at the rate of sixty cents in new bonds for every dollar of the old bonds,
thus filching from the creditor of the State forty per cent. of his claim.
This measure aroused great hostility, not so much because of the repudiation of
forty per cent. of its sacred debt, for the payment of which the faith and honor
of the State was pledged, as because it gave to the Funding Board, appointed by
Kellogg, absolute and unlimited power, bestowed upon it discretionary authority
to admit to be funded some six millions of debt which was alleged to be fraudulent and
which, it was understood, was owned by Mr. Kellogg and his friends, so that,
under the disguise of reducing the debt of the State, opportunity was given, and
no doubt taken advantage of, to swell the fraudulent debt against the State. It
is asserted that by this operation of funding the debt Kellogg and the leading
carpet-baggers have made a haul of nearly three milions of dollars.
THE WHITE LEAGUE-A DESCRIPTION BY REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMEN.
During the Summer of 1874, in view of the approaching elections, the whites of
Louisiana formed themselves into clubs for advancing the interests of their candidates; hence originated what is known in the North as "the White League."
Of this organization, the report of the committee appointed by the House of Representatives at the second session, Forty-third Congress, declared: "In this
connection we refer to'the White League' mentioned "in the message of
"the President.   In the last campaign  of Louisiana,  the opposition was
"composed of various elements: Democrats, Reformers, dissatisfied Repub"licans, and Liberal Republicans and Old Whigs; and in order to induce the
"co-operation of all these elements, some of whom had refused to unite with
"the organization called the Democratic, they took the name of the'People's
"party,' and had ordinary political clubs'under these names, called in some locali"ties the'Conservative party;' in others'the White Man's party;' in others the
"' White League'; and had ordinary political clubs under these names throughout
"the rural districts, which were ordinary political clubs and nothing more,
"neither secret, nor armed, nor otherwise different from usual political organiza"tions.  This must not, however, be confounded from similarity of name, with
"' The White League of the City of New Orleans.'  That league is an organiza"tion composed of different clubs, numbering in all between twenty-five and
"twenty-eight hundred; the members of it have provided arms for themselves,
"and with or without arms engage in military-drill. They have no uniform, and
"the arms are the property of the individuals, not of the organization. They com"-prise a large number of reputable citizens and property-holders in the city of
"New Orleans.  Their purpose they declare to be simply protective, a necessity
"occasioned by the existence of leagues among the blacks; by the hostility with
"which the Kellogg government arrayed the blacks against the white race; by
"the want of security to peaceable citizens and their families which existed for
"these reasons, and because, also, of the formation of the police brigade. On the
"other hand, the Republicans assert that this is an armed body of volunteers,
"existing for the purpose of intimidating the blacks, and overthrowing the
"Kellogg government. That it had no considerable relations outside the city of
"New Orleans, or that it was in any way intended to interfere with the rights
"of colored citizens did not appear; nor, on the other hand, did it appear that
"there was any extensive secret league amontg the blacks of any kind."
It will be recollected that this description of "the White League" emanates frme
the lips of a Republican Congressional Committee who were present in Now
Orleans during those turbulous times in January, 1875, and who had ample opportunity to investigate on the ground the charges and counter charges that were
exchanged between the political parties. It will also be noticed that the committee declared there was no extensive secret leagues among the blacks, thus indirectly adniftting that there was a secret league among that race of moderate
proportions.
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LOUISIANA.
THE REVOLUTION IN NEW ORLEANS OF SEPTEMBER 14, 1874.
The affair of the 14th of September, which resulted in the overthrow of the
Kellogg government by the people, is thus succinctly described by the Republican
Congressional Committee above referred to:
"The members of the White League had purchased arms; the police had seized
"these arms without process of law, taking them purposelyfrom the merchants who had
"sold, andfrom the members who had boughtthem. A consignment of arms was to arrive
"by the steamer Missis8ippi. The league were called out on the morning of the 14th
"(September) to go and take them in a body; the police undertook to seize the arms;
"the two bodies came into collision on the wharf with the loss of several killed and
"wounded. There were then hardly any Federal troops in New Orleans; and
"the disintegration of the Kellogg party was such that before night PENN and his as"sociates had only to take possession of the executive offices without a struggle. The
"movement was everywhere quietly accepted by the whites throughout the State until the
"Federal Government intervened, when PENN AND HIS ASSOCIATES AT ONCE SURREN"DERED. "If Louisiana was a coutntry by itself,McEary and his associates would at once
"be installed in power; but the conservatives of Louisiana did not purpose to fight the
"Federal Government.  They submit not because they want to, but because they must.
" Not because they proclaim any enmity against the flag; not because free labor has
"not been found practicable; not because of any general hostility to the colored people
"because colored; but because they regard themselves as defrauded out of the election of
"1872,andyet more out of this election, and because the State Government towhich they
"have been subjected has been, as they think, to the last degree destructive and corrupt."
The foregoing is the language of Republican Congressmen, after a judicially
conducted investigation of the facts. After the revolution of the 14th of September, the conservatives devoted themselves assiduously to acquire a part of the
negro vote. Frequent arrests by the United States Marshals for intimidations or
threats of non-employment, and the apprehension that was felt that Kellogg'ssreturning board would count out their men, if excuse for such a course was offered,
all combined to put the conservatives upon their good behavior, and the result
was that in November of 1874 the people of the State of Louisiana did fairly have
a free, peaceable, and full registration and election, in which a clear conservative
majority was elected to the Lower House of the Legislature, of which majority,
however, the Kellogg party deprived them by the unjust, illegal, and arbitrary actions of the Returning Board. Of course this action of theReturning Board aroused
the indignation of the more turbulent spirits among the conservatives, and but
for the counsels of the more moderate leaders, it is not improbable that this last outrage, as it has since proved to be, would have been summarily punished. The
conservatives knew that they had been cheated out of five members of the House
of Representatives, with whom they would have had a majority in that body.
But the object of Kellogg,and the Returning Board in thus fraudulently continuing a majority of their partisans in the lower branch of the Legislature,
was due to the fears Kellogg entertained of impeachment in the event
of his political opponents obtaining control of that body. For under the laws
of Louisiana, a majority vote of the Lower House is alone sufficient to impeach a
public officer, and under the operation of such impeachment, and pending its trial
by tbe Senate, the officer affected is suspended from exercising the functions of
his office. Kellogg feared that the conservative majority in the Lower House
would not regard him as Governor, but would recognize Mr. McEnery as the legal Executive of Louisiana and would also recognize the McEnery Senate as the
legal Senate of the State and totally ignore the Kellogg Senate. Acting upon this
surmise, the carpet baggers determined to prevent, by means of their unscrupulous tools in the returning board, the existence of a conservative majority in the
popular branch of the Legislature.
MEETING OF THE LEGISLATURE JANUARY 4, 1876.
A few days before the time fixed for the assembling of the Legislature, New
Orleans was all excitement and disorder, and apprehension of riot and bloodshed
were uppermost in people's minds. Kellogg, as usual, filled the capitol with a
strong body of armed police and militiamen. He also made a requisition upon
General Emory for troops, which were speedily furnished and stationed in a
building not far from the State House.  The Conservative members entered the
hall of the House of Representatives at half-past eleven o'clock in the morning.
Precisely at noon, in accordance with the law, the old clerk called the House to
139 
LOUISIANA.
order and announced a quorum present.   At this time the lobbies and that portion of the hall without the bar were thronged with Kellogg's special policemen
and henchmen. The friends of the Conservatives were not permitted to enter the
building, the entrances to which were guarded, and orders issued by Kellogg to
admit no one except those claiming to be members of the Legislature.
As soon as the announcement was made by the old clerk that a quorum' was
present, a member moved that Mr. Wiltz be appointed temporary Speaker, which
motion was put by this member himself and declared carried. Mr. Wiltz immediately took his seat, which was then occupied by the old clerk, and rapped the
members to order. A motion for the election of a temporary clerk and a sergeantat-arms was made and declared carried by the chair. The greatest confusion prevailed in the hall whilst the above proceedings were taking place. The Republican members were screaming and shouting at the top of their voices for recognition. Speaker Wiltz, however, paid no attention to them, and declared the House
temporarily organized. A resolution to seat five members from certain parishes,
whose cases had not been passed upon by the Returning Board, was declared
passed, amid a thunder of yells. The House next proceeded to effect a permanent organization.   There were two nominations for permanent Speaker; one
was that of Mr. WILTZ, by the Conservatives, and the other was that of
Ex-GOVERNOR HAHN, by the Republicans.    Some carpet-bag members  protested against proceeding with any organization at that time, and endeavored to leave the hall. Some did leave, and rushed to Kellogg's office to ask for
advice. SPEAKER WILTZ ordered the Sergeant-at-arms to prevent members from
leaving the hall without permission. The roll was then called, and the result of
the election for Speaker was announced by the temporary clerk: WILTZ fiftyfive; HAHN two; blank one, making in all,fifty-eight votes, MR.  WILTZ not
voting. A quorum would have been fifty-six. The five members admitted to
seats voted for MR. WILTZ. Whilst the roll was being called all the members were
in their seats-104 members. But some of them refused to vote. When the vote
was announced MR. WILTZ took the oath of office, and subsequently administered it to the members, who came up And were sworn in four at a time.  The
Republican members were now rapidly leaving the hall, and the Serjeant-atArms, and his assistants, of which there were about ten, were unable to prevent
them.
GOVERNOR KELLOGG'S ORDERS.
While these events were occurring. in the hall, GOVERNOR KELLOGG was dispatching the following notes, in the order in which they appear, to GENERAL DE
TROBRIAND, who commanded the United States troops in New Orleans:
"No. 1. Please move your troops up to the State House. I am informed by General
Campbell that there is danger of trouble in the building.
"W. P. KELLOGG."
"NO. 2. -GEN. DE TROBRIAND, COMMANDER, &C.:
"Please place sentinels at the entrance of the State House and aid the policefrom preenting a mob from going into the State House.
"W. P. KELLOGG."
II NO. 3.-GENERAL DE TROBRIAND: Will you please come to me a moment.
" Yours truly,     WM. P. KELLOGG, Governor."
"I No. 4.-GENERAL DE TROBRIAND: An illegal assenmbly of men having taken
possession of the House of Representatives,and the police not being able to dislodge them,
I respectfully request that you will immediately clear the hall and State fHouse of all
persons not returned as legal members by the Returningq Board of the State.
"WM. P. KELLOGG, Governor.
It appears that after this last dispatch GENERAL DE TROBRIAND proceeded
to the hall, where the greatest confusion and tumult continued. He walked
to the bar of the House, unaccompanied except by one aid, whom he left there,
and then, alone approached the Speaker's desk.  SPEAKER WILTZ told him that
he desired to preserve the dignity of the House, and did not think he could do
so without causing bloodshed, and that it was not his intention to go to that
extremity, nor was it the intention or policy of his party nor of the people of
the State, and, jf the General's orders permitted him to do so, he (the Speaker),
would thank him to be kind enough to say a few words to the unritly mob cornposed of policemen and Bepqtblicans, that were creating so much disorder.  GENERAL.
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LOUISIANA.
DE TROBRIAND said nothing, bowed and withdrew.  He spoke to the people in
the lobby and they became quiet. Upon his descending the stairs GENERAL DE
TROBRIAND received more notes from GOVERNOR KELLOGG, as follows:
January 14, 1875.
GENERAL DE TROBRIAND: The Clerk of the House, who has in his possession
the roll issued by the Secretary of State of the legal members of the House of Repre
sentatives, will point out to you  those persons now  in the hall of  the House of
Representative returned by the legal Returning Board of the State.
And also this other one:
January 14, 1875.
GENERAL DE TROBRIAND: I am informed that the legal members of the House
of Representatives, whose names are on the list duly returned as elected to the House
of Representatives, are forcibly prevented from  entering the hall of  the House of
Representatives.   Please afford the necessary assistance to the police to effect the
entrance to the hall of the mouse of those members entitled to admission, and exclude
all persons not returned as elected, and the Clerk of thle House, MR. VIGERS, and
the Sergeant-at-Arms, MR. QuINN, and his assistants.
W. P. KELLOGG, Governor.
And still another:
January 14, 1875.
DEAR SIR: I have the honor to ask that you will issue orders to clear St. Louis
street between Royal and Charters streets of all persons, and to keep that portion
of the street clear.  I am also requested that you prevent the  assembling of any
crowd or Royal street in the lieinity of the State House.
Very respectfully,
To GEN. DE TROBRIAND, &C.                     WM.  P. KELLOGG,  Governor.
Mr. KELLOGG was thus a sort of Generalissimo of the United States Army,
pro tempore.   He ordered GENERAL DE TROBRIAND about with as much non chalance as though he had been his valet. Upon receipt of these instructions
by GOVERNOR KELLOGG, GENERAL DE TROBRIAND re-entered the hall, followed
by nearly all the Republican members who had left during the session, and
advanced to within a few feet of the Speaker's desk. GENERAL DE TROBRIANDI)
informed him that he had received certain instructions from GOVERNOR KELLOGG,
which he desired should be read by the Clerk. The Clerk of the House offered
to take them from the General, but the General said that he had instructions from
GOVERNOR KELLOGG to recognize only MR. VIGERS, the old Clerk. SPEAKER
WILTZ protested against MR. VIGERS being recognized by any one as Clerk of
the House of Representatives, and informed GENERAL DE TROBRIAND that the
House of Representatives was legally organized; that it had chosen its own
Clerk; that MR. VIGERS had ceased to have any connection with it, and pro tested in the name of the members and in the name of the State against any such
proceedings. GENERAL DE TROBRIAND then had the orders read by his adjutant,
which were to the effect that the House of Representatives was in possession of a
mob, and that he (KELLOGG) called upon him (DE TROBRIAND) to clear the House of
all except those returned by the Returning Board as elected.  GENERAL DE TRO BRIAND said that he would have to execute those orders. SPEAKER WILTZ protested
against his decision, and against the execution of any such orders.  He informed
the General that he could not permit anything of the kind; that he owed it to
the House, and the members of the House owed it to their constituents to refuse
permission to an officer of the United States Army to eject any of its recognized
members. The Speaker then asked the General how he was going to execute his
orders. The General replied that he had four officers with him. The Speaker
rejoined by saying that four officers could not eject any recognized members of
the House of Representatives. The General asked if the speaker thought it was
necessary to bring in a company of soldiers. The Speaker replied in the affirma
tive, adding that superior force was necessary to eject any recognized member of
the House. GENERAL DE TROBRIAND withdrew, and shortly afterwards appeared
at the head of a company of soldiers, in the area just beyond the bar of the hall,
and drew them up in line with muskets and bayonets fixed. The General then
approached the Speaker's desk and asked if the presence of troops in the hall
would be sufficient.  SPEAKER WILTZ replied, "No, sir! I don't believe that
the members of the House of Representatives can be taken out in this manner."
141 
GENERAL DE TROBRIAND asked SPEAKER WILTZ and the Clerk to point out the
members of the House who were not returned by the Kellogg Canvassing Board,
and who were participating in the deliberations. The Speaker declined to comply
with the request. The General withdrew a second time, leaving the troops in the
hall to await his return.   He shortly afterward appeared upon the floor with
General Campbell, a chieftain of Kellogg's militia and the police. GENERAL DE
TROBRIAND approached to where these members were sitting, who had not been
returned by the Canvassing Board, and placing his hand upon  R. VAUGHN, an old
gentlemen from Shreveport, told him that he had to leave the House, or something
to that effect. MR. VAUGHN rose in his seat and, addressing the Speaker, informed him that he was a representative elected by a large majority of his people,
some six or seven hundred, and that he protested against being ejected in such a
manner by an officer of the United States Army, and that that officer had placed
his hand upon him and was about to eject him.
EJECTION OF MR. VAUGHN-SPEAKER WILTZ FORCED TO LEAVE THE HALL.
The Speaker replied that the Chair would consider it his duty to protect
him against any  such ejection.   MR. VAUGHN  also took a  firm  standand
said that he would not be ejected except by superior force.   GENERAL  DE
TROBRIAND, then sent one of his officers to bring the soldiers with their bayonets
fixed within the bar. They seized Mr. VAUGHN and marched him out between
files of soldiers whilst he kept loudly protesting against the outrage.   GENERAL
DE TROBRIAND ejected the other members in question in a similar manner, each
member being led out of the hall by a file of soldiers. The old clerk, MR. VIGERS,
was then compelled by GENERAL D)E TROBRIAND, who had his soldiers outside
the bar, to read the roll of members as made out by the returning board. Speaker
Wiltz again protested against that conduct. He told GENERAL DE TROBRIAND
-that he could not and would not recognize the old clerk as having anything to do
with the House of Representatives. The GENERAL replied that he had to execute
his orders. The Speaker rejoined that Mr. VIGERS could not read anything there,
or nobody could-read anything there but the clerk of the House of Representatives.
MR. VIGERS nevertheless began to read the roll.  The Speaker ordered the
Sergeant-at-Arms to take him away from the clerk's desk.  He took him by the
arm and led him down.  GENERAL DE TROBRIAND, seeing that it was impossible
for MR. VIGERS to read the roll, called in a file of soldiers to enforce his orders.
When the soldiers entered within the bar, the Speaker having gone as far as he
possibly could, entered a solemn protest against the interference of the national
military, stating that he could not participate any longer in the proceedings of a
body surrounded by federal bayonets.    He then left the hail, followed by every
member of his party.   After Mr. Wiltz withdrew, EX-GOVERNOR  HAHN  was
elected Speaker, and the carpet-baggers proceeded with the business of the Legislature to suit the wishes of the imperial Kellogg.
WERE  THE DEMOCRATS ENTITLED TO A MAJORITY  IN  THE  LOWER  HOUSE?
WHAT THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE DECIDED.
That the interference of the federal troops with the organization of the Legislature was without palliation or excuse, no unprejudiced or impartial mind will
for a moment doubt. Admitting that the Conservatives violated established parliamentary usages and flagrantly ignored the right of their carpet-bag opponents,
was that a proper occasion for the United States army to march into the very
halls of legislation, and remove by forme members whose title to office was at
least a subject of controversy? Under similar circumstances would the Federal
Government dare to do the same thing in Maine, Illinois, Ohio or any other
Northern State? But it will be shown, and by good orthodox Republicans, too, that
the conservatives were entitled to a legal majority of the members of the Lower
House, of which they had been deliberately cheated by Kellogg's Returning Boards.
In the first place the Returning Board had been unlawfully constituted. The
new law provides that it shall consist of five persons, from "all political parties."
It eisted of five Kelloggy Republicans.  The conservatives naturally regarded this
initiatory illegality as ominous of an intention to defraud them.. And so it proved.
The residue of the story is so much at variance with accredited reports of Louisiana outrages, that we quote verbatim et iteratim, from the Report of  "the Select
Committee of the House of Representatives, on the condition of the South," presented on behalft of that Committee, by HON. GEORGE F. HOAR, Republican of
.~assach~setts. 
142
LOUISIANA 
"The election laws of Louisiana, provide for a' Supervisor of Registration,'
"who appoints his own deputies in each ward in New Orleans, and for one' Su"pervisor of Registration for each parish in the State.' These oflcers were all ap"pointed by Governor Kellogg.  In addition to these supervisors, the police jurors
"(the local authorities of the parishes) appointed three'Commissioners of Elec"tion' for each poll in the parish, and there were also,' United States Super"visors' appointed by the District Judge of the United States for each poll.
"The law further provided that in case of violence, intimidation or corruption,
"at or near the poll, either during registration or election, as prevented
"a fair, free, peaceable and full vote, the' Commissioners of Election,' if the
"occurrence was on election day; the'Supervisors of Registration,' if on the day
"of regstration, should make a full, verified statement of the occurrence, and for"ward the same with and annexed to the returns; and further provided that when
"the Returning Board, in canvassing the returns, should come to any poll where
"the returns were accompanied by such a protest, they should?ot canvass, count
"or compile the statement of votes from such poll, until the statements from all the
"other polls had been canvassed or compiled."
The Committee then proceed to state that the Returning Board read and
became informed of the returns from the contested polls before laying them
aside to take up the polls in which there was no contest, and deferred rendering
their decision until after they had acquired knowledge of how the contested
returns would affect the election. The Committee's report continues as follows:
"The election embraced but one State officer.  The chief struggle was overthe
"election of members of the State Legislature and parish officers; and in these
' elections local and personal considerations, as well as national or State politics,
"entered.  THE RETURNS BY THE COMMISSIONERS OF ELECTION, COMPILED AND
"FORWARDED BY THE SUPERVISORS OF REGISTRATION [Kellogg's appointees,
"every one of them,] gave the Conservatives a majority of 29 members out of a
"total of 111 members.  In only a few instances were  there any protests
"accompanying these returns.
"The Returning Board was in session for many weeks.  Asfinally announced,
"their findings gave, as Governor Kellogg reckoned it, 53 members to the Repub"licans, 53 members to the Democrats, of whom, however, one was regarded as
"not'a staying Democrat.' The Board made no decision as to the remaining
"five seats.
THE RETURNING BOARD CENSURED BY THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESSIONAL
COMMITTEE
'4The parish of Rapides chose three members of the Legislature —the returns
"elected all three Conservatives.  When the proofs closed the only paper filed with
"the Returning Board was the affidavit of a United States Supervisor that the
"election was in all respects full, fair and free. It was not known in the parish
"that any contest existed against these members.  They left their homes and pro"ceeded to New Orleans to be present at the opening of the Legislature, no in"timation of contesting their seats or objection to their election having been
given by their opponents.  At one of their last sessions the Returning Board
"declared all the Republican members elected from that parish. When the papers
"of the Returning Board  were produced before your committee there was found
"among them an affldavit by MR. WELLS, the President of the Board, declaring that
"intimidation 7hadexsted at certain pollsin that parih, and that the returns from those
"polls s8hould therefore be rejected. The counsel of the Democratic Committee testi"fled that they  had no  opportunity to contradict the statements of this
"paper; that they had never seen or heard of it before, and that upon
"examination of the papers before the Board,.when the proofs closed, it was
"not among them. The counsel of the Republican Committee reserved the right
"to make explanation on this point, but offered none. The affidavit was dated
"the -    day of December, 1874.  It appeared that Governor Wells was not
"himself in the parish on the day of, the election', and though, at the opening of
"their first session, your Committee declared their intention to examine into the
"action of the Returning Board,'Governor Wells never came forward as a wit"ness. At the close of our proceeding, leave was asked that his deposition might
"be given in.  This was declined, and Mr. Wells was himself invited to appear
"before the Committee.  But he never came.  Leave was also given for taking
"his testimony by commission if he desired, but was not availed of.  Your Corm
143
LOUISIANA. 
LOUISIANA.
"rmittee are therefore constrained to declare that the action of the Returning Board,s
"in rejecting these returns in  the parish of Rapides, and giving the seats.for that
"parish to the Republican candidates, was arbitrary, unfair, and without warrant
"of law.
A SAMPLE OF THE INTIMIDATION IN LOUSIANA.
"It so happens that that parish of Rapides was taken as a sample of intimida"tion. Many witnesses from both parties were examined in reference to it;
"they show beyond question that there was a free, full, fair and peaceable election
"and registration there. There was no evidence of any intimidation of voters
"practiced on the day of election, although it was asserted that intimidation of
"colored men before election had been effected by threats of refusal to employ
"them or discharge them if they voted the Republican ticket. No evidence
either of discharge or of refusal to employ was produced. Certain witnesses,
"themselves every one officeholders, testified generally to such action; but hardly
"any one was able to specify a single instance in which he heard of any employer
"so threatening or discharging any voter, or knew of any employs being so threat"ened or discharged. Not one single colored man throughout the entire parish
"was produced to testify, either to such a threat or to the execution of such a pur"pose, whether before or after the election.
DISFRANCHISEMENT-AN ARRAY OF ELECTION FRAUDS BY THE CARPET-BAGGERS.
"The action of the Returning Board," says the report, "in theparish of Rapies
"alone CHANGED THE POLITICAL COMPLEXION OF THE LOWER HOUSE, but their
"action in other parishes was equally objectionable. For instance, in Iberia
"parish. It was claimed before your committee that the vote of Poll No. 1 in
"that parish had been rejected on account of intimidation, but the papers pro"duced by the Clerk of the Board showed no such proof. It was then asserted
"the returns were rejected because the accounts of the election were not deliv"ered to. the Supervisor of Registration within twenty-four hours after the close
"of the election, which was six o'clock on the 3d day of November, whereas it
"appeared that on the morning and afternoon of the 3d of November search was
"made for the Supervisor of Registration for that parish, in order to deliver to
him these returns, and he was not to be found until after six o'clock; but that
"as soon as he could be found on the evening of that day they were offered to
"him, and again re-offered the next morning, and were refused to be received.
"Yet this same Supervisor of Registration received other Republican returns
"after he had refused to receive these conservative ones on the ground that they
"were too late; and the Returning Board (although it had held as to other polls
"in the State that the returns were not to be rejected merely because they were
"sent too late) rejected the returns from this poll, thereby changing the repre"sentation of the parish from conservative to Republican.  So, in the parish of
"De Soto, in which the returns showed a Conservative elected by over 1,000 ma"jority, it was alleged that the Supervisor of Registration had brought the returns
"to New Orleans, and had left them with a woman of bad character, who offered
to produce them on payment of one thousand dollars. The Conservative Commit' tee took legal proceedings to compel their production; but the Court held that it
"had no jurisdiction to that end. They then caused tobe produced beforetheBoard
"the duplicate of those returns from the office of the Secretary e,f State, together
"with the tally-sheets, poll-lists, &c., filed there according to law.  These dupli"cates corresponded exactly with the alleged result of the compiled returns which
"the said woman had produced; and of these alleged facts undisputed proof was
"also submitted to the Board. Nevertheless the Board refused to count the vote
"for that parish.
"So in WINN PARISH, where 404 Conservative and 164 Republican votes were
"cast, upon a verbal protest that the Registrar of Elections was not properly
"qualified, of which the only proof was that he had failed to forward his oath of
"office to the Secretary of State-although there was no pretense that the elec"tion was not a fair representation of the will of the people-the whole vote of the
"Parish was rejected, and the case referred to the Legislature.  So in TERRE
"BONNE PARISH, where there was a Conservative majority, it was proved that
"the Commissioners of Election, through misapprehension of their duties, in"closed all the returns ia the ballot-boxes, and deposited them with the Clerk of
"the Court, with whom the law required the boxes to be left. The Judge of the
144 
LOUISIANA.
"Court thereupon issued a mandamus commanding the Clerk to take the returns
"from the boxes and forward them to the Secretary of State, which was done.
Nevertheless, the Board rejected the returns from these polls, thereby giving the
"parish to the Republicans, with the result of choosing a Republican Senator,
"two Republican members of the Legislature, and the Republican parish
"officers."
Can it be possible that the above report emanates from such orthodox Republicans as Congressman HOAR, of Massachussetts, Congresssman FOSTER, of Ohio,
and Congressman WM. WALTER PHELPS, of New Jersey? Yes, and every word
of what has been quoted will be found in REPORT NO. 101, Second Sessiown
Forty-third Congress. This document was submitted to the House of Representatives onl January 15,1875, the testimony upon which they based their report having
been taken in New Orleans, as late as the 5th of the same month. On January 13th,
that is to say, but two days before, this Committee which had returned from the
ground and heard the evidence of both sides, presented their report, the President
of the United States sent a message to Congress upon the recent complications in
Louisiana. We will now place side by side the conclusions of the Republican
Congressional Committee, and of the Republican President, touching the action
of Kellogg's Returning Board, in counting the votes cast at the election held in
Louisiana, the preceding autumn.
LOOK HERE ON THIS PICTURE AND ON THIS.
President  Grant's  Message to Congress on
Louisiana, Jan. 13, 1875.
I have no evidence, that the proceedings of this
Board were not in accordance  with the law
under which they acted. Whether in excluding
from their count certain returns, they were right
orwrot, as a question that depends upon the
evidence they had before them; but it 88 very
dear that the law gHves them tie power, if th'a
choose to exerge it, of dec(ding that way; and
prima  eaie the persons whom they  return as
elected are entitled to the offlces for which they
were candidates.
Report of Congressman Hoar on behalf of
Republican  Committee  on  condition of the
South.  Jan. 15, 1875.
Without nowo referring to other instances, we
are constrained to declare that the action of the
Returning Board, on the whole was ARBITRARY,
UNJUST, AND IN OUR OPINION ILLEGAL; and
that THIS ARBITRARY, UNJUST AND ILLEGAL
ACTION ALONE PREVENTED THE RETURN
BY THE BOARD OF A MAJORITY OF
CONSERVATIVE  MEMBERS  OF  THE
LOWER HOUSE.
And with these cold, unfeeling words the President dismisses the frauds which
he must have known had been perpetrated by Kellogg's Returning Board, and by
the perpetration of which the Conservatives had had their majority-in the lower
House stolen from them. MR. GRANT says, not one word about the illegal formation of the Board, not one word about their ARBITRARY, UNJUST and ILLEGAL
ACTION.  He pretends to be entirely ignorant of that fact, at any rate "he had no
evidence" before him to establish the truthfulness of the allegation, but he tells
Congress "that if the Board" decided to cheat, the law very clearly gave them
the power to cheat, if they chose to exercise that power, then those persons
"counted in" were prma facie entitled to the offices thus fraudulently obtained,
and of course, also entitled to federal recognition and the protection of the army
and navy. These are Mr. Grant's ethics. With respect to the Kellogg usurpation
the President and the Committee again fail to agree.
CONGRESSMAN HOAR'S REPORT, JANU              ARY:15, 1875.
In  the State of Louisiana there  is a     Gov ern or
in office who owes his seat to the intererrence of
t           he National power, which has recognized his
titl           e to his office, not by reason of any ascertaiomenmet of the facts by legal process, but has based
its action solely on the illegal order of a judge.
In the same State there is a Legislature, one
branch of which derives its authority.from the
samn order, the other being organized by a majority who have been established inpowerby
another interference of the National Government,
and which majority derives its title, not from
any legal ascertainment of the facts, but from
the certificates of a Returning Board which has
misconceived and exceeds its authority.
PRESIDENT GRANT'S MESSAGE, JANU              ARY 13, 1875.
It has been bitterly and persistently alleged
that Kellogg was not elected.  Whether he was
or  not is not altogether  certain, nor  is it
anymore certain that his competitor, McEnery,
was chosen.  The election was a gigantic fraud,
and there are no reliable  returns of its result.
Kellogg obtained possession  f theoffice, and in
my opinion has more right to it than his com..etitor.
That " Kellogg obtained possession" is a sad reality, but Mr. Grant studiously
omits to tell Congress bow he obtained possession. But we have no patience with
145 
LOUISIANA.
His Excellency. His message is one tissue either of falsehood or dissimulation
throughout, and this is so transparent that no argument is necessary to prove it.
The report of the Committee thus establishes the fact, in plain, clear and unambiguous language, that the entire State Government was a usurpation; that Goveirnor Kellogg and his Senate owe their places to federal bayonets and the illegal
order of a Judge; and that the Republican Lower House owed its existence to
the frauds perpetrated by Kellogg's Returning Board, sustained by more federal
bayonets.
GENERALT SHERIDAN AND THE LAW OF BLOOD AND IRON.
It was meet and proper that within the same twenty-four hours General DeTrobriand and his soldiers invaded the Legislature of Louisiana in the manner related above, that General Sheridan should have startled the country by his famous banditti dispatch.  He had arrived in New Orleans but a day or two preceding the meeting of the Legislature, and the circumstances attending his presence
in that city will more fully appear n the following letter to him from the Secretary of War, Belknap.
WAR DEPARTMENT, 
TVashingto2  City, December 24, 1874. 
GENERAL SHERIDAN, Chicago, Illinoz8:
GENERAL:-The President has sent for me this morning, and desires me to
say to you, that hlie wishes you to visit the States of Louisiana and Mississippi,
and especially New Orleans, in Louisiana; Vicksburg and Jackson in Mississippi,
and ascertain for yourself and his information, the general condition of matters
in these localities. You need not confine your visit to the State of LQuisiana or
Mississippi, but may extend your trip to other States, Alabama, &c., if you see
proper, nor need you confine your visits in the States of Louisiana or Mississippi
to the cities named. What the President desires to ascertain, is the true condition
-of affairs and to receive such suggestions from you as you may deem advisable
and judicious. Inclosed herein is an order authorizing you to assume command
of the military division of the South, or any portion of that division, should you
see proper to do so.  It may be possible that circumstances may arise which
would render this a proper course to pursue. You can, if you desire, see General McDowell, in Louisville, and make known to him. confidentially, the object
of your trip. But this is not required of you. Communication with him by
you is left entirely to your own judgment. Of course you can take with you
such gentlemen of your staff as you wish, and it is best that the trip should appear to be one as much of pleasure as of business, for the fact of your presence in the localities referred to, will have, it is presumed, a beneficial effect.
The President thinks, and so do I, that a trip South might be agreeable to
you, and that you might be able to obtain a great deal of information on the subject about which we desire to learn. You can make your return by Washington and make a verbal report, and also inform me from time to time of your
views and conclusions.
Yours truly, &c.,
WM.  W. BELKNAP,  &cre taOyf W'r.
The inclosure referred to in the above letter read as follows:
WAR DEPARTMENT, Adjutant General's Office. )
- Washington, December 24, 1874. f
LrEUTENANT-GENERAL P. H. SHERIDAN,
United States Army, Chicago, ll.
SIR.-If in the course of the inspection and investigation the Secretary
of War has directed you to make, in his communication of this date, you
should find it necessary to assume command over the military division of the
South or any portion thereof, the President of the United States hereby authorizes and instructs you to take command accordingly, and to establish your
head-quarters at such point as you may deem best for the interests of the
public service.
I am. Sir, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
E. D.  TOWNSEND, Adjuttant (Genera'.
146 
LOUISIANA.
GENERAL SHERIDAN'S COURSE IN NEW ORLEANS.
On the twenty-sixth of December General Sheridan replied to General Belknap's confidential letter in a brief telegram from Chicago, which simply read:
' Your letter received. All right. P. H. SHERIDAN, Lieutenant-General," and forthwith proceeded to New Orleans. Upon his arrival in that city he was at once
captured by Collector Casey, President Grant's brother-in-law, United StatesMarshal Packard, Judge Durell, Governor Kellogg and the other brilliant planets of
the Lousiana Constellation of carpet-baggers. He was treated like a king. Choice
cigars, and the best champagnes and wines that liberal discounts from Custom
House salaries could afford, were laid before the gallant General in plentiful abundance. And it is well known that there are few men in the United States who
take more naturally to cigars or liquors than the present Lieutenant-General of
the Army. In the course of forty-eight hours after reaching New Orleans
General Sheridan had accomplished more than several Committees of Congress
had been able to achieve in many years. In two short days he had become a
perfect and thorough master of the conflicting Louisiana question. Whisky is
wonderfully well calculated to enlarge the brains of some men, and Sheridan
became so well informed about Louisiana matters that at midnight of the fourth
of January, only a few hours after GENERAL DE TROBRIAND and his soldiers had
organized the Legislature in the interest of the carpet-baggers, GENERAL
SHERIDAN dispatched the following telegram to the Secretary of War:
W. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War,
Washington, D. C.:
It is with deep regret that I have to announce to you the existence in. this
State of a spirit of defiance to lawful authority and an insecurity of life which
is hardly realized by the general government or the country at large. The
lives of citizens have become so jeopardized, that unless something is done to
give protection to the people, all security usually afforded by law will be overridden. Defiance to the laws, and the murder of individuals seems to be looked
upon by the community here from a standpoint which gives impunity to all who
choose to indulge in either, and the civil government appears powerless to punish or even arrest. I have to-night assumed control over the Department of the
Gulf.
P. H11. SHERIDAN, Lieut.-General U. S. Army.
The War Department replied to the above telegram as follows:
WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Adjutant General's Office, January 5, 1875. 
To LIEUTENANT GENERAL SHERIDAN,
United States Army-New Orleans:
Your telegram dated the fourth of December, declaring the state of things and
reporting you have assumed control over the Department of the Gulf, was received by the Secretary of War and is approved.
E. D. TOWNSEND, Adjutant-General.
From the report made to the House of Representatives by Congressman HOAR;
the reader has observed that "the White League" is therein described, as "conmprisin, a large number of reputable citizens and property holders in the City of New
Orleans, and that "they declare their principles to be simply protective; a necessity
occasioned by the existence of leagues among the blacks, and by the want of security to
pea le citizens and theirfamilies.
It was well known in the North that the State of Louisiana had long been in
a disturbed condition. That civil brawls had been frequent but not of a character
which placed them beyond the reach of civil law. It was also established that party
feeling ran very high, particularly in New Orleans, and in view of the fact that
the people ousted the Kellogg Government a few months previous because they
believed it had not been fairly elected and was dishonest and corrupt, a violent
outbreak would not have been astonishing at any moment. But the country was
altogether unprepared for the terrible shock it experienced on the publication
of the two following Dispatches from GENERAL SHERIDAN to the Secretary of
War:
147 
LOUISIANA.
NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 5, 1875.
HON. W. W. BELKNAP,
Secretary of War, Washington, D. C.:
"Please say to the President that he need not give himself any uneasiness about
the condition of affairs here. I will preserve the peace, which is not hard to do
with the naval and military forces in and about the city, and if Congress will
declare the White Leagues, and other similar organizations, white or black,
"BANDITTI," I will relieve it from the necessity of any special legislation for the
preservation of peace and the equality of rights in the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, and the Executive from much of the trouble heretofore had in
this section of the country.
P. H. SHERIDAN, Lieut. -General U. S. A.
And on the same day the following, which may be considered as bearing the
relation of a twin brotber to the preceding:
NEw ORLEANS, Jan. 5, 1875.
Hon. W. W. BELKNAP,
Secretary of War, Washington, D) G.:
"I think that the terrorism now existing in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Arkansas, could be entirely removed, and confidence and fair dealing established by the
arrest and  trial of the  ringleaders of the armed whtte leagutes.  If Congress
would pass a bill declaring them BANDITTI, they could be tried by a military commission. The ringleaders of this BANDITTI, who murdered men here on the
fourteenth of last September, and also more recently at Vicksburg, Miss., should,
in justice to law and order and the peace and prosperity of this Southern part of
the country, be punished. It is possible that if the President would issue a Proclamat  declaring them BANDITTI, no further action need be taken except that which,
would devolve upon me."
P. H. SHERIDAN, Lieutenant-General U. S. A.
The publication of these two dispatches in the New Orleans papers produced, as might have been expected, the wildest confusion. and excitement.
Words are wholly inadequate to express the height of the indignation caused by
this cruel slander upon the respectable citizens of Louisiana.- For years they had
borne patiently the wrongs of the oppressor, they had seen their liberties trampled under foot, their treasury robbed, and their property confiscated, and all to
be styled "banditti" by a man wearing the uniform of Lieutenant-General of
the Army. What the condition of public feeling in New Orleans was may be.
imagined from the following telegram of January 6, from the madman to the
Secretary of War:
HoN. W  W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War:
"There is some excitement in the rotunda of the St. Charles to-night, upon tbe'
publication by the newspapers of my dispatch to you calling the secret armed
organizations'Banditti.' Give yourself no uneasiness. I see my way clear enough
if you will only have confidence.
P. H. SHERIDAN, Lieut. - Gen. U. S. Army."
APPROVAL OF THE ADMINSTRATION.
To all of which the President and the Administration replied as follows;
WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Washington City, Jan. 6, 1875.
GFrv. P. H SHERIDAN,                      W    New Orneans, La.:
"Your telegram is received. The President and all of us have full confidence
and THOROUGHLY APPROVE YOUR COUTRSE.
WM. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War."
The task of commenting upon this extraordinary proceeding, we propose to
leave to the able pen of the editor of the New York Times, the leading organ
of the Republican party; and, in this connection it will doubtless enhance the
interest of this portion of our narrative by placing side by side that part of the
President's message to Congress bearing on the conduct of GENERAL SHERIDAN,
and the comments of the New York Hnes, his organ, and the organ of his party
on the same subject:
148 
LOUISIANA
[From President Grant's Louana Message to
Congress, January 13, 1875.]
Lieutenant-General Sheridan was requested
by me to go to Louisiana to observe and report
the situation there, and if in his opinion necessary, to assume the command, which he did on
the 4th instant, after the Legislative disturbance
had occurred, at nine o'clock P.M.
No party motives or prejudices can reasonably
be imputed to him, but honestly convinced by
what he has seen and heard there, he has characterized the leaders of the White League there
in severe teims, and suggested modes of procedure against them which, although they cannot
be adopted, would, if legal. soon put an end to
the trouble'and disorders in that State.  General Sheridan was looking at facts, as he had
learned them from Collector Casey, Marshal
Packard, Judge Durell' and possibly in following the proceedings which would be the only
proper ones to pursue in time of peace, with
more of the utterly lawless condition of society
surrounding him at the time of his'dispatch,
and of what would prove a sure remedy. He
never proposed to do an illegal act, nor expressed a determination to proceed beyond what
the law might authorize for the punishment of
the crimes which had been committed, and the
commission of which cannot be successfully denied.
[P7q the New  York Times, Jan. 7,1875.]
Such a dispatch as that which General Sheridan sent to the Secretary of War on Tuesday is
not warranted by any facts known to the public;
it would scarcely be under any ccnceivable circumstances. Wehave neverpublished such a docuent before, and we must say that nothing like it
has ever been seen in any country under a Constitutional Government.  It almost induces one
to believe that the world has gone back two or
three hundred years in principles of Government.  CROMWELL  did indeed  serve Ireland
prettymuch as General Sheridan proposed to
treat  Louisiana, but most of us were under
the impression that that system of Government
had been indefinitely abandoned.  We are at a
loss to make out what are General Sheridan's
ideas of the Constitution under which he lives,
or of the functions of Congress, or of the powers of the Executive, to say nothing of the powers which may rightfully be exercised by a Lieutenant-General in the Army.   He first suggests
that  Congress  should pass a  bill  declaring  a  certain  class  of  people  in  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Mississsippi  "Banditti."   How  many  he  would  include in
that class does not appear, nor does it explain since what date in our history it was usual
for officers in the army to presume to dictate to
Congress as to the Legislation it should adopt.
But, a moment afterwards, a still better idea
strikes him, and he says: " It is possible that if
the President would issue a proclamation declaring them banditti, no further action need be
taken except that which would devolve upon me.'
If this mneans anything, it means that General
Sheridan would forthwith proceed to hang or
shoot as many persons as he chose to bring under
hisown description of "banditti."  We  have
then, a plain proposal that the President shall
"declare an indefinite number of citizens banditti," and that General Sheridan should then
deal with them without benefit of judge or jury.
This would certainly be resolving the Governmnent into its primitive elements. But there is
certainly a shorter mode which General Sheridan would recommend. It is for the President
to declare the Constitution and all its amendments null, shut up Congress, put down all
the newspapers, and then proclaim himself Dictator, with General Sheridan as his sole minister
.and chief executioner.   If General Sheridan
had advised this course at once he would scarcely have shown a greater ignorance or disregard
of law than he has done in his most extraordinary dispatch of January 5th, 1875.
We learn from our correspondent atWashington that the President will soon send in a mes'sage to Congress, to-day or to-morrow, on the
Louisiana difficulty, and that it will be "unusually pointed."  we  hope that it will not be
pomted with bayonets, like General Sheridan's
4ispatch, which seems to have produced an'outburst of indignation from one end of the countrytotheother. Some of the people in Washington must be curiously incompetent to gauge pblic
feeling, or they woutld have never allwed that
mad dispatch tohaveseenthe light.  It ismuch
to be desired that some members of the Government would take pains to acquaint themselves
with the tone and temper of the country. If the
Government had been prudent, it would have
put GENERAL SHERIDAN'S ferocious  dispatch
in or under the table, or into the fire, or said
nothing about it.  Instead of that, GENERAL
BELINAP telegraphs back to Sheridan that" the
President and all of us THOROUGHLY approve
',our course," which was one of the most unnecessary and foolish blunders ever committed by
the present Government. We hope that the
President's forthcoming message will be a little
more creditable to himself, his cabinet, and his
party, and to the people of the United
~qtates.
149
- 
The reader has the President's message right before him, and lihe can best judge
whether the "forthcoming message" was "a little more creditable" than Secretary Belknap's telegram "thoroughly approving" the madman Sheridan's blood-andiron dispatch.
In the same article, the Times further says: "We are sorry to find the Evening
Post identifying the REPUBLICAN PARTY with this reckless dispatch *  *  *  It
would be a strange thing to condemn a great party for the wild production of one
fevered brain.  *  *  *  And even though the President himself, and some members of Congress approved of General Sheridan's indecorous language it would
not show that the Republican party was in fault, but only that at the moment it
was unfortunately represented."
The Republican party recently sent delegates from every Congressional District in the United States to a National Convention held in Cincinnati, and thus
spoke in reference to this banditti dispatch and every other outrage, rascality,
scandal and theft perpetrated under Grant's administration.
"17. The National Administration merits commendation for its honorable work
in the management of our domestic and foreign affairs, and President Grant deserves the continued and hearty gratitude of the American people for his patriotism
and immense services in war and in peace."
HOW THE  ARMY OFFICERS DISCHARGED THEIR DUTIES.
As the army was nearly every day called upon to assist Marshal Packard's deputies in arresting white men in the interior parishes, on trumped-up charges of
violating the "enforcement laws," our narrative would not be complete without
supplying an illustration or two of the manner in which officers discharged their
duties.
In keeping with the rule we have heretofore strictly observed, of substitutingthe official records wherever it can be done without destroying the harmony of
the story, we shall pursue the latter course in the case of LIEUTENANT B. H
HODOSON, of the Seventh Cavalry. The following speaks for itself:
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES TROOPS, 
Vienna. La., Nov. 10. 1874 
SECOND LIEUTENANT B. H. HODGSON, Seventh Cavalry, is hereby placed in arrest for unlawfully, wantonly, and maliciously cutting the wires of the Western
Union Telegraph Company, on the 25th of October, 1874, at or near the town of'
Vienna, in the parish of Lincoln, and in the State of Louisiana  also for using:
contemptuous,  disrespectful  and  unofficer like language  on  the same  day
to the HoN. J.  E. TRIMBLE,  a Judge of the Eleventh  District Court of
the State of Louisiana, in a matter of 7tabeas corpus, issued by said judge,
for the bringing before him of certain prisoners, in the possession of one EdgarSeleye, a deputy-marshal of the United States.
(Signed),      GEO. E. HEAD,,
Capt. Ttird Infantry.
The court-martial for the trial of Lieut. B. H. HODGSON convened on the 21st:of November, 1874, with General DeTrobriand as President.  Among the specified
charges preferred against him are the following:
FIRST.-" That Second-Lieutenant B. H. HODGSON, &C., being in command of
a detachment of United States troops, serving as a posse comitatus, to protect
Deputy U.S. Marshal EDGAR E. SELEYE in the execution of his office, did, in
assisting the said deputy to serve a process on one J. G. HUEY, a citizen of theUnited States, and a resident of Vienna, in the State of Louisiana,  use unofficerlike, unbecoming violence, and showed unbecoming zeal by drawing his pistol
on said HUEY, threatening to shoot him, and otherwise behaving in an unsoldierly -
and unbecoming manner."
SECOND.-" That Second-Lieutenant B. H. HODGSON, &C., did assist in'the arrest,
of one J. G. HUEY; that after the said Huey had been brought to the town of
Vienna, and properly secured under a guard of soldiers, in the upper room, of the
Court House, the said Huey requested a member of his guard to see Deputy U.
S. Marshal Seleye, who was in the room below, and ask him to come up and read
the warrant of his arrest, that lie migllt be informed as to the nature of the offenses with which he was charged. That LIEUTENANT B. H. HODGSON, on hearing
the soldier deliver the above message to the deputy-marshal, raised from his
seat and came uS-stairs into the room in which said HIuey and others were con
150
LOUIS IAkNA. 
fined, and ordered the soldiers on guard there to level their guns at the said Huey,
which they did: and at the same time drawing his own revolver and presenting
the same close to said Huey, said "This is my authority," meaning his
revolver; and then pointing to the loaded guns in the hands of the soldiers, and
which were aimed at the body of said Huey, who was unarmed and defenseless,
thereby meaning also to have it understood that he had made the arrest himself,
and held the said Huey in custody by his own will, and with the armed forces
under his command."
THIRD. -" That Lieut. B. H. HoDGsoN, &c., being present when a writ of habeas
corpus was served on Deputy U. S. Marshal Seleye, issued by the Hon. J. E.
TRIMBLE, Judge of the Eleventh Judicial District of the State of Louisiana, for
the production before the said Judge of certain prisoners then in the custody of
said deputy marshal, for the purpose of inquiring into the cause of their detention
and imprisonment, did send the following violent, insubordinate, indecent and
offensive message to the said Judge by the Sheriff of Jackson, who had served
the said writ:' Give JUDGE TRIMBLE my compliments; tell him to go to hell; tell
him next time to send three papers; I would like one to shave with, one to light my
pipe, and one to use when I-go to the privy,' or words to that effect, at the same
time displaying his revolver, which message was indecent, and highly unbecoming an officer and a gentleman, and calculated to impair the administration of
justice and bring the same into disrepute and contempt."
FOURTH.-That Lieut. B. H. HODGSON, etc., did, while on the march with his
command, maliciously, and without authority, and in violation of the statutes of
Lousiana, destroy a portion of the telegraph wires, the property of the Western
Union Telegraph Company, and also the property of inhabitants of the United
States, by cutting the same in one or more places, and twisting portions of the
wire around the stumps of trees, thus interrupting telegraphic communication between remote sections of the country, and to the interruption of business of said
telegraph company."
The court-martial, although seemingly anxious to save Lieut. B. H. HODGSON,
from being dishonorably discharged the service, as he richly merited, was forced,
from the conclusive character of the evidence produced, to find him guilty of the
more heinous of the charges preferred against him, and sentenced him "to be
reprimanded in general orders from department headquarters. The court is so
lenient in consideration of the great character and record of the accused, and of
his inexperience, &c."
In approving the sentence of the court-martial, General Emory declared that
the court lead shown "great leniency to the accused" had given him "the benefit
of every doubt" but, "in consideration of the very novel circumstances under
which Lieut. B. H. HODGSON was suddenly placed, without any previous experience, the findings are approved and the sentence is confirmed.  Lieut. Hodgson
is relieved from arrest, and restored to duty to his regiment, where it is hoped he
will strive to regain the standing which he undoubtedly held before the commission of the errors which have been proven against him."  And with this easy
sentence the ruffianly Hodgson escaped.
With respect to the operations of the notorious MAJOR MERRILLI,, whose acts
have acquired so much wide-spread and unenviable celebrity, we will quote the
following fitting rebuke administered to him by Lieutenant-Colonel HENRY G.
MORROW, in a report upon the condition of affairs in Northern Lousiana, to General Emory, As Colonel Morrow's letter is of the utmost importance, and disposes of many of the exaggerated, malicious and slanderous reports of GENERAL
SHERIDAN and MAJOR MERRILL, we will preface the extracts of Colonel Morrow's
letter by submitting the following very excellent indorsement of Colonel
Morrow from General Sherman:
HEADQUARTERS OF TIHE ARMY,
St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 4, 1875.
This is most respectfully forwarded to the Secretary of War, with a request
that he submit it for the personal perusal of the Pr sident. I know of no officer
of Colonel Morrow's rank who was better qualified to speak or write of matters
like this, and his opinions are entitled to great consideration. I profess to have
some knowledge of the people, both white and black, from a long residence
among them before the war and several visits since, but I do not intrude my
opinion in the confusion which the subject has now involved.
o;~ ~                  W. T. SmERMAN, Geel
151
LOUISIANA. 
LOUISIANA.
"Many citizens of Shreveport," writes Colonel Morrow, "complained bitterly
to me of the conduct of MAJOR LEWIS MERRILL, Seventh Cavalry, in making
affidavits upon which the arrests of prominent citizens have been made for alleged
violation of the laws of Congress, known as'The Enforcement Act.' Public
feeling and opinion among the white population of all the parishes on the Red
river, condemn MAJOR MERRILL'S act, and the opinion was openly expressed that
this officer, so far as his act could do it, has made the army an active participant in
a heated political controversy."  *   *   *   *
CONTEMPTIBLE EXCUSE OF AN ARMY OFFICER.
I have given, as near as possible, Major Merrill's reason in his own language,
and I add that he emphatically claimed that his act was that of LEWIS MERRILL,
a citizen, and not of MAJOR LEWIS MERRILL, an officer of the Army of the
United States. Whether a military officer in an important command can separate
his private from his official character without subjecting himself to censure, take
original  action  in  his  own  person,  whereby he  becomes  identified with
political partisans, and whereby, also, the whole army is brought into disparage ment in the minds of many well-disposed people of the country at large, and
whereby, also, the reputation of the service for fair and impartial conduct in the
delicate and responsible duties it is required to perform in conjunction with the
civil authorities in this and other Southern States, is impaired, I leave, without
any expression of opinion on my part, to the decision of higher authority.
I now come to the general condition of affairs in the parishes on Red' river,
and which, without the slightest exaggeration, I may say is bad.
Respect and regard for the general government are expressed by a class of
people, and so is their determination not to be brought into a collision with the
Federal troops; but there is a universal expression of contempt for the State
Government, and so far as language could express it, there is open defiance of its
authority. The Governor is everywhere and almost by every white man
denounced as a "usurper," and the determination is openly expressed by nearly
every white man not to submit to his usurpation longer than submission is com pelled by the presence and force of Federal soldiers.  Dissatisfaction and discon tent are plainly visible in all the acts and conversation of the people, and the re suit is manifest in almost every department of business.   Uncultivated fields,
unrepaired fences, roofless and dilapidated dwellings, and abandoned houses,
meet the eye at every step, and the whole aspect of the country has a look of
poverty and neglect.   The schools in many parishes are closed for want of
money to pay the teachers, and I was told again and again that the school fund
had been stolen by State officials.   In one parish a criminal court had not been
held in nearly two years, and in other parishes no court, criminal or civil, had
been held for a long time.   In a community where there are no courts, crime
finds a genial soil, and the natural result is that the law has fallen into disregard
and disrepute.   Judges were openly charged with corruption, and money and
injustice is charged with turning the judicial scales.
THE COURTS USED FOR POLITICAL OPPRESSION.
The people reported, and they are somewhat to be believed, that the Federal
courts had been used to oppress them for political ends, and that the Federal troops
had been used for political purposes. How far this has been the case, I have no
means to know, but I do believe that Deputy Marshals have used United States
soldiers in cases where there was no necessity for them, and from my investigations in the parishes of Onachita and Lincoln, I am quite certain that these civil
officers discharged their duties in an unnecessarily harsh, if not cruel manner. It
was represented to me that the marshals are in the habit of prowling  through the
country in the night time, accompanied by a posse of soldiers, to make arrests of citizens
who could be arrested by the marshal unaided, and under any circunmstance, could
be arrested i7 open daylight.
These night arrests seem to have a peculiar terror for the people, and my attention was repeatedly called to them.  Another subject of complaint was the fact
that citizens are arrested without the 8sh'lw of a cause, and after long and vexatious delay and great expense, are set at liberty, without affording them even a
preliminary hearing. Another subject of bitter complaint, especially in Coushatta,
is the fact that there is not a United States Commissioner in that parish, and
persons arrested are required to be sent to the City of New Orleans, several
hundred miles, for; even an examination. * * *
152 
LOUISIANA.
The complaints against the State officers were so numerous that a mere enumineration of them would fill a volume. Corruption, jobbing in office; partiality
and favoritism in the administration of justice, exorbitant taxes raised in some
instances seven and eight per cent., in the appraised value of the property; a
ruined credit, a depleted State and parish treasury; enormous debts, State and
parish; a multiplication of officers in the persons of favorite individuals, are a few
of the charges made by the people against their State authorities, the political con
dition of the State is the one subject of conversation everywhere,-in public and private, and among all classes, except the negro, who feels no interest in it, and because
he does not comprehend it. The dissatisfaction is widespread and deep, and I am
firmly convinced that sooner or later there will be an outbreak of public feeling
which will be attended by scenes of fearful violence.     *      *        *       *
Without going into the needless details, I give the following as my deep-seated
convictions: The present State Government cannot maintain itself in power a
single hour without the protection of the Federal troops.       *      *    *
I not only do not believe, but I am absolutely certain, that there will not be at
any time in Louisiana any organized or authorized resistance to the general government.  If the expressions of the people are to be believed, and I do believe them,
there is a very sincere desire to live quietly under the protection of the Constitution of the United States and enjoy the blessings of the national government,
but there is no disguising the fact that the protection afforded by the Federal
Administration to the Government of the present State Executive is the cause of
bitter personal and political feeling in the breasts of nineteen-twentieths of the
white inhabitants of the State.
HENRY A. MORROW,
Lieut.-Gol. 13th Inftantry, U. S. A.
We omitted to state that Col. Morrow is not only a Republican, but what is
stranger still for such a fair-minded and intelligent gentleman, an intimate friend
of President Grant's.
Such, therefore, has been the policy of the Federal Administration, not only to
the people of Louisiana, but to the people of every other Southern State. We
cannot better end this branch of the subject than by quoting the very eloquent
remarks of that gifted Southern orator, MR. LAMAR, upon this very topic, in one
of his most brilliant efforts toward the close of the recent session of Congress:
"Sir, when this prostrate people, writhing in their agony, turn over and jostle
these rickety establishments that would fall down of their own rot if let alone,
when, as is almost inevitable, disorders occur, the national authorities are called
upon, the Federal Executive is invaded-for what? To protect the prostrate
people against all these local, dishonest, corrupt and oppressive governments?
No; but to protect and maintain these governments and to hold the people down
in quiet submission to them. What a policy! This great Federal Government
powerless for the protection of the people against oppressions of local govern  ment, but omnipotent to maintain these governments and enforce their oppres  sions."
Although the people of the South are regarded by some people in the North as
t   a vindictive and blood-thirsty race, yet we find them in March, 1875, two short
months after General Sheridan had declared them banditti, and had demanded of
the President and Congress the power to shoot them as outlaws; two short
months after GEN. DE TROBRIAND and his soldiers had broken into their Capitol,
and forcibly ejected five members of their Lower House, of whose election there
has never existed a doubt-after having been wronged, oppressed, robbed, trampled
under foot for years by a handful of characterless Northern miscreants, who had
put themselves at the head of the ignorant negroes for the purpose of elevating
themselves into office, and plundering the owners of the soil, we find these peo  ple, with a generosity and a magnanimity for which history affords few parallels,
submitting some of their deepest wrongs to the arbitration of a Committee of Con  gress, consisting almost entirely of their political adversaries, and among whom
was W. A. Wheeler. the present candidate for Vice-President. They submitted
those cases wherein Kellogg's Returning Board had cheated Democratic members
of botb Houses of their seats in the Legislature, and had awarded their places to
Kellogg's Republicans.
On the 13th of March, 1875, by a unanimous vote of the Committee, the action
of Kellogg's Returning Board was set aside, and the Conservative members re  instated in their seats, thlis giving the Democrats control of the House of Re
153 
presentatives of the State of Louisiana, which as a matter of right and justice,
they possessed, and would have maintained but for GENERAL DE TROBRIAND and
his troops.
Kellogg, the usurper, however, remained and still remains in the Executive
chair. The political complexion of the Senate remained and still remains unchanged, but the people have derived some encouragement in being able at last to
interpose a check to radical robberies, which were eating up the vitals of their
commonwealth.
PART FOUR.
PRESIDENT GRANT'S BROTHER-IN-LAW.
The latest investigation into Louisiana affairs was made by a Committee of the
Democratic House of Representatives, which examined into the conduct and
management of the Custom House of the Port of New Orleans, the offices of
United States Marshal and the other Federal officials in Louisiana.  At the very
outset the Committee were confronted with evidence which showed thatMR.
JAMES F. CASEY, brother-in-law of President Grant, was endeavoring his utmost
to throw obstacles in the way of a thorough investigation; the first witness that
appeared before the Committee, Mr. Edgar Seleye, formerly a deputy United
States Marshal, and who procured a position in the New York Custom House
through the influence of Louisiana politicians, testified that MR. CASEY desired
him to go to Canada, and agreed to give him one hundred and fifty dollars cash,
and one hundred and fifty dollars during each month that he remained absent,
and assured him that his position in the New York Custom House would be given to,
him back again when he returned; that Collector Casey informed him that General Sharpe, the present Surveyor of the Port of New York had assured' him on
his word of honor as a gentleman that Mr. Seleye would be reinstated, and that
the only reason why he did not like to grant him a regular leave of absence was
because if inquiry was made and it was ascertained that he was absent on leave,
the Custom House officials would not be able to offer a satisfactory excuse, and
"that they would get themselves into trouble."
Mr. Seleye also-testified as follows:
"Casey said, if I was subpoenaed by the Sergeant-at-Arms, for me to go as
easy on him in my testimony as possible-that he had never done me an injury;
That was several days before I was subpoenaed; I think about Thursday.   was
subpoenaed on Sunday, and he suggested that I should keep away from the Custom House."
Nor was Collector Casey the only prominent official who endeavored to suppress this scrutiny into the federal officeholders of Louisiana.   President Grant
himself, anxious and eager as he has always been to carry out the policy which
he so patriotically initiated when he issued the famous edict "let no guilty man
escape," again appears as the defender and protector of his favorite appointees.
Does not the following correspondence offer incontrovertible evidence of the
President's intense purpose to punish all rascally officials?
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
Wa8hington, D.C., May 19, 1876. 
SIR:-I am instructed by the Committee on the investigation of the conduct of
certain federal officers in New Orleans to represent that MR. EDGAR SELEYE, now
an employe of the Custom House in New  York, and for several years a special
agent of the Post Office Department in Louisiana, and a Deputy United States
Marshal in that State, has appeared before the Committee as a witness, and has
declined to answer certain interrogatories with regard to fraudulent pay-rolls of the
New Orleans Custom House, the robbing of the United States mails, and the
cutting of the telegraph wires, upon the ground that these offenses would tend to
his own crimination, as it would furnish data and names, and point to particular
facts and circumstances that might lead to his own conviction, even though
technically his own testimony might not be used against him.   It is therefore
suggested that the immunity under the Statute of 1862 is not sufficient to cover
his case.   I am further instructed to say that the evidence sought is of material
value, and that it appears to be in the possession of no one else there than the
persons implicated in the alleged crimes and offenses.  So that should  he Con
154
LOUISIANA. 
mittee have to obtain the evidence from this witness, the attempt to obtain it at
all must be abandoned. Moreover, Mr. Seleye has declared under oath that he
had been offered bribes not to appear as a witness, and that he has also been
threatened with prosecution in the event that he should do so. The Committee is
satisfied that the ends of public justice will be promoted by enabling the Committee to bestow immunity upon the witness if, at the conclusion of his testimony, it shall appear that he is entitled to the same.
Trusting that these considerations may commend themselves to your judgment, as they have to that of the Committee, I have the honor to request that as
in recent similar cases, you will grant the immunity asked for in behalf of this
witness.
R. L. GIBSON,
Chairman.
HON. EDWARD PIERREPONT,
Attorney-General.
LET NO GUILTY MAN ESCAPE.
The answer returned is as follows:
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, 1
Washington, May 23, 1876. ~
SIR:-Your request in relation to the indemnity to Mr. Seleye was before the Presidentand Cabinet to-day. The President had been notified that several members of your
Committee are not infavor of the indemnity.  Itisnot deemed best to grant it.
HON. R. L. GIBSON,                                  EDWARDS  PIERREPONT.
Chairman, &c., House of Representatives.                  Attorney- General
THE ENDS OF JUSTICE DEFEATED BY THE ADMINISTRATION.
We speak by the card when we state that the Democratic members of the committee were unanimous in protecting MR. SELEYE in the manner and form expressed
in the above letter of their chairman MR. GIBSON. The objections to the indemnity against the prosecution of Mr. SELEYE have therefore emanated from the
Republican members of the committee, and more particularly from PRESIDENT
GRANT'S brother-in-law, Mr. Casey. Therefore, testimony of the utmost importance, which would have implicated beyond all question COLLECTOR CASEY, and
other high officials in the New Orleans Custom House, was not obtained simply
through the action of the President and his Cabinet.
It will be observed that ATTORNEY GENERAL PIERREPONT takes great care to mention the fact that the question was submitted to the President and Cabinet, so that.
there can be no doubt as to the unanimity of the Administration on carrying out (on paper only) this policy of "Let no guilty man escape."
Strong evidence of gigantic frauds in the importation of cigars and
other goods into the port of New Orleans appears in the testimony adduced before the committee. But the most important witness upon this
branch of the investigation, MR. G. W. FERGUSON, after having given
some very damaging evidence during the sessions of the Committee in Washington, requested that the balance of his examination should be deferred until the
Committee met in New Orleans.  He expressed a preference to testify in that
city, because he desired to refresh his memory by referring to certain data and
documents which he had there. But Mr. Ferguson did not appear before the.
Committee in New Orleans. Diligent efforts were made to procure his attendance,
but it was of no avail. The whereabouts of Mr. Ferguson were not to be discovered.  His wife, who lives in New Orleans, was subpoenaed before the Committee and asked as to the whereabouts of her husband. But beyond the fact that
she addressed letters to him at the general Post Office in the city of New York, no
traces of him could be discovered. His brother was also examined, but he appeared to be as much in the dark as Mrs. Ferguson.
The mysterious disappearance of Mr. Ferguson at this important juncture was
attributed by members of the Committee and those familiar with the ways and
tricks of Louisiana politicians to the influence brought to bear upon the fugitive
witness by the Custom House clique. But certain portions of the evidence that
Mr. Ferguson gave in Washington is sufficient to convince the most skeptical that
systematic frauds upon the revenue have been the order of the day at the New Orleans Custom House under Casey's administration.
155
LOUISIANA. 
156                              LOUI SIAN A.
FRAUDS IN THE NEW ORLEANS CUSTOM HOUSE.
For instance Mr. Ferguson swore that after he had been in the Custom  House
a few weeks (in 1873) he observed that frauds were being perpetrated, and he
made up his mind to take note of them. so that in case he was discharged his in formation could be serviceable in enabling him to retain his place.   The first
fraud that came under his notice was the arrival in the cigar-room of the Custom
House of twelve cases which had been invoiced as twelve cases of jelly. Mr. Fer guson out of curiosity pried open the bottom of one of these cases, and extracted
therefrom a box of very choice "exception" cigars, which he smoked and found
the aroma perfectly delicious.  MR. HERWIGG, the Chief Deputy Collector appeared
in the cigar-room, and seemed very much excited at the presence of these twelve
cases in the cigar-room.
But perhaps it would be more satisfactory to the reader that we should publish
the evidence of Mr. Ferguson upon this point.
Question. Why were they, the twelve cases, sent to the tobacco-room, if they
were classed as jelly?  A. Mr.!ERWIGG said, to use his own words, "The damn
fools ought to have sent them to No. 6."
Q. What did he mean-warehouse No. 6? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who runs that warehouse? A. A man by the name of Thiel runs it, but it
is supposed to belong to Mr. Herwigg and his brother.
Q. Is it a Government bonded warehouse? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is it under the control of Herwigg? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Why do you think it is under the control of Herwigg? A. Because all the
bonded warehouses are controlled by the Collector.
Q. I understood you to say these twelve cases were consigned to the first person
you named?  A. Yes, sir, H. Huard.
Q. When they left the Custom House, they belonged to F. Masich. A. Yes,
sir, to a cigar dealer.
Q. Is this person a regular importer of jelly or segars? A. He is an importer
of Havana cigars.
Q. Who is H. Huard?  A. He is a man that has never been in any business
that I know of in New Orleans.
Q. You know him? A. Yes, sir. He was a clerk in a cigar store for a while,
but I never knew him to be in any business for himself.
Q. Was he clerk in the cigar store where those cigars were sent?9 A. No sir.
Q. What was the office of the man who sent them up the street? A. Mr.
.ONG, the appraiser.
Q. Why was it that these cigars were brought to the cigar dealer at all? A.
Through a mistake of the inspector on the wharf.   He had orders to send these
twelve cases of merchandise to No. 6, but there had been an order issued
previous to him to send all cigars direct to the cigar-room and not send them to
No. 6. He saw these cigars and he sent them to the cigar-room.
Q. Where was the fraud in the transaction? A. The fraud is in this way:
On cigars the duty is $2.50 a pound and twenty-five per cent. ad valorem, besides
the Internal Revenue tax of $6 a thousand for the stamps, while on jelly I think
it is only ten per cent., although I would not be certain about it. I do not think
that jelly came under the act admitting fruit free, but I think there is only about
ten per cent. on it.
Q. So that they passed these cigars through the Custom House as jelly? A.
Yes, sir.
Q. Did you call the attention of anybody to this? A. No, sir, because it was
pretty generally known among the officials there.
Q. Did you have any reason for not bringing it to the knowledge of the
Custom House officials at New Orleans?  A. I should have never communicated it to them, because Iknew they were all in the ring toget/ier
Q. Did you believe that if you gave this information to the officials in the
Custom House that it would expose the frauds? A. No, sir; on the contrary I
would have been immediately discharged.
Q. You say that they were all in a ring? A. Yes, sir.
Q. State to the Committee who you mean by all in a ring?  What Custom
House officials?  State their names and their positions so that we can identify
them?  A. F. HERWIGG, Depuzty Collector, MR. CRAWFORD, Entry Clerk, Col.
/DILLINGHXAM the naval officer, and';IOMAS ONG, the appraiser.
Q. What reason had you for believing that these officers of the Custom 
LOUISIANA.
House were in what you call a ring? A. I have reasons to think so from the
importers: at one time MR. ONG, the appraiser, would collect the money and would,
keep it all himself and not divide.
Q. State what money that was; we cannot understand it. A. The money for
the weight on cigars and any business from the cigar-room. That is what I
heard from the importers. MR. JosE DoMINGo, of 44 Canal street, told me that
hereafter he should not pay MR. ONG another cent.  That he should keep and
divide the money himself and pay them, and not have any more trouble because
Mr. ONG, when he took the money, did not divide.
Q. What do you mean by dividing the money? What money is it? A. I will
state to you: Whenever MR. DOMINGO used to get an invoice of cigars, they
would be invoiced, for instance, at 60,000 while there would be 100,000 in the lot.
The importer paid $20 a thousand; in that case all over 60,000 would go to the;
ring, and Mr. DOMINGO would pay the duty on the 60,000.
Q. What you mean by the money then is, what the importer would have paid
for the invoice if it had been a true invoice. The difference being between that
and what the invoice really was; if the invoice called for 60,000 (cigars) and there
was 100,000 (cigars), the difference was 40,000 (cigars), on which the importers
would not pay duty? A. He would pay twenty dollars a thousand on them to
the ring. The duty came to as much as seventy dollars sometimes.
Q. In this ring was there a paymaster? Did the money come into the hands of
some one of them? A. THOMAS ONG had that part of the business. He is the one
that collected the money from the importers. They finally got him removed because he would not divide the money fair.
Q. Were you present at the payment to any one of the parties? A. I decline
to answer that question.
Q. Are you afraid that it would criminate you? A. Yes, sir, it might criminate myself.
Q. Would you like to consult a lawyer and see if it would criminate you? A.
Yes, sir.
The Chairman of the Committee here stated to the witness that he could safely
answer who was present when this money was received by any of these parties to the ring, without the testimony criminating him in any way.
THE WITNESS: I saw the money paid to MR. ONG in MR. J. DOMINGO's office
Q. By whom was the money paid to this party? A. MR. DOMINGO.
Q. What is his business? A. A cigar importer.
Q. How much did you see paid over by this gentlemen. A. Six hundred
dollars.
Q. Were you the recipient in any part of that money? A. No, sir.
Q. Did the members of this ring suppose from anything you did or said
that you were in sympathy with them and acting in concert with them in
these frauds? A. MR. ONG told them one day, up-stairs, that they need not
be afraid of me; that I had a family to support.
Q. You had a conversation with MR. ONG on this subject on the streets?
A. Yes. sir.
Q. Do you recollect, in part, the conversation? A. No, except that he told
me that he had told them up-stairs that I was all right, and that there
was no danger of me saying anything; that I had a family to support and
they need not be afraid of me.
Mr. Ferguson testified to two or three other instances of fraud, of a character
that in substance was somewhat similar to that narrated above and which he particularized with equal minuteness. He established beyond all peradventure the
fact that officials in the Custom House, headed by MR. CASEY'S deputy, MR. FELIX
HERWIGG, were members of a conspiracy by which the revenue had been for three
or four years defrauded of thousands of dollars. From uncontradicted evidence,
it transpired that the Custom House at New Orleans, "under the brother-in-law,"
had been made to contribute fraudulently immense sums of money for partisan
purposes. The manner of perpetrating these frauds was by means of vouchers,
which would be made out in the Custon House, apparently signed and sworn to
in the regular way, and purporting to be for services rendered to the Government.
Usually these vouchers were for the sum of ninety-three dollars a month for each
alleged employc. The service specified in the voucher was in almost every
instance that of temporary,laborer, and these were made out, in addition to the
monthly vouchers, for the permanent employcs proper of the Custom House. It,
157 
LOUISIANA.
transpired in the evidence that many of the names attached to these vouchers
were purely fictitious and imaginary, and in others, that the parties named in
them never rendered the Government a moment of service in the Custom House,
except that of drawing their pay. Under the law these vouchers were required
to be sworn to, and appended to which was the notorial and official signature of
MR. CRAWFORD, an entry clerk, in the Custom House, and commissioned as a
Notary Public.
It often happened that no oath was administered at all, but the vouchers thus
made out were forwarded to the Secretary of the Treasury, as vouchers for the disbursements made by "the brother-in-law" (MR. CASEY) at New Orleans, and the
money thus fraudulently obtained was applied to political uses. No attempt was
made by either MIA. CASEY, or by any person in his behalf, to explain or contradict
these charges of fraudulent pay-rolls. The perpetration of this crime was not an
occasional thing, but was shown to be a regularly established practice. The evidence also showed that in many instances the pollution of the ballot box itself was
the consideration for the payment of the money thus unlawfully obtained. On
this branch of their investigation the Committee reported on the 10th of August,
1876, as follows:
"It is impossible for your Committee to estimate the exact amount of money thus obtainedfrom the Public Treasury, but from all the circumstances the conviction is forced
on the minds of your Committee that all, or nearly all, of the entire sum of money represented by the vouchers referred to was absolutely stolen."
Large sums of money were thus taken from the Treasury. According to the
testimony of all the witnesses examined on this subject, these vouchers were made
out in duplicate, and although duplicates of all other vouchers for disbursements
by the Collector were retained by him, the Committee were unable to procure the
duplicates of any of these vouchers for temporary service, the reason assigned
at one time being that they could not be found, and another that they had not
been preserved or retained. But this open and unblushing use of the public
moneys to perpetuate the carpet-bag Government of Louisiana, although it is
conclusive evidence of the thorough demoralization of the civil service in the
Custom House presided over by President Grant's brother-in-law, yet
THE CROWNING INFAMY OF ALL
remains to be told.
MR. E. A. DAVIS, a clerk in the office of the St. Charles Hotel, New Orleans, another brilliant carpet-bagger, testified before the Committee as follows:
In the Spring of 1874, I cannot recollect just what month, I was called upon by
MR. J. HALE YPHER, (member of Congress), who asked if I would undertake a
contract to do some work at the lighthouse; my acquaintance with MR. SYPHER
was at that time very slight; I told him I would like to see the contract; so he
carried me up-stairs to the office of Colonel Morse, the superintendent of the building, and asked him to show me the contract; he pulled it out of a pigeon hole and I
looked at it and read it; I found no informality in it; I supposed it was like other
contracts and so I accepted.
Q. State what the contract was. A. It was for some work at some lighthouse;
I don't know exactly what the work was, or where the lighthouse was; think it
was down on the coast somewhere.
Q. What was the consideration of the contract? A. I recollect that there were
several items in the contract, one of fifteen hundred dollars and something. The
total amount was five thousand dollars. I signed the contract and delivered
it to MR. J. HALE SYPHER. Some four or five days afterward he called upon me
and asked me to go down and get the money, for the work was done. I thought
that it was rather singular that the work should have been done in so short a time.
I went with him.  He introduced me to the gentleman who gave me the check.
I don't know his name.  SYPHER said to him, "This is MR. DAVIS, who took the
contract for the work at the lighthouse;" and the gentleman handed me the
check. Mr. SYPHER accompanied'me down to the Treasury, where I was paid
five one thousand dollarbills. I then handed this money over to MR. SYPHER, and
bade him good morning.'He then said, "When I break this one thousand dollar
bill I will remunerate you." I knew nothing about it, and thought nothing more
about it, and went off.
Q. Can yod give the Committee any reason why Mr. Sypher could have come
to you and asked you to take this contract?  A. No, except it may be this: about
158 
six months before, sealed proposals were called for for the construction of the colonnade, or whatever it is called, at the top of the Custom House, and I put in a bid
for it at seventy-two thousand dollars. The contract was taken by a man named
Clark, I think, of Baltimore, at forty-five thousand dollars.  When SYPHER made
this proposal to me I supposed hlie knew that I was putting in bids for the Custom
House work, and he wanted me to contract for his job.
Q. You did not take any steps to find out who was having the work done?
A. No, sir.
Q. Did you render any account which showed that the contract had been complied with, or that any work had been performed? A. No, sir; not a bit. It
was simply on the acknowledgment of MR. SYPHER himself, who went down and
said the work had been completed, and hlie wanted a check for the money.
Q. Did it occur to you that this was a large amount of money to earn in so
short a time? Did it occur to you as extraordinary that this amount of money
should be paid to you by the United States Government, and that you should
receipt for it as you said by check, when you had in fact performed no work for the
Government? A. Yes, sir; it did look a little extraordinary that in so short a
time the work should have been accomplished and five thousand dollars paid.
Q. Five thousand dollars for doing nothing? A. For doing nothing.
Q. Was the gentleman who gave you the check the cashier of the Custom House
proper?  A. Yes, sir; I think he was.
Mr. Davis further testified that he has since been informed that the five thousand dollars were used for electioneering purposes.
The following letter will show the official transaction in the account rendered to
the Government by the Hon. JAMES F. CASEY, President Grant's brother-in-law,
and disbursing agent at New Orleans, and how the Government was defrauded:
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, July 30, 1876.
SIR: In reply to your inquiry of the 29th instant, I have the honor to inform you
that a contract was entered into under date of October 18, 1872, b'etween E. A.
DAvIS, of New Orleans, La., and J. F. MORSE, then Superintendent of the Custom
House in that city, for the repair of the United States warehouse at quarantine
station on the Mississippi River in Lousiana, and the erection of a new wharf
thereat, according to plans and specifications furnished by the said Morse.  In
compensation therefore he was to receive five thousand dollars. This contract is
attached to a voucher receipted by E. A. DAVIS for the sum of five thousand
dollars, transmitted with the accounts of James F. Casey, disbursing agent at
New Orleans, Lousiana, for the month of October, 1872, under the Appropriation for Repair and Preservation of Public Buildings.
Very respectfully,
WM. A. POTTER,
Supervin.q Architect.
Hon. R. L. GIBSON, Chairman, &c.,
House of Representatives:
To these gross charges Mr. Casey said not one word in reply. On the contrary he resorted to various subterfuges and pretexts to avoid appearing before the
Committee. One day he was sick. The next day some member of his family
was sick.  The third day he was compelled to be unavoidably absent from the
city; and so cn until the departure of the Committee from New Orleans. If
this is not a confession of guilt, it is difficult to imagine what can be. When
that miscreant, Lawrence Harney, whom certain disreputable New York politicians hired to slander the character of Speaker Kerr, charged him with
having received a bribe several years ago, that pure and upright man arose from
a dying bed to meet the perjurer face to face and to vindicate his character,
even, as it has since proved, at the sacrifice of his life. But Mr. Kerr was a pure,
honest man. What a contrast between the late honored Speaker of the House
of Representatives andthe cringing, cowardly, thieving and rascally Collector of the
Port of New Orleans, Jim Casey. He did not dare to face a committee. It has since
transpired that his accomplices had determined to prevent him from appearing, by
force, if necessary.  At any rate one thing is certain, that if Mr. Casey had been
guiltless of these numerous charges of grand larceny preferred against him, the
temporary and slight indisposition under which he sought shelter would have
been no obstacle to his appearance before the Committee for the purpose of
that vindication which he owed to himself, to his family, and to the country.
159
LOUISIANA. 
LOUISIA.A.
THE COMMITTEE'S REPORT ADVERSE TO COLILECTOR CASEY.
The minority of the committee of this last Louisiana Investigating Committee,
composed of those three famous Republicans,the irascible member from Michigan,
Mr. Conger, the Kellogg carpet-bagger from Louisiana, Darrall, and the pliable
Woodburn of Nevada, are unaccountably silent as to the circumstance that Collector Casey, although subpoenaed and sent for several times to testify, not only
did not appear, but wrapped himself all the tighter in his bed clothes; nor do
they mention that as soon as the Committee left New Orleans, the burly figure
of Casey was observed strutting into the Custom House. The report of the
Committee concludes with the following recommendation:
"Your Committee are of opinion that the government should without delay
institute suit against the collector, James F. Casey, to recover such sums of
money as have been by him, and those in his employment, misapplied and appropriated to unlawful purposes, as shown by the evidence. And your committee
cannot believe that the President will permit Mr. Casey to continue in office, as
collector of customs at New Orleans, after he shall become acquainted with the
testimony taken before your committee."
160
0 
REPUBLICAN - "RING" RITLE.
The District of Columbia experimented upon by Repub.'icin Reformers.
TIlE MIAN WHO DROVE TWEED OUT OF NEW YORK
WANTED AT THE NATIONAL CAPITOL.
"Y E SIIALL KNOW THEM BY TIIEIR FRIUITS."
The administration of the Government of the District of Columbia, during the
past decade, affords an eminently fair test by which to determine whether the Republican party has the ability or disposition to cure the manifold evils, which honest men
of all political parties admit, afflict every branch of the public service, and demand
prompt and decisive remedy at the hands of our rulers. Congress has, under the Constitution, supreme control over the District of Columbia; and, therefore, the party
which has had exclusive possession of the Legislative as well as of the Executive
Departments of the Federal Government for many years must be held responsible for
the frauds, corruptions, and still more odious crimes which have characterized the rule
of the men to whom a Republican Congress and President confided the Government
of the District of Columbia.
The District of Columbia ring in the zenith of its power was the most perfectly
organized, the strongest entrenched corrupt combination this country ever saw. It
not only included all the corrupt men in Congress, but all the principal representatives
of the great rings in the country were either directly interested or were anxious to
secure the assistance and friendship of its leaders. It was primarily the conception
of a few unscrupulous plotters in 1870-1. The flood tide of apparent prosperity
which set in at the close of the civil war had, at this period. reached its greatest
height. It was an era of gigantic undertakings, stupendous jobs and wholesale corruption of public men.   The Uinion Pacific Railroad had been completed and the
Credit Mobilier of America hadl pocketed $50,000,000.  The Northern Pacific Railroad had been chartered and endowed with a ended subsidy equal in extent to the
empire of France and the kingdoms of Spain, Portugal and Italy. Washington was
full to overflowing with jobbers and lobbyists. All the great rings which were being
gorged with public plunder had their agents and representatives at the National
Cal i al to watch events arid take care of their interests. The kings of the lob bv then
were Jay and Henlry D. Cooke. Their trusted, adroit general manager was the late
William S. I-IHuintington, a brilliant versatile man of exceedingly affable manners, with 
~REPEl~,sc.  "RING" RULE.
REPUIACN ~RIN ~'RULE.
a genius f(l-r jobbery, and endowed with anl unsurpassed talent for bold combinations.
He was ea intimate terms with many public men, and his entertainments were excelled
only by those of Sam WVard.  Concerned iii all great schem-es hlie saw a grand oppor;tunity for speculation, jobbery and money-making in the National Capital.  His first
effort, the passage through Congress of a charter for the Washington and Georgetown
Passenger Railroad Company, along Pennsylv,ania aveiiue, had proved a grand success,
since, not long after the road was completed it was sold to a few New York capitalists
-at a profit of three hundred per cent. on the original inv-estrment.
A NATIONAL  EXIIIBITION JOB.
The next scheme, originated in September, 1869, was to procure a mnost extraorlinary charter from Congress for a corporation which was to hold a "Grand Universal
ilExposition of all Nations in the City of Washington in 1871."  On October'st, 1869,
:President Grant was made president of the General Executive Coimmittee, and ex officio
.-chairman of the Local Executive Committee.   On Decemlber 7th, 1869, the scheme
was introduced into the United States Senate by Senator Patterson of New Hampshire,
who was interested in real estate speculations with the leading members of the ring.  It
provided an appropriation of $3 000,000; instructed the Secretaries of the Treasury
-and of the Navy to prov-ide transportation by land and water; the Secretatv of the
Interior to place a public reserv ation at the disposal of the corporators, to grade, lay
i)ut and otherwise improve the same, and the streets and avenues leading' thereto; the
Secretaries of War and of the Navy were to furnish an indefinite number of soldiers
and marines to do guaid duty fromn the commencemnent of the work to the sale or final
disposition of the butildings and our ambassadors and counsels ill foreign lands were to
act as agents for the corporation il  securing, foreign contributions   "Give us the
money to put up the build(in('s and the thing will runi of itself," said the promoters of
the undertakiiin  in their appeal foi assistain(e.  It was apparent to every one that this
was a wild scheme intended solely for the benefit of it.3 originators, yet the Senate
spent day after day during the whole winter and  spring in its earnest discussion, and
onlv the imasterlv oppositionl of two well-inforiried and incorruptible Senators assisted
by the independent press of the country in exposing the  frtaud, saved  us front a
national disgorace and spoiled this huge real estate and stock speculation. Senator
Thurman termed the scheme "a hurlbugg imposing an expense of five or six millions
of dollars upon the Treasury of the United States."  Finally on June 10th 1870, the
Senate, ash med apparently of the earnestness bestowed uponi  a manifest job, quietly
.passed over the bill, and it waNs never called utip again.
TIlE RING,S RorAI, NO(TIONS.
iThe  next great enterprise  undertaken by  these schemers  was to provide  a
city  park.   A   sufficient extent  of land along the  pictures(quLe  banks  of  Rock
Creek, northwesterly  from  the  city, was found to be in the  hands  of public
spirited citizens (?) who were  willing  to sell tracts of it for  such  a  mneritorious object; and in close proximity thereto were found proper sites for a man:sion and  summer residence for the:President of the  United  States, for  costly
-edifices for the use of members of the Calbinet,, and for homes for Senators to be erected
,by their States. A resolution was introduced and rushed through Congress to have
-these lands surveyed and plans perfected for laying  out roads, drives, vistas and
"building bridges under the dir(ection of the Connmmissioner of Public  Buildings and
4;rounds, and the necessary funds were appropriated to enable him to pay for this work.
To  do this preliminary work, took General Michler, the Commissioiler  of Public
Buildings and Grotunds, longer than the impetuous inmprovers were inclined to wait,
and so this tindertaking was, for the time being, suffered to remain in this inchoate
-condition. Iii the meantirrme, the ring speculators were quietly working up two other
jobs which promised niore immediate remuneration.  One of these impromptu schemes
hurriedly passed through Congress was the Act of May 2tith, 1870, under the provisions of which the public reservation, -o. 7, on Pennsylvania avenue, between 7thl
and 9th Streets, worth half a million of dollars was, coupled with  the most valuable
municipal franchises, handed over ili spite of the protest of the Mayor  and City
Council to the Washiiigtoii Market Comipany for a term of ninetv-nine years, subject to
the paymenit of a disproportionate rental for the benefit of the Poor Fund of the District;
and to the further condition of erectiing a grand monumental edifice to be used as a
City Hall.  All opposition to this scheme was overcome by the exhibition of a monstrous picture of the proposed palatial building, during the debates in the Senate and
~Ale House of Representatives. The tr'ifling rental which was to be paid to the Poor
'-'462 
:IEPU-BLtCAN  ~~ RING"  RULIE.
Fund was subsequently -reduced by a Legislature of which we  shall speak hereafter,
and then well nigh annihilated by the act of three of the original corporators who
nominally went out of the enterprise, and acting as territorial officers made a bargain
with themselves and associates, by  which, besides nullifyiing the rental obligation
they formally assumed on the part of the District, the erection of the costly building
which under its charter the Market Company was obliged to build.  To commit Congress to an implied approval of this bargain, they had on March 3d, 18.73, an appropriation of $75,000 smuggled inlto the Sundry Civil Appropriation Bill, with an obscure description of Reservation No. 7.  With this suiI they were  to commence  the
erection of a City IIall, but as will hereafter be seen this money was, in violation of
law,. applied to another purpose.
A RICIH BONANZA FOR PILFERING ANI) STEALING.
The founders of Washington planned it upon a magnificent scale.  Wide streets
'and avenues intersect each other, the' former running Iromni north to south, designated
by numbers, and from east to west by letters, cross each other at right angles and
agalin are cut diagonally by avenues bearing the nanmes of the States of the Union.
By this system many public places ale formed consistino of circles, triangles and
isquares in different parts of tie citv.  Sections were set apait as reserivations ior the
benefit of the citizens and for public buildings.  A number of these had been beautified
by degrees in the course of years.  As these plans of men of genius werc developed it
becane apl)areiilt that there was a chance to -aim  a cheap  )opullarity by filching credit
for originality due to bygone generations and a rich bonanza for pilleing and stealing,
since any iil,rovement not in total disregard of the splendid design could Inot fail to
bring" out the dormant beauties of the city and at the same time contribute largely to
the health and pleasure of the inhabitants.  The time was wonderfully auslicious
with feeble resources the local autlhorities had strumggled for half a century to shape thelc
city in the rou-gh while it remained a nmere straggling village, a city mag-nificent in distances only, so tlhat legitimate deiiands' foi street improvemuents Indl sewer age had tche
co-operation and al)lilause of all Iprogressive citizei,s.  The rapid growthl of the country
duriug the lpast few years, the almost unexampled increase of wealth and the consequent extravagant rage for disl)la- which always follcws, iade the parvenu bankers
shoddy conitrac(tors, railroad corporators and lobbyists who flocked to Washingtoll
every winter clissatisfied with the old-fashioned city.  They complainied about the abseice of level streets and avenues on which to speed their fast horses and show their
grand equipages.  They wanted to build palatial residences in which to entice, entertain
and seduce Congressnieen, but gravelled streets and macadamaized avenues did not suit
their fastidious tastes.  The wily schemers intent uponi plunder joinled inl and threw out
hlints about "smootlh and noiseless" everlastiug l)atent pavemerits.  "It was a disgrace
to this great country," they one-and all said  "that the National Capital was neglected
in this manner.   Congress onthit to lift it out of its mud and squalor, and make it
worthy of the great Americaii Rel)ublic."
MITI,LIONS MUST FLOWN FRROM TIIE PEOPLE'S TREASURRY.
Men  who  hfid  thrust  their arms i    nto the National Treasury  uln  to  their
elbows  and rakled out princely fortunes at one haul, were not williio  to  wait
for the slow  work of years and the gradual growth of the Capital.  No, there
must be a wave of the enchainters wand, nmillions iiiust flow from  the National Treasury, and the city rise ill gorleous grandeur for their immediate delectation.  Colgress was debauched; the Executive power was in the handds of a mLan who had as
little regard for the proprieties of the piublic service as hlie had for those of private life.
Without a blush he accepted mniniufic ent gifts and rewarded the givers withi emolumenits
and hoiiors of hii li offlicial position.  Offices were bestowed as Na l)oleon the Fir st paLrcelled out kingdoms areione' his kinsmen.  The integrity and sense oft responsibility of
official life which distingiuished the better days of the Republic were gone, and in their
stead we had the low standard of baiter and trade.   It was emphatically a period of
bargain and sale, of spectulationi pd jobbery; in a word, radica,l rule had become a syiionvm for all the vices of the shoddy society of the day.
Washiiigton had as is well known up to the year 1867 an old-fashioned Municipal
Government, simple in its for m and economical in its workings,   such as the experience
of centuries has shown to be the best and mnost inexpensive for large cities if properly
administeced.  Improvenents  within a limited range were being made and the people
had the right to choose their own rulers.  The great proportion of the community was
content with this form of Government.  The laws were respected, the checks upon
163 
REPUBLICAN "-RING" RULF.
official power good, and the opportunities for plunder small indeed.  Subsequent experience has proved that all the clamor of bold, bad men, against this old Municipal:i
Government and the way it was administered, was for the purpose of practising a deception on Congress, and thus getting control of the District with a Government they
could manage for schemes of plunder under the preteuce of improving the city  By
buying up the local press they had gained a powerful influence for evil, and they used it
diligently to promote their designs on the Public Treasury.
TIlE FORM OF GOVERNMENT CIIANGED TO GET RID OF NEGRO SUFFRAGE.
The. District of Columbia had been since the war a harbor of refuge for  the
colored  people, and for some years past they constituted one-third of the whole
population.   To school their youth properly, all the taxes collected from  colored
people had been set aside but in conseqluence of the efforts of Sayles J. Bowen,
a local radical politicians naho in his person uimited the offices of disbursing clerk
of the Senate, city postmaster, police commissioner, member  of the  levy court. of
the county and school commissioner, Congress passed a law compelling the cities.
of Washiiigton and Georoetown and the county, to set aside for the use of a newly
created Board of Trustees of the colored schools, appointed bv the Secretary of'
the Interior, such a proportionate part of all the moneys approprited for the purchase
of sites, construction of buildings, payment of teachers and any other expenditures ineluding contingencies of the white schools, as the colored children of school age bore,
to the whites.  In view of Bowen's connection with the procurement of this legislation
it is not strange that in May, 1868, when by Act of Congress negro suffrage for the
first time became an element of power in the Municipal politics of Washington, a total
revolution occurred, by which Say]es J. Bowen was elected Mayor in the place of
Richard Wallach, a loyal and respected conservative, who had selred three successive
terms, and under whose adniinist lation every requisition or appeal made on the city for
volunteers or contributions to the pressing needs ot the Union soldiers had been responded to with commendable alacrity and without adding scarcely a dollar, to the
municipal indebte(ness.  After the expiration of his two years' term, Mr. Bowen was,
swept trom office by a so-called citizens' movement, and M. G. Emery was elected in his
stead by 10,076 against 6,882 votes.  After two short years the pay of the officers,
teachers, employes, laborers and contractors was five months in arrears, and all the
safeguards againlst the increase Of debt had been disregarded by unusual devices suggested by William A. Cook, a legal trickster, feared by many but respected by none,
who had been appointed Corporation Attorney,  ind had with others of a similar char —
aeter, brought disgrace upon the Bowen administration  The great success of the reform ticket was due unquestionably  to the iuniversal desire to get rid of this local
trickster, who had given up the preaching of the gospel and taken to the practice and'
distortion of the law some years previous.
BOSS SHEPHERD COMES TO THE -FRONT.
It was not long before it became evident that among the elements which had com -
biiied in the citizens' movemetint of 1870, there were some mischievous men who had simply used the popular current to get rid of a successfil rival and by indirection to further personal sinister interests. In this crusade a man turned up who had for long
years and in vain striveiin to reach the highest municipal honor in Washington. Alexander R. Shepherd was elected an Alderman, but had scarcely taken his seat in the
City Council before he began intriguing for the overthrow of Mayor Emery's administration, and along with it the old Municipal Government of the city. The extravagance
and misrule which had characterized the Bowen administration had so disgusted a
large majority of property holders with aii Elective Government, that the white peo —
ple, irrespective of politics, were ready to welcome any change. Shepherd is a shrewd,
adroit and unscrupulous man, who has come up from the lowest- rauks oflifejust as Boss
Tweed did. Wi,hout evenii serving an apprenticeship he had managed to become the
head of one of the largest plumbing and gas-fitting establishments in the District, and
to control the greatest proportion of work on Government buildings in Washington.
From contract jobbery he gradually ventured into all descriptions of speculative enter —
prises, and with a tender regard for the dead as well as the living, had undertaken to,
run a graveyard as well as a Life Insurance Company.   Later on he embarked in real
estate speculations and began the erection of rows of a cheap class of buildings, which
were generally sold to mechanics and clerks on long terms.  This business he began in
partnership with Moses Kelly, well' known in city polititcs, dand.withl the bosses of thevarious building trades.  It. was a happy. thought to tempt ito this speculation, about.
164 
REPUBLICAN'; RING   RULE.
the year 1868, Senator J. Wd. Patterson, of New Hampshire, since this association gave
Shepherd social standing in higher circles than those in which he had hitherto moved,
although. on the other hand, it speedily proved the political ruin of the Senator. Since
that time the victims of Mr.'Shepherd's temptations may be counted by scores. Evenl
while a member of the City Council, Shepherd was concerned as a large stockholder
in wood and concrete paKving companies. especially in the Metropolis Wood Paving
Company, whose head- quarters were over his store on Pennsylvania avenue.
FROM TIIE SLUMS TO AFFLUENCE.
His tastes at the outstart of his career were low.  By nature brutal and oppressive
fo his inferiors, hle was ever fawning and sycophantic to his equals and superiors.
About the year 1868, J. G. Naylor, a hard working builder, dared to ask this budding
Boss for money due him, which so enraged Shepherd that he seized a piece of gaspipe, struck the mechtianic, and nearly broke his skull. After Naylor's recovery from
a protracted sickness, Shepherd compromised the pending suit by the payment of a
large sum of money.  It was not long after this that he discovered that men who
,-cheated with due egard to the conventionalities of society, and broke the Ten
Commandments only in secret, are quite as apt at rascality and much more  rseful
associates than the roughs who people the slums of cities. As deacon of a fashionable
church, nicknamed the " Holy Locomotive," from its suggestive appearance, he craved
the smiles of society, sought recognition from so-called gentle folks, and enlarged the
circle of his creatures anid tools by extending his alliances to the very threshold of
the White HTouse.   He spread a bounteous board and boasted a well stocked cellar;
and soon all the shoddy element of Washington society courted his hospitalities, while
all decent people denounced him as a rogue.   While hlie was squandering millions
of the people's money on worthless tar poultice and rotten wood pavements, his own
aggrandizement was attested by the erection of a stately palatial residence with
carved stone fronts, and doors and trimmings of rare woods. Antique furniture,
'huge mirrors, gorgeous carpets, costly pictures filled( this lordly mansion, and china
-mnanufactured in France to order, graced his festal board. His splendid Landaulet, drawn by a span of thorough-breds harnessed in glittering trappings, drivefi and
attended by fiunkeys wearing wonderful liveries, attracted as much notice in the streets
as the snob four-in-hand of President Grant.   There was an object in this ostentatious
display, for by it Shepherd managed to fill his salons with judges, generils, senators,
ambassadors and fine ladies, and his banquets soon became the talk of the towngossipers, and his balls the envy of every shoddy upstart, and thus in a little while the moral
tone of the community was demoralized. A bold, unscrupulous man like Shepherd, invested with almost absolute power, and sustained by the Legislative as well as the Exe-cutive branch of the National Government, could not fail to beccome a dangerous instruinent of opprlession to the people of the District, and an adroit agent for plundering
the Public Treasury.
WHEN THE DEVIL WAS SICK, ETC,
The subject of She foregoing sketch was elected in 1870, by the Board of Aldermen,
,Chairman of the Committee on Finance. As such hlie publicly simulated economy and
quietly favored the grossest extravagance. On the 2d of September, 1870, he, in
reporting the general tax bill, spoke of the then financial condition of Washington, as
follows: "The estimates of the Mayor for the expenses of the current year are $1,251,287.38.
'Your committee however are of opinion that in view of the large indebtedness of the Corpo,ration, and the heavy taxation imposed under laws recently passed by Congress, it will
'be necessary to reduce the estimates of expenditures to $1,000,000.  This Call be done
by omitting the sum estimated for cleaning the streets, by reducing the salaries of Corpor.ation officials, whichl exclusive ofteachers and police, have reached the enormous aggre.gate of $123,320, and by carefully restricting our improvements within the limits of our
resources.  These taxes till bear very heavily upon our people already compelled to
provide for an enormous funded debt.  It therefore becomes our duty to administer
their affairs with rigid economny. and to take all necessary measures to restore the
credit of the city now so greatly depreciated. Your committee therefore recommend the
reduction of tfhe salaries of the Corporation' officers which now absorb 12 per cent. of
the revenue, the introduction of a radical change in the cleaning( of streets, and by care*fully avoiding waste and recklessness in every branch of Corporation expenditures."
At the very time these professions of economy were made bv Shepherd, he
-had qui~ly sent out one W. H. Chase as an emissary to look after patent wood pavements.
-On his Teturn, Chase reported that "when properly laid, wood pavements will last from
-fifteen to twenty years in Washington." Congress had been importuned about this
165 
REPUBLICAN "'RING" R ULE.
time by the ring then forming, to authorize paving Pennsylvania avenue, between theCapitol aud Treasury grounds, with a patent pavement of some description, the Government to pay $160,000, that being about one-half of the estimated cost.
THE PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE JOB.
In speaking of this proposition to pave the avenue, the Hon. J. Proctor Knott. of'
Kentucky, said: " In my judgment there is more in this measure than seems to be visibleon the surface. I think it contains the materials for another of those never ending repasts;
for the hungry flock of small retainers who hover like vultures about this Capital to prey
on Government garbage, and for which there must be paid out ofthe Public Treasury an
unlimited amount of money.  Lay not then I beseech you' the flattering unction to'
your soul' that because the amount to be expended in this project appears to be limited
to $160,000, that it will stop there.  I tell you there is no power short of an Omniscient.
Providence that can foretell what the Government will eventually have to pay for theimprovement of this avenue, if it undertakes it at all.  It is true that assisted by the.
wonderfiul powers of science the astronomer can sit in his closet and tell precisely at,
what moment and at wlhat particular part of the sidereal heavens a comet will appear,
which has been absent a thousand years on its pathless pilgrimage through the wilder —
ness of space, and true to the letter of the prophecy, its fiery tain flashes upon ourvision.  But. sir, to foretell what any public improvement about this city will cost, or
when it will be finished, not only defies the highest powers of mathematics, but is,
beyond the utmnost range of human conjecture itself.
' rhen the stars shall fade away, the sun himself
'Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years,'
Then, and not till then may you expect to see one of these Government jobs completed'
an         d     the last deficiency bill passed to pay for it.  This language may sound like hyper__
bIole, but show me one single Governmentjob around this city that has yet been finished.,,
IT LEADS TO OTHER JOBS.
On July 8th, 1870, a paving bill was passed, under which the UTlited States was.
to pay like other property holders, for its frontage along the Botanic Garden, the rail —
road company for 22 feet in the center of the street, the private property for the pave —
ment on its frontage, from curb to atea chargeable to the railroad, and the Corporationi
of Washington, for all intersections of streets and avenues; including tlee spaces alongthe park enclosures.
Shortly thereafter Louisiana and Indiana avenues, and Fourteenth street, north —
west, for the length of nearly a mile and a half, were ordered to be paved with wood
by the retrenching City Councils.  Thlougl1- newspaper proprietors interested in thepatents previously selected, worked up public sentiment in favor of these jobs to the'
best of their ability, still many of the property holders vigorously protested; and in
the case of Louisiana avenue, their protests against the costly experiment were so determined, that as a concession a stone pavement 30 feet in width had to be laid on both,
sides of the street next to the curb, but a wood pavement was forced upon them in the
center of the aveinue.  The stone pavement still stands with rotten  wool borders, as,
a monument of one of the first tricks of the ring.
THE RING PAVING COMPANY IN CLOVER.
The Pennsylvania avenue pavement after three months delay was given out oii
October 19th, in four sections, not to the lowest responsible bidders, but to the owners
of those patents which wet e claimed to give the most substantial guarantees for permaIlency; all of the aforesaid owners being members of the ring, then ill course of forma —
tion.  The largest two of the four sections at once gravitated to number 9081 Pennsyl —
vania avenue, thle head-quarters of the Metropolis Paving Company, over A. R. Shepherd's store.  The stock of this company had been distributed in large blocks to,
Hallet Kilbourne, John O. Evans, W. S..Hu1tington, Lewis Clephane, Sam Yollng...
Shepherd's brother-in-law, and to the proprietors of the Eveaian Sta. and the National
Repitblican, the two principal daily newspapers of Washington   The future glories of'
the great avenue, when paved with the durable and noiseless wood pavement, were.
dwelt upon daily by the subsidized editors of the ring organls, and in the mean time the,
three months delay in awarding the contract was industriously employed by the ringmaslagers, in making their arrangements with the Paving Commission, which consisted:
of C(olluibus Delano, Secretary of the Interior, Mayor Emnery, and Gen. Michler, Comnissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds.  The season having been wasted in thi
166 
REPUBLICAN   RN RING  RI,E.
wav Penvsyli-ania avenue was torn up in the Fall and workl rushed through rn lNbvemti)e  and l)eernber, 1870.  On November 1st, eleven days after the award' of- tie contract, a mercy company enjoyed an exquisite champagne  collalion, prepared by
Worinley, aIt an improvised frame building near the sheds where the mniaehinery for
sawing the blocks had been set up by the Metropolis Paviig Company, and~the fimounr
DR. BUCIIU HELMBOLDT DROVE UP WITH HIS STYLISH SIX LN' HAND;,
to give his blessiig, to the enterprise.  The ring leaders with wild enthusiasm then anda
there promised the quack Doctor that the opening of wood paved Penrnsyhrania avenueshould be celebrated by'a grand carnival and fete on Washington's birth-day.  The fete.
was duly celebrated and the unsuspecting citizens contributed liberally to pay the piper,
never dreaming that at no very distant day they would look back to the occasion through
tears of sorrow, and curse the hour in which they made merry over their enslavemnent.
Meanwhile the Session of Congress approached.  On November 23d, 1870, the National'
-Republican, the mouthpiece of the President and the administration wound up a-doublerleaded leader on the subject of-legislation for the District, as follows  "A few huindred dollars judiciously expended upon terrapins, oysters. champagne aind eigars wilt;
be'bread cast upon the waters.' The experiment worked well last winter, well enongh
we think to warrant repetition.  Instead of an appropriation of a few thousand dollars,
every year, we should have five or six millions to beautify and improve the NationaL
Capital."
WHAT WINE AND WVASSAIL ACCOMPLISHED.
Acting upon this advice, ring hospitality was liberally dispensed.   There was  a
grand banquet to the Press of the country at the Metropolitan, another to Congress at
the Arlington.  The governors of the States and numerous municipal bodies were in —
vited; the crack mnilitia regiments of the Eastern cities were to have competitive- exer —
cises on the newly-paved avenue, and representatives of all nations of the earth wereto vie with each other in the exhibition of the sports nf their native lands.  While this.
surface movement was going on, public attention was skillfully diverted from moremomentous underground currents.  Senator Hamlin had, on February 25th,, 1870, in —
troduced a bill in the ienate "To provide a Territorial Government for the Districts
of Columbia," which was discussed and passed by the Senate May 27th, received bythe House Mavy.31st, and referred to the District Committee June 29th, 1870, where it-,
apparently died. But quite unexpectedly, Mr. Burton C. Cook of Illinois, the Chair-.
man of the House Committee, reported back a substitute for Mr. Hamlin's bill on January 20th, 1871, and in advocating it said, "There are 131,000 people in this District.
*  *  *  The cost of the Municipal Government in salaries and incidental expenses.
is $179,000 a year, or one dollar and a half for every man, woman and child in: the.
District.  This is the thing which the Committee have endeavored to avoid.  The proposed Government is intended to be a simple, harmonious, economical one, with a conservative element in it which should be the element representing the people of the.
whole United States."
After a short discussion, all warning voices were unheeded, and this bill was forcedll
through by a vote of 97 against 58. ()n the same day thlie Board of Trade of Washing-.
ton held a meeting, and on motion of Alexander R. Shepherd, adopted the followwing:
resolution:
"Resolved(: That we hail with joy the passage of the bill by the Ilouse of Representatives this day, believing that it will be the beginning of a new era in the developinent of our business interests."
A committee of five, of which Alexander R. Shepherd and Hallet IKilbourne were.
two, was appointed at this same meeting to urge the Senate to adopt the House bill,,
unaltered.
A SATIRE ON FREE GOVERNMENT.
On February 7thli, A. B. Mullett, Supervising Architect of the Treasury, headed  a,
petition which was laid before the Senate by XNilliam M. Stewart of Emma Mine fame,praying that the House bill might be passed without alteration.  The Senate having
moved for a Conference Committee, a bill was agreed upon and passed both Houses on,
February 14th, and approved by President Grant on February 21st, amid the porten —
tious follies of the carnival. The bill was not perfected in open Congress, but wasmanipulated for four weeks in Conference Committee.  It provided for a complicate'
form of government -one which in truth was the most magnificent satire on Government the world ever saw.  A more severe blow at republican institutions was never
struck in this or any other country. A Radical Congress repudiated the people's de —
-NIE 
REPUBLICAN "RING" RULE.
mand and laid them at the mercy of an irresponsible one-man power. All power w. g
concentrated in the hands of the President of the United States, and how he abused
'that power by filling all the offices with men with whom he and his friends were en'gaged in speculative ventures, is well known to the country. The Governor of the
miniature principality had a staff, exercised veto power, and had a pocket veto too,
granted pardons, and filled all the executive offices o,f any importance at pleasure.  A
:Secretary was provided. and a council which was a caricature on the House of
Lords, a  Board  of Health,  and  last but not  least  a  Board  of Public Works.
And to the people was vouchsafed the barren privilege of voting for members of a
so-called House of I)elegates, and a Delegate ill Congress who was without a vote. But
'even this turned out to be no boon at all, since the Board of Public Works, by holding
,the rod of discharge over every poor laborer who would not vote according to the dictates of the ring, elected this whole mock Legislature and the Delegate to Congress besides.  As a natural result of this one-man power in a republican country, a shameful
mockery of legislation was witnessed. There was not a single respectable citizen of
the District elected to the House of Delegates.  This honor (?) was monopolized by the
illiterate and sulservient tools of the ring, whlose  only occupation besides registering
the decrees of the Board of Public Works, was to put through a few bills for contractors,
who paid well for the same.  They legislated however, with a will, and when they
-could be tolerated no longer, they wound up their official existence by plundering the
Hall in which they sat-stealing feather dusters, spittoons, and desks-some of which
'were actually pledged with bar-keepers for whiskey bills.
TIIE RUILERS OF THIS RADICAL ISRAEL.
M. G. Emery, the lately elected reform Mayor, a vain man, had been flattered and
-deluded into the support ot the Territorial scheme, which ousted him from the office
he had just assumed, under the promise of the newly created Governorship; but
after using him, the ring discarded him.  The President had unlimited confidence in
Henry D. Cooke, who was in charge of his financial affairs, and through him the ring
boldly urged Shepherd's appointment to the Governorship.  To this the Rev. J. P.
NewmIan, a political parson of the Metropolitan Church, and spiritual adviser at the
White House, objected in the interest of Emery, a vestryman of his church. The Rev.
Doctor set forth the proofs of pledges made by the ring to Emery so plainly to the
President, that he hesitated, and finally the community was surprised by the appointment of H. D. Cooke.  Mr. Cooke, besides his connection with the famous firm of Jay
'Cooke & Co., had some local notoriety on account of his zeal for Sunday-schools, and
his activity as a member' of the Young Men's Christian Association, for which last.named institution he evinced his firm attachment, by engineerinig a heavy loan on
-worthless second mortgage bonds from the Freedrriens Savings Bank, thus robbing the
,poor freedmen in the name of the Founder of the Christian religion. As orthodox mem-bers in good standing in the Radical palrty, the Cookes could venture upon many things
-which would have been deemed treasonable in others.  In 1867, the following advertisement appeared in the Washington and many Southern newspapers:
TRYING TO GET A CORNER ON C. S. A. BONDS.
"CONFEDERATE BONDS WANTED.-First National Banlk, Washington, August  29,
p'869.  We have an order for a moderate amount of 8 per cent. bonds of the C. S. A.,
aEnd, until filled, will buy all that are offered at the best rates.
WILLIAM S. HUNTINGTON, Castier."
vi the columnms of the same Washington paper containing the above, could be seen
ithis also:
' F4RST NATIONAL BANK OF WASBINGTON. —H. D. Cooke, of Jay Cooke & Co., Presi-dent.; 5W. S. Huntington, Cashier; Government depositary and financial agent of the
'United States, Fifteenth Street, opposite the Treasury Department."
Here in 1867, was the "Government depositary and financial agent of the United
'States,"' the Bank controlled by the Cookes, openly advertising for and buying up "at
the best rates" all the 8 per cent. bonds of the defunct Confederacy in existence. It
was lien their scheme, as every'circumstance shows, to nlakle the Confederate debt a
consideration of settlement with the South by Federal assumption-a scheme which
was, however, baffled and put at rest by the adoption of the Fourteenth amendment in
1868.
H. D. Cooke, as Governor, was but little more than a figure head, acting simply as
?the hand and mouth-piece of Shepherd, enjoying however the luxury of a gaudy uni
168 
REPUBIC(AN  "RING"  R  ULE.
form and a full staff of militia officers.  -le believed with his brother  Jay that, " A
national debt is a national blessing," and the unfortunate people of the District of
Columbia have had an ample opportunity to test the truth of this aphorism.
TIIE BOSS AND TIIE S1UPERVISING ARCHITECT.
Alexander R. Shepherd was appointed a member of the Board of Public Works,
which consisted nominally of five nmemnbers, incleluding the Governor as President ex.oficio.  His associates made him vice-president and executive officer, and with him all
the powers of an ilyl-defined Government gravitated rapidly to the Board of Public
Works, so that imperceptibly the district passed under the control of an irresponsible
despotism.  The title of the "Boss" bestowed upon Shepherd in this position by the
contractors, soon came to be a by-word in the community, and has been universally
recognized as an appropriate designation of the man who attempted to run a Government, as an overseer does a gang of plantation negroes. Sheplierd's colleagues on the
Board were A. B. Mullett, the late Supervising Architect of the Treasury, who had long
had intimate, personal and profitable business relations with Shepherd in connection
with work done and materials supplied for all the public buildings in the United States,
lunder the charge of the Treasury Department.  Mullett's appointment was a master
stroke. One of the most important things to be done was to engineer members of Congress, and in this business Mullett was by universal consent a proficient. Every new
-building that was built or determined to be built, secured the personal devotion to the
'ring of front one to a half dozen Congressmen.   This was affected in several ways.
First the recomimendation of the Supervising Architect for the building of the proposed
Structure must be had.  The member or miembers from the locality asking for the appropriation courted Mr. Mullett, who could make his own terms.  If he asked the
favor that they encourage improvement at the National Capital, they could not refuse.
Then, again, as a new Post Office or Custom House was to be built, Congressrmen might
have friends whom they wished to be taken care of by Mr. Mullett, in the way of contracts. Of course, he in his turn could not refuse any reasonable request of this kind.
'The result was tlhat the member got Miillett's recommendation for the required approl
priatioli, and in turn aided in the grand work  of "regenerating, transforming and
beautifying the National Capital" by helping the Board of Public Works to large
.appropriations whenever they needed them.
STUII',l MA.GRUDER AND) Hi 13OOK-KEEPING.
James A. Magruder, one of the members of the Board of Public Works, was a man
alike devoid of character and cre,dit, but subsequently became famous by a system
of book-keeping he invented, which enabled him as Treaslurer of the Board of Public
Works to keep his accounts in inextricable confusion lo the great satisfaction of Sheplerd, for thereby he was enabled at any time to challenge the inspection of the books,
-well knowing that they coull( be maiile to show figiures as they were wanted.  The
Board of Audit, after nearly two y ears' labor, has not been able to dis,,ntanrgle Magriu-der's accounts, and in bringing sait against him to recover money alleged to be still
unaccounted for, cannot specity tilhe aIriount anv 1nore definitely than "'froni $30,000 to
-$60,000."  The criminal suit oni the chargl e (f stuidiouslv confusing his accounts which
'was recommended to be broug)hlit has not been instituted, and probably will not, because
the limit of time with ill which it could be broiught has  eairly expired.  Tile official
,report of the Board of Audit iieveitlieless shows (vide Mis. doe. No.  1)3. part 3, H. R.
44, Cong.). that an amnount exceeding   1,00)(-,000, which lie claimed to have paid out,
'had niever been enterecd upon  his books but which hlie was allowed to account for by
producing vouchers not on file amiong the public records.   When it is known t.lat he
'intermingled his cash with all the various ce(rtificates of indebtedness issued by the
Board of Public Works, it is easy  to understand how he cou,ld safely speculate in these
-depreciated securities with the public money.
ONE  (F  SE('OR ROBESON'S PETS.
S. P. Brown, a defaulting Navy Ageit, and a favorite coniractor in the  Navy
Department, completed the list of worthies who made up the Board of Public Works.
Brown is a native of Mainie, and was plac( d in the Board bv the influence of Senator
,IIamlin and Spealier Blaine.  The( choice of the ring was Hallet Kilbourn, aed lrowin
"was always looked upon with suspicion. althoughi lie was a valuable adjunct on account
of his connection with the Spealkei of the House of Representatives.  He was, however, obliged after a seasoir to retire-being caught with an interest in a contract to
s:upply lumber to coutractors, afforded the pretext for his dismissal.
169 
REPIUBLICAN  " RING " RULE.
I Two-thirds of the "Upper Council" were ring creatures, and the other third nonentities.  The President in appointing mnembers of this upper branchl of the Legislative
Assembly, consulted the wishes of Boss Shepherd, who always had reatly access to the
Presidential ear, through Gen. Babcock, whom hlie early entrapped into real estate speculations and jobs of various kinds.
AN UNSAVORY SET OF JOBBERS.
The Board of Health was composed of two quack doctors, one reputable physician
a colored professor of law, and a capable business man.  By adroit management thesefellows continued to get an annual appropriation from Congress, amounting to about
$97,000, and when the Democratic House of Representatives in its general overhauling,
turned over the Board of Health, it found two of its members interested in very unsavory jobbery —they being the owners, though not the holders of $10,000 a piece of
the stock-of an odorless excavating company which had a valuable contract from the
Board of Health. The appointments made by Gov. Cooke were really dictated by
Shepherd, who was familiar with local politics and knew that it was all important to
make friends of the some men who had proved useful to Mayor Bowen in controlling
the negro vote. Thus the very men who had a few months previous been denounced
by Shepherd and his ring friends as corrupt jobbers aid scoundrels were speedily
enlisted under the reform (?) regime.  It is sufficient to instance two of Governor Cooke's
appointments.  He made William A. Cooke, already famous for his latitudinarian interpretation of laws uinder Mayor Bowen, the legal advisor of the Board of Public Works,
and to cap the climax, appointed a very illiterate colored minan named Johnson; District
Treasurer.  Johnson had failed as a barber and as a caterer-a fine preparatory schooling to fit him for the responsible position of custodian of the people's money-but
his'appointment was a tub to the negro whale.
THE BEGGARS ON IHORSE-BA'K.
In organizing the new territorial government, Shepherd  and his ring coadjutors,
had but little regard for their loud professions of r eform and economy which they indulged in while denouncing the old municipal government and advocating a change.
They established at the verv outset a score of bureaus, with chiefs thereof drawing
high salaries.  They had chiefs of contracts, of pay-rolls, of assessments, of streets, of'
roads, of sewers, of buildings, of repairs, of materials, and of property.   They began
with promises to do all work for 20 per cenlt. less than usual prices by confining themselves to cash payments, and before three years had so encumbered first, the city of
Washington, then the District of Columbia, then the Board of Public Works itself, with.
debt that they all sank together  under the accumulated weight, and left the General]
Government to redeem their dishonored illegal securities, which  they had issued in
every imaginable shape.
As a necsssary adiunct to the new form of government, Shepherd  had cultivated
intimate relations with the Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds-an office
which was transferred in 1867 from the civil to the military branch of the public serv —
ice, on the theory that an officer of the regular army would not be likely to involve him —
self in speculations with outside Iparties.  General N.  Michler, who filled the officeunder assigniment of March Id. 1867, was an honest, upright, genial gentleman, but
with one unfortunate wealkness, which the ring took advantage of and catered to, until
they had well nigh ruined him.  His influence was essential to the success of the ring —
plans. Shepherd wined and dined him, named a row of' houses after him, but finding —
that a more servicable tool could be procured, he began to intrigue for his displacement,'and Michler was quite unexpectedly ordered to the Pacific coast in June, 1 71..
SHEPHERD AND BABCOCK-CAPITAL UNLIMIT)ED
The office was handed over to Orville E. Babcock, who ruled in thile Executive Man —sion as the President's Private Secretary and conscience-keeler, and occupied his leisuremoments in working up San Dominzo and other jobs.   Babcock, a few years before, was
the very impersonation of genteel poverty; too poolr to rent a whole house fi)r the useof his famnily, he was compelled in 1868 to formi a military mess with the families of
other officers for the sake of econo,i,y, at a monthliy expense of about $55 for each fam.
ily (see testimony of Gen. Horace Porter in the New Y ork Cutom House investigation) —
Since that time he had received no le,acy, nor had any ships of his "returned from theSouth Sea;" but' in a few years after his appointment as, Coimmiissionier of PublicBuildings and Grounds he became a great real estate speculator, built rows of houses in
connection with Shepherd, and grew rich at a time when every outsider lost heavily irL
ilio 
REPUBLICAN " RING  RULE.
real estate operations in Washington.  It was, therefore, a fortunate occurrence for the
rinig that the public grounds were at this auspicious time confided to the care of Babcock,
and not placed under the control of the Board of Public Works. since subsequently this
dual system enabled Shepherd and Babcock to work in harmony in robbing the Publie
Treasury, while ostensibly acting as a check onl each other.
THE RING STRENGTIIENING ITSELF.
Here we have to record another intermezzo.  The successful alienation of the
undivided Government reservation to the Washington Market Company in the Spring
of 1870, heretofore alluded to, acted as an appetizer, and before long the ring schemers
had to throw another sop to Cerberus. Thomas A. Scott and Simon Cameron were on
the look out for a city station for the Baltimore& Potomac Railroad Co., and their
covetous eyes fell upon the Public Mall, a grand pleasure park stretching from the
Capitol grounds to the reservations south of the President's house, and including the
grounds about the Smithsonian and the Department of Agriculture.  Here, within a
stone's throw of Pennstilvania avenue, thlese railroad kings selected a slice stretching
for a length of eight hundred feet transversely through the mall, so as to mutilate the
beautiful plan of the city, and virtually to cut the splendid walks and drives of the
pleasure-grounds into two disconnected parks.  In accordance with a prearranged
programme, a bill vwas introduced in Congress to confirm the action of the City Coun —
cil, which in the very act of death had presumed to convey this ground to the RailroadCompany.
Senator J. W. Patterson, of New Hampshire, who was connected with Shepherd int
ieal estate speculations, in advocating this measure said: "The  question is simply
this, shall the action of the City Government be confirmed by Congress?  I have here
a line from one of the Board of Works, Mr. Magruder, saying,'The property given to,
the Potomac Railroad belongs to the city of Washiington."
Senator Tlthurman retorted, "What is this bill doing here if the city owns the
land?"
Senator Justin S Morrill added, "The city has no more title to this strip of public
park than'liad the Devil when he offered all the lkingdoms of the world to the Saviourof the world.  This was a very cheap way for the city to manifest its generosity."
Senator Cameron said:  "To think of confining the city to a little bit of a park..
The gentlemen who now ask to have a lan(hngi-place for their traffic and passengers,.
have already completed arrangements by which in-two years more, a freight line will
start from New Orleans with cotton or any other of the products of the country, and
reach the city of New York in fifty-eight hours, carrying freight so cheaply that nowater communication can compete with the railroad."
MAr. Chipman, the ring delegate of the District, said in the House, in advocatingthe same measure, March 22d, 1872, "The question was. whether the prospective park:
west of the Capitol, stretching down toward the Executive Mansion, was of more in —
portance than the commercial interest of the city and District?"
In vain the citizens protested against this threat ened mutilation of the Public Mall 
the arrangement had been made between the railroad kings and the district ring.
The action of the City Council was confirmed by Congress, and the alliance between
the railroad jobbers and the Board of Public Works was complete.
TIIE RING LEGISLATURE IN SESSION.
The first Legislative Assembly of the Territorial Government,  assembled May:
15thl, 1871, and Governor Cooke in his message said, that the funded debt of the muinicipalities of Washington and Georgetown, and of the Levy Court of the county was
about $2,350,000.  He estimated the floating debt, accrued and accruing from existing
contracts, to be $1,000,000, and urged the appointment of a Commission to ascertain
and audit the same, and to devise a plan for funding it. He set down the receipts of
the Corporation of Washington, from general taxation, at $1,500,000, and claimed that:,
the expenditures of the same, including schools, police, fire department, gas, salaries,.
and interest on the debt would be $800,000, leaving a surplus of $700,000, applicable to,
street improvements and the reduction of the debt.
The "Union Club" had been established across the street from the Hall where theLegislative Assembly met. There William A. Cooke was hidden in a private room,,
employed night and day drawing up bills at the dictation of the Board of Public Works,,
and the Legislative Assembly was-simply required to register the decrees of this auto —
cratic body.
On June 16th, the House of Delegates called for a plan of improvements deemed
necessary by the Board of Public Works, and the estimated cost thereof.
171 
REPUBLICAN'  RING"    RI ULE.
On June 20th, four days afterwards, the Board submitted an elaborate "compre,
hensive plan" of improvements, "for every portion of the District of Columbia," atccompanied by detailed estimates. Accormpanying this comprehensive plan was a statement siibmittefl by the Board of Public Works, from wliich we extract the following:
"The Board is of the opinion that the interests of the District imperatively require
that the necessariy appropriations should at once be granted, that operations may be
commenced without delay."
TIHE MILLIONS BEGIN TO FLOW.
Such extraordinary haste excited the suspicion that the greatest possible amount
.of plundering was to be done in the shortest space of time.  The estimated cost of the
proposed improvements was $6,578,397, of which one-third was held to be assessable
on adjoining private property, so that an appropriation of $4,385,598 was asked for; and
on July 10th an act was passed authorizing the Government to contract a loan by issuing $4,000,000 of bonds, the whole of which were to be placed under the control of
the Board of Public Works, without requiring any of the guarantees usually imposed
upon the custodians of public funds.
The remarkable speed which the new Government displayed in contracting indebtedness startled the community, and numbers of citizens sued out an injunction restraining the issue of the bonds, in order to test the legality. of the law authorizing the
$4,000,000 loan; l)ut the ring was not to be baffled in this way, and at the instance of
the Board of Public Works the Legislative Assembly, without awaiting the action of the
courts, passed on August 19th, 1871, another law authorixing a loan of $4,000,000,
which was to be submitted to the vote of the people. All the machinery which had
been employed under the corrupt Bowen administration to manipulate the impecunious
voters of the District was brought into requisition by the Board of Public Works, and a
large majority obtained for the proposed loan bill.
FALSE REPRESENTATION.
A prospectus of the loan was published in the leadingi newspapers of Europe.  Its
tenor was that this was a loan guaranteed by the United States, and contained absurdly false statements, such as the following:
"Besides the guarantee secured to the creditor by this exceptional position, the
*state of the finances of the District of Columbia and of the city of Washington is ex,ceedingly favorable, as it was officially ascertained that on the 31st of May,  1871, the
entire indebtedness of the city of AVWashington and Georgetown, and the county of
~Washington, amounted only to $3,(-)90,492.27, against  a taxable real and personal
-property valued at $ 190,000,000.  Of this  $30,0()0,000 represents taxable property
belonging to thle United States Government."
This statement was false, for the taxable real and personal property of the District,
at the assessment ot June 30th; 1S72. amnounted( to only $86,215,'327.  The  United
States has no taxable property in the District, and the debt of the District at the date
,of this prospectus was in reality $4,381,297.37.   When  Governor Cooke  was confronted with these disgraceful deceptions, by which the credit of the District was temporarily inflated', he claimed to have sold the bonds at 94 cents net to the First National
Bank of New York, and disclairied any knowledge of or participation in the negotiations in Europe.  It is sufficient to say that the notorious prospectus was published
over the signature of Seligman & Stettleimer, and that the Seligmrans are the successors of Jay Cooke, McCulloclh & (o. as the financial agents of the United States in
Europe.
THE JUDI(CIARY PROSTITUTED.
The temporary injunction on the issue of the first $4,000,000 of bonds was  dissolved, the judge who determined the cause having been called to the rescue from his
Western home, alnd given a fine nlitnsioii in Georgetown iii exchange for a piece of
swamp  land in Arkansas.  Undoubtedly the ring- originally intended to issue  the
bonds authorized bv each separate act of the Legislative Assembly, but they were prohibited by an act of Cono,-ress from negrotiating more than $4,000,000.  The funded
debt of thie District wa.  limited by the organic act to 5 per centurn  of the taxable
real estate.  This the rino  sou,(ht to evade, by igtnoring the funded debt of the old
municipalities; but Congress was forced by  the clamors of the citizens to declare,
under the Act of May 8th. 1872, that, in the meaning of the organic law, the debts of the
,old municipalities we re to be included, but, inasmuch as the old funded debt and the new
$4,000,000 loan would have exceeded the 5 petr cent. liiiiitatidn, this clause was repealed,
and the limit of the debt of the District was fixed at the round sum of $10,000,000.
q72 
REPIUBLICAN  " RING   RULE.
On this $4,000,000 Loan Act as a basis, the Board of Public Works reared a colossal
debt, which now rests with an oppressive weight upon the people of the District.
The means by which this gigantic indebtedness was created were as tortuous as the
necessities of desperate men could stuggest.  The charge of one-third of the cost of
improvements on adjoining property, public and private, was legitimate, but the cost
of improvements were swelled purposely, in order that the assessment on private property might be increased, and false measurements were resorted to, with the connivance
and participation of General Babcock, Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds,
in order to increase the charges made against property owned by the Government.
Being unable by all these devices to keep up their sinking credit, the Board of Public
Works resorted to the issue of certificates of indebtedness in every imaginable form,
thus recklIessly increasing the debt of the District in-the face of the plain letter of the
law. When finally false statements of the financial condition of the District would no,
longer avail them, the insolent legal proposition was started that the constitutional.
limitation applied simply to the District proper, and that the Board of Public Works
was an independent Corporation, with the power to create a debt without limit
ARRANGING  SCIIE'IES OF PLUNDER.
While the District Government was arranging this plan and preparing for its career
of jobbery, affiliated ring speculators were devisingo various schemes of plunder.
Chief among these was the formation of the Real Estate Pool, with two branches
acting conjointly and separately as the interests of the master spirits required. As a
tender to this, a contract pool was made which was designed to monopolize all the,
high priced paving jobs.  Hallet Kilbournc was chosen as the middle man of one branch
of the Real Estate Pool, while his partner, James M. Latta, acted for the other. Kilbourn had in his combination five parties, one being a Judge of the Supreme Court of
the District, and two others, being members of Congress, while the remaining two are
unknown to the present day.  Senator William M. Stewart of Nevada, and two Pacific
Colst speculators were the principal parties interested with Latta in the second branch
of the Real Estate Pool.  John O. Evans and Lewis Clephane, the former an unscrupulous contractor, and the latter a trustee of the Freedman's Savings  Bank, deep
itn all the rascalities by which the poor freedmen were   rob)bed, stood as godfathers
for most of the operations of the contract pool.  Kilbourne, a sharp unscrupulous fellow,
who had formerly been the chief clerk in the Interior Department, was set up in the
real estate business by William S. Huntington  cashier of the First National Bank.
He had probably been useful to Huntington in his official capacity, and was brought
out of obscurity by this shrewd and enterprising gentleman, who doubtless, designed
to use him in a more enlarged field of operations. Kilbourne is a clever talker, earnest
and impressive, capable of setting forth a speculative venture in its most attractiveform.  When the ring was fairly organized, the part assigned him to play was
TO ENTICE CONGRESSMEN, JUDGES AND INFLUENTIAL FEDERAL OFFICE HOLDERS
to invest in the Real Estate Pool, and to lend their inifluence t6 secure from Congress such
legislation as the Board of Public Works desired..  Oineof the objects which Huntington.
had in establishing him in the real estate business -was to have an unscrupulous man who.
might be used to appraise property on which it was desired to procure loans fi om the
Freedmen's Bank. Henry D. Cooke, Huntington, and Lewis Clephane, constituted the
majority of the Finance Committee of that concern, and virtually controlled the  accluinulated deposits amounting to over $4,000),000 which had been collected from the poor
freedmen of the South. Kilbourne's duty, as appraiser of the Freedmen's Bank, was to
act as a go-between for the Cookes and Hunltington, and parties who desired to effect
loans on their real estate.  If Cooke or Hunthigton was applied to for a loan of the
freedmen's  money on real estate, or other securities, the applicant was politely referred to Kilbourne, just as subsequently if any one wanted a contract he was sent to thesame source. In this way Kilbourne got a fee for appraising property for the Freedmen's Bank, and another of 2~ per cent.. for negotiating the loan.  In a short time,
from comparative poverty he rose to affluence, and discarding the modest tenement
house in which he had lived for many years, built himself a palatial mansion close to
the palace of Boss Shepherd. and blossomed out into a. leader of the shoddy fashion
of the National Capitol.
A USEFUL JACK OF ALL TRADES.
Lewis Cleplhane, a #ussy, leam  little man with sharp features, fair coiplexion,
and weasel eyes, protected by gol.d spectacles, had figutred about Washington as a
Jack-of-all trades for twenty years or mnore, without making a reputation, or accumu —
173. 
REPUBLI('AN  "RieG' RUILE.
lating a fortune.  He began  his career in the office of  DToctor Bailey's National
Era, an  anti-slavery  weekly,  where he  made  himself  generally  useful  in the
dual capacity of clerk and solicitor of advertising. From his connection with this
paper he obtained a bowing acquaintance with the anti-slavery magnates of the olden
time.  This slender acquaintance served him  as his political and religious stock in
trade, when the Republican Party came into Power.   He was made City Postmaster,
tand afterwards Collector of Internal Revenue by Mr. Lincoln.  Neither of these offices
afforded scope for his genius, which was specially adapted to jobbery.  As  Vicepresident and niember  of the Finance Committee of the Freedmen't Savings Bank,
Clephaiue had important functions to perform for the ring.  Tlje Metropolis Paving
Company, Lewis Clephtne, President, and the Scharf Concrete Paving Company, John
0. Evans, President, while struggling for recognition at the hands of a sceptic community, had to be sustained by loans advanced on their as yet worthless stock from
the ever convenient savings of the poor freedmen.  These two worthies, the Presidents
of the two principal ring paving companies soon proved themselves to be adepts in Bill
Kemble's nrt of "addition, division and silence."
TIIE BOSSS " SQUAREST CONTRACTOR."
Evans was a keen, shr ewd, clcse-mrouthlied operator who kept aloof from politics, and
unlike otler mnembers of the ring, eschewed fashionable life.  These qualities fitted hint
admirably for the part which hlie was at a later date to play as the representative of the
Shliephlerd-Babcock-Wliite- House ring', which fattened exclusively on Government pap by
means of extortionate prices for work done on, in front of, and through Government reservations; the measurement of which was confided to Babcock, and the bills certified to by
him and paid by Shliepherd out of the appropriations made by Congress. Thie confidence
placed in Evans is shown by the following testimony of Shepherd before the Joint Investigating Coiiimitte: "I can say this much for Mr. Johnl 0. Evans, that hlie is one of the
best business men I evier knew, and as a contractor, hlie is one of the squarest and most
upright men I ever miet' that tihe work done by him is unsurpassed by that done by
any other person in this city. There never has been any difficulty with him in getting
him to make his work rioght."  (Pare 1,936, D)istrict Investigation.)
Of course it is not to be expected that men of a low standard of moralitv would
deal with each other honestly except when compelled so to do by the cohesive power
of public plunder.  Hulintington died in 1872; and his ring associates, true to their
real natures, undertook to defraiud his widow of the propoirtion of spoils justly due her.
Determined to bring her husloband's uDscrupulous partners to ternis, Mrs. I-Huntington
gave publicity to the following letter, which was written by Hallet Kilbourne to Hluntington:
A VERY SUGGEISTIVE LETTER.
"GILSEY hoUsE, NEW  YoaR,
CORNER BROADWAY AND TwENTY-NINTH STREETS,
]BRERSLIN, GARDNER &  CQ., PRO'RIETORS,
ilTeW Yoi'k, f,)'iday, Aug?lst 25, 1871."
"MY DEAR GENERAL: Evans, Clephliane and nmyself left Washington last night to
visit Philadelphia and this place and'gobble up' all the asphalt or concrete paveiients we can.  In Philadelpuia, to-day, we secured Filbert's vulcanite pavement, which
is being us-ed quite extensivelv in the park, and has the very best recommendations.
We shall close up the business to-morrow in black and  white.   WYe bought a steamroller to-day from an English aigent, who orders it from Liverpool by cable to-night.
It costs, delivered, about $5,200.  1TVe shall sae cure  aioher stoie-breakeer and a lot of
a.sphalt to-morrow'.   The Board of Public Works have advertised for proposals for paving, to be opened next Friday, the 1st instant. We propose to be prepared for them.
We had to make a small ring of about seven persons in order to acconmplish re.ults.  In
this ring we put all the concretes.  Evans, Clephane, yourself, Kelley, Kidwell and
-myself comprise six of the'ring.'  We shall put it in the best shape possible.  We
shall try and control the entire lot of asphalt pavements.   We will go  home  Sunday
-evening and get all things in readiness for 1st of September.
"Received another letter from  Eldredge.   He is a splendid fellow.  He talks of
:visiting Washington in about a fortnight.
"H. D. C. tells me to draw on him for $25.,000 cash for real-estate pool.
"Hope you will make a special effort in Junction R. R. bonds.
3 7-1 
REPLB]i.iCAN  i" RING" RULE.I
" I judge fromi your telegram to Frank from St. I'etersburgli that you will hardlv
f'et the Perkins claim through in time to return on steamer of 16th September; hope,
hiowever, you will, as it is devilish lonesome and quiet here during your absence."
"Let me hear from' you.                         "Truly yours,
HIIALLET K."
THEY COMIE I)OWN WTIIT THE CASII.
The publication of this letter was notice to the mean scoundrels who would have
defrauded the widow that unless they came down with the cash there was more ainmunitioni in the same magazine which would be exploded at the proper time, and accordingly
they settled.  As to the bearing of the above letter on the Real Estate Iool it was proved
and admitted, before the Joint Investigating Committee of the Foity-third Congress, that
H. D.C. stood for Henry D. Cooke, the Governor of the District, who subsequently claimed
that he had put up the $25,0)00 for the firm of Jay Cooke & Co.; and, still later, Kilbourne
A; Latta, acting for the Real Estate Pool, to prevent further exposures, compromised with
the trustee of Jay Cooke & Co.'s ci editors by the payment of $40,000 in cash.  It was also
admitted that besides the $25,000) advanced by H. D. Cooke, five other parties put up
$5,000 apl)iece, making a pool of $50,0()O0 for the Kilbourne branch of the  Real Estate
Pool.  Of these five, Chliiles A. Eldride, ex-nmemnber of Congress, from Wisconsin, mand
Judge Arthur Mc.lAtltir,u of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia, were subsequently admitted to have been in the pool, but the names of the other three parties
have been resolutely kept secret.  Kilbotrn himself defied the House of Representatives, and went to jail rather than make them public.
Upon the trifling capital of,50(),O(Oo this Real Estate Pool accomplished wonders
by virtually lmaking the millions spent for improvements a part of their working capital and by colmmianding  the credit of the then solveut house of Jay Cooke &( Co.
A DEVICE OF THE RING.
Oni June 20tl, 1871, two months before Kilbourn's letter to Hulitington above
given was written, the Board of Public Works sent the schedule and estiniates of the improvemenets contemplated under their "comprehensive plan" to the District Legisla.
ture.  These documents, as subsequent events have demonstrated, were framed for the
purpose of deceiving the public, as well as contractors not in the Ring.  They contain
the official deeltration that "the board is satisfied, upon careful consideration, that as
n rule the value of property in the District will not warrant the general introduction
of wood or other expensive pavements, and, if at all used, it should be confined to a
few of the principal avenues of communication." 
The estimates included but 231,000 square yards of wood pavement. at prices ranging from $2 to $4 per yard, while no concretes were estimated for.  There  are  now
tfully 2,000,000 square yards of these expensive and altogether worthless pavements in
this city.  John C. Evans, Kilboui-n'ind their associates were so well informed of the
real intentions of the Board of Public Works, and so sure of gobbling up "all the concretes," that they imported a steaiii roller, expensive  stone breakers, and other machiierv, costing over $.30,000, and purchased "a lot of asphalt" one week befoi'e any
bids were opened.  This false declaration of the Board of Public WVorkls also enabled
them to "gobble up" the.right to use in the District, on very favorable termnis, the
most profitable p)atents for wood and concrete pavements.  Thus the Contractors' Ring
was mrade ready for the carnival of plunder.
The northwestern and the northeastern sections of the city slope fromi the boundary down to North L and G streets, and were then vast tracts of unimproved land,
withi
LARGE AREAS COVERED WITlI WATER
during a portion of the year.  The first named localitv was selected as the thleatre of
the Real Estate Pool's operations.   Such streets in both of these quarters as were enumerated in the board's communication to the District Legislature for improvement were
specified for gravelling, with here and there some mnacadamiziug.
Speculation in real estate based upon information openl to all of course was legitimnate.  But while the specifications were, so far as the northeastern section was  conceried, adhered to in the limited amount of work done there, the pool district was
paved with the most expensive wood and concrete pavements. The avenues and
streets were extended through  this section and graded, paved,  parked and bordered
with shade trees, the reservations laid out and improved in the most extravagant manner, while over the vast expanse there were dotted, at long distances, apart, only a few
scores of dwelling houses.  This locality is traversed in every direction by avenues,
175 
REPUBLICAN  "C RING" RUILE,
and the general government, by the shrewd manipulations of the Committees on Appropriations in the Senate and House, has bleen made to pay five-sixths of the cost of
improving these, while two-thirds or the cost of the streets, by the organic act of 1871,
was chargeable to the general fund of the District. Thus it W'ill be seen that but a
very small portion of the vast expenditures which l)ave been lavished on thl pool property came out of the pockets of the speculators who profited thereby.
ADDITION, DIVISION AND SILENCE.
The change in the plan which was sent to the'Legislature was kept secret for a
whole year.   The contracts which were let during that period covered the central section of the city and a few main lines of travel into the country, and thus the public
was led to believe that the p,ublished programme was to be carried out in good faith.
The first contract of any- mag-nitude for work to be done in the northwestern section
was let August 6th, 1872, to Chas. E. Evans  % Co., foir $296,375 worth of concrete
pavements to be laid on Connecticut and Massachusetts avenues, Eig(hteenth, L and
other streets.  The interval between the publication of the filse estimates and this denouement of the plot gave the conspirators ample time to buy up for a song the property they had in view, and when questioned by the investigating committee, Kilbourne
could insolently reil)y, "We had faith."
The amount of cash capital with which this huge speculation was started seems
insignificant, but all the purchases were made for smnall cash paynments, notes running
a long time being given for the balance, and secured by deeds of trust.   The  pool  relied on the great profits which they expected to make from sales to meet these notes
as they fell due.  They expected outsiders to be inspired with "faith" as soon'as the
public became aware of the extent of the improvements to be made in the pool district.
The following transactions show that these expectations were speedily realized:
RING PROFITS.
September 23, 1871, Hallet Kilbourne, trustee, bought of W. W. Rapley 140,406
square feet of ground in square 203 for $21,525, of which $15,000 remained at 6 per
cent. interest, secured by deed of trust. The same lots were sold March 22, 1873, to
Charles Pavson for $35,785, subject to the deed of trust for $15,000, or in toto fori
$50,875.  This transaction may be summarized as follows;
Outlay of Real Estate Pool; cash paid Septenmber, 1871.................. $6,525 00
Interest on cost and incumbrance for eighteen months.................... 1,291 50
Taxes for one year on assessed value of $19,888.......................... 400  00
Total cash outlay.................................................... $8,216 50
On this expenditure of $8,216.50 they received within eighteen months $35,875,
a net profit of $27,658 cash, which is equal to a return of $436 for an investment of
$100.
Another illustration. Lot 4 in square 157 was bought September  27, 1871, and
sold May 3, 1873. The expenses, calculated as above, foot up about $3,162 cash, and
a net profit of $5,443 was realized thereon.  In this instance an outlay of $100 brought
back $272.
These sales were made at a time when the pool wanted money to meet deferred
payments on other property. The major portion of their purchases were mnade, however, at twenty-five or thirty cents per square foot, and all this property is now held
at from $1.50 to $2 per foot.
The dates of these transactions show that while the Board of Public Works misled
outside capitalists by false official statements, Henry D. Cooke, the Governor of the
District and ex officio President of the Board of Public Works, prostituted his official
position by entering into a conspiracy to deceive the public, and, by
SPECULATING ON INFORMATION
known to him only as a sworn officer, thereby enriched himself and his confederates. He furnished one-half the cash capital of this pool; and had not bankruptcy
overtaken his firm, the secrets of this conspiracy would in all probability have been
unknown to-day.
The other branch cf the Real Estate Pool which was ostensibly headed by William
M. Stewart, and for which Latta, Kilbourne's partner acted as trustee, undoubtedly
acted in harmonoy with the Kilbourne-('ooke branch.
176 
REPUBLICAN "RING " RULE.
Curtis J. Hillyeir and Thomias Sunderland, two Pacific coast speculators, were
associated at different dat es-the former in May, 187 1, and the latter about May, 1872
-with Stewart.  The operations of Stewart in mining stocks had so crippled him
that in December, 1872. he was corlpellell to retire from the real estate pool;  but he
received a bonus of $18,000 for his interest ill the profits to be realized.  Hillyer and
Sunderland remained. and Latta conducted all their operations as trustee in the same
secret manner which Kilbourne originated for his coconspirators.
All the best tracts of land held by the trustees could be sold by them in fee simple
or mortgaged without the interference of the parties for whom they  were acting, as
will appear by the following which formed the habendum clause in every deed by
which property was conveyed to them.
"To have and to hold the same pieces or parcels of grounds, premises, And appurtenances unto, and to the use of the said party of the second part, his heirs and assigns
in and upon the trusts, and for the purposes particularly set forth in a printed paper
bearin, even date with these presents, and signed by the said party of the second part
with full power, however, in the said party ot the second part to sell antid conve- said
property in fee simple, or by way of mortgage, or deed of trust, to secure payment of
money at such time and place, or such sums of money, upon such terms and in such
manne'r as in his judgmenet may be proper without any liability on the-part of the purchaser or mortgager to see to the application of the purchase money, or  money advanced on mortgage or deed of trust as aforesaid."
The "'printed p:;.per" referred to in the above quoted habendum clause was a skillfully drawn instrument of concealment.  The following is a copy of the form used by
the Kilbourne branch of the pool;
THiE INSTRUMENT OF CONCEALMENT.
"tWhereas, The following real estate in the city of Washington, District of Columbia, has, by the parties hereinafter named, and by deeds belaing. dates as stated (property described by squares an(il lots), been conveyed to me in fee simple
"To have and to hold the same upon trusts and for the plurposes set forth in this.
paper signed and sealed by me, beatring( even date with the said deeds.  And whereas,
the cash payment of the purchase molney for said property and other was advanced
by the following named persons, in respective sums set opposite their names, to wit.:
Jay Cooke & Co................................................ $25,000 00
Five other parties, each $5,000...................................... 25,000 00
Total............................................................. $50,000 00
"And Whereas, Promissory notes for the deferred payment of the said purchase
money have been given for the said parties respectively as follows; Jay Cooke & Co.,
one-half; five other parties, each one-tenth.
"Now, therefore, this is to declare that I hold said real estate in trust, to be held,
managed, and sold, for the above named parties in fee simple as tenants in commnon;
the interest of said parties in said real estate being in proportion to tie sums paid by
them respectively. It being understood that upon the failure of any of the said parties
to pay thlei' proportion of said notes or interests or taxes, as the same become due
[first having been notified of the amount required and time of payment], then the
same may be paid by the remaining parties in interest; and, at their option, refund to
such delinquent party or parties the sum of money previously advanced without interest; and such delinquent's interest in said property shall revert to the remaining
parties in irolportion to amounts severally advanced by themn to make good said delinquent's interest.
Given under my hand and seal this 2d day of October, A. D. 1872.
(Signed.)             HIALLET KILBOURNE, Trustee.       [L. S.]
'We acknowledge the above statement to be correct, and agree to the same.
(Signed.)                       JAY COOKE & CO.,
And by five others."
TRYING TO DEF!AUD CREDITORS.
On September 18, 1873, Jay Cooke & Co. failed, and six days later the conspirators interested in the Real E state Pool, withli the assistance of the inembers of the firm
of  Jay Cooke & Co., undarto,,k to defraud the creditors of that concern by  availing
themselves of the clause in the "printed paper" to call in an assessment. Thlis of course
Henry D. Cooke declared himself unable to pay in order that there might be an oppor
2
177 
REPUBLICAN "RING" RULE.
tunity to forfeit his interest and thus prevent the affairs of the pool from being overhauled in the bankruptcy proceedings. In consequence of this action of the ring a
suit was entered in 1875, by the trustee of Jay Cooke  &  Co's. creditors to compel
Kilbourne & L atta, as the trustees of the Real Estate Pool, to state an account.   This
firightened all the men who were interested in the pool, and pressure was brought  to
bear on Mr. Lewis, the trustee of Cooke's creditors, who finally c()mpromised  the matter on the payment of $40,(000 by Kilbourne & Latta-a sum Altogether inadequate,
since the profits of the ring as has already been shown, were very much larger.
The intimate connection of the two branches of the Real Estate Pool is evidenced
by a transaction recorded October 2, 1872, when James M. latta, the trustee of the
Pacific coast pool, conveyed 273,000 square feet of valuable ground in the northwestern section, on which, according to the records, cash payments to the amount of nearly
$50,000 had been made to HIlallet Kilbourne, trustee of the Cooke pool, for a considera-tion of one dollar! Latta, when examined before the joint select committee, in 1874,
in vain attempted to explain this transaction, but the most he claimed was that he had
received from Jay Cooke & Co.'s bank about $6,000 on the order of Kilbourne to make
the purchase.  On the other side, Kilbourne, trustee, conveyed in May, 1872, square
156, for which his pool had paid $13,748 cash, and gave a deed of trust for $52,000
(total $65,748), to James M. Latta, trustee, for $90,429, subject to the above-mentioned
deed of trust, making a total of $143,177.'
TO MISLEAD FUTURE CUSTOMERS.
and settle with their secret allies, numerous bogus transactions were' put on record; for.instance, Stewart and Hillyer purchased in June, 1871, squares 66 and  93
for $64,700. After Hillyer bought out Stewart he kept a piece of land from the
above, which was proportionately worth $6,500, and conveyed the rest in March, 1873
for a consideration of $125,000, subject to a deed of trust for $51,700, to James M.
Latta as trustee.
Tile titles to the rest of the pool purchases oscillated between the three members
of the firm. of Kilbourne & Latta (John F. Olmstead being the third member), as the
necessities of covering their transactions seemed to dictate. The aggregate purchases
of the two pools from July, 1871, to July, 1873, were 2,456,046 square feet of ground,
for which they paid $704,267 30-about one-fourth inccash and the balance in long
notes.  This shows an average of about 29 cents per foot.  There were in 1873, bo7la
J,de sales of pool property recorded, amounting to 3C7,614 square feet, yielding over
$217,000, or ati average of nearly 70 cents per foot; and 75,223 square feet were withdrawn as sites for the palaces of Messr. Stewart and Hillyer. At this date there are
2,073,219 square feet standing in the names of Kilbourn, Latta and Olmstead, trustees,
which, at the prices asked, aggregate fully $2,500,000. They are assessed, however,
even now under the revised assessment at only $617,253, or 29t cents per foot, which
simply represents the cost price of the ground when it was unimproved and some of it
under water.
TIHE PEOPLE HAVE TO FOOT THE BILLS.
The improvements in this pool district, which were paid for out of the IJnited
States Treasury, and from the general fund of the District, aggregate fully $4,000,000.
The profits on these Ring transactions must amount to fully $1,500,000, but notwithstandling this fact Kilbourn avers that of the 2,(,00,000 square feet held by himself and
Latta and Olmstead only 257,123 square feet belong to the Cooke pool, and proposedito
settle with tle trustees of Cooke's creditors for $40,000, and this proposition was
accepted.
Besides the direct pool operations, the most trusted friends of the Ring in and out
of Congress speculated largely in property situated in the pool district on their own
account, in addition to their secret interests in the pool connections.
IOOW SOME ROGUES WERE PAID.
Secor Robeson, in the name of Augustus S. Campbell of Chicago, bought in May,
1872, square 193, containing 155,526 square feet for $79,841, subject to the payment
of a heavy mortgage.  Part of this square he has since exchanged for Little Emma
Stewart's old brown stone house fronting on the Fourteenth street circle.
Secor Robeson's bosom friend, A. G. Cattell, bought in Augnst, 1871, about 35.000
square feet of ground in square 195 for $23,000. Hle was Boss Shepherd,s first choice
for District Comimissioner, but failing to get him, Ketchum was taken as second best.
178 
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
Stewart's pal in the Little Emma Mine swindle, Robert C. Schenck, bought in
April, 1871, square 135, containing 35,918 square feet.  This is adjacent~to Stewart's
new mansion.
E. C. Ingersoll, ex-member of Congress from Illinois, formerly Chairman of the
District of C(olumbia Committee of the Hlouse, and now a notorious lobbyist and dabbler in street contracts, bought in the spring of 1873 square 137, containing 163,440
square feet, for $80,000, subject to a heavy mortgage.  This thriving statesman owns
besides over 20,000 square feet in smaller parcels throughout the pool district.
Ex-Senator Joshua Hill, of Georgia, owns square 137, containing 83,780 square
feet.
Ex-Attorney General Williams purchased the larger portion of square 159, and
has advantageously disposed of the greater part of it.
Ex-member of Congress, Pierce M. B. Young, of Georgia, owns square north of 189.
John 0. Evans, the Boss's "squarest contractor," owns square 190, containing
159.264 square feet, besides numerous parcels, and has lots in various parts of the pool
district.
Ex-Senator Patterson and ex-member, Young of Georgia, speculated largely in connection with Boss Shepherd in property situated in the pool district, but this is now
in the name of either Kilbourne or Latta, trustee, perhaps to cover up interests which
the honorable gentlemen do not desire the public to know about.
These facts make it clear that the Real Estate Pool was designed not only to elirich the master spirits of the District Ring proper, but also to afford a means of
*securing the assistance of influental Federal officeholders and Congressmen, and a perfectly safe way of paying these corrupt men for their services.
A FEW SPECIMEN FRAUDS.
The first step taken by the Board of Public Works after their induction into office
presaged dire results. To the suspicion of corruption and jobbery which attached to
the Board of Public Workls, were added grave doubts of their competency for the performance of the work confided to them. We adduce a few instances. On July 15th,
1870, Congress appropriated at the instance of the speculators, we have outlined above
*$50,000,'for the purpose of dredging, narrowing or arching over the eity canal,"
under the supervision of the Board of Commissioners, of which General N. Michler
'then Commissioner of public buildings and grounds, was the expert member, on con*dition that the city of Washington should raise by taxation $100,000 for the same purpose. In November, 1870, these Commissioners, Hallet Kilbourne being one, entered
into a contract with John O. Evans, under the firm name of Teemyer & Co., "to dredge,
clean out and narrow," according to General Michler's plans and specifications.  Before
any work was done on this contract the same unscrupulous operators procured a clause
to be inserted in the appropriation act, approved April 20, 1871, by which all the
powers of the Canal Commissioners were transferred to the Board of Public Wolrks, so
that the board with A. B. Mullett as its Civil Engineer, became responsible for this
work. First under pretence of narrowing the canal, worthless walls were built upon
shaky pile foundations, which soon gave way.'To hide this jobbery, the Board of
Public Works decided to fill up the canal, but before this decision was made the $50,000 appropriated by Congress had been squandered, and in addition, as is admitted by
.Shepherd in.his report, dated February 28th, 1874, to the joint investigating committee, $109,221.61, making a total of $159,221.61 actually thrown into the old
,canal. Then for filling the canal, favorite contractors were paid in addition
to the regular price allowed for grading on the streets in August, 1872, and January, 1873, upon measurements made by'Babcock, $122,216.80. And again in Jannary
.and August, 1873, another sum of $213,550.70 was paid for arching (or making a
sewer of) this same canal. And further still, Babcock diverted additional sums for
grading reservation Number 2, to pay for filling the canal.  This same imbecile
policy of doing and undoing this work, has been, and is being continued up to the
present day by means of bonds and cash derived from district sources at a total cost
.so far of about $600,000.
THE TWEED RING OUTDONE.
North Capitol street was put under contract by the old corporation to be paved
,and improved with a park laid out in the center of the street: the Board of Public
Works continued this contract and finished the street at a cost of $66,245.11; but
while the contractor was still at work under the contract let by the old corporation
another having a contract from the Board of Public Works, followed tearing up the
work just finished. The object of this last improvement (?) of North Capitol street
179 
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
was to make property which had been purchased by Shepherd, A. R. Corbin-Grantis
brother-in-law-L-Iuntitigton and others. more valuable by diverting a natural water
course which ran through it to the center of the above named street.
In Noventber, 1871,. before the special election took place on the second $4,000,000,
loan bill, various str&vets and roads were in process of improvement.  Among others,
the Seventh street road, a country thoroughfare nearly three miles in length, and leading to Shepherd's country seat, was included in the schedule of the so-called" Corn —
prelhensive plan of liIlprovements" authorized by  the Legislative Assembly.  The
work to be done on this road was estimated, under the head of "repairs," at $2,500.
Subsequently Shepherd claimed b(fore a committee of Congress, that this was a typographical error, and that the figures should have been $25,000, and that the repairs
were to consist of a new mniacadaixzing of the whole road.  The footings of the figures
in the columns of which the estinmated cost of tlhe various improvements were carried
out, branded this sworn statement of Shepherd's as a deliberate falsehood, but still the
Committee accepted it as a truth, and it was three years before the entire cost of improvin, the Seventh street road was discovered.  The  official figures submitted to
Congress in the spring of 1875, show that the enormous sum of $200,239.39 were
squandered on this imperfectly constructed road.  It cost $70,000 per mile-more than
is required to build and equip a railroad the same distance.  The direct expenses of,
registration, advertising, dc., for the two elections in 1871, exceeded $100,000.
LETTING CONTRACTS AND FIXING PRICES.
On August 21st and 25th, 1871, bids were invited for laying wood, tar, Macadam.
and Belgian pavements, for curbs, sewers, &c, on certain specified streets.  The bid —
ders were required to deposit with the Collector of the District 1,.000 on eachl item
bid for, as a guarantee that they would conform with any award made.  On Septem —
ber 13th liShepherd moved in the Board meeting, that the Collector report the amount
of the guarantee fund then received, from whomn, and at what date.  In this way it was
found that responsible contractors outside the Ring had made bona fide bids. Thereupon all bids received were rejected, notwithstanding the plighted faith of the Government to award the contracts to the lowest responsible bid(ler. All the profitable
work was then arbitrarily awarded to favorite contractors, at prices established by the
Board, which were arrived at by averaging the bids of contractors who were decided
by the Boal'd to be responsible. To keep up appearances, outsiders got small con —
racts tfor less desirable work at less remunerative rates.  Simiultaneously it was determined to establish a Property But eau under the  philanthropic pretext of aiding
contractors having limited capital.  The real object of this system was to enable the
ring jobbers to get the benefit of the wide margin between nominal or car(l prices and
the heavy discounts allowed to wholesale customers. By these bold moves, successfully carried out, the ball opened and the jobbing began in real earnest.
In October, 1871, the great Chicago fire occurred, and Governor Cooke called an,
extra session of the Legislative Assembly for the exclusive purpose of voting $100,000 for the relief of the suffering people of that afflicted city.. The issue of five-year
bonds was accordingly authorized and negotiated, but it took more  than a year'sbegging to get $67,500 into the hands of the Relief Comimittee; the balance was
swallowed up by commissions and otherwise absorbed.
A WIIITELWASHING INVESTIGATION.
By Dec. 1871, the opposition to the Board of Public Works, on the part of the
citizens, had assumed formidlable proportions. Petitions signed by great numbers
were presented to the'louse of Repiresentatives demanding anll investigation. After
much opposition on the part of the Ring, the House, on January 22, 1872, directed the
Commnittee on the District of Columbia to investigate the Board  of Public Works.
The Republican majority of the Committee threw every obstacle in the way of the
citizens who were prosecuting the inquiry.  Witnesses were bullied, badgered and
brow-beaten by attorneys employed by Slhephlerd to conduct the defense of the Board
of Public Works.  But notwithstandiag all this opposition, the most damaging revelations of Ring rascalities were made.  The Rel)ubican majority, however, undertook
to vindicate the Board of Public Works.  Wec quote extracts from their report as
follows:
"The Committee find great cause of commendation for the energy, liberality and
generous desire to imiprove and beautify thile National Capital.  *      - They also find
the ordinary and usual errors attendant upon1 the establishmenlet of a new systeni ofGovernment; there was inexperience on the )art of the many.  *  *  There was a
180 
REPUBLICAN  " RING  RULE.
lack of careful and cool legislation.  *  *  The new authorities became somewhat
intoxicated with the spirit of the movement; * * more work was undertaken at once
than was wise   The District autihor-ities at the outset were not sufltciently titindfutl of
:the small extent of their official jurisdiction and the slender constituency on which all
the public burdens were to rest, and therefore sufficient care was not taken to have
rigid economy prevail in every department.  These errors were such as timne and
experience would soon demonstrate, and the Committee find that many of these expenditures have already been curtailed, and a more stringe,nt economy now prevails in
the conduct of those public officers.  *  *  *  The defects in some of the pavements
resulted from Lhe great haste during bad weather.  It does not appear in any case that
the contractors intentionally laid inferior pavements.  All defects are to be remedied
by the contractors who are bound bv contract and by lbond in every ease to keep the
-pavement in good repair for three years.  *  *  *  Concrete and wooden pavenients
are somewhat experimental.  Time alone can determine the wisdom of their adoption."
In concluding their report the Committee extol the Governor and the members of
-the Board of Public Works for " the zeal, energy and wisdom with which ttiley have
started the District upon a new career of improvement and prosperity."
A letter of Governor Cooke, dated February 7, 1872, was published with the
report, in which he reiterated formner pledges by saying, "the $4,000,000 authorized by
the first act of the Legislature are all that is deemed necessary to carry out and perfect
the general plan of improvement adopted by the Board of Public Works and the LegIslature."
AN HONEST MINORITY TELL THE' TRUTH.
The minority of the committee, Messrs. Roosevelt and Crebs, in a dissenting report
boldly exposed the attempt of the majority to palliate the glaring frauds committed by
the Ring, and foretold the bankruptcy impending over the district. They pointed
.out the fact that the local press of the district had been subsidized by the
Ring; that during the few months' existence of the territorial government $143,635.62 had been paid to a few newspapers with a limited circulation for advertising.  They denounced the excuse which the Governor and Board of Public Works had
put forward for this reckless and profligate expenditure of the public, money, which
was that by this means the newspapers had been brought to support the $4;000,000 loan
bill, and had by their advocacy of the measures of the new government created a favorable sentiment on the part of the people, and thereby brought up the credit of the district in the markets of the world. In concluding their report the minority say, "that
the powers assumed and exercised by the Board of Public Works are dangerous to the
best interest of the District and the reckless extravagance of all departments of the
District Government ought to be checked."  But the warning voice of the honest men
who composed the minority of this committee was not heeded by the Administration
- or by Congress.  They were maligned and vilified by the subsidized ring organs of the
District.  On the other hand, the Board of Public Works accepted the vindication ten dered it by the House of Repr)esentatives not only as an endorsement of all their past
acts but as a broad license to do in the future whatever their sweet will might
dictate.
THE LEGISLATIVE MILL AGAIN AT WORK.
On May 2d, 18;2, the second regular session of the  Legislative Assembly met.
Governor Cooke addressed them, and anmong other thiings, said,  it is a source of peculiar gratification that most of the matters referred to il my first message requiring the
imnmediation attention of the Legislature received such wise and prompt action at your
hands, that comparatively little lremains to be done at the present session, beyond such
current legislation as the rapid growth, increasing prosperity and the annual necessities of the District may demand."
Among the " anrnu'tl necessities" of the District requiring "current legislation
was a scheme devised bv the ring to unload a portion of the Indebtedness  created by
the Board of Public Works on the  defunct munincipal governments of  Washinton, Georgetown and the County. On June 2(), 1872, the Legislative Assembly passed
an act which enabled the territorial Government to defray some -of their current expenditures by the issue of an indefinite amount of Washiington funding six per dent. gold
bonds running thirty years; and to legalize this willful violation of law, an Act was
lobbied through Congress confirmiing the act of the District Legislature.   On JuLly 1st,
1874, $1,150,00 of tiheso, bonds were found to have been sold and $500,0{)0 more to
have been pawned for loans to meet interests falling due, and other outlays of the
District Government, for the liquidation of which the Board of Public Works had no
legitimate means at their command.
.181 
REPUBLICAN  " RING" RULE.
PREPARING FOR THE FIRST RAID ON TIHE TREASURY,
The Board ofPublic Works submitted to the Legislative Assembly at the openingof the second session "a statement of amounts expended for improvements abutting on
property of the United States Government."  The law for such expenditures not specially authorized by Congress. is found in the third section of the Act of May 5, 1864,
entitled "an Act t- amend an Act to incorporate the inhabitants of the city of Washllingington, "passed Mlay, 15, 1820," which directed that "in all cases in which thle streets,
avenues or alleys of the said city passed th'rough or by any property of the United
States the Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds shall pay to the duly authorized( officers of the corporation the just proportion of the expense incurred in improving such avenue, street or alley which said property bears to the whole cost thereof, to
be asertainc(l in the same manner as the same is apportioned among the individual
prolp'iet)rs of the property improved thereby." In the statement submitted to the
L(gislative Asseiimbly the bill against the United States was represented to be $192,620.31.  This amount was obtained by a plain violation of the above quoted law which
plainly says that the Government of the United States shall pay the same proportion
of lithe cost of the improvement as the owners of individual property.  Private proper-ty,
however, was assessed by the Board of Public WVorks one third of the whole cost of
street improvement, while the United States was charged five-sixths.  Under the old
niuniincil al law, property on either side of the street, public or private, paid for improvements actually abutting thereon up to the middle of the street, but in order to make
the ring jobbery more palatable to the citizens the change in thie mode of assessment.
had been made in the organic act creating the territorial Government.
A TWO HUNDRED THOUSAND IIAUL.
The two-thirds of the cost of improvements where private property was alone be m
efitted was charged to the general fund of the District, and paid out of the $4,000,000
loan, as was also the one-sixth of the cost where Government property bordered one side
of the street or avenue improved.  By means of this five-sixthl charged against the
United [States, thle ring was enabled to assess against the General CGovernment, the
private property holders, and the general fund ofthe District about twice the costs of
the improvements.
Mr. Garfield, chairman of the Committee on Appropriations in the House, ineluded"
in the Sunday Civil Bill, an appro-priation to pay the bill of $192,620.30, which  the
Board of Public Works had footed up against the United States. When the bill camne
up ini the House on May 20th, for discussion, Mr. Garfield, on being questioned in regard to the appropriation, said, "the Board mnade certain improvements   *  * opposite reservations and property owned by the United States. In every such case they
have made out a full and accurate statement of the expense of grading, paving and
other work done on the streets opposite such Government property, and have forwarded to the President of the United States a complete statement of such expenses
and an estimate of what the Government of the United States ought to pay, if it placed
itself exactly in the place of the Government of the District when the work is done op posite the District property.  The President has forwarded this paper to the House of
Representatives, and it has been referred to the Committee of Appropriations.  The
paper gives a detailed and specific statement of work done, and the number of square
yards of paving, the number of cubic yards of grading or any other work done, naming
the square.  *  *       The Government, of course, is not bound at all to pay anything,  *  *  the only question is whether the United States will pay its equal
share."
Mr. Randall, in reply to Mr. Garfield, said, "wliy should we donate a sum amounting in the gross to nearly $200,000 to a Board which has shown itself to be reckless and
extravagant in its operations."
-A FRIEND IN NEED, &C.
This item in the Sunday Civil Bill being voted down iii the committee of the wholes
Mr. Gaifield brought up another item of $68,365.  " For the proportion of costs properly payable by the United States for filling up the canal and building an intercepting
sewer along said canal adjoining property of the United States, payments to  be
made only upon vouchers approved by the officer in charge of public buildings and
grounds."
In discussing this appropriation, Mr. Ambler, of Virginia, said: "I suppose we have
all seen as to the manner in which this work is being done.  It is not proper to place
the Government in the position of bearing a portion of these expenses. I have been
182 
REPUBLICAN "RING" RULE.
shown walls at the western end of the canal which were to be pulled down and the
filling done again."
Mr. McGREW inquired.whether the city of Washington does not claim that the canal
is the property of the city.
Mr. GARFIELD replied: "There has been a claim of that sort, but it is now utterly
waived."
THE SENATE RESPONDS LIBERALLY.
On June 1st. 1872, the item of $192,620.30 was reported to the Senate by the Conmmittee on Appropriations of that body, and an amendment reducing the apprl)oprition
to $1'50.,,00 was finallv agreed upon with a proviso, "that only so niucli of the curbing
and pavin  of sidewalks as is necessary for the side of the street ad(joining the p)r(operty
of the IUinited States shall be (hargeable t,)-the United States, and not more than onethird of the legitimate cost of paving roadiways andl puttin    g insewers in float of the
property of the United States shall be paid by the Governiuecnt of the United States."
On June 7th, the item of $68,365, which had been agreed to by tlie House, and
recommended to be stricken out by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, came up
for discussion in that body. Senator F. A. Sawyer, of South Carolina, appeared as
champion of the Board of Public Works.  " He had learned," he said, "by  authiority
that this money was not for what it claimed to be on the face of the bill namel  for
filling up the canal."  "The appropriation" he said "is for quite anotlier work; it is
for building a sewer through the President's grounds, and the reservation south of
North B street, between Tenth and Twelfth streets, the district paying all the balance
which largely exceeds the amount asked for from the Government. When this whole
work is done, filling up the canal, which was provided for by the appropriation of
$150,000, there will be about twenty-five acres of land reclaimed belonging to the
Government and worth $500,000.  But the present appropriation is not for this work.
I have had a conference with the Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds, and
he says the work was done very econoumically, and that he regards it as an entirely
proper expense to be met by the Government.   I hope the Senate will nonconcur in
the recommendation to strike out."
A USEFUL CARPETBAGGER.
On the misrepresentations from the member of the committee on the District of
Columbia, the appropriation was voted by-the Senate, but on motion of Senator
Edmunds, the declaration of Mr. Garfield in the House, "that the district has utterly
waived any claim to lands reclaimed by the filling of the canal," was incorporated in
the act by adding "and any land made by. the filling of the canal is hereby declared to
be the property of the United States."
The Sundry Civil Bill containing the above items was referred to a conference committee. The report of this conference committee, dated June lt)th, signed by only four
Republicans, Messrs. Garfield and Palmer, on the part of the Iouse, and Messrs. Cole
and Edmunds on the part of the Senate, restored $192,620.30 for inmprovements in front
of Government reservations, and left the Senate appropriation for the intercepting
sewer intact. [See Congressional Globe, p. 4495.]
In the debate which took place in the Senate on the Sundry Civil Bill, Senator
Sawyer speaking, as he declared, by authority, said, "that the Board of Public Works
had spent $19.3,000 in dredging out and improving the canal, and further, that he was
informed by Gen. Babcock that the work had been economically done, but that the appropriation of $68,365 was not to be applied to the liquidation of any portion of the
expense incurred in these repairs to the canal, but to the payment of the Government's
share of the cost of an intercepting sewer along the side of the canal.". But notwithstanding this declaration from Gen. Babcock through Sawyer, this appropriation of
$68,365, and other sums in addition, amounting to $122,216.80 was, during the next
seven months following, applied by Babcock to pay for filling the canal, and within
six months more he certified and approved other bills aggregating $213,550.70 as the
Governmeit's share of the cGst of the intercepting sewer.  This was done in the face of
the decla, itic,n made by Mr. Garfield in the House, that $68,365 included in the Sundry
Civil Bill would liquidate the proportion of the cost of filling the canal chargeable to
the Government.
A TYPICAL CASE.
The outrageous swindle perpetrated upon the Government for filling the canal, is
shown by the following fact.  On May  7th, 1874, Governor Sheplierd was asked by
Senator Allison, Chairnian of the Joint Investigating Committee, the following ques-.
183 
REPUBLICAN  " RING" RULE.
tion: "Have you the cost to the Board of Public Works of that filling?"  Shepherd
answered, "Well, it (the canal) was simply a dumping ground to get rid of thie dirt
that we carted off from the various streets which we were improving; the earth was
dumped there."  Bt.ing further pressed, he said, "We did pay it for filling up the
canal in addition to that it was a (lumping ground for our streets; whatever benefit
accrued went to the general fuud of the district."  He  admitted that they paid sometimes, but carefully concealed the amount they paid. The Committee on the l)istrict
of Columbia at the First Session of the Forty-fourth Congress, employed, an expert,
Mr. John Morris, to examine into this matter. He ascertained that Albert Gleason, a
eonfederate of John O. Evans, B(ss Shepherd's  "squarest contractor," was paid in
1873 for grading a,d hauling from certain streets under the head of "filling the canal,"
for which he had no contract. This payment was made by order of James A. Magruder,
the defiaulting Treasurer of the Board of Public Works. In 1875 Gleason made a
claim unler the head of grading the streets, and was paid for the same work about
$85,000 more.
We have enlarged upon this fraud of filling the canal because it is a typical
case.
MANIPULATING THE ACCOUNTS.
As soon as Congress adjourned the bill for $192,620.30 against the United States,
which is stated by Mr. Garfield was forwarded by the Board of Public Works to the
President, and by him transmitted to the House and referred to the Committee on
~Appropriations, was reconstructed by Sht,pherd to lay the foundation forfuture attacks upon the Public Treasury. The original bill, as transmitted to the House, is
printed in the journal of the council of the District Legislature, volume 4th, second
regular session, and thie manipulated bill is printed in the report of the Board of
Public Works for 1872, page 35.  Two measurements, footing up $79,646.42, which appeared in the original bill, were withhleld, and in their place charges were interpolated
in the manipulated account as work in front of the Government Reservations. The
object of this was to make a precedent to justify future charges against the Government.  There are numerous little plots of ground scattered about Washington at the
intersection of the avenues with cross streets. Tihey are not reservations, but are
properly part of the street intersections.'ihe largest of them do not contain 10,000
square feet, yet these little spaces were called by the Board of Public Works Government reservations, and the United States is charged five-sixths of the costs of irnproving the streets and avenues fionting on them.  In this way more than $1,000,000
was finally extracted from the Public Treasury.
PUTTING MONEY WHERE IT WILL DO MOST GOOD.
It was necessary, in order to accomplish their design, in obtaining enormous appropriation. from Congress to pay for these improvements about imaginary reservations, that the ring,hould have serviceable friends on the Committee on Apporpriations.  A brief account therefore of tlhe way in which James A. Garfield, Chairman
of the House Committee on Appri(priations was captured and used by the Ring will
serve to illustrate Boss Shel)heid's method of utilizing contract jobbery.
In the splring of 1872 a needy adventurer named Chittenden came to Washington
as the agent of De Golyer & McClellan, a Chicago firm, who wanted a contract to lay a
patent wood pavement.  He made his first  )vertures to Huntington, but death interfered.  Huntington, as he would have said, "passed in his chips," and Chittenden was
well nith ruined.
But in the tiiidst of his despair a good genius, in the guise of a decayed parson, the
Rev. William Colvin Brown, alppeaied and ministered unto his troubled mind.  He
cheered his (lroo)ing spiris by tellirng him tihat hie was the spiritual friend of Henry D.
Cooke.  CIittenden took heart and on the spot arranged teims with the reverend
gentleman. Thie Hon. R. C. Parsons was engaged oslensibly to present the merits of
De Golyer No. 2 to the Board of Public Works, but really to secure.Congressional
influence.  He succeeded, and we will let him tell his story in his own language.   He
says:
MR. PARSONS' STORY.
"I was called home to Cleveland by matters of a pressing private nature, and
feeling great solicitude as to the result of mniy labors and of course of securing my
fee-, I called upon  General Garfield and gave  him a history of the case as it then
stood, arid askedlhim, as Congiress would adjourn in a few, days, if he would  act forme
in my absence, and give the subject a careful investigation. He at first declined on
184 
REPUBLICAN "RING" RULE.
the ground of pressing business, but finally assented to have me send the mode], books,
papers, &c., to his house for examination.  After a day or two I called upon him, and
he said he would prepare an opinion as to the merits of the patent and attend to the
case for me.  I said to him I had a fee in the case of importance to me, and would( be
glad to share it with him. The same day, or day after, I left for Cleveland, and when
I received my fee some considerable time after from my clients at Chicago, I deposited
General Garfield's to his credit in bank, and so wrote him."
" Q. (By Chairman) Have you agy objection to stating the amount recived by you?
A. Not at all, sir."
"Q. State the amount received? A. I received from Mr. Chittenden, at the time I
was retained, or within a few days afterward, I think, his check for $5,000, with the
understanding that if an award was made covering the amount of his contract, as he
had been promised, that I should receive a contingent fee of $10,t)00, which some time
afterward was sent to me from Chicago. The total amount received by me was
$15,000."
THE  IMPORTANCE  OF  GAKRFIELD'S AID.
Chittenden, in a letter to his principals, written at the time this arrangement was
made with General Garfield, said:  "To-day's and  to-night's work has secured the
assistance of General Garfield. You cannot overrate the importance of this accession.
He is thle Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, and holds the purse stringa8
of the National Treasury.  Through  him must come every dollar of appropriations.
I need not say that I now feel certain of success."
He was not mistaken. His case was probably won before arrangements were made
with Colonel Moore, Shepherd's partner and confidential business man;- but the
moment the Boss received Garfield's opinion of the mnerits of De Golyer No. 2, he
mist have been half wild with joy. It was worth millions to him. The award for
the 200,000 yards of pavement was made out at once by the Boss in his private office,
at his store on Pennsylvania avenue.  This paper, with Garfield's signature to it, was a
magic wand ill Shepherd's hands.
HOW IT WAS PAID FOR.
On the 11th of May the formal new application for De Golyer No. 2 is on record.
On May 20, 1872, Garfield, as Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, reported
the appropriations in favor of the Board of Public Works, and advocated tlhem in a
speech of some length. They were finally passed on June 10th, as heretofore stated,
the vote in the House being 102 ayes to 79 nays.  On June 25, following, the award of
201,000 square yards of wood pavement was made by Shepherd to the clients of Parsons & Garfield, notwithstanding the Scientific Advisory Board, of which so much was
said by the Ring, had, on May 10, preceding, condemned the ironizing process used by
De Golyer & McClellan for preserving the wood used in laying the De Golyer No. 2
pavement.
The testimony of John C. Cook, the book-keeper of De Golyer & McClellan, on the
payment of Garfield & Parsons is as follows:
"My transit account, showing a disposition of $97,000 is as follows: "'May 2 —Col.
P." (meaning Colonel Parsons), "$5,000."  "July 12-Bills payable, $72,000."  No explanation.  "July 12-R. C. P." (meaning RichlarI C. Parsons), " $10,000."  "July 12
-W. C. B." (meaning William Colvin Brown), "$10,000."
"Q. Does that show the date of those transactions? A. It shows it as it was
represented to me."
These facts tell their own sad story and need no comment.
THE DISTRICT JAIL JOB.
During this session of Congress another job. which had been set on foot some time
previous, but suffered to remain quiescent for a time, was again revived. This was the
building of a new district jail.
The history of this piece of jobbery is very interesting, and the impartial reader
will, after a perusal of it, doubtless conclude that since this reformatory institution is
completed, among its first tenants should be about a score of the knaves who have been
robbing the National Treasury under the pretence of building a prison for rogues.
On the 25th of July, 1866, an act authorizing the building of a new jail for the
District of Columbia, under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, on one of
the Government  reservations, was passed by Congress.  It was  to  have sufficient
capacity to accommodate 300 prisoners, and was not to cost more than $200,000. The
Secretary of the Interior was to advertise for proposals, and to let the work to the
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REPUBLICAN " RING " RULE.
lowest responsible bidder, who was to give ample security for the faithful performance
of his contract.  The Interior D)epartment was then, as now, managed in the interest
of Rings of every imag,inable description, and of course the contract had to be let to
some one who was willing to divide. Reservation No. 17 was selected as the site of
the jail. This ground is south of the Capitol, between New Jersey and Virginia avenues, and D street (southerly) and South Capitol street, and is but a few feet above
tide water. The location was in every way unsuitable for a jail, and there could have
been but one argument advanced in favor of it-its proximity to the Capitol. With
the black and forbidding walls of an institution of this kind perpetually staring corrupt Republican Congressmen in the face, there was a bare possibility that the influencemight prove a salutary one.
JOBBERY DISCOVERED.
At the next session of Congress sufficient evidence was submitted  to the Commit
tee on Public Buildings and Grounds to co)nvince it that there was jobbery in the letting under the act of the previous year and hence Congress passed a resolution March
2, 1867, forbidding the payment of any more monev under the contract until the Iplans
were completed, and requiring a suspenision of all operations "unless the letting of such
contract shall have been open to fiir and equal competition" after public advertisement.
But this requirement was evad(led, and the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Browning,
authorized contracts to bQ made with various parties, and during that year $30,856.38
were spent, of which the Disbursing Agent appointed by the Secretary of the Interior,
stole $14,987.86. The defaulter was sued, but neither the criminal case against him,
nor the civil one against his sureties have been tried.  What little work was done on
the foundations of the jail was badly d(lone with inferior material, so that Congress, on,
Jan. 11, 1868, again ordered a suspension of the contracts.  Subsequent legislation declaring "the contracts attempted to be made under the act as niull and void," passe&
the House of Representatives Feb. 29, 1868, and was reported favorably in the Senate
by Mr. Fessenden, but failed to pass that body, those interested in the Browning contracts having sufficient influence to defeat it.
BOSS SHEPHERD APPEARS.
It was not till the spring of 1872 that the job was resuscitated under the auspices
of the District Ring.  On the 16th of February, 1872, the House of Representatives
passed a new Act creating a Board of Commtissioners, consisting of Secretary De!ano,
Gov. Henry D. Cooke and Chief Justice D. K. Carter, and empowered these persons
to "carry out the former acts."  They were to select a new site, and to push forward
the construction without any delay.
The Act passed the Senate June 1st. 1872, with amendments which were advocated
by Senator J. W. Patterson of New Hampshire, Shepherd's partner in real estate
speculations. These amendments increased the appropriation to $300,000 and made
it immediately available. Of this $125,000 was to be reimbursed by the District of
Columbia.  A. B. Mullett was by these amendments also made Supervising Architect
One of the objections which had been urged against the site selected by Browning on
Reservation No. 17 was its great distance from the Court House, but the first act of the
new commission was to increase this remoteness a mile and a half. Another serious
objection to the first location was the prevalence of malaria along the lower Tiber
creek valley, but the new site was selected on the very brink of the wide-spread mosquito-breeding and miesma-exhaling marshes of the eastern branch, where  Bo's  Shepherd and Moses Kelley owned about 1,25()0,000 square feet of city lots and a farm mostly located in the marshes. This ground owned by these two worthies is assessed at
from three mills to one and two cents per foot, but the erection of the jail in this
neighborhood and the extensive improvements made by the District Commissioners
have largely increased its value.
THE SENECA SANDSTONE RING.
There were some difficulties, however, in the way of the new crowd who were
managing this jail job.  Boss Shepherd, the guiding spirit of the new combination, was
beleatguered by the Browning gang of contractors who had paid heavy blackmail; and,
therefore, Mullett adopted the percentage system in contracting for the material and
labor.  The Seneca stone Ring of course got the contract for furnishing the stone, and
as this materialJoses largely inf dressing, it was bought by the ton delivered in its
rough state, just as it came from the quarries.  Tens of t'housands of tons of worthless
stones were received; and when the jail was completed  tlere was more debris from
rotten and worthless material encumbering the ground, than there was good  material
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REPUBLICAN  " RING" RULE.
in the walls.  This debris, favorite contractors, who were laying concrete  pavement,.
carted off and used for the foundation on which their tar poultices werc to  be placed.
A skilled master stone cutter wias first placed in charge, of this branch of work, but in a
little while he was pushed aside to make a place for the father of Levi P. Luckey, oneof Grant's private secretaries, a carpenter by trade, and imported expressly for theplace fi'om Illinois.  That there were vast sums of money wasted under such a management is apparent.
MULLETT'S LAVISH EXPENDITURE.
Before the walls of one-half the building were up to the square the appropriation
of $300,000) was exhausted, and Mullett asked, June 4, 1874, for another of $235,548.93,
reprimanding Congress at the same time for presuming to place a limit on the cost of a
building constructing under his supervision.   To afford a thin excuse for doubling
the cost of the jail, Mullett informed Congress that "the building could also be used
as a penitentiary by the simple addition of workshops," and the representatives of t he
people apparently swallowed this as gospel truth, when the truth is that the building
will not afford, when completed, any more room than will be required to accommodatethe petty criminals of this District.
Mullett, for a wonder, did not get what he asked for. Congress in 1874 only appropriated $50,000, but in the succeeding spring the remainder of the sum asked for in
June, 1874, was granted. The failure of Congress, however, to make appropriationsseldom interfered with Mullett's plans.  He went on making contracts as if nothing
had been refused; and when his successor came in, he found that all the work and
material had been contracted for ini advance, not only of the appropriations, but of the
progress of the building.  A heating apparatus, among other things, had been engaged
ata cost of $29,900, before one-half of the structure was ready for the roof, and a whole
year in advance of any appropriation therefor.  In the same way he had let $12,0001
worth of plumbing to Boss Shepherd, and had thrown in a contract for kitchen utensils to cost $5,671. Under competent and honest management this building could have
been built, even in its present unjustifiable shape, within.the original appropriation. As
it is, $540,000 have been expended, and the jail is not yet completed, and an appropriation of $67,000 is asked to finish the work.
A DODGE TO COVER UP FRAUD.
In the spring of 1872 the exposures made by the New York Sun of the frauds
practiced by the District Ring began to attract public attention. It was notorious
that wood pavements had proved an utter failure in every city where they had been
tried; but, notwithstanding this, the Board of Public Works was at that time letting
contracts for miles and miles of street to be paved with wood.  In order to have some
pretext for justification in the future when these pavements were rotten, Shepherd appointed what he styled an Advisory Board, consisting of Gen. M. C. Meigs, A. A.
Humphreys, J. K. Barnes, O. E. Babcock and Fred Law Olmstead. On February 12th
this'Advisory Board was ofi'cially requested to report on the best preservative process
for wood pavements. In answer thereto the Advisory Board, under date of May 5lth,after discussing in an elaborate manner the various patent pavements, concluded as follows:
"The question submitted for our opinion is, what p-eservative process shall be adopted
in the tuture use of wood pavements in tl]is District?  In our opi-ion the process of
Seeley gives promise of best success. The Board is informed that prepared wood
pavements cost $3.50 per square yard     *    *    *    and recommends that wood
pavement be laid only where existing contracts or some other exceptional reason demands them."
In defiant contempt of the recommendation of this Advisory Board, Shepherd,
within forty-eight hours after it had been submitted to the Board of Public Works,
changed an award made on September 20th, 1871, to John O. Evans, for a coincrete
pavement on West Pennsylvania avenue, between 18th street and Georgetown, and on
Bridge street, in Georgetown to wood pavement, the material of which was treated,
not by the process endorsed by the Adviscry Board, but by another owned by Evans.
For this wood pavement Evans was paid $181,649.58, in cash.  He guaranteed to
keep it in good repair fqr three years. In the summer of 1875, Evans was officially
notified that this pavement was thoroughly rotten and must be put in relpair.  He,
however, took no notice of thlis notification, and a concrete pavement was put down in
the place of Evans' rotten~wood pavement; at ai cost to the District of $131,407. Forthis work W. C. Murdock, a figure-head who rel)reseuted Evans, was paid $91,297.59.
Evans was required to give bonds for the faithful performance of his contracts; and, as
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REPUBLICAN " RING " RTULE.
yet the District authorities have taken no steps to recover from him the cost of repairing this street.
MURDER COMMITTED.
By the fall of 1872, the Ring, having the support and encouragement of the Presi-.
dent, and vindicated by Congress, hesitated at nothing. The reservation at the intersection of New York and Massachusetts avenues with 7th street, was then partially
occ(-upi(d by the Northern Liberty Market House. The market men had rented their
stalls and paid for them in advance to the city. Shplpherd determined to improve this
square and to have the market house torn down and removed. Knowledge of this by
some means came to the market men, and they determined to sue out an injunction to
restrain the Board of Public Works fi-om destroying their property. Shephlerd, however,
was too quick for t hem, and had the only judge then in the city invited to dine in the
,country. while Gen. Babcock organized a strong force of laborers employed on the Public Grounds, and after nightfall ihe destruction of the market-house was consummated.
Some persons who owned stalls in the market, discovering what was going on, attempted to remove their meat and other things they had placed there for the next day's
market and two of them were crushed to death beneath the falling walls.
FALSE REPORTS MADE TO CONGRESS.
The contracts let and the work commenced during the spring, summer and fall of
1872, contemplated an expenditure far exceeding the resources of the District. The
proceeds of the $4,000,000 loan had been absorbed and the appropriations mnade by
Coigress were swallowed up, and in addition certificates of indebtedness had been issued in large amounts. But, notwithstanding, it was patent to every person acquainted
with the condition of the District, that the Board of Public Works was largely in debt,
they, on the 1st day of November, in their report to the President, claimed that they
-had an unexpended balance to their credit of $1,403,173.27. This, however, they admitted was largely made up of the charge against the United States for "the propor-tio,n due for improvements bordering on reservations and other government property,"
which they claimed amounted to $1,240,920.22.  Deducting this unsettled claitm from
their alleged balance of $1,403,173.27 would leave them in actual cash, according to
their representations, $162,253.03.  That there was no such balance in existence is
shown by rcport of the Board of Audit, which, in speaking of Magruder's accounts, says
-that at the above mentioned date he had overdrawn his cash account to the amount
of $136,193.73
THE INVESTMENT IN GARFIELD PAYS.
Toward the close of November, 1872, the complaints of the citizens against the
arbitrary and oppressive manner in which the Ring was prosecuting improvements became very loud and bitter; Congressmen returning to the Capital in advance of the
meeting of Congress were called tiupon by outraged property holders and besought to
interfere.  A great pressure was brought to bear upon Gen. Garfield, the Chairman of
-the Conmmittee on al)prop-iaitons, to induce him to use his power to restrain the extravagance and recklessness of the Board of Public Works.
He listened for a time to the complaints of the tax-payers, and even promised them
his assistance; but in a few days it was noised abroad that Garfield would take a stand
at the approachin, session of Congress against the Ring, and, of course, this news soon
,came to Shephercl'sears.  According to  the account of one of his associates who was
present, when this information was conveyed to the Boss, he simply remarked that he
had a paper in his drawer which wo(uld keep Garfield straight, and thereupon drew
out the argument which Mr. Garfield, the Ctliairman of the Committee on Appropriations, had submitted to the Board of Public Works in favor of the De Golyer pavement
job.
The claim for the $1,240,920 against the United States for improvements bordering on reservations and other Government property, was presented to Congress early
ini. December, 1872, accompanied by a detailed statement of the same, and was referred
to the Committee on Appropriations.  On Decermber 16th, Gen. Ga-field, it reporting
the Dt-fi(-iency Bill. made an ingenious argument in explanati,)n of the Section which
appropriated the money to liquidate this claim.  In closing, he said, "The Committee
.-ave come to the conclusion to recommend an appiopt-iation in gross covering sums set
.down in detail on pages 47 to.51 Report of the Board of Public Works.  Gentlemen
will find furtier'the detailed statement of the number of lineal feet of curb, cubical feet
.of grading, and square yards of pavement, and so on, with the rate and total cost
-of each.  The Committee have come to the conclusion that it is their duty to ask
188 
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
the House to appropriate the sum total as the proper share the United States ought,
to pay for the work thus done."
A CIARACTERISTIC RING TRICK.
Mr. Holman of Indiana said:  "I have searched every avenue of information
about this Capitol, your Document-room, your F(olding-room and everywhere else, to
ascertain data upon which it is proposed to appropriate $1,250,000, and I cannot find
any scrap of information bearing upon the subject. It may be that the Committee on
Appropriations are possessed of certain private information of their own, but the public sources of information a-bout this ('apitol furnish no data.  I have seen upon the
desk of the gentl( man from Ohio (Mr. Garfield) a blue-covered book which seemIs to be
a public document, but I venture to say that up to this hour not a dozen memibers upon this floor have had access to this idocument to which tile gentleman has reference.
Will the gentleman say that that report is one of the public documents within the
reach of every member of this House?"
Mr. GARFIELD replied:  "I suppose it to be.  It is a report made to the President
and by him submitted to Congress.
Mr. HOLMAN:  Does not the gentleman know that it is not a public document?
Mr. GARFIELD:  "It is a document submitted to Congress by the'President, and
one to which he calls attention in his message; there can be no more public document
than that."
Mr. HOLMAN:  "Will the gentleman tell us where we can obtain a copy?"
Mr. GARFIELD:  "I suppose it can be obtained at the Folding-rooml."
Mr HOL,MAN:  "It is not at thile Folding-roomn."
Mr. GARFIELD:  "1 never heard the point raised before. This is as public a document tas any, unless it be the Constitution of our country."
Mr. FARNSWORTH said:  "We  are asked in a lump in a Deficiency Bill, and in
great haste, because we are told that they must have the money before the holidays, of
people will starve.  Weare asked to vote this immense amount of'money to discharge
an obligation incurred in violation of law."
It was one of the tricks of the Ring to have a few copies of their report printed in
advance of submitting it to the P, esident, and these were suplplied to the Commiiittee on
Appropriations of the Senate and tile House.  In the meantime, by collusionll with the
public pi inter, further printing of it was stopped, and those members of Congress not in
the confidence of tihe Ring were unable to obtain copies of it.
GARFIELD STANDS BY HIS EMPLOYERS.
Mr. GARFIELD consistently stood by his employers, and his influence was sufficient
to rally the Republican side almost solid to the support of the Ring, and without data to
show for what thie money was to be paid it was voted. The Deficiency Bill passed on
December 19th.  However, to make it show of placing soene check upon the Board of
Public Works, the following proviso was inserted in the bill: "That payment was
only to be made upon vouchers approved by the officer in charge of the public,grounds
of the District of Columbia, alter exarrmiation and measui-enent of the work."  Mrt
Holman, after repeated efforts, finally succeeded in having a further proviso inse, ted
that "the lBoard of Public works be and the same are hereby prohibited from incurringor contracting further liabilities on behalf of the United States in the improvemient of
streets, atlleys, avenues and reservations, beyond the amount of appropriations previously made by Congress, and from  entering into any contracts touching said  im —
provemeniits on behalf of the United  States, except in lI)irsuanice of apllrop)i,itionls
made by Congress."  A mo,oni made by Mr. I-lolmani   to substitute three enginlels of
the army to be detailed by the Chief of Engineers, to examine and measure this work,
was defeated by a vote of 52 yeas to 81 nays.
TIlE SENATE STILL LIBERAL.
The Deficiency Bill reached the Senate December the 19th.  After some brief discussion it was, in the face of strenous opposition on the part of several Republican Senators, slightly amended, so as to require Babcock in add-iition to measuring the work to
approve the p)rices charged therefior. The vigor with whlich the united strength of
the Ring was pressing the approp)riation attracted attention and confirmed the assertions
made in the House of Represerntatives that the Treasury of the District was actually
bankrupt.  Senator Shelm"an, in advocating the speedy passage of the bill, imrplored
the Senate to trust to Babcock.  Be  said:   "We  appropriate  every year  lp to
$500,000 to be expended under the direction of the Superintendent of Public Buildings
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REPUBLICAN "i RING" RULE.
a.nd Grounds, and I doubt if Senators can find that the reports of that,fficer are ever
re-examined Iby another officer."  Senator Winid,m, who rt-ported the bill, said;  "We
shall alleviate much suffering by passing the bill, so that the parties whlo are deperndent upon it may know that their day is to come, and while we are devoting ourselves
to our holiday enjoyments, we may at least know that these parties raly  et a lunci."
Senator Morrill, of Maine, said: " Something is due to the hlaird-handed nien, sonme
six or seven thousand, who have been at work here. We ought to place this bill ill a
posi ion to give this city a sort of credit that will enable her to go over the holidays."
The Senatorial friends of the ring in attempting to account for the deranged
finances of the District said that it was caused by the Boston fire and the failure to collect special assessments. The first they claimed prevented the negotiations of bonds,
and the latter arose from the factious opposition of a few malcontents and obstructionists among the property holders. This argument apparently satisfied Senator Morrill, of
Maine, who said: "For these two reasons, one tile special taxation and the other the
failure to negotiate bonds, the Board of Public Works are without means to pay the
workmen. If they had conformed to the law and had accomplished these results
without exceeding the limits of the law, the $4,000,000 they were authorized to use, I
,do not think there can be any charge of fraud upon the Board that can be justified.  I
believe their statements where I know nothing to the contrary." The bill passed the
Senate, December 2Oth, by a vote of 22 to 21. Senator Saulsbury of Delaware gave
the casting vote, and in explanation he said:  "I vote'Aye,' in tender mercy to the
taxpayers of the district, many of whom have been injured by the action of this Board
of Public Works."
BABCOCK'S LIGHTNING CALCULATORS.
The holidays intervening the amended bill did not pass the House until January
?, 1873, and was approved and became a law January 8th. On Januarv 10th, two
.days later, an account footing up $1,240,920.84, with the approval of Gen. Babcock
attached, certifying' that he had had the proper examination made and the measurements verified and prices approved, was presented at the Treasury Department. It
was a voluminous document, containing several thousand items of measurement, but
nevertheless it passed the First Auditor, the First Comptroller, and reached the warrant division on the same day. The next day, January 11, the Assistant Treasurer
issued three warrants for the amount, which were registered by the Register of the
'Treasury, and handed over to Gov. Cooke and Treasurer Magrucler. This unprece-dented activity in examining, measuring, verifying, approving, auditing, controlling,
issuing and registering warrants and drafts, whereby a million and a quarter of the
people's money was emptied into the even then insolvent Board's treasury, was so
much at variance with the time-honored rules of red tape that curiosity and suspicions
were aroused which finally led to the exposure of the frauds.  The Hon. Robert B.
Roosevelt, who was prevented by sickness from attending the session of the House
during the debate on this appropriation. made, on January 24th, a vigorous onslaught
on the Board of Public Works, and charyed and proved by irrefutable facts that' their
detailed statement of the cost of work alleged to have been done around the Government
property was false in detail and in gross. This speech produced such a profound sensation in the House that Shepherd did not dare have any more appropriations for the
District originated in the House at this session.
CARPET-BAG SAWYER GETS IN HIS WORK,.
The Sundry Civil Appropriation Bill for 1873-4 was reported to the House
on February 11, and passed on February 24, without the District being mentioned in any way.   It was received in the Senate  February  24, referred  to
the Committee on Appropriations, and reported back to the Senate February
26, and discussed February 28 and March 1. Senator Sawyer, who has since
then become notorious as Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, by his  connection with the Sanborn contracts, took care of the Ring interests. He reported four
amendments, appropriating a sum total of $2,814,695.'.1 to reimburse the Board of
Public Works and continue improvements.  The.first two amendments having been
-fluently read and rapidly passed, the per tinent question was asked, " Who gave this Board
-of Public Works authority to create these obligations?  The other day we passed a
heavy sum, and here is another million of dollars."  Senator Hamlin, interrupting,
said, "We  ougtit to make it two" (see Coiiyressional Globe, p. 1968).  Senator Cole,
Chairman of the Committee on Appropriations, ignoring the heavy amounts for reimbursements, said: "This question I will answer by stating that in the law we passed
I
190 
REPVBLICAN  " RING" RULE.
about the 7th of January there was embraced a proviso which is a complete prohibition upon any liabilities to be incurred by the city Government in the improvements
unless appropriations are first made by Congress. If the Senator has that law by him
he will see that it puts a complete stop upon all the public works here until provision
is made by Congress."
PROMISES MADE TO BE BROKEN.
Mr. Stevenson asked: "This is to complete these improvements?"
Mr. Cole replied:  "Yes, sir; I suppose the authorities of the District would have
been at liberty to go on, or would have gone on, but for that absolute prohibition, the
word being'prohibited,' so that they must absolutely stop for a whole year or more
unless there is provision made by act of Congress."
At this point Senator Sawyer moved the third amendment reported by the commnitteee, which provided for the continuation of the work, and said:
"I wish to say a single word in reference to this item of $913,000.  It is made up
in detail by papers in the hands of the. committee, giving the exact measurements,
localities, and prices of the cost of the work certified by the Surveyor of the District
)f Columbia, who was for many years the public measurer for the Government. If the
Senator desires we can show him the prices of every kind of work. The detailed
statement is in the hands of the committee, and the committee will have no objection
to put any safeguards in the appropriation which are in the act of January 8.
"Mr. Casserly-If the Senator from South Carolina will agree to insert from that
law.in the appropriation the same safeguards and restrictions, I certainly have no
desire to oppose the appropriation."
"The Presiding Officer-With that understanding, if there be no objection, the
amendment will be agreed to."
"There being no objection, the amendment was agreed to."
ANOTHER MILLION AND A HALF.
The fourth amendment to the Sundry Civil Bill was not moved by the Committee
on Appropriations, but came from the Committee on the District of Columbia, through
Senator Sawyer, and was offered at one o'clock on the night of March 2d, but one day
before the adjournment of Congress.  It was" to reimburse the city of Washington for
improvements on avenues $1,606,662.30."  Senator Casserly asked "This is a very
large item to be brought in here at this hour of the night. Where does it come from,
and what are the grounds for it?"  Senator Sawyer answered, "The item is made up
in this way: there has been expended in this city since the year 1802 by the city government of Washington on avenues and streets the sum of $891,000, and by the present
Board of Public Works over $1,200,000, making an aggregate of about $2,128,371.
These avenues, thirty-five miles in length, and of twice the width of other streets, being
named after the States, are a national feature of the national capital, therefore it was
deemed proper by the District Committee to reimburse the city.   *  *   *  Under
the late appropriations of June 10th last, January 8th, 1873, &c., the sum of $521,709.62
have been provided for, thus leaving the sum placed in the amendment." As a guarantee to the proper examination of the claim Sawyer referred to Babcock in these
words: "This officer, in whose judgment, skill and economy, I believe every member
of this body has the most implicit confidence, has the measurement of the work and
approval of the prices paid."
THE GLARING FRAUD EXPOSED.
It is necessary, before proceeding further, to expose the glaring fraud by which this
bill against the United States for more than a million and a half of dollars was allowed,
was concocted.
The general Government had, besides the periodical settlement of all true bills
presented, squared up in fill at different periods all the legitimate charges against the
United States for work done on those avenues; for instance, a bill was passed for the
relief of the incorporated cities~of the District, by which an appropriation of $1,155,058
was made, and at another time the general Government assumed a debt of $780,000,
contracted by the cities of the District, and again by purchasing and donating to the
city the property of the Washington Canal Company. Carpet-bagger Sawyer, therefore,
taking advantage of the want of information among Senators, and of the late hour at
which the amendment wag introduced, enabled the Ring to steal this vast sum of money
from the public Treasury. At a later date the data upon which Sawyer based his claims
were proved to have been fabricated at the dictation of Shepherd, by his surveyor and
191 
REPUBLICAN  " RING" RULE.
deputy engineer, as will appear by the examination of the latter before the Investigatingr Cojlmittee of 18;4:
"Q. Did you make up an account for work that'as done by the Board prior to
the organization of the Board of Public Works of the city of Washington? A. Yes,
sir; but it was not one million of dollars.  There was an account made out, I think,
for $1,632,000, or something like that.
Q. You made out such an account?  A. There was such an account made out.
Q. Who made it out?  A. I think Mr. Forsyth and me.
Q. Where did you make up that statement?  A. It was made up at the office, but
no copy taken. 
Q. Did you make any survey?  A. No, sir; no surveys were made at all.
Q. Then, if I understand youi, the mode in which you made up that statement;
amounting to $1,632.000 was that you and Mr. Forsyth were together in the office of
the Board of Public Works, and Mr. Forsyth made statements to you from recollection
of workl that had been done by the old coil oration of whatever that amounted to? A
It was purely from his recollection as to that amount."
In this loose manner a Republican Congress voted away millions of the people's
money for the benefit of the District Ring rogues.
BOSS SHEPHERD S MATCHLESS EFFRONTERY.
We return to the debate in the Senate. Senator Ferry of Michigan, from the District Committee, moved to reduce Sawver's amendment to $800,000, and said that he
had voted for the former amendment, but the additional proposition came in to compel
the Treasurer of the United States to pay for all the expenses of the avenues of the
city against former declarations.   He could support no such theory,  He thought the
first theory was to assess on Government the expenditures incurred for one-half the
avenues in consequence of their double width as compared with the streets, and the
remaining portion of the expenditure should be treated as all other street improvements are provided for. He continued by declaring that in January it was stated before the District Committee that the one and a quarter million covered the whole and
was substantially all that was asked for. Ile concluded by saying, that "The question
of removing the Capital is substantially at rest, yet if the friends of the measure( desire
to reopen the question no better method can be emiiployed than by asking the people at
large to defray expenditures incurred here of the character proposed by the Senator
from South Carolina."
A coulmromise was finally made between Sawyer and Ferry, and one mil!ion dollars
was agreed upon and the amrmndmtent adopted.
One year later Shepherd, with matchless effrontery, asked for the balance of
$606,662 30. as "left over from last year."  No better proof could be produced that he
to all intents and purposes owned the Republican Congress.
THE HOUSE CONCURS IN. THE SENATE JOBS.
The Sundry Civil Bill reached the House after one o'clock on the morning of Sunday, March 2d. and was, on motion of Mr. Garfield, referred to a conference committee of
which Sargent of California on the part of the House, and Cole and Sawyer, on the part
of the Senate, were influential members, This Committee reported during the closing
hours of the session in the House. through Sargent, who outdid his predecessor Garfield, and made his debut in a brilliant career of future usefulness to the District Ring.
Notwithstanding the determined protest of the leading Democrats of the House amid
the exciting scenes of the debates on the Credit Mobilier scandal and the Salary Grab,
all the appropriations were left intact as the Senate had originally agreed to them in
the amount of $2,208,033.
But this enormous appropriation was not enough to satiate the craving appetite of
the Rinr robbers.  Senator Spencer, of Alabama, one of the ring tools, had endeavored
to include in the Sundry Civil Bill an item of $150,000 for the purchase of the District's
half interest in the ol0( City Hall of Washington, but had not succeeded. An effort
was now made in the H,,use to insert an appropriation for the same purpose in a Defi.
ciency BIill.  Ga:field originally asked for.$1l)0,)000, but a strong opposition being
manifested, he fell to $i )5,000, and claimed that it had been left out by a clerical error.
Objection was made, but Speakler Blaine overruled the objection by the strange-decision that "this appropriation comes under the head of contingent expenses to carry on
the Government."  it was provided that the money was to be applied to the building
of a new City Hall, and the lboard of Public Works was authorized "to secure land on
Pennsylvania avenue and Louisiana avenue, between Seventh and Ninth streets." There
192 
REPUBLICAN  " RING " RULE.
was no other land within these prescribed. limits save that which had been given in
187) to the Washington Market Company.
HOW THE RING WENT FOR THIE MONEY!
Thus, by this legislation, a corrupt bargain previously made between  the Board
of public Works and the officers of the Market Company was ratified. By this contract
the Market Company was released from the payment'of an annual rental, which under
their charter they were obliged to contribute to the poor fund of the district.  In
drawing the monev thus appropriated from the Treasury, no attention was paid to the
dlifferent heads under which it was obtained.  Under the second head $106,533 was
claimed for work done from November 1st, 1872 (the date of the first account for a million and a quarter with fraudulent items), to January 8th, 187:3, when the above was
passed. But, in fact, to make up the full amount of $1,240,000, paid January 1 Ith, 1873,
work had to be measured which had not been begun at the time, though Gen. Babcock
solemnly certified that it was completed.- Three of the four sums appropriated were
made available immediately, so as to relieve once more the bankrupt District Treasury.
The fourth item, "For completing improvements now in progress,' $913,407.26, fell
due on July 1st; and on the 23d of September the last instalment of $63,021.45 was
drawn.  In order to make up this total, Babcock's measurers stretched their elastic
tape lines to the utmost of their wonderful capacity, and did miracles in inventing
facts and misconstruing laws in order to enable the Ring to draw this money before the
work was done. On August 12th, Shepherd caused to be published in the Ring newspapers an order directing the excavation for a new City Hall to be commenced, and a
few days thereafter one of his favorite contractors, with a score of workmen and a
baker's dozen of carts, began the work, and continued it for a day and a half.  Almost
as soon as the first pick was struck into the ground, Treasurer Magruder made application for the $75,000 appropriated by Congress to pay for the District's interest in the
old City Hall.  This money, according.to the terms of the law appropriating it, was to
be used for no other purpose than the erection, of a new City Hall; but, as soon as the
money was obtained from the Treasury, the excavation for the foundations of the new
City Hall ceased.  The $75,0()0 was appropriated by the Board of Public 4 orks, and
Magruder set aside $80,000 of the worthless and unsalable securities issued by the Ring
to be applied in the distant future to the building of a new City HalL
SAWYER AND SAI[GENT REWARDED.
For the services that Senator Sawyer had rendered to the Ring, his appointment as
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury was secured by Shepherd's and Babcock's influence
with the Plresident. In the following year, however, he was, after having been detected in procuring the payment of several fraudulent claims, forced to resign by Secretary Bristow.  On the 15th of March, the treasurer of the Board of Public Works
presented at the Treasury Department the first batch of Babcock's measurements under
the new appropritaion, amounting to $1,113,O98.73. n the same day, Hallet Kilbourne,
the trustee of the Cooke branch of the Real Estate Pool and the middle man of the contract pool, made the following deed, as per record. "Hallet Kilbourne, trustee to Aaron A. Sergeant; deed executed March 15th, 1873; recorded March 22d, 1873, in
Liber 712, folio 3x3, lots 1 and 2 in square 136; consideration of $22,00('."  These
lots front on the square at the intersection of Connecticut and Massachusetts avenue,
which was christened "Pacific Place" by Babcock to tickle the fancy of the chiefs of
the Pacific Coast Ring, who were'about to colonize the vacant land thereabouts under
the lead of "Emma Mine" Stewart, who was then erecting on the north side of the
circle a proud castle, which soon came to be known as "Honest Miner's Camp." The
modest  homestead conveyed  to  Sargent  contained 24,521 square  feet;   $5,5(-00
were to be paid in cash; the rest was secured by notes running one, two and three
years. These notes were never paid, and in the summer of 18'75 Shepherd gave him
in exchange forthe same a house and let at the corner of Connecticut avenue and De
Sales street.
A ROSE-COLORED ICTURE,.
On April 28th, 1873, the District Legislature met for its third regular session, and
by this time the District was fully reconstructed on the basis of fraud and corruption.
Governor Cooke, in welcoming  his  co-laborers, said in his message    "A  kind
Providence has vouchsafed to the people of the District a year of, unprecedented
prosperity and progress.   Muich has been  accomplished in  perfecting  and  systematizing the operations of the new Government in the work of internal im      3
193 
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
provements and in securing the generous co-operation of Congress. * * *
You  enter upon your third regular session  under  circumstances full of encouragrement.   Much has been accomplished  by your  predecessors, and the pathway
of the future is clear in the light (,f the past and the present.   In accordance with
my suggestion, appropriations for thle current year were based upon careful estimates
furnisl-ed by the proper officers, and revised by the Legislature. They were made,
however, upon i'completed assessmenits, and these afterwards fell short of the estimates.
The net aniount of taxes and licenses is about $1,500,000, of which $856,597 have been
collected  leaving,  includin- arrearages of all forms, a balance of $6i9,000 due the
District and the old corporation. Last year's legislation was the first attempt at systematizing and balancing the revenues and expenditures.  The accuracy of your estimate is very gratifying.  In the-future you can legislate upon the basis  with almost
absolute  xxactnes3. *  *  *   I recommend that in lieu of the annual tax sales which
have hardly yielded more than the expenses of sale and collection, the issue of interest
bearing tax lien certificates-against the property of delinquents, after due notice by
legal process.  This will place the entire uncollected tax levy into the Treasury at the
expiration of each fiscal year. * * * The cash receipts of the District GovernIllerit
on its own account and that of the late corporations, from June, 1871, to December
31st, 1872, a p'eriod of nineteen month,s, have been $10,()07,676.2l, and the expenditures
amount to $9,91:t,716.64, leaving in the District Treasury, on January 1st, 1873; $93,960.70.    *    *    *    The funded debt cannot, under the legal restrictions, exceed
$10, 00,000.  It is now $9,016,891, and is gradually being reduced by the sinking fund
conimission, thus rendering what remains niore desirable to investors. * * * Tile
exhibits nmiade of the energ,,etic, carefil and skilful administration, by the Board of
Public Wolrks, excites gratification, local pride and the admiration of visitors."
STILL OTHER RAIDS ON THE TREASUfY.
The liberal appropriations by Congress, in addition to the receipts stated before,
proclaim the fact that the whole country is determined to make the metropolis a worthy
seat of Government.  The total amount of accounts audited is $9,770,621.5(, of which
there remain liabilities in amount $l,449,,41).86, to this must be added $474,304.92
for completion of work under contract.  To meet this there will be realized from
assessments on private property and the balance due fromn the District $2,179,549.x1.
Ater July 1st, 1873, a United States appropriation of $913,0i.0 for new work will also
be available and yield an additional $300,000 from assessments on private property.
*  *  *   Owing to the extent of tile improvements, the amount of special assessments
consequent thereon, will be large. It will afford relief to the taxpayers, if the time,
for the payment of these assessments can be extended over a period of years.   Thlese
assessments cannot now  be made  until the completion of the concerned improvements;  hence, a large portion of the resources of the Board are for the time uiavailable.  To remedy this, and thus relieve creditors and taxpayers, the issue of interestbearing coupon certificates might be authorized, and the assessment certificates be hypothecated as collateral security for their redemption with thle Commissioners ot tihe
Sinking Fund, who shall collect such assessment certificates and redeem the certificates
of inldebtedness"
The message winds up as follows:  "these facts * * * attest, with an emphasis
that cannot be successfully assailed, the confidence and faith of the people of the District in the wisdom of these expenditures and the integrity which has characterized
their management."
NOT INTENDED FOR HOME CONSUMPTION.
This grandiloquent communication was evidently intended to impress foreign
capitalists rather than to meet the approbation of the citizens of the District.  The
Board of Public Works was then hopelessly bankrupt, anld the recommendations of
Governor Cooke, to the Legislative Asseniby, to authorize the issue of certificates of
indebtedness, based on tax lien certificates, was simply for the purpose of enabling the'
desperate District ring financiers to tid(le over until Congress reassembled, when they
hoped to be authorized to make another raid on the National Treasury.  The various
kinds of securities which they had issued were selling for less than half their face
value;  the teachers in the public schools had not been paid for months; the l-members
of the fire department had not received the proportion of their wages coming from the
District for n(arly six months, and even the clerks employed by  the District Government were dependent almost entirely upon the good will of their grocers and butchers
for the actual necessities of life.
194 
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
The recommendations of the Governor were promptly met by the Ring Legislature, and the issues of new certificates of indebtedness were authorized.   So far
they had been based upon assessment certificates, issued against p, ivate property.
These last named securities bore ten per cent. interest and have a history worth narrating here. The First National Bank of New York was to take $801),000 of them with
the option of taking more at 97, and pay for them either in cash or in auditor's certi
ficates, of which there were vast amounts afloat, without any prospect of redemption.
John 0. Evans and some of his Ring associates'knew this secret. By dividing
the heavy margins with the New York bank, the auditors certificates which they
received for work done were handed to the Treasurer of the Board instead of cash,
while other contractors had to suffer. This little game was, however, well nigh played
out, and it was necessary to invent a new one, which was done under the pretense of
relieving the overburdened taxpayers.  The special assessments against private property were payable according to the new act of the Legislature ininstalments, extending
over a term of five years. These were anticipated by-issuing through the Board of
Pubtlic Works eig'ht per cent. certificates of indebtedness not exceeding in all the sum
of $2,000,000, or a less amount if the charges against private property ('id not amount
to that sum. To secure this loan, the assessment certificates thereafter issued, bearing
ten per cent. interest, were to be deposited with the Sinking Fund Commissioners.
But if this was done the $10,000,000 limitation of the public debt fixed by Congress
would be exceeded. To get over this obstacle, Caleb Cushing and two other ring attorneys were procured to give a legal opinion, to the effect that these certificates were the
indebtedness of the individual property-holders, converted into negotiable form by the
Board of Public Works, for convenience and relief, and therefore were not a debt of
of the District.
ONLY A QUARTER OF A MILLION.
While the bill was under discussion the Governor was requested to inform the
Legislature how many assessment certificates were issued under the old law. On May
29th he sent in a statement of the Superintendent of Assessments that the amount was,
up to May 1st, $624,213.13.  The new law was approved May 26th, and subsequent
auditing of the accounts of the Board of Public Works shows that the total issued
under the old law was $810,794.61, so that it is apparent that between Mlay 1st and
May 26, nearly a quarter of a million of dollars of the assessment certificates had
been issued, or else the statement sent to the -Legislature by.Gov. Cooke was a deliberate falsification of the record; iand more than this, the Board of Audit has recently
discovered that $1,315,095.70 of certificates of indebtedness were issued without any
assessment certificates being deposited with the Sinking Fund Commissioners  (See
Senate Mis. Doc. No. 101, 44th Congress) as late as April, 1876.
The $2,000,000 of certificates of indebtedness were all issued before JulyiTst,
1873, and gave the Ring scarcely a moment's relief from the harrassments of their
creditors.  It was necessary, therefore, to resort to other schemes of financial kiteflying; accordingly the subservient Legislature was directed to* pass another act
authorizing issuance of sewer bonds. This act divided the city into sections, without any
regard to the topographical features of the ground within the corporate limits.  Main
sewers providing ample drainage for each of these sections had been nearly completed,
and the cost of the same charged against private property and the United States, but
still it was proposed under this law to levy a-general tax to pay for work already
almost done and nearly paid for. In its details this law was iniquitous; whole squares
of ground submerged often at low tide were taxed to more than double and treble
their actual value, while the vast tracts of land traversed by splendid avenues and
patent paved streets, which had been gobbled up by the Real Estate Pool, escaped
with a nominal assessment. The total cost of these main sewers did not exceed two
and a half millions of dollars, yet it was deliberately proposed, in addition to levying
a general t-x upon all private property to charge up against the United States as its
proportion of the main sewers $2,740.681.83.  In order to swell this charge against
the United States to this enormous sum, the entire area of all the avenues, streets and
reservations in the city were computed by one of Shepherd's lightning calculators,
and a valuation placed upon it by Kilbourne and Latta, the Ring real estate agents.
THE LAST FEATHER, &C.
The passage of this act of the Legislative Assembly was the last feather that
broke the camel's back.  Hitherto a great many citizens of the District had been led
to believe, by the representations of the local press and tlhe constant assurance of the
army of Ring contractors and employ6s, that the General Government would finally
196 
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
come to their assistance, and assume the enormous indebtedness which had been
created.  The arguments used to create this impression were plausible; it was said
that Congress had, by the creation of the territorial Government, assumed to exercise
the exclusive legislation over the District which the Constitution of the United States
empowered it to do; that the people-could not hold the rulers who had been imposed
upon them responsible, therefore Congress, in justice to the people, should hold itself
responsible for the acts.of its agents, to whom it had delegated the authority to govern
the District.  If these agents had exceeded the powers conferred upon them, and had
created an illegal indebtedness, it would be the grossest injustice to burden the people
with taxation when they had practically no power to check in their mad,career the
rulers imposed upon them.  It was further asserted that Congress had manifested a
disposition to deal fairly with the people, and the enormous appropriations which had
been obtained from time to time by the devices heretofore referred to, were pointed to
as substantial indications of what the  General Government meant to do in the future.
But the action of the Legislative Assembly ir passing the act, authorizing the issue
of sewer bonds based on a tax levied on private property, as well as charges made
against the United States, opened at last the eyes of the people.  They began to see
that the Ring, in addition to piling up an enormous debt upon property of the District,
was also in violation of an expressed prohib;tion by Congress, involving or attempting
to involve the General Government in liabilities which would doubtless be repudiated
by the people's representatives.
ANGRY PROTESTS AGAINST THE SEWER TAX
Began to come from every quarter. People who had hitherto been supporters of the
Ring, and others who had been lukewarm in their opposition, fiercely denounced this last
enormity, and declared their determination to demand at the hands of Congress a searching inquiry into the conduct of the ring officials. The unanimity of this local opposition
began to affect the financial credit of the District in localities where Shepherd had expected to hypothecate the sewer bonds.  It was necessary therefore to bolster the waning
credit of the ring, and bull these new securities which were quoted at home at less than
70 cents on the dollar.  To accomplish this an opinion was bought from  Caleb Cushing, to the- effect that the act authorizing the issue of sewer bonds was in consonance
with the organic act establishing the Territorial Government, and that therefore these
securities were a safe investment, because they were a lien upon the entire real estate
in the cities of Washington and Georgetown.  Several local lawyers of some repute
beyond the District of Columbia concurred with Cushing in this opinion, and it was
printed in circular form and freely distributed in New York and other financial centres.
It had some weight with a class of capitalists who were willing to risk their money in
speculative ventures, especially when there was a margin of from 30 to 50 per cent. in
their favor, with the single chance against them thlat Congress would repudiate the act
of the Legislative Assembly, and provide no means for the redemption of the securities
authorized to be issued.
A FEW MORE MILLIONS.
In additi,n to the act creating the sewer indebtedness, the Legislative Assembly
also authorized the mobilization of the unpaid over-due water taxes and the issue of
bonds based thereon.  It further warranted the issue of $266,000 of bonds to indemnify
the Board of Public Works, "for the loss sustained in consequence of discounts and
commissions," paid in the negotiation of the $4,000,000 loan, and still further the issue
of $530,000 of bends to reimburse the district for expenses in the cleansing and repairing the streets, pumps, and for similar current municipal expenses.   The Legislature
adjourned on June 26th after it had, at the dictation of the Ring, authorized the issuei of
-5,091,678.37 of the various descriptions of securities already referred to.  In addition
to this tile Sinking Fund Commissioners had, under an act passed at the present session
of the Legislature, directing the funding of the indebtedness of the old municipality
increased the general debt about $1,500,000. The necessities of the ring were now so
great that these millions of bonds were hurried upon the market so rapidly that in a
short time they could only raise money by hypothecating themrn at the rate of two
dollars for every one borrowed with Morton, Bliss & Co., and other New York banks.
COOKE STEPS DOWN-SHEPHERD UP.
Governor-Cooke, embarrassed by the financial difficulties which were now troubling
the house of Jay Cooke & Co., and foreseeing the troublesome times which awaited the
District Government in the future, resigned late in July. The President immediately
appointed Alexander R. Shepherd to the vacant Governorship. In September follow
196 
REPUBLICAN "  RING" RUtLE.
ing, the bankruptcy of Jay Cooke & Co. occurred, and the financial panic of 1873 followed swift dpon the heels of the announcement of the failure of this puffed-up firm. The
First National Bank of Washington, the stock of which was owned almost exclusively
by Jay Cooke & Co., had long been the medium throug,h which all sorts of rascalities
had been practised upon the National Treasury.   Up)n the failure of Jay Cooke & Co.
this concern had to close its doors and it was absolutely necessary for the safety f
the White House Ring and all the jobbers connected therewith, that the receivership of
this bank should be placed in safe hands.  Accordingly, Edwin L. Stanton, the Secretary of the District, resigned his office to accept the position of the Receiver of that
Bank.  He was the protege of the Cookes, and had performed nearly all the ministerial
functions of the Governor's office while filled by H. D. Cooke, and was on terms of
intimacy with all the Ring people,'and therefore the secrets of the Ring bank could not
have been lodged in safer hands. Governor Cooke was ex-oficio a member of the Board
of Trustees for several charitable institutions in Washington, and as such had the
custody of funds belonging to them, among others the Boys' Reform School of the
District.  As treasurer of this institution he held $31,773.29 of its trust funds which
he had deposited to his own credit with Jay, Cooke & Co., and this sacred fund along
with millions of private deposit was swallowed up in the general wreck.
DICK HARRINGTON REWARDED FOR TRYING TO KIDNAP MR. DANA.
Richard Harrington was appointed Secretary of the District vice Stanton resigned.
He was a young man of some ability and respectably connected in Delaware whence he
had been brought by the notorious Fisher, then United States Attorney for the District
of Columbia. Had Harrington possessed more stability of character and been fortunate
enough to have escaped any connection with the Cooke-Shepherd-Babcock ring, he
might have proved a useful member of society. But he was vain, thoughtless, fond of
flattery and too willing to requite sweet words of praise s ith acts front whielh a sober,
steady going youth would have shrunk in terror.  He had several years previous to
his appointment as Secretary of the District, been made Assistant District Attorney
by Fisher.  He was suffered to continue as Assistant District Attorney after he had
been made Secretamy of the District; and thus in violation of the spirit, if not the letter
of the law, to receive at the same time two salaries from the General Government.
Shortly before his promotion, Harrington at the instigation of his Ring masters undertook to have the Hon. Charles A. Dana, the fearless and able editor of the New York
Scn, brought, on process of a Police Court to Washington city to be tried on the charge
of libeling B,)ss Shepherd. The offence with which Mr. Dana was charged was
nominally the publication of alleged libelous articles in which Shepherd was held up
to the scorn of the world as a public robber; but the real offence for which the Ring
sought Mr. Dana's punishment at the hands of the corrupt and subservient court, was
the persistent warfare which hlie had waged for years against the whole brood of
radical thieves.   After the process of the  WaShington  Police  Court had been
served upon Mr. Dana, and he was held to bail in New York city, a writ of habeas
corpus was granted by Judge Blatchford, of the United States Court for the Southern
District of New York, and at the time appointed for the hearing, Shepherd, accompanied
by Fisher and Harrington, and a numerous retinue of hangers-on, proceded to New
York, to carry back in triumph the fearless editor, who had done them so much injury,
by arousing the public conscience of the nation to a just appreciation of their iniquities.
In their train were two detectives,
WHO CARRIED WITH THEM HAND-CUFFS,
With which Mr. Dana was to be degraded, in the event of his being surrendered, as the
Ring fondly believed he would be, by Judge Blatchford.  When this delegation of Ring
rogues left Washington they were accompanied to the depot by Secor Robeson, Sanborn
Richardson and Post-trader Belknap, who bade them God-speed as they took their
departure. It is well-known, the upright and distinguished Judge Blatchford promniptly
refused to surrender Mr. Dana on the process of the petty ring court, but it was in
consideration of the services which Harrington rendered on this occasion that he was
promoted to- be Secretary of the District, and suffered illegally to draw two salaries
from the Public Treasury.
Shepherd was now Governor of the District, and President ex-oqgcio of the
Board of Public Works. He had all along been practically the absolute ruler of the District, but with his promotion he assumed, if possible, more autocratic manners and exerted more arbitrariness in the conduct of the affairs of the I)istrict, The Auditor,
Comptroller and Treasurer were either figure heads or his subservient tools, and did his
197 
REPUBLICAN "RING" RULE.
will without hesitation or protest. Soon after he became Governor he effected a loan
for the District from Morton, Bliss & Co., of New York, of $225,000, on collateral security of $450,000, in 8 per cent. Sewer Bonds. - This money he deposited in fourteen
installments, between November 10th and December 24th, 1873, to the credit of A. R.
Shepherd, Governor, in the National Melropolitan Bank of Washington, of which con(ern he wad a Director.  The first check he drew against this money was for $l(,000,
and was paid to John O. Evans, on November 10th, 1873.  On December 24th, 1873,
be effected another loan of $50,000, under similar circumstances, from  the German
American Bank of New York city (See Mis. Doc. No. 103, 1st Session, 44th Congress).
During this period of time, from November, 1873, to January 1st, 1874, Shepherd was
financially embarrassed, and his private account, kept at the National Metropolitan
Bank, was, by the connivance of the cashier, Moses Kelley,-an old confrere of his in
real estate speculations, suffered to be overdrawn from forty to fifty thousand dollars.
FOUR MILLIONS AND A IIALF DEMANDED.
This was the condition of affairs when the Second Session of the Forty-third Congress began, in December, 1872.'.  Shepherd, in the annual Report of the Board of
Public Works, transmitted through the President to Congress, after indulging in selflaudatory commendation, said, " The total receipts, from July 1st, 1871, to November,
1873, have been $14,789,692.85.  The expenditures, $13,386,455.67; leaving a balance
of $1,403,237.18.  *  *  *  The indebtedness of the General Government. on account
of improvements, as per appended statements, is as follows:
For work, in and around Government Reservations...... $573,171 25
For work on Avenues.................................  1,056,574 36
For Main Sewerage.................................. 2,740,681 83
Total.......................................... $4,370,427.94
It is earnestly hoped that Congress will make immediate provision for the payment of its indebtedness to the District, in order that the necessities of faithful contractors may be promptly relieved."
The coolness withl with which this demand was made fornearly four millions and
a half of dollars from the National Treasury, in the face. of the absolute prohibition
of the Board of Public Works to incur any indebtedness on account of the General
Government, startled even the radical — majority in Congress. The appropriation of
$1,240,0()0, made in January previous, to reimburse the Board of Public Works for
work done about the Government property had been strenuously resisted, and was
obtained with difficulty. To prevent the ring from making similar demands in the
future, it was provided, as heretofore stated, in the act appropriating the money,
"That the Board of Public Works be, and the same are hereby. prohibited from in.
curring or contracting further liabitities on behalf of the United States in thie improvement of streets, avenues and reservations beyond the appropriations previously made
by Congress, and from entering into any contracts touching improvements on behalf
of the United States except in pursuance of appropriations made by Congress."
THE LITTLE JOKER.
It was difficult for the time being to understand how the Board of Public Works
could, in the face of this stringent enactment, have the presumption to present claims
amounting to nearly four million and a half dollars for work which had not been
authorized by Congress. By and by, however, the trickery by which they hoped to
evade this law was made apparent. The history of the deep laid scheme by which
they expected to draw from the National Treasury these millions of dollars must be
set out with some detail.
In March, 1873, an appropriation was smuggled in the Sundry Civil Bill for
expenditures incurred by the Board of Public Works on streets between the dates of
making the accounts, on which a million and a quarter had been obiined, and the
final passage of the act in January.  This. the Ring said, finished the streets, but left
the account for avenues outstanding, and accordingly another million was demanded
for this purpose.  This was carried by Senator Cole, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Appropriations, who made the following statement in regard to it. He
said: "The law we passed about January 7th contained a proviso which is a complete
prohibition uponanv liability to be incurred by the City Government in the improvements, unless appropriations are first made by Congress.  It puts a compiete stop on
all the public works here until provision is made by Congress to meet its proportion."
198 
19
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
Mr. Sargent, who was in charge of the bill in the House, was no less explicit on
this point.  He said: "The Deficiency Bill went through for $1,240,01, and a proviso
was put in that no further expenditures should be made unless upon an appropriation
made by Congress.  The estimate for the year to finish this work was  put in in the
Senate, and I have a complete tabular statement showing where every dollar is to be
expended-a complete estimate, in every sense of the word. This is in compliance
with the action which the House took, and was subsequently agreed to by the
Senate."
During the discussion in the Senate, Mr. Casserly called attention to the fact that
the proviso. contained in the January Act was onitted i:i the one making this last
appropriation.  Senator Cole, in reply, said: "This (bill) does not operate as a iepeal
t)f those restrictions."  Senator Casserly, however, insisted that the proviso should
be inserted, whereupon Senator Sawyer, from Southl Carolina, rejoined: "The Committee had no objection to putting in any safeguards in this appropriation which are
on the Act of January 8th." Whereupon the President of the Senate said: " With
that understanding. if there be no objection, the amendment will be agreed to." But
notwithstanding this solqmn pledge, the- proviso was left out of the en,-rossed bill;
and on this omission Shepherd founded his claim of the $4,50()0,000 demanded of
Congress as has been stated.
THE OPINION MILL AGAIN AT WORK.
To aff)rd some sort of a pretext for this impudent demand, Shepherd procured
another legal opinion from Caleb Cushing, from which we quote as follows:
"I observe," says Cushing, "that in the Act of Jaitniary  thl, 1873, there is a pro.
viso which seems to have contemplated restiricting the Board of Public Wo-rks to appropriations previously made; but that provision was overruled, and. in fact, repealed, by
the provisions of an Act of March 3d, 1873, which, in terms, looked to a reimbu!sement
of the Board for such portion of the general expenditures cha'rgeable to the United
States as it mig-ht have mad(e in its joint capacity as the executive assents both of the
United States and of the inhabitants of the District, according to the tenor of the act
to provide a Government for the District of Cllumbia.  The snl)ject of the present ap)plication to Congress in behalf of the District is, therefore, in accord with the final action of the last Congress. ia the maitter, and as further justification of ieilg in the
nature of appropriations to stupply (leficiencies, and as such in confo mity with the labitual practice of the Departrnents. accepte(d and sanctioned by every Coiitress. *  *  *
In conttinuing, by the Act of March 3(d, 1873, to fo-tow the method of.ei'mnui.semeiTt,
instead of anticipatory appropriations, and in not making at the same time any apl)ropriation for future work, althoug(h well knowing that such work must and wouild be
done, Congress would seem to have been conscious of the impracticability of acting in
this matter by previous appropriation.  *  *  *  In fact, the Board, in its public relations to private proprietors, is embarrassed by its double capacity of public agent
for these proprietors and of public agent for the Government.   *  *  *  The Board
has lawfutl power to assess on the private property on one side of the street, but it has
no such power to assess and collect on the public property on the other side of the
street.  Shall it improve and assess- on one side of thle street andrt leave the other side
unimproved, and, ihdeed, impassable, because of the partial improvemrent?   *   *   *
All these considerations tend to the conclusion that the last Congress saw that the restrictive provision was impracticable; and, therefore, reverted, in the Act of March 31d,
1873, to tlie method of reimbursemrent as lihas been the practice of previous Congresses. and impliedly instructed the Board of Public Works to proceed as before in the
execution of its general duties under the organic act of the Legislature of the Distriet."
AN INVESTIGATION DREADED.
The opposition on the part of the people of the District had now assumed formid
able proportions and a regular organization had been effected, incli(uilig the largest
property holders in the city, who biegan immediately, on the assemnbling of Cong,ress, to
demand a thorough and searching investigation by that body of tihe affairs  of the
District.  The Ring saw the storm was gathering, aili; attempted to ward off the blow.
The Hon. Jeremiah M. Wilson, of Indiana, had, after consultation with the leading
citizens aforesaid, prepared a resolution raising a joint select committee of the two
Houses of Congress to prose.ute the inquiry demanded, and he had asked Mr. Speaker
B!aine to recognize him on January 26th, 1874, for the purpose of offering this resollution in the House.  Mr. Blaine promised him the floor, but failed to recognize him, and
gave Mr. Poland, of Vermont, an opportunity to introduce a resolution, whereby the 
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
Judiciary Committee of the House was "directed to inquire into the legal relations between the General Government and the Government of the District of Columbia; to
see whether anything could be ascertained by which a basis could be found for dividing
the public expenditure between the General Government and the District of Columbia."
Mr. Poland had, previous to this; proved a useful and subservient tool ofthe Ring, and at
still later date he procured the passage of an act enlarging the jurisdiction of the Courts
of the District of Columbia, so as to make their criminal process run throughout the
ljnited States By this piece of legislation, which was put through Congress by the
joint efforts o)f Poland in the House and Matt. Carpenter in the Senate, it was expected
that Shepherd, backed by all the power and influence of the Federal Administration,
would he able to wreak vengeance upon Mr. Dana, the editor of the New York Stun;
and, in less than a month after the passag-e of the act, an attempt was made to bring
him to Washington, to be tried before the Riig courts; but the upright and distintinguished Judge Blatchford again interposed the protecting segis of the Constitution,
and the second time prevented a consummation of this effoart to persecute the fearless
editor.
]T  IS O,,R ERIED:'
Finally, on Febrtiuary 2d, Mr. Wilson succeeded in obtaining the permission of the
Speaker to introduce his resolution, and it was passed, after a violent opposition on the
part of a few of the boldest of the, Rhligs friends in that body.  Previous to this Senator
Ilamlin of Maine lhad, on January 30th, presented a petition of Shepherd to the Senate,
in which he protested auainst being investigated, and made a scurrilous attack upon
citizens of the District who ha(I, in the exercise of thlieir constitutional right, petitioned
Congress for the rediress of their grievances. Senator Thurman very properly denotnced this  petition as'"A  most extraordinary paper, styling  such  honored
citizens of national repute as W  W. Corcoran as' pretended tax payers,' the author
of which, while professing all the while to desire investigation, and boasting that his
skirts are perfectly clean. at the same tine submitted a long argument against any
investigation at all" (.See Congressional Record, 1st Session, 43d Congress, page 1034). The joint resolution whlch Wilson had offered in the House. was, however, passed
by the Senate on February ath, after it had been discussed at length.
Mr Boutwell was first appointed chairman on  the part of the  Senaite, but he
declined in order to neke way for Emma Mine Stewart, who was set up by the ring
for this position, and was expected to run the investigation entirely in their interest.
The democratic membet's of the comrnnilttee, however, by the assistance of Mr. Wilson
and Mr. Bass, two republican members, on the part of the House, elected  Senator
Allison Chairman of the Committee, against the sehemes of Stewart, the appointee of
Matt. Carpenter, the temporary president of thile Senate.
IOBBING THE SCHOOL FUND.
The first subject to which the Committee directed its attention was the alleged
misapplication of the schoo' funds on the part of the District Government.  After a
week of patient investigation it was conclusively demonstrated that the Board of Public
Works had appliedithe money collected for school purposes, to the amount of $215,548.2 l
to other purposes, in violation of law, and had suffered the school teachers to go withouLt a cent of pay for a period of about eight months. Judge Merrick, who represented
the citizens ot the District before the joint investigating committee,  in commenting
upon the mnisapl)phcation of the school moneys, said:
"Timt fund in itself the most sacred of all in the Republic, which depends for its
perpetuity ni1 less than for its transient prosperity on the virtue  and intelligence of
its citizens, the revenue dedicated to the education of their children and the maintenance of school teachers was pervertetl from its legitimate object mingled with and
spent along with other treasures of the people  upon greedy contractors and timesel.ing favorites; and the meek lonely females who  had devoted their hearts and
their lives to instructing the children of the people, left to beg or to starve without a
dollar of compensation for eight long months, until munificent citizens, and afterwards
Congress; provided for their  necessities.  Money adequate to the payment of their
salaries had been collected  fromi the propelr sources of taxation.  Not  (;nly the meritorious nature of the appropriation, but the final sanction of the law required these
sums to be dedicated with scrupulous exactness to the proper object, yet both were
disregarded and the teachers left unpaid."
THE AVENUE CHARGE AND SEWER BONDS.
The claim of four and a half million dollars which the Board of Public Works
had presented against the Congress of the United States was carefully inquired into
200
I 
REPUBLICAN " RING " RULE.
in all its details by the Committee. In regard to the claim for the work done on
avenues, $1,056,574.36, it was found that this was made up by including all the work
done on the avenues since the year 18t(2.  This claim, it will be remembered, was
settled by the appropriation included in the Sundry Civil Bill of March, 1873.  In
regard to this claim and the manner in which it was swelled to these vast proportions
the Committee says:
"It was undoubtedly widely wrong, and whether there is, anything that appears in
it that can be with any propriety charged to the United States, is exceedingly doubtful, excepting it may be the amount of $248,240.72, and the accuracy of that can only
be ascertained by a remeasurement." In commenting upon the effort of the Ring to
charge against the United States $2,740,681.83 as the Government proportion of the cost
of the main sewerage, the committee says: "The main sewerage of the city-when complete
will cost $2,435,855.23, so that this charge against the Government for main sewerage is
$804,826.60, more than the whole cost." Of the mnanner in which this charge was figured
up the committee says: "The Legislative Assembly passed the Sewer Act, by which the
cities were divided into so called sewer districts, and a fixed rate of assessment was
established per square foot for sewerage purposes. Then the Board entered into a calculation and ascertained that the Government is the owner of a certain number of square
feet of ground in the form of reservations; that there are so many square feet in the
avenues and streets; and aggregating these they make a calculation that if these reservations, streets, and avenues are taxed at the same rate per foot, that'private property
is assessed under this sewer law it will amount to $2,740,681.83, and say, therefore,
that the United States owed the District that amount for main sewerage.
No better illustration of the recklessness, misrule and utter disregard of law by the
Board of Public Works can be given than this simple fact that they attempted to levy on
private property and collect from the United States more than five and a quarter millions of dollars for work that cost less than two and a half millions of dollars.
BABCOCK'S MEASUREMENTS.
In speaking of the manner in which accounts were manufactured against the
United States, the committee instance the acts of January 8th and March 3d, 1873, by
which $.q,448,933.01 were obtained from the National Treasury.  They say: "These
acts were founded on accounts presented by the District authorities for work said to
have been done anad for which it was alleged that the Government of the United States
was equitably liable.  The testimony taken by your committee and a scrutiny of the
reports of the Board of Public Works, convince your committee that those accounts
were unreliable and inaccurate, and that the provisions of law requiring their ratification wvere not complied with according to their letter and spirit."
These accounts so characterized by the committee were made up under the supervision of Gen. Babcock, and were required by the acts above referred to, to be pronounced correct by him not only as to whether the work was actually done or not, but
also whether the prices charged by tlh Board were'just and proper. The committee
failed toi) pass any other censure upon Babcock-than the one implied in the above quoted
paragraph. The democratic members of the committee with Mr. Wilson, were anxious
to obtain a unanimous report, one recommniending the abolition of the territorial government and the turning out of Shepherd and his associates, and to accomplish this they
had to forb.ear pronouncing any harsh condemnation upon Babcock, because the republican members ofthe committee would not consent that this should be done.
Shepherd and his Ring associates were compelled to admit during the progress of
the investigation that the debt they had created largely exceeded the limitation of ten
millions of dollars fixed by the Act-of Congress of May 8th, 1872.  But they sought to
evade the responsibility for this willful disregard of law by setting up the legal fiction
that the Board of Public Works was a corporation independent of the District, and that
it could create an unlimited debt under the organic act. In commenting upon this the
committee said: "The act creating the Board limited the total debt of the District of
Columbia to five per cent. upon the assessed value of all property within the District, the
intent of which was to limit the actual debt of the District to that sum. The Board,
however, construed the various provisions of the organic act as placing them and their
transactions without the pale of this limitation, endeavoring at the same time to keep the
letter of the law while violating its spirit; and,o this end the Legislative Assembly
from time to time passed acts which were simply devices for the purpose of raising
money for which to pay previously incurred obligations, and continue the improvements by creating temporary obligations upon the property of individuals in the
District."
201 
REPUBLICAN  " RING" RULE.
DEBT UPON DEBT.
After instancing the various devices by which the Ring endeavored to tide over
the constantly threatening financial difficulties  the Committee says:  "And by this
system of credit upon credit, or rather debt upon debt, the Board continued its vast
operations, the result of which has been to create a debt for which the Board of Public
Works and the District in one form or another are liable, and when added to the other
floating indebtedness of the District, together with the funded indebtedness, aggregates
no less than $18,000,i;00, instead of $10,000,000 as limited by the Act of Congress, May
8, 1872."
The manner in which the Board of Public Works gave out contracts was thus
emphatically condemned by the Committee:  "We are  of opinion that the Board
adopted an erroneous and in its results a vicious method of letting contracts for this
work, namely, without competition open to the public; and that the method adopted
by the Board resulted in the payment of an increased price over and above what would
have been paid if open, fair and free competition had been invited."
BIDDING FOR CORRUPTION.
In speaking of the action of the Board in fixing th,e scale of prices and letting contracts at their discretion upon this basis. the Committee say:  "This opened the way
for favoritism in the letting of contracts, and for a system of brokerage in contracts
which was demoralizing in its results, bringing into the list of contractors a class of
people unaccustomed to perform the work required, and enabling legitimate contractors
to pay large prices in order to secure contracts, and in the opinion of your Committee
was the beginning of nearly all the irregularities disclosed in the testimony of the letting of contracts. Any system which would enable an adventurer to come from a distant city and in the name of a contracting firm makle proffers of fifty cents a yard to
any person having or supposed to have influence with the Board, whereby a paving
contract could be secured, arid after persistent effort succeed in securing a contract, and
actually binding his, principal, the contractors to pIay  $97,000 for the contract of
200,000 yards of pavement, after an effort of five months to secure it, the gross amount
to be received being only about $700,000, in its nature must be vicious, and ought to
be condemned."
SHEPHERD THE BOARD.
The Committee recognized the -fact that Shepherd, as Vice-President of the Board
of Public Works, had arrogated to himself all the power conferred upon that body by
the organic act, and say: "During a considerable portion of the time, notwithstanding
the most extensive operations were being carried on and expenditures were being Inade
by the millions, there were no stated limes for Board meetinrgs, and but comparatively
few Board meetings were in fact held, but entries were made in the record purporting
to contain the proceedings of the Board, which were in fact made up by the Secretary
from letters and papers that came into the office, and from directions made by the
Vice-President.  Some of these weie entries made of business transacted by the VicePresid.,nt at hlis private office, and afterwards placed on the record as having been business transacted by the Board."
In concluding their report, the Committee sav:." Your Conimittee have unanimously arrived at the conclusion that the existing form of Government of the District
is a failure; that it is too cumbrous and too expensive, that the powers and relations
of its several departments are so ill-defined that limitations intended by Congress to
apply to the whole Government, are construed to limit but one of its departments: that
it is wanting in sufficient safe-guards against maladministration and the creation of indebtedness; that the system of taxation it allows opens a door to great illegality and
injustice, and is wholly insufficient to secure a prompt collection of taxes; and that no
remedy short of its abolition and the substitution of a simpler, more restricted, and
economical Government will suffice."
THE NEW GOVERNMENT.
The Committee recommended a temporary Government consisting of three Commissioners to be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, who were to
wind up the affairs of the territorial Government ind complete such of the unfinished
work already commenced, which was absolutely required in order ti, make some of the
principal streets and avenues torn up by the Board of Public Works passable.  To
settle the accountsfor work already done and not yet paid for, and generally to wind
accounts of the late Government, as well as to investigate the cash accounts of
202 
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE. 
Treasurer Magruder, and ascertain the actual indebtedness of the District, the Commit
tee recommend that a Board of Audit consisting of the First and Second Comptroller
of the Treasury Department should be constituted.  These  recommendations were embodied in an act which was reported to the two Houses of Congress by the Committee,
and passed.
To relieve an immediate pressing necessity, and to prevent actual bankruptcy,
Congress appropriated $1,300,000, and provided that the Commissioners should be authorized to issue bonds bearing 3 1'-l per cent. interest to liquidate the indebtedness as it
was ascertained by the Board of Audit. In order to obtain an approximate idea of the
extent of this indebtedness the Committee made every possible effort, and required
Shepherd' to furnish a detailed estimate of what the cost of completing contracts
already let would be.  Shepherd furnished his estimate, which figured up $1,325,911.
The Board of Audit, however, found when they came to settle the accounts that the
Board had created an indebtedness, the facts concerning which had been deliberately
suppressed, which amounted to nearly $3,0t)0,000.
THE LEGACY OF THE RING.
The estimate of $18,000,000, the amount of indebtedness which the Committee
assumed from the data before them had been created by the Board of Public Works,
was' far below the real figures. From data furnished bhy the Board of Audit in its
various communications to Congress, the amount of indebtedness for which securities
of one kind or another had been issued by the Board of Public Works, together with
what was derived from the Federal Government, and general and special taxation,
was about $20,()00,000. In addition to this the Board had left a floating debt, which
was found to be as follows:
Due to officers, employes and laborers............................. $716,277 71
For temporary loans..............................................1,136,903 34
For unpaid certificates and claims for work under Board of Public
Works and District properly as-finally settled.................. 5,770,816 05
To citizens for curb stones, brick pavements, &c., confiscated........  151,540 88
For damage to real estate in consequence of comprehensive plan of
improvements...........................................   827,625 69
Over due judgments against the District..........................  10,135 57
Fire Department...............................................43,324 34
Board of Health.............          13,312 71
For over issue of Special Assessment bonds on July 1st, 1873, being
altogether unsecured July 1st, 1874.......................... 2,000,000 00
For interest due July 1st, 1874, on bonds..........................  237,132 72
For unmeasured work per report of Hoxie, December, 1874......... 5...90,892 13
Total......................................... $11,497,961 13
This vast sum has been liquidated in part by heavy tax levies on the private
property, and part by appropriations made by Congress; but mainly by the issue of
3-65 bonds.  Of the over issue of Special Improvement Bonds there was still unprovided for on April 10th, 1876, $1,315,)95.20.
THE DARKEST CRIME OF THE AGE.
During the progress of the investigation by the Joint Committee of the two
Houses, one of the darkest crimes of the age was deliberately perpetrated bv criminals
employed by the Ring through the Secret Service Division of the Treasury Departinent.  The object of this crime was to bring disgrace upon the citizens who were
prosecuting before the Committee, Shepherd and his ring associates. It occurred on
the night of the very day upon'which the counsel for the citizens announced to the
Committee that they had closed their case; briefly stated the prominent facts connected with this damnable villainy, are as follows: A number of the principal citizens
were in the habit of meeting nightly at the house of Mr. Columbus Alexander to
hold consultations among themselves and with their attorneys.  An operative in the
Secret Service force was detailed by the chief at the special request of Gen. Babcock
and Richard.Harrington, to concoct a plot by which he could entrap Mr. Alexander
and the gentlemen who were in the habit of meeting with him at his house, into receiving books and papers which were, without the knowledge of these gentlemen,
to be stolen from the office of the District Attorney, The detective managed, after
203 
REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
trying several weeks, to make the acquaintance of Mr. Alexander, and represented
himself as a former book-keeper of John O. Evans. In the interview which he had
with Mr. Alexander he stated that the books of Mr. Evans which had been produced
before the Committee were forgeries, and that the real books were in his possession,
and would show that enormous frauds had been perpetrated by Evans with  the consent and connivance of Shepherd. These books he offered to produce and turn over to
the citizens.  At first he demanded money; but this was sternly refused, whereupon he
said he was an honest man, and desired to expose the frauds, and would turn over the
true books of Evans without any compensation. This proffer was accepted, and Mr.
Alexander immediately notified two members of the Investigating Committee of the
proposition that had been made to him.
PUTTING UP THE JOB.
On Wednesday, the 21st of April, Harripgton, accompanied by John 0. Evans,
carried the account books from his office on Pennfisylvania avenue, to the District Attorney's office, and locked them up in his safe.  On Thursday night, April 22d, a professional burglar named George E. Miles, with an assistant, entered the District Attorney's
office, blew open the safe, took out the books of Evans, which were carried to Mr. Alexander's house by the assistant burglar.  Harrington on Thursday had notified the police
authorities that he had reason to fear that a burglary was going to be committed in the
District Attorney's office, and had the entire detective force of the city stationed about the
building in which the office was located. The superintendent of police was there in person,
and also the chiet of the detectives. The burglars entered the building about ten o'clock
in the evening, and warried with them the tools to be used in breaking open the safe.
They were seen to enter, and the superintendent of police wanted to'arrest them at
that time, but Harrington objected. Thev passed out and returned later, and after
hammering away at the safe for several minutes, finally blew it open, the report being
so loud that it attracted the attention of the people living in the neighborhood.  The
two burglars walked boldly out of the front entrance of the building, and one of them was
suffered to slip quietly away while the detectives, accompanied by Harrington, a brother
of Shepherd, and a fellow named A. B. Williams, an intimate associate of Harrington,
followed the other who carried the books to Mr. Alexander's house.   On the way
thither, the burglar lost his way and Williams pointed out the road, and directed him
to the house.  Mr. Alexander and his entire family were in bed sound asleep, and
providentially, all the noise of pounding at the door, and the ringing of the bell by
the burglar did not awaken a single one-of the inmates.  After he had been suffered
to continue his efforts to awaken the inmates for fifteen or twenty minutes, the superintendent of police finally arrested him and took him to police head quarters, where
he was locked up.  A few days later this villain was, through a fellow named Sommerville, with whom Harrington had made the arrangement, procured to make an
affidavit in which he asserted that he had been employed by Mr. Alexander to blow open
the safe in the District Attorney's office, and bring the books of Evans to his house.
This affair was subsequently investigated by the Joint Committee, and after Harrington, Williams, and the officers of the Secret Service division had committed perjury
over and over again, the detective who had been instructed to put up the job came
forward and made a clean breast of the whole transaction.
THE PRESIDENT INVITES THE CRIMINAL FROM THE DOCK.
The EHon. Benjamin H. Bristow having been made Secretary of the Treasury, the
whole matter was referred to him by the committee for further investigation, and
he turned it over to Hon. Bluford Wilson, who was afterwards appointed Solicitor of
the Treasury. Mr. Wilson succeeded, alter a patient investigation, in discovering the
most complete and irrefutable proofs of the connection of Col. Whitney, Chief of the
Secret Service Division, his first assistant I. C. Nettleship, Richard Harrington and A.
B. Williams, with his damnable conspiracy to ruin an innocent man.  The Hon. A. G.
Riddle was appointed a special assistant Attorney-General, to prosecute these parties in
the criminal court of the district. They were indicted, and after some delay brought to
trial, when the most desperate efforts were made by the Ring, assisted by the United
States Marshal, Alexander Sharp, a brother-in-law of the President, to secure their acquittal. The President himself lent his influence to secure the same result. During the
progress of the trial he invited Harrington to a reception given at the White House, thus
giving notice to both court and jury that he considered the criminal in the dock had
not been guilty'of any offence which deserved public condemnation. Although the jury
had been, as far as possible, packed by the Marshal, it failed to acquit the conspir
204 
REPUBLICAN ( RING" RULE.
ators. At the beginning of the first session of the Forty-fourth Congress, Col. Whitney, Nettleship, Somerville and- all the other parties, including the burglar, came
forward and confessed their connection with this crime, and furnislhed still further evidence implicating Harrington, and also connecting Gen. Babcock  directly with this
infernalconsp)iracy. Babcockl, Harrington and all til e others are now under indictment,
and -Haxrington has fled tco foreign parts to evade the process of the court.
A CRIME'PROPERLY CHARACTERIZED.
On February'd, 1876, Senator Bayard, of Delaware, in commenting on the misdeeds
of the Ring, spoke as follows, about the said burglary:   "The fact of this maladministration of this gross and profligate expenditure had been brought before Congress time
and again.  The cries of the taxpayingl citizens fell upon dull cars; but at last the
facts, thanks to the investigating spirit of the public press exterior to the  District, compelled a hearing of the complaints.  Besides for themselves the taxpayers of
this District were acting in behalf of every man in this country who' earns his daily
bread bv his labor, and of the taxpayers of the United States.   *    *    *   Intelligent and able counsel presented such a case that our committee were unable to
resist it, and as a result this Board of Public Works was to be swept out of official
existence into the ignominy which it deserved. There was strenuous resistance to the
investigation; the counsel of Shepherd and his associates brow-beat the witnesses,
resorted to fierce, rigid, recriminating cross-examination.  Prosecutions were  threatened, indictments were found, and  not only that but a resort to crime not fit to be
mentioned in our day and time was had.  Never in the century in which we  live was
sucha crime proposed for the purpose of stifling investigation as was set on foot in
this District, but providentially defeated. I mean the assault on the character of a citizen
eof high standing, by pretending that a gross crime and felony had been committed which
never had been committed'; to cause the appearance of crime by this'man to be charged
upon him as a dreadful reality.  The facts of that are before us; some of the persons
inculpated have undergone the forms of trial in this District before what they are
pleased to term a jury of impartial men, who did not agree upon a verdict,; but the
facts attending the trial have disclosed the hideous nature of the proposed assault upon
Mr. Alexander.  A crime reminding one of those eras in history called the dark ages.
I do not think there is a man who loves justice, who cares for googd name or character,
throughout this broad land, whose blood must not have curdled in his veins when he
read how nearly a perfectly innocent, honorable- gentleman came to be called upon to
defend himself against an odious and dreadful charge, a fictitious felony invented to
blast the good name of a private citizen, whose sole offence had been that he had petitionedl the Government  of his country for relief from fraudulent and excessive
taxation. The blow was thwarted; it recoiled upon those who originated it, and that
curse, like chickens, came honme to roost'  I trust yet that the full truth in regard to
this nefarious conspiracy may becomne known, and the guilty authors and all those \ ho
combined to shelter tlhem, may be brought to the punishment and public reprehension
they so richly deserve."
GRA.VT STAND-S BY SHEPLHERD.
The President, notwithstanding the damning record of Shepherd's willful violation
of law; the innumerable frauds and corruptions he had been a party to; notwitlistanding his connection with the infamous safe burglary conspiracy which was apparent to
all the world, appointed him to be one of the three commissioners to take charge of and
administer upon the effects of the defunct Bo(ard bf Public Works.  This nomination
was after a desperate struggle in the Senate finally rejected, but still the President's
love for the condemned anid degraded Boss was so great that he allowed him to naine
as his representative in this commission Mr. Ketchumn, an ex-Member of Congress from
the Po'ughkeepsie Dis)itrict in New York, who had been notorious as a jobber while a
member of the House of Representatives.  The Cookes as their representative secured
the appointment of ex-Governor Dennison of Ohio, while the Piresident himself appointed Hon. Henry T. Blow, of St. Louis, Missouri.  Mr. Blowyas an honest and upright man, and after a short experience as Commissioner resigned in disgust.  While
the President was' thus manifesting his deep regard for all the members of the Ring, and
sticking closer than a brother to boss Shepherd, he did not hesitate to strike down
and attempt to brand with infamy an honest man who had the.courage to stand up and
tell the truth about the Board of Public Works; this man was Adolph Cluss, engineer
of the Board, who had seen cognizant of although not participating in any of the frauds
practised by the Ring.  While he was before the Committee as a witness, the P'resident
:ummarily ordered his removal and alleged as the'reason for this act his belief that
205 
REPUBLICAN " RING " RULE.
Mr. Cluss had testified falsely, a charge totally unfounded and unwarranted by all the
facts brought out by the investigation.  To the lasting disgrace of the Committee it
failed to characterize this outrageous act on the part of the President in fitting terms,
and to the ternial infamy of the Republican majority in Congress, let it be noted that it
also spoke no words of condemnation.   Such was the appreciation which the President
and his administration manifested folr reform in the affairs of the District of Colurimbia.
The Republican party manifested appreciation of the great services that Hon. Jeremiah Wilson had rendered in bringing about the overthrow of the corrupt and strongly
entrenched Ring by refusing him a renomination for Congress.
STRANGERS AS PRO-CONSULS.
The Commissioners into whose hands the difficult and responsible duty of administering the affairs of the District of Columbia, in bringing order out of the financial
chaos in which the Board of Public Works had left it, was confided, were strangers to
the people over whom they were called to rule. They had no knowledge of the details of the work they were expected to perform, and from the day they asstmed the
duties of their office down to the present time they have been in constant and close communion with the chiefs of the old Ring. Their first act was to appoint as Secretary to
the Commission the same person who had served in a similar capacity under Cooke and
Shepherd. Their next was to commission E. L. Stanton, the first Secretary of the
Territory under Cooke, who was identified in every way with the Ring, their legal adviser. Upon the removal of Mr. Cluss, above referred to, the President appointed as his
successor, Lieutenant Hoxie, an army officer who had but a short time previous graduated from West Ploint. His nomination was due to Gen. Babcock and- to Shepherd.
Hoxie himself, in testifying before the District Committee of the House on the 6thi of
March last, admitted that Shepherd had told him a short time after his appointment,
"that he had been in favor of it." The Commnissioners made Lieutenant Hoxie their
executive officer, and placed him in charge of all improvements. The Commissioners, in
conformity with ihe law.under which they were appointed, issued orders dismissing all
the employes, but Lieutenant Hoxie at once reappointed under him thirty of the officials
thus discharged, selecting those who had proved themselves the most subservient tools
of the Ring. Among the rest thus continued in responsible positions were two assistant
engineers who had under the direction of Babcock aided in all the fraudulent measurements by which the United States was robbed of millions of dollars.
REFORM WITH A VENGEANCE,
Among the first acts of the Commissioners was an order authorizing the publication of a tax arrearage list. They did this upon a note sent to them from the White
House by Gen. Babcock, who requested that list should be published in thile National
Republican, the organ of the White House. No contract was made with the publisher
of this paper, and he subsequently brought in a bill for $96,112. He was paid on this
$50,00ti in cash, and'the balance $46,112 is yet in dispute. In addition to this ihe
Daily Clro),icle, another Ring organ, was paid $11,084.75, and the Evening Star
$8,003.75, all within a year, for advertising.
On July 10th, 1874, the Commissioners "ordered that all contracts hereafter
given out shall be given to the lowest responsible bidder after due notice by advertisement."'On August 10th, 18S74, they assured a committee of taxpayers that "there
will be no departure from this order which has all the force of law with us." They
also denounced the Board of Public Works for purchasing materials such as sewer pipe,
curbstone, flagstone, &c., privately from parties at rates fixed by Shepherd. Such
were the professions they made, but their practice was the very opposite and wilenever tihey were confronted with their declarations they pretended ignorance of the
facts and threw the responsibility on their subordinates. In April, 1876, the District
Committee of the House compelled the Commissioners to admit that the contracts
which they had awarded afer advertisement amounted in all to only $13,l14.16; and
further, that' contracts which had been thus given out in 1874, were annulled in 1875,
and others at Board rates, payable in 3-65 bonds, substituted.   For instance, for
twelve-inch sewer pipe contracted for at 32 cents cash per lineal foot, 56 cents in
bonds were substituted; that is, for one dollar cash, $1.70 in bonds was paid.  Further, that for material bought at Board prices, $412,676.16, had been paid, notwithstanding their declaration that they would not favor this sort of jobbery. On August 10,
1874, the Commissi,,ners stated that 1 17 of the old contracts had been ascertained by
the Engineer as still open, of which 67 had been allowed to proceed and the others
were "yet under the ban of suspension." On December 1st, 1874, the Engineer
206 
REPUBLICAN "RING" RULE.
reports that on June 30, 1874, twenty contracts were in operation, although on July
9th, 42 were being carried out.  He adds: "At this time contractors and others claiming contracts were at work with a view to establish their claims; the 3-65 bonds provided for meeting existing legal obligations of the District had apparently iidcluced the
many who had long since abandoned their work to resume without authority or
direction.  They were now worlking at random without plans or supervision."  He
also' reported that 99 contracts had been resumed and final measurements made upon
20 contracts completed under the old Board of Public Works.   In March, 1876, Mr.
Buckner, Chairman of the District Committee of the House, forced the information
from the Commissioners that up to that date they had re-opened 154 contracts and
made additional measurements of 65 contracts finished under the late Board of Public
Woiks.
Under such a condition of things it is not surprising that "for claims existing or
hereafter created, for which no evidence of indebtedness has been issued, arising out
of contracts, written or oral, made by the Board of Public Works, "which were assumed by the investigating committee of 1874, to amount to about $1,325,000," the
Board of Audit have paid about $7,438,971. two-thirds of which is based on work under ordetrs of the Commissioners which is still incomnplete.
SHEPHIERD STILL BOSS.
The power Shepherd exerted with the Commissioners is evidenced by the fact that
any contractor who presented himself before them with a note from Shepherd in which
it was stated that he had promised the bearer the contract for such an(t such work on
such and such streets, invariably was allowed to go on and complete it at old Board
rates. One of these co)ntractors, John F. Murray, testified before the District Commit.
tee of the House in April last that for services of this kind rendered by Shepherd he
had purchased a house from him at a very high price.  Shepherd has evidently profited largely by this sort o,f service to contractors, because the record of his sales of real
estate show that since the Cotnmissioners carne into power he has sold property to
contractors to the amount of $300,000, while his tr'ansfers of property to other persons
amount to very little. One or two instances in money will show the workings of this
system of continuing oral contracts. A c6untry road above Georgetown was let in
1872 to lee repaired at a cost of $2,500.  This contract was extended by the Commis-.
sion, and was so modified that the work cost $262,12:.77, or about $80,000 per mile.
Thus, on the pretext of an understanding with Shepherd, not reduced to writing; with
no terms stated or pice fixed, or statement made; with no bonds required of the corrtractor for the faithful performance of the work; without a single entry on the records
of the defunct Board of Public Works, this pretended contract was recognized as q
"legal obligation," existing on June 20, 1874, and the'District compelled to pay more
than a quarter of a million of dollars when, in reality, there was no obligation to pay
a single penny.  Another case: Commissioner Ketchum had a contract relating to
work on a street two miles distant, extended so as to provide for tearing up a stone
paved alley in the rear of his own lot, and a concrete pavement laid at an expense
of $6,676.61 to the District.
BUT THE GREATEST OF. ALL SWINDLES
Was the repair of the rotten wood pavements.  The contractors who  put down
these pavements were nominally required to give bonds to keep them in repair for three
years; but Shepherd, acting ais the Board otf Pui)lic Works, allowed them to become
sureties for one another, and thus, in most instances, bonds were a mere formality. Tlhe
Commissioners went through the form of notifying these contractors that if they did not
put the streets in repair by a certain time, they would have the same done and charged
up against their sureties. The contractors all failed to make the repairs; whereupon, the
Commissioners had the wood pavements torn iup and concrete pavement put down in their
stead. The total cost of these so-called repairs to the District has bteen $8, 9,861'0. Frequently the same contractors who had put down the wood pavements were given contracts at exorbitant prices to replair them by laying the concrete pavement.   How this
was done will be understool from the following case. The sum of $234,169.11 was spent
'to repair" the rotten wood pavements laid by John O. Evans under his own and the firmname of Linville & Co.. and this heavy amount was "charged to the original contractor
and his bondsmen." This original contractor, on the other hand, was allowed to make
a bogus assignment of his contracts, and then he received, as executor, of the living W.
C.' Murdock, his assignee, $143,268.76 for part repair of part of his own fraudulent
work, and together with concrete work on "extensions" of these assigned contracts,
the sum total of $246,542.18 passed to Evans.
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REPUBLICAN " RING" RULE.
GRANT STAKDS BY SHEPHERD'S FRIENDS.
With the proofs of the incompetence, recklessness and still worse faults of
the Commissioners patent to the whole world, the President has at all times
manfully stood by them and persistently endeavored to conceal the true facts
about the District indebtedness.   In his annual  fessage to Congress, December
7, 1874, the President, in speaking of the debt of the  District, said:  "It will
be seen from the report of the  Commissioners of the District of Columbia, for
warded herewith, that the net debt of the District, less securities on hand and available, is, bonded debt issued prior to July -1st, 1874, $8,883,940.43;  3-65 bonds, Act of
Congress, June 20th, 1874, $2,088,168.73; Certificates of the Board of Audit,, $4,770,558.45; total, $15,742,667.61, less special improvement assessments chargeable to private
property in excess of any demand against such assessments, $1,614,054.37; less Chesapeake & Ohio Canal bonds, $75,000; Washington & Alexandria Railroad bonds,
$59,000; in the hands of the Commissioners  of the Sinking Fund,  $1,748,054.37;
leaving actual debt, less.said assets, $1:4,994,613.24."
"In addition to this there are claims againstt he government of the District
amounting in the estimated aggregate report by the Board of Audit to $3,147,787.48,
of which the greater part will probably be rejected.  This, sum can with no  more propriety be included in a debt account of the D;strict Government than can the thousands of claims against the general government be included as a portion of the national
debt."
This statement was either made in ignorance or else it was a deliberate suppression of the truth.  The  information contained in official documents'  at thlat time,
showed that instead of Commissioniers of the Sinking Fund having special improvement assessments and the amount of $1,614,054.27, in excess of anlly demand against
thenm, there were then special improvement certificates issued to the amount of
$1,522,400, which were not covered by any special assessment.
A CRUSHIING CRI'rICISM,
The Hon. Samuel J. Randall, in commenting upon this part of the President's
Message, December 9, 1874, said:
"I want to show that the allegations, as to the debt of this District, made by the
President of the United States in his Message sent to Congress  on Monday, are gross
errors, and I will show this from the-very papers which the President himself ought to
have had in his posession when he was making his Message. The accounts agree as
to the items of the bonded debt  making a total of $8,883,940.43, and they further
agree as to the amount of 3.65 bonds issued under the law passed at the last Session
$2,088,168.73. They further agreed as to the certificates of the Board of Audit,
amounting  to  $4,770,558.45.  These  sums  aggregate  $15,742,667.61.   The  t'resident goes on to make a credit against the funded debt which, had he known
the  truth  and  the facts, he  co4uld  not  have  made.   He  claims  as  a credit
"less special improvement assessments chargeable to- private property in excess of any  demand  against  such assessment" of  $1,614,054.37.   Now,  I maintain that not one dollar of that amount has yet been collected, and that when it
shall be collected it is pledged to the liquidation of a fuirther indebtedness of the District, eptirely omitted by the President of the United States in his statement, but not
omitted by the Board of Audit, to wit:  The 8 per cent. certificates, of which those issued amount to $1,522,400.  That money, if it is ever collected, is pledged in honor
and by law to go to the payment of the debt of 8 per cent, certificates; Itrthermore,
the President of the United States claims that the sum of $3,.147,787.48 is not of the
character of a funded debt. The Board of Audit distinctly denies that allegation. and
say that this is, in fact, a part of the finded debt of the District; and no man, familiar
with the accounts, can fail to see that it is, in fact, a part of the funded debt.  Adding
that we have a debt of $20,412,853.09..The Board of Audit claimi a credit against this
of about $460,000, not rightfully, as I consider, but when we refer to the report of the
Engineer of this District, what do we find? We find that ui,der Class 4, which the
Board of Audit states as a part of the indebtedness, there is an item of $1,500,000, and
Lieutenant  Hoxie, the Engineer of the District, estimates what will hereafter be required and what, in truth, is a part of the actual debt of this District, that is, the sum
of $I,70i,000.  Therefore, assuming the correctness and the very figures of this report, the present debt of this Distiict, and I stand ready to prove it to any man who is
familiar with accounts, is $22,112,855."
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REPUBLICAN " RING'!  RULE.
THE REPUBLICAN MAJORITY CHOKE RANDALL OFF.
This was in December, 1874.  In his last annual Message sent to Congress in De'
cember, 1875, the President does not mention the District of Columbia, save an incidental reference to the Board of Commissioners, which is included among the documents
accompanying the message.  He has, however, continued his firm support of the mnen
who, while acting as Commissioners, are simply registering the decrees of Shepherd.
The Republican leaders in the House came promptly to the President's assistance when
Mr. Randall! made the above quoted crushing criticism.upon that part of his message
which related to the District affairs. Mr. Hale, of Maine, went into a long argument
to justify the statements made by the President to prove that Mr. Randall was incorrect; but when Mr.Randall endeavored to obtain the floor to reply, he was summarily
choked off by the radical majority. Thus, as it has ever been, the Republican majority
in Congress have consistently defended the Ri.ng rogues who have plundere(l the District of Columbia. Without the support which Shepherd and his fliends received at
the hands of the Republican Congress and the President of the United States, it
would have been impossible for one-half of the crimes of which they are guilty to have
been perpetrated.
ANOTHER FRAUD.
The Board of'Audit has proved as great a failure as the Commissioners. Ilnstead
of detecting and exposing-the frauds of the old Ring and protecting the District against
over charges, the Auditors have been almost as negligent,is were the accoonting officers of the Board of Public Works.  It was fondly hopod that when the coinptrolleri- of
th e Treasury Department were selected for this responsible position they would pr.-ve a
terror to the Ring contractors and jobbers. They were to report to Congress the result
of their labors at the commencement of the second session of the forty-third Congress;
they were to be paid $2, 00 apiece to supervise the auditing and were authorized to employ such aqsistance as they required and to fix the rate of compensation therefoi'. Instead
of prompt efforts on their part to unravel and settle up the tangled accounts of the late
Board of Public Works the auditors allowed the work to drag along, and when Congress reassembled in December, 1874, they submitted a partial report and claimed that
they were-functdus officio.  They, however, claimed and received for less than six months'
service $2,000 apiece.'Their object in claiming that their terms of office expired
in December, 1874, was apparent after a time.  A.joint resolution was lobbied through
both  Ihouses continuing them as a Board of  Audit  "until otherwise  provided
by law with all the powers and duties specified in said Act (the Act under which they
were originally created a Board) and with compensation to the members of the Board
at a rate proportioned according to the time to that granted in said Act." In construing this law on the question of their own salaries they were quite ingenious. They
figured up their per diem by dividing $2,000 by the number of working days between
,July and December'and brought out $12.75 per day as the rate of their compeusation.
From the time of their appointment until they were legislated out of office in March last
they had consumned, including their own salaries -and the pay of from sixteen to twenty
assistants and accountants and two messengers, about $84,000 ($74,470.09 are the official
figures lup to January 1st, 1876; the rest is estimated). They were in office a little
over twenty-one months, and yet in this time did not complete the auditing of the accounts of the three years of Ring rule.
ThE PRICE OF OFFICE UNDER GRANT.
At the sessions of 1874-5 Congress provided about $1,600,()00 for various purposes of District expenditure and adjourned with the understanding which was conveyed to the country that the issue of 3.65 bonds would not exceed  $10,000,000,
one and a half millions  more than the amount  estimated  by the  Investigating
Committee of 1874 that it would be required to settle up all the outstanding
accounts of the Board of Public Works.   During the last days of the  Session
the Board of Audit bad reported in guarded terms that the measurements
made by Babcock of work done by the Board of Public Works around Government  property were false and fraudulent.   Immediately after the adjournment of
Congress the auditors were disciplined for this piece of boldness by the thick and
thin friends of the Administration, who demanded their removal on various charges.
They were suffered, however, to make their peace, and since that time they have been
subservient to the Ring. Pretending to be absorbed with their duties as Comptrollers
of the Treasury they gave but slight supervision to the work of their subordinates inthe Board of Audit, and'he result has been most disastrous to the District Treasury.
In cases where the engineer refused to allow the demands of contractors, assistant
accountants measured the work themselves, laid the result before the Auditors for their
signatures, and thus passed the allowance over the engineer's head. Instead of acting
209
4 
REPUBLICAN  " RING" RULE.
as a check upon and preventing the payment of.fraudulent ring accounts, the Board of
Audit has really passed anew and paid accounts that had already been settled and paid
under the Board of Public Works. Irregular allowances made by the accounting officers of the Board of Public Works have been accepted as establishing precedents, and
all descriptions of fraudulent accounts have been allowed on this basis. The investigation by the House Committee on the District of Columbia last spring developed
numerous cases where contractors who had been paid all they demanded, sold for a song
to middlemen the right to present further claims against the District, and in every instance these bogus claims were allowed and paid through the Beard of Audit. Here
is one single case as a sample: Albert Gleason was paid in the summer of 1873 the
$65,762 for depositing surplus earth in the canal, yet in 1875 Gleason obtained a "final "
measurement and was allowed for this very same work again $84,606.77 in full as a
"final measurement"!!
work for which he had been paid in 1873.
" GIVE! GIVE I 
The Ring, which will continue to afflict with its baleful presence the District of
Columbia so long as the Republican party remains in power, seeks by every contrivance
to obtain money through the National Treasury. Like tile horse-leechi's daughter, they
continually cry "give, give." At the commencement of the last session of Congress,
they demanded an appropriation to pay the interest on 3.65 bonds, and further that
Congress should, by appropriate legislation, guarantee not only the payment of the
interest, but of the principal of these securities at their maturity.   The Attorney_eneral for the State of New York had decided that these bonds were not of that class
of securities in which savings banks of that State could legally invest. This, of course,
depreciated the bonds in the New York market, and the Ring began at once to bring
every influence to bear to induce Congress to guarantee them.   The faith of the United
States had been pledged by the act authorizing their issue to have such taxes imposed
upon the property of the District as would pay the interest of these bonds and create a
sinking fund for the payment of the property at maturity; but when the act was under
discussion, Mr. Lawrence, of Ohio, asked Mr. Wilson, who reported it from the committee, the following question:  "Is there anything in the bill which commits Congress
to the endorsement or payment of the District debt?"  Mr. Wilson replied, "No, sir; I
think I can show that the committee has been careful about that." At the very time
the'Commissioners were demanding of Congress an appropriation to pay the interest
on these 3.65, it was shown that there was to the credit of'the District in the treasury
$1,088,733.57, which was being daily increased by certain receipts of taxes.   The paymnent of the interest was actually claimed with this large balance to the credit of the
District simply because the Ring thought that by raising the cry of repudiation, they
could compell Congress to appropriate the money from the National Treasury.  After
a long and very determined opposition, the Democratic Hopse finally succeeded in forcing the Senate to pass the bill which directed-the Commissioners to pay the overdue
interest on the 3.65 bonds out of the balance to the credit of the District in the
Treasury.
THIE FRUITS OF FIVE YEARS OF RING RULE.
The foregoing sets forth a few of the prominent instances in the history of the
District of Columbia under the Ring rule which was imposed upon the people by a Republican Congress, and maintained in spite of all the exposures which have been made
from time to time.
The population is 150,000, all told.  There is now a debt averaging $166 for every
man, woman and child in the District. It amounts to 27 per cent. for the entire taxable real estate. The assessed value of the real estate in the District is'$93,452,684.
In January, 1876, property to the value of $13,213,911 had been sold for taxes in
arrears.'The auctions at which this property was sold were held in two different
places, so that a piece of property would be knocked down tQ the District of Columbia
for general taxes and to the First National Bank of New York for special taxes almost
simultaneously. Property to the value of $2,888,893, as was officially stated in answer
to the resolution of the House dated January 8th, 1876, was in this way sold, and unless the owners are able to redeem it, it will be jointly owned by the District o'f
Columbia and the First National Bank of New York.
Of the many millions of dollars which have been expended since July  1st, 1871,
over seven millions of dollars have been expended for wood and concrete pavements.
The former are rotten, and there is scarcely a street on which they were laid now passable for driving purposes;  the concrete pavements, with here and there an exception,
are crumbling, disintegrating and rapidly being washed away by heavy rains, or
scattered in dust over the city by the winds. The testimony of experts proves' that
considering the character of the work done under the Board of Public Works,- as well
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REPUBLICAN "RING" RULE.
-as under the Commissioners, the price paid to contractors for these pavements  enabled
them to make a profit of from one hundred to one hundred and twenty-five per cent.
Fully one half of the $7,00o,000 went into the pockets of the ring contractors and thieir
official associates. The whole amount is practically a dead loss to the District, because
the pavements will all have to be renewed within less than two years.
STILL OTISIER FRAUDS.
The District Committee of the House of Representatives at the last session of Congress mad, a partial investigation of the transactions of the Commissioners-as well as
the Board of Audit, and in addition to eliciting the facts already referred to in the foregoing pages, it was discovered that the Commissioners had in their various-,reports to
Congress deliberately misrepresented the liabilities of the District, and wilfully reported
their expenditures to be less than they really were.  For instance, they reported to
Congress in 1875 that they had during the season of 1875 contracted liabilities to the
amount of $4,235,841.96. When the District Committee placed an expert at the books
ofthe Commissioners it was found that they had calculated on 3.65 bonds to pay expenses incurred during 1875 to the amount of $5,419,()26.36. The Commissioners admit
this mistake (?) AFTER the proof of the error had been obtained by the Committee, but
attempted to place the responsibility on Lieutenant Hoxie, their executive officer.
This officer was undoubtedly responsible to a certain degree, and in any other country
would be held to a strict accountability therefor; but, of course, hlie has nothing to-fear
so long as the Republican party remains in power. But, even if rIoxie suppressed or
aided to suppress the facts in this instance, still this does not relieve the Commissioners because Hoxie does not finally pass the accounts, and moreover he does not direct
the workl to be done save upon the orders of the Commissioners.
It was also discovered that in the annual report of the Commissioners there were
recommendations which if they had not been condemned by Congress, might have been
made the basis of new claims against the United States amounting in the aggregate to
more than $4,000.000.
And, further, it was found that in the disbursement of $75,000 which had been
specially appropriated by Congress to pay laborers who had been defrauded by -Ring
contractors, the Commissioners had paid large sums on fraudulent pay-rolls. And,
among other things, it was in this connection proved that a contractor had liquidated
a livery bill by having the owner of the stable paid on a forged pay roll.  It Was also
shown that the engineers' department for- salaries for employes, required last year
$164,767.72. Under Shepherd's rule this bureau had for the same purpose cost
$313,576. The reduction for engineering expenses under the Commissioners seems
large when compared with the Boss's expenditures; but when we compare it with the
cost of the engineers' department for the city of Buffalo last year, $12,320, the extravagance and mismanagement which still exists in the management of the affairs of the
District is made apparent.
IT WILL NOT BE DONE.
In their report to the House of Representatives the District Committee recommended
that the evidence in regard to all these frauds and violations of law should be transmitte& by the Houise to the Attorney General with instructions to that officer to
institute proceedings for the recovery of the money which had been illegally and
improperly obtained from the District Treasury; and the same evidence also to be
certified to the District Attorney to lay before the grand jury, with instructions to investigate and institute criminal proceedings.  These  recommendations  the House
adopted. 1o one, however, believes that any attention will be p)aid to these instructions.  The Ring rogues laugh at such proceedings, and will continue to defy justice as
long as the Republican party remains in power.
$43,000,000 IN FIVE YEARS.
The following exhibit shows the expenditures of a municipal character which
have been made since July 1st, 1871, to July 1st, 1876, a period of five years; the
figures are official and can be relied upon with the utmost confidence. This table is as
complete as it can be made, but there are many items of expenditures during the administration of Boss Shepherd which, with all the efforts that have been made, have
not yet been obtained:
RECAPITULATION OF ALL EXPENDITURES OF A MUNICIPAL NATURE, INCURRED IN THE
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FROM JULY 1, 1871, TO JULY 1, 1876.
Receipts from general taxes under Territorial Government,
(p. 534, Off. Rep. Investigation 1874)...            $3,465,006 39
211 
REPUBLICAN "RING  RULE.
Re
"  General taxes under Commissioners:
(A) from July 1 to Dec. 1, J874........ $1,628,985 80
(B)  "  Dec. 1, 1874, to Dec. 1, 1875....  2,639,()65 02
(C) "  Dec. 1, 1875, to June 1, 1876....    888,337 68
(D)"  June 1 to July 1,1876 (off. est.)..    50,000 00
$5,106,388 50
Deduct for redemption of taxation, certifi     cates, etc............................. 205,095 99
4,901,292 51
Increase of Bonded Debt:
Old bonded debt in December, 1875........ $8,441,113 43
Deduct amount of bonded and floating debt
of old municipalities, as per off. rep. of
Audit Committee, Nov. 8, 1871........     3,495,188 7t
4,945,924 68
15,000,000 O0
$31,593,981 75
"'  From 3.65 bonds, incl. suspended accounts..
Total from District resources..............
Received from Federal government:
For improvements by City of Washington...........
"     As.    Board of Public Works........
By District Commissioners, exd. Board of Health and
Fire Department............................
Interest on 3.65 bonds (in two instalments)..........
Salaries of Territorial officers and counsel.........
Fire department, Dist. Columbia................
" Metropolitan police............................
Relief of starving school teachers................
Board of Health, including salary of members....
Miscellaneous charities, relief of poor, etc.........79,1
Completion of Georgetown school house..........
"Engine house on Capitol Hill....................
District jail..................................
Anacostia bridge..............................
Chain bridge.................................             
Judges of Court and Warden of Jail.............
Repairs of Court house.........................
Transportation and support of convicts...........
"-Commission to frame a new government..........
"Inspector of gas *..............................
Reimbursement to Register of Deeds.............
Donation of rental from Washington Market Comp.
Expenditures on public grounds, excluding Capitol
grounds....................................G
Salaries on public grounds, approximate..........
Aqueduct....................................
Actual cost of maintaining 259 indigent insane at
Government Insane Asylum, charged to District
and estimated at $4.25 per head...............
286,196 00
11,247,608 46;
$42,841,590 21
212 
REPUBLICAN " RINO" RULE.
Deduct balance on hand on July 1, 1876, as per official
estimate sent to District of Columbia Committee
on June 1, 1876...............................
Total expenditure as far as ascertained..............
$30,000,000 SQUANDERED.
The following table, compiled from cfficial sources, shows the amount of money
~expended in street improvements in Washington. Georgetown, and the roads in the
- County during the period of five years in which Ring rule has been omnipotent:
COST OF STREET IMPROV]MENT IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA FROM JULY 1 ST,
1871, TO JULY lST, 1876.
Wokdn   yBadofPulcWarshindcagedton..... Corporation
of Washington............................................ $527,354 54
Government contribution under same head (in 1872 and 1873)........228,632 75
Proceeds of loans by District Government.........................4,790,000 00
Cash appropriation by District Government........................ 117,000 00
Bonds for laying a new water-main in 1872........................ 485,000 00
Receipts from special assessments, cash and certificates sold.......... 3,281,758 17
Issue of 3.65 bonds and Board of Audit Certificates................. 14,612,233 69
Direct appropriations from Congress..............................    3,597,936 18
Temporary loans of Board of Works, redeemed by Commissioners with
District and Government funds.............................. 1,136,903 34
Overdue salaries and wages under Board of Public Works, paid by
Commissioners with mixed funds..............................421,999 79
Expenses of Engineer Department under Commissioners, including
parking-commission, sewer-pipe, freight, etc., estimated..........  320,000 00
$29,518,818 46
Add necessary for completing work, now half done, by last official
estimate (under estimated)....................................453,193 80
Grand total............................$29,972,012 26
This represents the cost of improving less than one-half of the streets of Washington, and is coupled with the nccessity of spending millions at once for replacing the
fraudulent patent pavements, if the improvements already made are to be kept up.
CURRENT MUNICIPAL EXPENDITURES OF THE DISTRICT FOR FIVE  YEARS
ENDING JULY 1ST, 1876.
Grand total of expenditures............................... $42,687,097 56
Deduct actual expenditures for street improvements... $29,518,818 46
cost of jail and bridges, etc................... 786,528 93
__   30,305,347 39
$12,381,750 17
This includes $1,169,343 for currenit expenses of parks and aqueduct,
and averages per annum..................................... $2,476,150 03
$14.000,000 BEYOND THE LIMIT.
The subjoined Exhibit gives in detail the present debt of the District of Columbia.
PRESENT DEBT OF THE DISTRICT FROM BEST SOURCES ATTAINABLE.
Old funded d~ebt as per official statement, Feb. 1st, 1876.............$8,431,513 43
'Old funded d                                         ~~~~~~~~~~$8,431,513 43,
Funded (floating) debt of late Territory and District Commissioners, in
3.65 bonds, and temporarily suspended acccounts.............. 15,000,000 00
Excess of outstanding,8o special improvement'certificates (issue of
July 1st, 1873), over and above tax'ien certificates, pledged for
their redemption (44th Congress,lst Ses., Sen., Mis., Doc., No. 101).    369,026 55
.Sewer-certificates outstanding, and not converted into 3.65 bonds....         71,312 80
213
154,4.q2 65
. $42,687,097 56 
REPUBLICAN "RING" RULE.
Unsettled old accounts by corporations and Territory aside of the vast
claims in pending saits of " Board Contractors "................
Damages to. real estate by the improvements under Commissioners,
estimated on the basis of settlement for damages under Territory.
100,000 0oa
$24,121,852 78.
The total burden upon the people of the District however, is much larger.  To ascertain this, should be added to the above:
Taxes in arrears on property on account of same and bid in by the Dis    trict Government (Comn. Rep., Dec., 1875, p. 7).................
Due to holders of 10 per cent. improvement certificates (Corn. Rep.,
Dec., 1875, p. 463).......................................... 
Due to holders of 8 per cent. improvement certificates (Sen., Mis., Doc.
No. 101)....................................................
A ctual outstanding against citizens..............
The ~ ~~... Comsinrs'tt  (e.   e.1s.......$,0,0   2
The Commissioners sta.te (Rep., Dec., 1875, p. 7), that they are now
making out more assessment-bills for special improvements, to the
amount of $1,689,844.70, in excess of outstanding 8 per cent.
certificates (t3'9,026.55, as above), or a total of................
Present and impfic te        dness.6.of citizens, as aofficially statedof................ $4,26,058873  67
Present and impendi-ng indebtedness of citizens, as officially stated..... $4,2 62,073 67
The Commissioners manufacture prosperity by treating these wild charges forspecial improvements as assets, while they are illegal by millions and can never be
enforced. There is no law authorizing the real estate of the District to be encumbered.
to the amount of about $4,900,000, which is the basis of the official statement for
special improvements charges.
THE STEWARDSHIP OF THlE REFORM GOVERNMaNT.
The receipts and disbursements of the District Government under a Republican
"Reform" (?) rule-the Commissioners-are set forth in the following table:
THE STEWARDSHIP OF REPUBLICAN REFORM GOVERNMENT IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.
Receipts from general taxes and licenses:
July to December, 1874.............................$1,751,896 99
December, 1874, to December, 1875.................. 2,539.065 02
December 1st, 187.5, to June 1st, 1876................. 888,337 68
$5,I79,299 69'
Receipts from U. S. appropriations to District Com    missioners direct,
$1,300,000 00
June, 1874.............................. $1,300,000 0072
---       $1,062,867 78
Receipts from various appropriations:
December-March, 1875............................1,218,968 75
Total appropriations through Commissioners...........
2,281,836 03
~7,461,135 72:n
Of this there was expended:
For liquidation of Shepherd's debts...................  $2,077,340 73
For repaying holders of tax lien certificates, &c........ 205,(95 99
Cash on hand on June 1st, 1876....................... 506,492 65
$2,788,929 37. 0
Expended for current expenses of period between July 1,
1874, and June 1, 1876........................
To this must be added proportionate appropriations of U.
S. by various other channels than those above:
Appropriations for salaries and expenditures of Board of
Health.........................  $1096 
214
150,000; o
1
$900,000 Oa,,.,
357 133 27
194C,,069I l,
$2,203,202 42 —
$4,672,206 3& 
REPUBLICAN "RING" RULE.
Appropriations for a schoolhouse in Georgetown (Com                   Inissioner of Education)...........
."Metropolitan Police.................
i    Aqueduct.........................
Miscellaneous charities.............
" Continuation of wol'k on District jail.
"  "Miscellaneous objects, not including
parks...........................
. Interest on 3-65 bonds..............
$1,626,126  35
$6,298,332 to
Aggregate of Expenditures in cash............
Add increase of 3.65 bond dlebt, above statement of President Grant
in December, 1874, and  estimate of Commissioners of  Feb.,
1875, at least calculation.............................$,0
Grand total of expenditures of twenty-three months, ex    cluding amount required, bona fide, to complete im    provements left exposed or half finished, June, 1874. $11,298,332 70
CURRENT MUNICIPAL EXPENDITURES OF THE DISTRICT UNDER THE "REFORM- COMMISSIONERS,'
FOR THE YEAR ENDING JULY 1, 1876.
The expenditures for purely municipal purposes showing the cost of governmental
machinery during the year July 1st, 1876, are shown by the following exhibit.
Object of Expenditure:
District Offices and Expenditures as per report of Auditor, D. C..........$287,474 74
Water Department............................................. 118,965 81
Public Schools, White and Colored...............................   362,518 95
Metropolitan Police.........................................     325,669 54
Fire Department and Fire Alarm.................................... 113,954 93
New Fire Alarm Telegraph.......................................   75,254 50
Public Charities and Corrections.................................. 201,734 31
Board of Health................................................. 97,598 38
Support of Indigent Insane of the District........................... 57,239 00
Interest on Old Bonded Debts, Salaries and Contingencies of Sinking
Fund, but excludi'g any provision for Reserve Funds...........  603,755 00
Interest on 3.65 Bonds........................................ 367,500 00
Markets........................................................ 13,981 42
Advertising..................................................... 65,174 10
Street Lamps and Gas............................................  145.009 72
Improvement and Repairs, Cleaning, Sweeping, etc.................. 146,152 68
Board of Audit $45,339.64, exclud(ed................................
Police Court....................................................  1,838 09
Employes of Late Territorial Government' $56,207.50, excluded.......
Miscellaneous.................................................... 46,439 11
Salaries of Judges and Warden of Jail................................. 22,500 00
Transportation and Support of Convicts................................ 8,000 00
Inspector of Gas.................................................   3,000 00
$3,063,760 28
Current Expenses of Public Grounds and Aqueduct, including Salaries
and Wages............................................... 162,520 00
Same of Aqueduct............................................... 18,000 00
$3,244,280 28
Of which was contributed by taxation................ $1,350,354 28
And by Appropriations of Congress.................    1.893,926 00
' Total as above........... $,244,280 28
215
1 60,865
412,800
62,400
374.050
185,648
00
00
00
00
93
68,000 00
367,500 00
$5,000,000 00
11 
REPUBLI(CAN " RING" ItULE.
IF THIS nE REFORM-.
It should be said that the fiscal year of U. S. commences on July 1, while that o
the District commences on December 1. The appropriations of Congress from July 1,
1875, to July 1, 1876, have been inserted to simplify the accounts, and facilitate a revision of same. Further, it should be considered that last year all the "repairs" of streets,
costing $809,000 additional have been paid in 3.65 bonds, independent of the above,
and that the Engineer states it will cost ten per centurn of original cost per annum to
keep in repair his best coal-tar pavements, of which there are about 750,000 Square
yards at present. The latest estimate of the Engineer for repairs of wood pavements
and concretes alone required for current year is $404,333.32, exclusive of $320,000 for
She new Pennsylvania avenue pavement.
It will be observed that the current municipal explenses for the year ending July
1st, 1876, exceeded the average of the last five years, when the amount for street repairs
is deducted by $780,000, while the increase of interest of the debt on the  3.65 bonds
was but $367,500.
This fact will be sufficient to expose the enormous frauds perpetrated on the country and the citizens of the District, under the fascinating theory that the Republican
party is about to reform itself and become a terror to evil-doers.
SCHEMES OF PLUNDER IN ABEYANCE.
The men who have wrought this ruin, and burdened the property of this District
with an enormous debt of $24,000,000, have in reserve grand schemes by which they
expect to draw millions from the National Treasury, provided the present party is suf fered to remain in power. One of these schemes was presented to Congress in 1872
[See Senate Misc. Doc., Number 15, Third Session 42d Congress.] It contemplatesfill ing up the Washington channel of the Potomac river, and reclaiming the immense
marshy fiats of over one thousand acres in extent in front of the southwestern part of the
city, and to establish a new river front ill a southwestern direction from the present line
about 3,200 feet distant, and at the edge of the present Georgetown channel, near the Vir ginia shore, which is to be in future the common channel. The reclaimed land, a dead
level. about eight feet above mean high tide, is divided off according to the plan into
squares and building lots with as much freedom as vivid imagination admits, and estimated
at fifty cents per square foot; the value of the made land is set out in the official estimates
at $18,537,780, of which the Government is to occupy an area worth (!) $8,889,000, and
the rest is to be sold for the prosecution of the work. To begin with, however, an ap propriation by Congress of $6,050,000 cash is relied upon. An item was smuggled into
the River and Harbor Bill of June 23, 1874, which was as follows:  "Improvement of
Georgetown channel-that the appropriation of March 3d, 1873 ($50,000) for the im provement of the Harbor of Washington and Georgetown be made to apply to the
dredging the Virginia or Georgetown channel of the Potomac River above and below
the Long Bridge; and that the earth excavated therefrom be deposited so as to carry
out, so far as practicable, the plan of improving the harbors of Washington and Georgetown, in accordance with recommendations made to Congress on December 17th, 1872."
The recommendations made to Congress on December 17th, 1872, are embodied in
the Senate Miscellaneous Document above referred to. The District Commissioners to
assist in carrying out this scheme, last summer extended a number of contracts for
grading, which was to be done on streets in different parts of the city, to that portion
in which the National Observatory is located.  The lucky contractors were instructed
to cut down the street at the northwest corner of the Observatory reservation some 35
feet, and a railroad was built to remove the immense masses of earth out into the marshA great deal of work under these contracts was done before the discovery was made.
When the job was exposed in the newspapers, the Commissioners were frightened at
the prospect of investigation by the Democratic House of.Representatives, and the
work was stopped.
However, if the Republican party shouldget another lease of power for four years,
the country may be prepared for heavy drains on the National Treasury to enable the
Ring, not only to complete this scheme, but divers others which have not yet been made
known to the public.
STRIKING AT THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.
The official announcement is made Aug. 23, 1876, as we go to press, that the
Radical Reform (?. Commissioners have resolved that the Public Schools must be kept
open only eight months instead of ten, in order that the money which ought to be applied to this purpose may be left available for jobbery-in the engineer's department.
216 
THE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
THE NATIONAL HONOR TARNISHED BY ROBERT C.
X SCHENCK.
Mr. HEWITT, of New York, from the Committee on Foreign Affairs, submitted
the following Report to the House of Represtatives, on the charges against
ROBERT C. SCHENCK, our Minister to England, respecting his connection with the
" Emma Mine" swindle:
The Committee on Poreign Affairs respectfully beg lecave to submit  the following
report:
On the 28th day of February, 1876, the House adopted a resolution in the following words (page 1):
Resolved, That the Committee on Foreign Affairs be authorized and instructed
to inquire further into the connection of the United States minister at the Court
of St. James with the Emma Mine, so called; that it have power to send for persons
and papers; and leave is given to said committee to sit during the sessions of the
House.
The correspondence which had taken place in reference to this subject between
the Secretary of State and General Robert C. Schenck, the minister of the United
States at the Court of St. James, and the communication of the Secretary of State
accompanying the correspondence, had been previously referred back by the House
to the committee for further consideration (pages 4-9).
This correspondence developed the fact that in the month ef November, 1871,
the American minister at the Court of St. James had become a stockholder and a
director of the Emma Silver-Mining Company of London, a corporation formed in
Great Britain, the country to which he was accredited, for the purchase of a mine
in the United States, which he represented as envoy extraordinary and minister
plenipotentiary. So far as the committee have been able to ascertain, and they
believe it to be true, this is the first occasion in which a diplomatic representative
,of the Government of the United States has allowed himself to become associated,
while acting as minister, in a private enterprise, carried on in his own country, but
offered for sale in the country to which he is accredited.  The questions presented,
therefore, for inquiry and consideration are as follows:
1. Whether it is proper for an American minister to allow the use of his name,
and consequently of his official position, for the two cannot be separated, to further 
THE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
the sale of American property in the open markets of the country to which he is
accredited. 
2. Whether his relations to the vendors of the property have been such as to
cast suspicion upon his motives, and subject his action to unfavorable criticism.
3. Whether his subsequent action in connection with the company, or its
shares, by dealing in them or otherwise, is compatible with the proper exercise of
his diplomatic functions and the maintenance of a position of honor and usefulness at his post of duty.
If the committee are right in their view of the inquiry submitted to them, it will
be seen that the question of the real value of the Emma Mine has no special bearing
upon the conclusions to be reached. They have, however, felt themselves compelled to take a large amount of testimony on this subject, because evidence bearing
upon that point had been taken prior to the arrival of General Schenck, who therefore insisted that it was necessary for his defense and vindication that further
testimony should be taken, and they were unwilling to deny to a man so long and
eminent in the public service any privilege -which he might feel disposed to claim.
He has therefore had full liberty to produce evidence giving the whole history of
the enterprise, and the result is the volume of 879 printed pages, which is-herewith
submitted to the House as part of this report.
From this mass of evidence, it appears that in the month of April, 1871, Trenor
W. Park and Henry H. Baxter, both American citizens, purchased one-half interest
in the Emma  Silver Mine, situated in the Territory of Utah, for the suin of
$375,000, and subsequently one-sixteenth interest at the rate of $1,500,000 for the
whole mine, subject however to the claim then- in litigation of James E. Lyon, of
Wisconsin, for one-third of the property (page 463). In this litigation, Lyon was
represented as counsel by William M. Stewart, then a Senator of the United States
from the State of Nevada.  In August, 1871, an agreement was made between the
owners of the Emma Mine, and Stewart, acting as the attorney for Lyon, in pursuance of which it was agreed that the property should be offered for sale, and
(page 51) the claim of Lyon finally adjusted, but it was expected and represented
that the amount likely to accrue to Lyon would be $500,000, as will appear from
the annexed letter, which Stewart sent to Lyon at the time.
" TIIERE'S MILLIONS IN IT."
NEW  YORK, August 5, 1871.
FRIEND LYON-Hillyer will start in about twenty minutes.   He will explain
to you the arrangement; it is not as good as I tried to get, but, after three days
of talk, it was the best I could get. The plan has this advantage, that we will
not be fighting for a worked-out mine. The litigation will not be injured, and if
we gain the case we shall recover something, besides the right to bring other
lawsuits. They have worked the mine up so m England by the ore they have sent,
and the manner of sending it, that I have no doubt of a sale from five to'eight
millions.
I have seen their correspondence with the two English houses to whom they
sent the ore. They are crazy about the mine. The Emma party have been working all the time to put up the reputation of the mine. I have refused to give up
the lawsuit under any circumstances unless you get $500,000. You will, without
doubt, get that.
WM. M. STEWART.
Stewart's personal interest in the matter was to be one-fourth of the amount
which might be realized by Lyon. In September, Park, representing the owners
of the mine, and Stewart, representing Lyon, sailed for England for the purpose of
selling the property. The evidence shows that during the summer, and up to this
time, extraordinary efforts had been made to produce a large yield of ore from the
mine, and that the product of the four  nonths from 1st May to 1st September (page 672) was much larger than it had ever been before or ever was afterward.
All the rich ore produced was forwarded by steamers to England and there sold,
and the large yield and value of the ore were well known to the mining world.
On their arrival in London  (pages 464, 465), they were met by (J. M.  Fisher,
an American lawyer, who it is testified had done a good deal of legal business for
the American le'gation, and whom General Schenck had known in London prior to,
his appointment as minister
218 
THE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
AN ARRANGEMENT MADE WITH TRENOR W. PARK AND SENATOR STEWART.
Fisher introduced Park & Stewart to Coates & Hankey as a firm desirous to
purchase the property. A contingent arrangement was made with this firm, which
subsequentlyfell through, but resulted in the introduction by them of Park &Stewart to Albert Grant, of the firm of Grant & Co. of London, well known for their
success in bringing out, or "floating," as it is called, new companies upon the
English- market.  After some negotiation. covering the month of October, 1871,
Albert Grant agreed to take up the enterprise, for reasons which he has given to
the public in a circular dated January 5, ] 876, which appears in full in the statement of Albert Grant, attached to the evidence herewith submitted (page 31). In
this statement, he says, after referring to the report of Professor Silliman, also included in the evidence:
Being thoroughly satisfied with this report, I made an arrangement with Messrs.
Park and Stewart to aid them with my influence in obtaining the capital necessary
to enable the company to acquire it, the price they required for the mine being
one million sterling, half of. which they stipulated to take  in shares of  the
company.
In addition to the evidences of bona jfldes before referred to, Mr. Park informed
me he had reason to hope and believe that the American minister, General
Schenck, would, if requested, join the board of directors; adding that he knew
something of the property, and was disposed to invest some considerable amount
in its shares, and Mr. Park asked me whether this fact would be favorably looked
upon. I told him that it would be very satisfactory to every one about to be connected with the company, and especially to myself, as, I added, I felt certain it
would inspire confidence in the undertaking, as, from the well-known honorable
character of the American minister, it was not to be supposed for a moment that
he would have lent the weight of his name, given in addition to the influence of
his official position, to an undertaking in the good faith of which he did not implicitly believe.
MINISTER SCHIENCK FULLY INDORSED.
This proposal for General Schenck to join the board was conclusive to me, as it
would have been to anybody else, however cautious or experienced, as to the entire
trustworthiness as an honorable man of Professor Silliman; of the good faith and.
respectability of Messrs. Park and Stewart, who were themselves to join the board,
and, as I believed, entirely covering any moral responsibility I might assume in using
the influence of my position to assist the vendors in obtaining the capital for the
company. That was my fixed opinion then; it is not less my fixed opinion now.
It will thus be seen that Albert Grant alleges that he was induced to undertake "to float " the company upon the English market, because the American.
minister had agreed "to join the board of directors," and to lend "the weight of
his name, given in addition to the influence of his official position," to the undertaking. The evidence goes to show also clearly, but not of course absolutely, that,
no one else but Grant & Co. could have successfully sold a mine at that time in the
English market, which was not then favorable for the sale of mining property.
Park, however, swears that the arrangement with Grant was verbally completed
before he applied to General Schenck to become a director, although he had previously agreed to take stock; but he admits that the contract with Grant & Co. was
not signed until after he had procured the consent of General Schenck to join the
board of directors (page 650). it would seem therefore that Grant is sustained in
his statement that he did not finally decide to engage in the enterprise until he had
satisfactory assurances that Schenck would become a director.
The contract with Grant & Co. is given at length in the evidence (page 252).
It provides that the property shall be capitalized at ~1,000,000, half of which is to.
be offered to the public at par in ~20 shares, and the other half of the shares are to
be retained by the vendors for nine months, unless Grant & Co. should consent to
their sale at an earlier date. Grant & Cbo. were to receive as compensation for
"promoting"' the company 20 per cent., equal to ~100,000, on the sale of the first
half of the shares, and one-half of the profits realized upon the sale of the second
half retained by the vendors.  Grant &  Co. were authorized to  " sustain the
market" pending the allotment by the purchase of shares at a premium  for the
account of the vendors.
21 
TIIE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
THE BAIT WITH WHICH SCIENCK CAUGHT HIS FISH.
Thereupon a prospectus, dated November 9, 1871 (pages 69-74), was issued, inviting proposals for the stock from the public until the' 16th November, when it
appears that shares were applied for largely in excess of the whole number
advertised to be sold.  This prospectus contains a list of directors, among which is
:the name of "'Major-General Robert C. Schenck, United States minister, London,"
and in the body of the.prospectus occurs the following paragraph:
Major-General Schenck, on account of the exceptional character of the undertaking,
has consented to act as one of the directors.
The prospectus contains a very full statement of the property sold and the resources in hand available for cash dividends, affirming that these are sufficient to
warrant cash dividends at the rate of 1/2 per cent. per month for twelve months.
In addition to these resources, the prospectus asserts that "the mine includes
about 13,250 tons of first-class ore, already developed in various parts of the
mine, and described in Professor Silliman's report of the estimated net value of
.4357,750.
The prospectus then states:                 ~
From the above arrangements and details vill bet seen the extraordinary character of the property that will be acquired by the company, and in what a totally
different Character the Emma Mine stands to almost every mine in which the public
have been allowed to participate by subscription.
For this statement every director, including the American minister, was responsible, so far as his character and judgment were concerned.
If this statement had been true, then the resources "already developed" were
sufficient for two years' additional dividends at the rate of 18 per cent. per annum,
thus securing from both sources to the stockholders 54 per cent. of the purchasemoney, without any further product whatever beyond the reserves already
teveloped.
LARGE DIVIDENDS-ON PAPER.
The evidence shows (p)age 696) that dividends at the rate of 1~ per cent. per
mouth were paid for thirteen months consecutively, until December, 1872, since
,when no dividends have been earned or paid, and there is no money on hand out
of which they can be paid, and there is no ore in sight which can be mined, all the
ore in the old workings having been absolutely exhausted, and no new ore developed
by the subsequent explorations. Of the dividends paid, ~36,000 were advanced on
sales of ore by Mr. Park (pages 554, 656,) who is now suing the company for a
balance of about ~25,000 thereof, so that the net amount of earnings actually
divided was ~170,000.
On inquiry by the committee, Mr. Park professed his inability to account for
the disappearance of the reserves, alleging as a reason that he had been refused
access to the mine, and no satisfactory (page 657) evidence was presented to the
committee as to what had become of the remainder of the available resources,
estimated in the prospectus to be of the total value of ~539,050, or of the large
quantity of ore which ought to have been found during the years 1872 and 1873,
during which mining operations were steadily prosecuted.
WORTHLESS  SHARES.
The result is that the shares have greatly depreciated in value, having fallen
from ~32 per share, at which they were sold May 11, 1872, to ~1 5s., at which they
are now quoted. The mine itself is still in the possession of the company, but the
personal property has all been sold under execution issued in favor of Mr. Park,
and has been purchased by him, and is now in his possession. Great losses and consequent distress have thus fallen upon a large number of innocent people, who,
believing in these'representations, had subscribed for the shares; and probably no
failure of recent date has caused more general denounciation and brought more
odium to its authors than this unfortunate enterprise.
Such, briefly, is the skeleton history of the Emma Silver-Mining Company of
London, as developed by the evidence submitted to the committee.
The history of General Schenck's connection with this company, as disclosed
by the evidence, would appear to be as follows:
About the middle of October, 1871 (pages 281-286), General Schenck made the
acquaintance tf Park, in company with Stewart, whom he had previously well
known in the United States. The object of their visit to England was mentioned,
and a conversation ensued upon the subject, which led Stewart to suggest to
220 
THE E.NMMA MINE SWINDLI,E.
General Schenck that he should purchase shares in the company about to be
formed. On Schenck's reply that he had no means to invest,. Stewart suggested
that "Park, owning a great many of the shares, and being a man of wealth, could
assist him if he was so disposed;" and accordingly Park proposed to Schenck that
he should become a subscriber in the company about to be formed to the extent of
five hundred shares of the value at cost of ~10,000, with the understanding that
General Schenck would not be requited to provide any money, but that Park would
let him have the amount for one year without interest. As a further inducement
for General Schenck to take the stock, Park guaranteed that the dividends thereon
should amount to 2 per cent. per month while held by said Schenck; and that he
would at any time, on the request of Schenck; take back the shares at the par
value thereof. It was further provided that Park might relieve himself from this
guarantee at any time by offering to take back the shares at their par value (see
documents, page 280). The practical resilt of this agreement was to give to,
General Schenck a bomnus (page 647) of 24 per cent. on the stock subscribed by him,
because the note which he gave in payment for the stock was made payable in one
year and bore no interest. By a subsequent arrangement, the dividends guaranteed were reduced to 1. per cent., thus reducing the bonus to 18 per cent. on the
amount of the purchase. In addition to the note given in accordance with this
agreement, Schenck also agreed to assign to Park, as security for the payment of
the note, four hundred and seventy-five shares of the said stock, and, if required
by said?ark, to give him a mortgage on certain real estate in the city of
Washington; but the stock was not so assigned, and the mortgage was never
given for any such purpose, although it was subsequently given to secure a loan
of $15,000 made in 1854 by Park to Schenck. It is to be observed that the note,
the  guarantee  of Park  to Schenck, and the stipulation for security from
Schenck to Park, all bear date upon the same day, Noveminber 1, 1871, and. Park
'and Schenck both swear that *they were executed on the day they were dated.
Lyon, on the other hand, sweears that Park told him that the note and the papers
were signed at a subsequent date after the report reached London of the introduction of a resolution of inquiry into the Senate of the United States.  The committee
merely call attention to the fact that while Schenck purchased five hundred shares
of stock, he only agreed to assign four hundred and seventy-five shares to Park as
security, leaving twenty-five shares unassigned;  these twenty-five shares were
sold by General Schenck, as an act of personal friendship, to Mrs. Fannie Bates,
then residing in Paris. The date of this sale (page 292) is on the 1st of January,
1872, and the money arising from it, ~500, is indorsed upon Schenck's note to Park
on the 8th of January, 1872; and the actual transfer of the stock to Mrs. Bates
appears to have been made on the 3 tst of January, ]872.  Now. if the documents
between I'ark and Schenck were really signed on the 1st of November, 1871,
then  General  Schencl  must  have  had an understanding with  Mrs  Bates
prior to that date that she was to have twenty-five shares of stock.   Of
this there is no evidence whatever, and considering that the contract,
(to use General Schenck's language.)   " was  made  on  the  last days  of
October, reduced to writing, and closed on the 1st day of November; that no company had yet been formed," it raises a strong doubt as to whether all the papers
were executed upon the day when they bear date.  The probability would rather
be, though it may have been forgotten by General Schenck, that the note and the
guarantee of Park were first executed, and the stipulation of Schenck to give
security was executed at a later date.  This view is confirmeed by the letter of rsignation of General Schenck, dated December 6, in w ich he says:  "I still hold all
the shares I have been able to take;" and by the statement of his counsel (page
17), speaking of the resignation on the 6th of December: " He retained his original
shares, with the exception of twenty-five shares, soon afterward disposed of to a
friend."  It is also to be observed that the note was not stamped, an omission
which neither Park nor General Schenck appear to have observed. The suggestion
that General Schenck should become a director of the company is said by him to
have been made either by Stewart or Park.within a day or two after the execution
of these papers. Stewart says that the proposition was made in the following
language (page 161): "General, why cannot you be one of the directors?
They have a salary connected with each directorship; it is $2,500 a year; that will
be worth something to you, and you will have plenty of time to attend to it."
Schenck replied: "I have not thought of doing any such thing as that, but I will
think about it.,"  On page 162, Stewart says that the only "consideration we sug
'221 
riHE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
gested in connection with it was the salary he would get if he became a director,
that is $2, 500, which the rest of them were to receive."
Schenck and Park do not appear to remember that the salary argument was
used.  Schenck says (page 281):
MINISTER SCHENCK BECOMES AN EMMA MINE DIRECTOR.
Argunents were presented to me why I should be a manager. It was stated that
Park and Stewart and Mr. Baxter would be American directors, but that they
wanted somebody that would be in London, who was an American, to represent,
and in some sense, if need be, to protect, American interests. That seemed to be
a very plausible reason, but I still objected, and I placed my objection first upon
-he ground that I doubted the propriety of my having anything to do with the
management of a company while I was there in a representative capacity, and that
I certainly should not have anything to do with it unless I should first be satisfied
that there were precedents for anything of that kind, or that it was not deemed
proper by some persons whom I might consult upon the subject, and whose judg ment might help to influence mine.
General Schenck did not consult the Secretary of State on the subject, but says
(page 282) that he made inquiry of Mr. Moran, the secretary of legation; but Mr.
Moran does-not appear to have given any opinion as to the propriety of the American minister bccoming a director in the Emma Mining Company, but only as to the
character and standing of the English gentlemen to be associated in the direction.
General Schenck's scruples appear to have been removed by the fact that the Duke
of Saldanha, the Portuguese minister resident in London, was advertised as a
,director in a prospectus offering for sale the shares of the "Lisbon Tramway Company."  This was one of the companies "floated" by Albert Grant, and was for
the sale of a concession made to the Duke of Saldanha himself. As this prospectus was published on the 7th of July, 1871, the&e facts might have readily been
ascertained (page 283).
Mr. Park's statement as to the motives which induced him to urge General
Schenck to become a director are given on page 646 as follows:
I wanted to assist General Schenck, to be friendly with him, and I wanted to
have his name connected with it. I wanted to have somebody in England on
whom I could rely, and with whom I could correspond, and who would hold a
large interest in it  He said that if he took the stock he would hold it as an
investment. I was a total stranger in London when I went there, and I did not
want to go away, leaving no American behind me who was interested in the mine
to look after my interest.
Q. Didn't you consider it a very desirable thing to have the American minister a
director in the company?-A. I did.
Q. Did you not, therefore, make to him the proposition to take stock on terms
-which you did not offer to any one else?-A. I did not make an offer to anybody else.
Q. What was your motive in offering him better terms than anybody else got?.A Because I wanted him in the company for reasons I have given.
Q. Because he was the American minister?-A. Not solely for that.
Q. That was one element in it?-A. That was one element in it, of course. He
was not only an honest man, but a prominent man, a man who was well known,
-who was prominently connected with the government for many years, and who is
now known as the American minister. His name connected with any enterprise
would, of course, add strength to it. There is no doubt about that. But I deny
that that was my sole purpose. This is not the first instance of my doing the same
thing. I could name numerous instances where I did the same thing with other
parties, but not in the Emma Mine.
TIlE NAME  OF THE  AMERICAN  MINISTER  NEEDED  TO PERPETRATE TAE
SWINDLE.
The reasonable conclusion from this evidence is that it was deemed by Park and
Stewart most important to identify the American minister with the sale and management of the company, and that inducements were held out to him to secure his
consent to become a stockholder which were not offered to any other director.
There is nothing, however, in the evidence to show that General Schenck knew or
suspected that any fraud was intended or about to be perpetrated upon the public,
or that his official position was to be used to insure the successful perpetration of a
fraud, if any were intended. On the contrary, all the evidence goes to show that
~222 
THE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
he nad formed the most favorable opinion of the mine, and had absolute faith in its
value; and indeed it is impossible to believe, under any circuknstances, however
suspicious, that a man of General Schenck's eminent position would deliberately
lend himself to the sale of a "worked out" mine at a fictitious value, when the
discovery of its worthlessness must follow so soon upon the heels of the authors of
the fraud, and consign him to everlasting infamy. But to a man of less confiding
nature, the offer to sell the stock upon credit without the payment of any money,
the guarantee of high dividends without the payment of any interest on the loan,
the indemnity against ultimate loss by agreeing to take back the stock at any time
at par, ought to have put him on his guard against the dangers of a connection
with associates who made such tempting and such unusual offers.
Moreover, a more critical examination of the documents which were submitted
to him would have enabled him to have discovered a discrepancy which should
have kept him from giving the weight of his name to the prospectus in which
he appeared as the American minister.
In the statement by Mr. Park  to Coates and Hankey at the time when General
Schenck's attention was first directed to the property (page 468) occurs the following item:  " Profit on.5,638 tons produced by present owners (who purchased
April 25, 1871), up to September 1, 1871, ~158,268," or at the rate of ~450,200
per annum.
In the prospectus (page 71), in which General Schenck's name appears as a
director, is the following paragraph:
Net amount produced: Total estimated net yield of mine from 1st May to 1st
September, equal to four months' working, ~231,059, or at the rate of nearly
~700,000 per annum.  (See page 746.)
It is probable that General Schenck's attention was not attracted to this discrepancy; but it serves to show the danger of a departure by a public officer from
the legitimate sphere of his official duties into the region of private business and
speculation.
General Schenck testifies that he had doubts as to the propriety of identifying
himself with a commercial or speculative company; but it does not seem to have
occurred to'him that these doubts could have been resolved without risk to his
character and official position by referring to the standard authorities on international law, or to his colleagues in the diplomatic corps, or by consulting his gov-,
ernment at home, from whom he could have had an answer within twenty-four
hours; but he seems rather to have listened to the seductive arguments of those
immediately about him, more concerned for their own profit than for his reputation, and holding out inducements to him which should have made him doubly
cautious as to the nature of his'dccision.
IN THE MESHES.
Having thus placed himself in a false position with his own government by
identifying himself with a private enterprise in regard to which he himself had
grave scruples,' without consultation with the Secretary of State, and having'
accepted pecuniary favors from the vendors of the property, which disqualified him
on moral grounds from assuming the duties of a trustee, he nevertheless did, in
advance of the sale of the stock, became a director of the proposed company, and
* therefore, as the agent of the vendors, joined in the invitation to the public to subscribe for its shares (pages 312, 313) without informing the subscribers that his
dividends had been guaranteed to him, and that his shares had been procured by
previous arrangement, without any risk of loss to himself, from the fact that one'
.of the vendors had agreed to take the shares off his hands at any time at their
original cost. He thus placed himself in a further false position with the public,
for the reason that he could make a Drofit only by the successful issue of the
shares, whether they should prove permanently valuable or not, while the public
-were sure to make a loss in case the representations of the prospectus should prove
to be fallacious, while he could make no loss. He was in fact in the position not
merely of a vendor, refraining from the publication of facts'which might have been
important for the buyer to know, but of a trustee bound by the obligations of his
trust, to inform those for whom he proposed to act of his true position in reference
to the enterprise. 
In the recent case of Tooke vs. McDougall, as reported in the London  Daily
Telegraph May 3, 1876, havmg reference to the Emma  Mine, Mr. Justice Grove
uses the following language upon this point:
He could not understand with what justice, unless by a public and open vote of
223 
TIIE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
the company, money was given to the directors-that money or shares should be
given to persons in order to induce them to be directors, and to let their names be
exhibited upon the prospectus.  He did not consider this a proper thing, though
he believed it was frequently done by men who were called honorable.  The reason
why the public attached faith to the names of directors was that they were led to
believe that they were men who had invested their own money in the concern,
land were persons upon whose judgment and position reliance could be placed; but
if the directors had had their qualifications found for them, then the transaction
was not a real one, and any faith which the public might attach to the names of
the directors would be misplaced.
INEXPLICABLE STUPIDITY.
Throughout all his testimony, General Schenck seemed to be perfectly unconscious (page 313) of the impropriety of this action, and seemed to regard it as a
matter purely personal to himself and Mr. Park, in which the other shareholders
and directors could have no concern; but when it is remembered that the name of
the American minister is not only put forth in the prospectus as a director, but as
a voucher of "exceptional character" of the property, and that according to his
own statement it is manifest he subscribed publicly for ~10,000 of the stock,
apparently upon the same terms as the other subscribers, but in reality upon a
private arrangement, previously made with the vendors, in which he put no money
at risk, and was absolutely guaranteed against loss, it cannot be denied that he
occupied a position which cannot be defended. It is no answer to this statement
that General Schenck did, in reality, lose money by the operation. If he did so,
it was because, in the hope of making a greater profit, he refused to take the profit
which he might have had at the time when Park offered to relieve him of the
stock in accordance with the terms of the guarantee (page 27).
As a matter of course, a high functionary who had thus placed himself in a false
position with his own government, and with the people of the country to which
he was accredited, must have expected that his action would not long pass without
adverse criticism; but General Schenck appears to have thought it very unreasonable, for he says, on page 287:
It was not long after this that some comment was made in the city upon my
being a member of a board of directors of a company which was offering a property
on that market. It annoyed me, as you may very well understand, very much, to
see that these criticisms were made in the papers.   *   *  When I saw this comment, I made up my mind at once that perhaps I had committed myself to be
drawn into what was a mistake in consenting, under any circumstances, to be one
of the managers of the company.
BECOMING ALARMED.
Thereupon he sent the following telegram to the Secretary or State:
FisH, Secretary of State, Washington:
Am  surprised and pained by telegrams from United States, published here,
regarding my connection with Emma Mine.   Have no pecuniary interest except
some shares, for which, after investigation fully, I paid dollar for dollar. Having
thus decided and raised means to invest, was solicited by respectable Americans to
act with gentlemen of known high character as director, to protect their interest
and my own in what I believe very valuable property. Perhaps made mistake.
Want only honorably and usefully to serve my government and countrymen, but
have not deemed it wrong to try to make something honestly for myself and
family. Will withdraw from board or do whatever you advise. Will not embarrass
administration.
SCHENCi, London.
Received 4:30 p. m., November 27, 1871. 
It will be observed that General Schenck here alleges that for the shares
which he held he had paid "dollar for d6ollar," "that he had raised means to
invest," in other words, that he had made a purchase of stock for cash.
The truth is, as appears by his own testimony (page 310), that he had never paid
one dollar in money for the st ock, but had given his note to Mr. Park for the whole
amount in advance of the issue of the prospectus. It is also apparent from his own
statement that he had in fact no money which he could invest in the purchase of
this stock; tha it was in reality a speculation for which he borrowed from the
vendor the entire amount of the purchase-money in the expectation of making a
profit out of the rise of the stock, but was guaranteed against loss in case it should
224
-1 
THE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
fall in the open market. In this respect, therefore, the telegram was not an
accurate statement of the facts. The statement that he "was solicited by respectable Americans to act with gentlemen of known high character as director" was also
incomplete in not stating that these "respectable Americans" were the vendors of
the property, who had loaned him the means to invest.
To this telegram General Schenck received the following reply on the next
day:
DEPARTMENT OF STATE, 
WASHINGTON, December 28, 1871. 1
SCHENCK, Minister, London:
Although a public officer, you have the full right of every citizen to be a shareholder, and to invest your money in such honest enterprises as you think proper,
and neither the government nor the public have any right to criticise or to censure
you for so doing.
The advertisement of the name of a diplomatic representative of the government, as a director of a company seeking to dispose of its shares in the country to
which he is accredited, is ill-advised and unfortunate, and is calculated to subject
him to criticism; but it is assumed that the advertisement of the mining company
in the London journals was not your act, but that of the agents of the company
without consultation with you.
You are earnestly advised to withdraw your name from the management of the
company. 
FISH, &eCretan.
It is to be observed that the Secretary of State affirms the full right of General
Schenck to "invest his money in honest enterprises," but distinctly disapproves
the connection "of a diplomatic representative of the Government as a director of
a company seeking to dispose of its shares in the country to which he is accredited;" that he characterizes the advertisement of such connection as a director
as " ill-advised and unfortunate, and calculated to subject him to criticism;" and
that he assumes that the advertisement in the London journals was not the act
of General Schenck, but that of the agents of the company, without consultation
with him.  The testimony of General Schenck shows that this was not the fact,
but that the prospectus was issued and advertised with his full knowledge and
consent. The disapproval of the Secretary of State was, therefore, by implication,
full and conclusive. Finally, General Schenck is earnestly advised to withdraw
his name from the management of the company. This dispatch of the Secretary
of State is, therefore, the official disapproval by the Government of the action of
its representative in England in connecting himself as a director of a company
seeking to sell its shares in England, and left but one course open to General
Schenck, either to resign as minister or to resign as director. The formal resignation of General Schenck as a director was sent in on the [6th of December, 1871,
but was not made public, nor, so far as the dispatches show, communicated to the
Secretary of State until the 12th of January following.  This delay in the publication was certainly unfortunates as it left General Schenck under the imputation
of playing into the hands of those who were speculating in the stock and were
interested in maintaining its market value. The letter of resignation, As finally
sent in, was in the following form:
GENERAL SCHENCK RESIGNS AS DIRECTOR.
[l7he Time8, FP,  Janary 12, 1872-E trac.]
LONDON, December 6, 1871.
DEAR SIR-I hereby resign my place as a director of the Emma Silver-Mining
Company, and request you to communicate this notice of the fact to the board at
their next meeting.
In thus withdrawing from the trust reposed in me, I desire to express to my
associates in the management of the company my sincere and high appreciation of
each and every one of them as gentlemen of distinguished position and character,
with whom it has been to me a pleasure to be connected.
My resignation is upon grounds purely personal tf myself.  In consenting to
become a director, I know, that I but exercised a private and individual right, in no
way incompatible with public or official duty; but I prefer to take away from some'
who have criticised me even a pretext for their comments or attacks. I beg, therefore, to record my assurance to you and other members of the board that I continue
I
225 
THE EMMA MINE SWIrDLE.
to have the fullest confidence in the value and profitableness of the property they
have in charge, in which I strn hold all the shares I have been able to take.
GEORGE ANDERSON, ESQ., M. P.,
Chairman, &e.
This letter, written in consequence of the official advice of the Secretary of
State, and upon the ground that it was not compatible with the official duties
of the American minister to remain as a director, asserts that the resignation is
upon grounds purely personal to General Schenck, and that in consenting to become a director he knew that he but exercised a "private and individual right in
no oway incompatible with public or offlcial duty."  This statement appears to your
committee to be a flat contradiction of the position asserted in the dispatch of the
Secretary of State, that such connection was "ill-advised and unfortunate," and
that the advertisement, if made with his knowledge and consent, could not be approved. But the letter of resignation goes still further in violation of the fundamental doctrine as to the duty and conduct of diplomatic representatives, upon
which the dispatch of the Secretary of State is based, which evidently is, that it
is not becoming in an American minister to take any action to promote or further
the sale nf shares of a company in the country to which he is accredited. This
sound principle is clearly violated when General Schenck took occasion in his letter of
resignation to express his "sincere and high appreciation of each and every one
of" the directors "as gentlemen of distinguished position and character, with
whom it has been to me a pleasure to have been connected," and to state further
that "I continue to have the fullest confidence in the value and profitableness of
the property they have in charge, in which I still hold all the shares I have been
able to take." Here is a distinct indorsement of the character of the American
directors, who were the vendors of the property, Messrs. Park, Stewart, and Baxter, and the renewed expression of confidence in the value of the mine. The
testimony shows that the form of this letter was the subject of discussion between
General Schenck and Mr. Park, and that it was modified in accordance with suggestions made by the latter (pages 336, 348, 806, 808, 832).
The natural and straightforward course was for General Schenck to have
informed the board, in such language as he might have chosen to adopt, that he
had consulted with his Government as to the propriety of remaining in the board,
and had been advised to withdraw, and accordingly tendered his resignation. He
did, however, just the opposite; he asserted that his resignation was the result of
personal consideration; and, in re-indorsing the vendors and the property, he
aggravated the offense which had been condemned by the Secretary of State. A
copy of this letter of resignation reached the State'Department in the month of
January. 1872, and, so far as the correspondence submitted to the committee
shows, the matter was there dropped.
TWO LETTERS OF RESIGNATION WRITTEN.
With regard to the preparation of this letter of resignation, the-testimony is
somewhat conflicting. Lyon swears (page 58) that Park told him that General
Schenck had written two letters of resignation; that Park showed him the first
letter and remarked, "I am going to have a better letter than that from the
general;" that a few days afterward he showed him a second and modified letter,
which was the one finally sent in to the board of directors. Schenck, in his
testimony (page 288), produced the rough draught of his letter of resignation, of
which he says, "If you refer to the records of the Emma Mining Company you
will find this to be in hc verbs  the resignation which was presented and acted
upon," and adds, "This resignation was not prepared or written until the 6th."
On page 336 he reiterates, "that this is the only letter which I sent to the
board;" but on comparison with the actual letter of resignation (page 340), it
turned out that General Schenck was mistaken as to the rough draught not having
been more extensively modified than appeared upon the face of it.  One sentence
is almost entirely rewritten, in order to convey the impression that his resignation
is not the result of any incompatibility with his public or official duty. So far as
Park and Stewart were concerned, this was a most material addition to the letter,
in its bearing upon the sale of the reserved shares of the company.
On page 347, General Schenck testifies that he did not think Park had made any
&taught of this letter of resignation.
At a later date the committee received from London the actual letter of resigna
226 
THE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
tion sent in by General Schenck in his own handwriting, and a copy thereof in the'
handwriting of Mr. Park, who had previously testified that to the best of his
knowledge and belief he had never made any such copy.  General Schenck stated
that in this copy there was not a single word in his handwriting (page 807). On
having his attention called to the interlineations of two words, he inclines; to the
opinion that they are in his handwriting. and adds, "therefore I must have seen
that copy at some time;" and further adds that "he (Park) may have taken a copy
at the very time I wrote it;" and finally concludes, "My attention being directed
to those words, I am inclined to think that that copy may have been made by Mr.
Park and compared by me, and that where he h.d got it wrong from my original I
may have corrected it." Subsequently (page 845), General Schenck says that he
cannot admit that one of these words is in his handwriting.
CONFLICTING TESTIMONY.
Mr Park, on the other hand, swears positively that the interlineations are in his
handwriting, blt that he cannot recollect where, when, or why he made the copy,
which previously he testified that he never had any recollection of having made.
On the whole, the committee are of opinion that two letters of resignation were
prepared, the one a rough draught written by General Schenck, and the other an
amended copy made by him after his conversation with Park, the second having
been modified from the first, in accordance with the suggestions of Mr. Park. As
this is an important matter, showing the relations of General Schenck to Park at
that time, the exact language of Park is herewith inserted (page 833):
General Schenck has shown you a draught which he made, and the letter which
he afterward made from that draught. I think I saw one of them; perhaps both
of them. I think I saw one of them, because General Schenck states that, as to
one of them, when I s-iw the statement that he proposed to retain his shares, I
aid, "General, you do not want to commit yourself to that; you may want to
sell them. It will be sufficient for you to say which you now hold." I made that
suggestion, and from that fact I may have seen the draught, and it is possible I
saw the other; but that I dictated a word of'it, except that it should be upon the
true ground of the reason for his resignation, so that it should not injure the company or cast suspicion upon it, and m tking the suggestion that he should not bind
himself to hold the stock, has no foundation whatever.
ANOTHER THREE HUNDRED- 8EE S.
Besides the original allotment of five hundred shares which General Schenck
received under his contract with Mr. Park, he became entitled to a further allotment of thr, e hundred shares in the month of April, 1872.  These shares were
subscribed f )r, carried, and sold without any intervention whatever on the part of
General Schenck beyond signing the application, and the usual transfer form in
blank, which blank appears to have been filled in with the name of C. M. Fisher,
with whom General Schenck is positive, however. he never had any other transactions in relation to the Emma Mine. These shares were sold shortly afterward at
a profit of ~2,000, which was paid in to General Schenck's\credit at Jay Cooke,
McCulloch & Co.'s, but by whom General Schenck is not positive.
In his testimony before the commissioner in London, General Schenck testifies
(page 27), that Mr. Park did not find the money for these shares, but that he,
(General Schenck) carried tIem, and disposed of them' entirely on his own account,
and through his own means and arrangement." In his testimony before the committee (pages 350-352), iu answer to a question whether Mr. Park's money pure
chased those shares, he testifies: "Yes: Mr. Park, I have since understood,
carried these shares and arranged the thing during the three days we held
them." Lyon testifies;page 60). that he deposited the money required to procure
the allotment of these shares, having procured it on Mr. Park's check, and Mr.
Park testifies (page 5f;6i, that he gave Lyon the check for this purpose, and again
on page 660, that he furnished the money to pay for the stock.
The profit realized from this transaction seems to have been used as the margin
with Jay Cook.  IcCCilloch & Co. for a speculative purchase of five hundred shares
of stock (page 352), to be carried by them, for the joint account of General Schenck
and General Woodhull, his first secretary of legation.
This venture was still on hand in December,  1872, at the time when it became
apparent that dividends,would no longer be paid This fact was communicated
to General Schenck in a telegram, bearing Park's signature (page, 697), and sent
from New York to Schenck, reaching him at Pars. This telegram.advised General
227 
TrHE EMMA MINE SWINDLE.
Schenck to sell 2,000 shares (page 743).  Fisher, who was in Paris at that time,
obtained this information from General Schenck, and informed his broker in'
London that General Schenck had directed Colonel Chesebrough, his second secretary of legation, whom he had sent to London to look after this business, to sell
2,000 shares short.  General Schenck (page 823), in answer to a question, whether
he did or did not send instructions to Mr. Chesebrough to sell 2,000 shares'of
stock, replied:
I am very strongly impressed with a belief that I did no such thing. I have no
recollection of ever doing anything of the'kind. I think he would have tried to doit
for me and have done it for me if I asked'to, but nothing of the sort was done.
On page 842 he says:
But I am, as I said, perfectly satisfied from my recollection (and the more I
think of the matter the more I am satisfied) that I never directed Chesebrough to
sell the two thousand shares, and at any rate that no two thousand shares ever
were sold for me.
Thereupon the chairman addressed a telegraphic inquiry to Mr. Chesebrough, to
which the following reply has been received since the printing of the evidence, and'
is therefore here inserted in full:
TELEGRAM FROM THE CHAIRMAN TO MR. CHESEBROUGH.
LEGATION OF THE UNITrED STATES, 
LONDON, May 8, 1876. 
SIn-I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your telegram of yesterday
(Sunday):
"Did General Schenck ever direct you to sell two thousand shares Emma stock?
Telegraph briefly, and write fully."
To which I have replied this morning, as follows:
"Have written fully to-day's mail, as requested."  It would be impossible for
me "briefly," in a telegram, to answer the inquiry satisfactorily.
The facts in the case are, that on the 14th December, 1872, I was in Paris, when
General Schenek arrived there with his three daughters. The evening of the
same day he received information that the price of Emma stock had declined
rapidly and largely, and he came to me in much anxiety, saying that he would
have to go over to London immediately unless I would go for him. I consented
to do so. He requested me, on my arrival in London, to see one or two of the
directors of the company, to ascertain'm their views as to the condition of the stock,
etc., and then to instruct Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co. about selling out some
shares they were carrying for him. On the 17th December I received the following telegram from General Schenck:
"Keep my 475 investment; sell at discretion 2,000 Park account, 500 Woodhull."
I did not act upon this telegram further than conveying Schenck's instructions
to Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co., to make sales of the shares in their hands. They
sold the 500 shares held for Woodhull and Schenck, Schenck keeping his original
475 shares. After General Schenclk's return to London I carried instructions from
him to McCulloch & Co. to sell 200 shares.
This comprises all that I have had to do in the buying or selling of Emma stock
for General Schenck, and I have had no interest whatever, directly or indirectly,
in these transactions, or in any other transactions which may have been made for
him.' 
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
WM. IL CHESEBROUGH,.
Eon. THOMAs SWAN,
Chdrman of the Comm'ttm on Foreiqn Pdatim8,
-ouse of Reresentatives,  etc.
A copy of this letter was telegraphed to General Schenck, of which he also
received a copy from Mr. Chesebrough. To this letter General Schenck has sent
the following reply, which it is deemed best to insert in full:
GENERAL SCHENCK'S REPLY.
DAYTON, OHIO, M6y 23, 1876.
SIR-Referring to my telegrams sent last evening, one to you and one to Mr.
Faulkner, I noe proceed to send a statement in answer to Colonel Chesebrough's
letter, without waiting for reply from either you or Mr. Faulkner.  I will endeavor
to make this statement full and clear, although it has to be dictated under most
22S 
TVZ EMMA CB SWINDLE;
rnfvorable'cumstauo O to an airensi  beide the bed to which I am oo.
fned.
I would wait to hear from the committee, and in the hope of being well enough
to travel to Washington by the end of this week to appear before;them in person 
but I have this morning learned that it is reported by telegraph that the House of
Representatives has ordered your committee to make their report on the investigation of the Emma Mine matter on Thursday.
Fortunately for me, I am enabled now to refer tb what has been written by
Colonel Chesebrough, having just received a copy of his letter, sent to me at Wash-.
ington and forwarded from there.
I regret that Colonel Chesebrough could not be present before the committee to
testify regularly, and to make a much fuller-statement.than he has written, and to
be subjected. if necessary, to cross-examination.   I have heretofore explained.to
the committee the circumstances of my arrival at Paris, in December, 1872, with
my family,  from Italy, and of the unexpected and astounding news which met me
there from London, in regard to the probable stoppage of dividends on the Emma
mining stock, and the sudden and disastrous depreciation of its value whith was
ensuing. I have also referred to the anxiety I had to save myself, if possible, from
the great loss that General Woodhull and I were likely to sustain on the five hundred (500) shares we had in his name which were held for us by Jay Cook, McCuli
loch & Co. I had no thought even then of parting with the four hundred and seventy-five (475) shares of my original subscription, still believing the property valuable,
and that the suspension of dividends would be but temporary.  I would not. however, afford the hazard of loss on that (500) shares which we had purchased on a
deposit and credit with the bankers, and had been carrying since the May preceding. The telegram sent by Mr. Gager, in Mr. Park's name, from New York had
gone to London, and had been forwarded to me by mail, while in the meantime the
unpromising'condition of the company appeared to be generally known by all parties interested, who had also been receiving information, and the stock was rapidlyi
falling.
I have explained from the beginning to the committee the character of the telegram I received.  It was signed "Park," and gave me information of the apprehended condition of the company's affairs, and suggested, by way of covering my
probable loss, a sale of two thousand (2,000) shares, as I remember  on joint
account. From the first I determined that so far-as- I was concerned I could not
take the possible risk of any such'sale, however much I desired to save myself
from impending loss.  I do not consider that it would have been wrong in itself
to have thus covered, if I could, the loss I sustained, and I have before this stated
to the committee, in reply, I think, to a question put by Mr. Barnum, that I was
inclined to regret I had not done so.
When Colonel Chesebrough, whom I met, as he has stated, at Paris, agreed to
go for me at once to London, it was particularly with a view; after consultation
with others, to do whatever seemed best to guard the interests of General Woodhull, who was his cousin, and myself. He was fully empowered to act, and was
aware of all my views in the matter. During-the few days of anxiety which fol,
lowed, there passed back and forth between him. and me a number of notes and.
telegrams, which I regret have not been preserved, and of which, after an interval
of nearly four years and a half, I cannot give any particular account. As I did
not sell two thousand shares of the stock, as suggested to me to do, nor any. other
shares, except those which were held in Woodhull's name for him and myself by
Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co., I have believed, while looking back at the matter,
that I did not telegraph to Chesebrough at any time in regard to the two thousand
shares, and I have so stated as my distinct impression. The telegram, of which
he gives now what purports to be a copy, I do not remember, but I dare say it is
correct. It confirms what I have stated in regard to retaining my four hundred
and seventy-five original shares as an investment and the sale of the five hundred
shares in Woodhull's name.  It would seem also that I authorized him to make a
sale if, in his discretion, he tliought proper, not in any way on my account, but
for Park.  I had no sham account with Park.
I will now add what has up to this time, since this inquiry has been proceeding,
confirmed me-in my belief that I had not telegraphed Chesebrough in any form
whatever on the subject of the two thousand shares.
When Chesebrough returne'd from a visit to the United States ladst winter, he
volunteered to tell me of a conversation he had had with somebody connected with the
New York Tribu'ns-Whitelaw Reed, I think, he said-in which he was asked if
219: 
THE EMMA'MINE SWINDLE.
hehad'-eived such a telegr    m me from Pari  andn he informed me that,i
had replied that he had no recollection of anything of the sort. I said.to hitm tht
I did not'remember havi  telegraphed to him any such intretion, and he told
me that neither did he remember that I had..:'
Again, when I was about to leave London to present myself before your committee, and was desirous, with a view to refreshing my recollection of matter
relating to the Emma Mine, and for reference, to find and collect any papers or
memoranda on the subject that might have been preserved, I asked Chesebrough if
he had any document or memorandum in his possession.  He said,  "No, I have
not a paper or a scrap on the subject remaining in my'hands."
Of course, as his statement is so brief, I cannot tell whether he was mistaken
then or whether he has had recourse to the files of the telegraph company, or how
it is, that he has been able now to produce or recollect the telegram in question..
Of what is mentioned by Colonel Chesebrough in the last paragraph of his letter,
in regard to carrying instruction from me to McCulloch & Co,, to sell two hundred
shares, I have no remembrance whatever. It was probably in connection with the
sale of the five hundred shares which they. held.'
It is true, as Colonel Chesebrough states, that he never had any interest in any
transaction of mine in connection with the Emma Mining Company or its shares;
and I believe the committee are in full possession, certainly so far as I can recall
the facts, of everything relating thereto with which I have been concerned.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, yours,
ROBERT C. SCIENCK.
Hon. THoMAs SWANN,
Chairman Committee on Foreign Affairs8,
H-toe oj Representatives, Washington, D. C.
It will thus be seen that the speculative venture of five hundred shares held for
Woodhull and Schenck was closed out, and if two thousand shares of stock were
not sold in addition, it was not for lack of orders or of willingness on the part of
General Schenck, but because Chesebrough or Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co. would
not take the responsibility. It will also be observed that subsequently, after
General Schenck's return to London, he gave instructions to sell two hundred
shares, but whether this was a short sale or not does not appear. The conclusion,
thn, of the whole matter is, that General Schenck, besides having been a director
of the Emma  ining Company. was engaged in speculative operations in the stock
writh Trenor W. Park, the vendor of the mine (page 660), with General Woodhull,
his secretary of legation, and upon his own account to the extent hereinbefore
stated, in such manner as to subject the name and station of the minister of the
United States to criticism.
FINDINGS OF THIE COMMITTEE.
The committee therefore find, as to the inquiries announced at the beginning of
the report:
First-Upon the authority of the dispatch df the Secretary of State, that it was
not proper for the American minister at the court of St. James to connect himself
as a director with the Emma Mining Company of London.  This position is confirmed by the authority of Phillimore (vol. 2, page 194), who says:
"In truth, every State ought, by expressly forbidding their ambassadors to combine engagements in private trade or commerce with the sacred duty of representation, to prevent any question of the kind ever arising.  The Roman law on this
point deserves to be imitated,' Enim qui legatione fungitur, neqi Le alienis neque
propriis negotiis se interponere debeat.'"
Second. That the relations of General Schenck to the vendors of the Emma MH e
were of such a character as to cast suspicion upon his motives, and subject his
action to unfavorable criticism. But the committee believe he was not guilty of 
fraud or of any fraudulent intention in his connection with the company or the
vendors of the mine.
Third. That his subsequent speculative dealings in the shares of the company
were not compatible with his diplomatic station, and the maintenance of a position
of honor and usefulness at the court near which he was accredited.
The committee therefore submit the following resolution, and unanimoufl
recommend its passage by the House:
RESOLVED,j Tkat theis Houe condemns the actio of Geral ROBERT 0. SCHENGM
'United States Minister at the Court of St. James, in beraing, a director of the Ema
ilver Mining Company of London, and ha operation  in connection with the shar
280 
TIIE EMMA MINE SWINDI,LE.
thef  said e om and Xt  vendors thereof, as il-adviwed, unfm'tuna4, and inom~tiw moth the duties of hi ofiaZ position. 1n the course of Mr. HwiTT's speech, on the occasion of presenting the foregoing report, he said 
HQN. ABRAM S. HEWITT'S SPEECH IN CONGRESS ON  THE EMMA  MINE  FRAUD.
The materials furnished by the evidence submitted serve to show how. an embassador of the United States so far forgot his high station that he not only consented to become a director in a company proposing to sell its shares in the
country to which he was accredited, but allowed his name and the official ttle of
"American minisiter" to go forth in the prospectus as the voucher of its "exceptional character;" how, by subscribing publicly, according to his own statement,
for ~10,000 of the stock, apparently upon the same terms as the other subscribers,
but in reality upon a private arrangement, previously made with the vendors, in
which he put no money at risk, and was absolutely guaranteed against loss. the
envoy of the great Republic placed himself in the unconscious attitude of a "puffer"
at an auction sale; how he speculated in the stock of a corporation which he had
thus helped to create and direct; how he seemed to be incapable of drawing the
distinction between investment and speculation; how he associated one of his
secretaries of legation in these speculative operations, and availed of the services
of the other to watch the fluctuations of the stock market, and practically act as
his broker for the sale of shares; how be records his opinion that it is a proper
thing, not merely for an ordinaryman, )ut for an American minister, "to sell stock
short," that is, to sell what he does not own, and expresses his regret that he did
not do so, and indemnify himself against loss by transferring it to some one else, not
in possession of the information which he had received through private sources; how
he so confuses his accounts of profit and loss that he cannot separate the profits
which he actually did or might have realized out of his original transaction with
Mr Park, with the losses which he made in speculations.in the stock having no,
relation to this transaction with Park; how he accepts credit upon the note whiah
be had givento Park, the nature and origin'of which he had no knowledge whatevr,
except that they arose out of transactions wherein he was at no risk; how he
declines further credits of the same character. because he thinks that the limit of
favors has been reached; how he arrived at this conclusion only after the public
press had been filled with hostile criticism; how his memory as to the modeof
payment for the second allotment of shares, leds him in London to swear that
Park did not provide the means for the payment thereof, and how before the
committee, when it had been clearly shown that Park did provide these means,,e
retracts the statement he made in Lond(on; how in the final settlement with Park,
he transfers to him, in payment of his indebtedness, stocks upon which he continues
to draw the dividends; how, on leaving London, he is forced to plead his diplomatic privilege as his defense against the service of a writ in a civil action growing
out of his unfortunate Connection with this disastrous undertaking; and how,
fally, he reiterates his inability to comprehend the false and unfortunate position
ian which he is placed before the public, by a series of ill-advised transactions, in
which'it is charitable to regard his memory as at fault, and to look upon him as
the victim of designing and unscrupulous men leading and persuading-him to an
equal ruin of reputation and purse.        *         *         *        *
"Shake not thy gory locks at me;
Thou can'st not say I did it."
This and much more of the same unsavory sort can be learned from a perusal
of the evidence herewith submitted; but these are matters which only concern the
American people, because they serve to show the injurious consequences to the
fair fame of the United States arising out of the failure of the Government to
aeal promptly and firmly with its minister, when, by his becoming a director and
by his letter of resignation, he made the grave and irreparable mistake of indorsing and re-indorsing the enterprise and the men who have caused this great disaster
and this greater reproach.
THE POKER-PLAYER REBUKED.
What the Government failed to do the American people demand of their representatives, the stern condemnation of this departure from the traditions of the
fathers and the accepted usages of diplomatic life, especially because, to its credit
be it said, it is the first symptom in the Foreign Department of the Government of
that general demoralization which seems to have crept into. every other branch, of
the public service. 
231 
The republic can now only be saved by the exercise of stern, relentless, uncompromising,virtue  tefusing to surrender any question of principle, and swiftly and
surely destroying in their very birth the germsof corruption, which, if allowed t
live, will surely sap the foundations of free government, our great inheritance,
and the chief hope of our posterity.
The people are therefore in no temper to allow sympathy with any man, however eminent his services and long ihs tenure of public office, and however much
he may be entitled, by reason of his advanced years or his impaired fortune, to the
tender consideration of this House, to interfere with the vindication of the name,
'honor, and majesty of the American people, from the criticism of the civilized
world, arising out of the errors of judgment of its public servants or of the admin'stration.  Thetime has comewhen the public sentiment demandsmore than economy,
more than honesty; it demands purity and self-denial from its officials. The old
generation of public men is passing away with the first century of the republic.
Few men are left alive who can date back to the time when this government was
founded by the virtue and the sacrifice of the patriots who achieved our independence; but the sentiment of honor and the spirit of self-denial which led themto
stake "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor" for the establisbment
of a government in which principle and purity should be the conditions of its existence, still survive, and it is a mistake to suppose that because they have grown rich
rand powerful, the people of this country have become enervated, shameless, or
corrupt.
THE PEOPLE DEMAND REFORM.
The spirit abroad is the spirit of reformation.  The people are determined to
bring back that better era of the republic in which, when men consecrated themselves to the public service, they utterly abnegated all selfish purposes; when
public officers rejected gifts as dishonoring alike to the giver and the taker; when
Presidents and great officers of state as a rule retired to honorable poverty; when
Franklin with his modest income and his uncourtly costume, even though he had
a thrifty mind, rejecting all thought of gain while employed in the public service,
was held in more honor than the proudest embassador of the proudest empire; whe
John Quincy Adams sold his bank shares before he would take his seat in Congress,
lest his vote might be called in question; when members of.Congress knew not the
mysteries of Credit Mobilier; when members of the Cabinet were selected because
they were statesmen, " honest, capable, faithful," and not because of their skill in
managing party politics; when to be summoned into the public service was a price-'
1   honor and not an opportunity for private gain;  when a civil service systed
practically existed in the Government, because it had not yet been formulated into
the perfunctory platforms of party; when a change of administration did not iiangurate a disgraceful scramble for place, and the fatal doctrine "to the victors
belong the spoils" had not yet been invented;  when  the idea of a trust was
'the subordination of the trustee and all his personal inter'ests to the rightful claims
of those for whom he acted; when lawyers were not accustomed to speculate upoh
the rights of their clients; when vendors were not suffered to profit by false representations; when the honor and fame of the nation were dearer and greater than
the reputation or the fortune of any citizen; when degenerate men who were wfing to bairter away the national honor in foreignlandsin exchange for private gais,
however great, would have been gibbeted for the general execration.
It is for this reason that the present investigation is of the gravest importance,
and it indicates a more healthy state ef public opinion, and it should be a matter
of general congratulation that the committee have been'able by the exercise of
mutual forbearance and patience to come to a unanimous conclusion. No pubtio
money has been misappropriated; but the national honor, which is above Cl
money, has been tarnished, thoughtlessly, if you will, but if so, by the mistake
and unconscious ignorance of a'great public officer, who has not yet, after the
lapse of four years, been properly rebuked by his own government.
There are positions and circumstances in which ignorance is as mischievous as
crime; and I feel constrained and grieved to say that the connection of the American minister at the Courb of St. James with the Emma Mine belongs to that
category. We may pity, we may sympathize, but we must condemn, in order that
the condemnation which belongs to him and the administration should no longer
rest upon the consciences and the name of the American people, and that it shIl
forever be imppsible for this humiliating offense to be repeated by an  embassador
of the United States, or failWo be punished by his government.
232
THE EMMA MINE SWINDLE. 
BLACK FRIDAY.
HOW JAY GOULD MANAGED PRESIDENT GRANT-A
$25,000 CHECK SENT TO THE "WHITE HOUSE."
THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM AN EVIL ONE.
The financial system of the Government at the close of the war necessarily
became a complicated one. We had an irredeemable and constantly fluctuating
currency with which the great bulk of the business of the country was conducted
At the same time, the entire customs revenue of the Government was paid in
gold. These receipts exceeded, by many millions, the interest on the public debt,
which, together with the cost of our diplomatic service abroad, and the maintainince of that portion of our navy stationed in foreign waters, were the only disburseinecnts male in coin.  There was consequently a coin balance continually accumulating in the treasury,  This from time to time was expended in the purchase of
bonds. Of course this gave the Secretary of the Treasury vastly greater power
tlan was ever possessed by any of his predecessors.  After the floating indebtedness of the government growing out of the war had been paid off or funded into
Ia.permanent debt, the coin balances in the treasury were expended quarterly and
spmetimes monthly, at the rate of several millions of dollars, in the purchase of
bonds.  The method of doing this was to sell gold either in open market or at
p)rivatc sale and with the proceeds buy up the bonds. The bulk of this business
of course had to be done in New York City, the great monetary centre of the
country, and thus the Secretary of the Treasury had it in his power to regulate
the standardcl of values uLpon:which the entire business of the country was conducted.  He could send gold up or put it down at his will, and, as the movements of
a watch arc controlled by the regulator, the discretion of the Secretary of the
Treasury regulated the entire industrial interests of the United States.  In every
country cursed with a fluctuating currency,
SPECULATION INEVITABLY RUNS RIOT
Shrewd, bold speculators are often able by their combinations to unsettle
values, and by taking advantage of the necessities of certain classes engaged ih
business are enabled in a day to amass great fortunes. This was peculiarly the
case in this country from 1865 down to 1874. The entire import business ot the
country had to be done upon a gold basis, and the first cost of all our ixlmports, as
well as the duties on the same, had to be paid in gold, and hence the price of
gold became a question of the utmost importance. T he bulk of the import busi-'
ness of the country is transacted at certain stated periods, and thus almost of
necessity a class of business men who are,' under otdinary circumstances, averse
to speculation, were tempted to embqrkl upon this dangerous sea.  Some of
the far-sighted and shrewder by  purthasixig' gold or  foreign exchange  in
atdvancc of the time at which they wbuld need it' to meet their invoices or pay
the duty oni the same, wotlId be able to save a handsome percentage on the cost
I.''.. 
BLACK FRIDAY.
of their goods. Sometimes they would be mistaken in their calculations, and
gold, instead of adyancing, would fall, and the cost of their importations would
be increased. In this way a large class of commercial men who were usually
averse to speculative enterprises were drawn into the vortex of Wall street, and
became to a certain extent either "bulls or bears" of the gold market.
SECRETARY M'CULLOCII'S IJOLICY.
Secretary McCulloch, in his report of December, 1868, speaking of this anomalous financial situation and the power of the Secretary of the Treasury to regulate values, uses the folldwing language
"Notwithstanding the magnitude and character of the debt, this power the
Secret;'ry of the Treasury has for the last three years possessed; and it has been
the well-known existence, rather than the exercise, of it which has in repeated
instances saved the country from panic and disaster. The gold reserve, the maintenance of which has subjected the Secretary to constant and bitter criticism, has
given a confidence to holders of our securities, at home and abroad, by the constant evidence which it exhibited of the ability of the GCovernment, without depending upon purchases in the market to pay the interest upon the public debt,
and a steadiness to trade by preventing violent fluctuations in the convertible
value of the currency, which have been a more than ample compensation to the
country for any loss of interest that may have been sustained thereby. If the gold
in the Treasury had been sold down to what was absolutely needed for the payment of the interest on the public debt, not only would the public credit have
been endangered, but the currency; and consequently the entire business of the
country would have been constantly subject to the dangerous power of speculative combinations."
-Thus it will be seen that Sir. McCulloch regarded his power to sell gold as
indispensable to prevent the combinations of speculators, which might at times
vastly increase the fluctuations of our irredeemable currency. He sold gold to
raise the price of currency when, in his judgment, it was for the interests of the
country to prevent its depreciation and the consequent increase in values. He
had a policy, however, in regard to the sale of gold, which it is important to set
out here in his own language. because that of his successor was radically different.  He says:
PUBLIC SALES OF GOLD CONDUCIVE TO JOBBERY.
"Similar complaint has also been made of the manner in which gold and bonds
have been disposed of, by what has been styled' secret sales,' and yet precisely
the same course has been pursued in these sales that careful and prudent men pursue who sell on their own account. The sales have been made when they were
needed and prices were satisfactory. It was wt considered'wise or prudent to advise
the dealers precisely when and to Iwhat amount sales were to be made (no sane man operating on his own account would have done this,) but all sales of gold have been
made in the open market, and of bonds by agents or the Assistant Treasurer in
New York in the ordinary way, with a view of obtaining the very best prices and
with thp least possible disturbance of business."
BOUTWELL'S POLICY IN THE INTEREST OF JOBBERS.
The policy of Secretary Boutwell, who  succeeded Mr.  McCulloch, was
the reverse of that, of his predecessor.  He  advertized his sales of gold, thus
notifying in advance the speculators not only of the time at which the sales would
be made but also the amount to be sold. In the Treasury routine the knowledge
of these important transactions necessarily became known to many persons, and
of course there was always danger of some one of them "leaking."  Frequently,
indeed almost invariably, the directions from thle Secretary to  the Assistant Treasurer at New York, in regard to the sale of gold and the purchase of bonds, were
transmitted by telegraph, and thus the opportunities for "leaking " were incireased.
An hour's notice in advance of the intention of the Secretary of the Treasury to
sell gold would enable a Wall Street speculator to make a fortune  If by any
possibility a combination of these speculators could bring sufficient influence to
bear to control the P}-esident of the United States. and through him prevent the
Secretary of the Treasury from selling gold, it would be in their power to control absolutely the gold market.
284 
BLACK' FRIDA-Y.
THE ORIGIN OF THE GOLD PANIC OF SEPT. 1869.
This is precisely what one of the shrewdest speculators who has appeared in
Wall street for many years succeeded to a certain extent in doing at the outset of
President Qrant's first administration.  The gold panic of September 1869 and
that memorable day on which it culminated-Black Friday-was the result of a
combinatiop effected by Jay Gould with a few of the intimate friends and relatives
of the President, by whom he was induced to conform the financial policy of the
Government to the notions of one of the most unscrupulous speculators that ever
lived.  A brief history of this disgraceful episode in the history of our country is
necessary, in order to give the people a complete understanding of the shame aS
well as the misery which has been entailed upon the country during the last eight
years of Republican rule. The Black Friday transaction stands first in the long
catalogue of crimes, frauds, and usurpations which the future historian of the Republic will have to chronicle when he comes to treat of Grant's administration.
The gold panic of 1869 not only brought immediate disaster in its train, but produced upon business universal distrust of the future, and, as a consequence, almost
an entire paralysis of trade. An able writer, in speaking of it, says:
THE EFFECT OF THE PANIC.
"This was the immediate effect of this panic upon the foreign trade in
which gold interests are involved, and which depends upon prospective obligations in gold. It is impossible to estimate these afflictive effects on foreign commnierce. Merchants in the foreign trade often meet their obligations by borrowing
gold, believing that they can buy at a lower rate in the future. Before this September panic there was an immense amount of gold borrowed. Hence the chief
sufferers were the. import merchants. Bankers and brokers were similarly, though
not equally, affected, but the worse effects were too general and indefinite for
analysis. These reached over the whole country, and over the entire world of
commerce. It made men think that we were a nation of gamblers; that it was
not safe to deal with a people under whose policy and Government it was possible
for such combinations to, be made. All our securities suffered more or less at
home and abroad. But for the peculiar prudence of our merchants, who had
been warned in the preceding months, the shock and disaster would have been
incalculably greater. At the time when our importations required the use of a
million of gold per day, and when our customs dues required the half of that sum,
it may be readily inferred how such fluctuations affected all our domestic trade.
In this connection it is well to remember that the jobber buys of the importer,
who pays in gold; that the jobber sells for currency, and his purchaser, as well as
himself, is guided by the value of gold at the time, and that profits may be lost if
gold rises between the time of selling and the time of payment. It will also be
remembered that the tariff duties are payable in gold, and the price of the articles
imported depends on the price of gold."
THE CONGRESSIONAL INVESTIGATION.
The scandal caused by the connection of the Administration with the gold
panic was so great, and the indignation of the country thereat so intense, that the
Republican'House of Representatives. at the 2d session of the 41st Congress, was
compelled to investigate it.  This was the first great opportunity of the Parliamentary leaders of the Republican party.  They had the indubitable proof, establishing beyond cavil that members of both the President's private and official
household had participated with the gold gamblers of New York in the shameful'
transaction. Had they then resolutely placed their seal of condemnation upon
this disgraceful affair, and spoken boldly and truthfully the facts as they were developed,'the bad men who surrounded the President would have been driven in
disgrace from his presence, and possibly he might have profited from the rebuke
thus sharply administered by the people's representatives. But instead of doing
this, and., thereby placing the party in a position where it could safely have divorced itself from the "man on horseback" who had proved utterly insensible to
shame, tle Committee on Banking and Currency, charged with this transaction,
made a whitewashing report, which was adopted by the House, and thus the Republican )arty became a mere tail-piece to Grant's kite.  It not only' vindicated
Grant in this report, taut endorsed the financial policy of the Secretary of the
Treasury, which
235 
BLACK FRIDAY.
MADE THE GOLD PANIC POSSIBLE.
The report of the committee was written by Mr. Garfield, the leader of the
Republican side of the present House of Representatives. It is from beginning
to end an adroit and ingenious special plea, but the facts are so distorted on the
one hand and suppressed on the other, that its inconsistencies are apparent to the
most superficial reader. The only truthful paragraph in it is the following, In'
which the history of the price of gold for eleven months is summarized:
"On the Ist of September, 1868, the price of gold was 1.45.  During the
Autumn and Winter it continued to decline, interrupted only by occasional fluctuations, till, March, 1869, it toutched 130+ (its lowest point for three vears) and
continued near that rate until the middle of April, the earliest period to which
the evidence taken by the committee refers. At that time Mr. Jay Gould, President of the Erie Railroad Company, bought seven millions of gold and put up
the price from 132 to 140. Other brokers followed his example, and by the 20th
of May had put up the price to 144i, from which, in spite of speculation, it continued to decline, and on the last day of July stood at 136."
CORBIN, GOULD, PORTER, AND BABCOCK.
Sometime previous to this last mentioned date, Jay Gould had effected a
combination with Abel R. Corbin, brother-in-law of the President, and, as has
recently been developed, with Generals Horace Porter and O. E. Babcock and
Daniel Butterfield, whereby this unscrupulous speculator had constant and ready
access to the President, and undoubtedly succeeded in controlling him.
The first step in paving the way for this combination was to have some one appointed Assistant Treasurer at New York, in place of Mr.  H. H. Vandyck, who
resigned in the month of June. Robert B. Catherwood who had married the step-'
daughter of Corbin, testified in regard to this appointment as follows.
TESTIMONY OF CORBIN'S SON-IN-LAW.
Q. Had you anything to do with the appointment of General Butterfield to
the post of Assistant Treasurer at New York? A. I had nothing to do with his
appointment.
Q. Did you attempt to bring any influence to bear? A. I suggested to a
friend of mine that it was the request of Mr. Corbin that General Butterfield
should receive the appointment. I never had any conversation on the subject
with General Butterfield.
Q. Who was that friend of yours? A. Mr. Jay Gould. I merely suggested
that it was Mr. Corbin's wish that General Butterfield should be appointed.
Q. Mr. Corbin was the first that suggested to you Mr. Butterfield's name?
A. Yes, in a mere casual conversation that I had with Mr. Gould. I said that I
had had a conversation with Mr. Corbin in reference to the matter, and that Mr.
Corbin thought that General Butterfield was the most competent man after myself.
I had been talked of at the time in reference to the position. I consulted with
,Ir. Corbin in reference to it and declined to go any further ill the matter.
*      *       *      *       *      *       *      *       *       *
Q. Was anything said by any of those parties about General Butterfield using
his official position for the purpose of helping gold speculations, either before the
appointment or afterwards? A. Mr. Corbin, Gould and myself, had  a conversation one day. It amounted to this: that men could operate with safety when
-they were acting on a certainty-that is, when they knew what they were doing.
There was no understanding. It was a mnere casual observation.
Q. Do you know whether Mr. Corbin wrote anry letters in aid of General
Butterfield's appointment? A. I do not.
BUTTERFIELD THIANKED CORWIN.
Q. Did you hear that either from Butterfield, Corbin, or Gould? A. Mr. Corbin
told me himself that lie had written to General Butterfield, and he read me a
letter in reply from General Butterfield, in which General Butterfield thanked
him very kindly, and hoped Mr. Corbin w-ould exercise his influence as he- had
previously done; that he was under many obligations to him, and that he hoped
he would be successful.  That was about the tenor of the letter as Mr. Corbin
read it to me.'
236
I 
BLACK  FRIDAY.                                237
Q. Was a proposition ever made to you to take this office with a view to assist
a speculation; and did you ever decline peremptorily because you could not assist
in any such object?  A. Not so emphatically as that.
Q. Put it in your own language. A. After I was solicited to accept this office,
and had'the matter under debate, I went the next day to that and had a conversation with Mr. Gould and Mr. Corbin, and I found that the remark was simply this:
that the parties could operate in a legitimate way and make a great deal of money,
and that all'could be benefited by it in a legitimate manner-nothing underhand
or illegitimate.  The phrase used was "illegitimate manner."  I satisfied myself
that I could not fill the bill.
oQ. What did this illegitimate manner consist of?  A. I felt in this way:  I
could not say that it was that, because I was not asked squarely to do anything;
but I took it for granted it meant that; I did not look at it in the same light they
did, and I just declined.
Q. State more distinctly what was this legitimate thing? A. I understood
that it was buying gold and stocks and bonds on a certainty on the movements of
the Government in selling or not selling gold.
Q. If you can give the exact language of Gould and Corbin to that very
point, please do so, and fix the date if you can. A. It was along in the latter part
of May or June, I think. I have got a letter in my pocket from Mr. Corbin which
will give me nearly the date.
[Witness refers to a note in his possession from Corbia to himself, dated June
4th, 1869, in which the following passage occurs:]
"Will see Mr. Gould about Jersey City Railroad. Have not yet seen General
Butterfield."
Jersey City Railroad, witness explained, is a cipher. It means the Sub-Treasury.
JAY GOULD TELLS HOW  HE MANIPULATED GRANT.
Jay Gould gave his reasons for going into the gold speculation as follows:
"I supposed it was the policy of the Administration to let gold work up until
after the Fall crops were moved; and I had good reason to suppose that was to
be so or I should never have gone into this movement."
He then proceeds, in answer to a question propounded by the chairman of the
committee, to give the reason for his belief. He stated that previous to June,
Mr. Corbin, the brother-in-law of the President, came to see him and wanted to
be taken into some enterprise by which he could make money. Gould suggested
the feasibility of advancing the price of gold, which was then somewhere in the
thirties, to the forties, or fifties, provided the Government could be got to assist
'them. He explained his theory to Corbin, which was, that the country had been
over-trading with Europe, by something like a hundred million dollars, and that
the way to pay this debt was to facilitate the exportation of grain, which could
only be done by advancing the price of gold. If this was done, he said, "the
price of gold would go up while the movement was going on, and afterward drop
down again," so that "we could make money both ways, by buying it then and
selling it on the rise."
According to the testimony of both Gould and Corbin, they had frequent conferences on this subject, and they agree in the statement that Mr. Corbin readily
comprehended Mr. Gould's plan and undertook to bring the President to entertain views similar to theirs on this subject. Gould, in speaking of Mr. Corbin,
says:
"He was a very shrewd old gentleman.  He saw at a glance the whole case
and said that he thought it was the true platform to stand on; that whatever the
Government could do legitimately and fairly to facilitate the exportation of bread
stuffs and produce good prices for the products of the West they ought to do; he
was anxious that I should see the President and communicate to him my views on
the subject.'
GOULD, FISH AND GtANT DISCUSS THE FINANCES.
* An interview between Gould and the President was brought about, according
to Corbin's testimony, on the 15th of June, the time at which the latter attended
the Peace Jubilee at Boston.  Gould and Fisk took the President and his party
on one of their Fall River boats and provided a fine supper, and while they were
at the table, introduced, as a topic of general conversation," the state of the coun 
BLACK FRIDAY.
try, crops, prospects ahead, &c. "  Gould, in his account of the conversation,.says:.
"The President was a listener.  The other gentlemen were discussing. Some
were in favor of Boutwell's selling gold and some were opposed to  it.  After
they had all interchanged their views, some one asked the President what his
views were.  He remarked that he thought there was a certain' amount of fictitiousness about the prosperity of  the  country and that the bubble  might
as well be tapped in one way as another. That was the substance of
his remark. He then asked me what I thought about it. I remarked that I
thought if that policy was carried out, it would produce great distress, and almost lead to civil war; it would produce strikes among the workmen, and the
workshops to a great extent would have to be closed; the manufactories would
have to stop. I took the ground that the Government ought to let gold alone and
let it find its commercial level; that, as a matter of fact, it ought to facilitate an upward movement of gold in the Fall.  The Fall and Winter is the only time which
we have any interest in.  That was all that occurred at that time.  We supposed
from that conversation that the President was a contractionist."
On his return from Boston the President had another interview with Gould
at Corbin's house, when Gould arranged to send the President and his family, by
a special train, over the Erie Road, to Corry, Pennsylvania, and to return by the
Philadelphia and Erie Road. At this time Gould says he had about a half an
hour's conversation with the President, and that he remembered that he said to
Corbin "that Boutwell had given an order to sell [gold], and that he, being at
Washington, saw it or'heard of it, and countermanded the order."
It is evident from the testimony of Corbin that he and Gould had become
satisfied that
THEI PRESIDENT HAD BEEN WON OVER,
for, on the 24th of July, Corbin purchased, through Gould's bankers, $250,000
United States bonds, and'deposited them in the Bank of America. After the
visit to Corry, Pennsylvania, the President returned, early in August, to New
York, and after a visit to Governor Fish's country house, he spent a few days
at Corbin's, in New York City. After that he returned to Washington City,
where he spent three days, and then came back to New York, and on the 19th of
August went to Newport,  where Jim Fisk, Jr., paid him  a visit.   Fisk's
account of this is as follows:
"I think this was some time in August that General Grant started to go to
Newport.  I then went down to see him.  I had seen him before, but not feeling
as thoroughly acquainted as I desired for this purpose, I took a letter of introduction from Mr. Gould, in which it was written that there were three hundred
sail of vessels then on the Mediterranean, from the Black Sea, with grain to supply
the Liverpool market. Gold was then about thirty-four. If it continued at that
price we had very little chance of carrying forward the crop during the Fall. I
know that we felt nervous about it. I talked with General Grant on the subject,
and endeavored, as far as I could, to convince him that his policy was one that
would only bring destruction on us all. He then asked me when we should have
an interview, and we agreed upon the time.   He said:'During that time I will
see Alr. Boutwell, or have him there."'
"On the 2d of September the President went to Saratoga, and on the 6th to
Washington, to attend the funeral of General Rawlings. On the o10th of Sep.
tember he returned to New York.
GOULD BUYS GOLD FOR CORBIN.
On the 2d of September, Gould purchased, through Smith, Gould, Martin &
Co., bankers, No. 11 Broad street, New York, for Corbin, $1,500,000 in gold, at
an average price of 132~. In regard to this purchase Gould testifies that it was
after his first interview with the President, and before the second.
"The interview on the way to Boston was a wet blanket; the other interview
was more satisfactory.  I did not buy any gold for Mr. Corbin until I was assured
from the President that the Governm,nt would not do anything to put down the
price of gold."
Subsequent to this second interview w-ith the President, Gould says he learned
that Secretary Boutwell was to be in' New York, and that certain parties who
were short of gold were to give him a dinner, and that he felt very "solicitous as
to what the effect might be on the Secretary." To counteract the influence of the
238 
BLACK FRIDAY.
"bears" on Boutwell, Gould went to see Corbin to bring a counter influence to
bear through the President.  Of this interview Gould says:
GRANT ORDERS BOUTWELL NOT TO SELL.
"I went to see Mr. Corbin about it; he said he did not think it possible, the
President had so thoroughly made up his mind, or had so thoroughly marked
out his policy, that nothing could change him; he knew the man so well; he
knew that when he had arrived at his conclusions, after a great deal of deliberation and examination, he would not change them. I suggested to him that
the Secretary might sell without consulting him. He said in reply to that that
the President had written a letter before departing on his trip, and left it with
him, and that he had left it with General Butterfield to deliver to the Secretary
immediately on his arrival in New York, giving the President's views. But that
did not satisfy me. I asked him if he knew what was in the letter. He said
he did not; but he said he was very certain as to what was in it, because the
President stopped in the middle of a conversation, in which he had expressed
his views, and wrote the letter. That was Mr. Corbin's answer to me, and Butterfield afterwards stated to me that he delivered the letter."
Prior to this, Corbin had written an article setting forth, in an authoritative
manner, what the financial  policy of the  Administration would be.  This
article,  Gould,  through  Mr.  McHenry,  one of  the  English  capitalists
concerned in the Erie Railroad, procured to be published in.the New York Times,
on the 25th of August. In regard to the sale of gold the following language was
used:
" So far as the current movements of the Treasury are concerned, until the
crops are moved it is not likely Treasury gold will be sold for currency to be locked
up. The entire surplus of currency in the Treasury, on the contrary, will be
employed in the purchase of bonds, as heretofore, that money may be abundant
and cheap at the time crops are to be paid for and moved by transporters to
market."
THE PRESIDENT VISITS RELATIONS LIVING IN AN OBSCURE VILLAGE.
On the 13th of September, the President and his family, accompanied by Horace Porter, went to Washington, Pennsylvania, to visit Mr. Smith, a distant
relative. He had been invited to participate in the ceremonies attending the unveiling of the Lincoln statue in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, but wrote a letter
expressing his regret at not being able to be present, and assigning as a reason
his desire to visit the relatives of his family in Western Pennsylvania, whom
he said hlie had not seen for thirty years. Washington, Pennsylvania, is an
interior villiage, and was at that time accessible by rail only by the way of
WlIeeling, West Virginia. Here the President was far removed from all- exciting scenes, and had it been a part of the plan of Gould, Fisk, Corbin, and the
other gold gamblers engaged in the conspiracy to send up the price of gold, to
seclude the President in an out-of-the-way place, they could not have hit upon a
plan more admirable than to send him to this little villiage in the extreme
Southwestern portion of Pennsylvania.
THE BALL OPENS LIVELY.
All the arrangements being completed, Fisk and Gould, through different
brokers, began to purchase gold.  About the 15thl or 16th of September, Fisk testifies that hlie bought seven or eight millions. Gould went in also, about the same
time, and purchased hleavily.  At this time they had worked gold up to 1401 and
controlled from fifty to sixty millions of it. $1,500,000 of this was held for General Butterfield, the Assistant Treasurer at New York. Gould had also loaned
Butterfield $10,000 without security.
Butteriffel( was also purchasing Government bonds, as he admits in his'testimony before tile committee.  He had p,i,elia.ed in Europe $730,000, and in this
country $500,000 worth of bonds.  Some )f thlese lpurchases were made through
the house of Seligman.  This was only anothier form of speculating in gold, as is
prove(d byv the testimony of the banker George Opdyke:
"Q. Would not therefore such transaction in bonds on foreign account legitimately increase the am(unt of gold transactions in this country?  A.  I should
think that to a certain -xfent they would.  These are speculative transactions.
289 
Q. Would a man buying bonds here, not for the foreign market, but for
himself, have any business to sell gold in that transaction? A. No, sir; he
might do it with a speculative purpose and with an uncertainty in the future; but
the case that I have stated is a triangular business transaction which gives him a
small profit.
Q. Suppose you were to have aprecisely similar business transaction, and this
committee were to ask you whether you had, during the period covering that
time, bought or sold gold, or had any dealings in gold, what ought you to answer
that would be a truthful answer?  A. Yes, sir.
Q. Could you answer "no " by any ratiocination that would be still true,
and cover up your answer?. No; no- pearer than to call black white at the
same time."
Butterfield, in his testimony before the committee, while admitting that he
had bought bonds, denied that he had been speculating in gold. On this point
he testified as follows:
BUTTERFIELD QUIBBLES-TRIES TO SWEAR OUT.
"Q. You have stated that you gave Mr. Gould no authority to buy gold for
you.  Did you ever give him authority to sell gold for you?  A. No.
Q. In all that you have said in relation to gold transactions, you covered
buying, selling, loaning, and the whole class of transactions that may occur in
gold? A. Yes, an operation exclusively in gold, and having for profits from
purchases on sales in gold.
Q. And all your answers in reference to that subject and your opinions
while you were not engaged in gold transactions refer to buying, selling, or
loaning gold?  A. Yes.
*      *      *       *      *       *      *      *       *      *
Q. It is perhaps due to explain to you a seeming inconsistency of aformer answer in which you stated that you had no  transactions in gold except
the purchase of bonds on a gold basis. You afterwards acquiesced in the
statement of Mr. Seligman, that he sold gold for you. A. That is a part of
the general transaction: to make the bonds that he or others were carrying for
me on a gold basis.
Q. What do you mean by a gold basis?  A. My meaning is this: suppose today the price of gold is 122, and the price of 5-20's 114. I want to buy 100
5-20's of 1867 on a gold basis here. I buy that amount for that price and
sell the same amount of gold at 122. I know very well, when I make that purchase, that the European market is cornering the price of gold, that if bonds go
down to 5 per cent below the par of gold on the other side they must fall here.
If I think gold is going to fall, if I think it is not going to maintain its standard,
I go and sell $100,000 of gold, and if gold fals 5 per cent. and bonds fall the same
the bonds will stand, being on a gold basis. Bonds, however, do not fall quite as
much as gold, and the purchase will be a profitable one when the gold is sold
against these bonds."
SELIGMAN CONTRADICTS BUTTERFIELD.
SIr. Seligman testified, in regard to Butterfield's transactions through him, as
follows:
"Q. What amount in gold and bonds have you transacted for him?  A. About
a million dollars.
Q. During any of these days of the panic week did you receive any messages
from General Butterfield aside from the one you have mentioned? A. I think
I did.
Q. What messages, if any? A. Only to come up and see him, to operate in
bonds or gold for him.
Q. How often did you go during that week? A. I think not exceeding
three or four times.
*      *      *      *       *      *      *      *       *      *
Q. When did you begin to buy, sell, or loan stocks, bonds, or gold for General Butterfield? A. Some time in July. General Butterfield sent for us to say
that he had received an order from the Treasurer, General Spinner, to sell, on account of some western banker, some 10-40 United States bonds which he wanted
us to dispose of and render an account. That was our first transaction with General Butterfield. Then I became acquainted with him."'
240
BLACK PP.IDAY. 
BLACK FRIDAY,
GOULD AND FISK WANT FURTHER ASSURANCE.
About the 18th or 20th of September, Gould and Fisk appeared to have
become uneasy. They were carrying an enormous quantity of gold and wanted
to be certain that they were standing on firm ground. Fisk, in his testimony,
describes the situation at that time as follows:
"It has always been our policy never to mix in politics unless it is our'business, but Mr. Gould said to me that morning,'This matter is all fixed up;
Butterfield is all right. Corbin has got Butterfield all right, and Corbin has got
Grant fixed all right;' that in his opinion they were interested together. That
was a point I had not taken into consideration. I did presume that Mr. Corbin
had prevailed upon General Grant to make him believe that forty-five was the
proper point at which to carry off this crop.  Up to that time I did not believe
that General Grant or anybody connected with him had any interest in the movement whatever, but it startled me when it was suggested that Grant was in this
movement, and I determined to go right around and see Corbin. I had known
him before through a son-in-law of his by the name of Catherwood, whom I had
met in railroading, but I said to Mr. Gould;'you give me a letter to him so that
he will talk confidentially with me.' He did so and I went to see Mr. Corbin.
When I met him he talked very shy about the matter at first, but finally came
right out and told me
THAT MRS. GRANT HAD AN INTEREST.
That $500,000 of gold had been taken by Mr. Gould at 31 and 32, which had
been sold at 37; that Mr. Corbin held for himself about two millions of gold,
$500,000 of which was for Mrs. Grant and $500,000 for Porter. I did not ask
whether he was General or not; I remember the name Porter. This was given
out very slowly He let out just as fast as I did when he found that Mr. Gould had
told me about the same thing.  I said:'Now, I have had nothing to do with
your transactions in one way or the other. I can make your pathway clear and,
straight by emptying it all out to me, because Mr. Gould and myself stand together; we have no secrets from each other; we have embarked in a scheme
that looks like one of large magnitude. Mr. Gould has lost as the thing stands
now. It looks as if it might be pretty serious business before getting out
straight again. The whole success depends on whether the Government will
unload onto us or not.'  He said,'You need not have the least fear.'  I said:
' I want to know whether what Mr. Gould told me is true; I want to know
whether you have sent this $25,000 to Washington as he states.' He then told
me that he had sent it; that Mr. Gould had sold $500,000 of gold belonging to
Mrs. Grant, which cost 33, for 37, or something in that neighborhood, leaving a
balance in her favor of about $27,000, and that
A CHECK FOR $25,000 HAD BEEN SENT.
"Said I:'Mr. Corbin, what can you show me that goes still further than your
talk?''Oh, well,' the old man said,'I can't show you anything; but,' said he,
' this is all right..' He talked freely, and repeated,'I tell you it is all right.'
When I went away from there, I had made up my mind that Corbin had told me
the truth."
It happened, however, that Fisk and Gould were not altogether satisfied,
and the former saw Corbin and got him to write a letter to the President to urge
him to prevent any interference on the part of the Government. This Corbin
did, and it was sent by a special messenger, furnished by Fisk, to the President
at Washington, Pennsylvania, sometime between the 18th and 21st of September.
The messenger reached Pittsburgh about one o'clock in the morning; he hired
a team and drove to Washington, twenty-eight miles distant, arriving there early
in the morning. He carried, in addition to the letter to the President, one of
introduction from Corbin to Horace Porter. The letters were delivered about
nine o'clock in the morning, and the President read his carefully, consulted withli
his wife, and then told the messenger that it was satisfactory-tlhat lthere was no
answer.  Before this time, however, the news of the excitement in Will,1I S ct
over the advance in the price of gold had reached every part of icle countly, and(
must have peinetrated even the secluded rural town of Washingtonii, Pennsylva
nia.  The President evidently was distllrl)ed.  When lie received Corl)in's letter
he consulted with his wife before telling the messenger there was no answer.
241 
BLACK FRIDAY.
That same night Mrs. Grant wrote a letter to Mrs. Corbin, the contents of which
are described by Gould as follows:
MRS. GRANT TO MRS. CORBIN.
"Q. What was in the letter-the portions you read? A. The substance of
it was this: she says: tell your husband or tell Mr. Corbin that my husband is
very much annoyed by your speculations; you must close them as quick as you
can. That was the substance.
Q. Was that all you saw? A. That was all the substance of it; there were
some intimations about Cuba, but that was all that interested me."
Mr. Corbin gives the substance of the letter in the following testimony.
"Q. State exactly the language of the letter, as nearly as you can? A. In that
letter she says: the President was greatly distressed at the rumor that your husband was speculating in Wall street, and hoped he would instantly disconnect
himself with anything of that sort. She spoke with such directness and feeling,
that while but few words were used, they evidently were upon the assumption
that there was something about it so terrible, so disgraceful, that it wonderfully ex
cited my wife, to whom the letter was addressed.  When Mr. Gould came in that
night, I at once read to him the substance of this letter which had so agitated my
wife, and then it was I told Mr. Gould at once that Imust go out of this matter,
that it had created a great deal of feeling in my own family as well as on the part
of the President, and that the matter must now end."
CORBIN WANTS $100,000 TO GO OUT.
Corbin swears that Gould offered to give him then a hundred thousand
dollars, in cash, on the condition that he would remain in, but that he rejected
this proposition and insisted that he must go out. It does not appear, however,
that the transaction was closed up then, or what losses or profits there were in it.
Gould testifies about this particular conversation with Corbin as follows:
"Q. And you understood the object of Mr. Corbin in showing you the letter
was to induce you to take his gold off his hands and help him out with his
speculations?  A. Yes, sir; I told him  I would give him $100,000 on account,
and that, when I sold, if he liked I would give him the average of my sales.
I did not feel like buying any gold of him then.
Q. How did MAr. Corbin come out of the whole transaction in his speculations? A. He has not come out; he has been sick ever since; he says he does
not know anything about any transactions."
FISK TELLS HIS STORY.
Fisk testifies that after the letter had been seen to the President at Washington, Pennsylvania, he had another interview with Corbin. At this meeting Mrs.
Corbin was present, and after they had talked the matter over fully she made
this remark
"I know there will be no gold sold by the Government; I am quite positive there
will be no gold sold, for this is a chance in a lifetime for us. You need not have
any uneasiness whatever."  The next day Fisk says Gould said to him:  "Old
,Corbin feels troubled and nervous about some gold. He wants a hundred thou:sand dollars; what do you think of it?' Said I:'If he wants a hundred thousand
dollars to feed out to parties in interest, he had better have it.'  I think this was
on the afternoon of Thursday. Mr. Gould asked if that didn't look as if there
might be some blow up. I said:'If he wants that money to deal out to people
and it will help to strengthen our position in regard to this gold, we will give
him a hundred or two hundred thousand.'' Well,' said he,'do as you please.'
I told him I would go and get the money, and I went immediately to Smith,
Gould, Martin & Co., got a check for $100,000 and brought it and gave it to Mr.
Gould in the carriage. Mr. Gould said he would stop there when he went home
that night and give it to him."
THE CRISIS APPROACHES.
In the meantime, gold was still going up and Gould and Fisk were making
large purchases. The letter from Mrs. Grant to Mrs. Corbin was received by
the latter, according to Mr. Corbin's testimony on the 22nd of September. The
President returned to Washington City a few days later.  The culmination of
242 
BLACK FRIDAY.
the gold conspiracy occurred on Friday, September 24th. In the interval between the receipt of the letter to the President at Washington, Pennsylvaina, and
Black Friday, the whole country was agitated over the operations of the gold
gamblers in Wall street.  The New York papers were full of speculations on
the subject, and gave detailed accounts of the operations in the street. The merchants who had large liabilities in gold to meet were wild with excitement and were
bringing all the influence they could command to bear on the President and Secretary of the Treasury to induce them to sell gold, but without avail. Finally on the 23d
of September, gold hadbeen forced up by the Gould-Fisk combination to 144 and the
coolest and steadiest men on the street were seriously alarmed. There was no limit
to the power of the combination if the Government did no. interfere. The speculators were confident and jubilant and confidently boasted of their ability and intention to send gold up to 200. They did not scruple to say they had the Government
behind them; and to assert in the most positive terms that there would be no
sales of gold ordered by the Secretary of the Treasury.  MerchanIs who were
compelled to have gold to meet their obligations, and bankers who had gone
short, were almost crazy.  If something was not done to break the combination
of the bulls they would be ruined, and general ruin in the commercial world must
follow, with a train of awful ruin dragging in the rear.
THE PUBLIC PRESSURE BROUGHT TQ BEAR.
In this emergency they availed themselves of the kind offices of Mr. Bigelow,
editor of the New York Tres, who, on the morning of that ever memorable day
which will be known to distant generations as Black Friday, made a fierce attack
upon the gold gamblers. In speaking of the excitement in Wall street on the
previous day and the operations of the Gould-Fisk party, he said:
"They not only bulled gold with a will, but talked freely of the warrant
which they had from Washington, that the Government would not interfere with
them. The highest official in the land was quoted as being with them, and he of
course controls the action of the Secretary of the Treasury and the New York
Assistant Treasurer. Although this must have been known to be false there were
abundant rumors, and suspicions insidiously spread around the street to create the
belief or fear with good men that the administration would not interpose by
further sales of gold from the Treasury, or extra purchases of United States 5-20's
in exchange for gold.   *   *   *   *   *   *   The Gould-Fisk brokers bid
the price up to 144 per cent. The parties who were demanding their gold compelled the sellers and borrowers, who had contracts with them to place five or
seven per cent. additional advance in price in their own hands or else settle at
the price of the day. This scene may be amusing enough to our readers as a Wall
street fight between bull and bear, but it has a more serious aspect. The business
of the produce exchange and the conduct of the ordinary foreign exchanges of the
market are paralyzed by this heavy rise and corner in gold through a sheer gambling
operation. The Government is scandalized by false rumors of complicity; the
public credit damaged by the fall in the funds, and the general trade of the
country agitated and unduly alarmed by a panic in money coincident with, if not
strictly superinduced by the lock up in gold.  When or where the trouble is to
end we have no present means of telling."
TELEGRAPHING TO WASHINGTON.
The entire editorial from which the extract is made was telegraphed to the
President and Secretary Boutwell by brokers and merchants, who were short of
gold. They also sent hundreds of dispatches of their own corroborating the statements made in the Irnes' editorial. They rallied all the influence they could
muster, and kept piling telegrams on the President and Secretary of the Treasury.
but it was not until high noon that day that the Secretary gave the order to sell
four millions of dollars of gold.
THE ORDER TO SELL KNOWN BEFORE IT WAS PUBLISHIED.
This order was known fully an hour in Wall street before it was made known
from the Sub-treasury, as Gould testified:
"Q. From your knowledge of the transactions of that day, do you believe that
it was known in New York that the Secretary of the Treasury had ordered the
sale of gold before the official announcement of fact? A. Certainly.
243 
BLACK FRIDAY.
Q. How long before? A. I think it was known an hour in advance."
Evidently Gould had still earlier intelligence of the action of the Secretary,
because lie testifies that he "sold all the morning," and it is quite well known that
he lost nothing by these transactions in gold; but he left Butterfield in the lurch,
while, as is pretty clear now, he took care of the old man Corbin, and one or two
others interested with him.
THAT $25,000 PACKAGE.
The Democratic minority of the Committee called a witness who had seen the
money-delivery book of Adams' Express Company, and was willing to swear
that sometime in September, 1869, he had seen the entry of a package sent from
New York to Mrs. U. S. Grant, White House, valued at $25,000. The Republican majority of the committee, however, refused to allow the witness to tell
this. They were in a great flurry over it, and the next day, Sam. M. Shoemaker,
[anager of Adams' Express Company, was called by the Chairman, Mr. Garlield, and produced the money-delivery book. He had previously told Garfield
that there was.no entry of a package delivered to Mrs. U. S. Grant in September,
1869, but when he was put on the stand, he was asked by Mr. Cox, of the minority, to produce the book, and when he did so, unexpectedly, the entry was,
pointed out to him. There it was, $25,000, plain enough; but Shoemaker swore
that "after careful examination I am satisfied that it is $250." There was, however, no separation of the two 00 in the entry.
THE PROOF OF BABCOCK AND PORTER'S COMPLICITY.
That booth Horace Porter and General Babcock were interested along with
Butterfield there can no longer be any doubt, after the testimony given by Hon.
Bluford Wilson on July 28, 1876, before the Select Committee of the House of'
Representatives on Whisky Frauds. Mr. Wilson said:
"On Sunday night, February 27th, statements were submitted to the President of the United States by which it appeared that Orville E. Babcock, the
Private Secretary of the President, had been engaged in the Black Friday transactions, and that he and others lost in that transaction $40,000; that the money
was lost to Jay Cooke& Co., of whom Fahnestock seemed to be the party through
whom the transactions were had; that to make good his own losses and that of'
his associates. Babcock made a trust deed of his property, creating Asa Bird Gardner, of West Point, subsequently the Judge Advocate of the Military Court of
Inquiry ordered at Chicago, his trustee. The statement was made to the President
while Babcock was en route from St. Louis to Washington. It was, I believe,
subsequently fortified by competent evidence satisfactory to the President."
244
41 
THE PLUFNDERED SOUTtH.
THE FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE RECONSTRUCTED
STATES UNDER CARPET-BAG RULE.
,The following statement of the debt and liabilities of the States of ALABAMA,'
ARKANSAS, FLORIDA, GEORGIA, LOUISIANA,  MISSISSIPPI,  NORTH  CAROLINA,
SOUTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, TEXAS, and VIRGINIA, incurred since the close of
the late civil war, has been compiled from the Report of the Joint Committee of
both Hiouses of Congress which was appointed on March 20, 1871, and directed
to investigate into the condition of the late Insurrectionary States. This Joint
Committee, after taking fifteen volumes of printed testimony, made a report of
their findings and conclusions in an elaborate, exhaustive and instructive document
of nearly seven hundred printed pages.  Besides giving the figures which will be
found below, this Report enters very thoroughly into a discussion of the cause
from which emanated the lamentable consequences to some of the Southern
States.  And in view of the attempts that are being constantly made  by  the
Republican party to exaggerate, misrepresent, and falsify the troubles and disorders which have occurred in certain localities, in the Southern States, for the
purpose of keeping alive the memories of the war, and thus the better to subserve
partizan purposes, it would be well, perhaps, to refer briefly to the legislation of
Congress and the acts of the Executive, with respect to the States of the South
from the surrender in 1865 until 1870.
'THE SOUTH RELIES UPON THE PROMISES MADE AT THE TIME OF THE CAPITULATION.
When the war was ended, the people of the South, relying on the promises
made by the Federal Generals, while their armies were still in the field, and on
the negotiations preceding the surrender, and on the proclamation of the Pr-esident, and the utterances of both the press and the public men of the North, as
well as upon the terms actually agreed on between Generals Grant and Sherman
with Generals Lee and Johnston respectively, at the time of the capitulation of
the command under the latter, were induced to believe, and did believe, that
when resistance to Federal authority ceased, and the supremacy of the Constitu- 
tion of the United States was recognized in the seceded States, and especially
after the ordinances of secession were repealed, and an amendment to the Con- 
stitution abolishing slavery everywhere was ratified by their Legislatures, that a
full and complete restoration of the Southern States, and the people thereof,
to their former position of co-equal States in the Union would at once take place;
and after the exhaustion of such a terrible war they hailed the return of peace
upon such terms, not only with satisfaction but with delight. They acknowledged
defeat, accepted the situation, went to work earnestly to build up their waste
places, retrieve their lost fortunes, and support, defend, and maintain the Union
and the Constitution.  Large numbers of the Southern people in the seceded
States had never felt any hostility to the General Government, and had only fol
I ~-?, 
THE PLUNDERED SOUTH.
lowed the fortunes of their States and people during the war, when they were!
impotent to resist, and when it was folly to oppose the action of those in
authority.
THE DIFFERENCE IN THE SITUATION NORTH AND SOUTH IMMEDIATELY AFTER
THE WAR.
It was not to be expected.that such a mass of men as composed the Confederate army, and were connected with its administration, could at once
return to the ordinary avocations of civil life, without confusion or disturbance. The men who composed the Federal army, when the war closed,
found, on their return to their homes, a healthy, prosperous, peaceful and well
organized society.
Not so with the South There society was disorganized; the strain upon the
people to supply the armies in the field had exhausted their resources; the regions
which had been the scene of active military operations, were laid waste; starvation stared the people in the face; labor was absolutely demoralized; the negro
population which, as slaves, had furnished the great bulk of labor, had become
free, and in their poverty, ignorance, and incapacity to appreciate the effect of
their altered condition, were slow to realize the necessity for constant and continued labor on their part, so that the confederate soldier, and all others, who
had, during the years of war, devoted themselves to that cause, found, on the
return to peace, nothing but poverty and ruin in all their land, and themselves
absolutely beggars among people who had nothing to give.
THE AUTHORITY OF THE UNITED STATES HAS ALWAYS BEEN RESPECTED.
Under such circumstances it was, as before stated, impossible to restore perfect social order, and exact implicit obedience to the laws without encountering
local opposition in certain remote and rural districts.  But these disturbances
were neither frequent or of any magnitude. The whole South was speedily overrun by needy white men who followed in the wake of the great conquering
armies, and were intent only upon bettering their desperate fortunes. Many of
these bad men were acting as the agents of the Freedmen's Bank, and
others were connected with the Freedman's Bureau, and all were seeking to put
strife between the late slaves and their former masters; hloping thereby not only
to reap immediate personal profit, but to accomplish ulterior political purposes
They held out delusive promises of "forty acres and a mule" to the ignorant
blacks, and encouraged the ill-dispositioned among them to entertain exaggerated
notions of political and social equality, The poor, benighted negroes looked upon
every Northern white man as an angel in human form, and implicitly accepted
his teachings as Gospel truths.  The State governments had been overturned
along with the Confederate authority, and all the local machinery of government
was for the time being hopelessly deranged. Provisional military governments
were established, and from the central directory at Washington, the Republican
Congressional leaders, on the partial withdrawal of military rule, formed the
carpet-bag despotism. The corner-stone of this political structure was negro
suffrage, which of itself was not wrong, but was made an instrument by these
designing politicians and their wicked and unscrupulous agents in the South, of
afflicting a curse upon that country ten-fold more pregnant with evils to the
Southern people than the war itself. It is not surprising, therefore, that in one
or two States where these oppressions, exactions and indignities of the foreign
rulers were the most marked, and where the blacks were incited by unscrupulous
Northern whites to the last degree of insolence, that there was manifest on the
part of a few unruly and ungovernable Southern white men a spirit of impatience
which sometimes cropped out in
THIE CRIMES OF THE KU-KLUX AND KINDRED ORGANIZATIONS.
But  these  disorders were  not  epidemic; they  were  spasmodic.   They
were confined almost exclusively to two States and to a small area of territory in
each.  The great mass of the people of these States discountenanced and denounced the authors of the crimes, and should no more be held responsible
for them than the bulk of the population in the anthracite coal regions of Pennsylvania should be condemned for the murders, riots and outrages of the Molly
Maguires. The state authorities, who had ample power and whose duty it was
to suppress these crimes and punish the authors of them, did not attempt to do
246 
THE PLUNDERED SOUTH.
it. It was to their interest to exaggerate all such occurrences and magnify the
power of the men who were guilty of the outrages, because by so doing they
pandered to the desires of their confederates, the leaders of the Republican
party in the North, who were seeking by every devilish art to fan into live coals
the dying embers of sectional predjudices and passions which had during the
war influenced the Northern mind. Hence, military interference by the Federal
government was frequent, and the crimes of a few bad white men whose acts
were discovered and condemned by ninety-nine thousands of the Southern people, were made the pretext of establishing an anomolous and unrepublican form
of government in the eleven Southern States.
When hereafter the impartial historian comes to write the history of the
reconstruction measures which a Republican Congress imposed upon the South,
he will certainly pronounce themn not only unjust, but, viewed from an economic
standpoint, unwise and pregnant with evils which retarded the growth of that
section, and by reflex action sapped the foundation of Northern prosperity.  It
was this policy of the Republican party which first sowed the seeds of discord in
the South, and engendered race prejudices.
THIS TRUTH IS ELOQUENTLY CONVEYED BY MR. LAMAR
in his great speech, delivered in the House of Representatives on the 2d of
August, 1876. He said:
"The policy of reconstruction excluded the white race (on account of its
suspected disloyalty), as the basis of the new order.  But as the black race was
considered as incompetent to manage the new structures built for them, military
power, for the first time in the history of the American Government, was employed as the force to put and keep in' operation the machinery of civil government. I do not propose to discuss this policy, but simply to call special attention
to one feature of it.  All the measures in the futherance of that policy, the
Freedman's Bureau, which cut all connection of the two races sheer asunder,'
whose agents and officers were mad.e judges to try and punish offenses by the
whites against the rights of freedmen, without jury or the right of judicial
appeal; the act dividing the South without reference to State lines into military
districts, and vesting the power of appointing all civil officers in a commanding
general; the acts for restoring civil governments, were all based upon this one
idea of protecting the enfranchised black race against the wrongs anticipated
from the disfranchised white race; and, as a matter of fact, therefore, this
reconstruction legislation, as conceived and enforced, actually arrayed the two
races into distinct and opposing classes, and drew the color-line as distinctly
and perfectly as if such race distinction had been enjoined in the Constitution.
The very first principle of government your new-made citizens saw in operation
was the principle of race discrimination. The very first lesson in civil government which they learned was the proscription of the white race as an object
of political distrust and resentment.
"The strange spectacle of these two races locally intermingled, bound together by the strongest ties of interest and affection, yet as completely separated
politically as if a deep gulf had sunk between them; the passions incident
to party contests in which the contestants differ not in conviction, but in race,
and now charged as one of the heavy items against the South, find their
authorshil) and origin in the legislation of the Government and  the action of
its agents. One moment's consideration will convince any fair mind of this.
The measures devised for the sole benefit, protection, and ascendency of one
race will surely command  the support of that race; and if the same policy
disfranchises the other race, hurls it from its lproud tradition into a condition
rife with all the elements of humiliation, and deprives it even of its ancient
guarantees against the oppression of arbitrary power, the inevitable effect is,
perforce. to drive that race into opposition to those inmeasures. Thus, I repeat,
by a policy which drew one race to its support and drove the other into oplposition, the separation of the two was produced without the voluntary agency
of either, and against the natural tendencies of both.
A VICIOUS AND IRRESPONSIBLE GOVERNM-ENT.
"The report of everyinvestigating committee sent to the South confirms this;
for, sir, the South has been subjected to an ordeal that no other community in the
world has ever been subjected to.  It has been uncovered and subjected to a microscopic investigation into all the details of its society.  I hold in my hand a re
$V'
24 i' 
THE PLUNDERED SOUTH.
port made by Messrs. HOAR, FRYE, and WIHEELER, in which, speaking of the
state of things in Louisiana, one of the causes there mentioned is the fact that the
Administration party is made up by massing together almost entirely the black
vote wvith a few whites, largely from other States. These few whites, largely from
other States, are a class of men who came as agents of the Freedmen's Bureau,
thence transferred to the military department, from which they were carried over
by the bayonet to the reconstructed civil government.  And these they have been
maintained by the power of the Federal Government ever since  gorging themselves with the spoils of that plundered people until recently their grasp upon our
throats has been broken by the protecting force of an enlightened public sentiment at the North and West.   It is not my purpose to describe the clharacter
of the governments which resulted from this policy. I call attention simply to
two priciples they embodied. Gibbon, in his history of Rome, speaking of Egypt,
says that the most absurd and oppressive system of government that can be conceived of is that which subjects the natives of a country to the domination of its
own slaves.  John Stuart Mill, in his work on representative government, says
that a government administered by rulers responsible to the governed may be a
good government according to the character of the constituency, which it represents, but that a government administered by rulers who are not responsible to
the people of the government, but to some other community or power, is one of
the worst conceivable systems of government; and, sir, these hideous structures
in the South were a composite of those two vicious systems. The people there were
subjected to the domination of our former slaves; we were ruled over by men
not responsible to the people governed, but to the Federal Government. Governor Chamberlain and Governor Kellogg come here to make their reports and to
get their instructions, and they neither think nor care for the people of Louisiana or South Carolina. No man has ever had the temerity, since I have been
here, to defend or apologize for these governments. I shall cite only Republican
'testimonies as to their character."
GEN. GRANT'S LETTER ON THE SOUTH IN 1865.
The testimony establishing the fact that immediately upon the close of the war,
the Southern people accepted in good faith the situation, is abundant, and comes
from the highest Republican authority., An investigation was instituted, and
among others President Grant, then general of the army, proceeded to portions of
the South to examine for himself.  We quote the more important parts of his
report:
HEAD-QUARTERS ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES,
WASHINGTON, D. C., Dec. 18, 1865.
To His EXCELLENCY ANDREW JOHNSON, R'esident of the United States:
SIR: In reply to your note of the 16th instant, requesting a report from me, giving
such information as I may be possessed of, coming within the scope of the inquiries made
by the Senate of the United States in their resolution of the 12th instant, I have the
honor to submit the following:
With your approval, and also that of the Honorable Secretary of War, I left Washington City on the 27th of last month, for the purpose of making a tour of inspection
through some of the Southern States, or States lately in rebellion, and to see what
(chaniges were necessary to be made in the disposition of the military forces of the
country; how these forces could be reduced and expenses curtailed, &c. &c., and to
learn, as far as possible, the feelings and intentions of the citizens of those States
toward the General Government.
*             *             *             *             *             *            *
Both in traveling and while stopping I saw much and conversed freely with the citizens
of tho - e States, as' well as with officers of the army who had been stationed among
them; the following are the conclusions come to by me:
I alm sati.fJied that the mass of the thinking mnen of.the South accept the present situation of
affairts ti good yaith.  The questions which have heretojbfore divided the sentiment of'the people of
the two sections-slavery anid state rights, or the right of a State to secedejrom the Union-they
regard as haviig been settled forever by the highest tribietial-ARMS-that man can resort to.
1 was pleased to learn from leading men whom I met, that they not only accepted the
decision ar-iced at AS FINAL, but, now that the smoke of battle had cleared away, and time
has been given for reflection, that their decision has been a fortunate one for the whole
country, they receiving like benefits from it with those who  opposed them in the field
and in the council.
*      *      i*       *      *       *       *       *      *       *       *      *'*
The presence of black troops lately slaves, demoralize labor, both by their advice and by
jfrai.lhits/y si their canips a resort fti thefreedmen br long distances around. White troops
'248 
TIIl i>LUNiDERED SOUTH.
generally excite no opposition, and th refore a small number of them can maintain order
in a given district.  Colored troops must be kel)t in bodies sufficient to defend themselves.  It is not the thin'kin7g men who would use violence toward any class of troops sent
among them by the general government, but the ignorant in some places might, AND THE
LATE SLAVE SEEMS TO BE IMBUED WITH THE IDEA THAT THE PROPERTY OF HIS LATE MASTER
SHOULD BY RIGHT BELONG TO  HlIM, or at least sh/ould have no protectionfronz the colored soldier. There is danger of collisions being brought on by such causes.
My observations lead me to the conclusion that the citizens of the Southern States
are anxious to return to self-government within the Union as soon as possible; that
while reconstructing, they want and require protection from the government; that they
are in earnest in wishing to do what they think is required by the government, not hitmiliating
to them ad citizens; and that if such a course were pointed out they could pursue it in
ood faith. It is to be regretted that there cannot be a greater commingling at this time
between the citizens of the two sections, and particularly of those intrusted with the
law making power.
*      *      *      *       *      *      *       *      *      *      *       *      *
U.S. GRANT,
Lieutenant- General.
On the 18th of July, 1867, when General Grant was examined before a committee of Congress, he said
"I KNOW that immediately after the close of the rebellion there was a very fine feeling manifestsd in the South, and I THOUGHT WE OUGHT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT AS SOON AS
POSSIBLE. "
All impartial men then ageeed that the statement of General Grant was true.
REPRESENTATION DENIED THE SOUTH-BUT ONEROUS TAXATION ILLEGALLY
IMPOSED.
If punishments had been politic or possible, then was the time to have inflicted
them. The Federal Courts were open everywhere; the judges and officers were
in full accord and sympathy with the administration; nearly all the great leaders
of the rebellion were at their homes and subject to be arrested; the president
of the Confederate States was in jail, demanding a trial and ready to abide the
result; he was, for causes satisfactory to the administration, discharged, and all
proceedings looking to personal punishment were everywhere abandoned. The
people of the South, of course, thought the war was ended; Congress so declared;
the President so proclaimed; the people of the North and of the South so understood; all believed the war waged to maintain and preserve the Constitution and
the Union of co-equal States, had proved a success, and that the old representative system of government-a government, as Mr. Lincoln said, "of the people,
for the people, by the people "-would go on as of old.
The Southern people, under the programme laid down for them, re-organized
their State governments, elected Representatives and Senators to Congress' ratified the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States by their
State Legislatures, conferred by law all civil rights on their emancipated slaves;
in short, did all they thought the Federal Government wanted them to do. But
when their Senators and Representatives knocked for admission at the doors of
Congress they were told to go home, that they were rebels, and ought to have no
voice in the legislative councils of the government. And when they had not a
Representative in Congress, a tax of three cents a pound was levied upon all
cotton exported, that being their great staple product, while every other portion
of the country could export its products duty free.
RECONSTRUCTION LAWS-SUFFERINGS OF THE SOUTH.
The Freedman's Bureau Bill and the Civil Rights Bill were next fastened
upon them. Then followed the series of reconstruction measures. Men and
women in the Northern and Western States have but a faint idea of the oppressions wantonly heaped upon the people of the South; of the insolence of the adventurers who were made their masters; of the strife they stirred up by their
appeals to the worst passions of the ignorant negroes, inciting them to crimes, and
deceiving them by false promises of conferring upon them the property of
their former masters, in order that they, by the votes of the negroes, might ride
into power and place, and thus be enabled to rob and plunder a people whose
most intelligent men and largest property owners were disfranchised by Congress,
the more surely to enable the Freedman's Bureau agents, and other adventurers,
to obtain and hold undisputed possession of all the functions of government, State
and Federal.
This being the condition of affairs, the only surprise is that the Southern people were not robbed and plundered to a greater extent than they were.
249 
THE PLUNDERED SOUTH.
FINANCIAL CONDITION OF THE SOUTH.
The following statement will shlow the d(lebt of the Southern States in 1865
and in 1871-2.  It will be observed that in the majority of the States there exists
a very large contingent and prospective debt, which was incurred ostensibly to aid
in the construction of railroads to develop the resources of the States.  In many
instances this was a mere subterfuge, resorted to by the carpet-baggers in order to
plunder the Treasury under color of law. In addition to giving the actual and
adjusted debt of each Southern State in 1865 and in 1871-2, together with the contingent debt during the same period, it has been deemed proper to append a few
explanatory notes which have been collected partly from the report of the Joint
Congressional Committee, and partly from other sources equally reliable.
ALABAMA.
ACTUAL AND ADJUSTED DEBT.
In 1865 -------------------------------------— $6,221,186
1872 --------------------------------------— 9,306,781
Increase under carpet-bag rule                      305 —----------— $3 5,967
CONTINGENT AND PROSPECTIVE DEBT.
This debt represents the endorsement by the State of the
Bonds of railroads, the bulk of which are in default,
and many of them worthless.
It had reached in 1872 the sum of --------------— $29,620,000
Total debt and contingent liabilities in 1872 -    -— $32,926,967
Total increase under carpet-bag rule,
$26,7057Sl.
It may not be out of place to state that $7,000,000 of the aforesaid contingent debt was advanced to a single railroad, the Alabama & Chattanooga,
which is now hopelessly bankrupt. The State has already been compelled to pay
over half a million dollars of its debts.
The above exhibit of mal-administration under the carpet-baggers is in striking contrast with the previous financial history of Alabama, whose indebtedness
of $15,400,000 in 1837 was reduced to $3,445,000 in 1860.
ARKANSAS.
ACTUAL AND ADJUSTED DEBT.
In 1865. --------------------------------------— $4,527,879
In 1871 ----------------------------------------- 5,361,265
Increase under carpet-bag rule -------------— $33,336
PROSPECTIVE AND CONTINGENT DEBT.
This debt consists of liabilities assumed by the State in
guaranteeing the payment of railroad and levee
bonds, and amounted in 1871 to --------— $14,390,000
Total debt and contingent liabilities in 1871 -    -— $19,751,265
Total increase under carpet-bag rule,
$15,223,3S6.
It is generally conceded that the debt of the State was unjustly increased over
half a million dollars by a carpet-bag Legislature, which was bribed for that
purpose.
FLORIDA.
ACTUAL AND ADJUSTED DEBT.
In 1865 ------------------------------               $1,370,617
1872 ---------------------------------------— 2,556,072
Increase under carpet-bag rule 5 —-------— *IS5455
CONTINGENT AND PROSPECTIVE DEBT.
The State has become responsible for the bonds of
several railroads, amounting in 1872 to ---------— $14,000,000
The total debt, actual and contingent, is, therefore,
in 1872 —------------------------------- - $16,556,072
Being an increase under carpet-bag rule of
$15,1S5,455.
250 
THE PLUNDERED SOUTH.
Of course, this rapid increase in the State debt was the result of official
venality.  It is charged, among other things, that the Governor issued;4,000,000O
in bonds to the Jacksonville, Pensacola and Mobile Railroad Company improvidently, and when the company was not entitled to so large a sum. The law, however, is not clear on this subject, having been loosely drafted, and without doubt
in the exclusive interest of the railroad company. Although charges of corruption were made against the Executive, the latter never deigned to explain the
reasons for his extraordinary action. The poverty-stricken condition of the
people of Florida may be conceived when it is stated that there are now due the
State for unpaid taxes $604,672.45.
In the city of Jacksonville, in 1873, the prisoners confined in the jail of that
place had to be supported by contributions of food and money from the charitable, otherwise it would have been necessary to have released or starved them.
GEORGIA.
ACTUAL AND ADJUSTED DEBT.
In 1865 ------------------------------------— $5,706,500
In 1872 --------------------------------------- 8,618,750
Increase under carpet-bag rule ---------------— $2,912,250
CONTINGENT AND PROSPECTIVE DEBT.
This debt is for liabilities assumed in endorsing the bonds
of railroads, and amounted in 1872, in round figures, to $30,000.00
The total debt, actual and contingent, in 1872 was -       — $38,618,750
Increase under the carpet-bag government,
$32,912,2i0.
Georgia was formerly not only the richest and most prosperous of the Southern States. but was almost free from both debt-and taxation. She owned a railroad,
the earnings of which were nearly sufficient to meet the annual expenses of con
ducting the State Government.   This railroad was sold by a venal Government
and a corrupt Legislature for a mere song, to a combination of Northern capitalists headed by Simon Cameron, Tom Scott, and Columbus Delano, then Secretary
of the Interior.
Referring to the extravagant issue of bonds in aid of railroads, the
Editor of the Republican  Freeman  ot  Georgia-a  Northern  man-in  his
testimony before a Committee  of  Congress  in 1872 says  "If this reck lessness and  waste are not speedily  stopped, but are followed with new
issues of bonds,  the result is inevitable.   The  State  will soon be ab sorbed, and the toiling farmers, with what little they can gather up, will
be forced to flee their homes for safety from the tax-gatherers." The Treasury of
the State was plundered by the Republican Executive himself who fled to escape
merited punishment.  The Governor's partner, Kimball, who though a bankrupt
in 1868, was the president of seven railroads, was shorn of his power.  Blodgett,
who was indicted for criminal offences, was so notoriously infamous that he was
denied the seat in the United States Senate to which a venal corrupt and ignor ant carpet-bag Legislature had elected him.  The State has since passed into the
hands of a Democratic Governor and Legislature, under whose wise, patriotic and
i pure administration Georgia is becoming rapidly convalesent, and will no doubt
resume, before many years, her former thrifty and prosperous condition, unless,
indeed, federal bayonets again invade her soil and fasten another gang of thieves
upon her.
Since this change has occurred, her debt has been funded and the actual liabilities
of Georgia are only about eight millions. Her credit, which at one time reached a
very low ebb, so low that it was almost impossible to negotiate her bonds at any
price, has been entirely recovered, and to-day the lowest quotations of Georgia
bonds are one and one-quarter cents above par value.
251 
THE PLUNDEI,ED SOUTH.
LOUISIANA.
ACTUAL AND ADJUSTED DEBT.
In 1865 --------------------- ---------------— $13,357,999
1872: —------------------------------------------ 29,619,473
Increase under carpet-bag rule -----------— $16,261,474
CONTINGENT AND PROSPECTIVE DEBT.
This debt consists of bonds endorsed by the State
to assist miscellaneous, so-called internal improve           ments, railroads, levees, canals, etc. etc., and in
1872 amounted to ----------------— $12,245,000
Total debt and contingent liabilities in 1872 --------— $41,864,473
Total increase under carpet-bag rule
$2S,506,474
The Governor of the State, in a speech delivered ii 1870 to a Committee
of citizens of New  Orleans, that waited upon him and solicited his co-operation in arresting the venal schemes of an infamous Legislature, in the
course of his remarks admitted that numerous attempts had been made
to bribe him into signing certain bills.  "A  gentlemnan of your city offered me
a bribe of $50,000 and o?e-sizxth of the net profits, to sigt that (the Nicholson Pavement) Bill," exclaimed this Governor, "and I told him I could no+ sign it.'
Whilst admitting this attempts to bribe him and some of the persons indicated by
his Excellency, allege that he had already been secured on the other sidc, whilst
others aver that the prices offered the Executive were not deemed a fair equivalent.
The several Legislatures which created the above indebtedness were so notoriously corrupt, that no attempts were made at concealment. They studiously
avoided the enactment of bribery laws, nor did the Statute book contain such
laws until 1875. The lamentable condition of society and government, in a State
where the Chief Executive and the Legislature can be approached with bribes, and
the Governor can make and publish such charges against citizens and the Legislature itself, can be more easily imagined than described. The present Kellogg
Government is regarded by respectable Republicans of Louisiana as infinitely
more corrupt and unscrupulous than any that has heretofore existed in Louisiana,
and it is this infamous and venal Government, which was fastened upon the people of the State of Louisiana by the so-called compromise, effected at the behest
of the Congressional Committee, beaded by William A. Wheeler, the present Republican Candidate for Vice-President of the United States.
MISSISSIPPI.
ACTUAL AND ADJUSTED DEBT.
In 1865. —----- -------------------------------- $919,767
In 1871. —-------------------------------------- 2,284,216
Increase under carpet-bag rule. —-------------- $1,367,449
The cost of conducting the State Government of Mississippi was in 1868 only
$438,000 and in 1870 $942,000.
The public printing before the war cost $10,000. In 1872 this item had
reached $127,000.
The absence of a bonded debt in the above statement, is due entirely to the
fact that the State Constitution prohibits the Legislature from pledging the
credit of the State. Hence, the existing liabilities embrace only Auditor's warrants and certificates of indebtness.
The rate of taxation in 1874 reached $30 per 1,000 in several of the larger
counties.
NORTH CAROLINA.
DEBT AND LIABILITIES.
In 1868 ----------------------------------------------- $15,779,945
" 1872 -                                                     34,887,467
Increase under carpet-bag rule 1 —---------— $19,107,522
If the legislation of the carpet-bag convention of 1868 and of the Legislature
of 1868 —'69, had been carried into effect the result would have been a State debt
on January 1, 1871, of $42,000,000. Fortunately, however, the courts interfered,
252
I 
THE PLUNDERED SOUTIh.
and  saved the State about $10,000,000, by  declaring appropriations  to this
amount, illegal and void. The Governor of the State declared in 1871 that repudiation of at least a part of the debt was a necessity. The Legislature was so
corrupt that it was impossible to secure any legislation without paying for it. *A
director of a railroad testified before a Congressional Commlittee that overtures
for the passage of ten millions of bonds in aid of the railroad had been made by
the leaders in the Legislature, on condition that they would be paid ten per cent.
of the amount voted.
SOUTH CAROLINA.
ACTUAL AND ADJUSTED DEBT.
In 1865 ----------------------------------------- $13,038,964
1871 ---------------------------------------  15,768,306
Increase under carpet-bag rule. —------------ $2,729,342.
CONTINGENT AND PROSPECTIVE DEBT.
This debt is for endorsing the bonds of railroads, and in
1871 was --------------------------------— $6,712,608
Total actual and contingent debt -----------------— $22,480,914
Total increase under the carpet-bag administration,
$9,441,950.
The above statement is reliable as information derived from official sources
can make it, but by no means accurate. To ascertain the exact amount of the
debt and liabilities of South Carolina is perhaps impossible. The whole machinery
of the State Government, as results prove, has been run for the express purpose
of plundering the people and enriching the officials. This unfortunate State fell
into the hands of a worse set of carpet-baggers than any other. The negroes, as
a class, were more ignorant and debased in South Carolina than elsewhere in the
South. They outnumbered the white electors by 35,000 voters, and became the
pliant tools of the needy adventurers who obtained power by their votes. The
Governor and his official staff were all carpet-baggers. The Legislature was
composed mainly of ignorant negroes and degraded white men. The people of
South Carolina are now not only on the verge of bankruptcy, but their future is
almost without a gleam of hope.  But, as the plunderers have quarreled over
their victim, their dissensions may perhaps bring some relief. This is the only
chance the people have.
TENNESSEE.
ACTUAL AND CONTINGENT.
In 1866 -------------------------------------- $26,777,347
" 1872 —-----------------------                 32,054,476
Total increase under carpet-baggers,
$5,277,129.
The large increase of debt since the war was caused by granting aid to railroads, in the shape of the endorsement of their bonds. The several carpet-bag
Legislatures which passed the obnoxious measures were, of course, composed of
the usual corrupt material. But after years of trouble and misfortune, the State
has at last passed from the control of her oppressors and marauders, and is now
safe under the able and honest management of her own people.
TEXAS.
ACTUAL AND ADJUSTED DEBT.
In 1865 —------------------------------------- $ 328,866
In 1871 ---------------------------------------- 1,454,887
Increase under carpet-bag rule ------------— $1,129,021
CONTINGENT AND PROSPECTIVE DEBT.
The State has incurred prospective and contingent liabili   ties by guaranteeing the bonds of the Southern
Pacific and International Railroads, to an extent esti    mated in 1872 at. —-------------------------- $11,500,000
Total contingent and prospective debt ------------— $12,954,887
Total Increase under the carpet-baggers,
$12,629,021.
253 
THE PI,UNDERED SOUTH.
VIRGINIA.
In 1     8 65.. —-------------------- $41,061,316
In 1871..      -.. —---------------- 47,390,839
Increase under carpet-bag rule —--------------- $6,329,523
Virginia's comparatively small increase in her debt is due to thle short-lived
power of the carpet-baggers in the State. Under her Denmocratic officials the financial condition of the State is very satisfactory.
A CONTRAST SHARPLY DRAWN.
The contrast between the condition of the people in the Southern St ates which
have been redeemed from carbet-bag rule, and ill the unfortunate States of South
Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, is sharply drawn in the following synopsis (.)of the
proceedings of the trustees of the Peabody Fund, which was sent all over the
country bythe Associated Press, and published in the daily papers of August 
1876.  This article says:
The Peabody trustees, now in session at the Greenbrier White Sulphur
Springs, spent Friday in discussing Dr. Sear's report of last year's worlk. The
report shows a general flourishing condition of the public schools in the Southern
States, except in Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana. The total amount expended for last year was $99,150.  Virginia received $20,050; North Caroliia, $8,300
South Carolina, $5,000; Georgia, $8,550; Florida, $3,700; Alabama, $5, 800; Miississippi, $11,800; Louisiana, $2,000; Texas, $4,550; Arkansas, $2,800; Tennessee
$14,600; West Virginia, $12,000. West Virginia and Tennessee have received
larger proportionate amounts than any other States, because they h,ve made
more effort to foster and promote a public school system. The amounts paid
South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana are proportionately small, because of their
failure to foster a public education, the idea of the trustees, being to help those
who help themselves.  There are, however, 1,000,000 children attending schools,
in part supported by the Peabody fund. There will be over $100,000 for distribution the ensuing year, after paying all expenses.  The report closes with a reference to the death of Governor Clifford, and a tribute of respect to his memory.
Mr. George Peabody Russell, of England, who spent last Winter in the South,
expressed the opinion that nothing could be expected from those States in the
way of advancing their educational interest until there was an entire change in
their State governments.
This report needs no comment. Facts speak for themselves.
RECAPITULATION.
TOTAL INCREASE UNDER CARPET-BAG GOVERNMENT.
Alabama..,0, —------------------------------------ 26,05,781
Arkansas ----------------------------------------- 15,223,386
Florida ------------------------------------------ 15,185,455
Georgia. —--------------------------------------- 32,912,250
Louisiana. —------------------------------------ 28,506,474
Mississippi ------------------------------------— 1,367,449
North Carolina. —-------------------------------- 19,107,522
South Carolina. —--------------------------------- 9,441,950
Tennessee -------------------------------------— 5,277,129
Texas ------------------------------------------—. J2,629,021
Virginia ---------------------------------------- 6,329,523
GAND TOTAL INCREASE IN THEE ELEVEN SOUTHERN
STATES                               $172,6S5,940
254 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
ALL THE STATEMENTS OF SENATOR MORTON ABOUT IN
TIMIDATION AND VIOLENCE PROVED TO BE UN
FOUNDED BY THE TESTIMONY OF REPUBLICANS.
The report of the minority of the Senate Select Committee to inquire into the
alleged outrages in Mississippi given in full below, was submitted to the Senate
August 8th, 1876. The Republican majority of the Committee withheld the evidence from the printer until they had completed their own report, which was not
submitted to the minority until the day before it was laid before the Senate. The
minority had not the opportunity to examine the testimony after it was printed,
because it has not up to this date, August 16, come from the hands of the printer.
For this reason the blank references in their report to the testimony quoted can
not be supplied. It is worthy of note that while the Republican press has made a
loud outcry about the Democratic majorities of the House Committees only giving
the Republican minority forty-eight hours notice of their intention to submit
their reports to the House, here was a Republican majority of a Senate Committee
which did not submit their report to the Democratic minority till a few hours before it was made to the Senate, and, to prevent, if possible, the minority from making a report, deliberately withheld the testimony from the printer.
The views of the minority are as follows:
On December 15, 1875, the Senator from Indiana [Mr. MORTON] submitted the
following resolution:
"Whereas, it is alleged that the late election in Mississippi for members of Congress, State officers, and members of the Legislature was characterized by great
frauds, violence, and intimidation, whereby the freedom of the ballot was in
a great measure destroyed, a reign of terror established, ballot-boxes stuffed, spurious tickets imposed upon voters, so that a popular majority of more than 25,000
was overcome, and in its place was given an apparent but fraudulent majority of
more than 25,000; and whereas the Legislature thus chosen will have the election
of a Senator to represent that State in this body; and whereas if these allegations
are true a great number of the citizens of the United States have had their rights
under the Constitution and laws of the United States wickedly violated: Therefore,
"Resolved, That a committee of five Senators be appointed by the Chair to investigate the truth of the said allegations and the circumstances attending said
election, with power to visit said State to make their investigations, to send for
persons and papers, and to use all necessary process in the performance of their
duties- and to make report to the Senate before the end of this session of their
investigation and findings."
He supported its adoption by a series of speeches, the last of which was dated
January 19, 1876, the ttue history and inspiration of  which will hereafter be
255 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
noted in considering the testimony taken before the committee The resolution
slept until the 27th of March, 1876, when an amendment was proposed by the
Senator from Michigan [Mr. CHERISTIANCY] and accepted by Mr. MORTON, as
follows:
"Whereas it is alleged that the late election in Mississippi (in 1875) for members of Congress, and State officers, and members of the Legislature, was characterized by great frauds committed upon and violence exercised toward colored
citizens of that State and the white citizens disposed to support their rights at the
election, and especially that the-colored voters on account of their color, race or
previous condition of servitude, were, by intimidation and force deterred from
voting, or compelled to vote, contrary to their wishes, for candidates and. in support of parties to whom they were opposed, and their right to the free exercise
of the elective franchise, as secured by the fifteenth amendment to the
Constitution, thus practically denied and violated, and that such intimidation
has been since continued for the purpose of  affecting future elections; and
whereas the people of all the United States have an interest in and a right to insist
upon the enforcement of this coustitutional amendment, and Congress, having
the power to enforce it by appropriate legislation, cannot properly neglect the
duty of providing the necessary legislation for this purpose: Therefore
" Resolved, That a committee of five Senators be appointed by the Chair to investigate the truth of these allegations, and to inquire how far these constitutional
rights have, in the said election, been violated by force, fraud, or intimidation,
and to inquire and report to the Senate, before the end of the present session,
whether any, and if so, what, further legislation is necessary to secure to said
colored citizens the free enjoyment of their constitutional rights; and  that said
committee be empowered to visit said State, to send for persons and papers, to
take testimony on oath, and to use all necessary process for these purposes."
SENATOR BOUTWELL'S FANATICISM.
After debate in the Senate, the resolution was adopted. In the course of this
debate, the Senator from Massachusetts [Mr. BOUTWELL] made the following
declaration:
"For seventy years the spirit of hypocrisy and misrepresentation dominated
over the slave-holding section of this confederacy. They continually presente(l
themselves to the country and to the world as the friends of the Union, and it was
a lie from first to last. They were the enemies of the Union; and when the. Unioli
did not answer the chief purpose which they had, and the only purpose they had,
the preservation of the institution of slavery, they made war upon the Union.  The
Senator from Delaware was the political supporter and ally and the substantiai defender of the men who made war upon the Union, who clung to the Union for
seventy years under the falsehood that they were its friends. They were its enemies
all the while. Slavery, the spirit of slavery, is and ever has been the eneny of the
Union and it is so to-day. The troubles in the South are due to the spirit of slavery, and the time has come when I am forced to confess to myself and with reluctance to say here that I do not in my heart believe that any man educated under and
obedient to the influence of slavery can be the friend of a Union that is designed to
establish and preserve equality. The North will do well to take heed and to trust
no man who was brought up under the influence of slavery, controlled by its spirit,
and dominated by its power, and is not yet extinct."
The committee, as finally appointed under the resolution, consists of Messrs.
BOUTWELL, (chairman,) CAMERON, of Wisconsin, MCMILLAN, BAYARD  and  MCDONALD,thus omitting in the organization of the committee the mover or amender of
the' original resoulution. The first meeting of the committee was held on the
in the Capitol, and, at the second or third meeting, the clerk of the committee, Mr.
Bartlett, was appointed stenograph.r, and MAir. James Redpath, of Massachusetts,
was selected in his place as clerk, and lis continued with intelligence and efficiency to fill that position, having been present at all the sessions of the committee.
On the I  a resolution was offered in the committee by Mr. BAYARD that the testimony should be taken with open doors, which was rejected by the committee,
Mr. BAYARD and Mr. McDoNALD voting in the affirmative. But a small portion of the
testimony has as yet been printed, nor has any repoirt of the committee been made;
but Mr. Redpath, the clerk, having had the fullest opportunity of hearing the testimony of the witnesses and having had charge of all communications to the com-'
mitttee, has been enabled, in advance of the committee, to submit a public report
1 256 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
over his own signature, of which the following extract will convey a distinct idea
of his views. Speaking of the Union men of the South, or the original whigs, and
the vigorous part they took in the contest, he says:
"Still they were Union men: but the Union they once knew was gone forever
They tried to begin where they'left off, ignorant of the fact that while they fought
a moral revolution has been going on in the North, that it was no longer Webster
or Clay, but the man whom they had hanged at Charleston as a felon who was
now the ideal leader of a regenerated nation."
These references are made to the utterances of the chairman, and of the clerk
selected by him to accompany the committee, and make public impression of
affairs in Mississippi, and the remedy to be applied, because it indicated fully to
the undersigned that from the first it would be naturally impossible for them, with
their ideas of constitutional duty, to subscribe to the deductions of those who, however intelligent or conscientious, started out upon the proposed investigation upon
such a platform of ideas.
PRESIDENT GRANT'S ANIMOSITY AGAINST THE SOUTH.
While writing this report, the undersigned have read with surprise and regret
the message of the President of the United States, dated July 31,1876, transmitting
to Congress certain correspondence relating to the murders lately committed at
Hambur,h, in South Carolina.
In this message he has seen fit to use the following language:
"But recently a committee of the Senate of the United States visited the State
of Mississippi to. take testimony on the subject of frauds and violence in elections.
Their report has not yet been made public, but I await its forthcoming with a feeling of confidence that it will fully sustain all that I have stated relating to fraud
and violence in the State of Mississippi.
"U. S. GRANT."
In his letter of the 26th of July to Governor Chamberlain he had stated:
"Mississippi is governed to-day by officials chosen through fraud and violence
such as would scarcely be accredited to savages, much less to a civilized and
Christian people."
This last statement, come it from whom it may, we pronounce, in the face of the
testimony taken before this committee, and inot yet printed, to be untrue and unwarranted by the facts disclosed.
The tone of animosity to the white people of the South, which breathes throughout the President's message and letter is unmistakable.  In his message of July
31, six days subsequent to this letter, the President says: " The report [on Mississippi] has not yet been made public." Why should he anticipate?
We hold it, and we believe it will be so held by right-thinking men everywhere, discreditable for the Chief Magistrate thus to have exhibited such evidence of prejudice against any portion of his fellow-citizens.
It adds, however, but another proof to the many given heretofore that the heart
and mind of President Grant are closed to all sense of justice where his political
opponents, especially in the Southern States, are concerned.
Other attempts to forestall public opinion in relation to the affairs in Mississippi
have been made, calculated to grossly mislead.  Two attempts to fasten obloquy
upon one of the undersigned [Mr. BAYARD], and at the same time to convey unjust impressions against the people of Mississippi, may be noted.
[Spec&al dispatch to the Baltimore Sun.]
WASHINGTON, July 25.
THE REPUBLICAN REPORT IN MISSISSIPPI.
*            *             *             *.*                       *
"Another case illustrative of the general conclusions arrived at by the majority
of the committee is that of a native of Philadelphia. He settled near Vicksburgh and was with his family. He had been appointed a justice of the peace by
the Governor of the State, and his wife opened a school for the instruction of the
poor.  He was subsequently a candidate for office.  On onO night fifty armed
men dashed upon his premises. and shot him down without a word of warning)
and in the presence of his wife and family.  When the story of this wife was
257 
RADICAL RULI,E IN MISSISSIPPI.
told by her own lips to the committee, Senator BAYARD, one of the committee,
ejaculated,'I don't believe it.'
"After the murder, according to the report, the assassins hovered about the
house and would not permit the wife to enact even the rites of sepulture. They
dragged the bleeding corpse from the arms of the distracted woman, pitched it
into a pig-wallow, and then left. Senator BAYARD, affected by the narration, repeated,'I won't believe it under oath.' The report says that these'banditti-' for
it states they compare with Italians of the same class-live upon the people. They
are dissolute and indolent, generally the sons of planters impoverished by the war,
or the remnant of that class of adventurers who fastened upon the institution of
slavery as the camp-follower lives upon an army."
Mr. BAYARD never even saw the witness referred to, who was examined in his
absence, and he never made any statement even similar in language or character
to that falsely attributed to him. Yet this vicious falsehood has already had
wide circulation.
In the New York'wies of the 27th of July we find the following letter and
preceding comments:
"Senator BOUTWELL has also received a letter fronm a colored witness who testified in Mississippi, from which it will be seen how the democracy of that State
propose to treat those who obeyed the summons of the Senate Committee:
I' DEAR SIR: I having been summon before your investigationg to give a sworne
testimony in regard to the late election, which.I did, and I told nothing but the
truth.  Yesterday I was met by an armed mob in the streets of              -, and
compelled me to say that I swore a            lie.  And told me I had either to
say that I swore to a      -     lie or leave the city or die.  The excitement grew
so intense that I was compell to take back what I said before the committee.
I was also met by another mob at         the same day that I was before the committee and compelled to do the same before I got home. I w'd not be supprised if
I were not mob before you receive this letter.  If you read this letter where Senator BAYARD can hear it he will write down here and let these democrats know it,
and I will be murdered as soon as I appear on the streets. Therefore it will be
best for me for you to keep this to yourself and other republicans.'
"Of course every one who knows Senator BAYARD will smile at this suspicion,
but it shows the state of terrorism still maintained by the banditti of Mississippi."
For what reason and with what intent this letter was so published may be inferred from the letter itself and the editorial use of it.
It will be observed that the committee were instructed by the resolution to
inquire into alleged violations of the fifteenth amendment to the Constitution,
and the necessity of new and appropriate legislation for its enforcement; and it
would seem that the scope of the investigation was intended to have been confined
to that object. But in the investigation conducted by the majority, nearly every
right and power of the State of Mississippi, heretofore supposed to be among the
reserved powers belonging to the States, and not justly subject to exterior control,
has been made the subject of the most wide-spread, unrestrained inquiry. The social
habits, domestsc institutions, personal and individual dealings and contracts, local
police arrangements, and whole classes of subjects heretofore supposed to be.under
the sole control of the State and county governments, and even family affairs, have
been made the subjects of inquisition.
The limitations upon the powers of Congress in itslrelation to the internal affairs
of the States have been lately the subject of careful deliberation and adjudication
by the Supreme Court of the United States in cases involving the validity of legis.
lation by Congress in pari materia with that now proposed by the resolution.
TI[E SUPREME COURT ON THE POWERS OF CONGRESS.-THE ENFORCEMENT ACV
NULL AND VOID.
In the recent case of the United States vrs. Cruikshank, M+. Chief Justice Waite
delivered the opinion of the court, and said:
"We have in our political system a Government of the United States and a government of each of the sevaral States. Each one of these governments is distinct
from the other, and each has citizens of its own, who owe it allegiance, and
whose rights within its jurisdiction it must protect. The same person may be at
the same time a citizen of the United States and a citizen of a State, but his
rights of citizenship under one of these governments will be different from those
he has under the other. (Slaughter-house cases, 16 Wallace, 74.)
258 
RAI)ICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
"Citizens are the members of the political community to which they belong.
They are the people who compose the community, and who, in their associated capacity, have established or submitted themselves to the dominion of a go ernment
for the promotion of their general welfare and the protection of their individual
as well as their collective rights. In the formation of a government the people
may confer upon it such powers as they choose. The government, when so formed
may, and when called upon should, exercise all the powers it has for the protection
of the rights of its citizens and the people within its jurisdiction, but it can exercise no other. The duty of a government to afford protection is limited always
by the power it possesses for that purpose.
"The government thus established and defined is to some extent agovernment of the States in their political capacity. It is also for certain purposes a
government of the people. Its powers are limited in number but not in degree
Within the scope of its powers, as enumerated and defined, it is supreme and
above the States; but beyond, it has no existence.  It was erected for special
purposes and endowed with all the powers necessary for its own preservation and
the accomplishment of the ends its people had in view. It can neither grant nor
secure to its citizens any right or privilege not expressly or by implication placed
under its jurisdiction.
"The people of the United States resident within any State are subject to two
governments, one State and the other National; but there need be no conflict between the two.  The powers which one possesses the other does not.  They are
established for different purposes and have separate jurisdictions. Together they
make one whole and furnish the people of the United States with a complete government, ample for the protection of all their rights at home and abroad. It is
the natural consequence of a citizenship which owes allegiance to two sovereignties and claims protection from both. The citizen cannot complain beeause he has
voluntarily submitted himself to such a form of government. He owes allegiance
to the two departments, so to speak, and within their respective spheres must pay
the penalties which each exacts for disobedience to its laws. In return, he can
demand protection from each within its own jurisdiction.
"The Government of the United States is one of delegated powers alone, its
authority is defined and limited by the Constitution. All powers not granted to it
by that instrument are reserved to the States or the people. No rights can be acquired under the Constitution or laws of the United States except such as the Government of the United Statei has the authority to grant or secure. All that cannot be so granted or secured are left under the protection of the States."
Then again:
"The third and eleventh counts are even more objectionable. They charge the
intent to have been to deprive th~ citizens named, they being in Louisiana,'of
their respective several lives and liberty of person without due process of law.'
This is nothing else than alleging a conspiracy to falsely imprison or murder citi.
zens of the United States being within the territorial jurisdiction of the State of
Louisiana. The rights of life and personal liberty are natural rights of man.' To
secure these rights,' says the Declaration of Independence,'governments are indtituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.'
The very highest duty of the States when they entered into the Union under the
Constitution was to protect all persons within their bounderies in the enjoyment
of these'inalienable rights with which they were endowed by their Creator.'
Sovereignty for this purpose rests alone with the States. It is no more the duty
or within the power of the United States to punish for a conspiracy to falsely imprison or murder within a State than it would be to punish for false imprisonment
or murder itself.
"The fourteenth amendment prohibits a State from depriving any person of
life, liberty or property, without due process of law, but this adds nothing to'the
rights of one citizen as against another. It simply furnishes an additional guarantee against any encroachment by the States upon the fundamental rights which
belong to every citizen as a member of society."
THE FIFTEENTH AMENDMENT.
These propositions were unanimouslylaid down by the court, in considering al,leged violations of the fourteenth amendment of the Constitution. but are equally
applicable to the discussion of the relative powers and duties of the Federal and
State Governments under any and all provisions of the Constitution.
259 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
In the case of the United States vs. Reese, decided at the same time, the court
says:
" Rights and immunities created by or dependent upon the Constitution of the
United States can be protected by Congress. The form and the manner of the protection may I)e such as Congress, in tie legitimate exercise of its legislative discretion, shall provide. These may be varied to meet the necessities of the particular
rights tobe protected.
"The fifteenth amendment does not confer the right of suffrage upon any one.
It prevents the States, or the United States, however, from giving preference in
this particular to one citizen of the United States over another on account of race,
color, or previous condition of servitude. Before its adoption this could be done.
It was as much within the power of a State to exclude citizens of the United States
from voting on account of race, &c., as it was on account of age, property, or
education. Now it is not. If citizens of one race, having certain qualifications,
are permitted by law to vote, those of another, having the same qualifications,
must be. Previous to this amendment there was no constitutional guarantee
against this discrimination. Now, there is.  It follows that the amendment has
invested citizens of the United States with a new constitutional right, which is
withiln the protecting power of Congress
"That right is exemption from discrimination in the exercise of the elective
franchise on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.  This,
under the express provisions of the second section of the amendment, Congress
may enforce by'appropriate legislation.
" The power of Congress to legislate at all upon the subject of voting at State
elections rests upon this amendment. The effect of article 1, section 4, of the
Constitution, in respect to elections for Senators and Representatives, is not now
under consideration.  It has not been contended, nor can it be, that the amendment confers authority to impose penalties for every wrongful refusal to receive
the vote of a qualified elector at State elections.  It is only when the wrongful
refusal at such an election is because of race, color, or previous condition of
servitude that Congress can interfere and provide for its punishment.
*        *         *         *         *         *         *,*
"The courts enforce the legislative will when ascertained, if within the constitutional grant of power.   Within its legitimate sphere Congress is supreme
and beyond the control of the courts, but if it steps outside of its constitutional
limitations and attempts that which is beyond( its reach, the courts are authorized to, and when called upon in due course of legal proceedings, must,
annul its encroachments upon the reserved power of the States and the
people.
*        *         *         *         *         *         *         *
"We must, therefore, decide that Congress has not, as yet, provided by'appropriate legislation,' for the punishment of the offense charged in the indictment, and that the Circuit Court properly sustained the demurrers and gave judgment for the defendants."
THE CONDITION OF  MISSISSIPPI.
In subordination to the principles thus laid down by the authority of the tribunal of last resort in our country, the undersigned would have been disposed to
confine their investigations to subjects plainly within the jurisdiction of Congress,
without infringing upon any of the reserved rights of the State of Mississippi,
believing it to be the cardinal feature of our institutions that the equality of the
States in the Union must ever be respected, and that any practice which invades so
necessary a principle must place in jeopardy not only the rights of a single State,
but; in their turn, the rights of all the remaining States; and that a power which
is conceded to be applicble to the overthrow of the autonomy of any one State
is liable to be used for the destruction of any other State, and that there is no
safety for any unless the rights of each are guarded.
The condition of the State of Mississippi is to be considered at three periods of
time.
FIRST.-In the Spring of 1875, before the commencement of the political canvass,
in which the.alleged outrages upon the rights of citizens under the, fifteenth
amendment are said to have occurred;
'SECoD.-Its condition during the election itself, on the 2d of November, 1875;
and, 
RADICAL RULE IN MiISSISSIPPI.
THIIRD.-Its condition as discovered by the committee at the time of their visit
in June, 1876.
For a proper understanding of the entire case we propose to recite, by the light
of the testimony and supported by its facts, what we believe to have been the
true condition of Mississippi in the Spring of 1875. At the time of preparing
this report, however, but a small part of She testimony has been printed; and
although we trust to be enabled to insert the proper references before it is submitted, yet the absence of the printed testimony interferes materially with one of
our objects, i. e., to make no assertions, but to let the witnesses speak for thelmselves, and to substantiate every fact by reference to its basis.
It has been said by high authority that it was difficult to draw an indictment
against a whole people. Equally difficult is it to establish any rules of evidence
that would sustain so vague an indictment. And in the present inquisition it
would becomine plain to all who shall read the depositions and observe the mode
of interrogation employed that every rule which the experience of mankind has
established as essential for the regulation of evidence and the ascertainment of
truth has been disregarded in the course of this investigation. So that the great
bulk of the testimony which has been taken is such as would not be received in
any court of justice in this country to convict the meanest felon of the pettiest
offense.
Every rule of evidence followed by courts in the administration of justice has
been entirely disregarded. Every rule which experience has shown is essential
for the elucidation of truth has been thrown aside, and opinion, hearsay, wild
rumor, anything and all things which excitement, prejudice, hate, love, or fear
can suggest, have been poured in without discrimination or check.
No individual, no community, can be safe against such an order of things.
The usual tests of discriminiation between truth and falsehood having been
abandoned, the result cannot be s'tifactory to any just mind.
The argument that the charge is vatgue and,against a whole community only
makes the effect worse.
When a false principle is adopted, the wider its a,pplic(a' ion the more dangerous it becomes.
O'OV. AEES ON TlHE WITNESS s'IANSt).
This is observable in the examination from the first witness to Ihe lIl:t.  -delbert Ames, the ex-Governor of Mississippi, who was called anct examined ()on the
27th of April, and at page 29, on the third day of his examination, in which he
had made the most wholesale and sweeping assertions of facts of violence and
intimidation, was asked
Q. You have referred to various acts of violence and intimidation; have you
personal knowledge of any of those acts?  A. I never saw an act of violence
performed.
Q. Did you ever see an act of intimidation performed? A. No; I never saw
an act of violence performed.
Q. Then what you have said is derived from the infornmation of other people E
A. Yes, sir.
And on page 32  Q. I ask you, do you know the fact whether there was any resistance to process, when issued, in that State? A. That statement I have made; I would say
that I do not know of any facts of that kind.
And again  Q. Do you know of a case where process of the courts has been returned with
that statement? A. I do not.
In fact, if the testimony touching the subjects within the scope of the resolution of the Senate could be reduced to such as is receivable under the rules of
evidence, as recognized by courts of justice and by this Senate while sitting as a
court, the testimony taken in Mississippi by this committee would be confined to
a dozen pages of manuscript. The rest is rumor, hearsay, and opinion. Not
only so, but nearly all the witnesses examined for what may be termed the prosecution of the white people of the State of Mississippi were defeated candidates
in the election of 1875 or other interested supporters or persons who  lid lost
office and failed of re-appointment.  Most of the witnesses, when pinned dowit
by cross-examination to give names of persons concerned and dates, were directly
and flatly contradicted as to those facts, an(l many of the occurrences either
,)Al. 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
shown to have been not only untrue, but impossible, or else accompanied by facts
which subjected them to a totally different construction.
ABSURD CHARGES BY IGNORANT NEGROES.
A large body of these witnesses were negroes of the most ignorant and uncivilized description, who did not hesitate to state anything, and whose declarations
were frequently of the wildest and most absurd character.
The case of — -,* page -, testifying of Mr. Preasley, the judge of election
at Calhoun precinct, in Madison County, rudely taking tickets from colored men,
tearing them up and throwing them on the ground in the sight of the witness, is
denied by Judge Cunningham, the republican judge of election present on the occasion, by Preasley's own statement and that of several bystanders.  (See page
.) Witnesses thus set free to state anything and everything that malice could
suggest, partisan animosity encourage, and ignorance assist, rendered it difficult
to confute, by reason of the vagueness and uncertainty of their statements. The
value of the testimony of Ann Hodge, colored, can be readily estimated, page
421:
By Mr. BAYARD:
Q. Did you ever take an oath? A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know the meaning of taking an oath? A. No, sir.
Q. Do you know the consequences of swearing falsely? A. No, sir.
In short, the proverbial difficulty of proving a negative was imposed upon the
white people of Mississippi, who, by the ruling of the majority, were not suffered
to be present even by their representatives while the testimony was being taken.
THE, RULE OR RUIN POLICY OF CONGRESS AND CARPET-BAGGERS.
The reconstruction policy of Congress had fully and perfectly forced the institutions of the State of Mississippi into the most entire subjection and conformity
with its provisions. What Mississippi was at the time of the last election of Governor Ames in 1873, she was "the work of reconstruction by Congress." The will
of her people, their tastes, their prejudices, their virtues, and their faults, had
been melted and run into a mold fashioned by the will of Congress alone.  If her
institutions were defective, if they were not conducive to the ends of good government, if they were arranged with an unwise disregard of the condition and
wants of her people, that people are no more responsible than the population of
France, for they had no voice. Such as she was in 1873 the Congress of the United
States had made her.  The State constitution was molded in accordance with the
will of Congress. The legislation under it had been enacted by men placed in
power by the Federal Government. The ruling principle of that legislation seems
to have been to lead as much power as possible directly into the hands of the executive, in which the reins were placed. The institution of suffrage was of course
the proposed basis, and to control this the machinery of elections was placed
absolutely in the hands of the governor, who had the sole power to appoint those
officers who in their turn had the power of appointment of the registrars of
every county, who in their turn appointed the election officers throughout the
State in their respective counties, and supervised the elections and returns, thus
gathering the whole control of elections in a single executive hand.
This was the state of things when Governor Ames took his seat on the 1st day of
January, 1874, elected in the month of November previous. There was not an official of the State who was not a member of the republican party. There was not a
county official to be appointed by the governor who was not in close affinity with
him. In all the republican counties, and all were republican in which negroes
were in a majority, -every official was a member of the same party. Thus we see
that the entire control of the State was in the hands of Governor Ames and his
party associates. At page 30 of his deposition the fact is stated by him as follows:
Q. You have stated the violence and intimidation to have existed in the republican counties of the State? A. Yes, sir.
Q. You have not referred to violence in any but republican counties?  A. No.
sir.
* The plinted testimony having been withheld, the blank reference to the depositions of witnesses are necessarily left unfilled, which is owing to the sudden and unexpected appearance of the
report of the majority before the testimony was even delivered to the printer.
262 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
Q. Such is the fact, is it not?  A. Yes, sir.
Q. Were not then all these justices of the peace, chancellors, the judiciary and
the machinery for choosing juries, in the hands of the dominant party in those
counties?  A. Yes, sir.
Q. I need not ask you if all the United States officers in that State were not
members of the republican party; that was so, was it not? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Then the grand juries and the petit juries, and the judges, and the sheriffs,
and the supervisors, by whom the jurors were selected, were all controlled by the
dominant party in those counties? A. They were all belonging to the dominant
party.
Of course every official of the Federal Government, district judges, district
attorneys, marshals, deputy marshals, supervisors, postmasters, revenue officers,
were all of the same party, and necessarily active adherents. It may be truly said
that there was no trace whatever of official power in the State of Mississippi in the
hands of the democratic party until the 1st day of January, 18'76.
SOCIAL, MORAL AND FINANCIAL CONDITION OF MISSISSIPPI UNDER AMES.
Now, let us consider into what a condition, social, moral and financial, Mississippi was brought in the Spring of 1875, under the administration which has just
been described. The population of Mississippi, by the census of 1870, had a total
of 827,922 souls. Of these 382,896 were white people, 444,201 colored people, and
the remainder Indians and persons not classed. The State was divided into
seventy-three counties. The negro majority was thus about sixty thousand, bnt
was distributed chiefly in the rich river counties and on the richer cotton-producing lands of the State, in which they greatly outnumbered the white population,
and in these counties their large numerical majority was consolidated.
The domestic institutions of the State had been completely revolutionized, and
the relations of the white and black races had not been permitted to adjust themselves into that harmony and good feeling which the interests of both made so essential to happiness and good order. The whites, as the result of the war, were
impoverished to a most painful extent, which must impress itself upon any person who visits the State, which presents even to a casual eye unmistakable evidences of wide-spread and lamentable prostration. This brings with it increased
privation to the colored people, who never had property, and who depended, necessarily, upon property-owners for their support. When their employers were
ruined the blow fell severely upon the employed. Theirs was a commnon lot, and
that which struck down and crippled the one fell also heavily upon the other.
Unfortunately, the new and arbitrary political conditions imposed upon both
races by the will of Congress were disturbed by the presence of a class of unscrupulous, needy, and rapacious adventurers, who came down to fill the political
offices to which prejudice against the southern whites on the part of those who
held power in the Federal Government and the absolute ignorance and incompetence of the negroes prevented those whites from being appointed. The result
was, as the testimony everywhere discloses, that the State and Federal offices to
which any considerable emolument was attached fell into the hands of white men
newly arrived within the borders of the State, ignorant and unsympathetic of
the wishes and feelings of the white population, and bent wholly upon using
the political material which they found ready at their hands in the shape 6f
masses of ignorant, superstitious, and suspicious negroes to sustain themselves
in office and power. Instead of encouraging the colored population to relations
of amity and confidence with the whites who gave them employment and furnishlied them with the means of subsistence, it has been plainly the object and intent of these political adventurers to increase the distrust between the races and
to encourage on the part of the blacks and intensify the instinct and feeling of
race opposition. In this by means of low arts they have been unhappily too suc-essful, and the negroes of the State of Mississippi have been banded together in
an unthinking mass, under the lead and blind control of a handful of northern
strangers, with here and there a native white man.
Throughout the testimony it is evident the white people of Mississippi, in the
interests of the entire community, made every attempt to penetrate this alliance
against them, and resorted to every means of combination and alliance with their
political opponents to procure even a tolerable and decent administration of public
affairs.  Since 1868 they had given up their party name and candidates, had voted
for Dent, a republican, had voted for Alcorn, a republican, and essayed in every
263 
- RADICAL  RULE  IN MISSISSIPPI.
way to appease and mollify the party led by Governor Ames; but all in vain.
They witnessed the selection of men either incompetent or criminal, or both, for
important offices in the State. They saw their best men, most virtuous, exprienced and able citizens, passed by in contempt.
GOV. AMES' S FRIENDS AND ADVISERS.
They saw men notoriously vicious, and justly proscribed, taken into the con fidence and friendship of Ames and placed in authority. (See the case of William
Gray, negro brigadier-general, page-, and his character described by a repub lican witness, Putnam, p. Also, see Judge Shackleford, p. —, W. A. Fer guson, p. —; Judge John A. C. Watson, p..)
Cardozo, the forging clerk of the Circuit Court and defrauding State superin tendent of public instruction; Davenport, the negro forger and county clerk; O.
P. Lee, white, aide-de-camp, defaulter, and red-handed murderer of two black
committee-men; Morgan, the sheriff of Yazoo County, with the indictment for the
murder of Hilliard, his republican predecessor and contestant, hanging over him;
Davis, colored lieutenant-governor, the vender of pardons of any crime for
money; these are specimens of the men whom he took to his confidence and made
his political associates, and to complaints against whom he accorded such treatment, as in the case of the application to him by the mayor of the little town of
Greenville, in Washington County, soliciting protection against repeated acts of
incendiarism in which Brigadier-General Gray was implicated and subsequently
indicted for arson. Governor Ames sending no reply to this supplication for pro tection, placed the letter in the hands of Gray himself, who flaunted it in triumph
in the face of the citizens.  (See deposition of William A. Ferguson, p.)
Invested with the power of selecting the entire judiciary of the State, the character of his appointments may be learned from the deposition of Judge John A.
C. Watson, of Holly Springs, who at page --   testifies as follows:
Question. What class of men did General Ames call around him in his administration? A. He called around him, as a general thing, the very worst class of
what we call "carpet-baggers." Most of them were newcomers into the State,
without property, who relied upon politics as a trade and means of livelihood.
Q. Had they any-knowledge of your people, of their habits and wants? A.
None whatever; they came among us as strangers at the close of the war.
Q. With whom did that class-of men affiliate? A. A great many of them
a"iliated mostly with the negroes.
Q. What was the feeling and course of action toward citizens of the Northern States who came here as men of fair character and as good citizens to settle
in your midst? A. Upon the part of most of the citizens, especially of the better
class, there was no indisposition to receive them, and a great many desired them
to come; and when they came among us, as citizens engaging in some business,
I believe any such man was received kindly and treated kindly; a great many of
them, however, came among us, as I remarked before, and engaged in no business, but just went among negroes, the whole aim and purpose being to gain the
confidence of the negroes and alienate them from the whites and their old masters;
they carried this to such an extent that some of them would visit the negroes'
houses and cabins, and meet them on terms of social equality; some would not go
so far, but would mix up with them in politics; and the general aim of that class
was to destroy the confidence of the negroes in the whites and in their old massters; I have heard men of this class on the stump, in addressing crowds of
negroes, say everything they could to exasperate the then recently emancipated
negroes against their old masters; I have heard them lay down this rule, "You
must never follow your masters in politics; just watch them, and when they take
one direction you take the other, and you will certainly be right."
THE NEGROES INCENSED AGAINST THE WHITES BY THE CARPET-BAGGERS.
Q. Was this the current course of advice to this class of men? A. So far as it
fell under my observation, the general object was to convince them that their old
masters were unalterably opposed to them, and they must look alone to the northern men for their protection.
Q. Was it from this class that General Ames drew his political associates and
advisers?  A. Yes, sir; he very soon threw off what he regarded as the better
class of Republicans.
Q. Threw them off?Y A. Yes. 
I
264 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
Q. Was it thought that that led to the split of the Alcomn wing against the
Ames?  Yes; perhaps I might state a fact or two there; Alcorn came back and
ran for Governor against Ames.
Q. What year? A. In 1873; during that canvass Alcorn on the stump denounced as thieves and swindlers the main supporters of General Ames; the
speeches made by Governor Alcorn in that canvass were the most denunciatory I ever heard against the leading men of the Ames party.
Q. Were there other leading members of the republican party who took the
same one as did Alcorn, in regard to the Ames administration? A. In 1873, not
a great many.  Ames had the confidence of the negroes, and Alcorn was not sustained by his own party, to any great extent, in 1873.
Q. How was it later, in 1875? A. Alcorn's strength continued to gain after
that, and before 1875 the split was a very marked one.  A great many had become
followers of Alcorn and opposed to Ames.
Q. Was the feeling between the two wings, the Alcorn wingand the Ames
wing, as great or greater than between the republicans and democrats? A. The
feeling between these two wings of the republicans was just as bitter as could
have existed. In my district the opposing candidates for Congress were Wells
and Howe, and when the Wells party had a meeting they denounced Howe as
a thief and falsifier, and applied to him every epithet they could invent, and
when the Howe party came along they would apply the same epithets to the
Wells party.
Q. Who is Howe? A. He had been a member of Congress from that
district.
Q. Who was he? A. A northern man.
Q. Was he on the Ames side or the other?  A. On the Ames side; Wells
was for Alcorn. He is our present member of Congress. The collision between
the two wings of the party had a great deal to do toward carrying that district
against the republicans.
Q. It was charged in the public papers that the character of the officer
under Ames'. administration was known to him, after which knowledge he
continued to keep these men  in office and consort with them politically?
A. Well, sir, I cannot say what was the knowledge of Ames upon that subject, but
these delinquencies and this misconduct was known to the public generally, and
Ames still retained them in office and in his confidence, and the more they were
abused and exposed the closer he seemed to adhere to them. It seemed to be rather
a recommendation to him.
Q. Many of them were placed under indictment? A. A good many.
Q. By the grand juries of their counties? A. Yes.
Q. The grand jury, as a rule, was under the control of the republican
party? A. Yes.
Q. After these indictments took place were the confidence and association
of Governor Ames withdrawn from these people? A. As a general rule it was
not.  In Northeastern Mississippi Governor Ames appointed a man as chancellor
bythe name of Barton, with no intelligence as a lawyer and no standing at the bar.
Moreover, he was charged with a flagrant act of forgery.
Q. Had he been indicted?
A. He had not; but Governor Ames was informed by gentlemen of high respectability, among others by our present Governor, who came from his vicinity,
of the character of this man. Governor Ames refused to believe it, but had it
been untrue and his moral character ever so good, he was not fit for the office;
but Ames was blind to the truth, and did appoint Barton chancellor. When,
however, his appointment was before the Senate for confirmation, the judiciary
committee, to which it was referred, sent out for witnesses, and the proof was
conclusive. I had been knowing to it. The gentleman uponi whom the forgery
was committed resided in my town and was my intimate personal friend; but
Governbr Ames did not withdraw his name until he was told by his friends that
he could not possibly get him through the Senate. That was the only thing that
checked him.
Q. Did this man ever exercise the functions of chancellor? A. 0, yes, sir;
he held several courts.
OFFICIAL IGNORANCE AND MISGOVERNMENT ONLY IN REPUBLICAN STRONGHOLD&
In all these Republican strongholds in which turbulence and misgovernment
are alleged to have existed, it is to be also noted that the entire local power was
0
265 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
in Republican hands. Thus the supervisors of the counties, being in fact the
county legislature, assessing taxes, contracting for supplies, controlling all public
improvements, the schools, public buildings, roads, and having, in short, all local
control, were almost without exception composed of negroes, few of whom were
able to read or write, and scarcely one of whom was able to compute an ordinary
sum in arithmetic. In some cases the highest mark of erudition was the capacity
of the chairman mechanically to sign his name to a record which he was unable
to read.  (See deposition of        and deposition of.)
The justices of the peace, generally unable to write and frequently unable to
read the contents of the process against person or property which they issued in
the name of the law, delivered it to constables equally unfitted to understand the
nature of the precept, or to attest their action under it. (See deposition
of        )
Negro chancery clerks and clerks of the circuit court and courts of record were
utterly unable personally to perform their duties, and intrusted everything to
some white deputy.  (See deposition of.)
The consequence of this local misgovernment is an increase of taxation amounting to confiscation, and is well expressed in the language of a petition to the
Legislature by the tax-payers of the State, in January, 1875, from which we
make the following extract:
"But probably the most flagrant evil of which the tax-payers complain,
and the greatest outrages perpetrated on their rights, arise from the action of
the boards of supervisors.
"This court is really the most important of any in the State, and should be
composed of the very best men in the several counties.   As a general rule,
we are sorry to say, the members of this board are wholly unfit to discharge
their duties, and are without respectability or accountability. This, however,
is not the fault of the Legislature of the State, except in so far as it encourages such men to seek for that position. The county levies, in a large
majority of the counties, are extravagant and oppressive beyond all endurance.
The contracts for public work are made without economy or care, and with a
reckless indifference to the interest of the public.   These  boards, in some instances, employ their own members to do the work not authorized by law,
merely for the purpose of making them extravagant allowances. In many instances these members are wholly ignorant, and are completely under the con
trol of the clerks and sheriffs of these counties, to whom they make extravagant allowances. This is a great evil, and we suggest that remedy which alone
seems adequate. Legislation should be immediately enacted fixing the maximum
rate of taxation at 50 per cent. on the State, b)eyond which they shall not go
in any instance.
" These boards should also )be prohibited from making any contracts, or
allowances, or appropriations, except when there is money in the treasury to
pay them. And every such order or warrant so made and ordered, when there
is not money in the treasury sufficient to pay it, should be declared utterly
null and void, and all persons concurring in making or issuing them be declared guilty of a misdemeanor in office, and punishable for such, as provided
by law."
To this urgent and respectful appeal no response whatever was made. (See
deposition of E. Barksdale, page 453.)
The ruinous effects of such a system of misgovernment upon the real estate
and property which are subject to it is to be found in the testimony of Shackleford, a Republican ex-judge, at p. —.
So that not only is all immigration prevented, b)ut the possibility of obtaining loans of money upon  real estate for the purpose of improvement is destroyed.
INSOLENCE OF THE BLACKS-GOV. AM-ES WANTED MONEY.
The system of public schools seems to have been liberally maintained chiefly
for the advancement of the blacks, but necessarily at the pecuniary cost of
the whites, whose property mainly contributed from its burdens to sustain
them. This, however, would not have been a subject of complaint, if there had
been anything like equality of opportunities for the establishment of white
schools, which were necessarily at the cost of white people.
An instance of the gross inequality and injustice of the action of these negro
0
'266 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
boards of supervisors, and the insolence and overbearing conduct of the members, is to be found in the case in Issaquena County. (See deposition of William
A. Farrish, at p..)
The choice of registrars and judges of election was such as made fair elections hopeless, as will be illustrated by the case of Warren County, which we
shall consider hereafter in this report.
The Legislature of the State, under Governor Ames, contained a large majority
of negroes, and was confessedly a venal body of men, in which the defeat of
any measure of reform or the passage of any measure of iniquity could be
cheaply procured by the use of money among the members. (See deposition
of 
As to the relation of Governor Ames to the white people of the State of Mississippi, it is best described by his own language, at pages 16 and 17 of the testimony, in which he says:
Question. When did you first go to Mississippi?   Answer.  I went there in
1867.
Q. In the Army, I believe?    A. Yes, sir.
Q. When were you elected Senator? A. In 1870.
Q. Had you any intention to settle in Mississippi prior to your eleotion?
A. I will say not long previous to that; and permit me to say that I found
when I was military governor there, that there was a black code existing, and
that the negroes had no rights whatever; thait they were not permitted to exercise any of the rights of citizenship. I had given them the protection they were
entitled to under the Government of the United States, and I believed that I
could render them great service. I felt that I had a mission to perform in their
interest, and I hesitatingly consented to represent them and unite my fortune
with theirs.
It will seem, therefore, by his own voluntary statement, that the white people
of Mississippi were not those whom he proposed to represent, or with whom he
desired "to unite his fortunes."
The next question, and the reply of Governor Ames, may perhaps be explanatory of his supposed "mission."
Q. You speak now in reference to the colored people of the State? A. Yes,
sir; in reference to the colored people of that State; they were in the majority.
On page 19, he says:
"The question of how I can get money to live, is the one question with me."
Perhaps this was always the case with Governor Ames while he remained in
Mississippi.
The natural consequences of a government so organized had become apparent
prior to the adjournment of the legislature, which met in January, 1875,
and adjourned about the end of March following.  Incompetency, venality and
misrule had borne their usual fruits.  A government that inspired neither affection nor respect could necessarily rely only upon coercion and intimidation as a last
and vain resort.   The dissatisfaction and discontent of the people was not confined to the democratic party, but extended everywhere and among men of all
parties.
REPUBLICAN DISSENSIONS BENEFIT THE WHITES.
The dissensions within the republican ranks were even  more marked  than
among their silent adversaries, who had been totally deprived of official position
and control in public affairs. Between one division of the republican party- led
and represented by Governor Ames, and another, represented, by Senator Alcorn,
the breach became deep and widened daily. On either side individuals of that
party arrayed themselves with their respective followers, and open and bitter denuniciations, unsparing in their terms, were showered by each side upon the other.
The split was open, positive, and would seem to have been irreconcilable. In his
examination before the committee Gov. Ames classes Senator ALCORN, Governor Powers, McKee, ex-member of Congress, ex-Senator Pease, Morris, the attorney-general, State Senator Musgrove, WELLS, M. C., and Chancellor Storrs,
as among the opponents to him and his administration. At page 22 he accuses
Morris of having used his office for corrupt purposes, Musgrove of insincerity
and dishonesty, Storrs of being thoroughly corrupt; at page 25, Pease of wilful
falsehood and of being without ordinary intelligence. At page 26, murders are
imputed to Senator ALCORN.
267 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
On the other hand, George E. Harris, the ex-attorney-general of the State, in
his letter to the President of the United States, dated the 24th of November, 1875,
giving the reason lor the democratic success in Mississippi, declares that it was  "Due to the imbecility and base corruption of the State administration and a
few adherents."
(See letter, page.)
He charges Ames  "With cold indifference and of contracting his views and narrowing his circle
of friends to a few confidential advisers, who were a close corporation of mercenary men who knew but little of the wants of the people of the State and cared less
-men who have no identity of interest or sympathy in common with the people
of the State."
He charges him  "With the desire to control the judiciary as well as the executive department of
the State; of resorting to the expediency of making appointments after vacation
and then holding the appointments over them in terrorem until the next session of
the Legislature, and if they did not please him in decrees, &c., he could withold
their names, (as he did in one case,) thus making the judiciary of the State subservient to the executive, in violation of the constitution; and he actually removed Chancellor Dreman, as I believe, because, in a case of habeas corpus, he refused bail to the governor's friend, Morgan, (sheriff of Yazoo County,) on a charge
of murder of one Hillard."
He charged him  "With appointing men to judicial position who had never had a case in court,
and were totally ignorant of the law and practice, and who did not know a plea
;n bar from a demurrer."
(GATLING GUNS.
With such a division of feeling in regard to men and measures in the republican
party in Mississippi with universal discontent among all classes of the people in
regard to the condition of the State and its administration, they approached'the
canvass of 1875. Governor Ames was charged by Harris (see same letter before
quoted) with using his power as executive of the State for the purpose of securing
his election to the United States Senate, and there seems to be no doubt that such
was the factt.  As he, himself, has stated, he had "united his fortune with the colored people of the State, whom he believed to be in a majority." He was unlearned
in law or the spirit of civil rule. Military methods and rigor were his only concept
tion of government. He seemed greedy of political power without comprehending its responsibilities.  He did not lessen his deficiencies by associating with men
more learned in civil rule than himself, but, avoiding men of intelligence and
character in the State, surrounded himself with obsequious and inferior associates.  The characteristics and tastes of the people among whom he had gone as
a stranger, and yet to be their ruler, he never studied nor cared to comprehend,
nor to have understood the gentle wisdom of Fletcher of Saltoun: "That if a
man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make
the laws of a people." He never gained their respect; but, by his self-seeking,
his self-promotion to power and place and his use of public power for his personal
ends, he entirely lost whatever he might have had of their respect. Thus, losing
public respect, he lost public confidence, and instead of seeking by conciliation
and methods of justice to regain it, he resolved to defy those who withheld it.
The end of all his methods was simply force-the bayonet; that last and most
cruel test of military fidelity, when the American soldier is called upon to use his
arms against the American citizen. When he found the political knot was complicated, he set aside methods of reason and used the sword to cut it, because he
was devoid of the skill or patience to untie it. Violence was the necessary end
of such a rule as he conceived and sought to put in practice. The just end of
government is the happiness of the people to be governed, and measures to promote popular happiness and content are the first and chief duties of a ruler. It
would be a farce to term such a government as he conducted in the Spring of 1875
a free government, either for the white or for the black people. The colored
population were as thoroughly enslaved to his will and to the handful of politicians whom he set over them as they ever could have been at the hands of their
former private owners.  In his testimony at page 15, citing his last message to
the Legislature, he says he regards the whole affair as a race issue, in which he
avowedly intended to take sides with the black race against the white, and to use
268 
RADICAL RULE IN MIISSISSIPPI.                         269
all his power, personal, political and official, in their behalf. Thus, in the first
year of his administration, in the Fall of 1874, in the case of a contest for the office
of sheriff at Vicksbl)urgh, in Warren County, he forced Flanagan, the white occupant, out of his seat by a company of United States troops, which he had demanded to be sent to him for that purpose from New Orleans.  In 1875, when it
became apparent that the democratic party was disposed to combine itself with
all the elements of opposition to his administration, and make a strenuous effort to
gain control of the State, Governor Ames made his first preparation in the Legislature for its defeat by the passage of a law known as the "Gatling-gun bill."
This is described in the testimony of E. Barksdale, page-:
Q. You spoke of the "Gatlin-gun bill;" what was that?  A. I have, I think
a synopsis of the bill.
"Section 3 of the bill empowered the commander-in-chief to organize, from the
enrolled militia, two regiments of ten companies each, and to purchase four or
more Gatling guns, and organize a corps ot' select officers and men from the infantry to send with the said guns."
That was passed by the Legislature which assembled on the 1st of January,
1875. The date is not given.
Q. It was passed the spring before the election'? A. Yes, sir; it was called
the "Gatling-gun bill," because the purchase of four Gatling guns was authorized, and they were regarded as weapons of very terrible destructive qualities.
The appropriation for carrying out the purpose of the Gatling-gun bill was
$60,000; of this $5,000 were authorized to be expended for military supplies and
munitions of war.
GOV. AMES'S MILITARY PREPARATIONS.
The next was his application to the Secretary of War at Washington for the
State's quotum of arms.  (See testimony, page, and the accompanying papers
and applications of A. G. Packer, adjutant-general, organizing the State militia
for active duty.)
A. While matters were in a condition of profound peace here, though these
causes of discontent existed to which I have referred and which are stated in the
tax-payers' memorial and in the resolutions of the republican club here in the city
of Jackson, Governor Ames, after the passage of the law which was known as the
"Gatling-gun bill," as if preparing for war here, addressed a letter to the Secretary
of War inquiring about Mississippi's quota-of arms.  A copy of that letter I have
here:
May 25, 1875.
SIR: By direction of his excellency A. Ames, governor of Mississippi, I have the
honor to apply to you for the statement of arms and other military property issued
to this State since 1860, under Act of Congress, April 23, 1808, and the Acts
amendatory thereto.
A communication from the Ordnance Office, Washington, D. C., has been received, in which the State of Mississippi is charged, under the provisions of an
act approved March 3, 1875. with the sum $170,167.31, and a balance due the
United States is claimed of $1,967.60.
The records of this office do not show the amounts of the apportionment for'
the different years, and having no data to furnish, I respectfully apply to you
to furnish it.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-General.
The Hon. SECIRETARY OF WAR,
Washington, D. C.
That was a letter written on the 25th of May, 1875.
On the 2d of June, before the political canvass, Governor Ames addressed a
letter to General Benet, chief of the Ordnance Department, as follows:
JuNE 2, 1875.
SIR: I have the honor to respectfully apply for a price-list of ordnance and
ordnance stores as issued from your office; also a book of forms used in the Department, if any change has been made since the publication of the regulations,
1863.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,  
Biair  SA. G. PACKER, Adjutant-General.
Brigadier-General S    D. V. BEET
Chief of Ordnance, asl~'ngto, D. C. 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
Q. What do you know of any military preparation made by Governor Ames
early in the canvass, and prior to the occurrence of any of these disturbances?
A. As I have stated, and cited the letters showing he was making military preparations. Then I have an order book, issued from the headquarters State of
Mississippi, adjutant-general's office, Jackson, May 1, 1875, announcing officers
of the Mississippi State militia, during the months of February,  March  and
April, 1875.
NEGRO MILITIA THREATENED THE SLAUGHTER OF THE WHITES.
The State militia having been thus organized- preparatory for the campaign,
and the officials being among the most notorious and unscrupulous partisans,
black and white, of the State administration; great alarm was created among the
white population. The negro companies, officered by negroes, largely predominated, and threats were freely made by their orators that the slaughter of the
whites would be completed from the cradle up, if necessary for their success.
(Speech of Brigadier-General Gray, reported in testimony of W. A. Ferguson at
page; also testimony of Mr. Putnam, page.)
As a consequence, rumors flew thick and fast. The preparation of the governor and his arming of the negro militia were onevery tongue, and caused the
deepest distress and apprehension among all classes who sought to preserve the
peace in the State and friendly relations between the two races. That such
rumors were exaggerated there can be no doubt, for it was the interest of the
Ames party and of the negroes to make proclamation of an organization and
power which they knew they did not possess.  The effect was to increase the
insolence and insubordination of the blacks and intensify the discontent and the
apprehensions of the whites. The arms to be /urnished by Governor Ames were at
the expense of the State, and the whites were left to their private resources to
obtain arms necessary, as they believed, for their self-defense. A feeling of excitement was engendered that grew each day in force.  Intimidation was thus
openly proposed, and proposed to men not likely to be intimidated and totally
misunderstood in their course by the nien who were assuming to rule them.
Thus it seems that violence, bloodshed, and force, as the only arbiter of the
election, were first suggested in a time of profound peace in the State of Mississippi, by Governor Ames, and his political associates. (See page 334, deposition
of Frank Johnston; page 472, deposition of E. Barksdale.) The practice of
carrying arms in Mississippi among all classes is almost universal, and there
were but few witnesses who appeared before the committee who were not so
equipped-one, a Mr. Chisholm, a leading republican of Kemper County,
promptly producding his weapon for inspection of the committee, and the justices of the peace and constables declaring that it was a part of their official costume.
It was testified that after the war the desire to obtain arms among the negroes
was almost universal, and that the sales of weapons to them, especially of shotguns, was very much in excess of what it was to the whites.
Not only were the white people of Mississippi threatened with the organization
and use of the armed negro militia in the coming election, but the armed forces of
the Government of the United States were held in terror over them for a like purpose. Mr. Warner, chairman of the Republican State executive committee,
states that, immediately upon the holding of the republican State convention at Jackson, in 1875, a resolution was adopted vesting him with an authority to appoint a committee, with himself as chairman, to visit Washington
and call upon the President for armed aid to the republican party in the ensuing
canvass, which resolution, and the action of the committee under it, shows the
character of the campaign which they intended should be waged in that State.
It may be here mentioned that the prevalent idea among the negroes and the
handful of whites who led them in Mississippi seems to be that the Federal Administration will at all times exert its armed authority for the purpose of retaining them in office; and it was in the hopes of such intervention that the application referred to was made, and which, as we believe, has largely promoted and
induced the complaints which led to the constitution of this committee. The
experience of prior elections had been favorable to this belief.
THE CAMPAIGN OF 1875.
The democratic conservative party 6f Misiippi, in the platform adopted at
270 
RADICAL RULE  IN MISSISSIPPI.
their State convention on the 8d of August, 1875, contained the following propositions:
"  FIRST. The recognition of civil and political equality of all men as established
by the Constitution of the United States and the amendments thereto.
"SECOND. Favoring the education of all the children of the State in public
school, sustained by adequate taxation; but opposition to extravagance or partisan administration of said schools."
The thirteenth cordially invites the voters of all the people of both races to
unite vigorously with them in the approaching canvass.  (See page —of  testimony.) It was by this convention that the democratic executive committee was
organized, and J. Z. George appointed as chairman.
Thus opened the campaign of 1875. It is in proof, by almost every witness
who was examined on the subject, that the negroes were organized in clubs, having a quasi' military organization in every county in the State.  Clubs, also, of
white people were formed, and the parading and marching, with the use of flags,
drums, music, cannon for salutes or the explosion of anvils-a rude substitute
for cannon-became general throughout the State.
Much of the alleged intimidation of the colored people by the white population
was claimed to be from causes like these, which could only have operated upon
minds of the most childish character, and would be ridiculed if proposed with
the same intent in any part of the Northern States, This constitutional timidity
of the colored population was frequently and gravely urged as entering into alleged violations of the fifteenth amendment by white men, who fired off pistols
in the air and exploded anvils at night on their return from meetings through the
country.
Perhaps the best proof that can be offered of the real intent and spirit with
which the democratic and conservative canvass was organized and conducted will
be found in the telegraphic correspondence between Mr. George, the chairman of
the executive committee, and his party associates throughout the State, who comimunicated with him during the canvass.   This correspondence, although not referred to by any witness, nor in any way supposed to be connected with the subjects to be inquired of by the committee, was, by the order of the committee and
against the formal and recorded protest of the undersigned, made public for the
purpose of sustaining the charges of lawlessness and outrage against the democratic party of Mississippi. Mr. George had not been made a witness; none of the
parties who were his correspondents had been made witnesses; but the whole correspondence was seized and produced in bulk before the committee, and is to be
found on pages 380 to 420 of the testimony.
Let it be borne in mind that these communications were'all supposed by
the writers to be confidential, and that their contents would never be made
public.
It will be difficult for any mind, however prejudiced, to construe any portion of
this telegraphic correspondence so as to favor the suspicion that lawlessness of any
kind was looked to as an element for the success of the democratic party in that
canvass. From first to last there is nothing but what is creditable to Mr. George
and his democratic correspondents as honorable, peaceful, and law abiding citizens. We do not believe it will be possible to torture any of these dispatches into
any other meaning. The demonstration of General Ames in organizing the negro
militia, the openly expressed intention and threat of bringing Federal troops into
the State to control the election, l(o doubt operated to create a corresponding antagonism and bitterness, and suggested that it should be met by force.   The
"race issues," which Governor Ames has recognized, and upon one side of which
he so promptly and vigorously ranged himself with all his official powers, were
undoubtedly aggravated and intensified. Collisions were constantly threatened,
and yet few, remarkably few, under all the circumstances, occurred.
SHOULD AN ENTIRE PEOPLE BE ('ONDEMNED FOR THE CRIMES OF A FEW GUILTY
3MEN?
In endeavoring now to give a reliable account of the acts of violence and bloodshed which were proven before the committee as having occurred in Mississippi
during the Summer and Autumn of 1875, we deem it hardly necessary to makeexpression of the intense and hearty reprobation which we, in common with all men
who respect and value law and order and humanity, necessarily felt, and now feel,
upon every occasion where violence and crime were committed. Stern repression
and prompt punishment are the just measures to be dealt out to all such offenders,
271
I 
272                      RADICAL  RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
without respect to race or color or station in life, and for all such criminals and
transgressors we invoke due punishment at the hands of those who are the representatives of the Government Whose laws need vindication.  But while we propose in every proven case to condemn the guilty, we do not propose to allow reasonable proof to be replaced by reckless and malicious assertion or rumor; nor do
we propose to condemn a whole community upon the testimony of men, confessedly without character, who live upon slanders and trade upon abuse instigated,
as many of such characters were who appeared before the committee, by a miserable faction, whose hope of prolonged plunder and self-enrichment lies in keeping
up a condition of public excitement and fanning the prejudices and hatreds of
ily-informed citizens of the North against the white people of the South.
We confidentially believe that when knowledge of the truth as it is, and sad
though it may be in many respects, of the state of affairs in Mississippi, shall
possess the minds of the people of the Northern States, the occupation of the
miserable class of slanderers to whom we have referred will be gone forever.
r,'It is for this reason that we sincerely deprecate such utterances as are contained
in the speech of the honorable Senator from Indiana, [Mr. MORTON,] and delivered in the Senate by hilm, when urging the adoption of the resolution by
which this committee was authorized. No fact stated by that honorable Senator
was upon his personal knowledge, and the source from which he obtained his assumed facts was disclosed by the deposition of Captain Fisher, to be found at
page 533.
By Mr. BAYARD:
Question. Is not that a copy of Mr. MORTON'S speech that you have there?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Q. Didn't you furnish these extracts to him? A. I furnished some of them.
SENATOR MORTON'S SPEECH, AND WHO HELPED TO COMPILE THE EXTRACTS IN IT.
Q. I observe, in reply to a question put to you, first in respect to the Clinton
riot, and next in regard to certain questions in reference to the taxation of the
State, that you consulted a pamphlet; have you it?  A. Yes, sir. [Witness hands
pamphlet to Senator BAYARD.]
Q. This purports to be a speech delivered by Mr. MORTON in the United States
Senate in January, 1876. A. Yes, sir.
Q. I suppose when you read the extract from the Raymond Gazette you pbtained it from that speech? A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you looked for information in regard to the taxation of the State to the
statement in that speech? A. Yes, sir.
Q. You read your testimony from what you found there?  A. I refreshed my
recollection on a few points from what I found there.
Q. Did you or did you not read from that speech when you gave your answer?
A. I did, sir.
Q. Did you or did you not read from that speech when you were questioned in
regard to the proceedings of the Clinton riot, and the number of persons killed
at that time?  A. No, sir; I did not.   I endeavored to find a paragraph
taken from  the  -Forest IRegister, in which it stated the number killed at
Clinton-the Fioret Regiter is a democratic paper-but I do not find the paragraph.
Q. Did you, as a matter of fact, make that political compilation in there
from the democratic press of Mississippi? A. I assisted in that compilation.
Q. Who assisted you? A. Well, sir, there were extracts furnished by different
gentlemen.
Q. Name those parties?  A. Judge Alcorn assisted in a portion of the compilation.
Q. That is Mr. Robert J. Alcorn? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where did you prepare them?  Where were you at that time? A. I was
in this city.
Q. Were they prepared in this city? A. O yes, sir.
Q. To whom did you furnish them?  A. Well, sir, they were furnished to
Senator MORTON. 
Q. At his request?  A. I was requested to furnish to Senator M0ToN all -the
evidence that I could obtain showing the character of the election and of the canvass in Mississippi last fall.  I told him that I should be very.glad to do that, 
RADICALI RULE  IN MISSISSIPPI.
and tha I might be able to furnish some extracts showing the temper of the
press, which he said he would be very glad to receive. And I proceeded to do
so; and a portion of what you see here is the result of that labor.
Q. Did you see him personally and furnish these to him at his request? A.
Yes, sir; I did.
Thus it will be seen that, while being examined as a witness, Captain Fisher
based his replies upon the speech made by the honorable Senator; and yet he
admits that he himself had furnished to the honorable Senator the statements
contained in that speech; that he had not personal knowledge himself, but that
the speech was prepared in the city of Washington from the newspaper-clippings
which he, Fisher, as the editor of a partisan paper, had made from time to time
in the State of Mississippi. Thus, if Mr. MORTON quotes Fisher and Fisher
quotes MORTON, the combined authority of the two can be no greater than that
of either, and either and both rest entirely upon mere hearsay and information
for the assertions which are dignified by the utterance of a Senator in Congress.
POLITICAL BRAWLS.
During the canvass that-preceded the election of November 2, 1875, there
were four political disturbances ending in the loss of human life and bloodshed,
in regard to which much testimony has been taken by the committee, and which
have mainly served as the basis for the wholesale accusations against the white
people of Mississippi with which the public press and the ears of the northern
people have been industriously filled.
I. A riot at Vicksburg, on the occasion of the celebration of the 5th of July,
(the 4th of July happening on Sunday).
II. The riot of Yazoo City on the 1st of September.
III. The riot of Clinton on the 4th of September; and
IV. Friar's Point on the 9th of October.
In regard to the Friar's Point riot, there is no testimony whatever except what
is contained in the statement of Governor Ames, at page 26, and of Senator
Alcorn, at page 67. Governor Ames charges Senator ALCORN with being personally responsible for these occurrences. This he does upon the information of
others, not having been personally present; but Mr.: Alcorn, who was personally
present, gives in full the history of his participation as a leader in that whole affair,
and divests it entirely of such political significance as is referred to in the resolution appointing the committee.
He testifies that the difficulty originated in the party schism between his adherents and those of Governor Ames, in which the democratic party, or, what is
the same thing, the white people of Mississippi, had no share. He states, at page
69, the cause of the riot, which was, his personal difference with John Brown
the negro sheriff, and the organization by Brown of a large body of armed
negroes, several hundred in number, well armed, and approaching the town 0.
Friar's Point, threatening to sack and burn it.
Mr. Alcorn organized a force, and with his "double-barreled shot-gun" headed
the defense. The negroes were dispered at first by the forces of Alcorn without
loss of life or wounds on either side; but the murder by the negroes of a respectable young white man, by the name of Scott, who was innocently attending to his
business and taking no part in the trouble, led to a retaliation by the Alcorn party,
and he sums up, at page 71, the result of the conflict:
Two white men assasinated by the negroes, one other shot himself accidentally,
and nine colored men killed by the Alcorn party.
Deplorable and dreadful as the occurrence seems to have been, and public as it
was, and well known to Governor Ames, who has furnished the committee with
Brown's communication to him on the subject, (and which are to be found at page
20 of the documentary evidence attached to the testimony,) yet no action seems
ever to have been taken by any of the civil authorities of Mississippi to vindicate
the law, and, so far as the testimony of Senator ALCORN discloses, no member of
the democratic party was concerned in the transaction. Whatever may be the
lawless and dreadful character of this collision, it is proved beyond doubt to
have been disconnected with any trouble growing out of the democratic-conservatic organization of Mississippi.  It should not be forgotten that Senator
ALCORN is a strenuous republican and ally of General Grant's administration,
and that the democratic party of Mississippi have no more determined opponent.
273 
RADICAL  RULE  I-N MISSISSIPPI.
THE RIOT AT VICKSBURG.
The riot at Vicksburg on the 5th of July is stated by every witress who has
beeu examined to have been entirely unpremeditated.  The colored people met at
the court-house on the morning otf that day for the performance of patriotic exercises. Among the audience was Cardozo, the negro superintendent of education,
and who was also to have been one of the speakers on that occasion. He was the
editor and proprietor of a newspaper published in Jackson, in which, it seems, he
had assailed Judge Cowan, a citizen of the county.. Judge Cowan and Cardozo
met at the railway station at Vicksburg on the morning of the 5th. An altercation took place between them by reason of the scurrilous article by Cardozo, and a
collision ensued.  Cardozo was assisted by a white man named, and with
his aid, the attack of Cowan was foiled and Cardozo got off in safety and reached
the court-house and took his place in the meeting. A few young men, supposed
to have been friends of Cowan, followed him to renew the conflict, and finding there     -, who had interfered between them at the depot, an encounter
took place in which-  was shot by some one unknown to any witness who
testified.
The testimony discloses that but a single shot was fired in the building, which resulted in the wounding of, who has since absconded from the State. After
the shooting of       the meeting, composed chiefly of colored people, scattered in
great confusion. Shots were fired over their heads, one of which struck an old
colored man who was on the sidewalk, not concerned in the meeting, and caused
his death. The indignation of the men who had sought Cardozo continued;
search was made for him, but he was secreted in an upper portion of the building
and finally managed to escape unhurt.  The mayor of the town, Dr. Leary, appeared promptly on the scene and soon brought everything to order.  The rot
had its origin in the personal encounter between Judge Cowan and Cardozo, had
no feature of political intent, and the loss of life wag confined to the old colored
man,'who was shot accidentally by sonme unknown person. The person who was
wounded in the court-house was proven to be a very disreputable manl, and was
either a bar-keeper or the partner of a negro who kept a low drinking house. He
having absconded, no proceedings have been taken against the person who shot
him, nor is it known whether his wound is dangerous or not. The disturbance
of this innocent and peaceable assembly was undoubtedly outrageous, and deserves the greatest reprobation; but it is impossible to believe that it was in any
way or degree connected with party politics. It was a gross breach of the peace,
which should have been promptly arrested, as it was, and severely punished by
the civil authorities, as it was not.
THE AFFRAY AT YAZOO CITY
took place at a club meeting of the republican party held at Bedwell's hall on
the 1st of September, 1875, to which members of all parties were invited.  The
speaker was A. T. Morgan, the sheriff, and a candidate for re-election, who
says:
"There were present, perhaps, half a dozen white republicans and fifty colored,
and perhaps half a dozen or more democrats."
An altercation took place, growing out of some remark of the speaker which
was rudely contradicted by some one in the audience; pistols were drawn and
fired, and the hall was soon emptied; the result of the melee being the killing of
Ir. B. R. Mitchell, a white man, and the wounding of Foote, a colored man.
This was the beginning and the end of the riot in the hall; but the    condition
of feeling which probably gave rise to the riot did not end with that affray.
Yazoo County contained an overwhelming majority of colored people.  Its governmcnt, judges, clerks, sheriff, supervisors, justices of the peace, constables,
juries-grand and petit-prosecuting officers-all were in the hands of the republican party.  Mr. Morgan, who was one of the chief actors on this occasion, was
the autocrat of his party in that county. He held the office of sheriff at one time,
and was a candidate for re-election.   He appeared in Washington before the
committee to assail his political opponents in Mississippi.  Mr. Morgan has been
in Washington, employed, as he says, as a claim agent for several months. He
was in communication with a majority of the committee for weeks prior to
their departuire for Mississippi. HIis testimony could readily have been  then
taken, and some opportunity thus afforded for calling witnesses in reply, but
he was withheld until the return of the committee to Washington, and exam
..'274 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
lned at the very close of their sessions.   He stated, that he went to  Mis sissippi at the close of the war, rented lands, and commenced planting, but from
various causes failed and was sold out, and became insolvent; that he was re ceived with the greatest possible kindness on every hand upon his first coming,
but soon lost his popularity with the white people, to whom he became exceed
ingly obnoxious. He omitted to inform the committee that he had married a
colored woman, which fact was stated by Dixon and Foote, colored witnesses,
and his political associates. Upon his failure in business he immediately
embarked in politics, and has thoroughly controlled the county ever since.
Attorney-General Harris, in his letter hereinbefore cited, classes him among the
disreputable associates of Governor Ames, and says that, when a State  Senator,
he offered to sell his vote for $2,000; that Raymond, the State printer, refused
to pay it, saying that he had already paid him $900, and that was enough for
that vote. Morgan was also chairman of the late Republican State convention.
The marriage, to which we have alluded, and his evil repute, encouraged a
political association named Hilliard, and a former sheriff, to run against him for
the nomination of sheriff.  The convention nominated Morgan; but  Hilliard
bolted and ran for the office, calling to his aid whatever opposition he could muster. At the end of the election in 1874, Hilliard, being in office, refused to give
it up to Morgan, except upon terms to which Morgan refused to accede, and
claimed that Morgan had not qualified according to law.  Morgan proposed to take
Possession of the office by force of arms, and did so, and killed Hilliard, who resisted him, and with his party friends shot other adherents of Hilliard.  This riot, oecuring at the court-house, involved nonebut members of the republican party. (See
deposition of Foote, page.) Those who were killed and those who killed them
were alike republicans.  No democrat was concerned in it; but the friends of the
murdered man caused the arrest of Morgan, who was committed without tail, waiving any hearing before the committing magistrate.' He immediately, however, sued
out a writ of habeas qpus before Chancellor Dreman, who, after a hearing of five
days, refused to discharge him on bail, and recommitted him to prisoni. morgan
was then, at his own request, removed to the penitentiary at Jackson.  He Was
as his correspondence with Governor Ames shows, (see pages 102 and 103 of the
documentary evidence,) on terms of close personal and political intimacy with
Ames, and, according to the letter of Harris, the attorney-general, Ames removed
Dreman because he refused to bail his friend- Morgan, and appointed Walton
chancellor in place of Dreman, who thereupon procbeded to hear the application
,of Morgan for a discharge, and discharged him on a recognizance of 5,000
Morgan re-appeared in Yazoo City, obtained possession of his office, ana, hiving
political control of the county, no indictment was found against him or any of his
friends for the murder of Hilliard or the shooting of Hlilliard's friends, until
the county passed into the democratic hands by the result of the election of 1875,
when an indictment for murder was found against him by a grand jury, from
which indictment he is to-day a fugitive in the city of Washington, and appears
as a witness before the committee of the Senate to assail the community whose
laws he has outraged.  That Morgan killed Hilliard must have been found by
Chancellor Dreman when he refused, after a hearing of five days, to discharge
him on bail, and the testimony of Foote (see page —) testifies to the same fact.
How far the condition of feeling which led to the riot in Yazoo City on the 1st of
September, 1875, had been brought about by the lawless action and defiance of
all order by Morgan himself and his political associates is not easy to determine.
but that he was himself a gross trangressor there can be no manner of doubt, andd
that such a man would never be permitted to obtain or retain office in the Northern States we believe to be equally true.  The weight of the testimony of siuch a
witness we submit to just public consideration.
TIlE CLINTO'N RIOT
was productive of more public excitement than the three other riots which we
have described.  It has been the subject of more exaggerated statement than
all the other- three combined, and the facts attending it can now be stated
with a reasonable degree of certainty.   A  political meeting, at which "a batbecue was to be had, was called at Clinton, a village' on the Vicksburg RaiTr6ad,
about twelve miles west of Sackson, the capital of. the State.  To give celebrity
to the occasion, Governor Ames  and. other I,eading members of his party' were
announced to be speakers, and, by an arrangement, democratic speakers we'als6
275 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
invited and a portion of the time for discussion allotted to each.  It was intended
to be a grand demonstration on the part of the republicans, who attended in large
numbers, estimated at from eighteen hundred to twenty-five hundred, of whom
upward of twelve hundred were men. The whites were a mere handful, by the
best informed witnesses supposed to be from sixty to seventy-five, republicans and
democrats.
The number of white men who participated in the fight that ensued was probably from ten to fifteen. The parade of the republicans, composed wholly of colored men, was unusually large and carefully arranged. Eight hundred anid ninety
mounted colored men were counted by Captain Montgomery in the procession,
(see his testimony, page 543)
NUMBER OF WHITES AT CLINTON MEETING.
Q. How many white people do you suppose were present at the Clinton meetingat the original meeting? A. At the barbecue?
Q. At the barbecue.  A. I think not over twenty-five or thirty; thirty at the
outside.
NUMBER OF COLORED PEOPLE AT CLINTON MEETING.
Q, How many colored people? A. I counted eight hundred men in line-caralry
Besides that, how many?  A. Besides that, there were, I reckon, four huldred or five hundred on foot, besides women and children. I don't know, but I
reckon there was a crowd of two or three thousand altogether.
n. You went up to be one of the speakers, but did not speak? A. Yes, sir; I
did'not speak.'
Q. You were entirely unarmed? A. Entirely so
while companies on foot to the number of many hundred were counted by the
same witness. Many, perhaps the majority of these men on foot and horseback
were armed, and this procession, so formed moved out of its necessary line of
march to the place of barbecue,and paraded through the town of Clinton.  The
place of speaking was on a hill just outside of the town, and near the railway station. - The speaking was commenced by Judge Johnston, a democrat, in a very
temperate and conciliatory speech, as described by every witness who was examined.  He was followed by Captain Fisher, a republican; and during the remarks
of Fisher a collision took place between a young white man and a colored man,
about one hundred yards from the speaker's stand.
Comments had been madeupon Fisher's remarks, and rude contradictions of
their truth by one young white man named Neal, from the town of Raymond,
standing in a group of two or three of his companions not many feet from the
speaker's stand; but Captain Fisher, in his testimony, (see page 536)
Q. Was your speech interrupted by the shooting or disturbance that occurred,
or were you interrupted by remarks made? A. I do not know that any remarks
were made to me; if there were I did not hear them.
Q. We have had a great deal of testimony about the Clinton affair, and the witnesses were not certain, when you were speaking, whether you heard these interruptions noticed by men standing by, and I thought I would ask you whether you
heard them or not. A. I heard, subsequently to the riot, when I got home, that
such expressions had been made in regard to portions of my speech, or as having
reference to myself; but I did not hear them, and if I had heard them I should
not likely have paid any attention to them
distinctly says that he did not hear these remarks, nor was his speech interrupted
by anything that was said in the crowd, but that the interruption to his speech
arose from the affray between the white and the colored men to which we have
referred; that the white man in question had a bottle of whisky, from which he
had been drinking, and which, no doubt, was the proximate cause of the affray
that then took place. Immediately upon the collision between these two, a pistol
shot was heard, and there is conflict of testimony as to tlheperson who fired it. It
was immediately followed by a general discharge of fire-arms, and in the me~,
which caused intense confusion, two colored men were killed on the spot and four
or five were wounded.   The negroes were rallied and commenced pursuit of 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
the whites, who, in a group numbering about eleven men, retreated from the
field.                    I I
Martin Sivley and Thompson, white men, were overtaken, killed, and their
bodies mutilated.  Thompson was found in the public road, nearly a mile from
the scene of action, shot throughthe head. Charles Chilton was killed in his own
yard, and, as it appears by the testimony of Captain Montgomery, (page 543)
ABOUT THE WHITE MEN KILLED. 
Q. Did you know any of them? A. No, sir; I did not know any of them.
Q. Black men or white men? A. They were black men that I saw there, just lying
there, and we afterward found the body of Mr. Sivley and Mr. Thompson and Mr.
Chilton. Mr. Chilton was shot right near his house-the very man I had taken dinner
with, and there was not a more quiet, inoffensive man in our county.  It was Charles
Chilton, the brother of John Chilton, who had before that been an active republican, and a leading republican of the native Mississippians of our county; and at
that riot he threw up the sponge; he said he had given $100 in money and in
beef, and the heart's best blood of his brother that day, and he was done.
Q. By whom was his brother killed? A. By the negroes.
Q. How far from the original scene of the riot? A. Right at his own gate ho
was shot; that was one hundred yards, I suppose.
Q. Was he in the fray? A. No, sir. There was such a stampede' and rush
that the negro men were riding and running over their women and children; and
there was such'confusion and hallooing that he ran out to his gate.  He carried
his gun with him, though, which was very natural; and he handed his gun to a
negro boy standing by him, and said, "Take this." Now, that is the way the
thing was told me.  He was standing there helping the women and the children
into his yard to get them out of the way of the stampede and of the horses, and
as he turned his back some of the men in the road fired and shot him. After
finding that there was no armed body on the top of the hill, and several men from
the town began to assemble-but before that time the negroes had gone'off'in
companies, and they seemed to be assembling, and I thought we had better make
for the depot and get possession of that, and send for assistance to some other
point to help us; for I thought it was very likely that there were not white men
enough there to hold the town against the negroes, should they be disposed to
attack it, which we did
was endeavoring to let the black women and children into his yard to escape the
press of the crowd behind them, when he was shot.  Captain White was shot,
stabbed, and left for dead. Rice, Wells, Wharton and Robinson, white men,
were all wounded, with others whose names are not obtainable.
EXCITEMENT AND CONFUSION.
The excitement of the scene and consequent confusion created the wildest and
most variant rumors. The negroes were reported as massing at a short distance
from the town, proposing to attack and destroy it. Their declarations and cries
during the conflict had been of an alarming character, and spread great dismay
among the citizens.  Instantly the telegraph was put in requisition, and bodies of
men  at Vicksburg, Jackson, and Edward's Station hastily met together, armed
with every variety of weapon, and, taking the train, reached Clinton'on the evening of Saturday after the riot had occurred and the negroes had left the town.
A hasty attempt at organization was made by the election of Captain William
A. Montgomery to the command of this unorganized and hastily collected force
to the amount of several hundred. Captain Montgomery testifies (see page )
that he immediately caused a mounted patrol, led by him in person, to make a
circuit of the town and ascertain whether any immediate attack from the negroes
was to be apprehended. He discovered no one, and no shot was given or returned
between his party and the colored men, nor was there any collision or disturbance
whatever. He returned to Clinton, where the white men had collected under
arms, and finding a want of subordination among them, he resigned his position
as commander, because he would not take the responsibility of preserving the
peace without having the power to do so. This is much to be regretted, for by
the testimony of all witnesses who have made any reference to Captain Montgomery, as well as by his own testimony before the comnittee, he -is evidently a
man of high and co0ol courage, of generosity and integrity of'character. 
277 
RADICAL RULE IE MISSISSIPPI
Thus left without a leader and deeply excited by the events of the day, infuriated by the murder and mutilation of their white friends, mob-law soon became
triumphant among, the whites collected at Clinton. The white men killed are
shown to have been estimable and popular citizens.  Chilton met his death while
endeavoring to protect the colored women and children, and had handed his gun to
a colored man in his employ at the time he received his death-wound. At page 543
Chilton is proven to have sent provisions down to aid the colored people in their
barbecue. Martin Sively had no connection with the commencement of the affray.
The number of wounded whites was unknown, and was doubtless enormously exaggerated. As a consequence, the more violent ahd lawless of the men who
had collected under arms obtained the ascendancy. They visited the homes of
the negroes in the vicinity of Clinton, who, they had been informed, had been
connected with the affray and the killing of their friends, and outrageously took
the lives of seven or eight of these men.   It was a reign of terror and lynch
law in that neighborhood from late on Saturday night until Sunday morning.
After that time no distinctly authenticated case of murder growing out of the
Clinton riot was established before the committee.
THE IMURDER OF W. P. HAFFA.
This, we believe, comprises a list of the public disorders prior to the election in
relation to which testimony has been taken by the committee. There are othercases of homicide and violence, to which we shall hereafter refer. The murder of
William P. Haffa, a white man, as detailed by his wife, at.pagei483, and by the
testimony of Captain Montgomery, at page 547, occurred on the 6th of September.
This murder of Haffa seems to have been an atrocious crime, and two important
acts appear in the testimony of his widow and daughter, (see pages 483-490.) one
of which is the failure in public duty, which cost Haffa his damages in a civil
suit against two parties named Bush, who had assaulted him-was that of Lake,.
a republican United States official at Jackson, (see page 487); and, secondly, that
the names of the persons who murdered her husband are well known and given,
and that she went to Governor Ames with her sad story.
Why, may it be asked, did not Governor Ames order the arrest and the trial of
one or all of the murderers? The only notice he seems to have taken of Mrs.
Haffa was a very moderate subscription, to the more liberal one already made by
Captain Montgomery, a democrat.
Mr. Haffa would not appear to have been altogether the blameless citizen described (naturally) by his widow.
Captain W. N. Montgomery testifies, at pages 547, 548, as follows:
It was about that time that Haffa's death was reported.
Q. State what you know about that. A. I don't know anything about it of my
own knowledge. I knew Mr Haffa.
Q. Who was he? A. He was a man that was from Chicago, brought there by
Dr. Robinnett, for the purpose of working on his farm, some seven or eight
years ago. I got twenty at the same time myself.
Q. Twenty what? A. Twenty laborers from Chicago at the same time-white
men; and, by the way, the last one of them ran off and stole all my mules, and
I lost every cent that I made. This man Haffa was one of them that Dr. Robinnett got. He worked about three days with Dr. Robinnett, and then went to
William Bush's and hired himself to a negro man who was renting from A" illiam
Bush. After living there two or three weeks and doing a good deal of mischief, Mr.
Bush and some others went over there and took him out and gave him a flogging,
and Bush was up before the United States Court, but the suit was dismissed.
This flogging placed Haffa in a position to get office from the negroes, and at the
next election he was elected to the Legislature. He was then a magistrate, and
had been for several years teaching school there.  I know nothing about him except what the neighbors there said. He was a very bad man, I judge, from
everything that was said about him.
.I
EFFECT OF TIE CLINTON AND YAZOO ITOTS.
The result of the Clinton riot and the affray at Yazoo City had the effect of aggravating the excitement and feeling between the two races. Instead of causing
the law to be respected by a prompt and vigorous use of its powers, it would not
appear that Governor Ames and his State administration took any of those steps
which under a government of laws a ruler should have taken to punish the offend
278 
RA.DrCAI, R,l-.E  IN  M['?.ISSiPI.
ers and prevent the recurrence of wrong.  We have not been able to ascertain
that a prosecution was ever set on foot against any one connected with these riots,
or any attempt whatever made to apprehend and punish any of the wrong-doers.
On the contrary, it would appear from the order-book of Governor Ames, which
was produced before the committee, (see testimony of E. Barksdale, p. 468,) that
his favorite and only remedy-the bayonet- was looked to by Governor Ames.
On the 24th of September a circular letter was addressed by Ames to the republican sheriffs of certain counties in the following words:
SEPTEMBER 24.
"SR: I am directed by his Excellency the Governor to inquire if any militia organizations are needed in your county to assist the civil officers?
"Are there any threats from the opposition, that, in your judgment, will be
carried into effect; and if so, will it be possible to hold a quiet and peaceable
election?"
It will be observed that this letter was not in response to any application for
aid, and had evidently not been preceded by reports from any quarters of violence, either actual or apprehended. Governor Ames was plainly seeking for information that would justify, or rather give him the pretext for the use of armed
militia.  He inquires "if" there were threats from the opposition, and whether,
in the opinion of his agents, such threats would be carried into effect: and "if
so" whether a peaceable election would be held. Nothing could more strongly
show the temper and intent of Governor Ames than this spontaneous, unsuggested solicitation of opinion from his partisan sheriffs, for no such inquiry was directed to any but his political confidants.
The answers to these circulars do not appear, but the suggestioll no doubt wasl
accepted and produced tLe desired results.  The negroes were thus ipformed that
they were to receive armed protection, and that they were to be armed themselves for political purposes.
In a speech made by the colored brigadier-general,  Gray, when he returned to
Washington County after an interview with Governor Ames, to which allusion
has been made, the announcement  was publicly wade iy him that Governor
Ames was to give the colored militia arms to secure the election; and such no
doubt was the information given in other parts of the State.
In pursuance of this policy of intimidation and violence we find, on the 6th and
7th of October, special orders pblished by the adjutant-:oneral. whiih elearly explain themselves:
[Special Orders No. 10.]
OCTOBER 6,'5.
Brigadier-General William F. Fitzgerald, fifth division Mississippi State militia
will order Captain W. C. Mosely's Company D, Second Regiment Infantry,
Hinds County State militia, stationed at Edwards's Depot, as soon as arms an(d
ammunition are distributed to them, to report at Jackson, Mississippi.
By order of the Commander-in-Chief.
A. G. PACKER,  Adjutant-General.
[Special Orders No. 7.]
OCTOBER 7,'5
Lieutenant-Colonel O. L. Lee, aid-de-camp on the staff of the Commander-inChief, is hereby ordered to proceed to New Orleans, Louisiana, to make any and
all arrangements with the N. (). A. L. & C. R. R. Co. for transportation of troops
and supplies of the Mississippi State militia.
A. G. PACKER,  Adjutant-General.
And.. alotefllwn orspOCTOBEIa 4.
DEAR SIR -I am directed by his Excellency the Governor to inquire if it is
possible for us to obtain cars for transportation of (300) three hundred men, and
equipage for two hundred more.  The equipage will require a box-car. The time
for using the train to be fixed at a day within the next two weeks. Train to run
from Jackson, Mississippi, to Vaughn's Station, and to remain under orders until
the men are returned to Jackson.
Very respectfully,
E. D. FROST,
General-Manager N. O. A. L. & C.. R R.,  ew Orleans, Louisana.
'-y79
And also the following correspondence:
1. 
R.,D[CAL  P,ULA [ l [[PC[.
OCTOBER  4.
SIl: -Yours of the 3d ultimo received. General orders are issued for the
militia of the State to enter active service; your offer will receive due consideration.
Very respectfully,
A.  G. PACKER,  Adjutant-General.
W. R. STEWART, Esq,,
Kirkwood, Msisssippi.
OCTOBER 1.
SIR:-Can you furnish five thousand (5,000) rations of pork or bacon and bread
under the authority granted by the Secretary of War for the militia of this
State?
If possible, ship immediately to William Nooman, superintendent State Penitentiary.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-General.
The COMMISSARY OF SUBSISTENCE,
Department of the Gulf, New Orleans, Louisiana.
SEPTEMBER 2.
SIR:-Iam directed by his Excellency the Governor to transmit the inclosed
duplicate requisitions for ordnance and ordnance stores on the quota of the State
of Mississippi.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. G. PACKER, Adjutant-Genert.
Brigadier-General S. V. BENET,
Chief of Ordnance, Wa,shingto, D. C.
SEPTEMBER 27,'5.
D. APPLETON & CO.,
Broadway, New York, N.  Y.:
At what price will you furnish one hundred copies Upton's Infantry Tactics
and ten sets of copies of the three different arms? Answer.
...... ~,;'i    -A.G. PACKER,
Adjutant- General, Misissppi.
........ ~~~~~~SEPTEMBER 27,'5.
Brigadier-General S. V.'BEN.T,
Chief of Ordnance, Washington, D. C.:
Can you furnish fifteen hundred haversacks on our quota? At what price?
Please answer.
A. G. PACKER,
Adjutant-General, Mississp.
Can there be any doubt of the object and intent of this correspondence?
WAR-LIKE PREPARATIONS.
These warlike preparations, so made by the Governor of the State, were not
only known'tO the citizens, but created in the minds of the colored population
the belief that all the powers of the State were to be arrayed in behalf of their
political party, and. brought on the whites the conviction that they were to be
placed not only in great danger of losing their political liberties, but also their
lives and those of their families. The condition of feeling created by such a
belief cannot be justly estimated and considered in the calm security of a committee-room as in the seclusion of a country home where a planter resides, far
distant from any white neighbor, too far for the cry for help to reach any friendly
ear, and knows that he is surrounded and fearfully outnumbered by men of a
different and antagonized race, a race which, while possessing many amiable and
placid virtues, is yet highly animal in its organization, and, once becoming infuriated, will, as history has shown, be capable of brutal excesses which their reasoning powers areentirely unequal to control.
As a result of Ames' threatened organization and aimihg of the black militia,
280 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSIBIPPI.
the threats of the blacks multiplied. Their habit of meeting was always at night,
surrounded by the mystery qf darkness and the refusal to allow white people to
take part in their assemblies, page 547:
THE STATE MILITIA.
Question. Was there apprehension in the minds of the white people in Mississippi, growing out of the organization of the negro militia by Governor Ames?
Answer. Yes, sir; a very grave apprehension. This militia was organized some
time after the Clinton riot. These companies that were at Clinton that ran off
from the scene of action, the most conspicuous members of the Clinton riot, were
taken to Jackson and were organized into military companies by Governor Ames,
and guns placed in their hands and sent back to their homes. They said they
were afraid to go back; but those who were afraid to go back had taken a very
active part in the riot, and in staying away they induced others to stay, because
they knew that if they should go in that capacity the Governor would be pretty
apt to put them in military companies, and they would go back home with their
guns, draw the pay of $16 a month, which was just as good as they could do at
work at home; and of course quite a number of the most ruffianly fellows were
organized into this militia, and they came down to our place.
Q. Now, as a fact, in your county were the white companies that you speak of,
such as you commanded, organized subsequent to the negro organizations you
have spoken of? A. Yes, sir; we never thought of organizing until we found
the negroes organized and drilling at night for some purpose which we could not
tell, as no white man could get in among them. They were drilling and were
organized all over the county before any movement took place on the part of the
whites.
Their political consolidation is shown by every witness to have been complete,
and that so organized they were wholly and helplessly in the hands of the few
white adventurers who were their absolute political owners. On this point see
the testimony of Mr. Walton, the present United States attorney for Mississippi,
at pages 49-50.
ORGANIZATION OF THE BLACKS.
Question. What is the nature of the organization, so far as you know, among
the colored people?  Answer. Well, sir, it is one of those cases which, in my
judgment, arises always out of the existence of a class of people who are ignorant
and who are comparatively helpless in the presence of a much more powerful
body of people who, although they may not be stronger in point of numbers, are
stronger in point of force and intelligence. The negroes consequently herd
together.  They do so publicly, and they do so more especially in secret.  That
is to say, there is a silent organization, existing not professedly as an organization,
but existing still, in point of fact, everywhere. that I have ever been, which prevents the intercourse between the two races from being candid and free.
NO MUTUAL CONFIDENCE BETWEEN THE RACES P'OSSIBLE.
1 am, myself, very well acquainted with negroes; I have always been in the
habit of dealing with them a great deal; I have always worked a good many of
them; and I must say that my intercourse with them has been of a character to
make me believe it impossible for anything like mutual confidence on political
questions to arise between the white people and the negroes. I don't see how it
ever can arise, and I do not believe, myself, that it ever will.   I think this is due
to the enormous gulf between the races in all social relations-that confidence
which springs from personal friendships and an unrestrained social intercourse
being, in my judgment, an essential cement to a political party, and being absolutely out of the question, between the white and black races.
Q. You speak of an organization among the negroes; what do you mean by
that; that they are organized in bands, under the command of any particular persons, or that they are associated together from the fact that they are of the same
race and community of interests, or both? A. They are not organized in bands.
Q. Or in companies, under officers, and having a general head? A. Well, in
the first place, they have their clubs, just as any other political organization has
its clubs. I have never been inside of one of their clubs, but then they never
have asked me, though the clubs were republican in their name, and republican,
I suppose, in their character. They have generally acted in such a way as to leave
281 
RADICAL RULE  IN M ISSISSIPPI.
me to believe that they did not want my presence there. Although they are quite
near my house, I have entirely abstained from going there.  And when the county
conventions would meet, I have observed that the negroes in these conventions
very strongly resisted white influence, and consequently it became disagreeable,
inasmuch as there was such disposition, to the white people to have anything to
do with these conventions. It became unpleasant personally, and it produced an
-impression which it was hard to avoid. I have always found it practically impossible for me to avoid it-the impression that these meetings meant nothing but
the organization of one race against another. The truth is that a white man,
especially a southern white man, belonging to the republican party, does not seem
to be any more acceptable as one of their counselors or advisers than one who belongs to the opposition.  Although my connection with the republican party has
been undeviating, and I believe Ifhave escaped from any personal reproach in that
connection, I am quite certain that my personal influence with the negroes is not
a bit greater than that of any democrat in my county; not a particle. I am quite
certain that I was never able to influence a vote or influence a colored man on any
single question of politics; which I confess with some mortification.
GOV. AMES INCITING ANTA(GONISM.
Governor Ames seemed disposed to fan the flames of excitement and antagonism
to their utmost height. As an illustration of this it was desired to transport some
arms and munitions of war from Jackson to Edward's Station, between which
points a railroad was in operation; but Governor Ames sent these arms, convoyed
by a negro militia company fully armed, in command of Caldwell, a colored State
senator, to march through the country with drums and flags and all the pomp of
war, having no other result than to intensify the alarm already existing. (See
Barksdale's testimony, page 472.)
The result of such a course of action was made  manifest all over the State
wherever the negroes existed in superior or approximate numbers to the whites. The
citizens of Canton, in Madison County, turned out and picketed their town for
weeks at night before the election.
White men were afraid to let their families remain in their houses in the country.
(GOV. AMES ALARMED.
The apprehensions of both races thus excited grew to fever heat, and a condition of affairs absolutely alarming to the stoutest hearts prevailed all over the
State of Mississippi, and at last penetrated the mind of Governor Ames himself.
His plans had worked but too well. He had conjured up a spirit of despair and
anxiety upon the part of the unhappy people over whom he had been placed in
rule which threatened to wrap that State in flame and blood.  It was no thanks
to him or his advisers that this result was not reached at the time or preceding
the election in November, 1875. From every quarter evidences reached him
of this state of affairs.  He had never concilated the people.   He  had never
sought to learn how far concession, and justice, and kindness, and sympathy.
and a recognition of their tastes, prejudices, and habits would go toward procuring good government among a people. He threatened to restore Morgan, the
sheriff of Yazoo County, to his place by force of armed militia; and the troubles
in that county, which lead to tihe killing of several colored republican leaders,
the demoralization of the republican forces, and their practical abandonment of
the canvass, are directly traceable to the threat of an armed military expedition
organized by Ames to replace Morgan by force in the sheriff's office, then held by
another white republican.
The arming of the citizens of Yazoo County, their organization into companies,
under the lead of their most conservative and respected citizens, in some of
which white republicans were enrolled, was for the avowed purpose of resisting
the approach of the colored militia of Ames, intending by force to replace Morgan, the slayer of Hilliard, in the office of sheriff. When once a condition of
desperation and excitement has been created in any community, it is in vain to
look for the rule of peace and law. The perturbing force that breaks down one
law or the law destined for the protection of one man or one class of men  in a
community necessarily levels all law. It is like a fire which consumes all in its
path. When, therefore, responsibility is to be affixed, shall we seek the cause
or content ourselves with describing consequences only? Governor Ames had
either ignorantly or willfully, built up a condition of animosity and  antagonlism
282 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
between the white and colored people of the State of Mississippi dangerous to
the safety and peace of both, until excitement had usurped the place of reason,
and force, with its remedies, had in some few localities taken the place of law.
There is no evidence that Governor Ames sought to exercise any of the civil
powers intrusted to him for the pacification of these disordered localities. As
usual, his recourse was had to the armed power of the Federal Government, and
his correspondence with the Attorney-General and Secretary of War  are weil
known to the Senate and the country. Failing in establishing, and being unwilling to allege, that condition of affairs within the State of Mississippi which alone
under the Constitution of the United States authorizes the armed intervention of
the Federal Government, the scruples of the President and his legal adviser, Mr.
Pierrepont, withheld troops from the aid of the republican party in Mississippi.
THE GOVERNOR APPEAL,S TO GRAN-T-AN AGENT OF ATTORNEY-GENERAL PIERRE                           PONT PROCEEDS SOUTH.
At page 2 of Governor Ames's testimony hlie testifies as follows
"In view of that state of affairs I applied to the President of the United States
for the protection of the United States, which was Inot granted. Subsequently,
the Attorney-General, I presume at the suggestion of the President, sent an agent
and two detectives at my request."
We may pause here to consider this new feature in American government.
There is no such power known to the Constitution or laws of the United States
as the employment by the Attorney-General of the United States of detectives to
inquire into and report the police condition of an entire State. The governor of
the State confessed by'his application that there was no one capable and sufficiently reliable to judge of and report upon the true condition of affairs in his
own State; and three men, entire strangers to the people of Mississippi, were
sent among them to examine and report whether a state of affairs existed which
would authorize the interposition of the Federal Government by force of arms
in the local disorders of that State. What possible authority can be urged for
this attempted delegation of the highest discretionary power vested in the executive
of a State?
About the 9th or 10th of October, Mr. Chase arrived in Mississippi, and took up
his abode in the gubernatorial mansion with Mr. Ames. He has been examined
as a witness before the committee, and his testimony will be found at page 
Whatever may be the opinions of the irregularity of his mission and its want of
constitutional or legal warrant, all well-meaning men will concur in a sentiment
of satisfaction that he was sent. He states that he found the State of Mississippi
in a state of profound and dangerous excitement, the two races armed, ready and
liable to collision at any moment, the State administration totally without
influence or power to restrain the passions of either side. He discovered that the
Governor of the State had not even a personal acqnaintance with the leading and
most influential white citizens who were leaders of the democratic and conservative organization, and his first effort was to bring them into amicable council
and personal acquaintance with each other.  (See page —.)
A. CONFERENCE-AN AG(-REEMENT.
The result of his offices was to produce an agreement anomalous in American
history and highly suggestive of the state of affairs into which Governor Ames's
maladministration had brought the State of Mississippi. There was a committee
of the leading white citizens of Hinds and some of the adjoining counties held on
the 16th of October, 1875, to whom- Mr. J. Z. George and others, who had just
had an interview on the subject of political affairs with Governor Ames, stated
the result of such interview, that he had received information that it would be
agreeable to his excellency Governor Ames to have a conference with some of
the citizens of the State in relation to the present condition of affairs, and in accordance therewith he had arranged for an intrrview, which had just taken
place. The citizens attending were Joshua Green, D. Shelton, E. Richardson
J. W. Robinson, H. Hilzheim, T. J. Wharton, Frank Johnston, J. C.  Rietti
Robert L. Saunders, General Robert Lowry, W. L. Nugent, and J. Z. George.
The interview had been full and frank on the part of the citizens and the governor, and the governor announced to the committee, that in consequence of Colonel A. T. Morgan's refusal to go back to Yazoo County. he had abandoned
28lt3 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSI[PI.
the purpose of sending him there with two companies of militia, one white and
one colored, which had been his original purpose, and that he had also coun termanded an order for guns to be shipped to De Soto County.
After this a conference ensued between the citizens and the governor in rela tion to the disbanding of the militia.  The citizens, in response to fears expressed
by the governor that peace and good order would not be preserved, and that
colored men would not be permitted to vote as they pleased, assured the governor
that there was no other desire among the whites than that peace should be pre served, the laws enforced, and a fair election had; that the leading whites had
all along inculcated this; and they also assured the governor that they would,
pursue this course until the election, and would, both by precept and example
do all in their power to preserve peace and good order and secure a fair election.
The governor said his whole object in calling out the milita was to preserve
order and suppress disturbances; that he was originally opposed to arming the
militia, and under all the circumstances as he deemed it, was forced to do so; that
in view of the statement of citizens he was willing to meet their views as far as
he could, and to this end he promised that he would order all the militia compa nies which had been organized to disperse and go to their homes with their arms.
But on further consultation it was agreed that the arms of the several companies
organized should be deposited in depots in the neighborhood in which the companies were raised, and should there be guarded by United States troops to be
detailed for that purpose, and to be under the control of the governor, and to be
removed only by his orders; or, if United States troops could not be gotten, then
the arms were to be guarded by men selected and agreed on by the governor and
Mr. George; that the arms should not again be delivered to the militia except in
case of riot or insurrection which could not be suppressed by the civil authorities.
The citizens above named expressed themselves satisfied with the arrangement.
After this report and some discussion, the following resolution was adopted:
"Resolved, That the foregoing citizens and also the following additional gentlemen, to wit, Messrs.' William A. Montgomery, E. W. Cabinis, T. C. Catchings,
George G. Manlove, A.' M. Harlow, Colonel Gilbrath. Dr. Moore, and Judge
Chester, be requested to go to Governor Ames and tender the thanks of the meeting for what he has done, and represent to him that it would be better and more
satisfactory if he would agree that all the arms should be guarded in Jackson."
The committee waited on Governor Ames, and he declined making any change
of the arrangement which had been- agreed upon between him and the citizens.
He was asked if arrangements with the citizens included the idea that no more
militia would be organized. He answered, "that nothing was said on that subject expressly, but it was his purpose and intention to organize no more."
The committee returned to the meeting and made report of the second interview,
and what *as done was deemed satisfactory, and the meeting then adjourned, after
requesting the report of the interviewers with the governor to be reduced to writing and made public.
The effect of this agreement or, as it has been constantly termed by the witnesses,
"treaty of peace," was highly favorable to a better condition of things, and did
much to allay the excitement and political antagonisms which were so rife at that
period.  Some of the results of this conciliatory course were shown by the nomination of joint committees by the two parties in several of the counties upon the
fair basis of compromise and good government.  Men of character, republicans
and democrats, were thus placed upon the sanme ticket in Madison County and in
other counties, and, as a consequence, no further collisions of a serious nature
tooK place during the remainder of the campaign and including the day of election.
The election day itself was marked by an absence of even the usual personal
collisions which take place in almost in every community in the United States
when party excitement runs high.
THEI ELECTION FREE FROM INTIMID)ATION.
An answer to the general allegation that voters were intimidiated from casting
their votes, is to be found in the pregnant fact that the republican vote in the State
of Mississippi in 1875 was within 3,291 of the vote polled at the last preceding general election in 1873.  (See election tables in the testimony of Governor Ames at
pages 37 and 38, and documentary evidence of the committee, page 144.) The combined vote of Ames and AT.CORN for governor, in 1873 (see page 138 of documentary
evidence),was 126,378, and the total vote of both parties in 1875 was155,886, showing an increased total vote throughout the State of 29,508.:
284 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
. It is abundantly established that for the first time since 1868 the democratic conservative party was perfectly united, and thoroughly and well organized, and conducted their campaign with an unprecedented interest and vigor. The republicans, on the other hand, were, as we have shown, disorganized and discouraged by
schisms in their party, many of them, black and white, thoroughly disgusted with
the conduct of their rulers, and, to use the language of Judge Harris heretofore
cited, were convinced of the "imbecility and base corruption of the State administration and a few adherents."
There can be no doubt also that a considerable and encouraging inroad was
made in the heretofore impenetrable phalanx of the colored vote, a considerable
portion of which was cast for the democratic ticket in Hinds.County, the official
residence of Governor Ames himself, as well as in many other counties, which
reasonably and fully accounts for the increase in the democratic vote and the
changes. Increase and changes in vote even more remarkable can be found in
the election returns of the States of Massachusetts, New York, and Indiana, not
to mention other States, in the election of 1874.
ASSAULT UPON THE GOVERNOR'S MANSION.-THE ATTEMPT TO FIRE IT.
At pages      will be found the depositions of -several colored men  who were
employed as watchmen around the governor's mansion for weeks before the election. Their statement as to the firing upon the mansion is not only disproved by
Ames himself, (see page, ) but is incredible from the fact that no pane of glass
was broken by alleged bullets, nor does any mark appear upon the exterior of
the mansion, nor was any one hurt at any time.
Mr. Barksdale, at page 475, disposes of this ridiculous charge.
Q. Some witnesses have been before this committee-colored men-who  have
stated that the governor's mansion has been an object of attack, and I w')uld like
to state to you here what Governor Ames said on the subject:
Q. (By the CHAIRMAN.) Did you, at any time, receive threats or intimations
of bodily harm to yourself? A. As I stated yesterday, no attempt has ever
been made to intimidate me personally. Of course no person ever came to me
and said that if I did thus and so, certain consequences would follow  but the
mansion where I lived was fired into.
Q. (By Mr. BAYARD.) At what time?   A.  Just previous to the election.
Q. (BY the CHAIRMAN.) During the -day  or at night?  A.  This  was  at
night.  I may say, however, that I did not, at that time consider myself in any
ersonal danger; I did not think that they could well afford to assassinate me.
I thought it would be too great a political blunder, so I really had no feeling of
that kind; but since then I have been informed that the thing was seriously
cQnsidered. People were seen firing into my mansion, and the trees were cut.
There is a bullet-hole or. two in various parts of the mansion.
Q. This testimony, some of it at least, referred to the democratic conservative
meeting which was held here, in the city of Jackson, on the 27th of October, just
before the election. A. Well, I will state that previous to that meeting, when it
was known there would be a great crowd of persons, inspired by the enthusiasm
of the canvass, when there would be banners, music, and all that sort of paraphernalia which gives interest to a political canvass, and it was determined by
the democratic authorities that no device, no flag, no banner, and no thing should
appear in that procession, or in the proceedings, in any way to cast ridicule or
wound the sensibilities of Governor Ames.
A treaty of peace had been established, as it was called, between him and the
democratic authorities, and it was felt that it was due to him that there should be
no exhibition of that sort.
DEMOCRATS WATCHFUL THAT NO INDIGNITY SHOULD BE 6FFERED TO THE GOVERNOR.
The consequences was, that we were especially watchful that no indignity
should be offered to Governor Ames during that meeting or by the procession on
the march.
Upon that principle, on the occasion to which reference is made, I myself was
anxious to see to it that no indignity should be offered to the governor, no hostile demonstrations of any kind, whether firing of guns or pistols, or making
even Jesting remarks, and I took a position, before the head of the column reached
the mansion, directly mi front of the office, that I might see what might occur.
I remained there until the procession had passed.
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RADICAL  RULI,E IN MISSISSIPPI.
I do solemnly aver that if any pistol was fired, or remark made reflecting upon
the governor, or offering indignity to him, I did not see it, and I was in a position to hear and see whatever occurred, certainly.
As to the perforation of trees there by bullets, I suppose it could be verified
by an examination, but I certainly heard no pistols. I took that position directly
opposite the governor's mansion in order to see that the pledge of peace which
had been made should be fulfilled and that no indignity should be offered to the
governor, because we desired the agreement should be carried out.
Q. How far is the office whereyou were to the gubernatorial mansion? A.
About two hundred and fifty yards.
Q. You were near enough to hear any firing or any disturbance? A.  Yes,
sir.
Q. Were you constantly at your office during the next night and for a couple
of weeks preceding the election? A. I was occasionally, not constantly-frequently.
Of course it is not my habit to remain, except on such occasions.
Q. Were you aware that for twenty days prior to the election, and two days
afterward-I believe it embraced that-that Governor Ames had colored men
stationed around his house as guards, inside of his fence?
A. I will say. personally I was not aware of it, but I heard it so stated.
NEVER HEARD ANY FIRING.
A. Did you ever hear evidence, or have any knowledge or information,
that there was constant firing at night toward the mansion during those twenty
days.
A. No, sir; I never did.  I am quite sure I should have heard it.  I will; remark that there is a police constantly on duty at all hours of the night onthe
streets to arrest any disturbance of that sort or anything of that kind.
INTERFERENCE WITIH VOTERS.
Some of the testimony tended to prove that in some cases colored men were deceived or cajoled into voting the democratic ticket.
There is nothing in any part of the testimony to prove any obstruction to the
voter "on account of his race, color, or previous condition of servitude," but in
every case the objection was to the party ticket he proposed to vote; to the color
of his political prejudices, and not to the " color" of his skin referred to in the
fifteenth amendment.
The white people earnestly sought to induce the colored people to vote, and to
vote the same way they did. To this end they held public meetings, made numberless speeches, appealed to their colored fellow-citizens in every conceivable
manner that they should vote, and vote with them for the common interest of all.
To justify any legislation by Congress to enforce the fifteenth amendment, the
obstruction of the" right to vote" must be for the sole reason of race, or color,
or previous condition, &c., and there is no power in Congress to interfere for any
other cause whatever. There is not from the beginning to the end of this testimony a single case of the obstruction of a voter because he was a colored man.
In every case of alleged unlawful interference with the right of suffrage, it
was because the voter was in opposition to the political sympathies and wishes of
the person interfering.
Intimidation and violence are almost as frequently alleged toward white men as
colored men, and perhaps the bitterest opposition was proven toward the former
class.
Yet it cannot l)e said that the race or color of these whites induced other whites
to "deny and abridge" their right of suffrage.
The testimony of many witnesses, white and black, proved the gross intimidation of colored people by other colored people. Now, this was not on account of
race or color, but for the same reason which caused all other intimidation and
interference in the State-i. e., opposition to the voter's political views and'actionsnot because he was a colored man, but because he was voting in opposition.
The Supreme Court of the United States distinctly say, in the opinion we have
already cited:
"The fifteenth amendment did not confer the right of suffrage upon any one."
It gave to the tongress the power to guarantee its exercise in case it should be
denied or abridged on account of race or color or previous condition.'
286 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSfSSIPPI.
If the right to vote be denied or abridged for some other cause, the State, and
not the United States, must exercise its protecting power over the citizen and
remedy his wrong.
If a colored man be driven from the polls because he comes up with a republican
ticket, and when he returns with a democratic ticket is welcomed and assisted to
vote, there can be no doubt but his "right to vote" (which means, of course,
to vote according to his free will) has been abridged; but not having been
abridged because of his race or color, but because of his political views, the power and duty to remedy the wrong he has sustained are, according to the decision
of the Supreme Court, in the laws of the State where he resides, and not in the
United States.
Holding this proposition to be true, then the testimony overwhelmingly establishes the fact that negro voters were welcomed into the democratic ranks and
every effort made to procure them.
If negroes were intimidated, it was not because they were negroes, but because
of their obnoxious political views.
As a necessary consequence, it follows that Congress has no power under the
fifteenth amendment to the Constitution to punish any invasion, however gross
and reprehensible, of personal right s'of suffrage which is not based upon the particular cause of the race, or color, or previous condition, &c., of the party injured.
Having thus stated the limitations upon the power of Congress, which a respect
for the Constitution of our Government and to the decisions of its highest judicial
tribunal has dictated, we cannot refrain from an expression of our  abhorrence
and hearty reprobation of every act of lawless and so often brutal interference
with the rights of citizenship, which were related by witnesses in our presence.
Prosperity and happiness can never thrive in a community where such scenes of
violence can be enacted without condign punishment. By a law higher than man's
the "wages of' sin is death," and it will be vain for the people of Mississippi to
look for the advancement of their State to that position in the ranks of wealth,
influence, and reputation which those who love her would desire to see her occupy,
until the spirit of law shall be strengthened and assert itself over the "dangerous
classes," who have brought -disrepute upon her good name.
We are glad, in this connection, to express our sincere and profound conviction
that under the present State Administration and government of Mississippi all the
elements for the needed reforms exist and will be developed, so that a remedy for
every wrong will be surely found in laws ordained in a spirit of benevolence and
justice to all classes within the borders of the State.
A vast majority of the people of Mississippi have every element that constitutes
a good American citizen.  They are law-abiding, peaceful, and industrious, and
they have every impulse in favor of justice, peace, and order, and all they now
need is the kindly sympathy of their fellow-citizens in other States in the great
distress which war and a totally revolutionized condition of their social and labor
systems, coupled with gross maladministration of their State affairs, have brought
upon them.
They have been the victims of a misrule which they sought in vain to avoid or
remedy.
In simple justice we ask, should the white masses of the Mississippi be held responsible for the results of bad government, against which they have petitioned and protested in vain for years? Is it just to hold those responsible from whom all power
has been withheld? The requisite means are always necessary for the desired end.
In all the centuries the demand that the children of Israel should make bricks
without straw has been cited as an illustration of tyrannical injustice; but is it not
equally and even more unjust to demand of the white people of Mississippi the re sults of good government, when bad government  has been fastened on them
against their best efforts to prevent it, their entreaties, and their prayers?
Let them fully and fairly test their present opportunity to produce peace and
order and prosperity by exercising their faculties for self-government.
The evils that have been enacted they were not justly responsible for, and their,
sufferings should call for sympathy, and not denunciation.  Why should not this
portion of our fellow-countrymen be made to feel that they have the rights as well
as the responsibilities of that local self-goyernment which is so freely enjoyed and
jealously guarded by their fellow-citizens of the Northern States.
Is it consistent With justice,:wisdom, or eXp'edi'ncy to put the stigma of inferi
287 
288                      RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
ority upon any State of the Union by asserting a power and right to make inquisition in her management of those domestic and internal affairs which, by the express terms of the Constitution, and by common consent and practice, are reserved
to other States, which are never questioned in their control over them.
No attempt seems to have been omitted to bring the white people of Mississippi
into ill-repute with their fellow-citizens of the North.
What, it may be asked, have the flags used at a political celebration to do with
nfractions of the fifteenth amendment? Yet the following testimony will exhibit
the intent to create sectional prejudice against them,(see testimony of John T.
Harrington, at page 233.)
NO AMERICAN FLAG, BUT TWO. HUNDRED OTHERS.
By Mr. BOUTWELL:
Question. Were you at the West Point meeting of the democrats two or three
days before the election?  Answer. Yes,sir.
Q. Did you see the flags exhibited there? A. I think I saw two hundred flags,
but no United States flag.
Q. What were they? A. There were some very nearly-I cannot say if just
exactly-like the confederate flag, and all sorts, shaking and waving. But I saw no
United States flags. At the West Point meeting, up and down the streets on both
sides for nearly a quarter of a mile, over both sides of the street, thirty or forty
feet high, on the top of the buildings.
By Mr. BAYARD:
Q.. Did you walk along the whole of that street? A. No, sir.
Q. Where were you?  A. I was at my office, and went from my office to the
hotel where the district-attorney was.
Q. Did you pass by and along this row of flags? A. Well, I could see up  the
street.
Q. How far could you see? I think you said you had ophthalmia, or something,
which prevented you seeing very far? A. 0, I could see. I cannot discriminate
features half across the street.  I could see these bars and colors.
Q. Did you see confederate flags at that meeting? A. No sir; I said flags re sembling.  They might have been like them.  I do not know  how many of
these stripes they had on them. I do not — know that they were full confederate
flags. I know about the various colors, and from the appearance of confederate
flags which I have seen.
. Was there no United States flag, then? A. I did not see any.  I seen the
particular ones. I think those on the court-house, if any, United States flags.
Q. Did you walk the entire line of the street where those flags were? A. I
did not walk along the entire line; I think near the lower corner, and looked up.
Q. That was the meeting at West Point? A. Yes, sir.
Q. When? A. The Thusday before the election, I think. The election was
the Tuesday following.
The answer to this miserable slander is to be found on page 253, in the testimony of Mr. R. H. Shotwell:
Question. Harrington stated here that there were no United States flags exhibited on the day of the celebration. What have you to say about that?
The CHAIRMAN. He did not state that.
Q. In order that we may know the facts, you may state what you discovered
there. I thought that he stated that there was no United States flag, and he did
say that there were flags'that were very like confederate flags; and he left the
impression, as I understand, and meant to leave the impression, that there were
no United States flags.  A. The flags he supposed  to be confederate flags
were  just flags of red calico and white bleached  domestic,  which  were
hung by a Frenchman in our town, after the style, as he said, of ornamenting the streets in Paris on public days; and he made a beautiful display
of white calico and red calico, but the stores and all the public buildings were
ornamented with United States flags-five hundred of them, I reckon-and a long
procession of horsemen, and very many of them had United States flags attached
to their horses' heads, and the children all over town had little flags and were at
the windows and doors saluting the procession as it passed by. It would look
rather bad to let that go without a refutation. Mr. Harrington also stated something in regard to a speech by Mr. Barry.  I heard that.speech, and no such lau 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
guage was used by him as was attributed. All the addresses made to the negroes
were of the most conciliatory character. The negroes were treated with the
greatest degree of kindness by every man, so far as my knowledge goes.  I believe hundreds of these men who came here would testify that they were not intimidated.
The character of the witness Harrington is thus given by Mr. Shotwell at page
249:
A HORSE-THIEF AS A WITNESS.
"He is now under bond.  This brother of his (J. T. Harrington), who testified
here, I can show by any quantity of witnesses that he is a man of notoriously bad
character; that he has been indicted for horse-stealing and for kidnapping negroes
-not indicted for kidnapping negroes, but he has been charged with it, and a
white man and a negro caught him at it. That was during the war. After the
war he brought a suit for damages against one Anderson Beam for $20,000 damages, for making those charges against him, and the suit was finally dismissed by
J. T. Harrington at his own expense. As to that Harrington, I can bring fifty or
a hundred men, if necessary, here."
By the CHAIRMAN:
Q. State what you know of your own knowledge.  A. I am stating as to his
character of my own knowledge. I an just speaking of the character of the
man.
By Mr. BAYARD:
Q. Of his reputation in the community? A. Yes, sir; the general bad character of
the man; that he is regarded as a horse-thief. I have no doubt I can produce witnesses who would testify, any number of them, that they would not believe him
on oath-eighty or a hundred men. I can name the party that caught him trying
to kidnap a negro- William Nixon.
The report of the United States Grand Jury is also appended to the evidence
(part 6).
In criticising this highly sensational document, it would seem reasonable to
ask if such a denunciation of the State could be made by the nineteen republicans and one democrat who composed the grand jury. Why did they not find
indictments for the punishment of some of the alleged crimes?
If they had a majority to denounce, why not to bring to justice?
Its publication would seem to reflect upon the district-attorney, whom it affects to praise; for, if he had done his duty, the guilty would have been presented
for indictment.
A PARTISAX ASSAULT.
It seems plain that this report was a partisan assault, a mere blast of'defamation
against their political opponents, for no one can doubt the indictments would
have been found had the evidence warranted it.  The President of the United
States h'as caused to be annexed to his message on South Carolina troubles the
following letter of District-Attorney Walton, which shows how little responsibility the "shameful failure of justice" belongs to the white people of Mississippi.
OxFORD MISSISSIPPI, July 15, 1866.
* SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith the report of the grand jury lately
in session here, together with the evidence on which it is based.  This evidence,
you will see, plainly required the jury to indict a great many persons for violations of the election  laws; but, out  of eighteen jurors, seven were found
who refused to concur in any such indictment. I learn, however, that all but
one of the jurors voted for this report.  All but this one professed to belong
to the republican party; anal some of those who finally voted  against the eleven
who were for thie indictments were tliroughotit thie whole session apparently the
most reliable men we had to sustain the indictments and the'most' zealous in investigating the cases. -This was particularly true of the man  who wrote this report, yet he finally went against all prosecutions, though'we had conceived him
to,be the most earnest, as he had certainly been the most active, man among us in
bringing to justice, or at least in investigating the election cases.' 
I can only lament the shameful failure of justice which'h hat'taken place, and
280
0
.1 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIFeI.
I have little doubt that it must' and will give a n
lessness at the next State, if not at the next Fede
.  I am, sir, your obedient servant,
THOMAS WALTON,
United States District Attorney.
Hon. ALIPHONSO TAFT, Attorney-General.
BETTER CLASS OF CITIZENS EXCLUDED FROM JURY DUTY IN U. S. COURTS.
In this connection it is proper to note that section 820 of the Revised Statutes
of the United States provides as cause of disqualification and challenge of grand
and petit juries in the courts of the United States, "having served in the rebellion, or giving it aid or comfort, or to have given directly or indirectly, any assistance in money, arms, horses, clothes, &c., anything whatever, for the use or
benefit of any one whom the giver knew to have been engaged in arms against
the United States," &c.
This law was enacted in 1862 and, although provisions for its repeal have more
than once passed the House of Representatives, yet by the refusal of the Senate
to concur still remains upon the statute, most unfortunately, as we believe.
It works an absolute exclusion of nearly every white citizen in the Southern
States from the United States juries.
In the selection by the United States marshal in Mississippi the jurors were
almost exclusively composed of republicans, colored and white, (20 to 1, see Walton's letters.
Attention is drawn to this, because the better class of the white citizens have
been bitterly assailed and condemned because they have not actively assisted in
convicting offenders; at the same time they have not only been excluded from
office, but not even allowed to sit upon the juries.
We submit these facts to the onsciences of our countrymen.
A letter from W. F. Tucker in also published at the request of the chairman,
directed to Mr. Frazee, the foreman of this grand jury,'o be found at page 151
of the documentary evidence.
If Mr. Frazee believed this letter was intended to deter him from doing his
,duty his course and duty were plain.   The letter should have been handed to
Judge Hill, who, by a bench-warrant, c(ould have brought Mr. Tucker to answer.
But the publication of thq letter by Mr. Frazee proves that he did not so construe
it, and certainly that he derided it.
Whatever impropriety may be adjudged Mr. Tucker, it is his individual sin,
and should not be visited upon his innocent fellow-citizens.
Throughout the testimony much of the alleged intimidation was by violent
language, profanity, and vague and mysterious threats, which, however improper
and reprehensible, are; we regret to say, much too common in every heated political canvass in almost every county in the United States, and are not peculiar to the State of Mississippi. The object of such testimony could only be to
create prejudice, as it certainly could not have been intended as a basis {or legislation. There is scarcely a State in the Union which is not assailable on
similar grounds.
SOCIAL OSTRACISM.
Testimony was taken to prove the unwillingness of the southern white people to
associate intimately with many of the witnesses. Judging from the account given
of themselves by those who made this complaint, the undersigned are disposed to
coincide with the parties complained of, and do not believe that in the Northern
States the social standing of these witnesses could be very high, or intimacy with
them generally desired.  But it does seem to us absurd to suggest the regulation
of private intimacies and associations by act of Congress.  History has been read
in yain if the folly and futility of all such attempts be not admitted. Time, the
great healer of grief, may steep in oblivion the memory of the great losses with
which the people of the South have in the providence of God been visited. But
the wounds are too recent not to be touched gently. The members of many a
* household in Mississippi are clad in the garb of woe, and mothers, sisters, and
wives are pale with sorrows that will not cease until the union with their loved
and lost shall come with the end of their earthly troubles.
Into these associations a stranger may not intrude, a man of feeling would not
if he could, and an unfeeling man should be repelled.
290 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
The fireside of a citizen, however humble, is a domain which neither congressional committees nor any one else has a right to enter unbidden by its owner.
Nothing in the letter or spirit, the theory or practice of American government
even suggests such a jurisdiction, and we thus dismiss the subject.
INTERFERENCE BY FEDERAL AUTHORITY
in the State elections and internal affairs of the State has, since the close of the
war, frequently taken place, and never without deplorable and disastrous results
and, on the other hand, the applications of minorities, defeated by the popular
vote, to be nevertheless installed in office, has never been denied by the Federal
authorities without such denial being followed by beneficent results.
Such interference has always been followed (and very naturally) by local discontent and disorder, as in the case of Louisiana and Alabama, while Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Texas, and Arkansas are living proofs in their
increased prosperity and tranquillity of the wisdom of non-interference.
THE PROBLEM OF RACE
will continue to be of the deepest interest to the people of this nation  and it is
not the duty or purpose of the undersigned to do more at present than recognize
its existence and refer to its solution as a matter of great difficulty. Suffice it to
say that the relations of the African to the white races in the United States do not
stand alone for consideration; but on our Pacific coast the dark shadow of an
Asiatic horde hangs lowering over the white population, and has aroused their
gravest apprehensions.
The African race is now admitted fully to the rights of American citizenship.
Under the fifteenth amendment all power to discriminate as to the right to vote
"on account of race" is inhibited to the States and to the United States.
Thus, between the admission of the Mongolians to the privilege of suffrage, there
now stands but the frail barrier of a single word of the naturalization laws, to be
added or subtracted at the will of a bare majority in Congress, which can close or
open to the teeming Oriental populations unobstructed opportunity, by their
mere numbers, to control our elections and our governments, State and Federal.
The vastness and gravity. of the subject will not admit of further discussion in
this report.
A few remarks upon the condition of Mississippi in June, 1876, will conclude
this report.
A rapid journey by railway brought the committee to the town of Jackson, the
capital of the State. The examination of witnesses, who were all ready and in
attendance, having been summoned in advance by telegraph from Washington,
commenced on the day of our arrival, and continued all day and every day from
June 9, to June 27, when, by traveling all night, we reached the little village of
Aberdeen, in Monroe County, and, after three days of close labor there, returned to
Washington. No act of a turbulent or disorderly nature was witnessed by the committee, and no signs of enmity or incivility were exhibited * but, on the contrary,
courtesy and respect were on all hands extended to the committee.
A SUGGESTIVE SPECTACLE.
The poverty of the people was apparent in their garb, the appearance of their
houses, and the marked absence of good and comfortable vehicles.
The want of horses or equipages for ordinary pleasure was frankly stated to
the undersigned by sundry gentlemen who regretted their inability to allow us to
see the surrounding country, simply because they and their families were too poor
to indulge in the pleasure of a drive.
Large numbers of ladies in Mississippi, delicately nurtured and carefully educated, are compelled to perform the drudgery of their households unaided by domestic servants.
This great change in their mode of life and fortunes induces them to conceal
their wants from a stranger's eye, and frequently forbids that open-handed hospitality once so characteristic of Southern households.
The only exhibition of pleasure seeking witnessed was by the colored people,
whose processions passed by the committee-room, and whose holiday excursions
by railway started from the depot opposite.
The only cannon sound was from their republican ratification meeting, and
theirs was the only music heard by us in Mississippi.
291 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
The poverty of the colored people also was often painfully apparent in the
groups of witnesses whlo clustered upon the long galleries, wretched in appear ance and miserably clad, giving to the hotel the appearance of a county alms house.
The reformation in the legislation and administration of Mississippi by the party
in control since January, 1876, has thus been important and marked with great
benefits to the entire community.
The judiciary has been purified and elevated by the appointment of men learned
in the law and irreproachable in character to the bench. The far-reaching and
beneficent influences of this single reform can scarcely be overstated, and the
blessing to flow to all classes of society and all races of men in the pure and equal
administration of public justice may be now hopefully looked for.
The Hon. John A. C. Watson, a citizen of the highest reputation, both as a lawyer and a man, testified on this subject as follows, at page:
Question. Speaking irrespective of party in the State, what was the effect upon
public opinion of the course of administration which you have here detailed as to
the growth of confidence or dissatisfaction therein? Answer. It created great
discontent and dissatisfaction. Many of the republican party became as violent
opponents of Governor Ames as the democrats were or ever had been.
Q. I would ask you what in your judgment, as a citizen of the State and a close
observer of the affairs of the State, was the effect of the discord in the dominant
party in the election of 1875? A. I think the split in the party contributed moreo
to the overthrow of Ames than any other single cause.   And in this way:  l'he
negroes, hearing their own men abusing each other, seemed to be bewildered.  I
traveled over the State a good deal during the last canvass. I addressed the people
at this place, (Jackson,) and I addressed them at Canton, at Winona, at Oxfdrd
Taylor's Depot, Hernando, Senatobia, and some other places, besides in Marshall
County, and had a good deal of intercourse with the people.
Q. With both parties?  A. Yes, and I noticed a very great change in the negroes.
Before, they had been unwilling to hear any but their own speakers, and seemed
to have no confidence in anybody else. Last fall, long before the election, tfhney
were coming out to hear the democratic speakers. They were conversing with
democrats, and before the day of election a good many had openly avowed themselves democrats.  In my county, and in others of which I heard, a great many
had joined clubs, and I noticed, - frequently, one or two who would first go and
hear, then they would converse with nie, and their change was as gradual aad
slow as it well could have been. Finally they would avow themselves democrats,and
become more enthusiastic than anybody else. Such changes were usual throughout the State before the day of the election, and I heard many of them say, "Wells
we have made nothing yet by the republican party; they have done us no good,
and I reckon it is possibly best to have a change. We will try it." I don't pretend to give their exact language, but the substance of what many said.
Q. Since the election have you observed the sentiments and feelings of the colored population in regard to this change of administration? A. I think there has
been more of contentment and quiet and satisfaction among the negroes since the
last election than has ever before existed in the State since reconstruction.
Q. Excluding yourself, of course, what is your estimate of the present state of
judiciary, both as to the chancery, Circuit Court, and the Supreme Court?  A.  I
regard the improvement as very great-very great.
Q. Have the offices of chancellor been refilled? A. Yes.
Q. And the circuit judges also refilled? A. Yes.
Q. From what class of men, as to legal attainment and character, have these
appointments been drawn? A. They have been made from a class of lawyers
who had the confidence of the people and who were competent to fill the places.
The Supreme Court bench, with Simrall, appointed by ALCORN, and Campbell and
Chalmers, appointed by our present governor, Governor Stone, in point of capacity, integrity, and character, is equal to any court in the Union, and there are
not more than one or two chancellors or circuit judges that 1, myself, as governor,
would not have appointed.
Q. Are you aware that the charge had been made that the late election in 1875
was carried by a general system of intimidation and violence on the part of the
democratic party toward their political opponents in this State? I will ask you
-now what is your knowledge and your judgment as to the truth or falsity of that
statement? A. Well, so far as my personal knowledge goes, I never witnessed
292 
RADICAL RULE INl MISSISSIPPI.
anything approaching intimidation by the whites.  Cases of-intimidation of colored voters by colored voters did come under my observation. There has always
been something of that, but much less of it in the last election than previously.
A better class of men, as a general thing, were anti-radical candidates last fall,
and a more orderly or fairer election was never held, so far as it came under my
observation.
Judge Campbell, of the Supreme Court, at page, says:
Question. Has there been, as far as you know, since the election an acquiescence
in the change of affairs in the State? Answer. Entirely so; the most perfect
quiet has reigned throughout Mississippi.
Q. Any collision between the races since that, that you are aware of, in your
own section of the country?  A. I have heard none anywhere I remember, except
on the borders of Mississippi, in Louisiana; this matter down here, that is known
through the instrumentality of papers; I have heard of no disturbance; perfect
quiet hps reigned throughout the State except that.
Q. State what has been since 1875 the effect of this change of administration 
if there has been any effect upon the happiness and prosperity of the people. A.
It has been most inspiring, decidedly inspiring, to the people.
Q. Is that feeling confined to one race exclusively? A. I am not able to speak
about the colored people. My associations with them are so very limited that I
cannot say, sir. My professional duties before my appointment to the bench,
and my judicial duties since, have so engrossed my time that really I cannot
express an opinion, even about the sentiments of colored men in the State.
Q. Has there been, to your knowledge, a visible improvement in the prosperity
and condition in the State since the change of administration? A. There is no
question about that, I think; sir. The prospect for industrial success is decidedly
better than it has been. There are much higher hopes in the bosoms of the white
people, and, so far as I can ascertain or judge from every appearance, perfect
contentment, quietude, and satisfaction among the colored people.
The truth is that the colored people were being incited by pestiferous vagabonds
who wanted to stir them up for purposes of their own against the whites. And
they would have moved along in their sphere contentedly and quietly, depending
on the white people, trusted in them, and treated with kindness by them, but they
were stirred up and hopes were created in their bosoms which co,uld not be real
ized. And there are ambitious men among them, who, catching their inspiration
from their leaders, undertook to permeate the whole race with it, and spreading
it abroad inciting them and inducing a feeling, when there would have been no
such feeling; all would have been satisfactory between the whites and blacks had
it not been for the interference of these persons who undertook to use the negroes
for their own purposes.
And I will state further that the negroes would have fared just as well and better without any interference at the hands of the mass of the white people, who
have far more consideration and kindness for them than these men who make loud
pretense of their devotion to them for mere political purposes. 
I know the negro race well; I was born and reared among them, and have nothing in the world but the kindest feelings for them and in my private life and in
public life, as they all will testify who have been brought within my infiuence, I
have treated them with great consideration. When on the bench, where theyhad
against them the natural prejudice unhappily existing to a great extent in the
minds of their late makters against the newly enfranchised race, I was anxious to
secure them from injustice from white jurors, even more so than if they had been
white people. I have always had only feelings of the utmost kindness toward them,
and have now.
I am prepared to assert that they have done wonderfully well under the circumstances, and would have done far better but for the interference of politicians, who
stir them up and use them for their own benefit. They have been badly taught
and misled and been used as mere puppets to a large extent.
The reduction of expenses by the last Legislature was positive, and highly satisfactory to all tax-payers.  (See page    -, deposition of.)
The condition of public schools is in the main satisfactory, and the provision for
their maintenance has been increased by the appropriation of certain license fees
and fines to their support.  (See page     deposition of E. Barksdale.)
On this subject the following extract is pertinent and interesting:
293 
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.
"THE PEABODY SCHOOL FUND.
"On  Friday last the trustees of the Peabody fund for aiding the public
schools at the South held a meeting at the Greenbrier White Sulphur Springs, at
which the report made by Drx. Sears of his last year's work was discussed. From
this report we,learn that Dr. Sears disbursed from the fund under his charge but
a small amount to South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana, because those States do
not foster public education.  In South Carolina and Louisiana the republicans have
had possession of the government for years past. In Florida the democrats have
only recently had any chance of carrying the State. Yet in these three States,
where the white friends of the colored people have everything their own way, the
school funds have been squandered and dissipated and the school-houses closed.
What wonder, then, is it that Mr. George Peabody Russel, who joined in the discussion of the Sears report, gave it as his opinion, from personal and recent observation,'that nothing could be expected from those States in the way of advancing
their educational interests until there was a change in their State governments.'"
By amendatory criminal legislation the live stock of the farmers has been protected, and the lawless and indiscriminate slaughter of breeding-animals has been
made highly penal, so that this year much of the pork and beef heretofore purchased abroad will be raised within the State.
With the increased acreage of corn and the fine crops of their great staple of
cotton, the prospects for the material prosperity of Mississippi in the present year
are favorable.
CONSTITUTIONAL POWERS OF CONGRESS.
If it be designed that our form of government should be continued, we hold it
to be the sworn duty of every Senator and member of Congress, as well as every
officer of the Government, to respect and obey the limitations upon power imposed
by our written charter. 
Whatever may be our individual opinions as to the right or the wrong of a given
condition of affairs, the power, and with it the duty to interfere must be found expressly or by necessary implication, in the Federal Constitution, otherwise such interference is law-breaking and not law-making.
The Supreme Court of the United States, in the case of The Collector vs. Day, 11
Wallace, Rep., p. —, through the lips of that venerable and lamented jurist, Mr.
Justice Nelson, described the relative powers of the Federal and State governments
in the following words, which we commend to the respect and for the instruction
of the Senate:
"It is a familiar rule of construction of the Constitution of the Union that the
sovereign powers vested in the State governments by their respective constitutions
remained unaltercd and unimpaired, except so far as they were granted to the Government of the United States. That the intention of the framers of the Constitution in this respect might not be misunderstood, this rule of interpretation is expressly declared in the tenth article as the amendments, namely:'The powers not
delega'ed to the United States are reserved to the States, respectively, or to'the
people.'  The Government of the United States, therefore, can claim no powers
which are not granted to it by the Constitution, and the powers actually granted
must be such as are expressly given. or given by necessary implication.
' "The  General Government and the States, although both exist within the
same territorial limits, are separate and distinct sovereignties, acting sepatately and independently of each other within their respective spheres.  The former in its appropriate sphere is supreme  but the States within the limits.
of their powers not granted, or, in the language of the  tenth  amendment
'reserved,' are as independent of the General Government  as that  Govern
ment within its sphere is independent of the States. * * *
"Such being the separate  and independent condition of the States in our
complex system, as recognized by the Constitution, and the existence of which
is so indispensable that without them the General Government itself wotld
disappear from the family of nations."
The House of Representatives of the United States is by the  Constitutiotl
the sole judge of the elections, qualifications, and returns of its memblers'
Contests for membership and admission to that body must  be  settled'by
that body alone.  This Senate has no power.
The constitution of the State of Mississippi secures to the respective
houses of its'Legislature the same exclusive power in  the same  frame  of
words, and it cannot be lawfully overthrown by the United States.
294 
RADICAL RULE IN MIISSISSIPPI.
The deposition of Mr. Walton, the presen/t United States district attorney
of Mississippi, at page 63, exhibits his and Governor Ames's views of the
late election:
Question. Has any department of the  government  in Mississippi, or any
authority, State or Federal, questioned the legality of the present Legislature? Answer. I believe not, sir. That is to say, no authority, State or Federal, nor department of the government in Mississippi has questioned the legality of the present Legislature. There has been a popular charge that it
was a Legislature elected by intimidation; but then, while they have questioned it unofficially, they have recognized the legality of the Legislature by
their official intercourse with it.   
Q. Have not both thb judicial and executive  authority of the State repeatedly recognized the legality of the Legislature elected in 1875? A. The ju
dicial authority, the Supreme Cotrt, may be considered as having recognized
the legality of the Legislature in this way: two of the judges 6f the Supreme
Court by turns-the eourt consists of three judges-presided over the impeachment of Governor Ameds.   The chief justice of the State first presided, and then
in consequence of ill health he resigned his position, and became only an associate
justice, and the person who was elected chief justice in his place took his position as
president of the court of impeachment. The officers of the State generally reported
to the Legislature, and the governor of the State sent his message to the Legislature and approved or vetoed its bills. I remember that I had a conversation with
Gov. Ames on that subject, in which something was said about the legality
of the Legislature. I recollect he made the remark, which impressed me as
'authorizing his action in the matter, that the Legislature was  a legal body,
because the number of republicans in the Legislature and the number of
democrats in the Legislature,' who' were peacefully elected, constitute a'majority of each house, and thereby were entitled to decide the question of the right
of the other members to their seats.  He.cont6nded,'however, that a good many
of the members had been illegally elected.
Q.  But  that was  a question which  there was  a  legal  body  there to
determine?  A.  That  there was  a legal body  there composed  of'republicans who had been elected without any improper influence, and democrats who
were elected peacefully, in sufficient numbers to constitute a majority of each
house.  I remember his making that remark to me in January, shortly after the
Legislature met. He did not give that as-his-reason f6r recognizing the Legislature in his official capacity; but the two things coupled themselves  together in
my mind.   
The statement of the result of the election by Governer Ames,  and that the
late Legislature was a legal body, is more than suistained by the testimony.
Striking out the counties where fraud or violence may be supposed to have
nullified the elections in those special and few localities, still enough lawfully
and peaceably elected members of both' houses remain  unimpeached, in any
quarter and by any witness, to form more than a quorum duly qualified to organize the two bodies according to the constitution of the State of Missisbippi.'
T. F. BAYARD.
J. E. McDONALD.
205
I
I 
INDIAN FRAIJIUDS.
HOW CONTRACTS ARE MADE PROFITABLE. 
THE INDIAN PEACE COMMISSION.
In the Spring of 1869 the President of the United States appointed a Board of
Indian Peace Commissioners, -in accordance with the provisions of Section 4, of
the "Act making provision for the current and contingent expenses of the Indian
Department, approved April 10th, 1869." By the section referred to, $2,000,000
were appropriated to enable the President "to maintain the peace among and
with the various tribes, bands and parties of Indians; to promote civilization
among them, and where practicable, to bring them upon reservations; relieve
their necessities, and to encourage their efforts at self-support."  To enable the
President to accomplish this great work, he was authorized "To organize a Board
of Commissioners to consist of not more than ten persons, to be selected by him,,
from men, eminent for their intelligence and philanthropy to serve without
pecuniary compensation, and who may, under his direction exercise  JOINT CONTROI, with the Secretary of the Interior, over the disbursement of the appropriations made by this act or any part thereof, that the President may designate."
The Commission selected in accordance with this provision of the law was composed of the following gentlemen: George H. Stuart, William Welsh, W. E.
Dodge, E. S. Toby, J. V. Farwell, Robert Campbell, Felix R. Brunot,, Henry S.
Lane, and Nathan Bishop., On June 3d, the President issued an executive order
in which he recited the appointment of the above-named gentlemen, and specified
their duty as' Commissioners.  In this order, however, the President was careful
to inform the Commissioners, that they could not "exercise joint control with the
Secretary of ~the Interior, over the disbursement of the appropriations, as the Act
authorizing the President to appoint them, said they might do, under his direction.
MR. WELSH ASSIGNS HIS REASONS FOR RESIGNING.
Several of these gentlemen, then designated by the President to act as Peace
Commissioners, and inaugurate a humane and just policy of dealing with the
Indians, were eminent citizens, distinguished for personal worth, for philanthropic work' and for disinterested zeal in their undertakings. They gave time,
money, labor, energy and devotion to this self-imposed task, and refused to
receive any compensation whatever for their services; but after a veiT short experience, William Welsh, who had been selected by his associates on account of
his high personal character and great business experience, as Chairman of the
,Commission, resigned; and in a letter to the President, gave the following
reasons for his resignation.  He said: "Owing to influences from without and
from within the Interior Department, the sources of which were carefully concealed from the Secretary of the Interior, instead of giving the Board the joint
control indicatel in the act of Congress,.its powers were limited to that of a mere
council of advice. Having more thorough knowledge than some of my colleagues
with the political power of the Indian Ring, and of the deep-seated malady in the 
INDIAN FRAUDS.
Indian Office, and being unwilling to assume responsibility without any power of
control, I peremptorily resign my commission, at the same time pledge myself to
you that I will serve the cause as a private citizen with equal zeal, and without
cost of any kind to the Government."
ALL THE HONORABLE MEN RESIGN.
After the experience of the first year it became evident that the Secretary of the
Interior, and the Indian Bureau under his control, were hostile to the supervision
of these Commissioners, who had, after the resignation of Mr, Welsh, endeavored
to do what they could to prevent jobbery, and dinminish the profits of the Indian
Ring.  They did succeed to such an extent in interfering with the plans of the corrupt combination which rules the Indian service, that the ring determined to get
rid of these efficient gentlemen and provide a more subservient Board of Commissioners. By means of the Indian committees in Congress who are generally appointed at the suggestion of the head of the Interior Department, the ring was enabled to procure legislation by which the aims of the Commission were thwarted
and their whole policy practically overthrown.  All sorts of pretenses were invented for disregarding their advice, and disputing their authority; their disallowance of corrupt claims and disapproval of fraudulent contracts were overruled
insultingly and in defiance of the law. -They appealed to the President in vain,
and finally when they saw they were without support, they resigned, and refused
longer to give their countenance to a policy whose name was prostituted to the.
most venal objects and scandalous abuses.
A SHAM COMMISSION APPOINTED.
But it was necessary, in order to cover up the operations of the ring, that there
should be a sham commission selected by the ring itself, through the Secretary
of the Interior. But the kind of men who were wanted had to be paid, and so in
the Indian Appropriation Bill of 1875-76 the following amendment was inserted
in the Senate and concurred in by the House:
"For this amount or so much thereof as may be necessary to pa! the expenses
of citizens serving without compensation, appointed by the President under the
provision of the 4th Section of the Act of April 10th, 1869, $15,000."
In re-organizing the commission, care was taken to'select two members from
Washington who could always be at hand, and counted upon as faithful to' the
ring.  They were F. H. Smith, formerly a reporter of' the House of Representatives, who had been dismissed for his connection with notorious jobs, and WVm.
Stickney, who had been President of the Upper House of Boss Shepard's Ring
Legislature for the District of Columbia.
WHAT THE OFFICIAL FIGURES SHOW.
When the official statistics are scrutinized in detail, the results of the Indian
ring's operations are simply astounding. Although Congress has voted yearafter
year the most extravagant appropriations upon estimates of the Indian Bureau,
there is no census or basis upon which the population can be safely assumed.
The Indians, on their side, do not desire to be counted, and this prejudice fits in
with the designs of the agents, traders and ring managers, whose profits are all
the better in proportion to the false numbers which they return; consequently,
they have combined in this respect with the chiefs, to prevent a correct census.
which would at once expose one of the great sources of systematic fraud; hence
millions have been asked for and granted upon mere estimates of population
without the least pretense of reliability, and known by the test of particular
tribes accustomed to draw supplies to be willfully fabricated and usually doubled'
in number.  This excessive counting has been one of the chief elements in the
frauds of the ring, which could not have prospered without the consent and cooperation of the Indian Bureau. Nothing is easier than to regulate the distribution of annuities in such a manner as to know almost exactly the number of
men, women and children in every tribe.
It is assumed that the correct number of Indians, excluding Alaska, is about
275,000 all told, and that 65,000 only draw rations from the Government. These
are ihe figures of the Intorior Department; but when contrasted with those before'the war, and the average mortality is taken into account, it is evident that
they are cooked for a purpose.  The tables of the national census for 1870 were
297 
INDIAN FRAUDS.
mainly predicated on the returns furnished by the Indian Bureau, so that, in fact,
there are no data worthy of the name for the Indian population.
A COMPARISON THAT IS VERY SUGGESTIVE.
No one will venture to deny that the number of Indians between 1856 and
1861, the six years preceding the war, was much greater than for the first six
years under the present Administration; therefore, the cost of maintaining them
.ought to be actually reduced to the extent of this decrease, whatever it may have
been. Let us test the expenditures by these two periods, as reported by the
Treasury Department:
1856 --------------—.-$2,769,429 55  1859 ----------------- $3,625,027 24
1857 —------------ --- 4,267,543 07  1860. —-- ---------------- 2,949,191 34
1858 ----------------— 4,926,738 91  1861 ------------------ 2,841,368 28
Total for six years ----------------------— $21,379,298 39
Annual average. ------------------------- $3,563,216 39
~ Grant became Pr
fair play and abun
30, 1870, when  he
point:
1870 -------------
1871 -------------
1872 -------------
-------  $3,407,938 13 1873 ----------------— $7,951,704 88
8. --—. 7,426,997 44 1874 ----------------- 6,692,462 09
-   ----— 7,061,728 82 1875 ----------------- 8,384,656'82
Total for six years ----------------------- $40,925,488 20
Annual average -------------------------- $6,820,914 70
Presented in a more compact form, these results appear thus
Total for six years under Grant ----------------— $40,925,4.88 20
Total for six years, 1856 to 1861 inclusive....21,379,298 39
Excess for six years under Grant ---------— $19,546,189 81
or,
Annual average under Grant ------------.. -. —$6,820,914 70
Annual average from 1856 to 1861 inclusive ---------- 3,563,216 19
Annual excess under Grant —---------------- $3,257,698 51
During tlie first year of the present Administration there was no marked change,
and the next year it will be observed there was an increase of $4,000,000, and the expeaditures have averaged that immense increase ever since.
, OUR INDIAN SERVICE COMPARED WITH THE CANADIAN.
The extent of the stealings under the present management of the Indian Bureau will be apparent when we compare our system with that of the Canadian
Government. The enumeration of the Indians in Canada is as exact as that of'
;any other part of the population. There are 94,324 scattered all over that dominion, and the annual cost per head is below $2. They are industrious, peaceable,
,thriving, and some of them have become prosperous farmers. Separate accounts
are kept for their tribes, not only of the money granted for thle cession of
their'lands, which is prudently invested, but of the outlay required to
support them,  maintain' schools,  purchase  implements  of  husbandry,  or
in aid of other works. By the operation of this plain and honest system,
a large reserve fund has been created, which is gradually increasing, so that the
interest on the capital" will before long relieve the Canadian Government of any
charge, and make thie Indians independent.
If the t6tal of 275,000 Indians in the United States, as estimated by the Interior
Department, be apportioned by the average annual outlay under the present administration, the cost would be $24 a head.  If the 65,000 who are represented
298 
INDIAN FRAUDS.
by the Bureau as drawing rations are apportioned.in the same way, the c,st
would exceed $100.'  Bishop Whipple, the eminent divine who has given a great deal of attention to
Indian affairs, in speaking of the Canadian policy, says: "In Canada the Indian
treaty calls these men,'The Indian subjects of her Majesty.'  When  civilization
approaches them they are placed on ample reservations, they receive aid in civilization, they have personal rights of property, they are amenable to law, and prb,
tected by law, they have schools, andl Christian people delight to give them their
best men to teach the religion- of Christ.  We  expend more than one hundred
dollars to their one in caring for Indian wards."
THE TESTIMONY OF REPUBLICAN WITNESSES.
It is evident that the frauds practiced upon the Government of the  United
States and the unfortunate Indians, by corrupt officials, acting in collusion with
members of the Indian Ring, will in the aggregate amount to several millions of
dollars annually. We have the testimony of eminent gentlemen, members of'the
Republican party, which we propose to set forth here in order to throw some
light upon the manner in which the affairs of the Indian Department have been
conducted under Republican rule.  One of these gentlemen, Mr. William Welsh,
of Philadelphia, has endeavored by every means within his power during the last few
years to expose the iniquities practiced upon the Indians by the Indian Ring,' as
well as the frauds perpetrated upon the Government by the same parties. He has
appealed to the President  he has urged upon Congress the necessity of taking
some practical steps toward reforming this branch of the public service, but without avail. Finally, as a last resort, he has appealed to the public, and we quote
from an open letter, which he addressed to the President on January 8th,
1874, in which he said:
. At our recent appointed interview I felt constrained to inform you that, since
"the last letting of contracts for supplies, a powerful Indian Ring, comprising
"men whom I named to you, has been formed, and that in some unaccountable
"way it had acquired such an influence in the Interior Department, that,'if un"checked, it would undermine your policy by destroying the confidence of Con"gress, and thus hinder the appropriations necessary to'promote Indian civiliza"tion.  As these efforts have failed to procure the reforms in the Indian Ofce
"necessary to protect the Indian and the Government, I now present! the case to
",you in an open letter, as I do not feel free to consult with you privately about
"the duties of a Cabinet officer.'
"If, MR. DELANO had looked into the office of the second Auditor, and, also,
"into the returns office, himself, he would havye seen the law was constantly violated
"by keeping contracts from the public observation, although there is a penalty of im"prisonment if each oontract is not speedily recorded in that office, where it is to be kept
"open for public inspection.
ILLEGAL SAIES OF PINE TIMBER..
"The Secretary of the Interior was, until I recently advised him, kept in igno"rance of a contract made by Agent Smith, now the Commissioner-of Indian
"Affairs, on the 8th day of November, 1872, for the illegal, and, as I believe, the
"otherwise wrongful sale of immense bodies of pine timber, without the know"ledge of some of the Indians to whom it belongs, and against the openly
"expressed wish of other bands who own a portion of it.  The Commisioners
"for investigating half-breed scrip, Agent Smith and Judge Jones, one of the present
"examining Commissioners, had previously'reported timber, said to be far less
"valuable tha'n this, to be worth $2.50 to $3.00 a thousand; and yet this contract
"was made at $1.15 a thousand, without advertising, or in any other way invtiting
"competition. A portion of this timber had been previously sold by Agent Smith
"'to Clarke at $1.35 per thousand; and Clarke testifies that he was willing to
"giye that price for the whole; but Agent Smith said he could not sell it.  Agent
" Smith subsequently notified Clarke that the contract he had entered into with
"him was void, because the Indians at Oak Point had determined not to sell
"their pine timber.   Subsequently this timber, with  large bodies of timber
"belonging to other Indians who had not been consulted, was' sold to A.  H.
"Wikler, at $1.15, as before referred to.
'-If Mr. Wilder paid' *50,000 advance money (on this purchase), it i~ certain
"that no part of it' ever reached the'United States Treasury,  and that not
'299 
"one dollar of it was expended for the relief of these poor, perishing Pillager
"(hippewas.
"By reference to the report of General Terry, you will learn that no imple" ments of husbandry, or seeds were sent to these Indians, and that, consequently
"they were disheartened, and almost starving. Even the $10,000 which were to
"have been paid under the terms of the contract, on the first day of May, were
" not received into the Treasury until after the exposure of this stupendous in"iquity. If the whole truth, in relation to this and other similar transactions in
"that region is brought to light, I fear the whole band of white pillagers will out"number their red brethren of that name.
ILLEGAL CONTRACTS FOR SUPPLIES, &C.
"Without consulting the Board of Indian Commissioners, in accordance with
"a specific law of Congress, and without advertising, Commissioner Smith made
"extensive private contracts with A. H. Wilder, and others, for supplies and for
"freight, and substituted corn for contract flour, and barreled pork for contract
bacon.  Some of,the vouchers, approved by Commissioner Smith for the ex"pense of Indians visiting Washington, give evidence of fraud; and surely there
was great extravagance in the allowance of forty-five dollars per trip, to a cdlerk of
" the Indian Offce from New  York to Washington and back, each time he spent
" Sundays with his family, also, six dollars a day for expenses, in addition to his
"regular salary.
"Commissioner Smith purchased a quack nostrum, of doubtful morality, to
"the extent of five thusand dollars, and had it charged to the appropriation
"for vaccine virus.  This charge was subsequently approved in the Secretary's
"Office, and charged to other appropriations.
"When the Assistant Secretary of the Interior visited Indian agents, he was
" allowed, in addition to all his expenses, eight dollars a day, while receiving sal"ary as a Government officer.
"This violation of law, although comparatively unimportant in amount, is
"ruinous to the morality of the Department, as it practically sanctions still greater
"irregularities by others who hold inferior offices.
"Vouchers to the extent of nearly half a million of dollars were rejected by the
"Board of Indian Commissioners, under the belief that they were fradulent,
'"illegal, or irregular; and yet most of these have been paid by order of the
"Secretary of  the Interior.   A  beef  contractor,  whose  fraudulent  prac"tices are on record in the Interior Department, and whose bids are con" sequently rejected by the Board of Indian Commissioners, was allowed to sub"let the contracts for the last fiscal year. To guard against the recurrence of
" this flagrant wrong, the Board of Indian Comrmissioners caused the following
"paragraph to be inserted in the proposals for supplies for the current fiscal
"year:
"' No contract, or part thereof, will be permitted to be assigned or filled
"-'' by other parties, without the written consent of the Secretary of the Interior.'
RING INFLUENCE IN THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT.
"When awarding contracts for cattle and for freight, we were all surprised at
"the urgency of Gen. Cowen, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, and of Indian
"Commissioner Smith, that large contracts should be given to A. H. Wilder, of
"Minnesota,-of the notorious contract for pine timber, that, ive months before,
" had been concluded by Mlr. Smith, and approved by Gen. Cowen, Acting Sec"retary of the Interior, kitqwut having been reported to Secretary Delano, as he
"testifies.
"Men who have withstood other temptations  have yielded to the persuasive
"overtures of contractors and speculators in pine timber. The power of these
"temptations is increased by an alleged or real influence in the Interior Depart"ment.   That contractors known to be adepts in this formn of villainy have influence
"in the Interin  Department, is an undeniable fact.
"The FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS spent for quack medicine was directed to be
charged to the account that should have covered vaccine virus only.  The sum
of seven hundred and ten dollars was allowed to a clei'k before referred to, as
"car fare, at three timnes its actual cost is endorsed as follows:
300
INDIAN FRAUDS.' 
INDIAN FRAUDS.
"'Approved. Charge appropriation for Incidental Expenses, Indian service
"'in Dakota.                               E. P. SMITH, Oommissioner
"Having now performed my duty as a private citizen, I am quite content to
"leave the work of reform where the responsibility has been left by the people of
"this land.                         (Signed),
"WILLIAM WELSH."
MANIFOLD VIOLATIONS OF LAW.
Again MIr. Welsh submitted the following statement of his charges against the
Indian Office before a sub-committee of the Conmmittee on Appropriations, which
was directed by a House resolution passed December 12th, 1870, to inquire what
had been the results accomplished by the Indian Commission.
FIRST.-Extensive purchases of cattle, flour, groceries, &c., by private contract
about June 17, August 10, 1870, and at other times, in direct violation of a law of
the United States, which requires such supplies to be advertised for in the public
newspapers, before purchases are made.
SECOND. -Large purchases, made nearly a month before the passage of the Appropriation Bill, and therefore without warrant of law, and to an extent not warranted by any exigency-the payments to one individual alone amountingto more
than $335,000. The letters of June 18th, 1870, from the Indian Office to
Agent Poole, and others, show conclusively that there was no exig(-ncy requiring
large purchases; as one-third of the cattle were to be delivered about July 15
one-third August 1, and one-third September 1, 1870..
THIRD.-A violation of the appropriation bill passed July 15, 1870; section 3d,
making it the express duty of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to consult the
board of Commissioners in making purchases of all goods to be paid for under
said appropriation bill; large purchases of beef, flour, etc., having been made
without the knowledge of said Board of Commissioners.
FOURTtH.-Section 8d of said appropriation bill makes it the duty of the Board
of Indian Comnmissioners "to supervise all expenditures of money appropriated
for the benefit of the Indians in the United States, and to inspect all goods purchased for said Indians, in connection with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs,
whose duty it shall be to consult said Commission, etc." This well-defined duty
imposed on the Commissioner of Indian Affairs was only complied with in the
supervision and inspection of dry goods, -and wholly neglected in other and far
more extensive and important expenditures of money.
. FIFTH.-CCulpable neglect in not ascertaining, by telegraph, or otherwise, how
much beef and other supplies were likely to be furnished by contractors under
the Commissary Department, before making large purchases of beef, etc., as per
contracts of June 17, and Aug. 10, 1870.
FRAUDS IN CONTRACTS FOR BEEF CATTLE.
S;XTH.-Exorbitant prices paid for provisions about June 17th and August 10th,
six and one-half cents per pound being the price for Texas cattle, on the hoof, to
be receivred and receipted for by the agent immediately on the arrival of the herd.
The Commissary Department was at that time supplying the agencies at 4.45
cents per pound, and a contract, when properly advertised, was subsequently
made by the Indian Department at 3.88 cents per pound.  In eoth cases the contractor was bound to keep thte cattle at his own expewe and risk, deliverable. as sequired
by the agent from time to time during the period of nine months. The contractor for
th,. cattle at 6O cents is also a partner in the contract at 3.88 cents.   He and
others in the cattle business admit that the cost and risk of keeping Texas oxen in
that stormy region and near hostile Indians, for delivery, as needed, exceeds 1+
cents per pound, which, deducted from the'4.45, and 3.88, make the purchase at
6. cents for prompt delivery equal to an advance of' 100 per. cent. on the Commissary's contract, and 150 per cent. on the' contract made by the Indian Office,
in mtrsuance of law, after public advertisement.   I was credibly informed, and believe, that the cattle delivered in November at 61 cents a pound co,st but 23 cents
at some reservations, 2.85 cents at others, and 3 cents at the most remote.   I am
offered oxen in full supply for the next season at 2] cents a pound, delivered on
the banks of the Missouri river, from June 15th to July 1st, although the price of
cattle has materially advanced in Texas since last Spring, The best of the cattle,
say 4,000 head of the 3.88 cents contract, cost 3 cents a pound, because they were
$91 
INDIAN FRAUDS.
INDIAN FRAUDS.
bought so late that they could not reach Grande river before the close of November. I was credibly informed and believe that between two and three thousand
cattle, under the same contract, were very inferior to the others, and that some of
them cost 21 cents a pound, or less.
OFFICIAL INSTRUCTIONS IN FAVOR OF THE RING.
SEVENTH.-" The following wrongful and censurable instructions to agents,
dated Indian Office, June 18, 1870:'If the quantity of any or all of the articles
delivered should vary from the foregoing, either more or less, it will make no
particular difference. You will give Mr. Bosler proper receipts for all the
supplies furnished by him at the time of delivery.
"The foregoing instructions notified the agents at Whetstone that one-third of
the cattle would be delivered, each, about July 15, August 1, and September 1,
1870. Mr. Bosler notified the agent that he would thrust upon him about one
thousand cattle by July 20. The agent remonstrated, as he had then nearly three
months' supply on hand. A telegram from the Honorable Commissioner of
Indian Affairs, dated July 20th, 1870, compelled him to receive from J. W. Bosler all the cattle he brought, say 839 heads, in addition to the 1,200 already on
hand at the agency. The agent reports that these additional cattle will cost him $600,
per month for herders, in addition to stampeding and other casualties.   As these
letters of instruction show that the contractor might deliver in July, August, and
September, a plea that the contract was made for supplies to meet an iexigency
has no foundation in fact; and the reason for this very peculiar clause became
manifest on this, and especially on subsequent occasions; for deliveries of 61 cent
cattle were made in November, and attempts were made in tle same month to
force 7,000 additional oxen on the agents, contrary to contract.
EIGHTH.-" The neglect to advertise for proposals to furnish cattle, immediately
after the passage of the appropriation bill, July 15, is not only culpable, but
seems to be something worse, when coupled with the fact that additional cattle
to the extent of $155,000, were purchased privately on or about August 20, and
were allowed to be delivered as late as November 14, when, under the advertised
contract, cattle were to be ready for delivery as early as the 15th of October, at
3.88 cents a pound.
NINTH.-Neglect in not notifying the Second Auditor of the receipt of a notification from Agent Randall, of Cheyenne, that his sub-agent had receipted for
Texas cattle, at twelve hundred pounds, instead of nine hundred and thirty-eight
pounds, the actual weight, &c. Also, culpable remissness in paying large sums
of money,
ON VOUCHERS FROM IRRESPONSIBLE PERSONS,
not officially known to the Department, said vouchers not giving the number of
the cattle, or stating whether they had been weighed or estimated, and by whom;
or, in the case of net weight of beef, whether the oxen had been killed, or how
the estimate had been made.
TENTH.-Neglect in not sending a copy of the contract of September 17, to the
various agents, as had been done with the private Bosler contract.  The instructions of June 18, to receive without restriction. had not been revoked but had
been strengthened by the telegram of July 20, from Commissioner Parker, ordering Captain Poole to receive without limit. That there was a collusion, in an attempt to defraud the Government, is more than probable, from the following reasons:
1. J. W. Bosler, the contractor at 6/2 cents, is also a partner in the contract of September 17, at 3.88 cents, and he avers that Governor Carney, the representative of another ring, or combination of bidders, offered $40,000, if the bid
of 3.88 was withdrawn.
2. A nine months' supply of oxen, say nearly 7,000 cattle, would not have
been driven to the Missouri region in November, if the contractors had expected
to be held to their bargain.
3. No preparations were made by the contractors to keep the cattle, or to kill
them and freeze the beef. That is, no hay was provided, no horses were purchased, no herders hired, and no houses erected for protecting frozen beef.
4. A partially successful attempt was made by the contractors, or their agents,
to force these cattle on the Indian agents; and they would have been largely, or
perhaps wholly successful, if I had not, when in Washington, demanded to see
302 
INDIAN FRAUDS. 
the contract, and was therefore prepared to caution the Indian agents. Before I
reached Crow Creek, some 400 of' these cattle had been forced on an agent who
had already resigned. He averred that he had given a temporary receipt, under
false representations. These new cattle caused his whole herd to stampede.
STILL OTHER FRAUDS.
Eleventh.-Wastefulness of the public money in purchasing other articles, all
from the same favored contractor; say bacon (with the rib bones), at 25 cents per
pound; coffee at 28 cents a pound; common sugar, made from molasses, at 18
cents a pound; inferior tobacco at 85 cents a pound, and flour at 6+ cents a pound,
delivered at the agencies. Also, in buying from the same person, a resident of
Pennsylvania, 25,000 ninety-eight pound sacks of second quality of flour, at $3.50
a sack, delivered at Sioux City, where the market price was $2.20; purchasing all
privately, from one person, instead of advertising, according to law; and not allowing bids of one thousand sacks, or more, that persons living near the reservation might find a market for their products and manufactures. Wheat could
have been contracted for, at from 1 to 1+ cents per pound, and a more nutritious
diet manufactured on the reservation, with existing machinery, at less than half
the cost of the flour furnished.
Twelfth.-Exorbitant rates paid for freight up the MVIissouri river, by not allowing or encouraging competition.
lhirteenth.-Grievous wrong to the Indian Service, by allowing peculiar facilities to a superintendent or superintendents, agent or agents, having strong political friends, by which the Government has been defrauded, or the welfare of the
Indians retarded.
PHILADELPHIA,d)                                  "WILLIAMy 9th,SH."
(Signed),
PHILAD.ELPHIaA, Januar'y 9th, 1871.
HOW  THESE CHARGES WERE MET.
To these charges of MR. WELSH, the then Indian Commissioner, E. S. PARKER,
makes reply to the Chairmanrof the Sub-Committee of the House of Representatives,
under date as follows:
"WASHINGTON, D. C., January, - 13, 1871.
"DEAR SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communication
dated January 11, 1871, in which, by instructions of the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives, you forward me, inclosed, a copy of a
communication of WI-LIAM WELSH, Esq., dated Philadelphia, January 9, 1871,
and stating that you will receive any reply that I may be pleased to make.
"I address myself, therefore, to the charges made by MR. WELSH."
The Commissioner thereupon addresses himself to the charges made by MR.
WELSH by a simple denial, in each and every case. He enumerates the charges,
from the first one down to the thirteenth, and merely adds to them all the words:
"I deny."   (See published report of investigations, pages 7, 8, 9.)  This
document is called, "Investigation into Indian Affairs, before the Committee on Appropriations of the House of Representatives." It occupies 121 pages,-all of which,
except some 30 pages of official matter, arranged for the purpose, are composed of
the "Argument of N. P. Cm-rMAN, late ring delegate in Congress for the District of
Columbia, in defense of the Hon. E. S. PARKERR (then Commissioner of Indian
Affairs."
In the course of the "Investigation" (?) which followed, the annexed provision
of law with regard to the making of contracts was quoted, and put on record, on
page 12, of the "Reports." (?)
"All purchases and contracts for supplies or services in any of the departments
'of the Government, except personal services, when the public exigencies do not
"require the immediate delivery of the article, or articles, or performance of the
"service, shall be mae by advertising a sufficient time previouslyforproposals respect"ing the same.  When immediate delivery or performance is required by the pub"lie exigency, the articles or service required may be procured by open purchase,
"or contract, at the places and in the manner in which such articles are usually
"bought and sold, or such service engaged between  individuals." (Sec. 10, Act
March 2, 1861, 12 Stat. 220.)
It will be observed, by the date of this act of Congress, that it was passed and
303
"WILLIAM WELSH. "
"PUBLIC EXIGENCY." 
804                             INDIAN FRAUDS.
went into immediate effect at the time the nation was involved in civil war, and
when the "public exigency" was very great. What was applicable during a civil
war in 1861 was by no means applicable in 1870. when the country was in a state
of profound peace.
ft will be observed, also, that the nature of this "public exigency," is assumed
to be entirely in his own hands by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs; and that
he forthwith proceeds to act on this assumption of supreme authority, in the important matter of disposing of contracts, involving the expenditure of millions of
dollars of the money of the people.
In his "argument" defending Parker, as his client, MnR. CHIPMAN says:
"We have no right to question the judgment of the Commissioner in the
"premises. The administration of the Bureau of Indian Affairs is peculiar to
"itself.  It could not well be managed (" as it has been for several years past" if
"the strict letter of the law were pursued in all cases," (See Investigation Report,
1871, page 13.)
The plea put in by the learned counsel for the delinquent Commissioner for his
having sent forward supplieS, and made contracts for more, without the previous
advertising, and, therefore, without authority of law, was that  "the leading
representative chiefs of the Soux nation," when in Washington, had threatened
the Commissioner that unless their powerful warlike tribe had, immediately,
supplies as they demanded, they would put on the war paint, arm themselves with
guns furnished them by Indian traders, take the war path, and massacre such of
the settlers on the frontiers as were in their power, and as many of the officers
and men of the United States Army as they could inveigle into ambush.
Th/s was the I" public exigency" of Commissioner Parker-himself an  Indian
fighter, an Indian by birth and lineage, and wearing at the time the stars of a
Brigadier-General.
Indian agents were thereupon called. to endorse this "public exigency" of Red
Cloud and his braves (including Sitting Bull). That they readily complied with
the demand made on them by the Indian Chief-Commissioner, at Washington, is
abundantly shown by their letters, published on pages 15 to 19 of the Report.
On these appeals from interested Indian agents, the Commissioner went forward
to make contracts of great magnitude, without consulting the Board of Indian
Commissioners, and without advertising, as the law required in both cases.
"He may have acted improvidently," admits MR. CHIPMAN; "he may have involved the Government in a wastefullexpenditure of public funds; but he ought
not now to be called to answer for his conduct.  He ought not to be blamed."
"It was a public exigency."
The expenditures growing out of these large contracts came into this investigation at considerable length.  It was shown in evidence why it was.
THE ADVERTISEMENTS WERE NOT PUBLISHED.
With regard to this matter, Ex-Secretary Cox testifies, page 77 of the Report of
the Committee:
"Q. Do you know of any reason why the advertisement could not have been inserted a week or fortnight earlier?  A. None  except that the General (Commissioner Parker) was in New Yo()rk, busy with the purchases there, and having a
good deal on his hands.
"Q. Was anybody left at the Department to attend to the business of advertising? A. Of course. The Chief Cierk is, by law, the acting Commissioner in
the absence of the head of the bureau.
'Q. Was there anything to prevent his inserting it a week earlier? A. Nothing.that I know of, except that he seemed to hesitate to take the responsibility
and that was the case during the whole of Commissioner Parker's absence.  The
General was attempting to do by telegraph from New York pretty much all the
work."
Upon this question of advertising the Commissioner himself testifies as follows
(page 31):
"I could not get to work preparing the thing (the advertisements) until proba"bly a week before the proper time. I was in New York, and the matter was
"overlooked in the office.
",Q. I find here, in the printed correspondence, a letter of Mr. Cady, acting Com"missioner, tq the Secretary of the Interior, dated August 13th, stating that the
"office was about to advertise for proposals for subsisting the Indians. Do you 
INDIAN FRAlUDS.
"remember whether you were here in Washington yourself previous to that I
4' A. I was in New York. e came here on the night of August 9th, and was
"here the 10th and 11th.  I think I left for New York on the night of the 11th.
"Q. And  thile you, were-in town, you extended t  Bo8ler Contract?  A. -es,.
"and at t same time I probably suggested to Mr. Cy  thtat t]e preliminar stps' b
" taken toward adverting under the law.
"Q. You say you followed the custom of the office in regaro to purchasing in
"open market (without advertising); has or has not that been the uniform custom
"of the Indian Bureau, extending back for many years, to your knowedge.? A.
"So far as my information goes, they have always done that, every season."
SCARY BTA Y.        Coxa~pi   
On page 76 of the Report,  ex-Scretairy Cox deniesi ail knowledge of the contract made by the Commissioner with Bosler, the large contract made without advertising and contrary to law, as follows:.
"My impression is that somewhere about that time Gen. Parker stated that he
"was obliged, as Indian Commissioner, to make wme temporary  arra ents to
"get 8ome supplies between the termination of the arrangenent with the  Commiry
"Department and his issuing of his advertiseinents.   But there a wever any con"tation with regard to contracts further than such general statement as that."
The following question was then aslked directly of the:'ex Secretary, and the
following answer given by him:.... 
"Q. Were you consulted with reference to a contract made  on the 17th of
"June, 1870, prior to the passage of the appreate bill, made with James W.
"Bosler, for the supply of a large amount of beef, bacon, salt, pork, flour, coffee,
"sugar, soap and. tobacco, to be delivered on the Missouri river; a contractmadc
"toithout advertisement, or competition.? A..,In reference;to any contract with
"MR. BOSLER, I can say I never heard of, or, saw the nae of Bosler until this in"vestigation commenced; and consequently, I was not conultd in regard to any con"tract with him."..  l.
INDIAN COMMISSIOSNER SMI TH,SHO  UP.
In 1875, the Reverend E. P. Smith was appolnted Indian Conwssion&; before
this Mr. Welsh had preferred the following charges against him:
"PIRST.-Agent Smith, about August 12;I872,ontracted with P. Clarke for a
"large quantity of pine timber belonging to the Oak Point Chippewas, under
"the avowed authority of those Indians, but without making their approval a
"part of the contract, and without allowing a sufficient time for he bidder to
"visit the reservation and ascertain the value of the timber
"SEcOND.-Although the approval by the Indians was not apart of the contract,
"yet E. P. Smith sent thc' following telegram to P. P. Clarke, care of R. J. Bald"win, from Aiken, Minnesota, October 14, 1872:
"'The Indians at Oak Point deny giving their chief authority to negotiate
"'the pines. The chief confesses to the same. This seems to nullify all pro
"'[45 cents, Government rate.]                                       get.'
"Agent Smith is thus understood to cancel a eontraet he had made, Switut con"sulting with the authorites at Washington.
"Agent Smith thus undertook to cancel the contract that had been completed.
"I trust the Commission will investigate the facts relating thereto; and, es"pecially, if- there was any previous intercourse between Wilder and Smith,
"which seems probable, as Smith announcer publicly that tlihe Clarke contract was
" canceled." 
SOLELY BECAUSE WILDER HAD MADE A HI.THER OFFER.
"THIRD. -Agent Smith acted without authority of law in making the foregoing
"and other contracts for the sale of large bodies of pine timber, which is real
"estate, and cannot be disposed of without the authority of Congress."
"FoURTK.-Agent  Smith did not cancel the contract made witih Merriam for
"Red Lake and Pembino pine at $2.50, although Clarke offered $3.00 for the same,
"and Commissioner Walker gave him authority to contract with. Clarke, if no
"better could be done by advertising foi proposals.'Here isa double wrong; not
80o 
INDIAN FRAUD3S.
"advertising, as suggested by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, and refusing
"1the higher offer by aman whom he had wronged by canceling the White Oak
'"Point contract,before he knew that any higher offer had been made.
FIFTii.-Agent Smith wrongfully  and, as it is believed, fraudulently, con"tracted with A. H. Wilder, on November 8, 1872, for a large body  of pine
"timber at a rate for less than its value, say $1.15 per thousand feet, without
"advertsng it, and with the knowledge that the Indians had refused to assent to
"the sale of their pine timber.   Agent Smith kept from Commissioner Walker,
"as he did from the public, thez fast that the Indians at Oak Point had refused
"their assent to a contract for the sale of their timber.
"SIxit.-Agent E. P.-:Smith wrongfully, and, as is believed, fraudulently
" attempted, on two or more occasions, to induce agent Clarke, of the Missouri
"Chippewas, to cancel a contract for the Sale of pine' timber he had made October
2, 1872, with Rush. Wilder,; writes to Agent Clarke, under date of December 6$
"1872, in substance as follows: 
I forwarded you a few days since, through Major E. P. Smith, my proposi"tion.  I now, at Major Smith's suggestion, send a contract signed by myself.
"Testimony on this head can be had from the late Agent Clarke now in the,
ho'spital at St. Paul, -or from Hon. Henry M. Rice who,  believe, has the corre"'Si'dence in his possession."
ANOTHCER FRAUDULE>NT, SALE OF PINE LAND.
"SEVENTH.-Agent E. P. Smith wrongfully, and, as is believed, fraudulently
concerted with the Rev. E. Williams, G'en. Charles Howard, Agent Clarke,
"and B. S. Simmons, of  Connecticut,  at  Chicago  last  Spring,  say  in
"March  or  April,  for  the. sale  to  B.  S.  Simmons   of  Hartford,
"'of  a  l/rge  body'of bine  land  on  the  Lac  de  Flambeau  reserva"tion.   Clarke,  Howard,  or  Williams can testify  that Smith  not' only
"united in the negotiation, dictating the terms of the contract, but also giave Clrke
reaons that he might'ign for that fraudulent transaction.  This pine timber had
not been advertised for sale, and could only- be disposed of in direct violation of a
"law of Congress, authorizing the removal of the Chippewas from the Lac do
"Flambeau reservation, and nldicating the mode by which the land was to be ap"praised and sold  If you will exa'mine (the now) Commissioner Smith, he will
"testify, as he did to me two days since, that he endeavored to get,this contract
"approved, after he became Commissioner of Indian Affairs; and that he was only
"hindered by Congressmen from Wisconsin, who opposed the sale without adver"tising.  The parties who concocted the fraudulent sale managed to keep it a
"profound secret, until Agent Clarke divulged it, because of conscientious con"victions of the wrong into which he had been betrayed by others.  By examin"ing the late Agent Clarke, or the Hon. H. M. Rice, you will get a copy of the
"contract, or of the letters written by Agent Clarke, when he sent it to Washing ton for approval. Colonel Clum, Chief Clerk in the Indian Department, and the
"other clerks, smarchedin vain for this contract, or for any trace of it, or of the lettm
of Agent Clarke, which he wrote to the Indian Office in relation to it."
WrITEWASH, OF COURSE.
To substantiate these charges, Mr. Welsh referred the Interior Department to
the Hon. William M. Rice, of St. Paul, Minnesota, a gentleman of high character
and standing, familiar with the whole subject. Mr. Rice expressed his willingness to testify and'produce witnesses who would make the whole matter clear,
but demanded that a commission should be appointed having "full power and
authority to compel the attendance of witnesses, and the production of papers;"
he said that it would be necessary, in order to bring out the whole truth, to examine many unwilling witnesses, who would only testify as to what they knew
when compelled so to do. This recommendation of Mr. Welsh, and demand of
Mr. Rice, was not regarded by the Interior Department, and a whitewashing
cornmittee was appointed who did their'work to order. andl vi'Jndicated Mir.
Sn ith.
ANOTHER REPUBLICAff WITNFuS
The next witness from whose testimony we shall quote, is Professor O. C.
Marsh, of Yale College, a Republican, formerly in good -standing with his party.
In -November, 1874, Prof. Marsh, while ~n charge of a party of students from the
806 
Sheffield Scientific School of Yale College, made a geological exploration of the
bad lands south of the Black Hills, and was obliged to pass near thle Red Cloud
Agency. He was detained there several days by the opposition of the Sioux Indians.  In endeavoring to propitiate the Indians to obtain their -permission to
proceed with his party, he held several councils with Red Cloud and his principal
chiefs, and witnessed the issuing of annuity goods and provisions to the Indians.
He' found the Indians were in want of, food and clothing, greatly dissatisfied with
their agent, one J. J. Saville, and strong in their belief that they were systematically defrauded of the goods and supplies sent them by the Government.  He was
urged by all the prominent chiefs of the Sioux Indians.then at Red Chlud's,Agency
to make known to the President the condition of things there, and promised to do soand also to deliver samples of the rations the Indians were receiving. In the Spring of
1875, Professor Marsh had an interview with the President, gave him Red Cloud's
message, and showed him the samples of the rations which had been confided to him
by the Indians. At the same time he exhibited the samples to the Commissioner
of Indian Affairs, and told him various things he had seen at the Red Cloud
Agency..
HOW HIS EFFORTS AT REFORM WERE RECEIVED.
The President; the Secretary of the Interior, and  Commissioners of Indian
Affairs, instead of receiving in a kindly spirit these communications from Prof.
Marsh, and immediately setting about reforming the abuses which had  been
brought to their attention, one and all, -began  systematic abhse and persecutin o'f the Professor.  Secretary Delano addressed'a letter' to Clinton B. Pisk,
President of his re-organized Board of Indian Commissioners, in which he stated
that he desired to appoint a commission to investigate the charges of" a Mr. Marsh,"
relative to the Indian service at the Red Cloud Agency, and asked Mr.  icsk to
suggest the names of the persons suitable for such duty.  This letter, which was
intended as an insult to Prof. Marsh, was published in the newspapers and was
followed in a few weeks by another to the Professor, and published in the newspapers before it was received by him.  In this letter he was notified that A. H
Bullolck, of Massachussets,'Hon. Thomas Fletcher, of St. Louis. and the Hon
'Geo.'W. Lane,'of New York, had!been appointed a committee to investigate
affairs at the Red Cloud Agency,  and'calling upon'him to produce sueh proofs
and suggestions as he might have, to aid in securinig a thorough investigation.
The next act in this'farce was played by the Rev. E. P. Smith, who addressed,
through the public press, a letter to the above-named   gentlemen, who had been
appointed as the committee, in which he stated that the charges had been preferred
by' Prof. Marsh, and then proceeds to give a perverted  and untruthful account of what Mr. Marsh had reported to the President.  All of this was done to
manufacture, if possible, puiblic opinion favorable to the Indian ring side of this
controversy.   However,  Mr.  Marsh at once addressed an open letter to the
President, in which he set forth the results of his investigation into the affairs of
the Red Cloud Agency. The important portions of his statement are as follows
I. THE INDIAN AGENT kT RED CLOUD'S AGENCY.
In the first conversation I had with Red Cloud, when Gen. L. P. Bradley and
Col. T. H. Stanton were present, he complained bitterly of his agent, J. J.  Sa.
ville, who for the past two years has had  charge of his Agency.  Red  Cloud's
specified chargeswere that7 his agent' was incompetent, -weak,- and vacillating
having no influence over the Indians; and especially that he was in league with
the contractors to defraud the Indians of the food and clothing sent them by the
Government. I regret to say that all I saw myself at the Agency, and all I learned
from trustworthy observers and official records has convinced me that these
charges were well founded. As soon as I met the agent himself,,and observed
his method of dealing with the Indians, it was at once evident to me that he was
entirely unfit for the responsible position he occupied. This fact is illustrated by
an occurrence, now well known, which took place a few days before my arrival,
when the agent, by a single act of folly, aroused the bitter hostility of the Indians
in his charge, and came near sacrificing the entire white population of the Agency.
This was avoided only by the rare coolness and bravery of Lieut. E. Crawford,
2(1 Cavalry, who came with his company to the rescue at the critical'moment.
Without military protection, the agent could not have remained in charge of the
Indians a single day, as their threats.against him for indignities and alleged
,307
INDIAN FRAUDS. 
States Indian Inspector J. D.  Bevier, October 21, 1874.   In this report the
rnspector exposed'a fraudulent cbntract ma.de privately by Agent Saville -with his
father-in-law, A. R. Appleton, by which the Goveriment would have been largely
a loQser.  Inspector Bevier states, moreover,'that While investigating the contract,
Agent Saville iade'false representations to him, and Mr. Appleton endeavored to
bribe him to silence.-:.
NUMBER OF INDIANS AT AGENCY OVER-ESTIMATED.               t
There is good.reaon to believe that the'number of Indians supplied with provisious at Red Clo 1d,gencry has been largely over-estimated, resulting in eXtenive losses to the, Governmqnt.  According to the provision returns of Agent
Saville for the fourth quarter of 1874, Which he rendered to the Interior Department, there were'5,1'17 Indians who received rati6ns at the Agency Oct. i, 1874
The same offlcial,document, tates that     on.Nov. 8(the day before  my. arrival)
there were 1      i2,351 Indians fed at the Agency.  I was'informed by'the',gent and
Q,ther persons imcediatelyconnected'with the'Agency that 2,000 or 3,000: of these
lndians belonged to the' Northern tribes, and were encamped within a short dis
tance of the-Agency, on- the north side of the White'River.  Agent Saville susequently confirmed this statement in aiin interview with Rev. S. D.' Hinma'nli and
myself, in Washington, May 31, 1875, and stated,'also,'that some of these northern Indians received annnuities at the annual issue,'ov. 12, 1874.  * *  * The
number of Indians actually at Red Cloud Agency, when. I was there,in November
last, could not havejbeen more than 1,200.1lodges, oar 8,400 indiyiduals.  Judgin
from all the information I could obtain, I doubt if this number has been exceeded
:witbin the last twoyears.  Some observers, best Iqualified to judge, placed the
number-lower, and-among thee waa Jules Ecofie, of Fort Laramie, whom t,I have
known -for several years.  He was with.me at the Agency, aeted as my inter'preter in one'council, and is personally acquainted with nearly all the,-diais
there..   - ~,.....,...1.'.!...... E *.-,     -.
In regard to the'.issue.;of.annity goods, Prof. Marsh shows, by indubitable evi-lence, that the Agent Slaville distributed in November, i874, only eighteen.bales of
blankets-to the Ind ius,~ and caused' them to. receipt for thirty-seven bales,,Thius
the Government and the Indians were both robbed.of more than nine hindred
and twenty-five blankets.  Those that were issued Prof.'Marsh praves were of
an inferior quality.,, much smaller than requihed by'the-contract, and' the brand on
them, U.S. I. D., soon cut through, leaving holes.  The manner of issue was purposely made in a confused way, so that the Indians and spectators present could
not tell the  amount given.or. required.........   
-;......          "T,E'AUD's i'?EEf, C3TTLE...........
-are, thus deal,t'with by -Pro.f: Marsh: -.'
The frauds perpetrated in, supplying t'hellRed Cloud.: Agenyc.with' beef, cattle
have been so gigantic, andso long and systematically continued, that it is well 
worth while to show how they were accomplished, and who is responsible for the
outrage...'1
The contract' for furni.shingicattle for this and othe'? —SioVx Agencies'for'theiast
fiscal year was given to J. K. Foreman of (aha', and was Signed by Indi~, Corn
missioner,'Smith, July 14; 1874.  The cattle delivered were,required to average
850 pounds for the first six months; and 1,000 pounds for tbhelas  six months, and
the price was $2.80  per 100 pounds, gross weightron,the hof.,' It was expressly stipulated that' all the' beef offered rfor acceptance under this contract
shall be subject to a thorough inspection, and if, on such inspectioia, any of it
fails to conform to the requirements of this contract, the same shall be rejected by
the parties making the inspection.,  The inspectorsiwere autho rized, in such a
case, to require the contractor to replace the rejected cattle within f-ive. days by
proper beef.  If not, the right w.4;xserved to purchase the cattle required at the
expense of the contractor.  A hn/d of $15Q0,000QO, with two good andc,,sufficient
securities, was required to be given to insure the faithful fulfillment of the contract.
There is abundant evidence that,this contract was not made in good faith.  The
contract was not filled by the party to whom it was given, but (like too,many
Indian contracts) was transferred for'a valuable consideration' a few days
after it was signed, to W. A. Paxton of Omaha.  As this assignment could not
take place, by the terms of the contract,'without the written consent of the Secretary of: the Interior,' the full re.ponsibilityof this transfer rests with him. The
contract was nominally in force at the time of my visit to Red Cloud Agency.
The,real beef contractor, however, whom I found supplying this Agency, was
the well known Bosler, notorious for frauds in previous contracts, and for this
reason excluded by the published regulations from any participation in future
contracts. This second virtual transfer of the contract to him was well known to
every one at the Agency. and in that region, and must have been equally well
known to the Interior Depaitimeut.
Onmy arrival at the Agency, A\s-. 9, 1874, I ascertained that there had been no
beef used- for some time,  and only bevc'n heads of cattle were then remaiing
over from previous issues. These seven cattle had all been receipted for to the
contractor, received by the agent and'was in his charge.' All, or nearly all, of
them were subsequently issued to the Indians.   These facts, which are important, I learned at the Agency, and they were fully admitted by Agent Saville to
the Rev. S. D. Hinman, the official interpreter of the Interior Department, and
to myself, in Washington, May 29.  These were the eattle examined, at Red
Cloud's request, by Gen. Bradley and his officers,. and about which somuch ho
been aaid.  The result of that exaini tion is given in the following cetificate,
the original of. which is.in my possession:.. 
CERTIFICATE OF ARMY OFFICERS.
"We, the undersigned, officers of the United States Army, were present at an interview held at Red Cloud Agency, on the 11th day of November, 1874, between
Prof. O. C. Marsh and Red Cloud and Red Dog, and now bear individual testimony as to the wretched quality of the rations, and to the undersized and puny
condition of seven head of beef cattle (the remainder of a herd) which were
shown us by Red Cloud as having been issued to his people by the agent there
stationed. 
"Each of us, unknown to the other, marked at that time his estimate of the
gross weight of these cattle, and remember the average thereof to be 358 pounds,
Red Cloud, two other Indians, and one of the h)erders, asserting that these cattle
were not smaller than those turned over for slaughter at any ordinary issue day.
"L. P. BRADLEY, Lieut-Col. 9th Infantry, commanding District Black Hilla
"JOHN MIX, Captain 2d Calvary,
"LEONARD HAY, First Lieut.,Adjt. 9th Infantry,A. A. A.G. District BlackHills.
Fort Laramie, W. T., May 19, 1875.'
"As I was confident that the weight of this herd of cattle did not exceed 750
pounds average, this positive statement of Agent Saville to Bishop Hare that the
actual weight of the cattle reached an average of 850 pounds each, as weighed by
him, increased my suspicion that the whole transaction was fraudulent.  I was
not prepared, however, for'the'evidence which I found in the Second Auditor's
office of the Treasury Department, where the receipts are filed as vouchers for the
809
INDIAN -FRAUDg.' 
pa:'iht:' to'the contractor.  I there ascertain that Agent Saville had givensa  receipt for the same herd of 701 head of diminutive cattle,. in which he, certified
that their actul weight as weighed by him  was 731,485 pounds, which would
make the average exceed 1,04 pounds per head.  More than this, I found that according to Agent Saville's receipts, all that the cattle received during the sane
quarter of 1874- had-reached nearly the same  average; or more than 1,040 pounds
each.  As this is a matter of great importance.  I here give the official statement
as furnished by the Treasury Department:
''SCHDULE of Bef Caftle detivered at the Red  lotd Iditan Agency during the P1orta
Q.ter, 1874, as a/ppeas by accounts of W. A. Pazton on file    this ofe:
-   -..'Weight
D*    -  ate.               Head.      Pounds..         Fuwnghed by
1874, )ct.  1.... - 663    691,509         W. A. Paxton.
1874, Oct. 20 ----------— 758           783,672         W. A. Paxton.
1874, Nov. 14 --    ----— 701           731,485         W. A. Paxton.
1874, Dec.- 3 -...597      621,447         W. A. Paxton.
Total —-------------—.2,719         2,828,113
Total..........2,719  2,828,113
SECOND AUDITOR'S OFFICE, June 7, 1875.
The foregoing is a correct statement as -appears, by the records of this office.
E. B. FRENCH, Auditor
in other words, this large herd'6of cattle, which no'one could fairly estimate at a
great'er average weeight per head than 750'pounds, and which both th.e agentf and
contractor apologized for as being much inferior to, their regular issues, and which
Agent Saville only claimed' t6 have weighed 850 pounds, were charged to the
,Government by that official,as weighing more'than 1,043 pounds  each, and the
'contractor actually receivedpay at that rate!'
AGENTS AND CONTRACTORS IIS COLLUSION.
These frauds in weights, which are consummated by direct collusion between
the'agents and.' the contractor, -and  through which  both the. Indians and the
Government are so greatly defrauded, form. only part of. the general system of
theft.  I have reason to believe that equal rasCality is practiced ii regard to: the
number of cattle.  For exam,le, there is conclusive evidence that the onily cattle
at the'Agency Nov.. 11, 1874, were the. seven head of puny animals:examined'.by
Gen. Bradley, yet, according to the provison returns of'Agent Saville for. the
fourth quarter of 1874, now on file in the Interior Department, he should have
had 184,905 pounds, or, according'to his official receipts, 179 head.  It has been
shown above,,  howeyer tha  t the beef issue which he claimed to have made Nov. 8
did noti take place.   Hence he should have iad on ov., 11, at least, 446 427pounds
of,beef  r:,bo,t 4,4) had of cattle, when 4, acetually i'had only seven   
*,'.These various beef'transacti,ns took place inder -the contract assigned to W.  A
PXton wel known t  be   erly te  gent of B              r who pers oinall/y filled the
c?ntract..,Alt'hough thism c~ontract. hadbee'n v,ioate.d in ~1t its important features,
ihd: shaimTul fraud's'p~a'ticed in its fulfillinet, Commisisdon'er Smith did'not call
,@,(,the ho.ads..men: of t]he cqnniaVtor for satisfaftion, as,the law. required him'to'do
,t,'on ~ai-ch 17,,I75; privat,lt y made' a','iiew, contract with.tthe a,.  A.
:PBax;t.on (Or.ill ie.liitv wlihi. B'sohr) ~o0  s~uPly,ee  for ~hes.n.e:Red C[od'  Agency
a%"'a;mucihei piice ($3 pe-,0. 1,po/u.ri'l.i tlhan th:i co.tractor had origin'.iy boundhiiSelf: to'do.':d This conatact wa' illegal, a;it was'giveni by'tie.::mmissioner
witnout advertising i'tor-pr osals."', Thebond rurequied in this ointract   as $10,000.
'HQw the p.ontract. was c'arried out will be seen from  the testimqnv of Lieut. W.
1.- Carpenter ai/d h ei'.'gien-b'e.- -'.-'  ":,, 
L~~~~~~~~   C                                     _...
. {.', - * *'* N;,' *,',, *. 
;~ ~ ~~n                                                                -  s sub>;1     i.-.   N-UljT3,Wr,E,;
-..:-LiSe,t ait:C,4e.nter Was With me. oi. my expediion in -November  and was Sub~seqientlv.Statioinel'd"t Red Cliud Agency,:.whete he had the, best opportunities to
obsere ihiwti'ole  ianagement or affrs"  Mr.i Lewis Reshaw. (Richard), was also
at the Ageniry  and intimately Acquamnted with what transpired there.  Both were
p-esent at: cattle issues in May:last;-, and'the rests. of iter;,observation are, em
bodied in their certificates here given
310
TNDIAN" FtA~S. 
INDIAN FRAUDS.
I certify that onL or about the 13th day of May; 187,., I witnessed an issue Qf
beef cattle to the Indians at the:Red Cloud Agency, Neb.  That thy cattle
then issued were wretchedly poor, and about one, -half of them ri dicuouly small
Out of about 200 head which I saw killed at that time, there yere but three oxen
which would be accepted by an army commissary for issue to troops. There were
many yearlings in the herd, which would At net 200 pounds of beef; and to the
best of my knowledge and belief, the entire herd would not average 750 pounds
gross weight.                                       W.  L..  ARPE.NTER,
First Lieutenant 9th Infantry.
Gamp  ear Tinidad, Co&, June 22, 1875."
WAS'G H TON  June 5th, 175.
"I hereby certify that I was at Red Cloud Agency at the first beef issue in
May, 1875, and that of the cattle then issued to the Indians more than one-third
were yearlings. I have full knowledge of this fact, as I bought of the Indians
over 60 hides of the cattle issued at that time. The remainder of the cattle left
after this issue were all small, and not larger than those issued.
"In the above issues no allowance was made to the Indians for the small'cattle
delivered, all counting alike.                                  LEwis RENSHAW."
It will be remembered that the contractor received a much higher price for
these cattle than for those previously delivered, and that the contract called for
"good merchantable beef cattle, averaging 850 pounds," and that "if any cattle
offered for acceptance should fail to conform to the requirements of this contract
the same shall be rejected by the agent." The above certificates show the kind of
cattle actually delivered under this contract.  The kind of cattle paid for'by the
Government is indicated by'the following extract from the'records'of the office of
the Second Auditor of the Treasury, which is taken from tiie official receipts
given by the ageat to the contractor on which the latter receives'pay.'It'Will be
observed that the general average for the whpole lot is over 1,026 pounds' s
MEMORANDA of Beef Cattle delivered at the Red Cloud Indian Ageitcy, commening
Jan. 1, 1875, as appearis by acco'uns on fle  n thi   s Mice:
: By itow,         furos
-.. W. A. Pa'xton
W...A. Paxton
1   F_W. A. Paxton
— W. A. Paxton
------ W. A. Paxton
1     -- W. A. Paxton
87  -— W. A. Paxton
Total —----------------------
&nd Aqidir'.s 0.1e, July 8, 1875.
* -...     -FRAUMs ir EVERvYTHlr. 
Prof. Marshl points out equally great frauds in pork, flour, sugar and coffee and
tobacco contracts.  He witnessed an issue of'pork at Red Cloud Agency, Nov. 15
1875. and it.ws;q " old and st.rong; some of it was musty and unfit for human food."
"The four was dark, in color and adhesive to the touch, although it;had not, been
wet, and inferior in quality,"  The sugar "was dark in color, moist and of a' low,
grade.  The coffee was certainly very inferior."  The tobacco "-was vile stuff,
dark in.color, and much of it was saturated withli a dark viscous liquid." it was
not suitable for smioking-the only way the Indians use it. 
In regard to the sufferings among the Indians, Prof. Marsh says:
'The Indians had already suffered from cold before the annuity  goods were
issued, Nov. 12, 1874.  In consequence of this late delivery, they had no time to
supplement the small number of. blankets issued with buffalo robes before the
winter set in, In less than a week after the issue, just as I started from athe Agency
on my expedition, the weather became extremely cold, the thermometer falling to
15~ below zero; and as many of the Indians received no blankets at all, and most
of those who did receive them found them too small to protect them'fromthe cold,
suffering was great.  One of the chiefs whom  I had engaged before the'issue to
811
Date.
1875, Jan. 1
1875, Feb. 1 ------
1875, Feb. 17
1875, March 1 -..
1875, March 25 <'_ -
1875, April 1....1875, April   21 ----
ed.   2No. of head.
L —-- -- 641
L._._  __- _. _    437
Lk _......... 467
........... - 96
----- 539:
.._._._._    _ __ _ _ _:584
------ ___...583
............ 584
.. - -:: 3 -.,3
-.-..-. —.-..-.  t3,347
Gross weight.,
668,578
451,203
486,114
'99,308 
c' 555,210
' 589 m,1
585,5115 -
3,434,584 
INDIAN FRAUDS.
accompany me, informed me, after the delivery, that he could not go, being compelled,; on account df the. isufficiency of blankets, to hunt, for buffalo, as otherwise his family would.suffer greatly during the hardWinter he said was coming.
During the extremely cold Winter that followed, many, of these Indians, as is now*
well known, narrowly escaped freezing.
"The suffering for the want of food during the past Winter and Spring is known
to have been general among the ntdians at this Agency. -I -have evidence on this
point frdm several sources, among others from Cok T. H. Stanton, Paymaster of
the army, whse'duties called him to the Agency.  Another army officer who has
given me information on this- subject is Lieut. W. L. Carpenter, whe) was stationed
there all Winter.  In a letter written at the Agency, in April last, he says:'The
Indians are all quiet now. The. poor wretches have been several times this Winter on the verge of starvation, through the rascality of the Indian Ring. They
have been compelled to eat dogs, wolves, and ponies.' Thie supply of food purchased by the Government, carefully and honestly delivered, would have prevented all this suffering."
Prof. Marsh closes his statement of frauds' which have come under his observation with an exposition of'th,e
FREIGHT CONTRACT FROM CHEYENNE TO RED CLOUD AGENCY.'
The goods and supplies for Red Cloud Agency all are transported by wagon
from Cheyenne, on the Union Pacific Rlailroad, and hence the freight contract for
this route is a very important one.  Mr. D. J. McCann, a well known member of
the Indian Ring. has had this contract since the present Agency was established,
and the official distance from Cheyenne to this point, as allowed by the Interior
Department, is 212 miles. The price paid for freight, during the last fiscal year,
was $1.10 per hundred pounds for each hundred miles, and the previous year $1.75
per hundred pounds was paid.  This allowed distance of 212 miles was wellknown to be largely in excess of the true distance. and yet no effort seems to
have been made by the Interior Department to ascertain the correct distance,
although its attention had been called to the subject in 1873. In the meantime,
the Land Office of the Interior Department has been surveying this same region,
and had the Indian Bureau of the same department desired to know the exact, or
even approximate, distance, it could readily have obtained official information on
that point. In November last, while I was at the Red Cloud Agency,. Mr. J. W.
Hammond, assistant to the Surveyor-General of Wyoming, surveyed the route
from Cheyenne to Red Cloud Agency, and intormed me that it was only 145 miles,
and his official survey is now on record in Cheyenne.
It thus appears that the Indian Bureau has for years, knowingly, paid to a member of the Indian Ring over $15,000 per annum for service that was not performed..
WHAT DELANO'S COMMISSION  REPORTED.
The Commission appointed by Secretary Dclano, as above set forth, proceeded
to investigate the Red Cloud Agency on the basis of -the charges presented by Mr.
Marsh. They examined a great many witnesses in Washington and at the Agency
itself, and in due time made their report. - The evidence was so clear and positive
in sustaining Protf Marsh, that the Commission did not dare to disregard it. They
however exonerated Secretary Delano and Commissioner Smith from anty knowledge or participation in any frauds and irregularities which they had discovered
had been practised at the Red Cloud Aency.: This they did afterhaving reported
that the chargesimade by Ptof. Marsh in regaTd to the payment to D. J. MCann
for transporting the Indian supplies between Cheyenne and Red Cloud Agency
was a fraud.  On this point they say: 
"At the end of the year 1874-75, ihe Indian Office was indebted to Mr. McCann
" on account of transportation for May and June, $14,568.12.  This was withheld
"until the 5th of August, 1875, and until after:McCann had entered into con4 tract involving $100,000 expenditure, under bends in the penal sum of $51,000.
"Thus it will be seen that thereha never        an hour from.twhe time the questin of
"distance was raised, when the Government has not been able to compel McCann to
" make full and fair settlements on the actual distance between Cheyenne and Red
' Cloud Agencies. At this time McCann is under contract to render service which
:" will amount,'at a low estimate, 40o $95,000.' "
During all these years, and large expenditures, the Indian Bureau has failed to
312 
ascertain and report the actual distance between these two Agencies of the Red
Cloud and Cheyi-nne. It is added in the report that the War Department had
been requested to complete this measurement, but had failed to do so, under Mr.
Belknap.
After a full examination of the contract and transporation accounts of McCann,
they concluded their report respecting him as follows: -
"5. That D: J. McCann be ecluded from future contracts with the Government.
"6. That the papers relating to the account presented by D). J. McCann, for
"transportation of the property, stores, &c., of the Red Cloud Agency: from the
" old to the new location, be referred to the Department of Justime for examination
"and action.
"7. That the distance from Cheyenne and. from Sidney to the Red Cloud and
"Spotted Tail agencies be accurately ascertained, by   earement, without un"necessary delay.
THE AGENT SACRIFICFE.
In regard to Agent Saville, the report says:
"The results of our investigation fully sustain the allegation of Professr Marsh,
'that the agent is incompetent, and unfit for the position he occupies; that he
"should be removed witout delay, and a competent successor appointed.  His con"duct in repeated instances exhibits an unpardonable disregard of'the moneyed
"interests of the Government; and which, by themselves, ought to have caused his
" immediate removal from office.
"The general condition of affairs about the Red Cloud Agency produced upon
"us a vet y unfavorable impression.  The low and inferior character of the em"ployes, one of whom was found intoxicated on our arrival there; the want of
"order and neatness in the arrangement of the Government stores; and the
"habitual lounging of Indian women and children around thestockade, all indicat'ing a looseness of management, and a lack of administrative capacity which.
were in keeping with the character of the agents to which we have already
"referred.  The clerk is, also, utterly incompetent for the position he occupies."
"Thle agent was forced to employ such men as Janis, Renshaw, Rowland, some
"half-breeds, and others who had married Indian women, called'squaw men,' to
"go into the tepees for that purpose. These it is true were not the mosnt reliabe
' men for the performance of that duty.  It may be a question whether they per"formed their duty honestly and faithfully to the government, or whether the
"number is exaggerated by the dishonesty of these'squaw men.'  Yet this
"census (13,423,) is the only one on which the agent has made his returns to the
Indian Bureau, and upon which he has made his distribution of supplies to the
"various heads of bands around the Agency. General Bradley, U. S. A., and
"other highly intelligent. and well informed men, concur with Professor Mlarsh
4in estimating their numbers at a much lower figure; and strng facts are adu
"by them in support of tir opinions.
"This Commission, therefore, is by no means satisfied that this enumeration
made by these half-breeds and' squaw men' by the direction of the Agent, and
"under the circumstances during which it was made, can be relied upon for strict
accuracy."
Of the frauds in the issue of Indian goods they say;:
-"We found the system of keeping accounts at the Red Cloud Agency exceed"ingly loose and defective, and for much of this the Indian Office is justly
" censurable.  Itis only witin th last few     that the Gornmnt ha.s upp
the -books to the Agent, and required the adoption of a system oalculated to
'"exhibit clearly the state of his accounts. Prior to that time the agent furnished
t' his own books, and made all his accounts in a loose and irregular manner; and
"'when his Agency expired, carried off all the books and accounts as his private
"property.  Among the orders addressed by-the Interior Department, is the
"'following.:'All beef and other provisions shall be issued by orders of the
"' Issue Clerk, which orders- should pass through the office, in order to their
"' appearanceon the books; these orders shall be filed away for safe keeping, and
' the books and papers of the Agency be the prorty of the  nrrt, and not of
X'. 4.g.n.t!n'
"Wilh tite exception of the recent order of the Department, asserting the right
"of the Government to the books kept by the Agent, andforbidding him to carry
"them of as p?ivate h    ty, no attempt ha. been made to prescribe and enforce
"this valuable recommendation; so that the books kept at the Red Cloud Agency,
INDIAN FRAUDS.
31 
INDIAN FRAUD.
4 even up to the period of our visit there, throw but a very imperfect light on itsa
' transactions.   
DELANO AND SMITH WHITE-WASHED.
The report deals with the other charges of Prof. Marsh in a gingerly fashion,
and while not venturing to go too far, endeavors to cover up wherever it is possible, any fraud which is not too glowing.  They sacrificedSaville and McCann,
but they gate Bosler a clean bill of health.
The great object which this Commission had to accomplish was the vindication
,of Secretary Delano and Commissioner Smith.  It mattered not if a few contractors and an Indian agent were sacrificed, so these two high officials were declared
to be free of all connection with the frauds, and that no suspicion attached. to
their conduct. This Commission did, after the most approved fashion, and thereupon Mr. Delano with their certificate of character in his pocket stepped down
and out of the Cabinet, and was shortly afterwards followed by the Rev. E. P.
Smith of the Indian Bureau.
FRAUDS EVERYWHERE.
The Red Cloud Agency is not the only one at which these monstrous frauds
have been perpetrated.   iminilar conclusive testimony is furnished with  regard to
frauds practiced at the Whitestone Agency.
The facts in every case, as adduced before the Indian Commnittee of Congress,
abundantly prove that what, is established as Indian frauds by the testimony recorded in these pages, is equally true, relatively, of all the Indiati agencies.  The
witnesses all agree substantially, in testifying before the Congressional Committees to the truth of the same facts; in spite of the false impression sought to be
conveyed by interested parties on the Committees and elsewhere.
* During the investigations of the Indian Committee, appointed  by the XLIIId
Congress, First Session, to inquire into and report upon Indian supplies, transportation and contracts, it appears on the testimony'of sworn witnesses, that a
change from the prescribed distribution of flour, to an unauthorized distribution
of corn, was made at the Red Cloud and Whitestone Agencies.  This change Was
made by the Indian Commissioner in 1873, without advertisement for bids, without consultation with the Board of Indian Commissioners, and without, therefore,
authority of law.  The Indian Commissi6ner had no more right, as is proved by
this Congressional investigation, to change this contract from flour to corn, and
to incur the extra expense of its transpoftation through the Indian territory, than
he had to make new contracts for any other purposes. Yet it appears that this
commissioner, in                         default, and even in defance of law, as one of the results'of
one of his confidential and professional tours among Indian agents and Indian
contractors at the West, takes upon himself the authority to order these important
changes in supplies and transportation at a greatly increased cost to thd~)eople and
Government of the United States.'
C,ONGRESSIOXAL INVESTIGATION.
The proof of these facts is found in the official, report of the U. S., H. R., doec.
778, page 202. -The majority of the committee making-this report is composed of
gentlemen belonging to the Republioan party.'         -.
It appears,, on investigation.before this committee, that-testimony was submitted
to the Board of Indian Commissioners showing thati the agents at all the different
agencies included were disshtisfied-, on account of complaints among the Indians
themselves, with this abrupt and unauthorized substitution of corn for flour.  It
was not until the managing contractor visited all these agencies, and-explained to
theagen  tkint the corn was to. be ground in their mills; that where they had not
a mill they would be furnished with one; that sacks would be supplied, in which
the corn should be issued; that the change was assented to. It thus appears that
the plot was carried out for overriding the, previous advertised contract for four
for this unadvertised contract for corn, to the injury,of thereeipients of the supply
and at a large expense to the country, in loss of time by shrinking and transportation. 
This system of exchange appears to have become well understood between the
Indian CommisSioner and his pliant contractors.  In a letter dated at the Interior Department, June 28, 1873, the Commissioner writes to one of these parties,
at Saint Paul, Minnesota 
.tl4 
"8: I have beea unofficially informed thatthere is alarge surplus of flour at
" Fort Peck.  Before any other shipment of flour is made to that point,. I desire
"to know exactly the amount of flour on hand at the Agency. You will, there   "fore, ship no flour for that point, except as it shall be ordered by this office, or
"the agent.
"Please inform me at what rate of exchange you will furnish corn for flour, on
i' your contract with this office.
(Signed*)                                E. P. SMITH, Commissiner."
This correspondence covered the exchange of corn for fliar at Yankton, Upper
Missouri, Grand River, Cheyenne and other Agencies. The wider the territory
covered by this exchange the greater the profits to contractors, the greater the cost
of tranportation, and the more the opportunities for fraud on the revenue.' By
these arrangements between the Commissioner and his contractors, four thousand
sacks of flour were commuted into corn, or not shipped at all, at Milk River
Agency; two thousand sacks at Grand River  s aUpper Missouri one thousand',
Cheyenne River, one thousand.
These trausmutations of flour into corn were not made in open market. They
were not made by advertisements for contracts with the lowest bidders. They
were made by secret understandings between the Indian Commissioner and bis
obedient agents, stationed at convenient points, and operating through banks provided for the occasion. From Fort Peck to Fort Randall, covering a vast extent
f Indian territory, these unauthorized transmutations were carried on, until
hundreds of thousands of sacks of flour were trunsmuted into their proportionate
thousands of sacks of corn, at a great profit to Indian contractors, but at a great
loss to the tax-payers of the country by the exchange. and a vast cost of wasteful
and uncalled-for transportation. In every case the Commissioner, agents, traders and transporters put into their own pockets the immense sums of money they
thus defrauded from the country.
As one among many instances in which these corn-flour frauds were carried on,
the following fact is submitted. By the prompt and upright action of a special
committee of the Board of Indian,C1ommissioners, who had investigated a part of
these frauds brought under their notice, a transfer swindle was discovered at Fort
Peek, and the attention of the agetit was' immediately called thereto. Whereupon, under date April 24, 1874, he telegraphs the Commissioner, as follows:
"Have found original figurings. You were to have had' one hundred and
twenty-five and one-third (125+) pounds of corn for each one hundred (100)
pounds'of flour. Can't understand how the mistake was made iii the written
"proposifion. Upon this basis there is due' Peck eighty4hree. thousand five hun "dred'and fifty-six (83,556) pounds of corn, or thre,e thousand one hundred and,
thirty4hee dOllars and thirty-four cents ($3,133.34). Shall I ship corn, or re      fund "inonev? Answer by telegram: Have written fully."
This is oAly one among s,everal hundred corn-flour transactions among the
Indians, of which the agent w'ritlng'fromSt Pa'ul, to' his pai' to' ci', the'Commissioner, at Wasbinon naively adds
E MISTAKE (?).
"Ex,pla.natory of this unfoi timate misti,ke', inolvi'ng,' it: will be,een, nea4y
$4,000); I must sa that I h ption' of how it occurred, having never
referred, to,the ficrures or proposition since m,aking them. The bas'is of ex  ".cha'nge ha' vin'g been aii aned between y o and us at 8,t. Paul, we gave no p'ar ,, t,i cular attentioii to it, supposing our young ina,n h'ad correctly apportioned the
amounts
An estimate of the ~o of transpoitatloii' re,s"ilting froni this illegal exchange
"Cost of 125+ lbs of corn        at SUxCity-  a $1.2 per -100   -    -  $156 66
Freighit.,125+ ba sf-)corn.rom Siouk City to:Peck, oat $,2per 100     250 66
-'Total cost of 125+Ths of: Corn at Fort Peck Agency..     $407..,33
I'.To which.add the profithe would.have made on the flour-.delivered, as 
-sh.. wn-.s-belowo:say:..::-...,. -'   62 67
,.,..   $..  47..  0'.00
$470" 00
3i5
INDIAN FRAUD6. 
"We greatly deplore the trouble and annoyance this mistake must have caused
" you; particularly'at this time.  *  *  *  Should you so elect, we will forward
" the corn at once, to make up the deficiency.
'ILDER, I.ian Age nt, -i          St. Paul;,ina..
"Hon. E. P. SMITH, Co'mmirne. r of Indian Affi,-rs,
"Washington, D.C."
[V/e Report No. 778, H. R., 43d Congress, 1st Session, p. 209.]
WITHOUT THE KNOWWLEDGE OF INDIAN COMMISSION.
It was stated by one of the Indian agents that corn could not be practicably is
sued to the Indians as rations at a less cost than ten cents a pound. In some instances it was found that it required two pounds of corn to equal one of flour.
All these purchases, transfers and transportations, were carried on by the Interior Department without the formality, accompanying the original contract for
flour, of submitting the same to the Board of Indian Commissioners for their approval, and without public advertisement. This fact is admitted by the Assistant Attorney-General, in a letter, dated from the Department of Justice, at Washington, November 15, 1878, addressed to Mr. Delano, late Secretary of the Interior.
This decision of this law officer of the Government gives his endorsement to
secure the payment of over fifty thousand dollars to one contractor alone, on account of his unlawful exchange of corn for flour, and transportation for the same.
This fraudulent account of this Indian contractor was disapproved by the Board
of Indian Commissioners and was so reported to the Interior Department.   Notwithstanding this fact, the fraud was approved by the Department, and the
money, with many other like sums, paid out of the United States Treasury.  The
aggregate of this corn-flour fraud is not less than three hundred thousand dollars,
The number of Indian agents more or less engaged in this swindle is seventy
eight. It appears from this investigation that in all such cases the decisions of
the Board of Indian Commissioners are ignored altogether, the decisions of the
Secretary of the Interior being supreme.
INVESTIGATION BY DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE.
The Indian Committee of the House of Representatives, at the last session of
Congre.ss; took over four hundred pages of testimony in regard to Indian frauds
Among other facts elicited at the commencement of this investigation is the
following statement by a prominent business man:
"(Qt81in by the Comnmittee: Had you been accepted as a contractor, what
"would have been your chance to have committed frauds upon the Government
"Anwer: That is just exactly owing to what chance I might have seen fit to exercise.  I could have delivered tae goods honestly and faithfully, or I might
"have stolen one-half of the goods, and delivered the other half and got receipts
"f or             all."
This short answer is a key to all the Indian frauds.
TESTIMONY OF GEN. CUSTER.
We pass a large amount of other valuable testimony, in order that we may give
the official statement of this distinguished cavalry general. His words come to us
on this occasion like the voice of a witness speaking from the dead.
GEN. CUSTER appeared before the Committee of Investigation into the conduct
of the war, when summoned by ordler of that committee, on the 29th of March,
1876. In a few short weeks after this valuable testimony here recorded closed, he
was dead-dead on the field of battle. In answer to the inquiries put to him, his
testimony covers the entire body of facts showing the Indian frauds already enumerated.
INTRODUCING INTOXICATING LIQUOR&
The first testimony of GEN. CUSTER is with regard to the Introduction of ttoxicating liquors among the Indians, at Fort Lincoln, Dakota. It was proved by
GEN. CUSTER, in this investigation (which was made by him on the order of the
War Department), that intoxicating liquors were introduced at Fort Lincoln by
the Agent. His excuse was that he had done so by military authority, although
in violation of the revenue law,
816
INDIAN FRAUDS. 
GE. CUSTER further testifies that this agent was an unfit person to hold the appointment of post-trader, on account of the bad influence he exercised over young
officers by his habits of intoxication. Other agents are as bad.
This is the same post-trader of whom testimony is given:
"The Secretary of War (W. W. BELKNAP) is a party indirectly interested with
the firm of which the newly appointed trader at Fort Lincoln is a member."
Vide ieport, page 153.]
The order of the removal of the old post-trader at Fort Lincoln and the appointment of the new one is filed with;the papers.  It is in the handwriting of PRESIDENT GRANT.
It was thereupon found by GE*. CUSTER that the partlership contract with the
new post-trader included the exclusive monopoly of the sale of whisky at Fort
Lincoln, not only to the Indians, contrary to and in violation of the revenue laws,
but to all the officers and men at the post.  Complaint Was immediately ma(le to the
then Secretary of War (BELKNAP). The Secretary immediately set up the claim, and
so notified GEN. CUSTER (quoting the circular issued by the War Department) that
"the exclusive privilege of trade upon the military reserve shall be guaranteed
to the post-traders; and no other person will be entitled to trade, peddle or sell
goods, by sample or otherwise, within the limits of the reserve.
The Secretary of War has only to repeat that any violation of these circulars
'will be promptly acted upon by him.
" WM. W. BELKNAP,r
Seretary of War.
' Official copy.
"E. D. TOWNI*END.
GEN. CUSTER testifies that this order of the late Secretary (BELKNAP) compelled
the officers in command to purchase at their peril everything that they or their
men might want, even'tothe supplies of their own families from  the monopoly
post-traders. 
PARTNERSHIPS WITH POST-TRADE>. 
GEN. CUSTER further testifies that all post-traderships were  conducted in the
manner thus guaranteed by authority of the late Secretary of War  (BELKNAP),
and indorsed in the handwriting of PRESIDENT GRANT.  This monopoly of the
post-traders was a matter of common report among officers and men, and well
known to GEN. CUSTER.  To the truth of the facts here stated the post-trader at
Fort Lincoln subsequently made confession to GEN. CUSTER, and the record so
states.-[ Ti(e Report, p. 154.)
The amount of yearly profits of the post-trader at Fort Lincoln was confessed
by him to GEN. CUSTER to be $15,000; which, with other profits, were divided
among his partners...
Similar testimony was laid before the Committee of Investigation with regard
,to Forts Rice and Sully, and bther trading posts among the Indians.
Gen. CUSTER further testifies that the post-trader monopoly was not confined to
the stores of the traders  It extended to the Commissary Department of the'War
Office. The authority of the late Secretary (BELKNAP) was brought to bear on all
the officers and men, compelling them to trade only with the post-traders, even
for articles usually procured fromt the commissaries.
Gt GEn.' CN  TE   furthlier testifies (Report, page 15y that in traveling  from St Paul
,to his' post of comm'and',' Fort Lincoln, he met with several post-traders,' who'he
names (one of them the brother of the President of the United States), from whom
.he ascertained the fact that all these post-traders (the President's brother in(luded,
and who have been appointed by him) were directly and indirectly interested in
-the profits of these and other post traderships.  Five tradingposts of this class are
'mentioned in the testimony of GEN. CUSTER
;T:ransportation was furnished to the brother of the President at the public expense, as a memberof the President's family. The single trip referred to involved
several hundred miles'of travel,  the  President,  by special  proclamation,
havinpg extended the bounds of, the reservation to. which  his brother was  appointed>, so as to cover,the largest possible area of Indian territory.
The tes,timpony, Of Gen. CUs;ER (pages 156, 157, 15,) proves that by the exten,sion of the Great Sioux Reservation, by proclamation of, the President of the United
States, in connection with the appointment of his brother as Indian agent, the extension added greatly to the profits of the traders included in the reservation.  The
317
INDIAN FRAUDS. 
INDIAN FRAUDS.
consumption of intoxicating liquors amnong the Indians was very much increased,
at the same time.  It was the general impression along the river that the object of
the proclamation was to benefit the traders.  
THE CORN-FLOUR FRAUD.
Fort Peck, to which post the attention of the reader has been repeatedly called
in preceding pages of this document, is in the Great Sioux Reservation. It was
at this post, it will be remembered, the largest frauds in the transmutation of corn
into flour took place among the Indians.  Gy. CUSTER testifies that the whole
transaction opened the door to frauds.  The corn sent to his post was so fraudulent,
both as to quantity and quality, that he refused to receive it. There were eight
thousand sacks of corn sent to Fort Lincoln, of this character. The refusal of
GEN. CUSTER to receive them was telegraphed to the War Department, at Washington.  Forthwith there came an order to him from head quarters that corn
must be received.  It was done.
GEN. CUSTER regarded the circumstance as very suspicious.  He was satisfied
the sacks of corn belonged to the Indian Department, and had been sold to the
Indians.  On weighing it at the post, it was found that every sack that had been
weighed under the supervision of the post-trader fell short from twelve to fifteen
pounds a sack.  Yet the agent charged the G6vernment $50 for the services of the
sergeant who weighed or hauled the corn, although the Government had already
paid the sergeant as a soldier. These $50 went to the sergeant, to pay him for
for making false weights, for the benefit of the contractors, and to the loss of the
revenue.
This corn, although previously paid for by the Indcian Department, was paid
for over again, on vouchers sent from the War Department, by the late Secretary
of War, (Belknap).
This corn-flour fraud was perpetuated at Fort Lincoln in the month of' September, 1875.  Previous to that time, when Rev. E. P. SMITH was Indian Commissioner, other frauds were committed on the Indians in that vicinity. It was
known to GEN. CUSTER that at Bismarck, opposite Fort Lincoln, a man named Raymond was secretly furnished with eight sacks of this Government flour, intended
for the Indians.
IN ANOTHER CASE.
In the personal knowledge  of GEN. CUsTEE, an Indian storehouse at Fort
Berthold was burned to the ground.   It was soon after discovered that this
same man Raymond had an extra supply of flour. The Winter came on and
the Indians were starving. Raymond at once began selling this flour at exorbitant
prices. Neither cars nor boats were able to bring supplies. Navigation had
closed just as the Indian storehouse was burned. The Indians had to apply at
the post to keep themselves from starvation. GEN. CUSTER availed himself of his
authority to investigate the case. He found the Indians were reduced to the extremity of eating their ponies to save their lives. He found a law authorizing the
feeding of Indians temporarily at a military post.  He therefore ordered these
suffering creatures to be brought up to the post, where he fed them with army
rations; there being a sufficient supply at the post at the time.
The Indian Bureau was applied to for consent to allow the War Department to
loan the supplies. The answer came from REV. E. P. SMITH, then Indian commissioner, that the Indian Bureau preferred to feed the Indians; and would not accept the loan, although the suffering condition of the Indians was well known
FRAUDS BY SMUGGLING WHISKY.
GEN. CUSTER testifies (page 160) that there was a great deal of smuggling, pa
ticularly in the whisky trade, across the British border. A contractor at the post
informed the General of the coming of the late Secretary of War (BELKNAP) tO
the post, and that one of his objects was to facilitate the smuggling of whisky
across the border, so that it should be obtained at reduced rates by the trade".
aid therefore sold to greater advantage by them and their ptirtInes.  T:,c d(t,:,Ae
o. titis secret arrangement for defrauding the United States Revenue for the ben(tt ('i Am eric.n }z Lian trae',i,). and Canadian and American Whisky Rinm,
nave  evL-., transpired; but that the smuggling was carried on for a long time
-..- BELKNAP WaS Secretary of War does not admit of a doubt.  General Custer's testimony (age 161), proves that Indian agents hayve been known  to t.a
818 
INDIAN FRAUDS.
goods from the Indians storehouses, and secretly pass them at night to the Indian
traders, where they were fraudulently sold over the counters to the Indians. This
has been done repeatedly within the last four or five years.
At Bismarck, opposite Fort Lincoln, there were parties secretly stealing Government supplies.  They did this by bribing one of the soldiers in the Winter of'
1874, when the cold was greatly increased at the post. This soldier had been
stationed to watch the corn, but they bribed him by paying about half the value
of a sack. In that way, by little and little, hundreds of sacks had been stolen by
the agents of the Corn Ring.  Thousands of bushels'had been stolen before the
thieves were found out. Some of them were connected with traders; butthey were
arrested, and are now serving out their terms in the Penitentiary.
GEN. CUSTER RECALLED.
Early in April, 1876, GEN. CUSTER made his last visit to Washington.  He wa&
then recalled before the Indian Investigation Committee, and asked to answer
why he and other officers of the army, knowing these Indian frauds to exist, had
not interfered to prevent them?  In reply the General said:
"It is principally because of the existence of an order issued by the Secretary
of War, March 15, 1873, that'no officer, either active or retired,' I am giving
the words of the order,'shall directly or indirectly, without being called upon
by proper authority, solicit, suggest or recommend action by members of Congress for or against military affairs.  Second, all petitions to Congress by officers
relative to subjects of military character will be forwarded through the General
of the Army and the Secretary of War for their action and transmittal. Third,
an officer visiting the seat of Government during a congressional session will,
upon his arrival, register his name at the Adjutant-General's office as now required; and, in addition, address a letter to the Adjutant-General of the Army,
reciting the purpose of and time that will be embraced by his visit, and the
authority under which he is absent from his command or station. The purpose
or object so recited will be the strict guide of the officer during his stay.'
In the opinion of GEN. CUSTER, this order of the late Secretary of War (BELKNAP) sealed the lips of army officers as effectually as it could be done.
The order has always been strictly enforced under BELNAP.  It is still in existence, and still carried out by the GRANT Administration.
When the Democratic House of Representatives, at the last session of Congress,
attempted to cure the manifold evils of the Indian service which have been pointed
out by Republican witnesses whose testimony we have quoted, the whole power of
the Administration, and the Republican majority in the Senate, and the minority h
the House, was brought to bear to defeat it.
3110 
TIlE PIRINTING FRTAUDS.
THE PRESIDENT AND THE SENATE RESPONSIBLE FOR
FLAGRANT VIOLATIONS OF LAW.
To enable the reader to understand the various methods by which the public
printing has been done since the establishment of the Government, we will briefly
state  First. Congress, upon the establishment of the Federal Government, followed the
example of the colonial legislative bodies, and had its printing done under the direction of the officers of the Senate and House of Represealtatives, by the publishers of newspapers in the city in which it assembled.
Second. In 1819 Congress established a tariff of prices by which the printing
was to be done and each House elected a printer. These prices were revised in
1828.
Third. In 1846 Congress adopted the contract system.  In 1852 a superintendent was appointed to inspect, certify, establish prices and generally supervise the
work.
Fourth. In 1860 Congress bought of Cornelius Wendell, the present Government printing office with all its contents.
Up to 1819 no serious fault was found in the manner in which the printing
for Congress was done.  The extent of the work was, of course, very small
as compared with that required to be  done at  the present  day.   It was
thought, however,  in 1819, that the cost of the printing could be  greatly
reduced  by  the establishment  of  a scale of prices, and accordingly  this
was (IonIe. There was complaint, however, from time to time, and finally in
1846 the contract system was adopted.  This worked well at the beginning and
great savings were made but no inspection of the work was provided and the contriactors began to defraud the Government by the use of inferior paper and by
otlherwise doing the work in a slip shod manner. After a superintendent was appointed in 1852 thlese defects in the law were remedied. Thle Government purchased
the paper to be used through the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House
after advertisement, and the superintendent issued it as required by the priinter.
This proved a complete check against frauds in paper as the superintendent had to
make a detailel report to Congress of all the paper purchashed, the quantity and
quality, the prices paid and the amount issued.  Hc could not furnish a less quan
lity i,) the printer than each document to be printed required.  The printer could
not c(all for a greater amount than was necessary, because he would lose the cost of
the quantity over and above what was required.  The superintendent could not
sIppl)y more than was needed, for hlis report to Congress would show the fact, and
thlus the pi-nt(e and the superintenldent operated as a cheek upon each other.
Th(  great tirolile,  however,  was in the  election of a printei, as often this 
PRINTING FRAUDS.
would not take place until one month to six weeks after the commencement
of each Congress, and as the appointee had to make arrangements for doing
the work after his election, it would be from six weeks to two months before
the first work was finished. Again, practical printers were not always elected.
Had competent men always been selected, and elected early in the session, there
would have been no delay and thus this evil would have been remedied.   The
printing was under this system honestly, economically, and faithfully done for
Congress, and such were the opinions expressed in the speeches delivered in the
Senate in 1859, when the bill to establish a Government Printing Office was under
discussion. These opinions were very forcibly, clearly, and fully expressed by
Senators Cameron and Hamlin, who were then the only practical printers in
the Senate. Senators Fessenden and Pugh also approved of the contract system,
and predicted as others did, the frauds and extravagance that would occur if Congress established a Government Printing Office.  The same view of the subject
was taken by the ablest members of the House.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE GOVERNMENT OFFICE.
The establishment of a Government printing office was chiefly advocated by
parties who expected to be benefitted thereby. Chief among the persons thus engaged was Mr. Cornelius Wendell, who then had the contract to do the printing
for Congress and was anxious to sell his establishment to the Government, at an
exhorbitant price because he was financially embarrassed. It was notorious that
he was practicing great frauds in the printing for the various departments, especially for the Post Office. The whole matter was investigated by the Senate Committee
on Printing, which was composed at that time of Senators King, Slidell,Powell,Kennedy and Anthony. This committee found that the scale of prices could be reduced,
aud in their report pointed out how Wendell had swindled the Government in the
prices charged for document work. The majority of the committee, Messrs. Slidell,
Powell and Kennedy, recommended in their report that the printing and binding
be given to the lowest bidder, who should be required to furnish ample security for
his faithful performance of the work.  The minority, through Mr. King, stated
in their report that the printing rates were too high under the present system, because there was so much discretionary power to vary the profits bly the manner
of giving the orders, and said that there should be a reform in this respect. They
recommended giving out the printing to the lowest bidder as a measure of security against frauds and corrupt profits and excessive expenditures.  The House had
an investigation at the same time and the majority report recommended that no
person should be elected who was not a practical printer, and that he should exe cute a bond; that a Superintendent, who should also give bond, should be elected,
who would supervise the giving out of the work and pass upon the quality thereof,
as well as the prices to be allowed therefor. A scale of prices based upon those
of 1852, but reduced forty per cent., was recommended. The Printing Committees
of the two Houses examined all the witnesses who were practical printers or sup posed to have any knowledge of the subject as to the feasibility of establishing a
Government plinting office.  Those printers wbho had  the most extended knowl edge of the business, who were conducting large establishments of their own and
were not competitors for the work to be done, pronounced decidedly against the
plan of a Government  establishment to do the work.  Among those witnesses
were Messrs. Bowman, Moore and Rives. Mr. Rives gave it as his opinion that
the printing would cost from fifty to one hundred per cent. more if it was done
by the government itself, and said that he would stake his establishment and risk
his reputation as a printer on the result if the experiment was made. The per sons who advocated the Government establishment before these committees were
Wendell, English, Larcomb, Towers and Defrees. Wendell, as has already been
stated, was bankrupt and was desirous to sell his establishment to the Government
because lie could thereby obtain a much greater price for it. English, Larcomb
and Towers were clerks or employcs of Wendell's.  Defrees had just been an
applicant for the position of public printer and defeated. He expected to be made
Superintendent of the Government office, if one was established, and in this he was
not mistaken.
Such were the witnesses who advocated and opposed the establishment of a Gov ernment office and the reasons on which they founded their opinions. It should
be stated that Mr. Moore had charge of the Natwnal Intelligencer establishment
and was not an applicant, for any work.  That Mr. Rives printed only the debate~
0
321 
PRINTING  FiAI;D,%.
of Congress, the system of giving verbatim reports having been founded by him.
He was not a bidder for any of the Government work.  Mr. Bowman was Superintendent of Government printing, and the result could not possibly affect him one
way or another; he was a disinterested witness. He was a gentleman of great practical experience, had long been superintendent of printing and was competent to
give an intelligent opinion upon the various systems suggested.
THE CHIIANGE CONSUTMMATED.
The act establishing a Government office becamie a law notwithstanding the
warnings of the most experienced persons, both in and out of Congress. It
should be observed that the tariff of 1852 was then in use, and the Printing Com mittees of both the Senate and the House unainimously reported that the rates
allowed were excessive, and the House Committee on Printing recommended a
reduction of forty per cent. Senator Anthony was the strongest advocate of the
Government Printing Office, as he has since been its great defender. In a speech
which he at that time made upon the cost of the work done for the Depart ment, and the frauds committed by the printers, he used the following lan guage:
"The price of printing the post-office blanks, as of the other printing, is fixed
by law; but by a monstrous evasion and perversion of the law, constructive
charges were allowed four times greater than the just and legitimate charges.
The types were set once a year, and charged for setting every day, often three oi
four times a day. I will explain the manner in which this was done. Two elements enter into the cost of printing these blanks-composition and press-work.
Composition is setting the type; press-work is striking off the sheets after the type
is set.  The price of composition on a sheet of these blanks was $13; the price of
press-work was $1 for a thousand sheets. The type, once set, would last for
millions of impressions. It was generally stereotyped. If an order was given
for one thousand sheets of blanks, the bill would be: for composition,  $13; for
press-work, $1-$14 a thousand. If the order was given for 10,000 sheets, the
bill would be: for composition, $13; for press-work, $10-$23; or $2.30 a thousand.  If the order was given for 30,000 sheets, the bill would be: for composition,
$13; for press-work, $30-$48; or $1.43 a thousand; and all under the same law,
and at the same nominal price.  No charg'e should have been  made for composition except in the first instance.  Mr. Rives printed the blanks for nine years
and never made a single charge for composition-ii-not once, not in the first instance.
He, a practical printer of great experience, was consulted in framing the law,
and it never occurred to him that composition would be charged under it. IIe
would as soon thought of guarding against an extra charge for ink."
It will be observed that hle pays a high tribute to Mr. Rives. It is important
here to observe carefully the manner in which the frauds were committed, because it will subsequently appear that the same system has been practiced in the
Government office under the administration of Mr. Clapp.
A GREAT SOURCE OF ABUSE.
Upon the proposition of establishing a Goverunient office, Mr. Burnett spoke 
follows: (Congressional Glolie, vol.41, page 2504.)
Now, when we have bought or built a printing establishment, when we hare
the presses and all the other necessary materials ready, bow many employcs will
be found there? How much will it take to start this immense machine? How
much will it cost to build the establishment, provide it with presses and other material, and then, how much will it cost to keep it in working order? All these are
pertinent questions. With all due respects to the gentlemen who favor the
amendment of the gentleman from Ohio, and who may, perhaps, know more
about the public printing than I do, I must be permitted to say, that in my judgment a few years' trial of such a vast concern will demonstrate its impracticability. It will prove the means, I think, of corruption that will smell badly in the
I
Senator Pugh spoke as follows, (page 3060 of the Congressional Globe, vol. 42):
Now, sir, I am opposed to this Government Printing Office. It will be the
worst job, the worst nuisance, an incubus that you cannot get rid of, unless you
0
322 
PRINTING FRAUDS.
set it on fire and burn it down. Once let it be established, and it will be the
greatest source of abuse and corruption. There will be committee of investigation after committee every session to overlook it. I do not want any more departments added to this Government; I do not want any more establishments.
We have got enough, too many, now; and I cannot understand why the business
of printing cannot be left to the ordinary law of competition, as every other business is. If we want a house built for a particular purpose, and do not choose to
build it ourselves, we hire some person to build it; we receive proposals from
him; if he does it according to contract, we pay him; if he does not, we do not
pay hliln; and I cannot conceive what there is of mystery about this matter to
take it out of the ordinary rule.  The experience of my own State is in favor of
the contract system.  The work is better done, more  cheaply done, and more
promptly done. It has been a great relief to us.
But despite the discussion, despite the remarks i)f gaentlemen who appeared to
speak with prophetic knowledge of what would follow the establishment of a
Government Printing Office, it was established by a joint resolution of the two
Houses of Congress, and an evil was fastened upon the Government that has
grown with years.
Now, let us recapitulate. The office of Superintendent of Public Printing was
established by an act approved August 26, 1852, (Statutes at Large, volume 10,
page 30).  Tlhe Superintendent of Public Printing was authorized to contract for
the erection or purchase of a Government Printing Office, by joint resolution of
June 30, 1860, (Statutes ait Large, volume 12, page 117).  The  office of Superintend(lent of Public Printing was abolished, and that of Congressiolnal Printer created February 22, 1867, (Stats. at Large, volume 213, page 88).  John D. Defrees
wats elected Congressional Printer in February, 1867.  In 1869, Mr. A. M. Clapp
as elected, and has since held the office, a period of about seven years.
TIE G(OVERNMENT OFFICE MONOPOLIZES EVERYTHING.
In 1873 the Co/,qres~vonal Globe, established in 1833 by John C. Reeves, in which
v(irbatim reports of the debates of Congress were given, was taken from his suc(e ssors, and the printing of the debates ordered to be done  at the Government
piinting office, it being alleged that this change would result in a great saving to
the Government.  We abstract the following from the debates in the Senate on
this proposition:
Senator FnLIINGI-IUYSEN (Globe, vol. 73, p, 1512), said:
We are told this change will be a saving of $40,000; but how is that estimate made 9 That estiiiiate is made, not by a person who is going to take the contract, and who is unaffected entirely by
the question whether his estimate is correct or incorrect, and I have not a great deal of confidence
in it. Besides, I believe it is the true interest of the Government to make as few contracts, to undertake as few jobs, whetherin printing or in building railroads or canals, or anything of that character, as possible; but to make contracts with individuals, and make them strictly and have themt
rigidly enforced.
Senator Momul1L, of Vermnont, (Congressional Globe, vol. 73, p. 1512), said:
If this change should be made, I have no;idea but that, instead of making $40,000 for every two
years of Congressional printing, we should run under at least $50,000 a year.
And again (page 1513), he said:
I do not believe that we are on the road to retrenchment by making this change; but I believe
that if it should be made we should revert and turn back to the same system within four
years.
Senator FESSENDEN (Globe, vol. 73, p. 1514), said:
As it stands now, the question is whether we should gain or lose by it. My opinion is that we
should only lose by attempting to do it, because I think it is overburdening the Public Printer; and
I think those men who have done the work so well and so long, that their judgment as to what they
can do it for, as they certainly must be very desirous of getting the contract, is a good deal better
than the judgment of anybody else.
Senator HENDRICKS (Globe, vol. 83, p. 1513), said:
Mr. President, nothing is more deceptive than public estimates; we know that in tha great body
of the work that is done for the Government, the construction of public builtdings and repairs, and
all that.  Now, sir, I have very little confidence in the estimates that are presented here from tLhe
3,,M 
PRINTING FRIAUDS.
bureau of public printing, if it may be so called. I do not believe that this printing wilI be done at
the Public Printing Office for the price that we are paying the present company.   I do nlotexpect
it to be done for that price.  I known that the Government never does work as cheap as individuals
do it. Ordinarily we can pay individuals for woik done and a reasonable profit, and save money to
the Government, rather than do it directly thlioutgh the agents of the Government.   This work has
been carried on a long while by this office, to the satisfaction of members of Congress.  It reflects
credit upon the Government, and I am very reluctant to se e a change made. In the course of-a Congress
I believe it is now claimed that there can'be a chalice made in favor of the Treasury of forty or fifty
or sixty thousand dollars.  When wve come to test it by experience, I think that the change will be
the other way; it will cost that mniuch more than it does now.
MORTON TIHEN AGREED WITH IIENDRICKS.
Senator IMORTON (Globe, volume 73, paige  1515), said:
I have no faith myself in the Government directly procuring heavy work of this kind to be performed cheaper through its own immediate agents tihani by contract.  It is cntrutry to all governmental experiecice.  whenever the Government has wvork to be (lone of a continuous or important
character it has unifoim mlv been foimd to be cheaper to let it out, utinder fair terms of contract, than
to undertake to execute t'ie vork itself.
If the Government lias a  larbor to repair or construct, or any public work to do, it has been
found cheaper by experience to let it out by contract than for the Government  to undertake,
through its own agents, to hire the hands and execute the work.  The  Government tried that
experiment once in the constr uction of the Cumberland road.  The construction of that road  was
first put under the care of engineers, with authority to employ superintendents and agents, to hire
the hands and construct tile road, without the intervention of contractors; aud I believe it is a
notorious fict that  he work cost the Government at least twice what it wouldl have cost if it had
been let out uinder fair terms of contract; and more than that, it progressed far more slowly thao
it would have done if it had been fairly contracted for.
Why, sir, the operation of this principle is so wvell understood that raihload companies, private
corporations, where they have a railroad to construct, will not undertake to construct it directly
by their owii agents.  Some roads have attempted that; but they have been, I believe,  uniformly
unfortunate.  I remember one instance where a railroad company  undertook to  build a road
through its own superintendents, to employ hands, and superintend them;  and after having
partially constructed the road it was compelled to abandon that system and resort to the ordinary
one of contract, where the work is let out to contractors under fair comnpetition.
Now, sir, if the Government of the United States can save money by tundertaking to execute a
long and heavy work of this kind directly through its own agents, I undertake to say it will be the
first time that that experiment has ever been successful.  As I said before, it has i)een tried in regard to railroad companies, where the pirties managing the company were directly parties in
interest; and it has been found, even with regard to railroad companies, that it is to their advantage to let the work out to contractors and allow the contractors to make fair profits, and that they
can construct the work cheaper and faster.
As this is the almost universal experience with regard to the Government in other particulars,
with regard to corporations, with regard to the construction of all works of improvement, it seems
tome there is no reason to suppose that the Government can execute this peculiar work cheaper
through its own agents than it can by contractors, with fair competition,
THE SENATE COVERING UP FRAUDS.
In 1874 the State Committee on Printing, Mr. Anthony, chairman, made a pretended investigation of the workings of the Government Printing Office. It was
alleged then that the Congressional printer was charging the departments enormous prices, far beyond the actual cost, and that by this means he create([ a large
surplus whiclh enabled him to do other work for less than cost, and some  for
nothing; that he charged more for paper than it cost. The committee made a report completely exonerating Mr. Clapp, the Congressional printer. although the
testimony shows that the charges of fraud were established by competent proof.
After the committee had commenced the investigation other charges were preferred against Mr. Clapp, but the committee positively refused to receive them.
They were especially resisted by Senator Howe, a member of the committee, in
so arrogant a manner that spectators present freely commented thereon.  The
attorney who couducted the defense of Mr. Clapp before the committee was Dick
Harrington, who but a short time previous had concocted the infamous safe
burglary conspiracy, and was then being investigated himself by the joint conimmittee on the District of Columbia.  It has long been conceded that the Printing
Ring has been aformidable organization.. Investigation after investigation has
taken place, yet no mniatter how glaring the frauds, the Congressional Printer, Mr.
Clapp, was always vindicated.
THE DEMOCRATIC HOUSE EXPOSES THE FRAUDS.
At the commencement of the Fourty-fourth Congress the Democratic House of
Representatives determined to give the Government Printing Office a thorough
overhauling, and expose the frauds and swindles which were universally believed
to have been practiced by the parties interested in the management of that concern. It must be borne in mind that the Republican party is responsible for the
324 
PRINTING FIAUDS.
establishment of the Government Printing Office, and has steadily resisted every
effort looking to a careful examination of its workings. Under the system of doing the printing at this establishment the cost has been steadily andl largely increased, and for years from $1,700,000 to two millions dollars per annurm has
been appropriated to pay for this work, the stealings from which have been from
four hundred thousand to six hundred thousand dollars a year. It is not alleged
that this amount of money was stolen outright by the public printer for his own
personal benefit; but that it was used largely for the benefit of the Republican
party in the printing of campaign documents and binding books for private libraries of members of Congress, has been clearly established. The public printer himself and some of his confidential employes have undoubtedly been profiting in an
irregular manner, for instance, by the sale of waste paper and by doing work for
private parties and collecting pay for the same and not placing the money to the
credit of the Government, as required by law.
The Committee on Printing in the Senate consists of Senators Anthony, who
has been on the committtee since his election as Senator in 1849; Senator Sherman, who takes the place of Senator Howe, and Senator Saulsbury. Sherman
was a member of the House in 1859 and 1860, when the debate on the establishment of the Government Printing Office took place. He was then conversant with
the frauds which were practiced by Wendell in printing post office blanks. This
is worthy of note because he is now, as a member of the Senate Committee on
Printing, a persistent defender of the Government Printing Office in which the
same system of overcharges has been practiced from its establishment in 1859
down to the present time.
The House Committee on Printing is composed of John L. Vance, of Ohio, a
practical printer, thoroughly versed in all the details of the trade, and an honest,
upright man;  Hon. Otho R. Singleton, of Mississippi, who was a member of this
committee in a former Congress, an able lawyer and fearless statesman. The
Republican member of the committee is L. W.  Ballou, of Rhode Island, an intimate friend of Senator Anthony, and, of course, a zealous defender of the establishlment which Mr. Anthony has always championed.
THE INVESTIGATION BEGUN.
On the 13th of January, 1876, a resolution was adopted by the House of Representatives, directing the Committee on Printing to investigate the Government
Printing Office, to ascertain the cost of printing, and to report whether it is as
economically done as it could be by private parties, and also as to the cost of
printing the debates of Congress, and whether any changes should be made.
On the 15th of February the inquiry began with the examination of Mr. Clapp,
Congressional Printer, who testified that his purchases were made at the lowest
market rates; that his books showed the cost of each particular piece of work
as near as the same could be arrived at. He especially inveighed against the
contract system and claimed that the cost of the public printing had been largely
reduced under his administration of the Government Printing Office.
As one of the specimens of frauds practiced by contractors he instanced the
following: he said that it was customary to print sixteen forms at the same time
making sixteen separate charges for press work.  That when he took charge of
the Government Printing Office, he adopted a different system and charged so
much per token,-that is for each two hundred and fifty impressions. He admitted that the scale of prices adopted in 1852 were continued up to 1874, but
claimed that his attention had not been called-to it until recently. This was one
of the charges against Mr. Clapp, which was investigated by the Senate Com
mittee in 1874, and Senator Anthony, in his report, states that the old scale of
prices was not followed at that time. So it will be seen that either Mr. Clapp deceived Senator Anthony in 1874, or else Mr. Anthony, having knowledge of this
fact, made a deliberate false statement to the Senate.  Mr. Clapp further testified(t
that the forms of nearly all blanks printed were stereotyped; that all work that
is to be reprinted is done from stereotype plates; that all of his purchases were
made at the lowest market rates; that all work was charged for at its actual cost,
and that no work was done for outside parties. He claimed that the debates of
Congress were economically printed and that his books showed the exact cost of
every item of expense connected with this branch of the work.
1.1215 
PRINTING FRAUDS.
FRAUDS IN OVERCHARGES PROVEN.
In addition to the examination of Mr. Clapp, the Committee examined the foremen of the different departments of the office, and also Theodore L. DeVinne of
New York City, who is universally acknowledged to be the best expert on printing and binding in this country, Mr. DeVinne made an examination of samples
of binding selected at random, for which the Government Printer charged $1,824.
70. Mr. DeVinne testified that he would do the work for $837.02 and that this
price would a low him the customary profit of trade. Thus it will be seen
Mr. Clapp made an overcharge of 118 per cent. for binding. Samples of printing
were also selected, the cost of which at the Government Printing Office was $4,365.50. Mr. DeVinne testified that he would do the same work for $2,689.67 and
make a handsome profit on the same. Here again is an overcharge by Clapp of
61 per cent.
John G. Judd, printer, of Washington City, testified, after examining samples of
work done at the Government Printing Office, and without knowing the cost at
which the same was charged against the government, that he would do the
work at prices which ranged forty per cent lower. In one case Mr. Judd's price
was three hundred per cent lower than that charged at the Government Printing
Office.
Mr B.C. Dorsey, of Baltimore, a practical printer and dealer in printers' supplies
of twenty five years' standing, stated that the overcharge on paper used at the Government Printing Office is twenty-one per cent, and that the paper was all of: a
very inferior quality; that he would have furnished a better article at his prices
and have made a handsome profit.
John R. Edwards, of Baltimore, a practical binder of thirty-two years' experience, and owner of one of the largest establishments in that city, selected samples of binding at random in the House library, and after examination declared
that the Government had been charged by Mr. Clapp three hundred per cent.
more than he, Mr. Edwards, would have charged any of his customers.  Mr.
Edwards does all the binding for both the Peabody and John Hopkins libraries
of Baltimore.
Mr. D. P. Steele, a practical binder of New  York city of thirty years' experience in the business, who has a large binding establishment of his own,
selected still other samples of binding done at the Government Printing Office
and his prices were thirty-five per cent. lower than those charged the Government.
ASTOUNDING DISCLOSURES.
A. R. Spofford, the able Librarian of Congress, testified to the enormous charges
of the Government printer for work done for the Congressional library, and said
that he wanted it put on record that he was no party to these frauds, as he was
compelled by law to send all the books to be bound to the Government Printing
Office, no matter what the charges were. He brought books to the committee
room and fully illustrated the various charges. The binding for the Congressional library last year cost over twenty-eight thousand dollars.
George A. Gane, of New York City, the proprietor of two of the largest establishments in this country for the sale of binders' material -one in New York
City and the other in Boston-made astounding disclosures in regard to what
the Government printer pays and what he would furnish the same material for.
He said that he had noticed the frauds practiced in the purchase of binders'
material for the Government several years ago and found out that there was
no competition to the trade. He had written to Mr. Clapp, sent him samples,
and said that he would furnish the articles for prices named.  Mr.  Clapp paid
no attention to this, so a year later Mr. Gane wrote again to Mr. Clapp, calling
his attention to his former offer. Mr. Clapp gave him an order for a small
quantity, and, acknowledging the receipt of the material, stated that it was entirely satisfactory, but never gave another order.
John Gibson, of Washington, a practical printer, who has a large establishment
which he had conducted over thirty years. furnished prices at which he was willing to do the work for the Government and they were one hundred and sixteen
per cent. lower than those charged at the Government Printing Office.
Joseph L. Pearson, a practical printer of twenty one years' experience, was one
hundred and twenty per cent. lower in his estimates.
326 
PRINTING FRAUDS
All the persons named and many others, who gave similar testimony under
oath, are proprietors of large establishments and are persons of the highest integrity and bear the highest reputation for truth and veracity, and their testimony
cannot be questioned.
OVER ONE HUNDRED PER CENT. PROFIT.
In regard to blank books manufactured at the Government Printing Office for
the various departments, including all the custom houses, Mr. Lewis A. Lipman,
of the firm of Boorum & Pease of New York, the largest blank book manufacturers in New York City, testified that their prices, including profits, were one
hundred per cent. lower than those charged at the Government Printing Office.
It should be borne in mind that in all these charges against the Congressional
printer for work done he takes no account of superintendence, rent, taxes, insurance, repairs and many other items of cost that amount in the aggregate to a
large sum, and which all private establishments have to take into consideration
in making up their prices. The foreman in the press room in the Government
Printing Office testified that the presses were run up at a very high rate of speed,
in some cases double what they would be in a private establishment, and hence
frequent breakages and repairs and early destruction of the presses. To practical
printers it is only necessary to say that an Adams press is run at the rate of sixteen hundred impressions per hour, and they can form an idea of the enormous
wear and tear there must be in the course of a year. It makes no difference to
the public printer how long a press may last, for as soon as it is worn out it is
thrown away and another purchased.
There is no check whatever upon the person in charge of this vast establishment, and he can purchase whatever material, machinery, presses, type &c., he
chooses, and makes whatever arrangement he can with parties furnishing such
supplies, and it would be a very easy matter in this way to defraud the Government of large sums of money. The quantity of type in the Government Printing Office would probably supply every printing establishment in New  York
City. They have such a vast supply that if they have a book to print which they
have reason to believe may be ordered reprinted in a year, they keep all the forms
standing, no matter if there are a thousand pages.  Instances in which forms are
kept standing in this way were made known to the committee; and it was proved
that the cost of composition was charged against the Government a second time.
WHAT REPUBLICAN WVITNESSES TESTIFIED.
With such facts before them the committee made their report to the House
recommending certain changes, which recommendations were adopted by the
House and legislation authorizing them was inserted in the Sundry Civil Bill.
The Senate struck out all these safeguards and checks which were designed by
the House to prevent overcharges and other fraud on the part of the public
printer. Senator Morton advocated Mr. Clapp in t'he Senate, notwithstanding the
testimony taken by the Printing Committee of the House had been published
weeks before, had been discussed for days in the House, and had been commented
on by all the principal papers in the country; and notwithstanding, too, the fact
that nearly all the witnesses and experts who gave this testimony acknowledged
themselves to be Republicans. Mr. Lipman and Mr. DeVinne, who gave the most
damaging testimony, are staunch Republicans; and Mr. Behlile, an accountant who
examined the books of Mr. Clapp, is also a Republican and has been employed
for the National Republican Executive Committee as a stump speaker.   The
committee, in selecting experts, had but one object, and that was to obtain competent experts and honest men. Those only who were known as standing at the
head of the different trades were subpoenaed.
WHAT IS STOLEN.
Some of the frauds practiced were of such glaring character, that the testimony
of an expert is not necessary to expose them; for instance, small blank books,
which can be purchased at any stationery store at retail for from thirty to forty
cents a dozen, the Congressional printer swears cost, at the Government Printing
Office, from sixty to seventy-five cents per dozen. The revised statutes, a book
of course familiar to every lawyer, the Government printer testified cost three dol
327 
PRINTING FRAUDS.
lars and a half each. This is one of the cases in which he undercharges. The ob ject of this is to make it appear that work of this kind done at the Government
Printing Office is done at far below the prices charged at private establishments;
but when the books of the Congressional printer camie to be examined by the com mittee it was found that his volume which he says cost three dollars and a half ac tually cost nearly seven dollars. In the same way various other cases may be men tioned. For instance, the Army and Navy Register, of one hundred and fifty pages,
is kept standing in the forms from one year to another, only slight changes having
to be made in the yearly corrections, yet full composition is charged every year,
no matter if but a single name has been changed.
From 1863 to 1875, inclusive, the Government Printing Office, exclusive of re pairs,  taxes, insurance  and  improvements, has cost  $21,767.496.91, or an
average per year of $1,674,422.S4.  From thedata obtained bythe House Com mittee on Printing, it can be safely assumed that if the work done at this establish ment had been honestly done or given out by contract to the lowest responsible
bidders, it could have been done as promptly, and more faithfully, at a saving of
at least forty per cent, or about $S,600,0OO.
TIHE FRAUDS PRACTICED IN THE PURCEASE OF MATERIALS
are illustrated by George  W.  Garner, a  member of the firm of John  Campbell
& Co., which house has been furnishing materials to the Congressionol printer for
seven years, who gives the following testimony:
Question. Hlow long has your house, or the house that you are now connected with, furnished
goods to the Government Printing Office? Answer. About seven years.
Q. What is the present amount of business done by the house? A. About $,300,000.
Q. About what amount of goods do you annually furnish to the Government printer? A. I
would say from $125,000 to $150,000-say about $150,000; last year it was considerably less than
the year before.
Q. Referring to your books of account, I find a bill to Mr. Clapp under date February 28, 1874;
is it possible, by an examination of ihis book, to arrive at the quality of goods furnished in that bill
without your personal explanation accompanying it? From the book itself, if it were put In the
hands of a stranger? A. No, sir.
Q. Consequently, taking all the data you have, it is impossible to arrive at the quality of goods
furnished, without you are put upon the stand and questioned in regard to them? A. Yes, sir.
Q. I find you purchased $879.25 worth of imitation gold leaf, and you sold it to the Government at a profit of $570.25? A. Yes, sir,
Q. Do I understand you to say that onl an investment of $879.25 you realized a profit of $570.25?
A. Yes sir.
Q. Where is Mr. Valleau's establishment? A. In New York City.
Q. Do your books show that every time you received an order from the Congressional Printer
you purchased from Vaileau just the amount ordered by the Congressional Printer during the last
two years? A. With one exception, to my knowledge, they do.
Q. Were the purchases made before the reception or after the reception of the order of Mr.
Clapp? A. Occasionally before.
Q. Did Mr. Clapp know that you bought those materials from Valleau? A. Not to my knowledge.
Q. Does not the gold-leaf show from what house it comes? A. Yes.
Q. Could he fail to know from what house it came? A. Of course I do not know; every package is stamped with Valleau's niame.
Q. Is this paper which I hand you a correct exhibit from your bills and vouchers of the profits
made on various sales? A. Yes, sir.
Q. On one sale of $4,452 of law-calf did you realize a profit of $1,264? A. Yes, sir.
Q. What profit per dozen niave you made on law-calf sold to the Government? A. Six, and
perhaps eight, dollars per dozen.
Q. In the matter of gold-leaf, what amount do you keep on hand outside of what you sell to the
Government? A We keep a small stock.  Things we can supply we do not keep on hand, but buy
from manufacturers.
Q. Is not this the case in most of the materials you sell to the Congressional Printer, so far as
the value of them is concerned? A. Yes, sir.
Q. In the articles which you sell to the Congressional Printer, what proportion of them do you
buy front the manufacturers after you receive orders from the Printer? A. About two-thirds.
Q. What proportion of the goods you sell to the Congressional Printer have you manufactured
heretofore? A. None.
Q. You say that you have charged the Government higher prices in some cases; please state on
what articles? A I cannot remember any particular articles.
Q. How, then, can you say, if you do not recollect any particular article, that you have charged
higher prices than you have charged private individuals in some instances? A. By the general
prices.
Q. By the general prices on what articles? A. Cowhide, cloth, sheep. gold-leaf, calf; that is all,
I believe.
Q. Do not those articles cover a majority in value of the articles sold to the Government? A.
Yes, sir.
328 
PRINTING  FRAUDS.
CLAPP CAUGHT.
Mr. Clapp himself was examined in regard to the purchase of material, End the
following extracts from his testimony are given:
question. In making purchases in open market do you endeavor, oy inquiry or otherwise, to
arrive at the lowest prices? Answer. I have always done that. I have tried to get at the bottom
of the market.
Note this answer, and compare it with others made almost immediately after:
Q. Do you know whether or not you could have made these purchases for a less amount of money
if you had gone directly to the manufacturers? A. I cannot answer that.
Q. Have you made any inquiries? A. Only through my foreman.
Q. Have you ever made any effort to ascertain, outside of the information you received from
your foreman, as to the manner, and mode, and place of purchase, and the amount? A. No, sir.
Q. Have you ever advertised for proposals for.articles which you are required to purchase?
A. No.
Q. Have you ever taken steps, by issuing circulars, or giving information that you needed them,
that you could make good rates, considiering the number you purchased? A. I have not.
Q. Have you ever visited the manufacturers or had any one else do so? A. No.
Mr. Clapp stated above that his purchases of materials were made through J.
H. Roberts, foreman of the bindery, and that said foreman sought to buy them at
"bottom prices." In denial of this assertion, let Mr. Roberts speak for himself:
Question. Has the Congressional Printer acted under your advice in making purchases of binding
materials? Answer. Not at first; but lately he has.
Q. Who made the original purchases from Campbell & Armstrong? A. Mr. Clapp gave the order
to purchase from Campbell & Armstrong. I gave the official order on Mr. Clapp as usual, and he
directed where it should go.
Q. About what amount of binding materials do you purchase per year? A. I cannot answer that.
Q. Does it reach about $175,000 a year? A. In that neighborhood.
A CRIMINAL VIOLATION OF LAW.
Not only were frauds practiced in the purchase of materials but it was proved
conclusively that Mr. Clapp violated the criminal law of the land by imposing
upon the Secretary of the Treasury a false voucher in the settlement of his accounts. From A. M. Clapp's testimony:
Question. Referring to the stubs of your check-book under the date of March 1, 1872, do you find
that a check was drawn in favor of Philp & Solomons for $234? Answer. I do.
Q. Can you explain for what that check was drawn? A. I cannot here say.
Q. Do the data you have show that fifty reams of white cap paper were purchased from Philp &
olomons on February 20,1872? A. Yes; and receipted for by my foreman of binding.
Q. It sho ws that you purchased paper from Philp & Solomons? A. Yes, sir.
A. S. Solomons testifies to the fact that not one sheet of such paper was purchased from him by the Congressional Printer, but that a false voucher was
made out for the benefit of Mr. Clapp, and used in his settlement with the
Treasury.
Question. Did you make an examination in regard to the transaction of March 13, 1872, when the
Congressional Printer drew acheck min favor of Philp & Solomons for $234? Answer. I did.
Q. Please state th3 result of that examination. A. We had a large number of blank-books
which we desired to sell to the Treasury Department. They needed the books but had no fund out
of which they could pay for them, and suggested that we should see some one connected with the
Public Printer. I met Mr. Roberts, whom I believed to be the foreman of the bindery, and related to
him the circumstances  He said he would see about it. Shortly thereafter he made inquiry as to
the number of books min our possession, and subsequently saw and made a selection from them,
lootiiig up the amount we asked for such books.  He then informed me that under the law they
could not buy blank-books, but had to buy paper, and he asked me to make out the bill for the
gross amount of the books, that was $234. The bill read, " Fifty reams white cap paper, 18 pounds,
at 26 cents per pound, $4.68 per ream," making in the aggregate, $234. Subsequently that amount
was paid to us by a check from the Government Printer, and the account was closed.
Q. How many books did you sell them? A. Somewhere between one hundred and twenty-five
anId two hundred demy and crown cloth-covered books, ruled faint only, and paged.
Q. Did you include in this charge, paper, books, binding, and all else connected? A. Yes.
Q.In this bill of $234 did you furnish any white cap paper? A. None whatever.
CLAPP CONTRADICTED BY HIS OWN EMPLOYES.
J. H. Roberts, foreman of binding, through whom the blank-books were
purchased, fixes the responsibility upon the Congressional Printer, where it
properly belongs, although the Printer feigns utter ignorance of the whole
transaction.
Question. Did you ever make a purchase of Philp & Solomons of books, and have them make
out a bill for the same as paper? Answer. Yes, sir.
Q. Was Mr. Clapp conversant with that transaction in its various stages? A. I cannot say that.
I presume I reported to him when I came back.
329 
PRINTING FRAUDS.
Q. Did he know that you were requested to, or proposed to, get this property from Philp & Solo mons? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Did he acquiesce in it? A. He told me to buy the books if I thought it to the advantage of
the Government.
Q. Did Mr. Solomons make out a bill for fifty reams of white cap paper, amounting to $234, and
did you make a requisition on the Congressional Printer for fifty reams of white cap and acknowl edge the receipt of the same? A. Yes, sir.
Q. What did you receive from Philp & Solomons? A. I received three different kinds of books.
John Larcombe, the cash-book-maker, and voucher-manufacturer, tells how
and why it was done:
Question. Please examine the check which I hand you.    *   *   *  Did you fill up the body
of that check? Answer. That check was filled up by me and that check was paid by me.
Q. By whose authority and under whose instructions was this check drawn? A. By authority
of the Congressional Printer.
DEPOSITING PUBLIC MONEY TO HIS OWN CREDIT.
It was further proved, not only by the admission of the Congressional Printer
himself, but by competent  outside  testimony, that in violation  of  law he had
retained in his hands, and still retains, some sixty thousand dollars of the money
of the United States, which it is his duty to cover into the Treasury as fast as it is
accumulated.   Mr. Clapp, in his examination, testifies as follows
Question. Have you now a large amount of money in your hands or on deposit belonging to the
Government of the United States? Answer. I have.
Q. State what amount.  A. I think somewhat in the vicinity of $50,000.
Q. How long have you had this money in your hands, or a portion of it? A. It has been accumulating along.
Q. Does it reach back to the beginning of your administration? A. Not entirely back.
Q. Have you any authority of law for using this money in any other way than to cover it into the
Treasury? I only pay the Government employes.
Q. Have you a right so to use it under the law? A. I judge so.
Q. Is there not an annual appropriation made by Congress for the purpose of paying the employves? A.Yes; but the Government Printer can only draw $53,000 at a time, and the pay-roll
amounts to over $90,000.
Q. You now hold in your hands $50,000 belonging to the United States Government? A. I think
I have.
Q. Please state the amount of money you now have on deposit in your safe belonging to the Goterumeut accumulating from the sale of documents, waste, &c  A. Somewhere in the vicinity of
$50,000.
Q. Will you permit the clerk of this committee, Mr. Wiener, to go to your office and, in your
presence, count the money? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Have you no deposit in any bank in the city? A. No, sir.
THE CASH FOUND SHORT.
Charles S. Wiener, the clerk of this committee, having made count of the
moneys on hand, says:
I was instructed to proceed to the office of the Congressional Printer, with him, in order to
make count of all moneys belonging to the Government, and which were included in what Mr.
Clapp calls a surplus fund.  When I reached the office Mr. Clapp introduced me to Mr.  Larcombe,;he financial clerk, and left me with him.  Mr. Larcombe expressed his regret, first, that
I had called at so late an hour min the day; second, that I had called at a very inopportune
moment, since all of the money was not on hand at that time; he proceeded to say that the Congressional Printer, or rather the officer in charge, does not pretend to have all that money in cash.
l counted the money in the safe and found that it amounted to $16,257.99.  Mr. Larcombe counted
the amount as soon as I was through, and our accounts tallied, all but one cent, he making it ninetyeight cents and I ninety- nine.
In the testimony in the case here given, it will be seen from the statements of
Charles Wiener and J. A. Ruff that Clapp has made two gross misstatements:
first, that he had in his safe $50,000 when, in fact, there was but $16,257.99, and,
secondly, that he had no deposits in any bank in this city, when at that moment
he had deposited $12,000 in the Metropolis Savings Bank and $1,800 in the
Second National Bank.
J. A. Ruff, cashier of the Metropolis Savings Bank, states:
uestion. Do you receive money on deposit and pay interest on deposits? Answer. Yes, sir.
. Does Mr. A. M. Clapp do business with your bank? A. Yes, sir.
. What amount of money has he on deposit in your bank?  A. I think about $12,000.  Ol
March 11, A. M. Clapp deposited $12,641.05 and on the same day he made a check for $300. On
March 29 he made a check for $46.81.
Q. Is this deposit of Mr. Clapp's a time-deposit or subject to draft? A. Subject to sight-drafts.
All our deposits are.
Q. What is your rule in regard to allowing interest on deposits? A. We do it by the calendar 
PRINTING FRAUDS.
month.  Money paid in to-day commences interest on the 1st of May.  We allow interest on the
minimum balance for the current month.
Q. What rate of interest do you pay? A. Five per cent. per annum.
CAUGHT AGAIN.
H. C. Swain, cashier of Second National Bank, bears testimony to the falsity
of the statement that Clapp had no bank deposits:
Question. Are you cashier of the Second National Bank of Washington? Answer. I am.
Q. Is A. M. Clapp, the Congresssional Printer, a stockholder in your bank and does he do business with your bank? A. He is a stockholder and does business as an individual there.
Q. What amount does he hold? A. Fifteen shares, amounting to $1X500.
Q. Has Mr. Clapp, at any time since your connection with the bank, had a large amount of
money deposited? A. He has had a balance in bank since I have been tnere-a balance of about
$8,000.
Q. After examination of the books, what amount, at any one time, or at various times, did Mr.
Clapp have on deposit before you became cashier? A. Not exceeding $15,000 or $16,000 at any
one time.
Q. Has your bank been in the habit of allowing interest on deposits? A. In certain cases by
arrangements, when the money remains some length of time.
Q. Has your bank at any time allowed interest on deposits? A. It has.
Q. Did Mr. Clapp receive interest on the $16,000, which you say he had on deposit, at any time?
A. That came from the average of accounts.
Q. What amount of money has been paid to Mr. Clapp for interest on deposits since the organization of the bank?. A. Nine hundred and eighty dollars.
. What amount has he now on deposit? A. Not exceeding $1,800.
Q. What would be the average of Mr. Clapp's deposit since he has had an account at the bank?
A. About $8,200.
THE COMMITTEE'S ACCOUNTANT CORROBORATED.
John Larcombe again appears, and admits that there is in his hands, as financial clerk, 0- ought to be, $56,382.07, exclusive of $4,855.90 accumulated since 19th
November, 1875, thus corroborating the statement of C. E. Behle, an expert, who
examined the books, and testified in relation to them;
Question. State, from the cash-book before you, the amount of money on hand from all amounts
realized from the sale of shavings, documents, &c., to the 10tn of March, 1876? Answer. The
book before me does not show that fact. It is on a detached sheet. If I have made no error, the
amount is $56,382.07.
Q. Does this amount include all receipts to March 10, 1876? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Where are the receipts from the sale of documents, &c., from November 19, 1875, to March 10,
1876, accounted for, as shown by the cash-book to amount to $3,644.26, inclusive of balance of
$1,211.64 from September 30, 1875? A. I do not know where they are.
Q. Why was the amount of $3,644.26 omitted in the statement on the loose sheets? A. For the
simple reason that I had never seen or heard of it.
Q. Why were those moneys not deposited monthly, as the law directs? A. I never heard of
such a law.
Q. Why was this money not deposited monthly as it was received? A. Because, in the absence
of any law to the contrary, the exigencies of the office required it.
WHAT THE ACCOUNTANT FOUND.
Mr. C. E. Behle, a very skilled accountant, who spent days in trying to sift
and digest the accounts of the public printing office kept by Mr. Clapp, gave
testimony as follows:
Question. Do the amounts stated in the reports as realized (from sales of waste, &c.,) agree with
the book-entries? Answer. They do not.
Q. Should, or should not, the books sustain the reports? A. By all means, the books should
corroborate the statements of the reports.
Q. From your examination, state the amounts deposited from October 1, 1875, to March 10,1876?
A. There are two deposits on October 12 of $9,137.38; and on November 12, $10,889.93.
Q. What balance, then, would this show to be on hand on the 10th of March? A. The amount
realized from October 1, 1875, to February 18, 1876, as shown by loose sheets accompanying summary cash-book, was $12,580.50; with the balance on hand not deposited on September  30,
63,828.88, and the balance as shown by cash-book from H. H. Clapp, from October 4, 1875, to
arch 10, 1876, $3,850.66, or total receipts amounting to $80,260.04, would show, after the deduction
of the two deposits, a balance on hand March 10, 1876, amounting to $60,232.73.
DEPOSIT OF GOVERNMENT FUNDS IN BANK WITHOUT  AUTHORITY OF I.,AW.
H. H. Clapp, chief clerk, testifies:
Question. Do you deposit Government funds in the bank? Answer. Yes, sir; Government
checks, no currency.
Q. Do you draw the checks out of the bank, or the money? A. I draw currency.
Q. When you made a deposit were you credited with so much money? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you recollect how long you kept this money in the bank? A. I opened an account some
time last fall, I thmink, in the name of H. H. Clapp, agent.
Q. And placed to the credit of H. H. Clapp, agent, funds belonging to the Government? A.
Yes, sir.
881 
PRINTING FRAUDS.
h. Does this bank allow interest on deposits? A. Yes, sir; but I will say that Mr.  Larcombe
h formerly gotten our checks cashed at Riggs's, and he went there and he was told that it was too
much trouble; that they could not cash them for any price hlie would be willing to pay. I went to
Mr. Ruff and asked him if the use of this money would repay him if I left it in the bank from time
to time for the trouble of collecting it. He said it would, and I commenced depositing my checks,
with an understanding that no interest at all would be paid.
Q. If you should demand interest, under the rules of the bank, would it not be compelled to pay
you interest on the balance? A. I don't know that.
Q. Are you not aware that the rules of the bank are that you can demand and draw interest on
the balances you have there from time to time? A. I am not.
Q. Is Mr. Ruff, the cashier of that bank, related to you or connected with you? A. No, sir;
no further than that his son is married to my d(laughter.
Q. When  did you draw the money out of Mr. Ruff's bank? I refer to the money of the
Government. A. I don't know that I can state the date.
Q. Was it not the morning after an examination had been made by the clerk of this committee of
the cash in Mir. Larcombe's safe in the Congressional Printing Office? A. Yes, sir.
Q. What disposition did you make of the money after drawing it? A. I turned the portion belonging to me into my safe, and turned over the portion belonging to Mr. Collins to him.
Q. Do I understand you to say that you had, in addition to the money which you had received, a
portion of the money received by Mr. Collins from the sales of the Record? A. Yes.
Q. By what authority did you have possession of the funds? A. It was nothing but checks. He
could not get rid of them, and I said he had better let me deposit them in that way, and we could
keep our cash-account without checks. If he had a check and I had a check, I made a deposit
on a slip for him, and I deposited on a slip for myself, and when I came back I marked his
with an " R " in red ink, so that it would not get mixed.
Q. It appears that Mr. Ruff first testified before this committee on the 27th of April, 1876, and
than on that morning you drew from his bank the sum of $2,912.35. A. I presume that is correct.
I do not recollect the amount.
THE LAW THAT WAS VIOLATED.
Thus it is made clear that Mr. Clapp, the Congressional Printer, violated
section 3617 of the Revised Statutes, which is as follows
The gross amount of all moneys received from whatever source for the use of the
United States, except as otherwise provided in the next section, shall be paid by the
officer or agent receiving the same into the Treasury at as early a day as practicable,
without any abatement or deduction on account of salary, fees, costs, charges, expenses, or claims of any description whatever.
Under and by virtue of this section, without limiting the time within which the
money is to be paid over, it shall be done as soon as practicable. Under the provisions
of a subsequent section (3622,) however, the time is definitely prescribed within which
these deposits shall be made. Said section reads as follows:
Every officer or agent in the United States who receives public money which he is not
authorized to retain as salary pay, or emolument, shall render his accounts monthly.
*        *        *        *         *        *         *         *         *        *
It may be contended that the Congressional Printer is neither an agent nor officer of
the United States, but this view of the question is not sustained by a fair interpretation
of other sections of the Statute, which treat him as a disbursing officer of the Government. Section 3817 reads as follows;
The Congressional Printer shall settle the accounts of his receipts and disbursements
in the manner required of other disbursing officers.
In addition, the official bond executed by him is made payable to the United States,
and he is charged with the disbursement of funds of the Government not appertaining
to the Senate alone, but as well to the House and to the different Departments for
which printing is done in his office; though he may be proforma an officer of the Senate, and doubtless is, yet these sections of the Statutes declare him to be a disbursing
officer of the Government, and require him to settle his accounts as other disbursing o0
cers do. Upon failure to do so section 5491 declares the act
TO BE EMBEZZLEMENT,
and prescribes the punishment. It reads as follows:
Every officer or agent of the United States, who having received public money which
he is not authorized to retain as salary, pay or emolument, fails to render his account
for the same, as provided by law, shall be deemed guilty of embezzlement, and shall be
imprisoned not less than six months nor more than ten years.
It is in evidence that the Congressional Printer has retained large sums of money in his
hands not for one month only but for years, while he lived in the very shadow of the
Treasury, and could have paid it over at any time. But this is not the only case in
which he has laid himself liable to a charge of embezzlement.
Section 5488 (Revised Statutes) reads as follows:
&32
I 
PRINTING FRAUDS.
Every disbursing officer of the United States who deposits any public money intrusted
to him or converts to his own use in any way whatever, or loans with or without interest,
or for any purpose not provided by law, withdraws from the Treasurer or any Assistant
Treasurer or any authorized depositary, or for any purpose not prescribed by law, transfers or applies any portion of the public money intrusted to him, is in every such
act deemed guilty of embezzlement of the money so deposited, converted, loaned,
withdrawn, transferred, or applied, and shall be punished by imprisonment with hard
labor for a term not less than one year nor more than ten years, or by fine of not more
than the amount embezzled or less than $1,000; or by both such fine and imprisonment.
It was proved by the cashier of the bank in which Mr. Clapp kept his private deposits, and is corroborated by the evidence of H. H. Clapp and U. I. Collins that
Government funds were deposited by the Congressional printer through his chief
clerk in direct and open violation of the provisions of the law just cited. But, by
the further provision of this section, it will b)e seen that if hlie apply the funds in
his hands to any purpose not prescribed by law, then he is guilty of the crime of
embezzlement and liable to like punishment. By the admissions of A. M. Clapp
himself, as appears in his evidence before the committee, lie has applied the
money received by him, not by authority of law, but contrary to its express provisions, to purposes other than those contemplated by the statute.
It is clear, by these several acts of placing money in a bank not a Government
depository and by applying other sums to purposes not authorized by law, that he
has been guilty of the crime of embezzlement.
Again, take the case of the use of a false voucher in his settlement with the
Treasury Department. Section 5438 of the Revised Statutes is as follows
Every person who makes or causes to be made, or presents or causes to be presented,
for payment or approval to or by any person or officer in the civil, military, or naval
service of the United States, any claim upon or against the Governmet of the United
States, or any Department or officer thereof, knowing such claims to be false, fictitious,
or fraudulent, or who, for the purpose of obtaining or aiding to obtain the payment or
approval of such claim makes, uses, or causes to be made or used, any false big., receipt,
voucher, roll, account, ciairn, certificate, affidavit, or deposition, knowing thbe same to contain any fraudelent orfictitiocs statement 0o' entry,  *  *  *  shall be imprisioned at hard
labor for not less than one nor more than five years, or fined not less than one thousand
nor more than five thousand dollars.
It will be seen from the evidence that a false bill was made out, a receipt thereon obtained from A. S. Solomons, and a check for the amount given to said Solomons, which was paid and subsequently used as a voucher in his settlement with
the United States Treasury.
Although this act does not constitute embezzlement, yet it is a crime under the
Statutes for which he may be indicted and punished.
ONE MORE INSTANCE OF OVERCHARGES
The various departments of the Government use millions of blank vouchers
during the year. There has been no change in the form of these blanks for the
last ten years. The forms on which they are printed are stereotyped, yet no
matter how frequently they are ordered full composition (setting type) is charged
on each order, though not a single letter had been changed. The work for the
departments amount to about nine hundred thousand dollars a year. Many of
these blanks are small, and frequently thirty-two of them can be printed at one
impression, yet the Congressional printer charges an impression for each blank.
This system of overcharges on press work is admirably illustrated by the chairman of the Printing Committee of the House, Mr. Vance, who, when the legislation proposed by his committee was under discussion in the I-House, spoke as follows:
THE OVERCHARGES IL'LUSTRATED.
I next come to the question of overcharges. The overcharges referred to in the contract system
have prevailed here; the same system of "doubling up," of charging for work that has not been
done.
This paper that I hold in my hand is what is termed a form of sixteen pages. These sixteen
pages are made up in type, locked up in what is termed a chase, and put upon a press. The paper
is put in and run through the press and comes out with sixteen pages printed on it.
Now, the complaint that was made'eretofore in discussing the wrongs practiced under the ontract system was, that the contractor would print these sixteen page-would tear them apart and
333 
PRINTING FRAUDS.
charge sixteen times for the work.  But what we do find in reference to the work of the Congressional Printing Office? We find this identical system carried out there, and it has been carried out
there through all the books that I have examined.
But now I am speaking upon the present charges. Look at this. Here is a form of sixteen pages.
If these forms were made up of single-sheet reports there would be sixteen printed at once.  Here
are sixteen cut apart. Now the Congressional Printer prints off these forms of sixteen pages each.
He tears them into sixteen pieces. He makes sixteen separate and distinct jobs of nineteen hundred copies each. And what does he charge? Not one press-work, but sixteen press-works. What
is the result? He makes an overcharge of about $85 for press-work alone upon each and every
form of that sort that he puts through his press.  An examination of the books of the Congressional Printer shows that full press-work is charged upon each and every job of work, whether
put through the press singly or combined with other jobs.
Then there are overcharges made in composition. We find by further examination of the Congressional Printing Office that a great many jobs are stereotyped there-hundreds of them-and
that all that is necessary to do when  an order comes from a Department is to print it. We find
that in almost every such case full composition is charged to take one of these out, lock it up in a
chase and put it on a press, and charged every time the job is ordered. The books show that these
chairg,es have been made; that it is a rule to so charge.
During the session of Congress, these one and two page documents Mr. Vance
speaks of, will vary from sixteen to one hundred  and fifty a day, yet there is no
single instance whereon his books Mir Clapp has not overcharged for them.
THE OBJECT OF UNDERCHARGES.
It was found by the investigation that two classes of work were systematically
undercharged by Mr. Clapp; one of these was the Congressional Record and another was the work of the Supreme Court.  The Congressional Record, it will be
remembered, was taken from the private establishment of the Rives Brothers,
and the Supreme Court work was also taken from other private parties in the city
of Washington. For forty years the Congressional Globe had been printed by the
Riveses, and always to the satisfaction of Congress.
An examination of the books of the Congressional Printer showed that the cost
of the Congressional Record had been underestimated-in other words, was reported to have cost forty thousand dollars less per Congress, than the white
paper, type setting, press work and other labor, incident to the performance of
the work actually cost. The object of this undercharge was to make Congress believe that all the work done at the Government establishment was done in the
same reasonable manner.  He was enabled to do this by using the surplus of
money accumulated from overcharges on other work to defray the cost of printing
the record which was not reported.
TrilE PRESIDENT VINDICATES CLAPP AND THE SENATE.  CONCURS.
Yet notwithstanding all the facts which proved beyond a doubt that a system of
corruption existed in the management of the Government Printing Office, and that
frauds and overcharges against the Government were regularly practised, the
President renominated Mr. Clapp who had just been legislated out of office by the
House insisting that the public printer should no longer be nominally an
officer of the Senate. The new office was created and the incumbent is hereafter
to be known as the Public Printer. To this Mr. Clapp was appointed by the
President; the nomination was referred to the Senate Committee on Printing, and
Senators Anthony and Sherman reported it back with a recommendation that Mr.
Clapp be confirmed. The Democratic Senators protested in Executive Session
against it, yet Mr. Clapp was by a unanimous vote of the Republican Senators
confirmed.
,).34. 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
THE KITCHEN CABINET'S PERQUISITE.
The insincerity of the professions made by the Republican party leaders about
reforming the civil service is demonstrated by their course in defending the frauds
practiced in the New York Custom House. The history of these Custom House
frauds is peculiarly interesting at this time, because, although the President of the
United States was primarily responsible for the adoption of the system which
made them possible, nevertheless the Republican majority in Congress after they
had been exposed defended the action of the President, and protected the men
who were responsible for the exactions practiced upon the merchants of New
York.
In 1870 and 1871 the Joint Committee of Congress on investigation and retrenchment investigated the New York Custom House. This Committee submitted
a report to the Senate in the Sprng of 1871 [See record 380, Forty-first Coigress,
thrd.es88ion), in which it was shown that after the appointment of Mr. Grinnell
Collector of the Port of New York the warehouse system which had been in
vogue since 1857 was changed in order to give certain parties a monopoly of this
very lucrative business. Prior to this change the various steamship companies
had their own warehouses on or near to their piers in Jersey City and Hoboken.
In 1861 Secretary Chase issued an order which required all merchandise imported.
to be sent to "general order" warehouses, if the merchants did not obtain their
permits for landing the same within forty-eight hours after the arrival of the
vessel at her dock. The warehouses of the steamship companies were bonded
and designated for the reception of unclaimed goods discharged under "general
order." In addition to the warehouses of the steamship companies on the Jersey
side, there were a number of general order warehouses on the New York side.
This system gave universal satisfaction to the merchants of New York. The
steamship companies stored the goods and made very moderate charges therefor.
The fact that there were a number of warehouses on the New York side prevented
exorbitant charges for storage by the steamship companies, because there was
always an active competition for this business.
In February, 1870, Mr. Grinnell, as Collector of the Port of New York, withdrew the general order privilege from the warehouses on the Jersey side, and designated certain stores on the North River front of the City of New York as general order stores. This action destroyed competition, and gave the parties favored
with the exclusive right to store goods on the New York side a monopoly (of the
entire general order business. When the Joint Committee of Retrenchment was
investigating the New York Custom House in February, 1871, a number of the
leading merchants of New York City testified in regard to the effect of Collector
Grinnell's order upon the importing business of that city.
Among others, Wm. E. Dodge, of Phelps, Dodge & Co., one of the great commercial houses of the world, testified [page 45] that he has been connected with
the importing business in New York City for over forty years, and that he was
familiar with the working 6f the old general order system and the new. In 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
speaking of the new system, he said: "If the vessel arrives at the dock late in the
day, it is impossible for a merchant to secure a permit for his goods until eleven
o'clock the next day. The goods, as soon as landed, are immediately carted;(to
favorite stores, I was going to say, but won't) to stores under the general order
system on the New York side, and subjected to expense, as a general thing, double
what they would be if there was a warehouse on the other side, where the goods
might lie for twenty-four or forty-eight hours in the charge of the Revenue Department before they were sent away, thus giving merchants time to get their
permits. No matter whether they are'permitted' or not, they are sent over
here.  This process makes the port of New York, in my opinion, thelmost expensive port for the transaction of business in the world.  *  *  * 
"Q. I want to know if, under the present system, it is more expensive to the
importers than under the old. A. I should think it was fifty per cent. more,
besides the everlasting trouble.   You go there and find a part of your goods
there, a part yonder, and you have to go off, and there you are running about.
"Q. Is what you say true of all importers; are all importers subjected to greater
expense under this system than under the old, or does it apply simply to the large
importers receiving goods at the Jersey side and Hoboken ferries? A. Under the
old system, if a man had six cases and was prompt to get out his permit he would
have no expense except cartage and ferriage, not to exceed thirty cents a case.
Now it would cost him at least one dollar and fifty cents for each one of the cases."
Thomas C. Paton, an importer who had been doing business in New York for
sixteen years, testified [page 115] that where he paid under the old general order
system seventy cents for cartage and storage, he paid under the new system OR
similar packages one dollar and seventy-five cents for storage alone, without the
cartage from Jersey Citv.
Francis W. Bixby, who had been in the general order warehouse  business
himself during eleven years, which included the high price period of 1863, and
1864, and 1865, testified (page 21) that the charges for storage under the new system were more extortionate than he had ever known them.
Emil Magnus, a Custom House broker, who had done business for fifteen years,
testified (page 117) that where seventy cents under the old system was charged
for the storage of a case of goods two dollars was charged under the new general order system for the same kind of a case. 
A. T. STEWART CONSIDERS THE OLD SYSTEM PREFERABLE.
Mr. ALEXANDER T. STEWART testified about the general order business as follows:
"When the Cunard stores and the Hoboken stores had the general order business, if a steamer arrived at times when entry could not be made at the Custom
House, the agents gave the importers forty-eight hours in which to make their entries. There was no charge for that time. At present when vessels arrive at these
stores or docks, I have to discharge immediately on arrival; no time is given to
make entries. The goods are taken immediately and carted to a general order
store in the city of New  York.   A  charge is made for this cartage and in
that store for storage for a month, although the goods may not remain there one
day. This amounts to one dollar and fifty cents a package, which is so much taken from the pockets of the importers unnecessarily.   Again, when goods so situated are in part to be entered for consumption, and in part for bonding, the price
paid for the bonded goods (that is one dollar and seventy-five cents per case, which
is the charge of the parties now having the general order business) is sotmuch
money lost to the importer.
"Q. Have they in any instance charged more than one dollar and seventy-five
cents per case or bale? A. Yes, sir, two dollars.
"Q. Is there greater security in the warehouses now used than in the warehouses
on the Jersey side and Hoboken docks? A. No. On the contrary, the Cunard
and Hoboken stores were considered more secure beyond all comparison. They
were more safe, and we had greater facilities in getting our goods. 7During the
past ten years, in warehouses in the city of New York, I have lost by theft about
forty thousand dollars without recognized liability on the part of any one, wheream
at the Cunard and Hoboken warehouses, I have never lost one dollar. There is another trouble with the present general order stores; they being so crammed with
goods it is difficult to find as speedily as desired the cases ordered for examination
in the public'stores.
336 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
"Q. What effect does the present system of general order business have upon
the action of the merchant, if any? A. Formerly when the bonded warehouses
doing general order business were in charge of the authorized agents of responsible steamship companies, and were situated in localities known to be safe, the
merchant was in no haste to get his goods from the custody of the Government,
and the result was that a few years ago to accommodate the importers eight or ten
stores were required to do the general order business. Now that business is limited to two stores, and the reduction arises, in my opinion, from the fact that the
importer is not willing to trust his goods to the custody of the Government officers
one moment more than he can help, because these warehouses are such as to excite the suspicion of danger, besides it being very difficult to procure insurance on
the goods stored in them. The merchant prefers to withdraw his goods at the
earliest moment, so that these two stores do the whole work, where formerly eight
or ten were required.
"Q. Does the Government, in your judgment, derive any advantages under the
present system which it did not under the old? A. None whatever. The present system can only be used to annoy and vex and deplete the pockets of the importer."
These exactions upon the merchants of New York by the men who monopolized the general order business were so oppressive that one hundred of the leading firms of New York City petitioned the Collector of the Port of New York,
October 20, 1870, for the abolition of the new system and the re-establishment of
the old.' Failing to obtain the relief they desired, the merchants then adressed
their complaints to the Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Boutwell, who promised
that the evil should be abolished, and wrote a letter to the Collector directing a
modification of the system whereby the warehouses of the steamship companies
would be re-established. This did not produce any effect, and the same oppressive system continued.
In the report of the Joint Committee on Retrenchment, made to the Senate in
the Spring of 1871, the following comments were made upon the general order
business.
In comparing the old with the new system, the report says: "To facilitate their
business the steamship lines landing at Hoboken and Jersey City built warehouses
upon their wharves, which were placed under the supervision and control of the
United States Custom House officers. Immediately on the arrival of a steamship
its cargo was discharged into these warehouses, without going from under cover,
and stored for forty-eight hours without expense to the consignees. By this arrangement the interests of the Government were as fully protected as if the goods
had remained on board the vessel, and the steamship companies saved two day's
time without any inconvenience to the merchants. This practice existed for many
years, to the satisfaction of all parties, so far as the committee have been able to
learn, but on the first day of February, 1870, the Collector of the Port ordered that
all goods discharged under general order should be sent to general order stores in
New York, under the control of private parties, where they are charged a month's
storage, although removed by the owners instantly on their arrival.  This entails
a heavy expense for the cartage and storage, according to the testimony about
$1.75 on every package, large or small, and the goods are subjected to the danger
of theft and damage during transit from the vessel to the storehouse.   These
charges are paid by the steamship companies, if the goods are removed from the
general order store within forty-eight hours, but at the expense of the importers
through increased rates of freight. All the general order business being done at
two storehouses, they are very much crowded, which necessarily produces confusion and delay, to the great inconvenience of the merchants.   The Committee
have been able to discover no advantage resulting from the change to any one except parties controlling the general order business.
"The reasons given by the Collector for taking the general order business away
from the Jersey City and Hoboken stores, were that they were unsafe, and that
losses resulted therefrom, both to the merchant and to the Government; that they
were also used for bonded goods, and that the steamship companies, or their
agents, were themselves importers, having their own goods in these stores. All
these charges have been investigated by agents of the Treasury Department and
by the Government, {and both the Committee and the Treasury agents were
satisfied that they could not be supported by evidence. They could learn of but
two instances of losses from these storehouses, both occurring some two years ago,
337 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
and no evidence was presented showing that there had been any smuggling from
them. One merchant testified that during the past ten years he had lost by theft
from warehouses in the city of New York about forty thousand dollars, without
any recognized liability onethe part of any one. Whereas, at the Cunard and Hoboken
warehouses, he has never lost one dollar."  Other merchants testified to a similar
experience. They also complained of damage to their goods by being handled by
inexperienced cartmen, and of the heavy rates of insurance they are compelled to
pay on account of the exposed condition of the present general order stores."
THE REPUBLICAN MANAGERS REFUSE TO PUT AN END TO THE SWINDLE.
Notwithstandingthese exposures-in the face of these facts-the oppressive
monopoly of the new general order system was continued for a period of some
eighteen months.  The merchants of New Yorn had applied to the Collector of
the Port, to the Secretary of the Treasury, and had appeared before the Committee on Retrenchment and presented in every instance the most conclusive proof
that they were being robbed for the benefit of private parties who had obtained
through political influence this monstrous monopoly.
At the commencement of the forty-second Congress in December, 1871, the
merchants of New York demanded a thorough investigation of this fraud. Senator Turnbull of Illinois, wanted the Committee of Investigation and Retrenchment in the Senate to inquire into this as well as other matters about which complaints have been made. He wanted this Committee to have general power to
send for persons and papers and inquire into abuses of every kind. On the other
hand, Senators Anthony, Sherman, Conkling, Cameron, Chandler and Howe,
wanted this Committee to be restricted to such duties as the Senate might specifically order. They did not want another investigaton of the New York Custom
House, because they knew that if it was thoroughly overhauled, some very gross
abuses would be uncovered and some very damaging facts made public. They
insisted that such extraordinary powers as Mr. Trumbull demanded for the Committee on Retrenchment could not be granted to any one Committee of the Senate.
Senator Sherman of Ohio in speaking against Mr. Trumbull's proposition said:
"Why should a standing committee of this body now be organized, armed with
power to go all over the United States without limit, without any restriction upon
their authority to examine into persons and papers, to go and examine the private
desks of individuals, to go and explore the secret recesses of every man's household? Sir I am amazed that such powers should be sought to be conferred in
violation of the ordinary usages of the Senate,unless in a special case, for special
reasons."
MR. CHANDLER said:
"Mr. President, if God had endowed all men with universal knowledge, perhaps this universal committee might be of advantage, but he has not so created
man. We learn by study, by experience and by investigation. Now, sir, we
have in this body a committee upon every conceivable important subject. There
is my honorable friend from Ohio, Chairman of the Committee on Finance. It
is his business and the business of his committee to investigate everything connected with the finances of the country.  I am disposed to send this matter to the
Committee on Finance, and if there is any defalcation or trouble in the War
Department, I propose to send it to my honorable friend from Massachusetts and
his committee, in which I have the most undoubted confidence, and if there is any
defalcation or fraud connected with the commercial relations of this country, I
expect to devote my best time and pains to the investigation and exposure of such
frauds and peculations.
"If anything occurs in the judiciary, I expect my honorable friend from Illinois
to give his best efforts to probe, correct, and expose. But, sir, what does the honorable Senator from Illinois propose? He proposes a retrenchment committeein other words a committee with universal knowledge.  They are to know all
about the judiciary system; all about the financial system, all about the commercial system, all about our foreign relations; they are to be men of universal genius
and universal knowledge. Well, sir, God has not made such men; they do not
exist; at least, if they do, they have never come under my observation. They
are not usually sent to the Senate of the United States. I am in favor of referring
all matters connected with any department, or with this Government, to the committee appointed to investigate and thoroughly investigate everything connected
with that particular department; and if other committees are kept as busy as the
m 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
Committee on Commerce they will have as much as they can do, and this committee of universal geniuses will not be appointed."
Mr. Chandler was then chairman of the Committee on Commerce.
In reply to his boast about the way in which his committee was employed, Mr.
TRUMBULL said:
"Where was the Senator from Michigan, when goods were being smuggled into
California by the Isthmus route, and when this Committee on Retrenchment discovered the frauds and saved to this Government hundreds of thousands of dollars?
We had a Committee on Commerce then, but the Committee on Commerce did
not consider itself charged with that particular matter. * * * "On page thirteen of this document [Report of the Committee on Retrenchment made in February
previous] it will be found that when complaints were made,-I hope the Senator
from Michigan will hear this-by the merchants in New York, to the Secretary of
the Treasury, of the way they were being plundered, "the Secretary wrote to
Mr. Murphy rather sharply I should think from the way Mr. Murphy seemed to
take it, the consequence of which was that Mr. Murphy told us that he had been
crowded too much and he should do nothing in the matter.  He said there were
certain people who had to be taken care of, and it was well known that they had to
be taken care of, and nobody in the party would say anything about his taking
care of them, and he would do it,"-'" that is to say after information was sent
to the Secretary of the Treasury showing how importers in New York were
plundered by the officials there, the Secretary wrote sharply to Mr. Murphy, and
he replied that certain men had to be taken care of, and the party would not complain, and he would take care of them."
Mr. EDMONDS. In reply to the Secretary do you mean?
Mr. TRUMBULL.  He replied to this party complaining.  The  witness who
states this is Mr. Francklyn.
Senator SCHIURZ, in speaking of the impositions on the New York Merchants
which had been made plain by the investigation of 1870 and 1871, said:
"Now, sir, reading over this whole testimony from Mr. Stewart to Mr. Dodge,
and from Mr. Chittenden to Mr. Moore and Mlr. Gale, from witness to witness,
you will find this system designated as a system of demoralization, and wanton
robbery, imposed on the merchants of New York; a system so outrageous that its
very beneficiaries excuse it only with the flimsiest pretexts. It reminded me,
when I read this testimony, of what I had read of the stories of the robber knights
of the Rhine, who lived in the castles whose ruins you see on the hill-tops along
that romantic river. Robber knights who stretched a chain across that river, and
made the shipper who went up or down pay toll to him, for the mere privilege of
passing his haunt. And so you will find that now, gentlemen in the possession
of the so-called general order business on the North River, enjoy the privilege of exacting tolls from the merchants of New York, not for the benefit of the
service, not for the security of the customs, not for the accommodation of trade,
but simply to fill his pockets.
"Now sir, look at the state of the case. Here is a monstrous abuse which originated under this Administration.   This abuse is remonstrated and protested
against by the merchants of New York, who have been examined on the subject.
There are among them the most prominent business men of that city. There are
among them some of the most honorable men of the country. Not only a commission was sent there by the Secretary of the Treasury, and that commission
protested against it in the same manner, but the Secretary of the Treasury expressed his opinion against it, and yet that monstrous system of robbery survives
even to the present day.
"I ask, sir, what power is there in this Government that maintains so shameless
a practice? It is not the Secretary of the Treasury, for if we are permitted to
believe that he is an honest man, and I do not know a Senator on this floor who
does not believe so; after having sent that commission there, after having received its report, after having expressed his opinion against that abuse, he certainly would not hesitate a moment to abolish it. What power, then, is it that
maintains this monstrous wrong, in spite of all that has been said and done
against it, even to this day? It was intimated by some of the witnesses that Mr.
Leet, who pockets the enormous profits arising from that business, had some connection with the White House; but General Porter was examined, Mr. Leet himself was examined, and they both testified that it was not so; and, counting the
number of witnesses, we have no right to form a different conclusion. But the
339 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
fact remains that this scandalous system of robbery is sustained-is sustained
against the voice of the merchants of New York; is sustained against the judgment and voice of the Secretary of the Treasury himself. I ask you, how is it
sustained? Where and what is the mysterious power that sustains it? The
conclusion is inevitable, that it is a power stronger than decent respect for public opinion; nay, stronger than the Secretary of the Treasury himself."
After a prolonged debate the proposition of Mr. Trumbull to give to the
Committee on Retrenchments general authority to investigate was voted down,
but the Senate subsequently directed that this committee should investigate the
New York Custom House.  The resolution directing this recited the charges
made by Senator Schurz in regard to the general order business, and instructed the
committee to inquire "into the matter fully, and at large, and particularly whether
any collusion or improper connection with said business exists on the part of any
officer of the United States, and that said committee inquire whether any person
holding office in the Custom House at New York has been detected in or known
or believed by his superior officer to be guilty of bribery or of taking bribes, or of
other crimes or misdemeanor."
This investigation developed the following undisputed facts
FIRST.-That the system of warehousing goods on the wharves of the Steamship Company, which had been in vogue for many years, gave entire satisfaction
to the merchants of New York, and afforded the Government ample protection
against smuggling and other frauds on the customs.
SECOND.-That the new general order system adopted by Collector Grinnell,
in February, 1870, did not give general satisfaction to the merchants of New
York; that it did not afford ample protection to the Government  against
losses by smuggling and other devices to avoid the payment of duties; that it
was a practical monopoly, granted to a trio of favored persons, who could and
did impose whatever charges they thought proper upon merchants for carting and
storing theirgoods; that unless the merchants were on hand the very day the steamer
arrived, with their permits to take possession of their goods, they were carted to
the warehouses on the north side of the river, and no matter if the merchants
took them out the next morning they had to pay cartage from the steamship docks
on the Jersey side to the north side of the river, and also a month's storage.
THIRD.-It was also established that this monopoly was given to the firm of
Leet & Stocking, and that the influences which secured it for them were the recommendations of the President of the United States and his then Secretary of
State, E. B. Washburne. Leet was a young fellow, and had served with the
President during his Western campaigns, and was brought toWashington and placed
on special duty in the War Department, under General Rawlings. He was an intimate friend of General Babcock and General Porter, the President's private secretaries. A few days after the inauguration of President Grant he gave Leet
the following letter to Collector Grinnell:
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 19, 1869. 
DEAR SmIR: This will introduce to you Col. G. K. Leet, who served under me
from early in the war to the present day, from the fall of Yicksburg forward, as a
staff officer.  He is a business man of unquestioned integrity.   His experience
before the war fits him for business of almost any kind. He now proposes to
resign from the army to engage in private life, and I cheerfully commend him
as possessing all the qualities necessary to inspire confidence.
M. H. GRINNELL.                     Yours truly,
U.S. GRANT.
The other member of this firm, Mr. W. S. Stocking, had formerly been a tinner,
and conducted a small shop in Washington. Neither of these men had any acquaintance with New York merchants or were known to the Republican politicians of that State. Their connection with Porter and Babcock and the letter of
introduction from the President, which Leet bore to Collector Grinnell, secured
them the monopoly of the general order business.
FOURTH. -It was conclusively demonstrated that "the withdrawal by Collector Grinnell of the general order privilege from the steamship warehouses on
the Jersey side was productive of great disadvantage, inconvenience and loss,
not only to the owners of those steamship lines and stores, but to the mercantile
community wlio were their customers.   Commerce with Europe is now necessarily conducted almost entirely by steamships, and quick dspatch is essential
340 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
for the profitable management of such vessels. Delays in discharging or receiving cargo are so much more expensive than in the case of sailing vessels that the
time allowed the latter cannot be given in the case of the former.   Thus it was
that the steamship companies, while having general order warehouses adjacent
to their docks were able to obtain a general order of discharge simultaneous with
the arrival of their vessels at the dock.   The merchandise was discharged en
masse and sent at once into the general-order warehouse of the company.  When
the importer presented his permit within the forty-eight hours allowed by law or
Treasury regulations, he received his goods without any general-order charges, as
the steamship company could better afford to store the goods free for that period
than lose the time by keeping them on the ship. Even where goods remained
unclaimed for a time longer than forty-eight hours, the charges were comparatively moderate and made upon a scale satisfactory to the importer."
FIFTH.-Under the Leet and Stocking monopoly of the general order business,
if the merchant was not at the dock within a few hours after the ship arrived,
the freight consigned to him was taken possession of by the monopoly-and carted
to their general order warehouses on the New York side. Frequently charges
imposed by Leet & Stocking for cartage and storage amounted to more than
the charge of the steamship company for carrying the freight from Liverpool to
New York. The following bills were furnished to the Committee by Mr. Horace
B. Clark.
STORAGE AND CARTAGE BILL.
N     NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 1872.
To GEO. K. LEET & Co., United
States Bonded Warehouse, 371
Washington,  386  and  388
Greenwich stre    ets.
Storage, labor, and cartage twen  ty barrels.~                  $16.75
FREIGHT BILLS.
NEW YORK, Jan. 16,
Messrs. CLARK &  SCHUERZ, to
Steamship Atlantic, (7) voyage
for Freight and Primage from
Liverpool as per laden,
Excha ng    e          at 119.5 per cent.
20 barrels of Mineral Water.
E. Atlantic.
Thus the Cunard Steamship Company carried twenty barrels across the Atlantic
for $14.78, while Leet & Co., for their charges in "General Order" on the same
twenty barrels, exacted $16.75.
SIXTH.-The profits realized by Leet & Stocking from this general order business were estimated by various witnesses having knowledge of the business to
be from $60,000 to $200,000 per year. Mr. John P. Lindsay, a gentleman of
character, described the monopoly as being "the best prize in politics, the best in
the City of New York." Mr. S. A. Clark, then deputy collector, testified that it
was the most profitable appointment, or perquisite, in the gift of the Government.
He knew nothing equal to it except certain Indian Agencies of which he had
heard, but of which he had no knowledge. The minority of the Committee was
unable to obtain an accurate statement from the books of Leet and Stocking,
showing their receipts and expenses. It was a remarkable fact that during a period of twenty months this firm had never balanced their books, and the minority
were not allowed by the majority of the Committee to examine the book-keepers
in order to ascertain what the profits had been. Mr. Thomas L. James, deputy
Collector of the Customs, a witness friendly to Leet & Stocking, testified that the
profits of the general order business in 1871 would be from $50,000 to $60,000.
Mr. Francklyn, agent of the Cunard Line of steamers, testified that the profits
would be $100,000 a year, at any rate; perhaps a great deal more.  Peter M.
Moore, the managing clerk of the import business of Phelps, Dodge & Co., for
twenty-six years, testified that the profits of Leet & Stocking could not be less
than $290,000 a year in gold.
SEVENTH.-The connection of Leet with the White House, and the influences
exerted, is set out as follows in the report of the minority of the committee:
"Leet resigned from the army August 1st, 1870, availing himself of his right,
under the law, to one year's full pay from that date as Lieutenant-Colonel, about
$2,850. He returned to New York and endeavored to obtain from Mr. Grinnell
the whole of the general order business, and, according to the evidence of White
and Lindsay, threatened Mr. Grinnell with removal if his demands were not
complied with. Mr. Grinnell did not comply with his demands, and certainly
was removed, and Mr. Thomas Murphy appointed in his stead July,'1870. Early
I
I
341
R2 15 7
$14,78 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
in September following, Mr. Leet, who had by that time in some way-which he
does not account for definitely-become associated with Mr. W. F. Stocking,
commenced with him to carry on the warehouse business. About the same time
Mr. Murphy very promptly complied with Mr. Leet's requirements, and secured
to him and his partner the monopoly of the general order business of the North
River side, and continued during his official term, which ended in November or
December, 1871, to uphold the firm in the gross abuses and scandalous extortions
disclosed by the testimony; and was himself upheld in Washington in upholding
them in defiance of public opinion, the petition to the mercantile community,
and against the judgment and wishes of his official superior, the Secretary of
the Treasury.-[Murphy's testinmony, vol. 3, pp. 382-6.]
In the light of the foregoing facts, can it be in the least doubted that Leet,
having originally discussed the general order business with the President, and
his intent and desire to obtain it, received from him the letter to Mr. Grinnell;
and that, by means of that letter, and it alone, and his relations with the President, and with his consent and approval, the business was obtained by him? It
is true that Leet states that although he left "the mess" at Washington, to go to
New York to obtain this business, and although.-the President and his messmates
knew the object of his visit, yet that he never informed them whether he had
succeeded or failed, but kept them-his particular friends and well wishers-in
complete ignorance, although to comparative strangers like White, Lindsay,
Bixby, Mudgett and others, the position of his affairs seems to have been well
known.
We might accept this extraordinary story for what it is worth, but for the
awkward facts that Mr. Leet was frequently contradicted on material points in his
testimony by other witnesses, and even by himself, and by his own letters when
produced for his inspection. These contradictions are too numerous for us to
do more than to refer to them in the testimony, especially his own. Though we
assume the fact to be that neither the President nor his two special secretaries,
the intimate friends and messmates of Col. Leet, had any knowledge whatever of
his connection with the general order, whether derived from Leet or Murphy, or
from any source, yet this ignorance could not by any possibility have been prolonged later than the 3d of March, 1871, when the testimony taken by the Patterson Committee, and contained in Senate Report 380, Forty-first Cong., third
session, was published to the world, and became the subject of Congressional debate The testimony so taken and published disclosed the relations of Leet &
Stocking to the general order business to the same effect, but not quite so fully,
as does the testimony now under consideration; and yet the insurmountable fact
stands that, with full knowledge of the effect of his letter of introduction of
Leet to Grinnell, and of his connection with the general order, and the abuse of
his position; despite the fact that Mr. A. T. Stewart twice took the pains [vol. 1,
pages 115, 116] to give the President full information of the condition of
affairs, yet not one step was taken, no real word uttered by the President'
to remove a person who, it is alleged, had deceived and disobeyed him, and
who,   under  the  cover  of  his  sole  personal  recommendation,   had
wrought  such  injury  to  the  merchants  in  New   York,  and  brought
candal and disgrace upon  the public service.  Who  will deny that Leet &
Stocking could have had the general order privilege withdrawn from them at the
word of the President? The influence that upheld them, therefore, is no longer a
"mystery."   Nor is it to be wondered that although the present collector,
Arthur, has at last, in accordance with instructions of the Secretary of the
Treasury, broken up the monopoly and otherwise measurably reformed the general order system in New York, yet that Leet & Stocking are to this hour in
the enjoyment of a very large and lucrative portion of the general order business."
THE "MYSTERY" CLEARED UP.
"Indeed, the more we consider the facts the less'mystery' is there as to the
'power' that alone upheld them and their exactions throughout.   Twice, one
hundred of the largest importing and banking houses of New York remonstrated
against the new general order system, first to Collector Grinnell and next to Collector Murphy.   As early as May, 1870, Messrs. Robinson and Evans, the Commissioners appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, reported in favor of the
restoration of the old general order system."-[Hous86 Ex. Doc. 313, 1rty-qrst
Congress, Second Session, pp. 23, 24.]
342
4 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
Twice Mr. A. T. Stewart, of New York, personally called the President's attention to the subject, and the strong necessity of reform-once in October,
1870, and again in the summer of 1871.   In this great merchant the President
had such confidence that, in forming his Cabinet, in March, 1869, he selected
him as the Secretary of the Treasury.   Mr. Stewart also spoke to Collector
Murphy on the same subject, and urged on him the fine opportunity presented to
him. —[ Vol. 1, p. 116. ]
"Early in 1871 the Joint Select Committee of both Houses of Congress investigated the general order of New York, and, by a mass of testimony from the
most eminent merchants and business men, exposed to Congress and the country
the enormity of the system in the hands of Leet and his associates, and the means
by which he got hold of a monopoly so oppressive.   This exposure was but the
expression, in its most authoritative form, of the all but unanimous voice of the
community and press of New York.
"Twice the Secretary of the Treasury, evidently much impressed by the remonstrance of the commercial community of New York, and by the concurrent
testimony of his own Commission, wrote to Collector Grinnell on June 1st,
1870, and again on June 9ti, 1870, urging the same views on him.
See  these  letters  at  the  end  of  this report.]   A  third  time  the
ecretary   wrote   to  Collector   Murphy   to  the  same   effect.    Yet
nothing was done at Washington for the relief of the commerce of New York;
nothing was done to remove Leet & Stocking from the position they so grossly
abused; nothing was done to break up their monopoly, before unheard of in New
York, or even to reduce their extortionate charges. Despite of everything, Leet
and his associates held their ground. They maintained themselves and their exorbitant monopoly in defiance of the merchants of New York; of the press and
public of New York; of the Joint and Select Committee of Congress in 1871; in
defiance of the Secretary of the Treasury himself; in defiance of public exposure
and public decency. Nay, at this hour, notwithstanding a reform of the whole
general order system, they are able to maintain themselves in an important share
of the business, publicly enjoyed by them, besides whatever private interest they
may share with others.
"What, then, is the'power' which has so sustained and upheld Leet & Company even to this moment?  Where in the Government is the'power' which is
stronger than the merchants, the people, and the press of New York; stronger
than the two Investigating Committees of 1871 and 1872; stronger even than the
Secretary of the Treasury; and so much stronger than each and all of these as to
defeat them one and all without an effort? To this question there can be but one
answer, and that so very plain as to,leave no'mystery' whatever, about the
matter."
EIGHTH.- It was also shown by scores of witnesses, many of them employes of
the Custom House, that inspectors, weighers and other officials, were in the habit
of accepting bribes and suffering frauds to be committed upon the revenue by
small importers. The agent of every steamship company at New York testified.
that inspectors were constantly demanding the payment of money for favors granted in allowing vessels to be discharged rapidly. Entry clerks, a class of important
officers, on whose prompt dispatch merchants are absolutely dependent, were also
in the habit of demanding and accepting bribes. In regard to the practices of
the weighers the minority of the committee in their report speak as follows:
"The alarming fact also appears throughout the testimony relating to
the weighers' department that the weights of dutiable merchandise, upon
the truth and accuracy of which the Government depends for the ascertainment of its just dues, are seldom, if ever, taken by a sworn officer of
the  United  States.   The  process  almost  invariably  is that  the  goods
are weighed by a gang of laborers, generally five in number, one of
whom adjusts the beam and makes a memorandum of the weight. These men
are paid forty cents per hour, and are of the average class of dock laborers and
employed for no fixed period, but irregularly, -and almost by chance, by the
weigher himself, who is seldom present during the operation of weighing.  The
weigher usually has an office within his district where he or his clerk receive the
returns from the men who take the weight, knowing nothing of their accuracy,
and these returns are carried to the Custom House, and upon them the duties to be
paid are calculated. It is not surprising that under such a condition of things
gross frauds are perpetrated upon the revenue.
343 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
"It is shown also by the testimony, that the importers employ city weighers at
their private expense, and that the Custom House weighers adopt their returns,
making charges for labor, &c.,in weighing, which has never been performed. So
open and notorious are these frauds and practices, that they either must be known
to the leading officials at the Custom House, or those officials must be grossly de relict in their duty of supervision."
NINTH. -It was also proven that merchandise while in the custody of the Gov ernment was frequently stolen. Several large importers testified to this fact.
Mr. Lewiston, an importer, testified (645 vol. 2) that in numerous instances his
goods have been plundered at the public stores and general order stores. He had
not only been unable to find remedy or compensation, but he had been compelled'
to pay duty upon the merchandise abstracted.
Mr. Pohlaski [vol. 1, page533] testified about the constant and serious plunder
of cigars imported by him and his failure to obtain any satisfaction therefor.
TENTH.-It was established by the testimony of Mr. Horace Greeley, Charles
Grant, George W. Palmer, and many other witnesses, that the" patronage" officers
and emploves of the Custom House were used to influence, and did in fact, influ ence and control both of the two last State Conventions of the Republican party in
New York, and its general organization in 1870 and 1871. George W. Palmer, who
was Appraiser of the Port of New York, testified that Murphy demanded that the
influence and power of the Appraiser's office should be used to crush out the poli ticians he could not manage.
Mr. Palmer said: "The Collector then said that'Gridleymust be crushed ou t,
as he'was an enemy of General Grant, and this young man ought not to be turned
out of my office; that he had told General Grant about it, and he was anxious to
have him retained.   I told him that if the facts were as he had been informed,
and if he would give me the name of the young man, I would call him to me and
say that he need not fear losing his place on account of the action he had taken.
He thereupon handed me a paper with the name of'James Corrigan' written
thereon, saying that he was the person referred to. I then told him that James
Corrigan had been with me that inorning to say that Mr. Murphy's friends were
opposed to him, and that he preferred to be removed from office,'rather than go
back on his old friends;' that this was his own language, and there
must be some mistake about the story; but I would pledge myself
that, as long as Mr. Corrigan was a good workman and a good
Republican I should not disturb him for any such reason as that assigned.
Mr. Murphy then said that General Grant was studying the politics of the State
of New York with great care, and no one could appreciate the interest which he,
General Grant, took in our State and city politics. He, Mr. Murphy, had told
General Grant that the Federal office-holders here ought to work together, and
compel all their subordinates to one line of policy, and that was, in supporting
him, the President, as the head of the Republican party; that he, Mr. Murphy,
General Jones, General Sharp, General Pleasanton, Mr. Cornell and myself,
should get together and arrange who should go to the State Convention from the
different districts.' He had told' the boys' in the different districts, for the purpose of harmony, that there should be sent men of wealth, as a matter of compliment, who would be willing to pay'over five hundred dollars' toward the success
of the party, for the honor conferred, and that we, the heads of the departments,
should decide who should be the candidates for State delegates in the primaries
in each district, and insist upon all employcs in all the different offices supporting
these candidates."
ELEVENTH. -In regard to the fitness of Mr. Murphy to the important office of
Collector of New York, the minority of the Committee say:
"We believe that the extracts made of the testimony taken in this case, in relationto Mr. Murphy and his method of conducting the affairs of the Collectorship, will render it obvious that he was a very unfit man for the position, totally
without a proper comprehension of its duties and almost totally without the
capacity to fulfill them. The tenure of political office under his administration was
made solely dependent upon bald partisan service, generally of the basest character. Merit in office was overlooked or disregarded if it did not accompany the
most facile and slavish obedience to party demands. Personal unworthiness and
profligacy were totally disregarded if unhesitating political adherence was given.
The result was ~ecessarily fatal to the public service. To be a good and reliable
public officer means to be a reliable man and good citizen. The qualities that
344 
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS.
form our security in private life are our best safeguards in public life. A public
official who will sacrifice his personal convictions of right and independence of
thought to gain or keep in office will bc unworthy of trust when in office. If such
an example be set by those high in authority, nothing can be expected but that it
will be followed by their subordinates. Like master, like men. If the Collector
of the Port be nothing better than a ward politician, with the habits, instincts
and tone of his class, his subordinates will, very shortly, be found to follow and
imitate him. If Mr. Murphy totally overlooked what was due to the public service in making his appointments,if he bargained and sold places of inspector, weigher, gauger, and the like, how could it be expected that his appointees will be faithful
to the Government, or that bribery or corruption, delinquency and abuse should
not mark nearly every department and feature of his Administration?"
TWELFTII.-The outcry against Murphy from the entire commercial community of New York was so great that the Administration was compelled to get rid o
him. He was induced to resign, and the President in accepting his letter of res
ignation, wrote as follows:
EXECUTIVE MASION, WASHINGTON, D. C.,
November 20, 1871.
DEAR SIR: Your letter of the 18th instant, tendering your resignation of the
office of Collector of the Port of iNew York, with the reasons therefor, is received. It gives me great pleasure to bear testimony to the efficiency, honesty
and zeal with which you have administered the office so long as it has been entrusted to your keeping, Your own peace of mind, no doubt, will be enhanced
by leaving the office of Collector, but I doubt whether such a course will in any
sense be a benefit to the public service. Under your administration the revenues
from the New York Custom House have been largely increased, and the cost of
collection in proportion to the amount collected has been greatly diminished.
This is shown by the records of the Treasury Department. You have had my
unqualified confidence ever since you entered the office of Collector. You had
that confidence before, or the appointment would not have been tendered you.
That confidence is still unshaken, and in accepting your resignation, I desire to
give you the fullest assurance of this fact. Whether you remain in or out of office, time will convince a just public of your entire innocence of the charges
brought against you.
With great respect, your obedient servant,                   U. S. GRANT.
Hon. THOMAs MURPHY
Collector of the Port of New York.
Thus it will be seen that the President in the face of all the damaging facts
disclosed by theinvestigation of the New York Custom House indorses the Administration of Collector Murphy in the highest terms. But the majority of the
Committee in their Report goes still further. They not only indorse Murphy's
administration of the Collector's office, but they indorse the general order system
under its new and oppressive form, whereby Leet & Stocking were realizing
immense profits by their exactions on the merchants of New York.
The report of the majority, covering more than one hundred printed pages, is a
special plea throughout in behalf of Grant's Administration and of Tom Murphy's
conduct as Collector of the Port of New York. They defend the transfer of the
general order business from the steamship companies to Leet & Stocking, and
contend that the charges against this firm by the merchants of New York were
"wanton and outrageous."  They have not one word of condemnation for the
excessive charges made by Leet & Stocking for the carting and storing of goods
of importers; they have no severe reflection to make upon the order which gave
Leet & Stocking a monopoly of the general order business; but they do censure
foreign steamship owners for daring to protest against the action of the Collector
in interfering with their business, and say: "It'may be thought strange that two
foreign steamship companies should be the first to make an issue with the Collector of an American Port and should be the first to appeal to the American
public to vindicate their right to store American merchandise on American ground.
In their conclusions the committee hold that "in the judgment of the committee the Government ought not to permit steamship companies to have control of
general order stores;" and further the majority of the committee argue that some
system like that of Leet & Stocking should be continued, although they are
compelled to recommend. that the charges for cartage and storage should be
somewhat reduced.
345 
346                   NEW YORK CUSTOM  HOUSE FRAUDS.
The majority justifies the interference of Custom House officials in local politics and reflect severely upon Mr. Greeley, Mr. Palmer, and others who had
denounced this interference. They gloss over the facts which were developed
in regard to clerks and other employ6s in the Custom House accepting bribes;
and in general claim that the administration of the New York Custom House
under Tom Murphy was in every respect a highly respectable one. 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS
THE PERCENTAGE TO REPUBLICAN PARASITES.
One of the most prolific sources of fraud under the Republican administration
of the Federal Government has been the erection of Public Buildings.  The same
extravagance in the expenditure of the public moneys, and the same reckless, defiant, violation of law which has characterized the conduct of Republican officials
in every department of the public service was exhibited on a grand scale by the
officer who was charged with the supervision of all the public works in the
United States, under the control of the Treasury Department.
The following table shows the amount of money expended from the formation
of'the Government in 1789, to the 30th of June, 1860, for the purchase of sites,
and the erection of Public Buildings, properly belonging to and under the control of the Treasury Department, and also the amount expended for Public Buildings since 1860, to June 30th, 1876, under the direction and supervision of the
Supervising Architect of the Treasury.
A SUGGEBSTIVE EXHIBIT.
TABL  exhibiting-the cost of CUSTOm  HousEs, COURT  HOusES, POST  OFFICBS,
APPRAISERS' STORES, &c., &c., purmce   and built by the United States from
the bginning of the Gowrnment up to June 30th, 1860, and from June  30th,
1860, to Jun  30th, 1876.  [Compiled from the Statutes at Large of the
United States.]
BumLT BETWEEN  BUILT BETWIN
1789 and 1860.      1860 and 1876.
~        -        ~ __ —-,, 
Albany Custom House (site)                              $-,0Atlanta Custom House —-----------------------
Alexandria Custom House, &c. —---------------
Alaska Custom House —-----------------------
Astoria, (Oregon), Custom House          ------------
Auburn, (N. Y.), Court House                              4,000
Bath Custom House —------------------------       1
Bangor Custom House —---------------------
Barnstable Custom House -------------------—.
Baltimore Custom House, &c —----------------
Baltimore Public Stores —--------------------
Baltimore Post Office —----------------------
Belfast Custom House -----------------------—.
Boston Custom House —-------------------
Boston Court House —-----------------             
Boston Post Office —---------------------------
BUIT3ING.
$255,000 00
300,000 00
5,889 21
74,442 50
4,000 00
91,000 00
$78,392 79
122,740 13
195,910 04
38,693 32
544,916 89
286,696 00
255,176 97
39,251 88
1,309,051 98
129,163 46
144,000 0
100,000 00
55,000 00
8,398,757 06
I 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
BUILT BETWEEN    BUILT BETWEEN
1789 and 1860.   1860 and 1876.
2,328,879 75
77,468 52
Boston Sub-Treasury Extension                           23889
Boise City Assay Office —----------------------
Bristol Custom House —-----------------------
Buffalo Custom House —----------------------
Burlington Custom House —-------------------
Cairo Custom House —-------------------------
Castine Custom House —---------------------—.
Carson Branch Mint —-------------------------
Charleston Custom House —------------------
Charleston Post Office —----------------------
Charlotte Mint —----------------------------
Chelsea Hospital —--------------------------       
Chicago Marine Hospital —---------------------
Chicago Custom House, &c                                23000
Cincinnati Custom House —-------------------
Cleveland Custom House —--------------------
Cleveland Marine Hospital —-------------------
Columbia (S. C.) Court House                              38,99
Covington (Ky) Court House                                45006
Dallas City Mint —----------------------------
Des Moines Court House —---------------------
Detroit Custom House —----------------------
Detroit Marine Hospital —---------------------
Denver Mint —--------------------------------
Dover (Del.) Post Office —----------------------
Dubuque Custom House —--------------------
Eastport Custom House —----------------------
Eastport Custom House —----------------------      
Ellsworth (Me.) Custom House —---------------
Erie Custom House —-------------------------
Evansville (Ind.) Custom House                            10006
Fall River Custom House                                   200-6
Galena (Ills.) Custom House —------------------
Galveston Custom House —---------------
Georgetown (D. C.) Custom House —-----------
Gloucester Custom House —--------------------      
Grand Rapids Custom House                                 10006
Harrisburgh (Pa.) Court House                             1000
Hartford Custom House —---------------------
Helena Assay Office —-------------------------
Indianapolis Court House                                  11,006
Jersey City Custom House                                  10006
Kennebunk Custom House —-------------------
Key West Custom House —--------------------
Key West Court House —----------------------
Key West Marine Hospital —-------------------
Knoxville Custom House                                    3107
Lincoln (Neb.) Post Office                                1000
Little Rock Post Office                                    2,36
Louisville Custom House —-------------------       
Louisville Marine Hospital ---------------------   
Machias Custom House —---------------------- 
Madison (Wis.) Court House - -                            2       7
Memphis Court House, (1860) —----------------
Middletown (Ct.) Court House —--------------
Milwaukee Custom House —-------------------         
Mobile Custom House —----------------------
Mobile Marine Hospital —----------------------
348
BUILDrNG.
33,705 39
330,426 80
77,220 57
600 00
1,910,413 14
130,014 80
47,629 29
283,015 31
5,933 60
281,427 27
600 00
280,326 00
533,915 43
266,000 00
95,000 00
285,796 24
2,340,000 00
2,697,000 00
370,496 00
202,618 88
122,831 03
381,899 75
405,000 00
10,000 00
136,437 00
28,500 00
94,377 69
40,000 00
45,000 00
228,491 39
109,535 97
194,672 50
5,814 71
44,986 35
26,354 25
63,691 40
100,000 00
240,000 00
4,394 08
77,872 44
152,868 30
67,786 83
51,090 11
120,000 00
160,000 00
350,000 00
4,075 25
112,000 00
100,000 00
3,923 42
12,923 63
3,091 71
31,432 86
311,047 00
130,000 00
25,736 00
262,640 72      22,500 00
98,998 11      15,000 00
45,766 00
'290,082 72
15,343 90
33,317 80
242,140 00
447,145 36
55,339 71
48,453 17
15,000 00 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
BULT BETWEEN
1860 and 1876.
BUILDING. 
Nashville Custom House —---------------------
Natchez Custom House ---------------------— 66,790 37
Newark (N. J.) Custom House —------------    183,197 08
New Bedford Custom House -----------------— 44,805 53
Newburyport Custom House -----------------— 33,584 82
New Haven Custom House ------------------— 206,943 05
New London Custom House -----------------— 29,059 45
New Orleans Custom House -----------------— 3,009,499 31
New Orleans Branch Mint -------------------— 627,386 13
New Orleans Marine Hospital (1) -------------— 122,772 70
New Orleans Marine Hospital (2) --------------— 530,090 84
New Orleans Quarantine Warehouse ----------— 45,044 12
New Orleans Boarding Station                   3,835 70
New Orleans Boarding Station ---------------— 16,461 70
Newport Custom House ---------------------— 29,328 46
New York Custom House --------------------— 70,000 00
New York Custom House                                      4500New York Custom House —----------------    735,882 74
New York Old Post Office ----------
New York Post Office —-----------------
New York, 23 Pine street --------------------— 13,843 05
New York Revenue Dock                                      29,00
Norfolk Custom House ----------------------— 263,597 20
Ocracoke Hospital ---------------------------— 9,227 07
Ogdensburgh Custom House -----------------— 230,633 92
Omaha Court House —-------------------------
Oswego Custom House ---------------------— 136,333 47
Parkersburgh Custom House.168,000 —----
Plattsburgh Custom House. —- ----------------  76,926 68
Pensacola Custom House --------------------— 60,748 73
Pensacola Marine Hospital (site,&c. acquired from Spain.)
Perth Amboy Custom House —-----------------  3,374 66
Petersburgh Custom House ------------------— 117,831 70
Pittsburgh Custom House —----------------- 135,391 28
Pittsburgh Marine Hospital -------------------- 72,554 57
Philadelphia Custom House ------------------— 332,693 03
Philadelphia Court House, &c ----------------— 261,560 89
Philadelphia New Court House, &c                         30000Philadelphia Mint --------------------------- 428,982 83
Philadelphia Appraisers' Stores ---------------— 649,127 33
Philadelphia Lazaretto -----------------------— 8,832 00
Plymouth (N. C.) Custom House --------------- 5,438 70
Portsmouth (N. H.) Custom House ------------- 182,220 68
Portland Custom House ---------------------— 542,028 85
Portland Court House ----------------------— 401,302 50
Portland Marine Hospital --------------------— 121,633 40
Portland (Oregon) Custom House            -      - --
Port Huron Custom House                                    2000
Providence Custom House -----------------     13,492 26
Providence Custom House -------------------— 280,024 80
Raleigh Court House, &c --------------------— 104,650 20
Richmond Custom House --------------------— 288,175 82
Rutland (Vt.) Custom House -----------------— 84,211 49
Rockland (Me) Custom House                                 9 —St. Augustine Custom House -----------------— 14,515 43
St. Louis Custom House (old) ------------------ 389,768 11
St. Louis Custom House (new)                             29000
St. Louis Marine Hospital --------------------- 115,469 65
349
427,000 00
20,000 00
1,039,327 85
21,241 75
45,000 00
7,227,264 90
294,000 00
98,701 00
272,500 00
168,000 00
10,000 O0
30,000 00
3,040,000 00
309,905 55
8,000 00
457,721 63
140,398 00
10,000 00
506,000 00
200,000 00
500,000
25,000
95,000
00
00
00
2,900,000 00 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
BUrT BETWEDN    BUILT BETWEEN
1789 and 1860.     1860 and 1876.
~                                 -
BUmDING.
St. Paul Custom House —----------------------
San Francisco Custom House —----------
San Francisco Hospital (old) —-----------------     
San Francicco Hospital, (new)                              7,85
San Francisco Appraisers' Stores (old) —--------
San Francisco Appraisers' Stores (new)
San Francisco Mint (old) —--------------------
San Francisco Mint (new) —--------------------
Salem (Mass.) Court House —------------------
Sandusky Custom House —--------------------
Savannah Custom House —--------------------
Santa F6 Custom House —---
Springfield (Ills.) Court House —---------------
Suspension Bridge Custom House                              600
Toledo Custom House —----------------------
Trenton Court House —------------------------
Utica Court House —--------------------------
Waldsboro' (Me.) Court House —---------------
Washington Treasury Building —--------------
Wheeling Custom House —--------------- 
Williamsport Public Building                                300
Wilmington (Del.) Custom House —------------
Wilmington (N. C.) Custom House —-----------
Windsor (Vt.) Court House —------------------
Wiscasset (Me.) Custom House                                2900
Sundry Public Buildings —--------------------- 
Washington Old Treasury                                    4,0Washington New State and War Dept          -     ---
Washington Post Office                                      9119
Totals -----------------------— $28,640,170 38 $51,164,978 05
Expended for Public Buildings since the begin  ning of the Government —------------------ 
Expended in the seventy-one years previous to
1860 --------------
Expended during fifteen years of Republican
supremacy and misrule —------------------
Excess of Republican expenditures           -      ----
Average annual expenditures before Republican
ascendancy —------------------------------
Average since —-----------------------------
By the above exhibit it will be seen that from the formation of the Government
down to the time the Republican party came into power, in 1861, a period of
seventy-two years, the total expenditures on account of public buildings over
which the Treasury Department had control was $28,640,170.38, and that the expenditures for like purposes from 1861 to 1867, a period of fifteen years, were
$51,164,97S.O5. 
NO CHECK AGAINST FRAUD.
The Supervising Architect's office was not created by law, but grew from the
smallest beginning, until it is now one of the most important bureaus of the
Treasury Department. The Supervising Architect of the Treasury originally had
charge of the Treasury building extension only; now he supervises the erection of
all the public buildings in the United States, designed for custom houses, court
houses, post offices, mints, assay offices, appraiser's stores, marine hospitals, and
the Government Jail in the District of Columbia. Some idea of the magnitude of
350
395,547 53
17,500 00
74,689 56
508,000 00
2,275,542 82
10,000 00
15,000 00
170,000 00
6,000 00
10,000 00
200,000 00
161,026 32
3,678,930 52
3,000 00
829,743 18
389,768 11
104,591 85
303,929 10
40,494 99
90,439 47
189,049 94
16,231 59
9,000 00
101,643 42
24,860 93
6,533,572 80
125,994 58
65,070 55
43;774 45
94,813 77
29,000 00
2,255,051 92
40,000 00
3,512,000 00
9,171 99
$79,805,148 15
$28,640,170 38
$51,164,978 05
$22,524,807 67
$403,382 68
$3,410,998 53 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
the operations of the Supervising Architect's office now will be conveyed when
we state that in 1872-'73 there were in course of erection in the United States
fifty public buildings, and every dollar of money disbursed therefor was under the
absolute control of the Supervising Architect. Besides this, there were vast sums
annually expended for repairs of old buildings. Until Mr. Bristow became
Secretary of the Treasury, there was no check whatever upon the Supervising
Architect's office. All of his accounts were passed simply upon his approval.
The accounting officers of the Treasury did not pass upon these accounts, save to
determine the correctness of the additions of the columns of figures. They had
no power to determine whether the expenditures were in accordance with law,
or whether there was an appropriation for the same or not. When Secretary
Bristow assumed the duties of his office, his attention was called to this anomalous condition of things, and he directed that hereafter all accounts of the Supervising Architect must be passed upon by the accounting officers, as the accounts
of all other disbursing officers are.
Under the loose management of this branch of the Treasury Department, all
the accounts for fuel, gas and water consumed in public buildings, as well as the
expenditures for furniture, passed through the Supervising Architect's office, and
were paid upon the approval of the Supervising Architect. The accounting
officers had no voice whatever in determining the legality of any of these expenditures. It is a notorious fact that every year a deficiency appropriation has to be
provided for the fuel, light and water accounts.
THE MAGNITUDE OF THE JOBBERY.
Some conception of the magnitude of the operations of the Supervising Architect's office will be had by a careful examination of the appropriations for "Public Buildings under the Treasury Department, for the fiscal year 1872 and 1873."
They are as follows:
For Custom House, Rockland, Maine ----------------------— $75,000 00
For Custom House, Boston —----------------------------   30,000 00
For Custom House, Fall River, Mass ----------------------— 200,000 00
New State Department, Washington ------------------------ 1,500,000 00
Post Office, New York --------------------------------— 1,900,000 oo00
Government Building at Albany, N. Y ----------------------— 159,000 00
Post Office, Philadelphia -------------------------------— 1,500,000 00
Custom House, Charleston, S. C ----------------------------- 172,081 00
Custom House, New Orleans -----------------------------— 170,000 00
Post Office and Custom House, Port Huron, Mich -------------— 100,000 00
Post Office and Custom House, Cincinnati -------------------— 750,000 00
Custom House, Knoxville, Tenn ---------------------------— 66,647 00
Custom House, Nashville, Tenn --------------------------— 150,000 00
Custom House, Chicago ----------------------------------- 800,000 00
Court House and Post Office, Omaha —------------------------ 71,000 00
Marine Hospital, Chicago ---------------------------------- 23,825 00
Appraiser's Stores, San Francisco --------------------------— 408,000 00
Custom House, Portland, Oregon --------------------------— 76,500 00
Custom House, St. Louis -------------------------------— 1,000,000 00
Post Office and Court House, Raleigh, N. C ------------------— 100,000 00
Additional ground for Post Office, Boston --------------------- 800,000 00
Total amount ----------------------------------— $10,052,053 00
This was not an annually large appropriation that of the year before, 1871-'72,
was about the same, and that for the fiscal year 1873-'74 was still larger. In the
disbursement of this $10,000,000, there were no contracts made for the erection
of a building for a gross sum, but the Supervising Architect let out a number of
contracts on the same building, for stone, iron-work, wood-work, and the like.
Then there were men-Government agents-to superintend this work.  The workmen were all borne on the Government pay-rolls, and the Government paid superintendents to watch them, and then on the total cost of the whole work the contractors received fifteen per cent. Thus it will be seen that the commission which
went into the pockets of favorite contractors out of this ten million dollars appropriation was $1,500,000.
\
. 351 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
WHERE BOSS SHEPHERD CAME IN.
In the contracts for repairs on old buildings, the same system prevailed. Boss
Shepherd is the owner.of two patents in which Mullett, formerly Supervising
Architect, owned an interest; one is for the Vaux patent-roofing, and the other
is for a patent anti-freezing pipe used in plumbing work. Shepherd had a contract with the Government which gave him a monopoly of all the roofing and
plumbing and gas-fitting in all of the Public Buildings in the United States, new
as well as old. His workmen were sent from Washington to different points to
to do this work. Their pay began at the time they left Washington, and continued until they returned. Their traveling expenses were paid by the Government, and all the material purporting to be shipped from Washington was
charged to the Government at so-called wholesale prices. When the whole work was
completed, all these various expenses were footed up, and then Shepherd was paid
fifteen per cent. on the total cost, and in addition ten per cent. royalty for the use
of his patents. All the roofing, plumbing and gas-fitting on the Custom House
at Portland, Oregon, was done by Shepherd, and his workmen were paid their per
diem from the time they left Washington City until they returned, and their
traveling expenses were added in also to swell the total cost. Then, in addition,
all the gas fixtures used in the public buildings are bought of the Tucker Bronze
Company, in which Shepherd is the principal stockholder. All the old public
buildings throughout the United States were stripped of their gas fixtures, and
supplied with new ones purchased from the Tucker Bronze Company.
A HISTORY OF THREE SPECIMEN JOBS.
Let us give a brief history of three or four of the Public Buildings which have
been recently erected under the system above described, and then let the honest
people of the country determine whether a party that permits such reckless extravagance in expenditure of public money is to be trusted.
There was a Custom House and Post Office to be erected in St. Paul, Minnesota.   Mr. Mullett, as Supervising Architect, made his estimates and submitted
them to Congress, recommending an appropriation for this purpose.   There was
some trouble about getting the appropriation, but Mullett brought it before the
Committee on Appropriations, and did all in his power to get it recommended,
and then worked like a beaver to carry it through the House.   The building, according to his estimate, was to cost only $173,335.   Having obtained the appropriation, the work began at once.   The first thing done was to make a contract
with a man named F. R. Delano for granite, to be delivered at the building site
for 65 cents per cubic foot. This was done without advertisement, and hence no
competition was permitted. Delano delivered a portion of the stone, and then he
was allowed to throw up the contract, and the Government paid men to quarry
the stone and cut them under his supervision, allowing him 15 per cent. on the
gross cost of the same. A great quantity of lime stone was used in the construction of the walls, and although the whole city is underlaid with this material,
the Government leased a quarry from one William F. Davidson, paying him 35
cents a cubic foot for the privilege of working it. The result of all this jobbery
was a building costing the people of the United States $379,000, more than
$200,000 beyond the original estimates.   This job was investigated by a Committee of the House of Representatives, at the third session of the 43d Congress,
and all the facts given above were proven to be true.-[Se Report No. 58, H. R.,
3d Session 43d Congress.]
THE NEW YORK CITY POST OFFICE.
Take the New York Post Office and Court House as another example. A
Commission was appointed, under a resolution of Congress, composed of the Hon.
John T. Hoffman, then Mayor of the City; James Kelly, then Postmaster;
Samuel G. Courtney, then U. S. District Attorney; A. A. Low, the President of
the Chamber of Commerce; Jackson S. Schultz, Charles H. Russell, Charles H.
Rogers and Moses Taylor, to select and approve plans and specifications for a
suitable Post Office building.   A plan was finally approved, and submitted to
the Secretary of the Interior and Postmaster-General, and approved by them also.
The report of the Commission was forwarded to Congress, and referred to the
Committee on Poet Offices and Post Roads, and was formally approved by it.
The architects, the most competent in New York city, whio prepared the plan,
352 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
made careful estimates of the cost of the building, which amounted to (allowing
liberal allowances for contingencies) the sum of $3,542,930. Mr. Mullett objected
to these plans, criticised them before the Committee on Post Offices and Post
Roads, on account of the alleged extravagant cost of such a building. At the
same time he estimated for a first-class granite building of the same dimensions
and equal capacity, and similar design, $2,156,551.06. The Committee did not
see proper to Adopt and recommend his plan to Congress. However, at the last
session of the 40th Congress, $200,000 was appropriated to commence the construction of the building, Mr. Mullett threw aside the plans adopted by the Commission aforesaid, and approved by Congress, and prepared outline plans of his
own, and proceeded to expend $480,000. His building covers an area of ten
thousand square feet less than the one projected by the New York architects, and
yet there has been expended up to June 20th, 1876, $7,227,264.90, and there was
yet due for work done and unpaid for, $227,566.78, making a total of $7,454,831.68,
or $5,298,276,62 more than his estimate of March, 1869, for a larger building.
How CONTRACTS WERE MADE.
In making contracts for the stone used in the construction of the New York
Post Office, no competition was allowed. A contract was made with the Dix
Island Granite Company to furnish for 65 cents per cubic foot all stones whose
quarry dimensions did not exceed 20 cubic feet, and one cent additional for every
cubic foot of those whose dimensions exceeded 20 cubic feet. The Government
was bound to pay the Dix Island Granite Company the full expense of working,
dressing, insuring and boxing the stone, and in addition 15 per cent. on the total
cost of the same; that is, the Dix Island Granite Company furnished the men to
cut, dress, and box the stone, and the Government paid their wages, and gave the
Company 15 per cent. additional.
When the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads investigated this job, the
Supervising Architect gave this excuse: "If the Government hires the men to
quarry and cut the granite, they would be paid and made to work but eight hours
a day, while for contractors they would work ten hours." In commenting on
this the Committee in their report say: "As there is no law prohibiting men
working ten or more hours for the Government, we suppose they would be willing
to work the same number of hours for the Government as for other parties, if they
received equal wages, or the Government could pay less wages for less hours of
work, but as a pretext or subterfuge to get more hours of work from laborers
in an indirect manner (and that too by putting the profits in the pockets of contractors) than could be obtained lawfully by direct means, is as unworthy, as it
is disingenious and absurd. At all events, no pretext of that kind can stand in
the way of advertising a contract for the cutting of stone by quantities, according to specifications and working drawings. The Committee found the excavating and mason work for the foundation of the building being done chiefly by
day's work, under the superintendence of the following named gentlemen: The
Hon. Calvin Hubbard, General Superintendent, at a salary of $16 per day, J. T.
Smith, Assistant Superintendent, at $8 per day; a foreman mason and a foreman
stone cutter at $7 per day each; a master rigger, and a foreman for the laborers
at $6 per day.  General P. H. Jones, disbursing agent, and J. R. O'Bierne, paymasters, and that the eight hour rule was not followed either. Although the men
were working for the Government, they worked all day, according to the testitimony of the Superintendent, and your Committee can see no good reason why
they could not work equally as many hours for the Government in the stone
quarry as in the City of New York."
THE BOSTON POST OFFICE.
The contracts that were made with the Cape Ann G,ranite Company for the
granite for the Boston Post Office are still more outrageous. The history of this
building is summed up as follows, by the Committee on Post Offices and Post
Roads, in their report on Post Office buildings, Second Session, 41st Congress:
"Bv joint resolution approved March 2nd, 1867, a commission consisting of the
Mayor and Postmaster  of  the City of Boston, the Assistant Treasurer of the
United States at said city, the President of the Board of Trade, Alpheus Hardy,
Daniel Davies, and John A. Andrews of said city, were appointed to select a
site for a Post Office and Sub-Treasury Building in Boston, and directed to report to the Postmaster-General and the Secretary of the Treasury  the selection
353 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
that might be agreed upon, and the price at which it could be purchased. The
report of this commission, with their approval of the same, was submitted to Congress by said officers on the 6th day of March, 1868, and on the 12th day of the
same month said commission was authorized, by joint resolution, to purchase the
site for which they had negotiated, to wit: OnDevonshlire street, between Water
and Milk streets, embracing an area of about thirty thousand square feet, for a
sum not exceeding $500,000. The site was subsequently purchased for $453,000,
and is considered central and eligible for the business wants of that city. The
City Government has provided for the widening and grading of the streets adjoining. at a cost of half a million dollars to the city."
WHAT THE COMMITTEE FOUND.
'The Committee find that before any work was done on this building the
merchants of Boston employed Gridley J. F. Bryant, an architect of acknowledged ability, and skilled in his profession, and the present Superiltendent of
the construction of the building, to prepare drawings for superstructure thereof,
but it does not appear that these were adopt(d by the Supervising Architect, or
that he even submitted them to the Secretary of the Treasury. Work has been
commenced and is now progressing on the building, in accordance with plans
and working drawings prepared by the Supervising Architect, for the basements
thereof, the sum of $200,000 having been appropriated for laying the foundation,
and commencing the building, by act approved March 3d1 1869. The excavation
was completed, the retaining or area walls of the building and the foundation
under the basement floor partly finished at the time the Committee completed its
investigation in Boston, but the approprialtion was not then exhausted.
In the examination of the Supervising Architect by the Committee, the question
was put to him, "Were the contracts in' Boston made upon an advertisement?"
to which he replied, "All except the granite work. In respect to that, the Secretary found that there was a combination to put up the price of granite, and
leased a quarry upon more favorable terms than the material could have been
otherwise obtained."
How much the Secretary "found" concerning this matter may be gathered
from his statement to the Committee when asked whether he had authorized the
making of contracts for material and labor without advertisement'; he replied, ".1
presume that Mr. Mullett informed me of the terms of the proposed contracts
before they were made, and that I approved the proposition."
The history of the contracts for the Boston building is as follows: It will be
noticed that the appropriation for this building was made on the 3d of March,
1869.  Shortly afterward, or soon after the appointment of Delano,  Commissioner    of   Internal   Revenue,    one    Jonas   H.   French,   of
Boston,   a   distiller  by   occupation,   according   to   his  own   testimony, visited Washington for the purpose or getting his distillery released
from seizure for violation of the Revenue laws. While in Washington he states
he was advised by General Butler to purchase a stone quarry by way of an investmenit for some loose capital which he then had; that he returned to Boston,
considered the matter, and shortly afterward purchased five-sixths of an unused
quarry at Cape Ann, taking possession on the last of April, 1869. Mr. Gardner,
who was part owner and a director of the Rockport Granite Company, testifies
that it was understood in Boston, prior to April, 1869, that a bargain had been
made with French to furnish the granite, and that on April 17th, 1869, hle wrote
to the Secretary of the Treasury upon the subject. His letter to the Secretary of
the Treasury, which has been furnished to the Committee, is reported in the evidence. That letter seems to have broken the arrangement with French, if any had
been made at that time.
WHERE BEN BUTLER CAME IN.
In the correspondence the Committee find a letter of which the following are
extracts, from Mr. Mullett and Mr. Bryant, under date of April 3d, 1869:
"I have this day had a conference with Gen. Butler and some other gentlemen from Massachusetts in regard to granite for the foundation and basement
story of the post office. * * * * The only chance we have of conforming to
the requirements of the law, &c., is to lease some good quarry, and quarry the
stone by day~s work, or by the cubic foot delivered at the wharf at Boston. I
have also requested General Burt to do me the favor to confer with you on the
'M4 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
subject, and I think it would be more satisfactory if you can induce him to
accompany you to the quarry, as I know that a concurrence of opinion between
you would place the matter beyond cavil in this city."
On April 7th, 1869, Mullett sent to Bryant the following telegram:  "Take no
action in regard to letter of April 3d, until return of Colonel French from this
city."
On the 28th of April, 1869, Mr. Bryant, under directions of Mr. Mullett,
issued a circular or letter to the owners of four or five quarries, including that
of French and the Rockport Granite Company, inviting proposals to furnish the
foundation stone for the building. In response to that letter or circular, the
Rockport Granite Company offered to furnish foundation stones for the building
at 40 cents per foot, delivered at the site of the building, and half a cent per
foot additional for stone measuring more than twenty cubic feet, or to lease a
quarry to the Government at 20 cents per ton, bankage and wharfage.   At the
same time French, in behalf of the Cape Ann Granite Co., offered to furnish
the f'oundation stone at 45 cents per foot, and one cent additional per foot
for stone measuring more than twenty cubic feet, in addition to 25 cents
bankage and wharfage for lease of quarry.
MULLETT WANTS BUTLER'S MAN TO GET IT.
On May 21st, Mr. Mullett transmitted to Bryant, the superintendent, a contract
and lease to be executed by the Rockport Granite Company, with the following
directions: "In case the Rockport Granite Co. refuse or neglect to execute
the lease and contract at once, and give the required bond, you will offer the same
to the Cape Ann  Granite Co., substituting their price, as their bid  is the
next lowest received, and I enclose their proposal for that purpose. * *
I should say that the Cape Ann Granite Company was preferable, even taking
price into account."
"The Rockport Granite Co. refused to execute the lease sent them, alleging
that it was a departure from the terms of their proposal and acceptance, whereupon the contract and lease was immediately tendered to French, who accepted
the same."
"On May 26th, 1869, Gardner wrote to the Secretary of the Treasury protesting against the proceeding, and alleging that it was only a part of a matured plan
to give the contract to French at all hazards, and that the contract and lease which
had been sent him was not in accordance with the proposition which had been
accepted; the Secretary referred the papers to the Solicitor of the Treasury, on
June 1st, 186), for his opinion whether the contract was in accordance with the
proposals of the Rockport Granite Co. On June 9th, 1869, Solicitor Banfield reports in substance that the contract and lease tendered the Rockport Granite
Company were not in accordance with their proposal and the acceptance of the
Government on the circular which Mullett had issued.  Thereupon, instead of executing the contract with the Rockport Company, the Supervising Architect issues
a new circular of invitation of proposals, embracing conditions which it was very
apparent no granite company which was in good faith carrying on a business
would be willing to accept, requiring an absolute lease of the quarry with all its
machinery and attachments of every nature and description, and provided that the
Government might take stone for any other purpose than this building.  The
contract already executed by French was in this manner annulled or superseded.
BUTLER'S MAN GETS IT.
In answer to the second circular, the Rockport Granite Company agreed to
lease a quarry (not their large one) for thirty-five cents per ton, bankage and
wharfage, and to furnish the granite for the building, as sworn to by Mir. Gardner,
for forty cents per foot in addition to the royalty of thirty-five cents per ton, with
an increase of halt a cent per foot for blocks measuring more than twenty cubic
feet. At the same time French, for the Cape Ann Granite Co., proposed to
lease a quarry at twenty-five cents per ton, and to quarry and deliver the stone for
the foundation of the building for thirty-nine and three-fourth cents per foot in
ad(lition to a royalty of one cent per foot increase for blocks measuring more
than twenty cubic feet. Up to this time it appears that Mr. French had not completed the purchase of his quarry, or organized any company whatever, although
he had been making proposals and had even executed a contract with the Government, as the Cape Ann Granite Company, for he swears himself teat the or
3m 
FRA{UDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
ganization of the Cape Ann Granite Co. was not made until the 6th of July,
1869, and on the 13th of July, 1869, Mullett directed a contract to be made with
French for the Cape Ann Granite Company, precisely in accordance with his lease,
which was done. This wasfor the foundation of the building only. Now, on the 26th
of October, without any further advertisement, circular, letter, or other notice whatsoever, and without any opportunity for competition, the Supervising Architect
of the Treasury directed that a contract be made with the Cape Ann Company
for the granite for the superstructure of the entire building, and the cutting of
the same, at 55 cents per foot for stone of less than twenty cubic feet, and one
cent additional for stone more than twenty feet, with 25 cents per ton additional
bankage and wharfage, with an agreement on the. part of the Government to pay
the entire expense of cost of work, and working, dressing, insurance, and boxing
of stone, with 15 per cent. additional therefor, pre' isely similar in terms to the
contract for furnishing the granite for the New York building.
THE COMMITTEE BELIEVES IT TO BE A JOB.
"By reason of the difficulty in ascertaining the cost of the granite in the rough,
the size being nowhere limited, and the fact that the working and dressing of it is
to be done by men almost wholly under the control of the contractor and the
doubtful construction of the contract, the Committee find it impossible to
satisfactorily determine the probable cost of the building when completed. The
Supervising Architect estimates that it will be about $1,800,000, but the confidence of the Committee in his conclusions was shaken on discovering that he
did not even know the contract price of the foundation stone. When first interrogated on this point, he replied:'The price was about 45 cents per cubic
foot;' afterward, that'the granite that he got for 45 cents per cubic foot is
from 65 to 75 cents in Boston;' and, finally, that he finds on'referring to the
contract, that the cost is 391 cents per cubic foot, with a royalty of 25 cents per
ton.'  It is submitted that the estimates of the officer who exhibits so little
familiarity with the contracts made under his supervision should be received
with great allowance.
The Committee is, therefore, unable to satisfy itself as to the cost of the building
and indisposed to report the latter contract as a favorable one, when so much is
left to uncertainty and final adjustment."
IHOW THE COST WAS SWELLED, AND WHY.
The cost of the Boston Post Office, as originally designed by -Mr. Mullett, was
$2,598,767.60. Subsequently he procured an extension to the building to be authorized, and the total cost up to date, and including site, is $3,398,757.06.
It was brought out in the investigation of the New York and  Boston Post
Offices that the system which permitted contractors to employ men by the day to
work and dress stone did not afford sufficient protection to the interests of the
Government. The Committee say: "The men are employed and discharged at
the discretion of the contractor." By the interpretation of the contractor at Boston, which the Committee cannot dispute from the letter of the contract, not
even the number of hours the men shall work can be regulated by the Government. He answers upon this point, as follows:
"Q. Suppose they should work but six or eight hours a day, could you charge a
day's work for that, and charge fifteen per cent. on it?-A. Yes; because there
is no arrangement on the subject that I know of."
"Q. If these men should work but six hours a day, is there no check upon
that by the Government or Government Officers?-A. There is nothing stated in
the contract."
"The Government thus seems to be in a measure at the mercy of the contractor; he pays the wages of the men employed by him, he charges up and receives in addition a sum equal to fifteen per cent. of the entire cost- If a workman shall occupy two days in performing a job that ought to be done in one, he
realizes a profit of two days' work, instead of one. The most favorable opportunity for connivance is thus created, and every inducement exists to favor the
contractor and enlarge his operations. No precaution in this regard is provided
for in either of the contracts, beyond the covenant authorizing the Government
to employ an agent, or agents, who shall take all necessary account of the cost
and expense of preparing the stone for places in the building."
858 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.                     357
EXPOSURE OF THE FRAUDS DID NO GOOD.
Notwithstanding the exposure of these frauds made by the Committee on Post
Officers and Post Roads, in 1870, the same system which permitted them is continued to this day. The granite for the new State and Navy Department Building in Washington is furnished under similar contracts by the owners of a
granite quarry near Richmond, Virginia.   The granite for the new Post Office at
St. Louis is also furnished under a similar contract, by a New England Company.
The sand-stone for the new Post Office in Chicago is supplied in the same way
from Cincinnati. The granite for the Philadelphia Post Office is supplied also by
the Richmond Granite Company, in the same way, and so is the stone for the
new Post Office in Cincinnati, and for a score or more of their buildings in other
parts of the country, now under way.
THE PROOF OF SHEPHERD'S JOBBERY.
It is stated above, that Shepherd has a contract for roofing the public buildings
with the Vaux patent roofing, and for doing the plumbing in the same.   Here is
the proof of this statement as testified to before the Committee on Expenditures
in Public Buildings of the House of Representives at the 3d Session of the 41st
Congress.   In regard to this contract Shephard said:   "When I submitted the
proposition to the Secretary of the Treasury, he cut down the commission, saying that if I would take 15 per cent. he would accept the proposition, and where
roofing and pipes of that kind were needed, we should have the orders.   A formal arrangement of that kind was made in the name of William S. Carr & Co.
Shortly afterwards we found it was best to put the same in the shape of an incorporated company, and we accordingly incorporated under the laws of the
State of New York.   I attend to the business here, finding it more convenient
to do so.   *  *  *   We have put on the roofs of Government Buildings, the
Court:House at Richmond, Virginia, Custom House at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and the Post Office at New Haven  Connecticut.  We did some work at
Portland, Maine, some at Madison, Wisconsin, some at Des Moines, Iowa. We put
on a roof for Mr. Mullett, at Cairo, Illinois. He had all the material there except
the copper, and was very anxious to get it roofed in to save the building-so was
Mr. Logan; they directed us to do it and wait for the pay until an appropriation
was made. We put on a roof at Mobile, Alabama.
"Q. With whom were these arrangements made of which you speak?-A. With
Mr. Boutwell.
"Q. When?-A. Something under a year ago, I think.
"Q. And this work you have named has been done since that time?-A. Yes.
"Q. Under that contract or agreement?-A. Yes.
"Q. What do you understand by the net cost of the work done by you to these
buildings?-A. The net cost of the material and labor.
"Q. Did the Government pay them (the workmen) from the time they left here?
-A. Yes.
"Q. Who paid their expenses on the way?-A. They were paid by the Government.  We charged their expenses to the Government, and the amount was refunded to us.
" Q. Was your own time charged in connection with the matter?-A. The Superintendent's time was charged.
"Q. Was this 15 per cent. charged not only upon the material used and  the
work of the men, but upon their railroad fare, traveling expenses, &c.-A.
Yes."
THE ROYALTY FRAUD.
In regard to the royalty charge on the roofing, Shepherd testified as
follows:
"Q. Is not 10 cents a square foot a large price for the use of so small, cheaply
applied a method as this patent covers?-A. I think not, when you take into
consideration the fact that we warrant the roofing for ten years.
"Q. The royalty then adds about 25 per cent. to the cost of the copper?-A. Well,
I do not know
"Q. What is the price of the sheet copper?-A. Thirty-one cents, I think.
"Q. Then, allowing 14 ounces of copper to the square foot, your charge of 10
cents a foot makes your royalty more than 33 per cent.?" 
FPRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
The following is a copy of the proposition of Carr & Co., referred to above by
Shepherd:
BOSS SHEPHERD'S PROPOSITION TO ROB THE GOVERNMENT.
"Office of WILLIAM S. CARR & Co.,,
'110 Centre Street, New York.
"July 9th, 1869.
"Dear Sir': In reply to your favor of the 16th instanlt, we have to say that in
view of the fact that a large proportio l of'the roofing and plumbing in your department is of the kind known as jobbing and repairing, it seems to us that the
fairest proposition for both parties, is to name a certain per centage of profit,
over and above the actual cost, and material and labor, which should include all
charges for patent rights, royalties, etc.
As a proposition, we submit that we will undertake such work in the roofing
and plumbing as you may give us, apply the Vaux patent principle to both
branches, keep and submit an accurate, detailed, and sworn statement if required,
of the net actual cost charged thelreon, and the per centage of 25 per cent. which
shall include all charges for royalties, patent rights, &c.; or, if you prefer, we
will name a royalty of 10 cents per lineal foot on the patent casing tubes which
may be used in your department, and charge a per centage of 10 per cent. on the
actual cost of labor and material needed in repairs and work. We believe that
either of the above propositions is fair to both parties. We shall do good work,
and make a living profit, and we feel sure that the experience of all who have
had to do with plumbing and plumbers is to allow fair prices and get good wiork.
Very respectfully yours,
WILLIAM S. CARR & CO.,
A. B. MULLETT, Esq., Superva-iing Architct.'..          Per SHEPHERD.
A.._,..X... _ 
.IT.ISIACCEPTED. 
The endorsement on this is as follows: "Approved on a per centage of715
per cent., and the royalty on pipe and roofing specified.
"WILLIAMI A. RICHARDSON,
"September 4th, 1869.                                       Acting Secretary.
"The proposed reduction of 15 per cent. is accepted.
"September 4th, 1869.                              WILLIAM S. CARR  &  CO."
THE VAUX PATENT SWINDLE.
In regard to Vaux's patents the committee say:  "These patents had been procured by E. P. Vaux, whose claims had been at first rejected by the Patent
Office, on the ground that they covered nothing novel, but afterward, with some
advice and assistance from the supervising architect, the patents were obtained,
and a half interest conveyed to him in compensation for such assistance,  This
half interest was conveyed to A. R. Shepherd, in April, 1869, for $6,000, and
about three months afterwards a.contract was entered into with the owner of the
patent, including Shepherd, by which they were to do such work in roofing and
plumbing as the Government might assign them, and apply these patents to such
work, and to receive in addition to the net actual cost of labor and material, 15
per cent., and in addition 10 cents for each lineal foot of piping and for each
square foot of roofing.' The amount realized by the owners of these patents for
the royalty in this contract, in less than one year, was $5,615.65.
REPEATED EXPOSURE DOES NO GOOD.
Mr. Farnsworth, Chairman of the Committee who made this report, in a speech
made in the House of Representatives on May 21st, 1872, said, that in defiance of
this report the contract with Shepherd was still maintained by Mullett, and asserted that he had papers which showed that Shepherd had been paid, since 1869,
$130,000 for putting on public buildings this Vaux patent roofing, which no man
under thesun ever used on any building of his own.  He said "the accounts
which I have here show that Shepherd has been carrying materials for that roofing
from Washingtpn, or wherever he may purchase them, to Philadelphia, to Portsmouth, New Hampshire; to Windsor, Vermont; Detroit, Michigan, Btuffalo, New
York; Chicago, Illinois; Des Moines, Iowa; Mobile, Alabama, and, in fact, all over
358 
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS.
the United States. Shepherd is employed without any advertisement, without any
contract, except this approved contract to carry to different parts of the United
States materials for this roofing, which no private citizen in the world was ever
known to put upon a building. The material, and the workmen to put it upon
our public buildings are taken from Washington, and car fare being paid at the
expense of the Government to these remote places to put on this roofing, and
Shepherd receives his royalty and percentage, in addition, to pay for the work."
Again, in 1873, Mr. Farnsworth said:  "In the case of the building at Des
Moines, Iowa, where a roof was put on two or three years ago, the railroad fare
of the men amounted to as much as their wages. The Governiment of the United
States paid the railroad fare of men from the City of Washington to Des Moines,
to put a roof on that building, amounting to as much as their wages  then on
top of that was charged against the United States, not only all the railroad fare,
all the cost of material and labor, all the expense for board, &c., but also a royalty
for the use of the patent, and then 15 per cent. on the whole bill, by way of profit.
That is the way these men alre doing this thing. That is the way your Government is being run; it is ruinous here, and ruinous everywhere." 
This same contract with Slhepherd was continued until 1875, when Secretary
Bristow put an end to it.
859 
THE SANBORN FRAUDS.
BEN BUTLER'S DEPUTY-COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL
REVENUE.
On the 13th of February, 1874, the House passed a resolution, calling on the
Secretary of the Treasury to transmit to the House "copies of all contracts made
"under the authority of the Treasury Department, in pursuance of one of the
provisions of the legislative, executive and judicial appropriation bill, approved
May 8th, 1872; and, also, all copies of all schedules and  correspondence and
orders of the Department, relating to said contracts; and, also, the amount
of money paid in under said contracts, and by whom and under which contract
paid."
In accordance with this resolution the Committee of Ways and Means of the
House reported on the 4th of May, 1874, from which we make the following
quotations:
HOW THE SANBORN CONTRACT LAW WAS ENACTED.
The report of the Committee (Report No. 559, 43d Cong., 1st sess.) on page 1
states:
"The forty-second Congress, at its second session, repealed all laws which pro"vided for the payment of moities to informers, so far as related to internal
revenue taxes; but in the last hours of the same session, and by means of a com' mittee of conference, there was engrafted on the legislative, executive and judcial
"appropriation bill a provn of seemingly so slight significance as to have been added
"as the last half of a sentence, in one of the usual paragraphs relating to the Inter nal Revenue Bureau, wherein appropriations have been annually made by the
"support of said Bureau. This provision is in the following words:
'and from and after the passage of this Act, the Secretary of the Treasury
'shall have power to employ not more than three persons to assist the proper
'officers of the Government in discovering any money belonging to the
'United States, whenever the same shall be withheld by any person or cor'poration, upon such terms and conditions as he shall deem best for the
'interests of the United States; but no compensation shall be paid to such
'persons except out of the money and property so secured; and no person
'shall be employed under the provisions of this clause who shall not have
'fully set forth in a written statement, under oath, addressed to the Secre'tary of the Treasury, the character of the claim out of which he proposes
' to recover, or assist in recovering, moneys for the United States, the laws by
'the violation of which the same have been withheld, and the name of the
'person, firm or corporation having thus withheld such moneys; and if any
' person so employed shall receive or attempt to receive any money or other
consideration from any person, firm or corporation alleged thus to have
withheld money from the United States, except in pursuance of the writ 
THE SANBORN FRAUDS.
' contract made in relation thereto with the Seer etary of the Treasur,y, such per
'son shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor; and upon conviction thereof,
' shall be fined not less than one thousand dollars, or imprisoned not less than
' two years, or both, in the discretion of any Court of the United States having
' jurisdiction; and the person so,employed shall be required to make report
of his proceedings under such contract, at any time when required to do
'so by the Secretary of the Treasury.'
HOW THESE CONTRACTS WERE APPLIED FOR AND OBTAINED.
"Under the provisions of this law, contracts were made,the first of which bears
" date the 8th of June, 1872, and was made with W. H. Kelsey, late a (Republi"can) member of Congress from the State of New York, who appears to have been
"mainly instrumental in securing the passage of the law.  Kelsey made but little
"progress after securing a contract; and on the 3d of August, 1872, requested
"that his contract be revoked,and that Malcom Campbell, of Philadelphia, should
"succeed him. Accordingly, on the 9th of August, 1872, said Campbell obtained
"a contract, which was virtually a transfer of Kelsey's contract.
"Campbell, making but little progress, surrendered his contract on the 23d day
"of November following, when J. Nicholson Elbert succeeded him, obtaining a
"contract, two days later, on the 25th of the same month, Kelsey retaining an irn,
"ter?est through the several successions and changes.
"Under date of July 29, 1873, John Clark, of Philadelphia, made application
"for, and, on the 1st of September following, obtained, a contract, out of which
"some three thousand dollars have been collected. It appears that the collections
"under the foregoing contracts, up to the date of this investigation (May, 1874),
"amount in the aggregate to about $5,000.  The two last contracts are still in
force.
"John D. Sanborn, a resident of Massachusetts, who is represented as having been
"personally acquainted with Secretaries Boutwell and Richardson, on the 15th of Ju"ly, 1872, applied for, and, on the 15th of August following, obtained a contract
"which is signed by W. A. Richardson, Acting Secretary of the Treasury, for the
"collection of taxes illegally withheld by thirty-nine distillers, rectifiers, and
"purchasers of whisky.  At this time, Sanborn was in the employ of the General
"Governmenwit, as special agent of the Treasury Department, his service as such agent
"commencing in the year 1869, and ending May 31, 1873.
"The committee find, by the testimony of Warwick Martin, of New  York,
"that Sanborn employed him under his authority, and while he himself was spe"cial agent of the Treasury, to work up certain whisky cases, in the year 1871;
"and for these services he gave Sanborn vouchers, which were passed to his
" credit, and paid by the Government, to the extent of about $3,000.
*      *      *       *      *       *      *       *      *      *
"Following this, on the 25th of October, 1872, Sanborn made application to
"have added to his contract the names of seven hundred and sixty persons, alleged
"to have withheld taxes imposed on legacies, successions and incomes; and on
"the 30th of October, five days later, these names were added to his contract; the
"additional contract being also signed by W. A. Richardson, acting Secretary of
"the Treasury.  On the 19th of March, 1873, Sanborn applied for and had added,
" on the same day, to his contract, the names of some two thousand persons, which,
"he alleged, withheld their taxes, including 350 foreign residents.  On  the 1st
"of July, 1873, Sanborn again asked to amend his contract and have added the
names of 592 railroad companies, which were added on the 7th of July, 1873."
The total number of cases included in the contracts of Sanborn and his partners
is OVER FIVE THOUSAND. The names of the parties, companies, public bodies,
foreign and home, occupy over fifty printed pages of the Report of the Committee
on Ways and Means, involving transactions covering HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS.
COMPENSATION OF SANBORN & CO.
The following is a copy of contract made by the Secretary of the Treasury with
John D. Sanborn, et als.
*     *      *      *      *     *      *      *     i-     *      *
"An agreement made this 13th day of August, A. D. 1872, by and between
" WILLIAM A. RRCHARDSON, Acting Secretary of the Treasury, party of the first
"part, and JOHN D. STNBORN,Of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, party of the
" second part.
361 
THE SANBORN FRAUDS.
"The said party of the second part having been designated by the Secretary of
" the Treasury as one of three persons to arsist the proper offlcers of the Governmnent
"in discovering and collecting moneys belonging to the United States, withheld
"by certain persons under one of the prorvision.s of the legislative, executive and ju"dicial appropriation bill, approved May 8, 1872; and the said party of the second
"part having fully set forth, as therein required, in a written statement, under
"oath, addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury and filed in his office, that he
"proposes to assist in recovering for the United States from the persons follow"ing, a large sum of money, to wit, five hundred thousand dollars; Now, there"fore, it is agreed between the said parties under this contract, that whenever
"any money shall be collected from said claims, either by legal proceedings or as
"compromise of said claims, such money shall be paid by  said persons to the
"credit of the Secretary of the Treasury; and out of any money so collected and
"received, there shall be paid to said party of the second part, in full for his servies,
"and for all the costs and expenses of such collection, A SUM EQUAL TO FIFTY
"PER CENT. OF THE GROSS  SUM  SO RECEIVED; which said fifty per
"cent. shall be paid to the party of the second part as fast as the money is collected and
"paid to the credit of the Secretary of the Treasury."
[SEAL]                  (Signed)             "WILLIAM A. RICHARDSON,"
Acting Secretarg of the Treasstry.
[SEAL]                  (Signed)                     "JOHN D. SANnORN."
"Witness to both signatures-E. C. BANFIELD, Solicitor of the Treasury."
ALL THE CONTRACTS THE SAME.
On page fourth of their Report, the Ways and Means Committee add as follows:
"All the subsequent contracts were similar in provisions.
"The Committee call attention to the fact that the law provides for the employ"ment of three persons to ass.ist the proper officers in discovering and collecting,
"while the contracts provide that the contractors may proceed to collect; thereby
"ignoring the internal revenue officers altogether; while it should have been stipu"lated, merely. that the contractors should assist the officers.  Sanborn, under his
"contract, was allowed one half the gross sum collected.         *      *      *
"The Committee cannot ascertain that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, or
"any officer of the Departrment was -consulted before, at thle time, or sience the contracts
"were made; or that he was advised as to the making of the contracts; or of the
"character of the claims it was intended thereby to be collected.   No communi"cation on the subject was passed from the office of the Secretary to that of the
"Commissioner.   No order in regard to it was ever issued through the Commis"sioners' office; nor were any collections, or other actions of his subordinates, ever
"reported to him until after action wqas taken in the Ilouse, calling upon the Sec"retary for information with regard to these collections. In fact it is shown that
"the Commissioner wrote a letter protesting against the manner of these collec"tions, which has never been answered. Indeed, this important officer, to whom
"belongs exclusively the collection of these taxes, appears to have been studi"ously ignored by the Secretary of the Treasury, and the officers in the office of
"the Secretary.  And without the knowledge of the Commissioner, his subordinates
"were directed to assist these contractors; and in no case can the Committee find
"that the contractors assisted this officer.
"The whole power of the Internal Bureau, as well as the entire machinery of
"the Government for the collection of taxes, was placed at the disposal of San"born; as the following proofs conclusively show:
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, February 3, 1873.
'SIR:  You are requested to assist JOHN D. SANBORN, Esq., of Boston, in the
'examination of official recorde in reference to such cases of the alleged violation
'of the Internal Revenue Laws as he may ask for your cooperation.
'Mr. SANBORN is acting under an appointment from me, and may need some
'information from the offices of collectors and assessors, for the purpose of veri'fying his claims.             Very respectfully,
(Signed)                   GEORGE A. BOUTWELL,
' Secretary of the  easu'
'To SUPERVISORI AND COLLECTORS OF INTERNAL REVENUE.'
"And, again, Secretary Richardson issued the following'
362 
THE SANBORN FRAUDS.
~''      s'TREASURY DEPARTMENT, October 15, 1876.
' To Supervisors and (Collee tors of Interral Revenue:
'You are requested to assist J(IRN D. SANBORN, of Boston, in the examination
'of such cases of alleged violation of the Internal Revenue Laws, as he may ask for
your cooperation.
'Mr. SANBORN is acting under an appointment from the Treasury Department,
'and may need some aid and information from your district, for the purpose of
' verifying his claims.
..' Please render him such assistance as he requires.
Vesr  respuctfJull,
(Signed)'WM.  A.  RIcHARDSON,
'secretary of the Treasury.'
*      *       *       *       *       *       *       *
i NEGLECTED DUTY OF COLLECTORS.
"It is the opiol)t of tha Cin atte3 that a v3ry lar73 p,rcz,3ta7e, if not all, of th
"foutr ht      al^ a- X  tol,-:os t/3    9,:  dolars collected by Sanborn were not a
"proper subject of contract under the law; and these taxes should and would hate
"been collected by the Internal Bareau, in the ordinary discharge of their duty.
*      *      *       *      *       *      *       *      *       *.
"By the testimony of Mr. Odell, Treasurer of the Delaware,  Lackawanna,
"and Western Railroad Co., and that of Supervisor Hawley, it very clearly
"appears that the sums collected by Sanborn from that Company  were well
"known to the Internal Revenue officers, and were collected to the amount of
"$100,000; which collection should have been made in the ordinary discharge of
"their duties, and without cost to the Government.
*      *       *      *      *       *      *       *      *       *
"If this law is not repealed, and new contracts are to remain in force, the con"tractor, armed with the power he now possesses, will collect all the taxes due the
"Government under repealed laws.  These taxes amount to SEVERAL MILLIONS OF
"DOLLARS; and this misplaced power will take it all out of the hands of the
"proper officers of Government, virtually displacing them by the creation of a
"new bureau for the collection of this class of taxes, with some such person as one
"of these contractors at its head, and at the cost of ONE-HALF OF THIS LARGE SUM.
*      *      *       *      *{      *      *       *       *      *
"The Committee, feeling alarmed at the apparent looseness with which this
"law was administered, had before them the Secretary, Assistant Secretary
"Sawyer, and the Solicitor of the Treasury.  The disagreements and contradic"tions given repectively by these gentlemen, as appears from their testimony, is
"a matter greatly deplored by the Committee, as by it they are unable to fix
"upon any one, or any where, the responsibility for the maladministration of this
"law; and the Committee look with serious apprehension upon the apparent efforts of
"these gentlemen to transfer thIe responsbility eachfrom himself to the other.  Thes
"three ofiicials deserve severe condemnation for the manner in which they have per"rmitted this law to be administered."
*            *             *             *             *            *
"The Committee are of opinion that any system of farming out any por "tion of the revenues of the Government for collection is fundamentally wrong.
"No necessity for such a law exists, for the reason that the Secretary of the
" lreasury, and the head (f the Internal Revenue Bureau, are fully empowered, by
"law, to make all collections of taxes-including taxes due on account of repealed
"laws."
AMOUNT PAID TO MR. SANBORN,
For contract collections --------------------------------------— $427,000
Retained by Mr. Sanborn, from United States Treasury ------------- 218,500
Amount justly due collectors —------------------------------- 9,000
Amount overpaid by the Treasury --------------------------— 417,000
[Report of Ways and Means Comnmittee, page 3. ]
"The Committee find that the information furnished by the paid officers of
"the Government, on which collections were made, was placed at the disposal of
" Sanborn, who, availing himselfofinformation paid for by the Government, obtained a
"contract for the collecti  of the  e  clains thus brought to light, and found to b
"due the Government.
368 
THE SANBORN FRAUDS
" It further appears, from the testimony of Sanborn himself, that when he ap"plied for his great railroad contract, he furnished a list of railroads, taken from
"a railroad manua, or guide, compring the names of five hundred and ninety-two
"railroad companies; being, substantially, THE ENTIRE LIST OF RAILROADS IN
"THE UNITED STATES; that while he had knowledge of the delinquency of only
"one hundred to one hundred and fifty of them, he had no knowledge whatever
"of the delinquency of the remaining four hundred or four hundred and fifty.
"When Sanborn so represented these facts to the officers of the Treasury De"partment, he was there told-'IT DON'T MAKE  ANY DIFFERENCE;
"PUT THEM ALL IN.'
"Whereupon, Sanborn made affidavit that the entire FIVE HUNDRED AND
"NINETY-TWO railroad corporations were delinquent, and were indebted to
"the Government.  This immense list was accordingly added to the Sanborn con" tract."
TRANSCRIPT OF THE RAILROAD CONTRACT.
"The following is a transcript of the proceedings, from the records of the
"Treasury Department, by which this remarkable railroad contract was attached
"to the original contract:
I BOSTON, July 1, 1872.
' SIR: I have the honor herewith to inclose a list of railroad corporations doing
' business in the United States which are indelbted to the Government upon  taxes
'upon dividends and interest paid upon bonds, which they have heretofore with
' held and refused to pay.
'I would respectfully ask that the inclosed list be added to my said contract
' made with the Secretary of the Treasury, said contract bearing date August 13,
'1872, and as amended October 30, 1872.
'Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
(Signed)'JOHN D. SANBOR.'
'I Hon. WM. A. RIcHARDSON,
' Secretary of the Treasury.'
'Subscribed and sworn before me, a legally appointed notary of the public for
'the city and county of New York, this third day of July, in the year eighteen
'hundred and seventy-three.'
' WM.   H.  STINER,'
' Notary Public,' (239).
['Indorsements.' ]
' Respectfully referred to the Solicitor of the Treasury.'
(Signed)' WM. A. RICHARDSON,'
' Secretary of the Teasury.'
JULY 7, 1873.
' I RECOMMEND that the Sthin ld be added to and mod part of Mr. Sanborn's
' contract.'
(Signed)'E. C. BANFIELD,'
' Slitor of the Treasury.'
'Approved:'
' WM. A. RICHARDSON,'
' Secretary.'
"[DUPLICATE.]"
"TREASURY DEPARTMENT, 
"WASHIINGTON, D. C., aovemnber 29, 1872. 
"SIR:  I inclose herewith, for collection, draft No. 1296, drawn by Jay Cooke
&'  Co., Washington, on Jay Cooke & Co., Philadelphia, for $7,865.86, in favor
' of the Secretary of the Treasury, and by him made payable to your order.  You
, will please deposit this amount, when collected, to the credit of the special de"posit account of the Secretary under the first section of the legislative, executive
and judicial appropriation act, approved May 8, 1872, and issue certificate of
"deposit in favor of John D. Sanbo, sending the same to this office.".
(Signed),                  "GEO.  S. BOUTWELL,"
"Seoretary. —
"F. E.'SPINNER, Esq.,
Treasurer United Sttes."
864 
TH  BANBORN FRAUDSE                              865
' TREASURY  DEPARTMENT, 
"WASHINGTON, D. C., D       o   3, 1872.
"SIR: I inclose herewith a draft for three thousand nine hundred and thirty"two dollars and ninety-three cents, on account of amount due you under your con
"tract with the Scretary, in the cases of Thomas H. Devens and J. H. Gossler, Jr."
"Very respectfully,"
(Signed)                                 "J. F. HARTLEY,"
"AsSistant Secretary."
JOHN D. SANBORN, ESQ.,
Cre Adams    ress Co., Boston, Mass.
TESTIMONY BEFORE THE coMMITTEE.
J. D. COUGHLIN, of New York County, testified on the ability of Revenue Department officers to collect for the Government, as follows:
"While I was assistant assessor on successions and legacy of the County of
"New  York, I, with one or two assistants  that department gave me, collectedfrom a hundred thousand dollars to half a million dollars a year,  as the re"cords of the Internal R~evenue Department will show.  The salary of an assist"ant assessor $1,500 a year.
"Q. Then the neglect to collect was a direliction of duty on the part of the
"Internal Revenue officer? A. Yes; it was entirely a direliction of duty on the
"part of the officer.
"Q. Then why should On extra compensation be given for collecting taxes
"which could be very easily ascertained and eolleted? You were aware of this,
"and made application to the Secretary of the Treasury for a collecting contract,
"did you not?  A. Yes; I made such application soon after I went out of office,
"as assistant assessor.
"Q. In connection with your proposition for a contract, you speak in your
"letter to the Secretary of the Treasury of a contract entered into with John D.
"Sanborn, of Massachusetts, at a commission of twenty-five per cent.?  A. Yes;
"that's the way I understood it at the time.
"Q. You remained in office about two months after you proposed to take a
"contract?  A. Yes, sir.
"Q. While you were still acting as officer of the Government why did you not
"inform other officers of the Government that they might be able to make col"tions at twentyfive per cent.?  A. Because I knew if the Government was going to
"collect tares at fifty per cent., I would be the best person to do it, because I knew
"how to get on with the buiness.
"Q. Why did you not transfer to your superior officer all the information you
"transferred to Mr. Sanborn? A. I could not.
"Q. Why could you not? A. Because I could not transfer to my successor all
"my knowledge of law and experience I could transfer to Mr. Sanborn.
"Q. Did you give to Mr. Sanborn a knowledge of delinquents? A. HE HAD
T THAT ALREADY.
"Q. So you had three years after the repeal of the law to work up all these
"cases? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. And the records of the Surrogate's Court furnished you the names of all
"persons who had died leaving estates, and of their executors? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. Why, then, did the Secrettry refuse to give you a contract at fifteen per
"cent.? I do not know.
"Q. DID HE EVER WRITE ANY ANSWER TO YOUR APPLICATION?  A. No, sir.
"Q. Why did the Secretary make a contract with Sanborn at fifty per cent.,
"after you had made a proposal to collect these same taxes at twenty-fiveper cent.?
A. I really do not know.
" Q. You yourself really did this work alone in these succession-tax
"matters? Yes, sir.
"Q. Sanborn did not work any, then, in person? A. No, sir.. He merely
"lodged the information previously furnished him.
"Q. And two lines would have furnished Mr. Sanborn all the information
"necessary to be found? A. In that case it would.
"Q. Did Mr. Sanborn ask you what amount you expected to collect? A. He did.
"Q. What did you tell him? A. ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS.
"Q. Did Mr. Sanborn tell you he had a contract for getting one-half of h/
"collections from the Governnent for cooltcting the taxes? A. Yes, sir." 
866                           THE SANBORN FRAUDS.
Hon. JoiN W. DOUGLASS, Commissier of Internal Revenue, testified as to the
monopoly of the Sanborn contracts:
"Q.  You have stated that the Internal Revenue is working much more satis"factorily now, without the use of informers and spies, and without giving moi"ties, than it did before. Would it have done so, if they had kept these three
"men out of the way? A.' Yes; I do not see, why. under that $100,000 pro"vision, I could not have given men  fflcient covwpensation for information; and
"my officers would have been bound to perform the work; and I judge that they
"did all the work in these cases.
"Q. Have you looked over this list of railroads that is put in the Sanborn con"tract? A. I have looked over some of it.
"Q. Do you know whether or not it embraces all the leading railroads of the
"country? A. A few days ago, one of my collectors, who had been assessor in
"Baltimore for a number' of years, told me had looked over it, and that all the
"railroads in Maryland were there-the Baltimore and Ohio, and others; and lhe
"knew that all of them had had close investigation by himself, and he thought
"they did not owe a dollar to the Government. This was a very intelligent officer"a conscientious man.
"Q. There are nearly ten pages of this book taken up with this list of rail"roads?  A. I think this gentleman said to me that he thought hlie recognized in
"it the entire list of the railroads of t/ie country.
"Q. You think it is substantially the schedule of the railroads of the country?
A. Yes; I think so.
"Q. Would the Sanborn contracts shut the gate against all Internal Revenue
' officers from collecting any back taxes from any of these companies?
"A. If this is a perfect list, I could not collect the back taxes from  any railroad
"in the country.
"Q. And the whole collection from the railroads would be transferred to Sanborn
"and his two men?  A. That would be the effect, if I should submit to it.
" Q. And if the Secretary, in addition to that, sends the a,ernts of Sanborn into
"your office to get information as to what has been paid by railroad companies,
"does he not put the whole collection into the hands of Sanborn and his associates; and
"does he not make your office subordinate to him and them, so that they may have
"the facts to work with for their benefit, to ascertain the amount of tax due?
"A. Our officers have all the knowledge, and we have the force to do the work.
"Q. You think, then, that the Internal Revenue office is really cut off from any
"action with regard to this large revenue, by reason of these orders affecting the
"Sanborn contract? A. Yes I" 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFIORII.
Plt()FESSIONS versws PRACTICE.
On the eve of the Presidential election in 1872, when the civil service of the
Government had become so bad as to excite remonstrance on the part of many
honorable gentlemen who lbelonged to the Republican party, and to cause
the people to insist upon some reform, the President of the United States
issued the following "Executive Order," which was industriously circulated
throughout the country:
"l'xecutire Oridei. —The Advisory Board of the Civil Service having completed
the grouping contemplated by the rules already adopted, have recommended  certain provisions for carrying the rules into effect.
"The recommendations, as herewith published, are approved, and the provisions will be enforced as rapidly as the proper arrangements can be made. * * *
The utmost fidelity and diligence will be expected of all officers in every branch
of the public service. Political assessments, as they are called, have been forbidden within the various departments; and while the right of all persons in official
position to take part in politics is acknowledged, and the elective franchise is
recognized as a higb trust, to be discharged by all entitled to its exercise, whether
in the employment of the Government or in private life, honesty and efficiency,
not political activity, will determine the tenure of office.
"(By the President.)                  U.S. GRANT.
"HAMILTON FISH,
" Secretary of State.
"Washington, April 16, 1872."
GEN. BUTLER TELLS THE HOUSE WHAT THE PRESIDENT MEANS.
A more comprehensive and just appreciation of the purpose and intent of this
Executive Order" cannot be obtained than by reading the history of "Civil
Service Reform," as given by an intimate friend and earnest supporter of its
author.
Hon. B. F. Butler, of Massachusetts, was, at that time, a Member of Congress.
The House, on the 18th day of April, 1872, just two days subsequent to the date
of thlis order, having under consideration a bill "to preserve the independence of
the several departments of the Government," Mr. Butler said:
"Sir, this'civil service reform' I characterize as a political trick sprung on
the eve of a presidential election by those    "
"MOr. GARFIELID,  of Ohio.  By the chief candidate.  [Referring to President
Grant.]"
"Mr. BUTLER, of Massachusetts. No; I will tell you to whom, if you will
not interrupt me, and I will tell you if you do. [Laughter.] I say again, it was
sprung on the country as a political trick by opponents of the dominant party
and this is not the fii st lime that such a thing has been attempted."   *  *   *  *
Thus, then, Mr. Speaker, we have found civil service reform is always popular 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
with the'outs' and never with the'ins,' unless with those who have a strong
expectation of soon going out. [Laughter.]
"Now, then, sir, how came this present so-called civil:service reform sprung upon
us and sprung upon the people for the third time, just before the Presidential
election? It was because a Senator, himself a candidate for the Presidency, put it on
an appropriation bill in the Senate, when it passed without a word of debate, and
we could not discuss it in the House because it came to us in the waning hours of
the night, in the last night of the Session, and we could not defeat it without log
ing the appropriation bill to which it was attached, and therefore we passed it
under duress and legislative compulsion.   Having passed this law, the President
did exactly what I think he ought to have done; he put it in force. He said,
'you made the law; I am sworn to execute the laws, and I will carry it out to
the best of my ability.' He did again what I think he ought to have done; he
took no responsibility himself as to the manner of execution, but he appointed
the best Board of Commissioners he could readily find, of men who had nothing
else to do, to make rules for its enforcement. That commission has been sitting
upon those rules for some ten months, more or less, and they have produced a set
of rules-the practical workings of which I think no man of them understands,
or which at least no Representative will get up in the House and say that in their
length or breadth, in their scope and direction, he is in favor of. Who is the
man to stand up and say he approves of those rules exactly as they are?"
"Mr. WILLARD.  The President."
"Mr. BUTLER.  The President of the United States has said no such thing.  But
I asked what man in the House would do this thing? I asked some one to get up
here and speak for himself. One has got up and spoken for some one else. [Laughter.]  The President, by his conduct, has said precisely as I would have said in
his place. He in effect says to Congress,'you have started this machine, and so
far as I am concerned you will see it go into operation.' That is what he did;
and he did right. But he says in his message,' I reserve the privilege to myself
of amending and altering these rules at pleasure.'
"Now, then, who are in favor of them? All this kind of trouble, I call to the
attention of the House, has always originated in the Senate of the United States
just before a Presidential election, where there are never more than seventy-four
candidates for the Presidency among seventy-four Senators. [Laughter.] Now, sir,
we are told everybody in the Senate is in favor of it; but when you find anybody in the House, on the Republican side, who is in favor of it, he has to give a
certificate that he is not going to Cincinnati. [Laughter.]" (Cong. Globe Appendix, 2d Session 42d Congress, page 268.)
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM " SPRUNG UPON"' US AGAIN WITH LIKE INTENT.
We are on the eve of another Presidential election, and "this present, so-called
civil service reform," as Mr. Butler characterized it, is again "sprung" upon the
country. And by whom? And for what purpose? Let us examine and ascertainI
The Republican party, in its platform adopted at Cincinnati, June 15, 1876,
declared as follows:
"Fifth. Under the Constitution the President and heads of Departments
are to make nominations for office, the Senate is to advise and consent to
appointments, and the House of Representatives is to accuse and prosecute
faithless officers. The best interests of the public service demand that this distinction be respected, that Senators and Representatives who may be judges and
accusers should not dictate appointments to office. The invariable rule for
appointments should have reference to the honesty, fidelity, and capacity of
appointees, giving to the party in power those places where harmony and vigor
of administration require its policy to be represented, bht permitting all others
to be filled by persons selected with the sole reference to efficiency of public
service and the right of citizens to share in the honor of rendering  faithful
service to the country.
"Sixth. We  rejoice in the quickened conscience of the people  concerning
political affairs, and will hold all public officers to a rigid responsibility, and
engage that the prosecution and punishment of all who betray official trust shall
be speedv, thorough, and unsparing,"
Gov. Hayes, in his letter of acceptance, emphasized this declaration of principles, and expressed his convictions in regard to them, as follows  "The fifth resolution adopted by the convention is of paramount interest. More
368 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
than forty years ago a system of making appointments to office grow up, based
upon the maxim'to the victors belong the spoils.'  The old rule, the true rule,
that honesty, capacity, and fidelity constitute the only real qualifications for office, and that there is no other claim, gave place to the idea that party services
were to be chiefly considered. All parties, in practice, have adopted this system.
It has been essentially modified since its first introduction. It has not, however,
been improved. At first the President, either directly or through the heads of
departments, made all the appointments.   But gradually the appointing power
in many cases passed into the control of members of Congress. The offices in
these cases have become not merely rewards for party services but rewards for
services to party leaders. This system destroys the independence of the separate
departments of the Government.'It tends directly to extravagance and official
incapacity.' It is a temptation to dishonesty. It hinders and i'mpairs that careful supervision and strict accountability by which alone faithful and efficient
public service can be secured. It obstructs the prompt removal and sure punishment of the unworthy. In every way
IT DEGRADES THE CIVIL SERVICE,
and the character of the Government. It is felt, I am confident, by a large
majority of the members of Congress to be an intolerable burden and an unwarrantable hindrance to the proper discharge of their legitimate duties. It ought to
be abolished. The reform should be thorough, radical, and complete; we
should return to the principles and practice of the founders of the Government,
supplying by legislation, when needed, that which was formerly established by
custom  they neither expected nor desired from the public officer any partisan
service; they meant that public officers should owe their whole service to the
Government and to the people; they meant that the officer should be secure in
his tenure as long as his personal character remained untarnished and the performance of his duties satisfactory. If elected, I shall conduct the administration of the Government upon these principles, and all constitutional powers
vested in the Executive will be employed to establish this reform."
THE MEN WHO NOMINATED GOV. HAYES-WHAT THEY THINK.
The nomination of Gov. Hayes at Cincinnati was brought about by a combination of the friends of Senators Morton, Conkling and Cameron, in which they
were supported by President Grant. The object of this combination was the
defeat of Mr. Blaine, which was accomplished. These gentlemen, therefore, will,
necessarily, exert more influence over Gov. Hayes in the event of his election to
the office of President, than any other members of his party. They will be the
power behind the throne, greater than the throne itself.
These distinguished gentlemen are the most conspicuous men of their party,
excepting, perhaps, Gen. Butler.   Their public services and undeviating party
allegiance have given them this prominence, and their party influence is without
limit. It is well known that a contest, earnest if not bitter, has been going on
within the Republican party for several years upon the question of "Civil Service
Reform,"'and, consequently, leaders so prominent as these have not failed to array themselves upon one side or the other of this controversy.    One would naturally infer, from the bold declaration of the Cincinnati platform as above shown,
that these gentlemen had always been the advocates of the principles therein enunciated.  On the contrary, their records show a vigilant, earnest, and persistent
opposition on their part to every movement made in the direction of "Civil Service Reform," whether it originated within their party, or without, as we shall proceed to show.
MR. MORTON SAYS THE " PRINCIPLE'" OF GOT. HAYES'S LETTER "IS FALSE  IN
ITSELF. 
Mr. Trumbull introduced into the Senate, during the Forty-first Congress, a
bill, the purpose of which was to enforce the principles of the 5th resolution of
the Cincinnati platform. While it was under discussion in the Senate, January 4,
1871. Mr. Morton said:
"Now, Mr. President, I come to the principle of the bill, and insist that it is
false in itself. I undertake to say that the greatest security an Executive can
have, who can know but a very small number of the American people, is the fact
369 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
that he can rely upon Members of Congress, his political friends, for recommendation to office.  How so?  Take a member of the House.  He is expected to
recommend, if he is a political friend of the President, for the local offices in his
district. The people understand, and if there is a bad appointment made, if
there is a bad postmaster, if a horse-thief is appointed postmaster, they hold the
Member of Congress directly responsible for it. They expect that in the natural
course of things he has recommended that man.  Therefore it becomes his interest at once to recommend good men for these offices; his re-election depends
upon it.
"How is it with regard to the Senator? He is expected to recommend for general appointments in his State, for marshals, district attorneys and officers of
other grades. The people understand that; and if he recommends a bad man
they hold him responsible for it. It goes directly to the question of his popularity, directly to the question of his re-election; and the President has this
security where appointments are recommended  by Members of Congress."[Cong. Globe, vol. 82, p. 294.] j
MR. MORTON SAYS IT IS "CHEAP POPULARITY" HAYES IS AFTER.
But Mr. Morton did not rest his opposition to "Civil Service Reform" upon
the principles of the bill then under consideration alone. He carried it very
much farther, and sought to hold up to ridicule those who were endeavoring to
inaugurate reform in the civil service of the Government.
He said: "Mr. President, a great deal of cheap popularity has been acquired
in the last two or three years by an advocacy of what is called civil service reform. A great many persons are talking and writing about that, who, I think,
scarcely understand what it means. At any rate, the abuses to be reformed have
been greatly exaggerated. They are not so numerous, nor are they so flagrant as
has been represented by the Senator from Illinois. A great deal is said in these
times against politicians, and it has been shown how beautifully this Government
would work if it was not for the politicians; that the Government could be run
better without politicians than with them; and'it seems to me to be somewhat
fashionable to denounce members of Congress. I must question the taste of the
Senator from Illinois in dealing in these general and extensive charges against members of Congress. They may be deserved in some cases, but not generally. The
cases where they are deserved are the exceptions.".
"The Senator seems to consider that we can enter upon an administration of
the civil service which would require perfection in human nature, require men to
be destitute of ambition, of jealousy, of all passions which ordinarily interfere
with the proper administration of government.
"Sir, we shall never have such an administration.  It is not possible. We must
take human nature as it is. Plato's dream of a republic can never be realized. It
was Utopian then; it will always be Utopian."- [Cong. Globe, vol. 82, p. 458.
After quoting from Mr. Trumbull's speech a statement that the bill under consideration would" make the head of every department responsible for the appointments which he makes, and no Secretary will then venture to have in his employ
double the number of clerks required," Mr. Morton said:
"Here we have the broad statement made in the Senate of'the United States
that there are here in the Departments of this Government more than twice as
many clerks as are needed to do the business. I regard that as a very injurious statement, It is one that will excite and alarm the country. It will lead the country to
believe that everything is corrupt; that everything is rotten in the administration
of this Government, in this Capitol. And now I ask the question, is it true? I
submit that the Senator is mistaken; that it is not true. There is not, in my opinion, five per cent. of it true; the evidence cannot be found to establish its truth.
Sir, it is a direct imputation of corruption and of weakness upon every Secretary,
upon every head of bureau, upon everybody in this Government that has the appointing power, and it ought not to be sent forth to alarm and to excite the
country, unless it can be substantiated. If the Senatdr can produce the evidence
of this let the country have it, and let those men who are placed in charge of
these Departments be held responsible, and be condemned by Congress and by
the people."
"But, sir, it is a grave and serious charge that ought not to be made unless it
can be substantiated, and I give my opinion here that not five per cent. of it is
true, and perhaps not two per cent." * * * * * 
370 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
"A system that might be appropriate to Great Britain would not be appropriate
here; our institutions are different. In England the tenure of office in the civil
service is for life. They hold their offices during good behavior; that is to say,
during life. Can we adopt the life tenure here?
MR. MORTON TIIINKS GOV. HAYES'S PRINCIPLE WIILL FORM "'A PRIVILEGED
CLASS."
"Why, sir, ten thousand men in this city holding office for life would form
a privileged class that would revolutionize the very foundation principle of this
Government. We have but one life tenure under our Constitution, and if we had
it to make over again we would not have that. I refer to the Supreme Court of
the United States. An experience of seventy-five years has shown that the reason
which induced the incorporation of the life tenure in the organization of that
Court is not a good one-it has failed; and we would not now re-establish it.
Certainly we would not apply the life tenure to seven or ten thousand men in the
employment of the Government, and place them beyond the ordinary responsi bilities that men in office are placed under. If a man has an office for life it takes
a very serious cause to get him out. An ordinary delinquency, ordinary neglect,
or abuse, or failure, is never sufficient to oust a man who holds an office for life.
No, sir, we cannot afford to adopt the English system under any circumstances;
it is anti-republican; it is contrary to the fundamental principles of this
Government; and yet the Senator holds up to us the beauties of the English
system!"
Mr. Morton, in the same speech, gave it as his belief that "the civil service of
this Government was then carried on as well, and perhaps better, than at any
former period of our history."
Mr. Morton further said: "But the Senator says that officers ought to be appointed without regard to politics.   Whenever you can carry on this Government
without regard to politics that doctrine will do. But this is a Government of the
people and a Government of public opinion, in which the mass of the people take
a deep interest, as they do not in England, and in countries on the Continent of
Europe. Just so long as the character of this Government continues as it is,
appointments will continue to be made with reference to politics; and no system
can be devised that will prevent it.  I do not care how many competitive examinations you institute, or whether you make the tenure for life or a tenure for ten
years, you cannot change that thing unless you change the character of the
Government. But what propriety is there in it? A man high in office, who has
climbed up the political ladder may then turn round and slap the faces of his
friends who helped him up, if they should want appointments, and call that
virtue! Would it make it virtue? "-[Cong. Globe, vol. 82, p. 461.]
It is quite probable that Mr. Morton would be called, in the event of Mr. Hayes's
election, to a seat in his Cabinet, hut, with the views here expressed, it is not probable that "the quickened conscience of the people concerning political affairs"
would have much influence upon Mr. Morton in permitting offices where "harmony and vigor of administration " did not require "its policy" to be represented,
"to be filled by persons selected with sole reference to efficiency of public service
and the right of citizens to share in the honor of rendering faithful service to the
country."  Mr. Morton would leave the appointing power, as at present, under
"the control of members of Congress" and the offices in his department would
continue to be "not merely rewards for party services, but rewards for services to
party leaders."  He would not attempt to acquire "cheap  popularity by the advocacy of any such "civil service reform."  He would "run" the Government
with "politicians," and would not seek "perfection in human nature" in the administration of his "civil service."
Mr. CONKLING THINKS COLLECTOR MURPHY A MODEL OFFICER.
Mr. Conkling has not been as consistent in his opposition to "civil service reform" as Mr. Morton, but perhaps more diligent in his efforts to exonerate his
friends (particularly the late Collector of New York, Mr. Thomas Murphy) from
any blame that might be supposed to attach to them, from the results of investigations of the civil service of the Government, made by the two Houses of Congress.
The civil service commission, in their report to the President, which was transmitted by him to Congress on the 18th day of December, 1871, say:
371 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
"When public offices are regarded only as rewards for political service they
will be constantly multiplied to supply more places. There will be incessant temporary employments, as they are called, and consequent deficiency bills and supplementary appropriation bills.  Meanwhile the influence which has obtained the
office, not for the public service, but as a private reward, will be stow to see ineffciency or actual diswhonesty in the conduct of the incumbent.  The tendeny will be to disbelieve and to excuse and to postpone inquiry, so that, under this system, not only
are useless offices created, but there is the strongest temptation to conceal corruption, and every abuse and every extravagance resulting from a multiplication of
such offices are constantly increasing."
An apt illustration of what is here so forcibly stated by the civil service commission is found in the conduct of Mr. Conkling in the Senate of the United States.
During the somewhat protracted debate upon his bill in the Senate, Mr. Trumbull,
on the 23d day of January, 1871, brought to the attention of the Senate a report
of a joint select committee of Congress, made to the House' of Representatives
on the 31st of January, 1867, in which the management of the New York Custom
House was severely criticised. In doing so, Mr. Trumbull said:
"Does the Senator from Indiana hear what a committee appointed by the two
Houses of Congress, and who investigated these subjects, say? They say that
'the political influences which secured the original appointment have been able
to present a removal.'
"'The public service has thus been used as an instrument of political or party
patronage, and the officers composing it, have not been, except in rare instances
selected for their qualifications, have not been promoted for merit, and have had
no certain or definite tenure of office, and are subjects to be dismissed at any time
without notice and without fault.
"' The committee have therefore come to the conclusion that a great saving in
the public expenditure can be effected by raising the character of all branches of
the civil service.    *    *    *    *    *    *    The committee are satisfied
that, if a system substantially like that set forth in the bill reported should be
adopted in this country, the same amount of service could be obtained at about
two-thirds of the present expenditure."'
SIMPLY TO DRAW PAY.
In the papers accompanying this Report it is stated:
"It is known that men have been appointed as Custom House Inspectors at
compensation varying from one and a half to two and a half or three dollars a
day, who were never required to perform a single day's service, and whose only
attendance at the Custom House was for the purpose of receiving and receipting
for their pay."
That is the report of your Committee.
"One of the obstacles in the way of bringing these Custom House employes to
a proper sense of what is due from them to the Government has been the idec
that they were appointed to their positions in consequence, and perhaps in payment
of services rendered to the party having possession of the Government, or of some
friend to whose political infuence  they conceive themselves indebted for their, positions, and who they imagine can alone displace them.    *    *    *    *    *
"Of the officers employed in the New York Custom House, it is believed a majority of them have no special qualifications for their places, and little knowledge
of the'law under which they discharge their duties, while the estimates presented
to the commission of the annual losses experienced by the Government, through
the frauds perpetrated in connection with this institution, range from twelve to
twenty-five million dollars."-L Gong. Globe, vol. 82, p. 667.]
These accusations against the management of the New York Custom House,
brought Mr. Conkling to his feet. He was "slow to see inefficiency or actual
dishonesty in the conduct" of the then Collector and his employes, or that of the
Collector and his subordinates in office, at the date of the investigations made by
the joint select committee.
Mr. Conkling inquired of the Senator from Illinois when the report from
which he read was made, and then said:
"If the Senator will allow me, I desire to say, had that report which he reads
been made In reference to the condition of things at present, or recently, in the
New York Custom House, I should be very much surprised at it. And further,
although I have not read the statement to which the Senator refers in the papers
372 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
et with considerable knowledge of the facts to which these reports must relate,
I undertake to say that they are without foundation, speaking very moderately
of them."-[Cong. Globe, vol. 82, p. 667.]
Mr. Conkling, pending the discussion upon the discussion upon Mr. Trumbull's
bill, referring particularly to the testimony taken -by the Joint Select Committee
on Retrenchment, which was subsequently submitted to the Senate by Mr. Patterson, further said:
"Mr. President, uninformed as I am of the testimony before the Committee,
except so far as the Senator (Mr. Patterson) has taken the liberty of bringing it
here, and uninformed, except by statements of observers at a distance, of the proceedings of the Committee, I hazard the assertion in advance that, with the Committee or without the Committee, in spite of the Committee, if it does not allow
witnesses on both sides to appear before it, the truth will appear that the present
collector has devoted himself, not only with assiduity, but with conscientious
determination, to eradicating abuses of long growth, and that in the particular in
which he is now challenged, he has given the best and the most successful administration of'the office we have had for years.-[Cong. Globe, vol. 82, p. 591.]
The Committee on Retrenchment, which investigated the New York Custom
House under the resolution of December 14, 1870, summed up in their report the
result of their investigations of the general order system.  They submitted with
their report the testimony taken by them, and in order to understand properly
what Mr. Conkling regarded as "the best and the most successful administration"
of the New York Custom House in this particular, it is necessary to refer to the report and the testimony relative thereto.
THE COMMITTEE ON RETRENCHMENT TAKE ISSUE WITH MR. CONKLING.
The Committee said with respect to the general order system then in practice,
as follows:
"The Committee have not had time to form and digest any plan to recommend
as a permanent substitute for the present system of general order, which seems to
involve all the risks,'hazards and inconveniences of that which it supplanted, and
is very generally condemned by importers at New York as burdensome and inimical to the interests of commerce."-[Senate Report No. 380, 41st Congres, 3ed
Wqest, p. 4.]
. Among the witnesses called by the Committee during its investigations, was
the lion. Simeon B. Chittenden, a large importer of dry goods, prints, &c.,
in the city of New York, and at present a member of Congress from one of the
districts of the State of New York, who testified as follows, in answer to the
question "Does the present system (general order system) give any greater se curity to the Government than the old?"
"Not the least:  The Government has no security any way.   The whole administration of the Custom House, in my judgment, as you and all other thoughtful gentlemen ought to expect it to be, when it is run purely in the interests of
politicians, is a hunting-ground for politicians who seek their personal ends. A
collector enters the Custom House with the vague impression of making a fortune in a few months, and all his subordinates seem to think that they have the
same chance before them.   I have a very poor opinion of the administration of
the Custom House here, and I believe it is utterly impossible to improve it except
by a thorough change."-[Senate Report No. 380, 41st Congress, 3d Sesion, p. 42.]
MR. DODGE DENOMINATES IT A POLITICAL MACHINE.
Hon. WILLIAM E. DODGE, Jr., an importer of metals, and a gentlemen wellknown throughout the whole country, testified before the Committee as follows:
"The Custom House is a political machine. The decent people who make up
the Republican party see that it is run for the benefit of men who go into the
Republican party simply to make money out of it, and they are so disgusted that
they don't vote. At this last election we were desirous of getting the German
vote, but there is not a German merchant but what has been so irritated about
the "general order" that he is willing to crush the administration.  The fact
that the administration was represented here by such a venal, corrupt machine
as the Custom House, has taken the heart out of all the German Republicans. I
scarcely know an intelligent Republican who voted at the last election in New
York. The whole conduct of things has been on that basis, and just as long as
all offices under the Government are political gifts, just so long we will get worse
873 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
and worse, and go to the dogs. In a conversation I had with Mr. Grinnell, the
impression that I gained was, that the restoration of this general order system
w.s a political necessity connected with the Custom House that must be taken
care of."
In reply to the question, "Did the Custom House officials, or those with whom
you conversed, give you the names of those parties in Washington whose necessities made it necessary to continue this general order system?" Mr. Dodge said:
"No, sir.  The appointment'of Mr. Murphy as Collector was  considered
extraordinary. I know nothing against him, except that he is a man without any
experience, and utterly without any position here-probably the last man that
would have been thought of by any merchant. Knowing that he knew nothing
about it, and was kept there for political purposes, the merchants have kept
away, and felt as if it would hurt their self-respect to meddle with it. I never
understood why or how he was appointed, without it was for some political
reason. "-[Ib. pp. 38-9.]
MR. PATTERSON GIVES US A LOOK AT THE INSIDE WORKINGS OF THE POLITICAL
MACHINE.
Mr. Patterson addressed the Senate upon Mr. Trumbull's bill on the 24th day
of January, 1871. In his speech he referred to the investigation of the New York
Custom House by the Committee on Retrenchment. He discussed the management of the Custom House at that time at considerable length, which was the
occasion of Mr. Conkling's defense of his friend, Collector Murphy, as given
above. We make the following extracts from this portion of his speech. They
are well calculated to throw light upon the actual workings of this "political
machine," and to give the people an inside view of this "hunting-ground for
politicians."  Mr. Patterson said: "Now, sir, how do the facts stand to-day in'
our Custom Houses and governmental departments?  When I was at New York
lately, talking some.in respect to a subject which had been referred to the Committee on Retrenchment by a resolution of the Senate, some statements were
made by parties under oath bearing upon this subject, which seemed to me to be
of a good deal of importance. Among the number who appeared before the
Committee was William E. Dodge, a gentleman well known to members of the
Senate, and well known to the country; a man of high character, and whose
opinions are worthy of great respect. His son, William E. Dodge, Jr., also came
before the Committee and expressed in substance the same views which his father
had expressed. I asked that gentleman if he would not put upon paper the views
which he had expressed to the Committee. He did so; and I send to the Chair a
letter which he handed me, to be read.
The Secretary read as follows
"There are three classes of clerks in the New York Customn House on whom
devolve its working:
-Mrst.-The fewest possible number of older clerks, kept as experts, from the
sheer necessity of having some experienced hands to attempt the guidance of
official routine.  These poor fellows are kept in a constant state of terror; never
able to make any plans for the future of themselves or their families; never
knowing when their instant dismissal may come.  They are obliged to consort
and drink with political hacks placed in their bureau; contribute from their small
incomes to election funds; with no hope of advancement; no stimulus to more
faithful work; no provision in case of illness or old age.  They fear to communicate their knowledge of details, knowing the moment it is learned by others,
they will lose their own place. They are obliged to invent more and more intricate
means of conducting business in order to throw a mystery about their work and
preserve their own importance. They are a sad, unhappy set with no pride or
ambition.
"&Secondly. -A small class, composed of incapable and shiftless persons, who
have never succeeded in anything and never will; who have some family or personal hold on people of larger political influence. These are pushed into the customs as into a hospital or safe harbor. They do very little work, and are not expected to do anything but draw their pay with exact and beautiful regularity; to
act as figure-heads at ward primary meetings, and in a feeble and helpless way, to
cheer on thle fortunes of the particular senator to whose skirts their friends
happen to hang.
"Thirdly.-The large class, forming the great bulk of the clerks, filling to reple
374 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
tion all the old departments, and for whom new departments are made; the class in
order to give positions to which political jugglers rack their ingenuity to make
place, inventing all sorts of intricacies to turn simple business forms into problems which ordinary minds cannot understand, so that some who have done the
party service can have a desk at which entries can be rechecked and examined
again and again in hopeless confusion.  These are the men who have been the
sly workers in local caucuses, the noisy men in local elections; who have worked
and drank for years; who have a "hold" upon some higher office-holder, or Congressman, or Senator, and must be provided for. For this reward of their faithful
services they have looked for a long, weary time, and they must make the most of
it. They cannot expect to stay long in their offices, and their duty to themselves
and their families, as they see duty, compels them to make the most they can.
"The slightest fitness for the post or adaptness to the work is not thought of
for a moment. They do as little work and get the most they can. And yet they
are not happy. Each clerk represents a dozen equally deserving but disappointed
political workers who have tried for the same place, and are constantly plotting to
undermine him. In old times a man had a fair chance to hold through the administration, but now his tenure is only good until the "friends" of the "other
Senator" get the upper hand. The chaos and confusion growing out of such
working materials can easily be understood, especially when you add the fact
that the collector is expected to use most of his time in political maneuvering;
and the tariff under which they act now, with the various rulings under it, the
most complicated ever known, and the system of drawbacks intricate beyond
description.
NO WONDER THE THOUGHTFUL AND INTELLIGENT HAVE NO CONFIDENCE IN THE
ADMINISTRATION.
"Can you wonder that the voters of the Republican party, who are for the
most part among the thoughtful and intelligent people, lose their confidence in
an Administration which, in a time of debt and depression, allows the most vital
point of its financial machinery to be used for the gain and the squabbles of low
politicians, who in any other sphere would not be trusted for a moment."
Mr. Patterson continued: "Mr. President, the question was asked, when this
bill was up for discussion the other day, if the passage read by the Senator from
Illinois represented the present or the past condition of the Custom House in the
city of New York. I think this letter answers the question, in the judgment of
Mr. Dodge.
" But, sir, that is not all. We took the testimony of some of the subordinates
of the Custom House, and, among others, of inspectors whose duty it is to discharge the steamers which arrive from day to day at the port of New York, and
we found it a practice of long standing with these inspectors to take from twelve
to fifty dollars of bribe money on the discharge of every steamer that comes to the
wharf, and then to take an oath at the time they draw their monthly pay that
they have not received a dollar improperly."-[ Cong. Globe and Appendix, vol. 84,
page 56 of Appendix.]
So much for what Mr. Conkling regarded "the best and most successful administration of the New York Custom House we have had for years." It is
reasonable to suppose that he would be satisfied with a similar administration
under Mr. Hayes, should he be chosen President.
MR. SIMON CAMERON HAPPY.
Mr. Cameron marches up to the defense of the present civil service system
squarely.  He believes that "this Government of ours is as well conducted now
as ever it was since its beginning, and better than any other Government in the
world."  He does not desire any "reform" in the civil service, because there is
nothing in it which requires reformation. Pending the discussion in the Senate
of Mr. Trumbull's bill to relieve members of Congress from importunity, and to
preserve the independence of the different departments, Mr. Cameron said
"It is customary to talk about the idleness of the clerks in the departments in
this city, and of those holding offices in other places. Take them all together, I do
not believe there is a more efficient, a more honest, a more useful, and a worse
paid body of people than the clerks in these departments. I have said for long
years that the only wrong that is done here they do to themselves in accepting
these places, for which they are so poorly paid. Frequently after coming here
3X5 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
they are unable to leave. Why, sir, within the last week I have had fifty men
coming to me and saying to me that they would give up their places here if they
had the means to get away.  Many of them have served here for years, and have
obtained but a scanty living. 
"This cry for reform comes from the party in the minority. It is not new.
The party out of office is always complaining of that which is in office. Sometimes our friends give way to that cry, and very often when they do so, they do
it without reflection."    *    *    *    *    *    *    "Besides, to my mind
it is ridiculous to suppose that senators can be prevented from acting as citizens.
How  will you prevent it?  By no law."    *    *    *    "I am for leaving
this thing as it has been in the past, and let nature work out its own way.. Some
men will be prosperous and some will not, some will do wrong and some will not.
But  you can make no laws here which will regulate this thing upon Utopian
doctrines."-[ Cong. Globe, vol. 82, page 673.]
Mr. Cameron does not "rejoice in the quickened conscience of the people concerning political affairs;" he does not believe the present system of making appointments "tends directly to extravagance and official incapacity," and that "it
should be abolished." He is "for leaving this thing as it is." He does not
believe in the doctrine that "senators and representatives who  may be judges
and accusers, should not dictate appointments to office." To "his mind it is
ridiculous to suppose that senators can be prevented from acting as citizens."
Mr. Cameron, unlike the employes in the New York Custom House, is
"happy."
THE EARLY EFFORTS IN BEHALF OF CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
As the evil results of the present pernicious system of civil service have been
observed, efforts have been made to obviate them, which, however, have certainly
met with a persistent opposition from the most influential men of the Republican
party, each by Gen. Butler and Senator Morton.
The most active and continuous of these efforts were made by the Hon. Thomas
Jenckes, of Rhode Island. In a speech delivered in the House of Representatives
on the 6th day of February, 1867, upon "a bill to regulate the civil service of the
United States, and promote the efficiency thereof," Mr. Jenckes said:
"From  what I have seen in my  experience it is my  profound conviction
this measure ought to be adopted. With the other members of the Committee on Retrenchment, I have been through the different offices here, and
have visited Custom Houses and other public offices elsewhere. We
have examined their accounts, their. regulations, their mode of doing business, and, in my judgment, a more vicious system does not exist in any
civilized nation on the face of the earth.   Every other civilized nation has
reformed its system except ours; and while we have in the Military and Navy
Department excelled, perhaps, other nations, so that we can point with pride to
the personnel of our forces, both on sea and land, yet who speaks with pride of
those who are working in these treadmills of the public service, thrust in by
political preference or personal liking, and who hold on to their places just for
the purpose of earning sufficient to get a livlihood, doing as little as they can?
-[Coaig. Globe, vol. 62, p. 1035.]
Again in the House of Representatives, on the 14th day of May, 1868, in the
discussion of a bill of the same title, reported from the joint Committee on
Retrenchment, Mr. Jenckes said with respect to the "great frauds and thefts upon
the customs revenue":
"The report (of the joint Committee) will show some of the curiosities of the
business.  We  do not seek to disguise the cause of the inefficiency (to use the
mildest term) of these officers. They are all appointed upon political or personal
grounds, and as their tenure of office is insecure, and they may be removed at
any time, without pensions and without cause, they do the least they can to earn
their salaries.  To use a favorite phrase with them, they "make the most of their
time."  Indeed, if any one should prove faithful and vigilant, and not only see
that persons dealing with the Government act fairly, but also report any
delinquencies of their fellows, their tenure of office would be more insecure, and
any repetition of such fidelity to the Government would be the occasion of their
removal. One of the worst, if not the very worst, features in the present condition of the service is that good and faithful officers are unwilling to testify as to
what they know of the "irregularities" (to use the fashionably mild term) of
376 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
their associates. For there are many good and faithful servants who do the work
of these unfaithful politicians. Men of character, of families, of long service,
who have been unwilling to have their names go upon the record as witnesses to
the faults of their associates, lest they should be immediately dismissed by their
superiors, or lest their places should be made so uncomfortable by their
"irregular"  associates, that they would be compelled  to resign.   Nothing
has impressed me more with the rottenness and corruption of our present want of
system than the tears of these old and faithful servants, who begged that they
might not be placed upon the record as witnessss to the faithlessness of their associates, and that it might not ever be known that they had been called to be witnesses. Nothing but assurance of secresy and the protection given by law to
persons giving such testimony, could procure us evidence of how the people were
being plundered instead of being served.-[Cong. Globe, vol. 67, pp. 2467-68.j
HON. J. D. COX RESISTS "ASSESSMENTS" FOR POLITICAL PURPOSES.
Subsequent to these efforts of Mr. Jenckes in favor of "civil service reform,"
the Hon J. D. Cox, of Ohio, sought to reduce to practice the principles which had
been so earnestly advocated by Mr. Jenckes. On the 10th day of August, 1870,
Mr. Cox, being at the time Secretary of the Interior in President Grant's cabinet,
addressed the following letter to the Chairman of the Republican Executive Committee at Columbus, Ohio, in response to one from him asking for a full list of the
names of the employes of the Government in his Department from Ohio, with the
amount of salary, &c., of each, for the purpose of making an assessment upon
them for State and Congressional campaign purposes:
LETTER OF SECRETARY COX TO THE OHIO COMMITTEE.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR. 
Washington, I). C., August o10th, 1870. 
MY DEAR SIR: My delay in answering yours of the 3d instant has been  owing
to the press of my work here, which has prevented my getting time for writing
with the fulness I desired.
There seemed to be no need of haste then, and before I was ready to reply, the
subject had become one of such general discussion and agitation in the several
departments, that I thought it wise to look a little more closely into the history of
such assessments before acting.
Your Committee requests a full list of the names of employes of the Government in this department from Ohio, with the amount of salary and name of
county, &c., from which each was appointed, "for the purpose of making a
"small assessment upon them for State and Congressional campaign purposes."
After a careful consideration of {he matter, with the strongest desire to second
every right movement in behalf of the Republican organization in which we have
so great a common interest, I am constrained to decline complying with your request, because I am convinced that it would not be right to do' so, and therefore
not for the advantage of the Republican party, which can only exist by continuingto be the champion of the right.
the considerations which led me to this conclusion may be summed up in two,
namely:'
1. That such assessments are directly antagonistic to the civil service reform,
which I believe to be so imperative a necessity that the Republican party, as the
proper party of true reforms, cannot longer delay to make it a part of their platform; and:
2. Because the specific assessments you now propose to make on behalf of the
State Central Committee is an innovation in a bad direction.
On the latter point permit me to say, that after a somewhat careful examination
of the subject, I cannot learn that any thing similar to an assessment for party
purposes upon the clerks and employes of the department was ever made prior to
the administration of Mr. Buchanan, and then only by a committee of the clerks
themselves, waiting upon their fellows, in person, and requesting subscriptions
for a Presidential contest.
THE CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE ASSESSES THE CLERKS.
This year, for the first-time, the clerks have received a circular from the Congressional Committee, fixing the amount each is assessed (1 per cent. on their in
377 
REPIJBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE DEFORM.
comes), and indicating the expectation of a response in an authoritative manner.
From two or three of the States similar assessments have been received, in one
instance 1/2 per cent., thus making an income tax of 22 per cent. besides expecting these gentlemen to travel to their several States, at their own expense, for
the purpose of voting. I have not heard of district and county assessments yet,
but know of no reason why they should not follow if the others are recognized.
The ground on which the assessment for Presidential campaigns has been defended (so far as defense has been supposed to be possible) was that the clerks
were only aiding in the prolongation of the executive of their own party, on whom
their own employment directly depended. But it has never before been assumed
that the salaries of Government employes were a fraud on which the Committees
of the party, National, State, district, &c., could draw at discretion. Indeed, the
whole business has been one which respect for the moral sense of the community
has hitherto kept from appearing in any definite or public foim; and I look upon
it as one of the most unhappy evidences of political demoralization, that from
several sources simultaneously there should have come open and undisguised
levies of an income tax, this year for the first time.
I am so well acquainted with the purity of your own motions, that I know you
would not have countenanced the step if it had not seemed to you to be one of
those things which had been prepared for by custom in similar matters in small
local circles; but this only makes it more necessary that we should probe the
evil with firmness.
AN APPEAL FOR REFORM.
This leads me to the general subject of the absolute necessity for a civil service reform, in which the Republican party ought to take an early and positive
lead.
I think no candid man can have a responsible place in one of our administrative
departments for a year without seeing that some permanence of term of office in
the subordinates is essential to the proper and economical performance of the
Government work. A time of rapid and frequent changes in the department is a
time when fraudulent and improper claims can get through easily.  Such claims
are innumerable. They have been suspended for lack of proof, and a change
among the officers who have had charge of them is always followed by a pressure
for their allowance, which is frequently granted in entire ignorance of the grounds
of suspicion of their honesty. The weight and extent of this can only be appreciated by experience.
Again, a time of rapid and frequent changes is a time when all the proper
business of the department drags and becomes entangled, costing the country imtold sums of money, paid for teaching new men the business which they hardly
learn till they are displaced again.
The business of the Government is much greater and necessarily much more
complicated than that of private commercial corporations, and every one knows
that if the officers of banks and railways were changed and appointed on the
grounds prevailing in the public business none of them could escape swift ruin.
Still again, the greater proportion of the time of Cabinet officers is constantly
occupied by mere applications for petty places, and so long as personal application can secure such appointments this evil cannot be remedied.   Instead of
giving the best of our time and strength to the really important business of administration, as the people suppose we are doing, it is only the remnants of either
that are available, and that after we have been dogged and harassed by a never
ceasing stream of applicants and their friends, who are supposed to be influential.
This is almost as true to-day as it was last year. There is no remedy but one
which cuts up by the root the whole system of the dispensation of public patronage as a matter of favor, or of political claim, -so called.
HAVE CONGRESSMEN THE RIGHT TO DICTATE APPOINTMENTS.
The dependence of appointees upon influence for their position has led to a
tacit assumption that members of Congress have the right to dictate appointments
and removals, and this is often done in utter ignorance of the qualifications
possessed or required of the applicant. Nothing is more common than for a demand to be made for appointments to the higher grades, or for promotions to
them, as if experience in the public work had nothing to,do with the matter, and
it were only a question of a greater or less share of the public patronage to the
378 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
gentleman making the nomination. It has been no uncommoni thing to find in
the departments new and youthful appointees drawing the salaries and holding
the grades of chiefs of important divisions, while old and experienced men were
in fact doing the work in the pay of a lowest class clerk. The reason for it will
often be found to be that it has been done on the importunate request of a prominent politician who had political debts to pay in his district or State. As a result
the number'of incompetents generally in one of these departments would be astounding
to any man of correct business habits and ideas. I have, myself, had pressed upon
me, as candidates for important places in my department, young men who could
neither write nor spell, and who would be received into no well ordered commercial
house in a higher grade than porter or errand boy. And serious offense has
sometimes been taken that a simple request was not sufficient to put such an applicant into the place.
The evil does not stop with the departments.   There  are many  offices in the
National and State service in which the salaries are made up by fees,'and the general ignorance of the people of the amount of the income is used to prevent a reduction of exorbitant profit, because party managers find it convenient to draw
heavily on such officers for political purposes. It is as a part of this general system that it has become possible for a collector of customs, or a subordinate officer,
to receive fees to the amount of many times the salary fixed by Iaw for judges
and other salaried officers of the highest responsibility.
A THOROUGH REFORM OF THE SYSTEM NEEDED.
The whole system needs a thorough reform, and it is because I believe it to be
the duty of the Republican party to accomplish this work that I appeal to you
and your committee to do nothing that can for a moment longer put our influence
on the side of the present disgraceful condition of things.
The idea that public service is a profitable employment is a false one in the
main; and if it were true, it would be necessary to reform the salaries by law.
No man should be paid more than he earns, and such service ought to be demanded for his pay that he may have the honest consciousness of having rendered
a quid pro quo, for every cent he gets, and feel under no obligation to any one
therefor. It is only when we get incompetents who could earn nowhere so
much as the Government pays them that you find men willing to be taxed as a
condition of their retaining their place.
My own relations to the subordinates of this department are peculiar.  I have
been endeavoring to correct such of the evils as I could reach, and, by a system
of competitive examinations, to test the capacity of applicants for place or promotion. I have assured them that favors would end with their going before the
boards of examiners, and that from that time their own character and efficiency
would determine their continuance in office, or promotion.
UTnder these circumstances the circular of the Congressional Committee levying
one per cent. of their salaries with an intimation, as understood by those receiving the circular (though I am informed that the Committee disclaim. such a purpose), that failure to pay would endanger their places, was the most demoralizing
thing which could have been threwn into the department. The question was at
once raised whether my position had been sincerely taken, and I would not re main in the department a day if my purposes could be reasonably impugned.
The gentlemen of the departments h ve, as a rule, borne far greater pecuniary
burdens in proportion to their salaries than other men are usually willing to do
for party purposes, and none would respond to the full extent of their ability to
exhortations addressed simply to their voluntary zeal; but the best officers and
best Republicans are those who are most explicit in their opposition to the whole
system of levied assessments.
HE SENDS THEM FIFTY.
As a mark of my own confidence in your purposes and sense of the value of
your work, I enclose a cheek for fifty dollars as my personal contribution to your
fund, and should be most happy if my duties and my strength would permit me
to take my accustomed place in the canvass of the State this Fall.
Your platform needs but the addition I have spoken of above.
Very truly, your friend,
Hon. R. D. HARRISON',
Chairman Republican Executive Committee, Columbus, Ohio.
379
D. Cox. 
REPUIJBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
TRE ORGANIZE FOR MR. COX'S SCALP.
The action thus taken by Mr. Cox createdgreat excitement throughout the country. It aroused the most violent opposition of all the "active political managers" of
the Republican party everywhere, and an organized effort was begun at once to
secure the dismissal of Mr. Cox from the President's Cabinet. A graphic account
of these events was given at the time by Gen. H. V. Boynton, the Washington
correspondent of the Cincinnati Gazette, a Republican paper, in the following
letter:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28, 1870.
There is no longer any doubt that a strong movement to secure the removal of
Secretary Cox is on foot. It is headed by Pennsylvania politicians. The reasons
assigned by these men and their abettors are based upon the action of the Secretary in resisting assessments for campaign purposes. Back of all this lies the claim
that Pennsylvania shall be represented in the Cabinet.
*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *         *    *    *    *    *
Prominent politicians have interested themselves in the movement, and have undertaken a journey to Long Branch to urge their objections to Secretary Cox upon
the President and urge his removal.  None of them questions his ability or integrity, and agree that he devotes his whole time to his work. He believes in
contributions for party purposes. The sole thing he opposes is a forced assessment, coupled with the threat "your money or your place." And in the decision
of the question the President will be brought face to face with influential party
men.
A HISTORY.
The history of this trouble concerning assessments becomes of interest, since
it is to be used as a lever to pry the ablest members of the Cabinet out of position.
Heretofore it has not been the practice of the Republican party to ask money of
the clerks in the departments, except in the years of a Presidential election.
What part of the Executive Committee decided to make an assessment now, or
whether a majority of the Committee considered the question at all is not known.
The whole matter, however, appears in the outset to have been managed by subordinates.
A clerk of the committee called upon Secretary Cox before the circular was
issued, and requested a list of all clerks and employ6s in his department. A conversation took place in which the Secretary said, that while he had no objection
to their requesting voluntary contributions, he was opposed to demanding the
payment of such a sum as the committee might fix upon.
With the full understanding that the circular sent to those in his department
was simply to request such subscriptions as the one to whom it was addressed
should desire, or was able to pay, a complete list of all employed was sent to the
committee. To the surprise of the Secretary, and in positive violation of the arrangement made, a circular, containing not only a demand for a fixed sum in
each case, but also an implied threat if payment was not made. Secretary Cox
at once addressed a note to the Committee protesting against this failure to keep
faith, and also giving his reason for opposing a movement which struck directly
at the attempts he was making to introduce a civil service reform so far as to
make merit and efficiency the chief grounds of bestowing place in his department.
The committee have not deemed it advisable to publish the letter. Several of the
State associations (of clerks), finding themselves sustained by a Cabinet officer,
began to object to the interference of the Congressional Committee, and announced that while they expected to contribute as requested, they desired to have
the money used in their own States, to elect men whom they knew, or in whom
they had confidence. And some contended that if they should go home to vote
and pay their expenses, they ought not to be called upon for anything more.
The subordinates of the Committee at once entered into an arrogant controversy
with the Associations, finally announcing with the air of owners that the full power of the Committee would be used against those who refused to pay, but if any
one went home to vote, and would furnish satisfactory evidence that he had done
so, the Committee would not proceed against him.
THE POLITICAL GUNS BROUGHT TO BEAR ON COX.
Two or three of the State Associations thereupon assumed the collections of
funds from the departments and prepared to visit all clerks from the respective
States. Among these was the Pennsylvania Association.'
380 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
When they reached the Interior Department, they went to Secretary Cox with
a list of names of all employed from their State, and opposite those columns for
the amount of salary received, the amount contributed, and lastly a space for "remarks."  The whole paper in its arrangement was a political pistol designed to be
placed at the head of every clerk.   Secretary Cox informed the gentlemen who
came thus armed, that while they were at liberty to ask for voluntary contributions, they could not take such a paper as that through the Interior Department.
Thereupon the Pennsylvania Associations held an indignation meeting, and one
of its popguns fired off the following:
WHEREAS, the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. J. D. Cox, refused to extend facilities in his Department to the Committee appointed by this Association to call
upon the Pennsylvanians holding positions under the General Government in this
city, for voluntary contributions for political purposes, therefore
Resolved, That it is with profound regret that we learn of the obstacles thrown
in the way of advancing the interests of the Republican party by one placed in
position and power by its success."
The assertion that they were only seeking voluntary contributions was erroneous.  The vote upon the resolution stood forty-two to forty-two.  This was some
three weeks ago. Since then.there has been from this quarter a constantly increasing fusilade of popguns directed at the Secretary; and now the line, thus
armed, is actually demanding that Gen. Grant shall renew his martial days by assuming command and leading on to victory against Secretary Cox.
The country should know something about the managements of these State associations in Washington.  Many of the best and most respectable clerks are connected with them; but, notwithstanding, most of them are controlled by an intriguing, ambitious set of men, whose sole object is to use the association to
further their own interests.  One of these organizations actually attempted to
compel all clerks from one of the most powerful States to join it, on pain of having the influence of those managing used directly to procure dismissal. The officers of course must, by all sorts of weak activity in politics, and by such constant
subserviency as generally secures recognition among the mere politicians of an
administration, attain an apparent influence with those in place, and so are able to
control the rest through fear.     *      *      *       *       *
THIIE SMALL MANIPULATORS.
Exactly such a set of small manipulators of the more remote springs of political
action originated the teapot tempest in the Pennsylvania Association. With the
subordinates of the Congressional Committee ready to aid them, and both so constituted as to'mistake'their diminutive ideas for wisdom,  they have finally attracted the attention of such professional politicians as Senators Chandler and
Cameron, and, under their direction, all the party whips have been ordered out to
force the clerks to pay the assessments, and compel the President to remove a
cabinet officer in whom he has entire confidence. Other influences have been long
at work to undermine Secretary Cox with the President, and as yet he has refused
to be influenced by them. Sevetal great railroad organizations have been very
busy in creating opposition to him.  The whole crew of would-be Indian defrauders, thwarted in every dishonest purpose, have also been active. The McGarrahan lobby, until lately at least, one of the most powerful around the Capitol, is
bitterly hostile since the President has given countenance to none of them. These
will all join now in the political campaign which has been opened, and lend to it
such additional force as they can command; but the question turns upon the demand made that assessments shall be allowed, and their payment insisted
upon.
The President will have to decide whether ability, efficiency, unsullied private
character, great executive ability, and unflagging attention to the public business
are of less consequence in a cabinet officer than a readiness to sacrifice any and every interest at the demand of party.
THE ACTIVE POLITICAL MANAGERS WIN.
The contest thus begun between  " civil service reform" in actual administration and its natural enemies, the professional politicians, resulted in the following
letter of resignation from Mr. Cox:
381
.,H. V. B. 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
STATEN ISLAND, Oct. 3, 1870.
MY DEAR SIR: When Congress adjourned in the Summer I was credibly in formed that a somewhat systematic effort would be made before their reassembling in the Winter to force a change in the policy we have pursued in the Interior Department.
The removal of the Indian service from the sphere of ordinary political patronage has been peculiarly distasteful to many influential gentlemen in both hIouses, and
in order to enable you to carry out your purposes successfully, I am satisfied that
you ought not to be embarrassed by any other causes of imitation in the same department. My views of the necessity of reform in the civil service have brought
me more or less into collision with the plans of our active politzical managers, and
my sense of duty has obliged me to oppose some of their methods of action
through the arrangement. I have no doubt whatever that public sentiment will
sooner or later sustain these efforts at what I regard heeded reforms; but I ought
not to overlook the fact, that for the present they involve opposition which it may
not be for the interest of this administration to provoke; and as my personal tendency is to be rather more than less persistent in the course to which I am committed, I deem it my duty to place in your hands my resignation of the office of
Secretary of the Interior, to take effect as soon as you can conveniently determine
upon my successor.
The annual report of the Department will be made at an early day, and for this
and other reasons, I believe the interval prior to the adjourned session of Congress
the fittest for such a change. I trust you will permit me to add, that as the orignal acceptance of the position was an interference with plans of life formed, as I
think, with prudence, to return to my private business, so far from being an inconvenience or disappointment, will only be carrying out what I have most desired
to do, as soon as it could be done, without embarrassment to you, or sacrifice of
public duty. Indications that you might be already troubled by suggestions on
the subject, have induced me to write at once without awaiting my return to
Washington.
With similar assurances of my strong desire for the complete success of your
administration, I remain truly, your obedient servant,
J. D. COX.
To the PRESIDENT.
MR. COX RENEWS THE CONTEST.
The experience which Mr. Cox acquired as Secretary of the Interior made,him
familiar with the present system of civil service as it obtains at Washington City.
In an article published in the North American Review, speaking of the mode of securing appointments from the President and heads of Departments, and alluding
to the President, Mr. Cox says:
"His ante-room and halls are thronged by the applicants, the more fortunate or
important of'them pressing their Senator or Representative into the service to introduce them and stand sponsor for their merits and claims. The facility with
which written recommendations are procured, leads to duplicity on the part of
persons giving them; and it is no uncommon thing for one who has written a high
eulogium upon the character and acquirements of a place-hunter to write a private note begging that his formal endorsement may not be regarded of any weight,
or to seek a private interview in which he will state that the person is quite the reverse of the picture drawn of him in the testimonial filed.  With the knowledge
of this duplicity, and of the farcical hollowness of the whole business of giving recommendations and testimonials, the President and his Secretaries must receive
the endless tide of applicants, listening to the praises spoken by an official friend
with, perhaps, a note from the same official in the drawer of the table at which
they sit contradicting every word of the high-flown panegyric so glibly poured
into their ears, and with a feeling of wearied disgust at the necessity of receiving
with equal serenity the hypocritical phrases and the furtive denial of them from
the same lips. * * * * * * * * *
THE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS BESIEGED WITH PLACE HUNTERS.
"But this is by no means the whole of it. The members of Congress do not
escape from similar burdens. Instead of studying the subjects of legislation,
their tables are piled with letters from their constituents seeking their influence
I
382 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
to obtain place, and ranging the whole gamut from obsequious petition to insolent
and imperative demand. At the beck of some local politician, whose influence at
home must be courted or feared, they leave their seats in the Senate or House and
visit the White House, or one of the Departments, to introduce their importunate
neighbor, and say everything in his behalf which the utmost straining of conscience will permit. They leave the breakfast table to find numbers waiting for
them to invoke their assistance and presence in applications to be pressed before
the opening of the day's session. They often apologize to the heads of the Departments for their own importunity, declaring, with perfect truth and sincerity,
that they get rid of all the cases they can decently put off, and only bring those
they cannot possibly get rid of.    *     *      *       *       *      *      *
"If, however, we add a purpose to make political capital or the means of personal advancement or profit by the use of the power of appointment, it becomes
at once apparent that what was before only an annoyance and clog to the transaction of public affairs, becomes a positive corruption, with terrible depths of
abuse."
AN INSIDE VIEW.
This article places before the country the precise condition of things in Washington City, and we make other extracts from it. It gives an inside view of the
whole system of procuring appointments in the Departments, chiefly through
Members of Congress. It says further:
"There have always been in Congress many men of elevated character and purposes, who have made a strictly conscientious use of their powers and influence.
The country would long since have gone to ruin if this had not been so.   But
there has also been a large and growing class who have deliberately used their
position and its influence solely to retain their seats and'further their purposes of
personal ambition.
"This class of persons has gradually come to regard as their personal appanage,
an aliquot part of the public offices, equal to the proportion of one to the whole
number of Congressmen, and have declared themselves robbed of their rights if
it was not fully accorded to them.   They have used their patronage systematically, and avowedly to retain their own places and strengthen themselves in their
several districts and States. [It will be observed that Mr. Morton said these appointments enter into their re-election.] For this purpose it has been manifestly
necessary to treat a rival or an opponent within their own party as if he belonged to the opposing organization.   An authentic and recent instance of this
will explain and illustrate the practical working of the custom better than much
general statement.
"A gentleman who had held one of the highest positions in the government of
his own State, and who had been recognized as one of the most powerful supporters of his party in the State, desired, for what seemed to him honorable and
sufficient reasons, to secure a minor appointment abroad.  He was personally
well known to every member of the delegation of his State in Congress, and
some of these were addressed with a request to favor his appointment. Their
responses expressed the highest regard and appreciation of his public character
and services, but signified that it was an understood rule that the assistance of
other meminbers of the delegation must depend upon the support of the member
from his own district.   The person applying, however, was not the'friend' and
personal supporter of the member from his district, and that member's approval
and recommendation could not be obtained. The whole delegation consequently
felt obliged to refuse their assistance.
"The gentleman thereupon addressed the head of one of the departments with
a statement of the facts, and inquired whether one who had been a somewhat
prominent supporter of the administration in his State, and had been elected to an
important State office by his fellow-citizens, was to be held to be entirely at the
mercy of his representative in Congress, so far as Federal favor was concerned.
The result of this appeal was a promise from the proper quarter of an appointment of a local character at home, the position abroad having been meanwhile
filled. This promise being made known, the representative at once made vigorous
protest, putting it avowedly on the ground, that it would be his own political
death to allow one who might be a rival to have a Federal appointment within the
district. The protest wps recognized as within the custom in such cases, and the
promise was withdrawn."    *    *    *    *    *    *
383 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
THE FELLOWS WHO KEEP UP THE PARTY.
"From top to bottom, the whole class of politicians who avow the purpose of
keeping up'the party' by the appeal to the selfish desires for place and profit,
are bound together by the common interest of the'ins' to keep themselves in
and to keep all others out."
In regard to the clerkships in the departments at Washington, Mr. Cox, says:
"If a politician has, of right, a certain number of clerkships assigned him as
his share, it requires a very little addition to the theory to give him complete
control of the question of capacity and fitness. Such has been practically the
result, and the departments have been made the asylum for the worthless and in competent   defendants  of  persons'of  influence' who  have  often  re ceived their pay without giving any return for it, because the head
of the division or bureau could not interest them with the simplest
cletical duty.   This has often  extended  to cases in  which the  grossest
and most offensive immoralities have been shielded and protected
by that personage, so potential in Washington,'the member from his district.'
An instance may be taken from the experience of a chief of an important bureau,
as given by himself. He had a division of clerks of general fair character,
among whom were heads of families of high and even religious morality.  Into
this division, by the infiuence of a prominent member of Congress, was introduced a young man, who proved to be not only little use as a clerk, but so wantonly and offensively obscene in his common conversation as to outrage the feelings of every decent man, and to provoke from his fellow-clerks a general
remonstrance against his being allowed to remain. The head of the bureau took
the case up and recommended his dismissal on the double ground of general
incompetency and gross immorality. A Congressman, with full knowledge of
the facts, opposed and for some time succeeded in preventing the removal; and
when at last, upon the earnest and energetic instance of the chief of bureau, the
fellow was finally disposed of, it was only to remove him to another bureau, and
the officer who had procured it to be done was abused and persecuted by the
'member' whose patronage had been interfered with.  A  very slight familiarity
owith the departments is enough to convince any candid person that a minority of really
competent officers are doing the work, obstructed, trammeled, and burdened oftentimes with the necessity of performing over again the work of the incompetent,
who are prompt in nothing but their appearance at the pay-table at the end of
the month. * * * * *
"Under any reasonably efficient system, promotion ought to mean a recognition
of merit and capacity. Yet instance after instance could be given in which
heads of bureaus have declared that the greatest obstacle in the way of inspiring
the clerical force with new energy was the fact that the higher places were filled
by incompetents who had been appointed and retained only by superior influence.
THE CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ACT PASSED, BUT UNDER " DURESS AND LEGISLATIVE
COMPULSION."
Notwithstanding the efforts of the i " active political managers," led by Gen.
Butler, Mr. Morton, Mr. Cameron, Mr. Chandler, and others less conspicuous,
the friends of "civil service reform" succeeded in securing the passage of an Act
of Congress which was approved March 3, 1871, entitled "an Act making appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1872, and for other purposes," the ninth section of which provided that
"the President of the United States be authorized to prescribe such rules and
regulations for the admission of persons into the civil service of the United States
as will best promote the efficiency thereof, and ascertain the fitness of each candidate in respect to age, health, character, knowledge and ability for the branch
of service into which he seeks to enter; and for this purpose the President is
authorized to employ suitable persons to conduct said inquiries, to prescribe the
duties, and to establish regulations f(or the conduct of persons who may receive
appointments in the civil service."
This section of the bill was passed, according to Gen. Butler, "under duress and
legislative compulsion," but the President proceeded under it to convene a commission of eminent and well known gentlemen, of which the Hon. George William
Curtis was the chairman, to devise rules and regulations for the purpose of reform in the civil service. These gentlemen, after performing the duties imposed
384 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
upon them, reported to the President the result of their labors. Having been
selected by the President for the reason that they were believed to be suitable persons to conduct the inquiries prescribed by the Act, and having had unusual facilities for -their investigations, the judgment of this commission upon the present
civil service of the Government carries with it the greatest weight.   We herewith
submit that judgment, as set forthl in their report, for the consideration of the
people of the United States. They say:
THIE COMMISSIONS' OPINION OF TIlE PRESENT SYSTEM.
"In speaking of the present condition of the civil service, we criticise a system,
not individuals, and a system which has been hitherto sustained by common consent.  It is pleasant to express our conviction, not only that there are many men
of the highest character and ability in the service of thle Government, but that the
large majority of the persons so employed cannot justly be suspected of improper
conduct. Certainly, incapable officers have not been sought, and, doubtless, there
are honest and pure men enough in all parts to fill the offices.   But, certainly,
also, proved character and tested capacity are not essential to admission to the
civil service; and when partisan sympathy or activity take precedence of ability,
industry and special fitness, as qualifications for the inferior offices of the Government, it is impossible that the service should have the efficiency and purity which
economical administration requires, and which the country has a right to demand.
"In obedience to this system, the whole machinery of the Government is pulled
to pieces every four years. Political caucuses, primary meetings, and conventions are controlled by the promise and the expectation of patronage.   Political
candidates for the lowest or the highest positions are directly or indirectly pledged.
The pledge is the price of the nomination, and when the election is determined
pledges must be redeemed. The business of the nation; the legislation of Congress,
the duties of the departments, are all subordinated to the distribution of what is
well called'the spoils.' No one escapes. President, Secretaries. Senators,' Representatives, are dogged, besought and denounced on the one hand to appoint, and on
the other to retain, subordinates. The great officers of the Government are constrained to become mere office brokers. Meanwhile they have their own hopes,
ambitions and designs. They may strive to make their patronage secure their
private aims   The spectacle is as familiar as it is painful and humiliating.  We
accuse no individual.  We appeal to universal and deplorable experience.
"THE EVIL RESULTS OF THE PRACTICE
may be seen, first, in its perversion of the nature of the election itself. In a free
country, an election is intended to be, and of right should be, the choice of different policies of administration by the people at the polls. It is properly the
judgment of the popular intelligence upon the case which has been submitted to
it during the canvass by the ablest and most eloquent advocates. But the evil
system under which the country suffers tends to change the election from a
choice of policies into a contest for personal advantage.  It is becoming a desperate conflict to obtain all the offices, with all their lawful salaries and all their
unlawful chances. The consequences are unavoidable. The moral tone of the
country is debased. The national character deteriorates. No country or government can safely tolerate such a surely increasing demoralization.
"The influence of this system upon those who hold office may be inferred.
Officers appointed chiefly as a reward for personal and party service, and not uponi
proof of fitness, who know that there is no certain promotion for merit, and that
they hold their places only until others with more influential friends can thrust
them out, can have neither pride nor hope in the fulfillment of their duties. They
are deprived of the usual incentives to diligence and efficiency of men in similar
but private positions. Taught by the system to regard the office as a prize, and
warned by the same system that their tenure is neither character nor fitness, they
are sorely tempted to make the most of it in the shortest timie, both to repay the
trouble and expense in procuring it, and to provide against early removal. MAIeanwhile, as a part of
TIIE VAST SCHIEME OF PATRONAGE,
an officer, \who is appointed solely in deference to political pressure, is judeed not
by the mianner in whichl he does his iduty,')ut biy the zeal with wliicli hle serves
385 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
the influence that secured his place. He is poorly paid, but a tax is levied upon
his salary for the expenses of the party, and although it is called a voluntary contribution, he is made to understand that there are scores of applicants who would
gladly take his place with every incumbrance, and he therefore pays from fear of
possible removal. Thus it has become the practice of every party in power to
seek to retain power by levying upon the money paid to the public agents for the
public service.
"There are honorable men who enter the service with the sincerest purpose of
doing their duty. But the evil condition of the system forces them often to profess what they do not believe, and in a manner which is repugnant to them.
They do not have that pride in the civil service of the country which so distinguishes the military and naval services. For how can a position so often procured without proved qualification, and so often lost without fault, appeal to the
desire or the ambition of worthy men? There are modest and honest and able
citizens enough who would gladly serve the country for a moderate and permanent salary, and who are the very servants the country needs; but they decline to
enter upon a competition not of excellence, but of influence and competition, in
which actual qualification does not determine the result. The conditions of the
service are such that they cannot avoid the feeling that their minds are often regarded as mortgaged, their opinion as hired. Nor is this surprising, when it is
remembered that a bill was introduced into Congress a year ago forbidding the
minor officers in the civil service the usual political liberty of all American citizens, to serve as delegates in political Conventions, or as members of political
Committees. It is the sharpest criticism upon the system, that it is held to unfit
a citizen for the honest discharge of his political duties. And yet there is no one
who is familiar with its practical operation who does not feel that there was
reason in the proposition.
*      *       *       *       *        *       *       *        *       *       *
ONE-FOURTH OF THE REVENUES LOST TO THE GOVERNMENT.
"It is not easy to compute in figures the exact economical difference between a
'good and a bad system of civil service.  It is, necessarily, a matter of inference
and comparison between the probable operation of a careless and careful method.
But it is calculated, by those who have made a careful study of all the facts, that
one-fourth of the revenues of the United States are annually lost in collection,
and for a large part of that loss a system of the service which is fatally unsound
may reasonably be held responsible."-[Report of Civil Service Commission Senate
Ex. Doc., No. 10, 42d Congress, 2d Session, pp. 4 and 5.]
The late Vice-President Wilson gave his influence in favor of reform in the
civil service. His purpose was to make reforms, and the measures which sought
to effect such received his favor and support.   While a Senator in Congress he
advocated Mr. Trumbull's bill, and in a speech delivered in the Senate on the 23d
,day of January, 1871, he pointed out the evils of the present civil service, and
the demand of public opinion for a reform. He said:
"There is a public feeling in the country founded on reason. Comprehending
the best interests of the country, that demands reform in the civil service
throughout."  *    *    *    *
"Sir, I would go further and require men who are in office to attend to their
business.   We have eight million voters in the United States.   We have a great
deal of intelligence and of character that is not either in Congress or in the service
of the Government. The great masses of the people of the country, and those
who are candidates, or who hold offices elective by the people, can manage the
political conventions of the country without the assistance of clerks in departments, or without the assistance of inspectors or any class of officers in the
Custom Houses, or Indian Agencies, or Land Offices. Every day we are told that
it is important to change the officers in certain localities. Put a class of our
friends into power, and they have hardly got into their places before another
school comes and insists on their going out, in order that they, themselves, may
win a Republican victory. I believe that about all of our troubles grow out of
this idea that Government officials can make or unmake majorities. The wisest
thing that Government appointees can do to aid their party is to fill their offices
well, do their duty to their country, mind their own business, and leave political
afflairs to be taken care of by the people and by those who are candidates before
the people for their suffrages. * * * * *
386 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
"If we can relieve Senators and Representatives from all connection with and
all responsibility for, the appointment of men to office other than the responsibility that the Constitution imposes upon Senators to reject or approve, I believe
we shall do something to purify the politics of our country, and their is no doubt
much purification is needed."-[Cong. Globe, vol. 82, p. 670.]
These patriotic utterances of Mr. Wilson startled Mr. Cameron, the Senator
from Pennsylvania.   He gave  expression to his surprise in the following
language:
"Mr. President, I desire to say only a word or two on this bill. I did not intend to say anything on the subject, although I had made up my mind in regard
to it, until the Senator from Massachusetts (Mr. Wilson) made his speech to-day.
I was surprised to find him taking the side that he did, knowing him to be a
sensible man-knowing the long service he has had in public life, coming from
the people, as he does, I was surprised to see him take the course he has taken in
regard to this bill."-[Cong. Globe, vol. 82, p. 673.]
The opposition within the Republican party to the" active political managers" to "civil service reform," were always upon the alert.  They let no opportunity escape to destroy or cripple the service, which had for its object the
purification of the politics of the country. When, therefore, an amendment
was pending in the Senate to an appropriation bill, on the 7th day of March,
1872, appropriating fifty thousand dollars to enable the President to perfect and
put in force such rules regulating the civil service as might, from time to time,
be adopted by him, we find Mr. Carpenter offering the following substitute:
"That all laws, or parts of laws, under which the present Civil Service Commission is appointed by the President of the United States, be and the same are
hereby repealed."
Upon a motion to lay this substitute on the table, Messrs. Cameron, Carpenter,
Chandler and Logan, with other Republicans, are recorded as voting in the
negative. -[Cong. Globe, Second Sesson, 42d Cougress, Part 2, p. 1502.]
MR. GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS SURRENDERS TO THE ACTIVE POLITICAL MAN                                    AGERS.
Mr. Curtis, not being willing to be held responsible for acts which he considered
nothing more nor less than as disregard of public pledges and a mockery of the
public faith, tendered his resignation on the 18th day of March, 1873, as a member of the "civil service commission."  In his letter of resignation, Mr. Curtis
says:
"As the circumstances under which several important appointments have been
recently made seem to me to show an abandonment of both the spirit and letter of
the civil service regulations, I respectively resign my position as a member of
the Advisory Board of the Civil Service."  Mr. Dorman B. Eaton, a distinguished
citizen of New York, was appointed by the President to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Curtis. The commissioned continued its labors
without much encouragement however, as the following extract from their report of April 15, 1874, abundantly shows:
"It is one thing to pretend before the people to be in favor of a real civil service
reform-one good thing to vote for it; but it would be a far greater thing to support it in actual administration; to omit sneering at it, and disparaging it when
seeking caucus endorsement; to stand for, and not desert it under specious excuses when its natural enemies rally against it; to obtain from besieging the
Executive Chamber with recommendations and demands, when favorites want
places."-[Report of Civil Service Commission, Senate, Ex. Do. No. 53, 43d Congress,
1st Session page 30.]
PRESIDENT GRANT AND CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
The history of the noisy, but feeble efforts of the present Administration to
carry into practice reform in the civil service is perhaps more faithfully written
in the several messages of the President than anywhere else. It will be remembered that Gen. Butler stated in his speech in the House of Representatives on the
18th day of April, 1872, that the President had not said he approved the "rules"
adopted by the Civil Service Commission; that the President had in effect said to
Congress, "you have started this machine, and so far as I am concerned you will
see it go into operation."  The President, Gen. Butler said, "took no responsibility himself as to the manner of execution of the law, but he appointed the
387 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
best Board of Commissioners he could readily find, of men who had nothing
else to do, to make rules for its enforcement."
What Gen. Grant has said upon the subject of reform in his messages, we
print below. If read in the light of Gen. Butler's speech, and the current history
of civil service during his administration, it will be observed that Gen. Butler
had a better understanding of the spirit and purpose of the Executive than Mr.
Willard or any of the active advocates of civil service reform.    He seemingly
manifested a great desire to correct the abuses of the present system, at the same
time he constantly called upon the men who "started the machine" to supply
the necessary legislation to keep it in operation.
In his MIessage of December 4, 1871, the President says upon this subject
"If bad men have secured places, it has been the fault of the system established by law and custom for making appointments, or the fault of those who
recommend for Government positions persons not sufficiently well-known to them
personally, or who give letters indorsing the character of office-seekers without a
proper sense of the grave responsibility which such a course devolves upon
them.
"A civil service reform which can correct this abuse is much desired.  In mercantile pursuits the business man who gives a letter of recommendation to a
friend to enable him to obtain credit from a stranger is regarded as morally responsil)le for the integrity of his friend and his ability to meet his obligations.
" A reformatory law which would enforce this principle against all indorsers
of persons for public place would insure great caution in making appointments."
Again, in his Message of Dec. 2, 1872, he refers to the subject in the following
language:
"An earnest desire has been felt to correct abuses which have grown up in the
civil service of the country through the defective method of making appointments
to office. Heretofore, Federal offices have been regarded too much as the reward
of political services. Under authority of Congress, rules have been established to
regulate the terms of office and the mode of appointments. It cannot be expected
that any system of rules can be entirely effective and prove a perfect remedy for
existing evils until they have been thoroughly tested by actual practice and
amended according to the requirements of the service.
HE WANTS HIIS SUCCESSOR LOOKED AFTER.
"During my term of office it shall be my earnest endeavor to so apply the rules
as to secure the greatest possible reform in the civil service of the Government,
but it will require the direct action of Congress to render the enforcement of the
system binding upon my successors, and I hope that the experience of the past
year, together with appropriate legislation by Congress, may reach a satisfactory
solution of this question, and secure to the public service, for all time, a practical
method of obtaining faithful and efficient officers and employes."
Congress did not respond to the President's recommendations during that session,
and he again calls their attention to the subject in his Message of December 1,
1873, in the following pertinent manner:
"Action has been taken so far as to authorize the appointment of a Board to
devise rules governing methods of making appointments and promotions, but
there never has been any action making these rules, or any rules, binding, or even
entitled to observance, where persons desire the appointment of a friend or the
removal of an official, who may be disagreeable to them.
"To have any rules effective they must have the acquiescence of Congress, as
well as the Executive. I commend, therefore the subject to your attention, and
suggest that a Special Committee of Congress, might confer with the Civil Service
board, during the present session, for the purpose of devising such rules as can
be maintained, and which will secure the services of honest and capable officials,
and which will also protect them in a degree of independence while in office.
"Proper rules will protect Congress, as well as the Executive, from much needless persecution, and will prove of great value to the public at large."
THE PRESIDENT SURRENDERS CONTROL OF THE "MACHINE. "
Congress took no heed of the suggestion of the President in any practical manner, and notwithstanding his pertinacity he began to grow weary of "running
the machine,"' even though the responsibility of the manner of doing so was
borne by a board of respectable gentlemen, "who had nothing else to do." The
388 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
President, therefore, in his Message of Dec. 7, 1874, brought the subject to the
attention of Congress again in the following significant language:
HOW REPUBLICAN CrVIL SERVICE REFORM DIED.
"The rules adopted to improve the civil service of the Government have been
adhered to as closely as has been practicable with the opposition with which they
meet. The effect, I believe, has been beneficial on the whole, and has tended to
the elevation of the service.  But it is impossible to maintain them without direct
and positive support of Congress. Generally the support which this reform receives is from those who give it their support only to find fault when the rules
are apparently departed from. Removals from office without preferring charges
against parties removed are frequently cited as departures from the rules adopted,
and the retention of those against whom charges are made by irresponsible persons, and without good grounds, is also often condemned as a violation of them.
Under these circumstances, therefore, I announce that if Congress adjourns
without positive legislation on the subject of "civil service reform," I will regard such action as a disapproval of the system, and will abandon it, except so
far as to require examinations for certain appointees to determine their fitness.
Competitive examinations will be abandoned.
"The gentlemen who have given their services, without compensation, as
members of the board to devise rules and regulations for the government of the
civil service of the country, have shown much zeal and earnestness in their
work, and to them, as well as to myself, it will be a source of mortification if it
is to be thrown away. But I repeat that it is impossible to carry this system to a
successful issue without general approval and assistance and positive law to support it."
THE PEOPLE TAKE CHARGE OF REFORM.
The deceitful efforts of the Republican party in behalf of "reform" having
so signally failed to accomplish any beneficial results, the people took the matter
in their own hands, and at the election in 1874 drove the false pretenders from
power in the House of Representatives.  The  "active political managers" of
the Republican party, conscious that it was necessary to again assume the character of "reformers," in order to restore the confidence they had forfeited, announced at Cincinnati that they "rejoiced in the quickened conscience of the
people concerning political affairs;" that "the invariable rule for appointments
should have reference to the honesty, fidelity and capacity of the appointees,"
and that that party "will hold all public officers to a rigid responsibility, and engage that the prosecution and punishment of all who betray official trust shall be
speedy, thorough and unsparing."
Was there ever such presumptuous impudence, coming from Messrs. Morton,
Conkling, Cameron, Chandler and Butler, as these declarations do?
Now, what is the history of reform in the civil service in the Republican party,
and of the leaders who sought to reduce to practice the professions of the party
in favor thereof, duringthe time Gen. Grant has been President?
Mr. Curtis, who, by reason of his position as Chairman of the Civil Service
Commission, became the leading spirit of reform, an active and ardent Republican,
resigned that position, because "the circumstances under which several important
appointments had been made seemed to him to show an abandonment of both the
spirit and letter of the civil service regulations," and because he "was unwilling
to be held responsible for acts which he considered nothing more nor less than a
disregard of public pledges, and a mockery of the public faith."
THE FITS OF REPBLICAN REFORMERS.
The only two Cabinet Miinisters, Gov. Cox and General Bristow, who were at
all conspicuous in their efforts to reform the system of Civil Service in their
departments, have been forced out of the Cabinet, and are to-day without influence with the "active managers" of the party.  And a striking fact connected
with the history of the matter is that it was stated in the letter of Gen. Boynton
giving an account at bhe time of the efforts of "the small manipulators" to effect the dismissal of Gov. Cox from the Cabinet "had attracted the attention of
Senators Chandler and Cameron, and under their directions all the party whips
were ordered out to force the clerks to pay the assessments, and compel the President
to remove a Cabinet officer in whom he had entire confidence;" to-day Mr. Chan
389 
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM.
dler holds the position in the Cabinet then filled by Gov. Cox and is also Chairman of the National Republican Executive Committee, and a son of Senator
Cameron holds, if not the place in the Cabinet held by Gen. Bristow,'another
equally important. In addition, every subordinate, including Bluford Wilson,
the fearless Solicitor of the Treasury, appointed to office by either of these gentlemen or upon the recommendation of either, who were actively in favor of "reform," are being dismissed from the Departments.
A few public officers who betrayed their official trusts were prosecuted and
punished (luring Gen. Bristow's term of office, but the "ring" finally triumphed
over justice, through the stronger influences in official circles, and as a result Gen.
Babcock walks the streets of Washington City to-day, acquitted of a crime by
the verdict of a jury secured through corruption, while the popular sentiment of
the country holds him guilty in the highest degree, and Gen. Raum, who congratulated him by telegraph upon his acquittal, holds the responsible position of
Commissioner of Internal Revenue, made vacant for him by the enforced resignation of ex-Senator Pratt, a gentleman conspicious for his integrity; the
faithful and efficient special counsel for the Government in the prosecutions
against the "whisky ring" in Chicago have been removed, and Mr. Emory Storrs,
Gen. Babcock's counsel at St. Louis, has been appointed in their stead.
Gen. Henderson, who had been so successful as the special counsel of the
Government in the prosecutions against the "whisky ring" in St. Louis, was removed upon a false pretext, lest he might succeed in convicting Gen. Babcock too,
and Col. Dyer, the United States District Attorney, who so ably seconded Gen.
Henderson in his efforts, has been removed because he was thought to be overzealous in his efforts to see that "no guilty man escaped."
HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF.
When the country was about entering upon the Presidential campaign in 1872,
Mr. Conkling made a speech in the United States Senate upon a joint resolution
proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States confining the
President to one term [See Cong. Globe, part 1, Second Session, 42d Congress, p. 357],
in which he said, referring to those who were endeavoring to inaugurate reforms
in the civil service:
"The chief ammunition of the Democratic party of late has been furnished by
mongers of wretched slang about Federal office-holders controlling political
results, as if the people had not the sense and courage, and numbers to resent and
put down the domination or improper interference of anybody, whether officeholder or candidate. And "this species of falsehood had serious effect," he said,
"till it became, in some instances, so brazen and preposterous as to excite
derision."
Mr. Conkling sees proper, himself, now to the assume the character of a
"monger of wretched slang about Federal office-holders controlling political
results."  He and his associates hope, no doubt, that the same "species of falsehood" may again have like "serious effect" upon the public mind.  But in him
and them the effort is too "brazen and preposterous, and will only excite
derision."
Mr. Conkling further said in his speech:
"Could the public pierce all the holy garbs put on by the foes of the President,
who do not and dare not let the real cause of their hate be seen, a new truth
would gild Dr. Johnson's saying, that "patriotism is the last refuge of a
scoundrel."
Changing this sentence somewhat, it may be applied to Mr. Conkling and his
associates now with great truth and pertinency:  "Could the public eye pierce
all the holy garbs put on by the foes of'civil service reform,' who do not and
dare not now let their real sentiments be known, a new truth would gild Dr.
Johnson's saying, that'patriotism is the last refuge of a sc4undrel.'"
390 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
THE ONLY INSTANCE WHEN DON HAMILTON FISH WAS
VERY PLUCKY.
A treaty between the United States and the Republic of Venezuela was entered
into on April 25, 1866, by the terms of which all claims of American citizens
against the latter nation, were to be submitted for adjudication to a mixed commission consisting of two persons, one to be appointed by the Government of the United
States, and the other by Venezuela. These two Commissioners were authorized
to appoint an umpire, and in case of their disagreement, the selection was to be
made by the diplomatic representative either of Switzerland or of Russia, in Washington. The treaty further provided, that as soon as the umpire was appointed,
the Commissioners should proceed without delay to examine the claims that
might be presented to them, and should hear one person in behalf of each Government on each separate claim. The last and fifth article of the treaty provided
that "the decisions of the Mixed Commission and those of the umpire shall be final and conclusive as to all pending claims at the date of the installation. Claims
which shall not be presented within the twelve months herein prescribed, will be
disregarded by both Governments."
APPOINTMENT OF THE COMMISSION.
Agreeably to the stipulations of the treaty, our Government selected one David
M. Talmage, of New York, as Commissioner on the part of the United States,
and Venezuela appointed General Antonio Guzman-Blanco, then Commander-inchief of the army of that Republic, and now its President. Mr. Talmage received his appointment as Commissioner on July 20th, 1867, and three days later
sailed for Caracas, the capital of Venezuela, and the place designated for holding
the sessions of the axed Commission.
CHARACTER OF THE AMERICAN COMMISSIONER.
It is somewhat remarkable that the American Commissioner, whose duty it was
to pass upon international claims, involving large sums of money and delicate questions of international law, as well as intricate questions relating to the construction of contracts, statutes and treaties, should have been a person of no legal
attainments whatsoever, and selected without reference to the duties devolving
upon him. At the time of his selection he was a coal-broker in the city of New
York, but had previously been engaged in the construction of gas works in the
city of Caracas. Several law suits growing out of the latter enterprise were
pending against him in Caracas, and he was about to return thither on his private
business, when he was chosen Commissioner.
MEETING OF THE COMMISSIONERS.
General Blanco, the Venezuelan Commissioner, and Mr. Talmage,the American
Commissioner, met on August 30, 1867. Their first duty, by the provisions of 
[THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
the treaty, was to select an umpire. Talmage nominated Mr. Rolandus, counsel
of the Netherlands, at Caracas, but General Blanco objected, without alleging any
other reason than that Mr. Rolandus was not the person his government desired
to appoint as umpire of the Mixed Commission, and suggested the Minister Resi dent at Caracas either of England, France, Spain or Brazil. Talmage was not
satisfied with what to him was a capricious refusal, and insisted with strange
earnestness upon chosing Mr. Rolandus. Mr. Talmage became so insolent, that Gen eral Blanco, suspecting his true character, declined to hold further intercourse
with him. Talmage protested against General Blanco's action and immediately
visited the President of Venezuela, General Falcon, whose good offices he im plored in bringing about a better understanding, and a solution of the difficulty.
President Falcon replied that his Government could not recede from the proposition made through its Commissioner, to appoint either the Minister Resident of
England, France, Spain, or Brazil, as umpire of the commissioners. A month's
correspondence between Talmage and the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs
followed, which finally terminated in the substitution of Sefior Francisco Conde
as Venezuelan Commissioner, in the place of General Blanco. Another delay ensued in discussing the question of umpire, neither Commissioner receding from
the position first assumed. After the lapse of several months, having failed
to agree, the high contracting parties requested Baron Stoeckl, the
Russian Minister at Washington to appoint the umpire. Talmage returned to
the United States in order to secure the selection of such an umpire as would
promote the schemes he had in view. The Russian Minister must have been
grossly deceived in the character of the person he selected as umpire. His action
is unaccountable upon any other hypothesis. Mr. Juan. N. Machado, Jr., the
person named by Baron Stoeckl, was a young man, a native of Venezuela, almost
unknown, of no standing whatever, and wholly unfit to discharge the responsible
duties of the position of umpire of an international tribunal. But the secret
of his appointment was subsequently exposed. He had been in Talmage's employment while the latter was engaged in business in Caracas, and, it was through
Talmage's instrumentality and instigations that the Russian Minister appointed
him. Having secured the selection of young Machado as umpire, Talmage sailed
for Venezuela where shortly after his arrival the Commission began its sessions
about April 18, 1868, and proceeded to pass upon the claims submitted for adjudication.
THE AMERICAN MINISTER AND HIS SECRETARY IMPLICATED.
Thomas N. Stilwell, of Indiana, was the United States Minister to Venezuela
during the sittings of the Mixed Commission, and his brother-in-law William P.
Murray, who officiated as Secretary of Legation, was the attorney for a number
of claimants. His fees for professional services. in these cases were modestly
fixed at one-half of the sums to be awarded by the Commission. This amount of
percentage will be regarded as especially exorbitant, when it is considered that
no attorney was permitted to appear before the Commission in any case; that all
claims to be presented to the commission were filed, together with the proofs in
the American Legation; and that all the professional services that would be required of an attorney in Caracas were the transmission of papers from the American Legation to the Commission, which sat in the same cityin'the same building.
The total sum awarded to the claimants represented by MI. Murray, as appears
from his statement before the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Forty-first
Congress, was $851,000, being almost two-thirds of the aggregate amount of all
claims allowed by the Commission and the umpire. The other claimants not
represented by Mr. Murray, the American Secretary of Legation, were represented
by 3[r. Talmcage, the Amnerican Commissioner himself
It is charged by the Government of Venezuela that Mr. Murray openly boasted
that he had a monopoly of influence in the presentation of claims and their allowance by the Commission; and while the statement is indignantly denied by Mr.
Murray, yet the record shows that no claims were allowed by the Commission
except those which were represented by Mr. Murray and Mr. Talmage, as attorney
or attorney in fact, except perhaps, the small claim of Mr. Lorenzo H. Finn, for
$10,000. Whether he was required to divide or not does not appear in the record,
but the intelligent reader can draw his inference.
SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES.
From Dr. James S. Mackie, a highly respectable gentleman, for a long time con
392 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
nected with the State Department of Washington, and the attorney for William
H. Aspinwall and others, who had bona fide and just claims against Venezuela,
the following valuable and suggestive evidence on the modus operandi, of the
American modern statesmen, Stilwell, Talmage, Murray & Co., was adduced before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the present Congress.
I went into a coal-broker's office, and found Mr. Talmage to be a coal-broker,
dealing largely in anthracite coal.  I introduced myself and congratulated him
upon his appointment, and said: "Mr. Talinmage, I want you to do me a favorto look at a memorial which I have here, (referring to a parcel of bonds.) Have
the goodness to count the bonds over and to see that they are all there, as stated in
my memorial, and take charge of them in behalf of American citizens, whom I
represent as attorney."  Mr. Talmage said, "I cannot have anything to do with
that kind of business."  I said, "I beg your pardon; I thought you were a Commissioner on the part of the United States to represent our citizens." Said he,
"I have nothing to do with taking charge of their claims." I said, "Mr. Talmage,
if you will excuse my personality, I was twelve years in the Department of State,
and I have known all about all the commissions to the Spanish Governments in
that time, and I have never yet heard a Commissioner, either an American Commissioner or a foreign Commissioner, say that it was no part of his duty to take
charge of the claims of his fellow-citizens. I take it that that is one of the objects
of your appointment." He said, "I cannot recognize that at all. I will have
nothing to do with it." I then said, "Mr. Talmage, I was a Commissioner of the
United States myself to Peru, and I felt it not only a duty, but a privilege, to
give every attention that I could to American claims before I went abroad." He
still persisted. I said, "It is very strange; here I am an attorney for these recognized claims, and you, as Commissioner, refuse to take charge of them. What am
I to do?" Said he, "Mr. Mackie, I advise you to go to a gentleman who happens
to have a great deal of that business in his hands, and I think he is the best man
that you can give your claims to." I said, "Who is he?" He said, "Mr. William
H. Whiton." He gave me his address-I think some place in John street or
Maiden Lane. I went down to that place, and went through rows of bales of hay
piled up all through a warehouse, until I came to a gentleman sitting with his hat
on at the desk writing.  I said, "Is Mr. Whiton here?"  This gentleman looked
up and  said,  "Yes."  I said,  "Whiton, is that you?"  I recognized in
him an old friend and neighbor of mine when I was living on the heights
of Georgetown.  Said I, "I am looking for another man."  He said, "Who?"
I said, "A man of the same name, W. H. Whiton."  He said, "What do you
want  with him?"   I said, "I was  referred to  him  by  Mr. Talmage as
having charge of Venezuelan claims; but you have nothing to do with Venezuelan claims?"  " Yes," said he, "I have; I am the man."  With a little strength
of expression I asked him what the deuce he knew about Venezuelan claims.
He said that he had peculiar facilities for presenting them and having favorable
action upon them. 1 said, "Whiton, I have got a bundle of claims here, but I
do not know why I should give them to you more than to anybody else. What
are you goingto charge for taking care of them?"  He said, "Fifty per cent."
Said I, "That is modest.  There is about $180,000 of these claims, and as much
accrued interest, and you want half for presenting the memorial and claims. All
the claims are recognized; they are simply protested notes of Venezuela.  I cannot give you 50 per cent., because I could not control that."  Said he, "I cannot
do it for less, for I have got to divide."  I said, "You cannot divide any of my
friends' money," and I went out. I then immediately wrote to the Department of
State, and transmitted my papers, and I have the receipt from the Department of
State, in which the Department promised to send them to Venezuela, which reads
as follows:'
DEPARTMENT OF STATE,
Washington, June 20, 1868.
SIR: Your communication of the 19th instant, with its inclosure, has been received; also, the package addressed to the Joint Commission, now in session at
Caracas.
Your wish in reference to the papers has been complied with, and they will go
out in the mail of the 23d instant.
I am, sir, your obedient servant,
W. HUNTER, &cr'etary.
JAMES S. M3ACKIE, Esq., New York.
393 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
The package arrived there with the original bonds, of which I have submitted
one to your inspection, and with my memorial. The amount of the bonds in
round numbers was three hundred and fifty-five or six, of $500 each, and the
interest amounted to about as much as the original claim, dating from January,
1827. I then had an intimation that a man named William P. Murray down there
had very confidential relations with Mr. Talmage, and that if I did not do something there was no earthly chance that my papers would every be presented to
the Joint Commission.
- Q. From whom did you get this information? A. I do not recollect; I do not
know how that information came to me. So I at once wrote Mr. Murray a letter.
He had himself written to Mr. Aspinwall, Mr. Russell, and others. I have not
got his letter, but the pith of it may be inferred from this reply. It is as follows:
June 19,    8.
DEAR SIR:-Your letter of 13th April last, to Messrs. W. H. Aspinwall, C. H.
Russell, and others, on the subject of their claim agatnst Venezuela, to be submitted to the Mixed Commission, has been referred to me, in whose hands the
prosecution of the claim was placed long ago.
The absence in Europe of W. H. Aspinwall, Esq., since last Autumn, has much
embarrassed the prompt prosecution of the business, and this fact will doubtless
satisfy the Honorable Mixed Commission as to the delay in submitting the case,
especially as I have repeatedly applied to the Department of State, at Washington,
for copies of the rules and regulations adopted by the Board, but have been informed that none had been received from the Commissioners.
On the subject of compensation, I beg to say that I will give you a fee, if successful, of ten per cent. on the gross sum awarded by the Mixed Commission,
which shall be in full compensation for the services of yourself and any persons
assisting you, and of all expenses incurred in their behalf.
I place you on an equal footing with myself in this respect. If you will send
me any particular form of agreement, I will sign it in the sense above promised.
You must take your compensation in an assignment from me of that amount of
the award, and without recourse.
Presuming that the terms will meet your acceptance, I send herewith my
power of attorney to you to prosecute the claims before the mixed commission.
T'he memorial, exhibits, &c., in proof, and the bonds themselves, go by this
steamer, under cover, to the United States Minister from the Department of
State.
I also inclose herewith two printed agreements by my friend and advisor, Hon.
S.S. Cox, before the Columbian Commission, which bear upon the principles involved. In one of them you will find an important precedent established by the
decision of General Hearne, as umpire to the Mixed Commission in Peru, in 1863,
of which I was a member, on behalf of the United States. The case is a very
similar one.
I also inclose a brief prepared by Hon. H. S. Sanford, our present minister to
Brussels, who discusses this claim thoroughly.. He has placed it at my disposal.
You will perceive that it would be obviously inexpedient to let this paper
pass into any other hands than your own, as some parts of it are discouraging.
Wishing you abundant success, and requesting the favor of immediate acknowledgement, I am, my dear sir,
Very truly, yours,
JAMES S. MACKIE,
Attorney.
WIlLIAMf P. MURRAY, Esq.,
Caracas, Venizuela.
I have here proof that the claim was presented by the United States Government to the legation at Caracas, thus bringing it within the terms of Article I. of
the treaty with Venezuela, which was concluded at Caracas, April 25, 1856, and
under which this Commission had its existence.
Q. Were these papers filed in the American Legation at Caracas before the organization of the Joint Commission? A. No, sir; it is impossible that they
should have been filed before, inasmuch as they were offered to the Commissioner
in New York, before he departed for Venezuela.  After, Mr. Talimage refused to
take charge of them, there was some delay, in consequence of Mr. Aspinwall's
394 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
business in Europe, and my desire to see whether he was willing to give this
gouge of 50 per cent. rather than lose his claim, so that it was some time before I
transmitted the papers to the Department of State. After that I heard nothing
more, until the Commission had completed this work, and had broken up.
Q. What did Mr. Talmage state to you as the reason why the umpire did not
allow the Aspinwall claim? A. He told me that the claim was all regular and
right, and that if it had gone out when he told me to send it out with the claims
which that other gentleman (Whiton) had, it would have arrived in time; and that
the umpire said that by the time that claim arrived there, he had allowed so many
claims in favor of American citizens, and of such large amounts, that he could
not dare to the face the Venezuelan' Government if he passed more claims in addition to the others.
Q. Does it appear that the Joint Commission ever passed upon the claim one
way or the other? A. It never came before the umpire.
. It could not come before the umpire if the two Commissioners had rejected
it? A. No, sir; of course not. It could not go before the umpire unless there
was a difference of opinion between the American and the Venezuelan Commissioners.
Q. What was done? A. I read from Executive Document No. 17 6, Fortyfirst Congress, second session, that these were sent to the Mixed Commission too
late for their adjustment, and they were passed over for that reason, without prejudice, and saving all rights thereof under the convention. They were not rejected.
Q. Then there was no disagreement between the American and Venezuelan
Commissioners as to the Aspinwall claims? A. None whatever, so far as the record goes.
Q. Then it never was referred to the umpire for his decision? A. No, sir; but
Mr. Talmage told me that he went to the umpire about it, and that the umpire
told him that he had allowed so many claims that if he were to allow this claim
he could not look the Venezuelan Government in the face.
Q. Is there any evidence in the record that the Venezuelan Commissioner refused to recognize the validity of the Aspinwall claim. A. I think not.
MR. W. P. MURRAY NOT IN A GREAT HURRY TO RETURN' SOME BONDS.
Q. You stated something in regard to not getting your Venezuelan bonds out
of the possession of Mr. Murray; explain that. A. I had not heard anything
about them, and I became a little alarmed. I was told that Mr. Murray had
carried off those bonds with him to Minnesota, and I had heard so much to his
discredit that I thought he was capable of using those bonds improperly. I therefore wrote to Mr. Hunter, the Assistant Secretary of State, which letter he answered personally instead of officially, stating that lie had been trying to get on
Murray's track, but had not succeeded. Finally I found out where Murray was
-I think through a man named Aaron Goodrich, formerly Secretary of Legation
at Brussels-and I wrote to him and got back the bonds.
Q. Where did you address him? A. At St. Paul, Minnesota.
Q. What was the date of the return of the bonds to you? A. I think it must
have been sometime in 1869.
Q. Did Murray, after his return to the United States, communicate with you
in any way, and tell you that he had these bonds and offer to return them to you?
A. No, sir; I wrote to the State Department to find out where-he was. I wrote
to Mr. Hunter and told Mr. Hunter that those bonds, if lost, would cause me a
great deal of trouble, and that I would have to prove that they were taken by
somebody else.
Q. How did Murray become possessed of those bonds? A. Murray was authorized under my letter to present my memorial and the papers with my power
of attorney, and I inferred that under that under that authority he withdrew
them from the files of the American legation in Caracas, to which they had been
sent, and presented them pro forma to the Commission.
Q. Was anything required of Mr. Murray in the capacity of attorney, in order
to present the merits of this Aspinwall claim before the Commission? A. Nothing whatever. In my letter I stated distinctly that the memorial was there, the
proofs all there, and that all that I expected him to do was to read that memorial
as my representative on the spot, and to present those proven bonds to the Commission and ask for a corresponding award.
395 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
Q. Did you not know that no attorney could appear before that Commission?
A. No, sir.
Q. At the time that Mr. Talmage was appointed United States Commissioner
under the convention with Venezuela, what was his occupation? A. So far as I
know, he was a coal-broker. That was his business reputation in New York.
Q. What was Whiton's occupation? A. Mr. Whiton having told Hie a year or
two before that he had a patent for pressed hay, and on the occasion of my visit
to him having gone between long rows of bales of hay, I inferred that he was a
hay-merchant or a commission-merchant. When I was in the Department of
State, living on the heights of Georgetown, Whiton had a very desirable residence there and a very charming family, and.our families were more or less intimate. He occupied a common position in the war with the South under General MIcCullom, who had charge of the railway service.
Q. Did he ever practice law?  A. I never heard of such a thing.   I cannot
express to you the astonishment which I experienced when I was sent to Mr.
Whiton and found him to be my old neighbor.
The character of the American Commissioner and of Mr. Murray and Mr.
Whiton, can be estimated from a perusal of the foregoing testimony.
I THE CONSPIRACY FULLY PROVED.
The evidence of Hon. Milton S. Robinson, a member of the present House of
Representatives proves that Mr. Stilwell died in 1874, that at the time of his appointment as Minister to Venezuela, he was wholly insolvent, and had no means
except his salary that he could have invested in the certificates awarded by the
Commission. But in the settlement of his estate, and in winding up the affairs of
the National Bank in Anderson, Indiana, it appears that Stilwell had overdrawn
his account in that bank, of which he was President, to the amount of $150,000,
and that he had deposited with the bank, as collateral security for his overdrafts, $80,400 in the Venezuelan certificates issued to claimants by this
Mixed Commission. Congressman Robinson also testified that Stilwell received this large amount of certificates in consideration of the influence
that he used as American Minister in procuring the allowance of claims before
the Commission, and that he received one-fifth of the amounts exacted
by Murray from claimants before that Commission. The amount of claims represented by Murray and allowed to his clients was $851,000. Half of this, or
Murray's proportion thereof, assuming that he received one-half, on an average,
of the claims he represented, would be $425,500.   One-fifth of this, Stilwell's
interest, would be $85,100. As it was established in evidence that Stilwell paid
to GODLOVE S. ORTH, of Indiana, $3,000, or $4000, in these certificates for lobbying through Congress legislation favorable to these fradulent awards, the
amount deposited by Stilwell in his bank, as collateral security for his overdarfts, to wit, $80,400 is easily accounted for in view of all the circumstances.
THE CLEAREST EVIDENCE OF FRAUD BY THE AMERICAN COMMISSION.
But the evidence of collusion on the part of Commissiofier Talmage, and the
American Minister Stilwell, does not rest here.  The conduct of Commissioner
Talmage in reference to the claim of one Jacob Idler offers inconvertible proof
of the gross frauds that characterized the proceedings of the Mixed Commission.
It appears from the papers on file in the State Department at Washington, that
the Idler claimants appointed William H. Whiton, of New York, as their
attorney, and that Whiton was to retain one-third of all the amounts
received by him  for his services.  This  Whiton is the same person to
whom Dr. Mackey, who has been mentioned above, was recommended
by Commissioner Talmage as the man who had facilities for putting claims
through. In plain terms, Whiton was Talmage's confidential agent, and occupied
the same relation towards Talmage that Murray bore towards the American Minister, Stilwell. Neither Talmage nor Stilwell were depraved enough to personally
demand from claimants a half or a third of the amount awarded by the Commission, and were therefore compelled to avail themselves of the intermediation
of Whiton and Murray. Whiton was not a lawyer, but he was Talmage's " man."
Nor did Whiton deem it necessary to go to Caracas. The object of his employment by Talmage was attained without the inconvenience of a long journey to the
tropics.   The' claims which were  represented  by  Whiton,  were secretly
placed in the hands of Commissioner Talmage, to whom Whiton gave
396 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
a special power of attorney to withdraw from the Commission, and
receipt for all claims awarded to the respective parties. In the case of Idler
claimants, the following is the text of the power of attorney conferred by
Whiton on the American Commissioner: "Be it known, and know all men by
"these presents, that I, William Henry Whiton, of No. 111 Fulton street, New
"York, United States of America, for value received, have made, constituted and
"appointed irrevocable, and by these presents do hereby make, constitute and
"appoint, the Honorable David MI. Talmage, of the Town of Flushing, Queens
"County, New York, United States of America, (United States Commissioner
"upon said mixed commission in Venezuela,) my true and lawful attorney,
"irrevocable, for me and in my name and stead to ask and receive from the said
"mixed commission, the Government of Venezuela, or the United States Govern"ment, all and every such award, certificale or certificates as may be awarded,
"issued, given,or granted by said mixed commission, for or on account of said claim
"or indebtedness, and every and all such sums of money, securities, or commnodities
"as may be given or granted, paid or caused to be paid, by the Government of
"Venezuela or the Government of the'United States on account of said claim, or
"by said award or awards, or certificate or certificates, from time to time, as the
"same shall become due and payable, and on receipt thereof to him, sign and
"deliver acquittances or other sufficient discharges for the same for me or in my
"name, or in the name of Sophia Idler, administratrix of the estate of Jacob Idler,
"deceased, to do all lawful acts and things whatsoever in and concerning the
"premises, as fully in every respect as I myself might or could do if personally
"present, and the attorney or attorneys under him for the purpose aforesaid to
"make and at his pleasure to revoke; hereby ratifying and confirming all whatso"ever my said attorney or substitutes shall in my name or in the name of the said
"administratrix lawfully do by virtue of these presents."
TALMAGE S SUBLIME AUDACITY.
In view of the fact that Commissioner Talmage was thus the real attorney for
the Idler claimants, the following sworn statement, made by Talmage before the
Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives of the 41st Congress, under date of April 25, 1870, when he was endeavoring to secure legislation
confirmatory of these fraudulent awards of the Mixed Commission, strikes us as
being peculiarly refreshing: 
"The attorney of the heirs of Jacob Idler (the first claim presented) appeared
"before the Commission and offered to file the claim for consideration. To this
"the Venezuelan Commissioner objected, and refused to allow any claim to be
"received or to be considered by the Commission, except when offered directly
"by the respective governments, or through the United States legation at Car"acas, or to allow claimants to appear before the Commission in person or by
"attorney."
A SAMPLE OF THE BOGUS CLAIMS.
This Idler claim, on which $252,814 was awarded, was the largest allowed by
the Commission, and was purely without merit. We have seen that the claimants
retained Talmage's "man," Whiton, a dealer in hay, as their attorney.  This
Idler claim grew out of supplies furnished to the old Columbian Confederacy in
the year 1817, during the war between Spain and her South American colonies,
which resulted in the independence of the latter and the establishment of the
present South American Republic.
Jacob Idler, in his life-time, had instituted a suit in the Venezuelan courts
after the dissolution of the Columbian Confederacy, and there had been allowed
him by one decision the sum of $70,520.11. This decision of the court of Venezuela was subsequently reversed, and pending further litigation Idler abandoned
his case and left the country, without prosecuting it to a final hearing. The government of Venezuela, Idler himself, and his heirs regarded the matter as long
since abandoned. After a lapse of over thirty years, the claim was revived on
the assembling of the Venezuelan Mixed Commission at Caracas.  It is worthy
of remark, in this connection, that neither this claim, nor that of Beales, Nobles
& Garrison, appeared in the schedule of claims which were pending in the America,n Legation at the time the Mixed Commission was organized. They were both
trumped up after the organization of the commission, and owing to the peculiar
constitution of that tribunal, and the peculiar facilities of certain persons for
having   claims   allowed   before  it,  it would  be  an  easy  matter  to
397 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
have  such   claims  adjudicated.   Commissioner   Talmage,  in  the  case
of  Jacob  Idler,  held  that  the  original  sum  of   70,520.11,  which
one of the tribunals of Venezuela had at one time found due to Idler, was still
due and payable to his heirs, notwithstanding the decision of that court had been
reversed, the cause remanded, and litigation in the courts abandoned for over a
quarter of a century. But the principal sum would not satisfy Commissioner
Talmage in this case, acting as he was in the double capacity of attorney and
judge. He held that the claimants were not only entitled to receive the principal,
but $182,294 as interest, fixing the aggregate of his award at the enormous sum of
$252,814. Upon what principle of law or equity this case was decided it is not
necessary to discuss; that this claim could have been the subject of international
arbitration is contrary to well-established principles. Idler was a citizen of the
United States, it is true, but he entered into contracts with a Government in
time of war, and made his contracts subject to all the uncertainties of the situation.  After the war was over he proceeded to adjust the balance due him
in the only way pointed out, viz., by the institution of proceedings in the local
courts. These courts furnished him his only means of redress. Having chosen
that forum, and the courts having taken jurisdiction of his case, he was bound
to prosecute his case to the final court of appeal in that country. Not having
done so, it is impossible to determine whether justice was denied him or not.
It will be seen that this case is set down  as "No.  1" on the docket.   Mr.
Talmage, as attorney for the claimants, appeared before the Commission,
according to his own statement, and urged this case upon the immediate consideration of the Venezuelan Commissioner. Commissioner Conde protested,
saying that he could not decide a case of so much importance in the five days
allowed for its consideration, and asked for further time. This was refused him,
whereupon he resigned, and declined to have any further connection with the
Commission. Mr. Villafane having been appointed as his successor, the case
went to the umpire, who innocently admitted that it was too complicated for him
to enter into an analysis of its details. He adjudged that the amounts had been
estimated correctly and approved of the decision of the American Commission.
TALMAGE'S PERJURIES.
But this is not all. Soon after Talmage's return to the United States, the Commission having adjourned, he continued to act as the attorney of the Idler claimants, for the purpose of procuring a recognition by the Government of the United
States of the validity of the findings of the Commission; and as such attorney he
states in his own evidence that he received from them, for his services the sum of
$15,000. Notwithstanding that he was the paid attorney of the Idlers, mark with
what sublime audacity he concluded his statement to the Foreign Affairs Committee
of the 41st Congress, above referred to:
"I have written the foregoing voluntarily from considerations of public policy,
"and now proceed to make oath as to the statements therein made, that claimants
"may have the benefit thereof as against the Government of Venezuela, seeking to
"set aside the awards of the Commission."
This solemn statement made, as he avers, "voluntarily from considerations
"of public policy," while, in fact, he was actingin the capacity of a paid lobbyist,
will only establish, in the estimation of all honorable men, his utter disregard of
the obligations of an oath and his utter unfitness for the high position which he
had prostituted.
THE SERVICES OF THE PRISON TAILOR BADLY WANTED.
The admission by Commissioner Talmage that he was in the pay of the Idler
claimants, was not made at that time, but was elicited by those "resultless and
"foolish" investigations of the Democratic House of Representatives, before whose
Committee on Foreign Affairs Mr. Talmage appeared as a witness voluntarily, and
yet when he was served with a summons issued from the District Court of the
District of Columbia in a suit instituted against him in that Court, Talmage, in
order to deprive that court of jurisdiction over the case, made an affidavit before
a New  York notary, to the effect that he  was in attendance before the Committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  House  of Representatives  as  a  witness
under  subpena  at  the  time  he  was  served  with  a  process in  that case,
and  that he had no other  or  further business in  the District of Columbia
except as a witness in obedience to said subpoena. This, it, is needless to add, was de
398 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
liberate perjury, and shows what   -,;tally depraved miscreant Talmage is. Not
only was he not served with a subpoena, but after appearing as a voluntary witness on June 22, 1876, he promised faithfully to be present on the following day;
he left Washington that very night for New York, and addressed a letter to a member of the Committee stating, "that he had voluntarily appeared before the Committee, and that the object of his journey to New York was to refresh his memory
in reference to the facts under investigation by examining important papers he had
in the latter city.  That was the last of him.   A  subpoena was issued, and several deputy sergeants-at-arms started in pursuit of him and continued scouring the
country for the late "Commissioner," but to no purpose.  Talmage was not to
be found, although he occasionally wrote letters, from his hiding-place, abusing
the committee for the course they were pursuing, and ridiculously charging Mr.
Springer, the chairman of the sub-committee, who conducted the investigation,
with having been bribed by the Venezuelan Government.
THE TOTAL AMOUNT STOLEN.
We have given above the particulars of the Idler claim. Every other claim concerning which the two Commissioners disagreed, and which were therefore necessarily determined by the umpire, young Machado, was equally worthless in merit,
and equally tainted with fraud in its course through the Mixed Commission.
It is not necessary to go into the details of the other claims. It is enough to
state, that the total awards of the Commission were $1,253,300.17, of which
$794,122 was awarded by tte ttmpire.  Of the latter awards the Committee of the
House of Representatives of the present Congress unanimously declare in their
report:
"On a careful examination of each and every one of the cases decided by the
"umpire, your committee have failed to discover a single award which is justified
"by the law or the evidence. Not one of these awards which were adjudged to
"be paid under the impoverished resources of that Republic (Venezuela) amount"ing to nearly $800,000 is of such a character, when the merits of each case is
"fairly considered and understood, as entitled it to any consideration whatev"er. Now that the fraudulent character of these claims are exposed, our Govern"ment cannot consistantly with national honor and that fair dealing which
should always characterise the conduct of stronger goverments towards weaker
"ones, insist further upon their payment. What could be more unjust and un"reasonable than the decisions of the umpire in the cases above referred to?"
REPUBLICAN CONGRESSES TO THE RELIEF OF THE SWINDLERS.
In marked and bold contrast to the just course of the Democratic House of
Representatives stands the action of the preceding Republican Congresses. The
Venezuelan Government began its protests against the illegal and fraudulent
awards of the Mixed Commission within a short time after it adjourned, which
occurred on August 5, 1868, a month before the expiration of the year during
which, by the provisions of the treaty, it was to be in session,
was thus violated, to the detriment of many bona fide claimants,
many of whom had delayed urging their claims, in the belief that the
Commission would not dissolve before the time directed in the treaty. But
Talmage and Murray became so fearful of having their rascalities exposed whilst
they were still on Venezuela soil, and dreading the consequences of such exposure, that they left Caracas surreptitiously, and secretly embarked for the
United States in a sailing vessel at La Guayea, the sea port of the Venezuelan
capital. It may also be stated that Machado, the umpire, also fled from Venezuela with his share of the plunder and came to the United States, but his whereabouts were unknown, or he would have been summoned before the Congressional
Committee that investigated this subject at the last session. A long and protracted diplomatic correspondence between the aggrieved and wronged Republic
of Venezuela and the United States has continued to the present time.
This diplomatic correspondence, always bearing the same complaint, and alleging corruption and bribery against the American Minister and the Commissioner,
and charging and endeavoring to demonstrate the fradulent and groundless character of the claims awarded by the umpire, haing been referred to the respective
committees of the Senate and of the House on Foreign Affairs, there wrs a partial investigation of thee complaints on the part of Venezuela before the
Committees on Foreign Agairs of the Forty-first Congress of which Godlove S.
399 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
Orth, who will appear later on in this narrative, was a member. At the second
session of that Congress, Mr Talmage appeared before the Committee on Foreign
Affairs of the House of Representatives, on the 14th of April, 1870, on "behalf
of the United Sta:tes Government," as appears from the records of the committee,
and made a brief statement in relation to his connection with the Venezuelan MIixed
Commission.
The subject was investigated by the committees of the two Houses on Foreign
Affairs, and on the 1st of June, 1870, a joint resolution was reported to the
House, which, after reciting in the preamble the organization and adjudications
of the Commission, provides as follows:
"That the adjudication of claims by said Commission, pursuant to the terms of
said convention, is hereby recognised as final and conclusive, and to be held as
valid and subsisting against the Republic of Venezuela; and for the purpose of
enforcing the collection and payments of the sums of money so awarded, the President is hereby authorized and directed to make demand upon the Republic of Venezuela for immediate payment; and in case of neglect or refusal to make such
payment, that he employ such portion of the naval and military forces as may be
necessary in his judgment to secure the faithful performance of the terms of said
convention."
This joint resolution was not pressed to a passage at that session of Congress.
Nothing seems to have been done in the matter other than this by the Forty-first
Congress.
At the Forty-second Congress, however, during the second session, the matter
was again referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs. Mr. Packard of Indiana,
a member of that committee, had the matter und(ler consideration, and made a
careful examination of the complaint of Venezuela against the character of the
Commission and their awards.
A REPUBLICAN HOUSE ADMITS THE SWINDLE BUT, AS USUAL, ENDS BY SUSTAINING
THE RASCALS.
On the 7th of March, 1872, he submitted a report on the subject in which he
says:
"Your committee have examined this testimony, and cannot avoid the conclusion that it shows reasonable ground for complaint on the part of the Government
of Venezuela and the claimants whose cases were adjudicated before the tribunal.
These complaints are of the following tenor: That powers of attorney were given
in some of the cases to the American Commissioner, and he received pecuniary
compensation for executing  the same; that an improper intimacy existed between
the American Commissioner, the umpire, and Mr. William P. Murray, who was
the attorney of sundry claimants, and was also represented as being the Secretary
of Legation, all the claims having to pass through his hands; and that the said
WilliamP. Murray received from the tribunal of arbitration certificates to the
amount, in most cases, of one-half the sum allowed to the claimants. This last
ground of complaint is common to the Venezuelan Government and to the claimants, who earnestly request the passage of a joint resolution to authorize the
President to call in all the certificates issued by the Commission, so as to defeat
any payment to those whom the memorialists consider fraudulent holders."
In view of all the circumstances, which the committee then carefully considered, they were of the opinion that the President should be directed to suspend
payment on the certificates of the award now outstanding, and that he be authorized to enter into negotiations with the Government of Venezuela for a rehearing of the claims passed upon by the tribunal of arbitration, and they recommended the passage of the bill which accompanied the report. This bill [No.
1859] was read a first and second time and recommitted to the committee, from
which it was never reported. The failure of the Committee to take such a course
as would do justice to Venezuela, especially after the foregoing report, was regarded as unaccountably strange, but the investigation of the present Democratic House at the last session, clears away the mists that have hitherto
wrapped this action of the 42d Congress in mystery.
GODLOVE S. ORTH.-A LOBBYIST OF SWINDLERS AS MINISTER TO AUSTRIA.
And here another illustration is again offered of the unscrupulousness and venality of the leading Republican statesmen. Mr. Orth had been a member of the
41st Congress, which had partly investigated this Venezuela business.  Ile was
400 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.                             401
familiarith the charges offraud alleged by the Venezuelan Government against the
American  Commissioner.  In his testimony last Summer,  he swore that Mr. ERsh,
the Secretary of State, had referred the complaint of thIe Venezuela Government to his
Committee of the 41st Congress, and he was cognizant of it,  and concurred with
Congressman Wilkinson's report whkich is quoted above, and from which the
reader has already perceived that the charge of fraud preferred by Venezuela
against the American Commissioner, Talmage, was admitted to be founded  upon
good cause.
With a knowledge of the facts, Mr. Orth became the hired lobbyist of that
worthy trio, Talmage, Stilwell and Murray. The following is Mr. Orth's testimony
on the subject:
"Question. State your residence and position.  Answer. I reside in Indiana; I
was a member of the Thirty-eighth, Thirty-ninth, Fortieth, Forty-first and For ty-third Congresses. I have just returned from Europe.
Q. Are you still Minister Plenipotentiaryto Austria? A. Yes. I have not yet
sent in my resignation, but I expect to resign in a day or two.
Q. You were a member of Congress in the Summer of 1873? A. Yes. I was
elected in October, 1872, from the State of Indiana at large, to the Congress
which organized on the first Monday in December, 1873.
Q. Do you know anything about what is called the Venezuelan awards? A.
Yes. During the Forty-first Congress, I was a member of the Committee on For eign Affairs, when I first heard the trouble about the Venezuelan awards. That
committee had an investigation of the matter, and took testimony, which I presume
is among the archives of the committee, and it made an unanimous report sus taining the awards. I think the report was made to the House by Mr. Wilkinson.
That was at the second session of the Forty-first Congress. I went out of Con gress on the 4th of March, 1871. Subsequently to that time, and when I never
expected to be in Congress again, I accepted an employment from  Stilwell and Tal mnage to act as their attorney in procuring a payment of some money which had been
forwarded here by the Venezuelan Government, and which was in the State Depart ment.  That employment included my service down here in Washington to assist in
procuring the passage of the joint resolution of the Forty-second Congress declaring the
validity of the award. My recollection is that the House passed a joint resolution
which went to the Senate, and that the Senate amended it by striking out what
was supposed to have been the force part of it, as it was called; and when it came
back to the House, the House concurred in the Senate amendment. Mr. Packard, of Indiana, reported it from the Committee on Foreign Affairs.
Q. Was Mr. Packard a member from the same district which you represented?
A. No, sir; he was a member from the La Porte district, and I lived in the La
Fayette district. I was here in the latter part of January or the first of February
of that year, 1873. I was here at the time that the House concurred in the Senate
amendment.
Q. Were you favoring the passage of the bill reported by Mr. Packard, in which
She President of the United States was authorized and directed  to adopt such
measures as he might deem expedient to enforce the claims of the citizens of the United
States adjudicated by the Mixed Commission?  A. My impression is that the House
bill had passed before I came here, and that the Senate struck out what was
called the force clause of it.
ORTH TAKES SEVEN OR EIGHET OF THE FRAUDULENT CERTIFICATES.
Q. While you were here you were acting in behalf of Talmage and Stilwell?
A. Yes, sir.
Q, Who was Mr. Stilwell? A. He was formerly a member of Congress from
Indiana, and was appointed Minister to Venezuela.
Q. Was he minister to Venezuela pending the sitting of the Mixed Commission
in Caracas? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Who was Mr. Talmage? A. He was the Commissioner on behalf of the
United States.
Q. Did you receive compensation from Stilwell as well as from Talmage? A.
Yes, from both of them.
Q. Was any portion of the compensation that you received paid to you in these
eertiftcates?-A.  YES;  I THINK I PROBABI,Y  GOT SEVEN OF THESE THOUSAND
DOLLARS.
Q. Did those certificates come through Talmage or through Stilwell'? A.
They came through both of them. 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
Q. Which furnished the greater part?  A. I think that Talmage furnished the
greater part.
Q. At what time did you receive those certificates? A. I received probably
some of them in 1871, some in 1872 and some in 1873."
The foregoing, from Mr. Orth's own lips, establishes his close identification
with this swindle. He earned his money well. Through his influence Secretary
Fish paid an installment of 7 per cent. on the fraudulent certificates, $121,000 of
which Talmage had possession, but which were claimed by Mr. Seth. C. Driggs,
who had notified the State Department, that this amount of certificates belonged
to him, and were fraudulently withheld from him, the lawful owner, by Talmage.
Through his influence, the House of Representatives of the 42d Congress, passed
the following bill.
"SECTION 1. That the adjudication of claims by the convention with Venezuela
of April 25, 1866, pursuant to the terms of said convention, is hereby recognized
as final and conclusive and to be held as valid and subsisting against the Republic
of Venezuela; and that the President of the United States be, and he is hereby,
authorized and directed to adopt such measures as he may deem expedient to enforce the claims of citizens of the United States adjudicated by the Mixed Commission organized under the treaty of the 25th of April, 1866, and made payable
by the Republic of Venezuela to the Government of the United States, in accordance with the provisions of said treaty.
"SEc. 2. That he be authorized and directed, in like manner, to collect such
claims of the citizens of the United States as were acknowledged by Venezuela
to be due prior to the sitting of the said Mixed Commission."
What can be more infamous?  To declare a war against a weak and struggling
sister republic, because it refused to pay awards allowed by a commission composed of such sharpers and knaves as Talmage and Machado! But Charles Sumner was not yet dead, and at his instance we were saved the shameful spectacle of
extorting money, at the cannon's mouth from a feeble nation, which had been
robbed by a representative of the United States, with the American Minister as
an accessory before and after the fact. Through Mr. Sumner's interposition, the
Senate struck out the force part of the bill, and as amended it passed both Houses,
as follows:
"An Act to enforce the stipulations of the convention with Venezuela, of April
twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, and the payment of adjudi    cated claims.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of
America in Congress assembled, That the adjudication of claims by the convention
with Venezuela of April twenty-fifth, eighteen hundred and sixty-six, pursuant
to the terms of said convention, is hereby recognized as final and conclusive, and
to be'held as valid and subsisting against the Republic of Venezuela
Approved February 25th, 1873."
':: SARDINE STATESMANSHIP-MR. FISH VERY PLUCKY WITH VENEZUELA.
The above law is still on the statute book, and has been the pretext by
Hon. Hamilton Fish is who is at the helm of our State Department, for insisting
upon payment of the fraudulent awards of the Commission. In vain has Venezuela appealed to our Government; in vain has Venezuela protested; in vain
has Venezuela argued that Talmage and Machado had robbed'her. Mr. Fish,
who considers himself the greatest diplomat that ever lived, has been deaf to
Venezuela's requests for justice and redress. Mr. Fish has issued his edict that
the adjudication of the Mixed Commission is final and conclusive, and wants the
money that has been stolen. Our present Minister at Caracas, Mr. Russell, is
instructed to demand immediate payment, and Mr. Fish writes to him as follows:
"Should the payment be refused, or be offered only in connection
"with conditions, restraining the right of disposal of the money by the
"United States, you will at the expiration of the time which you may have
"named, close your legation, and notify the Minister of Foreign Affairs thereof,
"and will take the earliest opportunity to leave the country."
In pursuance of this emphatic demand, Venezuela paid under protest, $75,000
between July and November, 1875, and these payments have enabled Mr. Fish
to declare a Diividend in May last of eight per cent. on the total amount awarded,
which includes all the fraudulent certificates, among them being the "seven or
eight" held by Godlove S. Orth.
402            -
I 
THE VENEZUELA SCANDAL.
A DEMOCRATIC HOUSE CHAMPIONS THE CAUSE OF JUSTICE AND EXPOSES THE THEFT.
We cannot end this sketch more appropriately than by quoting the closing part
of the unanimous Report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the present
House of Representatives, after a full and thorough investigation of the facts.
"Now that a careful inquiry has been made by your committee in reference to
the conduct of our officials, and also to the fraudulent character of the claims
awarded by the Commission-which investigation, in the opinion of your committee, has demonstrated the truth and reasonableness of the allegations of
Venezuela-a further and continued refusal on the part of our Government to respond to the appeals of that Government cannot be justified on principles of international honor and comity. If Venezuela were the equal of this Government in
area, population, and resources, she would have long since ceased to address our
Government by appeals to our magnanimity and sense of justice, and would have
terminated all diplomatic intercourse and assumed toward us the attitude which
we now bear toward her. In order, therefore, to vindicate the proud position
which our Government has always assumed toward other nations of the world,
and to preserve intact the peaceful means of national arbitrament for the settlement of all differences arising between nations, we should at once proceed to do
full justice in the premises. We can afford to respond to the appeals of Venezuela
in this case and by so doing will honor ourselves and vindicate the ancient precept, that'righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.'
In view of the fact that this session of Congress will soon adjourn, and that
definite and final legislation on this subject cannot be effected at this session, your
committee recommend the passage of the following joint resolution suspending all
further payments by the Secretary of State to holders of Venezuelan certificates,
and withholding further demands upon Venezuela for future payments until the
4th day of March next, or until further legislation by Congress."
JOINT RESOLUTION IN REFERENCE TO THE PAYMENT OF AWARDS OF TIHE
VENEZUELAN MIXED COMMISSION.
"Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled, That the President of the United States is hereby requested
to withhold further demands upon the government of Venezuela on account of
the awards of the Mixed Commission underthe convention of April25, 1866, until
the 4th of March, 1877, and the Secretary of State is authorized and directed to
suspend all further payments to holders of certificates awarded by said Mixed
Commission until said time, unless Congress shall otherwise direct.
The committee unanimously concur in recommending the passage of the foregoing joint resolution." MR. GODLOVE S. ORTH, had been nominated for Governor of Indiana by the Republican party, but the disclosures elicited by the
Democratic Investigators of this Venezuela fraud were regarded as so ruinous to
his prospects, that he was compelled to withdraw from the canvass in disgrace,
so that among the good deeds of the present House of Representatives, we must
number this last, by which the people of Indiana were saved even from the very
remote possibility of having a corrupt lobbyist as their Chief Magistrate.
403
. 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
PRESIDENT GRANT'S PET SCHEME.
The scheme for the annexation of San Domingo to the United States originated
with two adventurers-Joseph W. Fabens and William L. Cazneau.  These two
men were typical speculators; they belonged to a class of needy persons who found
fine opportunities to turn to their advantage the mania for speculation which
ensued towards the close of our civil war, and continued to rage with unabated
violence for several years after the termination of hostilities. They were both
natives of Massachusetts, and had been in early youth liberally educated. Cazneau emigrated early in life to Texas, and from thence to San Domingo, where
he lived for several years. Fabens had also led an adventurous life, and was concerned in the burning of Greytown by Capt. Hollins. They were easy-going fellows, with elastic consciences and a ready aptitude for originating schemes which
in the remote future were to largely benefit mankind, but which were always designed for the immediate benefit of the inventors.
WHERE THE IDEA CAME FROM.
The idea of annexing San Domingo to the United States seems to have occurred
to Cazneau as early as 1862. Large numbers of slaves were then flocking to the
Union armies. As they invaded the South, and the question of their maintenance
and employment had become a very serious and perplexing one, Cazneau, from
his intimate acquaintance with the leaders of the San Dominicans, Cabral and Baez,
found but little difficulty in working up a sentiment in that island in favor of annexation. His project was to organize a company in New York, and obtain large
concessions in San Domingo, and then import contrabands, who were to be employed in tilling their coffee, sugar and tobacco plantations, and in working their
salt, copper and iron mines.
WHO COMPOSED THE GREAT AMERICAN WEST INDIA COMPANY.
In 1863, the great American West India Company was in full operation,
with its headquarters at New York City. Associated with Fabens and Cazneau in thisenterprise was one Joseph W. Currier, who had formerly been
a brigade quartermaster in the United States army. Currier was a man of
very sanguine temperament, a born speculator, generous and impulsive, and
ready to embark in any scheme which required no investment of capital on his
part. Mr. Dorrance Davis was also connected with the Great American West
India Company. He was a Wall street speculator who always had a big enterprise on hand in which he wanted his wealthy friends to invest their surplus capital. He could persuade a man into an investment in spite of himself; he could
live more sumptuously and elegantly on a smaller amount of capital than any man
on the street. As a financier he was exactly what the Great American West India
Company needed, for he could flood the market with stock of a doubtful character
where other men would fail, He seems to have! succeeded in placing quite a
.1r 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
quantity of the stock of that company, and to have obtained sufficient money from
confiding capitalists to enable himself, Cazneau, Fabens and Currier, to live in fine
style for several months. The company had its officer at No. 5 Pine street, New
York City, Its capital was $1,000,000, divided into shares of $50.00 each. The
offices were fitted up in fine style, with desks and counters of black walnut, highly
finished and surmounted with wire grating; the walls and ceilings were painted in
delicious coloring with gilt bordering; the floors were covered with the finest
carpets, and there was an ornamental rail to keep the customers at a respectful
distance from the great officials. Then there was an inner room gorgeously furnished and set apart for the president. Another less sumptuous was used by the
directors. The secretary and treasurer also had rooms elegantly fitted up for the
prosecution of private business.   Samples of copper ore, cotton, sugar, coffee,
and San Domingo rum, were conspicuously displayed. Attractive prospectusses
were issued in great numbers, informing the philanthropic capitalists of India and
the North generally that the Great American West India Company was about to
provide homes and employment for thousands upon thousands of African freedmen and by their labor to regenerate San Domingo, and make its deserted wilds
bloom and blossom like a second earthly paradise. With a rich soil and genial
climate, and wonderful resources of every kind, the Iland of San Domingo would
afford employment for hundreds of thousands of the late Southern slaves and the
way would be opened by this enterprise for the regeneration at no distant day of
all the West India Islands, whose acquisition by the United States would only be a
question of time.
WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO DO.
Among other things, the Great American West India Company was to establish
the San Domingo National Bank with a capital of $2,000,000, and Baez was to be
the President of this institution; Cazneau and his wife, a very shrewd, clever
woman, were to manage both Baez and Cabral, a task which it was asserted he
was capable of performing, although these two chiefs were continually waging
war the one on the other. The United States had a coal station at St. Thomas
for which it paid a modest rent. St. Thomas was also the rendezvous of Confederate blockade-runners, and the Great American West India Company wanted the
United States to select a coaling station at the port of Palenque, on the south side
of the island of San Domingo.
THE COLLAPSE.
On the 10th of December, 1863, Fabens, as trustee of the West India Company,
made a formal tender of the harbor of this port to Hon. Gideon Welles, Secretary
of the U. S. Navy, and asked that a ship be detailed to visit port Palenque, with
a competent engineer to report upon the advantages it offered as a coaling station.
After flourishing for about two years, the Great American West India Company
closed its doors and left outside creditors and stockholders who had sunk $160,000,
wondering where it had gone.
THE SAN DOMINGO COPPER COMPANY.
Two years later, the Great San Domingo Copper Company was organized and
an office opened at No.  38 Broadway.   The same leading spirits, Fabens,
Cazneau, Currier, and the others, were found here with luxuriously furnished
headquarters. They informed the world that the Great San Domingo Copper
Company was an entirely new enterprise, that it comprehended among other
things a long lease of the Bay of Samana, and a speedy annexation of San Domingo
to the United States. Cabral, they said, had started a revolution, and the uncertainty of affairs in the island had ruined the Great American West India Company, but now there was a stable government, and the Great San Domingo Copper
Company could not fail to succeed. Some gentlemen of large means invested in
the stock of the Copper Company; among others Charles Knapp, the gun-maker.
George W. McLean, James R. Young, Mr. Spofford, and others. The following
is one of the modest prospectuses of the enterprise issued by Fabens and Cazneau:
"San Domingo Copper Company, organized under the laws of the State of New
York, in 1866. Capital, 50,000 shares at $20 each, $1,000,000.
Trustees.
Charles Knapp.
James R. Young, Secretary Chicago Northwestern Railroad Company.
Richard B. Kimball, Counsellor-at-Law, 29 William street, New York.
405 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
George W. McLean, late of the firm of Jerome Riggs & Co.
A. T. Francis, late with the firm of Jerome Riggs & Co.
President, Charles Knapp.
Vice-President, George W. McLean.
Treasurer, James R. Young.
Secretary, William P. McCullogh.
The property owned by the Company in the Island of San Domingo, ten
leagues from the City of San Domingo, and now in successful operation, consists
of five mines, viz.: number 1, "Colon;" number 2, "Washington;" number 3,
"Currier;" number 4, "Cazneau and Fabens;" number 5, "Americus."
Amount of money already appropriated for the working of these mines, $35,000
in the Island.
Office of the Company, 38 Broadway, New York."
AHEM!
On the 3d of December, 1866, Currier wrote to a friend in Washington, whose
service the company was anxious to obtain as an agent at the National Capital,
as follows: "McLean add Knapp are both sanguine of getting distinguished
officials in Washington connected with us. Perhaps I may as well tell you that
General Ingalls has signified his intention to become interested with us, and to
bring Gens. Grant and Babcock in. There is a large amount of money in this
thing. All that is needed is to have the right men connected with it and push
the Samana Bay and annexation scheme. One of our party has had an interview with General Grant and Mr. Seward, and they are both in favor of our
project, especially theformer. He saw the advantages to be gained, military as
well as commercial, as soon as they were presented to him."
CURRIER WRITES WELL.
Again, on December 7th, 1866, Currier wrote as follows: "Knapp telegraphs that
he will be here to-morrow. He will then have a meeting at the company's office,
at 12 o'clock, to devise ways and means. This will be the first regular meeting
of the trustees. Three of them are new parties coming in with the old, and put
in $25,000 to $30,000.  McLean's party with Ingalls, and the others, is to make the
sum up to $50,000. Knapp has great influence in Washington, as you know; entertains handsomely, and knows how to make the officials understand a thing
like this. Ingalls knows the value of copper mines, as both he and Alex. Sibley
own a controlling interest in the rich mines on Lake Superior. It is reported to
us that both Generals Grant and Babcock are very enthusiastic on the subject.
* * * General Baez, the President of the Republic of San Domingo, is here;
he goes to Washington on Tuesday next to have an interview with Mr. Seward,
who is as enthusiastic about San Domingo as he was about Alaska.  Baez is brim
full of intelligence; speaks English and French fluently. He understands the
question of annexation in all its ramifications, and says we must make the thing
sure through the action of Congress. He will also have an interview with Gen.
Grant and Babcock. The last has been represented to us as a very active, shrewd
business man. Baez is in favor of giving the United States Government all the
facilities it wants for a naval station in the bay of Samana, free of rent, for ten
years. He suggests also that we set apart a certain amount of shares in the  San
Domingo Copper Company' for Grant, Seward, Babcock, and their friends."
ONCE MORE.
Again, Currier writes as follows:
"CONSULDA DE LA REPUBLICA DOMINICANA,
En Nueva York, 38 Broadway.
December 21st, 1866.
Dear Sir: From the tone of your letter of yesterday, I infer that you still have
a lingering doubt as to the stability of our company, and are inclined to throw
cold water on our prospects, especially annexation to the United States, and importing camels from Africa to do our work at the mines. I am very sorry for
this, because I had counted on your support. Let me say, now, that I do not appreciate your objections to aiding our enterprise, and think you are more captious
than considerate. If Gens. Grant, Babcock, and others high in office in Washington, are so well satisfied with the real value of our prospects, and feel safe in
406 
407
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
lending their names and influence to carry them out, I cannot for the life of me
see why you should hesitate. It was our intention to have sent 1,200 shares of
the stock of the San Domingo Copper Company to you as soon as Knapp shall
have signed the certificates to be distributed among officials of influence in
Washington. But from the tone of your letter, I suppose we shall have to do
our business through some other party.
"If your friend, Mr. Seward, does what he promised, we shall exceed our most
sanguine expectations in regard to the lease of Samana Bay, and get a nice sum
from the Government for it. The only thing I am afraid of is Charles Sumner's
great dislike of Cazneau, which may cause him to interpose and use his influence
with Seward to defeat our plans.
"As I wrote you on the 18th, Mr. Knapp has been here, put in more money, and
signed the certificates, so that we have now an entire new issue. But we cannot
issue these certificates until those signed by McLean are in and canceled. You
ridicule the idea of sending to Africa for camels, and evidently consider it a
waste of money. Our trustees do not agree with you. We have to-day chartered
one brig to go to Africa for camels, and another to go to San Domingo for a cargo
of copper. We shall get both off in fifteen days. Others, you see, have faith in
our project, if you have not. Mr. Fabens will go to Africa by way of Europe,
and will attend personally to the purchase and shipment of the camels. With
these camels at work, you will see ore coming forward fast enough to satisfy even
the most skeptical that we have a great thing in the San Domingo affair, and that
it will be a success.
Yours very truly,
J. W. CURRIEB."
COLLAPSE THE SECOND.
Baez visited Washington, was entertained by Seward and had interviews with
Grant, Senator Morton, and other high officials. Fabens, with $30,000 went, to
Africa by way of Europe, accompanied by Baez. A cargo of camels were purchased and shipped to San Domingo, but somehow or another the Great San
Domingo Copper Company did not flourish, and by-and-by it closed its doors one
morning, very much to the surprise of a number of people who had been induced
to invest their surplus earnings in the purchase of its stock.
SEWAED WANTS THE EXTREMES-ALASKA AND SAN DOMINGO.
The annexation acheme had been industriously agitated during the closing
period of Johnson's administration, and Cazneau had even procured himself to be
nominated as a plenipotentiary on the part of the United States Government to
San Domingo.  Mr. Seward, then Secretary of State, appears to have been in
favor of annexation, and if that failed, he wanted the United States to purchase
the Bay of Samana. He had sent his son, Frederick H. Seward, with Admiral
Porter in the United States Steamer Gettysburg, to negotiate for the purchase of
Samana. This was during the Cabral Administration and J. Sommers Smith was
then our commercial agent to the Dominican Republic. Mr. Pujol was the commissioner on the part of the Dominican Government to treat with Seward and
Porter for the sale of Samana Bay, and after some time spent in negotiations, the
representatives of the United States Government declined to proceed further in
the matter. The difficulty then, as afterwards, when Baez had obtained possession
of the Government of San Domingo, was, that they denanded as part of the consideration for the Bay of Samana, that the United states Government should
guarantee protection to the party then in possession of the Dominican Government, and with whom the treaty had been made. After Baez had driven Cabral
out in 1868, he renewed, through Mr. J. Sommers Smith, the proposition to annex
that island, or to sell the Bay of Samana to the United States; but
here again protection was made the condition precedent. This, Mr. Seward
said, could not be guaranteed because it would be an act of war.
NEXT! WHO WERE IN IT.?
The failure to drive a bargain with the Johnson Administration was the cause
of the bankruptcy of the great San Domingo Copper Company. But the hopes
of the speculators, Fabens, Cazneau, Currier, Davis, and others, revived with the
advent of the present administration, and there can be no doubt about Gens. Rufus Ingalls, Babcock and Porter, being interested, along with Fabens and Caz 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
neau, in the various grants and concessions which they had obtained in San Domingo from Baez. These speculators, now feeling confident of their ability to
secure the annexation of San Domingo, undertook to play a double game. A
concession was made by Baez to Mr. Edward H. Hartmont for the working
of the coal mines of Samana, and to take guano from the Island of Alta Vela,
in consideration for which he was to secure a loan of ~420,000 sterling from the
house of Lawson & Co., of London, to Baez.'This concession was made May
1st, 1869, but in the mean time Fabens had a concession for a geological examination, and general mineralogical exploration of the Island, made on the 3d of
July, 1868, by which he was to receive one-fifth of all the public lands. Then
there was the concession to Cazneau and others through Edward Prime, for the
National Bank of San Domingo, which was made July 4th, 1869; and in addition
Cazneau had grants of two copper mines, and of all the valuable wharf frontage
on the Bay of Samana.
The remainder of this shameful story will now be given from the official documents.
THE SENATE BEGINS.
At the second session of the 41st Congress in June, 1870, the Senate of the
United States, upon the petition of one Davis Hatch, directed that a select committee of seven Senators be appointed to investigate and report thereon, with
power to examine witnesses, and send for persons and papers. The petition of
Mr. Hatch, dated at the Island of St. Thomas, May 13th, 1870, sets forth that
he is a citizen of Connecticut; that in 1862 he became the agent of a New York
company, organized to work a salt mine of Neyba, in the Island of San Domingo;
that he reached the City of San Domingo on the 10th of January, 1862, while the
Island was in the possession of the government of Spain; that he obtained grants
for the salt mines in February, 1864; that in July, 1865, the Spanish government abandoned the country, and subsequently, five months later, after a government was organized under the Presidency of Baez, these grants were annulled,
but in May, 1866, Baez being deposed and driven from the country by General
Jose M. Cabral, who succeeded to the Presidency, the grants were reconfirmed
to the company represented by Hatch; that in November, 1867, an insurrection
broke out against Cabral, and lasted until February, 1868, when Baez again obtained the ascendency; that in May, 1869, the city of Barahona, where Hatch
resided, was abandoned by the forces under Baez, and taken possession of by
Cabral's party, who held it until the August following, when it was re-taken by
Baez. Soon after this, Hatch was arrested by order of Baez, carried to the Fort
of Azua, where he was arraigned before a military'commander and required to
give a statement respecting his intercourse with the party of Cabral, while he
occupied Barahoma. From thence he was removed to San Domingo City and
again re-transferred to Azua, where, on the 28th of September, thirty days
after his arrest, he was presented with "an act of accusation," and brought to
trial before a court-martial without being allowed time to prepare his defense,
send for witnesses or for important papers not then in his possession; without
counsel to defend him, he was convicted and sentenced to death. Subsequently
Mr. Hatch was pardoned on condition that he immediately leave the Island, but
in violation of this he was detained a prisoner until the 15th of March, 1870,
when he was released upon the peremptory demand of the then U. S. Commercial
Agent, Mr. Perry, backed by rear-Admiral Porter with the U.'S. man-of-war
Severn.  For the injuriq done him, Mr. Hatch claimed damages against the
Dominican Republic in tie sum of $50,000, and asked the intervention of the
Government of the United States to aid him in obtaining that amount of damages for his alleged wrongs; and also the further sum of $8,547.12 for spoliation
of his property by the army of Baez.
A SELECT COMMITTEE APPOINTED.
A select committee to inquire into this matter was, in accordance with the
resolution of June 8th, 1870, appointed, composed as follows: James W.
Nye, J. M. Howard, George H. Williams, Willard Warner, Carl Schurz, O.
S. Ferry, and George Vickers. Previous to this, Senator Ferry, of Connecticut,
had procured the passage of a resolution by the Senate calling upon the See.
of State to furnish copies of all correspondence relating to the imprisonment
of Davis Hatch by the Dominican Republic. On the, 24th of February, 1870,
408 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
Hamilton Fish transmitted to the Senate, in answer to this resolution, an
expurgative copy of the correspondence above referred to. The expurgations
consisted of the omission from the copy transmitted of all allusions contained in
the originals to General Babcock, Cazneau, Fabens, and others. On the 26th of
April, 1870, the Senate called for full and entire copies of Smith's and Perry's
dispatches in regard to the imprisonment of Hatch, and they were furnished on
May 6th.
THE WAY GRANT INTRODUCED BABCOCK.
General Babcock had been sent to San Domingo by President Grant in July,
1869, to arrange for the treaty of annexation, with Baez. He bore the following
letter of credentials:
U. S. Grant, President of the UTnited States, to his Excellency Buenaventura
Baez, President of the Dominican Republic:
GREAT AND GOOD FRIEND: Deeming it desirable to satisfy my curiosity in
respect to your interesting country by obtaining information through a source
upon which I rely, I have for this purpose appointed Brevet Brigadier-Gen.
eral Orville E. Babcock, of the army of the United States, to proceed to the
Dominican Republic in the character of a special agent. Having been one of
my aides-de-camp while I commanded the armies of the United States, and
having since been intrusted by me with confidential business of importance, I
have entire confidence in his integrity and intelligence, and I commend him
to your Excellency accordingly. Written at Washington, the 13th day of July,
A. D. 1869.
Your good friend,
U.S. GRANT."
Babcock remained in San Domingo until the latter part of August, 1869, when
he returned to the United States. The first letter of the then commercial agent,
J. Somers Smith, to the Secretary of State in regard to the arrest and imprisonment of Mr. Hatch, was dated September 4th, 1869. The part of this letter
which was omitted from the copy transmitted to the Senate, will appear by corn
parison of the expurgated copy with the unexpurgated one, as given-below:
NOW READ.
UNEXPURGATED COPY.
MR. SMITH TO MR. FISH.
NO. 93.]    SAN DOMINGO CITY, Sep. 4, 1869.
Sir:-Iconsider it my duty to bring to the
knowledge of the Department the critical situation of Mr. Davis Hatch, a citizen of the United
States, who, it is reported, is under arrest at
Barahona.
Mr. Hatch came to this country as the agent
of a company consisting of Mr. Augustus Schell,
and other men of standing in the city of New
York, for the purpose of working the salt mountain of Neyba, and making a railroad to Barahona, to facilitate the shipment of the salt.
M         r. Hatch obtained the concession from the
Spanish Government, which was confirmed by
the Cabral administration.
When Mr. Baez returned to power he sent for
Mr. Hatch, as there had previously existed an
unfriendly feeling. Mr. Hatch was brought by
force on board a man-of-war to this capitol;
but, on my representation, the difficulty between himself and the President was arranged
amicably, and Mr. Hatch was allowed to return
to Barahona.   Some time since, Barahona was
taken by the revolutionary party, and they held
it some months; it was re-taken some three
weeks ago, and it was rumored that Mr. Hatch
had been arrested I called at once on President Baez, who confirmed the rumor, and said
that charges had been preferred against him,
and, at my request, I was promised a copy of
said charges as soon as received by the Government. Some two weeks having elapsed without
No. 93.]   SAN DOMINGO CITY, Sept. 4, 1869.
Sir:-I consider it my duty to bring to the
knowledge of the Department the critical situation of  Mr. Davis Hatch, a citizen of the United
States, who, it is reported, is under arrest at
Barahona.
Mr. Hatch came to this country as the agent
of a company consisting of Mr. Augustus Scfiell,
and other men of standing in the city of New
York, for the purpose of working the salt mountain of  Neyba, and making a railroad to Barahona, to facilitate the shipment of the salt.
Mr.  Hatch obtained the concession from the
Spanish Government, which was confirmed by
thie Cabral administration.
When  Mr. Baez returned to power he sent for
Mr.  Hatch, as there had previously existed an
unfriendly feeling.  Mr. Hatch was brought by
force on board a man-of-war to this cap   itol;
but, on my representation, the difficulty between himself and the President was arranged
amicably, and Mr. Hatch was allowed to return
to Barahona.  Some time since Barahona was
taken by the revolutionary party, and they held
it some months; it was re-taken some three
weeks ago, and it was rumored that Mr. Hatch
had been arrested.  I called at once on President Baez, who confirmed the rumor, and said
that charges had been preferred against him,
and, at my request, I was promised a copy of
said charges as soon as received by the Government.  Some two weeks having elapsed without
409
EXPURGATED COPY.
IMR. SMITH TO MR. FISH. 
TIVE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
- my hearing further, I called, on the 29th August,
agaat in on the President, and he informed me
that he had given orders to send up  Mr. Hatch
to this city; but as he has not yet arrived, I feel
great anxiety as to his actual position.
On the 31st ultimo the United States ship  Tus carora arrivedfrom Key West, when Commander
Queen called on me.  I handed him a memoran dum regarding MVr. Hatch, and expressed my
desire that he would proceed to Barahona to see
Mr. Hatch, and learn the particulars of his case.
The  commander informed  me that, notwith standing his willingness to comply with my re quest, he was powerless to act in the matter, as
his instructions placed the ship at the disposal of
General Babcock. On my communicating with
General Babcock, he did not seem disposed to
co-operate, appearing not to regard the case in as
serious a light as I do, from my knowledge of the
Dominican character.  It is unfortunate for Mr.
Hatch that since General Babcock  has been in
close companionship with Mr. Cazneau, who is
an enemy of Mr. Hatch; as he, Mr. Hatch,furnished the information which caused the rejection
of Cazneau by the Senate, some three years ago,
when his name was sent infor a position in this
country.
The Captain and officers of the Tuscarora
were introduced to the President by General Babcock. I was not invited to accompany them,
which appeared to me as a want of courtesy on
the part of the General.
Mr. Hatch is a highly respectable gentleman,
and as I have not heard from him for over four
months, notwithstanding that Barahona is
within twelve hours' sail of this city, I deem it
my imperative duty to report the affair for the
consideration of my Government.
my hearing further, I  called,    on       the 29th August,
again on the President, and he informed me that
he had given orders to send up Mr. Hatch to
this city; but as he has not yet arrived, I feel
great anxiety as to his actual position.
Mr. Hatch is a highly respectable gentleman,
and as I have not heard from him for over four
months, notwithstanding that Barahona is within twelve hours' sail of this city, I deem it my
imperative duty to report the affair for the consideration of my Government,
AGAIN.
EXPURGATED.
BR. SMITH TO KR. FISH.
No. 96.]    SAN DOMINGO CITY, Oct. 8,1869.
.ir:-In my dispatch No. 94, I informed the
Department of the arrest of Mr. Davis Hatch,
a citizen of the United  States, at Barahona,
and that he had been taken to Azua for trial, on
charges of aiding                          the revolutionary party. On
the 12th ultimo Mr. Hatch was brought to this
city in the schooner-of-war Alta Gracia, and, although sick at the time, was locked  up in
prison,  and incommunicated  for forty-eight
hours.   I was present at his examination by
the authorities, and in his answers to the interrogatories he denied having ever in any way interfered in the revolutionary struggle at present
going on in this republic.   On the 18th ultimo
he was again placed on board the Alta Gracia
and conveyed to Azua, where he has been tried
by a court-martial, and on the 2d inst. he was
condemned to be shot.   The sentence was immediately forwarded by express to the President, who referred it to the Senatus Consultum,
and that body decided to pardon Mr. Hatch,
and an order from the Government to that effect was sent to Azua, and, I understand, he is
at liberty and will receive his passport.
Mr. Hatch informed me while here that, on
the re-occupation of Barahona by the Government troops, his store was twice pillaged, and
when he was compelled to leave he abandoned
a valuable cargo of wood prepared for shipment; likewise other properties and effects.
I am promised by the Government a copy of
the proceedings, and until I examine the testimony I cannot give an opinion.  Mr. Hatch assured me that his accusers were men of the very
lowest order, and not entitled to the least
credit.   As soon as I am furnished with a full
MR. SMITH TO MR. FISH.
NO. 96.]    SAN DOMINGO CITY, Oct. 8, 1869.'
Sir:-In my dispatch No.  94, I informed the
Department of the  arrest of Mr. Davis Hatch,
a citizen of the United States, at Barahona,
and that he had been taken to Azua for trial, on
charges of aiding the revolutionary party. On
the 12th ultimo Mr. Hatch was  brought to this
city in the schooner-of-war Alta Gracia, and, although  sick at the time, was locked up in
prison, and inommunicated for forty-eight
hours. I was present at his examination by the
authorities, and in his answers to the interrogatories he denied having ever in any way interfered in the revolutionary struggle at present gol
ing on in this republic.   On the 18th ultimo  e
was again placed on board the Alta Gracia and
conveyed to Azua, where he has been tried by a
court-martial, and on the 2d inst. he was condemned to be shot. The sentence was immediately forwarded by express to the President,
who referred it to the Senatus Consulturm, and
that'body decided to pardon Mr. Hatch, and an
order from the Government to that effect was
sent to Azua, and I understand he is at liberty
and will receive his passport.
Mr. Hatch" informed me while here that, on
the re-occupation of Barahona by the Government troops, his store was twice pillaged, and
when he was compelled to leave he abandoned
a valuable cargo of wood prepared for shipment; likewise other properties and effects.  I
am promised by the Government a copy of
the proceedings, and, until I examine the testimony, I cannot give an opinion. Mr. Hatch assured me that his accusers were men of the
very lowest order, and not entitled to the least
credit.   As soon as I am furnished with a full
410
UNEXPURGATED. 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
report of the trial, I shall forward it to the Department.
Mr. Hatch was certainly placed in a     very
embarrassing position at Barahona, as the place
was occupied first by one party and then by the
other.  The Cabralistas were in possession near
three months, and, as the residence of  Mr.
Hatch was the only decent house in the town, the
leaders of both belligerent parties occupied it
at their pleasure, with or without license.   Under such peculiar and compulsory cire      cumstances, great allowances  should have been
made. andI consider the death sentence a most
cruel and barbarous stretch of power;  it evinced
a determination to punish  Mr. Hatch to the last
extre  mity, and, if possible, to break him down
physically and mentally.   When it is considered that Mr. Hatch is fifty-seven years old, and
also his respectability in the United States, a
member of Dr. Tyng's Church (St. George's),
and, I believe, formerly a vestryman, his sufferings have been enough to impair both body
and mind of most men.
On the return of the Tuscarora from Tortola,
Captain Queen told me that there was no necessity in my taking any steps to assist Mr. Hatch,
as General Babcock had carried to President
Grant, in black and white, proof of his guilt. 1
replied to Captain Queen that I disregarded all
ex parte statements, and should investigate the
affair when the testimony was submitted.  I cannot but express my reprobation at the interference of certain Americans in using their inluence to place in jeopardy the life of a fellowcountryman.   Nationalfeelins alone would in
duce most men to stand by him, and if they
could not assist or extricate him from a grave
dilemma, to at least abstain, both in word and
deed, from participating with his enemies, or
contributing in any way whatever to prejudice
his case.  Had Captain ~ueen been untrammeled
on his arrival in the Tuscarora, I would have
called with him formally  o  the  President, and
I am confident that on our joint representation
the process against Mr. Hfatch wonld have been
discontinued, and he would only have been requested to leave the country.   Thus the ignominy
which has been cast on him  would have been
avoided  but the Tuscarora was under the orders of General Babcock.
report of the trial, I shall forward it to the Department.
Mr. Hat       ch was   c                            ertainly placed in a very embarrassing position at Barahona, as the place
was occupie d fir  st by one party a      nd then  b      y    t he
other.  The Cabralistas were in possession near
t               hree months, and, as the residence of Mr.
Hatch was  the only decent house              in the town,
the leaders of both belligerent parties occupied
it at their pleasure, with or without license.
Under such peculiar and compulsory circumstances, great allowances  should have been
made, and I consider the death sentence a most
cruel and barbarous stretch of power; it evinced
a determination to punish Mr. Hatch to the last
extremity, and, if possible, to break him down
physically and mentally. When it is considered
that Mr. Hatch is fifty-seven years old, and also
his respectability in the United States, a member of Dr. Tyng's Church (St. Geor.~e's), and, I
believe, formerly a vestryman, his sufferings
have been enough to impair both body and mind
of most men.    *    *    *    *    *    *
ONCE MORE.
UNEXPURGATED LETTER.
IB. PERRY TO MR. FISH.
SAo DoxrNGo CITY, February 8, 1870.
Sir:-Your communications of January 7, October 28, December 11, January 15, and January
12, arrived by the Tybee on the 5th of this month.
She leaves for New York to-morrow at 7 A. M.
The commnunications relating to Davis Hatch,
now confined at Azua, have been attended to. I
wrote M. M. Gautier, the Secretary of State,
and he replied in a very unsatisfactory manner;
a copy of both communications linclose to you.
He also sent a copy of the process against
Hatch, but it arrived too late this evening for
me to send a translation by this mail.  I have requested the release of Mr. Hatch several times
since my arrival, and the Government promised
to comply with my request, but they have kept
their word no better in this matter than in many
others.
*      *      *      *      *      *
SAN DOMINGO CITY, February 6, 1870.
Sir: Your communications of January 7, October 28, December 11, January 15, and January
12, arrived by the Tybee on the 5th of this
month.  She leaves for New York to-morrow at
7 A. M. The communications relating to Davis
Hatch, now  confined at Azua, have been attended to. I wrote M. M. Gautier, the Secretary
of State, and he replied in a very unsatisfactory
manner; a copy of both communications I inclose to you. He also sent a copy of the process
against Hatch, but it arrived too late this evening for me to send a translation by this mail. I
have requested the release of Mr. Hatch several
times since my arrival, and the Government
promised to comply with my request, but they
have kept their word no better in this matter
than in many others.
I do not like to express my opinion too freely,
and would not, but from a sense of duty. Cazneau and Fabens have  used  their infuence to
keep him where he isfor certain selfish and financial reasons known to themselves, and President
Baez is only too willing to be influenced by them.
411
EXPURGATED LETTER.
]KR. PERRY TO MR. 11ISH. 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
These two men are the individuals of whom 1
have previously hinted as being connected with
General Babcock in his negotiation for Samana
Bay, &c.  They receive private letters from the
Executive Mansion at Washington, which they
display here.  President Baez has intimated to
Captain Bunce (of the LNantasket) and myself
that he will not have an election taken for annexation until after our Government has acted upon
this matter, and daily remarks that the United
States Government has not kept its promises
to  send men-of-war to their coast, he  seems
very timid, ande lacks energy.
I write thus plainly because I do not think the
Dominican  Government is acting honorably in
this matter, and it is time the Department knew 
how matters stand.  I have thought what I have
now written for some time, but I supposed it was
perhaps prejudice.
Since the return of the Nantasket from Azua,
where she went with President Baez and several
of his cabinet, I have had an interview with
raptain Bunce, and he is of the same opinion as
myself in regard to matters here, and told me he
should express himself thus to the Navy  Department.
Iinclose quarterly returns, and will forward
quarterly accounts by next mail.
I am, sir, most respectfully your obedient servant,
RAYMOND H. PERRY,
United States Commercial Agent.
WHIAT MAJOR PERRY SAID.
On June 9, 1870, Raymond H. Perry, who had succeeded J. Somers Smith as
commercial agent to San Domingo, was examined by the Select Committee of the
Senate and his testimony was merely an elaboration of the following statement
which he had previously submitted to the Secretary of the State. He says: "I
have had no other motives, while holding the position as plenipotentiary and
United States commercial agent at San Domingo, than to carry out the wishes of
my Government and the policy of President Grant, free from any motives of
self-interest and the influence of influential friends, and have endeavored to
act honorably and justly in my intercourse with my Government and that of
San Domingo, but I regret to say that I have not received in return the same
spirit of frankness and honesty of purpose. Having had conversation today with Senators and others, all friends to President Grant, and having unwillingly heard conversation both here and in San Domingo, that President
Grant might be knowing to all the facts connected with this annexation movement, I deem it now my duty to inform the Department all I know in relation to
this case, as I am positive that President Grant is not aware of the true history
of this annexation movement, or the false character of the men he (or General
Babcock) has employed in bringing it to a successful issue. I have written
both the State Department and General Babcock of the reputation of these men
more than once. If you remember, I was not desirous of going on this mission
to San Domingo, and so expressed myself to you, and at the Executive Mansion. I went with everything involved in mystery, with letters fronm General
Babcock to (as he expressed them) his friends, Cazneau, Fabens and Spofford,
Tileston & Co., and others, who I was advised to advise with, and that
Cazneau and himself had J. S. Smith, ex-commercial agent, relieved, as he
was not friendly with Cazneau and Fatens for annexation of the island to
the United States. You will, perhaps, remember telling me to write everything to the Department; I endeavored to do so, and it was my wish
to do so; but had I written fully the manner in which this whole movement was being conducted, I feared the Government would not be able to
carry out the plan of annexation.   I was also advised by  Generals Babcock
and Ingalls, Cazneau, Baez and others, to write nothing personal, and always
speak encouragingly in my communications. I have also had directions from
several others what my correspondence should be to the Department of State at
Washington, and have been requested to keep back facts in relation to the election, and Cabrdl's party, and the discontent of the people of the island. No man
412 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
can serve two masters. So I held myself responsible to the State Department,
and by so doing have displeased these and other gentlemen. I sailed on the
Steamer Tybee on the third day of November, 1869, for San Domingo, and met
on the voyage Mr. Fabens, who was full of his accounts of the rascality of Mr.
Hatch, and expressed a wish I should not release him on my arrival at San Domingo, as he was an enemy to Baez and annexation, and also to himself and Cazneau; and that he (Fabens) and his friend Cazneau, as he represented, a man of
great wealth and influence in San Domingo and at Washington, would indorse me;
that I had a great opportunity for making a rapid fortune, &c. On my arrival at
San Domingo I called upon President Baez and Cazneau and others; all appeared
glad to see me. I relieved Mr. Smith on the sixteenth day of November, 1869,
who gave me a brief history of affairs: First, that Cazneau was running the whole
thing, that is the Dominican Government, and represented a large portion of the
public lands of the island for parties in New York City; that he was a very bitter confederate during the war; was from Texas; and now, apparently a strong
Grant man; and that he represented that he was a special agent of the United
States, and in direct correspondence with President Grant. This Mr. Cazneau
told me himself, and that I was very fortunate to be sent to San Domingo at this
time; he could insure me a fine plantation, and opportunities to handle money for
men in New York City whom he knew, and would introduce me to them.
HOW INTERESTING ALL THIS IS.
"(This is an old game of his, as some unfortunates in NewYork City can testify.)
I told him I was after a reputation, not money, and several times found it necessary to make Baez and Cazneau this same remark, and that if they would give me
two hundred and fifty mounted men I would contract to do all the fighting on the
island, and capture Cabral and Luperon, and resign my position as commercial
agent at once. But this was not what they wanted, as I have since learned; it
was their plan to keep Cabral on the frontier, so as to keep the Dominican people
under arms, as Baez could more readily handle them when organized under his
generals, who are his brothers and connections, or held to him by some strong
influence.  The morning of the 18th of November, 1869, while at breakfast with
Mr. Prime, Fabens, and others at the hotel, Fabens remarked that a man-of-war
would be in that day with General Babcock on board.  Within two hours after
that remark, one was signaled at sea. She was soon at anchor. I received a note
from General Babcock requesting me to come on board and bring Colonel
Fabens.   I went immediately on board (Fabens could not be found) and
met Generals Babcock, Sackett and Ingalls General Babcock then showed me
the treaty and my commission from President Grant to negotiate the same.
General Babcock told me he had full directions from the President; but, holding
a commission in the army, as he did, he could not sign the treaty, so I had been
commissioned to do so. Generals Babcock, Sackett and Ingalls came on shore
the next morning and called upon President Baez, Cazneau and Fabens being
present. The above-named gentlemen were present every day during the negotiations, excepting Ingalls. On the next day they called again; when the treaty was
read Cazneau proposed to draw up two separate papers, one to place before the
people of San Domingo, to control the elections, the other before the United
States Government, to keep them quiet. This was approved by Baez and Mr.
Delmonte, who remarked that it would influence and hasten the election in San
Domingo. I protested against this to Gen. Babcock, and remarked to him we
had no right to deceive the Dominican people. General Babcock also protested
against this, and said it would place Grant in a wrong position. Baez and Delmonte said it was only a fiction, and if they did not succeed in the vote for annexation, and our Government did not accept them, that it would cost them their
lives. During the whole of this time these plans were kept a secret from
the United States and Dominican Government, or rather the people.
General Babcock often told me that I must stand by Cazneau and
Fabens, and advise with them; that they represented large interests on
the  island; that he had  large interests with them.   Cazneau also told
me that Babcock and Ingalls had interests in real estate with him, and that he,
Fabens, and his friends in New York had originated the idea of annexation.
I told Babcock one day in my office, in San Domingo, that I thought there
was foul play somewhere, and told him I did not like the action or propositions of
Cazneau, Fabens, Baez, and others, and that I thought I was the wrong man in
413 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB,
San Domingo at that time, and also asked if he, Babcock, had known these men
long, and why it was they did not want Hatch released. Babcock told me I must
not attempt to release him. that he would work against the treaty, and that he
was an enemy to Caznean, Fabens, and Baez. I will state here that I do not
blame him for being so, as he had been most foully dealt with by these men, and
I was of his opinion before I ever saw him (Hatch). I formed my opinion from
facts in his case and other cases in San Domingo. Both his friends and enemies
condemn the way he has been treated.      ~.-4J
HERE COMES BABCOCK AGAIN.
I I told Babcock that Hatch was a mere political prisoner; that he had assisted
both parties; and suffered from both parties, and that both parties, Baez and Cabral, had been equally strong, and had many friends then on the island, but the
war was now over and I did not think it right to keep him in prison after he had
been ordered to be banished from the island; and that it was all through the influence of Cazneau and his friends that he was detained; and that the last time he
(Babcock) was in San Domingo he had an American sailor released who had murdered another American; that Cazneau and Fabens were having Dominicans, guilty
of murder and political offenses, released through Baez; and that Baez had promised me the release of Hatch when I first came to the island, and I did not like the
way things were working. He (Babcock) then remarked, "Wait until I leave the
island before you say anything more about it. " I asked Babcock the day the treaty
was signed if he had the letter from Baez to our Government, or rather to Hartmont, refusing further advances on the loan, and a copy of the public debt of the
island, for in the original orders from the State Department it specified that such
papers should be furnished to us before signing the treaty. He told me he had not
obtained it. I have never seen either of such papers, and have asked for a copy
of both several times of the Dominican Government. They either have not got
them or do not wish to give them to me. I have been assured by men who should
know, in San Domingo, that there is no reliable account of the debt of San Domingo.
NO TIME LOST.
"The night the Albany sailed with General Babcock from Samana for San Domingo, Fabens and Cazneau brought in a paper for lands at Samana; they wished
me to certify to their signature as correct. I did so, at the same time remarking
that they were commencing business very soon, as the treaty was signed that day.
They asked me to say nothing about it. Fabens and all hands sailed on the Albany that night for Samana, where Fabens was left as agent of the United
States, in charge of the flag and naval coal-yard, where he is receiving lumber and
goods free of all port charges, representing them as Government property, underselling all others engaged in business at Samana. Americans and Dominicans at
Samana have complained about this and other matters to me.
WHAT BAEZ DID,
"The first thirty days of the time allotted for Baez to obtain the vote of the
people was lost in waiting for the protection of the United States men-of-war, as
Baez told me he could not move in this matter until they arrived; and also told
me that he had been told by the French and Spaniards, who are his friends, and
the English Government, that the United States would not annex the island; he
also told me that he would not have a vote taken until the United States Senate
had indorsed the action of President Grant. Baez told Captain Bunce the same
thing, and he told me he had written these facts to the Navy Department. Three
days after the departure of the Albany, Baez read the treaty to the French Consul in his sleeping-room. I saw him in the act, and when I came into the room
they made an attempt to conceal the papers. All of these proceedings were to
have been kept secret. I mention this to show the character of this man, and to
warn my Government against his double dealings, for he has his people and the
island for sale, and is trading it with the United States, England and France.  I
saw letters from Fabens to Spofford, Tileston & Co., giving them the full history
of the treaty.
THE LUCKY FABENS.
Spofford, Tileston & Co. are the agents of the English loan, and Fabens
is their agent and spy in San Domingo. Babcock appoints this man, also,
414 
THE SAN DOMIhGO JOB.
United States agent at Samana, and then writes to Baez to have him also sent to
Washington as plenipotentiary; so he, Fabens, holds three positions in three conflicting interests at once. His accomplice, Cazneau, lays out the work on the
island, and Fabens does the traveling and the go-betweens. I called upon
Mr. Cazneau, and told him I did not think Baez would have a
vote for annexation until the United States Senate had acted upon the
uestion, as Baez had that moment expressed himself thus to me, and also to
aptain Bunce, United States Navy.  Cazneau became very much excited-told
me he held Baez between his thumb and finger, and that he could compel him to
have the vote at once, and immediately took his hat and went to the house of
Baez. What took place I do not know, at the house; but four days after this I
saw a band of music in the streets, and heard that the voting for annexation was
to commence that day.    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *
ANNEXATION.
The whole question of annexation has been carried on between Cazneau,
Fabens, Babcock, Spofford, Tileston & Co., and others in New York City, and
urged on by Hartmont, agent of the English loan, and his agents' Spofford & Co..
and their agent, Fabens, as they wished to get their $250,000 back, and also
damages, if they can, against the United States for steps the United States Government has taken in this matter.
"Hartmont told me at President Baez's house in San Domingo that he could
and should hold the United States for damages for the action they had taken;
that he had all the money Baez wanted, and that was called for on his loan. I
told him he did not have it when Baez wanted it, and when it was due. He then
asked me if there was no way to obtain satisfaction from the press of the United
States for the way they had used his name, saying he was in prison, etc. I told
him the press of the United States handled any one rough that mixed up with
political or national affairs, and the higher he placed his damages, the more abuse
he would get from them. This is all the conversation I have had with this man,
except a few words at Spofford & Tileston's office, as I came through New York,
where I met him, and he wished to know more than I knew, or more than I
wished to inform him.
a   THE PROFFERED BRIBE.
"Baez told me he could get all the money he wanted, and proposed, in presence of Delmonte, to deposit $100,000 that he was to get from Hartmont in my
house in San Domingo City, I told him he could not take it from Hartmont.
Whether this was done to try me, I do not know, or for what purpose I do not
know, but such was the fact and his proposition. I spoke of this at the time to
my friend, Mr. Edward Prime, National Bank of San Domingo, and also to Mr.
John Scott, who is in business at San Domingo.
PERRY'S PROTESTS.
I also protested against the arms, ammunition, and money being landed on the
island that were sent to San Domingo on the Tybee by Hartmont through his
agents, Spofford & Tileston, by request of Fabens, agent for the English loan,
agent for the United States, and also agent and plenipotentiary for San Domingo. I also protested against grants and concessions of lands, all of which correspondence you have in the State Department."
It will be noticed in the above that Mr. Perry speaks of Babcock's second visit
to San Domingo. On his return from San Domingo, Babcock took out full powers for negotiating a treaty for the purchase of Samana Bay, and the annexation
of San Domingo.  He also carried with him $100,000 in gold to pay down to bind
the bargain for the purchase of Samana, and at the same time $50,000 worth of
arms was sent out by Spofford, Tileston & Co., who received pay for the same
from the United States Government, the gold and the arms making the $150,000
which was required to be paid as the first installment of the purchase money for
Samana.
BABCOCK'S TREATY.
While on this second visit to San Domingo, Babcock negotiated the treatyfor
the annexation of the island, and the following is the original protocol signed by
him and Mr. Gautier, B'aez's Secretary of State:
"The following bases, which shall serve for framing a definitive treaty between
415. 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
the United States and the Dominican Republic, have been reduced to writing and
agreed upon by General Orville E. Babcock, aide-de-camp to his Excellency, Gen eral Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, and his special
agent to the Dominican Republic, and Mr. Manuel Maria Gautier, Secretary of
State of the Departments of the Interior and of Police, with the foreign relations
of the said Dominican Republic:
"I. His Excellency General Grant, President of the United States, promises,
privately, to use all his influence, in order that the idea of annexing the Domini can Republic to the United States may acquire such a degree of popularity among
members of Congress as will be necessary for its accomplishment; and he offers
to make no communication to that body on the subject until he shall be certain
that it will be approved by a majority. The acceptance of annexation will
oblige the United States to pay to the Dominican Republic the sum of one million
five hundred thousand dollars in coin ($1,500,000), in order that the Republic
may, as a State, pay its public debt, which is estimated at the sum of one million
five hundred thousand dollars in coin ($1,500,000); and the Dominican Republic,
on its part, agrees to conform its constitution to those of other States of the
Union. In the event that the Dominican public debt should exceed one million
five hundred thousand dollars in coin ($1,500,000), the excess shall be charged to
the Dominican State.
"II. In case the North American Congress shall reject the proposition for an nexation, the Dominican Government would accept, as the price of the sale of
Samana, the two millions of dollars in coin ($2,000,000), which the same Govern ment of the United States offered it under the administration of President
Johnson.
"III. His Excellency President Grant assumes the obligation to remit forthwith.to the Dominican Government the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars in coin ($150.000), one hundred thousand dollars to be in cash, and
fifty thousand in arms, for the purpose of aiding in defraying the unavoidable expenses of the State. Credit shall be allowed for this amount, either on account
of that which will be payable in the event of an acceptance of annexation or of a
preference for the acquisition of Samana.
"IV. In either case the United States will guarantee the safety of the country,
and of the Government, against every foreign aggression or machination, in order
that the present Cabinet may carry into effect the obligation which it contracts, to
obtain from the people the expression of the national consent, which will necessarily have to be carried into effect within four months from the acceptance of
the idea of annexation by President Grant.
"V. It is understood by both parties that, if neither of the bases referred to
shall be carried into effect, they shall be regardedas null and of nio value or force,
and that they shall, throughout all time, preserve their character of inviolable
secrecy; but if one of the two extremes which they embrace shall be accepted
(annexation of the Republic to the United States, or the cession of Samana), their
tenor shall be obligatory for both parties, and shall be embraced without change
in the definitive treaty.
"VI. In case the proposition relative to Samana should alone be accepted by
the United States, and the sum of one hundred thousand hard dollars should be
remitted to this capital of San Domingo, as provided in Article 3, the Dominican
Government will abstain from receiving it until the Senate shall have approved
the bargain, for which purpose it engages to submit that question, and to solicit
the said approval as soon as the said sum may arrive.
"Done in duplicate, in good faith, in the City of San Domingo, the fourth day
of the month of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred
and sixty-nine.
"ORVILLM  E. BARcocK,
"MANUEL MARIA GAUTIER."
The charge which Mr. Perry makes that Cazneau was trying to prevent the
release of Hatch is sustained by the following extract of a letter written by Cazneau February 17th, 1870, to Gen. Babcock:  "As you must have observed, before you left, Perry cannot discriminate between those minor matters which will
bear postponement and the higher necessities which cannot wait. -His ruling idea
now is to obtain the liberation of Mr. Davis Hatch, convicted and notoriously
guilty of complicity with Cabral and the Cacos, of Hayti, in their attempted
overthrow of Baez. Hatch is known to correspond with the New York Trnes
416 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
and other papers opposed to annexation, and this Governnent is resoled to keep
him within safe lmits until the cause 8hal be            a begond the reach of a
attacks. "
BABCOCK WILL WRITE LETTERS.
That Babcock was on the most intimate terms with Cazneau is proved by the
following extract of a letter written to Perry under date of March 30, 1870,
"I saw a letter from O'Sullivan before I saw yours, in which he said you and
General C. had some difficulty. General Cazneau told me in a letter that he regretted that he had had a difficulty with you, but spoke in the kindest terms of
you, as a true gentleman, &c.  I only mention this to show you that he has not
been complaining of any ill-treatment with you. You will remember what I
told you when I gave you a letter of introduction, and I have yet to know personally of any act of bad faith on his part. This is of no account. The few
Americans there should unite in the one great object,namely,securing to our Government the valuable foothold in the West Indies. You will remember that I had
to write through General C. when Smith was counsel."
As an abundant caution to Perry, Babcock concluded his letter as follows 
"May I request that you do not put any private matter with official, for they
have to be shown if the information is used."
That Gen. Rufus Ingalls was a party to the annexation job is proven by the
following extract from a letter written by him to Perry under date March 31,
1870.   "Babcock sends letters to yourself and Fabens.  If the Tybee does not
touch at Samana, Fabens's letter must be given to General Cazneau. Please see to
it.
"The Senate has been debating the treaty pretty sharply, but it will be confirmed shortly. This treaty will be ratified. The people must have patience.
The subject was rather new here among the politicians, and they require time for
information. Be careful to cultivate the idea of final annexation. Do not write,
speak or think otherwise. Be careful to mix no private or unofficial letters in
your official correspondence. Be encouraging in all your letters."
That the only object which Baez had in detaining Hatch was to prevent him
from opposing annexation is proved  by the following extract from a letter
written on February 19, 1870, by Gautier, Baez's Minister of Foreign Affairs, to
Mr. Perry:
"I desire that you will be good enough to assure his Excellency the Secretary
of State in Washington that the prolonged sojourn of Mr. Hatch here has been
only to prevent his hostile action in New York, assuring him, at the same time,
that if this reason will not satisfy him, and that should he insist on his (Hatch)
being permitted to go, the Government, which has had no other aim than that of
preventing falsehood and the misleading of public opinion in the United States,
will be very glad to satisfy his wishes."
ROBESON'S ORDERS.
him, as he admits, the folCommander E. K. Owen:
ARTMENT, July 13, 1869.
st of San Domingo, while
port of your guns.
nstructions fron  the Presi out.  If it is not possible
Telegraph, you will put a
and her to Baltimore, as beck.
"r vessels of war, you will
d, and proceed yourself to
oal for you, which you will
nd facility to General Bab
lly,
M. ROBESON,
"aetary of the Nay.
"Commander E. K. OWEN,
"Commanding United States Steamer Seminole."
417 
THE SAN DOMIINGO JOB.
The original orders to which Mr. Robeson refers in the above letter, are as
follows:
"NAVY  DEPARTMENT, July 10, 1809.
"SIR:-You will proceed without delay to the Bay of Samana, in the Island of
San Domingo, and ascertain if there is a steamer there present named the Telegraph, under the command of one Luperon, or officers of his. This vessel has
been interfering with American commerce, and sailing on the high seas without
legal authority.  You are directed to seize her and bring her into the port of
Baltimore. You will stop at no other American port unless compelled to do so
by stress of weather. You will be particular to bring with the vessel the officers
and crew, and all papers found on board. Transfer a sufficient number of the
prisoners to your own vessel, to prevent recapture. Keep the captured steamer
in sight of you, and under your guns on the way home.
"Two engineers, in addition to the complement of your vessel, will be ordered,
and four extra firemen and six coal-heavers, to work the prize home.
"If you do not find the vessel alluded to in Samana Bay, search for her along
the coast until you find her. If she has fallen into the hands of the Dominican
Government, or into the hands of a United States, or English cruiser, you will
touch at the several Dominican ports on your way to Key West, where you will
proceed to report to Rear-Admiral H. X. Hoff for duty in the North Atlantic
squadron under his command.
"Very respectfully,
"GEO. M. ROBESON,
"Secretary of the Navy.
"Commander E. K. OWEN,
"Commanding United Steamer Seminole, Hampton Roads, Virginia."
This steamer Telegraph, which Robeson sent a United States ship of war
cruising for, was a little vessel which belonged to Cabral, and had been employed by him to aid in the capture of Samana from Baez. Before Commander
Owen, with the United States Seminole, reached San Domingo, the Telegraph
had been seized by a British consul, and, after a full examination of the subject, the British consul decided that she was not a pirate, and had not been sailing on the "high seas" without authority; and thereupon she was surrendered
to her owners.
But Robeson was so determined that this little war ship of Cabral's should be
captured that he directed another vessel of war to be dispatched to San Domingo, and placed under Babcock's orders. This order was telegraphed to Key
West, and is as follows:
"NAVY DEPARTMENT, August 23, 1869.
"Commander W. W. QUEEN,
"Senior Officer U. S. N., Key West, Florida:
"Direct a vessel to proceed, without a moment's delay, to San Domingo City,
to be placed at the disposal of General Babcock, while on that coast. If not at
San Domingo City, to find him."
Commander Queen immediately sailed in the Tuscarora, and when he reached
San Domingo, as will be observed from the communication of Commercial
Agent Smith to the State Department, he was sent cruising after the little Telegraph; and so important did Babcock consider the capture of this vessel that he
would not allow Queen to touch at Barahona, and inquire after Mr. Hatch, as
Smith wanted him to do.
When Commander Queen reported to Babcock, at San Domingo, with the
steamer Tuscarora, he was instructed by Babcock to proceed to the Island of St.
Thomas, and investigate the matter of the release of the "Telegraph," and if
he had reason to suspect that she had been allowed to go to sea without proper
guarantees, he was to seize her, and dispose of her as directed by the Secretary
of the Navy. He was also to instruct the United States Consul at St. Thomas
that it was the wish of President Grant that the kindest relations should exist
between our Government and the Republic of San Domingo; and, after performing these duties, he was to return to San Domingo and communicate whatever
information he had to Baez, through Cazneau.
PERRY DEMOLISHES BABCOCK.
As has already been seen, the statement of Perry to Secretary Fish, quoted at
length above, that he had repeatedly informed the Department of his suspicions
418 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
in regard to the connection between Babcock, Cazneau and Fabens, is sustained
by his dispatch of February 8, 1870. We propose, however, to quote still further
from Mr. Perry's communications to the State Department. On February 20th,
1870, in a dispatch to the Secretary of State, he said: "During my official duties
at this place I have come in contact with Mr. Cazneau and Mr. Fabens, who are
acting in connection with General Babcock. The former represents himself as
the special and confidential agent of the Government, and makes his boast that he
is in direct communication with the President of the United States. The letters he
receives from the Executive Mansion he uses as capital for himself and friends.
I have found it necessary to tell this man, in presence of President Baez and his
cabinet, that he was a trickster and a dishonest man."
Again, April 16, 1870, he writes to Secretary Fish as follows: "President Baez
has this moment informed me that Col. Fabens sails on the steamer Tyl)ce tomorrow morning for Washington, at the request of two  Gene-als in Washington
and Mr. Cazneau to negotiate a loan for this Government on securities of public
property of this Government, and to relieve Mr. Cohen in Washington, the bearer
,of the returns of the election for annexation."
On May 14th, 1870, Mr. Perry wrote as follows to Secretary Fish: "Sir: In
conversation with President Baez the other day, that gentleman  among other
things, told me that Mr. J. W.Fabens was about proceeding to Washington as Minis
ter Plenipotentiary of the Dominican Republic, and that he, Baez, was forced to
this action by the request of General O. E. Babcock and William L. Cazneau.
Later in the day I met Mr. Fabens who gave me the same information; and it is
right to add that this step on the part of President Baez suprised every one in
San Domingo, and created a most unfavorable impression among all classes of
people there, and especially the friends of annexation.   These two individuals,
Cazneau and Fabens, are in very bad repute in a country where they are well
known. It is unfortunate that such men should be connected in any way with
the treaty, but the government of President Baez yielded to the urgent demand
from Washington more particularly since Fabens gave out that he had received
a letter from the Hon. Charles Sumner, in which he, Fabens, declared that that
gentleman pledged himself to go for San Domingo."
CONDEMNED BY HIS OWN WORDS.
We will now proceed to show by the evidence of General Babcock that the
statements concerning him made by Perry are substantially true.  In the first
place he admits that in an interview he had with Mr. Perry at the time the latter
was appointed commercial agent to San Domingo he believed Mr. Hatch was
guilty of the crimes charged against him by Baez. (See page 42 of the evidence.)
Again he admits that Fabens accompanied him to San Domingo in a steamer
furnished for the purpose by Spofford, Tileston & Co.; that Fabens and Cazneau
were with him during his first visit to San Domingo, and that Cazneau acted as his
interpreter; that he gave Perry letters of introduction to Fabens and Cazneau;
that he accepted the statement of Cazneau about the then commercial agent J.
Somers Smith being opposed to annexation; that Smith called his attention to
the imprisonment of Hatch, and that he, Babcock, on being informed by President
Baez that Hatch was aiding Cabral, concluded not to ask for his release; that he
simply told Baez he must be very careful to have positive proof against Hatch;
that in that case he did not suppose the United States would interfere. (See pages
36 and 37.) He also admits that Fabens came to Washington and had interviews
with himself and the President in regard to the annexation scheme. (Page 38.)
He further corroborates Perry by admitting that Cazneau and Baez did suggest
.the making of two treaties.   (Page 43.) He also admitted that he gave Perry
a letter of introduction to Spofford, Tileston & Co., and said his "object in so doing was the hope that this firm would extend to Perry the courtesies of their
steamship line to San Domingo."  (See page 43.)  He also admits that at the time
he was declining to interfere in behalf of Hatch he had used his
influence with Baez to procure the release of a sailor who had
committed a murder (page 113). He admits, also, that he had placed Fabens in
charge of the American Flag at Samana, and that, at his suggestion, the Secretary
of the Navy consigned coal to Fabens intended for the use of our steamers (page
115). Also that Cozneau was in correspondence with the President through him,
Babcock (page 115). Ho also admits that Secretary Fish had no confidence in
Cozneau (page 116); and that hlie told Perry that he should not have protested
419 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
against the receipt of arms sent Baez by Spofford, Tileston & Co. (page 115) also
that he knew that Spofford, Tileston & Co. were the agents of Mr. Hartmont,
who was negotiating a loan for Baez, with Lawson & Co., of London (page 118).
He also admits that he told the President that Mr. Hatch was guilty and that he
ought not to be released (page 118). The evidence of J. Somers Smith is also
corroborated by Perry, and makes it clear that Babcock declined to have anything to do with Mr. Hatch's case.
The evidence given above establishes clearly,
-~rst: That the administration in Washington was aware of the intimate relations which existed between Babcock, Cazneau and Fabens, and that the two
latter were adventurers and unscrupulous speculators, and largely interested in
the grants and concessions obtained from Baez, which would only be valuable
after the island had been annexed to the United States.
Secondi: That the Secretary of State when the Senate called for copies of the
dispatches from our commercial agents at San Domingo relative to the arrest,
trial, and detention of Mr. Hatch, suppressed all that part of the correspondence
which reflected upon Babcock, Cozneau and Fabens.
Third: That the proceedings against Hatch were outrageous in their character
and demanded the prompt interference of our Government.
Fourth: That the Dominican Government, in official communications to Secretary Fish, gave as a reason for the detention of Hatch that he would, if released,
oppose annexation, and might create public opinion in the United States unfavorable to that scheme; and further, that the State Department did not rebuke the
Dominican Government for this infamous justification of their outrage upon an
American citizen.
AN ASTOUNDING REPORT FROM A SENATE COMMITTEE.
But what is more astounding is, that a Committee of the U. S. Senate should
declare that in their opinion, the detention of Mr. Hatch by the Dominican Government was justifiable under the circumstances. Their reason for this opinion
they give as follows: "His pen was used, and intended to be used, to defame the
character of the Government where he resided, its officers and agents, and to
thwart and defeat a measure of the Government of the United States to which he
owed allegiance; we do not, therefore, think the Government of the Republic
chargeable with wrong doing in our sense of the term, in preventing him from
gratifying his private pique and operating against a great measure favored by the
Executive of the United States.
The entire report of the majority of the Senate Committee is an ingenious defense of Baez, Cazneau. Fabens and Babcock, and a cunningly constructed argument to prove that Mr. Hatch deserved even greater punishment than was inflicted upon him, and this, too, in the face of the fact that every prominent citizen
of the town of Norwalk, Connecticut, Mr. Hatch's native place, certified that
he bore a character, as an honorable and christian gentleman, above reproach;
that among these persons thus testifying to the good character of Hatch were the
Chief Justice of the State of Connecticut, the Presidents of all the banks in the
town of Norwalk, the practising physicians and ministers of that place. Even
Babcock himself was compelled to admit (p. 42) that "so far as the character of
Mr. Hatch was concerned, I have yet to learn of anybody attacking his character
as a man."
THE MINORITY REPORT.
The minority report of the Committee was written by Senator Carl Schurz, and
was signed by himself, Mr. Ferry of Connecticut, and Mr. Vickers of Md.  In
their report the minority sum up the case against Babcock as follows:  "So far
then, according to General Babcock's own showing, independently of Mr. Perry's
testimony, the case stands thus: General Babcock, an officer of the United States,
invested with extraordinary authority, is sent to San Domingo to conclude a
treaty of annexation. He is empowered to extend to the Government of the Dominican Republic the protection of our Government while that treaty is waiting for its final consummation; in fact that protection is made visible and
effective by the presence of war vessels of the United States, whose guns are at the
command of General Babcock. The relations he thus establishes with the Dominican Government are of such a character as to render a refusal on their part of
any legitimate demand coming from him almost impossible as a matter of courtesy,
420 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
and entirely impossible as a matter of interest. That officer finds an American
citizen there, who after having been tried and pardoned, is still held in prison by
the same Government which lives under the protection of American guns, and
whose territory it is proposed to press under the American flag. And under such
circumstances that officer declares that he now will have nothing to do with the
American citizen so held in prison. He declines to speak a word for an American
citizen thus outraged. and goes even so far in his neglect of the interests of his
unfortunate countryman as to omit all inquiry concerning the reasons for which
he is held captive, while a few minutes' investigation would have convinced him
that the only thing which he considered proof of that captive's guilt did not
exist on record, and that the trial, sentence, and continued incarceration after
pardon, were a barbarous outrage from beginning to end. This conduct, which
appears from General Babcock's own testimony, is so unmilitary-like, so utterly
un-American, so unnatural that we are compelled to inquire into the influences
and circumstances which may explain it."
The committee then proceeded to a minute consideration of the testimony, and
,show that every excuse that Gen. Babcock offered for his failure to protect Mr. Mlatch
was eontradicted both byhis own evidence, and by the documentary proof. They then
instance his connection with Cozneau and Fabens, and after a review of all the
testimony bearing upon this, conclude that the evidence clearly establishes that  "1. Mr. Davis Hatch, an American citizen of irreproachable character, was
arrested by the Dominican authorities on a charge of having aided a party of
revolutionists; he was tried by a military commission and sentenced to be shot.
The result of the trial shows that the whole proceeding was a barbarous farce.
2. Mr. Hatch was pardoned on condition that he left the country, by a decree
of the Dominican Senate, officially published October 4, 1869.
3. Mr. Hatch was, in spite of that decree, kept in prison until the middle of
March, 1870.
4. President Baez and his Secretary of State, Gautier, the latter in an official
-note addressed to the representative of the United States, stated as the reason for
Mr. Hatch's continued incarceration after the decree of pardon, that it was feared
he would injure the annexation scheme if set free.
5. The two commercial agents of the United States, Mr. Smith and Mr. Perry,
used every means in their power to procure the release of Mr. Hatch.
6. General Babcock, sent to San Domingo as the special agent of his government, and having authority to give direction to the war vessels of the United States
in Dominican waters for the protection of the Baez government against foreign
interference, not only declined to speak a single word in favor of the release of
Mr. Hatch, but also discouraged others from doing so. Whatever influence he
exerted was against Mr. Hatch.
"The circumstantial evidence points much further, but we desire to express
no opinions about General Babcock, except such as are based upon his own testimony and letters. We cannot refrain, however, from designating his confidential
relations with Mr. Cazneau as most suspicious."
In regard to Raymond H. Perry, who was the principal witness against Babcock and his confederates in the annexation scheme, the minority say:
"Mr. Perry is still a young man, a member of a highly respectable family in
Rhode Island, and a relative of the illustrious Commodore. When he was
appointed commercial agent to San Domingo, he had already a checkered career
behind him. At the commencement of the late civil war, he joined a three
months' regiment as a private, and afterward a Rhode Island battery as a lieutenant. He went through the Peninsular campaign, acquired the reputation of a
true and efficient soldier, and was recommended for a commission in the regular
army.  Owing to a quick and impulsive temperament he involved himself in
difficulties.  He shot an officer who threatened his life in the discharge of duty,
. and was tried by court martial and immediately acquitted. He had trouble with
his immediate superior, resigned, and entered a New York regiment as captain.
We find him in charge of troops on Riker's Island, who, refusing to go on board
,the steamer which is to carry them off, rise in mutiny. They attack him with
sclubs and axes, but he subdues them, wounding many with pistol and sword.
He is sent to New Orleans to take charge of a cavalry battalion, and servs through
the Red River campaign. When on detached duty at New Orleane, we find him
involved in one of those'innumerable horse and mule cases which occupied our
courts martial during the war, found guilty, sentenced to be dismissed, but
421 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
restored to active duty, serving in the Mobile campaign, and honorably discharged
after the close of the war.
"But he does not return to the peaceful pursuits of civil life.  Off he goes to
Mexico to serve in the ranks of the republicans against Maximilian. Then we
find him in 1866 and 1867 with General Sheridan on special duty in Louisiana and
Texas, part of the time as chief of police at Galveston, finally resigning that
position and returning to the North.
"We recognize in him one of those restless, adventurous spirits who are the
characteristic growth of a new country  a man delighting in a life of activity,
excitement and danger, made for military service in the field, for the frontier,
and for the most arduous of police duties; a man of a hot and impulsive temper,
prone to use force in a difficulty, impatient of the regular discipline of social life,
brave, intrepid and daring, of generous impulses, abhorring foul play.
"We have no doubt the worst that can be said about Mr. Perry has been hunted
up and can be found in the evidence accompanying this report, while, on the
other hand, men who knew him long and well, as for instance, General Clark,
General Sheridan, and other officers under whom he served, testify warmly to his
excellent qualities."
The report then quotes the testimony of General Clark, then a member of
Congress from Texas, in regard to Perry's character, and also the endorsements
of Mr. Perry by General N. P. Banks, General Richard Arnold, General Phil.
Sheridan, and General A. E. Burnside, and proceeds as follows:
"In October, 1869, Mr. Perry applied for the appointment as United States
Marshal for the western district of Texas, a position for which his qualities
admirably fitted him; but that place being filled, he was by one of those absurd
freaks of chance, characteristic of our system of civil service, appointed commercial agent at San Domingo, a place with which diplomatic functions are connected, and which required just the opposite of the qualities he possessed.
"He was conscious of this, and expressed himself in that sense.  But he was
appointed and went on a mission full of perplexities to him. He went, as he
says,'with everything involved in mystery.'   He relieved Mr. Smith, who, as
he found reason to believe, had been removed because he was obnoxious to
Baez, Cazneau, and their friends. General Babcock gave him letters of introduction to Mr. Cazneau and Mr. Fabens, at San Domingo, whom, as Mr. Perry
testifies, General Babcock recommended to his confidence as his friends. General Babcock denies this, but we shall show from General Babcock's own letters
that Mr. Perry's statement is essentially correct.
"On the steamer carrying him to San Domingo, Mr. Perry meets Mr. Fabens, a
speculator, who has large pecuniary interests on San Domingo, and takes a most
lively interest in the annexation scheme. His conversations with Mr. Fabens
produce t curious suspicion in his mind.
"A few days after Mr. Perry'slanding on the Island, Mr. Fabens tells him that
General Babcock will arrive at a certain time, and Mr. Perry finds that Mr. Fabens
is better informed than he is himself. General Babcock, accompanied by
Generals Ingalls and Sackett, does arrive, and before landing, desires at once to
have Mr. Fabens brought on board the steamer. From General Babcock's hands
Mr. Perry receives his instructions concerning the treaty to be made. He is also
directed by the State department to govern himself by the advice and instructions
he will receive from General Babcock. He finds General Babcock in confidential
relations with Fabens and Cazneau, and these two gentlemen are present in
President Baez's room when the treaty is negotiated, taking part in the proceedings. He is startled by a proposition put forth by Mr. Cazneau to make two
different treaties, one secret and one for the public." [Le General Sakett's tetimony,
p. 51.]
The Hatch case comes up repeatedly, but Mr. Perry, asking for Mr. Hatch's
release, oan obtain neither satisfaction from Baez nor aid from Babcock.
The treaty concluded, Mr. Babcock leaves. At first Mr. Perry, although noticing things calculated to awaken suspicion, contents himself with the idea that, in
following the advice of Cazneau and friends, he is acting in the spirit of his instructiong. He consents to do all that seems calculated to further the annexation
scheme. Although he perceives that the vote of the Dominican people in favor
of annexation is controlled by force and intimidation, he goes even so far as to
permit Baez and Caznoau to dictate his dispatches concerning that subject. But
presently Mr. Perry's suspicions of foul play grow stronger. He resolves to tell
422 
0
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
his Government the truth.  He communicates his apprehensions to the Secretary
of State and to Generai Babcock, at first in unofficial letters, and with timid reticence, so as not to injure any person connected with our Government; but then,
more and more strongly alarmed, he emphatically cautions the Secretary of State
against the men who, in his opinion, endeavor to turn the annexation of the Dominican Republic into a speculation for their private advantage. He expresses
the hope, in one of his letters to the State Department, that commissioners be
sent to inquire into the state of affairs on the Island. He receives two letters from
Generals Babcock and Ingalls, almost identical in their terms, advising him to put
nothing personal in his official correspondence, and to "write encouraging" (p.
195). He is informed by members of the Dominican Senate that an attempt is
being made to defraud the United States by a large grant of public land to Mr.
Cazneau, in contravention of the sixth article of the treaty. Eager to protect his
Government, and unacquainted with, or forgetful of, the usual ways of diplomatic intercourse, hlie addresses a note directly to the Dominican Senate, protesting against such proceedings, and involves himself in an angry correspondence
with the Dominican Secretary of State. It is worthy of note that Mr. Fish, in a
dispatch to Mr. Perry, while disapproving of his having addressed the Senate
directly, still approves of his effort to prevent the grant. In this way, Mr. Perry,
as Mr. Cazneau, the chief speculator says, in his letter of May 6th, "brings on a
premature disclosure of facts that, for the public interest, should have been held
strictly confidential for the present " (p. 91).
The same Mr. Cazneau boasts in a letter to Mr. Perry that "no American has
been more intimately acquainted with the Samana and annexation negotiations
from their inception to their close" than he (Cazneau), and gives Mr. Perry to
understand that he knows more of the policy of our government than its official
representative.
Mr. Perry finds this man in contifnual correspondence with the Executive mansion at Washington.   He finds that by this very fact Mr. Cazneau wields a mysterious influence over President Baez, and that he uses that influence to obtain
pardons for other criminals, but to keep Mr. Hatch in prison, after having been
pardoned, in spite of his urgent official demands for his release. Thus he finds
another pretended representative of the United States more powerful than he is in
his official character. In reply to one of his demands for the release of Mr. Hatch,
made in the name of the Government of the United States, Mr. Gautier, the Dominican Secretary of State, asks to have the case once more referred to Washington,
as if there another opinion were entertained about the case; and, finally the release
of Mr. Hatch is obtained only in response to a peremptory demand, supported by
a rear-admiral of the United States.
Thus Mr. Perry finds himself surrounded by influences mysterious and apparently more powerful than his official authority; and with such doubts, misgivings, and perplexities weighing upon his mind, he comes on leave to Washington.
He is in favor of annexation, but opposed to corrupt jobs: he finds reason to
believe that those in authority are in the dark as to many things they ought to
know, and he resolves "to make a clean breast of it."
This is, in our opinion, the character and this the state of mind of the man as
appearing from the evidence; and in this light his own testimony should be
viewed. While involving himself in some apparent contradictions on points of
minor importance, when under the confusing pressure of a sharp and rapid crossexamination, yet his testimony is entirely consistent on the main questions and
in most of its statement powerfully supported by undeniable circumstantial
ev idence. Nobody can read his testimony without coming to the conclusion that
he meant to do his duty; that his very mistakes sprung from a desire to serve his
Government in the annexation policy; and that it is difficult to imagine any
personal interest which could have induced him, by a hostile attitude, to offend
and to make enemies of those whose influential position could so materially
affect, for the better or for the worse, his individual fortunes.
And now comes the most damnable part of the history of this San Domingo
job.  It was of the utmost importance to Babcock and his fellow conspirators,
including the President of the United States, that this man Perry should be, by
fair means or by foul, prevented from testifying before the Senate Committee.
If he was put out of the way, it was possible to suppress the position of his, and
Smith's communications to the State Department in regard to Mr. Hatch's
imprisonment. If the worst came, the President could say to the Senate that he
i
v
423 
0
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
did not deem it compatible with the public interests to furnish the suppressed
portions of this correspondence. With Perry's character destroyed, it would be
possible to break down his testimony and make a plausable defense, but how was
this to be done?
One W. B. Moorc, who has since figured in the whiskey frauds prosecutions,
as an intimate friend of Babcock, and a daily visitor at the White House, and
who was then an Assessor of Internal Revenue in Texas, volunteered to trump
up charges against Perry on which he could be arrested and taken there on a
requisition from the Governor of that State, and tried before a carpet-bag court
and convicted, and sentenced to the Penitentiary.   Moore's proposition was accepted by Babcock, and this foul plot was undertaken.
The Governor of Texas at that time was entirely subservient, and so were the
courts, and had they been able to get Perry there the remainder of the job would
have been speedily executed. To obtain a requisition for his arrest in another
State it was necessary that criminal charges of some kind should be preferred
against him, and this Moore undertook to accomplish. He procured two men,
ignorant, without character, and scarcely able to write their names, to make affidavits; the one charging that he believed Perry had been guilty of murdering an
unknown man, and the other alleging that a command of troops under Perry had
broken open his dwelling and robbed him of goods to the value of fifteen dollars.
The affidavit on which the charge of murder is based recites that the deponent
on or about the 15th of December, 1865, was at Eagle Pass and heard that a murder had been committed near that place, and undertook to investigate the case. He
failed to find any dead body, but did see traces of a struggle and traced horse
tracks to the river bank, where the body of "the murdered man had evidently
been thrown in," but he saw no body, could not find any, and moreover he saw no
person who had seen or heard of either the murdered man or the supposed murderers. There were reports of a band of fifteen or twenty marauders said to be
commanded by one Raymond H. Perry, having been in the neighborhood several
days previous, and on this evidence alone was based the charge of murdering an
unknown man, whom living or dead no mortal could swear he had seen.
A justice of the peace would not have issued a warrant for the arrest of a notorious chicken thief on such an affidavit, but Governor Davis of Texas issued two
equisitions for the arrest of Perry, one directed to the authorities of the District
of Columbia, and the other to the Governor of Rhode Island. The rest of the
story is told in the following letters
DIRECTIONS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE.
EXEcUTIVE MANSION, 
WASHINGTON, D.C., Feb: 18, 1871.
My Dear Colonel: Allow me to introduce to you Major W. B. Moore, who wishes
your assistance in a matter of interest to us all. An introduction to the Major is
all that is needed to insure your kind assistance.
Very truly yours,
O. E. BABCOCK.
To Col. WHITLEY, Chief of Secret Service, Treasury Department.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 18, 1871, 
1,.515 L street, bet. Fifteenth and Sixteenth. 
Col. H. C. Whitley, 53 Bleecker street, N. Y.
DEAR SIR: Enclosed please find letter of introduction from Gen. Babcock.
I have a requisition from the Governor of Texas for the arrest of Raymond H.
Perry, the ex-commercial agent for San Domingo, who is charged with murder,
highway robbery, burglary, and horse stealing. As the integrity of the President
is questioned, through the misrepresentations of this fugitive from justice, it is
highly important that his real character should be exposed at once, and I depend
upon you to learn his whereabouts and bring him to justice. Can you put an
officer to hunt him up? I have requisitions both on the Governor of Rhode Island
and the Chief Justice of this District. Also the warrant of the Governor in blank,
which can be filled up with the name of any one we may designate. Can you detail an officer to take charge of the prisoner?
Please communicate with me at your earliest convenience, and let me know
what can be dQne.
Very truly,
W. B. MOORE,
Assessor Internal Rev., 3d Texas Dist.
424 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
1,515 L STREET, WASHINGTON, D.C.,
Feb. 23, 1871.
Col. H. C. Whitley, 53 Beecker street, New York.
COLONEL: Your favor of the 21st inst. is at hand. In answer I enclose the requisitions and papers in my possession.  The requisition upon the Governor of
Rhode Island has no papers attached, but those accompanying the requisition upon the Chief Justice of this District can be carefully detached, and attached to
the former if it is necessary to make the arrest in Rhode Island. Would it not
be better to make the arrest here to avoid interference with writs of habeas corpus? The writ for arrest is also enclosed; the name of any one you may select to
take charge of the prisoner can be filled in.
It is important that the arrest be made before the San Domingo matter comes
up again in Congress, that the integrity of the President may be fully vindicated.
Please telegraph me the moment he is arrested. The accompanying affidavits
are only samples of about twenty, but these are all I could wait for. The last
heard of Perry he was in New York, but has been avoiding this city. His family are in Rhode Island, but if he gets an intimation of this business he will be
very cautious. Gen. B. thinks I had better leave the search to you, as he would
get suspicious if he learned a Texan was after him. Do you not think I had
better keep in the back-ground?
W. B. MOORE,
AS ATROCIOUS PROPOSITION.
1,515 L STREET, WASHINGTON, Feb. 27,18711
Col. H. C. Whitleyl, 53 Bleecker street, New York.
DEAR COLONEL: Your telegram was received at 4:25 P. M. to-day, and I
proceeded immediately to the Executive Mansion and Treasury to ascertain if a
requisition could be obtained from the authorities here, but was too late to see
anybody. Will see the Attorney-General early to-morrow, and, if possible,
obtain and send you a requisition in blank. If we cannot arrest and hold, make
an arrest anyhow and take chances. The arrest will give opportunity to make
public the infamy of the criminal and thus do justice to his Excellency, the President. If I obtain the requisition I will telegraph you at once.
Very truly,                 W. B. MOORE.
1,515 L STREET, WASHINGTON, March 1, 1871.
Col. H. C. Whitley, 53 Bleecker street, New Yorik.
DEAR SIR: I saw the Solicitor-General yesterday, and learned that nothing
could be accomplished except through the Governor of Texas, as the party had
committed no offense that could be brought before the United States Courts.  If
the Governor of Rhode Island would not issue process on the papers sent you,
and the accused cannot be decoyed into this district, I will have to return to
Texas and obtain a requisition in blank. The Grand Jury of Uvalde county
have presented an indictment against him, and a requisition based upon that cannot be overborne by any Governor however friendly.
I hoped to have taken the fellow into custody in order to make public his real
character.  The information (?) given Mr. Sumner by this man, and so unjustly
made plausible by the Senator, is the last shadow of suspicion resting upon the
Administration in the San Domingo affair. The whole career of P. in Texas is
so cruel and infamous that its recital alone would carry conviction to the mind of
any just person. Notfknowing the whereabouts of P., I made the papers out
with a view to arresting in the district, and the requisition upon Rhode Island
was an after-thought. Unless the authorities of Rhode Island gave information,
the accused can get no intimation of what is going on, as I have done all the work,
up to communicating with you, in person, and have been very cautious.
Let me hear from you at an early moment.
Very truly,              W. B. MOORE.
NETTLEISHIP REPORTS.
Nnw  YoRK, Feb. 24, 1871.
My DeaR CHIEF: I arrived herethis noon from Providence.   I  found Perry
at his home near Bristol.  I managed, through a man I had with'me, to find out
425
Very truly, 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
all about Perry's whereabouts, without creating the least suspicion of alarm. The
papers have just arrived from Washington, but as there is a possibility of you desiring to get at Perry on some other thing than the charge contained in the requisition, and as there cannot be any time lost by my not coming with Beatty tonight, I thought  it would  be best  for me  not  to  come  to-night, as
you well know it will all depend on the action of the Governor of Rhode
Island whether we get Perry without any trouble or not. If you can get some one
in Massachusetts to induce the Governor to issue his writ for the arrest of Perry at
once, why, we can get him in a few hours, and land him on the Fall River boat
and into New York before any one can get out any habeas corpus or anything else;
but should the Governor delay us by wanting a little time to think over it, or blow
us so as Perry hears of the matter, why we may have a good deal of trouble, as
Perry is nobody's fool, and would take advantage of any little thing to get time.
Anyways, when Beatty shows you the'papers, you will be better able to judge on
the affair. But if the Governor of Rhode Island is all right with us, why we will
only have to get Perry and bring him along; and, as you notice in Mr. Moore's
letter, he speaks of the possibility of a habeas corpus.   There is no danger of
Perry going away, as he is properly fixed; but he is not the man to be taken away
by force without the papers are all right.  I can meet Beatty at Providence on
Sunday morning or Monday morning, when we can go to Perry's house.
I hope my action in this matter will meet your approbation, as I can see no loss
of time in not coming to-night, since it will take to-morrow and likely Sunday to
get the papers ready. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servent,
J. C. NETTLESHIP.
The letter of Nettleship to Whitley explains the two last letters of Moore.
When Nettleship found Perry's whereabouts, and learned all about him, he discovered that he was "not the man to be taken away by force without the papers
are all right." It was a case in which kidnapping would be extremely dangerous,
and therefore he suggested to his chief the possibility of getting at the victim in
some other way. He knew the papers from Texas would not stand a moment
when brought into court. Whitley, acting on this suggestion, telegraphed to
Moore in Washington to see if some trumped up charge could not be got so they
could arrest Perry on a warrant from a United States Court. Moore it will be
observed, went immediately on receipt of this telegram to the "Executive
Mansion," but could see no one. The next day he saw the Solicitor-General, but
got no encouragement from that quarter, because no offense had been committed.
Whitley concluded that the job would be dangerous and so gave it up.
It will be observed that Moore in his last letter says that the Grand Jury of
Uvalde County had found an indictment against Perry. This was a lie out of the
whole cloth, and the sequel proves it. Perry afterwards came to Washington and
testified before the Senate Committee, and although all sorts of charges were there
alleded against him, no allusion even was ever made to the offenses for which Moore
and Babcock wanted him to be sent to Texas to be tried. This is conclusive proof
that the whole thing was a " put up job" from beginning to end, and that Moore
was a tool in the hands of Babcock and the President, who sought to use the
secret service force to have an innocent man kidnapped and spirited away, so that
his testimony would not damn them in the San Domingo investigation.
The report of the majority of the committee was made to the Senate on the
25th of June, 1870, and adopted by that body, all of the Republican Senators voting for it, except Charles Sumner, Lyman Trumbull, Carl Schurz, O. S.
Terry, T. W. Tipton, and Reuben Fenton. In the December following, at the
commencement of the third session of the XLI. Congress, the President demanded, in his annual message, that a commission should be sent to San Domingo for the purpose of inquiring as to the sentiments of the inhabitants in regard to annexation, as to the resources of the island, the extent of the indebtedness of the Dominican Government, and the concession which had been made in
favor of private individuals of the United States and foreign governments. Accordingly, on December 12th, Mr. Morton introduced a joint resolution providing
for the appointment of three commissioners, who were to have a secretary, to
proceed to the Island of San Domingo, inquire into, ascertain, and report on the
several subjects, concerning which the President had suggested in his message
should be investigated.
426
0
THE PLOT FAILS. 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
On December 20th, Mr. Morton called up this resolution, and Mr. Sumner
moved to amend as follows:
" Resolved, that the President of the United States be requested to communicate to the Senate, if, in his opinion, not incompatible with the public interests,
copies of all papers and correspondence relating to the proposed annexation of
the Dominican portion of the Island of San Domingo, or the purchase of any
part thereof, including the original and all subsequent instructions to
any agent or consul of the United States, with the correspondence of
such agent or consul; also  any protocol  or convention  signed  by such
agent or consul; also, an account of the debt and liabilities of the
Dominican Government, especially its obligations to the neighboring Republic
of Hayti; also, the provisions of the existing constitution of San Domingo, so
far as the same related to the sale or transfer of the national domain; also, any
treaty with Hayti or France by which Dominica is bound or affected; also, any
communication from the neighboring republic of Hayti, or from our minister
there, relating to the proposed annexation; also, instructions to the commander
of our naval squadron in the waters of the island since the commencement of
the late negotiations, with the reports and correspondence of such commander;
also, any information tending to show what European power, if any, propose to
acquire jurisdiction of any part of the island, and if so, of what part, also, any
information with regard to the position of President Baez, under whom the
treaty of annexation was negotiated, and the extent to which he has been maintained in power by the presence of United States vessels of war; also, any information with regard to the sentiments of the people of Dominica and the reported
pendency there of civil war; also, any information in regard to any claim of
jurisdiction by the Republic of Hayti over the territory of Dominica."
A long debate ensued upon the joint resolution and Mr. Sumner's proposed
resolution of inquiry. In this debate Senator Edmunds, of Vermont, Howard, of
Michigan, Howe and Carpenter, of Wisconsin, Cameron, of Pennsylvania, Conkling, of New York, Morton, of Indiana, Sherman, of Ohio, Hamlin, of Maine,
Nye, of Nevada, Chandler, of Michigan, Cragin, of New Hampshire, Morrill, of'
Vermont, Pomeroy, of Kansas, Stewart, of Nevada, Warner, carpet-bagger from
Alabama, Harlan, of Iowa, Landaulet Williams, of Oregon, and Cole, of California, supported the proposition submitted by Senator Morton to carry out the
views of the President, and opposed with the utmost bitterness Mr. Sumner's substitute. Of all the Republican Senators, Schurz, Trumbull and Tipton alone stood
by Mr. Sumner. Edmunds led off in the attack upon Sumner. Morton and
Conkling followed with tremendous phillippics, and all the rest, "Tray, Blanche
and Sweetheart,"joined in the cry.  But the brave old hero from Massachusetts
met the combined assault with all his characteristic composure, and with more
than his usual eloquence denounced, in terms fitting the occasion, the San Do mingo job as the sum of all villainies. In speaking of Morton's joint resolution
he said:
"' Mr. President: The resolution before the Senate commits Congress to a
dance of blood. It is a new step in a measure of violence. Several steps have
already been taken, and Congress is now summoned to take another. * * * *
The President has all the power it pretends to give. He may, if he sees fit,
appoint agents, calling them any name that he pleases, calling them commis sioners, calling them embassadors, perhaps, if he will, though this might raise a
constitutional question; but he may appoint agents to any extent, of any num ber, to visit this island and report to him with regard to its condition. He may
give in charge to his agent all the matters specially named in this resolution. All
these he may write in their commission, and when they return he may, as was
done in other days, communicate their report to Congress.
"Therefore do I say the resolution is absolutely unnecessary, and I call the
attention of my honored friend, the Senator from Indiana, who champions this
resolution, to this special point. I ask him to show its necessity; I ask him to
show any good purpose it can serve; I ask him to show why it is brought for ward on this occasion, unless it be to commit Congress to the policy of annexa tion. Sir, I stand on this position, and I say, knowing the powers of the Pres ident under this Government, knowing the practice of this Government, that
this resolution is completely superfluous, and that its single purpose, so far as
one can see any purpose in its terms, is to commit Congress to what I shall show
in a very tew moments is a most unjustifiable policy.  Sir, others may do as they
427' 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
please; others may accept this policy; I will not. I have already set myself
against it, and I continue now as firm against it as ever. The information which
I have received since our discussions last year has confirmed me in the conclu sions which I felt it my duty then to announce. * * * I object to this pro position because it is a new stage in the measure of violence, which, so far as it
has been maintained, has been propped by violence ever since.  I use strong lan guage, but only what the occasion requires. As a Senator, as a patriot,
I cannot see my country suffer in its good name without an earnest
effort  to  save  it.  The  negotiation  for annexation  began with  a  per son known as Bueneventura Baez. All the evidence, official and unofficial,
shows him to be a political jockey; but he could do little alone. He had about
him two other political jockies, Cazneau and Fabens, and these three together, a
precious co-partnership, seduced into their firm a young officer of ours, who en titles himself aide-de-camp to the President of the United States. Together they
got up what was entitled a protocol, in which the young officer entitling himself
aide-de-camp to the President proceeded to make certain promises for the'Presi dent. Before I read what I shall of this document, I desire to say that there is
not one word showing that at the time this aide-de-camp, as he calls himself,
had any title or any instruction to take this step; if he had, that title
and  that  instruction  have  been  withheld.   No   inquiry has been  able
to penetrate it. At least the Committee which brought out the protocol
did not bring out any such authority.   The document is called a proto col, which I need not remind you, sir, is,, in diplomatic terms, the
first draught of a treaty on the memorandum, between two parties in which
are written down the bases of some subsequent negotiation. But at the time it is
hardly less binding than a treaty itself, except, as you are well aware, under the
Constitution of the United States it can receive no final obligation without the
consent of the Senate. This document begins as follows:
"The following bases which shall serve for framing a definitive treaty between
the United States and the Dominican Republic have been reduced to writing and
agreed upon by General Orville E. Babcock, aide-de-camp to his Excellency General Ulysses S. Grant, President of the United States of America, and his special
agent to the Dominican Republic, and Mllr. Manuel Maria Gautier, Secretary of
State of the Departments of the Interior and of Police, charged with the foreign
relations of the said Dominican Republic.
"Here you see how this young officer, undertaking to represent the United States
of America, entitles himself aide-de-camp to his Excellency Gen. U. S. Grant, President of the United States of America, and his special agent to the Dominican Republic. Sir, you have experience in the government of this country; your post is high,
and I ask you do you know any such officer in our government as aide-de-camp
to his Excellency the President of the United States? Does his name appear in
the Constitution in any Statute in the history of this republic anywhere? If it
does, your information sir, is much beyond mine.  I have never before met any
such instance; I believe this young officer stands alone in using this lofty designation; I believe still further that he stands alone in the history of free governments. I doubt whether you can find a diplomatic paper anywhere in which any
person undertaking to represent his Government has entitled himself
aide-de-camp to the Chief of the State. The two duties are incompatible
according to all the experience of history.  No aide-de-camp would be commissioned as a Commissioner, and the assumption of this exalted and exceptional
character by this young officer, shows at least his inexperience in diplomacy
However, he assumed it, and it doubtless produced a great effect with Baez, Cazneau and Fabens, the three confederates. They were doubtless pleased with the
distinction. It helped on the plan they were engineering. The young aide-decamp then proceeds to pledge the President as follows:
" First.-His Excellency, General Grant, President of the United States, promises privately to use all his influence in order that the idea of annexing the Dominican Republic to the United States may acquire such a degree of popularity among
members of Congress as will be necessary for its accomplishment." Shall I read the
rest of the document? it is somewhat of the same tenor. There are questions
of money in it-cash down, all of which must have been particularly agreeable to,
the three confederates. It finally winds up as follows: "Done in duplicate in
good faith, in the City of San Domingo, the fourth day of the month of[September, A. D. 1869.'
' "MORVILLY E. BABCOCK',
'"'MANuEL MA-RIA (AuTt,,"
428 
THE SAN DOMINGO JOB.
"In'good faith' if you please, sir.
"I have heard it said that Orville E. Babcock did not write aide-de-camp against
his name at the bottom of this protocol; this was not necessary-the designation
of a person in such documents always appears at the beginning; as for instance in
a deed between two parties, the party signs it and in signing it he recognizes the
designation. "
After a speech of two hours' duration, in which Mr. Sumner reviewed the whole
of this annexation business, he concluded as follows:
"I conclude as I began, I protest against this resolution as another stage in a
drama of blood: I protest against it in the name of justice outraged by violence:
in the name of humanity insulted; in the name of the weak trodden down; in the
name of peace imperiled, and in the name of the African race, whose first effort
at independence is rudely assailed."
In conclusion, it is only necessary to say that the joint resolution reported by
Senator Morton was adopted, passed by both Houses of Congress, approved by the
President, and a Commission appointed which, at an expense of nearly $100,000,
visited San Domingo, and at the next session of Congress submitted an
elaborate report in which annexation was urged in almost every line. But
during this interval, public opinion, sweeping along with an irresistible current
as mighty as the Gulf Stream itself, had made the Administration and the Republican majority in Congress pause. The annexation scheme was temporarily
abandoned, but as late as 1872, in the very midst of the Presidential campaign,
Buenventura Baez sent a confidential agent to Washington to sound anew the
current of public opinion in the United States, and report the attitude of the
President and his party towards annexation. The overthrow of the dynasty of
Baez which followed soon after, when it became definitely known in Dominica,
that the strong arm of the United States Government was no longer stretched out
to support him, ended once and for all this huge job in the interest of which so
much villainy, so many crimes were perpetrated.
429
I 
REPUBLICAN MISMANAGEMENT;
THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
It is the purpose of this digest to present in a condensed form and illustratively
-the incompetent, profligate, and corrupt administration of the General Post Office
.during the incumbency of President Grant, as made manifest by the testimony of
witnesses, some of whom were interested and reluctant, taken before the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads, during the first session of the Forty-fourth
Congress.
While, from the sworn evidence, an impartial public judgment must utterly
fail to acquit Postmaster-General Jewell:of connivance,by official neglect at least,
at the waste and fraud thus conclusively exposed, a far greater burden of condemnation will attach to his predecessor.   With that Oriental capriciousness
which has ever characterised General Grant's appointments to public station, Mr.
Creswell was taken from a career of comparative obscurity and absolute inexperience, and placedp upon the former's assumption of the Presidency, in the conspicuous position of head ofthat department, which, perhaps, imposes the largest
'measure of executive responsibility. He had previously, indeed for a short period,
in Congress represented a State, though not a constituency, as the accident of a
military exigence, but, beyond the mere ambiguities of national politics to which
he was thus introduced, his record had not indicated the possession of merits or
opportunity above the common-place average of a country bar. By means of
pliancy toward his chief, and unscrupulous political activity, however, he was
soon secure of the highest personal favor of the President, and of the laudatory
confidence of the Republican press and party. Twice he was vindicated against
the facts and the law by an audacious administration majority in Congress.
During his term of office, and until it was terminated by the prevalence of an
adverse public sentiment, the following corrupt and evil practices obtained:
FIRsT.-Service was improvidently and inconsiderately granted where no public demand existed or public convenience accrued.
SEcoND.-Exorbitant prices were allowed for services when needed, and for
the work when done.
THIRD.-Services when not rendered according to the contract, either in spirit
or measure, were nevertheless fully paid for.
FOURTH. -When fraud was detected on the part of contractors, no adequate
action was taken by officials to either punish or correct the fraud.
FrFTH.-When official direliction, or corruption, or remissness was discovered,
the Department took no sufficient measures to punish delinquents, or to prevent
a recurrence of similar official wrong-doing; so that the Government lost annually, in violation of law and through corrupt practices, millions of the public
money; and the guilty parties in office and out of office have generally gone
free, both of prosecution and punishment.
The most flagrant abuse which has ever been fastened upon the Post Office De-partment is that which is described by the popular designation of straw bids, a 
THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
species of organized knavery utterly unknown in our history before the postal
administration of Mr. Creswell. A straw bid is the offer of a person to render
under given conditions service which he does not intend to render.  In most
cases it is the bid of an irresponsible person at a figure below the necessary first cost
of the service to be performed. It is a false pretence, its immediate object being to obtain the award as a means of preventing the contract from falling into the hands of a
responsible party who has bid in good faith. The names of stage drivers and other insolvent intermediates have commonly been used for this purpose. Contractors
in order to defeat the efforts of the Department in obtaining a contract on fair and
reasonable terms for transporting the mails, form a ring of many bidders, whose bids
range from exorbitantly high figures to manifestly small amounts. The contract is
awarded to the lowest bidder, who fails, in the interest of the ring; then every
next lower bidder retires or refuses to answer when notified, leaving the Department the alternative between some bidder higher up the list, or a continuance of
the old contract in the nature of temporary services, the temporary services always being performed by the old contractor, at the old exorbitant prices, because
no one else on the long mountain routes in the Territories will be prepared to
commence immediately temporary service. Where there are bidders who do not
belong to the ring, these, in many instances, receive large sums to refuse to answer to the bids when notified that the lowest bidder has failed to execute the.
contract. The contractor or confederated contractors by this means virtually
control the contract, and force the Department to let to them on their own terms.
Again, in many instances of the recent practice, the Postmaster-General has exercised a suspiciously convenient and absolute discretion, and overlooking altogether the bidders in an ascending scale, declared a temporary service, to the advantage of some favored recipient.
In operating this system for the purposes of plunder and corruption, there appears from the testimony to have been a combination of rings:
First, a ring of contractors.
Second, a ring of officials, embracing clerks in the contract office; and sometimes an intermediary ring of brokers or agents, by which the two former combinations were brought in contact, and enabled to effect and perfect their schemes
against the public Treasury. That many clerks in the Department were in the
pay of some of these contractors was fully developed in the trial of Hinds, and
the circumstances surrounding that case force belief that this corrupt combination between those clerks and contractors pervaded all the usually denominated
ring-contracts to such an extent that the contractor was enabled, from information gained through the clerk who had official access to the records, to know positively who was the lowest bidder, making it easy to underbid him for the contract. As examples of the range in the graduated scale where straw bidding has
been practised, routes 7,587 and 8,539 may be adduced; in the former, from Fort
Gibson to Sherman, 205 miles and back, three times a week, the highest bid of
sixty was $80,049 per annum, and the lowest (straw), $900; and in the latter,
from Fort Concho to E1 Paso, Texas, 475 miles and back, twice a week, the highest bid, of over fifty, was $150,000, and the lowest, $75. In the last instance, the
minimum bid was summarily set aside by the Postmaster-General as too preposterous to be entertained, and a straw bid of $4,200 accepted, although it was equally
obvious that it was inadequate to a just, or any performance whatever, of the service; and Mr. Creswell had the hardihood to vindicate himself from the charge
of failing to exercise a wholesome discretion in the rejecting of all plainly fraudulent bids by pleading the letter of the law in its rigor and asserting the illegality of his own act in refusing to consider this very E1 Paso bid.
One of the peculiarities of this system of contract roguery is its tendency to corrupt
outgrowths. The award is made to the straw man, and ample time allowed
ostensibly to execute the stipulations, but, in reality, to admit of ring handling.
Each of the bidders above him and under the first ring bid is approached by
one of the ring, who says in substance:  "Here are a thousand (or more ) dollars for you, if you will withdraw your bid.  Even if you allow it to remain
you cannot get the contract, for it is already awarded to one of my men, and he
will hold it unless you get out of the way. As the case stands, you won't make
a dollar, while the effect of your withdrawal would be advantageous to both
of us; it would put this money in your pocket, and enable me to get a more
profitable contract." The bid is withdrawn and the money paid. When all
below the first ring bidder are disposed of, the route is awarded to him, the
431 
REPUBLICAN MISMANAGEMENT;
straw man having notified the Department that he will not execute the contract.
The ring bidder, in like manner, delays until those above him are purchased out
of the way, when he in turn fails to execute the contract, and so on up to the list.
If a hitch in this process compels the ring to take a route at a low rate, they may
still depend upon an order from the Postmaster-General increasing or expediting
the service. When the object has been by means of straw bidding to secure an
order for temporary service, and a re-advertising of the route, the old contractor
has allowed the use of his stock for the month's running necessary to save from
forfeit the per centage check on the bid deposited with the Department. Finally,
this business of straw bidding culminated in regular corruption pay for the
clerks in the contract sections; the abstraction, for perusal in midnight councils of the ring, of legitimate bids supposed to be properly and securely filed;
the forging of names upon bids put in, and in counterfeit authenticating seal.
For these sustained depredations upon the Treasury, and the perversion of clerical
morals, Postmaster-General Creswell must be regarded as eminently responsible.
There is, indeed, reasonable room for grave suspicion of his complicity; but even
if it be clearly established that hlie derived no pecuniary profit from these frauds,
it cannot be denied that he knowingly and conscientiously suffered them to exist
from motives of either personal or partizan consideration. To this end he solicited and obtained strained constructions of obsolete law in disregard of the more
recent statute; to this end he violated habitually the clear and conservative  provisions of specific law. That, at least, was before him for his guidance; nor can
it be successfully alleged that he was in ignorance of the situation and of its particulars, with a departmental force so organized as to grasp and expose them, with
special reports before him, in view of the notoriety which obtains from a well
founded public clamor, and in the face of his own official confession of the reality
of the evil, and a pretended desire for its excision.
The case of Peterson who sustained an equally unenviable relation to the Creswell regim6 as that of the Catells to another department of the Government, is
singularly illustrative and instructive. This man, who had been a brigade surgeon
under General Giles A. Smith, commenced his career as a contractor upon the appointment of that gentleman to the Second Assistant Postmaster-Generalship.
His rise as an influence in the postal affairs of the South-west was rapid and remarkable. In the language of the facetious Captain Leathers, one of the witnesses,
he became "a big man in Washington," "man to tie to," and  "always  knew
how to sound the gong."  The innermost portals of the Post Office opened at his
approach, his solicitations never fell unheeded upon the official ear, he was never
chided for tardy settlements, nor inopportunely investigated for defective service
and when, in the course of a perfunctory routine, fines and deductions fell to his
share as the holder of many contracts, they vanished magically before his protest.
However arid it was with other men, the fleece of this Gideon was always wet.
His gains were counted in the bar-rooms of Washington, and his power was marveled at by the steamboat men of the Mississippi. A great deal of the testimony
relates to the fortunes of this prosperous gentleman, who appears upon the stage
in several characters, but is always easily to be identified.   Notwithstanding the
number and extent of his river contracts, Doctor Peterson was certainly not the
captain of a steamboat, does not appear to have ever owned even a portion of a
steamboat, and if credence is to be given to the conviction of the veteran Leathers, did not even own "a wheelbarrow."  But it is incontestable that in a certain
sense he owned both the Postmaster and Second Assistant Postmaster-Generals.
Peterson's method was to procure contracts upon his merits as an individual
and a fellow-campaigner with General Smith, and then sub-let them to more ordinary mortals, who were content with the fair results of vulgar industry. As
one illustration among many, the testimony shows that John A. Scudder, the
owner of a steamboat, put in a bid to carry the mail from White River to Vicksburg. The lowest bidder having failed, Scudder became eligible, and was prepared to carry it out in good faith according to the conditions of his bid. He
received no notice, as was supposed to be the custom under the regulations, and the
contract was awarded to Peterson at much higher figures. Scudder's bid was $7,000.
Peterson sub-let to Scudder at $10,000, giving Scudder $3,000 more than he bid
to do the work for. All these contracts for carrying the mail upon the Mississippi and its tributaries, it will be remarked, were taken by Peterson in his own
name, and were, therefore, in direct contravention of that section of the postal
laws, which, as he was neither owner nor master of any vessel plying upon those
432 
THE POST OFFICE DEPA~RTMENiT.
waters, disqualified him in terms from becoming a contractor.  Several of the
profitable routes thus lavished upon Peterson by his friend Smith, who had
charge officially of these contracts, were indisputably superfluous; and the mails
of several routes were commonly carried upon the same line of boats under the
agreement of a single sub-letting. The work, too, was often very improperly
performed, some localities which by the contract should have been served semi
or tri-weekly, getting not a single mail in periods of twelve to eighteen days,
to the serious delay and derangement of business, and the confusion of social
intercourse.  But Peterson was too securely entrenched to be dislodged by the
protests of angered communities, or seriously disturbed by the reports of special
agents.
"What was the matter with that contract?" is asked of one of the witnesses
who replies, "Peterson ought to have had a boat to carry that mail, according to
law and the regulations, and we found that he was putting it aboard any casual
boat he could find to take it, and sometimes it was not carried at all."  This is a
style of revelation that is repeated again and again. Upon a Peterson route,
where the regular service was tri-weekly, money-order special agent Carroll
testifies, "I was very much impressed with the delay of the mails, particularly
at Greenville, the boats very frequently not stopping there for sometimes as much
as ten or twelve days."   Special agent Holbrook, in his sworn examination
declares, "My attentibn was called by the route agent on the Natchez to the fact
that three offices on Davis's Bend were not supplied but once a week with mail.
I had a long talk with Captain Leathers, who told me that he was discouraged in
his efforts to contract with the United States Government, being unable to reach
them at all except through a middleman, B. H. Peterson, and he asked me if I
would call the attention of the Department to the hardships which they endured
through the fact I have just mentioned. He said that Peterson was an irresponsible man; had no property, no position, and they did not like to do business in
that way. I found these facts to be true. When we went into the Bend, the
Postmaster at New Carthage called upon me and stated that his people were complaining very bitterly; that hlie had continually written to the Post Office Department, and was unable to obtain any attention to his letters, and asked me, as an
officer of the Department, to lay the facts before them on my return. I went up
the Red River, and found that the letter mails and paper mails were carried upon
the forward deck of the steamer, entirely unprotected.
VERY EMPHATIC ADVICE.
The boats were loaded with emigrants.  I was on three or four boats, having to
stop off at Alexandria and Natchitoches before I reached Shreveport, the terminus
of the route. I went to the clerk about it, the mails being entirely unprotected,
emigrants sitting on the letter-bags, so that any one with a knife could have got
access to the letters. I called his attention to the fact, and he replied to me something in this way: That if the United States Government, or the Post Office Department, did not like the way they carried the mnails they could go to hell with
them; they were getting little or nothing for carrying the mail * that they were
forced to do business through a middleman, and unable to get their pay, even
what he did agree to give them.  This was a boat of the Red River Packet Company, G. L. Kountz, President. On my return to New Orleans, I called upon
Mr. Kountz, called his attention to the manner in which the mails were being
carried, and to an additional fact that the post offices on Red River, which I had
hotpped at, complained that they for weeks, sometimes, have received no mail,
especially on the down-trip of the boats, for the reason, as tlhey assigned, that lhe
boats were heavily laden with cotton and refused to make any landings, uletss
they had cotton to take on or passengers to put off. In one instance, twelve
mails were brought upon the boat, the boat not having stopped there for twelve
trips, and the service was three times a week; so it evidently had not
stopped for a month. On reaching New Orleans I was introduced to
Mr. Kountz by the Postmaster there, and called his attention to this
condition of things, and his reply was similar to that of the clerk: that they
could get no contract from the Government; that Peterson was receiving $30,000
a year for carrying the mail; that he agreed to pay them $150 a week, but that
they were unable to obtain that; and he used about the same language that the
clerk of the boat did. He went on to state further that there was no possibility
of the steamboat-men of New Orleans obtaining any contracts while Giles A
Smith was Second Assistant Postmaster-General, except through Dr. Peterson
433
I I 
REPUBLICAN MISMANAGEMENT;
My report went to D. A. Floyd, the clerk in charge of that contract section. I
had a talk with General Smith in relation to the condition of the service there, and
said as much as I thought it desirable-to say, I being an officer of the Department,
holding a minor position. Among other things, I told him that Dr. B. H. Peterson
was openly trading in Louisiana upon his influence with him. General Smith did
not receive at all kindly what I told him. He turned it off in some way, I do not
now remember how. General Smith never forgave me for the statement which I
made. That there might be no misunderstanding in relation to it, I made a more
full statement than I could make to my superior officer, to an intimate friend of
his, A. H. Brown, a townsman of his and at that time contract-clerk for the Territories."
And so it was throughout; incensed communities, complaining postmasters,
steamboat-men with resentful thoughts of brimstone, and faithful Department
clerks suspected and snubbed for an imperative and decorous performance of their
duty-like a couple of Gallios, the Second Assistant Postmaster-General and his old
friend of the faculty, cared for none of these things; nothing could perturb the
tranquility of their hobnobbing by the winter grate, where they were probably
wont to discuss the latest speculations of Chelius orthe medical schools of Paris,
and to end with the complexities of the financial situation.
It must not be supposed, however, that all the money found by Peterson in the
fish's mouth whenever he cast his hook, accrued to his exclusive emolument.  A
good deal of it, after the Apostolic method, went for tribute. Such valuable auxiliary activity as that of Senators West and Dorsey, and ex-Secretary Belknap,
could not be altogether disinterested. Of course, for the particulars of this
species of friendship, we shall be disappointed if we expect many well-defined
and prominent personalities in the foreground.  Inferentially, indeed, there is
no difficulty in identifying an amiable amity like that of Smith's, but, for the most
part, the figures in such a maze of benevolence flit before us misty and uncertain,
as did the Stygian ghosts before Eneas.  No plummet will ever sound the depths
of corruption that have been sunk within the encompassing lines of Republican
ascendency. They can only be appreciated by the popular understanding in a
survey of Treasury deficits, augmented taxes, and ruined industries.
SUGGESTIVE EVIDENCE.
To return to the testimony:
Q. How did Doctor McDonald happen to make the remark to you, that he had
grown weary of forwarding these reports to his superior officers in the Department? A. On account of the continued failure of these postmasters of whom I
speak, to remit their funds, upon the same plea that they could not get the mail
out; that there were no boats coming to their offices. Perhaps it was called out,
also, from the further fact that I sent to the inspection clerk of that division,
Mr. Sickles, and called his attention to the fact of the accumulation of our moneys at those offices, and the risk that the Government ran from the inability of the
postmasters to comply with our instructions.
Q. Did you state the facts to Mr. Sickles also, as to the irregularities in the mail
service there?  A,. I did, sir; he was very well aware of the facts in regard to
those irregularities. I stated the facts also to Mr. Floyd, the contract clerk for
that section, who advised me to let the matter alone; that it was a matter it would
not pay to meddle with.
Q. What reason did he give for that statement? A. I cannot say that he gave
any direct reason for that statement.
Q. What did you understand by it? A. Everybody in the Department understood why it was.
Q. What was the general understanding in the Department? A. That this
man, Peterson, had been the intimate friend and surgeon of General Giles A.
Smith all through the war; he was his regimental surgeon, his brigade surgeon,
and his corps surgeon.
Q. Do I understand you to mean that Peterson, being an intimate friend of
General Giles A. Smith, and General Smith occupying the position of Second Assistant Postmaster General, he was acting as a middleman between the Second
Assistant Postmaster-General and these contractors? A. I do not know that sir.
I know that he received favors that very few others received in the Department,
and was recognized in a way in which very few men were recognized.
Q. Please state how he was recognized?
A. He was constantly in the office of the chief clerk, J. L. French, and in the offlice
.......
434 
THE POSr OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
irregularly settled in every quarter, without the proper certificates required from
of the Second Assistant Postmaster-General, Gen. Giles A. Smith. His accounts were
most other contractors that the service was properly performed, and without deduction of the amounts which had been collected on account of his contract-pay.
The Committee may not understand that the contractor is made the collector for
the Government of balances due from postmasters on the line of his routes. To
enable him to perform this duty prior to the close of each quarter, blank orders are
furnished him for each office that is known as a collection-office on his route. Those
orders are furnished him in duplicate; they are furnished him about a month before
the close of the quarter. so that he may make his collections without delay and get the
balance of his pay. He calls upon a postmaster, and fills out an order with the amount
of the balance which the postmaster reports in his hands due the Government.
The postmaster retains one of those orders, and the contractor forwards the
other to the Sixth Auditor of the Treasury.  The amount collected bv him on
those orders, all of which must be accounted for-either returned as'no collection
made' or the amount collected reported-is charged up to his route, and the balance between the amount which he himself has collected and the amount of his
contract-pay for the quarter is paid to him by draft or warrant upon the certificate that he has done the service-a certificate issued by the postmaster at both
ends of the route, and certified to by the Second Assistant Postmaster-General.
The formality of requiring this certificate and waiting for Mr. Peterson and some
other contractors to account for the moneys that they had collected, was entirely
ignored. He was paid his full quarterly pay; and the collections made by him
deducted from the next quarter's pay; virtually loaning to him, in addition to his
contract pay, whatever the collections he had made amounted to.
Q. Was there - any irregularity in connection with those Peterson settlements,
except the one that you have alluded to-any other irregularities or favors shown
him? A. When I called the attention of Mr. Sickles, the inspection-clerk for that section, to the irregularities of that service, he told me that it was no use to impose any
fines on Dr. Peterson, that they were all remitted. He told me that he endeavored to get the fines as nearly just as he could, and if they were small they were
sometimes allowed to remain, but if they were large they were always remitted.
Q. Who remitted them? A. They could only be remitted by the chief
clerk, or the Second Assistant Postmaster-General."
The above is from the evidence of Holbrook, whom, even under the administration of Creswell's successor, Postmaster-General Jewell, and while specially
detailed to an investigation of -these frauds, was forced by the latter functionary,
at the very flood-tide of his career as a cabinet reformer, to resign through the
still dominant influence of Peterson.
PETERSO1'S INFLUENCE.
The evidence, concerning Peterson and his intimate relations with the high
officials of the General Post Office, as well as with W. W. Belknap, the then
Secretary of War, with Collector Casey and various Senators, as given by other
witnesses before the committee, is always either inculpatory or suggestive. Is a
hitch threatened in the usual remitting of Peterson's fines and deductions, or in
the settlement of his accounts? There is forthwith a peremptory telegram from
Senator West, or a visit from Casey. Is there danger to him of a discontinuance?
Dorsey is presently at the front to remonstrate. Does a Congressional investigation expose the exorbitant plunder derived by him from a river sub-letting? A
more remunerative land route is substituted in its place; while Chief Clerk
French, who also drives a prosperous private stroke at life-insuring the contractors, which makes him thoughtful and conservative towards them, counts
not among the least of the felicities of his table, Peterson's present of a service of
plate. What is singular about this ambitious and benevolent personage is, that,
notwithstanding the magnitude of his operations, he is several times presented as
a perplexity to pursuing sheriffs, who are unable to find anything tangible about
him in the way of assets but his aliases. Finally, he disappears from the scene,
but still holding five existing and unexpired contracts, not indeed in a halo of
glory, but in a cloud of profanity at Willard's. He has been insisted upon here
as a type of his class, andyet he has been very inadequately portrayed.  There is
an impotence in mere scientific analysis for such unique knaves that cannot
reach the height of their deserving. Except for the probably less favored advantages of opportunity, such as is Peterson's are also those of Sawyer and Draper, Barlow and Huntley.
435 
REPUBLICAN MISMANAGEMENT;
The history and experiences of the celebrated firm of Barlow,  Sanderson & Co.
as given to the committee by its senior partner, is neither less guileless nor
less curious. Barlow is a resident of St. Albans, Vt., and Sanderson of St. Louis;the company appears to have been more or less fluctuating. The first-named gentleman was the definable quantity of the concern in the Washington transactions,
and he speaks of his sorrows with an instructive mixture of reticence and candor.
The associates were of the straw-bid ring, holding and operating mail contracts in
Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona; they had abundant capital, and
always had stock for carrying the service on these remote territorial routes.
Sometimes a cashier was set up as the straw-bidder, sometimes a lady relative.
At the end of the quarter, there would be a declared failure of this bidder, the
contract was thrown up, the certified checks with the Department having been
returned, and the Postmaster-General was compelled to employ the firm which
alone possessed facilities for transportation.  For so extendeda business as theirs,
there was probably never so little book-keeping as by the firm of Barlow, Sanderson & Co. Their papers were of a fugitive and perishable constitution, and,
when preserved, were commonly kept in a cellar or a boot-box. Accounts were
rendered in gross. Transactions aggregating hundreds of thousands of dollars
could only be gathered from loose sheets. Their affairs largely depended upon a
class of agreements that were never reduced to writing at all. Twenty, thirty,
NO RECEIPTS.
fifty thousand dollars were paid away to various serviceable individuals at Washington without any recorded acknowledgment or remaining sign, except in the
feeble and fallible memory of Mr. Barlow, who, when speaking of the results,
innocently expresses it as "a good deal like scattering seed;" an application of
the parable which Satan himself might have envied. Repeatedly, when the particular in question is the expenditure of a large sum at a most anxious crisis of his
affairs, he is utterly unable to recall either the amount, or the names of the persons to whom it was paid. Enough, however, is produced to indicate the character and proportions of that which is concealed. Two different sets of men were
the recipients of the bounty of this firm-the relatives and friends of high officials
in the Department, and the Department lawyers, for their influence
and vigilance; and outside Assyrians, who would come down like
the wolf on the fold, with the menaces and machinery of investigation,  and  demands  for  blackmail.   To  emasculate  the  investigation,
of the Republican committee of the then Republican House upon what are commonly known as the McKibben charges, Barlow admits to have paid, through
one Farrar, between forty and fifty thousand dollars. It is obvious that so large
a sum would not have been squandered in obscure and uninfluential quarters.
McKibben was, besides, placated by the lucrative employment of attorney for
the stage business of the firm in California. This contractor testifies to having
paid Hood, a lawyer, not for professional services, but for "influence with the
Department," overltwenty-five thousand dollars. Earle, Creswell's law partner
at Elkton, and First Assistant Postmaster-General until he resigned for the opportunity of this peculiar and profitable species of practice-one of those promoters
of Chorpenning whom Senator Morrill, of Vermont, declared "should have
their day in court ",-Mr. Earle was handed $100, $500, $1,000, in the language
of Barlow, "any time I was a-mind to," as undefined but current compensation
for "aid" and "protection" in the Department.
Q. "Did you ever make any presents?  A. Oh, now, since it occurs to me, I did
let Gen. Morgan L. Smith have money; he was the brother of Mr. Giles A.
Smith.
Q. Is he dead? A. Yes, sir, he is.
Q. How much money did you pay him? A. I do not know whether you call
it payments or not. I never called it payments at all.
Q. What did you give him? A. I could not tell you how much I did give
him; I gave him money, loaned it or gave it to him-it is all the same thingwhen he asked me for it; not at regular times, but when he wanted it.
Q. What did he want it for?
A. I suppose he wanted it to pay his expenses; he was a pretty expensive
man.
Q. Can you-not remember the amounts?
A. I let him have a considerable amount at one time and another.
Q. What do you call considerable?
436 
THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
A. I don't know; I don't know how much I did let him have.
Q. As much as $30,000?
A. I should think not; nor $20,000. I let him have considerable one time and
another; I don't know how much.
Q. What was the object in letting him have that money?
A. Well, I don't think there was much object in it, any way; I never thought
there was.
Q. You gave it to him whenever he wanted it?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. At the time you gave it to him who was Second Assistant PostmasterGeneral.
A. His brother was; but I never thought that it had a particle of influence; I
never gave it to him to influence his brother, and never thought that it did influence him in any other way than that he would think I was a clever fellow; that
is all."
Very naturally Mr. Barlow's great expenditures for interest and protection
within the Post Office Department were much more cheerfully made than his
payments of levies to the outside raiders who from time to time were threatening
mischief to his contracts. Although his memory is usually defective when questioned concerning the details of his transactions with these last, the same cannot
be said of his temper when he has occasion to refer to them, where they are
either "devils" to be suppressed, or "hounds" to be kept in leash.  It was not
investigation, Mr. Barlow, if he is to be believed, feared in the least; only personal
annoyance and a jeoparding of the character of his good friends Creswell and
Smith.
POSTMASTER-GENERAL CRESWELL'S LITTLE GAME.
And just here may be profitably recalled, by way of contrast to the honest and
thorough exposures of the report of the Committee of the present Democratic
House, from which we are taking these particulars of the gross mismanagement
of postal affairs under the Administration of President Grant, the scandalous suppressions and perversions which characterize the report of the Republican
majority in the investigation of 1872. That investigation was compelled by a
severe and specific article, published in the Washington Patriot. PostmasterGeneral Creswell was arraigned for malfeasance, among other charges, in awarding a contract for the Oroville and Portland route, in direct violation of law, at a
private letting and without advertisement. The route at first had been advertised,
and should have been awarded to the lowest bid of $96,000 per annum. Creswell accepted an illegal but lower bid, upon a pretense of economy. This bidder
failed to transport, and the Department procured temporary service at $700 a day.
Again the service was let at figures far in excess of the rejected bid. Another
failure of  service  ensued,  and  the Department  again secured temporary
service  at  $420  per  diem.   Then  the  contract  was   given  without
advertisement to Barlow and Sanderson at $142,000 per annum.  The illegal
if not the corrupt, character of this transaction is too apparent to be insisted upon.
Even Assistant Postmaster-General Giles A. Smith testified that he knew of no
authority of law for making this contract, as it was made, for the full term. Attorney-General Akerman gave it as his opinion that the proceeding was altogether
contrary to law. And now appears an important use in the disposition of the
money heretofore referred to as paid to Farrar. These fifty thousand dollars
were adroitly employed to divert the investigation of the House committee from
Barlow to Sawyer, another notorious and peccant straw-bid contractor, who refused "to bleed."  No evidence whatever was sought or taken as to the specific
charges affecting Barlow, and Creswell was not only acquitted, but extolled by
the Republican majority of the committee as an upright and vituperated public
functionary. It will be thought that such a contrast as is here presented of the
records of the Republican and the Democratic House should abash the utmost
effrontery of cavil.
So also concerning the practice of lavishly and systematically paying corruption money which has obtained at Washington during the Republican adminis
tration to influence the operations of the Post-Office Department, there is significant testimony pertinent to Sawyer, whose routes were in Texas. A portion of
the evidence of George W. Paschal is as follows:
"Q. State to the Committee whether, in your examination of Mr. Sawyer's papers, you found any other papers, drafts, or memorandum-bookS that were not
437 
REPUBLICAN MISMANAGEMENT;
before the committee when you were last examined? [The witness produced a
memorandum book.] A. This memorandnm-book was handed to me by Mr.
Taylor. Mr. Taylor, in looking over the book, happened to take it up, and brought
it to me. It shows some of the running expenses, traveling expenses, and other
things.
Q. Is that Mr. Sawyer's handwriting? A. Yes, sir; they are rough notes of
running accounts which he kept. I see here'November,' which seems to be
November, 1872. Judging by the dates, I should say that in the past June this
entry was made:'Paid attorneys, mails, $10,000.' On the same page, which
would carry it into the next year, 25th February, for the same kind of services,
'attorneys, $8,000.'  It is next to the last of the page, on the right-hand side
Then there is an entry here which is a blind account. It is as follows:
Amount paid sharks on account of contract after 1st July.
Wm. H. Farrar, paid by L. ------------------------- $20,000
Captain Hinds, paid by L. ---------------------------— 7,500
Mrs. Stuart, paid by L. ------------------------------- 2,000
August, Paid Col. Bell. --------—. —-------------------- 150
Wolverton.. ---------------------------- 2,000
Phips —. --------------------------------------—,000
Williamson ----------------------------------------— 2,000
Sept. D. A. F    --------------------------------—. —-.2,000
Oct. B. & Co. —-------------------—. —------------- 2,000
Oct. Wm. H. Farrar -------------------------------- 4,000"
And again, from the testimony of Francis C. Taylor:
COOKING UP ACCOUNTS.
"Q. What amount of those expenses were not put upon the books? A. All the
parties interested, I think, were in Austin, Texas, having a sort of general settlement, in November, 1872. I had been engaged for some time in trying to finish
up the business between Ben. Ficklin and Sawyer for the Administrator, and
Sawyer came on there during the time. Slaughter Ficklin had been there all the
time. Sawyer brought with him his account for some $30,000 or $40,000 paid
Abbott for coaches, for which he took credit, and which was divided between
the different divisions. There were four divisions of staging, and all the parties
were there. Sawyer had accounts against my division, and, I think, against all
the others. After having various accounts put on the books of the several
divisions, Sawyer said,'Here I have an account,' amounting to considerable, as
well as I now remember, from $50,000 to $60,000-and said,'All the divisions
will have to pay their proportion of this.' It was a memorandum showing that
amount.
Q. This November settlement or charging up of all the different accounts?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And the $50,000 or $60,000 that was there broughtin without vouchers, and
which had not previously been entered upon the books, is a separate and distinct
item from the $200,000 that you said had been previously entered upon the
books? A. Yes, sir; that amount of $200,000 was on a settlement between
Ben Ficklin and  Sawyer.   This  other amount  of  $50,000 or  $60,000, I
forget which, was for the year from July, 1871, to July, 1872, and was to be
divided among the different firms then in existence; and, as Sawyer said, when it
was presented,'Here is an account of money that I have expended in Washington,
that must be divided among the different companies.' I don't think Wright objected. I think Scott said a little, and Slaughter Ficklin said considerable, and
intimated that such black-mailing operations should not be paid, or something of
that kind.
'Q. There were no names on the paper indicating to whom it had been paid?
A. No, sir; I am satisfied of that. I remember that there were two items of
$10,000 or one of $20,000, I am not positive which, and which Sawyer stated or
admitted that he had paid to the same party."
To sum up briefly, the methods of these ring contractors in their machinations
to compass their ends, Kittle's way, after putting in a bona fide bid at big figures
fpr himself, was to corrupt the clerks in the Department so as to find out the
lowest bidder, and then put in a series of straw bids, which he could control,
through which, by temporary service or a new advertisement, he could control
the contract. Peterson's plan, who operated on the western rivers south of St.
Louis, was to make a corrupt combination by which he could control all the lines of
transportation, thus preventing competition; this control being ohtained by repre
0
-'438 
THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
sentations of intimacy and influence with Creswell and Smith, and in its turn
used on Creswell and Smith to get a monopoly of the contracts in his own name,
and subsequently, he without money or outfit, to sub-let said contracta so as to
net one-third or one-half of the gross amount for which they were let. Barlow
and Huntley's way-for they acted really together, though sometimes separatelywas to use the subordinates and agents in their employ, including even the
women of their families, to put in straw bids on a gradually ascending scale, and
generally be able to control the contract on most desirable terms, and in the event
of an independent bidder intervening between the sham and the highest bid, they
held themselves in readiness to buy out the independent bidder for a bonus, and
thus bring the contract up to most extravagant figures. As to the particulars of
Kittle's method, they are matters of recent criminal record. Peterson's style of
combining and sub-letting has already been illustrated with some detail; and
Barlow's own assertion that his party never held a route from which they did not
buy off bidders, after the manner in which they purchased out Governor Thompson, of Idaho, makes a specific accumulation of instances superfluous. No wonder,
with such opulent opportunities in the contemplation of morbid moral anatomy
as were given by these people in their intimate relations with the Department, the
Creswell officials should have set up for experts in judging of the character of
men by their physiognomy, as when Woodward and Tyner warmly disputed
which was the greater rascal from his face, Channell or Chichester.
Increase of service by order of the Postmaster-General has been under this
vicious Republican re'gine, a notorious resultant evil of the system of straw-bids;
as has also, in a less absolute degree, the unnecessary creation of postal routes.
Everywhere throughout the testimony we have evidence of its occurrence with
the frequency and directness of cause and effect.  Mr. Creswell appears to have
been of the mind of Philosopher Square, that it was "according to the eternal
fitness of things." Increase of service is of two kinds: increase in the number
of trips, and increase in the rate of speed, called expediting the service. The
knavery practiced with reference to the first is the subject now presented.
A LOOSE SYSTEM.
For transportation of the mails the advertisement and contract specify a certain
number of trips per week each way over the route. If at any time during the
contract term it properly appears to the Department, through petitions from the
people and from reports of its agents, that additional mail facilities are required,
the Postmaster-General is authorized by law to order an increase in the number
of trips per week. Such an order carries with it a corresponding increase of pay.
Where the contract calls for, say one trip per week, with compensation at
$10,000 per annum, if an additionai trip be ordered the pay is advanced to
$20,000; three trips would command $30,000, and so on, a trip each day in the
week enabling the contractor at this rate to draw $70,000 per annum. It will be
readily perceived what reaches of corruption are thus made possible on Territorial
routes traversing remote regions and subject to but limited observation.
In issuing the advertisements for postal services, proposals are invited for carrying the mail on a particular route, say, once a week. With the advertisement
is published the following notice:
"The Postmaster-General has no power under the law to release bidders and contractors, and their guarantors and sureties from their liabilities on the allegation
of real or supposed mistakes, of any kind, in making proposals. He particularly
requests that before bidding the fullest inquiry and investigation be made in regard to the route, distance, service, weight of mails, cost of stock, feed, and all
expenses, existing and likely to occur, during the contract term, and with due
consideration of the consequences imposed by law on delinquents."
After this notice, a bona fide bidder in making his estimates, will assuredly allow margin for a fair profit, taking into account all the difficulties, expense, and
risks involved in the performance of the service. Having obtained the contract,
established his stations along the route, and otherwise arranged for one trip per
week, any order that he can procure for additional service, carrying with it pro
rata increase of pay, gives him a great percentage of profit. It is matter of common information among people advised on the subject of postal contracts that
the amount of stock ordinarily employed in transporting the mail once each way
over a route, is sufficient also for an additional trip. If any further expense is
incurred it is, in comparison to the pay received, so slight as hardly to merit attention.
We will suppose the route, probably a sparsely-peopled expanse of wilderness
439 
REPUBLTCAN MISMANAGEM ENT;
and mountain road, to have been procured by the favorite Ring contractor. The
preliminaries havebeen ostensibly observed-the guarantors ohave been been certified to by Postmaster Edmunds, whose vocation it is to swear clairvoyantly to
the circumstances of unknown people, and the signatures to the bonds have been
attested by some complaisant Washington notary who can make a thousand dollars worth of realty indefinitely available by administering the oath in instalments,
and the service is begun. Part of the route is coached, and on parts of it where
there is no passenger travel, the "mails "-sometimes a mere pocketful of lettersare carried on horseback or on a buckboard. Presently-within a month or a week,
it may be-interest having been previously made with the Postmaster-General, an
increase of service is ordered, and the contractor's pay doubled.   In some instances, when the necessity for the route itself was altogether doubtful, it has been
thus trebled. Penalties for default on the favorite contractor, when default is reported at all, in the shape of fines and deductions, are seldom visited; and when
visited speedily remitted, except in perhaps a nominal sum for the sake of appearances, while the honest contractor is held to a vigorous accountability. The
Ring contractor's accounts are marked "special," and take precedence in settlement; while the, required certificates of service from the postmasters at the termini, are often forged in Washington and presented as from New Mexico or
Colorado with the ink upon them scarcely dry. It was one of Peterson's tricks
to run the service regularly on long routes a few miles to and from each terminus
that he might spare the tender Republican consciences of the officials in making
their reports, while he was neglecting the whole intermediate for weeks
together. This prevalent, if not collusive, knavery under his predecessor, by
which the Treasury was inordinately plundered, was refused investigation by
Postmaster-General Jewell, upon the principle so appropriately recognized, it
may be supposed, by a military administration, that dead men should tell no
tales.
GLARING FRAUD.
The orders made by Postmaster-General Creswell within a single year for increase of service on Route No. 43,127, considered in connection with the population of the country through which it runs, and the insignificant postal revenue
derived from it, bear on their face the most glaring indications of fraud.   The
route referred to was that which was held by C. C. Huntley of the Northwestern
Stage Compa ny, running from Walla Walla, Washington Territory, to Missoula,
Montana Te.'ritory, a distance of 450 miles. The pay on this route was increased
to $71,226 per annum. The intermediate Stations, as entered upon the Department records, are Waitsburgh, Tukannan, Union Flat, Colfax, Rosalia, Rock
Creek, Pine Grove, Spokane Bridge, Horse Plains, St. Ignatius and Agency.
Here is quite a suggestion of populous geography, but with one or two exceptions
the places are scarcely entitled to be called hamlets, while Walla Walla itself,
the largest of them all, is but a small settlement. So far as the report of the
last census indicates, the sum of their population is a little over three thousand
souls. But to avoid cavil we will take the population of the counties in which
these places are supposed to be situated, which is 8,588.  So the  Department pays out for postal facilities to each and every man, woman and child about
the sum of nine dollars. Now the postal receipts from all the sixty-three routes
of these two Territories was at the time but $44,112, or over $27,000 less than
was paid Huntley for running this almost superfluous route.  But if it be contended that such a route is in the nature of necessity and the interests of civilization, we will persue the inq,uiry a little further.  Of the 3,341 inhabitants of the
places before enumerated, 3,194 reside at or near the termini of the route, leaving
only 147 as living along this barren reach of four hundred miles. Again, the
above population was otherwise provided with mail facilities.  Missoula had a
mail outlet to civilization, and the Union Pacific Railroad by a route running to
Helena, Montana, over which postal communications was had three times a week.
On the other hand Walla taps the railroad seven times a week by the stage
route, and it is in addition  supplied with mails seven times a week from
Portland, Oregon.
Huntley was the first contractor on this route, and his contract called for one
trip per week, with pay at $23,000 per annum. This service was increased to
three trips, and for the fiscal vcar ending June 30, 1869, he received $68,967,39.
Owing to the prqsistent protests of postmasters, special agents, and an officer of
Internal Revenue the number of trips was, about the close of 1869, reduced to 
THE' POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
one per week.   But the complaints in behalf of honesty of these faithful public
servants brought the axe to their necks.  Huntley boasted of their dismissal.
On the 30th of September, 1869, advertisements were issued for service in the
Territories for four years, to commence July 1, 1870.   As to the Walla Walla
route, proposals were invited for one trip per week including side supply to
Stevensville and Fort Owen. L. L. Blake was the accepted straw bidder at $15,
100, and contract was made with Huntley at $22,900. Now, holding in view the
history and character of this route-the fraud by which the route was established
and the contracts obtained, the ridiculously few people to be supplied with postal
facilities, the abundance of supply through other channels, the trifling revenue to
be derived by the Department, and the great preponderance of expenditures over
receipts, all of which was fully proven to Mr. Creswell-observe his action
immediately following the commencement of service under Huntley's renewed
contract, which went into operation July 1, 1870.
-HUNTLEY'S ALLOWANCE.
FIRST. -On that very day he made an extra allowance.  In June, 1868, a post
Office called Tukannon was established in Walla Walla county, Washington
Territory, about ten miles off the main route, which at that time was numbered
15,422, and the salary of the Postmaster there stationed was fixed at $12 per
annum. Up to the 30th of June, 1873, no change had been made in the salary of
this officer, showing that little or no business was transacted by him for the
Department; and, moreover, the agent of the Census Bureau, if he happened to
find the place, disregarded it, for there is no enumeration. Nevertheless, on the
1st day of July, 1870, Mr. Creswell made an order allowing Huntley $2,130 for
pretended supply of this office from June 17, 1868, to June 30, 1870, under his old
contract.
SECOND.-Within the same month, to wit, on the 29th day thereof, he issued an
order for one additional trip a week on side supply from Missoula to Stevensville,
forty miles, with additional allowance of $2,022 per annum.
THIRD. -By the 23d of the following month Mr. Huntley had made interest
with him for a yet greater favor; for on that day was promulgated his order for
service on side supply extended from Stevensville to Gird's Creek, forty-five
miles, with additional allowance of $4,550 per annum. The office of Gird's
Creek was of so little importance that no person could be found to act as postmaster, and in the following December it was discontinued and has not been reestablished; and the astonishing fact is to be told that the additional pay of $4,550
was, notwithstanding, continued until the end of the contract term, a period of
three years and six months.
FOURTH.-Only four months later he presented Mr. Huntley with the equivalent of a large fortune in the shape of an order, dated Dec. 22, 1870, for two additional trips a week between Walla Walla and Missoula, with an additional allowance of $41,754 per annum!
In a general way the manner and effect of "increasing the service"-a power
vested in the Postmaster-General-has been explained; and it will now be shown
how the Ring has, by directing the preparation of advertisements in the department, opened the way for the exercise of that power in their interest.
For the purposes of the contract office, the States of the Union are grouped in
four sections. The first comprises the New England and Middle States, Maryland
and the Virginias; the second the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana; the third, Illinois, Michigan,
Wisconsin, Iowa, and Missouri; and the fourth all the remaining States, and the
Territories. The contract term for each of these sections is tbur years, commencing with the fiscal period, but the regular lettings are separated by equal intervals of time.
There are seventeen corresponding, or contract clerks, about equally distributed, each assigned to the business of a particular number of States belonging to
his section. It is the duty of the contract clerk to keep a recordof bids and
awards; to see that provision is made for supplying his post-offices with transportation; to receive petitions for the establishment of new routes and for increase
of service, and to examine as to the necessity for what is asked in the petitions
to be familiar with the character of the country through which his routes pass,
and to this end he is supplied with maps and all other necessary facilities; to
make up and submit cases to his superiors, and to prepare advertisements for proposals. These advertisements are published in a pamphlet, and arranged therein
441 
REPUBLICAN MISMANAGEM_T;
according to the numerical order of the routes. The offices on the route are
given, as are also the distance, time of arrival and departure, and the number of
trips per week. This last is the item which invites attention. It was the object
of the Ring to have the number of trips on any given route reduced in the adver tisement to one per week in order to ward off competition, well knowing that hav ing once obtained the contract they could by the mere scratch of Mr. Creswell's
pen have the service increased and the pay doubled or trebled.
Outside bidders, ignorant of the country and not in the secrets of the ring,
were not disposed to risk their capital under a contract for but one trip a week,
except at a rate which carried them abov,e competition with the ring.   But
suppose an outside bidder should assume the risk and obtain the contract at
one trip per'week, then, indeed, would he feel the power of the mon oply. He would in vain attempt to procure an increase of service.  The perform ance of his contract would be watched with the untiring vigilance of cupidity
and malice, and he would be subjected upon every pretext to fines and deduc tions. Reduced to a condition of despondency, he would be approached by an
emissary of the Ring with a proposal to sell his contract, and this he would gladly
accept.   But such a contract is not assignable.  This, however, is only an
apparent difficulty, readily overcome by the execution of a power of attorney,
which carries with it the control of route pay. All that remains to him is the
percentage the Ring may consent to bestow. The bargain concluded, the Depart ment at once relaxes, and an increase of service is ordered for tile account of the
Ring.
Sometimes less service has been advertised for than was actually needed, and
in such cases the public have suffered great inconvenience.   This was done with
a full knowledge by the Department of existing necessities in the Territorial
lettings of 1869.  The wants of the people, as was foreseen, compelled an almost
immediate increase. Take, for example, Route No. 7,587, from Fort Gibson,
Ark., to Sherman, Texas, and the direct line of communication between St. Louis to
that State. There was need of daily service, and of this fact the Department
was fully aware.   Such, indeed, was the importance of the route that the
Chamber of Commerce of St. Louis petitioned for that amount of service. Yet
in the advertisement but three trips were called for. The award was made to a
straw bidder at $900, upon whose failure the petition of the Chamber of Commerce was granted, the service was increased to six trips a week, and a contract
was made with F. P. Sawyer for the temporary service at $34,296 per annum,
the old rate of pay.
Of the unnecessary establishing of postal routes by Creswell, much might be
shown, and something incidentally has been. This was not at all confined to the
lucrative superfluity of "side supply."  There was a route from Washington to
Norfolk, down the Potomac, for which there was not a particle of public use.
Thus Peterson was largely subsided upon the Mississippi and its tributaries. The
Walla Walla case which accrued to the benefit of Huntley has been already exposed in detail. There was a route from Baltimore to Frederickburgh direct,
which was continued in order to employ a boat owned by Creswell's uncle. The
testimony is full of revelations and suggestions pertinent to this matter.
We rise from a perusal of this testimony before the committee, with conclusions
that we would fain have escaped-which are abhorrent to the upright conscience,
and which pall with melancholy and perturb with forboding every sentiment of
patriotism. Nor would we have the reader, who has gone with reasonable attention and continuity through the evidence adduced in this startling investigation,
to confine himself to the report of the majority of the Committee. Let him also
read as much as he can of the tedious and labored sophistry of the
dissenting Republican minority. He will have already observed the peculiar
character of Mr. Cannon's style of cross-examination-for it was nothing but
such in all its interested and technical rigor, and will be able justly to
estimate that assumed incredulity and adroitness at coloring and suppression
which  pervade   the  minority  report,   of  which  that  gentleman  is
the  reputed  author.   He  questions  the witnesses,  not from  a spirit of
civic integrity, earnest to ascertain and arrest the gangrene which had fastened
upon the Department, but like a mere Tombs' tactician in a clean shirt, "I am
not asking that; how do you know that? and, what of that? or, have you examined all the papers of the forty thousand routes to ascertain this?" Mr. Cannon may be assured that the common sense and average intelligence of his
fellow-citizens are much superior to the wiles of brow-beating interrogation, and
if he were to insist, for an instance, upon negativing Jupiter out of the planetar
442 
THE POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT.
system by, "How do you know Jupiter; were you present at Jupiter; are you
sure Jupiter is not metaphysical?"-he would hardly be able to disturb, with a
ripple, the moral and astronomical convictions of mankind.
NO VIGILANCE EXERCISED.
That no reasonable corrective vigilance was exercised by Postmaster-General
Creswell, and that he repeatedly disregarded, always in the interests of fraudu.
lent contractors, what he should have strictly observed, the letter of the Statute,
are too manifest to admit of dispute. Speculation naturally turns to the motives
of his conduct. Misfeasance and malfeasance officially persisted in over long
periods; and by the same ambiguous methods, cannot be satisfactorily explained
to the general mind by an assumption of ignorance or accident. It is the business, as it is the opportunity, of so prominent a functionary to know the law,
and it is his duty to respect and execute it. Under the law, Peterson was not
qualified to become a contractor, being neither the owner nor master of any vessel; yet Mr. Creswell repeatedly and directly contracted with him. Again, the
law was violated, in that Peterson entered into a combination to prevent the
making of bids for certain routes. This was well known to the Department, as
appears from the testimony of Postmaster-General Creswell himself. Yet, knowing these things, Mr. Creswell continued to him his confidence, and bestowed
upon him valuable contracts. With a full knowledge of the character and operations of this man, neither Mr. Creswell nor Mr. Smith ever deemed it necessary
to investigate the matter of his contracts or the manner in which he performed
the service; nor did they ever abridge his contracts, but they paid him money, in
violation of the regulations of the Department, in the absence of any certificate
that the service had been rendered. It was not until the accession of Mr. Jewell
that this ill-favored contractor ceased to plunder the public revenues. That section of the postal laws which stringently provides against postmasters or other
officers of the Department affixing their signatures to certificates of sufficiency of
guarantors, except in due course and with proper knowledge, was constantly and
notoriously set at naught-this proscribed business having been part of the daily
routine of J. M. Edmunds, Postmaster at Washington. Unquestionably, money
was paid to Ring contractors both without certificates and upon false certificates.
The Treasury was defrauded of great sums both by the creation or unnecessary
routes and by needless increase of service upon those already established. The
financial condition of the General Post-Office is only to be conjectured by the
reported deficiencies of the service, for it is not to be found, like that of the
army, navy, etc., in the annual statement of the Secretary of the Treasury;
a circumstance very favorable to the prosecution of crooked methods.
SOLICITING SECRET CONFEDERATION.
How very little regard was shown for the pecuniary interests of the Government and the tax-payer, is evidenced by the astonishing spectacle of an Assistant
Postmaster-General soliciting from the presidents of railroads by confidential'etters secret'confederation with himself for the purpose of extorting greatly augmented pay for their postal service.
How very little sincerity there has been in the professed desire for reform within
the Republican party and by its own administrative action, is conspicuously shown
by the appointment of Tyner, who was Creswell's most active defender when a
member of the House and upon its Committee on the Post-Office during the investigation of 1872, as an Assistant Postmaster-General, and his subsequent advancement, upon the summary removal of Jewell, to the headship of the Department.
It may be the misfortune of functionaries like Creswell and Smith to be generally suspected from their continued conduct of interested collusion with public
plunderers; but no man can question that they have devolved upon themselves
that burden of proof which shall attest their innocence. Nor can we fittingly
characterize the emptiness of that plea which, while admitting a prevalent corruption, would recoil from its remedy-which while confessing the limb to be
mortified, timorously protests that amputation might be death. For a people
whose once manly virtues are sunk to the ignoble level of such a doubt at such a
crisis, the decadence of free goverment is not merely beginning; it is already far
accomplished.
443 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY US1 G THE PUBLIC MONEY
FOR PERSONAL AND PAITISAN PURPOSES.
The Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice of the House of
Representatives, at the late session of Congress, examined into the use of the
"Secret Service Fund" of that Department. It was ascertained during this examination that large sums of this fund, amounting in the aggregate to $34,000,
had been paid, at different times during the last few years, to John I. Davenport,
Chief Supervisor of Elections for the Southern District of New York, to be expended by him for the alleged purpose of " detection and prosecution of crimes
against the United States," in the City of New York, in connection with alleged
frauds in elections in that city. The manner of the procurement and expenditure
of this large sum of money by Mr. Davenport, and the criminal carelessness of the
Department of Justice in expending. this fund, "diverting it from its proper use
to one entirely foreign to the objects of the law," as developed by the testimony
form a chapter in the history of elections in this country of the most singular
character and startling significance, involving the President of the United States
himself.
WHAT THE TESTIMONY SHOWS.
John [. Davenport, who is thirty-three years of age, was an officer on the staff
of Gen. Butler while he had command of the Department of Virginia and North
Carolina, during the late war. He had charge of all the scouts, spies and officers
of that character in that Department. It was a part of his business to obtain a
roster of Lee's army, with the regiments, regimental commanders, brigades, divisions and corps, and to know where they were throughout the day and night.
His duties brought him into communication with the commanding general,
and thus he became acquainted with Gen. Grant.
Subsequent to the war he served for a while as secretary to the Hon. E. D.
Morgan, when he was in the Senate of the United States.  He was employed as a
clerk in November, 1868, by Samuel I. Glassey, Esq., and Gen. John A. Foster,
of New York, who were retained as counsel for the Union Leag ue Club of that
city, to conduct an investigation into frauds alleged to have been committed at
the election held in that city in November, 1868. Mr. Glassey took him into
partnership with him in the practice of the law in November, 1869, which association contimnued until the 1st day of May, 1871.
The investigation into the alleged frauds at the election in New York City in
November, 1868, was inaugurated by the Union League Club, by the appointment of a committee to take measures for that purpose. A memorial was addressed to Congress, and in pursuance thereof the Committee was appointed. Mr.
Glassey testifies that during the investigation he and Gen. Foster employed
Mr. Davenport as a clerk to assist them, and that he continued in their employment as a clerk and was paid as such for several months. 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
Mr. Davenport testifies that "he was selected by the Union League Club to act
as their attorney before the Committee" and that "he acted both as the attorney
of the club and as the clerk of the Committee," (House Report No. 800, 44th
Congress, 1st Session, p. 45), the impropriety of which, if true, will be apparent
to every fair-minded person.
THE ATTORNEY OF THE UNION LEAGUE CLUB.
Following the report of the congressional committee, which was made in the
early part of 1869, efforts were made to obtain legislation by Congress for the
regulation of elections for members of Congress by United States authorities, and
the amendment of the laws regulating naturalization.   Mr. Davenport was in
Washington city during the years 1869, 1870 and 1871, for the purpose of obtaining this legislation. The first act passed by Congress was the act entitled "An
act to enforce the rights of citizens of the United States to vote in the several
States of this Union, and for other purposes," approved May 31, 1870 (known as
the "Enforcement Act.")  Subsequently an act to amend the same, approved
February 28, 1871, was passed. In the meantime an act.to amend the naturalization laws and to punish cringes against the same, and for other purposes," approved July 14, 1870, was passed. Mr. Davenport testifies that he was in Washington "procuring the passage of these laws, as the attorney of the Union League
Club, and with credentials from them as their attorney." (Report of testimony,
p. 45.)
Mr. Davenport was unusually active in securing the passage'of the act of February 28, 1871.   It provided for the appointment by the Circuit Court of the
United States, upon the recommendation of the judge thereof, from among the
Circuit Court Commissioners in and for each judicial district in said judicial circuit, of a chief supervisor of elections, whose duties were specifically defined by
the act.
DAVENPORT AS CHIEF SUPERVISOR.
The fourteenth section of the act fixed the fees of the chief supervisor and provided for his payment at the Treasury of the United States. Mr. Davenport
had been appointed a Circuit Court Commissioner immediately after the passage of
the act of May 31, 1870, and consequently was eligible to the office of chief
supervisor created by the act of February 28, 1871.  The selection of the person
to fill the position, it was known, would be made by the managing republicans of
the city of New York, and it was generally understood beforehand that if the bill
passed Mr. Davenport would get the appointment under it, which he did at once
upon its passage.
The act of February 28, 1871, was amended by the act entitled "An act making
appropriations for sundry civil expenses of the Government for the fiscal year
ending June 30, 1873, and for other purposes," approved June 10, 1872. Mr.
Davenport claims to have been largely instrumental in securing the passage of
this amendment. This amendment (with others) was placed upon the bill of the
Senate after it had passed the House. The House was willing to concur in all
the amendments except this one, and on motion of Mr. Garfield, of Ohio, the
House non-concurred in the amendments of the Senate and agreed to a conference thereon.-(Gong. Globe, 2nd session, 42d Congress, part 5, p. 4,435.)
FALSE PRETENSES.
The false pretenses by which this action of the House was secured, and the
subsequent passage of the bill thereby accomplished, were stated upon the
coming in of the report of the Conference Committee recommending an
"enforcement" amendment by Hon. W. D. Kelly as follows:
"Mr. Speaker, I now move that the report of the Committee of Conference be
re-committed to that Committee.   I make this motion under a deep sense of
responsibility, and I ask gentlemen to hear me for my cause and to be silent that
they may hear. I make it and propose to briefly sustain it in behalf of a cause
that is as dear to me as life, to which I have devoted my best years, and in which
I have more than once periled my life; that is, the integrity and supremacy of
the Republican party, which I believe to be endangered by the position of this
bill. I am also constrained to make this motion by a proper sense of self-respect.
Nothing will reward a rmar ior the loss of self-respect.   I feel this morning that
if by the force of a mere majority we drive this bill, embodying as it does the
445
6 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
enforcement amendment, through Congress, we will commit an act which, so far
as I and a number of gentlemen around me are concerned, will be regarded as in
the category of acts for which I have more than a score of times sentenced men,
theretofore respected in the community in which they lived, to solitary confinement and penal labor.
"This bill reached its present stage by what, in the light of information in my
possession, appears to be false pretenses, which are characterized by all the
features necessary to sustain a conviction under the law of Pennsylvania.   On
Saturday last the minority of this House, by virtue of parliamentary law and of
the usages of this House: not by the weakness of the Republican party, not by
the weakness or lack of fidelity on the part of members of the Republican party,
but, as I have said, by virtue of parliamentary law and usages long and well
known to the House and the people of the country, the minority party of this
House held this bill in its power.   Leading members of that party said to us,
' Take from the bill one amendment, and you may have all the other provisions
without question; take from it one provision, and you may complete your
appropriations and adjourn.'   This being the oondition of the bill, there came
upon this floor a Senator who was then a member of the Committee of Conference to consider and adjust the disagreeing votes thereon, and I vouch gentlemen
around me, for the fact that from him went forth the assurance that if the opposition would permit this bill to go to a Committee of Conference the Senate would
recede from the objectionable amendment. It was also known that he who must
be Chairman of the Committee of Conference on the part of the House disapproved of that amendment, and had given open and public assurance that he
disapproved it as heartily as gentlemen on the other side could do."-(Cong.
Globe, 2d Session, 42d Congress, part 5, p. 4438.) 
"LITTLE JOHIINNY " ANXIOUS.
In addition to this amendment of the act of February 28, 1871, the bill contained an appropriation, "for the expenses which may be incurred in the enforcement of that act," of the sum of $3,200,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1873, of which sum $200,000 was available for the fiscal year ending June 30,
1872.   Mr. Davenport was so much interested in the passage of this amendment,
that, being in the City of New York and unable to visit Washington in time, he
procured the amendment of the Committee of Conference to be telegraphed to
him in full.  Mr. Davenport had seen the reports of the proceedings of Congress
in the newspapers and in his opinion the Committee were getting the amendment
into a shape that would defeat its object - "they didn't see where it would
land,"   Upon receipt of the proposed amendment he telegraphed to the different
members of the Committee relative thereto.'
It appears from the testimony that Mr. Davenport, still not satisfied with the
enforcement act, prepared a bill something more than two years previous to the
investigation by the committee, entitled "An act to amend the act of February 28,
1871." and secured its recommendation by one of the standing committees of the
Union League Club, of which he was a member; that he personally presented it
in Washington and appeared several times before a sub-committee of the Judiciary Committee of the House to advocate its passage.
Sometime previous to this Mr. Glassey heard that Mr. Davenport "had established a printing-office, and that he had a large job in contemplation."  Within a
few weeks after he got that information he found that Mr. Davenport had the
above bill pending before the Judiciary Committee. He sent a statement of objections to the bill, and shortly afterwards was requested to appear before the
sub-committee of the Judiciary Committee, which he did twice, to argue against
the bill. The bill never emerged from the sub-committee.
A VERY BIG JOB.
The bill, Mr. Glassey testified, was "a very big job"; one that "had a great
deal of money in it if it got through." It authorized the chief supervisors of
elections to go into the courts which have the power of naturalization and procure copies of qll their records pertaining to naturalization. The cost of making
these copies was to be paid by the United States in the shape of fees to the chief
supervisors, and it was estimated by Mr. Glassey that if he had made copies of
those on file in New York City the cost would have been something over $300,000.
446 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
The chief supervisors of elections in each district were authorized, if not required,
by the bill to be present and attend in all courts in the districts which had the
power of naturalization, to supervise, and take notice of, and participate in the
proceedings for naturalization, and for such supervision the chief supervisor
should receive $5 per day. There was alsp a provision of the bill authorizing
chief supervisors to institute proceedings to cancel certificates of naturalization.
Having investigated the facts he could certify the evidence and his opinion to the
Circuit Court, which might thereupon enter judgment and declare the naturalization void.
Mr. Davenport claims to have begun, late in the summer or early in the fall of
1870, to follow out, under the act of May 31, 1870, the investigations of the Congressional Committee of 1868. He had copies of the registry made at the November election in 1870, and supervisors were appointed at that election under the act
of Congress. But the law was not satisfactory to Mr. Davenport and he laid the
facts before the Union League Club, which, he claims, resulted in the passage of
the act of February 28, 1871.
MR. GLASSEY MAKES A DISCOVERY.
Mr. Glassey testified that, being interested inthe subject of procuring pure and
honest elections, he sought the aid of several gentlemen, including Mr. Davenport, during the summer of 1871, to concert with him a plan which would
secure that end without any partisan object to be attained by it.  Mr.  Glassey
had much to do with election matters in the city of New York, and during their
association with Mr. Davenport became familiar with his views upon the subject.   Sometime in October, 1871, MIr. Glassey discovered that Mr. Davenport
had been making use of the information thus obtained to make a bargain for his
own private benefit with the "Committee of Seventy," which had then been appointed, telling them that the plan was of his own contrivance, while he represented to Mr. Glassey that the Committee had refused to do anything with the
subject.   When Mr. Glassey made this discovery, he closed his acquaintance
with Mr. Davenport.
Some time before the 1st of May, 1871, Mr. Glassey having heard that Mr.
Davenport was obtaining information from the Census Marshals for use at
elections, and believing that the census returns, which, until collated and returned
were not properly accessible to anybody but the officers of the Government
and should not be used for political purposes, he made that one of his reasons
for dissolving the partnership with him.
Since Mr. Davenport's appointment as chief supervisor of elections, the testimony shows that he has done a large amount of work in the preparation of
"index-books," block-books," &c., in the execution of his plan for the prevention
of frauds at elections, for which he has received and disbursed large sums of
money.   In the prosecution of this work he has employed such clerks as he
thought necessary to perform the labor, the number being varied according to
circumstances.
DAVENPORT'S PATRIOTISM.
During the time that Mr. Davenport was engaged in this work he received
funds to aid him in the accomplishment of it, besides the $34,000 which he received from the Government of the United States, amounting to a very large
sum, from private contributions, the "Committee of Seventy," the Union League
Club, and the Republican State Committee of New York. In addition thereto he
received the most liberal allowance of fees provided for by the act of Congress.
He had been specially interested in the section of the act of Congress fixing the
fees, it being the only section which he took the trouble to read to Mr. Glassey,
his partner, at the time he was drafting the bill, and after explaining to Mr.
Glassey the purport of it, told him that he could make it worth $15,000 or $20,000
at every general election.
Mr. Davenport asserted, however, that these large contributions were not sufficient to meet the necessary outlays of the work he had on hand; that he had
spent of his own money (borrowed money) $15,000 more than he had received
from these sources.
HUGH HASTINGS THE LOBBYIST HAS A FINGER IN THE PIE.
Under these circumstances, finding that there was an annual appropriation of
$50,000 to the Department of Justice "to be expended under the direction of the
447 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
Attorney-General, in the detection and prosecution of crimes against the United
States," Mr. Davenport determined to obtain some portion of it, if possible.  For
this purpose he went to Long Branch in the summer of 1871, where, in company
with Mr. Thomas Murphy and Mr. Hugh Hastings, he had a conference with the
President on the subject. He took with him "some books and things" upon
which he had been at work, and a plan of what he proposed doing, which he
exhibited to the President. He induced the President to believe that he was "doing
a great work," and persuaded him to address a note through Gen. Porter, his secretary, to Mr. Akerman, at that time Attorney-General of the United States, requesting him to employ some of his fund through Mr. Davenport to aid him in
his scheme.
Mr. Akerman, in answer to this note, informed the President of the appropriations he had already made, and others which he contemplated making of that
fund, and that possibly the appropriation which he suggested might interfere with
them, and requested the President's views under these circumstances of the fitness
of applying it in this way. The President replied in a short time, saying that he
conceived this object of sufficient importance to receive an amount of that fund,
notwithstanding these other appropriations.
Therefore, Mr. Akerman, in a communication dated Aug. 18,1871, notified
Col. H. C. Whitley, Chief of the Secret Service Division of the Treasury Department, that the sum of $5,000 of the fund for the detection and prosecution of
crime in the United States would be placed in his hands to be used in furtherance of the objects of the appropriation, in the city of New York, and that Mr.
Davenport, United States Commissioner, had been in conference with the President on the subject and would acquaint him with the object in view. Upon receipt of this notification, Col. Whitley paid the amount mentioned over to Mr.
Davenport in installments at such times as he required it, taking his receipt
therefor.
DAVENPORT AFTER THE PEOPLE'S MONEY.
Mr. Davenport did not receive any more of this fund until Mr. Akerman had
resigned and Mr. Williams had succeeded him as Attorney-General. In the summer of 1872 Mr. Davenport went to Mr. Williams, then Attorney-General, with a
note from the President, according to Mr. Williams' testimony, stating that Mr.
Davenport was engaged in a very important work in New York city, for the purpose of preventing frauds at elections and requesting the Attorney-General to
furnish Mr. Davenport with some funds to aid him in the prosecution of that
work. Mr. Williams told Mr. Davenport that he would pay the money as he had
been in the habit of doing, with respect to this fund, to Co]. Whitney, and lake
his receipt therefor, and that Col. Whitney would pay the money to him  (Mr.
Davenport) in accordance with the wishes of the President. Under this arrangement Mr. Davenport received $29,000, the balance of the $34,000, of which
amount $20,000 was paid to him during the Presidential campaign of 1872.
Col. Whitney objected to paying the money to Mr. Davenport as he "did not
know what he was doing with it." He had frequent interviews with the Attorney-General, in which the matter was discussed, in which the Attorney-General
said he did not like to do it himself, but that he was overruled in the matter, being instructed by the President to do it.
Mr. Williams admitted that he had no knowledge of Mr. Davenport having
received any money from the Attorney-General's office previous to the first payment made by him, nor did he know what Mr. Davenport did with the money
which he naid him, after hc received it.  He could only say that all the money
that was paid to Mr. Davenport, with his knowledge or his consent, was paid to
him exclusively to be used in the preparation of certain books then being prepared by Mr. Davenport, and if any money was paid to him for any other purpore, or used by him for any other purpose, it was without his knowledge and
contrary to his instructions. The Attorney-General took no receipts from Mr.
Davenport for the money.
DAVENPORT RENDERS NO VOUCHERS.
The only vouchers in his office were the receipts given by Col. Whitley. Mr.
Davenport had never rendered any account of the manner in which he expended
this large sum of money, either to the Attorney-General or Col. Whitley, nor
would it have been known to the public tlat he had received it at all, but for the
investigations of the Committee.
448 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
Mr. Davenport claims to have proceeded under the Act of February 28, 1871,
to have prepared registers for the supervisors of election, and furnished them
with the same; to have indexed the registry alphabetically, showing the name of
Very voter, his assembly district, election district, residence, name, color, how
ong in the State, how long in the county, how long in the assembly district,
whether naturalized, and if naturalized when, and the court; whether a qualified
voter or not, and the date on which he registered, and each ticket which he voted
(page 47), for which book he expended this very large sum of money.
It appears, however, that the practice of arranging a registry list in this manner was adopted by inspectors of election as their own notion long before 1868,
and it was part  of a scheme devised by Mr. John H. White and some other
prominent republicans of New York City, to be put in operation at the election of
1868. It could not be carried out in its entirety, because the registration did not
close until Saturday preceding the Tuesday on which the election took place, but
is provided for now by the State laws of New York, and has been ever since 1873.
Mr. Williams, Attorney-General during the time when the greater portion of the
$34,000 was paid to Mr. Davenport, testifies that he does not think it is the duty
of a supervisor of an election to prepare such a work, showing a registration of the
voters; but it is made by law the duty of a supervisor, in case he considers it
necessary to prevent frauds at elections, to have made for him by his subordinates, lists of the registered voters in each election precinct in his district, but the
work done in the preparation of these books by Mr. Davenport "was no part of
his duty as an officer of the Government."
TOO THIN!
Mr. Davenport, when called upon by the committee, produced a large number
of receipts, mostly of employees, as vouchers for the expenditure of the $84,000. The first series of the vouchers bore date May 1, 1871, several months before
he received the first installment of this fund, while the most of them were dated
over two years after he received the last installment of $3,000, which was in November, 1873. The committee did not regard these receipts as vouchers for the
expenditure of this fund. It was in evidence that many of the receipts -vere obtained by and furnished to Mr. Davenport after the investigation of the matter was
begun by the committee, and during the period in which Mr. Dav iport's testimony was being taken. It Seas also in evidence that many of the'eceipts were
given for money paid for work done for- the "Committee of Sev(:ty," a committee which had no connection whatever with this fund. Besides, Mr. Davenport kept no separate account of this fund, but mixed it with his own and other
funds, amounting to a very large sum received, as before stated, from private
contributions from the "Committee of Seventy," the Union League Club, and the
Republican State Committee of New York.
Mr. Davenport presented on account for payment at the Treasury of the
United States for services rendered and expenses incurred at the election held on
the 5th of November, 1872: The account embraced the following items:
FOR SERVICES.
To filing 2,141 applications for appointments as United States
Supervisors, at 10 cents each ---------------------— $   214 10
To administering 3,888 oaths of Supervisors and Deputy Mar          shals, at 10 cents each. -----------------------------— 388 80
To filing 3,888 oaths of Supervisors and Marshals, at 10 cents
each --------------------------------------------— 389  80
To filing 3,505 registry and verification books, at 10 cents each    350 50
To filing 951 reports of examination of houses and voters and
reports of Supervisors, at 10 cents each -----------------— 95 10
To filing 924 Commissions of Supervisors, at 10 cents each-_    92 40
To filing 2,590 returns of canvass, at 10 cents each ---------— 259 00
To indexing 79,995 folios of records of office, at 15 cents per
folio     ------------------------------------------------ 11,999 15
$13,787 85
FOR EXPENSES.
To bill of J. X. Brown, as annexed, (Mr. Brown's bill was an  nexed). ---------------------------------------  4,842 50
$18,630 35
449 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
There was deducted from this account:
Charge for 750 oaths administered by Commissioner Shields t
Supervisors and Deputy Marshals, disallowed or not paya
ble to Chief Supervisor. —------------------------------
75 00
$18,555 35
POOR FELLIOW!
This sum was allowed by the Treasury Department and paid to Mr. Davenport.
Mr. Davenport, in forwarding the account, wrote a letter of explanation to the
First Comptroller of the Treasury, dated April 29, 1873, in which lie stated:
"My accounts, as Chief Supervisor, may seem somewhat large, but they are in
strict accordance with law, and the work performed has actually lost me for
clerical labor, together with the amount of Brown's bill, (which is attached to
the account, and which has been paid by me,) some ($13,000) thirteen thousand
dollars, so that there is comparatively but a small amount coming to me for,
practically, two years' work."
Mr. Brown was called as a witness by the committee and testified that the
money necessary to carry on his printing business was furnished by Mr. Davenport and that the establishment was his, though he (Brown) conducted the business as if his own. He estimated the amount of money invested in the establishment by Mr. Davenport, in labor and materials, at $25,000. Notwithstanding,
therefore, the printing office belonged to Mr. Davenport and consequently the
bill rendered by Mr. Brown belonged originally to Mr. Davenport, he states in
his letter to the First Comptroller that the bill had been paid by him.
THE GOVERNMENT BLED FREELY.
The evidence taken by the Committee also shows that much of the time of the
clerks who were employed by Mr. Davenport and paid by him out of the $34,000
obtained from the Attorney-General's office, was occupied in preparing the oaths,
filing the papers, and indexing the records of his office, for which hlie was paid in
the foregoing account. Indeed, a very large proportion of the labor of these
clerks was devoted to making the alphabetical index, upon which Mr. Davenport
relied with so much confidence for the detection of frauds. He admits in his
letter to the First Comptroller that it was "such work as Congress did not contemplate, and, therefore, must be paid by him individually;" yet he employs
clerks, who are paid out of funds belonging to the Government, to do the work
and then charges the Government for the work the sum of $11,999.15. In addition
to these sums Mr. Davenport was paid at the Treasury for issuing, as Commissioner, about 1,224 warrants for the arrest of persons charged with illegal registration, in 1872, the sum of one dollar for each warrant, amounting in the aggregate to about $1,224.
The following sums were paid to Deputy United States Marshals and Supervisors of Election for services at the election held in the City of New York, November 5, 1875, to-wit:
Amount paid Deputy Marshals, on headquarters roll ---— $3,925 00
Total paid Deputy Marshals, district rolls -----------— 50,590 00
Total paid Deputy Marshals, on Supervisors' rolls ------- 23,885 00
Total paid Deputy Marshals, on supplementary rolls..7,155 00
$85,555 00
There was also paid. for extraordinary expenses incurred in enforcing
the acts of Congress in relation to elections, at the same election, the sum of
$15,132.20. Of this amount the sum of $6,906.41 was paid to John I. Davenport
for "clerical services of a large force of men, amounting at one time to forty."
A USELESS EXPENSE, OF COURSE.
Mr. Saimuel J. Glassey, who is a well-known lawyer and citizen of New York
City, has taken a great deal of interest in the matter of honest elections, and is
familiar with the working of election laws in New York, testified before the committee as to tlhe appointment of Deputy Marshals at elections, "that there had
been no earthly necessity for the appointment of any, and especially for elections
since 1870;" and that'"appointing them was simply using public mioney for the
450 
LITTLE JOHINNY DAVENPORT.
benefit of the lower class of politicians for rendering merely nominal services."
Mr. Glassey also testified with respect to the character of the men usually appointed,is deputy marshals, as follows:  "In a city like this (New York) there are
always hundreds of men who have hardly any regular employment, who are
chronic seekers of small offices, hangers-on to the politicians of all grades and
stripes. About the time of election they make a little money by doing miscellaneous work for candidates. It is from that class of men that these supervisors
and marshials, especially the marshals, are most likely to be selected Their pay
is a per diem fixed by law ($5.00), and for as many days, not exceeding ten, as the
Marshal and the Chief Supervisor may choose to certify."
DAVENPORT'S WARRANTS.
The circumstances under which the 1,224 warrants were issued were extraordinary; and it is difficult to ascertain from them the real purpose which Mr. Davenport had in view in issuing them.  The facts, as stated by Mr. Davenport in his
testimony, were as follows: The supervisors had at the polls, on the day of registration, taken down the names of persons registering, with the particulars.
They then took the books containing this registry and went from house to house
and made inquiries respecting these names. When a person could not be found
to answer to the registered name the conclusion was reached that it was a fraudulent registration-a registration by a fictitious person. Against all such persons,
or fictitious persons, rather, Mr. Davenport, as United States Commissioner,
issued warrants of arrest for illegal registering. He believed at the time of issuing the warrants against the names that appeared on the registration list that
there were no such persons.  The warrants were issued on the night preceding the
election and delivered to the marshals to be executed at the polls on the day of
election, in the event any person should appear for the purpose of voting in the
name against which a warrant was issued. Mr. Davenport also furnished a list of
the names to the newspapers for publication on the day of election.  These were
the means to which he resorted for "the detection and prosecution of crimes against
the United States."
A LITTLE BLADDER BLOWN BIG.
Mr. Davenport, in his letter of explanation to the First Comptroller, indulges
in the following boastful paragraph:
"This year, being a presidential year, and one of great excitement, the registration amounted to 149,000; but the vote, owing  to the remembrance, on the
part of those who indulged in frauds, of the severity with which they were
treated two years ago, and to a knowledge of the elaborateness and detail of the
work of my bureau, reached but 132,000, and the majorities id this county were
some 30,000 less than four years ago."
Now, when examined upon the point of the number of persons who had been
tried, convicted and punished for election frauds during the time he had been
Chief Supervisor, Mr. Davenport stated that he "knew of three," two of whom
were convicted for offences committed at the election of 1870. Is it astonishing,
therefore, that under such a result "the severity with which those who indulged
in frauds in 1870 were treated" should have become notorious?
Having said enough in the foregoing paragraph to indicate to the First Comptroller the eminent success of his operations in the way of reducing Democratic
majorities, and to accomplish a purpose which, he, no doubt, had in view, Mr.
Davenport continues:
"I shall not refer to political majorities, for I am cognizant of the fact that,
officially, neither you nor I have anything to do with them; were it not a notorious and conceded fact that in such majorities were the frauds against which
Congress endeavored to afford relief by the enactment of the election law."
This paragraph is somewhat obscure when we take into consideration the fact
that the election law is a general one, applying alike to all portions of the United
States.  If Mr. Davenport refers alone to the "majorities" in the City of New
York, it is difficult of belief ".that irt such majorities were the frauds against
which Congress endeavored to afford relief by the enactment of the election law."
REDICULOUS.
The First Comptroller, upon the receipt of Mr. Davenport's account, called
oip  hiim, in. siholt note. for an explanation of the charge of $11,999. 15 for in
451 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
dexing 79,995 folios of record. Mr. Davenport, in reply, gave what was accepted
as a satisfactory explanation. In the reply he stated; "I may.add that the expense in the future will be but slight, as I have indexed and entered my records
in such manner that nothing will have to be added but the record of those who
may become voters at a date subsequent to the last election, and those who may
die or remove, will be the only subtractions to be made, leaving the vast body of
my records good for years, and putting the Government to little expense in the
future."
Notwithstanding this statement, when another election occurred in the City of
New York, at which a Representative in Congress was chosen in the place of
Hon. James Brooks, deceased, Mr. Davenport presented an account at the Treasury for $4,812.65, which embraced an item for indexing 28,666 folios of record,
at 15 cents a folio, amounting to $4,299.90. This account was accompanied by
another letter of explanation from Mr. Davenport, in which,  as in his former
letter, he laid great stress upon the expenses of his office.
THE FIRST COMPTROLLER PRESSES DAVENPORT.
The First Comptroller again called upon Mr. Davenport for an explanation of
the item for "indexing" records.
In his letter, the Comptroller says:  "I am at a loss to understand your statement with regard to the expenses of your office, and can only presume that for
reimbursement of the larger part of them, you look elsewhere than to the Treasury of the United States. But that is your affair. My business is with the account before me." He then refers to the item for indexing, and cites the foregoing paragraph from Mr. Davenport's former letter, and concludes as follows: "In
the account to which you then referred $11,999.15 were charged for indexing the
records relating to all the voting precincts in the city. In the present account
more than one-third of that amount is claimed for indexes for a single Congressional district."
Mr. Davenport in reply to this letter entered into the details by which, what
he was pleased to term "  the blunder" in making out the account, was committed,
fixing the blame upon a "trusted clerk."  After a full explanation of the plan
which he had adopted and the work he had done under this plan, in the special
election, for which his account was rendered, with the usual reference to the large
amount of his expenses, which explanation Mr. Davenport said was necessary to
make the matter "clear" to the Comptroller, he continued as follows: "That
account was prepared in the following manner: I directed a trusted clerk to
ascertain by actual count the correct number of the various items of charges.
against the government, and then to make up the account in form similar to that
of 1872, a copy of which I furnished him with. He subsequently presented me
the account now before you in proper shape, and stated that the figures therein
set forth were accurate, and had been obtained as I directed; whereupon, believing the account true, I swore to it and left it at the Treasury Department together with Commissioner's accounts for a portion of the year 1871, -and also fora portion of 1873.
"I now ascertain upon a full investigation of the whole matter, that my clerk,
laboring under a misapprehension as to the law, assumed that the entire records
in 1873 were to be charged for, and therefore counted them, ascertained they
amounted to 28,666 folios, and inserted that number in the bill, whereas the records pertaining to the Sixth Congressional District, which were alone a charge
against the Government under the law, amounted to but 5,980 folios. The error
is one the possibility of which never occurred to me at the time, and yet, as I
now see it, one which an employc might innocently make; and while I cannot
express the regret and annoyance its discovery has caused me, neither can I hold
myself free from blame therefor when I think it might have been prevented had
I not assumed that the law, which was so well known to me, was quite as well
understood by a subordinate, or had I examined in detail the figures themselves."
DAVENPORT COMPELLED TO DISGORGE.
We suppose this explanation was satisfactory to the Comptroller. It is certainly a model of fullness and explicitness, and while we sympathize with Mr.
Davenport on gccount of "the regret and annoyance which the discovery of the
mistake caused him," we find some consolation in the, fact that its discovery
saved to the Government the sum of $3,402.90.
I
452 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
Mr. Davenport's account for services and expenses at the election held on the
:d day of November, 1874, amounted to $10,970.15.
It will be seen from the foregoing that Mr. Davenport has received from the
Government for services and expenses as Chief Supervisor of elections the following amounts: 
For the election November, 1872 -----------— $18,555 35
For the special election November, 1873 -------— 1,409 75
For the election November, 1874 —--------       --- 10,970 15
$30,935 25
This amount does not include his accounts as Commissioner, which amounted
to $2,616.90 in November, 1q72.
The amount of the U. S. Marshal's account for Supervisors and Deputy Marshals and for extraordinary expenses for the special election, November, 1873,
and for th.e election, November, 1874, is not shown by the testimony, but it is
reasonable to suppose that it reached the usual large sum.
A PROFITABLE EMPLOYMENT FOR A REPUBLICAN PATRIOT.
It is shown by the testimony of Mr. Davenport that there "passed through his
hands " during the canvass of 1871, the sum of $35,000 coming from the "Committee of Seventy."  For his personal services he received from the "Committee
of Seventy" $8,000 or $10,000.
The Union League Club, after the passage of the act of February 28, 1871, paid
Mr. Davenport for services the sum of $1,500 and remitted his dues as a member
of the club for one year. Mr. Davenport received from subscriptions in 1873 and
1874 for printing his book about $10,000. He also received from the sale of these
books about $3,000. The Republican State Executive Committee paid him at one
time the sum of $2,000.
Notwithstanding the receipt by him of these very large sums of money, Mr.
Davenport still claims that he has expended more money in the prosecution of
his plan for the detection of frauds than he has received from all sources, a statement which, under all the circumstances, appears incredible.  When he entered
upon this work his partner, Mr. Glassey, testified that he was heavily in debt to
him for money advanced and that he was constantly applying for more, giving as
reason therefor his personal necessities to meet family expenses, stating that he
could not collect from the Government the money that he had earned as Commissioner.
The manner in which the money furnished by the government was expended
shows thle greatest degree of carelessness and criminal extravagance. Many
thousand dollars were spent for carriages for the use of supervisors for which the
most exorbitant charges were made, when there was little if any necessity for
them. One of the witnesses testified that they had "pretty heavy carriage bills
sometimes" as they "had very fine carriages, when the had any at all."
In some instances bills for carriages were rendered and allowed without the
amounts having been expended for the same by the party rendering and receipting the bills.
ALBERT KUNZ.
One Albert Kunz, who held the position of chief clerk and disbursing-clerk of
the detective office in New York, of which Colonel Whitley had charge, and who
according'to his testimony "was a sort of privileged character there," and did the
"inside work" in organizing "political meetings," says that he received for "his
own personal'expenses" for money used in "getting up these meetings," from
Colonel Whitley, the sum of $325.  Other expenses for carriages, and now and
then a bottle of wine used by Mr. Kunz in "traveling around" the city of New
York with "all sorts of people," the friends of Colonel Whitley visiting houses
of ill-fame, &c., were paid by Col. W., and Mr. Kunz testified he was  "free to
confess," he "had no doubt in his own mind" that "the money came from the
secret service fund," and the vouchers taken therefor were for "services rendered"
or, "expenses incurred."  Mr. Kunz further testified that "he had no hesitation
whatever" in saying that portions of the secret service fund "were used for poli.cal purposes."
It is shown by the testimony of William A. Donnelly, that he was in the employ of Mr. Davenport,'and had charge of his work most of the time he was
453 
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.
with him, from early in January, 1872, to about the middle of August, 1875, at a
salary of $1,800 per annum.  He was called the "private secretary" of  Mr.
Davenport. About June or July, 1872, Mr. Donnelly was notified that hlie was in
the employ of the "secret service division" and that he was "detailed with Mr.
Davenport."
He was paid for his services by the secret-service division for about two years
continuing during that time to perform the same services for Mr. Davenport that
he had previously performed and which he subsequently performed, that of "private secretary, and general clerk and stenographer, and taking care of his papers
and books."
Mr. Davenport kept his office at his house, but before the fall elections he has
always taken a certain large room at the Fifth Avenue Hotel for his headquarters.
The rent of this room, amounting one year to $440, has been included in the "extraordinary expenses." The room is adjoioing the one always occupied by the
Republican State Executive Committee as their headquarters. Mr. Davenport
was in constant communication with the committee, being "in and out" of their
room several times a day.
A LITTLE TYRANT.
Mr. Davenport, acting as Circuit Court Commissioner, has made a large number of arrests for alleged violations of the election laws, and in most cases has required the accused to give very heavy bail. He has been overbearing, contrary
and factious in his manner in the discharge of his official duties.   His language
has been very abrupt and arbitrary to counsel. He caused the arrest of W.
George A. Heinrich, one of the most respectable German citizens of New York
city, and when Mr. Heinrich's respectability, age and appearance, &c., which it was
claimed showed his was not a case of intentional flagrant violation of the law,
were represented to him, he said "that was just the kind of man he wanted; that it
would strike terror into the minds of others, and be a very good example." He
cast Mr. Heinrichs into prison, where he kept him confined for two days, notwithstanding his readiness and ability to furnish any amount of bail, reasonable
or otherwise; and then, after admitting him to bail, failed to attend to examine
into the charges.
SIMON STERNE.
Mr. Simon Sterne who was Secretary of the Committee of Seventy during its
existence was examined by the Committee touching the necessary qualifications
of a chief supervisor of elections, and the fitness of Mr. Davenport for the discharge of the duties of the office. He said with respect to a chief supervisor for
the City of New York, that "he should be a man entirely non-partisan in his
mental characteristics and in his feelings.   He should possess of all qualities the,
judicial function; and he should possess considerable knowledge of the local
politics and local affairs of the City of New York." He said with respect to Mr.
Davenport that "he knew him quite well;"  that  "he had some fitness for the
office; (of chief supervisor) that is, he has considerable knowledge of local politics in the City of New York, and local politicians; but he lacks entirely the
judicial element, according to my estimate of him." He said further: I regard
him as a partisan, a very violent partisan, and I don't believe, with the best intention to be perfectly fair and impartial that he can be."
Mr. Glassey testified that he "did not believe any such office of chief supervisor
should exist, but if it should exist, it should be held by somebody who is absolutely removed from the possibility of being tempted into political activity. The
duties cannot possibly be discharged by a person who has a strong political- bias."
With respect to Mr. Davenport's fitness for the office he said: "I think he is an
eminently unfit person to hold that or any other office of trust or responsibility."
SUMMARY
It appears, therefore, that the office of chief supervisor of elections in the
City of New York, with a population equal to that of many of the States, has
been created by an act of Congress in the passage of which Mr. Davenport was
largely instrumental; that he was appointed to the office immediately upon its
creation upon the recommendation of prominent republican politicians; that he
has put into operation a scheme for the prevention of frauds in elections of'an
intricate and most expensive character which he claims to have been of his own
contrivance, but which in fact was adopted by others long before 1868; that he
'454 
LITTLE JOHXNNY DAVENPORT.
drew from the Government of the United States the sum of $34,000, a greater part
of which was drawn pending the Presidential Campaign of 1872, for which he
never accounted in any manner until called upon by the Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice at the recent session of Congress, and the
Committee, before which he then produced certain receipts or vouchers for the
expenditure of this fund, refused to regard them as such; that in the prosecution
of his scheme he has become the proprietor of a printing establishment in which
he has invested the sum of $25,000, and at which, as Chief Supervisor, he has
large amounts of work done at the expense of the United States Government;
that he has been criminally extravagant in the expenditures of public moneys for
carriages and other unnecessary expenses; that he has employed a large number
of clerks in filing papers, etc., and indexing records in his office, for which he
has received large fees from the Government for his private benefit, and at the
same time paid these clerks their salaries out of Government funds; that he has
used his office for partisan purposes, being in constant communication with the
Republican Committee of the State of New York, while in the discharge of his
duties as Chief Supervisor of elections; that he has exercised the functions of his
offices in an arbitrary, abrupt and overbearing manner; that he has sought to intimidate voters and prevent the free exercise of the elective franchise by arresting respectable citizens and casting them into prison as an example, so that it
might strike terror into the minds of others; that he has diverted the money paid
him by the Government of the United States from the object the Attorney General had in view when he paid him the same; that he is a very violent partisan,
eminently unfit to hold the office of chief supervisor or any other office of trust
or responsibility; and that the sum total of all the convictions under his elaborate
scheme of index-books, etc., towards which the Government has contributed
$34,000 from a fund appropriated by Congress "to be expended under the direction of the Attorney General in the detection and prosecution of crimes against the
United States" reaches the number of three.
455 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
THE DISCLOSURES THAT MADE THE WHITE HOUSE
TREMBLE.
The public has been so accustomed during a long series of years to see the
whole power of the Federal Government exerted to stifle rather than stimulate
investigation, to conceal rather than expose fraud, to shield rather than punish
great criminals, that it witnessed with amazement the inexorable sternness with
which Hon. Benjamin H. Bristow, while Secretary of the Treasury, waged his
warfare against official corruption. It was so utterly at variance with the previous practice of the heads of that department; was so radically different from
the official conduct of all the other members of Grant's cabinet; was so directly
in antagonism with the policy of the administration, and the uniform action of
the Republican majority in Congress, that the people began to wonder whether
it was possible that the leaders of the dominant party had really determined to
undertake the task of cleansing their own Augean stables. They were not suffered to remain long in doubt.  Murmurs of discontent soon began to come from
"the active managers" of the "party machine," and, by and by, the smothered
notes of dissatisfaction swelled to thunder tones, and the official head of the officer, who was endeavoring "to destroy the party" that he might "mount to the
Presidency on its ruins," was fiercely demanded. A few honest Republicans
stood by Ir. Bristow, and vainly hoped that the masses of their party would
rally to the support of "reform," an(]  in spite of the "machine politicians,"
make the most conspicuous reformer within the organization their candidate for
the Presidency. How grievously they were mistaken all the world knows. The
canvass for Mr. Bristow was ably and energetically conducted. His friends had
the most thorough organization, and the convention was held in the very stronghold of his supporters. The most tremendous local influences were brought to
bear, and yet, in spite of all these advantages, he was most signally defeated.
No matter to what lengths the friends of all the other candidates might go in
opposition to Blaine, Morton, Conkling or Hayes, they, one and all, agreed that
Bristow must be defeated at all hazards.  "Anything to beat Bristow," was the
rallying cry of the vast majority of the delegates to the Cincinnati Convention.
But even this condemnation of Bristow and his " reform policy" was not sufficient to appease the wrath of the "machine" politicians.  He must be still
further disgraced by his enforced retirement from the Treasury Department. To
avoid this Mr. Bristow resigned and to escape dismissal his faithful and efficient
first-lieutenant, Hon. Bluford Wilson, the Solicitor of the Treasury resigned also.
Within a very short period of time, Hon. D. D. Pratt, Commissioner of Internal
Revenue, who had co-operated heartily with Mr. Bristow in his war upon the
Whisky Ring, was compelled to retire, and the same malevolent spite which
drove these high offiicals into retirement, seeks out the lowest of their subordinates, and the,bare suspicion of having been a friend of Bristow is sufficient to
secure a first-class clerk his dismissal. Is not all this in perfect accordance with 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
the history of the Republican party during the last decade? why expect politicians whose whole political lives have been devoted to the defense of official
.venality to become reformers; to go back on the men who have made them what
they are; who have, year after year, divided their spoils, and thereby supplied the
party with the sinews of war? "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the
leopard his spots?"
A BIT OF HISTORY.
Let us briefly glance at the record the party has made since 1870. When the
abuses in the New York Custom House had become insufferable, and all the principal merchants, irrespective of their party affiliations, demanded relief from the
petty exactions of the Customs officials, and the abolition of the monstrous extortions of Leet & Stocking, the warehouse monopolists, a distinguished Republican
Senator moved an inquiry to discover whether these manifold complaints were
justified by the facts. The resolution was resisted most strenuously, and the
author of it denounced as an enemy of the Administration and a fomentor of
strife within the party to which he owed allegiance. After days had been consumed in factious opposition, public sentiment finally compelled the majority to
order the inquiry; but, contrary to the uniform practice of parliamentary bodies,
the Senator who had offered the resolution was ignored and one who had persistently opposed it was made chairman of the Committee. The result was the
merchants of New York were investigated and the cormorants who had preyed
upon them escaped.
Again, when two Republican Senators, conspicuous above their fellows, demanded that the scandals which were connected with the sale of arms to the agents
of the French Government should be sifted to the bottom, they became at once
the targets at which every servile follower of the Administration aimed his
calumnies. Although both Mr. Sumner and Mr. Schurz disclaimed any
intention to impugn either directly or indirectly the Secretary of War or any
member of the President's household, still it was charged by their assailants that
they were attacking the integrity of the Administration. The popular voice was
so loud in seconding the demand for an investigation that the majority was again
forced to yield; but with the same manifest determination to prevent any damaging disclosures, the two Senators who had originated the inquiry were left off the
Colmmittee.  The whole power and influence of the Administration was openly
exerted to restrict the investigation, and witnesses who had signified their intention to unbosom themselves were waylaid on their arrival at Washington by Gen.
Babcock and bought off by promises of political preferment; and these bargains
were recognized and fulfilled subsequently by the President.
Fo prevent the disclosure of all the facts in regard to the payment by the Secretary of the Navy of $93,000 on a claim which had not only been rejected by his
predecessor, but had been prohibited by the Congress of the United States, every
species of insult and every sort of intimidation were resorted to by the Committee to deter witnesses from telling the whole truth; and when, in spite of all
their efforts, the facts were clearly proven, the Republican members of the Committee not only justified the illegal action of Secor Robeson, but applauded it.
This verdict of not guilty, in defiance of the law and the testimony, has unquestionably cost the country many millions of dollars, for Secor Robeson accepted it
as a license to be a "law unto himself" in the squandering of  the  public
moneys, and has gone from bad to worse, until his management of the navy is
universally conceded to be not only recklessly profligate, but replete with the
most monstrous jobbery. And yet in the face of these facts he is, since Delano
retired with a certificate of good character, the favorite member of the Cabinet.
BRIBE TAKERS AND CORRUPTIONISTS ELEVATED TO HIGH PLACES.
The proof, clear as holy writ, establishing the corruption of a half dozen of the
most conspicuous Republican members of the House of Representatives, was ad-'
duced by Oakes Ames; but apartisan majority refused to expel them, and at the
next session Mr. Speaker Blaine exalted these Credit Mobilier bribe-takers to the
highest posts in that body. One of the number, who had been rejected as an unworthy public servant by his constituents, had a foreign mission from the President, and another, who had convicted himself of perjury in addition to bribetaking, got a certificate of character, with the assurance of the continued esteem
of President Grant.
The nomination of Boss Shepherd to be one of the rulers of the DiStrict of
457 
THE WHISKY RIN(G CON-SPIRACY.
Columbia after he had been proved to be a mnonstrous public robber, and in the
face of the report of a committee of the two Houses of Congress, which recom mended the abolition of the territorial government of which he was the head, is a
still more conspicuous example of the President's disregard of public decorum.
And by retaining General Babcock as his confidential, illegal private secretary,
after he had been convicted of aiding and abetting the District Ring to rob the
national Treasury of more than a million of dollars by the means of false meas urements, the President gave the tens of thousands of subordinate office-holders
in the land to understand that in his eyes it was no crime to rob the Government.
The invitation to Dick Harrington to attend a private party at the White House,
when he was on trial in a court of justice for having conspired with noted crim inals to destroy the good name and fair reputation of a prominent citizen of
Washington, was a still more flagrant act; for it was an intimation to both Court
and jury that in the opinion of the Chief Magistrate of the nation it was no crime
to rob a man of his character.
The memorable Credit Mobilier exposure'by the NEw YORK SuN in 1872, and
the subsequent developments which the public sentiment of the country compelled, shocked the nation. At first the people doubted the possibility of such
gigantic bribery, and refused to believe that the most conspicuous leaders of
the Republican party were guilty of accepting bribes at the hands of the agent of
a swindling corporation. But the subsequent developments reluctantly made by
a Congressional committee established the truth of every charge made by THE.
SUN. The public confidence was destroyed, and their political idols ruthlessly
broken.  Revelation after revelation of official corruption and robbery followed
in quick succession, and the conviction settled down upon the public mind that
without a speedy reformation of our civil service, the canker of corruption, which
had attacked the very vitals of the body politic, would be incurable. And yet
the President, supported by every prominent leader of the Administration party
in the Senate and House of Representatives, sturdily resisted the universal demand for reform. Every proposition to eradicate monstrous evils like the Sanborn contracts, or to suppress those public robbers who were preying alike upon
the Government and the Indians, was persistently fought, and independent Republicans who dared to lift their voices for these reforms were denounced as
traitors. The recognized organ of the Administration at Washington launched
anathemas day after day at the heads of "the base cravens who cowered before
the denunciations of the independent press," and, by "their words and acts, gave
the color of truth to the wholesale charges of corruption which the opposition
leaders " indulged in daily.
BEGINNING OF THE WHISKY RINGS.
For years it has been patent to every sensible man that the Government was
annually defrauded of millions of dollars by the failure to collect the revenue on
domestic spirits. The commercial statistics of the country demonstrated this fact.
The total registered capacity of all the distilleries in the United States was time
and again shown to be less than the aggregate sales reported from a few commercial centres; and the ruling price per gallon was quoted as conclusive evidence
that there must be an enormous production of illicit spirits, because it was less
than the admitted cost of production, with the tax added. The official reports of
the Commissioner of Internal Revenue were analyzed, and it was shown
that, with more distilleries and a greater aggregate registered capacity,
there was a proportionally less return of revenue from spirits when
the tax was seventy cents per gallon than there was from the same
source with a tax of only fifty cents per gallon. These statements were confirmed by honest manufacturers and dealers who came before the Ways and
Means Committee of the House of Representatives to protest against the increase
of the tax from seventy to ninety cents. These men declared that their business was
ruined by the dealers in illicit spirits,and they would either be forced out of the manufacture or else driven to fraud.. Secretary Bristow came before the Committee
to advise against the increase, and did not hesitate to state that he was convinced
that the revenue service failed to collect the tax even at seventy cents, and to increase it twenty cents would only be adding a premium on rascality. But in the
face of all these incontrovertible facts, the Committee recommended the increase,
and Congress sanctioned it. The whisky lobby again proved itself omnipotent
to wield the majority in Congress. That the increase was a job in the interest of
458 
THE WVHISK  RING CONSPIRACY.
the Ring speculators every honest man knows who witnessed the proceedings
and watched the influences brought to bear on the Ways and Means Committee
and Congress.
CONGRESSMEN CORRUPTED.
But, after all, this was but a repetition ef the legislative historv of our excise
laws. A careful study of the official record proves that from 1862 down to 1874
the majority in Congress invariably legislated in the interest of speculation and
jobbery when it increased the tax on whisky. When the first internal revenue
bill was reported from the Ways and Means Committee in 1862 a tax of twenty
cents per gallon was recommended on domestic spirits. A determined effort was
made in the House of Representatives to include spirits already manufactured.
It was pointed out by the advocates of this amendment that the question of imposing an excise duty on spirits had been agitated for months, and the popular demand being strong in its favor, the production had been vastly increased, and immense quantities of spirits were held by speculators, in whose favor it would be
unjust to discriminate. The whisky lobby gathered like vultures at Washington,
and thronged the corridors of the Capitol. Congressmen were met at every turn
by the agents and advocates of this incipient Whisky Ring. The majority voted
to tax only the future production of spirits. The principal argument advanced
against the proposition to deal equitably with the speculative and industrial interests was that with an unorganized revenue service it would be impossible to collect the tax on the whisky already manufactured. This was but the beginning;
and as the war lasted and the expenditures of the Government swelled, shrewd
observers saw that there must be a further increase of taxation, and they set about
preparing to profit thereby. A further increase of the tax on domestic spirits
was agitated. The manufacturers made a feeble show of opposition, but secretly
advocated the measure. They knew very well that the burden would have to be
borne by the consumers and not by them. Months before the Thirty-ninth Congress assembled the preparations were completed. Distilleries had multiplied in
every quarter, producing enormous quantities of spirits. The regulations of the
Internal Revenue Bureau allowed goods to be transported in bond, and the spirits passed from one hand to another, nominally under the eyes of the revenue officers, but the tax was not required to be paid until the holders were ready to place
it upon the market. It was estimated by well-informed people that there were
more than 25,000,000 gallons of spirits thus held in bond.
THAD. STEVENS'S BILL.
On Jan. 12, 1865, Thad. Stevens reported from the Ways and Means Committee
"A bill to increase the internal revenue and for other purposes."  It was read
a first and second time, and made the special order for the 14th. The bill
amended the act of July 1, 1862, so as to provide that in addition to the duties
payable for licenses, there shall be collected, levied, and paid on all spirits
that may be distilled and sold, or removed for consumption and sale, of first
proof, the duty of sixty cents on each and every gallon." To give this act
the semblance of fairness, it was provided "that all spirits on hand for sale,
or removed for consumption or sale, upon which no duties have been paid
or collected, and upon thichi no returns have been  made, whether distilled prior
to the date of this act or not, shall be subject to the rates of duty provided
by this act from and after the 12th day of January, 1864." The catch in
this provision was in the words which I have italicized.  If the distiller had
made his tri-monthly returns under the regulations, the tax was assessed, and
the goods, although in the hands of the speculators in bond, were exempted
under the proposed law, notwithstanding the tax had not been paid.
One of the most desperately contested fights now ensued that was ever witnessed in the House of Representatives. Fernando Wood of New York led off
by proposing an amendment to the bill which would include the spirits on hand as
well  as those  hereatter  to  be  produced.   Where   the  tax  of  twenty
cents had already been paid only forty cents per gallon was to be collected; but otherwise the spirits on hand were to be treated the same as those
manufactured after the passage of the act. He declared that speculators had
been advised of what was to be done, and that millions upon millions of gallons
were held in anticipation of this legislation. At the lowest estimate, he said,
there were 25,000,000 gallons on hand under control of speculators, and if forty
459 
ETHE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
cents per gallon was assessed upon this stock, the Government would realize at
once therefrom a revenue of $10,000,000.
Wood's amendment was supported by Pike of Maine, Washburn of Illinois,
and Kasson of Iowa. The former said "that when the Tax Bill of 1862 was
passed, the House in Committee of the Whole voted to include the spirits on
hand, and that he voted with the majority in favor of the proposition. Subsequently when the bill came up for passage in the House this feature was voted
down, and two reasons only were assigned for this course. One was the difficulty of collection without an organized revenue force, and the other was that the
tax in prospective would give all the revenue the Government wanted. Neither
of these reasons would hold good now."
TAXING THE STOCK ON HAND.
Mr. Kasson of Iowa combated the idea that there was anything wrong in the
proposition to tax the stock on  hand.   The  British Government,  he said,
made a distinction between spirits used as a beverage and those employed in
manufacturing purposes. The former were taxed and the latter exempted; but
that Government always taxed the article on hand when it increased the tax.
He pointed out the injustice of exempting the spirits in the hands of speculators,
as follows:  "A large accumulated stock is on hand.  You add by this section
of the bill an increased tax of forty cents per gallon upon all spirits to be hereafter manufactured, and until that accumulated stock is exhausted you shut up
every distillery in the land, because you supply the holder of the stock on hand
a margin of forty cents per gallon profit."
Mr. Pike, in sustaining Kasson's argument, said that "the stock on hand was
equal to one year's consumption, and that it was being largely increased every
day; for in view of the probable action of Congress in excepting the supply
already made, vast quantities were being produced. It was being added to at the
rate of 2,365,000 gallons per day." He sustained these statements by quoting
from letters he had received from dealers in Boston, and from the chief grain exporters of Chicago.
Mr. Washburne said, "To my mind the proposition is very simple.  It is
whether we shall levy this tax on parties who hold stocks of the article, or
whether, letting them go free, put the amount of the tax in their pockets which
they will collect out of the consumer. It is the few speculators in whisky against
the great mass of the consumers."
Stevens resisted Wood's amendment, and was zealously supported by Lovejoy
of Illinois, Morrill of Vermont, and nearly all the leading Republicans, with the
exception of the three already quoted. Lovejoy, coming from the district which
then included Pekin and Peoria, Illinois, the largest-producing region in the
country, had the audacity to move to amend the bill so as to place a tax of $1
per gallon on all spirits produced after July 1, 1864, and to exempt all produced
up to that date. Mr. Morrill contended that it was unjust to tax the stock on
hand, which he admitted was largely held by speculators; but it was impossible
to reach these men by legislation. He harped on the corner groceries and crossroad groggeries, and asked if it was proposed to send the revenue officials to
every shop and through every cellar to hunt for the stock on hand.  It would be
impossible to collect the tax, he cried, and this was the whole burden of his argument. Stevens did not deign to argue. He simply cracked his party whip, and
demanded that the majority should follow him and vote down the proposition of
"the rebel sympathizer from New York."
STEVENS ASTONISHED.
But to his amazement his command was not obeyed, and Wood's amendment
was adopted by a vote of 85 to 30. This contest had consumed ten days, and the
bill went to the Senate on Jan. 22. It was immediately referred to the Finance
Committee, where it remained until February 2. In the meantime the Whisky
Ring, now thoroughly alarmed, concentrated all its strength on the Senate. The
kings of the Ring in those days were the Crosbys of Chicago and Pike of Cincinnati. There were millions at stake, and the lobby swarmed about the Capitol. On
the 2d of February the Finance Committee reported the bill to the Senate, with
Wood's amendment stricken off and another added, placing the tax on spirits produced previous to July 1, 1864, at 60 cents, and increasing it after January, 1865,
to 70 cents add again after Jan. 1, 1866, to 80 cents, with the stock on hand each
460 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
time exempted. The bill as amended passed the Senate with little or no opposition, and came back to the House Feb. 5. Now was Stevens's opportunity. He
moved to suspend the rules and report the bill with the Senate amendments. His
object was to get it before the House without having it go to the Committee of the
Whole, and by forcing the previous question cut off debate as well as amendments.
He succeeded in having the rules suspended and the bill reported, but Mr. Washburne immediately moved to non-concur in the Senate amendments, which gave
his side a chance to debate and offer amendments.
Stevens, finding that he was not to have it all his own way, deigned for the first
time to give any reasons for his course. He said that he had obtained from the
Treasury an estimate of the amount of spirits on hand, and it would not exceed
200,000 barrels. To place a tax of 40 cents per gallon on this, would only bring in
$4,000,000, even if it could all be collected. It was not possible, however, to find
more than one-half of it, and what was the use of fooling about the trifle of
$2,000,000?
MR. WOOD'S REPLY.
In reply, Mr. Wood said, "Those whose duty it is to protect the public interest
have not thronged the avenues to this hall. They have not buttonholed members
of the two Committees of both Houses of Congress. Gentlemen connected with
the Committee of Ways and Means on the one hand and with the Finance Committee on the other hand have not been buttonholed by those who desire to protect the public interest, or the public treasury; but by those who are looking to
the protection of their individual interests to the exclusion of the public interest.
And it is from this quarter, Mr. Speaker, that the gentleman gets his information
which he has just presented to the House. He says that there are only 200,000
barrels to be affected by my amendment. Why, sir, I can name three men in
the city of New York who own almost half that quantity themselves, neither of
whom is a merchant or a legitimate trader in any article of merchandise or production whatever. As I said on a previous occasion, I repeat here now, that in
advance of the recommendation of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, in
advance of any official publication of the deficit of the revenue arising from this
article, in advance of any conclusion on the part of the Secretary of the Treasury,
and in advance of the assembling of Congress, persons, not distillers, not traders,
not merchants, but politicians, who have no other trade or occupation, were in
possession of information that enabled them to purchase whisky at forty-six
cents a gallon, which went up in November to sixty-one cents a gallon, and in the
month of December to ninety-two cents a gallon."
Mr. Washburne said: "I am aware of the great efforts which have been made
-the successful efforts which have been made elsewhere-since this bill passed
the House, to sink it. And it is to be seen by the vote to be taken here whether
those efforts have been equally successful in this House."
Lovejoy was sick, but he sent a letter, which the Whisky Ring advocates managed to have read by the Clerk, under pretence of explaining his absence. It was
an ad captandum appeal to pass the bill with the Senate amendments.  Mr.   orrill insisted that it would " be utterly and absolutely impossible to enforce the
execution of the law if Wood's amendment was adopted." The distillers, he said,
would shut up and sell out, and the Government would derive no revenue from
this source at all, and might be bankrupted. Finally, the motion to non-concur in
the Senate amendments was taken and carried by nearly three to one; but the
next moment Wood's amendment was voted down by 77 to 73.
The Whisky Ring won by three votes. Fabulous fortunes were made by th
advance in the price of whisky, and the Crosbys and Pikes, and hundreds of others, counted their gains by the million.
A VAIN APPEAL.
But this was not the end. It was but the entering wedge, in fact. On the llth
of April, Morrill of Vermont reported from the Ways and Means another tax
bill that increased the tax on whisky to $2 per gallon and after July 1st, 1864,
and exempted the stock on hand at that time which had been reported. Mr.
Washburne made a gallant struggle to have the bill amended so as to include the
stock on hand, and he was ably seconded by Kasson of Iowa and Wood of New
York, but the odds werq now too great. He declared that he believed the
Government had lost $30,000,000 by the defeat of Wood's amendment to the,
previous bill, and he appealed to the patriotism of the members to remedy as far
461 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
as possible the great wrong which had been done by supporting the same amendment to the present bill. He appealed in vain. The whisky lobby was now
dominant, and some of the men who stood by him a month previous were now
opposing him, Two notable cases of this kind were Schenck and Garfield.
Kasson of Iowa endeavored to make these recreants understand that the motives
which influenced them were understood by the pul)ic.  He quoted from the
leading Republican papers of the country such extracts as this: "We repeat, who
believes that with no niew facts submitted, and with the sentiment of the country
overwhelmingly the other way, the whisky vote can have been honestly run up
from 30 to 77?"  Another organ had the manliness to say, and Kasson quoted it,
"The whisky vote could not have been honestly run up from 30 to 77. We
believe that bribery ran it up."
The majority was dead to shame, and the bill to increase the whisky tax to
$2 went through.  And thus in less than six months the men who had engineered
the job were enabled to more than quadruple the money they had invested in
whisky. That they secured this Legislation by bribery no sane man who
knows the ways of Washington doubts. There were various ways in which a
Congressman could be made to see that it was to his interest, as Oakes Ames
said, to favor the increase, but the favorite and safest way was to give their
confidential broker a call for, say 200 barrels of whisky at 50 cents, presentable
after the passage of the bill.  This was done in more than a score of cases.   But
fn addition to "puts and calls," there were large contributions to campaign funds,
both for general and local purposes. It is said that Schenck's campaign expenses were always paid by the Whisky Ring.
A PREMIUM ON FRAUD.
With the tax at $2 per gallon, there was indeed a high premium on fraud. To
produce a gallon of whisky costs from 15 to 20 cents, so that if a distiller
could manage to run off a few barrels of "crooked" every day he was getting
rich very fast. He could afford to pay liberally for the privilege of turning out
hundreds of barrels per week, not only to the revenue officers, but to all the campaign funds. That it was from this source that the Republican managers drew
so large a proportion of their election expenses in 1868 the following facts deInmonstrate:
In 1868 Mr. Rollins, who was then Commissioner of Internal Revenue, was
very anxious to resign. He had become associated with the Cookes in the
organization of the National Life Insurance Company, and desired to accept an
important and lucrative position in the management of the concern. He communicated his intentions to Secretary McCulloch, and desired him to secure the
appointment of his successor at as early a date as possible. The Secretary informed the President, and a successor to Mr. Rollins was nominated.
The instant this contemplated change was made known, the executive managers of the Republican party determined to defeat it.  There were several gentlemen named for the office, but it was soon ascertained that they could not be
confirmed by the Senate. Finally the name of a gentleman was suggested to the
President who had sufficient influence with certain Republican Senators to secure a confirmation, and it was known that he would be nominated.
This discovery excited the Republican managers very much, and they set about
defeating the plan. Finding that they could not prevent the confirmation of the
proposed nominee, they went to Gen. Grant and told him that it was absolutely necessary to the success of their party that Fall that if any changes should occur in the
Internal Revenue Department it should be in their interest.
There was great danger, they said, that if Rollins resigned the President would
nominate a man who would be confirmed by the Senate, and, therefore, Rollins
must be pursuaded to stick. Grant at once suggested that the appointment of
Columbus Delano might be secured, and he went in person to Secretary McCulloch and requested Delano's appointment; but finding that there were no hope of
accomplishing this, he went to Rollins and insisted that he should not resign.
He did not, and all the whisky men of the Republican Congressional Executive
Committee were happy.  Rollins had, by the many vexatious regulations which
he prescribed, closed many of the Eastern distilleries.  The few that were not
shut up by official regulation made in the interest of crooked whisky producers,
were soon driven out of business )by the glutting of of the market with whisky
whiclh ]ad;'nd no tax.
462 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
That a large campaign fund was raised from this source in 1868 will scarcely
be questioned; and that a still greater sum was drawn from the same source in 1872
will not be denied, with the knowledge of recent developments fresh in the public mind. But there was one significant fact brought out in the trial of Avery in
St. Louis that does not seem to have attracted any attention.
Ex-Commissioner Douglass in his testimony told how hlie had, as far back as the
summer of 1862, become convinced that there was something wrong in the West,
and lie determined to make  a transfer of revenue officers from the East to the
West.  He made some effort to accomplish this, but he was compelled to defer it
until after the elections.  He waited until the elections were over, but found that
hlie could not carry out his plan, owing to the opposition it aroused.
When Secretary Bristow came in he again proposed it, and it was favorably received and determined upon; but again there was influence sufficient to secure
the postponement of this experiment until after the elections of 1874. Then, and
not till then, was this transfer of officers, which he had recommended as far back
as 1872, finally ordered.  Then came McDonald's visit to Washington and his
ride down the avenue with the President, and Joyce's telegrams to Babcock to
crush out the enemies of St. Louis, and Babcock's reply thereto that he had succeeded and "the goose hangs altitudelum." Putting all these things together,
and connecting them with the reminiscences of the campaign of 1868, which have
been related, is not the conclusion inevitable that Grant knew then and knows
now that the Whisky Ring was more or less an adjunct of the Republican Congressional Executive Committee?
THE WHISKY RING CONTROLLED CONGRESS.
In the light of these facts, is it singular that a gigantic conspiracy should have
been entered into by the distillers to defraud the Government? From the beginning, the majority in Congress was controlled in the interest of the distillers and
speculators. This was accomplished either by direct bribery or by contributions
to political campaign funds, and perhaps by both methods. The local revenue
officials were always appointed at the dictation of the member of Congress, who,
in turn, owed his nomination and election largely to the whisky men. And when
to this community of interests we add the well-established fact that the Commissioner of Internal Revenue was, by either political or other influence, always controlled in the interest of the Ring, we cease to wonder at the facility with which
the Government was annually defrauded of millions upon millions of dollars.
Nor is it strange that these conspirators thought themselves absolutely secure so
long as the present Administration was in power.
All the developments made in the various trials of the whisky-ring conspirators
establish the fact that the various local Rings at St. Louis, Evansville, Chicago
and Milwaukee were simply the component parts of a great concentric combination. The relations between Chicago and St. Louis and Milwaukee have been
shown by the indictment of Dan Munn, late Supervisor of Internal Revenue for
the district of Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan, at St. Louis, Milwaukee and
Chicago.  That he was not convicted at Chicago proves nothing, because the
whole power of the White House and the department of justice, as will subsequently appear, was at the time of his trial exerted to break down the whiskyring prosecutions. The conviction of Babcock with the St. Louis branch of the
whisky-ring, and the President's intimate relations with McDonald and Joyce,
have been demonstrated to the satisfaction of every candid mind.
But the connection of the White House with the Northwestern branch of the
Whisky Ring is infinitely closer than that which united it with the St. Louis combination. The Federal officials at Chicago have since 1869 been appointed at the
dictation of the Galena Ring, the head and front of which are J. Russell Jones,
Grant's particular crony, now Collector of Customs, and  Ben. H.  Campbell,
Bacbock's father-in law, and Marshal of the Northern District of Illinois. Jones
was appointed Marshal of this District by Lincoln, but he devolved the duties of
his office on his deputies, and spent a considerable portion of his time at Grant's
headquarters in Tennesee and afterward in Mississippi, where, it is believed he
drove a large and very profitable business as a trader in captured Confederate cotton. In one transaction, as he afterward admitted, he cleared $13,000: and on
his return from one of his-visits South he purchased for himself, as well as for
Gen. Grant, a large interest in the Chicago West Side Street Street Railway, and
ot himself made President of the Company.
463 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
THE GALENA RING.
Some time after this Jones induced one of his deputies who had purchased
fifty-two acres of land adjoining Central Park, Chicago, to let him have a one-half
interest in the property for himself and Grant at the original cost, which was
only $141 per acre. The ground was worth much more than the first cost at the
time, but the deputy was promised the Marshal's office as an inducement to him
to take in Jones and Grant on the ground floor. The property is now worth
nearly $4,000 per acre, and as the Marshalship went to Babcock's father-in-law, of
course the disappointed.deputy considered that he was swindled out of $6,743, the
difference between the present value of the twenty-six acres and the price at
which he sold the same to Jones and Grant.
Ben. H. Campbell had acquired a bare competence in legitimate business before
he left Galena.  He was not by any means a rich man.  The Marshall's office by
law nets the incumbent only $6,000 per annum; yet within less than six years
Campbell has acquired a vast fortune, variously estimated at from $500,000 to
$1,000,000. IHe is now one of the largest stockholders in the West Side Street
Railway, having purchased at one time $50,000 of stock from Jones.
The Collector of Internal Revenue was the creature of Campbell, but as he
has been gathered to his fathers we will not dwell upon either his sins of omission
or commission. But of the Supervisor, Dan. Munn, something must be said.
He came from Southern Illinois, originally, and was the pet of Senator John A.
Logan. He is now under indictment for participation in the frauds at St. Louis,
Milwaukee, Springfield, Illinois, but there is no probability that he will ever be
brought to trial.
HOW THE ROGUES WERE SHIELDED.
There was abundant evidence to secure Munn's conviction at Chicago, as well
as that of ex-United States District Attorney Jasper D. Ward, the champion of
Grant's Arkansas job in the last Congress. The reason why they were not convicted will abundantly appear hereafter.
Chas. Farwell, of Chicago, ex-member of Congress from the Third District of
Illinois, and Cox, the Chairman of the Republican Central Committee of that
State, came withiii two votes of being indicted at Chicago, in Nov. 1875, for conspiring to defraud the Government by the manufacture of "crooked whisky."
It was proven that he had advised certaini distillers to knock in the heads of whisky barrels in order to prevent the Government from obtaining proof of its being
illicit. There was also pretty conclusive evidence adduced to establish the fact
that he was a silent partner in the distillery of Messereau.   Farwell admits that
there was a business relation between the house of John V. Farwell & Co. and
Messereau, but he claims that it was simply that which a banker bears to a special
depositor whose money is taken to accommodate the latter. It happens, however,
that John V. Farwell & Co., of which he's a partner, is a wholesale dry goods
concern, and when it is known that Messereau's distillery is situated in an entirely different part of the city, more than three miles distant from John V. Farwell & Co.'s place of business, it will strike the public as a very singular circumstance that the distillers should come so far, and pass by fifteen or twenty banks
on the way, to deposit with Farwell for convenience only.
The district under the supervision of Dan Munn included Indiana, Illinois and
Wisconsin. Besides half a dozen members of the House of Representatives who
were either directly or indirectly its beneficiaries, the Ring commanded the active
support of at least two United States Senators. The Binghams of Evansville,
Ind., are active and influential Republican politicians, and have always been the
friends and advocates of Senator Morton. It is an indisputable fact that in 1872
Senator Morton telegraphed to the Chairman of the Republican State Committee
of St. Louis, saying that to insure the success of the party in his State he should
have $50,000, and the whisky men should raise that amount immediately. The
original of this dispatch was seen by several persons, and among others by Mr.
Praetorious, editor of the St. Louis Westliche Posit.
But there was, at the outset at least, a still more direct connection betwen the
White House and the Chicago Whisky Ring than that supplied by Babcock. In
May, 1869, Col. Edmund Jussen, the brother-in-law of Carl Schurz, was appointed
Collector of Internal Revenue for this district. Col. Jussen is not only a gentleman, a scholar, and an able lawyer, but he is an honest man. That he was a
most zealous and capable officer every one connected with the revenue service at
Washington has been forced to admit. The old ring was quickly broken up after
464 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
Col. Jussen assumed charge of the Collector's office, for he gave his whole time and
attention to the service, and looked close after the details. After serving nearly two
years Col. Jussen was, without any complaint having been made'by the department,
unceremoniously removed in the Spring of 1871. No cause whatever was assigned at
the time, but nearly a year afterward, when Carl Schurz had become a very uncomfortable thorn in the Administration's side, a thick-and-thin organ declared
that Schurz's hostility to Grant was caused "by the dismissal of his brother-inlaw Jussen from the revenue service." Col. Jussen was at that time in Europe
for his health, and was sojourniug at Bonn on the Rhine. By a mere accident he
saw a copy of the paper in which this charge had been made, and he at once
wrote a letter to the Chicago Tribune, which was published on the 9th March,
1872, with his signature. In this letter, after stating that Senator Schurz had opposed his appointment, he avers that he owed the office solely to the unsolicited
exertions of a few gentlemeln in Chicago, and then proceeds as follows: 
WHY HE WAS REMOVED.
'These identical Chicago friends, relying upon the fact that they alone procured
my appointment, sought to convince me, very soon after I assumed the duties of
my office, that, though I was collector, and had the honor and responsibility of
the office, they must insist upon a division of the profits. To what extent I
yielded to their imperative request, and how subsequently they worked as sedulously to remove me as they had labored to have me appointed, simply because I
declined to be "bled to death," is a point which I prefer to discuss at some other
time and place.
Hating said this much, it may not be amiss to disclose the additional reasons
for my removal from office-not that I think that my personal fortunes can be of
any interest to the public; but merely because I believe the recital will form a
valuable addition to the many illustrations of the rottenness of our civil service.
The first mistake which I made-as the world goes in our fair Republic-was
that I caused the removal of a certain Dr. Lamper, who-was United States Guager in
my district. I had detected him in fraudulently appropriating high wines. He
boasted that I would not dare to touch him, as he was a cousin of President
Grant, and offered to bet $500 that he could not be touched. On the same day I
reported him for removal, and revoked his assignation to duty. He resigned immediately, to escape a disgraceful dismissal. All these facts I reported to the
Hon. C. Delano, then Commissioner of Internal Revenue.  He approved of my
course, and added that my action in the premises was entirely satisfactory to the
President. A few months later this same Dr. Lamper, cousin of the President,
was appointed Receiver of Public Moneys in the United States Land Office in
Washington Territory. It is but fair to presume that the President, in the hurry
and press of business, had forgotten the official record of his cousin. However,
he was reminded of it when, subsequently, Dr. Lamper loaned the moneys of the
Government to his personal friends for private speculation. Where Lamper may
be employed now I am unable to tell. It is to be hoped, however, that his eminent talents will not be lost to the country.
THE PRESIDENT'S BROTHER.
But this Lamper affair was not my only mistake. I committed several
others much more damaging in their consequences. A few months after taking charge of the duties of my office, the brother of the President, Orville
Grant, Esq., honored  me with  a call, talked revenue business generally and
quite fluently, and finally invited me to his store. He repeated this invitation
three or four times, once by letter, before I complied with his request. When I
visited his store Mr. Grant, though somewhat embarrassed, but on the whole
with the graceful air of an accomplished business man, proposed to me to join
him in defrauding the Government by permitting a certain distillery to:run
double its registered capacity, or in other words, to collect the tax for only onehalf its actual product.   "If you decline," said the acute gentleman, "the
Government will gain nothing, for in that event the distillery will not increase
its product. If you consent, the same tax which you now collect will still be
paid, and the receipts of the Government will thereore not be diminished. A
few barrels more or less on the market cannot depress quotations, and the
competitors who do not enjoy the privileges I ask for my friends cannot suffer.
There can, therefore, really be no frau?d in thre transaction proposed.  Moeovei, 1
405 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
shall see to it that all is safe at Washiington."  I humbly informed the talented
moralist that I begged to differ with him as to the ingenious definition of
fraud, and peremptorily and positively refused his tempting offer. Mr. Grant's
embarrassment had somewhat increased when I took my leave. I deemed it
advisable to inform the Commissioner of Internal Revenule, United States Assessor, General Webster, Supervisor Bloomfield, and my friend Senator Schurz,
immediately of the offer and its result. And here I must do Mr. Orville Grant the
justice to say that after he had ascertained that I had reported his proposition at
headquarters and to my brother officers, he called upon me and volunteered the
explanation that he had made the said proposition to me solely for the purpose of
"testin,g my integrity."  This apology took place about six months after the testing
procesS. It is but fair to presume that the brother of the President, by his
happy method of testing the'honesty of revenue officers, has rendered valuable services to the Government. That hlie undertakes this labor in his capacity
as a private citizen, without hope of reward, and simply for the pure purpose of
improving the civil service under the administration of a beloved brother, is a
truly noble example of fraternal love and devotion.
FARWELL INDIGNANT.
The third and last great mistake which I committed-not  mentioning such
minor offences as preventing all revenue frauds in my district to the best of my
ability, and dismissing incompetent officials-consisted in my refusal to obey the
commands of Mr. Farwell, member of Congress, for the Chicago district.  Very
soon after his election, Mr. Farwell undertook to dictate to me through a friend
of his (a successful, silent politician of Chicago), whom I should appoint as storekeeper of distillery warehouses. I positively refused to be thus controlled. Being personally responsible for the proper collection of the tax in my district, I
insisted that the warm politicians recommended by Farwell's man Friday were
not exactly the sort of men to whose keeping I could safely confide either my
reputation or the interest of the Government.   From that moment all the forces
heretofore secretly intriguing against me joined hands. - Mr. Farwell was the
proper instrument to carry out the purpose, and he had hardly taken his seat in
the House when the news of my removal reached me.
These statements by Col. Jussen afford a key to the Ring mysteries at Chicago. By his active vigilance he had broken up the old Ring's connections, and
hence the distillers employed Orville Grant, Whose influence at Washington was
very great, to break the ice with Jussen and drive a bargain with him. This failing, Charlie Farwell, having been elected to Congress by the assistance of the whisky men's money, sent Jake Riehm, the silent, successful politician, and his right
hand man, to Jussen to get storekeepers appointed who would, in spite of the
Collector's vigilance, allow a little crooked business to be done. But here again
they failed, and their patience being exhausted, they determined to have the unaccommodating Collector's official head. It was not a very hard task to secure
it. The man who had not only refused to allow the President's brother to toll
the revenues, but was mean enough to tell on him, was of course not very popular at the White House.  It was the second time he had trod on the royal toes.
He had kicked the President's cousin out because he had appropriated a few
gallons of high wines' by way of sampling the barrels he gauged, and while it
would not be politic to remove a Collector for this sort of conduct, nevertheless
the President was not disposed to turn a man out of doors who would furnish a
decent pretext for getting rid of a revenue officer like Col. Jussen. Farwell
doubtless found little difficulty in securing assistance at Washington from a
number of politicians even outside of Illinois, because a general election was
approaching and campaign funds would be needed, and by long experience
these men knew that when distillers were making  lots of "crooked whisky"
they were very liberal givers.
'. I            SENATOR LOGAN ONE OF THEM.
The proof of.Senator Logan's connection with the:Illinois Whisky Ring is very
circumstantial.  He has always been the backer of Supervisor Munn, and when
Bristow issued his order last February directing a transfer of all revenue officials,
Logan was almost the first man to put in an appearance at the White House to insist upon its revocation.
The history of the Whisky Ring of Milwaukee is likewise interesting. In June,
466 
THE IVHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
18 74, the distillery of Bunker & Rodgers of Madison, Wis., was seized for shipping high wines without compliance with the revenue laws to Rindskopf of Milwaukee, and to Killiai Bros., of Chicago. As soon as the seizure was made,
Supervisor Munn came to Madison, and took possession of all the books and
papers found on the premises. The correspondence he thus obtained possession
of would have convicted the Killian Bros., and one or two other rectifiers in Chicago. The only arrest, however, was that of Sam Rindskopf of Milwaukee,
whose guilty participation in the fraud was so apparent that he could not be
lshielded save by the manipulation of the judicial machinery.   Rindskopf was
nominally a Democrat, but he was always a friend of Senator Carpenter, and as
the Senatorial contest was to be decided by the Legislature elected in the fall of
1874, the'Senator who expected to be triumphantly vindicated could not afford to
have an active and liberal supporter like Sam Rindskopf in the penitentiary. An
indictment was found against Rindskopf at the summer term of the United States
Court, but a postponement of the case was secured without any difficulty.
A JAIL BIRD'S BANQUET.
The next term of the Court was held in September at La Crosse  but despite
all the efforts of the' District Attorney another postponement was obtained.
Supervisor Munn wrote to Commissioner Douglass favoring this continuance, and
said in his letter, under date of Sept. 7,;1874, that he had conferred with Senator
Carpenter, who had applied for a postponement of the trial. When the November term came round there was a vigorous effort made by Munn and Carpenter to
obtain still another continuance, and Douglass, at the request of the Senator,
directed the District Attorney to continue the case till the June term, 1875  but
that officer would not obey orders, and pressed the case to trial and convicted
Rindskopf. He was, however, very leniently dealt with by the Court, being sentenced to pay a fine of $5,000 and be imprisoned in the county jail for one day only.
"Prince Sam," as he is called, paid the fine and passed one day in jail, and
amused himself during the period of his incarceration by giving one of the most
rechercIhe entertainments to the United States officials that was ever heard of in
Madison.
In the meantime, the whisky men in Milwaukee and the revenue officers for
that district had purchased the Sentimnel newspaper and were running it as a Carpenter organ. A. E. Burpee, who had been the special revenue agent for that
district for several years, was removed at the demand of Keyes, the Chairman of
the Republican State Central Committee, and S. J. Conklin, who had formerly
been in the revenue service at New Orleans, was appointed his successor. The
developments made during the trial of Rindskopf were such that Deputy Collector Weissert and a gauger named Mueller, had to be removed.  The testimony
was explicit as to both being in the pay of the Whisky Ring, but notwithstanding
this they were reinstated on the 9th of January, 1874.  Sam Rindskopf was nominated as a Democratic candidate for Congress, but the Democratic newspapers
in the district would not support him, and began a vigorous onslaught on the
Whiskey Ring, which forced Sam to withdraw.  However, the Carpenter candidates for the Legislature were. elected by a large majority, and every Democratic district in Milwaukee was carried by the Republicans by the liberal
use of the Whisky Rinlg's money.  When the books of Rindskopf were seized,
in Nov., 1875, a number of check-book stubbs welrs found, which showed that
each distiller and rectifier in Milwaukee was assessed for $200 per month for the
"Boss," or "Mtacher," as'it is expressed in German text on the check stubbs, and
is supposed to be Conklin.  In addition to this, there was another levy of $500
on each establishment for another person, who is not specified any more definitely
than as a "friend."  These assessments, it is understood, were in excess of the
regular thirty-five cents per gallon which went to the "campaign fund."
PUSHING THINGS.
Within a day or two after the Rindskopf case was determined at Madison, a
telegram was sent to "Prince Sam" at Milwaukee, which read as follows:  "Send
5,000 bushels.wheat at once. We can't remain here longer than Saturday, and
are prepared to push things."  This was signed "A. & B.," and the original is in
the handwriting of Bridges, Special Revenue Agent for the district of Illinois,
and "A," it is believed, stood for Ammon,  who was Munn's confidential clerk.
467 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
On the receipt of this dispatch, Rindskopf levied $5,000 on the Milwaukee distillers and sent it to Chicago, as he said, to pay for the suppression of the correspondence that was found when the distillery of Bunker & Rodgers, of Madison,
was seized.
The following testimony of Hon. Bluford Wilson, late Solicitor of the Treasury,
given before the Select Committee of the House of Representatives on whisky
rauds, furnishes in detail all of the prominent facts connected with the discovery of the Whisky Ring conspiracy and the efforts which were made by himself
and Secretary Bristow to bring the great rogues to justice, and how they were
finally forced to retire to private life in consequence of the influence of the
machine politicians.
TESTIMONY OF BLUFORD WILSON.
SELECT COMMITTEE ON WHISKY FRAUDS. e
Washington, D. C., Ju?ly 27, 1876. f
BLUFORD WILSON sworn and examined.
Question. What is your age, and where do you reside? Answer.  My  age is
thirty-four years, and I reside in Springfield, Ill.
Q. You were Solicitor of the Treasury, I believe, until recently. A. I was.
Q. When were you appointed to that position, and how long have you held it?
A. I was appointed to the position in June, 1874; was sworn into mice on the
29th day of June, 1874, and entered upon the discharge of the duties, old vacated
the office on the 30th day of June, 1876; having held the position, therefore, two
years and a day.
Q. Who was Secretary of the Treasury when  you took the position.?  A.
Benjamin H. Bristow, of Kentucky.
Q. Had you known Mr. Bristow prior to your appointment? A. Only very
slightly, indeed. I had no intimate friendly relations or acquaintance with him.
Q. Do you know of his having used any influence to have you appointed to the
position, or of his desiring to have your aid there in public matters? A. Of my
knowledge, I do not.
Q. Or from anything that he ever told you? A. I presume that Mr. Bristow
favored my appointment as Solicitor of the Treasury; I have always considered
that my appointment was due more largely to the influence of my brother, General
James H. Wilson, with the President of the United States, and also to the
knowledge and acquaintance which the President of the United States himself
had of me and with me. I soldiered under him at Vicksburg, and was appointed
by him District Attorney of the southern district of Illinois, in the spring of 1869,
on the recommendation of my brother, General Wilson.
Q. When you first went into the employ of the Government as Solicitor of the
Treasury, had any investigations taken place to determine whether or not there
were whisky frauds in existence at St. Louis? A. Not to my knowledge; and,
if so, they had not resulted in establishing the existence or presence of frauds.
Q. Do you recollect about the time when active measures were first taken to
discover whether such frauds existed in St. Louis, and, if they did so exist, to
punish the offenders? A. Quite well, indeed.
AN INTERESTING NARRATIVE.
Q. Be kind enough to state the time and the circumstances, and whatever
knowledge you have of the inception of the matter. A. Some time about the
middle of February, 1875-shortly after the revocation of the order changing the
supervisors of internal revenue, the Secretary of the Treasury sent for me to
meet him, in consultation, as I subsequently learned, with George W. Fishback,
Esq., of St. Louis, Mo., in the private or confidential office of the Secretary.
It appeared that Mir. Fishback had previously written to the Secretary advising
him of the existence of an organized system of fraud upon the internal revenue
in St. Louis; and the Secretary, in reply to his letter, had requested him to come
on to Washington and give him the facts.  Those facts, as they appeared from
the statement then made by Mr. Fishback to the Secretary and myself, showed
that the officers, from the supervisor of internal revenue, McDonald, down to
and including nearly every gauger and storekeeper in the public service, and
every distiller'and rectifier in the city of St. Louis, were banded together in
active and successful efforts to defraud the revenue. It appeared that previous
468 
THE WHISKY ]ING CONSPIRACY.
efforts had been made to get in upon and expose these parties by the regular revenue agents, under the direction of the then Commissioner of Internal
Revenue, but that those efforts, from one cause or another, chiefly, however,
from the facility with which the revenue agents themselves yielded to the
bribes of the unlawful combination at St. Louis had failed. The result of
the conference, in a word, was that the Secretary advised Mr. Fishback
that he would give me charge and direction of a.new, and, if possible, more
determined effort to break up the combination and bring the guilty parties to
punishment; that my effort would be made under his immediate advice, and
would be kept to ourselves with the greatest care and precaution. I was to use
the agencies organized by me under the act of Congress appropriating $125,000
for "the detection and bringing to punishment persons engaged in counterfeiting
and other crimes against the United States," adding to these agencies from time to
time as I might, in my own judgment find necessary, such local agents as might
be named to me by trustworthy and reliable citizens of public spirit in St.
Louis, to whom I might be able to appeal for assistance. I believe I have stated
that the investigation was to be kept secret. If. I have not, I wish now to state
that. As the hope of success seemed to turn wholly upon the secrecy and celerity
of my movements, it was decided that I should exercise every precaution in my
power to secure that result. On the 1st day of March, 1875, I inclosed to
Mr. Fishback a letter addressed to Myron Colony,  in which I said to him
in substance that upon the recommendation of reliable and reputable citizens
of St. Louis I had, with the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, decided
to appoint him as an agent of the secret service division of the Treasury
Department, for the purpose of instituting in the city of St. Louis such investigation as might be necessary to ascertain and determine whether or not there
did exist in that city an organized conspiracy to defraud the Government of its internal revenues. He was instructed by me to obtain and lay before me satisfactory proof of the existance of fraud, or to determine affirmatively and once
for all that it did not exist. To that end he was authorized to employ such local
assistance as in his judgment imight be necessary, after consultation with my
office. His pay was fixed at a rate not to exceed $8 a day, and that of his subordinates at a less sum, which I do not now recall. He was advised that he
should have the assistance of James J. Brooks, Esq., assistant chief of the secret
service, an officer of long and approved experience in the business of detecting
frauds upon the internal revenue, who was then engaged in the city of New
York, and who would aid him at that end of the line in such investigations as
might be found necessary to be made there. I told him, in conclusion,
TO EXERCISE EVERY PRECAUTION,
To keep himself not only within the letter but the spirit of the law, to the end
that no honest man should have just occasion of complaint; and further, that no
unnecessary in convenience should be given to any party honestly and fairly engaged in the business of distillation. As to the others, those who were dishonest, my instructions to him were simply to catch them if he could. That
letter is a part of the records of the Solicitor's Office, and also of the Internal Revenue Bureau, and tells its own story. I will make it an exhibit if I
can obtain it before I close my testimony. It was the first active step in my movement against the ring. I received various encouraging reports from Mr. Colony,
touching the organization which he had made and the steps which he had taken to
accomplish the object in view. My correspondence with him was full and explicit: it is also upon the files of the Treasury Department. About the middle of
March I had a consultation with Mr. Brooks with reference to investigations in
the cities of Chicago and Milwaukee, and learned from him that he had no doubt
of the existence of great frauds in both those cities. This confirmed information
which I had obtained from other quarters, and I decided to send Mr. Brooks into
those fields. About the 21st of March, I met James J. Brooks, Elmer Washburn,
the chief of the secret service, and Homer T. Yaryan, then a Revenue Agent, in
the Kemp Building in New York City. I told them, in strict confidence, what
was being done in St. Louis and what my purpose was with reference to Chicago
and Milwaukee. The understanding was that Brooks was to leave immediately
for those cities and took with him one William H Herr, of Philadelphia, who
had been often engaged with Brooks in investigations into revenue frauds while
Brooks was a revenue agent; and that Yaryan should give me from time to
469 
TIlE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
time such information either as to the St. Louis field, or in relation to New York,
or Chicago, as he might be able to obtain by reason of his connection with the
Internal Revenue Bureau,
THE NETS THROWN OUT.
It was understood that he should go to Saint Louis under bona-fide orders to investigate certain questions of railroad taxes, and while there should co-operate
with Mr. Colony if such co-operation should be desired by the latter. Brooks"
methods of investigation at Chicago, the city that he first took in hand, while not
so elaborate or so much in detail, were more practical in many respects than those
which Colony adopted at Saint Louis; but the methods were substantially the
same in both instances. Brooks and Herr took up the Chicago distillers consecutively and watched them, from points of advantage, secretly, day after day,
counting out every barrel and every load of spirits and following it to the rectifying establishments.  This was done as against each distiller for a period of from
seven to ten consecutive days. Colony did the same thing, but the Saint Louis
distillers, being more diligent, early detected Colony's agents and fell upon and
beat some of them, and by violent means and threats rendered it unsafe for the
others to carry out their instructions. To make a long story short, such efforts.
were put forth and such steps taken as that, on about the middle of April, I had
in my hands absolute and conclusive evidence of fraud in all three cities. Mr.
Yaryan, while in Saint Louis, discovered through Mr. Stagg, of that city, an honorable and honest wholesale dealer, a most conclusive case.  That was about the
16th of April, and about the 12th of April, upon data furnished by Mr. Colony
of shipments made by Bevis & Fraser, distillers, of St. Louis, to Charleston, Savannah, and Wilmington, and taken from the books of the wholesale dealers in
those cities by my chief clerk, Mr. Webster Elmes, who was specially sent by me
for that purpose, conclusive evidence was obtained of duplication and even triplication in the use of tax-paid-spirit stamps. Brooks from the first day furnished
me such data from the outside as that, when I was able, later on, to lay it against
the records from the inside of the Internal Revenue Bureau, it established the
fact that the distillers in Chlicago were stealing at least one-half of all the tax due
from them to the Government.
MICDONALD BROKE DOWN IN THE CONFERENCE.
Q. Please state whether, upon the discovery of those frauds, the Government
officers at Saint Louis had seizures made and took into custody parties charged
with the violation of law? A. No, sir; they had not. A v hen these evidences of
fraud were placed in my hands, they were submitted by me to the Secretary of
the Treasury, and, I believe, by him laid before the President of the United States.
This was just prior to the President's departure to attend the Centennial anniversary ceremonies at Lexington, Massachusetts. During the President's absence,
Supervisor John McDonald, of Saint Louis, turned up in this city.  He had a conference with the Secretary of the Treasury, and subsequently with myself in my
office.  I understood from the Secretary that McDonald broke down in the conference with him when confronted by the evidence of fraud furnished the Secretary from my office, and admitted the substantial truth of the charge that they
were swindling the Government in his district.
This, of course, is simply stated from what the Secretary said to me; also from
what McDonald himself stated to me the same day.  He  came to my office, and
said to me that if he was permitted to remain in office he would bring to bear
such influence upon the distillers and others, and adopt such methods as would
result in recovering to the Government substantially all the money that had been
lost-at any rate, very much more, he said, than we could get by turning out himself and the others, undertaking to punish the officers, and seizing the distilleries.
He said to me that the party interests in his State and his district would be
greatly damaged by a seizure of the distilleries or by a resort to violent methods.
He spoke of his own great and powerful influence in the West and throughout
the States comprising his district, and claimed that he could do more for the
party in the ensuing Presidential campaign than any other man or ten men that
could be found. He said that arrangements had been made to consolidate the
Globe and the Democrat, and to heal over the dissensions then existing in the
Republican party in that State. I listened to McDonald with patience and with
such courtesy as I tried to exercise toward all persons who came to me about official business. I said to him in reply that with reference to political considera
470 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
tions advanced by him, I could not for one moment consider them; that if I were
in a position to initiate or to give direction to public action, no consideration
could be brought to bear upon me that would induce me for one moment to permit him to retain possession of that office, and that I would consider it, if I had
it in my power, my highest and most imperative duty peremptorily to dismiss
him from the public service; that while I had no absolute evidence against him,
nevertheless, the evidence of fraud was so complete and overwhelming that I was
satisfied beyond doubt that he must have known of it, or else have been either a
knave or at fool. That closed the interview.
Q. In this connection, state what position McDonald held. A. He was Supervisor of Internal Revenue for the States of Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas,
Louisiana, New Mexico, and, I believe, Colorado, having his headquarters at St.
Louis.
Q. Do you know whether, shortly after this interview that you had with
MlcDonald, the Secretary of the Treasury or any one else made known to the
President that McDonald had confessed his guilt? A. On the 7th day of May,
or about that time, shortly after the return of the President from Lexington, the
Secretary of the Treasury sent for me and requested me to take with me, in as
concise and convincing a shape as possible, the evidences of fraud as against St.
Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee, which I had accumulated, and go with him to the
President, at the Executive Mansion.  I complied with the Secretary's instructions, and together we called upon the President. I wish now to say to the Committee that I have taken the best advice within my reach upon the question as to
what would be mv course in answering interrogatories calling for what took place
between the Secretarv of the Treasury and the President; and while the advice I
have received has been various and conflicting, my own judgment and preference
is that so long as the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Treasury do not thiemiselves choose to,o into questions touching the subject of this inquir,y, I ought not to be expected to do so; and if there was anything in what
took place at this interview which in my judgment was in the slightest degree to
the prejudice of the President or of the Secretary, or which could be made the
subject of misunderstanding or difference, I would not go into it. Such, however, is not the fact.  What the President said and did, what the Secretary of the
Treasury said and did, at that interview, was, in my judgment, in the highest degree creditable to them both.
Q. Did the Secretary of the Treasury, at that interview, state to the President
what McDonald had confessed to him? A. He did not, for the reason that it appeared at that interview that the President and the Secretary had previously been
in conference touching that subject, and that the President understood that
branch of the case quite as well as General Bristow did.
Q. This was on the 7th of May, that this interview took place? A. Yes, sir.
Q. How long after the conversation between yourself and McDonald? A.
About two weeks.
Q. Was McDonald ever dismissed by the President?  A. He never was dismissed from the place.
Q. How long after the date of this interview was it that the President accepted
the resignation of McDonald? A. I cannot, in the absence of my record, answer that question specifically.
Q. Could you give us a general idea of about how long?  A. My impression is
that it was not until after the seizures had been made at St. Louis and elsewhere, which was on the 10th of May, 1875.
Q. In this connection I will ask you whether the President made the appointment of either of those gentlemen whom you have named for the positions suggested? A. When General Webster declined the office of supervisor of internal
revenue, the Secretary of the Treasury, as I understand and believe, with the
approval of the President, directed me to tender the appointment to Colonel
Matthews. I wrote Colonel Matthews an official communication introducing it,
Ias I now recollect, with these words  "Under the direction of the Secretary of the
Treasury, and with the approval of the President of the United States, I write to
tender you the position of Supervisor of Internal Revenue." He accepted the
position and entered upon the duties.
"MCDONALD, JOYCE, MCKEE, AVERY, AND OTHERS WERE ARRESTED."
Q. Without going into particulars. I wish you would state whether after this
time McDonald, Joyce, McKee, Avery and other parties were arrested, bills of
471 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
indictment found against them, and convictions had for complicity in the whisky
frauds at Saint Louis? A. They were arrested under indictment, tried, and convicted.
Q. Who were your prosecuting officers at St. Louis? A. David P. Dyer
was the United States District-Attorney, John B. Henderson and Lucien B. Eaton,
of St. Louis, were special assistant United States attorney with reference to the
whisky prosecutions, and his regular assistants were William H. Bliss and, I
believe, Mr. Peddrick.
Q. State whether during this whole time, and while these several prosecutions
were pending, the Secretary of the Treasury and yourself were kept informed, by
the District-Attorney at St. Louis, of all facts and matter that transpired there
the manner in which they were conducting the public business; whether your
relations with them were close and intimate. A. We were kept promptly and
thoroughly advised touching all the facts from time to time developed; and
throughout our official relations were close and intimate.
Q. At and after the date of the trial and conviction of William O. Avery, did
you notice any change in the demeanor of the President of the United States in
reference to these prosecutions? If so, state the same fully. A. Earlier than
that, it was a matter of great regret to me to find that the relations of the President to the Secretary of the Treasury and myself were not as they had been at
the time of the interview I have related.
Q. About what time did you observe this change? A. It began in August,
1875, and was, more marked in September, after the President returned from his
visit to St. Louis, and his trip West.
THE CELEBRATED " SYLPH TELEGRAM.'
Q. Will you please give us any acts or statements of the President which indicated to you that he was not in sympathy with you in the earnest efforts which
you were making to punish all parties guilty of these frauds? A. In August,
we discovered at the Treasury Department the celebrated "Sylph" telegram to
be in the handwriting of the President's private secretary, Orville E. Babcock.
There had been talk or rumor before that General Babcock's relations to the
parties composing the whisky ring in St. Louis were not what they ought to be.
Mr. Yaryan in January, 1875, told myself and the Secretary that he had seen
letters which he believed to be, and was told by Joyce were, in the handwriting
of Babcock, treating of Joyce's connection with the Internal Revenue Bureau; and
one W. D. W. Barnard, a distant relative, I believe, of the President, holding
the position of bank examiner at St. Louis, on the 19th of July, I think, wrote
the President a letter, in which, among a great many other things, he said that he
had just seen on the streets of St. Louis, Normile, the prosecuting attorny for
that county, and who was the attorney of Joyce and  McDonald, seeking bail for
them; that Normile asked him, "How far is this thing going to be carried?"
and upon Barnard's answering,  "Until the thieves are all punished, and the dishonest officers are in jail" he said, "The President dare not let it go too far
against McDonald and Joyce, or Babcock is lost." Atl another point in his letter
he said that "Jim Casey was in St. Louis, and had said that the President did
not approve, the Secretary's course, and that he would not retain the Treasury
portfolio thirty days."  Casey was related by marriage to Jewett, one of the thieving distillers. This was, I believe, also repeated in the papers of St. Louis as
from Casey. Both the Secretary of the Treasury and myself where highly gratified on about the 1st of August to receive from the President, from Long Branch,
the Barnard letter with the celebrated indorsement thereon, "Let no guilty man
escape if it can be avoided," under date July 27 or 29, 1875.
"THE PRESIDENT WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM TO SUFFER."
Q. Do you know, or did you hear, the reports which were being circulated in
St. Louis, to the effect that the President of the United States and McDonald,
Joyce and others, were friends, and that the President would not allow them
to suffer, prior to the receipt of this Barnard letter?  A. Such reports were very
many and frequent.
Q. Was this indorsement, of which you have spoken, voluntarily given by the
President of the United States; or was it the result of any advice or urgency upon
the part of the Secretary of the Treasury or yourself? A. We had long sought
for a sign from the President, which in some emphatic way would be a warrant
472 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
to us and a guarantee of his sympathy and support in our efforts to bring to punishment the guilty parties, whoever they might be.
Q. Did the Secretary of the Treasury or yourself, prior to the receipt of this
indorsed letter, call the attention of the President of the United States to the fact
that these reports were rife, and that in justice to himself and in justice to you
he ought to make some positive and decided declaration on the subject? A. Of
my own personal knowledge, I cannot so state; but I have reason to believe, and
do believe, that the Secretary did.
Q. Did not the Secretary of the Treasury go down to Long Branch, where the
President was summering, for the purpose of obtaining from the President some
such declaration as that which was indorsed upon that letter, or did he not go for
that and other purposes? A. I cannot state positively that the Secretary visited
the President at Long Branch for the specific purpose referred to in your inquiry,
until after the receipt of the indorsement from the President. He then did visit
the President upon an understanding between the Secretary and myself that the
publication of that indorsement was due alike to him and to myself, and was the
best answer which it was in our power to give to the enemies of General Bristow,
the members of the Whisky Ring, notably McDonald and others, who were then
already busy in St. Louis in their efforts to break down his character and sully his
fair fame.
Q. Was that Barnard letter with its indorsement sent by mail to Washington?
A. It was; marked certainly "Confidential," and, to my best recollection, "Private and Confidential," so that neither the Secretary of the Treasury nor myself
felt at liberty to make any use whatever of it in the shape in which it reached us.
Q. You and the Secretary, at the time it was received, were in Washington
City? A. We were.
" ORVILLE E. BABCOCK WROTE THE'SYLPII " TELEGRAM.
Q. What was the result of the interview which the Secretary had with the
President in reference to the publication of that indorsement? A. I was authorized
by the Secretary of the Treasury to give it to the public press, and on the 16th
day of August, or about that time, I knew that Orville E. Babcock wrote the
"Sylph" telegram, and I gave that letter to the press and wrote a brief introduction, in which I was careful to state, as I now recollect, that the following was
the best answer to the question as to whether the Secretary of the Treasury and
the President were in accord.
Q. Do you know whether the President of the United States was willing that
that letter should be published? A. As to that I cannot say; but I am bound to
presume from the fact that General Bristow directed me to give it to the public,
that he was willing.
Q. Do you know of your own knowledge, or from conversations with the
Secretary of the Treasury upon his return from Long Branch, whether he met
with any opposition from the President when he proposed to make the letter public? A. In response to that question it is evident that whatever I should have to
say to this Committee would be hearsay, and in view of the important issue which
from that time on arose between the Secretary of the Treasury and the President,
I must decline to repeat what was said to me. General Bristow and the President
of the United States are themselves the best witnesses on that point; and while
they refuse to answer, I positively will not answer.
Q. Are you aware that the Secretary of Treasury, having been before this Committee, declined to answer any questions as to any communications between the
President and himself? A. I am.
"THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES PUBLISHED IN THE PUBLIC PRINT. "
Q. Are you further aware that subsequent thereto the President of the United
States published in the public prints a letter or note, in which he gave full authority to the Secretary of the Treasury, or anybody else, to freely state anything
of which they might have knowledge in that connection? A. I am aware of the
President's letter, but invite the attention'of the chairman of the sub-committee
to the fact that the President, in his letter, limited those to be called to cabinet
and ex-cabinet officers.
Q. Then you do not consider yourself as included among the list of those who
would be authorized to speak freely? A. Do not misunderstand me. Of course
I am not an ex-member of the cabinet, and my own construction of the Presi
473 
THE: WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
dent's letter is, that it was meant to be as broad as the chairman of the sub-com
mittee has stated it, but I simply invite the attention of the chairman to the fact
that it is not as broad as hlie has stated it in his interrogatory, and from henceforward I wish to confine myself to facts which are  within my own personal,
knowledge, and not to state matters of hearsay.
[The chairman of the sub-committee, without waiving a full answer to the~
question as put, and reserving a right to submit it to the full committee, proceeds.
with the examination as follows]
Q. You have already seen, I presume, the letter which Secretary Bristow wrote,
in reply to that written b,- the President?-A. I have.
Q. And have knowledge of its contents?
"I IIAVE KNOWLEDGE OF ITS CONTENTS."
Q. Prior to the discovery of the' Sylph" telegram, do you know of any other
fact or matter indicating that the President of the United States was not in sym
pathy with you and the Secretary of the Treasury in your prosecution of these
distillers? A. In answer to that question I wish to state that, with reference to
the whisky cases generally, there never was, to my knowledge, any lack of co-operation on the President's part. There were delays, it is true, during the Fall of
18,5, in turning out some men who the Secretary and myself thought ought to
have been removed sooner; but on the whole we got along very well.  It was not
until we struck Babcock in what seemed to be strong suspicious evidence of his
complicity, that we began to grow apart.  After the President's return from his
trip to Des Mloines, Colorado, and Saint Louis, I ascertained upon information both
from the Secretary of the Treasury and the Attorney-General that I was in trouble;
that I was charged with hlaving put spies upon the President with a view to prove
his complicity in the whisky frauds.  This I learned on my return from the West,
where I had been under the direction of the Attorney-General and the Secretary
of the Treasury in consultation with the officers charged with the prosecution,
which was late in October or early in November last. I will give the committee
the precise date as soon as I can refer to my private letter-books. Relying upon
the President's indorsement, and in view of the "Sylph" telegram, and the rumors which I have  already referred to, I had, early in August, submitted the telegram to Mr. Henderson and  Mr. Dyer  in the presence of the
Attorney-Genera],  in this city, and  it was understood  there to be of so
highly  a  suspicious   character  that   General   Babcock's  case  should
be thoroughly but  fairly investigated.  To that end,  on  about the 8th or
9th of September, after Messrs. Henderson and Dyer had returned to Saint Louis,
I wrote Mr. Henderson a letter, in which I said to him substantially,  "This will
be handed to you by William H. Herr, a reliable and trusted agent of the secretservice division.  He will report to you for duty."  I stated that during the hearing of motions to quash the indictments in McDonald's case then pending before
Judge Miller, I thought it important that McDonald  and  Joyce should be put
under the strictest surveillance, and that every proper precaution should be taken
to prevent their escape; that it was highly important, also, that the associates and
co-conspirators with McDonald and Joyce, if there were any, then unknown
should be discovered and brought to punishment, and I used the words that it
was of the "utmost importance to the public interests that he should go to the
very bottom or top of the combination," and underscored the words " bottom or
top." And knowing that General Babcock would be in Saint Louis with the
President, and knowing his relations with McDonald and Joyce, I intended to
use, and did use, such terms as that General Henderson might clearly see that his
relations with McDonald and Joyce, while in the city, should be carefully looked
after and inquired into. This I believed I was fully authorized and warranted
to do by the terms of the Presid(lent's indorsement, and I supposed that in so
doing I would receive his support and approval.  It turned out that this letter
"THE FORGERY WAS APPARENT ON COMPARISON."
of mine was taken from among the papers of General Henderson while he was,
engaged in a law argument in the courts at St. Louis; that McDonald or Joyce got
possession of it, and, to support the charge that I was putting spiel on the
President, after the word'"top," in my letter, the capital letters "W. H."
were  forged'therein.   The  forgery was  apparent on comparison with the
letter-press copy, which I was lucky enough, under the' circumstances, to have re
474 
THE WHISKY IRING CONSPIRACY.
tained in my letter-book, and that fact doubtless saved me from instant removal.
The forged letter, or copies containing the forgeries, were brought back by General Babcock from the West, and after the first Cabinet meeting which was held
on the President's return, he (Babcock) (called Attorney-General Pierrepont and
Secretary Bristow into the private secretary's office and showed them that letter
of mine with the forged letters " W. H." in it.  The Secretary of the Treasury
and the Attorney-General were both greatly disturbed, and manifested that disturbance in interviews with me on the Sunday morning of my return from the
West, and for the reason, as they said, that they saw no justification and no explanation of the letter. I laughed, and said to them that it gave me not the least
concern; denounced the forgery at once, got my letter-book and proved it, and
that was the end of the matter with them. General Horace Porter, a warm friend
of General Babcock's, and at that time of my own, was that Sunday in the city.
In going down for my letter-book I met him, somewhat disturbed about the
matter.   We touched upon the subject, and the General expressed his regret
that I had got myself into such a position, and without telling him anything more
I said to him, " Just wait, General, until I see the Secretary and the AttorneyGeneral, and then go with me to my office in the Treasury building."
He  said  he  would.    We   went  together  after  I was   through, with
the   Secretary   and   the  Attorney-General,   and   General  Porter  had
with him a copy of the letter. I said to him to hold his copy an(d I would read
the original from the book. I read the original, which was word for word as it
was in the copy General Porter had, with the.exception of the forged interpolation, "W. H."  I then said to General Porter to take the letter-book and satisfy
" WILSON, I DON'T WANT TO IIEAR ANYTHING MORE."
himself that the letter-press did not contain the letters "W. H.," which he did, and
I        furthermore asked him to note the position of the letters, the word "top" being
the last on the line. I asked him if he had seen the handwriting of the original
"W. H.," a nd he said he had, and he said at once, "Wilson, I don't want to hear
anything more; that is the end of that matter. The letter is a forgery, beyond
question,  and that lets you out." "Now," I said, "a word with you, General, about
that letter. I wrote that letter intending that General Babcock should be looked
after. If hlie was in the ring I intended to catch him if it was in my power. If
he  wa      s     not, I  intended to demonstrate his innocence beyond the shadow of a
doubt, if it were possible to do so." I asked General Porter what explanation he
had of the "Sylph " telegram, and he gave me an explanation to the effect that
"Sylph " was a lewd woman with whom the President of the United States had
been in intimate association, and that she had bothered and annoyed the Presi
"DO YOU KNOWV THAT WOMAN, MCDONALD?"
dent until at one time it chanced that McDonald's attention was called to her at
some place where she was, either in search of or in the vicinage of the President,
and he said, "Why, that is Sylph." General Babcock said, "Do you know that
woman, McDonald?" And Mac. said, "Yes, I know her well." Gen. Babcock said
(to use General Porter's own words,) "She has been giving the President a great
deal of trouble; I wish you would relieve him of her in some way." And McDonald said, "Certainly; that is easy.  I can manage her."  And he did manage
her, and so important was the service which McDonald thus rendered the President that the term "Sylph" became a common matter of joke between General
Babcock and McDonald, so that they were in the habit, as occasion might require,
of addressing one another under that name. He also said to me, without endeavoring to explain definitely, that he, Babcock, Joyce, and McDonald frequently
had occasion to correspond with each other with reference to the movements of
mutual friends, and that the "Sylph" telegram referred to the movements of some
"TO SHIELD AND SAVE GENERAL BABCOCK FROM EXPOSURE."
parties who were going out to Saint Louis on bridge business. He said to me,
without going any furtherinto explanation, that the most inestimable service in my
power to render to the President of the United States would be to shield and save
General Babcock from exposure; that these matters were of a character that could
not be gone into without giving all parties the very greatest trouble and concern.
I told the general that I would do what I could fairly to see that General Babcock
4,75-1 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
was honestly and squarely dealt with, and that no injustice was done
him, but that further than that I could not and would not go; that the matter was in the hands of the local officers  at St. Louis,  and I would urge
upon them the grave importance to all parties that no mistake should be made in
reference to General Babcock's connection with the ring. General Porter expressed himself as wholly and entirely satisfied with my explanation of my letter
and with the position which I assumed, and assured me that the attention of the
President had not been called to the forged letter, and would not be. I said to
him, "General, I want you to tell the President of the United States about
that letter; I have no concealments about it, none whatever; I stand upon
it; I am willing that the whole world should see and read and know of it, and I
have no apologies to make for it. I want that clearly and fully understood. I
hope you will tell the President of the matter, and that he will give me an opportunity to say to him what I have said to you, and to the Attorney-General and
the Secretary." I heard nothing more about this. Late in August or early in
September, before the President went West, I urged upon Secretary Bristow
that he call upon the President and tell him of the "Sylph" telegram, and that
the investigations were likely to involve General Babcock. He told me that he would,
and early in September, I believe about the 8th, I met General Babcock at Philadelphia, he coming from Long Branch, and I from Cape May, and I made up my mind
going down with him that I would urge Secretary Bristow to tell General Babcock
about the "Sylph" telegram, and give him an opportunity to explain it frankly
and fairly, feeling that his position was such as entitled him to know the situation
in which the telegram placed him, and also to have an opportunity of making any
"THE PRESIDENT SAID TO ME, IN SUBSTANCE, THAT IT SEEMED TO HIM THAT
I WAS ENDEAVORING TO INVOLVE HIM IN FRAUDS."
explanation which he might be able to make. On arriving in this city I saw General Bristow and told him what I thought ought to be done. He assented prompt ly, and notified General Babcock on that day touching the telegram. He asked
General Babcock to tell the President. Later on, but just before the President
went West, Secretary Bristow went to Long Branch himself, and I understand
that the "Sylph" telegram was the subject of an interview between the President and himself. After my interview with General Porter I supposed that the
matter of the forged letter was settled, and gave no more attention to it until I
was sent for by the President. The President said to me, in substance, that
it seemed to him that I was endeavoring to involve  him  in frauds.   I
expressed my surprise, and asked him upon what ground. He said, "You
wrote a letter to Saint Louis to General John B. Henderson, a copy of
which I have  seen,  in which you tell General Henderson  that he must
go  to  the  very  bottom  and  top  of the  W.  H.   It was  written to
General Henderson during my visit to St. Louis, about the time I left Long
Branch, and the time which you therein seemed to indicate as necessary for extra
vigilance was the ten days, or about the time that it was understood I was to
remain there." He asked me what explanation I had to make of it, stating that
Mr. Dyer and Mr. Henderson were personal enemies of his, and that it was important to him to know just what attitude the prosecution meant to assume with refer
"HE IS THE MOST GUILTY WRETCH IN THE WORLD."
ence to those trials. He expressed to me his confident belief in Gen. Babcock's innocence.  He said that the telegram had been satisfactorily explained to him, and
he thought that that ought to stop the matter; that it ought to rest there.   He
added, however, "If General Babcock is guilty, which I don't believe, he is the
most guilty wretch in the world. He has betrayed my confidence in the most
infamous way, and  besides  has betrayed his official trust,  and  no punishment would be too severe for him. My relations with General Babcock,"
he said, "have been of long standing;" and he referred to their Army
associations and to the General's subsequent positions in connection with
public works, in which, as an engineer of the army he had expended
large sums of money, and, as the President believed, with entire fidelity;
and he said that as his private secretary he had every opportunity to know and
judge the man, and he could not believe that he was involved in the ring. When
the President finished I expressed my surprise and indignation at being confronted with the forged letter, and asked him who told him about it, and he said
476 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
to me that he had not known of it until General Porter had explained the matter to
him the Sunday before. I said to him, "'Is it possible, Mr. President, that
General Porter laid that letter before you and did not say to you that he and I
had had an explanation touching it, that he had expressed himself as satisfied of
the forgery, and as satisfied wholly with my conduct in the premises?" The
President said in reply that General Porter had said to him that I claimed that the
letter was a forgery and that it seemed to be, by reference to the letter-press copy.
I told the President that we would let the matter rest there until I could go and
get my letter-books, and my record as contained in my private memoranda min connection with the whole Babcock matter, and he consented to that. I got my letterpress book. I got his Barnard letter. I got all the other memoranda which I
thought would throw any light upon my connection with General Babcock's case
and went back. I showedthe President in the first place the Barnard letter, and read
to him that extract from it in which Mr. Normile was credited with having said,
"I HAD BABCOCK AND JIM CASEY IN MIND."
substantially "The President dare not go too far with McDonald and Joyce, or
Babcock is lost." I read to him that part of his letter in which Jim Casey was referred to, and I turned over the letter and on the back of it read to him, with great
deliberation, the indorsement in which he had said, "These newspaper clippings
and this letter are sent to the Department to the end that if they throw any light
upon new witnesses to be summoned, they may be brought out. Let no guilty
man escape if it can be avoided." I read to the President of the United States
the concluding sentences in his letter in which he said, "Be especially vigilant, or
charge those in authority to be, against all those who claim to have high authority
to protect or to protect them, "meaning to protect others or to protect themselves,
and in which hlie finally said that "personal considerations should not stand in
the way of the performance of a public duty;" and I said to him, "Mr. President, what I have done in the premises touching General Babcock, I have done
under the warrant and in full pursuance of, your own instructions to the Secretary of the Treasury, and to myself." He said, "Certainly. I had Babcock and
Jim Casey in mind when I made that indorsement, and I expected you to do your
duty."  I said to him, "Mr. President, that is precisely the reply which I expected
you as President of the United States to make me." I showed him my letter-book
containing the original, ami showed him the forgery, and on that he expressed
himself as entirely and wholly satisfied. I explained to him that it was General
Babcock that I meant in the letter, and not himself; that it never entered my
mind for one moment that under any possible combination of circumstances was
it possible for him to have had any improper relations with those parties, or with
any other party engaged in the violation of the laws of the land; that when I fixed
the period during which the investigation should be made in St. Louis, I had
reference to the fact of Gen. Babcock's sojourn in that city and not his own, and
that when I referred to the associations of McDonald I referred to the well-known
" NECESSITY FOR EXTRAORDINARY VIGILIANCE."
and familiar associations of McDonald and Joyce with Gen. Babcock. I called the
President's attention to the postscript in my letter in which I charged General
Henderson that if Judge Miller should sustain a motion to quash the indictments
against McDonald and Joyce he should immediately move for a detention of the
parties pending indictment by the grand jury, as evidence of the fact that there
was a crisis then pending in McDonald's and Joyce's cases, and that there was a
necessity for extraordinary vigilance not only on my part but on the part of the
local officers there. And I said to him with reference to his relations to the prosecuting officers, Messrs. Henderson and Dyer, and his apprehensions that they
would do him an injustice, that I had met those gentlemen in frequent conferences; that I had lately been to the city of St. Louis and seen them there as well
as in the city of Washington with reference to General Babcock's case, and that
neither of them had ever expressed, either directly or indirectly, to me any sentiment touching the President of the United States but what was in every way and
degree what it ought to be and respectful to him as the Chief Executive of the
land; that with reference to General Henderson's appointment to aid in the pro$
ecutions at St. Louis, I for the first time that day learned from him (the Presi -
477' 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
ident) that his relations to the President of the United States were not personally
friendly; that I had, in the naming of General Henderson, the advice of the first
citizens of St. Louis, first among whom was the President's own familiar friend
and associate, Henry T. Blow; and that I had gone to Samuel T. Glover, the
first lawyer of the city, and urged upon him, knowing that he was the preference
" TIE TROROUGIILY DEBAUCHED AND ROTTEN ADM-INISTRATION OF FEDERAL AF                             FAIRS IN ST. LOUIS.
of the President, by every argument it was possible for me to bring to bear upon
him, the importance to the public interest of his identifying himself with the
prosecution of the cases and accepting the tender which had been already made
to him by the Attorney-General at the suggestion of the President; that Mr.
Glover admitted to me the thoroughly debauched and rotten administration of
Federal affairs in St. Louis, and said that the half had not been told, and that it
was the highest and first duty of the President of the United States and the Secretary of the Treasury, by all the resources they could command, to break up the
corrupt combinations and conspiracies and introduce a new era, if it was possible,
in the administration of Federal affairs there; that his relations to others and his
personal engagements were of a character that imperatively prevented and prohibited him from going into the cases.  I asked his advice as to whom I should
employ, and he said to me,  "Go to John B. Henderson."  "And thus," I said
to the President, "backed by the recommendation of Mr. Blow and Mr. Glover,
I went to Mr. Hawley (the then supervisor in charge), and, after consultation
with Mr. Hawley, he agreed with me that General Henderson was the party,
above all, to be put into the prosecution of these cases; and thereupon I sent the
telegrams to the Secretary of the Treasury anid the Attorney-General recommending the retention in behalf of the Government of General Henderson. And as
Mr. Eaton had been recommended by the Chief-Justice of the Court of Claims
of this city to me before I went West, and had rendered as United States Commissioner important services in the course of development of frauds at St. Louis,
I had decided to put him into the cases. I said to the President that I did not
believe that either General Henderson or Mr. Dyer would do anything but his
duty in the premises; that as the President himself was concerned.he should not
permit personal considerations or his personal attitude toward those gentlemen to
influence him.
GEN. BABCOCK'S INDICTMENT.
Q. Was that said with reference to the hostile relations between them and the
President? A. Yes, sir; between the President and General Henderson. I also
showed to the President that under the instructions of the Attorney-General, but
without the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, I had gone to St. Louis
for the purpose of urging upon the local officers, Henderson and Dyer, the importance of making no mistake in reference to General Babcock's indictment, telling them that he should not be indicted, so far as their influence was concerned,
except upon the fullest and clearest testimony, satisfying them of his guilt, and
that every precaution should be taken on their part to do him no injustice; and if
facts were developed to his credit, to give him the benefit of them throughout.  I
told the President that all the officers had assured me that such was their fixed,
settled purpose, and that I came from Saint Louis feeling that no injustice would
be done General Babcock; and I said to the President, "I do not believe, Mr.
President, that any injustice will be done him." The President was not satisfied
with Mr. Henderson nor with Mr. Dyer; he referred to Mr. Henderson's acts of
hostility to him and also Mr. Dyer (he said he did not mind Dyer so much), and
stated that when they were appointed he had acquiesced in it, but had not taken any
active part.  He said, however,  that he  was entirely satisfied with my explanation of my conduct' in the premises, and gave me a hearty greeting when I
went away.
"THE WORD'SYLPH' REFERRED TO A LEWD WOMAN."
Q. You have stated in your examination that during an interview which you
had with General Eorace Porter the subject of the "Sylph" dispatch was discussed; that General Porter undertook to explain that dispatch by stating that the
word " SylpI" referred to a lewd woman with whom the President of the United
;States had been in intimate relations; did you call the attention of the President
,478 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
of the United States to this statement as made by General Porter during that interview in regard to which you have just now been testifying; and, if so, what
did the President say in relation thereto? A. I did, and in doing so said to the
President that my justification for going on after my interview with General Porter was in the fact that the explanation he made to me was not satisfactory.  I
said to the President that he was put by General Porter in the attitude of having
been the subject of MAcDonald's kind offices in connection with a lewd woman
named Sylph.
Q. What did the President say? A. The President expressed his surprise that
the General should have made such a statement, and said there was not one word
of truth in it; brushed it out of his way in this way [illustrating by a contemptuous gesturel and went on.
Q. Was anything more said touching the "Sylph" dispatch as explained by
General Porter? A. Nothing, except that I assured the President that I myself
did not believe one word of the statement.
Q. At this time what public position, if any, did General Porter hold? A.
None. He was the ex-private secretary of the President, and a warm, personal
friend of General Babcock, and was taking a'lively interest in Babcock's case.
Q. Were he and the President on good terms? A. They were, to my best
knowledge, upon intimate terms.
Q. Did the President become angry when you told him of this explanation?
A. He indignantly denied that there was any truth in the statement.
Q. Do you know whether General Porter's relations with the President subsequent to this time were as friendly as before, or have you seen him there? A.
Down to the second day before the close of the Babcock trial, I believe that General Porter's relations with the President continued precisely the same.
Q. What reason have you to believe that friendly relations continued between
the President and General Porter? A. I saw General Porter visiting Washington,
and learned from him of his visits to the White House on Sundays when he came
down.
THE PRESIDENT GROWS LUKEWARM.
,                WASHIXGTON, D.C., Juily 28, 1876.
BLUFORD WILSON, Ex-Solicitor of the Treasury, again appeared before the
committee.
Q. You said in your examination yesterday that from the time of the discovery
of the "Sylph" dispatch, implicating General Babcock in those whisky frauds,
or tending so to implicate him, the President of the United States did not show
the same sympathy with the Secretary of the Treasury or yourself that hlie had
previously shown. Please state any act or acts of the President from that time
forward, indicating to you that hlie was not in sympathy with those whisky prosecutions? A. Before I proceed to answer that question I wish to fiake an addition to my testimony of yesterday in reference to the contents of the Barnard letter,
on which the President made the well-known indorsement, "Let no guilty man
escape if it can be avoided." Either in the body of that letter or in an accompanying document there was a statement from Emory S. Foster, of Saint Louis, to
the effect that the President was himself charged with being a party to the unlawful combination in that city to defraud the Government of its revenues. I want
that fact to be noted, because I have no doubt that the President made his indorsement as much with reference to that fact and that allegation as with reference to
the allegations that Babcock was a party, and that "Jim" Casey, the President's
brother-in-law, was openly asserting that the Secretary of the Treasury would not
hold his office for thirty days: Another point; I was asked yesterday whether
the President consented willingly to the publication of the indorsement on the
Barnard letter, which has been so often referred to. By reference to a letter addressed to me by General Bristow under date of August 7, written in the Treasury
Department, I find that the Secretary of the Treasury had addressed an official
communication to the President asking him for permission to publish that indorsement, and that at that date (August 7) he had received no response.
LETTER OF GENERAL BRISTOW.
For the purpose of fixing the date when the "Sylph" telegram was discovered,
I refer to a letter of General Bristow to me, written from New York August 9,
1875, and which I have qo objection to make a part of the record. It is as follows:
479 
THIE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
"MY DEAR WILSON: Your letter of yesterday, with inclosure, is received.
The time is very near at hand when I must make a square issue with the thieves
and scoundrels who have combined to destroy me. I must be supported cordially
and earnestly, or I must and  tll break.  I fear the complications are such that
the former cannot be done; and the latter must. You can't be too careful about
talking to anybody.  I have heard here that the matter about the "Sylph" dispatch and our having seen it, in connection with Pierrepont, is fully known to
P. and B. [meaning Porter and Babcock], and they are greatly disturbed. Don't
suffer yourself to talk with anybody about it. Of course this is not meant for censure, but caution. I suppose I must make up my mind to bear the abuse of the
'Ring' papers, hard as it is to do. They are fighting to keep their friends out of
prison, and to save themselves from exposure; and, of course, will seek to destroy
anybody who stands in their way. Well, as for myself, I cannot turn back; nor
will I stop to parley with thieves. I have no ambition to serve, and no purpose
to accomplish, but enforcement of the law and an honest collection of the revenue. I will compromise on nothing short of this; but on this issue I am ready
to be sacrificed any day.     *       * 
B. H. B.
"P. S.-Ask Webster to write the President fully his views about the Chicago
Custom House and the Whisky Ring. He has great confidence in Webster, and it
is going to require the utmost watchfulness of his real friends to prevent his being
misled by men who profess friendship for him, but who are acting treacherously.
Tell Webster to write strongly and give him the plain truth, and to mark his let
ter'confidential.'"
"NO GUILTY MAN SHOULD ESCAPE."
Now, in response to the question of the Chairman, I may say that the Secretary
of the Treasury and myself, having been ordered by the President to see that no
guilty man should escape if it could be avoided, on consultation, mutually concluded that the President could not go back on that injunction without stultifying himself and placing his officers in a false position, and we therefore resolved to leave the whole matter of General Babcock's alleged connection
with the whisky ring at Saint Louis to be dealt with by local officers there.
Until about the 1st of December, and indeed I may say until it was
known absolutely that General Babcock had been indicted, the relations of
General Bristow and myself with the President were passable; but so
soon as it was seen that General Babcock was to be indicted, the idea of
a military court of inquiry was brought to the front, to my knowledge, by General Babcock and his friends. The idea of a military court was
broached before the indictment was found against Babcock; and the fact that
the President of the United States took the ground that that military court should
supersede the proceedings before the civil tribunals at Saint Louis was taken by
myself and by the Secretary to be a marked indication of his purpose to defeat
the prosecution in that city.
THE CONFERENCE BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND BLUFORD WILSON.
On the 2d or 4th of December I wrote a letter to General Henderson, advising
him fully of my views, and indicating to him the settled purpose of the Secretary
of the T reasury to see, by all honorable means, that proceedings before the civil
tribunal should not be postponed, or delayed, or embarrassed, if he could prevent it, by any proceedings to be instituted or had before a military tribunal. Of
that letter I have not a copy, but General Henderson, I believe, has the original.
In the next place,.it is a fact that I heard nothing from the President of the
charge that I had put spies upon him, or of the forged letter which was adduced
against me, as stated in my testimony yesterday, until it was seen and known
that General Babcock was indicted. The conference between the President and
myself, which I think I stated yesterday to have taken place late in November,
took place, as I find by reference to contemporaneous documents, on the 8th of
December, 1875. It will be remembered that in that conference the President
expressed himself to me, with regard to General Henderson and Mr. Dyer, with
great bitterness, and immediately thereafter General Henderson was dismissed
from the prosecution. He was dismissed in opposition to my written protest, addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury, in which I called the attention of the
Secretary to the fact that I was advised officially by Mr. Eaton, of counsel for tke
480 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
Government, that Judge Treat, the presiding Justice of the trial in which the
alleged objectionable remarks of General Henderson were made, was said to
have declared to Mr. Eaton and to have requested Mr. Eaton to notify the authorities here that, in his judgment, General Henderson's remarks contained no reflection whatever on the President. I also called attention to the fact that Mr.
Eaton, Mr. Dyer and Mr. Henderson had all, in writing, informed me that no
such purpose existed on Henderson's part, and that, on the contrary, it appeared
from the official records (in my possession at that time, and now in the Treasury
Department) that General Henderson went out of his way in an argument in that
case to state that, in his judgment, the President of the United States was altogether above reproach so far as he knew, and to pay the President a compliment.
THE DISMISSAL OF GENERAL HENDERSON.
I said, therefore, to the Secretary of the Treasury, that I accepted the judgment
of General Henderson's colleagues and of the Court as conclusive on that question, and that, in my judgment, the President of the United States ought to rise
above personal considerations in view of the fact that the public interest imperatively required General Henderson's retention in the prosecution. The dismissal
of General Henderson was, in my judgment, a fatal blow to the prospect of a
successful prosecution in General Babcock's case. By reference to my private
letter-book I find, under date of December 4, the following letter written by me:
"DEAR EATON: I wrote General Henderson a confidential letter last night,
giving you the situation of affairs at this end in the' Sylph' matter. We do not
know here what you are doing, but presume, of course, you are doing your
duty."
That is the letter in which I have made reference to the controversy in regard
to the military and the civil tribunal. Another ground was the President's
refusal to remove Jasper D. Ward, United States District Attorney at Chicago,
until he was confronted by evidence, on the 3d of December, which showed that
Mr. Ward was a partner in the Powell distillery, and had improper relations
with Jacob Rehm, which statement was made to the President by Hon. Burton
C. Cook. On that point I wrote to Secretary Bristow on December 3
"DEAR GENERAL: Mr. Cook was just in to see me, with some startling news.
He saw President Grant after he met you, and was assured by the President
that he would remove Ward promptly, and to that end he would ask Webster at
once to name his successor; but what was especially noteworthy was a letter to
Cook, from a reliable friend in Chicago, attributing Logan's illness to sheer
fright, and which charges that he is in it, and that the atmosphere is full of
rumors about Ward's connection with the ring, his relations with Distiller Powell, &c. The inclosed, from Brooks, may interest you. The Lord give you
wisdom.
"Faithfully,
" WILSON."
THE PROPOSAL TO HAVE A MILILARY COURT OF INQUIRY UNDER CONSIDERATION.
That note I sent to General Bristow, in Cabinet, and the ejaculation at the end
of it was because I knew that the proposal to have a military court of inquiry
was under consideration.  Now, I want to read, as a part of my testimony, a letter to me from General Webster, under date of December 25, 1875.
"UNITED STATES INTERNAL REVENUE OFFICE,
"District of Illinois, Chicago, December, 25, 1875. }
"MY DEAR SIR: Do you not begin to rub your eyes and inquire whether you
are awake, whether we are any of us awake, not all involved in some bad dream?
Was there ever such scandalous lying and plotting? Is it not the most remarkable
fight of a century? Is there any key to it all, except that the banded corruptionists of all classes and kinds are desperate, and are summoning all their forces, placing their reliance on unparalled audacity of vituperation and cunningly contrived
accusation? Is it possible that Babcock has lent any countenance to a proposition for an attack on Bristow? Will he confess his own infamy and try to
drag down the Secretary with himself? What other explanation is there for the
481 
TIHE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
Inter-Ocean's attack?  I suspect that the ring have got entire control of the I.
O.; they are desperate, and will furnish all the money necessary to get an English
organ, as they have a German one in the Staats-Zeitung.  What are we coming
to, when such things can be even attempted in open day? But I took my pen to
ask you a question. I have just been told that the man Russell, while in
Washington, had the impudence to try and blackmail both the Secretaries of
War and the Treasury. Is that so? I can hard(ly believe it, and yet I see that
he has lived so long in the atmosphere, almost peculiar to the politico-whisky
ring of Chicago, that perhaps he has no conception of honesty left, and no idea
of decency or incorruptibility in any one. Yesterday I warned Dexter and Ayer
to have no further conference with him-to have it only with Sweet and Smith.
Please let me know whether R. is such a graceless scamp as to have really
attempted blackmailing the Secretaries.   I hope this outburst of malice in the
Igbtei —Ocean will overshoot its mark, and, instead of making a breach between
the President and Mr. Bristow, have the opposite effect-unite them more firmly
in the fight against corruption. It looks as if the tinie is coming when all good
men, of all parties, must band together against the rascals, as the only way in
which the country can be saved; but we shall soon see.  Write me a few words
of truth and soberness.
"Yours, truly,
"J. D. WEBSTER.
"Hon. BLUFORD WILSON."
On the 15thl of December, while in the city of Saint Louis, I wrote the
President of the United States this letter:
" MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: Pardon me for troubling you to read the inclosed
clipping from yesterday morning's Chicago Trbune.  I might, under ordinary
circumstances, be quite content to let the matter rest where Mr. Ward's explanation leaves it, and to permit that gentleman and the Hon. C. B. Farwell to settle
their own differences in their own way. In view, however, of the many misstatements in relation to myself that have reached you, and of the fact that I did
,not care to go into the matter with the reporter, I wish to say to you that the
whole story of Mr. Farwell, as it relates to me, is utterly and unqualifiedly false.
Even as a joke, a poor one at best, it is wholly without foundation or warrant in
any word or act of mine in reference to any case of any human being either
inside or outside of the whisky-ring suits. If it comes in your way, I will be
obliged if you will show this to Mr. Farwell.  If he has been at you with his
complaint against me, I will take it as a favor if you will call his attention to my
answer.  The situation here and at Chicago seems to be satisfactory.  I return to
Washington to-night.
"With great respect, your friend,
"BLUFORD WILSON."
'HE MUST INDICT FARWELL AND LOGAN."
I wrote that letter in reply to a charge which Farwell caused to be telegraphed
to the Chwago Tribunc, that I had, on the occasion of a certain visit to Chicago,
said to J. D. Ward, while he was district-attorney, that he must indict Farwell
and Logan, and when Mr. Ward asked me for evidence I said to him: "Damn
the evidence; indict them first and find the evidence afterward." I will state that
the Chicago Triune article referred to stated that the telegram was submitted to
Mr. Ward confirming and corroborating it, it should be published. Upon its
being submitted to Mr. Ward, however, he repudiated it in toto, and denied ever
having any conference or connection with me upon which any such interpretation could be placed.  To the reporter of the  y ng, who came to me for a denial, I simply said, "I have none to make to so utterly absurd a charge."
I make this statement because I see that the reporter of the New York Graphic,
and the correspondent of the Chicago Inter-Ocean, in this city, have, in substance,
repeated this charge in a new shape yesterday, in the Graphic, and I presume also
in the Inter-Ocean.  This was my answer, then made, to the Chief Magistrate of
the land, and it is my answer to the charge to-day.
In further response to the question of the committee, both the Secretary and
myself were very early led to entertain grave apprehension as to what the issue
would be in the Babcock matter, for the reason that I learned from the President
and from C. S.'Bell himself, that the President had recommended him to go to
482 
T)I lE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
Saint Louis. I learned from the President, from C. S. Bell, and from the Attorney-General that it was in contemplation to employ Bell to go to Saint Louis and
report not to Mr. Dyer, but directly to the Attorney-General, and that-the reason
for his retention was that the President understood that Dyer and Henderson intended to implicate him in the frauds if possible.
On December 18, 1875, I wrote to Mr. Dyer as follows:
"And now a word of caution.  You have made a mistake in trusting C. S. Bell.
He has been pretending to know that you have been endeavoring to implicate the President, and that it is possible that he may return to Saint Louis.
If he does, put your best man on him at once, and you will soon see where he
trains. If he calls upon you, don't let on that you suspect, but don't trust him
and have him watched. Mind what I say. I know what I am writing about,
and you must burn this on your honor."
" WWHEN I LEARNED THAT IT WAS IN CONTEMPLATION TO SEND THIS MAN BELL
TO ST. LOUIS."
I will state further that I made such representations to the Attorney-General
and to the President, when I learned that it was in contemplation to send this
man Bell to Saint Louis, as induced them to reconsider their proposed action, and
he was not employed.
It is a fact that the President was intensely earnest in the Babcock matter in
opposition to the views of the Secretary and myself. On the 25th of December
he sent for me and confronted me with the charge that it was reported to him
that I was trying to have his brother, Orville Grant,and his son, Col. Fred. D. Grant,
indicted for complicity in the frauds; and in the course of the conversation, he
again asserted to me his earnest belief in Babcock's innocence and his sense of
the great outrage that had been perpetrated on him by Henderson and Dyer in
refusing to send to the military court at Chicago the original evidence contained
in the records of the civil tribunal at Saint Louis. As illustrating the personal
attitude of the President to myself, I may mention that Colonel Grant told the
reporter of the New York Herald, in December, that Babcock's indictment was
the result of a conspiracy between a prominent Treasury official, naming myself,
and Carl Schurz. This I state because the reporter, Mr. Meeker, told me so the
same evening, as did also Mr. Nordhoff, because I brought the attention of the
President himself to it, and on the 2d day of January the attention of Colonel
Fred. D. Grant.
THE CELEBRATED CIRCULAR-LETTER.
I now come to the celebrated circular-letter.  On the 27th day of January, 1876,
I received this note:
"  EXECUTIVE MANSION,
"Washinton, January 27, 1876-12:15 p. m.
" MY DEAR MR. SOLICrrITOR: The President says to drop you a note and ask
you to come over and see him.
"Very truly, yours,
"LEVI P. LUCKEY.
"Hon. BLUFORD WILSON
"Solicitr of the Treasury."
Before going further I will state that I had twice called upon the President of
the United States before I could get an interview with him on the question of the
charge made against me by Colonel Fred. Grant, and for that reason, after that,
I did not call at the White House except when I was sent for. I went over to see
the President promptly, and learned that he was dissatisfied with the course of
the Secretary and myself with reference to the conduct of the prosecutions at
Milwaukee. Chicago and Saint Louis. He objected specifically and earnestly to
our permitting persons who pleaded guilty to be used as witnesses to convict
others; in other words, to using the testimony of accomplices. He called
my attention to the case of the gauger Roddis, of Milwaukee, against
whom a olle prosequi had been entered, and he said to me that there was
quite too much of that thing going on, and read from the report to show
that the nolle prosequi had been entered for the purpose of using Roddis as State's
evidence. He next said to me, "I understand that Everest has returned. I sup
483 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
" MAJOR, WHEN I SAID LET NO GUILTY MAN ESCAPE, I MEANT IT, AND NOT THAT'
NINE MEN SHOULD ESCAPE, AND ONE BE CONICTED."
pose he has been promised immunity too."  I said to him, "Mr. President, so far
as I know, up to this date, Roddis is the only instance in which a nole prosequi
has been entered for the purpose of accepting the party as State's evidence.   In
answer to your question as to whether Everest is not to be prosecuted, I should
say that I have specific information on that point from the district-attorney, and
he tells me that no promise whatever has been made to him, and that none will
be." He asked me what Everest would testify to. I told him that it was said
that Everest would testify that he saw Joyce mail two letters containing $500
each, one addressed to Babcock He asked me when Everest had returned. I
told him that he had returned about the 12th of January, 1876; he asked if I
knew where he was; I told him I believed that he was with his uncle, somewhere
in Western Pennsylvania. He said to me, "Major, when I said let no guilty man
escape, I meant it, and not that nine men should escape, and one be convicted."
I said to him, "Pardon me, Mr. President, we are not in this battle counting heads,
We are trying to break up the unlawful conspiracies and combinations which we
all know exist, and, if possible, to reach those who have inspired and organized
them, and I know of no other way of doing this and obtaining proof of the conspiracy than by going inside of the ranks of the conspirators; and I give it to
you as my judgment that the policy which has been adopted by local counsel upon their independent judgment, and not under the instructions of either the Secretary or myself, will result in the accomplishing this purpose, and that none other
will." Secretary Chandler sat just back at the farther end of the Cabinet room,
and I said to the President, "M r. President, I notice the presence of a member of
the Cabinet. If you give me time to go into this matter, I think I could satisfy
you that you are laboring under a misapprehension."  "0," said he, "it is not
worth while; it is not worth while. I simply wanted to call your attention to the
fact that, in my judgment, there is too much of this going on."  I said to him,
"That being so, I have nothing to do, Mr. President, but to bid you good-morning, "and I did so. I went out deeply impressed with what the President had said
to me. I went to the Secretary of the Treasury and told what had taken place.
I said to the Secretary that, in my opinion, it was of vital importance that he
should see the President on that day; that I had reason to believe, and did believe, that A. P. Tutton, then lately returned from Chicago (on the 20th of January, I believe), had endeavored to create the impression in the mind of the President that we were giving away everything in the city of Chicago for the purpose of convicting Rehm and Hesing and Ward, and while the question as to the
propriety of the policy was not important, it was important that he should see
the President immediately, take with him his letters to Tutton, let me take my
letters to Tutton and his telegrams to Mr. Webster, and explain to the President
the whole case. He reluctantly consented. We went, and the Secretary, with
great particularity, stated to the President fully and fairly, reading from the official documents, the situation of affairs at Chicago. The basis of what the Secretary had to say is covered by this telegram of mine to Mr. Webster, January 14,
1876:
"General J. D. WEBSTER, Chicago, 111.:
"The following dispatch was sent by the Secretary to Tutton this morning. It
ought to cover the ground. He (the Secretary) has implicit confidence in local
counsel and revenue officials:
"'A. P. TUTTON, SupervWsor, &c.
"' As we have not desired any arrangement with indicted parties, so we decline to interfere with any that has been entered into by the United States district
attorney with the approval of his associates and the local revenue officers. Having confidence in their judgment and fidelity, we leave the transaction in their
hands, not doubting that they will do what will best subserve the interests of the
Government.'"
"THE PRESIDENT EXPRESSED HIMSELF WHOLLY SATISFIED."
After the Secretary and myself had concluded our statement and the explanation of our position, the President expressed himself wholly satisfied therewith,
and referred with gre't kindness to General Webster, and then ensued a very
kind and friendly interview touching other matters between the Secretary and
484 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
the President, which it is not necessary or proper for me to go into further than
to say that General Babcock's case was again alluded to, and the Everest testimony was stated to the President by the Secretary.
On the evening of that day I addressed the Secretary the following letter
"JANUARY 27, 1876.
"DEAR GENERAL: I called to bid you bon voyage, and to say that within less
than an hour after our return from the White House, Babcock came in, a little
white and a good deal nervous, and asked me if I had any news. I replied that
I had none except what I had given the President. To which he said,'Yes; it
is that about which I desire to ask you. What does Everest claim about the
$500?' &c., showing that His Excellency had conveyed at once to Babcock every
item of possible evidence which he had received from me. Bab. staid quite a
while; had a very prompt and emphatic denial to every story, and a theory to
fit it. He asked me, on going away, to tell him if anything new turned up.
This I positively refused, but added that I could not deny when the President
asked. He laughed, and said,'That will do just as well,' and we see that it
does. The point of all this is that the President questions me in Babcock's interest. What am I to do? Again, I have no objections on general principles to give
Babcock a fair show if the testimony is really false, but how if it should turn out
to be true, and what right has he, more than any other accused party, to hear
the details of the case against him?
"B. W."
"I DO NOT GO SO FAR AS THE PRESIDENT WANTED ME TO."
About the 29th of January the Attorney-General called for me, and I went
over. He said he wanted to talk to me about the Babcock case and the situation
of affairs at Saint Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee.  I said "Certainly."  He
said, "What is it about this man Everest? " I told the Attorney-General in substance what I had already reported to the President. He said to me that he had
been a good deal troubled by a request which the President had made of him
with reference to writing a circular-letter to the United States district-attorneys,
cautioning them against taking the testimony of accomplices. He said he had
told the President that he saw no other way to get to the bottom except by resorting to the use of the testimony of accomplices, and that after two or three
interviews with the President, the President being very earnest about it, he had
written a letter which he wanted to read to me. He sent his clerk to bringit,
and then for the flrst time he read to me his circular-letter to the district-attorneys. He said, "You note, Wilson, that I do not go so far as the President
wanted me to. I took a draught of that letter over to the President, and read it
to him, and he was not satisfied with it, and wanted me to say in specific terms
that the testimony of no man who entered a plea of guilty should be used in any
prosecution, but that the parties should be given to understand that they should
be brought to punishment." I said, in reply to the Attorney-General, that I was
sorry that the letter had been written; that it would be sure, even in its present
condition, to be misunderstood, and I told him that, in my judgment, it was
equivalent to saying to those who pleaded guilty, "You must not do it; if you
do, you simply render certain your own condemnation, and you have nothing
whatever to expect therefrom." The Attorney-General said he hoped the letter
would not be so understood; and he said, "You note that it is not intended for
publication." I said that if the district-attorneys did not misunderstand it, if it
THEI PRESIDENT DISSATISFIED.
did not create that impression, and if it did not get out, I did not think it would
hurt anything. I said I thought no harm would come of it, because I
did not believe  that  the  district-attorneys  would misunderstand it.  That
was on the 20th. On the night of the 2d or 3d of February, I read the Chicago
Tres, of the 1st of February, and saw that it contained the circular-letter of the
Attorney-General, in substance, with an introduction, in which it was stated, as
I now recollect, that the President of the United States was dissatisfied with the
policy which had been adopted, and that this letter indicated a change with reference thereto. I took the paper at once and went over to General Bristow and
read it to him.  I said to'him that, in my judgment, a profound crisis had arrived
in the prosecutions of tha thieves; that, notwithstanding the assurance of the
485 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
President's satisfaction with what had been decided upon in our interview of the
27th of January, it was clearly evident that he meant to bring about a conflict and
a change of policy; and I told the Secretary that he must take immediate steps to
have an understanding with the Attorney-General and the President.  He agreed
with me. The steps that he took, he himself and the Attorney-General and the
records must show. On the day after the interview with the Secretary of the
Treasury, I saw the correspondent of the Chicago Times, Mir. Keenan, and he told
me that he had received that letter from the hands of Emory Storrs, the counsel
of General O. E. Babcock.
"THE PRESIDENT DETERMINED TO DISMISS BOTH THE SECRETARY AND MYSELF."
I wish to say, also, that Colonel Dyer, of Saint Louis, had a conference with
the Attorney-General, in which, according to Colonel Dyer's statement, the Attorney-General told him, in substance, precisely what he had told me-that the
circular-letter was written at the suggestion and instance of the President of the
United States. It is enough for me to say of my own knowledge that such was
the result of the events. and of the facts that I have here narrated, that the Secretary of the Treasury, by the 15th of February, had resolved that there was nothing left for him but to leave the Cabinet. The personal relations between himself
and the President of the United States were almost wholly broken off. We
learned from many sources that the President had determined to dismiss b"oththe
Secretary and myself at the close of the Babcock trial. One of those sources of
information was such, and so high, that it, taken with other facts, created in my
mind absolute certainty. Here is a letter which I received about that time:
"CHIcAGO, February 16, 1876.
"MY DEAR SIR: I am informed on good authority that General Hurlbut, M.
C., who is now at home, is asserting very strongly that so soon as the Babcock trial
is finished, General Bristow will go out of the Cabinet. I am also told on good
authority that the sensational dispatch in the lnter-Ocean of Monday week, relative to the stormy session of the Cabinet, &c., and which the President so directly
contradicted, was vouched for by Messrs. Logan and Foster, of Ohio. I tell you
this that you may know  who  your friends are.   I see that, according to the
paper, the Secretary had a long talk with the President a few days since. If entirely compatible with the proprietors, I should like very much to know how
matters stood. The opinion that General Babcock will be acquitted, or not convicted, seems to be gaining ground here very rapidly. Should he be clearly vindicated, it would, indeed, be cause for rejoicing.   Please make  my respectful
regards acceptable to General Bristow, and believe me, faithfully, yours,
"J. D. WEBSTER."
On the 10th of February, I addressed the following letter to the President:
"MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: My attention has been called to an article in the
Inter-Ocean which is said to place me in the attitude of having suborned perjury,
and of being a deliberate conspirator against your own good name and that of
your relatives. I have not seen the article in question, but understand that I am
also charged with having pursued Senator Logan and Mr. Farwell by the same
methods. As to these two gentlemen, I am not called to make any explanation
further than to say that I have no ill-will toward them personally.  I hope, however, that, if they had aided or abetted in any way the commission of fraud
on the revenue at Chicago, they will be caught and punished. In reference
to your relatives, I ask as a favor that you will read the inclosed copies of letters
written to Colonel Matthews, supervisor of internal revenue at Chicago. These
copies have been in Judge Pierrepont's possession, as appears from his pencil indorsements thereon.  *  *  I desire to add that every allegation in the article,
so far as reported to me, is unqualifiedly false, whether it emanates from Mr.
Tutton or from whatever source. Before making up your mind in relation to
any statement which reflects upon me, I trust you will have the kindness to
permit me to be heard. I have done no act since I have been in public office
that I am afraid to own, and none, I am sure, which you will not indorse when
you undertand the circumstances and facts leading up to that action.
"With great respect, your friend,
"BLUFORD WILSON.
"P. S.-C. S. Bell was in this morning, with a remarkable story concerning
his connection with Babcock, Luckey and Avery."
486 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
From another source I received this:
"We learn that His Excellency demands your head, and that it is soon to be
brought in on a charger, resembling the head of John the Baptist-I mean the
pious head, not the charger; and we learn that the blood of the solicitor is simply
to sharpen the appetite of the animals for the Solicitor's chief, the Secretary of the
Treasury. Write me confidentially, and then I will mention some other things
we hear in the far West.
"Your friend truly,                                 J. B. HENDERSON."
"THE PAPERS WERE FULL OF IT."
The papers were full of it, and especially those papers that at that time seemed
to have the ear of the authorities at the White House. Therefore I wrote to a
friend: "It is quite certain that as soon as the trial is over B. and I will be
kicked out, and a letter written by the President with the view to destroy one or
both of us. Now, is it better to wait for this or to prepare a letter of resignation?" Such further advice and steps were taken as that both the Secretary and
myself prepared our resignations, to be delivered to the President immediately upon the close of the Babcock trial. On the 24th of February, the
day the Babcock trial closed, I wrote General Webster this letter:
"DEAR GENERAL: Your kind favor of the 10th instant was duly received. Up
to the last day or two there has been only too much foundation for the intimation
of trouble between the President and the Secretary. It has looked as though
there was no power able to prevent a rupture-not so much because of what the
principal parties have said ortalked of each other, but. owing to the industrious
and persistent efforts of busy-bodies and tale-bearers to make trouble and mischief. It undoubtedly is true that General Logan and others of the class of politicians of which he is a type have besieged the President with their clamors
against the Secretary and myself. In the last two days, however, something like
a reaction has set in, owing to the efforts of the best men of the party, and to the
representations made by the leading Republicans of Maine and New Hampshire
that a quarrel here would be ruin to our cause in those States. These counterrepresentations, coming from the best men of the party, have stayed, if they have
not turned, the tide. The President, from the first, has insisted that he would do
nothing rashly or hastily. It is as yet uncertain what the issue may be, though
my faith is strong that the good sense of the President will carry him through
the mazes of misrepresentation and abuse which seem to surround him and our
fortunes. For myself, I have every confidence in his purpose to do right, and
having done only my duty, I am neither anxious nor disturbed about what shall
happen to me. Dexter has been here and has had a long conference with the Secretary, and, at the suggestion of the latter, also called upon the Attorney-General.
I believe the situation is satisfactory, as far as your cases are concerned; and I
am not apprehensive that there will be any interference with the programme that
was laid down by yourself and associates.  Tell Messrs. Ayer and Matthews to
get their guns in position for heavy fighting, and open heavily on the enemy at
the earliest moment. They cannot be too careful in their preparation, nor too
vigilant in strengthening their cases. I hope they will make the conflict sharp
and decisive, and that the chiefs of the ring will be brought to the punishment
they so richly deserve. I have read your note to General Bristow, and he is always
pleased to hear from you, and joins with me in kind regards.
"BLUFORD WILSON."
THE BLACK FRIDAY TRANSACTIONS.
This letter of mine was written on Friday, the 25th day of February, the day
on which Babcock was acquitted. On Sunday night; February 27th, statements
were submitted to the President of the United States, by which it appeared that
Orville E. Babcock, the private secretary of the President, had been engaged in
the Black Friday transactions; that he and others lost in the transaction $40,000;
that the money was lost to Jay Cooke & Co., of whom Fahnestock seemed to be
the party through whom the transactions were had; that to make good his own
losses and that of his associates, Babcock had made a trust deed of his property,
creating Asa Bird Gardner, of West Point, subsequently the judge advocate of
the military court of inqtuiry ordered at Chicago, his trustee. The statement was
made to the President while Babcock was en route from St. Louis to Washington.
487 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
It was, I believe, subsequently verified by competent evidence satisfactory to the
President. The result was that neither General Bristow nor myself went out of
the public service, and that the President of the United States and the Secretary
of the Treasury, in a manner highly creditable to both, were reconciled.
Q. What relation has that fact to the retention of General Bristow in the
Cabinet? A. Because the President then, for the first time comprehended, in
all its significance, the fact that he had been betrayed by Babcock, and that if he
(Babcock) had betrayed him in the Black Friday transactions, he was quite
capable of betraying him in connection with the whisky frauds, and of becoming
a party thereto; and the President recognized that the prosecution against General
Babcock had had its full warrant and justification. I wish now to read a letter
from another friend in Chicago, who is also a friend of the President.
" I   FEBRUARY 26, 1876.
" MY DEAR FRIEND: Webster has just shown me  your letter of the  24th,
which is immensely gratifying to me. I am now quite hopeful that the blow we
have so much dreaded and feared may be averted."
"I HAD WRITTEN AN EDITORIAL ARTICLE FOR'THE NEW  YORK SUN."'
The President sent for me not long after this, and we had a full and very
friendly conference, covering all the questions of difference between us, and the
result was that I supposed I left him entirely satisfied with myself. I will state
here that it has been charged to the President that my office was the rendezvous
of hostile newspaper correspondents, and that I had written an editorial article
for the New York Sun, in which I had praised Bristow, and condemned him,
with many other kindred statements besides those I have already set forth. In
regard to these charges I have simply to say, as I said to the President, that it is
true that several gentlemen of the press honored me with their friendship and
acquaintance, and when they called I treated them courteously, and if I had any
news for them I gave it to them, and if I had none, that was the end of it. On
the 7th of March, being sick, I received this note from General Bristow:
" MY DEAR MAJOR: I am very sorry to hear of your continued illness, and I
hope you will stay at home until you are entirely restored. I wanted to see you
last night, but could not get away from callers. The President sent for me yesterday to say that he was continually told of unfriendly acts and speeches of yours
and Adams. He says it is represented that your room is the rendezvous of unfriendly newspaper correspondents, and that on the day the announcement of
Belknap's crime was made you exclaimed in the presence of a member of Congress,'Well, there is a God in Israel yet,' as if you rejoiced at the announcement; he also said that he was told that you said some days ago,' If I go out the
Secretary will go too.' I told him that I knew nothing of these matters and had
never heard of them, but advised him to send for you and talk with you upon the
whole subject, which he promised to do after to-day. He also said he would talk
with Adams. I write in great haste. Do not come out till you are well, and do
not let this annoy you.
"Faithfully yours,                                            B. H. B."
To this I replied as follows:
"AT HOME, March 7, 1876.
"MY DEAR GENERAL: I have your kind note of this instant informing me of
your interview yesterday with the President in relation to myself, and I use my
right hand at once to denounce to you and the President the infamous liars and
busybodies who so persistently and wickedly misrepresent me to his Excellency.
The member of Congress drew upon his imagination for his facts, as I must emphatically deny using any such language in reference to General Belknap, though
the fact that sin has found him out might not unreasonably be held as proof that
there is indeed a God in Israel. As to the other intimation, that I said some days
ago,'If I go out the Secretary will go too,' and the charge that my room is the
rendezvous of unfriendly correspondents, both are without any just foundation
whatever, as I will be glad to assure the President at his earliest convenience. I
trust that he will give me the names of his informants, and an early opportunity
to see them, either in his presence or yours. General Grant has no better friend
than,
"Yours, truly,                                 BLUFORD WILSON."
488 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
On the 9th of March I addressed the following letter to the President:
"MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: I forward the inclosed letter from General Wilson
because I am too unwell to deliver it in person and too weak to write you in detail. He writes you, doubtless because of a note from me that you were again
troubled by stories touching my fidelity to you and your administration; I regret
that you are subjected to such annoyance on my account, but I believe if you could
see your way either to confront me with those who run to you with their idle inventions, or to give me their names, that I could safely promise there would soon
be an end of the whole matter. I have for now nearly seven years waged persistent warfare upon your enemies and those of your administration whenever I had
just cause to suspect dishonesty and wrong. I have tried always to keep the facts
under my feet and right on my side. I do not claim that I have not made mistakes; doubtless I have made many. I have also made many enemies, some of
them having power and influence. I do not ask you to protect me against them,
but I do ask that you will at least give me equal opportunity to be heard in
my own defense.
"With great respect,                           BLUFORD WILSON."
During the progress of the Babcock trial this despatch was sent from Saint
Louis to-New York:
"SAINT Louis, February 9, 1876.
"Louis DELOMO,
"   No. 168 Forsyth street:
Can you produce evidence against Wilson for big money? Answer.
"J. T. PORTER."
This man J. T. Porter was a witness in General Babcock's trial at Saint
Louis, an ex-secret-service man dismissed by me, and was there to prove that
I  had  given  Washburn,  the  chief  of  the   secret-service,   $5,000 to
make  a  case  against  General  Babcock.   I dismissed  from  the  secretservice, in the Spring of 1876, one William B. Moore, who was a special
agent of the customs, for the reason that he left his post at Baltimore, without
orders and without subpoena, and went to Saint Louis as a witness in General
Babcock's case. He was to swear that he was present in General Babcock's room
at the White House and saw General Babcock receive the letter from Joyce referred to in the testimony of Everest, and that when opened it contained nothing
but a blank sheet of paper. He was not put upon the stand. On his return to
Washington he came to me and made repeated requests that I should pay his expenses while traveling from Baltimore to Saint Louis and returning. This I peremptorily refused to do, and told him that the expenses of the trip must, of course,
be paid by the defense, in whose interest he was a witness; that for me to pay them
would be misappropriation of the public moneys.
GENERAL BABCOCK DISMISSED.
Q. How long after this interview, when you say these friendly relations between
Secretary Bristow and the President were restored, was it that General Babcock
was dismissed or relieved of his position as the President's private secretary? A.
As to that, 1 should think that the committee ought to go to the records.
Q. About how long? A. It is true that General Babcock on Monday resumed
his duties as private secretary and carried a message to the Senate, but my
infornmation is that he vacated the position in two or three days thereafter.
Q. When were those friendly relations which had been restored between the
Secretary of the Treasury again interrupted? A. I cannot say; but there was a
difference between the President and the Secretary with reference to California
matters.
Q. That was in reference, was it not, to the dismissal of revenue officers in
California who were charged with being connected with frauds upon the revenue? A. I believe it was.
Q. Prior to the conversation that you had with the President, and about the
time that these statements were made to him about the connection of General
Babcock with the Black Friday speculation, were you aware of the fact of that
connection? A. I was, for about ten days or two weeks previous thereto.
Q. Was the Secretary of the Treasury? A. He was.
Q. Did the President have any knowledge of that fact? A. I don't think he
did.
489 
490                     THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
Q. Did he communicate to you the facts about Babcock's connection with the
Black Friday matter? A. He did not.
Q. If I understand you, it was not until the jury had acquitted Babcock that
the friendly relations between the President and yourself and Secretary Bristow
were re-established? A. That is the fact.
Q. When did you resign? A. On the 20th day of June last.
Q. What was the occasion of your resignation? A. The immediate occasion of
my resignation was the fact that I had received and accepted, about a month previous, an advantageous offer for professional engagements in my own State, and
further, and no insignificant element in it, was a desire on my part to relieve the
President of the United States of any further embarrassment growing out of my
connection with his administration.
Q. How lung was it after General Bristow gave up his portfolio that you resigned? A. About the same day, I think. I resigned June 20, and General Bristow left June 21.
Q. Did the contemplated retirement of SeeretaryBristow have anything to do
with your withdrawal? A. Yes, sir I will say frankly t hat both General Bristow and myself had decided late in May to resign just as soon as we could do so
without having our motives and purposes misunderstood, and the reason why
General Bristow and myself did not resign earlier, was because it was thought
best, both by the President and the Secretary, that the relation should not be
severed until after the Cincinnati Convention.
"JUNE 20, 1875.
"Sm: For reasons explained to you at our interview this morning, I have the
honor to tender my resignation as Solicitor of the Treasury, to take effect on the
1st day of July next. Permit me to express my gratitude for the opportunities
for public usefulness which you have been kind enough to give me, and to renew
"BLUFORD WILSON."
Q. Was there any reply to that? A. I have never received any response to
that letter, nor have I received any official notification that my resignation as
Solicitor of the Treasury, has been or will be accepted, except as I have seen it in
the appointment and confirmation of my successor.
" THE PRESIDENT RECEIVED ME COLDLY."
Q. What was the conversation on the morning to which you refer in that letter? A. It was a brief one. The President received me coldly. I said to him,
"I have called, Mr. President, to inform you that I have received and accepted
such offers for professional business outside as have decided me to vacate the
office of Solicitor of the Treasury. I do this under the advice of my friends, and
also for the reason that I wish to put an end to the interminable embarrassments
and annoyances to which you are subjected on my account." The President
said, "Very well; that he hoped now, after the Cincinnati Convention, we
would have a season of quiet;" and I said to him, I hoped that during the remainder of his administration he would have peace and quiet; and with the
assurance of my respectful and kindly consideration, I took my hat, bade him
good morning, and went away.
Q. He did not treat you very genially at any time during that interview?
A. He was cold, but polite.
Q. Your relations and his, for some time prior to this resignation, had not been
cordial at all, had they? A. I had not so considered them.
Q. Did it ever occur to you that it was improper for the President of the United
States to listen to the tattle of every fellow that chose to tell stories about an
officer of the Government? A. As to that question, I think my views are presented in my letter of March 9, and in my interview heretofore narrated.
Q. Did the President of the United States ever give you an opportunity of
replying to any of these people other than by mere interviews with himself?
A. Never face to face.
Q. Did he ever indicate to you who these people were, who he said were telling
b 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
him these things? A. Never. He refused to do that, although I asked him; but
I knew full well, upon information entirely satisfactory to me, who they were.
Q. Who were they? A. They were, first and above all, Charles B. Farwell, of
Chicago; John A. Logan, of Illinois; Senator Spencer, of Alabama, and Stephen
Hurlbut, of the House, and perhaps, though I cannot say certainly, Sargent, of
California, together with men like William B. Moore, and one Stewart, a dismissed revenue agent.
Q. At the time that General Babcock gave up his position as private secretary,
was he holding any other office that you were aware of? A. Upon information,
yes; he was an officer of the Engineer Corps of the United States Army, and as
such was Acting Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds of this District.
WASHINGTON, August 2, 1876.
BLUFORD WILSON re-called and further examined.
Question. You spoke about the appointment of Mr. Henderson as one of the
counsel for the Government in Saint Louis in the whisky trial. You also spoke
of conversations which you had had with the President in reference to Mr. Henderson. Did you receive any letter from Mr. Henderson, prior to his dismissal,
explanatory of his position in those cases? Answer. I received a letter from Mr.
Henderson under date of November 5, 1875.
Q. Did you read that letter to the President at any time? A. I had that letter
with me in my interview with the President on the 8th of December.  I showed
it to him.  The Secretary of the Treasury also took the letter to the President-at
least, I gave it to him for that purpose.
Q. Please read the letter. A. [Reading:]
"SAINTT Louis, Mo., November 5, 1875.
"DEAR Sm: I ought to have written you oftener than I have in reference to
the progress of things here. My excuse is that my whole time has been devoted
to the work of developing the inner workings of two'rings,' the Missouri and
Illinois Rings. This duty and that of watching cases in court and preparing to
meet the multiplicity of demurrers, motions, &c., leave me no time to correspond
with anybody. In addition to all this, I have deemed it most prudent that Mr.
Dyer, who is the responsible head of the office, and who is devoted to the work
before him, should attend to the whole correspondence, by which uniformity of
information, without repetition, would be secured. I write now simply to post
you on one or two points, that you may the better understand the present status
and better anticipate the future.
"First, in reference to the marshal of this district. In August last, you remember, I made no positive recommendation in the conversation on the subject
with General Pierrepont, General Bristow and yourself. In September, however,
a letter came from General Pierrepont to Colonel D., asking him to consult me,
and that we join in a recommendation of some fit person. We consulted,
and agreed on Benjamin R. Bonner, of this city. I naturally supposed that
the appointment would at once be made; but owing, I presume, to the President's absence, it was delayed till telegrams came announcing the appointment
of Bonner, and finally until other candidates found out by some means that
Colonel Dyer and myself had recommended Bonner.
"'A MOST BITTER AND RELENTLESS ENEMY."
"Thereupon, divers persons from this city, who seem to know more about the
duty of the Government attorneys than they do themselves, proceeded to Washington and most kindly informed the President that I was a most bitter and relentless enemy of his, both personally and politically, and that the appointment
of Bonner was a scheme devised to aid in the purposes of my malevolence.
They further urged him to think, as I have reason to believe, that the developments here as to his secretary, General Babcock, were nothing but a put-up job to
strike the President himself by aspersions and calumnies upon persons occupying
confidential relations with him. These things were said, not because they had
one particle of foundation in truth, but simply to effect the defeat of Bonner and
the appointment of their own favorites. These things so long delayed the appointment that Newcomb had already been compelled to summon both grand and petit
jurors for the term. After this was done, it was exceedingly doubtful whether it
would be politic to change officers until after the court, and this conviction was
the more strongly impressed upon my mind by the antecedents of some of those
491 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
who might be appointed. How easy for the incoming man to practice treachery
and place the responsibilitv of our failure on the shoulders of the outgoing officer
who summoned the juries; hence, with a double view, one in the interest of the
public service here, and the other to thwart a political trick which its projectors
expected to accomplish through falsehood to the President and injustice to me, I
telegraphed to General Pierrepont to postpone the change of marshals, bult in
the course of ten days after that dispatch signed by Eaton and myself, I became
satisfied that the present marshal should not be retained on my responsibility, and
Eaton seemed to feel equally the necessity of divesting'himself of all responsibility in that behalf. He requested that I go to Washington. The court was in
session. I could not leave, and he concluded to see about two things, to wit, first,
whatecould be done in regard to the marshal, and to remove from Mr. Pierrepont's
mind all apprehension in regard to the personal malevolence of the assistant prosecutors here toward the President, and the secret purpose on our part of injuring
the party, as he, Mr. Pierrepont, seemed to have been informed. Under the circumstances I concurred in his going, and I hope and believe he has confined himself to the objects of his mission after he left: the night after new facts were disclosed to me, which made it certain not only that Newcomb should not be retained
but also that no explanations in regard to Mr. Babcock could be made without
making ourselves ridiculous in the future; hence, I sent the dispatch which you
have, and which you can easily understand in the light of what I have now said.
To conclude on this subject, the Department has my recommendation of Mr.
Bonner for that place, and I do not and shall not change it, and still believe he
Should be appointed. Circumstances are such as to make it impossible for me
to intimate that Mr. Newcomb should remain.
"Second.  In regard to the prosecutions here, you may have absolutely no appreh.ensions. No one will be indicted, except those whose guilt can and will be
established before a petit jury. We are prudent; ay, more, we are cautious. But
we have unwound the skein of the most gigantic fraud perpetrated of late years,
and intend to bring every one connected with it (high or low) to condign punishment. So far as I am concerned, I have no malice against any man indicted, and
my whole action shall be based on a simple discharge of duty. Under these circumstances, I desire that General Pierrepont, who, perhaps, has become unne cessarily frightened by the stories of interested parties, should guard  against
any premature gush of sympathy predicated upon the hypocritical plea of malice
on my part against any one prosecuted, or to be prosecuted, either civilly or
criminally; and what I say in reference to myself, I think I can truthfully say in
reference to all connected with the attorney's office here.
"Third. As to the progress of our work, you are doubtless informed from day
to day by Colonel Dyer, and, I need hardly say, that recent developments here
make it certain that the service in Illinois and Wisconsin has been as corrupt as
that in Missouri, since 18 71.
"It is difficult for us to unearth it at this point as it should be done, but we
will be able soon to give you sign-posts, by which your officials in Illinois may
unerringly travel to the exposure and conviction of the guilty.
"Now, excuse me for this bore, and believe me yours, truly,
" J. B. HENDERSON.
"Hon. BLUFORD WILSON."
I wish to close this matter with a letter from General J. D. Webster, then Collector of Internal Revenue, at Chicago, who is referred to by Mr. Dexter in the
letter just read from him, and referred to, also, in my communication, and who
was the party at whose instance I went to Chicago at the time, and under the
circumstances referred to in my letter.   General Webster's letter is as follows:
GENERAL WEBSTER'S LETTER.
"CHICAGO, February 6, 1876.
" MY DEAR SIR: From intimations in the papers and other things I begin to
fear that the efforts to make a breach between the President and Secretary have
been at least partially successful. If so, I deeply regret it. A few days ago, I
wrote a long letter to the President on the situation here, our policy as to the
trials, &c. I rote strongly, as it seems to me nothing but mischief can result
from any interference now. The skirmishing is over, and the whole team is en
492 
THE  WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
gaged. It is no time to change the plan of battle. I cheerfully assume all the
responsibility that my position makes it proper for me to claim. I am sure our
policy was and is the right one-the best to secure the ends of justice. I hope
Mr. Ayer and Mr. Dexter will go to W. to see the Attorney-General and the
Secretary.  It is so much better to talk than to write.  Could I do any good by
going? I am anxious about the political future. To succeed, the Republican
party must re-affirm strongly the doctrine of natwionality, and must make the
people believe that it is in dead  earnest for administrative honesty a?d integrity.
These two are the great ideas now in the minds and heads of our best men, and
with them we can win. If you can enlighten me any on the situation, please do
so. Are there any new combinations? We are now consulting here on the'best
way to get the influence of the best men uppermost.   The'bummers' are desperate-but they mean to control yet, if possible.
"Very truly, yours,
"J. D. WEBSTER.
"HON. BLUFORD WILSON."
Q. Before you leave this subject, I desire you to state what you know in regard
to the nolle prosequi of the indictments against Ward and Wadsworth, in relation to which Mr. Bangs certified yesterday? A. On that point I have to say
that I was firmly opposed to the dismissal of the cases against Ward and Wadsworth, and my views on that subject were communicated to the local counsel in
a letter written on the 29th of May last, shortly after the acquittal of Munn, from
which this is an extract:
"T. S. KINNEY, Revenue Agent:
"And now as to the revenue cases, don't yield-not an inch.  Munn, Ward and
Wadsworth are guilty, and must not escape except on the verdict of juries after a
most determined and vigorous fight. The Sagetown case, not resting on Rehm's
testimony, ought to be kept on the docket and studied thoroughly by Bangs, with
Washburn's help. McKinney and Dixon should be strengthened all in your power,
and no effort should be spared to bring out all the facts, leaving the results to
judge and jury. In no event should nolles be entered. The cases may be continued, if necessary, a single term, in order to study the situation and gather
strength for a new start; meanwhile General Bristow and myself will call together
to-morrow on the Attorney-General and demand that our lawyers be paid. The
Secretary knows the sentiments expressed on the other page, and agrees fully
therein. You can read this, if you think best, to Dexter and Ayer, but I have no
doubt the Commissioner of Internal Revenue will give you official advices to the
same purport, and don't continue unless absolutely necessary.
"Faithfully, your friend,
"BLUFORD WILSON."
That letter was received by General Kinney, and by him read to the local counsel and the local revenue officers, as indicative of the views of General Bristow
and myself as to the disposition that ought to be made of those cases. Subsequently
those views were re-affirmed and re-asserted by me in consultation with the local
counsel and the local revenue officers at Chicago, in which consultation every one
of them without exception, in response to my question, expressed a conviction of
the guilt of Ward and Wadsworth; whereupon I said to them that if they (onscientiously believed from the evidence that the men were guilty, that closed the
argument, and the cases should be tried, and the responsibility for the acquittal left
where it properly belonged-with the judge and juries.
THE CIRCULAR LETTER OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL AS AN INTERFERENCE WITH
THE PROSECUTION OF GENERAL BABCOCK.
Q. You state that you regard the circular-letter of the Attorney-General as an
interference with the prosecution of General Babcock. Have you not also stated
in your direct examination that if the letter had not been published it would
have had no effect upon the prosecution? A. I believe that I have, for the reason that it would have remained alone in the knowledge of the Attorney-General
and prosecuting officers, and would not have reached the parties for whom it
was evidently designed-the witnesses.
Q. Are you prepared to say that the President had anything to do with the
publication of that letter? A. I am not.
Q. Do you think that he was entirely innocent of its publication? A. That is a
493 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
matter of opinion, merely, and I decline to answer the question, but do no wish
any inferences to be drawn one way or the other with reference to my retusal to
answer.
Q. You say it was handed to the Chicago limes by Mr. Storrs? A. Yes;
and I should here say that Mr. Storrs has himself so stated to me.
Q. Did he not say at the time, and was it not so stated in the public press that
it was published by Mr. Storrs? A. I do not think he did; no, sir. Mr. Storrs
told me on the 3d day of June last, when I met him in Chicago, that he gave
the letter to the Times correspondent.
Q. Do you not thi nk that that letter was entirely a proper one? A. No, sir 
I do not, under the circumstances under which it was issued, but to the contrary.
Q. What was the date of its issue? A. I think it was dated either the 26th
or the 28th of June. I am not sure which.
[A copy of the letter referred to is produced by Mr, Plaisted and handed to the
witness.]
The WITNESS. Having a copy of the letter before me, I find it is dated January
26, 1876.
The letter is as follows
"DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
"Washington, D. C., January 26, 1876.
"DEAR SIR: My attention has to-day been called to many newspaper reports,
stating that in Saint Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee, large numbers of guilty men
who confess their guilt are to be let off from prosecution and punishment. I cannot suppose that this is true, but my attention being called to it, I direct a letter
to each of those places, that the district-attorneys may know that suggestions
have been made that quite too many guilty men were to go unpunished. I am
aware that in the excitement many unfounded rumors will gain credence, and I
repose on your good judgment to prevent any possible scandal from anything that
would even look like favoritism toward those who have defrauded the Government. It is the President's reiterated desire that no guilty man shall escape. I
do not know that there is any intention on the part of any one charged with the
administration of the laws to favor any person, and the appearance of any such
favoritism should be very carefully avoided. I write this by way of abundant
caution, for I am determimed, so far as lies in my power, to have these prosecutions so conducted that when they are over the honest judgment of the honest
men of the country, which is sure in the main to be just, will say that no one has
been prosecuted from malice, and that no guilty one has been let off through
favoritism, and that no guilty one who has been proved guilty, or confessed himself guilty, has been suffered to escape punishment.
"Yours, very respectfully,
"EDWARDS PIERREPONT,
"Attorney-General.
"DAVID P. DYER, Esq.,
"United States Atorney, Saint Lous, Mo."
Q. Take that letter, and point out wherever you regard it as improper. A.
Take the first sentence: "My attention has been called to many newspaper reports stating that in St. Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee, large numbers of guilty
men who confess their guilt are to be let off from prosecution and punishment."
That statement, ignoring as it does entirely the fact which he must also have seen
in the same newspaper reports that these men were accepted as State's evidence,
to be used against other people, is a very objectionable and unfair presentation
of the case.  Then take the sentence:  "I do not know that there is any intention on the part of any one charged with the administration of the laws, to
favor any person, and the appearance of any such favoritism should be very
carefully avoided." As there was nothing, either in the official communications
to the Attorney-General from the prosecuting officers, or from any other reliable
official source, that reflected, as the Attorney-General's language does reflect,
upon the candor and fairness of the district-attorneys, that sentence contains an
imputation utterly unbecoming the head of the Department of Justice, and uncalled for under the circumstances. The last sentence or clause in which he says,
"and that no guilty one, who has been proved guilty, or confessed himself
guilty, has been suffered to escape punishment," was a square blow at the right
of the distrfct-attorneys to accept the testimony of accomplices, and, in substance,
494 
THE WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.
said to those men who had confessed their guilt, and who had been, or were abou
to be, acceptedlas State's evidence.
" SHUT YOUR MOUTHS; YOU HAVE NOTHEING WHATEVER TO GAIN BY TALKING OR
CONFESSING."
Q. What have you now to say in reference to the tendency of the whole letter,
written as it was at that time? A. It was, under the circumstances, a square
issue with the district-attorneys at St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Chicago, and was
equivalent to a command to them not to make terms with any person who confessed his guilt. It struck a vital blow at the hope of the Treasury Department
and of the local officers to reach, by means of accomplices, the really guilty
parties in the conspiracies-the men who had inspired and organized them.
495 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
Why He was Acquitted by a Republican Senate.
HIS LAWYER ARGUED THAT HE WAS NO MORE
GUILTY OF BRIBETAKING THAN GRANT.
The following main portions ofthe argument of HON. E. G. LAPHAM, one of thetwo
Republican managers in the impeachment trial of W. W. Belknap, and the concluding
portion of the argument of HON. J. S. BLACK, the leading counsel for the defendant,
supply all the facts necessary to give an intelligent idea of the crime of the late Secretary of War the defense on which he relied, and the flimsy pretext on which the
Republican Senate condoned the offense, which none dared to deny and very few attempted to palliate.
ARGUMENT OF HON. E. G. LAPHAM, (REPUBLICAN,) OF NEW YORK.
If, as these articles charge, he has abused that confidence, betrayed his trust, and
fallen from the high position almost at the first presentation of temptation, the conclusion that he is thus guilty deters all just minds from cultivating any sympathy in his
behalf, however much we commiserate the position in which he is placed by his own
voluntary acts. On the contrary, his case demands the most stern and fearless execution of all the punishments provided by the Constitution and laws in such cases.
The articles of impeachment charge:
First.-That the defendant, being Secretary of War, promised to appoint Marsh
as post-trader at Fort Sill; that thereafter, and on the 8th day of October, 1870, Marsh
and Evans made the agreement which has been put in evidence; that on the 10th day
ofO ctober, 1870, the defendant, at the request of Marsh, appointed Evans post trader;
and that on the 2d of November, 1870, and at the end of each three months thereafter
for one year, the defendant corruptly received from Marsh the sum of $1,500 in consideration of the appointment of Evans and of retaining him in his place.
Second.-That on the 4th of November, 1873, the defendant corruptly took and
received from Marsh the sum of $1,500, in consideration of which he corruptly agreed
to retain said Evans at said military post.
Third.-That the defendant,'being Secretary of War, and having authority to appoint a post-trader at Fort Sill, dic at the request of Marsh, on the 10th October, 1870,
appoint Evans, who continued to hold the office to March, 1876; that before the appointment Evans and Marsh made the said agreement, and in pursuance of the same
Evans paid Marsh quarterly for the first year the sumn of $12,000, and large sums
after that until December, 1875; that on the receipt of each sum by said Marsh, he,
said Marsh, laid one-half to the ctefendant; that the defendant, well knowing these
facts and having the power to remove Evans, disregarded his duty and permitted him
to remain the post-trader at Fort Sill.
,* 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
Fourth.-That the defendant, on the 10th of October, 1870, did appoint said Evans
post-trader at Fort Sill, and for such appointment and for continuing him in office did
receive from Marsh large sums of money; and in this article are seventeen specifications setting forth the date and amount of each payment.
Fifth.-That on the 10th of October, 1870, the defendant appointed Evans as posttrader at Fort Sill, and permitted him to retain the place until March, 1876: that the
defendant was induced to make the appointment at the request of Marsh, in consideration of which Evans paid Marsh $12,000 a year until tl.e 25th of March, 1872, and
$6,000 a year thereafter; yet the defendant, in consideration he would permit Evans
to retain said post, did receive from Marsh for his own use, or to be paid over to his
wife, the several sums of money stated in the specifications of the fourth article.
BELKNAP VIRTUALLY CONFESSES HIS GUILT.
To these articles the defendant has put in no answer or denial but stands mute,
and the trial bv an act of mercy to him has proceeded as upon a plea of not guilty.
if he reallv had a valid and tangible defense, one would have supposed he would
have gladly availed himself of the opportunity to spread upon the record and to have
called some one or more of the one hundred and niliety-seven witnesses we were noti.
fied he should call to prove such defense and to establish his innocence.
Indeed the learned counsel for the defendant (Judge Black) in substance, in one
of his earlier speeches during the progress of the trial, characterized the defense upon
which General Belknap relied and which he believed to be complete as being so inexpressibly painful to him that the House have better had taken his life than put him on
trial for this accusation. The defense has not been presented for the consideration of
the Senate; none of the one hundred and ninety-seven witnesses have been called to
establish the said defense under the assumed plea of not guilty.
But hle has been content to call witnesses to prove that down to this charge he
sustained a good character, and without attempting to deny or disprove the payment
of these large sumns of money, amounting in the aggregate to over $21,000.  His previous good character will be of little avail if these payments and the purpose for which
they were made are established by the evidence in the case, as we shall claim they
are beyond all question. It is only in doubtful cases, or those depending mainly upon
circumstantial evidence, that proof of good character is of importance to a person accused of crime.
It is not necessary in this case, in order to convict the defendant, that he shall be
shown to have committed an offense punishable by law as a statutory offense.   This
was fully settled in the case of President Johnson, and the Barnard case in New York,
and is thile recognized doctrine of most of the elementary writers.
The defendant may be convicted, we submit, under the fifth article for receiving
for his wife and family those various sums of money, and keeping Evans in his place in
consideration thereof, as well as for receiving it for a like purpose for his own use.
A dmnitting, as the evidence tends to show, that the first remittance was for his
second wife and the second and third for his child, yet the subsequent payments were,
as sworn to by Marsh, for the defendant's own  use, and the defendant's present wife
was in no event to have an interest in the money.
THE EVIDENCE AGAINST BELKNAP.
We are brought, then, to a consideration of the evidence, with a view of ascertaining what are the facts proven to establish the guilt of the defendant.
Senators will bear in mind it is only a question of fact which r emains to be de-'
cided. The question of law as it affects the jurisdiction of the court has been decided,
the judgment of the court has been entered thereon, and the court has ordered the trial
of this question of fact as upon a plea of not guilty.  In the Barnard case in New York,
three judges of the Court of Appeals and seven senators voted against jurisdiction on
all the articles charging Judge Barnard with offenses committed during a term of office which had expired beforie he was impeached.   Yet the same judges and senators
voted him guilty on the articles thus objected to for want of jurisdiction, on several of
which the vote was unanimous that the respondent was guilty. After the question of
jurisdiction was settled there it became a question of tact, as it is here, does the proof
establish the guilt of the respondent?
That the relations between the defendant and Marsh were more than usually intimate for some  cause, is very fully established by the proof;  and  yet they were
strangers until after the passage of the act of July, 187t), giving tile appointment of
post-traders to the Secretary of War. The section conferring that power was put in
the Army Appropriation Bill on the recommendation of the Secretary of War, as stated
32
it'
491  
THE  I]BEAOIHENT OFP BELKNAFR.
in the Ti'ibune article, and as proved by Mr. Crosby, and not denied by the defendant
-This change, which took from the post council of administration the power to control
the sutler in his prices, and -uperseded the act of 1866, which provided that the soldiers should have their supplies at cost, gave to a post-trader, when appointed, the
sole occupant of a military post, a complete monopoly of prices without any check or
restraint whatever.
It appea rs by the (evidence that the first application of Evans to be appointed posttrader at Fort Sill was made as early as the 23d of June, 1870, nearly a month before
the act empowering the Secretary to make the appointment became a law. It is
signed by all the officers at that post, indorsed by General Grierson, and is, I venture
to say, the strongest recommendation ever made to the respondent for such an appointment. By this it is evident that in military circles it was known or believed the
respondent was to be clothed with this power.  This recommendation was accompanied by a letter from General Grierson and an application from Evans, found on
page 133 of the record. There was also a second recommendation forwarded by Evans,
which is signed by the same officers as the one of the 23d of June, is without date, but
-was filed in the office of the Adjutant-General on the 25th of July, 1870.  On the 18th
of August, 1870, Evans wrote the defendant from Philadelphia, calling his attention to
,the recomijendations he had sent, and to the fact that hlie and Mr. D)urf'ee had large interests at stake and would suffer irreparable loss unless retained as traders at Fort
Sill.
There was no other application for the post at Fort Sill, except the one made by
Marsh, which bears date August t6, 1870, two days before the letter of Evans.  Was
the letter written at that date, or being written alterward, and after Marsh had made
the acquaintance of the Secretary of War, was it antedated so as to precede the date of
the letter of Evans? Bear in mind, senators, the applications of Evans, so well supported, as I have shown, were on file from and after the 25thl of July, 1870.
Now, what is the evidence as to the time when the defendant first saw  Marsh?
According to the recollection of Marsh, the first he ever saw respondent was at his
house, in September, 1870-. The defendant undertook to show by Marsh that he first
saw him at Long lBranch, in September, 1870, but Marsh does not remember that; and
what Marsh says upon seeing thie letter dated August 16, 1876, is reasoning, and not
recollection. These two applications by Evans and Marsh were filed the same day,
September 23, 187 0; and it is very evident, from Marsh's testimony, that he had not
made the acquaintance of the defendant until that month.
The application of Marsh, bearing date the 16th of August, 1870, has upon it two
indorsements in the handwriting of the defendant, as follows: "Receive I August 16,
1870."  The proof establishes, by the records of the War Office, that the defendant was
absent from Washington from the 12th of August to about the middle of September.
He could not have received it, therefore, on the 16th, unless addresse to him at some
other place, which is not to be presumed, and is not shown. The double endorsement
of its eceipt by the defendant is, at least, a suspicious circumstance in the case.
There was nothing in support of the application of Marsh. The indorsement of
Congressman Stevenson bears date the 2d of November, 1870, which was after the
appointment of Evans was made. When it was received at the War Department does
not appear. The evidence of Evans shows that he called on the Secretary of War
early in October with reference to his application. The Secretary told him he had
promised the appointment to Marsh, who would be in the city that or the next even.
ing, and he had better see him and they could probably make some satisfactory
arrangement.
THE ARGUMENT BETWEEN EVANS AND MARSH.
Marsh says hlie was called to Washington by a telegram from the respondent or
Mrs. B.; that he came here and called on the Secretary, and was informed by him
that Evans was in the city and he had better see him. The Secretary also said that
Evans had a large stock on hand at Fort Sill, and he (Marsh) ought to make some
arrangement to save him from loss. The defendant told him where Evans would be
found. (See page 164 of the record.) At this suggestion Marsh called on Evans, aid
they made the arrangement preliminary to the agreement of the 8th Oetober, 1870.
The sum of $20,000 was first exacted by Marsh; finally $15,000 was fixed, and the
parties were to go to New York the next day and have the writings drawn. On the
way to New York, the next day, Evans stated to Marsh he had seen a statement in
the papers that a portion of the troops stationed at Fort Sill were to be removed; that
$15,000 was inorethan he could pay, and the sum of $12,000 was finally agreed upon,
to be paid quarterly in advance. Why paid in advance? Clearly friom the terms of
the agreement to secure the certain payment of the bonus and to enable Evans to hold
498 
THE  IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
the place.  It was not to be a division of profits, but the payment in advance of a
fixed sum whether Evans made profits or not.  If he had not made a dollar or a dime,
he was bound to pay this large bonus or surrender his post. I desire Senators to read
at this time arid -in this connection the agreement as finally executed on the 8th October in the city of Newv York.  It will be found in the trial RECORD at page 112, or in
the CONGRESSIONAL RECORD of July 7.
It will be seen, Senators, that the parties, after seeing the Secretary of War sepa
rately and receiving the directions as I have stated, made their preliminary arrangements and left for New York, without again calling on the Secretary on the subject.
What do we next learn in regard to the appointment? It is the letter from Marsh to
the respondent, written on the 8th October, the same day of the agreement, and sent
from tile city of New  York by mail to Mr. Belknap.  This is the letter which was
never put on the files of the War Department, which was never indexed by Crosby in
the index of semi-official letters which was tal-en away by the respondent from the
files of the War Office, and only produced here on notice by us that unless produced
we should give parol evidence of its contents. It is the key which unlocks the whole
mystery which surrounds this case up to this point, and lays bare the motives which
actuated the respondent in making the appointment of Evans.  It reads:
"DEAR Sm: I have to ask that the appointment which you have yii'eR to me as
post4rader at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, be made in the name of John S. Evans, a. rt'
will be moe coaeneto  met  aehmmay   hebsnrtpeet
C. P. MARSH.
"P. S.-Please send the appointment to me, 51 West Thirty-fifth street, Newr
York City.
" Hon. W. W. BELENAr,
"Secretary of War, Washington City."
Although this letter is the one upon which the defendant obviously acted in
making tihe appointment in the name of Evans, as the appointment was sent according
to the request contained therein, it was withdrawn from the War Office by the de
fendant about the time of his resignation, and, was only produced in pursuance of
notice by us, as I have already stated.
Two days after this the respondent made the following appointment:
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washingtoi City, October 10, 1870.
SiR: Under the provisions of section 22 of the act of July 15, 1870, you are
hereby appointed a post-trader at Fort Sill. Indian Territory, and will be required to
assume your duties as such within ninety days from the date of this appointment
You will please report to this Department thlrough the Adjutant-General's Office your
acceptance or non-acceptance of this appointment.
of War.P,
of Wa-r.
Mr. JOHN S. EvANS,
Care of C. P. MIarsh, Esq., 51 West Thirty-fifth street, New York City.
POST-TRADERSHIPS BARTERED BY BELENAP.
Senators, can any man fail to see the obvious truth shown by this letter, and the
inferences which are inevitable from the circumstances and langulage employed?  Was
there ever any agreement, says the defendants counsel to Marsh, between you and Mr.
Belknap that he should share in any money paid you by Evans? Of course Marsh
replied there was none.  But what does this letter show?  Oti its face it is a proposition to farm out this appointment for the benefit of Marsh.   "I want my appointment
as post-trader at Fort Sill made in the name of Evans, as it will be more convenient for
me to have him manage the business for me at present," is the fair import of its
language.   General Mcl)owell was nearer right than appears on the surface when he
assumed that Marsh and not Evans was the post-trader at Fort Sill.
ThIe appointment, it will be seen, was sent to Marsh as requested, and Evans on the
1st day of December, 1870, accepted the same by letter to the Adjutant-General as
provided in the appointment.  On the,l4th January, 1871, the defendant issued an
order as follows:
499. 
TIIE IMPEACHIMENT OF BELKNAP.
A. G.
Commanding officer at Fort Sill to be notified to remove all traders from thatpost except Mr. J. S. Evans, who was appointed by Secretary of War under act
July 15, 1873. I understand that Mr. Walker still remains there with stock of
goods.
W. W. B.
January 14, 1871.
This was sent on the 17th of February, 1871, to Colonel Grierson, in command at
Fort Sill, and on the 26th of February, 1871, Colonel Grierson reported to the Secretary as follows:
HEADQUARTERS, FORT SILL, INDIAN TERRITORY,
February 26, 1871.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of communication of January
17, 1871, relative to the removal of all traders from this reservation other than J. S.
Evans, who has been appointed by the Secretary of War.
Immediately upon being informed  by Mr. Evans  that he was prepared to enter
upon the duties of trader, Mir. Walker was notified to close his store anid remove his
stock, &c. from the military reservation without delay.   (Copy of letter herewith
enclosed.)
OTHER TRADERS FORCED TO LEAVE FORT SILL FOR EVANS BENEFIT.
Mr. Walker, failing to sell his goods to Mr. Evans, was given a reasonable time
to obtain the necessary transportation to remove his property, which arrangement
was perfectly satisfactory to Mr. Evans, as he informed me then and since. The
goods, buildings, &c., were all removed about the 1st of January.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
B. H. GRIERSON,
Colonel Tenthi Cavalry, Commanding.
To the ADJUTANT-GENERAL, United States A?rmy,
Washington, District of Columbia.
We prove by the Adjutant-General that simultaneously with the appointment of
Evans an order was issued containing the following:
As soon as Mr. Evans shall be prepared to enter upon the discharge of his duties,
you will cause the removal from the military reservation at Fort Sill, Indian Territory, of all traders not ho ding a letter of appointment from the Secretary of War
under said act.
This the Adjutant-General states was the form of an order sent upon the appointment of each post-trader; but the order of the 14th January, ] 871, which I have
read, was applicable at Fort Sill only. Upon the receipt of the order issued upon the
appointment of Evans, the officer in command at Fort Sill gave notice to the other
traders at Fort Sill to immediately close their stores and remove from that military
reservation. There were at that time trading at Fort Sill, Messrs. Walker, J. C. Dent
& Co., and Mr. Durfee. They all had valuable stocks of goods, and it was as detrimental to them to be compelled to leave as the respondent said to Marsh it would be
to Evans. But they were in the way of the objects sought to be accomplished by appointing Evans for the convenience of Marsh, and so they had to "step down and
out," no malter at what sacrifice. On the 1st of June, 1870, the respondent issued
his order, among other things revoking the Army Regulations in regard to settlers,
which are in the following words:
196. Tile post council shall prescribe the quantity and kind of clothing, small
equipments, and soldiers' necessaries, groceries, and all articles which the sutlers
may be required to. keep on hand; examine the sutler's books and papers, and fix
the tariff of prices of the said goods or comnlodities; inspect  the  sutler's weights
and measures; fix the laundress's charges, and make regulations for the post school.
197. Pursuant to the thirtieth article of war commanding officers reviewing the
proceedings of the council of administration will scrutirnize the tariff of prices proposed by them, and take care that the stores actually furnished by the sutler correspond to the qtality prescribed.
So that by this act of the defendant, Evans was allowed to charge his own prices
without check or restraint from any one.
600 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
BELKNAP SHIELDS EVANS.
In October, 1871, a serious complaint was made against Evans that he was introducing spirituous liquors and wines and ale into the Indian country. The complaint was made by the United States Attorney of the Western District of Arkansas
to the Solicitor of the Treasury, and by him on the 28th of October, 1871, referred to
the Secretary of War. On the 2d of November, 1871, the defendant informed the
Solicitor that Evans & Co. had the right to take to that post ten gallons of brandy
and ten gallons of whisky monthly for the use of the officers, but no permit had been
given him to introduce any liquors into that country. The defendant has proved that
on the 28th of October, 1871, the samie day Solicitor Banfield referred the matter to
him for consideration, he, without request from any one, so far as appears, and certainly without the advice of the officers stationed at the post, or any of them, issued
an order to Evans of his own volition, which could not have reached Evans before the
letters of the 2d and 8th of November.  On the 8th of November, 1871, the defendant
addressed to the Solicitor the following:
WAR DEPARTMENT, Yovember 8, 1871.
SIR:-In further response to your letter of the 28th ultiino on the subject of the
:alleged illegal introduction of liquors, &c., into the Indian country by certain persons, among others Evans & Co., of Fort Sill, I have the honor to inform you that
Mr. John S. Evans, post-trader at Fort Sill, through his friends, denies having taken
liquor into the Indian country without authority. Mr. Evans was appointed to the
post-tradership on October 10, 1870, and holds it in his own name, and not in that
of Evans & Co., and no complaint has ever been made against him by the military
authorities at Fort Sill, he having been regarded a good and law-abiding business
man.
I therefore request that no proceedings be commenced against him without a
thorough investigation of the charges that he has been engaged in such practices
shows they were well founded.
W. W. BELKNAP,
Secretary of War.
The SOLICITOR OF THIE TREASURY
Who were the "friends" throug
Evans denies having taken liquor ilnto
-could have been heard from Fort Sill
to hear from there by mail if there w
War Department show no such cormn
tion not to prosecute Evans and the l
itism oi the part of the defendant,
consider the remaining evidence in te
It does appear, however, that on
General Grierson on the subject, and  i
LPe
SIR: Respectfully referring to yo
report that more ale, wine, and port
contemplated by me in my indorseme
the authority of the officer temporari
the field.
I do not think that the post-tr
my indorsement referred to; yet I
strictions imposed therein.  As to th
the report of John S. Evans, also to
duction, herewith inclosed.
Very respectfully, your
B. I. GRIERSON,
Colonel Tenth brnited States Cavalry, Commanding.
Eion. W. W. BELKNAP
Secretary of War, TVastington, D. C.
Although this letter is marked "personal," unlike the Marsh letter, not so designated, it was placed on the files of the War Office. On the 5th December, 1871, the
defendant addressed a similar inquiry to General Sheridan, to which no answer was
ever received, or at least none appears on the records of the War Office. The alleged
irregularity of Evans being thus bridged over for the time, nothing occurred to revive
501 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
the excitement until the Tribune article of the 16th of February, 1872. General
Hazen, aho had been in command at Fort Sill, furnished the facts therein stated.
This the defendant knew, and he also knew the contents of the article so p)ublished.
This publication, after stating the history of the abolition of the sutlerships. which
were under the control of the couiicil of administration as to their cha ges, and stating
the fact that after the war it was provided that the (Commissary ])el)artment should
furnish the articles theretofore kept by sutlers, at cost price; that this was regarded
as irksome and was disregarded, and that on the recommendation of the defendant the,
Act of 1870 was enacted, concludes with the following quotation from an officer stationed at Fort Sill:
0~ ~~Ihv   nietlylandta   ouhv     eiet   nwwehrabnsi
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington City, February 17th, 1872.
The commanding officer at Fort Sill will report at once directly to the AdjutantGeneral of the Army, for the intormation of the Secretary of War, as to the bosines
character and standing of J. S B vans, post-trader at that post, whether his prices for'
goods are exorbitant and unreasonable or whether his goods are sold &t a fair prolit;
whether the prices charged now and since his appointment to that position by the'
Secretary of War, under the act of July 15th, 1810, are higher than those charged by
him prior to that appointment, when he was trader under previous appointment;
whether he has taken advantage of the fact that he is sole trader at that post to oppress
purchasers by exorbitant piices; whether he charges higher prices to enlisted men
than to officers; and whether he has complied with the requirements of the circular of
the Adjutant-General's office, issued June 7th, 1871.
W. W. B.
It will be observed there is not a word in this about the real evil, the payment of
the $12,0(10 per year quarterly in advance, one-half of which has been regularly sent to
the defendant as we have proved.
The response of General Giierson shows how a disinterested and faithful officer
performed his duty, and is as lollows:
IA E, FORT SILL, INDIAN TERRITORY,
February 28th, 1872.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL, UNITED STATES ARMY,
Washington, D. C.
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter dated February
lqth, 1872, relative to the post-trader at this post.
EVANS NOT AT FORT SILL FOR MONTHS.
I understaad J. S. Evans's character as a business man is good, and he has her*
tofore given general satisfaction; but Mr. Evans is absent, and has been for some
b02 
TIHE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
months, and has associated with him J. J. Fisher, now also absent, who  has had control of the establishment and who claims to have the greater pecuniary interest in the
business, (the business being conducted, however, uniler the name of J. S. Evans.)
Repeated complaints have been made to me of the exorbitant prices at which goods
were sold by them, and when I have represented the matter to the firm they replied
that they were obliged to pay $12,000 yearly (to a Mr. Marsh of New York city, who
they represent was first appointed post-trader by the Secretary of War) for their permit to trade, and necessarily had to charge high prices for their goods on that account.
I have repeatedly urged them to represent this matter in writing to me, in order that I
might lay the matter before the proper authority to relieve the command of this burden, upon whom it evidently falls; but they declined to do so, stating that they feared
their permit to trade would be taken from them.
As the prices could not be regulated by a council of administration, the trader not
being a sutler, it has been contemplated by some of the officers of the garrison to
represent this matter, without reference to J. S. Evans, through the proper military
channels, but as it was claimed that the authority for the tradership emanated from the
Secretary of War, it was feared that that course might be construed as taking exception to the action of superior authority.
The prices are considerably higher since his appointment by the Secretary of
War than previously, and hlie has undoubtedly taken advantage of his position as sole
trader in charging these exorbitant prices, giving the reasons above quoted, stating
that he could not, under the circumstances, sell goods at lower prices.
It has also been reported to me that he charges enlisted men greater prices for the
same articles than hlie does officers, and, at all events, it is very evident that the officers
and men cf this garrison have to pay most of the $12,000 yearly, referred to above,
they being the consumers of the largest portion of the stores.
U. S. SOLDIERS ROBBED FOR TRADERS' BENEFIT.
I feel that a great wrong has been done to this command in being obliged to pay
this enormous amount of money under any circumstances: the largest portion of
which, at least, has been taken from the officers and enlisted men of this post, nearly all
the money of the latter mentioned going to the trader. The responsible party of this
great injustice should be held responsible and be obliged to refund the money.
If J. S. Evans has not paid this exorbitant price for permission to trade, as stated
by him, his goods should be seized and sold for the benefit of the post fund.
In order to insure a healthy competition, to reduce the price of goods, and to relieve the officers and soldiers of this garrison from this imposition, I recommend that
at least three (3) traders be appointed, and that those appointments be made upon the
recommendation of the officers of the post; that each trader be known to be interested
only in his own house, and that they be obliged to keep such articles as are required
for the use of officers and enlisted men of the army, and to sell them at moderate
prices.
The trader complies with circular of A. G. O. issued June 7, 1871, as far as I am
aware.
The buildings (store, &c.), however, are not convenient to the present garrison,
haying been built at the time when the command was in camp.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
B. HI. GRIERSON,
Colonel Tenth Cavalry, Commanding.
Received in the office of the Adjutant General, March 9, 1872.
[Indorsement.]
WAR DEPARTMENT, A. G. O., March 11, 1872.
Respectfully forwarded to the Secretary of War, with application of C. P. Marsh
for tradership at Fort Sill.
A. D. TOWNSEND,era
-4djutant General.
What action did the defendant take on the receipt of this which the proof shows
was on the 9th of March, 1872? None whatever. While he should have at once issued
an order removing Evans, as the President did when the facts were brought to his
knowledge. he forebore action until General McDowell waited on him and told him it
was a "Chino that would be damaging to the setvice if it was not at once corrected."
General McDowell also told him it concerned him  personally.  The Secretary said in
substance that these traders were not sutlers, and the military had no power to control
them. He had obtained the unqualified opinion of the Judge-Advocate General, dated
603 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
March 16th, 1872, that he had not and could not exercise control over post-traders as
to the prices at which they should sell goods to soldiers and others.
Yet, with the concurrence of General McDowell, who was acting upon the mistaken
view that Marsh was the post-trader and EvaR,s his agent, he issued the order of the
25th March, which the Adjutant-General says is all the notice he ever took of
General Grierson's letter; and to this order I desire to call the particular attention of
Senators.  It is as follows:
BELKNAP'S ORDERS.
[Circular.]
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Washington City, March 25th, 1872.
I. The council of administration at a post where there is a post-trader will from
time to time examine the post-trader's goods and invoices or bills of sale; and will, sub- 
ect to the approval of the post-commander, establish the rates and prices (which should
e fair and reasonable) at which the goods shall be sold.  A copy of the list thus established will be kept posted in the trader's store. Should the post-trader feel himself
aggrieved by the action of the council of administration, he may appeal therefrom
through the post-commander to the War Department.
II. In determining the rate of profit to be allowed, the council will consider not
ionly the prime cost, freight, and other charges, but also the fact that, while the trader
pays no tax or contribution of any kind to the post fund for his exclusive privileges, he
has no lien on the soldier's pay, and is without the security in this respect once enjoyed
by the sutlers of the army.
III. Post-traders will actually carry on the business themselves, and will habitu:ally reside at the station to which they are appointed. They will not farm out, sublet,
transfer, or sell or assign the business to others.
IV. In case there shall be at this time any post-trader who is a non-resident of the
post to which he has been appointed, he will be allowed ninety days from the receipt
hereof at his station to comply with this circular or vacate his appointment.
V. Post-commanders are hereby directed to report to the War Department any
failure on the part of traders to fulfill the requirements of this circular.
VI. The provisions of the circular from the Adjutant's-General's office of June 7th,
1871, will continue inr. force except as herein modified.
By order of the Secretary of War.
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Adjutant-General.
It will be seen, as stated by my learned associate [Mr. MCMAHON] during the trial
that this order entirely fails to correct the real evil, that is, the payment by Evans to
Marsh of $12,000 a year as consideration for receiving the appointment and retaining
the post. It is true it professes to vest in the council of administration the power to
examine the post-trader's prices, which the Judge-Advocate had just informed him he
had no power to do, and to determine the prices at which the trader should sell, which
should be fair and reasonable, considering not only the cost and freight, but the fact
that the trader had no lien on the soldiers' pay as sutlers had, and then adds:
THE ORDERS OF BELKNAP CONNIVE AT EXTORTION.
Should the post-trader feel himself aggrieved by the action of the council of administration he may appeal therefrom to the WTlar Department!
How Marsh and Evans must have been gratified when they saw this order.  The
'only effect it had on their arrangement was to reduce the amount to be paid from
-$12,000 to $6,000 per year, of which reduction, as well as the agreement'with Evans,
Marsh testifies he informed the defendant within a month after the Tribune article,the first time he saw him after, which was in New York-aiand the Secretary then
informed him Hazen inspired that article, but made no inquiry as to the terms of the
contract with Evans or as to why the amount had been reduced from twelve to six
thousand dollars.
A part of the evidence of General McDowell is very pertinent in this connection,
-and I ask leave to call attention to it. It is as follows:
Question. (By Mr. CARPENTER.) I ask you, general, whether on reflection and
after looking at that article you think you were or were not mistaken in saying that
:rou supposed that Marsh was the post-trader at the time you had your interview with
the Secretary of War?
Answer. I can hardly say what particular relations Marsh or Evans had with
This matter.  The Secretary told me he had appointed Marsh, and I supposed he had re
-r)04 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
ceived the office.  Whether he had transferred it, or assigned it, or sublet it, or farmed
it out, or what relations he had with it was not, in my mind, a very special question.
What I wanted to do was to correct an abuse; but whether the form was that Marsh
was the trader or the other man was the trader was not so much in my mind as to
discuss the question that was then up.
Q. Was it of any iipl)ortance whether Marsh was the trader and Evans his agent,
or the reverse?
Mr. Manager McMAHo.. 0, you do not insist on that, question.
Mr. CARPENTER. If not I should not have asked it,  (To the witness.) What I
miean is, would it have made any difference with the order which you were to draw
if you had known the fact to be exactly the reverse? Would not this order as you
drew it have covered the abuse in the one case just as well as the other? That is the
question.
Mr. Manager McMAHoN. We withdraw the objection.
The WITNEss (to Mr. Carpenter). 1 do not understand you.
Q. (By Mr. CARPENTER.) The question is this; Suppose you had known that
Evans was the trader and lived at Fort Sill, and that Marsh was not the trader, would
you have drawn this order in any different terms than you did employ?
Mr. Manager HOAR. DO you mean to suppose in your question that Marsh received any sum of money from Evans?
Mr. CARPENTER. If that occurs to me I will put it in my question. It had not
occurred yet as part of my question.
The WITNESS. If the case was otherwise, it would have been different, of course.
Q. (By Mr. CARPENTER.) How different would it have been? Suppose you had
thought at the time that Mr. Marsh was the trader and lived in New York, what
order would you have drawn different from this?
THE FAILURE OF TIIE ORDERS.
A. That is what I supposed was the case, that Mr. Marsh-was the trader living
in New York substantially, whether in form or not, and he had the control of the
place as evidenced by the fact of his receiving this large tribute.
Q. As you supposed?
A. As was true, and seemed to be understood.
Q. Suppose the case had been exactly the reverse, and you supposed that Mr.
Evans had control of it and was the trader, and not Marsh; would your order have
been drawn any differently.
A. Ido not know; if the man ibas i-e-idinq at the post, I do not think it would have
suggested itsel! to ray mind to say he should go tlhese.
Q. That is one thing; now let me call your attention to the first part of this
order, to see if that is not the material part of it after all; please read the first clause
of the order?
A. It is    " I.-The counsel of administration at a post where there is a post-trader will from
time to time examine the post-trader's goods  and invoices or bills of sale; and will,
subject to the approval of the post-commander, establish the rates and prices (which
should be fair and reasonable) at which the goods shall be sold.  A copy of the list
thus established will be kept posted in the trader's store.  Should the  post-tradler
feel himself aggrieved by the action of the council of adiministration, he mnay appeal
therefrom through the post-commander to the War Department."
Q. Now I want to know why that order would not have corrected the abuse there
without reoard to whether the trader lived at the post or not, if the order had been
executed by that council?
A. Very likely it might have done so.
Q. Would it not have done so?
A. I do not know.
Q. Can you conceive how it could fail to do it?
A. Yes; because it has failed.
Re-examined by Mr. Manager MCMA.ION:
Q. Did I understand you to say that General Belknap told you he had appointed
Marsh?
A. He told me that hlie had offered the place to Marsh; I think he said he had
offered it or had appointed him, and hlie told me why, under what circumstances.
Q. What were those eircumstances; what circumstanices did he tell you?
A. It was something bearinig on the relations between Mr. Marsh and his wife.
Q. Friendly relations between them?
506 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
A. Relations of kindness while she was sick.
Q. Do you remember the time that she was sick?
A. I do not.
Q. In this interview between you and General Belknap, did he make any allusion,
or did you, to the fact that Evans was paying Marsh $12,000, as stated in that Tribun
article?
A. I made it in the beginning of my conversation with him.
Q. What did the general say in answer?
A. I cannot recollect that he said anything in answer to that, further than to ask
me to draw up such an order as would correct the abuse which I had stated to him,
that complained of.
Q. Did he request you then to draw up an order to correct the payment by Evans
to Marsh of $12,000 a year?
A. No, sir.
What has become of the debt of gratitude to Mrs. Marsh for her kindness to Mrs.
Belknap in her illness? The natural expression of obligation would have been to her.
Marsl1 was about his business and at his store. Suppose, Senators, that the defendant
had told General McDowell the truth, as he now claims it and as is abundantly established by the evidence-suppose he had said, " General, I promised the place to Marsh,
who had no support, in consideration of his kindness to my wife when ill at his house
in September, 1870? At the request of Marsh I appointed EvanIs, which Marsh stated
would be more convenient to him ait present.  Evans has paid Marsh  $12,000 per year,
as stated in the Tribu,e article.  One-half of that sum Marsh has sent to me quarterly
in advance: the first $1,500 for my wife, the next two payments of $1,500 each for my
child, and since the decease of the chili the like quarterly payments have been made
to me for my own use and I have received and used the money,'asking no questions
for conscience' sake."' If he had said this, doe s any Senator or any one who hears me
suppose that General McDowell would have drawn the order of March 25?  On the
contrary, he would have fled fiom the War Department as firom a pestilence, knowing
that his kind offices would no longer be of any avail to the defendant. But the defendant concealed the truth, and, as I have already said, allowe(l General McDowell to act
upon a mistaken theory, and that is the reason why the order made, and which it was
supposed would correct the evil, in no nianner reached it except to work the reduction
from twelve to six thousand dollars. The order did not iln fact accomplish that. It was
the alarm created by the Tribuae exposure and the fear that if twelve thousand continued to be exacted from the soldiers it would inevitably lead to an investigation and
would develop the monstrous iniquity and fraud with which the whole scheme leading
to the appointment of Evaniis was tainted,
EVIDENCE OF GEN. HAZEN.
Senators, in this connection I will call your attention for a moment to the evidence
of General Hazen. I-e appears to have been an earnest supporter of the policy of the
law of 1866 or 1867, which made provision that soldiers should be supplied with
goods at cost. He estimates that it would have been a saving of two millions annually.
Having command at Fort Sill and learning the complaints there about Evans, he wrote
the facts upon which the article in the Trib7ne was based.  He was summoned and appeared before a committee of the House and gave his testimony. Although that evidence has been excluded on this trial, it is evident the defendant knew what it was.
He also knew, for he complained of the fact, that irazen inspired the article in the
Tribune.  Yet the defendant never made any inquiry of M]r. Smalley,  the correspondent here who wrote the article, or of Whitelaw Reid who published  it.  -He
asked General Grierson for a report which he received before the order of the 25th of
March, and upon which, as I have stated, no official  action wtas ever taken.  The
letters of General Hazen, written since to the defendant and to Mr, Clymer, are put in
evidence to destroy his credit. I submit, Senators, that the letter to the defendant, written at his request after the Secretary had seen Ilazen and frowned upon him as a military superior, so far from detracting from the credit due to General Ilazen, strongly supports him for his sincerity and his subordination to superior authority. Even General
Grierson, as Senators will remember, states in his answer of the 28th of February,
1872:
I have repeatedly urged them, Evans & Co., to represent this matter in writing to
me, in order that I might lay the matter before the proper authority to relieve the
command of this burden, upon whom it evidently falls;'but they declined to do so,
tating that they feared their permit to trade would bg taken fromn them.
506 
'THE  IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
As the prices could not be regulated by a council of administration, the trader not
being a sutler, it has been contemplated by some of the officers of the garrison to represent this matter, without reference to J. S. Evans, through the proper military
channels, but as it was claimed that the authority for the tradership emanated from the
Secret ary of War it nas feared that that course might be construed as taking  exception to
thte action of superior authority.
AFRAID TO ACT.
Here is the same fear of superior authority expressed and exhibited by Hazen. A
great and insufferab!e evil could not be even reported to the Secretary of War through
military channels without fear that the course might be construed as taking exception
to the action of superior authority; a very delicate hint by General Grierson, as the
request of the Secretary gave him the opportunity to make it, that the Secretary
probably knew all about the matter and it had received his sanction.
Why, I repeat again, Senators, did the defendant pass by this most important letter
and the terrible disclosures it contained without action and without any instructions
to General Grierson to correct the evil? There is, there can be no other answer than
the one disclosed by the case, that he had appointed Evans at Marsh's request and for
his benefit, as an act of kindness to him, and that Marsh was remitting to him quarterly one-half of the $12,000 lie received from Evans.
WHAT MARSH DID WITH THE MONEY.
Mr. Marsh states that hlie was accustomed when he received a remittance from
Evans under the contract of the 8th of October, 1870, to write the defendant in substance, "I have a remittance for you from the S. W.; how shall 1 send it?'  He states
that in answer thereto he received instruction by mail to send by express or by certificate of deposit or to purchase a government bond, or to hold the money to be paid
personally, and in one instance to be paid to the wife of the defendant. The defendant
admitted the receipt by an" O.K.," and his letters as received were destroyed by Marsh.
In one or the other of these modes Marsh states he remitted and paid to the defendant one-half of all the money he received from Evans. We show by Evans and Fisher
that $3,000 was sent by them to Marsh quarterly up to February, 1872. and semi-annually afterward down to the fall of 1875, including an advance to February, 1876.
Their accounts are brought to confirm the correctness of their statements. Marsh
states that he deposited the money in the National Bank of Commerce, New York, and
checked it outfor the purpose of paying the defendant. We show by the books of that
bank and the evidence of the assistant cashier, Mr. King, that Marsh made deposits
corresponding generally with the remittances of Evans, and drew checks corresponding
generally with the payments to the defendant.
The witness identifies four certificates of deposit. One for $1,500, dated November 10, 1871, is endorsed by Marsh to the defendant, and by the defendant-to C. F.
Emery, by whomn we prove he loaned the money at the request of the defendant in
Iowa upon a note and mortgage having three years to run; that the loan has been renewed for three years more, and the interest notes on the renewal are made payable
to the defendant's present wife, but the original mortgage and note are in the defendants' name.  Since Marsh has testified that the defendant's present wife was never to
have any interest in this money, and that all which was sent after the death of the defendant's child in 1871 was for the defendant's use, we do not regard this change in the
interest notes as of any importance. Another certificate for $1,500, dated January 18,
1872, endorsed by Marsh to the defendant. This we trace by the evidence of Mr. William IH. Barnard, the clerk of the receiver of,the First National Bank of Washington,
and, by a deposit ticket in the handwriting of the defendant, into his private account
in that bank on the 29th of January, 1872. and Mr. Barnard identifies the last-named
certificate as being part of such deposit and as having passed through the bank, as the
indorsement upon it shows. The other two are cert'f ticates dated October 9, 1874, one
for seven and the other for eight hundred dollars, both indorsed by Marsh to the deendant, and by him indorsed to other parties.
MONEY TRACED TO BELKNAP.
We also show by the officers of the Adams Express Company the receipt of
money packages by express to the defendant from Marsh and from R. G. Carey & Co.
the firm of Mr. Marsh, in whose name he states some of the later remittances were
507 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
made, as follows: November 1, 1870, $1,500, receipted by defendant in person; Jan uary 17, 1871, $1,500, receipted by the defendant; April 17, 1871, $1,500, receipted
bythe defendant; November 4, 1873, $1,500, delivered to Mr. Crosby for the defendant;
April 10, 1874, $1,500, from Carey & Co., receipted by Barnard for the defendant;
May 24,  1875,  $1,500, from  Carey  & Co.,  receipted by  Crosby; November  8,
1875, $500, from Carey & Co., receipted by defendant.  We prove by Crosby & Bar nard that they were clerks in the defendant's office, and authorized to receive and
receipt packages for him.  Mr. Marsh states that he paid the last half of $1,500 to the
present wife of the defendant by his direction at the Saint James Hotel, in New York,
in Novemnber or December, 1875.  We  show the defendant to have been in New York
at several times when payments were comling from Evans, and Marsh states that excep,
as he sent by express. or certificate of deposit, or the purchase of a Government bond,
he paid the defendant personally and generally in New York.
I should weary the patience of the Senate if I pursued this inquiry in detail any
further. The evidence of these quarterly payments down to February, 1872, and of the
half-yearly payments from that time down  to November, 1875, is so full and complete
as to leave no room for doubt on the subject, and Marsh is so completely confirmed by
the evidence as to leave no question as to his being entitled to credit for all he does
remember. He is not a willing, but, on the contrary, a reluctant witness. We show
by Mr. CLYMER that in the general statement he prepared he failed directly to implicate
the defendant. It was only by direct questions that the facts were drawn out. The
case discloses he was anxious to so adjust matters as to save exposure. His letter to
the committee before the examination, which was read to the defendant, discloses that
fact.  When pressed, he said:
"If I swear I shall tell the truth, and that will ruin Secretary Belknap."
When, therefore, the witness Marsh gives it as his best recollection, he conversed
with the defendant on the evening of his wife's funeral, and was directed by him about
sending the money, we submit he is entitled to belief, although his memory is vague
on the subject. The subsequent acts of the parties fully confirm him in such statement.
BELKNAP KNEW THE SOURCE OF THE MONEY.
When asked by us whether the defendant knew from what source this money
came, the witness Marsh answered:
"I should say that I presume he did."
Standing by itself this would not be a very satisfactory item of evidence, but the
Senator from Wisconsin [Mr. HOWEr] and the Senator from Iowa [Mr. WRIGHIIT] addressed to him the following questions, and the answer of Marsh, especially to the last
question, throws a flood of lighlt upon this case:
Mr. ItowE.  If the court has not closed its case, I should like to have the question
answered which I send to the Chair.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The question of the Senator from Wisconsin will be
read.
The Chief Clerk read as follows:
Q. Was the money which you sent to General Belknap designed for his use or for
the use of some other person?
A. I sent it to him originally according to what I have heretofore stated occurred
on the night of the funeral.  It may be presumed that it was sent for the child, but
I continued sending it after the child's death to the general, and I always presumed it
was for him.
Mr. WRIGHT. I have a question I wish to propound, and I will read it in the first
instance, as it is not very legible.
Q. You  said on yesterday that you presumed that General Belknap knew from
whom the money sent him was received, Now state what led you to so presume, or
upon what you based this presumption.
Mr. CARPENTER. We object to this question.  Let it be read agaiin.
The PRESIDENT pro temp?ore. The question will be read by the Secretary.
The Chief Clerk read the interrogatory of Mr. WRIGHT.
The question being put, was decided in the affirmative.
The PRESIDENT prO tempore.  The witness will answer the question.
The WITNESS.  I said I presumed he knew where it came from.
Mr. CARPEaTER. Now, it appears there was a mistake, as I thought. The question does not correctly state the case to the witnress.  The question and answer yester,day were exactly this:
508 
THiE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
" Q. Did General Belknap at this time know where the money was coming from
that was being paid to him?
"I should say that I presume he did."
The PRESIDENTprO temipore. The question will be answered.  It will be read again
to witness.
The Chief Clerk sgain read the question of Mr. Wright, as follows:
Q. You said on yesterday that you presumed that General Belknap knew from
whom the money sent him was received. Now state what led you to so presume, or
upon what you based this presumption.
Mr. Manager McMAHoN. Before the question is answered, there is a misunderstanding as to what the real meaning of the answer given yesterday is. Our object in,
putting the question was to ascertain whether Belknap knew where the money was
coming from, not the person, not the man from whom it came, but the place.
Mr. WRIGHT. This question covers the whole ground.
Mr. Manager McMAUON.  Go on.
The WITNESS. Ipresume that he knew, because he had appointed 3~r. Evans to this post
at my request.  1 had no other business transactions with General Belknap whatever, except
sending this money. I had sometimes,forwarded him requests of Mr. Evatns se,t to me for
certain privileges wanted around the fort. I cannot give details particularly. It is a kind
of general knowledge arisingfromn our relations together.
There is equal force and pertinacity in the two questions propounded to the
witness by the Senator from Indiana [Mr. Morton] and the answers of Marsh to the
same:
Mr. Morton. I submit the following interrogatory:
Q. Did General Belknap personally or through any person or by letter ever inquire of you why this money was sent, and did you in any way ever assign a reason to
him for it?
A. Never to my best recollection.
Mr. Morton. I propose the following question:
Q. How often after the first money was sent to Belknap and before your examination before the committee of the House did you meet General Belknap, and was the
money ever referred to in conversation at any of these interviews?
A. For the first two or three years, I saw him perhaps two or three times a year.
The first money I sent General Bellnap must have been in the spring of 1871. I suppose probably through that year and 1872 and 1873 I met him two or three times a
year; but I have no recollection of the money having been referred to in any conversation between us.
NO ESCAPE FOR BELKNAP.
Why this reticence? Legitimate business transactions would have been the subject
of conversation without doubt. The only occasion when the defendant broke silence
was the next time he met Marsh after the Tribune article.  He asked Marsh if he had
a contract with Evans, and Marsh replied he had. Marsh asked him who inspired or
wrote that article, and the defendant said General Hazen. Marsh then told him he had
reduced the amount from $12,000 to $6,000, and the defendant said nothing. Could
the receipt of money after that have been innocent, especially when only half as much
was sent as before, or half of six instead of twelve thousand dollars per year?
Senators, there is no escape for the defendant upon the question of his guilty
knowledge as to the source from which this money came.
He made no inquiry of General Hazen, or Mr. Smalley, or Mr. Reid, as to the
Tribune article.  He took no notice of the grave charges made by General Grierson in
his letter of the 28th February, 1872, for which, as I have said, any disinterested and
upright officer would have removed Evans on the spot. He disregarded General
Grierson's recommendation  to have three post-traders and competition.  He  overlooked and covered over with pretenses clearly false the charges made against Evans
in the fall of 1871.  He kept Evans in place with full knowledge he was paying this
large bonus to'arsh and taking it out of the soldiers in exorbitant prices, because he
was securing to his own use one-half of all that Evans paid to Marsh. A more flagrant
case of a breach of official duty was never presented for the consideration of any tri.
bunal.
There is a maxim of the law that when the circumstances of a case are fairly calculated to put a question of ordinary care and prudence upon inquiry, and he omits to
investigate, he is presumed to know the real facts, and is chargeable the same as though
he made inquiry and ascertained the truth. In criminal cases the iul'ce is that when
the evidence, fairly construed, creates a presumption against the defendant, which, if
I 5, 9 
THE  IP[rEACIIMENr OF BEIKNAP.
innocent, he could explain, and he fails to give the explanation, the presumption is
thereby increased.
$21,000 FOR BELKNAP.
This august tribunal can never decide, and with great confidence I submit that no
member of the court, in view of the facts of the case, can find any ground in the case
for an intelligent opinion that the defendant for a period of over five years could be
the recipient of over $21,00), in instalments of $1,500 each at regular intervals, with out any business transactions with Marsh, or any relations except those disclosed by
the letter of the 8th of October, 1870, and yet be ignorant of the source from which the
money came, or the motives and purposes with which it was sent. The receipt and use
of the money from time to time without inquiry as to why it was paid imnplies guilty
knowledge, and no man of the intelligence of the defendant can escape the imputation.
If such receipt, by an officer making an appointment from the person at whose re quest it was made, for so long a period, as this case discloses, does not constitute official
corruption, by what name in the law of official rectitude shall it be designated?  For
how long a period must they continue before ripening into official crime and turpi tude? The defendant assumes that the receipt of a single present without some excuse,
by which it.could be interpreted as having been made for some other purpose than for
a purpose to award official favors, would constitute such a crime. Hence the weak excuse set up in this case, that Mrs. Belknap was placed under lasting obligations to
Marsh for his kindness to her.  If Marsh had sent a single present of $1,500 to Mrs.
Belknap with an explanation of the motive which prompted him to make it, even if
sent through the hands of the defendant, he might be held innocent of wrong.  But the
money was sent without explanation, except as Marsh states he wrote:
1 have a remittance for you from the S. W. How shall I send it?
Thereupon he received his instructions.
One Senator [Mr. DAWES] asked Marsh the following question:
Mr. DAWES.  I wish to put a question which I desire to have answered
The PRESIDENT ipro tempore.  The Senator from Massachusetts submits am interrogatory, which will be read.
The Chief Clerk read as follows:
Q. Did you or any other person to your knowledge ever explain to General Belknap what "Southwest" means in your letters informing him that you had a remittance
for him? If so, state the explanation.
A. Never, to my knowledge.
The Senator from Illinois [Mr. LOGAN] then propounded the following question:
Q. From the conversation with the present Mrs. Belknap, mentioned by you in
your answer to my former interrogatory, you spoke of an understanding with the
former Mrs. Belknap, now deceased.  Please state what that understanding was?
The WITNESS. I think not.
Mr. CONKLING.  What does the witness mean when he says he thinks not?
The WITNESS. I do not think I stated that I had an understanding with Mrs.
Belknap.
Q. (By Mr. CARPENTER.) As I understand, the first money that you sent was ment
to the former Mrs. Belknap, now deceased?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And that was sent without any arrangement between you and anybody?.
A. Yes, sir.
Q. A clean, clear present?
A. Yes, sir.
Mr. LOGAN. The witness spoke of a conversation about the child; that the money
would now go to the child according to some former understanding.
The WITNESS.  Isaid wit/i General Belknpa, not with Mrs. Belknap.  I said that I
was under the impression at one time that I had said something to General Belknap
himselt the night of the funeral; that I certainly had an understanding with him or
with Mrs. Bower, because MAirs. Belknap was then dead.
Q. (By Mr. Manager MCMAHO..) Had the present wife of General Belknap-at any
time any interest in the money that was sent to General Belknap by you?
.  Not to my knowledge.
AN ARRANGEMENT BETWEEN MARSH AND BELKNAP.
It is very evidvt from this answer of Marsh that he had an arrangement or understanding with General Belknap about the remittance of this money firom time to
time.  In those cases where the money was Laid in person what does the evidenco diclose?  The Senator from Maryland [Mr. WaUYT] asked Marsh this question:
tio 
TKI U'PEACHENT OF BBLKNAP.,
Mr. WHnTT submitted the following question in writing: 
Q. When you paid to General Belknap money in person did you have any conversation with him about the source whence the money came or in any way regard
ing it?
A. I did not.
At least $6,000 was thus paid by Marsh to the defendant after the death of his
wife and child, and while hlie, as Marshl, says, was entitled to the money for his own
use.  No receipt was given, no account kept, no inquiry made, not a word said.  Did
not the parties understand the reason fo(ir the payment and the source from which the
money came? This was after General Belknap had been informed of the contract between Evans and Marsh, and after the defendant had refused to interfere with Evans
or appoint other post-traders as requested by General Grierson.  The General did not
even respond as when the money was sent by express or mail with an " O. K." This,
I suppose, is one of the military ciphers used during the war by General Belknap. It
certainly had a higher signification than that placed upon it by the ordinary Yankee,
because it was used by a high official and dignified cabinet officer. Marsh was not
asked, and it does not appear when the payments were made to the defendant personally whether he gave a wink or a nod or graciously smiled upon his benefactor. The
probability is that after counting the money and ascertaining that the amount was correct he simply said " O. K."
Senators, suppose that during your six years' term men having bills pending be
fore the Senate which it was in your power to pass or reject had been in the habit of sendingyou each $1,500 semi-annually, without a word of explanation, would you have
been willing to accept and use the money, even though you learned it afforded the
donors "pleasure to send it," and though they should protest in the language of reo
spondent's counsel (Mr. CARPENTER) that each successive payment was a" clean, clear
present."
I confess my amazement that distinguished counsel should suppose they can impose upon the credulity of any man a theory so absurd and so repugnant to a decent
regard for official purity as this theory that these repeated payments by Marsh to Belknap were each and all "clean presents," involving no turpitude and no want of official
integrity.
I have said that the letter of General Hazen written to the defendant at his re.
quest on the 12th of September last, after a personal interview between them, evinces
that submission to superior authority which is shown by General Grierson in his letter
of the 28th February, 1872.
IAZEN'S LETTER TO CLYMER.
The letter of General Hazen to Mr. Clymer, dated the 15th March last, which the
defendant has been pleased to introduce, discloses how a faithful military officer can
speak when the restraint of suparior authority has been removed. I desire to call the
attention of Senators to that letter. It is as follows:
CITY OF MEXICO. March 15.
DEAR SIR: The papers of the 4th instant brought me the result of the Belknap investigation.  By referring to the proceedings of the House  Mlilitary Committee of
March, 1872, you will find precisely the same information given by We then as that
upon which your investigation was founded. Mr. Smalley, the then clerk of that committee. published in the New York T;oibune the purport of my evidence, which only referred to the black-mailing of the post-traders, and not to the final disposition of the
money; but he added to it the presumptive disposition, which is now proved to have
been true. The Secretary of War took the newspaper paragraph to the President, as
he has since said, remarking: "Mr. President, have you seen the article in the New
York Tributne of this morning referring to me?"  To which the President replied: "I
have, and do not believe a word of it." The Secretary then said: "If you do believe
it I am no longer fit to hold a place in your Cabinet."  This was the end of thematter
both with the President and Congress, leaving it a question of veracity between the
Secretary and myself.
I have waite.l patiently four years, never doubting I shall be finally vindicated,
though at times feeling very heavily the weight of displeasure of those high in power
for daring to tell the truth respecting the great outrage, upon the army.  My object
from the first was not only to relieve the army from this outrage. but to obtain the execution of a most excellent law passed in 1866, requiring the Commissary Department
to furnish to enlisted men, atpost, the articles usually furnished them by sutlers. This
most admirable arrangement, which is virtually carried out in all other armies, would
be worth to the enlisted men $2,o00,000 annually, and cost nothing but a little extra
$11 
TIlE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
work to the Commissary Department. This department has opposed this law from the
first. In setting this law aside vitality and value were given to the post-traderships
which could be done in no other way. The law itself has even been omitted from the
Revised Statutes. To secure this most useful end was my only purpose. In the autumn
of 1875 the Secretary visited my post, receiving my most cordial hospitality, which
was fully accepted. I thought this a proper occasion for a renewal of our old and
friendly relations, as we had served together in the war.   I therefore wrote him a sincere letter looking to such a result, though I felt entitled to some reparation, having
for four years experienced a full sense of the wrong inflicted upon me by the Secretary
in his virtual denial to the President of my truthful report. The Secretary did not see
fit to reply to my letter.  I then concluded to let the matter rest, hoping only for the
partial reparation that time gives all wrongs, when your letter in January, as chairman  of one of the committees of Congress, called for the information furnished you.
For your compliance with my request not to bring my name forward in connection
with the investigation, I tender you my thanks, and now release you from further
obligations in that respect.
Very respectfully, &c.,
W. B. HAZEN.
Hon. HEISTER CLYMER.
GRANT BELIEVES HIM INNOCENT.
The learned counsel for the defendant (Mr. Carpenter) characterizes this letter as
a slander upon the President. Far from it. The President did not believe the Secretary guilty. He still retained the confidence which led to his selection. And the
defendant is reported as saying to the President:
If you do believe it, I am no longer fit to hold a place in your Cabinet.
Suppose the defendant had then said: "Mr. President, Mr. Marsh has been sending to me one-half of all he has received from Evans, without a word of explanation,
and I have received it without any inquiry, regarding the remittances as'clean
presents.'  The amount already is $9,000."  How  long, Senators, do you think the
defendant would have remained in the cabinet? He would have been saved the mortifying example of retreating before the charges when proved and of laying down his
commission while the question of his guilt was under investigation. This act, as we
claim under the circumstances proved here, is tantamount to a confession of guilt, was
so considered at the time by the whole country, and must be so interpreted by every
Senator on this floor.
But the defendant, according to the reasoning of his counsel, is entitled to great
credit for the manner in which he treated the letter of Captain Robinson, written on
the 2d of April, 1875. I ask leave to refer to it. It appears to have been filed, but
when the Adjutant-General could not state. He did not receive it until the 3d of
March last.
CAPTAIN ROBINSON S LETT]R.
(Personal.)
SAINT LOUIS BARRACKS, Missouri, April 2d, 1876.
SIR: I have the honor to inform you that I am now preparing a set of charges
against the firm ot J. S. Evans & Co., post-traders at the post of Fort Sill, Idaho
Territory. I have been stationed at that post since its first location in 1868. Among
the many charges I am preferring against this firm is one of malicious slander, in
which both members of this firm have repeatedly stated, not only to myself but to
Brevet Major-General Hazen, Brevet Major-General Grierson, and many others of the
officers of the Sixth Infantry and Tenth Cavalry, that they were paying you at one
time $15,000 per year, at another date $12,000 per year, $1,000 per month in advance,
and only a short time ago Mr. J. J. Fisher stated in my quarters at this post that he
was still paying you the same amount.  He also informed General Grierson at the
same date at this post of what he termed "these facts."  I was, while at the post of
Fort Sill, Idaho Territory, on the post council of administration many times as its
"recorder."  The repeated statements of both J. S. Evans and J. J. Fisher to the fact
that they could not sell their goods any cheaper to the men and officers of the United
States army because they were obliged to pay to the Secretary of War $15,000 per
year, monthly in advance, I took down carefully with day and date and the names of
the officers present who heard these statements made. They were made before me
officially as the recorder of the post council of administration.
I have thought that you, sir, should know these facts before I brought them to
your official notice by sending the charges to you through all of the official chan
6.12 
THE IMPEACHMENT OF BELKNAP.
nels, and to ask your advice as to the best and most expeditious manner of bringing these men to justice.   Every man  and  officer  of these regiments have been
most outrageously swindled by this firm, as I have abundant testimony to prove.
If 1 leave thile army by sentence of thile general court-martial that has just tried
me, it is by getting into unavoidable debt to these men, who, after getting all the
money I had, njow seek to ruin me, knowing that I alone am in possession of all the
facts in the case against them.   I h(mestly believe that these slanders on your name
and action are false, and shall bring this firm to speedy justice, whether I am in or out
of the army, and ask of you, sir, your advice as to my procedure before action.
Should I remain in the army, I shall, if you desire, transmit all of the documents
entire to you for your information and such action as you may see fit to take.   I will
either act as prosecutor or witness, as you may elect. Many of my notes are at my
home in Baltimore, some of them here; but I have enough to draw charges on here,
which I am now doing. Several newspaper men have made me very alluring offers
for these papers, but 1 prefer to take the course I am now doing, so as to get officially
all the facts on record before a court of justice against these men.
1 am, general, your obedient servant,
GEO. T. ROBINSON,
Captain Tenth Cavalry.
Hon. W.W. BELKNAP,
Sectretary of War.
FRIENDSHIP ILLY REWARDED.
This letter was written at St. Louis on the 2d of April. When it was received does
not appear. The adjutant-general states that when the defendant showed him this
letter lie remarked to the defendant that it looked like an effort at blackmail, that the
Ssecretary then asked for the proceedings of the court-martial, and on the 14th of
April, 1875, the defendant wrote upon them "approved by the President," and Robinson faded out under the action of superior authority, with this sentence upon him.
Q. (By Mr. CARPENTER.) NOW, what was the judgment?
A. The sentence was, "to be cashiered and forfeit to the United States all pay and
allowances now due or to become due, and to have his crime, name, place of abode and
punishment published in and about Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and St. Louis, Mis
souri."  The sentence is "approved."
So Robinson was disabled and disposed of and no notice was taken of the extraordinary developments of this letter. Suppose the defendant had then informed General
Townsend that for four years be had been receiving as "clean presents" one-half of all
that Evans had paid Marsh, that it was a mistake that Evans had paid the whole sum
to him, is it probable he would have remained in the war office another year?
If, when the defendant was approached by Marsh or Evans, or both, with the intimatio n         that he or his family could share in the sums to be paid by Evans to Marsh, in
the language of the agreement, in consideration of his being appointed post-trader at
Fort ill, tile defendant had shown Roman firmness, and had said to them
Shall we contaminate our fingers with base bribes,
Or sell the share of our large honors
For so much trash as may be grasped thus
this spectacle would have been spared to him and to us, and the country would have
escaped a great scandal. But, as I have endeavored to show, he determined otherwise
and basely betrayed the confidence reposed in him.
ARGUMENT OF HON. JEREMIAH S. BLACK IN BEHALF OF ]ELKNAP.
.      *       *       *       *       *       *.       *       *
Now, I aver that it is not wrong in any criminal sense for an officer to receive a
present. There is no law which forbids it. More than that, there is no custom or
habit or sentiment among the public officers of this day which condemns it or makes
it disreputable. The state of the public conscience in this country does not call for
the enactment of any law to prohibit it. I was a member of the Pennsylvania convention to reform the constitution of that State, I tried my best, and so did others of
greater influence and more ability than mine, to get inserted into the organic law a
definition of bribery which  would include presents of any.kind, given under any pretense whatever, so that no officer could ever, without violating his oath and exposing
himself to the dandger of a prosecution which would send him to the penitentiary, receive money from anybody.  But I found myself shooting at the stars.   I was told
82 
THIE IMPEACIIMENT OF;ELiKNAP
that I was trying to miake the officers of the Commonwivealth righteous  overmuclih
that the mere receipt of money was of itself an innocent thing unless there was a corrupt contract or a corrupt intent, but when the corrupt intent did exist, it ought to be
proved like any other fact which is necessary to make out of the guilt of the  party.
By this and other similar arguments a measure which I thought a very important one
was thrown out.
I do not myself believe that presents are proper when taken by  a public officer
fromt a person who may by any'possibillty in the future have an interest in the officer's
performance of his duties. I think so because, in the first place, " a gift blindeth the
eye and perverteth the judgment of the righteous;" and also because, in the next
place, these gifts may be used to cover essential bribery. I do not believe that the
institutions of this country are perfectly safe in the hands of men who habitually receive presents fromn their friends and constituents or from anybody.  But I say 1now
that there is no law which makes it a crime or misdemeanor; and that is not all, there
is no code of morals known to the public men of this age. or to the men who now hold
office, which condemns it. If our fathers could have foreseen the fatal degeneracy of
their sons, perhaps they might have made some provision to prevent it; but they inserted nothing to prohibit it either in their Constitution or in their statutes,  and you
cannot in your judicial capacity supply the casus omissis.
PRESENTS AS A BRIBE.
" I give you an office and you give me another office," or  "I give you office and
you give me money;" what of that?  If the exclhangie was preceded by a contract
which made one the consideration of the other, that is bribery and corruption, but if
there was no contract of that kind, the case is otherwise; and so it has been held in
the case of the greatest and wisest and best men we have ever had in this country.
There was a time in 1825 when Mr. Clay held in his hand the Presidency of the
United States and could give it to whom he pleased. He handed it over to John
Quincy Adams, against whom there was a large majority of the States and the people.
He did it in opposition to instructions almost unanimous from his constituents, and in
the face of his own recorded opinion that Mr. Adams was not a proper person to be
Chief Magistrate of the country. The first thing that Mr. Adams did alter he went into
office was to appoint Mr. Clay Secretary of State. Did these two men bribe one
another! They were charged with making merchandise of the highest offices under
the Government. The defense which both of them made against the charge of bribery
was precisely the same that we make here, namely, that no proof could be produced to
show the previous existence of a corrupt contract or understanding which could have
influenced their conduct; and the general public acquitted them on that ground
alone.
Remember I do not hold up this transaction as an example of public virtue, I
admire much more the high-toned behavior of Mr. Bayard twenty-five years earlier.
He did not vote for Mr. Jefferson, but he had it in his power to protract the election
in the House of Representatives so that Mr. Jefferson and Col. Burr would both of
them have been defeated. For good and sufficient public reasons he determined that
hlie would not use that power, but would retire from the contest and allow Mr. Jefferson's friends to elect him.  After a few days, -Mr. Adams, the then incumbent of the
presidential chair, offered him the mission to France.   He said: "No;  I cannot get to
my post of duty until Mr. Jefferson shall be inaugurated, and then he will have the
power to recall me.  I will not hold any office under him, as I would virtually be holding this office, lest it might be'inferred that I had received a reward for my action
in the presidential election."
The most distinguished man perhaps that this country ever produced-certainly
the greatest orator-one who was gifted with the most exquisitely organized intellect
that ever was bestowed upon any of tlhe children of mien-was appointed Secretary of
State by General Taylor.  He said that hlie could not live upon the salary in a way
that would accord with his taste and habits, and he invited his friends to make presents
to him, and they did contribute among them $100,000(, which they invested, and gave
him the interest of it for the remainder of his life. Was that bribery? It was given
by merchants who were pleased with his advocacy of the bank, by manufacturers
whose interests he had promoted by supporting a protective tariff, perhaps also by
lovers of the Constitution who admired him for the noble defense he had made of its principles. But there was no evidence and no reason to believe, and nobody ever did believe, that it wag given as a consideration for previous services or in pursuance of &
contract for future services.  Therefore, and therefore alone, he was held to be inn*
cent.
514 
THE I.MPEACliMENT OF BELKNAP.
The manager from Massachusetts (Mr. HOAR) said, speaking of the  Union Pacific
Railroad, that every foot of that road had been founded iii corruption and built with
-the wages of iniquity. That is true; and it is equally well known that the managers
of that corrupt concern gave large amounts of their stock and bonds to the wife of a
'Senator who was afterwards elected Vice-President. The wife received it with the
full consent of the husband.  Though he had voted for the charter of the corporatiou
and afterward voted to extend its privileges, and always vindicated it by his speeches
on this floor, there was no proof that the speeches and votes were the consideration
given for the bonds and the stock.  The absence of that proof left him in the full pos-session of the character which he had earned by his previous life, his popularity
moulted no feather, he lived respected and honored, and died in the odor of sanctity.
The members of the House of Representatives who received the same stock and
bonds from the agents of the same company considered themselves as fully acquitted
when the committee failed to find that there had been any corrupt contract, and such
-was the view of the House when for thlat reason it refused to pass a vote of censure.
If Mr. Lincoln had been impeached and evidence had been introduced against him,
like the trash you have here, to show that his wife with or without his knowledge
took a present from some contractor or some- officer, who would have listened to it with
patience? Mr. Lincoln could not have colme into this court with a higher character
-than General Belknap. Judge Davis would have sworn for him that he was all his
life-timne scrupulously honest. The governor of his State, and any number of ex-governors,
and the Senators in Congress would have testified to the same fact; but he could not.
have had a character one whit better than that which is made out by General Belknap,
and by the force of that character the accusation would have been swept away like
chaff upon the summer thrashing-floor.  Nobody would have  tliouglt of a conviction
GIANT, THE PRESENT-TAKER, AS GUILTY AS BELKNAP.
That the present Chief Magistrate has taken large gifts from his friends is a fact
.as well known as any other in the history of the country. He did it openly, without
.an attempt at concealment or denial. He not only received money and lands and
houses and goods, amounting in the aggregate to an enormous sum, but he conformed
the policy of his administration to the interests and wishes of the donlors. Nay, he
did more than that; he appointed the men who brought him these gifts to the highest
offices which he could bestow in return.  Does anybody assert that General Grant was
guilty of an impeachable crime in taking these presents, even though the receipt of
them was followed by official favors extended to the givers?  Do we not all regard
him still as one of the greatest heroes and sages the world has produced?  Instead of
being impeached and ignominiously removed from office, he was flattered and re
elected.  This all happens justly upon the legal principle which comimand you to presume everything in favor of innocence. General Grant's wealthy friends in New York
gave him money not with any evil design upon his integrity, but because it was a
pleasure to themselves- and the President appointed them to office afterwards not be,cause the,y had bought his favor, but because hlie thought the public good required it.
This is the just and legal conclusion in every case where there is no proof of a bargain
and no distinct evidence of an intent to influence and be influenced corruptly.  Is the
law a respector of persons?  Does uot a presumption which applies to the President
in the plentitude of' his power apply with equal force and even with stronger reasons
to his fallen minister?
If the House of Representatives considered this subject coolly and came to deliberate conclusion that the reception of a gift by a public offi(-er was either in itself a
punishable crime or evidence of a crime, it was a sin and a shame to drag the Secretary
of War before this tribunal after he became a private citizen, while they allowed the
President to finish his career of wickedness without interruption. Were those( gallant
gentlemen afraid to take the Chief Magistrate by the throat, or did they suppose thlat the
Senate would use one measure of justice for Grant and another for Belknap?   No;
they did no such injustice either to you or to themselves.  They thougtht they could
produce satisfactory evidence to show that the gift to Belknap was something more
than a gift, that it was a bribe paid in pursuance of a contract or in consideration of
official favors bestowed or promised.  That is what they allege in the articles.  But
having utterly failed to prove it, they ought in honor and conscience to give up the
ee.
If the giving or receiving of presents is necessarily and in its own  nature always
criminal, and if the powert to impeach for it survives the term of office, why have they
overlooked the offense of Judge Hoar who gave the President a'library of costly
literature and law?  They might prove that the giver of that present was afterward
t5l 5 
TIIE IMPEACIHMENT OF BELKNAP.
commissioned by the receiver as Attorney-General and nominated for Judge of theaSupreme Court;  and they might argue with some show of reason that these appoint
ments beino post hoc weie also propter hoc.  But the inference would have been false;
for Judge -loar in making the gift acted merely upon the impulses of a generous heart,
and the President promoted hlim because hlie was the best mian for the offices he put
him in. Slich being the natural and the legal presumption ill that case, why should it
not also be made in this case?
Another distinguished gentleman held thlq office of Attorney-General and was
afterward by a kind of translation sent fo the court of St. James, where he now resides-,
as the American plenipotentiary. Before hlie got these ]iigh places he not only admitted
but proclaimed that hlie had subscribed $20,000 to a fund for the benefit of the President. Who can prove that these acts were corrupt? Or who will dare to assert itwithout proof?
BUOYANT rY.PUTREFACTION.
There is another class of cases, more extensive and more numerous than these, iwhich the law and ptublic( opinion indulges officers in giving and receiving, money  for
their personal purposes.  A  high-placed gentleman wants to be continued in power
and to that end a certain number of p)opular votes is required. lHe demniands from hissubordinates money enough to get the votes and he enforces the order by a distinct
iiotification that whosoever refuses to contribute will be dismissed from his place.
These very post-traders were forced to makle enorimous contributions in that way, and
the aggregate sum thus raised for an important election amounts to many millions of
dollars.  Is this crinminal?  Certainly it is, if you adopt the principle of the managers
that every voluntary payment by an officer to an officer is ipso facto a crime. Is it
corrupt?  I do, not say so.  But if you say that Belknap could(i not receive money
from MIarsh without being corrupt, then you condemn to utter infamy  the system to.
which I refer. It pervades the whole executive administration. If it be corrupt, thenall the officers of the Government are thriving by corruption alone. They can keep
their places if they pay for them in this way; if not, not.  By that dishonest means
alone can they hope to gain promotion. A public man, to use the figure of Curran applied to a similar condition of things in another country, is like a dead body in a millpond; he lies quietly and obscurely at the bottom as long as there is any soundness in
hirn; but his bulk expands with the gases which corruption evolves; "he becomesbuoyant-by putrefaction and rises as he rots." Surely it is not proper to say that this
system is corrupt, seeing that all the great and good men now in the Executive Departments constantly practice it.   Whether it is an evil that ought to be abolished or
a virtue to be encouraged, is certainly a question on which there is some difference of
opinion. What I assert is, that there is no law which forbids it, nor no rule of morality among public officers which condemns it.  That being the case, is it not horrible to
convict this party who has certainly done nothing worse? 
516 
WVHAT THE GOVEIRNIENT HAS LOST.
"T-IOUSANDS OF BALES OF COTTON ThAT WERE CAP       TURED BY THE UNION ARMY AND STOLEN.
The.Committee on Expenditures in the Treasury Department were directed by
the House of Representatives at the last session to investigate the bureau of captured
-and abandoned property. From the testimony taken by the committee, the following statement of facts is culled.
At the close of the civil war a sweeping order was issued by the then Secretary of
the Treasury, Mr. McCulloch, and a swarm of special agents in obedence thereto were
sent South to seize all the cotton belonging to the so-called Confederate States of America. Tihe Confederate Government had sold in London a class of securities known as
Produce Loan Bonds. These bonds were based in large part upon cotton claimed
tobe owned by the Confederacy. For the mianagement of this loan the Treasury
Department of the C0 nfederacy establishled what was called a Produce Loan Office
of which one Archibal Roane was Chief.
Planters and other southern people who wanted to subscribe to this loan were
,allowed to pay for it in cotton and to bring, up the price of the Produce Loan Bonds
abroad, the Confederacy shipped this cotton by blockade runners to Liverpool
Upon the overthrow of the Confedelracy, Archibald Roane, who had formerly
been a Clerk in ihe Attorney General's Office undt(ler Calebl) Cushing, returned to
Washington.   Mr. Roane, testified that he was made chief of the Confederate
Produce Loan Office(, and had therefore, specia(l knowledge of the cotton transactions
of the Confederate Government.  "Under the original organization of the Produce
Loan Office there were subscriptions of all kinds  of produce, cotton, wheat,
tobacco, and everything grown b) the plainters in the South on these terms: That
the Produce Loan Office was to sell the piroduce they subscribed and invest the pro ceeds in Confederate bonds. It was on that account that it was called the' Produce
Loan Office. Afterwards the scol)( ot the off(ie ( was enlarged by act of the Confed erate Congress. Pur(chases of cotton were made under the direction of that
office for the use of the Confederate Government and verv large amounts were
purchased; I think four hund red thousand or five hlundred( thousand sales.  After ward the collection of the cotton and tobac(co tithes was placed under it, and then
the running of the cotton and tobacco througlhI the blockade.  In consequence of
my special knowledge of these matters, I had lived here in Washington, and some
months after the surrender of Gen. Joe Johnson; I think it was September, 1865,
I returned to Washington where 1 had previously lived with my family.
John T. Pickett who was familiar with the internal workingos of the Confederacy,
testified as follows:
ACCU,R.ATE INFORMATION OFFEEED.
"Question:  State whether, or not at the time you made the propositions to the
Treasury Department to furnish information which would lead to the securing of
all Confederate property, if you had the means at your command to ascertain, at the
,time, where the property was and what it was.  Ans. One of the' parties whom I 
WHAT TIIE GOVERNNMENT HAS LOST.
consulted and cooperated with, was MAr. Archibald Roanc who had been thechief of the Produce Loan of thie Confederate States, and through whom all purchases
of property had been made.  He joined me in the application, and here is a copy
of one of his letters to the Secretary of the Treasury at that time:
WASHTNGrTON'CITY, July 27, 1865.
SIR:-In a letter from the Honorable S. A. Trenholm, Secretary of the Trea,sury of the late Confederate Government, transmitted to you by the Secretary of
War,  it was suggested that infornamtion could be obtained from me concerning
the cotton and tobacco owned by the Government, a part of which remained on
hand at the time of its dissolution. The purchases of cotton and tobacco were
made under the direction of the Produce Loan Office, of which I lad hlad charge
and in compliance with the request made to me by the Treasury Department,  I
have the honor to respectfully enclose a copy of the only one known to exist of
the last report rendered of the oper ations of that office, which it is believed will
furnish in a compendious form, valuable information to be obtained from no other
source. All the books, papers and records of the office were lost or destroyed at
the time of the evacuation of Richmond, and by the merest accident I recently
discovered among my papers, the original, written in pencil, of the report herewith transmitted. I am very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. ROANE.
HON. HUGH 3McCULT,oUGH, SECRETARY OF ITR'ASURY.
INDISCRISIfNATE  SETIZURES.
Q. Did you make any observations, or have any opportunity of getting information'in reference to the manner in which the agents of the Government collected
the cotton in the South. A. Any gentleman can conjecture as to that.  I was in
Richmond and New Orleans, and saw a good deal, and heard a good deal more.
There were three kinds of seizures: The army seized it, and the Treasury could not.
release it because the army seized it: the navy seized it, and the Treasury would
not release it because the navy seized it.  The Treasury seized it and they did not
release it, because they did not want to.
Q. Do you know whether or not the agents who were entrusted with the duty
of seizing, captured and abandoned property, took special care to discriminate
between private and Confederate cotton.  A. I know they took special care not
to; and I know cases where there was suborned testimony and the price of such
testimony was fifty dollars. I know cases where cotton grown since the war, was
seized and proved by that kind of testimony, to be Confederate cotton.   I was
employed in a case of the Planters' Factory cotton of Mobile, Alabama, which referred to over two hundred bales of first-class cotton seized by the Treasury Department. Planters' Factory was a corporation composed mainly of Northern men or
perhaps wholly of union men. I and my partners were employed to obtain its release, and after a great deal of trouble we did obtain an order for its release.
Two hundred bales were turned over to the planters' factory and the bales
were opened, and instead of being first-class it was what is techanically called
' dog-tail," the sweepings of the factory not worth six cents a pound, while
their cotton was worth sixty cents.
Q. I understand you to say that the Treasury agents in searching for property
took all the cotton they could lay their hands on. A. That was their business
They went there for that purpose.
VERY LITTLE CONFEDERATE COTTON IN GEORGIA AND SOUTII CAROLINA.
Q. Have you in your possession a statement of Mr. Archibald Roane as to the
amount of the Confederate cotton in'the States of Georgia and South Carolina'!
A. I have.  This is the statement referred to, in Mr. Roane's handwriting:
"WASHn,T-(GTON, D. C., February 6, 1866.
"Gentle?en: In reply to your letter of the 5th inst., requesting information in orderto'protect the interests of certain'of your clients, as to the quantity of cotton in the
States of Georgia and South Carolina, belonging to the Treasury Department of'
the late Confederate Government at the time of its dissolution, it gives me pleasure
to state that at the period referred to, there were not more than four thousand
bales in Georgia, and probably seven thousand bales in South Carolina remaining
on hand. The cotton originally purchased in these two States having been exs
pended chiefly in shipping shipments throug,h the blockade at Wilmington and
518 
WHAT TIlE GOYERNEMENT IIAS LOST.
Charleston. The (-otton owned by other departments of the Government in the
States named. was insignificant in amount, as I know of personal knowledge, from
the fact that I was frequently called upon as chief of the Produce Loan Office,
litving in charge the Treasury purchases by the agents of the War and Navy Dep-Lrtment, for loans and sales of cotton to meet their pressing exigencies.  I am
yours truly,                                                     A. ROANE.
Along with Messrs. Pickett and Roane was associated a Mr. Coombs, of Bangor, Maine, in making the proposition, already referred to, to Secretary McCulloch,
to furnish definite information to the Govcrnment of the United States, which
would enable it to seize all the cotton belonging to the Confederate Government,
and to make good the title to the same.  The following is a copy of a proposition
submitted to Secretary  [cCuilloch by Mir. Coombs:
NOT M{ORE THAN 15)0,000 BALES BELONGED TO REBEL GOVERNMENT.
WASHINGTON, July 27, 1865.
SIR: Having been engaged during the past two months in collecting information relative to the purchase and sale of cotton, and the amount remaining on
hand at the time of the dissolution of the late confederate government, I would
state, as the result of my investigations, that  "From data obtained from authentic sources, based principally upon the statements of the produce-loan office of the confederate government, under whose
direction all the purchases of cotton were made, and from information obtained
from William tI. Warder, Esq., who was negotiating for some of said cotton previous to the fall of the confederacy, and from others, there was remaining on
hand one hundred and fifty thousand bales of cotton, in the hands of the agents,
or on the plantations where it had been purchased.
"The purchases of cotton were principally made from planters, and it was
generally left on the plantations the planters in such cases giving a written obligation to shelter, take care of and deliver the same on the order of the confederate government, free of all charges for storage or custody.
"The report of A. Roane, Esq., late chief of the said prodtice-loan office, a
copy of which will be transmitted you, will exhibit the fact that at the date of
his report, October 30, 1864, there was conjectured to be on hand about two hundred and fifty-nine thousand bales, classed therein as purchased cotton.
" Losses had occurred subsequent to the date of the report, reducing largely
the quantity on hand, so that by the 1st of April last it could not greatly have
exceeded 150,000 bales, exclusive of the 14,850 bales of tithe cotton, so-called.
50,000 BALES OF THIS ALL THAT COULD BE FOUND.
"This number of bales, since the breaking up of the confederate government,
has again been reduced by the burning of a considerable amount, and the collection of a portion of it by the Treasury agents, while from the confusion consequent upon the said breaking up of that government, and the time that has
elapsed since, interested parties have probably been able to carry off and fraudulently conceal considerable amounts, so that a fair estimate of that which may
eventually be recovered to the use of the United States, other than what the
regular Treasury agents can collect, can hardly be made, and it might reach as
high as 50.000 hales, or less.
"The entire administration of the cotton purchases, sales and shipments, as
well as the collection of the cotton and tobacco tithes, were placed under the
charge and superintendence of the chief of the produce-loan office, to whom
agents reported for instructions and orders, and where their returns were digested
and recorded, and whose reports, therefore, furnished the only authentic statement of the operations of that government in the purchase and sale of c(tton.
"I am informed that a considerable portion, and probably the larger part of this
cotton, has been on hand for nearly three years, and that bale-rope and bagging
having become rotten, the cotton will have to be  rebaled before it will bear
removal.
DELAY DANGEROUS.
"Any great delay in this matter will enable interested parties to remove and
secrete a portion of this cotton now remaining on hand, rendering the collection
more difficult. if not impossible.
5" 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOSIR.
"Much of the cotton that has been  wrongfully secreted may. no doubl-)t, be
found and recovered by making just conipen-sation to the informer, an(I by a proper
representation of the case to the local agents who have had it in charge.
"I have the means of procurinig informationi in cases where payment for
this cotton has not been made by the purchasing-agents, and I do not therefore
propose to take a single bale that has not been purchased, paid for, owned, and in
the hands of the local or other agents of the Confederate Government at the time
of its collapse.
"The cotton purchasing agents, as well as the vendors of the cotton in the various States, may  or may not be aware of the destruction of the books and
papers of the Produce-Loan Office by the burning of Richmond, yet they are aware
that Mir. Roane, as chief of that office, has a general knowledge and recollection of all its transactions in the various States, and they will, therefore, the more
readily disclose the facts in each case, should hlie be associated with or sent there
with me.
"It is manifest, I think, from the foregoing statement, that I have peculiar information, and facilities possessed by no other person who has applied for the collection of this cotton, (much of which will be lost if not speedily looked after,)
and by timely exertion I believe that several millions may be saved to the Treasury,
which would otherwise go to enrich those who have no legal or equitable claim to
it.  I would, therefore, propose that, either by contract or by appointment, or
as you shall see fit, I may be placed in charge of the collection of this cotton
left with the planters and local agents, wherever the Treasury agents have not
been able to obtain or know nothing of it, and that you give me such instructions
for my guidance, and empower me to procure the necessary assistance and in
formation and to pay for the same, and to receive such compensation for my services, by contract or otherwise, as may be deemed to the last interests of the parties concerned.
'" Very respectfully,                             "W.  COOMBS.
"Hon. HUGH McCULLOCH,
"Sec-etary of the Trecasury, WashJnyton, D. C."
THE COTTON RING DID NOT WANT DEFINITE INFORMATION.
Instead of accepting this proposition, the Secretary of the Treasury mrade a contract with Hughes, Denver and Peck, attorneys in Washington, to collect Cenfederate property, and defend the right of the UInited States to the same. No attention
was paid to the propositions of Roane or Coombs by Secretary McCullough, but
the whole matter was turned over to W. E. Chandler, Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury, now Secretary of the Republican National Executive Committee. Chan(ler made the arrangement above alluded to with Messrs. I-ug'hes, Denver and
Peck, and Mr. Hughes, of this firm, immediately employed Mr. Roane. and agreed
to give him a commission on all the property belonging to the Confederacy which
they could discover, and make good the title to the same for the United States.
The next step in this business wias to establish in the Treasury  Depart- 
ment the Bureau of Captured and Abandoned Property, and at the lhead of it
Chandler placed men of his own selection. Cotton was then indiscriminately
seized all over the South by special agents of the Treasury D)epartment, and by
the army and navy, and was collected and shipped from different Southern ports to
New York and elsewliherei and sold. The amount realized from this captured cotton
and covered into the Treasury was claimed in the Finance Report of 1875, to be
$20,910,656.44, but the accuracy of this statement is denied by Albert L. Munson of New York City, who was employed in the Treasury I)epartmient in 1866,
and had charge of tihe accounts of the various special agents of the Treasury
Department engaged in collecting captured and abaundoned property.  Hlie testified that hlie preparedc a detailed statement in obedience to the order of Mr.
Chandler, Assistant Secretary, showing the transactions of every agent; that he
was in the neighborhood of thirty days preparing it, having the assistance of
from twe,y to thirty-five clerks.  During the time of the preparation of this
document, hlie was called into the Secretary's office and asked by Mir. McCulloughl
what amount hlie could make it show as a profit to the Government, to which he
replied lie could not tell; that MIr. McCullough said he must make itshliow twentyfive millions.
LARGE DISCREPANCIES IN ACCOUNTS.
Q. Were  you  able to accomuplish  the result they desired?  A. The  net re
;)20 
WHAT THE GOVERI.NMENT HAS Lt)ST.
suit of the cashl portion of the staltement shows $24,742,022.55, of which nearly
$6,500,000  as in c(oi, so tlhat it, (id,o over thlat amiaout. It wss intended to be an
accurate re( orid of everv tran.sa( tion.
Q. Wheni the docunmelt was printed, vere ai ny important matters left out? A. I
never saw% t printed copy1 until a year ago; I discovered it was a slimmaly.
Again, Mr. Oliver S. Lovell wlho was chief clerk of Mr. Wim. P. Mellen, one
of the principal agents for the Treasiir  Department for the collection and disposition of captured and abandoned  property, testified in regard to  this discrepancy between the amounts claimed in the Finance Report of 1875 to have been
covered in the treasury as the result of the proceeds of captured and abandoned
property and the amount actually realized therefrom.
Q. Have you any means of knowing how muchl of the money thus paid into the
Treasury is still there? A. There is an article that will tell all that I can tell on
that subject.  That I made lap from lead pencil notes that I had already made at
the request of Secretary Boutwell, to find how mu(h of that fund was left.  Mr.
Hale referred the request to me.
Q. Mr. Hale who was then acting as the special counsel of the Government?
A. Yes, sir; I remarked to him that that inquiry ought to be addressed to the
counting-room, as they had the books and data to go by, and he said that it was
nott what he wanted, they knew that I knew all about the thing, and it was
wanted in. v ery short time, so I nmade up a short statement of it.
Q. At   hiat dfitc?-A. That must have been in 1869.  Then, when I began to
practi(ce law here in 1870, there was an amendment to the d(efticienlcy bill, calculated to cut off tlhe claimanit's remedy in the Court of Cl(aims; and statements had
been made in the Senate, that, if all the claims were  allowed, there would be a
large deficit of the captured aml abandoned property fund, involving the United
States in liability for large amqunts of money.   I then took my lead-pen-cil notes,
upon whiclh, however 1 could not lay  my li hnds when coming to this committeeroom; and this statement slio*-s that, after all claims p( nding before the Court of
Claims were paid, there would be a balance left to the Governmenit of $10,364,672.61.  This statement was made out on the 4th of April. 1872.
Q. Is this a correct stattement madce by you at that time at the request of Secretary Boutwell?-A. Yes, sir; I would have made that statement under oath if it
had  become  necessary.   I made  it out at the request of Secretary Boutwell.
"By the report of thie Secretary of the TI'reasury, May It, 1868, Execulive Docunment No. 56, Senate, second session, Fortiethl Congress, page 53, the total amount
of proceeds of sales of captured and al)andoned property cov-ered into the treasury
will be found to be. —-------------------------------------- $25,257,931.62
To this can be added sales of the quartermaster of the Department
of the Gulf, New  )rleans, A. B. Hfolabird, (see Executive Docu  meit No. 97, House of Representatives, Thirty-ninth Congress,
second session, page 39), which amounts to...................... —  835,429.84
)r a total receipt from this souiice...... 6. _  _..... _ _$26,092,460.96
and this balaice remains after the Secretary of the Treasury has paid out of the
fund on an e.Tpartstc slwiiing $2,210,476.96.  (See Executive Docume nt, House of
Representatives, No. 114, Thirty-ninthl Congress, second session, page 13.)
By the law of March 12, 1863 (volume 12 Statutes at Large, section 3, page 820,
&c.), suit could be brought by owner for proceeds "at any time within two years
after the suppression of the reb ellion."
This limitation expired 20th August, 1868 (see decision before quoted); therefore, no suits could be broiiuht thereafter, and none have been.  After the statute
of limitation commenced to run, an abstract of all cases pending in the Court of
Claims shows as follows:
Suits were pending for22,849 bales cotton from New Orleans; average value in Treasury,  $2,779,809.34
23,616 bales from Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee and Northern
Georgia. —------------------------------------------ 5,092,963.40
37,346 bales Savannah upland, Georgia ------------------------- 6,457,874.18
851 bales Sea Island — ------------------------------------- 197,253.29
3,417bales Charleston (S. C.) uplanid -------------—. —--------- 460,539.30
521
I
THE STATE'NtENr. 
wIIrAT TIlE GOVElNilMENT IAS LOST.
468 bales Chlarleston (S C.) Sea Island.........83,528.64
30,173 bales MIobile,  la                        i                         493,877.46
849 bales North Carolina................... 71,952.75
92,571 bales, worth..... —--------------------------------------- $15,727,788.35
It will bi  seen that if every d(ollar snei for was  recovered under ju(dgment,  the
c-se would stand as follows:
Amount of proceeds of sales of captured an(d al)an(lonlie
Treasury —--------------------------------------.
Total amount of all sulits peudiing wlieii litation co
run —----- -- -- -  ---             --—.. —-. —-. —---- ---- --..
Leaving in the Treasury a balanice of
The first suits for cotton came' to a. judgimet at the De(celnber term, 1866, since
when up to the 4th April, 1872, present month, the whole amoiunt paid out has
been $2,858,612.02, as per First Comptroller's record in the Treasury DIepartmnient,
being but $648,135.06 more thaii. was paid out )by the Secretary of the Treasury
prior to March 30, 18688, when tlhe fund was ordered to lie (covered into the Treasury, and which was paid out without the authority of law."
IIOW JUDGMENTS WERE ItENDI',RED IN TIlE DEiPAIiTMIENT.
Q. What officer of the Treasury approved and settled your accouiiiits?-A. The
First Auditor and Commissioner of Customs.
Q. What was the process of settling claims against the fund while you were
connected with the captured(l anid abandoned property division, by the Secretary
of the Treasury?-A. So far as came within my knowleldge, the cases were upon
eparte testimony only; that is, upon aflidavits at(nd tihe like, which very genller —
ally folloved up and i(lentifie(l solne part of the cotton that had been taken from
some particular district.
Q. Have you any data by which you can state to the committee what is the totli
aggregate amnount paid into the Treasury on account of captured and abandonied
property?-A. In that printed article I go as near as possible to it.  It is stated
there in so many words,   amount of proceeds of sales of captured and abaindoned property in Trea.sury, $25,092,460.96."
Q. Is that made up of the amount paid in from each agent?-A.  By the report
of the Secretary of the Treasury, of date 3Iay 11, 1868, Executive 1)Document 56,
House of Represenitatives, seco(nd session, Fortieth C((iigiess, pae 53, it is stated
that the total amount of proceeds is $25,257.931.62  to this cain be added the sales
of thle Quartermaster's Department of the Gulf, (Col. A. B. Ilolabird,which amounts
to $824,529.24, or the total receipts from  tlis soure  arc $26, 092,460.96.  MIy
attention was invited to the statement in this report of the  Secretary of the
Treasury and the statement of finaitnce for 1875.  When it conies (lirect to these
proceeds of cottonI, it is palpable on its face that ther e is an error in the figures.
Q. Who is that report  made by?-A. Made b-)y the cotton division of the Se(.retary's office.
Q. In that report what does lie state to l1e the proceeds of captured aInd abandoniied property coveredl into the Tireasury?-A.  He stated it to l)e $20,910,656.44.
A $,5,000,000 DEFICIT.
Q. And you say that is erroneous?-A.. I say that is erroneous.
Q. Let iue understand whether the fig(ures of twentty-six millions of dollars aId
odd, given by you, include the premium on  s:les of the coin?-A. The p)reniiun
is stated in this executive document.
Q. I hold in my hand a letter fr()om the Secretary of the Trea.sury int answer to
a resolution of the House  of Representatives of 1)(ecember  8, 1870,.dated Felruary 9, 1871, which purports to giv(-e i stiteinmeit of moneys covered into the
Treasury as the proceeds of captured and abandonedl property;,look at that a(ggregate amount of the pavlents given, ni  say whether, in your opinion, that i.s
a correct statement of the amounts that were covered in froiii your knowle~dge of
the books?-.A. I should suppose it to be  nlore unearly corrct  ili~hai thi:ffigurcs
give in E'xecutiae Doc(ument No. 56, of second session, Fortieth Con,ress, alluded
to in my previous testimoniy, and liaviug b)een nile up niore fully, in 187-1 t.han iii
522
-..         -.-.-.-. $.66,09)2, 460. 9)(i
onmmenced to
..............           1.,,727, 788. oo
............ $1.0,364,672. 61 
MWfAT THFE GOVEiNiMENT HAS L,OST.
1868, and containing, as it does, the Holabird contribution to the captured anCabandoned fund, would also be more accurate than my estimate made on the 4th,
of April, 1872.  With data that I had I made up a statement for the Treasury in
1868 or 1869, where I found $26,09',460.96 as the grand total of the captured and
abandoned property turned into the Treasury; this Executive Document No. 113(Report of February, 1871, they having access to all sources), proves the sanime toe.
lie $26,709,268.89 (page 4).
Q. Then this letter, giving this sum of $26,709,268.89, embraces the premium
of sales of coin and the Holabird sales to which you refer?-A.  Yes, sir it does
I have examined it, and 1 see it embraces the premilnums on sales of coin  and onr
looking at it further I find the Holabl)ird amount.
Q. In your jiudgment, it gives the accurate statement of the amounts of money
covered into the Treasury from the sales of captured and abandoned property ~
-A. I b)elie(ve it does, sir.
STRIKE THE BALANCE,
Thus it will be seen that there is a difference between the two statements made
by the Treasury Department in retard to the sum of money realized from the pro —
ceeds of captured and abandoned property covered into the Treasury Department;
between the statement made in 1871 embodied in Executive Document No. 113,
and astatement in the finance report for 1875, of $5,798,612.45. Moreover thetotal
amount paid up to April 4, 1872, $2,858,6(12.02 as the disbursements from the captured and abandoned property fund on judgments rendered l)y the Court of Claims
(does not represent the full extent of the claims adjudged by that Court against the
fund.  The Court of Claims have decided claims against the Government on account of cotton seized"which aggregated more than $8,830,762. This sum represents the total of judgments on cases decided against the government, which were
appealed, whereas there were many cases which were not appealed by the Attorney-General. Therefore, it will be seen, that of the $25,092,460 resulting from the
proceeds of captured and abandoned property, $8,840,762 has bee i decided by theCourt of Claims to have been illegally seized, and the Secretary of the Treasury
paid on ex parte testimony, $2,210,476 more, so that $11,050,238 have been orwily
be soon handed over.  Now take the amount reported in finance report of 1875 to
have been covered into the Treasury $20,910,656, and there only remains $9,860,4t8 after the above amount is deducted.  The costs to the Government of defendling'
suits in the Court of Claims, in paying special counsel fees and all other expenses'
incident  to the management of the  Captured  and  Abandoned  Property
Bureau in the'Treasury Department will eat up fully $2,000,000 more, so that
up to date the Government has about $7,500,000, and probably less as the net proceeds of captured cotton. There are still other cases pending in the Court of'
Claims which are yet to be passed upon. In the end, if the Government realizes a
profit of $5,000.000 from captured and abandoned property, it will do better than it
now promises. Twice this sum could have been, at the close of the war, secured,.
and the Governments title to the same forever secured by accepting the proposition of Roane, but then that would not have enabled W. E. Chandler and otherfavorites in Washington to make their millions, and the people of the South would
not have been robbed and otherwise oppressed.
I,OOSE MANNER OF TRANSACTING BUSINESS. 
The manner of conducting the business of the Bureau of Captured and Abandoned Property was of the loosest description. In the first place Secretary Bristow discovered in 1875 that there was no authority of law for any such Bureau. It.
had been up to that time in the office of the Commissioner of Customs, and T. J.
D. Fuller, an attorney who had some cotton eases, brought the matter to the attention of Bristow, who examined into it, and decided that the whole business shouldl
be turned over to the first Comptroller. While the Bureau was in the office of theCommissioner of Customs, the chiefs of it were S. H. Kaufman, George S. Parker,
M. L. Noerr and William Fessenden.
In regard to the manner of paying out money during the time Kauf,ma  and
Parker were chiefs of the Bureau Mr. Stevens E. Gough in the Customs Division~
of the Treasury Department, testified as follows
"Q. Before that fund was covered into the Treasury what was the process of'
paying cotton claims?-A. There was a letter written; Mr. Kaufmain, I think, and,
Geo. S. Parker where chiefs in charge of the Captured'and Abatndoned 1Branchj of:
,52M 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.
the Secretary's office; a letter would be written, signed by the Secretary to the
Commissioner of Customs requesting a requisition to issue for such and such purposes, to such and such parties, payable out of that appropriation.  I woul- issue
the requisition and return it to the Secretary's office, to Mr. Kauffman's roomn, or
Mr. Parker's, upon which the draft was issued.
Q. Upon whom was the draft for that money?-A. Different parties.  I think
some of the letters read about to this effect:'Payable to the order of S. H.
Kauffman, ten thousand dollars," "fifteen thousand dollars," or "twenty  thousand dollars," for him to disburse.
I don't know how it was disbursed.  I have all the letters of the Secretary from
the commencement up to the last.
Q. You have answered me in whose favor these drafts were drawn,  I want' to
know on whom they were drawn?-A. On F. E. Spencer, as treasurer and special
:agent.
Q. They were all drawn in that way? —A. Yes, sir.
Q. Were all the drafts that were drawn by the treasurer, or requested to be
drawn by you, in favor of Mr. Kauffman or some other person, or were they
drawn in favor of the actual parties to whom the payment was to be made?-A.  In
some cases they were drawn in favor of the actual parties to whom  the payment
was to be made; in some cases the drafts were drawn payable to MAr.  Kauffman
,to be disbursed by him.
HOW IT WAS DONE.
The following are the letters from the Secretary of the Treasury to the Commissioner of Customs, directing requisitions to be issued in favor of S. HI. Kauffman
on the Captured and Abandonded Fund.
TRE.ASURY DEPARTM:ENT, April 18, 1866.
"SIR: You are hereb)y authorized and instructed to issue a requisition on F.
E. Spinner, Esq., United States Treasurer, special agent, to the credit of S. H.
:Kaufmann the sum of $2,000, to be disbursed by him, under my direction, for
the payment of incidental expenses connected with the collection and sale of captured and abandoned property.
"Respectfully,
" -HUGH McCULLOUCH,
"Secretary of the Treasury."
"To the COMMISsIONER OF CUSTOMS."
Q. Whose handwriting is this?-A. George S. Parker's.
Q. What position did Parker hold in the Treasury?-A. Hie held a position as
chief clerk in charge of captured and abandoned property after Kaufman resigned.
He is now dead.  Then Mr. Nocrr succeeded Sir. Parker.
Q. Do you know for what purpose this $2,000 just referred to was applied?A. I presumeI can ascertain by looking at his account.
Q. Do you mean by looking at the voucher which it was his duty to have filed?
-A. In his account he charges that sum of money, and then he furnishes vouch.ers for that.  lie never rey7dered but one account wohereii he is c7r7ged wqith all these
Q. Does that account show for what purpose he applied the particular sums?
Does it show for whiat purpose this $2,000 Owas applied?-A. No, SIT; IT DOES NOT.
'The next item is $10,000, dated May 3, 1866.  Thle letter is as follows
A TEN THOUSAND DOLLAR WHACK.
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, May 3, 1866.
"SiRn: You are hereby authorized and instructed to issue a requisition on F. E.
'Spinner, Esq., United States Treasurer, special agent, to place to the credit of S.
-H. Kaufman, the sum of $10,000, to be disbursed by him, under my direction,
for the patyment of incidental expenses connected with the collection and sale of
captured and abandoned property.
"Respectfully,
"HUGH MIcCULLOUCH,
Secretary of thle Tra ury.
"To the COMMISSONrERt OF CUSTOMS."
.q. This is also written by Mr. Parker, in his handwriting?- Yes, sir.
Z24 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.
Q. Who was in charge of the department when these letters were written? was
it Parker or Kaufmann?-A. Mr. Kaulmnann was in charge at that time.
Q. Mr. Kaufmann was in charge of the captured and abandoned property division?-A. Of the Secretary's branch of the captured and abandoned peoperty.
Q. How does this last letter compare in date with the other?-A.  This is -
month later.  The next item is June 5, 1866, for $5,000; the letter is as follows
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, JunIIe 5, 1866.
"SIRn: You are hereby anthorized and instructed to issue a requisition on F. E
Spinner, Esq., United States Treasurer, special agent, for the sum of $5,000, to"
Mr. S. H. Kaufman, to be disbursed by him, under my directions, for incidental
expenses connected with the collection and sale of captured and abandoned property.
"Respectfully,
HUGH McCULLOUGH, 
" Secretary of the Treastry.
" To the COMMISSIONER OF CUSPS."
ONE CHECK AS GOOD AS ANOTHER.
Q. This has G. S.P. on the right-hand corner, and W.E. C. on the other corner?'
-A. Yes, sir.
Q, Is this also the handwriting of Mr. Parker?-Yes, sir.
Q. I see there is no check on this letter?-A. Mr. Kaufmann may have been
out at the time, and Mr. Parker was Mr. Kaufmann's assistant.
Q. So Atr. Parker's check wa(8 equivalent to Mr. Kauftnantt's checks?-YES, sRr
but you will find in the larger amounts both their checks appear.
Q. Who is D. W. Haines?-A. He was in charge of the captured and abandoned
property division of the Commissioner of Customs' office. He is a brother of the
late Commissioner of Customs, who was interested in this Parkmnan, Brooks,
Co. affair.  He is now a clerk in the Sixth Auditor's Office of the Treasury Department.
M. Haines was in charge of the captured and abandoned property division in
the Commissioner's Office before it was transferred, and before you took charge
of it?-A. Yes, sir. The captured and abandoned property division was not
transferred until within a month ago.  From its organization up to the 1st of
April, the captured and abandoned property remained in charge of the Commis
sioner of Customs.   Since that date it is transferred to the First Comptroller's
Office.
Q. Was that change made in consequence of the discovery by a certain party
acting as an attorney, Mr. Charles D. J. Fuller, attorney for Mr. 0. H. Burbridge,
of New Orleans, that it should not be with the Commissioner of Customs?-A
He was a special agent of the agency at New Orleans, but he resided at Cdvington, Ky., and he discovered that there was no authority for ever placing the captured and abandoned property accounts there. 
Q. What is the next item?-A. The next item is June 29, 1866.
Q. What does that amount to?-A. $5,000. The letter is as follows:
KAUFMAN, PARKER AND CHANDLER.
"TREASURY DEPARTMENT, June 30, 1866.
"SIR: You are hereby authorized and instructed to issue a requisition on F. E.
Spinner, United States Treasurer, special agent, in favor of S. H. Kaufmann, of
my office, for the sum of $5,000, to be disbursed by him under directions from
me, on account of incidental expenses in connection with the collection and sale
of captured and abandoned property.
"Respectfully,
"SHUGH McCULLOUGH,
"Secretary of the 1reasry.
" To the COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS.
" [Immediate.]"
Q. There are the initials G. S. P. on the left-hand side of the page on which it,
is written; what do they stand for?-A. They stand for George S. Parker.
Q. What do you understand by that other mark?-A. That is Kaufmann's private
mark, his monogram, as I call it.  
.525 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.
Q. So on one side of this letter, on the left-hand corner, is the mark of Kaufnana, and in the other is the mark of the Assistant Secretary, W. E. Chandler?
— A. Yes, sir.
Q. Is Mr. Chandler now connected with this business?-A. No, sir; Mr. Chandler is out long ago.  Mr. Chandler and Mr. KaufmannL went out both about ihe
same time.
Q. What is the meaning of that last mark  "inmmnediate? "-A. That means
that they had to throw aside all other work, and immediately draw the requisition.
Q. What is the next item?-A. The next letter is November 13, 1866.  That
specifies what the money was paid out for.  That is for an amount paid Genera]
Gordon Granger, while discharging duties as special agent of the Department,
under instructions from the Secretary of the Treasury.
"TREASURY DEPARTMENT, Novemiber 13, 1866.
"SIR: I will thank you to issue your requisition on F. E. Spinner, Esq., United
StatesTreasurer, special agent, for the suim of $500, in favor of S. H. Kaufmann,
to re-imburse for an amount paid by him, by my direction, to General Gordon
Granger, for expenses incnrred in the discharge of his duties as a special agent of
.he Department, under instructions dated the 7th of May last.
"HUGIh McCULLOUGH,
"Sc,retairy of the Treasury.
" To the COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS."
TREASURY DEPARTMEFNT. Dec. 4, 1866.
SIR.: You are hereby authorized and directed to issue a requisition on F.E.
Spinner, United States Treasurer, special agent, to S. 11. Kauffman, of my office,
for the sum of 10,000 dollars, to be disbursed by him under my directions for in
cidental expenses connected with the collection and care of captured and abanloned property. 
W. E. CHANDLER,
Asfsstant f,eretray of l'reasury.
ANOTHER $10,000 WHACK.
,To the COMMISSIONER OF CUSTOMS."
"TREASURY DEPARTMENT, May 28, 1867.
"SIR: Acting under my direction, Mr. S. II. KAUFFMAN, of'my office, has
among  other payments, advanced from funds placed in his hands, the following named sums of money, at the times and to the persons and for the purposes stated:
$6,000 on December 24, 1866, to Messrs. Hughes, Denver & Peck, which sum it
was understood was in full, for all information furnished, services performed, or
expenses incurred by them in relation to certain cotton claimed by the Louisiana
State Bank, but held by the Government to be captured and abandoned property;
42,500 on the 4th of January, 1867, to Isaac F. Redfield on account of legal
services, to be rendered by him in relation to certain suits for the recovery of
Rcaptured property in England; $1,000 to James Hughes on the 7th of January,
1867, for legal services as special counsel in the case of Elgee vs. Lovell, touching
,the property familiarly described as the Elgee cotton; $200 on the 21st of February,
1867, to M. A. Clancy on account of extra services performed bv him in relation
to captured and abandoned property. For the purpose of re-imbursing the fund
in his hands in the amounts named, you will please issue your requisition on F. E.
3pinner, Esq., United States Treasurer, special agent, to be satisfied out of any
funds in his hands as the proceeds of captured and abandoned property, in favor
of Mr. Kaufimann for the sum of $9,700, the draft when issued to be delivered to
the payee. in order that such instructions as I may give touching the proceeds may
be carried out. Although this draft is to the credit of Mr. Kaufmann yet as he
has been once charged with the amount and has paid the sums composing it to
the persons named instead of charging it to Mr. Kaufmann, the several amounts
specified should be entered on your books as a charge against the persons who -received the same, and the facts should be made to appear substantially on your requisition.
" Very respectfully,
HUGH McCULLOCH,
"Ser etay of the reasury.
- N. SARGENT, Com bnl       r of Customs. "
Z26
I 
WHAT THTE GOVERNMENT HtAS LOST.
"TrREAS  iRY DEPARTMENT, September 24, 1876.
SIR: To re-imburse him for the amount advanced by my direction to William
H. Hall, acting under United States District Attorney Courtney, of New York, to
be used in the matter of certain investigations to recover by legal proceedings the
proceeds or value of Government property fraudulently converted to private use,
you will please issue your requisition on F. E. Spinner, Esq.,  United States
Treasurer, special agent, in favor of S. H. Kauifmann, for the suml of $200, the
same to l)e paid out of any money in the hands of Mr. Spinner as the proceeds of
captured and aibandoned property
-  Respectctftlly
"HUGH M,coULLOCH,
"Scretary of thte Treasury,
-N. SA{GE-NTl', 6oram'0,4ioter of CUstO?Ist."
It will thus be seen that $80,000 was by order of the Secretary of the Treasury,
placed to the credit of Mr. Kauffinan who disbursed the same and was not required
to state an account or furnish vouchers.  Kauffnian was a poor man when he entered the Treasury i)el)aitmenit; when hlie left it, he was rich.
TfE SUCCESSORS OF KAUFMAN, PARKER AND CIIANDILE.R.
In regard to the two clerks who were chlliefs of the Bureau of Captured and
Abanidoned Proplerty, ip to the time it was transferred to the first Comptroller's
Office, iMr. William Brown, a Republican, testifies as follows:
Q. Do you know anything about the former positions held by Noerr or Fessenden?-A. Of Noerr's antecedents, I know nothing.  Fessenden was a paymaster in the army, and was dismissed from the army on account of embezzlement.
I know that from an examinatien of the record in the Adjudant Generatl's office.
Q. Do you know whether that fact was ever brought to the attention of the
present Secretary of the Treasury?-A. It was brought to his attention by myself
in 1874.
Q. I)id your politics and those of the Secretary's agree? —A. Yes, sir; except
that I am a Republican of the extremest type.  I went to Mr. Bristow with the
papers in Fessenden's case.  Mr. Bristow said to me, that Mr. Hamlin, Mr. Blaine,
of Maine, and Mr. Eugene Hale, of Maine, had vouched to him for Fessenden's
integrity and good character, and that under these circumstanc(es he did not feel
called upon to take noitce of it.
Q. When (lid this conversation occur?-A. In the Fall of 1874. I only called
his attention to the matter and handed him a copy of the papers from the Adjutant
General's office.  He expressed surprise that Fessenden had been guilty of anything of that kind.
Q. When was Fessenden dismissed from the armv?-A. In 1862 or 1863, and lie
was appointed in the Treasury Department about 1864.
Q. Do you know, whether Fessenden's amount in which he was defaulter to the
GCovernment was ever settled? A. The only information I have on the subject is
from a printed report of a Committee of the Senate of tihe last Congress on the
claim of a man named Colby, to whom Fessenden had furnished about eighteen
thousand dollars of the funds, for which he was defaulter. In that report the
Committee staid that this money had never been re-imnbiurs((l to lhei( United States
Government."
FURNISHING FALSE I/NF()RMIATION-.
In regard to Mr. N oerr, Joseph Casey formerly Chief Justice of the C(ourt of
Claims appointed by President Lincoln, testified as follows
Q. Do you know Mr. Noerr, the present Chief of the C.aptured and Abanldoned
Property DI)ivision? A. I know him personally very well.
Q. Do you know particular instances in which calls were made upon the Secretary for returns in regard to the process in which incorrect information was
furnished? A. Yes, sir; I do.
Q. Be kind enough to enumerate the cases if you can recollect them, and state
inii what respect the information was incorrect. A. I called for information in
some fifty or sixty cases, commencing with the case of John H. Newman, then
pending in the Court of Claims, for an amount of cotton that had been received
by the Treasury Agent at Vicksburg, shipped thence and sold for the amount of
proceeds paid into the Treasury.  A return after a great deal of delaywas sent in
57 
WHAT TIlE GOVERNMENT HIAS LI,OST.
the latter part of 1872, or the begining of 1873, a copy of which may be obtained
from the Court, of Claims I think, in which the matters returned, in the first place
was so commingled and confused, as to be utterly unintelligible, and in the second
place, were untrue and incorrect, as events proved, in their statements and facts.
The return from that Bureau and from the Treasury Department showed that
there were in the Treasury the proceeds of about six hundred and forty bales of
cotton from Vicksburg.
Q. Do youf remember to what they amounted?-A.  No, I cannot now tell the
amount, but I think not over onie hundred  and twenty-five thousand or one
hundred and thirty thousand.
Q. Do I understand these claims in which the calls were made were all upon
this Vicksburg cotton?-A. On the Vicksburg cotton. Being dissatisfiedwith it, I
asked for further proceedings from the Court to obtain correct information, and at
one time making application for a subpoena deuces tecum. After considering the
matter, the Court on the 4th of June, 1873, if my recollection of it is correct, referred the matter of the Missisippi cotton, together with other cotton, of that region,
and especially Vicksburg cotton, to a commission, Mr. Evelethli to report upon the
amount of cotton received, to what points shipped, to whom sold, how much proceeds resulted, and whetheer these proceeds were in the Treasury. After some two
years, delay and examinations of the matters,  Mr. Eveleth made a report on the
Vicksburg cotton, from which it appeared that there were in the neighborhood of
twelve thousand bales received there and shipped.
ONLY A DIFFERENCE OF $800,000.
Q. Can you give us the discrepancy that exists between the return to the first
call and the report of Mr. Eveleth with reference to the Vicksburgh cotton alonein the number of bales?-A. I am not able to do so without having some other
papers before me. I could not give the exact statement. I could only give, by
reference to this report and from recollection, an approximate statement.
Q. I understood you to say that the Captured and Abandoned Property Division
returned something over six hundred bales as the amount that remained in the
Treasury from Vicksburg cotton?-A. Yes.
Q. Can you see there the proceeds of how many bales Mr. Eveleth reports as
remaining in the Treasury, of the Vicksburg cotton?-A. I can state from recollection that Mr. Ev,lethl's report showed that there had been actually sold, and
gone into the Treasury, of the cotton shipped from Vicksburg, five thousand and
odd bales, (the odd being less than one hundred, I cannot state the exact number.)
The amount of proceeds is given approximately correctly here in the amendment
to the second report of Mr. Eveleth.
Q. At how much?-A. At $925,925.04, some eight hundred thousand dollars
more than the officers of Cotton Bureau had returhed.
Q. Has any explanation ever been made to you as to why or how this discrepancy between the two statements occurred?-A. None whatever; I have tried to
obtain it from Mr. Noerr.  I knew before Mr. Eveleth reported, and before his
appointment, that the former statement was incorrect, from knowledge derived
from my clients and from proof in the cases, and I endeavored to get Mr. Noerr
to correct it, but without any result.
Q. Did he show any disposition to correct it?-A. None whatever.
KAUFMAN'S CONFESSION.
Mr. S. H. KAUFFMAN, who was Chief of the Captured and Abandoned Property
Division of the Secretary's Office, had the disbursements of all moneys paid from
that fund, for counsel fees, &c., testifies as follows:
Q. Was the order of the Secretary to you, to draw money from Mr. Spinner
a written or a verbal one?-A. My irnpresson is that it was generally ve}rbal.  There
may have been some written memorandum, from one of the memorandum blocks,
sent in, directing me, to do thus and so, but I could not answer as to
that.
Q. Do I understand you to say that there-was this amount. of money which you
speak of, bordering upon $100,000, or something over, in your hands; was it all
set aside in the hands of this special agent, subject to your draft at one time?
-A. I do not think the whole sum was ever set to my credit; I think sums were
added from time to time.
i$28 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.                         529
Q. Were added by whom?-A. By direction of the Secretary.
Q. What was the amount you were originally authorized to draw for?-A. I
cannot answer that.
Q. Approximately?-A. I have no means of recollecting. I could not say
whether it was $20,000, or $30,000, or $40,000.
Q. What evidence, if any, did Mr. F. E. Spinner, the special agent having control and custody of this fund, have, that you were ordered by the Secretary to
draw checks in specific cases?-A. I suppose he had written directions or information, but I cannot say that positively.
Q. Did the face of the checks you drew show in whose favor and for what they
were drawn?-A. They showed in whose favor, but I don't know that they indicated
in all cases, or7 in any case, foi what purpose.
Q. Then you could draw on that fund a check in favor of anybody, without indicating for what purpose it was drawn?-A.  Yes, sir; my imnpression is that the
face of the check did )not show the purpose.
ALL IN HIS OWN HANDS.
Q. And the use which lyou made of this money thus set aside was all made by
checks drawn by you?-A. Yes, sir.
Q. Drawn always on Mr. Spinner as special agent?-A. Yes, sir.
Q. Are those checks in his possession now?-A. I presume so. They were
never returned to me. I presume he kept them. In an ordinary private bank,
the checks are returned to the trader, but I think the Treasury in all cases retain
the checks drawn on them.
Q. Who prepared the requisitions for the Secretary's or Assistant Secretary's
signature?-A. I think Mr. Parker.
Q. Did you prepare any?-A. I think it is likely I did.
Q. Did Mr. Fessenden prepare any?-A. It is possible he did.
Q. Did you furnish any evidence to the accounting officers that this money'was
to be paid to any specific claimant, or would they have any evidence that this
money ever reached its proper destination?-A. I presume they would have evidence; the direction to the Treasurer or special agent was generally in the form
of a letter which set forth such matters.
Q. I understood you to say a moment ago that this fund was set aside to your
credit subject to your draft?-A. You are speaking of this part of it which was
set to my credit-yes, sir.
Q. Of course the Secretary could not know what claims you would use"it to
liquidate?-A. No, sir; the money was put in my hands for that purpose, and I
never used any of it for that purpose
Q. I understand you to say that this money was set apart by the direction of
the Secretary of the Treasury in the hands of this special agent, and subject to
your draft?-A. Yes, sir.
THE GOVERNMENT HAD NO PROTECTION.
Q. What I want to know is, what protection did this special agent have for paying any drafts you might draw by being informed, and if so, by whom, as of
what particular purpose, and for the payment of what particular claim, the drafts
were drawn?-A. I am not aware that he had any. I don't know what information he may have had from the Secretary, or from any other officer, as to my
right to draw the check.
Q. Your checks were always paid, were they not?-A.  I never heard to the
contrary.
Q. They would have been retuanecl to you if they were not? —A. Yes, si; I
shotuld have hve har  of it, probably.
Q. To what amount did you drav checl-s in all-approximate it as nearly as
you can-the who)le amount. —A.  My  recollection is that it would be in the
neighborhood of $100,000; it may have been more.
THE OBJECT APPARENT.
It is apparent that the object of Secretary McCullough and his first assistant,
Wm. E. Chandler, in refusing to accept the proposition of Mr, Roane, made
through responsible parties, to furnish the evidence which would enable the
government to seize and maintain perfect title to all the cotton belonging to the 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.
so-called Confederate Government, was for the purpose of giving their friends an
opportunity to make money. After rejecting this proposition of Mr. Roane's, the
Secretary, through Chandler, made a contract with Hughes, Denver & Peck to
furnish evidence which would enable the government to seize the cotton, and
this firm of lawyers in turn employed Mr. Roane. These gentlemen continued to
act for the government until they had obtained an intimate knowledge of all the
information possessed by the Bureau of Captured and Abandoned Property, and
then, after Mr. Chandler had left the department, they set up as attorneys to
prosecute cotton claims against the government. They had been paid through
Kauffman while acting for the government from twenty-five to fifty per cent. for
all amounts collected. In regard to this, Mr. Roane testifies as follows:
"Q. What was the nature and scope of the contracts?-A. To collect the Confederate property; and Hughes, Denver & Peck were to receive a certain proportion of the amounts to be collected.   Under the Treasury regulations, the Secretary of the Treasury had the right to make the contract to give them from
twenty-five to fifty per cent.
Q. How long did that contract continue?-A. For several years.
Q. You say you gave them certain information; you mean as to the whereabouts of Confederate cotton?-A. No sir; as to cases that they had in their
charge which had been referred to them previously by the Secretary of the
Treasury under their contract; not any general information.
Q. Have you any idea about what compensation amounted to that this firm
received in that way under this contract?-A. No sir; I could not say.
BOTH FOR AND AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT.
Q. Do you know whether this firm acted as special counsel for the Secretary of the Treasury against any claimants for cotton?-A.  Yes sir; they did;
they acted as special counsel against claimants for three hundred thousand
dollars in gold loaned by the Richmond Bank to the Confederate Government
and other cases.
Q. And at the time that this contract was running by which they received
certain compensation from the Secretary of the Treasury for discovering cotton, were they also engaged in prosecuting the cases of claimants for cotton for
the proceeds of cotton against the Government?-A. Yes, sir.
The Secretary of the Treasury paid out of the captured and abandoned property fund $2,210,476.96, on ex parts, showing cases determined in the Treasury
Department. By the law of March 12, 1863, suit could be brought by the
owner for the proceeds of captured and abandoned property any time within
two years after the suppression of the rebellion. This limitation expired 28th
of August, 1868. No suits were brought after this time. A great number of
suits have, under the Act of March 12, 1863, been brought in the Court of
Claims for the recovery of property seized by the United States Government.
The amount of judgments rendered against the United States on these cases,
amounts to nearly $10,000,000. The firm of Hughes, Denver and Peck repreresent claims on which judgments to the amount of more thn $2,000,000 have
been rendered by the Court of Claims.
A SPECIMEN FRAUD.
As illustrating the manner in which awards on claims against the captured
and abandoned cotton fund had been made by the Treasury Department, we
will give a brief history of the case of Parkman and Brooks. That no injustice
may be done, the following statement of that case is taken from a report by
Hon. Bluford Wilson, Solicitor of the Treasury, to Secretary Bristow, Dec. 31,
1874.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE,
OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR OF THE TREASURY,
WASHINGTON, D. C., December 31, 1874.
SIR:  *  *  *  It appears that in the year 1865, George L. Charlton, then
United States depositary, and acting surveyor of customs at Memphis, Tennessee,
issued to J. W. Page, jr., president of the Commercial Bank at that place, certificates of deposit on account of 7-30 Government bonds to the amount of
$556,945. taking therefor, instead of money, Page's individual checks.
It is alleged by Page, and the evidence tends to show, that neither the bank
530 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.
nor himself received any advantages from these transactions other that the difference of exchange, but that the proceeds of the sales of these bonds were all
placed, as soon as received, to the credit of Parkman, Brooks & Co., and drawn
out by them.
In May, 1875, the checks of Page, thus held by Carlton, were given up by him,
and canceled at the solicitation of Page, on the ground that Parkman & Brooks
had received the proceeds of the bonds, Carlton receiving in their place from
Page the checks of Parkman, Brooks & Co., of like date and amount.
The evidence shows, however, that the checks of Parkman, Brooks & Co. were
obtained by Page in April, 1865, in their absence from Memphis, from a Mr.
Learned, who was claimed to be their partner, and who was authorized to draw
checks in the firm name in the ordinary course of business, and who also was accustomed to sign as partner the name of the firmn.
In May, 1865, Parkman, Brooks & Co. denied the authority of Learned to sign
their name to checks.
WHAT A SPECIAL AGENT REPORTED.
In this state of affairs the Secretary of the Treasury sent a special agent to investigate the matter.   From this report it appears that Parkman, Brooks & Co.
acknowledged themselves indebted to the Commercial Bank, and were willing to
assume and secure, as best they could, $201,603.12, of the checks held by Carlton on being discharged by the bank.
Acting upon the conclusion that th e proposal of Parkman & Brooks was the
best on the fact, that could be had, the agent of the Treasury obtained from
them, on settlement of the checks held by Carlton, five notes aggregating $201,003.12, four of them dated August 14, 1865, and one August 16, 1865.
The agent, however, did an unauthorized act himself in this matter which he
was investigating.   He made at the same time-August 14, 1865-in behalf of
the United States, a contract with F. W. Brooks, one of the firm of Parkman,
Brooks & Co., for collecting and delivering to Treasury agents certain lots of
confiscable cotton and property.
The contract was made, as alleged by the agents, for the purpose of securing
the payment of Parkman & Brooks's note.
By its terms the share of Brooks in the proceeds of property delivered over and
above actual expenses was to be applied to the payment of four Parkman &
Brooks's notes, amounting to $150,000.   Brooks understood when the contract
was made that it was subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury,
but, without waiting for this approval, agreed, in writing, to this application of
the proceeds, and proceeded to collect the property.
The Secretary, however,
REFUSED TO RATIFY THE CONTRACT,
and Brooks was notified that it terminated on the 20th of August, 1865.
In the meantime, Brooks claimed that he had collected six hundred and forty:four bales of cotton under the contract, and made a claim therefor, which, on the
30th of April, 1866, evidently with some hesitation, the Secretary of the Treasury
decided to allow to the extent of one-quarter of the six hundred and forty-four
bales in full, and to credit the amount allowed upon the notes given by Parkman
& Brooks.
.The credit, amounting in the whole to $24,315,75, was accordingly endorsed
upon the note of $94,000 namely, May 18, 1866, $21,112.55, and June 25, 1866,
$3.203.20.
This is all the money ever awarded to Parkman & Brooks by the Treasury Department for cotton collected under the Risley contract, as appears by the
records.
They were allowed, however, another sum, amounting to $33,297.28, the history of which is as follows: Some time in May, 1865, a claim was made by one
A. K. Shepard and Parkman & Brooks for the proceeds of 19,700 bales of cotton
collected by the agents of the Treasury, on the grounds that the claima nts had
purchased it under proper authority from the Confederate Government for delivery
to the Treasury Department.
The Secretary declining to consider the claim thus presented, the parties then
made a claim for salvage, alleging that, having acquired an interest!in the cot,
ton, they had, through their influence with the military authorities of both armies
531 
WIWHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.
and by the expenditure of money and personal attention, saved the same from loss
and damage.
CLAIM ALLOWED.
In this form the Secretary decided to allow $157,944.66, dividing this sum into
three drafts, for the purpose of keeping the interest of Parkman & Brooks, which
was 40 per cent., amounting to $33,297.28, separate, for the reason that at the same
time he determined to apportion the share of that firm in part payment of the indebtedness due from the United States on their five notes.
This application was made with the knowledge and consent of Parkman &
Brooks and their attorney, and the amount was afterward sent to the Treasurer of
the United States, and, in point of fact, credited to the indebtedness of Carleton,
which was the same thing, for what was paid on the notes of Parkman & Brooks
would liquidate to that extent the indebtedness of Carleton.
Parkman & Brooks, not having paid the balance due on their notes, they were
afterward, namely, June 25, 1869, put in suit by the United States attorney at Memphis, Tennessee, which suit was pending until May, 1874, when it was dismissed
by direction of the Secretary of the Treasury.
The reason of the dismissal was as follows: On the 13th of December, 1873,
one P. D. Roddy made an application to the Secretary of the Treasury for the
$33,297.28, the history and the disposition of which I have just related, on the
ground that this sum had been adjudged to Parkman & Brooks in settlement of
what was known as the Shepard case, and that the interest of Parkman &
Brooks in this case and in other cotton and Confederate property reported by
Brooks under the Risley contract had been assigned to him previous to the settlement."
ONE-HALF SACRIFICED-BALANCE GIVEN AWAY.
It will be observed that in the first settlement with Carleton, the defaulting
agent of the United States, the special agent sent to settle said claim, sacrificed
more than one-half of the entire claim; the original claim being $556,945, and the
agent accepting the notes of Parkman and Brooks for $201,003.12 on their admission that they were indebted to the Commercial Bank in that amount. During
the years of 1865 and 1866 Parkman and Brooks, it will be observed, had by
their dealing with the Government, obtained credit upon the said notes to the
amount of $57,613.03, up to this time at least not claiming that they had any defense to said notes. And thus the matter runs along until 1869, when the balance
due on said notes not having been paid, they were put in suit, so says the Solicitor of the Treasury; and said suits were permitted to drag along until May, 1874,
when they were dismissed by direction of the Secretary of the Treasury, as will
be seen by examining the following letters:
TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY,
February 20, 1874.
SIR: It having been decided by the proper accounting officer of this Department that certain notes executed by Parkman, Brooks & Co., now in your possession, "are invalid and impose no obligation on the makers," I have to request
that they may be returned to this office, and that any suits now pending in relation to said notes mayibe discontinued.
Very respectfully,
WM. RICHARDSON,
Secret.
Hon. E. C. BANFIELD,
Solicitor of the Treasury.
To which Banfield replied as follows:
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR OF THE TREASURY,
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 6, 1874.
SIR: It has been decided by the Treasury Department that the notes of Parkman, Brooks & Co., upon which suits are pending in your district, are invalid and
impose no obligation on the makers.
While I canqot agree with the decision reached by the Department in this re
,532 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.
gard, I am constrained by the terms of the Secretary's letter to me, a copy of
which I inclose, to ask you to comply with the request therein contained.
Very respectfully,
E. C. BANFIELD,
Solicitor of the  Treau ry.
W. W. MURRAY, Esq.,
United States Attoriney, Memphis, Tennessee.
HOW IT WAS ACCOMPLISHED.
Now how was this decision arrived at, and what was the occasion for it? On the
13th of December, 1873, one P. D. Roddy filed a petition in the Treasury Department, claiming to be the owner of the interest of Parkman & Brooks, and also
claiming that the original notes were void and created no obligation on the part of
said firm of Parkman & Brooks, and asking the Department to pay to him the
amounts which had been credited upon said notes.   This petition, it will be observed, was filed more than seven years after the date of the credits upon said
notes, by a party who was before or about the same time mixed up with this
Brooks, of the firm of Parkman & Brooks, in a disreputable swindle of the
Treasury Department with a certain seal-lock, with which they swindled the
Government out of thousands and thousands of dollars, and therefore the Secretary of the Treasury should have been upon his guard, unless he was a party to
the steal. This petition was referred to Mr. Solicitor Banfield, the only person
who, in the language of the Secretary, could be called "the proper accounting
officer of the Department," to give an opinion on such a subject. Mr. Banfield
gave the matter his attention and had prepared a letter giving in full his reasons
for deciding against Mr. Roddy's claim, but which had not yet been forwarded to
the Secretary of the Treasury, when, on the 28th of January, 1874, he received
the following polite note from Mr. Sawyer, the Assistant Secretary of the
Treasury:
Mr. BANFIELD:
Please return the Roddy claim and papers, and oblige, yours, very truly,
F. A. SAWYER.
Now, why was this claim taken out of the hands of Mr. Banfield just at that
time? Plainly for the reason that it had been discovered that he was going to decide against it. There can be and there is no other reason given for the act.
It was no sooner taken out of his hands than it was referred to a Mr. William
T. Haines, the Commissioner of Customs, whom the Secretary designates as
"the proper accounting officer of the Department."
THE TESTIMONY OF AN HONEST CLERK.
Mr. J. Burr, a law clerk in the Solicitor's office of the Treasury Department,
testified in regard to the "proper" accounting officer of the department as follows:
Q. Please state to the committee, if you can, who was the proper accounting
officer to pass upon the invalidity of those notes? A. There is no accounting
officer that has that power.
Q. Do you know, in fact, what officer it was that assumed to have that authority and power? A. I know who it was that reported that they were invalid.
Q. State to the committee who it was. A. It was William T. Haines.
Q. What was his position? A. Commissioner of Customs.
It is quite evident that the reference of this case to Haines was a mere arbitrary
exercise of power on the part of the Secretary of the Treasury, and it might as
well have been referred, so far as the propriety of thing is concerned. to any other
officer of the Treasury. The motive which actuated the Secretary must be looked
for somewere else than in the propriety of referring it to this officer.
ANOTHER HONEST CLERK.
Mr. Stephen E. Gough, a clerk in the Customs Bureau of the Treasury Department, testifies in regard to the case of Parkman, Brooks & Co. as follows:
Q. Do you know anything about the cotton claim of Parkman, Brooks & Co.,
and about the manner in which it was paid, the amount of it, and the persons at
whose instance it was paid? A. Yes, sir.
533 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.
Q. State now to the committee, without the necessity of more particularly inquiry, all you know in reference to that matter? A. I think it was in January, 1874,
. T. Haines, who was then a Commissioner of Customs, sent for me and requested me to withdraw from the files the account of George N. Carleton, who was surveyor and special agent at Memphis, Tenn. I find the record shows that I went
down that day and withdrew the account myself, and took it to Mr. Haines. He
then asked me for a receipt and papers given by H. A. Risly in the Parkman,
Brooks & Co. case. Mr. Barstow, who was a clerk in the office, was in there with
Mr. Haines. I found the papers, and handed them over to him, and he said that
was all he wanted of me, and I left. During that week I saw this Frank Brooks
and Mr. Barstow and Mr. Haines, together, and I had been informed by Mr. Noerr
that Parkman, Brooks & Co. were after that claim again; knowing the case to
have been brought up some years previous, and that it had been allowed these parties, the same claim, but the money was not to be paid to them, but to be applied
to notes held by the Government in the hands of the Solicitor of the Treasury, upon
which this money was to be applied to their credit. On the 9th day of February.
1874, Mr. Lockwood, who was then chief clerk, came to my room and laid down
in front of me, the claim of Parkman, Brooks & Co., andrequested me to examine and pass the account, and enter it upon my book. I told Mr. Lockwood that
I would enter it upon on my book, but I would not examine it and pass it. In that
case it required my signature, and I declined to do it. He asked me why. I gave
him my reasons;
I TOLD HIM I THOUGHT IT WAS A BOGUS CLAIM,
and I believed the claim lad been paid once before.  Mr. Lockwood replied, "It
is ordered by the Secretary, and the Assistant Secretary, and the Commissioner
of Customs; what are we to do about it?"  I said, "I don't care anything about
it. I will enter it on my book, but I will not examine and pass it." I entered it
on my book, and passed the account in to Mr. Lockwood. Mr. Barstow was
standing alongside of me at the time I replied to Mr. Lockwood that whoever
examined and passed that account should put his name to it, as I was in charge
of that branch and it would reflect on me. Mr. Barstow spoke up and asked me
why I didn't do it. IMy reply was, "Not by a damned sight.  You do it if you
are not ashamed of it." I left the office and went back to my desk. Mr. Mahon,
the First Auditor, came in shortly after and asked me what I did with the account.
"Says I, "I took it in to Mr. Lockwood.  I got through with it."  He said he
was sorry; he wished he had got hold of it. Says I, "He has got it; you can
get it there." That was a claim for $33,000 and odd, and that was on the 9th day
of February.
Q. What year? A. 1874; and I noticed, as I opened the account to enter it,
that the warrant had been drawn on the 7th, two days before the account was
brought in.
Q. Signed by whom? A. Signed by W. T. Haines, but not signed by any
other clerk as having examined and passed it, and I being in charge of that branch
I didn't like it; I thought at some future day the case might be brought up and
the question asked who was in charge of that.
WOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT.
Mr. Gough goes on with his testimony to say that the warrant for the payment
of this claim was dated on the 7th of February, and that the account was brought
to him to be examined, passed and entered on the 9th, two days afterward. It
was brought to him, he says, by the chief clerk of the Customs Bureau, and that
he refused to enter it. He says, "I immediately got up from my desk and told
Mr. Lockwood, the chief clerk, that I would neither examine nor pass that
account, nor enter it on my book.  Says I,'There is the book, and you can enter
it yourself.' And it is entered in Mr. Lockwood's handwriting."
WHO WERE IN THFE JOB.
Mr. Burr, law clerk in the Solicitor's office, whose testimony we have already
quoted, in speaking of the influences brought to boar to secure the payment of
this fifty-seven thousand dollars to Parkman, Brooks & Co., testifies as follows:
Q. Who procured the passage of the subsequent Parkmian, Brooks & Co., claim?
A. There was no attorney or professional claim agent in the case. The gentle
534 
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS LOST.
men who interested themselves to my knowledge were Senator Spencer, Mr.
Alexander White, a member of Congress from Alabama. Those two gentlemen interested themselves in the matter, but further than that  I have no
knowledge of any person except themselves, Brooks and Roddy.
Q. Can you tell me if any one, and, if so, who argued the case before Mr.
Tayler so as to convince him that he could exercise that power under that
act? A. I don't think any one argued the case before Mr. Tayler; but of that
I have no knowledge.    know the case was  argued before me by several
gentlemen.  It was not argued, because there was no argument in favor of it
that could be produced; there were efforts made to induce me to recommend it.
Q. Was it presented to you with a view to having you recommend its payment? A. Yes, sir; to the Solicitor.
Q. by whom?  A. Commissioners of Customs William T. Haines and Phillip
D. Roddy; no others. They had a number of personal interviews with me,
and in those interviews they endeavored to present reasons to me why
I should report to the solicitor of the Treasury favorably upon the claim;
in my judgment those reasons amounted to nothing. The reasons for its
allowance that were given me and urged by Roddy and Haines were
that  the President had ordered its allowance.  Q. Did they produce you
any evidence of that fact? A. General Roddy showed me a paper to which
was signed the name U.S..Grant; whether the President signed it or not I don't
know, for I have no knowledge of his signature at all. The paper amounted to
a certificate in favor of General Roddy's veracity-that he was a man worthy
of belief, and statements made by him could be relied upon. The exact words
I cannot clearly call to my mind. Q. Was there any mention of this claim in the
paper? A. Nothing at all. That is the position I took with these gentlementhat although they might use the paper to engineer the claim through, nevertheless it did not seem to me that it would bear that construction. I said to
them tha there was no use urging it even if it did, for I did not pass papers on
that kind of evidence.
WHERE JOHN A. LOGAN CAME IN.
Previous to the allowance of this fifty seven thousand dollars in 1874, the
same parties procured on the same claim an allowance of one hundred and fifty
seven thousand dollars,  which was put through by Senator John  A. Logan.
Mr. Burr witness already referred to testified in regard to this as follows
Do you know what attorney it was that finally procured the passage of the
Parkmian Brooks  and Co.  claim?  A.  The 157,000  dollars claim.  Q. Yes.
A. A Mr. Logan.
In conclusion it is only necessary to say that every one of the clerks who testified in regard to these frauds in the Cotton Bureau in a frank, straightforward
manner, have been either dismissed or reduced in salary. Mr. Burr, the law clerk
of the Solicitor's office, who was chiefly instrumental in exposing the ParkmanBrooks fraud has been dismissed. He had been in the office from the time of
Secretary Chase.
535 
T'WIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU AND FREEDMEN'S SAVINGS
BANK.
The Freedmen's Bureau was avowedly established to care for and maintain
Southern White Union Refugees, as well as to protect and provide employment
for the emancipated blacks. The incorporation of the Freedmen's Savings Bank
was contemporaneous, and was designed to teach the improvident negroes, just
released from the bonds of slavery, habits of thrift, and to guard them against
the wiles of unscrupulous traders and speculators.
These institutions, had they been administered conscientiously, would have
been useful in effecting the transition from slave to free labor. There was much
suffering among the whites as well as the blacks toward the close of the war,
wherever the Union armies had occupied Southern territory. The social and
industrial systems were completely broken up; and great hordes of negroes, freed
from the control of their late masters, flocked to the Union armies, and their
maintenance had become a very serious problem. At the same time, there were
considerable numbers of white people who had never sympathized with the
rebellion, who sought the same shelter of the Union armies when they came
within reach, and the support of these two classes was a very heavy burden upon
the commissary department. To afford the refugees and emancipated slaves the
means of self support, it was suggested that the lands within the Union lines
abandoned by their owners should be parceled out among the helpless people, and
that the Government furnish them with the means of tilling the soil, and supply
their wants while awaiting the reward of their labor.  Had this beneficial purpose been honestly adhered to, the good work which might have been accomplished would have been incalculably valuable. The change from the system
of slave labor to that of free might have been effected without a jar; and the
owners of the soil and their late masters would have accepted the new order of
things without any ill-feeling on either side, and thus an era of good-feeling
would have followed swift upon the close of the war; and the prostrate industries
of the South would have revived as if by magic.
But there was an utter lack of wise and patriotic statesmanship on the part of
the Republican leaders. There was, moreover, division in their counsels in regard
to the policy which was to be pursued toward the South.  President Lincoln had
suggested in his message of 1863 a policy of re-construction which he afterward
inaugurated in Louisiana. This plan, as he affirmed in the last public utterance
he made, was "distinctly approved by every member" of his cabinet. In regard
to this experiment he was making in Louisiana, Mr. Lincoln said:
THE MARTYRED LINCOLN'S LAST UTTERANCE.
"Some twelve thousand voters in the heretofore slave State of Louisiana have
sworn allegiance to the Union; assumed to be the rightful political power of the
State; held elestions; organized a free government; adopted a free State con 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
stitution, giving the benefit of public schools equally to black and white, and empowering the Legislature to confer the elective franchise upon the colored man.
This Legislature has already voted to ratify the constitutional amendment recently passed by Congress, abolishing slavery throughout the nation. These
twelve thousand persons are thus fully committed to the Union, as to perpetual
freedom in the States-committed to the very things the nation wants-and they
ask the nation's recognition and its assistance to make good that committal.
"Now if we reject and spurn them, we do our utmost to disorganize and disperse them. We in effect, say to the white man:'you are worthless, or worse;
we will neither help you nor be helped by you.'  To the blacks we say:'This
cup of liberty which these your old masters hold to your lips we will dash from
you, and leave you to the chances of gathering the spilled and scattered contents in some vague and undefined when, where and how.' If this course, discouraging and paralyzing both to the white and black, has any tendency to
bring Louisiana into proper political relations with the Union, I have, so far,
been unable to perceive it. If, on the contrary, we recognize and sustain the new
government of Louisiana, the converse of all this is made true. We encourage
the hearts and nerve the arms of the twelve thousand to adhere to their work, and
argue for it, and proselyte for it, and fight for it, and feed it, and grow it, and
ripen it to a complete success. The colored man too, seeing all united for him,
is inspired with vigilance and energy, and daring to the same end. Grant that he
desires the elective franchise, will he not attain it sooner by saving the already
advanced steps toward it than by running backward over them? Concede that
the new government of Louisiana is only to what it should be as the egg to the
fowl, we shall sooner have the fowl by hatching the egg than by smashing it."
Mr. Lincoln believed in a policy of reconciliation, and with his great heart
overflowing "with charity towards all" the people of the South, he wanted
to smooth asperities, encourage good feeling, and, above all, to reconcile the slaves
and their late masters to the new order of things. He knew perfectly well that
there must be not only harmony, but confidence between the owners of
the soil and the laborers that tilled it, if industry was to be revived and prosperity
restored to the South. He realized, moreover, with its fullest import, the fact
that with the industrial system of that section deranged, with social disorders
prevailing, the work of restoration would be more difficult; and that in the end
the prosperity of the whole country must suffer thereby.
TRYING TO RESTRAIN THE RADICAL LEADERS.
He welcomed as a useful agent in the great work of reconciliation and reconstruction at the South the Freedmen's Bureau; but he would have shrunk in horror from the thought of prostituting it to the base use of a partisan political
machine. Accordingly, his influence was exerted to restrain the Republican
majority in Congress from conferring unusual powers upon the Commissioner
of the proposed Bureau and his subordinates. He was also in favor of having
all the employes of the Bureau held responsible to the military authorities and
amenable to court martial.   The bills which were introduced at the Second
Session of the 38th Congress providing for the establishment of the Freedmen's
Bureau did not confer any extraordinary authority upon the Commissioner or his
subordinates, and they were to be held amenable to the articles of war if they
were guilty of any misconduct. It was the judgment of the majority of the
Senate that two much was left to the discretion of the Commissioner whom it
was proposed to place in charge of the Freedmen's. Bureau, and several bills which
originated in that body, or were agreed upon in conference between the two
Houses, were voted down. The principal objection to these measures was expressed as follows, by Senator John P. Hale of New Hampshire, who said:
"In other words, these officers, if they think fit, and cannot otherwise provide for
the freedmen, may let them out on hire to their old masters, from whom they
have been liberated, or to any body else that they see proper; and in that way,
whenever the Government comes to be administered by bad men, not so pure
and disinterested as we are-if we have to give place to other men entertaining
less liberal notions than we do on this subject-what is to prevent those men, under
the operation of the ninth section, from reducing the whole colored population
back again to slavery?"
Senator Hale also objected to the 5th section of the bill because it permitted the
parcelling out of abandoned lands to blacks only. On this point, he said:
537 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
"If I am rightly informed, there are large sections of this country, at this
moment, where there are loyal citizens of the United States and their families that
have been driven from their homes, houseless, hopeless wanderers, living upon
the charity of friends; and I think as well entitled to the sympathy and protection
and the support of this federal government, and the friends of the federal government, as any other class on earth.  This bill prohibits any one of these individuals
from accompanying or having anything to do with any of these forfeited lands and
supporting themselves in that way while a single freedman wants them. You in
this way tie up your hands and forbid your officers who are appointed under this
law from making the slightest provision for any suffering white persons, loyal
refugees that have been driven from their homes on account of their fidelity and
attachment to this Government."
THE BUREAU ESTABLISHED.
Finally, an agreement was reached by which a bill was secured, through a con ference committee, less objectionable than any of the others, and it was passed.
This compromise bill created the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned
Lands in the War Department, and confided its management to a commissioner
who might have ten assistants if it was deemed necessary. The objection which
Senator Hale had urged was met by providing that abandoned lands should be
distributed to refugees as well as to freedmen; the evident spirit of the law being
that white Union people were to be cared for as well as the emancipated slaves.
It is sufficient to say that the law never received this interpretation, and the Freed men's Bureau was, from the very beginning, turned into an asylum for negroes,
and very soon became a political machine for the manipulation of the negroes in
the interest of the unscrupulous carpet-baggers, who sought and obtained control
of the Southern States through the reconstruction measures soon afterwards
passed by the national majority in Congress.
The act establishing the Freedmen's Bureau was approved March 3d, 1865, and
on May 10th, 1865, Gen. O. O. Howard was assigned to duty as Commissioner.
Whatever may have been the intention of this officer, it is certain that his administration of the Bureau was lax. He had but little executive ability and little if
any knowledge of men. Before the Bureau was fairly in operation, the war was
terminated by the surrender of the Southern armies, and close upon this event
followed the assassination of President Lincoln.  His successor, Mr. Johnson,
did not possess the tact, discrimination and judgment of men which Mr. Lincoln
did; and, moreover, he had not sufficient influence with the leaders of the dominant
party to carry through a policy of his own in opposition to theirs. The ambitious and
unscrupulous leaders of the majority in the House and Senate were determined
to undo the work of reconstruction which Mr. Lincoln had accomplished in
Louisiana, and to reconstruct the insurrectionary States after a plan which they
had concocted, and which was designed to place those States under the permanent
control of the Republican party. The South, at the close of the war, was overrun
with vast numbers of political adventurers, who saw an opportunity for vast
plundering, provided they could obtain possession of the local governments of the
insurrectionary States. To accomplish this it was necessary that the negro
should be enfranchised, and then it would be an easy matter to control them
through the machinery of the Freedman's Bureau. All this was brought about
in a very short time, and thus an institution, which, as we have already pointed
out, might have exerted a beneficial influence in the re-organization of the social
and industrial systems of the South, became an engine of disorganization-a
political machine employed to sow the seeds of strife and bitterness between the
slave population and their late masters.
AN EFFORT TO CONFER STILL GREATER POWER UPON THE BUREAU.
At the first session of the 39th Congress, an effort was made to pass a bill enlarging the jurisdiction and powers of the Freedmen's Bureau. It was proposed
to continue in force until otherwise ordered by Congress, the Freedmen's
Bureau, which, under the terms of the original act creating it, was to exist during
the war and one year thereafter, and to extend its authority to any State where
refugees and freedmen might be found. The President was to be authorized to
divide the section' of country containing such refugees and freedmen into districts,
not to exceed twelve in number, and to appoint assistant Commissioners therefor.
538 
WIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
The Commissioner could, with the approval of the President, divide these districts into sub-districts, consisting of one or more counties, and assign to each
one or more agents, who might be either a citizen-officer of the army or enlisted
man. If an officer of the army was assigned, he received no additional pay, but
otherwise these agents were to receive a salary of fifteen hundred dollars per
annum.  Military jurisdiction and protection was to be extended over the employes, agents and officers of this Bureau, and they were, moreover, invested with
criminal jurisdiction, and could, in any of the insurrectionary States, take cognizance of complaints made by freedmen against white people, and sentence persons
whom they might adjudge guilty of an infringement of the rights of the negroes
to pay a fine of one thousand dollars, and undergo an imprisonment of one year.
It was the duty of the President of the United States, upon the complains of the
agents of the Freedmen's Bureau that the rights of negroes were being infringed,
to declare martial law and enforce the decrees or judgments of the agents in the
cases, as above specified.
A more monstrous law was never proposed to be enacted. The men who were
then in the employ of the Freedmen's Bureau as agents were the last men in the
world who should have conferred upon them judicial powers. They were constantly engaged putting strife between the colored people and their white employers, and were encouraging the confiding and ignorant blacks to believe that
the general government intended to give each one of them "forty acres and a
mule."
WHAT GEN. GRANT THOUGHT IN 1865.
General Grant, who in the Fall of 1865 had made a tour through the Southern
States and reported on their condition, in speaking of the Freedmen's Bureau,
says: "I did not give the operation of the Freedmen's Bureau that attention I
would have done if more time had been at my disposal; conversations, however,
on the subject with officers connected with the Bureau, lead me to think that in
some of the States its affairs have not been conducted with good judgment or
economy, and that the belief widely spread among the freedmen of the Southern States
that the lands of their former owners will-at least in part-be divided among them
has come from the agents of thtis Bureau.  This belief is seriously interfering with the
willingness of the freedmen to make contracts for the cominy year. In some form
the Freedmen's Bureau is an absolute necessity until civil law is established and
enforced, securing to the freedmen their rights and full protection. At present,
however, it is independent of the military establishment of the country, and
seems to be operated by the different agents of the Bureau according to that in
divided nations."
The Republican party in Congress was determined, however, to carry out the
policy which had been determined on for the reconstruction of the South, and
this infamous bill was passed, but was vetoed by President Johnson. The action
of the President in returning this bill without his approval, and giving his reasons
therefor, was the beginning of his rupture with the leaders of the Republican
party, and the commencement of the bitter warfare which was waged against him
by those men until the termination of his administration.
THE POWERS CONFERRED UPON THE BUREAU.
The Act authorizing the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau turned over
to it all the abandoned and confiscated lands in the insurrectionary States, and all
the moneys or property in any way derived from that source. By proclamation
of the President, dated June 2, 1865, it was ordered "that all military and other
officers of the United States should turn over to this Bureau and its agents all
property, funds, lands, and records in any way connected with freedmen and
refugees." Large appropriations, amounting to six or seven millions of dollars,
to be disbursed through the Freedmen's Bureau, were made by the Army Appropriation Bill of 1866, and the powers of the Bureau were enlarged. Again, by the
Army Appropriation Bill of 1867, several millions of dollars were appropriated,
with scarcely a restriction as to the manner of their disbursement by the Coiumissioner. At the same time it was provided that the Commissioner might apply any
balance on hand at that date of the refugees' or freedmen's fund to aid educational
institutions "actually incorporated for loyal refugees and freedmen." By another
Act, approved March 2,'1867, the custody of the retained bounty fund belonging
to colored soldiers was given to the Commissioner, who was required to convert it
539 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
into bonds of the United States; and by another Act, approved March 29, 1867,
the Commissioner was authorized to receive and disburse all moneys due to colored
soldiers belonging to the Southern States, and was "to be held responsible for the
safe custody and faithful disbursement of the same." By Act of July 6, 1868, the
Freedmen's Bureau was continued in force in those States which had not been
restored to the Union, and the unexpended balance in the hands of the Commissioner was to be applied to educational purposes, subject to the existing laws
applicable thereto. A joint resolution, passed July 25, 1868, provided that the
Bureau should be discontinued on the first of January, 1869, but that its educational department, and moneys held by the Commissioner, due to colored soldiers,
sailors and marines, should continue in his hands until otherwise ordered.
HOW THEIR POWERS WERE EXERCISED.
This naked recital of the various duties and powers conferred upon the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau will convey some idea of the extent of the
operations of that establishment. The four millions of emancipated slaves were
practically turned over to the care and ciustody of the Freedmen's Bureau, and
the whole industrial system of the South +-as in the hands of the Commissioner
and his agents. The manner in which they abused this great trust is now a matter of history. Originally designed as a humanitarian agency to relieve suffering,
to smooth asperities, and to make easy the way To a full and complete restoration
of social order and industrial prosperity, it was prostituted to base political purposes, and made an instrument in the hands of unscrupulous men, whereby race
prejudices were engendered and social disorders fomented. Worse than this, the
millions upon millions of dollars confided to the custody of the Commissioner and
his agents as a sacred trust to afford relief to the suffering white refugees, to
enable the emancipated slaves to begin their new condition of life under the most
favorable auspices, were recklessly squandered. The scandals caused by the mismanagement and profligateness which everywhere characterized the operations of
the Freedmen's Bureau had grown to such magnitude, in 1870, that the Hon.
Fernando Wood, of New York, from his place in the House of Representatives,
preferred the following charges against Gen. 0. O. Howard, the official head of
the Bureau:
THE CHARGES AGAINST HOWARD.
"FIRST. -That he has taken from the appropriations made for, and the receipts
of, that Bureau more than five hundred thousand dollars, improperly and without
authority of law, for the Howard University, hospital and lands.
"SECOND.-That portions of the land alleged to have been sold for the benefit of
the Howard University fund were disposed of improperly to the members of his
own family and officers of his staff.
"Ti'IRD. -That bonds issued in aid of the First Congregational Church, of the
city of Washington, were taken in payment  for a portion of this land,  which
have not yet been redeemed or paid, nor have they been returned in his official
accounts as such.
"FOURTi. -That the University building and Hospital were built of patent
brick furnished by the American Building Block Company, in which Gen. Howard, Charles Howard, General E. Whittlesey, and General C. W. Alvord, all attached to the Bureau, were interested as stockholders.
"FIFTH. -That the specifications for the construction of those buildings provided that the material used in their erection should be taken from the brick made
by this company; thus preventing competition, and securing the use of that
brick, and no other, for that purpose.
"SIXTH.-That the brick so used was unfit and nearly worthless; parts of the
building have fallen down in consequence, and other parts have since been repaired and rebuilt at the expense of thirteen thousand dollars.
'" SEvENTH.-Tlat by his consent, and with his knowledge, lumber belonging
to the Government was used by this company, and appropriated to its own benefit, being resold to its employ6s.
"EIGHTH. -That he pays rent to the Howard University from the funds of the
Bureau for the privilege of a headquarters.
"NINTH. -That he draws three salaries, namely: one as a brigadier-general in
the United States Army, another as Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, and
a third as head of the Howard University.
540 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
" TENTH.-That he has paid from the funds of the Bureau over forty thousand
dollars for the construction of the First Congregational Church in this city, taking
the church bonds in return, which he has either returned in his accounts as cash
on hand, or sent South for the purposes of the Bureau.
"ELEVENTH.-He has advanced a large sum from the funds of the Bureau to
the Young Men's Christian Association of this city, taking their bonds in payment, which have been sent to Tennessee to help the freedmen's schools in that
State.
"TWELFTH.-That he caused, or knowingly allowed, lands in this city, owned
by an officer of the Bureau, to be transferred to a freedmen's school in North
Carolina; the officer taking the money appropriated for that school, and the
school the lands in this city; thus perpetrating a fraud both upon the Government and the freedmen.
"THIRTEENTH.-That he was interested in the purchase of a farm of about
three hundred acres, near the lunatic asylum in this county, for which the public
funds and other property of the Government were used. Buildings were erected
thereon, built of lumber belonging to the Government, and then let or sold to
freedmen at exorbitant prices; and that he and his brother, Charles Howard, were
personally interested in this transaction as a private pecuniary speculation.
"FOURTEENTH.-He has discharged the duties of the office of Commissioner
of the Bureau with extravagance, negligence, and in the interest of himself and
family and intimate friends.
"FIFTEENTH.-That he is one of a ring known as the' Freedmen's Bureau
Ring,' whose connections and influences with the freedmen's savings banks, the
freedmen's schools of the South, the political machinery of a party in the
Southern States, and whose position has been to devote the official authority and
power of the Bureau to personal and political profits."
HOWARD WHITEWASHED.
When these grave charges were thus formally preferred against General
Howard by Mr. Wood, he was denounced as a rebel and a traitor, and the Republican majority in both Houses of Congress, and with a few honorable exceptions,
the press of that party, came to the support of the "Christian soldier," and
vilified the man who had dared to say one word against him. An investigation
of the charges was ordered by the House of Representatives to be conducted by
the Committee on Education and Labor. The proceedings of this Committee
were held in secret, and the result was a report from the majority completely
exonerating General Howard, notwithstanding the truth of the charges, with one
or two exceptions, was made perfectly plain. This was accomplished by the
majority of the Committee arbitrarily closing the evidence against the protest of
the minority, and refusing to have the bank account of General Howard at the
Freedmen's Saving Bank examined. The questions addressed to the officers of
that bank, "How much money has General Howard deposited in your bank on
his individual account since he was appointed Commissioner of the Freedmen's
Bureau," and "How much money has he borrowed of your bank on United States
bonds as collateral security," were not permitted to be answered.
"THE IMPROPER APPROPRIATION OF FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS."
The truth of the first charge, the improper appropriation of five hundred thousand dollars for the benefit of Howard University, was proven beyond question.
The majority admitted that the money had been applied as charged, but claimed
that, under the law, General Howard had discretionary power and could use the
money as he saw proper. The minority showed that the only money under his
control which could be applied to educational purposes was the amount remaining in the refugees and freedmen's fund at the date of the approval of the act of
March 2, 1867, which was less than two hundred and fifty'thousand dollars. It
was proven that General Howard had given to various educational institutions,
and to the New York American Missionary Association, from March 2, 1867, to
May 1, 1870, $464,655.43, and this in defiance of the provision of the law, which
required that this money should only be given to educational institutions "actually incorporated for loyal refugees and freedmen." It was further shown that
in addition to the sum above named he had given to Howard University, for
valious purposes, $528,95.95, making a total of $993,611.38, which he had without authority of law bestowed on institutions not entitled to receive it; and in
541 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
addition to this he had bought lands in the city of Washington, at a cost of
$25,000, and erected buildings at a further cost of $123,800, which were subsequently turned over to Howard University and to a school at Raleigh, N. C., and
another at Richmond, Va., while money appropriated for those schools was retained by friends of Howard, associated with him in the management of the
Freedmen's Bureau. Thus it will be seen that a total of $1,132,911.38 was practically embezzled. At the same time it was apparent that the half million of dollars given to Howard University was simply to gratify the vanity of Gen. O. O.
Howard. Practically this last sum of money was used to build a monument to
perpetuate his name and fame.
The second charge, the retention of portions of the lands alleged to have been
sold for the benefit of the Howard University for the use of members of General
Howard's family and officers of his staff, was also established to be true by competent testimony. It was also brought out that associated with Howard in this
enterprise were J. W. Alvord, President of the Freedmen's Savings Bank and
General Superintendent of Education of the Bureau, and D. L. Eaton, Actuary,
of the Freedmen's Savings Bank, and attach6 of the Bureau.
STEALING MONEY ro BUILD A CHUROCH
Charges third and tenth, in fregard to the use of the Freedmen's Bureau fund
for the construction of the First Congregational Church at Washington, were
established beyond dispute. The prominent officers of this church were Subsidy
Pomeroy and F. H. Smith, afterwards dismissed in disgrace from the official
reporters' corps of the House of Representatives for his connection with jobbery.
The manner in which Howard converted the funds of the Freedmen's Bureau into bonds of the First Congregational Church deserves passing notice. As Commissioner of the Bureau he transfered seventy-seven thousand dollars of the Bureau
fund to the Barry or Model Freedmen's Farm Fund, of which he was Treasurer,
and then re-transferred twenty-five thousand dollars of this fund to Howard University as a charity fund. Of this he borrowed one thousand dollars on his private
account, exchanged eighteen thousand dollars of the same for First Congregational Church bonds, and loaned six thousand dollars himself, taking as
security therefor a mortgage on his house and lot. Then again he had donated
ten thousand dollars to a school in Richmond, Va., and notified the principal to
that effect. When the principal came to Washington to get the money, Howard
persuaded him to take bonds of the First Congregational Church and turned the
ten thousand dollars into the church building fund.
Charges fourth, fifth, and sixth, in regffard to use of patent building block, were
also sustained by positive proof. It was shown that General Howard, his
brother, Alvord, President of the Savings Bank, Eaton, actuary of the same, and
all of them connected with the Freedmen's Bureau, were stockholders in the
building block company; that the buildings were all built of this material,
and that the contractors were compelled to use it. It was shown to be worthless,
and that twenty-three thousand dollars had to be expended to rebuild and repair
one of the buildings which fell down after it had been erected.
In regard to the Barry Farm, where the Freedmen's village was established, it
was shown that Howard's brother went to Maine and bought of his father-in-law
lumber valued at $61,420, which was brought to Washington at Government
expense, and a portion of it used for the erection of houses for the freedmen
on the Barry Farm, and that the remainder of it was used for various
purposes on the Howard University, a portion of it being turned over to the
Building Block Company to make sheds at their brick yard. The only instance
in which the proof failed to substantiate a charge was in reference to the ninth
allegation where it was asserted that Howard drew three salaries, one as Brigadier-General, another as Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, and a third as
head of the Howard University. The evidence only showed in this case that
Howard drew his salary as a Major General in the army, and also a salary as
President of the Howard University.
BVERY CHARGE PROVEN.
The advance of money to the Young Men's Christian Association in Freedmen's
Bureau funds was proven, as was each and every one of the allegations made by
Mr. Wood, save and excepting one, that in regard to the three salaries. 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
It was shown that General Howard had disbursed, altogether, while Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, about thirteen millions of dollars; and subsequent events established that the business of the Freedmen's Bureau was conducted in such a loose manner, that to this day it is impossible to ascertain what
has become of all the money. But notwithstanding all this, the Republican
majority of the Committee on Education and Labor approved of every official
act of General Howard while Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, and even
applauded his conduct in applying public money to purposes not authorized by
law.
After the discontinuance of the Freedmen's Bureau, January 1, 1869, Howard
as Commissioner of the Bureau, retained control of the retained bounty fund
belonging to colored soldiers, sailors and marines.
By Act of June 10, 1872, the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and Abandoned
Lands was discontinued and the businesst herefor turned over to the AdjutantGeneral's Office of the Army. When the Adjutant-General's Office took possession of the discontinued Bureau they found everything in great confusion, many
of the important papers and record books being lost, and a deficit was also discovered in the retained bounty fund accounts. It was found also that General
Geo. W. Balloch, Chief Disbursing Officer of the Bureau, claimed to have on deposit with the Treasurer of the United States $520,974.07, when in reality there
were only $241.356.61 on deposit. Upon this matter being investigated, it was
found that Balloch had in his own possession two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars on the United States bonds, on which he had been drawing interest, and
he claimed that the value of these was more than the deficit of $279,617.46 in his
account with the Treasurer. On this showing he was suspended and ordered to
be mustered out of the army. He claimed in his defense that he had the authority of the second Comptroller and the Treasurer of the United States to convert
the money into bonds, but this was held to be no justification. Assistant Adjutant-General Vincent, in his report of October 7, 1872, on the condition of the
accounts in the Freedmen's Bureau when he assumed control of it under the Act
of Congress, above quoted, says:
THE PROOF TURNS UP AT LAST.
"The number of unpaid claims transferred is 4,858, amounting in the aggregate to $730,596.80; the amount transferred for their payment, $726,842.11,
leaving a deficit yet to be accounted for of $3,754.69. This deficit was promptly
reported to the Secretary of War with whom rests future action. The Treasury
certificates issued in settlement of the unpaid claims mentioned above are shown
by the records to have been received at the Freedmen's Bureau at various dates
extending back to May, 1867. In addition to the sum of $726,842.11, as stated
above, there is the sum of $31,078.03 transferred as being due to certain claimants
borne upon the records aspaid, and with which amount the accounts of the late disbursing officer of the Bureau have probably been credited at the Treasury. Complaints have been made that claimants have not received from the late Bureau
their bounties, rations, or aid, &c. The treasury accounts of the Bureau disbursing
officer show payment to have been made, and there is reason to believe that claimants have been defrauded extensively of the said money."
Investigations into irregularities connected with the management of the retained
bounty fund and the payment of moneys due to colored soldiers, sailors and marines, are still being prosecuted by the Adjutant-General's office. Irregularities
are discovered almost daily, and large sums of money have been paid on fraudulent claims. These investigations by the Adjutant-General's office, together with
developments which have been made from time to time during the past five years,
establish beyond controversy the fact that the Howard University was a swindling enterprise from beginning to end. Although five hundred and twenty-eight
thousand dollars of Government money was illegally invested for the benefit of
this institution, it is to-day almost bankrupt; and is only maintained by the closest
economy and a large reduction in its corps of teachers. About two hundred and
twenty thousand dollars were originally invested in real estate attached to the
University, and of this there remains for that institution a very small quantity, the
balance having gone in various ways into the hands of speculators connected directly or indirectly with the Freedmen's Bureau, of which Howard was the head
and front
54 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
HOWARD AGAIN WHITEWASHED.
The facts developed in regard to the management of the retained bounty fund,
the moneys due to colored soldiers, sailors and marines by the Adjutant-General's
office so directly implicated Howard with outrageous frauds, which had been
practiced upon the unfortunate negroes as well as upon the Government, that the
President was forced, although much against his inclination, to order a Court of
Inquiry to investigate the matter. The majority of this Court, as constituted,
consisted of officers so connected with Howard in the past that it was not possible
for them to render an impartial finding. The result was what it was predicted it
would be at the time the Court was constituted, although a minority held Howard
to be guilty of embezzlement The finding of the Court was reviewed by the
Judge-Advocate-General of the Army, Gen. Joe Holt, who held, in an able and
exhaustive opinion, that the majority had clearly erred; and further said, that the
construction of the law and army regulations by the majority of the Court was in
direct conflict with an unbroken line of decisions.
The Freedmen's Savings Bank, which was incorporated contemporaneously
with the Freedmen's Bureau, has a history still more shameful than that we have
outlined above. The Hon. W. S. Stenger of Pa., in a speech made in the House
of Representatives on June 21, 1876, narrated in so graphic a manner, and in such
a chaste and simple style, the main incidents connected with the origin, operations
and present lamentable condition of this institution, which was designed by its
putative fathers for the most beneficial purposes, that we will adopt his language.
Mr. Stenger said:
"OUT OF A SPIRIT OF TRUE PHILANTHIROPY."
"Out of a spirit of true philanthropy Mr. Sumner, on the 17th day of February, 1865, reported the bill by which the Freedmen's Bank was called into being,
and on the 3d day of March following it became a law. He did not frame the
bill, and is, therefore, not responsible for its defects or omissions. Large numbers of colored men had served in the Union Army, many of them as gallant
soldiers, and had saved portions of their pay and bounties. They were entirely
unfitted to make safe and remunerative investments of their money. Here was a
proposition to render them necessary assistance, by providing a depository where
their funds could be received and invested for their benefit' in the stocks, bonds,
Treasury notes, or other securities of the United States.'  It was a lofty and
a laudable purpose, It was calculated to encourage the freedman to the exercise
of industry, so that he might make money, and to the practice of frugality, so
that he might husband his resources, and thus provide for the wants of himself
and family against the coming of old age, sickness, and death. And with this
purpose MIr. Sumner could not l)ut feel the heartiest sympathy.  In the short
debate in the Senate on the bill, he characterized it'as a simple charity.'   He
ingrafted upon it an amendment requiring the officers of the bank to give security. But it never occurred to him that it was necessary to inspect, line by line,
a bill that had been placed in his hands by men known as the professed, zealous
friends of the freedmen. He never dreamed that there might be a predetermination oii the part of these men to abuse the great trust then about to be placed in
their hands. Had such a thought occurred to him I do not doubt that additional
restrictions would have been imposed, and some very important provisions
added.
But, sir, devilish cunning and ingenuity played their part, and played it well,
in framing this act of incorporation. There were men who saw in this project
a golden opportunity to make money for themselves. The act is not only remarkable on account of some provisions which it contains, but on account of certain
other very necessary provisions which were left out; and from the results which
foliowed its passage, towards the accomplishment of which some of the active
originators and promoters of the enterprise contributed so largely, it is not too
uncharitable to believe that they framed it with a view to the attainment of their
own selfish purposes.
"TAKE  SOME ILLUSTRATIONS."
Take some illustrations. In the charter fifty gentlemen, most of them men of
high character for integrity and business capacity, were named as corporators
an(t first trustees,of the corporation.  This was intended to commend it to the
support of the colored men, the names of these eminent business men apparently
544 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
affording a perfect guarantee for a safe, prudent, and lucrative management of
the institution.  Among these names was that of William Cullen Bryant, whose
journal, published in New York, recently commenting on the report of the committee investigating the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company, said:
'Unfortunately, it is an unquestionable fact that thie money of tle depositor is
gone, while it is as true that, with proper management, it would have been saved
for them. As to its misappropriation, we believe that the Committee is unanimous.  Assuming the account to be exact, it is to be regretted that there is not
some new and unique term to describe this meanest of swindles. and some special
and exquisite punishment for the rascals who are guilty of it.'
But the extraordinary provision was inserted that nine of the fifty trustees
'shall form a quorum for the transaction of business at any regular or adjourned
meeting of the board of trustees,' and the affirmative vote of seven members was
declared Fsufficient to make'any order for, or authorizing the investment of, any
moneys, or the sale or transfer of any stock or securities, belonging to the corporation, or the appointment of any officer receiving any salary therefrom." This
was a crafty device, which looked to the formation of an unscrupulous ring that
could fatten upon the small earnings of the confiding negroes.
Again, this charter, as originally framed, contemplated the widest possible
stretch of territory for the operations of the company.  It did not mean to be
hemmed in by any sort of inconvenient limitations. Its missionaries were to be
commissioned to go into all the States of the Union, and, while proclaiming themselves as the deliverers of the bondmen and teaching the latter'to toil and to
save,' to gather in their little savings, so that the ring might have immense sums
upon which to speculate and grow rich.  But a timely objection made by several
Senators-one a distinguished gentleman from my own State [Mr. Buckalew]prevented such a monstrosity from becoming a law, and compefled these missionaries, if they should see fit to cover such a wide range of territory, to do it in
violation of law.   The history of this legislation is interesting, not only:as
showing the extent of the powers conferred upon  the corporation, as understood
by the Senate and House, but also as showing a juggle or trick by'which the
charter was illegally procured and the freedmen deprived of the services and protection of one of their warmest and stanchest friends.  It shows that the act was
conceived in fraud and brought forth in iniquity.
LEGISLATIVE JUGGLING.
The bill, as reported to the Senate, provided that fifty gentlemen, whose names
-were given'and their successors, are constituted a body corporate, by the name
of the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company, and by that name may sue and be
sued in any Court of the United States.' When the bill was under consideration
in the Senate, Qn the 2d of March, 1865, the following remarks were made. I quote
from the Congressional Globe, vol. 55, page 1311:
Mr. BROWN. I move to disl*nse with the reading. Let the Senator state
whether it is an ordinary Savings Bank charter.
Mr. SUMNER. It is an ordinary Savings Bank charter, and its character is indicated in its title, to incorporate the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company.
Mr. POWELL. No extraordinary privileges?
Mr. SUMNER. NO extraordinary privileges, and its object is a simple charity.
Mr. BUCKALEW. I have read the bill; it is in proper form, and the only question is whether we ought to establish such an institution outside of the District of
Columbia.
*        *         *        *         *        *         *.      *
Mr. POWELL.  I find by the reading of that bill that it is aroving kind of commission for these persons to establish a Savings Bank in any part of the United
States.  I think the bill is wholly unconstitutional.   I do not believe Congress
has any right to establish a Savings Bank outside of the District of Columbia.
Mr. SUMNER.  Very well, let it be limited to the District. Let the amendment
be made by inserting after the words'body corporate,' in the nineteenth line of
the first section, the words'in the District of Columbia.'   That is precisely the
amendment which was made last night in the bill founding the asylum.
The amendment to the amendment was agreed to.
*        *         *        *         *        *         *        A 
The bill was reported to the Senate as amended, and the amendment was coneurred in. 
m 
~~546   ~TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
The bill was orderedt to be engrossed for a third reading,:and'it was read the
third tiime and passed.
On motion of Mr. Powell, its title was amended by theladdition of the words
' in the District of Columbia.'
THE AMENDMENT DROPS OUT,.
On the following day the bill was called up in the tIouse, and, strange to say,!
did not contain the amendments suggested by Mr. Sumner, and Powell, and incorporated in it by the Senate, as is shown by the following remarks made ini'the
House.  I read,from the Congresoncal Globe, vol. 55, page 1403: 
'Mr. GANso:.  I would ask where this bank or association is to be located?
Mr. ELIOT. In Washington City.
Mr. GANSON.  It is not so stated in the bill.
Mr. ELIOT.  That is an error.  Then I ask unanimous consent to insert afterthe words'body corporate' the words'in Washington City, District of Columbia.'
No objection was made, and the amendment was adopted.
Mr. GANSON.' I think there should be among the corporators the name of some
person in this District.
Mr. ELIOT. I xnove to amend by inserting the name of Salmon P. Chase among
the trustees.
No objection was made, and the amendment was accordingly agreed to.
The bill was then ordered to be read a third time; and was read a third time
and passed.'
The bill thus amended was never sent back to the Senate for concurrence'in
the amendments made by the House, but the Gongresgonal Globe, vol. 55, page1369, contains this statement: 
'The message further announced that the House of [Representatives had passed
the bill of the Senate (S. No. 443) to incorporate the Freedman's Savings and
Trust Company.
It said nothing about the amendments.
SOMEBODY WAS AROUND.
It will be thus seen that there was somebody about who was engineering thebill, and who dared to fix it according to his own wishes by unceremoniously and
summarily dropping the words added to the title by the Senate, and entirely disregarding the wishes of the House as to Mr. Chase. And the law is published in
the statute books without the words'in the District of Columbia' in the title,
and without naming Mr. Chase as one of the trustees, Thus a mammoth corpora
tion was brought into being through trickery and fraud, with fifty corporators
and trustees named, ostensibly to do business in the City of Washington, and not
a single one of its corporators residing within the District limits. As Mr. J. W.
Alvord and General O. O. Howard were the'originators' of the bank, it might
be well for them -to explain, the process by which these unsatisfactory amendments were lopped off, and why the name of Mr. Chase was not allowed to appear among the trustees of an institution in whose welfare he could certainly have
been expected to take theliveliest interest, and to whose success he could have
contributed so largely.,
But in addition to all this there was an entire omission to provide in the bill for
the punishment of faithless officials.  It visited no pains or penalties upon those
who should be guilty fi fraud, embezzlement, or any sort of malfeasance in office,
and' when defalcations were disclosed and the faithlessness of officials was brought
to light, there was no statute adequate to their punishment.  In other words, the
law was framed to permit the practice of all kinds of r'oguery upon the colored
people, and to permit the scoundrels who practiced it to go free.  It is true that
in 1874, when the bank was tottering to its fall, legislation looking to the punish ment'of the criminals was enacted, but, even under that, only two or three of the
many rascals who ought to be now looking out from behind the cross-bars of
penitentiary doors have been convicted.'
WALK ITO MY PARLOR &C.,
Such was the mode of procurement and such was the composition of the charter
that was soon heralded to the world as calculated to shower innumerable and inesti 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
mable blessings upon the freedmen. A movement was immediately set on foot to
bring the institution to the attention of all the colored people of the South. The
principal office, without any shadow of warrant for it in the charter, was established in New York, and remained there until 1867, when it was removed to
Washington. Agents were sent down among these credulous people to excite
their interest and solicit their small sums of money for deposit. The Freedmen's
Bureau, authorized on the same day that the bank was chartered, had its agents
also in the South, who'worked up' the interests of the bank as they visited the
freedmen. Branch banks, to the number of thirty-four, were established at various
places in the South, ostensibly for the convenience of the freedmen in making
their deposits, but in reality for the convenience of the managers in collecting the
money for transmission to the Washington office. The establishment of these
branches was a signal violation of the charter. There can be no warrant for them
in the act of incorporation except by the most preposterous construction, and in
the course of our examination no one has been found bold enough to attempt to
find it. These trusting negroes were to believe that the Government of the
United States would be responsible for the payment of their deposits; that, if
through any mismanagement, or accident, or fraud, the bank should fail, the depositors could fall back upon the Government and collect every dollar of their
money with the interest accrued thereon. On this point I quote the testimony of
Anson M. Sperry, who has been in the continuous service of the bank, since its
organization, in various capacities, among others as its inspector from 1871 to 1874,
a most intelligent, and, in my judgment, reliable witness:'
Question. Do you know whether at Vicksburg, or any other branch, the inducement was held out to depositors to deposit in that bank because it was a
Government institution? Answer. I think it was.
Q. That inducement was made to induce persons to deposit; that it was a Government institution, and that the Government was bound to the depositors?
A. Yes; I cannot say specially at Vicksburg, though I think that that foolish
policy was adopted there.
Q. Did they not represent that the deposits made bv individuals would be
guaranteed by the Government of the United States? A. I think they did, but
1 will qualify my answer by saying that 1 am not certain as to Vicksburg, though
I think so. But of this I am certain, that you will find on many of the pass-books
of the New York branch these words, in English, French, and German:'The
Government of the United States has made this bank perfectly safe.'
Q. You say that that will be found on many of the pass-books? A. Yes. I
wanted to raise this question before the Committee because it is important, and it
relates to the history of the institution. I do not think our more judicious
cashiers ever adopted that phrase.
"LITTLE'BY'LITTLE"' TIHENEGROES WERE FOOLED.
True, the'more judicious cashiers' never did adopt that phrase, but a little
pamphlet was prepared containing the charter and by-laws of the bank and distributed among the freedmen, which contained this statement:
The whole institution is under the charter of Congress, and received the commendation and countenance of the President, Abraham Lincoln.  One of the last
official acts of his valued life was the signing of the bill which gave legal existence to the bank.
It needed only a reference to the martyr-President who has signed the act of
emancipation to inspire the utmost confidence. Everything that the wits of these
people, sharpened by the whettings of their infernal avarice, could suggest, was
resorted to for the purpose of drawing money from the freedmen's pockets.  The
' Christian soldier,' General Howard, was then loud in his professions of love
for the negroes, and his certificate was sent out as follows:'
' I consider the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company to be greatlyneeded by
the colored' people, and have welcomed it as an auxiliary to the Frpedmen's
Bureau.
0. 0. HOW-ARD;'
Major-General.'
The colored people were entreated to practice industry and frugality' It was
a matter of importance to put these appeals in a form that would attract and car. f.~~~~                         ~     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~,  *.....
547
I -. 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
ry conviction to their uneducated minds, and hence this rhyme,
which is no better than the morality of its authors:
''Tis little by little the bee fills her cell,
And little by little a man sinks a well;
'Tis little by little a bird builds her nest;
By little a forest in verdure is drest;
'Tis little by little great volumes are made;
By little mountains or levels are made;
'Tis little by little an ocean-is filled,
And little by little a city we build;
'Tis little by little an ant gets her store;
Every little we add to a little makes more;
Step by step we walk miles, and we sew stitch b
Word by word we read books, cent by cent we
HOW THIE PHILANTHROPISTS PROFITED.
It turns out that these lessons of industry and frugality were taught to the
negroes so that managers of the bank at Washington might live in laziness and
luxury on the proceeds of their labor, and'grow rich' upon the'cent by cent'
saved by the self-denial of the freedmen.
By these and other means, which I have not time to enumerate, the confidence
of the freedmen was secured to such an extent that, as shown by the books of
the bank, in the nine years of its existence its deposits amounted to $56,000,000.
The vast bulk of this money was sent to the principal office at Washington. The
whole South was drained of its money, and it went into the custody of the men
in charge of the office here. True, a pretended power was given to and exercised
by some of the branches to loan out money for the alleged purpose of accommodating
the freedmen, but it is notorious that those branches were in charge of men who
either loaned the money to the relatives or favorites or stole it themselves, so that
the freedmen derived no benefit from them.  In this connection I quote from a
speech made on this floor March 2, 1875, by the gentleman from South Carolina
[Mr. RAINEY], who, I take pleasure in saying, has manifested a marked interest
in this investigation affecting the rights of the people of his own race. He says:
'It must not be lost sight of that at the time these sums were forwarded to the
principal bank at Washington the-depositors in the Southern States invariably believed that the moneys so deposited by them were subject to their order, as per
rules and regulations governing the branch bank, and if sent to the present bank,
it was-for the purpose of being guarded with greater security or invested to better advantage. But, alas! they were deceived.
' The suffering to which the poor creditors have been subjected is heart-rending
in the extreme. Both their aged and their young have been deprived of the ordinary necessities of life; their sick could not be cared for, nor their dead decently
interred by them nor by benevolent societies, because all their gathered funds had
been swallowed up in this gulf of destruction.
' Parents and guardians could not send their children or wards to school,because
they had not the means to buy them comfortable clothing. Truly the distress has
been alarming, starvation and destitution being threatened on every hand, and in
many instances their little homesteads sold from over their heads.'
It needs no additional words of mine to depict the distress which has come upon
these unfortunate and betrayed people.
THE MILLIONS THAT ARE NOT IN IT.
The last report of the commissioners of the bank shows that its total liabilities
on the 31st day of December, 1875, were $4,004,875.62, of which the amount due
to colored depositors was $2,992,033.55. Preferred claims, amounting to 48,180.71,
have been paid, and on the balance, to wit, $2,956,694.91, a dividend of 20 per
cent. has been declared. When this dividend shall have been paid, there will remain due to the creditors $2,365,355.93, to be paid out of the assets remaining
after the dividend was declared. I cannot see, sir, how it is possible for the remaining assets to be made to realize enough to bring the final losses of the freed
men below $1,500,000, and it is more likely, in my judgment, that they will be
compelled to suffer to the extent of $2,000,000.
In these days, when stock and gold gamblers make hundreds of thousands of
548
the poetry of 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
dollars in a single venture, in a single day, this sum may seem small to the millionaires  of  Wall  street; but  when it is remembered  that it  represents
the hard earnings and small savings of seventy thousand poor colored
people,  just released from  slavery, and  looked upon  as'the wards  of
the nation,' this sum of a million and a half or two millions outweighs in importance all the wealth of the Rothschilds.
Now, Mr. Chairman, how has this money been lost, and where does the terrible
responsibility for its loss rest? These questions will necessarily be answered together as the history of these losses is unfolded.
A portion of the money was embezzled or stolen in the branch banks. These
defalcations, discovered at the following branches, are shown to be as follows:
Charlestown, South Carolina ------------------------------------— $3,300
Atlanta,  Georgia ------------—......:.....8,000
Beaufort, South Carolina..................10,000
Mobile, Alabama... —------------------------------------------- 5,081
New Berne, North Carolina, from $2,250 to. —---------------------- 2,750
Wilmington, North Carolina ------------------------------------- 2,416
Nachez, Mississippi. —------------------------------------------ 1,125
Lynchburg, Virginia. —------------------------ ------------------ 900
Jacksonville, Florida. —----------------------------------------  1,000
Lexington, Kentucky ----------------------------------------- 5,000
SOME OF THE DEFICITS.
This statement discloses the actual defalcations of the persons in charge of ten
of the branches. But it does not embrace the losses incurred in the branches by
loans upon insufficient securities. Mr. Sperry says,'the latest report from the Commissioners' agent, Mr. Lockwood, is that at Jacksonville the company will probably lose $100,000 out of the $150,000 or $160,000 that was put out there." At
Beaufort'the amount of the loans, I think, was between $135,000 and 145,000,
of which $100,000 may safely be set down as lost.'  At Vicksburg loans were made
to the amount of $11,000, which the witness regards as a clear loss to the bank.
At Wilmington, North Carolina, overdrafts were allowed to the extent of
$28,000, which have not been paid. In the Washington branch there is a discrepancy of $40,000 which is utterly incapable of explanation. Many of the bonds
taken from the agents in charge of these branches were informal, so that they could
not be enforced, or, if regular in form, were utterly worthless on account of the
irresponsibility of the sureties.
The real responsibility, however, for all these defalcations and losses on loans
rests upon the the shoulders of those who had charge of the principal office in
Washington, who established these branches without authority of law and in open
violation of the charter.
SHAMELESS FRAUDS UPON THE NEGRO.
But these losses, important as they may seem, are utterly insignificant compared with those sustained by reason of the irregularities and frauds practiced
in the principal office at Washington. Here it was that the men intent on plunder found and tilled the richest field. I venture the assertion that the history of
all the banks in America does not disclose a record of such shameless disregard
of law and wanton violation of rights as does the history of the principal office of
the Freedmen's Sayings and Trust Company. Here, in the American Congress, I
arraign at the bar of public opinion the men who have heartlessly speculated
upon, misused, squandered, and sunk the hard earnings of a helpless race of
people, whom they were hypocritically pretending to befriend. And I cannot
but think it strange that successive Congresses, containing large majorities of
those who claimed to be the only true friends of the colored people, should not
have taken sufficient interest in their welfare, and watched the operations of
those in charge of this company, so as to have prevented this terrible abuse of
a sacred trust, and the consequent shameful plunder of the freedmen. The charter provided that the' books of the corporation shall at all times, during the
hours of business, be open for inspection and examination to such persons as
Congress shall designate or appoint,' but no such persons were  appointed.  This
failure on the part of these pretended guardians to exercise the necessary vigilance
for the thorough protection of these people is in the highest degree reprehensible.
549 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
But when it is taken into account that the legislation enacted by Congress helped
to facilitate the swindling operations of the ring, words are powerless to express
the enormity of their conduct.
From the time the jprincipal office was opened in Washington down to the day
when the bank closed its doors, its affairs were under the most exclusive management of the Finance Committee and the actuary, the latter officer corresponding to
a cashier in other banks.  The Board of Trustees seem to have virtually delegated
or surrendered their powers to the Finance Committee, and the latter conducted
the operations of the bank to suit their own convenience, pleasure, and profit.
During the period, of the grossest maladministration of the affairs of the bank
this committee consisted of Henry D. Cook; William S. Huntington, Lewis
Clephane, J. M. Brodhead, and Le Roy Tuttle. J. W. Alvord, as President
of the bank, was President ex officio of the committee and presided over its deliberations, except when'the majority of the committee acted upon the street,' as
he puts it in his testimony. Messrs. Brodhead and Tuttle seem to have been
passive instruments in the hands of the others, and the only blame that attaches
to them is that they did not open their eyes and look into what was going on
around them.
THE PRESIDENT OF A BANK AS A STOOL PIGEON.
Mr. Alvord pleads utter helplessness to avert the evils that finally came upon
the bank because he was not allowed to vote; but his plea is not sound. He was
the President of the bank, the highest official in charge of the moneys of the
freedmen. His judgment told him, according to his own statement, that these
moneys were being irregularly loaned and otherwise used. He said that he discountenanced and disapproved of many of the investments of the committee.
But he kept his mouth shut. While the work of converting United States bonds
into money and investing that money in the bonds of companies of doubtful character was going on; while the perversion of what was known as the'available
fund' was in progress; while the charter was being violated also by the taking
of real estate securities of insufficient value, he gave no sign to the freedmen,
whose entire earnings were thus being swallowed up before his open eyes, and
all the while he was the salaried guardian, the paid watchmen of the freedmen's
interests.
It seems to be too true that he and the remaining three members of the Finance
Committee, Henry D. Cooke, William S. Huntington, Lewis (Clephane, and the
two actuaries, D. L. Eaton and George W. Stickney, inside of the bank, and
Alexander R. Shepherd, Hallet Kilbourn, John 0. Evans, J. V. W. Vanderburg
and others, outside of the bank, formed a ring, by the operations of which, at
times and in ways without number, money was procured from the bank on worthless or insufficient securities, or on no10 securities whatever, to be used in hazardous
enterprises and profitable speculations by members of the ring.
JAY COOKE'S HOLD ON THE FREEDMEN'S HARD EARNINGS.
Henry D. Cooke was a member of the firm of Jay Cooke & Co. and President
of the First National Bank of Washington at the same time that he was President
of the Finance Committee of the Freedmen's Bank; Huntington was cashier of
the First National Bank while a member of this committee.  Prior to the erection
of the Freedmen's Bank building the money of the freedmen was deposited in the
First National; and when United States bonds were bought or sold, ostensibly
for the benefit of the Freedmen's Bank, they were bought or sold by the First
National or Jay Cooke & Co., and the Commissioners went to them. The control
of the freedmen's money was a matter of very considerable interest to Mr. Cooke
on this account; but when it became important to sell large numbers of Central
Pacific or Union Pacific, or to' kite' Northern Pacific bonds, it was still more
convenient to have the money of the freedmen at hand with which to buy them.
A wholesome effect could thus be produced upon the stock on bond market for
the benefit of the two banking institutions in which Mr. Cooke had such a large
interest.
DEVICES, INGENIOUS AND OTHERWISE.
Let us note some of the devices, ingenious and otherwise, that were resorted
to in order to'open the door for investments that were not contemplated by the
charter.  The fifth section of the actof incorporation i)rovidecd that the invest
550, 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
ments of the moneys of the bank should be' in the stocks, bonds, Treasury notes
or other securities of the United States.' The Board of Trustees, deferring to the
judgment of the Finance Committee, asked this question of the latter:
'Are Pacific Railroad bonds a security contemplated by theecharter?'
And Messrs. Cooke, Huntington, and Clephane, answered:
Pacific Railroad bonds are not a security contemplated in the charter, but the
Government bonds issued to the company are Within the meaning of the law.'
Accordingly, soon afterward follows a large sale of United States bonds
through the agency of Jay Cooke & Co., on which that house got its commission
land the minutes show the purchase, at the dates given, of the following amounts
,of Pacific bonds:  
June 8th, 1868, Union Pacific --------------—. --------------          $15,000
June 23, 1868, Central Pacific                      --------------..- 40,Q000
October 8th, 1868, Central Pacific  ---------........300,000
February 17th, 1869, Union Pacific ----------------------------- 100,000
April 30th, 1869, Union Pacific --------------------------------- 200,000
May 4th, 1869, Union Pacific -----------------  ------------------  50,000
This shows an investment of the $705,000 of the money of the freedmen in
these bonds within eleven months.
THE "AVAILABLE FUND. "
But the recklessness of the Finance Committee is shown in another instance.  I
call the special attention of the House to the matter.  The sixth section of the
charter provided that one-third of the deposits was to be kept as an'Available
fund to meet current payments of the corporation, and might be' leftf'on deposit at interest, or otherwise, or in such available form as the trustees may  direct.' In June, 1868, it was proposed to set apart $50,000 of this'available
fund' to be loaned on real estate. This was -before the charter was amended so
as to allow loans upon real estate to be made out of the other two-thirds of the
deposits. But Mr. Cooke, as chairman of the Finance Committee, wrote a letter,
which will be found incorporated in the minutes of the company, dated June
30th, 1868, in which he gave a very just and sensible construction to this clause
of the charter.  He denied the powers to-invest in real estate, and said
'My understanding of the clause is that it authorizes the leaving of a certain
sum on deposit, which deposit may draw interest or otherwise, but it must be
always subject to check at sight; and I think a careful reading of the clause will
justify this interpretation.'
One would have thought that this'available fund' would certainly hlave been
safe from attack at the hands of a committe that had such a clear and correct understanding of the charter. But we find this entry in the minute-book:
'JANUARY 13, 1870.
'Committee met at banking-house of H. D. Cooke.
'The question under consideration was the recommendation to the board of the
Tight to loan, under section 6, a portion of the idle funds now on deposit.
'It was decided so to recommend.
.'D. L. EATON,  Actuary.'
MONSTROUS WASTE.' 
And  between that date and the 7th of the following month  the sum  of
99,593.43 was loaned out to various persons on all manner of securities not recognized by the charter, the same Finance Committee authorizing or ratifying
the loans. This was the inauguration of an abuse which SOOn assumed monstrous
proportions and has been a fruitful source of woes to the colored people.  The
barriers once broken down the door was thrown, wide open, and out from the
vaults of the bank went hundreds of thousands of dollars. of the freedmen's
money upon so-called securities, that no prudent man of business, managing his
own affairs. would have consented to buy at any price; and which remain to-day
in the hands of the Commissioners, utterly worthless, to tell the story of the
flagrant outrages thus perpetrated upon these defenseless people.
551 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUIJD.
Indeed, so utterly regardless of the charter and of their former construction
of it did Mr. Cooke and the Finance Committee become, that on the 9th day of
May, 1871,. we find them making a special report and argument in behalf of the
proposition that the Freedmen's Bank should become an agent for the sale of
Northern Pacific Railroad bonds, in this extraordinary mode: the bank to pay
par for the bonds and sell them if it could, for which it was to receive a
commission, and to take the guarantee of Jay Cooke & Co. to buy them back
within one year if not sold. This seems so surprising that, lest we should be
thought to be dealing in fiction, we produce the words of Mr. Cooke himself,
which, when read in the light of our present knowledge as to the value of
these bonds, cause us to wonder by what strange streak of good fortune the
bank was saved from being totally ingulfed in this yawning whirlpool.  It is
clear that on the 7th day of February, 1871, $50,000 of these Northern Pacific
bonds were bought for the bank, and then the question seems to have arisen,
according to the minutes, as to whether they should be bought or not. There
was a considerable commotion about it, and the Board of Trustees passed a resolution May 3, 1871,'doubting the expediency of investing  $50,000 in thesebonds.'  Then came Mr. Cooke's special report on the 9th of the same months
in which he thus expresses the judgment of the Finance Committee:
MORE WORTHIILESS BONDS.
The second resolution, as to the investment of the company in the bonds of the
Northern Pacific Railway:
'In investing its "available funds" the actuary found this state of facts: On the
7th of February, the day on which this purchase was made, the lowest priced 6
per cent. United States bond in the market was the 5.20 coupon bond of 1865 or
1867, 109i.  This bond of 109~ pays the investor 5 4-10 per cent.   So that the
Northern Pacific Railroad bond at 100 pays 7 3-10 per cent. So that the Northern
Pacific Railroad bond is better by 1 9-10th per cent.
.Further: The actuary, with the consent of the Finance Committee and ther
board [of trustees] in full session, bought the bonds for sale; and the conditions
were that we receive 3t per cent. commission in cash, and 31 per cent. in stock for
all bonds disposed of, so that this company realizes actually in cash 5 4-10 percent. more than on the best investment in Government bonds; and in addition.
thereto, 3} per cent. in stock of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company for all.
bonds sold.
The only question, therefore, is: Are these bonds safe?  In answer to this weshow that written guarantee of Messrs. Jay Cooke & Co. to redeem them on demand at any time within one year from date of purchase at same rates we gave.
for them.
It was these considerations of profit and of safety, abundant, as it seemed to thecommittee, which led to the investment in question, and they are still of force in
their minds. As to the other statements of the resolution, touching the character
of the bond itself, namely, "that the road is but begun, and may not for years be
able to pay any interest out of its earnings." we would respectfully state that
the [N. P. R. R.] company has already six hundred miles of road in operation 
that nearly three hundred miles of track have been laid during the three hundred
days which have elapsed since the commencement of work upon the road; that
the company is endowed by Government with grant of land amounting to over
fifty millions of acres, worth at Government rates over $150,000,000, from the sale
of which ample provision is made for the payment of the interest and [the] principal of the bonds, in addition to the security given by the road, its equipments,
and all the property and franchise of the company.'
These bonds were thus foisted upon the bank by this man, who had a large and:
direct pecuniary interest in the Northern Pacific Railroad, and although one of
the commissioned and trusted guardians of the freedmen, he took money to pay
for them from the'available fund,' which he, as we have shown, had construed
to be a fund'always subject to check at sight.'
ANOTHER ILLUSTRATION OF FAITHLESSNESS.
Another illustration of the faithlessness of the officers of the bank is furnished
by their action with reference to the bonds of the Maryland Freestone Mining
and Manufacturing Company. This corporation has become somewhat notorioua
throughout the country as the'Seneca Stone Company.',
552 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
A tract of land, containing some six hundred acres, situate in Montgomery
County, Maryland, was bought by Henry D. Cooke, Henry H. Dodge, and John
L. Kidwell, from one Thomas Peters, for $70,000, and improvements were made
thereon involving the expenditure of an additional sum of $50,000.
The whole amount of the investment was about $120,000. The land contained
4uarries of the Seneca stone, and these enterprising gentlemen procured a charter
from the State of Maryland and organized the corporation whose name I have
given.   They caused five thousand shares of stock, each share of the par value
of $100, to be issued, as follows:
Henry D. Cooke...... —------------------------------------ 1,664 shares
Henry H. Dodge.. —-------------------------------------- 1,663 shares.
John L. Kidwell.. —--------------------------.  1,663 shares,
James Heath Dodge -------------------------------------— 5 shares.
Thomas Anderson.. —------------------------------------- 5 shares.
The final success of the corporation depended upon the market that could be
established or the demand that could be created for the stone to be taken from
the quarries.  To make this market and create this demand  it was thought
necessary to enlist the influence of men of prominence in political, military,
social and business circles, so that this company might furnish large quantities of
stone for the erection of private residences, and more particularly for public buildings in the District of Columbia.  The effort was therefore made to' put the stock
where it would do the most good,' and its recipients embraced persons of every
branch of the public service and in all kinds of private business enterprises. It
may be a matter of curiosity as well as interest and profit to examine the list of
stockholders herewith furnished:
List of original stockholders in the Maryland Freestone Mining and Manufacturing Co.
Number of Number of
~~Dates.    [certificates.   shares.  Names.
930
November 21, 1867  ---------------   1       734 Henry D. Cooke.
November 21, 1867 —---------         2       930
November 21, 1867 ---------------   3        733  John L. Kidwell.
November 21, 1867 ---------------   4        930
November 21, 1867 —------------ 5            733  Henry H. Dodge.
November 21, 1867 —-------------    6         2
November 21, 1867 ----------------    7        3  J. Heath Dodge.
November 21, 1867  ----------------  8
November 21, 1867 —-----------—.   9         3,'Thomas Anderson
November 21, 1867 ---------------    10 
5,000
Total -----------
553 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
List of stockholders as they at present appear upon the books, and as they were trans            ferred by'Mesrs. Cooke, Kuwell, and Dodge, subsequently.
Date, Names, and Shares. 
Nov. 22,1867, B. B. French --- 200 
Nov. 22, 1867,Willlam H. Seward 200
Nov. 22, 1867, U. S. Grant-: 200
Nov. 22, 1867, J. K. Barnes --- 200
Nov. 22, 1867, Caleb Cushing_  200
Jan. 21, 1870, U.S. Grant, (div'd) 120    M
Jan. 21,1870,Caleb Cushing,(div.) 120
Jan. 21, 1870, B. B. French, (div.) 120
Jan. 21, 1870, E. B. Washburne,
(div'd) —-----------—. ---. D.. 120
Jan. 21, 1870, R. J. Dobbins -.  240
Jan. 21, 1870, W. S. Huntington  60
Jan. 17, 1868, E. Washburne.-   100
May 5, 1868, E. B. Washburne- 100
May 2, 1868, R. J. Dobbins        200
March 1, 1870, R. J. Dobbins       40... 
Oct. 20, 1869, F. T. Dent, (div'd) 100
April 30 1870, F.T. Dent, (div'd)   40
Oct. 20, 1868,Mrs. H. L.Dent, (div.) 100
April 30, 1870, Mrs. H. L. Dent, 
(div'd) —-----------------—..1                       40
Dec. 3, 1868, W. S. Huntington  100 
Feb. 28, 1870, Caleb Cushing_ — 3.5
April 14, 1874, J. K. Barnes --- 60 
Jan. 2. 1869, W. B. Love -----—.3 3
Jan. 21, 1870, Wm. B. Love..1.8
Jan. 2, 1869, C. H. Hayden ---— 30
Jan. 21, 1870, C. H. Hayden  --- 21
Feb. 17, 1869, J. A. Wills ----- 100 
Jan. 21, 1870, J. A. Wills.      M h        1 60 
Jan. 25, 1869, W. B. Boggs -   -100
Jan. 21, 1870, W. B. Boggs. —--- 60
June 25, 1869, J. L. Kidwell- 544 
Oct. 31, 1869, J. L. Kidwell        2                                    --- 2
April 14, 1874, J. L. Kidwell --- 217.6
July 13, 1869, E. D. Townsend. - 50
Jan. 21, 1870, E. D. Townsend_ 30 
July, 13, 1869, Robert, Williams.. 150 
Jan. 21, 1870, Robert Williams- 90  1
Jan. 21, 1870, H. R. Hubbard-  120
June 2, 1870, H. R. Hubbard.- 100
June 2, 1870, H. R. Hubbard.    100
Feb. 2, 1870, H. D. Cooke -       - 468
Sept. 27, 1870, H. D. Cooke -     - 235
April 15, 1871, H. D. Cooke. - - - - 80
Jan. 20, 1873, H. D. Cooke. ----- 160
May 20, 1873, H. D. Cooke. ----— 46
Aug. 27, 1873, H. D. Cooke -      - 100 
Jan. 2, 1874, H. D. Cooke         ------ 2
Feb. 28, 1870, J. C. Kennedy  -. —  75
March 1, 1870, J. C. Kennedy — 80 
It will be remembered that Henry D. Cooke was one of the originators of this
company, the largest owner of its stock, and the leading spirit of the Finance Committee of the Freedmen's Bank. On the 26th day of April, 1871, the Board of
Trustees of the bank adopted this resolution, and referred it to the Finance Committee: 
54
Date, Names, and Shares.
Feb. 2, 1872, J. C. Kennedy.    25
Feb. 2,' 1872, J. C. Kennedy    ----- -20
Feb. 2, 1872, J. C. Kennedy    --- 20
Feb. 2, 1872. J. C. Kennedy         10
March 9, 1870, Joseph L. Savage  80
March 30,1870, Mrs. M.W. Lynde  40
Aug. 18,1870, Wyman Crow and
Ed. C. Cushman             -------------- 160
Dec. 1, 1870, H. A. Risley    ------ 150
Dec. 19, 1870, Thomas B. Bryan 320
March 12, 1872, Thomas B. Bryan  40
March 24, 1871, J. W. Pilling.    10
March 24,1871, J. W. Pilling.. 10
March 24, 1871, J. W. Pilling.    10
March 24,1871, James C. Pilling  10
April 12, 1871, Mrs. Chr. L. Bur  nett                  -        ------------------------ 160
April 12, 1871, N. W.  Burchell    10
April 13,1871,Lewis Johnson&Co. 50
July 22, 1871, Riley A. Shinn —-- 100
Dec. 12,1871, Charles A. Nichols  50
March 12, 1872, Mrs. Maria V.
Brown                  -       --------------------- 125
March 12, 1872, R. T. Merrick_ — 2
March 12,1872, W. F. Mattingly   2
March 15, 1872, W. G. Metzerott
& Co ------------------------- 2
March 22, 1872, Watkins Addison    5
March 22, 1872, Watkins Addison    5
March 22, 1872, Charles E. Mix       5
March 22, 1872, R. P. Dodge..-. 8
March 28, 1872, J. V. N. Huyk_   1
Dec. 21, 1872, J. V. N. Huyk —- 2
April 3, 1872, Evan Hughes ---- 2
Nov. 13, 1872, Evan Hughes    -  12
May 9, 1873, Evan Hughes. - ---- 14
Dec. 19, 1872, A. H. Seward_ —- 80
Dec. 19, 1872, F. H. Seward    ---- 80
Dec. 19, 1872, William H. Seward   80
Dec. 19, 1872, Olive Risly Seward   80
Jan. 6, 1873, Francis Dodge.        9.3
Jan. 20, 1873, George Peter -       4
May 9, 1873, Huyk & Addison_  12
Aug. 22,1873, J. H. Cochrane__ 80
Aug. 22, 1873, Enoch Totten         50
Aug. 22, 1873, Enoch Totten         50
April 14, 1874, F. W. Jones    -  10
May 26, 1874, Edwin M. Sems,
(trust estate of Jay Cooke & Co.) 400
April 14, 1874, J. W. Alvord-... 10
Nov. 10, 1874, W. V. Brown, jr. 4 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
'Resolved, That the company ought not to loan its funds upon mining and manufacturing stocks or bonds; and that the loan of that nature now existing ought'
to be called' in as soon as it may be.'
To this resolution the Finance Committee, through Henry D. Cooke, made the
following answer:
Special Report tinance Committee.'
'First resolution: The Committee beg leave to state respectfully' that with the
general proposition in this resolution they are in full accord.  This case is, however, exceptional.  First (in that), the Maryland Mining aind Manufacturing Coimpany is a well-known and solvent company, established and doing business in
this city  its business is profitable  it is earning dividends; and its stocks and
bonds are both well known, and have ready sale in this market; that it has real
estate to the amount of six hundred acres of land, the farm thus constituted being one of the most productive and profitable in the State of Maryland.
The machineryand buildings'in use as their works have cost over $200,000, and
the latter would sell for three-fourths of its original cost for use in any other
quarry, even if it [they] were no longer needed for this;' that the fifty-seven
thousand dollars' worth of bonds of this company, which are held as collateral
for this loan of the Freedmen's Savings and Truist Company ($27,000), are really
a first-mortgage bond, secured upon all this real estate and other property; that
the whole issue of bonds is not equal to more than one-third [of] the value of the
property, and therefore the loan itself comes fully within the stipulation of' the
charter of the bank, to wit: a loan on real estate to the extent of one-half the
value thereof; or even if this were not true, the loan comes fully and abundantly
within the resolution unanimously adopted by the Board, May 12, 1870, touching
the "available fund," that it shall be loaned "only on collateral of Government
or railway bonds, or other securities of a marketable value of at least 10 per cent.
more than the loan. The marketable value of the bond held here as collateral is at
least double the loan. * * * Further, the quarry of this company is furnishing
the stone from which the banking-house of this savings company is erecting.  It
employs constantly about three hundred colored men in its works and in this city,
and it is in these respects an institution kindred with the bank; their interests are
mutual. Those who from week to week and month to month watch over and
strive to direct the best use of the freedmen's money in the bank are those who
also afford them this field of valuable and profitable labor.'
The evidence differs entirely from the statements made in this report. The business of the company was not profitable. If it earned any dividends, it is certain
none were declared except a stock dividend of 60 per cent., when it was deemed
expedient to water the stock, which dividend, it is proper to add, is entered on
the stock list which I have submitted as of the date of January 21, 1870. The
bonds never had a ready sale in the market, and could not, by giving any natural
meaning to the words, be construed to come within the stipulations of the charter, either as to real estate loans or the disposition of the' available fund.' And
in view of the worthless bonds of this company, which now lie in the vaults of
the bank, it seems like cruel mockery for the Finance Committee to have asserted
that it was an'institution kindred with the bank;' that'their interests were
mutual;' and it was worse, than mockery-it was adding insult to injury-to refer
to the men who were engaged in ruinous speculation upon the money of the colored people as,'those who from week to week and month to month watch over
and strive to direct the best use of the freedmen's money in the bank.'
" THERE ARE MORE THINGS IN HEAVEN AND EARTH, ETC."
There is no doubt, however, that those men who were pecuniarily interested
both'in the bank ahd the Seneca Stone Company did strive to make the latter'an
institution kindred with the bank.' They saw that the bank was full of money
and that the Seneca Stone Company' had none, and'they very quickly jumped to
the conclusion that it would be,a good thing for the stockholde'rs,ot', the, latter to
put some of the money of the former into their,bonds. This would supply the
company with money for working purposes and would make a show of activity
in is bonds.  ('By ways that were dark and tricks that were vain'the bank
was saddled with a rumber of. these bonds.  It does not appear from the books
exactly in what manner it was brought about.  There is a mystery al)out the
transactions between the bank and the company which has not,been completely
5m 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
unraveled. The bank was made to pay ninety'per cent., however, for $20,000 of
the first mortgage bonds, when they would not bring fifty per cent. upon the
street.  The bonds issued by the Seneca Stone Company were secured by a first
and second mortgage, each for $100,000, and it will be observed that Mr. Cooke,
in the report quoted, speaks of $57,000 in bonds then held by the bank as a first
mortgage.' But the actuary, George W. Stickney, makes the following report
as covering the transactions of these'kindred' institutions:
'Sment of t Actuary of te B'reedmen's Vi?y8 aul Tru8t Company im regard
to the tran8actifl8 ad  the Marynd 1eestone 21[inimg and ][anufactur6ng'
J. M. LANGSTON, Esq.,
Chairmnan Special Committee:
At your request I would make the following statement as to transactions had
by this company with the Maryland Mining and Manufacturing Company and
with Messrs. Kilbourn & Evans.
First. As shown by the books of the company, May 18, 1870, $4,000 were loaned
to said Maryland Freestone and Mining Company, secured by $10,000 of their
second mortgage bonds.
Second. July 25, 1870, the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company bought of
said Maryland Freestone and Mining Company $20,000 of their first mortgage
bonds at ninety, with the verbal understanding that the company would take
said bonds back from the bank at par after two years.
Third. July 17, 1871, a further loan was made of the Freedmen's Savings and
Trust Company by said mining company of $27,000, secured by $49,000 secondmortgage bonds of the same as collateral. This statement shows that up to January 2, 1872, the bank held of second-mortgage bonds of the Maryland Mining
and Manufacturing Company $59,000, and $20,000 of the first mortgage.
Fourth. On January 2, 1872, as shown by the books, the transactions as between the bank and said company were settled, said company at that date being
in debt to the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company for cash loaned.
First. Loan of May 18, 1870: -------------------— a —--------- $4,000 00
Second. Loan of July 25, 1870, being amount paid for twenty first
mortgage bonds. —---------------------------------------- 18,000 00
Third.  Loan of July 17, 1871 --------------------------------- 27,000 00
Fourth.  Interest due on above loans December 30, 1871 ------------ 2,785 73
Total due Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company ------— $51,785 73
At this date, according to the books of this company, a transaction covering
this whole matter was had with Messrs. Kilburn & Evans, whereby their notes
were given for $50,000, payable six months after date and secured as follows,
namely: Twenty-four shares American Dredging Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, $2,400; seventy-five shares Metropolitan Paving Company stock, 100, par
value, $7,500; one thousand shares market-house stock, 50, par value, $50,000; forty
shares National Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, $2,000; one hundred and
fifty bonds Maryland Mining and Manufacturing Company, $509 each, $75,000;
and payment by the Maryland Freestone Mining and Manufacturing Company of
$1,785.73 on account of interest. This payment was made by check on the First
National Bank, signed by C. W. Hayden, treasurer.
G. W. STICKNEY, Actuary.
A true copy. Attest:
A. M. SPERRY, Agent.'
SECRET AGREEMENTS TO ROB THE HELPLESS.
From this report it would seem that the bank held only $20,000 of first mortgage bonds, but held, in addition thereto, $59,000 of second mortgage bonds,
making $79,000 in all as collateral security for the debt of $51,785.73.  About
this time, December 30, 1871, consternation struck the Ring.  The fact that these
worthless bonds of the Seneca Stone Company had found their way into the vaults
of the bank became a common topic of conversation and unfavorable comment on
the streets. The newspapers got hold of it. There was,danger that the public
556 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
would be made acquainted with the'true inwardness' of these nefarious operations by which the freedmen were being swindled.  An infamous scheme was
devised by which the public should be deceived, the bond transactions be covered
up, and the bank be put in a worse condition thian it was then, and the martyrpatriot, Hallet Kilbourn, and John O. Evans came to the rescue.  The following
secret agreement was entered into:
'Agreement between Hallet Kilbourin and Joh1n 0. Evans and the Finance Committee of
the Preedmen's Savings and Tetst Company.
OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF TIlE FREEDMEN'S
SAVINGS AND TRUST COMPANY,
Washington, D. C., December 30, 1873.
The Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company has this day made a loan to John
O. Evans and Hallet Kilbourn of $50,000 upon the following-described securities
as collateral to their note: $2,400 stock American Dredging Company, Philadelphia; $2,000 Metropolitan Insurance Company stock, Washington, District of
Columbia; $75,000 Maryland Freestone Manufacturing and Mining Company 6
per cent. gold bonds, Montgomery County, Maryland; $7,500 Metropolitan Paving
Company stock, Washington, District of Columbia; $50,000 Washington MarketHouse stock, Washington, District of Columbia.   Said note is payable six
months after date, with 10 per cent. interest; and in case said Evans and Kilbourn's note shall not be paid as it becomes due, then it is fully agreed that the
Freedman's Savings and Trust Company shall keep the $75,000 bonds of the
Maryland Freestone Manufacturing and Mining Company as full payment of said
note and interest, and surrender to said Evans and Kilbourn the other securities
above enumerated (save and except the $75,000 bonds of the Maryland Freestone
Manufacturing and Mining Company), together with their note.
D. L. EATON, Actuary.
Approved:
CLEPHANE,
M. S. HUNTINGTON,
L. TUTTLE,
Finance Committee.
A true copy of the agreement and indorsements.
GEO. W. STICKNEY.
Of course Evans & Kilbourn's note was not paid when it became due, and then
followed the consummation of the iniquitous job, as shown by this receipt:
Received, Washington, D. C., November 15, 1873, of the actuary of the Freedmen's Savings and Trust Company the within mentioned securities, with the exception of the $75,000 bonds of the Maryland Freestone Manufacturing and Mining
Company, with the understanding that our note for $50,000 is to be returned to us
on or before the 18th instant.
HALLET KILBOURN.
JOHN O. EVANS.
Received note as agreed above.
JOHN O. EVANS.'
Thus the money of the freedmen was first taken from the bank on securities that
were not worth anything, except the $20,000 of first mortage bonds; then this
scheme of depositing the note and additional securities was resorted to for the purpose of concealing the transaction from inquisitive eyes; and in the final shuffle,
Kilbourn & Evans got back their note and securities, and the bank got cheated out
of its $50,000 of first mortgage bonds, and had $16,000 of second mortgage bonds
substituted for them, which, with the other $59,000 held as security for the loans
to the mining company, and $20,000 more held as security for the loan to J. C.
Kennedy, make $95,000 of second-mortgage bonds, which are not worth a dollar
in the market to-day.  If this be not a swindle that calls loudly for the punishment of all who were engaged in it, I am at a loss to know what state of facts
would constitute one.
In this connection it is but simple justice to Mr. Kidwell that a portion of his
testimony hearing upon this matter be given.   And while it evinces an earnest
purpose on his part to save the bank from loss on account of these bonds, it
shows how utterly indifferent Mr. Cooke and the other officers were as to
whether it was saved from loss or not:
557 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
MR. KIDWELL'S STRUGGLE. AGAINST THE THIEVES.
'Question.  Do you know anything of the juggle by which this loan to the
Seneca Stone Company appeared for a time to be extinguished by'a note of John
0. Evans and Hallet Kilbourn, and how afterward it was revived, and Evans and
Kilbourn's note was withdrawn from the Freedmen's Bank, and nothing left except the $95,OJO) in second-mortgage bonds of the Seneca Stone Company?
Answer. It was a piece of jugglery which I know nothing about and could
not possibly have anything to do with. I have no association with that kind of
people. When it was known to me that the loan at the Freedmen's Bank had
been created to the extent of $50,000, and that second mortgage bonds to the
amount of $95,000 had been deposited as security, I said to Henry D. Cooke that
I felt unpleasant about that transaction; and I offered,with him, to raise $25,000 by
the sale of real estate, if he would do the same, and to take up those bonds, myself
and himself, from the Freedmen's Bank, paying them dollar for dollar.  He
promised me from month to month to do so.  I then said to him, "Mr. Cooke,
this thing does not suit me; I will not have any imputation resting on my children growing out of this matter, and although it will give me inconvenience, I
will make a proposition to you, (he was then one of the trustees of the Freedmen's
Bank); I will give the bank real estate to the amount of $50,000 to take up those
bonds, and I will select one man and let the bank select one man to fix the value
of the property."  He carried my proposition, as he said, to the Freedmen's Bank,
but it was deelined. He soon vacated his position as trustee of the Freedmen's
Bank, and Mr. Moses Kelly, who was then cashier of the Metropolitan Bank, succeeded him as trustee. Mr. Kelly and I were friends. I went to Mr. Kelly and
I renewed this proposition to him.  I told him that I felt unpleasant about the
transaction, and, I induced Mr. Kelly to renew my proposition to the Freedmen's Bank. Mr. Kelly proposed it at two different meetings of the Board of
Trustees. He was again unsuccessful; and, strange to say, he reported to me that
the proposition was defeated by the colored members of the board. In that
proposition I offered to give real estate on Vermont avenue, a little above the
Arlington House, on the corner of K street, and running up Vermont avenue to
L street, at $1.65 a foot, for $50,000. The next time the offer was made through
the actuary, Mr. Stickney, and with the knowledge of the president, Mr. Alvord.
It was again refused. I afterward sold a portion of that property at $1.80 a foot,
having offered it to the Freedmen's Bank for $1.65, and out of the proceeds I
loaned $50,000 to the Seneca Stone Company, with the hope of getting the
Freedmen's Bank paid. I made that loan with the view of giving vitality to the
Seneca Stone Company, in hopes that it would pay the debt to that bank. I did
it to sustain the credit of the company.'
THE ILLUSTRIOUS STOCKHOLDERS OF THE SENECA STONE CO.
There is no doubt that the names of the illustrious men who were reputed to be
stockholders of the Seneca Stone Company had much to do with quieting the apprehensions of the colored trustees as to the value of its bonds, and inducing
them not to favor the exchange of them for Mr. Kidwell's real estate.
But Henry D. Cooke was also connected with the government of the District
of Columbia, as were George W. Balloch, of the Examining Committee; William
S. Huntington of the Finance Committee; Z. B. Richards of the Board of
Trustees; and D. L. Eaton, actuary of the Freedmen's Bank.  The Board of
Public Works was presided over by Mr. Cooke, and controlled by Alexander R.
Shepherd. There came a time when money was wanting to sustain the contractors
under the Board. The Board of Public Works had no money, but it issued certificates. These certificates would not sell in the market for anything near'their
face, and its'employes had to be paid for their labor.  With five officers of the
Freedmen's Bank connected with the Board of Public Works, it was not a hard
matter for Mr. Cooke and the Finance Committee to come to the conclusion that
the Board of Public Works was another' institution kindred with the bank;' and
accordingly a raid was made upon its'available fund'.to meet this exigency.
Contractors swarmed around the doors of the bank. The actuary, D. L. Eaton,
was bribed by a one-half interest in a hundred thousand dollar sewer pipe contract with Vandenburgh; and the result is that Vandenburgh's indebtedness to the
bank, as stated by the Commissioners, is to day $144,164,83.  All sorts of'irregularities' appear in connection with loans upon district securities and the worthless bonds of other corporations, in which members of the Finance Committee were
528 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAtiD.
interested either as corporators or stockholders.  Those connected with the district government obtained whatever accommodations they desired upon securities
that could not be negotiated anywhere else.
The facility with which Mr. Shepherd could get money from' the batnk is
shown by the following testimony of Mr. Stickney, the actuary:' 
MR. STICKNEY'S TESTIMONY.
Q. Do you know of any loan at any time made to Vandenburgh, on the personal
assurance of Alexander R. Shepherd that it would be paid in a day or two.
A. That loan was not made to Vandenburg.  I recollect the transaction you
refer to.  It occurred in November, 1873.  I was away at the time (simply for
the Saturday). Governor Shepherd and Colonel Magruder came to Mr. Alvord
and got the loan of $50,000 on a $30,000 check on the First National Bank, drawn
by J. A. Magruder, treasurer, and on a $20,000 certificate of the Board of Public
Works, to be paid out of the first moneys that the board received when the appropriation was made by Congress.  I found out from Mr. Tuttle, the assistant treasurer, as soon as the check was made for the amount of the appropriation, and the
next morning, before the bank was opened, I went to the First National Bank, and
deposited this $30,000 check, and got it placed to my credit by Mr. Swayne, the
cashier of the First National Bank. The $20,000 certificate ran along without
being paid until February or March, 1874. One day, as I was in the Metropolitan
National Bank, Mr. Moses Kelly said that the Board of Public Works wanted a
loan of $35,000, and would give a 6 per cent. bond on the District of Columbia
for it. Mr. Kelly was one of the Finance Committee at thetime, and he advised
that the loan be made, saying that it was a good loan, and the bonds were good.
The market price was then 85, and the bonds could be sold in any amount for
that. I told him I was not willing to make that loan, unless the $20,000 certificate was included in it, and bonds deposited enough to cover the $55,000.  That
was agreed to, and I made the loan of $35,000, and took $65,000 in bonds to cover
that loan and the $20,000 certificate, which made the amount $55,000. That ran
along some time, something less than a month, when the whole amount was
paid. Mr. Vandenburgh had nothing whatever to do with it, unless perhaps he
got the money from the Board of Public Works. The loan of $50,000 was made
to Governor Shepherd by Mr. Alvord.
Q. What was the certificate worth at that time?  A. None of the certificates
or obligations of the Board of Public Works were ever worth less than 85 or 90
up to that date. None of them brought less than 80 or 85 until after the panic.
That certificate was put into this new loan.'
The President of the bank, upon the mere request of Mr. Shepherd, thus paid
out $30,000 of the freedmen's money, and took as security therefor nothing but
the check of the Treasurer of the Board for $20,000, which would not have sold
on the street for more than $17,000 or $18,000, when he knew that there would be
no funds to meet either the check or the certificate until Congress would make an
appropriation.
Another instance shows how Mr. Shepherd helped to swell Vandenburgh's indebtedness to the bank which still remains unpaid; and how he failed to keep his
promises in connection therewith. The same witness testifies:
HOW SHEPHERD HELPED VANDENBURGH TO OTHER MEN'S MONEY.
Q. Did you never say to C. B. Purvis, or to any other person, that you had
done one wrong thing, and that was allowing that money to be paid to Vandenburgh on the personal pledge of Shepherd. A. No, sir; I have no recollection of
that. I know where Dr. Purvis got that idea. In November, 1872, Vandenburgh came to me and wanted some more money-five or six thousand dollarsto pay his men. I told him that he was so much indebted to the bank that I did
not feel like letting him have any more money on the securities of the Board of
Public Works, as other people seemed to get their money and we could not. He
said it was for Mr. Shepherd.  I went to Mr. Shepherd and he said,  "If you
allow Vandenburgh to have that amount of money now, youi shall have all that is
due you paid up when we get the first appropriation; but if you let him have any
more,(it will be your own lookout." I let him have about $5,000 on that occasion,
and when the appropriation was made I got $22,000 of him instead of some hundred and odd thousand, as was promised; but as to any sum of $30,000, I know
nothing about it.'                                         
559 
TwIN MONSTIERS OF:FRAYD.
Q. Did Mr. Shepherd agree that he would pay that money himself? A. NQ;
he agreed that it should be paid out of the' first appropriation that She board got
from Congress. -;
Q. And you got $22,000 instead of'$100,0007 -A  Yes  therewas due the bank
from Vandenburgh and the' Pai'ng Company sotie $10;b000, and we got about
$22,000.                                    -  
Q. You mean  to say that when that loan of $5,000 was made, Mr.  Shepherd said that you should have the whole amount that had been loaned by the
bank, which at that time was over' $100,000.  A. Yes, sir.' 
The'available fund' was intended, as Mr. Coke expressed it, to be a fund
subject to check at sight.  When thebak failed; the amount of loans'standing
unpaid that had been made out df this fund was $853,532.10, and for the payment
of this sum the bank bad a list of the following motley securities: Northern
Pacific Railroad bonds, shares of the'Young Men's Christian Association stock,
'Seneca stone' bonds, shares of the Intei'national. Steamship and Railway Supply. Company, Metropolitan paving stock, Morris Mining Company  (Colorado)
stock, chattel mortgages on furniture in the Arlington and Saint James,Hotels,;State
:bonds of Virginia; City of Philadelphia bonds, shares of East Capitol Building
'Association, mortgage bonds of' the Chesapeake  and'Ohio RailroadS Company,
Detroit Car Loan Company stock,: shares of the Capital Publishing,. Company,
shares of the American Seal-Lock Company, Columbia Railroad stock, State,of
Florida bonds, bonds'of the First Congregational Church, Second National Bank
stock, District of Columbia 8 per eent. certificates, auditor's certificates, paving
and curbstone tax, orders on and acceptances of the Board of Public Works,
brders on paymaster Treasury Department', orders on and acceptances of treasurer of county schools, and lifeinsurance policies.:  There does hot Seem to have
been any money in the'available fund  "at' that dat  unless it was an item of
'$45.20  nickel set down  by the' Conmisioners' as belonging'0to the principal
office.  The vast maj'ority of these loans, were.vetdue afind had beenu for periods
ranging from  one month to two years.  The last: report. of the Commissioners,
dated January 18,'1876, shows that of this available fund'  that was always to
be' subject to check at sight,' there remained still unpaid, at thatIdate, loans
amounting to'$248,030.24, and the chances'hre that'n:eaily,-; if'not all, of these will
belost.            X-..                                    i..;
SUITS  OFZNO AVA'IL.
But almost  contemporaneous with the first raid made upon the'available
'fund' a change was wrought in the charter by which the field of investment for
the other moneys of the bank was enlarged., The original act of incorporation
was amended on May 6, 1870, by  authorizing the investment of one-half of the
loanable money'in bonds or notes, secured by mortgage on real estate in double
the value of the loan.'  This gave rise to'a small army of real estate brokers, who
besieged the bank, and,'by the practice of'getting Ithe biggest possible loan on the
least possible real-estate security, swelled finally the losses which overthrew the
bank.  Kilbourn & Latta were appointed regular appraisers of real-estate for'the
bank, and at the same time acted as brokers in procuring loans from the bank.
This acting in double' capacity in matters so vital to the interests of the freedmen
does not admit of extenuation.  It threw open the door to the admission: of securities that were by no means double the value of the loan, as required by the charter.  This has been abundantly proven by thee large losses that the bankhas
suffered on its real-estate securities.  The instances are very rare in'which the
real-estate loans have been collected without suit, and in very many cases the
securities are utterly worthless, so that the suits have entailed expenses without
any benefit.  These losses have not only been incurred by false valuations but
from defects in title and prior liens, which were not. seemingly  inquired after
at the time the loans were made, and from downright conspiracies to defraud.i,
ACCOUNTS DESTROYED.
The testimony discloses.' irregularities,' in addition to those already referred
to on the part of George W. Stickney, the last actuary, which cannot be and, are
not denied, whereby the bank has lost large sums of money.  There has been a
misapplication of funds on his part, which cannot properly be defined by any other
name than that of embezzlement.  Besides, his account in the books is so confused
that it is impossible to understand it.  Two competent,experts have certified, in
-M 
TWIN MONSTEIS OF FRAUD.
a report which will b)e found annexed to the report of the Committee, that his account is'perfectly unintelligible' to them.  And, in regard to the general character of the books and accounts, these gentlemen say,'We found leaves cut out
from the original ledger, leaves without number pasted together, balances not
brought forward, and of which, at this date, no trace has been found; and these
omissions occur in every book so far examined.' These experts conclude their
report as follows:
' In conclusion, we would say that our duties have been laborious. We do not
make any comments, it being our purpose to state facts.  We  have presented
figures from which your Honorable Committee can draw conclusions. It is our
privilege as well as our duty, however, to state that a more perverted arrangement
could scarcely have been devised by human ingenuity if the design had been
specially directed to obscure the transactions of the institution. Incompetency at
the beginning may be made an excuse for palpable errors and omissions, but when
eminent bankers direct investments and indicate the business of the institution
this apology fails.
We cannot suppose there was a' lack of common sense' on the part of the
managers of the concern, but certainly there is a notable deficiency in all the well
understood principles of accounts, for which experience should have provided a
remedy, even for the most ignorant and unskilled, much more for competent
financiers and professed accountants.'
TIME FOR ACTION.
There are three Commissioners now in charge of the bank, each receiving a salary of $3,000.  There is no necessity for this.  One person can easily attend to the
duties.  Indeed, it is admitted that two of the present Commissioners really do
nothing, and give to the third a portion of their salaries for doing the work. But
I am of the opinion that a change in the entire commission is desirable. The acting Commissioner has been subject to serious charges, and although he denies them,
grave suspicions of their truthfulness still attach to him. But I do not desire to
take up the time of the Committee further on this point because I have a stronger
reason, in my judgment, why there should be a change. These Commissioners have
been in office two years, and men who have plundered the freedmen-well known
to them to have done so-not only go unwhipped of justice, but no effort has been
made on their part to hold them civilly or criminally responsible for theirmisconduct. For myself, I have no doubt of the right and power of Congress to abolish
this commission, and being fully convinced of the propriety of an entire change,
for thi s and for no other reason, 1 shall support the'amendment offered by my friend
and colleague on the committee [Mr. BRADFORD], which has this object in view, and
which provides for the appointment of a new and competent man by the Secretary of the Treasury, under whose supervision such Commissioner is to act. I
regard it of great importance to the freedmen that the House should act on the
pending bill and amendments at an early day.
Mr. Chairman, the freedman no longer regards the Washington Ring as a
myth. To him its existence is a stern, solemn, sad fact. It has cast a shadow
over his home and life. It has dissipated the earnings and savings of wearisome
days. It has given him over to many, many nights of unrest. It has doomed
him to years of harder toil. It has brought penury, want, suffering, and deep
distress to his loved ones. It has driven hope from his heart. It has undermined
his confidence in man. It has shaken his faith in God.
CONCLUSION.
When the President of the Bank was interrogated before the committee as to
the pecuniary condition of the actuary, he replied:
'I think that he is pretty largely interested in a good many parcels of property
which may come to something, or oni which he may lose everything as the shrinkage goes on, but I think that all these things will shrink away from him as they
have done from the rest of us.'
Mr.  Chairman,  what  a commentary is this!'These things' have indeed
shrunk away from some of these men. Some there are who fattened upon the
freedmasns savings for a time and are now total bankrupts in fortune.  But these
are exceptional cases.  lost of them have large possessions.  And as I see them
reveling in the lap of luxury; as I observe them arrayed in fine linen aud faring
561 
TWIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.
sumptuously every day; as I witness the investment of their ill-gotten gains in
magnificent business-houses and palatial residences along these beautiful streets;
as I hear of them, by the power of their wealth and social influence, packing
and debauching juries, controlling courts, and subsidizing newspapers; as I listen
to the story of their nearness to him who executes the laws for this great, free
people-and then turn my eyes upon the poor freedman, ragged, hungry, suffering, wretched, robbed, whose money has been filched from him by these very
people-I wonder whether, if there be a God in heaven, as I believe there is,
all these things shall not, one day,' shrink away' from them also?"
562 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
AN EXHIBIT THAT COMPELS EVERY CITIZEN TO
BOW HIS HEAD IN SHAME.
SECRETARY ROBESON.
To every person familiar with the operations of our government, it is apparent
that there is no position, unless it be that of President, more important or exalted
than the office of Secretary of the Navy. He is not merely a cabinet officer and
member of the President's council, but he is the responsible head of the most
important branch of the Executive Department. There is nothing connected with
government and its powers to protect the people from foreign foes, that is so important as the maintenance of the navy in a proper condition of training as to its men,
and of efficiency as to its material. Ships of war must in their force of momentum and
power of resistance be equal to those of other nations, or they become mere slaughter pens for those who are compelled to man them. It is a French maxim, full of
wisdom, "At sea nothing can be extemporized." The country, through its highest
interests, demands a guard for its efficient navy. It is a gross injustice to our brave
officers and men, ready to risk their lives in our defense, that the navy is now in
such a state of preserved inefficiency as to disable them, if war should come on,
from taking to sea or attacking the enemy.  The Secretary of the Navy is made by law directly responsible for the proper
condition of this branch of the service, for the legal expenditures of all appropriations, general, special, and contingent. No officer of the government has immediate charge of so much public property, consisting of ships, monitors, dock-yards,
stations, machinery, ordnance, clothing, provisions, etc. The well-being of sailors,
the reputation of officers, the fidelity and honesty of contractors, the faithful disbursement of millions of money, the defense of our commerce and our national
honor, are to a great extent dependent upon him. The proof recently adduced before the Naval Committee of the House of Representatives, shows that the present
Secretary of the Navy has failed to appreciate the grave duties and responsibilities
of his position. He has used his office for personal and partisan objects. He has
openly, repeatedly and defiantly violated the law, and so far from attempting to punish offenders, he has connived at their offenses, and in many instances retained them
in office after they have been exposed. He has imposed upon Congress, he has betrayed its trust, he has demoralized the service, he has perverted his patronage, and
given to the country an administration of the navy that is wasteful, extravagant,
full of abuses, with many millions of money unaccounted for, and many millions
more stluatldered in wanton and useless ways.
HOW HE GOT INTO THIIE CABLNET.
Mr. George M. Robeson became Secretary of the Navy on the 7th of July, 1869,
succeeding Mr. Adolph Boric. If the country was surprised at the appointment of
Mr. Boric to a place in the Cabinet, it was no less so at the selection of Mr. Robeson. Those who were at a loss to understand the reasons which impelled President
Grant to select a person so comparatively obscure as Mr. Boije to a seat in his
council, appeared satisfied with the sufficiency of the reason given, to wit: that
Mr. Boric had contributed a large sum of money towards making General Grant a
present.  And as Mr. R,:,eson was a person equally as unknown to fame as Mr.
Boric, before President Grant raised'him from his obscurity, it was also taken for
granted that Mr. Robeson had obtained his position by the same means through 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
which Mr. Borie had secured his. But as it afterwards transpired, such was not
the case. There is no evidence extant to show that Mr. Robeson ever made General
Grant a present before he became Secretary of the Navy, and hence it is but an
act of justice to the President of the United States to mention this fact. It is not
sure that Mr. Robeson was unwilling to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor in
this respect; but it so happens that Mr. Robeson had not the ability to buy his
way into the Cabinet, even if he had so desired. Previous to his appointment as
Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Robeson was a lawyer at Camden, New Jersey. He
had been Attorney-General of the State, a position worth about $1,500 a year.
Although a poor man, he had the reputation, even then, of being a very high liver.
Mr. James M. Scovel, a leading Republican politician of New Jersey, tells, in his
sworn testimony before the Naval Committee, that Secretary L obeson had the reputation at that time, of being an accomplished gourmand, and occasionally went to
his house and cooked delicious terrapin, and drank two bottles of Madeira at a
time. Whilst Attorney-General of the State, Mr. Robeson. in his official capacity,
served the "Camden and Amboy" Railroad, and made some money through that
relation   His appointment as Secretary of the Navy was obtained through the
joint influence of Mr. Borie (his predecessor), Mr. A. G. Cattell (then United States
Senator from New Jersey), Mr. G. W. Childs (the poet-laureate of America), and
several influential members of the "Union League Club" in Philadelphia, Penn. As
the name of Mr. E. G. Cattell will frequently appear in these pages, it may not be
out of place to subjoin the following testimony of Mr. Scovel, relative to the'unscrupulous means which Mr. Cattell was willing to employ to secure his election to
the Senate.
"Q. Do you know by what agency Mr. Robeson became Secretary of the Navy?
Have you any knowledge or information on that subject?
Mr. ScOVEL-" It was reported among us that he was made Secretary by Mr.
Borie, but more particularly by Mr. E.G. Cattell.  They have run him ever since,
in our opinion.
A. G. CATTELL OFFERS A BRIBE OF $30,000 TO A NEW JERSEY STATE SENATOR
Q. Upon what is your opinion based? A. In the first place it will be a long
story; I resisted the combination in the Legislature that nominated Mr. Cattell
and elected him United States Senator; this is how I came  to know these men
very intimately; Mr. Cattell offered me at one time $30,000 to vote for him; I
refused and kept the Legislature from going into a joint meeting for six months
(from April until September), and then voted for him under protest to save the
Fourteenth Amendment, which amendment was the most important one we had, in
the Senate; I was President of the Senate of New Jersey at the time; that was
in 1865.
Q. As I understand you, Mr. Cattell offered you $30,000 for your vote? A. Yes,
sir; He came into my office, hit his fist on the table, and said:'By God, I am
going to be United States Senator, and I have $30,000 to give you to make me so;
you have got the casting vote;' I says,'you can't give it to me;' I refused it;
that made war to the knife, and we have not been on speaking terms for ten years
since then.
Q. The relations of Mr. Cattell and Mr. Robeson since that time have been
exceedingly intimate, have they not? A. They are as intimate as two human
beings could be.
Q. Have you seen them frequently together?  A. Oh, yes; th(ey run  the Navy
Department together.
Q. What knowledge or information have you on that latter branch, that they
run the Navy Department together?  A. It is general-from having some business
in the Department and seeing Mr. Cattell there."
From Mr. Scovel's evidence above quoted, we are enabled to form some estimate
of Mr. A. G. Cattell's character.
ROBESON S INCOME BEFORE HE BECAME SECRETARY OF THE NAVY.
With respect to Mr. Robeson's financial condition before he became a Cabinet
officer, the same witness, James M. Scovel, says: "I know that he was a very poor
man, and was so reputed in Camden. He was entirely dependent upon his profession. My cousin, Mr. A. G. Scovel, was Mr. Robeson's partner until he became
Secretary of the Navy." In corroboration of this fact, we have Mr. Robeson's
returns under the income law, which he verified under oath as follows:
564 
OUIR WORTHLIESS NAVY.
In 1863 he had an income of................... $492 00
In 1864 he had an income of........................................ 535 00
In 1865 he was not assessed.................................................
In 1866 he had.................................................... no  income
In 1867 he had.................................................... no income
In 1868 he was...................................................not assessed
In 1869 he had an income of........................................ $1,000 00
But from the moment that Mr. Robeson was installed in his new position, a good
furtune began to dawn upon him. A man of whom Mr. Scovel is townsman, says
under oath, that he was unable to pay a small bill of $20 for law books, without
being dunned several times for it.
BY WHIIAT MEANS DID HE ACQUIRE THIS GREAT WEALTH.
We find him in a few months opening large bank accounts with five institutions,
as follows:
State Bank at Camden, New Jersey *.............................. $52,713 12
Banking-house of Jay Cooke & Co. t................................ 55,118 00
First National Bank at Washington, D. C.t....................... 95,777 12
Banking-house of Drexel, Morgan & Co.%...........................  35,213 62
Banking-house of Riggs & Co., Washington, D. C. jl...................  228,724 75
$467,546 61
This is a large sum of money to have been deposited by any one not actively engaged in some trade or banking business, but more particularly by a person, who,
in the year 1869, had sworn to an income of $1,000, and whose official duties since
then have been of a nature that must have absorbed' his whole time.
In view of his intimate connections with the Cattells, which it will be our business to elucidate, as clearly as the testimony taken before the Congressional Committee warrants us, it is to be regretted that Secretary Robeson has been unable to
satisfactorily account for the rapid accumulation of this large wealth, leaving an
intelligent community no other alternative to arrive at than a conclusion unpleasant to them, degrading to the Secretary, and humiliating to the country.
The books of Messrs. A. G. Cattell & Co. lay bare the evidence of close business
intimacy between GEO. M. ROBESON and that firm. It began about the period that
Mr. ROBESON entered upon his duties as Secretary of the Navy. From an explanation of that account by the bookkeeper of A. G. Cattell & Co., it was shown
that the firm deposited money, from time to time, with the Camden State Bank,
for the use of Mr. Robeson. The books of the Cattells also proved that their relations with the Secretary were so close that the latter occasionally loaned the firm
his notes for respectable amounts, and no later than 2larec7, 1876, Secretary Robeson advanced them two notes, amounting to $10,000. What stronger evidence of
intimacy could be presented?  Those tell-tale books also elicited the fact that a
present of $250 had been made to Secretary Robeson, and that, under the head of
security," $3,000 had been paid to Secretary Robeson on account of his balance
of political assessment. 
ROBESON'S REAL ESTATE SPECULATIONS AT LONG BRANCH.
Secretary Robeson entered into a real estate speculation with the Hon. A. G.
Cattell, for which he paid in a very peculiar manner. It seems that a party of
Jersey gentlemen were desirous of purchasing a tract of land on the " Beach at
Long Branch," and at the suggestion of Mr. A. G. Cattell, Mr. Robeson agreed to
take one-twentieth interest in the whole of it. The cost of this property does not
appear in the testimony taken before the Naval Committee, but Mr. E. G. Cattell
says that about this time his brother went to Europe as the financial agent of the
Treasury Department, and he took charge of building his brother's Long Branch
cottage, and also that of Secretary Robeson's; that Mr. Robeson's cottage cost
$13,582.29, which was paid for by Mr. A. G. Cattell & Co., and it stands charged
*Pages 213 to 225, Philadelphia, from July 1, 1869, to November 7, 1871.
t Pages 206 to 207, Philadelphia, from April 4, 1872, to June 16, 1873.
Pages 295 to 30.'t Miscellaneous, from July.31, 1869, to September 4, 1873.
~ Pages 264 to 265, from September 20, 1873, to August 1, 1874.
1i Pages 304 to 309, from October 16, 1873, to April 4, 1878'.
565 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
against Mr. Robeson to this day. This portion of Mr. E. G. Cattell's testimony is
as follows:
"Q. Have you built, or has the firm of A. G. Cattell & Co. not built a house and
paid for the interest of Mr. Robeson in the Long Branch property? A. Yes, sir;
A G. Cattell & Co. paid all that, and it so stands on my books, I presume.
Q. On Mr. Robeson's account, settled or unsettled, to this day? A. It is unsettled.
Q. You went ahead, and out of your firm built the Secretary's cottage, amount
ing in all to something like $13,000? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Explain to me how it is that he is allowed to hold that title when he has never
paid a cent for it? A. I can only answer that by his friendship with my brother.
Q. Did not the money go out of your business? A. It came out of my business.
Q. It came out of those profits which you were making with these gentlemen?
A. No, sir; it came out of my business.
Q. I notice when these books commenced in 1869, your brother had $105,000 to
his credit, and you $7,300 for your debit against him, and from that time to this
your brother's capital has been withdrawn and yours has been increased, and I
understand that the books show that the cottage was paid for, and must have been
paid for out of the money which you were receiving from these various contracts?
A. Yes, sir; I say that.
Q. So that, in point of fact, you have paid for that cottage?  A. Yes, and
charged it to him on the books.
Q. What security did you hold for it? A. I have no security."
So that a portion of the proceeds of this money which Mr. E. G. Cattell derived
from the sale of his "influence," is now in possession of Secretary Robeson, in the
form of $13,582.29, which that cottage at Long Branch cost.
ROBESON'S SPECULATIONS IN WASIIINGTON PROPERTY.
Mr. Robeson, doubtless, well satisfied with the Long Branch speculation, formed
a partnership for the purchase of some lots on Sixteenth street, in the city of Washington, with Mr. A. G. Cattell, upon terms almost as liberal as those upon which he
secured his Long Branch estate. The lots were sold to Mrs. Robeson and A. G. Cattell
for $22,000.  Mr. A. G. Cattell paid $11,000 cash down for his half; the Secretary
paid $3,000 cash. and gave his note for the remaining $8,000. This last note found its
way into the banking-house of Jay Cooke & Co., and was ultimately taken up and
paid, not by George M. Robeson. the maker of the note, but by his friend Mr. E. G.
Cattell.
The following is the testimony of Mr. E. G. Cattell upon this point:
"Q Passing now to the Washington property, I understand that the Secretary and
your brother had soane interest in real estate in Washington?  A. Yes, sir.
Q. To what extent? A. I do not know.
Q. How much money has the Secretary paid on the Washburn property? A. That
I do not know.
Q. Has he paid anything? A. I think he has paid for one-half of it; I do not
know the whole amount.
Q. Have you not paid a note of $8,000 which appears in your account on that
property?  A. I MAY HAVE DONE SO.
Q. You would not undertake to say that you could not recollect $8,000 being
advanced to him-that it is a matter of so slight moment that you could not remember it? A. I may have taken the note up.
Q. I understand that the Secretary, in purchasing that estate, gave certain
notes, and when the notes came around, they were renewed from time to time, until
the failure of Jay Cooke & Co., when it was found convenient to take up and put out
of circulation the $8,000 note? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Well, you paid that note?  A. I paid that note, I believe."
Mr. A. G. Cattell, however, when examined relative to this transaction, stated that
Mr. Robeson had settled with him for the $8,000 which his brother had advanced
to take up his (Robeson's) note. These facts certainly are undeniable proof of the
intimate and confidential relations which existed between the Hon. Secretary of the
Navy and the brothers Cattell.
A. G. CATTELL & CO., AND WHO THEY ARE.
Before proceeding with this narrative, in view of the important relations which
the Cattells bore to the Navy Department, we will pause to give a brief and intelligent account of this firm of Philadelphia commission merchants as it existed at,
5-66 
OIJR WORTHLESS NAVY.
the time Mr. Robeson became Secretary of the Navy in 1869.  Mr. A. G. Cattell's health broke down, and on that account he declined a re-election as
United States Senator; an arrangement was then made between A. G. Cattell and
his brother E. G. Cattell, by which the business of the firm of A. G. Cattell & Co.
should be carried on wholly and entirely by E.G. Cattell.  This arrangement was
consummated, and Mr. E.G. Cattell took the assets and property of the firm, and became the responsible person and the owner of the business, except simply the capital
of A. G. Cattell, which he was to withdraw gradually from the concern. At the time
of the withdrawal of A. G. Cattell from the firm of A. G. Cattell & Co., the capital
of A G. Cattel in the business was $105,539.42.  E.G. Cattell had no capitalat all,
but, on the contrary, was indebted to the firm for $7,223.95. We will soon see, however, that Mr. E. G. Cattell was not long in recuperating his fortune. It will thus
be observed that Mr. E. G. Cattell became A. G. Cattell & Co. almost simultaneously
with Mr. Robeson coming to the head of the Navy Department. It does not appear
that Mr. A. G. Cattell & Co., as a firm, have transacted a large business with the Navy
Department; they have furnished only five or six thousand dollars' worth of flour
or of grain per annum.  Mr. E.G. Cattell would have us believe that he desired that
the business of A. G. Cattell & Co. should be carried on by his two sons, and that
they should confine themselves to a strictly legitimate business, and that his relations
with what he calls "Navy business" was studiously withheld from them.
E. G. CATTELL BEGINS TO SELL HIS INFLUENCE WITH ROBESON.
The commencement of Mr. E. G. Cattell's connection with the Navy Department
is thus described by himself in his testimony:
" Q. Prior to Mr. Robeson's coming into the office of the Secretary of the Navy,
had you ever been in business or furnished goods for the Navy Department?
A. I do not think I had.
Q. You took it up after that? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Had your firm done anything of that kind before? A. No, sir.
Q. The facilities'which were at your command after he had become Secretary of
the Navy were such as to enable you to enter into this business, were they not?
I do not exactly understand that question.
Q. The fact that Mr. Robeson, your neighbor, was Secretary of the Navy enabled
you to do this business which you never had done before; is not that so? A. I
suppose that my  acquaintance with him  would help me with outside parties
in doing business."
Mr. E. G. Cattell lost no time in placing his " influence" in the market. One of
his first arrangements was with Mr. William Matthews, a retail dry goods merchant,
doing business at No. 54 Catharine street, in the city of New York. Mr. Matthews
had for some years transacted business (as a contractor of Navy supplies) with the
Navy Department.  Some time in 1870 he was called upon by Paymaster J. 0.
Bradford, the same gentleman who is Paymaster-General of the Navy, and was informed that A. G. Cattell & Co. contemplated opening an establishment in New
York for the purpose of engaging in the business of supplying the navy with clothing, etc., and that it would be to Mr. Matthews' advantage to make some arrangement with the Cattells by which they were to remain away from New York, and
not interfere with his business. Paymaster Bradford was a friend of the Cattells,
and was no doubt consulted by them relative to their project of turning their
influence with the Secretary of the Navy to the best advantage in his capacity as
paymaster.  Mr. Bradford was acquainted with all the navy contractors in New
York, and his conversation with Mr. Matthews was probably for the purpose of
paving the way for future negotiations; and so it appears Mr. Matthews found
that bids for navy contracts were being made from Philadelphia, and that his business'
had begun to suffer, so he immediately recalled Paymaster Bradford's conversation with him about the Cattells, and then proceeded to Philadelphia for the
purpose of affecting an arrangement. The following are the respective accounts of
the preliminary negotiations and interviews held between contractor Matthews
and Mr. E. G. Cattell:
567 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
A SLIGHT DISCREPANCY-TWO WAYS OF TELLING THE SAME STORY.
MR. WILLIAM MATTHEWS' STATEMENT.
"When Mr. Matthews heard that I was
going to  open a  busin e ss o utside of my
own business, he und  erstood  thattMre
Bradford was an acquaintance of mine,
which he  was. He   was a n o ld acquaintance, and had been  for many  years.  Mr.
Bradford told him that I was an ener
getic man; that my business was not
paying very well; that my sons could
manage it, and that I was pretty loose
and could go into this business, and that
I would do it energetically, and probably
be considerably in his way. Mr. Matthews
told Mr. Bradford that he had been
twenty or twenty-five years in the navy
business, and had got the thing at his
fingers' ends. Mr. Matthews said he
could do that business easily, but said,
" If I have such a man as that to contend with, my profits, will be cut down
very badly, and the annoyance and
everything will rather frustrate me."
Bradford suggested to him to see me.
He did not know what I would do or
say. We might make some arrangement
or something to that effect.  Mr. Mat,
thews sent for me, and I went to New
York and saw him. I stated just what
I meant to do. I knew I could handle
business as well as anybody else. I
knew that the Government was safe,
and could pay, and that was more than
we could say of our general regular business, and that my business was not
sufficient, or at least I did not make
money enough, and wanted to make
more money, and that I meant to start.
He made the proposition to me, I think
himself. I may have made it to
him, but that I cannot remember
distinctly. The arrangement was made
there, however, by which he was to
give me 5 per cent of the business, and
that has continued up to the present
time.
Q. Do you mean on the amount of
his sales? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Were you interested with him in
his purchases? A. No, sir; not interested in any risk or loss that he might
sustain in his purchases."
" I think, early in 1871, Pay Director
Bradford informed me that Mr. Cattell,
of Philadelphia, was coming over to
New York to open an office, and to en gage in furnishing naval supplies, and
suggested to me the propriety of mak ing the gentleman's  acquaintance.  I
paid no attention to it for some little
time, but I began to find that bids for
supplies were being put in from Phila delphia; and thinking over the matter,
under Paymaster Bradford's suggestion,
I was introduced to Mr. E. G. Cattell,
in his office, 1 think, and had some con versation then and subsequently; and
finally made arrangements with him by
which he undertook to assist me, as far
as he was able, in the prosecution of my
contracts; and that I should give him a
certain portion of the profits arising
from the business.  On my part it was
an arrangement to prevent his interfering with my business; and in carrying
out that arrangement, I think that, as
a rough estimate, I have paid him from
4 to 5 per cent. on the amount of the
business.
Q. And these amounts that have been
remitted from time to time, have been
in discharge of that agreement that you
and he had entered into?  A. Yes,- sir. -
Q. Did you enter into that agreement
with Mr E G. Cattell, or with A. G.
Cattell & Co.?  A. The circumstances
are these: I was introduced, I think, to
Mr. E. G. Cattell, and had repeated interviews with him.  Afterward I was
introduced, I think, to his son-that is,
A. G. Cattell, Jr.  I think, about the
same time,  I was introduced to the
Senator, A. G. Cattell; and he told me
subsequently that he had no interest in
the business, and has repeatedly told me
so since.  My correspondence has been
almost invariably with Mr. E.G. Cattell.
Q. WVhen did he tell you that he had
no interest in it?  A. Before he went to
Europe, whatever time that was, on
the Syndicate matter.
Q. Has that or not been since the
year 1872-April, 1872?  A. That I do
not know; that is the anly point that I
can fix.  He may have told me so previously, but I do not know the exact
point of time.
Q. Who constitute the firm of A. G.
Cattell & Co.? A. I believe it consists
of A. G. Cattell, the Senator, E. G.
Cattell. Alex. G.'Cattell, Jr., and another
party, I do not know what his name is."
568
MR. E. G. CATTFLL'S STATEMENT. 
()Ul'o; i'O'TlIf.IsS  NAv. S.
E. Ct. C.TTEI'1l.,'S 4];OTII lR,  T Il. SENATOR.'
Mr. Matthews furthermore testified that in the course of one of his conversations
with Mr. E. G. Cattell, the latter made  use of the following remark: "Now,, I
would like you to see my brother. the senator. for he has got a longer head than I
have."  Mr. Matthews inferred thi,t Mr. E. G. Cattell was desirous of bringing the
senator and himself together, in order that the senator might have an opportunity
of seeing and judging him. A few days later, he met Senator Cattell, and the
conversation that took place between them wa3 confined to the navy business in
which E. G. Cattell proposed to embark; the senator said that it ought to be a
large business, and the fact of its being large, would admit of a small percentage,
etc. Mr. E. G. Cattell was present at the conversation. Thus it will be observed
that Senator Cattell was not only fully acquainted with his brother's arrangements
with Mr. Matthews, but was introduced to the very man whom E. G. Cattell had
picked out to transact the largest share of the business with the Navy Department.
This should be vividly remembered, because whereas Mr. Robeson has always
admitted a very strong friendship with Mr. A. G. Cattell, he has always denied that
his relations with Mr. E.G. Cattell have always been of an intimate nature. Mr.
Matthews' testimony respecting Paymaster Bradford's connection with this affair is
as follows:
'Q. Mr. Bradford, then the Paymaster at New York, now Paymaster-General,
told you in 1871 that it was for your interest to see the Mr. Cattells? A. Yes;
that is, he told me that they were coming to New York, or that he was coming to
New York, I forget which.
Q. Whom did you understand by'he?'  Was that Alexander G. Cattell, the
Senator?  A. I do not know whom he intended; all I know is that he introduced
me to E. G. Cattell, and my conversation was particularly with him,  and  my
arrangements were with him.
Q. Mr. Bradford intimated to you that it was to your interest to see these parties-that they were about to open a business office or house in New York? A. Yes,
sir.
Q. And that they would be competitors in your business? A. I do not know
that he said that, but he said that they were coming to New York to attend to
navy business, and he thought it would be to my interest to have an agreement
with them.
Q. Did he then mention to you that they had any influence as a motive for you,
or as a reason to induce you to see these parties? A. I do not know that he did,
any more than in saying that they were very fine gentlemen, and very good business
men, and I treated the matter as I should a matter of business.
TIIE REASON OF MIATTHEWS' CONNECTION WITH THE CATTELLIS.
Q. Did Mr. Bradford, or did Mr. Cattell, or either one of them, allege or urge
that they had any advantages or influence, and, if so, with whom? A. I did not
mind particularly; I would not be positive, but Mr. Bradford told me that he
thought they were'very intimate with the Secretary.'   I would not be positive
about the matter, but I have an impression of that kind.
Q. Did not you, as a business man. make inquiries and ascertain that fact?
A. I do not know that I inquired any further than  Mr. Bradford; I took it
for granted that what he said was a fact. I found that my business was beginning to
be interferred with, and these gentlemen talked fairly and honorably, and I thought
it was for my interest to make the arrangement.
Q. And you did so?  A. Yes, sir."
Mr. E. G. Cattell's explanation of his agreement with Mr. Matthews is as
follows:
"Q.  When was that agreement formed between you and  Mr. Matthews?
A. Before I had commenced doing any naval business whatever.
Q. When was that? A. My memory does not serve me. I do not know
whether my books will show the first arrangement made, but it was six or seven
years ago.
Q. Was it in the year 1870, or 1~71, or 1872?   A. I have not that clearly on my
mind as to the year.
" INFLUENCE" ItIAS A LARGE MONEY VALUE.
Q. Did you pay any capital into the business? A. No, sir.
Q What were you to do? A. All I could, and what I could.
569 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
Q. What you could in what direction? A. In any direction that would help in
the business.
Q. Were you to buy property? A. No. sir.
Q. Were you to measure property? A. No, sir.
Q. Were you to manufacture property? A. No, sir.
Q. Were you to handle or store property? A. No, sir.
Q. Were you to see to the delivery of property? A. No. sir; except it should
become necessary.
Q. I have gone over pretty well all that; what were you to do? A. I was to
do anything I could; my business was to find out what would be likely to be
needed; watch the papers; see the advertisements; keep my mind and self
always in constant exercise of what might be sold or contracted for to the Department, and report to him.
Q. Were you not, by your agreement, to exercise any influence you possessed
with the officers of the Navy Department? A. Influence and ability, wherever
and whatever influence and ability I had, I was to use."
And from this time henceforth Mr. Matthews became a favorite contractor with
the navy. His operations with the Navy Department under Secretary Robeson's
administration amount, according to the official figures, to $3,000,000 upon
which he has paid Mr. E. G. Cattell $150,000, according to agreement, besides
contributing a few thousand dollars more for political purposes, which he could
very well afford to do, out of the profits of 20 per cent. on the gross amount, which
he was to receive from the Government.
MRS. ROBESON DOING HER SHOPPING IN THE FASHIONABLE PURLIEUS OF
CATHARINE STREET.
The estimate in which Mr. Matthews was held at the Navy Department was of
such a nature that every naval and marine officer, clerk and employee that his business brought him in contact with, and even the Secretary of the Navy himself,
appears as a debtor on his books, and Mr. Matthews being a shrewd, calculating,
business man, extended them all the time of payment apparently to an indefinite
period.
Mrs. Robeson, the wife of the Secretary of the Navy, who. from her rank and
position, one would hardly expect to see patronizing the dry goods stores of the Bowery and Catharine street, is observed doing her little shopping at Mr. Matthews' store,
No. 54 Catharine street.   She purchased a bill of goods there and did not pay-for
them, but the very same gentleman who had built her husband a cottage at Long
Branch, and taken up the $8,000 note on the Washington property, comes nobly to
the front and pays Mrs. Robeson's bill with the contractor Matthews.  The following is Mr. Cattell's testimony on this subject:
"Q. Did you liquidate certain bills that were contracted by Mrs. Robeson in the
city of New York with Mr. Matthews? A. Yes, sir; I paid them and received
the money from Mr. Robeson to pay them. He gave me the money to pay the
bill; it is not worth while to give any reasons for that, is it?
Q. If you desire to do so, you can. A. The reason was, that Mr. Matthews in his
arrangement with me would take a percentage off. It was cheaper for Mr. Robeson
to pay the bill through me than to pay it himself.
Q. Mr. Robeson, then, knew of your arrangement with Mr. Matthews?  A. Mr.
Robeson did. I told him I could get a percentage.
Q. Did you tell him where you were going to purchase? A. I did not purchase
them; they purchased them.
Q. How did it happen that they found where to go? A. I don't know that; I
could not tell you.
Q. Did not you tell them at the time that you could get a discount off? A. No,
sir; not until afterwards. They asked me to pay the first bill; then, of course, I
did not know how they came to get them at William Matthews'.
Q. Then, they had commenced trading there before you had informed them that
the discount could be had?  A. I presume so; that I cannot recollect."
Yes, that was the strangest part of this affair. How did Mrs. Robeson know
where to go, particularly when Mr. Matthews' store was in such an out of-the-way
place?  In the face of the fact that Mr. Matthews has received $3,000,000 from
the Navy Department in payment of his contracts, will people for a moment believe that Secretary Robeson was as ignorant of the relation between Mr. Matthews
and Mr. E. G. Cattell, as the latter pretends?
570, 
OUR WORTHILESS NAVY.
HiOW MR. E. G. CATTELL BLED NAVY CONTRACTORS.
But Mr. Matthews was not the only contractor who was compelled to pay tribute
to Mr. Cattell. In the examination of Mr. E. G. Cattell and his clerks, it was
discovered by the Naval Committee that Mr. E. G. Cattell had entered into
similar arrangements with a large number of other persons doing business with the
Navy Department.  The following is a list of the contractors who paid Mr. Cattell
money for his'" influence" with the Secretary of the Navy, so far as the Committee were able to ascertain by proof. As Mr. E. G. Cattell kept his business
"in his head," it was found impossible to obtain a complete list either of the
names of these gentlemen, or the amounts paid by them.
William Matthews, Naval Stores, Clothing, etc........5 per cent. on  $3,000,000
J. W. Bigler, Timber dealer........................"      "    1,199,046
W. C. Swift, Timber dealer........................"       "    1,448,542
Caryl & Co., Timber dealers...............................
Cramp & Son, Ship builders......................."' 863,441
D. S. Stetson, Ship builder...............................................
Hammett & Neal, Coal dealers....................................
D. M. Noblitt, Coal d5 per cent on  700,000
D. & J. Noblitt, Coal dealers..          p........
Goodwin, Baker and Flour dealer................................. Unknown.
Alexander, Provision dealer....................................... "
Post, -Wire Rope........
Post, ~Wire Rope.................................................
Ressinger & Co., Lumber dealers...................................
Mitchell, Candles................................................ "
Colton, Treasurer of Dredging Company........................... 
Water Proof Company........................................... 
Knowlton, Machinery...........................................
Lubbock & Co., Beef Packers.....................................
Total.............................................. $7;211,029
WVith respect to some of the contractors, we have been unable to ascertain
from the evidence taken before the Committee the amounts they received from
the Department, but Mr. Cattell informs us that he received the following sums
as his portions of the spoils from the following contractors:
Alexander......................................................... $5,000
D. J. Noblitt...................................................... 2,000
Hammett & Neal................................................... 500
D. S. Stetson...................................................... 2,000
Waterproofing Company............................................. 4,000
Goodwin...........................................................    5,000
J. W. Bigler......................................................... 30,000
$48,500
Mr. Cattell's memory as to this business generally was not very good; as previously remarked, he kept no books of these transactions, and relied entirely
upon his memory, as the following testimony will show:
"Q. How much did Poste pay you? A. I do not remember that now.
Q. XVhat was his contract? A. There were various contracts for beef and pork.
Q. Was it large?  A. No, sir.
Q. To give me some general estimate of how much you received without,being
precise? A. I could not tell that.
Q. What did you estimate your receipts at from Bigler?  A. It would be an
impossibility to name the amount.
Q. Can you not give us some definite notion as to whether it was twenty or
forty thousand, for instance?  A. It may have gone up to thirty thousand."
The above is a sample of the manner in which Mr. Cattell kept his accounts.
CONTRACTOR MATTHEWS AND NAVAL OFFICIALS-MRS. ROBESON AGAIN.
But the payment of E. G. Cattell of five per cent. on all his $3,000,000 sales to
the Government, was not the only loss that Mr. William Matthews deemed proper to
571 
472                          OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
sustain for the purpose of preserving the friendship and good will of the powers
that controlled the destinies of the Department.
In the course of his examination before the Naval Committee, Mr. Harris (Re publican), of Massachusetts, put this question to Mr. Matthews:
"Q. Now, I ask you, if, during the last two years, the head of the Navy Depart ment has not been your debtor; if every paymaster who has been stationed at New
York City has not been your debtor; if every clerk in the Navy Agent's office in
New York City, and every one connected with the Bureau of Provisions and
Clothing at the Navy Yard, has not been your debtor; if the disbursing clerk of
the Navy Department here, the principal clerk and the next clerk to him in the
Bureau of Provisions and Clothing; if the Quartermaster of the Marine Corps,
and the Assistant Quartermaster, and his clerk, Mr. Marks, have not been your
debtors?"
To which Mr. Matthews replied, "To a great extent, that is true."
Mr. Matthews' old ledgers were overflowing with old unsettled debts of persons
of every grade connected with the Navy. Some portions of his evidence upon
this point is very interesting. It runs as follows:
"Q.' June 28, 1873, D. C. Braxton, $33.41.' Who is he? A. I think he is a
sailmaker over at the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Q- Next item,'l[r8. Bobeson, $20.'  Who is that?  A. ] p'esume that is the
Secretary's wife.
Q. That appears to be unsettled; I find here an account,October 30, of Mr. Burns,
at the Navy Yard, Mr. Lapham at the Navy Yard, and Mr. Gascoigne. Who are
they? A. These are all workmen at the Navy Yard.
Q.. Their accounts appear to be unsettled?  A. That would appear so; they are
workmen in the yard; I am not acquainted with them myself.
Q. F. H. Stickney; who is he?  A. He is one of the clerks at the Navy Department.
Q. He is disbursing-clerk, is he not? A. I don't know what office he holds.
Q. John F. Denson? A. He is chief clerk to Paymaster-General Watmough,
chief clerk of the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing.
Q. That is $30, under date of November 17, 1873; that appears to be unpaid?
A. Yes, sir.
Q.' July 22, Mr. Blood;' Do you know who he is? A. Mr. Blood is one of the
clerks in the purchasing-paymaster's office in New York.
Q. That is not paid?  A. By the books it would appear that way.
Q. October 7, Mr. Blood again, for $19.42, which seems to be unpaid?  A. Yes,
air.
Q. Mr. Davis; who ishe? A. A clerk in the inspection of provisions and clothing, Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Q. His account appears to be unsettled?  A. Yes, sir.
Q. Mr. G. S. Chambers; who is he?  A. He is a clerical friend.
Q. Here again I see the name of Mr. Roach; he is the same workman in the
navy yard? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Mr. Blood, December 16, $11.86; April 15, 1875, George M. Blood again,
$21.10; May 13, George M. Blood, $13.93. Who is J. S. Delano? A. He is a
gentleman that lives here in Washington. I do not know what position he holds.
Q. Is he not in the Comptroller's office?  A. That I do not know.
Q. It appears that under date February 6, 1874, you loaned him the sum of
$300? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Has that sum been paid? A. No, sir; Mr. Delano came to me with a letter
of introduction from Paymaster-General Watmough, and I loaned him $300, taking
his note, and he has not paid it.
Q. I asked you a while ago who Mr. Denson was?  A. No, sir; I think you did
not ask who he was. He is chief clerk in the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing
at Wrashington.
Q. Have you loaned him any sums of money? A. I loaned him $500, and have
his note for it.
Q. Did you know him, or did he come with a letter of introduction to you?
A. I knew him as chief clerk of that bureau, of course; I have had business
there.
Q. Is that note of Mr. Denson's paid yet?  A. I think not, sir.
Q. Who is the gentleman by the name of A. D. Souza? A. He is a clerk in
Captain Maddoxs office, Philadelphia. 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
Q. I find, under date January 25, 1876,'Navy yard man'  A. Well, sir, that'is
all I know  about it.
Q. January 7, 1876, again, Mr. Blood, $25.43; his account appears to be unsettled?  A. Yes, sir."
And so on indefinitely. The above are an insignificant quantity of the debits of
officers and employees of the navy to Mr. Matthews.
MORE ABOUT MRS. ROBESON'S BILLS AND WHO PAID THEM, AND MR. MATTHEWS'
OPINION OF HER EXCELLENT QUALITIES.
That Mr. Matthews' acquaintances were not limited to the Cattell brothers, nor
to the heads of bureaus, nor to impecunious clerks to whom he extended indefinite
credit, nor to navy yard laborers, whom he also trusted, will be readily seen from
the ensuing evidence by him, April 4, 1876, before the Naval Committee:
"Q. On page 96 of the new ledger, I noticed an account against Mrs. George M.
Robeson, commencing in September, 1874, and amounting on December 1 of that
year to $848, for which there is credited, November 30,' By cash, $331;' December 2,1874,'By order, W. M., $111.55.'  What does that mean?  A. That I don't
know; all I know is, -that this account is paid.
Q. Was it paid in money? A. In money.
Q. Paid to you?  A. Paid to me, and paid generally by Mr. E. G. Cattell;
that is the way the thing has got confused.
Q. VWere not part of these goods ordered through Mr. E. G. Cattell? A. They
may have been; I don't know whether they were or not; but my impression is
that they were not.
Q. The balance there due, or due apparently, is it still due?  A. I do not know;
I do not think that is correct; I think that has been settled.
Q. How settled? A. Settled by Mr. Cattell.
Q. By Mr. E.G. Cattell? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Calling your attention to the account of Alexander G. Cattell & Co., as it
appears upon your ledger here under date December 22, 1874, a bill for $111.55,
charged to Alexander G. Cattell & Co.; does that show upon the face of it that it
is for Mrs. Robeson? A. It says here in the book,' Bill of Mrs. M. G. Robeson.'
Q. And that upon your books passes to the account of Alexander G. Cattell
& Co.? A. Yes, sir.
Q. And among the remittances which you have been making to Mr. Alexander G.
Cattell & Co.? A. It was charged to Alexander G. Cattell & Co., and upon the
ledger appears in the general account."
Thus it appears that Mrs. Robeson's bills are paid for by E. G. Cattell from the
very money for which he sold his influence with the Secretary to Matthews.
The following shows where articles originally charged to Mrs. Robeson, have
ultimately found their way to E. G. Cattell's account:
"Q. Will you state whether any items have gone into Mr. Cattell's account that
were charged to Mrs. Robeson? I want to find out whether the goods furnished to
him out of the profits of your business have gone directly to Mrs. Robeson; on
December 22, 1874, I see a bill of $111.55 charged to Alexander G. Cattell, which
appears to have been furnished to Mrs. Robeson? A. Yes, sir; [after examining
books] that appears to be the only instance, so far as my knowledge extends.
Q. Who gave you the order in that particular case?    A. There is only one
charge of that kind, and I presume the goods were bought by Mrs. Robeson, and
that she had handed the bill to Mr. Cattell to settle, and Mr. Cattell has handed it
to me to settle and charge to him.
Q. And you, instead of giving him money, have settled that bill? A. Yes, sir.
Q. You say that Mr. Cattell has sometimes paid you money for Mrs. Robeson?
A. I think he has.
Q. Doyou ktwto of Mzrs. or Mr. Robeson everpaying any money? A. No, sir.
Q. So, in point of fact, all bills that Mrs. Robeson has made at your place have
been made through Mr. Cattell or by him? A. That is my impression. [Gallantry
being a quality not usually developed in government contractors, it would be an
act of wanton cruelty, if not of flagrant injustice to omit the subjoined part of
Matthews' testimony.]
Q. April 2, page 120, contains the item,'Mrs. George M. Robeson, two pairs
coachman's pants, per Adams Express.' How much did you charge her for that?
A. I do not know.
Q It is not extended at all, is it? A. It is a memorandum that is on her bill.
Q. On what bill? A. A bill that she has bought of our clerks at some time.
573 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
Q. The next entry is on page 116? A. The entry there is,'2 India-rubber coats,
charged to George M1I. Robeson,' and, in posting, it is charged to Mrs. Robeson's
account. Mr. Robeson sent me a letter requesting me to meet him at the Fifth
Avenue Hotel, one morning. He was going fishing, and I took them up there. I
wasn't certain of the kind that he wanted, and I took two along. That was March
29, 1875.
Q. Turn to page 247 and see what that is?  A. That is some blankets, etc.
'Two suits of clothes, two coachman's coats, $150.' I suppose it would not
.be anything less than gallant for me to say that, in buying these goods, Mlrs. Robeson
dp&layed a great deal of ecowmy and good judgment; so much so that frequently she
has returned articles tha(t were too expensive. I remember that distinctly, particularly
about some blankets."
As Mr. E. G Cattell swears that he did not recommend or suggest Matthews to
the Robesons, it would be curious to ascertain how Mrs. Robeson came to find her
way to Catharine street, and more curious still that she never offered to pay for
what she bought; but, her gift of prophecy was so great that she was able to guess
that Mr. E. G. Cattell had an account with Mr. Matthews, and that whatever she
bought would be charged to Mr. Cattell and settled for by him.
SECRETARY ROBESON AND CONTRACTOR SWIFT.
Mr. W. C. N. Swift is a dealer in live oak timber. and had been in the habit
of supplying the Navy Department for years back, but had not done so from
1861, until Mr. Robeson became Secretary of the Navy. Mr. E. G. Cattell sent a
message to Mr. Swift, desiring an interview upon the subject of live oak timber,
and said that he desired to make arrangements with him for the purpose of engaging in the business of procuring live oak timber. They met, and Mr. Cattell
made a proposition to Mr. Swift somewhat similar to that he had made to Mr.
Matthews.  We will use Mr. Swift's own words: " I understood, from Mr. Cattel
and other sources, that he was a very intimate friend of the Secretary of the
Navy, and had been all his life, and for a great many years was a neighbor, or
something of the sort, and I supposed he would be a good friend to have in
Washington, as I was wanting a friend there during these times.  I had no dealings whatever during the whole of the administration of Gideon Welles, not to
the extent of one cent.  I made different arrangements with Mr. Cattel from
time to time; I agreed to pay him sometimes ten cents and sometimes fifteen
cents on contracts that I might receive from the Navy Department. I have had
three or four contracts; I don't know that mine was the lowest bid, but it was so
construed by the Department.  I paid Mr. Cattell altogether $37,000.  I made the
last payment on April 11, 1876."
But Mr. Swift, not being sure that he was getting value received from Mr. Cattell, made so bold as to inform the Secretary of the Navy of the arrangement that
he had with Mr. E. G. Cattell.  The following testimony gives an account of the
interesting interview between Mr. Swift and the Secretary of the Navy:
" Q. Did you at any time have any conversation with  the Secretary of the
Navy in reference to Mr. Cattell or his transactions with the Department?  A. I do
not remember of talking with the Secretary about Mr. Cattell, except after or
about the time of the last payment.   I think it must have been probably a little
before April, 1874. I judge so from the fact that I made no subsequent payment
to Mr. Cattell. I was soliciting the Secretary for the privilege of delivering surplus timber.   It has  been the practice of the Department from the early days
to take the surplus timber at contract prices.
Q. And you were soliciting the Secretary to take some you had on hand, after
filling your contract? A. Yes, sir.
Q. State to the Committee what conversation you had with the Secretary upon
that subject as fully as in your power? A. I could not undertake to state the
words.
ROBESON DENIES THAT CATTELL HAS INFLUENCE WITH HIM.
Q. I did not expect that; but you can give the substance of it? A. The substance of it is that I told him that Mr. Cattel was very anxious about this;
that he was a friend of mine, and I supposed it would help him. He said
that Mr. Cattrll had no influence whatever in this matter; that it would hurt
my case rather than benefit it by talking of Mr. Cattell.  He said that he had
heard that Mr. Cattell had been instrumental in makLng contractors think he could
574 
OUR WORTELESS NAVY.
help them. when he could not, and he told me that I should take notice that Mr.
Cattell had no influence in this matter whatever.
Q. After that did you pay Mr. Cattell anything? A. About that time was the
last payment I made him, although Mr. Cattell claimed a continuation of the
arrangement.
Q. And had you at a previous period spoken to the Secretary about your connection with the Cattells, or suggested that Mr. Cattell was interested with you?
A. I do not remember of ever talking with him before that about it, but since
that he has spoken a number of times about it, and seemed at times very indignant
about it."
Whether Mr. Swift had fully considered his action before disclosing his arrangement with Mr. E. G. Cattell, is, of course, a matter of conjecture; but there are
some who will regard Mr. Swift's course as very smart. Mr. Swift knew very well
that the Secretary of the Navy would not dare admit that Mr. E. G. Cattell was
trading away his "influence" with him; Mr. Swift knew that Mr. Robeson denied
that Mr. E.G. Cattell possessed any influence with him, and the Secretary became
offended at Mr. Cattell; and Mr. Cattell's testimony before the Committee says
that "Mr. Robeson became very sore; that he cut his acquaintance, and would
have nothing to do with him;" but Mr. Robeson's "indignation" was either of
very brief duration, or else fictitous. From some loving despatches that passed
between Sectetary Robeson and Mr. Cattell, after Mr. Swift had informed him that
he had paid Mr. Cattell $37.OOO for his "influence" with the Department, the
reader will best judge to what extent the close intimacy between the Secretary and
Mr. Cattell was affected.
At Christmas, six or eight months afterwards. Mr. Cattell sends the "indignant"
Secretary the following d(spatch: "Wishing you and yours a merry Christmas."
" PHILADELPIItIA, January 1, 1875.
"To GEO. M. ROBESON, Secretary of the iavy, Washingto, I). C.:
"Wishing you and yours a very Happy New Year!"
And here follows a batch of telegrams, all of which prove conclusively that the
"indignation" of Secretary Robeson, at the base and foul manner in which he
had been betrayed by Mr. E. G. Cattell, was fully aroused to a pitch bordering on
frenzy. The reader will then be able to appreciate the jealousy with which the
gallant Secretary guards his honor, and deals with men who would place him in
the eyes of his country in the light of a corruptionist and a bribe-taker.
"To  ilon. GEORGE ROBESON, Secretary of the Navy:
"Will see you at your house about 9 o'clock to-mo'row morning."
Here is another of November 14:
"All right. When will you be in New York? "
On November 8 he telegraphs to the Secretary as follows:
"'o reply to my telegram; if imnportant to come to-night or Sunday night, prefer
to-night. Will wait at telegraph office, Philadelphia, for reply."
Then on the 22d of November he telegraphs:
Do you expect to be in -New York soon? If so, when? Reply."
Then on March 28, 1874:
"Appointment of receiver of stores, yards and docks remains vacant through your
telegram to the commandant.  We especially want the appointment of John  Fox
to this vacancy.   7 he commandant approves, and will appoint if authorized by
telegram froni you."
A. G. CATTELL,
DELL NOBLITT, JR.
And this Mr. Noblitt was one of the gentlemen who paid E. G. Cattel a large
commission for "influence."   He feels a very great interest in having his friend
appointed to a position in the Navy at Philadelphia.
Again he says, April 8, 1874:
"Received letter tlis morning.  Will attend to request atonce."
575 
OUR WORTHLESS NAYVY.
Then on May 18, 1874, he sent this dispatch:
" Letter with inclo8ure received. "
On May 18th:
Will letter mailed to-day reach you:  Reply."
On June 1, 1874, there is this telegram:
"To Hon. GEO. M. ROBESON, Secretary of the Navy,  Waihnt
"Wi llyou be at home to-night?  Reply.
E.G. CATTELL."
On March 4 there is this dispatch:
"We leave in Cutter General Grant of battery, ten o'clock to-norrow,  to met
Senator and Minister Schenck.  Would be glad to havt you with us.  Reply.
On July 1, 1874, A. G. Cattell sends this dispatch:
"To Hon. GEO. M. ROBESON, Fifth Avenue Hotel, New York:
"If well enough, I think it highly important you  come to Washington to-night.
Hale has declined.
ALEX. G. CATTELL."
On July 27 A. G. Cattell sends this dispatch to Mr. Robeson:
"Will., Bettie, and myself will breakfast with you to-morrow morning at eight
o'clock."
And there are a number of these dispatches between Mr.  E. G.  Cattell and
Secretary Robeson, from which it does not appear that the relation that had
existed between these two gentlemen had been the least destroyed, and that their
business relations had continued up to March of this year, when Mr. Cattell was
still demanding commissions from these contractors and they were still paying
him.
A BRACE OF E. G. CATTELL S DISCIPLES-MORE NAVAL BROKERS.
The Cattells were not alone in this business of trading with  the Navy Department. The proof taken before the Naval Committee shows that the followingnamed persons received money for "influence" at the Department:
Mr. Buker, a dry goods merchant on Seventh street, in Washington City, receiveda commission of $1,000 from George P. Wallace, for securing him the sale of a lot
of timber to the Department.
Mr. W. J. Murtagh, the editor and proprietor of the National Republican, sold
his "influence" with the Navy Department to Mr. Geo. P. Wallace for $4,000, to
enable him to sell a lot of timber to the Navy Department. Mr. Murtagh also
received the sum of $10,000 from Joseph L. Savage, for "putting through" the
Navy Department a claim of $21,719.58, which had been rejected by Secretary
Welles.  ---
S. M. Johnson sold his "influence" with the Secretary of the Navy in the
famous "Governor" claim which had been rejected by Secretary Welles, for a large
provision. Mr. Johnson was paid $35,000 for the celebrated "Hungerford" claim;
the full particulars of this claim and Mr. Johnson's connection therewith, together
with his correspondence, will be found elsewhere in these pages.
Orville Grant, the President's brother, sold his "influence" on several occasions, 
securing in one instance $1,500, fr(m Joseph L. Savage, for obtaining for him a contract to sell the Naval Department 500 ship-knees. Mr. Grant was also employed
at a salary of $200 a month by Basshor & Co., of Baltimore, as a compensation
for his services in procuring contracts for that firm from the government.
Charles P. Whipple received $1,500 for obtaining Mr. Orville Grant's "influence"
for Mr. Savage in the above contract, which was thus illustrating Mr.  Samuel
Welles' remark of a "wheel within a wheel."
S. P. Brown, a navy contractor, sold his "influence" with the Navy Department
in the "Governor" and " Louisville" claims, both of which had been previously
rejected by Secretary Welles, for large fees and commissions.
There are also a large number of other "small fry," too numerous to mention,:
but the foregoing list is sufficient to establish the fact that brokerage in naval
patronage has, under Secretary Robeson, become a business. It is disgraceful that
such a state of public service should exist as makes it -possible that with personal
influence and personal relationship, agents of the government should become
articles of merchandise. No more lamentable exhibition of corruption in the service could be presented than is exhibited by such a state'of-things.
576 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
OLD CLAIMS.
Secretary Robeson has directed the payment of a large number of claims that
were discarded prior to his induction into office, a number of which had been acted
upon and rejected by Secretary Welles. From the fact that they had been rejected
by Mr. Welles, who was known and appreciated for his marked integrity in office,
and the further fact that in the great majority of the most prominent of these
cases, it has been shown that outside parties have been paid large commissions
for the intangible and apparently lucrative service known as  "influence," the
fraudulent character of these claims is fully established.
We beg to call particular attention to a number of these cases, which we have
tabulated as follows:
paid.~~~
i             I
I             I  
Remarks.
! Rejected.. That is to say, the Secors had presented their
claim to Congress; it had been acted on; the
amount ascertained upon reference to the
Secretary of the Navy,Mr. Welles, and they
had accepted the amount which the act of
Congress said should be in full discharge.
Secretary Welles passed upon this claim and
rejected it.  S. P. Brown, employed for his
influeneo, does nothing, and, with S. M. John               son, receives one-half the claim.
Original claim for $31,559.93, of which $9,838.35
allowed; balance disallowed.  Savage  em               ploys Murtagh, for his influence, to collect
this; is successful, and pays Murtagh $10000.
Secretary Welles states the history of this claim
in his proof. It was a claim founded on a
contract to make certain guns.  They were to
pass inspection; they never did. The last
payment was made to W. H. Barnum, admin               istrator.  The Chief of Ordnance said to
Commander Meade that a vote (where not
stated) was secured by this payment.
This was for services voluntarily tendered the
Government during Secretary Welles's ad               ministration of theNavy, which understand               ing he rejected.
Clara.... Subsequently to this, claimant presented to
Congress balance of this claim.  Why should
,     he not have done so as to this amount i It was
i     paid as in the case of the Governor to the
attorney,
,Presented, so far as record shows, first in May,
1873; allowed in November, by order of the
l     Secretary.  E. G.  Cattell receives fee of
$10,000 for his influence and services; upon
face of approved bills said to be for reserva              tions wit/lteld on account of duties charged,
etc.-a false suggestion or a suppression of
the truth.
............ This claim was examined into by Committee on
X:Naval Expenditures.
!'Belknap was dismissed from Navy by Presi                dent Johnson.  At that time he was in de                fault $130,832, which it was alleged was
stolen from him at Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Secretary Welles, in dismissing him, two
years after date of alleged robbery, stated
p) 4 21,0     that he had not applied for relief to Con130.*32 -00  *   gress, etc.  The circumstances of this case
are altogether peculiar, and one which
Ir    ~;    should have been examined into by court                martial or Congress before the allowance of
his pay and the amount of his alleged de             L falcation.
............      Attorney representing claimant was A. C. Sco               vel, former partner of the Secretary. Pay
allowed to claimant when not an officer of the
navy-but see proof.
v    Rejected...  This claim was rejected by Secretary Welles,
whose account of it is wholly different from
the present Secretary's.  The claimant was
: represented by S. P. Brown.
!5,0,,,   This claim will be further commented on.  Se
below.
Toal.....$79   i9 I5'
* About.
677.
Na
21,71958
Clara Dolson..... 
010 O;W O           JAVY.
This large amount of $789,590.57 was paid on claims, nearly all of which had
been rejected by the Secretary's immediate predecessor...
'It will'be observed from the details that will appear below, that a large number
of them were':put through" by parties who were not regular attorneys, but agents
that simply claimed to possess' influence.
if Secretary Robeson had been actuated by a proper regard for the interests of
the government, he would have referred these claims to the proper tribunal for
the adjudicatipu of them.
WVe will now proceed to briefly review the histpry of the more important of these
claims.
TIIE SECOR CLAIM.
r This relates to the unlawful payment, in June, 1870, of the claim of $93,C00 to
Secor & Co, and Peirine, Secor & Co., for the balance alleged to be due them as contractors of the Navy Department. for the building of certain monitors, during the
war.  This payment ha.s been the subject of voluminous repolrt.s of Congressional
committees, and has always given rise to much discussion in the public prints and
pu,.blic assemblies,, anid in both,ouses of Congress.
During. the war these claimants contracted with the Navy Department for the
bu.itil,4 of certain monitors for the sumn of $460,000 each; these vessels were
built, acce,pd by th,e:Departnenat, and did good servi(e.  They were to be of the
class of the niouitor aseaic, which haLd been already built, and was then on (luty.
The Natvy was to furnlish plaus,aid specifications within a certain time.  These
plans were long delayed and in consequence of defects observed in the Passaic,
very essential.- changes were ordered by the Department. in the prcgress of the
woik onithe mqnitois being bult by the Secors.  A l1Li'ge ameouiit of extra work
was tlieretfoe perormed, ndu, iio,iwiths anding these obstructions, the contractors
Qpu ne:q::ie worl  and h;d the  vessels finished and placed in  the hands
of the Govenmnent.  Haviug finished their work' the Secors made a large cJaim
for andifttn i cotmpe ensation oeyond the contract price.
Th. ee clams were of,two clas's,es, one for additiolal cost of construction under
the coiltiacts ansing out of the cxtraordinary ris3 of l.bbor and material. which took
place in qhe dela  by thee government in furnisling the necessary specifi ations, and
second~ for.the act~ual t e,ount due for  %ork ai.d iiiat rlal ordcred, furnished, and
ccted 4ntirely extra froimi and outside of their contract. The claimi for extra work
was; paid by the dep,irtment on bills certified by a boar(l of naval  i,fficers. of wh'ch
Adiniril Gregory was in chais,e, and amounted in all to $321,1 9).5.  The Navy
DepartLment thlerefore, prior to 1.865, paid to the contractors of vessels the full contra,tprice, and the whole amount due for extra work order d by it as certified by
this board, w.hiich superintended the construction of the vessels.  This closed  the
matter at the  \avy Depaitment until the pr-scnt Secretary opened it there five
years',ago.  Secretary WVellit s, when called upon to exl,lain his coiinectio2n with these
claims after it had been paid by  ec,retary Robeson, testifed thtt he  regard(led  the
action of Adinilraii Gregory as final, and th;it the claimi was closed.  MIr. Lenthal,
the;hief of the Bureai of Coast uLt.on and Repairs, also tcs ifled that it was clcscd;
the ye-eis had' been deJlivered and accepted, and p,ymnent in-a,le, and the circuiiistance ildicate 1 a closing of the account.  Tue testimony of Chief E,igineer \\ nod,
also Ahows that it was closed; the Messrs. Secors themselves adliitted the closing
of the account at the Navy Departmenet, by al)pealii,g to Congress for relief in
18(i65. which was a formal abaudoniuent of any furteer ne,otiation at the Navy Department.
A POWERFUL LOBBY.
At some.time prior.to,arch, 1865, the Secors united with some forty odd contractos,'i,and appealed to Congress far relief, alleging that they had "suffered
great loss in the performance of their contracts, over and above the contract price
and allowance for extra work."  Th.s appeall for relief, Sacretary Welles testified,
was baucked up by the strongest lob,y he had ever seen or ktown about Conagress,
and nearly all these forty odd contractors complained, so far as th - recorA stows,
that the most of the- work had not bean fairly paid for.  Oa the )9ta of Mairch,
18ij5, the.Se.n ate passed a respiution iequestin' the Sacretary of the Navy to  organize a board to iuquire into and determine how much tae vessels of war and
steam machinery, contracted for by the Department in 186;2-';63, had cost the contractors,"' ove; and abaye th,e contract price ani allowance for extra wo:k," and
report the findings to.the Senate. at its next session. None but those that had given
satisfaction to-the Department were t9 be considered by the terms of the resolution.
57-,$ 
OUR WORTI!LESS NAVY.
It is important to note the terms of this Senate resolution, because it was the
foundation of the whole legislation afterwards. It does not propose to examine
any claims alone, but it undertakes to establish a principle upon which the whole
controversy, with the iron-clad contractors, shall be settled. That principle is
simply the increased cost of the vessel above the contr.a(t price and allowance for
extra work. It aimed to pl:t all the contractors on a level, and make them good
for their losses. and Secretary W'elles, in compliance with this resolution of the
Senate, appointed a board. of which Commodore William O. Selfridge was President.  The report of this board was sent to the Senate on the 30th of January,
1 866, and it contained, among others, a report in favor of the Secors for $ l 1i ),0.57
upon each of the three vessels, to wit: Tecumseh, Mahopac, and the Manhattan.
The report thus shows that it was made in pursuance of the resolution, and was
an estimate of the additional cost of the vessels over and above the whole amount
paid Neither the Senate nor the House was satisfied with the report of the Selfridge board, and an act was passed ordering a new investigation by the Secretary of
the Navy.  HIe was directed to ascertain the additional cost which  hnd been
necessarily incurred by reason of the changes and alterations in the plans and
specifications, and the delays in the progress of the work by the government, which
was not provided for in the original contract; and from such additional cost there
was to be deducted such sums as had been paid any contractors over and above the
stipulated price.
Truly there was no possibility of mistaking this enactment of Congress; the whole
additional cost, means all extra work of every sort; no report could possibly be
made under this law which did not include the entire cost of the work.
The Secretary of the Navy, Mr. Welles, proceeded to carry this law into effect by
appointing a board of which Commodore J. R. Marchand was President.
A DISCIIAlGE IN FULL SIGNED BY TITE SECORS.
This board reported it -action to the Secretary. on the 26th of November, 1867,
and the report was sent to Congress.  It reported the amount o' such increased
cost caused by the delay in the action of the government, as determined bv the
board to be due in the manner of the vessels, Tecumseh. Mahopac, and Manhattan,
to be $115.539. 01.  This report was laid before Congress and the whole matter was
closed up by the passage of an act of July 1:., 1 8(;, which provided, among other
things, that the Secretary of the Treasury should pay to Secor & Co., and to
Perrine. Secor & Co., the sum of $115.,539.01 IN FULL DISCIIAIIGE OW ALL, CI,AIMS
AGAINST TIIE UNITED STATI'S ON ACCOUNT OF VESSELS UPON WIICnI TIlE BOARD
MADE ALI.OWANCE AS PER REPORT.  Under this act the Messrs. Secor received the
sum appropriated to them and thereby for all claims on account of the vessels
Tecumseh, Mahopac, and Manhattan, being the vessels upon which the Alarchand
board made an allowance, as by the report above referred to. This dischar,,ge to
the government by the Mlessrs. Secor was not on account of any particular clim,
whether for damages or extra woik but for all claims on account of the,ressels.
For the language used, to wit:'Full discharge of all claims igainst the United
St.ates on account of the vessels upon whi(.h the board made the allowance." If
the langu ige used does not reach and destroy every claim of every kind on account
of these vessels, then it would be curious to inquire what words in the English
tongue would do it?
VERY SUSPICIOUS INDEED.
The  present  Secretary of  he  Navy,  Mr.  George  M. Robe.son, however,
determined to disregard this law, and without any authority of law, proceeded to appoint another board to report upon the simne matter il respect to the
claims of the forty odd iron contractors but only so far as the Secors were concerned.
Why Secretary Robeson selected the Messrs. Secor out of the more than forty odd
contractors whose claims were disposed of in the Marchand re.poirt, it does not
appear, and most assuredly h~y.5 his action open to reasonable suspicion. It seeinms
almost unaccountable that the Secretary should have taken up this particular case
after it had lain unerly five years in the Navy Department. three of which it had
been in Congress gaininig a vetry handsome suII while vegetating there. The board,
of which Commodore Bogy qvas President. appointed by the direction of Secretary
Robeson. on the 6th of August, 1. 69, convene(l at Washing(ton on the 7th of that
month for the purpose of examining the claims  of.I!esss. Secor & Co.,  and
Perrine, Secor & Co. for extra charges under their contracts for the construction
t79 
OVA WORTHLESS IAds.
of the monitors Tecumseh, Mahopac, and Manhattan. This order distinctly opened
the Secor account which had been closed by the Department and by Congress.
The order also informed the board, "That the Department will send to the board
the papers relating to the claims."
Thus it is made clear that this new board, appointed without authority of law,
was to review the precise work of the Marchand board, which had been appointed
in pursuance of law, and it was to act upon the papers in the Department which,
as Mr. Lenthal, Chief Constructor under Secretary Welles, proved, were the same
as both the previous boards had acted upon. The bogus board reported the result
of their investigation to the Secretary of the Navy on the 20th of August, 1867, as
follows:
REPORT OF ROBESON'S BOARD.
"The board has carefully examined and compared the bills of Secor & Co., for
extras to their contract, for building the harbor and river monitors Tecumseh,
Mahopac, and Manhattan with those paid Miles Wingood for extras to his contract
for building the Tippecanoe, a vessel of the same class, and constructed from the
same plans and specifications, both of which bills were forwarded by the board to
the Navy Department, and find the accompanying items and amounts in a bill of
Mr. Greenwood, which have been allowed and paid him, and not in the bills allowed
and paid Secor."
This report is very significant; it shows what the board was to do'had been predetermined. It was to allow Secor what had been paid to Greenwood by the comparison of bills only, and that the Greenwood bills were sent to the board for that
purpose, and nothing else was to be done. The board was to sit down and
gravely compare the Greenwood bills with the Secor bills, which no doubt had been
copied therefor, and then report to the Secretary whether they were alike or not.
On the 31st of December, 1869, Secretary Robeson sent a formal order directing
payment to the Secors of the sum of $93,000, and that amount of money was taken
out of the Treasury against the provisions of the plain statute, and it was done also
against the custom and rule of the Department, that one administration shall not
open accounts which had been closed by another-its predecessor. This money
was taken out of an appropriation made by Congress to pay the current expenses
of the Navy Department for the current year. Admiral Porter remonstrated against
it, and the Chief Constructor, Mr. Lenthal, declared it illegal.
A CLEAN STEAL.
And thus the Secor claim, which had been brought before Congress, had been
patiently heard and settled in full, again made the pretense of filching $93,000 from
the Treasury of the United States, and as if to put themselves beyond all question, at the very time when the Secretary was paying the Secors the sum of
$93,000 to which they were not entitled, the claimants were before the Senate
Committee urging the passage of another act for their relief, and claiming that
they had received the money under the act of July 3, 1868, " under the stress of
an overpowering necessity," and the Senate Naval Committee in their report made
on May 12, 1870, said, "That in law, such a receipt is a complete bar to all other
recourse," and at this time no one knew that the Secretary of the Navy was paying for iron-clad contractors at his own discretion, while Congress was in session,
and in spite of the law. If this Secor claim had been just, it would have been
easy to have sent it to the Appropriation Committee in the usual way, but the Secretary was in hot haste and could not wait for the slow movements of that body,
though it was in session at the time.
We cannot conclude this narrative without mentioning that when the Second
Comptroller of the Treasury was questioned as to this illegal payment of the $93,000
to the Secors, he cut a very sorry figure, indeed.  He knew very well that the
$115,539.01, which had been paid the Secors, and for which they had receipted,
was in full satisfaction of their claim on account of the three vessels named, and
he had no right to pay them another cent.
Mr. Simeon M. Johnson, who was the moving spirit in pushing through the Hungerford claim, the particulars-of which are given below, was entrusted with the
management of this claim, on behalf of the Secors.  The reader is requested to
carefully peruse the letters and correspondence in the Hungerford claim, and also
the testimony of Henry Sherman, recounting the intimate relations between
Simeon Johnson and Secretary Robeson, which is detailed therein.
580 
OU WONS 8'A8
THE HUNGERFORD CLAIML
Especial attention is requested to the particulars of this claim, as illustrating in
a lucid manner "the ways that are dark and the tricks that are not vain" in the Navy
Department. From the proofs of the official papers which have been consulted
and examined, it appears that Whipple & Stickney, as the attorneys of one Fayette Hungerford, a citizen of New York, had in their hands for collection a claim
amounting to $230,000 against the Governm(nt. This claim was based upon losses
sustained by Street & Hungerford, of Memphis, Tennessee, by reason of their
property having been taken by the United States army upon their occupation of
that city. A portion of this property caine into possession of the navy, and some
of it was removed to the naval station at Mound City, Illinois. Mr. Street was
identified with the Confederacy, while his partner, Mr. Hungerford, was of undisputed loyalty. There is some informal evidence that Street, being behind in the
partnership, assigned to Hungerford his interest in the claim in the instance above
named, against the United States.
Whipple & Stickney obtained from Captain Patterson a statement of the fact that
a part of the property was removed, as stated, to Mound City, the value of which
he estimated at $75,000 (substantially this statement was afterward indorsed by
Admiral Porter). Having so prepared their case, Messrs. Whipple & Stickney
placed it in the hands of Simeon Johnson about February, 1871, understanding he
had influence with the Department. At least on the 15th of February, 1871, Johnson
writes that  "I have presented Fayette Hungerford's papers to the Secretary,
*       * *    but there cannot be an adjustment till after the 4th of March."
Attention is called to letters and extracts from letters of Johnson  in reference to
this claim:
"1528 I STREET, Washington, May 3, 1871.
DEAR SIR: * * * I had yesterday and to-day discussed the case of Hungerford at the Navy Department-that is, the question,,f the sufficiency of the proofs.
I found it worse than bad policy to press it during the session, and agreed to lay it
over. Since the adjournment the Secretary has been absent or engaged, very, so
that I have not thought it prudent to press it. The Secretary goes off to-morrow
for a week. I am quite satisfied with the matter, except that it is not clear that
there is any money to pay it. I think there is, and shall endeavor to find it in case
I get an order.
Yours, truly,
S. M. JOHNSON.
JOHN WHIPPLE, Esq."
MR. JOHNSON REQUIRES A LARGE SLICE OF THE CHEESE.
"1528 I STREET, Washington, June 8, 1871.
DEAR SIR: I have encountered a good deal of trouble in your case, some of it I
fear insurmountable. I find the inventory to cover a great number and a great
variety of articles. Nqw, you know that appropriations designate especially to
what ends they are to be applied. The chief appropriations are for" construction,
equipment, and repairs," but many of the items do not come within that range. I
have not consented to any division of the account. To do so will result in getting
perhaps half of the whole, and result in the loss of the balance, or in sending you
to Congress, which will be the same thing. I am satisfied that it will be fatal to
the case to permit it to be divided, and if 1 go for the whole as a compromise, I
shall be compelled to take less. I have made no proposition of compromise whatever, nor would I do so without your advice and consent. I wish you to consult
your principal, and if he is willing to take $40,000 I will go to work on new propositions of adjustment. Meanwhile be assured that I will at any time surrender
the papers without any compensation to myself. You do not view matters before
the Departments with the same eye with which we regard them here. They are
always difficult (old matters), and in nine cases out of ten it is impossible to work
them out. I do not want to influence you or your client in the least, but viewing his
matter as I do, I would think him lucky to get $40,000.  I don't say I can get
that, but I will make an effort at compromise if you approve it.
Your, truly,                          S. ML JOHNSON.
JOHN WHIPPLE, Esq.'}
gm 
WORTHILESS NAVY.
~.-   I    ".  Z. X   i,.,.t   "   my i    *.   v J
MR. JOHINSON'S NOTION.
"- 1528 I STREET, Btra,slington, June 9, 1871
DEAR Srit-I have looked carefully over the case. and to work it out I shall
lave a good deal of difficulty.  Ju' notion was that I would say confidentially that
1.:nst get for -the claimant $40,000, and then must have enough more to pay my
shar'es, This proposition I thought the best that I had any hope of getting
accepted(l, and has the merit of directness so far as the claimant is., concerned. A
compromise needs a power of attorney, and to enable me to speak by authority I
must have such power, which must be full; that is.'to demand and receive of
the Navy Department' the amount that shall be found due on the claim, giving
me absolute power to a.ljust the same at my discreti,on. If you do not know with
whom you are dealing, Mr Evarts, your near professional neighbor, who is familiar
with such thirgs here. can tell you.
I like to know exactly what I am doing, and hence I think it best to be armed
with all power.
Meanwhile remember that there is plenty to do before I can hope for an agreement upon terms of settlemient.  The matter has to be worked up a little at a time;
and as the inventory cont-tins such a variety of things I must of course get the
sanction of the accounting-officers of the Treasury to the payment when ordered.
The Secretary has no power in himself to pay: he can only recommend payment,
giving his reasons, which always have great weight.
Yours, truly,
S. M. JOHNSON.
JoEN WnxTPPI.E, Esq."
MR. JOHNSON ASKS FOR FULL POWER.
"1528 I STREET,  Va.shingtoit, D. C., June 17, 1871.
I)EAR SIR-Your letter is received. I do not doubt your power. I have looked
through the case and made ul) my mind that I can work it through so as to pay you
$40,000; and in my calculation I intend to make $10,000 for myself, which will
net me $8,000 when I get through.  Now, what I want is a full power of attorney
in my own name, with an agreement as above.  Thus authorized I will proceed.   I
nm certain that the terms I make are decidedly best for your client.   If you and
he think not, then I will surrender the papers. I have my own notions of fixing
the matter, but I do not c lre to work it through and get nothing for my labor. If
you give me power of substitution, you must send your power to do so.   I must go
upon the record with authority to'demand and receive,' as well as discretionary
power in the adjustment of the whole case. This power will enable me to work the
case lp to money, when you can be here to close the matter without any intervention of the client.
I hope now you understand exactly what I want. I might give you reasons for
what I propose, but it is not necessary.
Yours, truly,
S. M. JOHNSON.
JOHN WIIIPPLE, Esq."
A BROAD IIN'T.
"' 1528 I STEEET,  Wadng.ton., June 22, 1871.
DEAR SIR-I received this morning your substitution of power; but I have
failed evidently to make myself understood. I proposed to give your client $40,000; that amount to close his claim. I expect in reality to get $S..500. What amount
of allowance I may get I know not; but of the amount I get allowed. yoar client
will get $4 0(000. and I wili get nominally $10,000; really, $8,500.  Ib is utterly
useless for me to undertake anything else, and it is not clear'that your power covers the ground. I have to submit to terms. not dictate them. In older to get
$50,000, all to'd. 1 have to give up all over that sum. I don't want to influence
your action or that of your client in the least.  It seems t' me it is a great favor to
you to get $40.000, but I do not propose to get it an 1 lose not only my own fees,
but as much more wish it.  The claimn is very ol(l, and after June 3()0, as I read the
law. we shall be cot off, when the claim must go to Congress, wltere it is r'eally
wortaless.  I therefore want your promlpt action.  By the original arrangement I
was to have $15,000 or $75 000; but the wording by your memorandum 15 per
cent. I would like a prompt answer, as have but little t me to work up the matter.
So far from wishing you to confirm these terms I would prefer to surrender the
582
i..,': J.: 
OW  WORT:iLESS NAvY.
papers, for really I do not like the case.  But having gone so far, if you feel yourself authorized to say to me that I may collect the claim and pay you $40,000, I
will proceed.  Of course I do not wish you to understand that I can posi4tively collect ind pay you $40,(,0(), because I do not know that ] can.  I have my own notion'is
of the case; and as I see it. your client will be very fortunate to get that amount.
I want you to telegraph me. on the receipt of this, whether you have power to
submit to the arrangement proposed; and, to-morrow, if you have the power, write
me, accepting the terms.
Yours, truly,
S. M.  JOHNSON
JOIIN IVIIIPPLE, Esq."
A COSTLY CIIANGE OF TACTICS-NURSING TIlE CLAIM.
152S I STRP.ET,'VaSiington, July 1, 1871.
DEAR SIR-Your telegrams of yesterday and to-day were received and answered.  I may now add that I have been pressing the Hangerford claim and expect to get the necessary reports within a few d'ys  It is just one of those old
things which is valhietess if Jiot nursed  and worked up with great care.  I have
undertaken it so as to secure $40,()00 to Ilungerfor(i and leave myself  uit of it,
beyond my expenditures, nominally $1 080', but really not iiiore than eight.  The
truth is. in ordinary hlinds, the claim is go(d for nothing except to prest'nt to Congress which really makes it valueless.  I am confident I shall woik it off within a
shiort time; and in dOing so shall do your client a very gre Lt f;Lvor. I think I have
gotten rid of the difficulty iii the waiy of payment under the act of July, i8;0,  requiring unexplended balinces to be covered into the'T'reasury.  Looking over your
paiwer of attorney, I woulld recom m,end you to get from Hungerford an arsset to
receive a specific sum of money. on the basis of my p.iyment to you when the
claim is allowed, of $40.0(00. You c.in readily appreciate the difficultiesi in sach
case as this; and if it entails. any trouble with Hungerford involving the question
of your p,)we,'s. I wotill much prefer to have nothing to do with the case.  All I
can pay is $40,000 to yolu. no matter what is allowed. and that youl should distinctly stite to Hungerford.  Mly arrangement, verbally made. was $15 000 for my
fee, and I then s.id it was hlrdly likely that more than $;0,000 would be paid.   I
found t/tat, to get (tIy.sort of/told, Imu.tc/ctinye mqy tactic.; and to do so I would he
require(d to incur a large expenditure.  It wis on this basis that I made known to Mr.
\Vhi)ple the terms upon which I would proceed.  The case was put into that shape
that made it uinpalat,ble; but as he assentetld to the terms giving to you $10 1 00 maximum, I have put the thing in motion. I have written you in ail cendor and to avoid
all dispute. Itis a question if $(;0,()0()0 is allowed,or whatever sulm, whether your power
is sufficieut to accept $10,0)0 rn(d close the concern.  Your authority through Mr.
Vliiipple to me is absolute, that you wi.1 accept $4,()000; and your power to com.
promise is comlflete, but it must be a compromiise with the Government, not with
me.  Yout instruct me to settle on paymeut of $40,000 to you.  That  of course is
sufficient for me; bul I don't want to close out this thing and leave anybody to
quarrel about.  All old clamrs ai e suspicious; and any payment, if proolaimed,
wo.ld be condemned.  You understand me.
Yours, truly,
Please answer mne.
A. STICKNEY, Esq."
The following telegrams were then sent by Mr. Johnson:
' WASHINGTON, JUly 6, 1871.
A. STICKNE.Y,
5') WVall treet, Yezoew York:
When I want Hungerford will telegraph you; don't want any more papers, I
think.
S. M. JOHNSON,
No. 1528 1 stret."
The last telegram is July 13, 1871, and is as follows:
"WASIIINGTON, D. C., July 13, 1871.
STICINEY & WHIPPLE.
59 lvail street, New York: 
Send your receipt to me for forty thousa,nd in full, and draf t attached to Riggs
& Co., and possibly to-morrow, almost certainly Saturday,. draft will.be, pail.
S. M JOHINSON,
S. X. JO.IEINSON. 
OUR'VWORTHLBE-" NAVY.
1528 1 street."
On the 14th of July, Mr. Johnson received $75,000 for said claim, as appears
from the approved bill on file in the Fourth Auditor's Office, among the vouchers
of Paymaster Stewart. The following appears from
THE TESTIMONY OF THE FOURTH AUDITOR:
"By the CHAIRMAN:
Q. Will you look at the paper now shown you which is headed' The U. S. Navy
Department to S. M. Johnson, attorney for Fayette Hungerford, Dr,' and state
what paper that is? A. This is a voucher that came to me with the accounts of
Edwin Stewart. It is his voucher to authorize the payment of that $75,000.
Q. Wil] you read it over to the reporter so that he may take a copy of it as it is?
A.'The United States Navy Department to S. M. Johnson, attorney for Fayette Hungerford, Dr., for property and materials furnished the naval station at
Mound City prior to June 30, 1870, seventy-five thousand dollars.  Total, $75,000.
Approved in duplicate for $75,000, payable by Paymaster Edwin Stewart, at
Washingtoh, from the appropriation of contingent Yards and Docks, 1860-'70.
'GEO. M. ROBESON,
' Secretary of the Navy.
'NAVY DEPARTMENT, July 12, 1871.
Rec'd Washn., D. C., July 14, 1871, of Paymaster Edwin Stewart, seventy-five
thousand dollars in full for the above.
' S. M. JOHNSON,
' Attorney for Fayette Hungerford.
'$75,000.'                                            
Q. Are you sufficiently acquainted with the signature of the Secretary of the
Navy to state whether that is his genuine signature to that paper?
A. I have no doubt of it."
Upon the same day that Johnson received this sum of $75,000, he deposited
$63,000, and paid draft to Whipple & Stickney of $40,000; and paid his check to
some person unknown to your committee for sum of $11,591.61. Thus it is evident
that Johnson, after paying the claimant $40,000, divided the remaining $35,000
between three parties, himself being one. Who were they? It is seen by reference
to his letters that he says:
"Ifoitnd that to get any sort of hold 1 must change my tactics; and to do so I would
be required to incur a large rVpenditure."
FORGERY OR NOT.
Who was the recipient of this expenditure?  No outside party appears connected
with the transaction as an actor. It is not seen or shown that any clerk or subordinate official had any connection with it. And, what is remarkable, while it
appears that Johnson is urging the claim upon the Secreta?ry, in February and May,
1871, the record shows that the claim was not filed until June or July, 1871.  And
in the opinion of Mr. Kerr, an expert, the original date was July 3. As it now reads
it would appear to be dated June 2.  Right in this connection let it be stated that
the opinion of the Secretary, written on a half-sheet of paper, presenting marks
that the other half of the sheet had been previously used, bears date June 20, 1871.
Who had any motive to alter the date of filing if the real date was July 3? Looking to
Johnson's letters and these circumstances, it is to be regretted that Johnson is not
among the living to explain the meaning of his own letters, and to disclose who
were the parties among whom he divided his fees and profits in this case, and the
payment of which by the Secretary to him is of questionable right under the act of
Congress of February 26, 1853. It is further questionable whether the Secretary
had any right or authority under the law to divert the appropriation made for the
contingent fund of the Bureau of Yards and Docks to the payment of said claim.
WHAT WAS ROBESON'S SHARE?
Taking it altogether, the Secretary adjudicating a claim of doubtful merit, when it
should have been done by the accounting officers of the Treasury, designating an
appropriation out of which it should be paid, that Congress had made for an entirely
different purpose, directing the payment of it to an attorney of the claimant instead
of the claimant himself, whereby the true owner was in a position to be defrauded,
and all the surrounding circumstances, your committee can but express the moderate
opinion that it is fortunate alike for the reputation of the Secretary and the public
Treasury that there are no more such cases to be inquired after.
584 
aUlI WORTHLESS NAVY.
SIMEON JOHNSON'S RELATIONS WITH SECRETARY ROBESON.
Mr. Henry Sherman, a lawyer, testified before the Naval Committee, in March,
1876, respecting Mr. Johnson, as follows:
" Q. Did Mr. Johnson have a large business before the Navy Department?
A. Yes, sir; he claimed to have a great amount of business before the Navy
Department, and often told me that he could get what he wanted; when the
investigation of the Secretary took place in the previous Congress, it advanced to
that point where Johnson's connection with the Navy Department was being- given
in evidence (investigation of 1872), and the Secretary (Robeson) made an objection
that the correspondence of a dead man could not be given; that cut the investigation right down.
Q. Do you know from observation or otherwise the relations of Mr. Johnson and
the Secretary of the Navy? A. I know that he had the privilege of going in and
out whenever he wanted, when other people could not get there; for instance,
I had a claim before the Navy Department which had been entered there for
some time, and Mr. Johnson stopped me on the street, and said,' Sherman, you
have a claim before the Navy Department;' I said I had; said he,'I will tell
you what I will do; Robeson will do anything for me; if you will give me half
your fees, I will get it through in a very short time; I replied, that I did not
want to give away my fees, and I did not want any assistance; that I was
competent to judge, and felt satisfied that the claim- ought to be paid; but, in
order to test his'influence' I said'How have you any more influence than
anybody else?' He said,'You come down with me and see.' Well, he took me
down and'went in on the side door without knocking, and began talking to the
Secretary about it; I saw that the Secretary was disposed to listen, and I came
away; but I refused to make any arrangement with him.
Q. He was connected with a large number of claims, was he not? A. Yes, before
the Navy Department; I know the remark was made after his death that he
must be worth a'illion, because he pretty much ran the whole Department.
Q. Do you know of any corruption in the Navy Department, of your own
knowledge? A. No, I do -not know of any; I do not know as it is well for me to
state what Mr. Johnson said to me, for he is now dead, after he got the Secor case
through.
Q. Do you know whether or not Mr. Johnson was on terms of intimacy with the
Secretary of the Navy, and if you do, state- what evidence you have of it? A. I
live at No. 1536 I street, Mr.. Johnson lived at 1530 I street, and at 1532, on the
same street, and in the same block, the Secretary of the Navy lived, directly
opposite Mr. Johnson; I saw them day after day going arm and arm in the street; I
saw the Secretary frequently going in Mr. Johnson's house, and Mr. Johnson to his
house, but as far as intimacy between them was concerned, it was decidedly an
intimacy.
JOHNSON'S GREAT INTIMACY WITH ROBESON.
Q. Mr. Johnson professed to you that he was intimate with the Secretary?
A. He professed to be on very intimate terms with the Secretary of the Navy on
all business matters, both official and social.
Q. Did Mr. Johnson go to you and the Secretary at any time with respect to
any claim pending in the Navy Department; if so, what was the mode of your
entrance?  A. I went in together with Mr. Johnson in the Navy Department, to see
the Secretary about the claim of Peter Duffie e; Mr. Johnson told me that he could get
the Secretary to take it up, and I went there with him; he went in without any
formality, and just as though he was at home, as much so as if he had been the
Secretary's private secretary; when he spoke to the Secretary about the claim, the
Secretary said he remembered there was-such a claim, and after some conversation
he said,'Suppose you bring it up;' this was addressed, following up his conversation, to Mr. Johnson, because the remarks or conversation were between him and
Mr. Johnson.
Q. In going to see the Secretary at that time, did you go there through the regular or formal mode, or by any private entrance? A. We went first through the
chief clerk's room, and then through the private room which led into the Secretary's room.
Q. You did not go through the door which the public generally entered? A. I
did not go through the door of the ante-chamber, as they call it-the place where
parties send in their card'and wait to be admitted-but through what I call the private entrance.
586 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
Q After the Secretary had said to you. you had better bring up the claim, did
you attempt to bring it up?  A. No, I did not; because I told Mr. Johnson there
was no use in doing that, as I would not pay a cent of my fee as attorney, to any
one; that this was a just claim, and should be paid any way, but the claim has
never been paid.
Q. Did Mr. Johnson intimate to you that if you would divide with him he would
'put it through?'  A. Yes.
Q. I understand you as having refused to make any arrangement with Mr.
Johnson'? A. Yes. sir
Q. And that you made attempts afterwards to have the claim put through. but it
was never put through? A. I went there after that and asked the Secretary to
take up that claim, but he declined to take it up; I have done that within the last
year, since Mr. Johnson's death."
TIIE NAYv DEPAR'rIFENT  TUItNF.D INTO A STOCK JOBP)ING INSTITrUTION-SECIE                      TAlLY IROBESON AND JAY CO()KE & CO.
The foreign account, which, under the present administration. has involved an
ex enditure of several millions of dollars annually, was, previous to May. 1871,
kept with the cclebrated banking-house of Baring Brothers & Co.. of London.
This firm had been since 181 5, decided friends of the United States. and by liberal and
assiduous efforts had largely contributed to the maintenance and advancement of
the credit of our government; and it becomes important to inquire  w%hy fiscal
agents, so faithful and entirely responsible. should have been discontinued as such
by the present Secretar.y of the Navy, and our foreign account turned over to the
house of Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co. It is ce tain that at the time of this change
in May. 1871, the latter firm was not to be compared with the former in credit,
standing, and capital.  It is very evident, by the proof in this investigation. that
th3 house of Jay Cooke,  McCulloch & Co. was a mere offshoot of the house of
Jay Cooke & Co in America, neither of which had any capital stock. but did business on the credit and advances of the individual partners; and the circumstances
warrant the conclusion that the London branch of the concern could n(t
have  established  and  run  their  business  without  the  finds  turned  over
to them  by the Secretary of  the Navy  on  the said  foreign account.   It
is true that they ostensibly beg tn with the capital of a million dollair advanced
by the present house of Jay Cooke &  Co.; but so soon as their financial credit
was bolstered by their appointment as the new fiscal agents of the government,
and remittances began to be mide by the Navy  Deplrtmient at the rate of something like one million for evety  qTlarter, their orlgin:Ll mnillion advanc3d to Jay
Cooke & Co. was not only dr Lwn out by them, but at the time of their failure
they were, indebted to the London branch in a sum amounting to about $1,,S(,O.)00,
subject to a deduction by sundry collections ma(le. A farther fact tending to
show that the Secretary of the Navy stood as sponsor to this b.liiitliung in London is
that his special friends the Cattells, became the sureties on their bond to the Government of the United States in the sum of $100.001().  The Secretaiy, in his
endeavors to justify his conduct in this matter before the American people, has
stated in an official communication, that h.s "reasons and purposes" for the s:id
change of fiscal agents are set forth in the letter of the Department dated May 15,
18il, to Mlessrs. Bariog Brothers & Co.  By reference to said letter We find the
following on this subject:  " I beg to assure you that this change in no way grows
out of any dissatisfaction of any kind on the part of the Department wit!s your
house which has for so many years and so acceptably transacted its foreigii financial business. but is the result solely of the opinion entertained by the Department
that the establishment in London of respectable houses of purely American origin
and character minkes it in every sense becoming a,id desirable that the government
business shoulhl be intrusted to some one of them."
It is not easy to understand what the Secretary means by " houses of purely
American origin and character." while the evidence shows that MIr. l'ule'on and
Mir.'Evans were members of the firm of Jay Cooke. McCulloch & Co, both of
whom are British subjects, and one a member of Parliament With due respect
for the Secretary, we are of the opinion that the true reasons for the change of
foreign fiscal agents are not to be found in the official communications of the
Secretary, but in his
RE,IJARKABLE LETTER TO HRENRY CLEWS,
of May 23, 1871, that part of which giving his reasons, we here set forth verbatim:
,z., &O 
OUIR WORTHLESS NAVY.
"MY DEAR CLEWS: I have your letter of the 19th instant. in regard to the
appointment of a fiscal agent of the Gove nment abroad.  I am sorry I was absent
when you were here, for I could have explained to you personally much more fully
and satisfactorily the situation of this matter. The truth is, that the Navy,Departmetit really has no fiscal agent abroad, but has hitherto kept its accdunt
with Baring Brother.- & Co., of London.  This account I transferred about the first
of the present month to Jay ('ooke's house abroad.  This. I did for the )ro:idest
politic:al as well as financial reasons. looking to the good of the service abroad
as well as strengtheninig the party and administration at home.   The house
of Jay Cooke &  Co. has. as you know, large and extended  interests and ins
fluence tihroug,hout the  country.   Their connection  and  inlfluence with  the
national banks; with the Pennsylvania Railroad, which controls the State of
Pennsylvania, find which, absorbing the Camden and Amboy llailroad, now
controls New Jersey, and stretches from its western terminus across many of the
Western States far toward the Pacific; their inte est in the Northern  Pacific, and
their general interest in the country, make them very powerful friends where
actively interested in the success of the administration, and dingerous enemies,'in
vital localities. when indifferent or unfriendly.  These were some of the considerations which influenced me, and which would have still influenced i e had I known
of your application, whicli I did not at the time when I acted   In addition to
this, they are entirely an Ainerican house, without any connection with any f,,reign
person or interest, and having been largely connec' ed with the financ al operations
of the government during the war, and contributing largely to its success in connection with local men like yourself, it seemed to be proper, under the circumstances, that this account should be given to them."
VIOLATING TIIE LAW.
In making the appointment of Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co. as foreign fiscal agents
of this government, we have another instance of that disregard of law which has
characterized the administration of the Navy Department by its present incumbent.
The United States have provided since 1844:
'That no person shall be employed or continued abroad to receive and pay
money for the use of the naval service on foreign stations, whether under contract
or otherwise, who has not been, or shall not be, appointed by and with the advice
and consent of the Senate."
This statute was not in force in 1815, the time when Baring Brothers & Co. were
des'gnated as our fiscal agents abroad.
On the 18th of September, 1873, came
TIIE FAILURE OF THIIE ITOUSE OF JAY COOKE & CO.,
and with it the great panic; and the doings and proceedings of the Navy Department at that time in connection with the branch house in London were of a
most extraordinary character.  In the opinion of all fair men  he: conduct of
the Secretary betrayed a greater anxiety to assist Jay Cooke, MIcCulloch & Co.
with additional funds of the United States to tide over a crisis, and to secure for
his friend, A. G CAttell, the control and manipulation. as agent and.ttorney of
the Navy Dep)artmelnt, of many millions' worth or collaterals, consisting of batiking paper. twenty-three thousand tons of railroad iron, and the individual estate
of MlcCulloch, and of the partners of Jay Cooke & Co., in America, than to protect the public interests.   The said Cattell also received from Jay Cooke.  MIc ulloch & Co. two and one-half per cent. commission on all sales of these collaterals.
It is proper here to refer to the statement of the Secretary, as made out by himself, and then refer to the proof aliundi, and let Congress and the people decide
this issue.  In order to fairly understand this matter it is necessary to ascertain
the exact state of the accoui,t between the Navy Department and Jay Cooke,
5[cCulloch & Co., on the 15th of September, 1873, the time of the failure of the
parent house in America.  The daily balance, as the records of the Treasury
DepartmeJit will show, on that d.y was ~35) 6:18 6s., or about $180,000 in favor of
Jay Cooke,  Mc nlloch & Co.'T'hese records further show that this balance
slightly increased to the 22d of September, when on that day it shifted and
b, came in favor of the Government to the amount of, ~166,932 2s. by a cash
payment on the part of the Government in the sum of ~205,714 5s.  It is true
that this las-. payment of over two hundred thousand pounds was upon requisition No. 2024. drawn Jply 2, 1873; but the draft given therefor payable to
Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co. was on time, and  not awfully paid' (as the rec
587 
OUR WORTiiLEsM NAVI.
ords  show)  till September  22, 1873, four days  after the  failure of Jay
Cooke & Co.  There is no evidence that this draft was  negotiated before maturity, or had passed into the hands of innocent holders for value; and if its payment had been inhibited previous to the 22d of September, the Government, instead
of being a creditor of Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co., on that day in the sum of
~166,932 2s., it would have been their debtor in the sum of ~37,758: 6s. But suppose it was not possible to have stopped the payment of the draft on the 22d of
September (and of this there is no proof), and the Secretary of the Navy found at
that date the Government to be a creditor of the London concern to the amount of
~166,932 2s.  Now, we submit that if his sole object had been to save the Government harmless, it was not the part of prudence and common sense to make an
additional advancement to the firm of ~219,199 1Is. lid.. as shown by his own
figures, thus swelling the debt due the Government to the amount of ~386,131
13s.  ld., or about $2,000,000. If the firm had the ability to secure the latter
sum by good and sufficient collaterals, as is maintained by the Secretary, they
could have more easily secured the original indebtedness, ~166,932 2s., which is
nearly two-thirds less. Could any stronger proof be desired to'show that the Secretary, in order to save
JAY COOKE, MCCULLOCI & CO.,
and obtain possession and control of the largest possible amount of assets as collateral,
was willing to turn his Department, with its funds, into a huge temporary banking
and stock-jobbing concern. The Secretary stood ready to accommodate them, in the
most prodigal manner, with advancements on collaterals, which could not have been
available to them for even a small proportion of the amount so advanced, in any bank
in London or America at that time.  But the Secretary further claims that it was
necessary for him to make this advance of ~219,199 11 s. 1 id., in order to protect the
drafts drawn by our paymasters of ships and squadrons in foreign ports on Jay
Cooke, McCulloch & Co., and thus save the credit of the Government. This we
regard as a pretext. The proof shows that this entire amount went solely to the
firm, and not a cent of it was used to pay such drafts. The vouchers of Paymaster Cutter, at New York, show that between September 24, 1873, and December 6,
1873, he remitted to Paymaster-General J. O. Bradford, by order of the Secretary,
the sum of $2,100,000, or ~435,345 17s. Id.
According to the evidence of said Bradford and the Secretary, the ~219,199 IIs.
lId. was turned over to Jay Cooke & Co. for their own use, and, of course, to keep
them above water; and the rest of the amount so sent was applied by Bradford (as
he swears) to the drafts of paymasters drawn at foreign ports. In fact, the vouchers of Cutter show that he forwarded to Paymaster-General Bradford, between the
24th of September, 1873, and the 11th of March, 1874, the enormous sum of
$4,228,621.43. The only reason at all plausible, as tested by law, that could be
given by the Secretary to justify the use of money through the paymaster at New
York in foreign lands, was to meet the expenses of ships and stations abroad; but
in addition to this he requires to be sent to Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co. over one
million of dollars for no such purpose-his sole object being to
SAVE THEM AND THEIR BONDSMEN, THE CATTELLS,
from financial embarrassment and disaster. It is strange that the Secretary should
boast in his statement "that the said firm continued to pay the navy drafts
in regular course," when the bureaus at home were being taxed to the utmost, in
order to supply out of their regular appropriations Paymaster Cutter with funds to
be hurried to J. O. Bradford, whose only business in London (kept there at Government expense)was to pay the acceptances of that "said firm," which, as the
Secretary informs us, was "purely American in its origin and character."  Such
an administration of the Navy Department is also peculiarly "American in its
origin and character;" for truly no potentate of Europe would have ventured
upon such an unwarranted use of public money.
The Secretary says further in his remarkable statement that  "The regular time for a new remittance to the said foreign account in usual
course came about the 1st of October, 1873, and the Department was then applied
to by the representatives of said firm to make such new remittances, but declined
to do so at that time, though our navy drafts were still paid- in due course by said
firm as our agents aforesaid. About the middle of said month of October, 1873,
however, it became necessary either to make new remittances to said account, or
allow our agents to stop the payment dof our drafts."
586 
Ot WORTR'L]M NA8 NAY,
In the'foregoing -the Secretary is peculiarly unfortunate.  The day before the
panic he had started to said firm in London a million of dollars, but the next day
the Secretary of the Treasury ordered it stopped at New York in  transtu.  Paymaster Cutter shows that between the 24th and 27th of September, 1873, he sent
forward, upon the requisition of the Secretary of the Navy, more than a million
dollars, and on the 6th of October remitted an additional amount of $381,333.35,
all of which went to the foreign pay account-in fact over a million of it to Jay
Cooke, McCulloch & Co., very little of it being actually used by Bradford to pay
our foreign drafts. What further proof could be required to exhibit the looseness
and unreliability of the statement of the Secretary in explanation of conduct concerning this whole matter of the foreign fiscal agency and account?
FRAUDS AND ABUSES-SWINDLING CONTRACTORS AND THEIR MODUS OPERANDI.
To attempt to itemize all the abuses and frauds which exisVin the administration of Secretary Robeson as they were presented to the Naval Committee, would
occupy more space than can be allowed in this sketch. We are therefore compelled to refer generally to their existence, as proven in the most conclusive manner by unimpeached and uncontradicted witnesses.
Mr. Robeson, it will be shown, is responsible for the following abuses:
He has disregarded the law in failing to advertise for supplies, materials, and
other articles required by the Department.
He has failed to require proper bond and sureties from those who made contracts
and agreements with the Department-none being required in the majority of
cases.
He has not in a single instance prosecuted and enforced the law against defaulting contractors
He has made payments in advance of work and complete delivery, a bare-faced
instance of which exists in the case of the contractor for the destruction of the
"Hero" and the "Piscataqua" at the Washington Navy Yard, the contractor in
this case dropping the job when it ceased to be profitable, and leaving the Government without any adequate protection against his default.
He has permitted contractors to be relieved from the fulfillment of their contracts, when it was apparent that their failure to do so, originated from a fraudulent purpose, that is to say, under the prevailing system of inviting bids at the
regular annual letting, the different classes were made out, some of which included
in the schedule a number and variety of articles. A knowing or favored contractor
would take a certain portion of the articles which he knew would be fully and
possibly in excess, demanded, and upon these he would fix large profits. Upon the
remaining articles he would fix prices far below cost, knowing they would not be
demanded or that he would be relieved from performance. An honest bidder, not
so well posted, arranged his bid with reasonable profits on each article. At the
Department both bids being opened, both are scaled and averaged, and thus it
would result that in the aggregate the bid of the knowing favorite was the lowest,
and the contract would be awarded to him. But when the day of performance
came, the Department excuses him in his failure to deliver certain articles, while
Mr. Contractor took care that those he did deliver would be articles upon which he
would make large profits.  This point is very fully elucidated in the testimony of
Contractor Hart of the Philadelphia Navy Yard, viz.:
"Q. State if a practice of this kind existed among contractors, and if your attention has been called.  A contractor with the Navy Department only got one of
the clas es in which there are a number of articles, makes a bid, as we will say, for
a part of it, in which he makes a very fair and large profit. A number of other
articles are below the market prices; the rule of the Department being to take the
bid and scale it, that is, take its average. Then when the contractor goes to fill his
contract he delivers the article on which he makes a profit, but fails to deliver the
others? A. Very often we have trouble on that score.
Q. Thereupon, being discharged from the obligation of his contract by the
Department, he has made a good thing of it?  A. We often have trouble, and
when we come to examine into it, we think that- that is the case. If they make
- nothing on some articles and very much on others, they get clear of delivering the
losing articles until the necessity for it has passed away, and we have had to utilize
something else. We have probably got up our work of whatever it may without
it, and then when the necessity is gone, we don't want the articles."
This was a trick somewhat similar to that of the Canal Ring at Albany, until Mr.
Tilden broke them up, as he willthe Navy Ringwhen he becomes President:
589 
OUR WORTnLESS NAVT.
INSPrECTIONS A SrIAM-ORVILLE GRANT.
Secretary Robeson has permitted the practice of gross fraud and abuses by send  ing away from the regular places of duty the inspectors of timber, as was done in
the case of Constrlctors Brown and Biglow, Orville Grant and G. T. Wallace. The
same contractor, Hart, whose testimony has just been quoted, and who says that
this practice is entirely novel, was ordered to the swamps of LQuisiana to inspect
live-oak under a contract made by S. P. Brown, of Washington. and sold by him at
a profit to J. Biglow, of Newberg. The alleged purpose of sending contractor Hart
to inspect the Louisiana timber was to protect the Government and save  xpense.
Yet it is to be noted that while Mr. Hart certified to the. Department one amount,
the.Department paid Biglow for another, a larger one amounting to several thousand
dollars. If-Mr. Hart's measurement was not to be taken, what was the necessity
of sending him to Louisiana, or why was the excessive bill paid without first requir  ing an explanation from him? There was evidently a fraud in this, with the active
or passive connivance of the Chief of the Bureau.
Contractor Hart. who was examined on this subject, testified as follows:
"Q. These contracts were in the name of S. P. Brown?  A. Yes, sir, and if my
memory serves me right, by an arrangement between Brown and Biglow, Big low filled them for Mr. Brown.
Q. You were detailed or ordered by the Department to go to Louisiana to inspect
and measure the timber previous to shipment'? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was it not somewhat extraordinary that you should be required to measure
and inspect it upon the ground? A. I thought so at the time.
Q. W~as it not the rule, usage, or regulation of the Department that the timber
shall be measured and inspected when delivered by the contractor at the point
named in his contract for delivery? A. Yes, sir; it has always been arranged so;
I had never known any other rule but that.
Q. What possible motive or purpose could there have been for assagning you to
that duty? A. That is more than I c uld tell you.
Q. \\as there any advantage to the contractor, or disadvantage to the govern ment in requiring you to perform it?  A. There was an advantage to the con tractor, I thinik.
Q. In % hat did that advantage consist? A. He got his certificate and appraise ment before the delivery. and he- had the use of the money a good time. six (6)
months; that is my understanding of the business. although I do not know any thing about it; that is simply an assumption; I would be glad to get a hundred
thousand dollars, more or less. six mo,ths before it was due.
Q. Was that a large contract?  A. It amounted to considerable money-I forget
how much timber-I think it was about (;60,000 feet, more or less.
Q  Followi,ig up that timber to Mare Island, I will ask you if the quantity of
timber delivered at Mare Island was not larger than the quantity of timber that you
inspected and shipped from Louisiana? A. I do not know that of my own
knowlledge.
Q. Whlat information have you on the subject?  A. I was told that it was larger;
it was found to be larger upon remeasurement.
Q. Did you make a report to anybody of your action in the swamps of Louisiana
during the time you were so inspecting? A. Yes, sir; I made report to the chief
of the bureau of the quantity of timber measured and inspected and aboard the
ship.  Thf,y had to carry it forty miles at sea to put it aboard the ship.  I made a
certificate of that fact.
Q  May it not have been that timber was put aboard of a ship going to Mare
Island that you had not inspected?  A. There was a discrepancy in the measurement of the number of sticks signed for by the captain in one case. He signed
for. I think, two sticks more than I had in my account.  How they got them, 1:do
not know.  They made a miscount, or I did.
Q. Is that the extent of the discrepancy?  A. Yes, sir; and as there were'four
or five sticks missing, which I have a.so a record of, that more than counterbalanes
that.
Q. Then, if the timber increased in quantity from Louisiana to California, wowld
you sly that was the result of climatic influence, or defective or f~randulent
inspection at flare Island? A. I will say that my inspection was correct, and that
there was not any' amount of timber over and above what I,measured there,.beoase
I had no disposition and no desire to cheat the contractor.:  I wanged. o^d~:.-a
500 
Ot -OUTi!Elss'-NAY. l6q1'i
was fair and right by him.   ke was at my elbow invariably, or his agent.  te had
a desire and an intention to cheat me; that I know.
Q. You say you know that? A. Yes; I know it."
A GRAVE ABUSE.
J. Bigler (Mliscellaneous, p. 129) gave the following testimony in relation to the
same matter:
"Q. Do you remember a large quantity of live-oak that was surveyed for you,
or inspected by Mr. Hartt at Pensacola, that you afterward delivered? A. Yes,
sir; not at Ptnsacola; down in Louisiana;  yes, sir; I shipped two cargoes  to
California that he surveyed there; that was on a contract got by S. P. Brown;
I did not furnish it to the government; I furnished it to Brown; he had
a contract; he bid at a large meeting; I should think it was four years
ago, and( he was the lowest bidder, and the bid was awarded to him; he got
WV. C. N. Swift to furnish pawrt (,f it, and I furnished pal t of it; the part I furnished
appeared in my name; I would not f,,rnish it to him without a power of attorney,
irrevocal)le. because Brown owed me a lar e amount of money; and I would not
furnish it in any hth( r way than that the bills should come to me; anl. therefore. I
shipped that stuff to California, really not in my own name, either-but I collected the money, and pa-d over his portion of it, and ikei,t the balance, and I kept
out of it the money that he owed me.
Q. Wlhe'i that lot of timber was inspect ed in California, did not it turn out more
than the measurement of M,r. Hartt?  A. Yes, sr; because there we e a good
many pieces that Mr. Ilartt never measured at all, and we knew it at the time; it
was through carelessness on account of his not being on hand.
Q. How much was that in excess after it reached California?  A. It was three
or tour thousand feet otily.
Q. Did not that amount to about the sum of $15,000?  A. No, sir; nothing of
th(e, ind.
Q. Ilow much in dollars did it amount to?  A. I think it amounted to between
$(;i,000 and $7,000."
The timber inspiector at the Philadelphia Navy Yard has arranged to go into the
State of Del aware tn inspect live-oak knees for Mr. Orville Grant. brother of his
Excellency the President, the expenses of the inslector Leing paid by Mr.  Orville
(;rant; and the timber inspector of the Norfolk Navy Yald is permitted to go on a
tour of inspection for AIr. WAallace.
If there be no other thain this. this alone s sufficient to make it a grave abuse.
What rights or privileges should these gentlemen have other than  other contractors?  Or, if it be right in this, why not send the inspectors of timber in every
instance and to every contractor.
THIE NAVY YARDS USED AS POLITICAL MACIIINES.
The prostitution of the navy yards of the country for partisan ends, was carried
such an extreitie length that it became necessary several years ago, in response
to the popular demanid. to reform the'gross abuses existing in this regard, and
Congress by several enactments, to wit: In March, 1867, in June, 186,, and in
M.Iay, 18,72. provided, among other thintigs:
lit at. That master workmen in the various navy yards should be men skilled in
their several duties.
151o. dly, That no officer or employee of the Government should require any
workman to contribute any money for political purposes,  antid that lo workman
should be removed or discharged onil accounit of his political opinion, and
I''/Iir(ly, That laborers should be employed in the several yards by the proper
officers in charge. with reference only to skill and efficiency, and without regai d to
other considerations
The passage of the above laws, instead of correcting the evils aimed at, has
really operated to make the management of the yards more corrupt and more
criminal than ever.
Secretary Robeson, as will be shown hereafter, has openly, defiantly, and corrupt,ly disregarded every provis.on of the laws just cited.
From an examiination of the navy yards upon the Atlantic coast, recently made
by the Naval Coinimmittee. the fact has been established that fully $1,000,00O a year
has been abstracted from the Treasury for corrupting the voters of the country,
and which has been willtfufty done in the face of tue law, and for the sole purpose
of enabling the Republican party to control the elections. 
OUIL WORTHLESS'NAVY.
HOW THE THING HAS BEEN DONE.
Orders for the employment of labor, and the assignment of the amount of money
to be expended at the different navy yards, are made by the Secretary of the
Navy through his heads of bureaus.  No Commandant of a Navy  Yard, or any
officer there, can originate any work, or determine the amount of money to be
expended.   This has been done entirely by the Department at Washington.
Hence, when any political purpose is to be attained, as, for instance, at Norfolk,
when an election is pending, "Galena," a vessel that has been nominally undergoing repairs for the last three or four years, is ordered by the Department to be
worked upon, and a given amount of money is set apart for that purpose. In lille
manner at Boston, the "Virginia" is ordered to be worked upon, on the eve of a
Massachusetts election, and so on at all the other navy yards.                  -
By reference to the following table, which was furnished to the Naval Committee
by the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury, a comparison will be foand of the rolls of
the employees at the different navy yards for certain months in election years,
with the rolls for the corresponding months in other,years, when no important
election has occurred:
Tabular statenent of the Number of Employees at the Navy  Yards below mentioned
for the specified mnonths, as requested by the Chairman of the House Committee on
Naval Affairs, compiled from the rolls on file in the offce of the Fourth Auditor
of the Treasur.
e.
1 Q)
Z X
1,619
1,799
1,696
1,140
2,016
1,982
2,275
3,277
9i96
1,221
903i
846
1,290
1,364
1'i,3731
1,'i3.6
I An
1,552     936        1,172
1,637    1,126     1 570
1,000    1,052    1,180
551     495       596
78&    1,189    1,071
928    1,351    1.170
1 940    1,153'996
1,710   1.299       868
410     974       764
538    1,195      760
556     817       705
356     571       699
752. 636      757
908     905       563
896     763       494
(*)'    549      358
September, 1872......................
October, 1872........................
November, 1872.......................
December. 1872.......................
September, 1873......................
October,,1873....................
November, 1873.......................
December, 1q73................     129
September, 1874......................
October, 1874.........................
November, 1874.....................
December, 1874.......................
September, 1875.....................
October, 1875..........................
November, 1875.......................
December, 1875.....................
*Broken up on the l1st December.
It will be observed that the total average of employees for the month of October, 1872, pending the presidential election of that year, was 9,222, while for October, 1874, the number was 5,505.
The above list does not include the large number of persons employed in clerical capacities, the number of which is likewise sw-ollen to meet the exigencies of
party politics. These facts will be made sufficiently evident by reference to the
testimony taken on this subject by the Naval Committee at the various navy
yards.
MAINE AND NEW HAMIPSHIRE REPUBLICANS USING THE KITTERY NAVY YARD.
The following is an extract from the examination of Constructor Webb at the
Kittery Navy Yard:
"Q. While you were at Kittery did you note the fact that during the time
elections were pending in the State of Maine, laborers, mechanics, etc., were employed from Maine in excess of those from New HIampshire, and when the election
was pending in New Hampshire you took on men from that State in excess of
those from Maine?  A. Such was the case.
I
I
ii
iI
I
II
i
I
m
1,318      1,483
1,424      1,666
1,09 6     1,68-I
619      1,221
1,213 1,694
1,220    1,770
823     3,118
1,147    3,853
914     1,1.30
496    1,295
276       841
260       434
641        846
750       878
717       959
523   1,034
3 -
8,080
9,222
7,706;
4,622
7,966
,-,421
9,772
12,154
5,188
5,505
4,098
3,166
4,922
5,368
. 5,'20,5
3,704 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
Q. Do you know whether the fact exists that a contest of either political party
has in any way interfered so as to determine the selection of the labor employed? A. I know the fact exists, by information derived from the Commandant
of the station.
Q. Did you ever know of a meeting to occur in the office of the Commandant of
the navy yard at Kittery, in which politicians either of New Hampshire or Maine
were present?  A. I was so informed by Commodore Pennock that such was the
case.
Q. Did you see a list that was furnished at that meeting?  A. I was furnished
with a list by the Commodore of the station, which was addressed to him by a
committee.
Q. That was a list of men to be taken on for work?  A. A list of men to be
employed.
Q. Did it not come to you in the first instance. and you refused to recognize
any possible authority?  A. It did.
Q. Did you not demand  that'it should have  the sanction of some  other
authority?  A. I sent it back where it came from, with word that it must be
addi essed to the commanding officer of the yard, as I received no such communications.
Q. And subsequently it came to you through the Commandant, did it not?
A. The same list addressed to the Commandant came to me.
A THIEF REINSTATED BY SPECIAL ORDERS FRO'% WASHINGTON. 
Q. Do you know of the discharge of any men for any cause whatever, who
were afterwards, by orders from superior authority, taken on again? A I do.
I have in view one case of a man named Weekes, who was discharged, after
investigation, for stealing. He was afterwards ordered to be employed in my
Department.
Q. By whose order was he returned? A. By the Commandant's orders to me;
I take orders from nobody else.
Q. Have you any knowledge from  whom   the  Commandant  received  his
orders?  A. He informed me that he receivel it from the Department."
Major Fairfax gave the following testimony:
"Q.'hat are those abuses?  A. The unnecessary number of men employed prior
to elections.
Q. Is that a matter within your own personal observation?  A. Yes, sir; at the
Kittery Navy Yard.  I was there two years- and witnessed the constant interference on the part of Mr. Hanscom, in discharging and employing men.  the
often took on worthless men instead of go d men.  I have an impression  that
Mr. Robeson, being a very indolent man, and not attending to his duties, has
allowed abuses through these bureaus.  There are good, honest men in the navy
yards that cannot give information, in consequence of their not being acquainted
with the books; instances of material having been received when it ought to haye
been rejected.'
ABUISES AT PORTSMOUTH, BOSTON, AND BROOKLYN NAVY YARDS.
Captain HENRY EItBIN was examined as follows:
"Q. Do you know of any abuses in the navy yard at Portsmouth, at Boston, or
anywhere else in the United States, il any of the navy yards. that you can give
information about to the committee?  A. I know  none at Portsmouth, because I
have but recently reported there.  I have known men taken on at the New York
Navy Yard, when I could not see any necessity for their employment at that timne,
and discharged aftera week or two.  They    ould be taken on a week  or two
preceding an election, and discharged immediately after.
Q. How m ny would be taken on? A. To muy recollection, quite a large number.  I suppose it would be safe to say four, or five, or six hundred.  When those
men would get paid for the afternoon by a circular letter, when they did not work,
which I thought was not right.  
Q. Who had charge of that business?  A. That was by a circular letter issued by
the Navy Department, that the men should go out to vote, and should'be given a
half day's pay.
Q. That was on election day? A. That was on election dayl I only know one
case whei e a place was made for a man by the Bureau of Construction, as master
of ehip-keepers-an unheard of thing.
Q. Was that in New York?  A. Yes, sir; a man came there from New Jersey
and took the position
.593 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
Q. By whom was he appointed? A. He came appointed by Mr. Hanscom, as
master of ship-keepers; I don't recollect what his salary was, but at all events it
was equal to that of a captain of watch, if not more. The man never attended
to any business there whatever. He came when he wanted to and went when he
pleased."
As the existence of these abuses will not be questioned by even Mr. Robeson
himself, it is not necessary to multiply proof of this kind indefinitely, as we could
do, from the immense mass of testimony taken by the committee.
Thus were the honest and industrious mechanics of the nation deprived of the
means of supporting themselves and their families, for several months in the year,
in order that the party in power might secure the votes of vagabonds and loafers,
turn out worthy mechanics who desire to seek employment at the navy yards,
and who would serve the Government honestly and faithfully, are two or three
months in the year informed that they cannot be employed, because the appropriations have been expended; whereas, as the reports show, the pay-rolls of each
navy yard contains the names of several hundred men who performed no work
whatever. If no other cause of complaint existed against the present administration of naval affairs than that which could be made by the worthy and thrifty mechanics and laborers of the country, that alone is so just and weighty, that it
should at once arrest attention, and call forth the support of the honest working
classes to the election of him whose past record is the best guarantee that he will
correct and reform these great abuses.
NAVY RING-BRIBERY OF NAVY CLERKS.
Under Secretary Robeson's management, the greatest care has been taken to distribute the large sums of money appropriated by Congress for the Navy, among a
very small ring of contractors. who have fattened, some of them to prodigious size.
As these few have become celebrated by reason of the many millions of dollars they
have received, and for which they rendered a very insignificant equivalent, it is but
proper that the tax-payers of the country should know their names, which are W. C.
N. Swift, J. Bigler, S. P. Brown, A. P. Brown, Prickey & Jewett, William Mathews,
George H. Creed (a partner of Raymond), G. P. Goff (whose capital is in part supplied by Raymond), J. Roach, J. W. Gaskill & Sons, Noblitts, G. F. Wallace, and
one  or two others who are apparently favorites at the departments;  while at
Norfolk, A. H. McCulloch, and E, V. White & Co.; and at Philadelphia, Street &
Co., Dell Noblitt (and various firms'otw which he is a member), Stetson &  Co., and
McKnight, are local favorites.
Some of these gentlemen obtain thei contracts through the friendship of Secretary Robeson, and others through the'.Qod offices of E. E. Cattell with the Secretary, of which we shall have something to say later on, and others through
bribery, whilst one or two are awarded co0tracts on the square, just for the sake of
appearances.
Messrs. A. P. Brown and S. P. Brown, of Washington, wh6 were very intimate
friends of the Cattells, obtained contracts from the Navy Department for supplying it with wood, coal, etc.
In the testimony of Mr. Elchias Wolfe, the' clerk, it transpired that the Messrs.
Brown entered into a very snug arrangement with two clerks in the Department,
by which they were certain to be awarded any contract for which they were competitors.
Mr. Wolfe was asked by the Committee to tell all he knew relative to the matters involved, and replied as follows:
" In 1869,'70, and'71, Mr. Brown paid money to two naval clerks to the amount
of two thousand dollars in each. I am not positive about the amount, but at least
I'think it was two thousand dollars each, in the course of three years, partly
through my hand, and partly by himself.
Q. What were the names of those clerks? A. S. Henriques and James Patterson.
The money would be paid by S. P. Brown, and sometimes by A. P. Brown, and
sometimes they would leave it with me to hand to them (the clerks).
Q. -Do you know what service they rendered for it? A. Yes, sir.
Q. What was it? A. They used to raise bids for us, or rather for them. After
it was awarded to us, they would change the figures and divide the difference.
Q. Repeat the method of doing things, so as to make it intelligible to the committee? A.,Vhen we would send in the bid to the Department, we would put
it in at- such a low figure that we would be certain to get it.  We would then
'1594 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
go there afterwards, take that schedule back, take out another one and put that
contract in. These clerks had charge of that department of the business.
Q. They would then substitute another bid? A. Another schedule; put another
schedule in. There is a schedule you had to sign, and the schedule is really the
bid. If you had any of their schedules here I could explain it to you much better.
Q. Do you known whether that was done with the knowledge or connivance of
any person else in the Department? A. I am confident it was not on account of
the secret way in which we had to do it; the clerks would take them over in their
own rooms and' fix them there; I generally did the figuring myself; they would
come down and tell us how much we could raise it, and:as I wrote the others,
the handwriting, of course, would have to correspond; and I would do the clerical
work, and. take it back; sometimes they would come in and get them, and sometimes one of us would carry them up to the clerk.
Q. What would determine the limit to which it should be raised? A. As near as
we could go to the next bid.
Q. You could not go beyond that? A. No; we could not go beyond that, because
all those bids have to be printed in the naval reports.
Q. You\,would go under'the next bid?  A. Yes, sir; just enough under not to
excite susp,cion.
Q. You did that work by the direction of the firm? A. The firm of S. P. & A. P.
Brown; they were both cognizant of it."
Mr. Wolf is fully sustained in his statement by the evidence of Mr. D. C. MorriBon, who produced the original bills, and by means'of a microscope, detected the
alterations that had been made in the bids.
ROBESON WANTONLY AND ILLEGALLY BREAKING UP OUR WAR VESSELS.
It seems strange that in the disbursement of so much property of the Government,
and applying it to the naval service, the Secretary of the Navy has never felt it,
however, his duty afterward to report the facts connected therewith to Congress.
And when it is shown that large quantities of this very material comes from the
destruction of vessels belonging to and constituting part of the United States
Navy, the offenses of the Secretary of the Navy, and his Chief of Bureau Hanscom,
seems serious and grave. Vessel after vessel has been broken up at large cost
.to the Government, and the materials thereof bartered or exchanged. A list of
the vessels so broken up is here submitted:
595 
Statement of Vess8 broken or beIng broken up, under orders emanating from the Bureau of Construction and Repair, Navy Department, 8ince Q
July 1, 1Q69; also of the ditosition made, so far as reported, of the materials recovered therefrom, taken from records of t7 Bureau.    c
AMOUNT AND KIND
OF MATERIAL RECOVERED.
Not reported by yard officers....
do         do....
WHEN
ORDERED
BROKEN UP.
Feb. 15, 1872
Sept. 27,';
July 31,1874
Sept'. 24, "
"1 24,"
Oct. 9, "
"1   2, "
7
11 9,   1
"'   10, "
"    12, "
Nov. 12, "
Apr. 2,1875
July 29, "
Used  in yard........................
Copper delivered for rerolling; wood
used in Portsmouth yard..........
Delivered to contractor to be rerolled
do        do do
do do      do
do do do
do do do
do  do do
do do     do
do   do  do
do do do
do do      do
Washington yard, by the
Government...........
C. E. Pennock  & Co.....
John Roach.............
do.............
do.............
Harlan & Hollingsworth.
William Cramp & Sons..
do          do..
John  lioach.............
Harlan & Hollingsworth.
John Roach.............
1 pound rerolled, best beam or
plate, for 3 pounds old iron.
do               do -
do               do
do               do
do               do
do               do
do               do
do               do
do               do
do               do
0
go
m2
!4e
r-4
607,579 pounds  delivered to  con  tractor to be rerolled..............
Iron delivered to contractor to be re  rolled...........................                          1 
do                do
1 pound rerolled, best beam or
plate, for 4 4-7 pounds old
iron.
Shawnee and Wassuc.. Sept. 9, " Not reported; worknotcompleted Not disposed of.
* NOTE BY THE COMMITTEE.-The vessels rebuilt are not included in above statement, nor is the "Virginia."
t -Work of breaking up this vessel not yet completed.
I
ON WHAT TzRxs.
DISPOSITION OF MATERIAL.
To WHom.
. 19AVB OF'VESSEL.
Elinois.................
Nantasket..............
By the Government.....
1,424,296 pounds old or scrap-iron
Suncook...............
Nau,sett.................
Niobe..................
Cohoes.................
Koka...................
Otsego.................
Algoma................
Modoc................
M'mnetonka..
Napa...................
Hero* a nd Piscataqua.
Nebraska..............
do
1,368,640
do
1,388,800
1,375,360
1,348,149
I,.301,440
1,397,760
958,720
948,801
934,080
1,658,144
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
.do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do
do.............
Seyfert, McManus & Co.
Not reported by yaxd officers...
Not disposed of.....................
Not reported; work not complete
Shawnee and Wassuc.. Sept. 9,
11
........................ 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
IS NOT THIS FEARFUL?
In some instances the suddenness of the order for destruction gave rise to the
belief that the unworthy motive of influencing the result of political elections was
the moving cause of the order. For example: An old line-of-battle ship, was
ordered to be broken up at the Boston Navy Yard, although Captain Young swears
that she was as sound as the day that the timber was put in her, and could have
been sold at a handsome profit. The men who were put to work to break her up
were political strikers, it being then about election time.
Mr. Nehemiah Gibson testified: That one of the vessels broke up at the Boston
Navy Yard, he offered $25,000 for, and does not believe that the government realized one dollar. The following is Mt-. Gibson's testimony with respect to the breaking up and destruction of two iron-clads in Boston Harbor:
"Q. What would the Government realize from breaking them up?  A. In their
way of breaking them up they would realize nothing. Here is one cut up
an this yard that I offered $25,000 for, and I don't believe the Government
realized a dollar. The laborers here don't do anything. 1 have seen so much of
their idleness and inefficiency that [ would not pay their board. If I had a
thousand such men to work for me I would not pay their board for what they
would do.   They put in everything-old  cripples that are not good for anything. That makes the navy cost tremendously. It makes me crawl when I go
about the yard and see the men loafing. They get hid up out of sight-a pack of
loafers that calculate living on the navy yard. There are a pack of people around
this city that don't calculate to do anything. It is a premium offered to them to do
nothing, because their work lasts so much the longer if they don't do anything.
: Q. I would like to ask you if you don't think the old ship Virginia, and some of
the other ships here that are condemned, could be sold to private individuals for
something?  A. Yes, sir; that Virginia, the one that was cut up, the old frigate
that they started in 1817, 1 offered the officers here $25,000 for that ship as she
lay, to take her down myself.
The Secretary of the Navy does not possess any-right or authority under the law
to destroy vessels belonging to the U. S. Navy. He possesses power to sell at public sale no vessel or material of the U. S. Navy that can be  advantageously  used
repaired or fitted out. If, in his judgment, such sale cannot be advantageously
made, it was manifestly his duty to have made report to Congress, and from Congress obtain power to destroy and convert the -materials. The discrepancy of millions of their money to a people who are growing poorer under the weight of taxes;
while their agents, who control it, grow rich, is not to be accounted for. If all this
property and all the money which has vanished in the last seven years, any cor
responding results and returns were shown, then flagrant violation of the law
might be excused.
THE GOVERNMENT BETRAYED-ONE OF THE FAVORED CONTRACTORS CONTROLL                               ING THE NAVY.
It is believed that gross frauds and abuses exist in the exercise of the discretion
given to reject bids. William A.Wheeler was pronounced a defaulting contractor,
and his bids were rejected. For years he had been a contractor with the navy. At
last it was claimed that he had failed to comply with one of his contracts in the
matter of delivery of some brick to the civil engineer at the Washington Navy
Yard. This he denied, stating that he had delivered until that officer told him
to deliver no more. The Department still held him to be in default. He demanded
an investigation, which was refused him. If the facts were not as Mr. Wheeler
alleged, the Department was right in rejecting his bids; but if the rule was just
and proper in his case it should not have been departed from in other instances.
And it was not observed in the case of S. P. Brown, who failed to comply with
his granite contract at Mare Island, and has, nevertheless, continued a favored contractor of the Navy Department to this day.
In this connection attention is called to the fact that lowest bidders in classes
50, 85 and 87 (1874 and 1875), Construction Bureau, were permitted  to withdraw
their bids, for what reason or purpose was never explained.
CONTRACTS NOT AWARDED TO LOWEST BIDDERS.
Another singular fact which sometimes occurs is the failure of the Department
to award the contract to the lowest bidder. This was so in the letting of; the con
59'7 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
tract for granite at Mare Island. Other instances might be given, but, with its
regular contract system, little occasion for this kind of favoritism exists.
Akin to the last-named abuse, is the practise and ruling of the Department that,
in case of failure of the lowest bidder to comply with the terms of his bid or contract, the Department is not bound to go to the next responsible bidder, but may
select whom they please, or contract by open contract with whomsoever they deem
proper.
A wide door for fraud and abuse is here opened.  To illustrate: B is a favorite,
and he obtains a man of straw to bid so low as to secure the contract. He, of
course, fails to comply with his bid, thereupon his contract is annulled, and, under
the ruling practice of the Department, B is awarded the contract.
CONTRACTORS RULE THE NAVY.
A very great abuse, almost, if not altogether criminal, in this quarter exists, in
the fact that contractors rule and govern to a very large extent its designation of
officers to different posts of duty, and the appointment of clerks and employees to
places where they may be useful to them. This is evident from the fact that the
Cattells are found recommending Bradford to be paymaster at New York, and that
Cattell recommended the appointment of Hall, the principal clerk, to the paymaster
at Philadelphia.
Matthews, the New York contractor, recommended Cutter for paymaster at New
York, and, on the same individual's recommendation, Blood, one of the principal
clerks in that office, was endorsed by the paymaster and appointed by the Secretary
of the Navy.
At the instance of the contractor's directions, Mr. Lenthall, the very worthy and
efficient chief of the Bureau of Construction, was removed. The inspector of timber at New York was distasteful to Mr. Contractor Swift, and he was removed.
The occupancy of the position of purchasing paymaster at San Francisco is made
contingent upon the retention of Mr.          as clerk.
Contractor Easby, well known for his watchfulness and integrity, was suspiciously ordered away from Norfolk on a tour of inspection, at the very time when
Contractor Smith had timber to deliver there. And Mr. Easby is ordered away
from Boston when the same contractor was about to deliver timber at that point.
Mr. Donald McKay, a contractor to build one of the eight sloops of war, was by
the terms of his contract to obtain the lumber from the Navy Yard at Boston.
Directly afterward, Mr. McKay's brother was appointed to a position in the Boston
Navy Yard, one of his duties being to measure and deliver timber and lumber to
his brother the contractor. Again, the designation of Boatswain Buscoe to duty
under the contractor at Philadelphia, is to be noted in connection with the fact that
he was very kindly treated to presents of liquor by the contractor, Nat. McKay.
Indeed, to such an extent has the influence of contractors been carried on, that
irregular officers of the Navy did not hesitate to condemn it in severe terms in
their testimony before the Naval Committee.
SINECURES IN THE NAVY.
The name of John Chamberlain has been borne on the pay-rolls of the Construction Department of the Norfolk Navy-yard, with pay at the rate of $3.25 per dayi;
from 1872 to December, 1875. No person ever saw or knew such an individual,
but supposed that he was on duty at the Department in Washington, whither his
pay was sent. Upon inquiry among the clerks in the Department at Washington,
it was found that Chamberlain was unknown to them, but it was ascertained that
the pay of Chamberlain came regularly to Mr. Hanscom, Chief of the Bureau of
Construction and Repairs. Upon inquiring of Han,com, he said that Chamberlain
was a detective; he spoke doubtfully of having seen him once; that he (Mr.
Hanscom) had been directed by the Secretary of the Navy to place his name on the
Navy pay-rolls, and that checks for his payment had come to him from month to
month; he had delivered them to Joseph McFarland, with authority or direction
from Chamberlain. The Secretary of the Navy only saw Chamberlain once. He
knew of but two persons that had ever seen him, and they were Hanscom and
McFarland, and he had designated him as a detective. Mr. Robeson also swore
that had been trying to flnd Chamberlain since the investigation by the House
Committee began, but had failed to do. This is but another illustration of
Secretary Robeson's almost criminal neglect. Here is a detective appointed on the
recommendation of nobody, draws a salary for nearly four years, and is seen but
once by either the Secretary who appoints, or the Chief of the Bureau on the pay
598 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
roll of which his name is borne. Mr. Joseph McFarland was unable- to testify,
because he is dead, and so this Chamberlain mystery will never be cleared up.
There ~s also a Mr. Rensselaer W. Dayton, who visits Florida for two months of
the winter and is permitted to draw his salary at the rate of $1,000 per annum for
ten months, about seven months of the time being in New Jersey, and from his law
office there regularly demands and receives his pay.  Mr. Dayton is supposed to be
an agent to protect the interest of the Government in the live oak timber lands in
Florida.
GOVERNMENT MATERIALS USED FOR PRIVATE PURPOSES BY
SECRETARY ROBESON.
The chief offender in using the property of the Government for private-purposes
is the Secretary of the Navy himself, who procured a subordinate employed at the
Washington Navy Yard to make house furniture, consisting of a side board, diningtable, hat stands, etc., and also a baptismal font for some church in New Jersey.
It is said, and it is granted, that the Secretary paid for the lumber and labor so
employed in the making of these articles, but he seems to forget that no one had a
right to sell lumber and use the time or labor of the Government. The Government
of the United States is not a dealer in lumber or a procurer of labor. The rankness
of the Secretary in this regard lies in the fact that this work was done, and these
materials procured without the knowledge of the Commandant of the Yard or the
Civil Engineer, whose subordinate was employed to do the job. It is evident, from
the proof, that this employe, one Childs, either imposed upon the Government or
the Secretary. The testimony of the witnesses examined relative to this affair
makes it very patent that the Government was defrauded.  When the chief of the
Navy Department so acts, it is not surprising that a similar practice is indulged in
by lesser officials, in evidence whereof we will refer to the use of Government materials in the making of a small cannon and gun-carriage for the benefit of a political club at Norfolk, Va., the hiring and letting of a dredge by the Civil Engineer at
the Boston Navy Yard to private parties, and similar instances of dredging machines by William H. Linds, a master mechanic at the Norfolk Navy Yard. 
CLOTHING OF GOOD QUALITY SOLD AS CONDEMNED PROPERTY, TO RING CON    TRACTORS-SALES OF VESSELS BY THE NAVY DEPARTMENT-MR. MATTHEWS
ONCE MORB.
John R  Draper was the auctioneer of the department in New York; he details
in his testimony who are the parties who composed the ring that has usually controlled the sales of vessels at New York.  The profits that are made by the ring
can be estimated when the evidence before the committee establishes the fact that
a profit of $52,000 was realized on one vessel that was sold by the department, and
a similar amount of profit was realized on another vesseL  Recurring to the testimony of Mr. Draper, it was ascertained that the practice of estimating the quantity
of iron chains, &c., to be sold and weighed afterwards, prevailed, thus opening the
door to innumerable frauds which were no doubt committed. Mr. Draper made
one sale of clothing at the instance of Mr. Eldridge, the head of the Clothing Department, and it seems that Mr. William Matthews, the gentleman above referred
to, in connection with Mr. Cattell, was a purchaser at that sale under the name of
Bates, and bought a large quantity of pea-jackets, and other articles'which were in
excellent condition. Mr. Draper's testimony upon this point is as follows:
"I made one sale for the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing.  It was under
Mr. Eldridge, the head of the department. Mr. Eldridge called me up into hisoffice, and there was a little man there that I had not seen before. The orders:
were to call a deposit from every buyer. Mr. Eldridge said to me,' Mr. Draper,this gentleman expects to buy to-day. He has deposited with me $500 in bills, and
you therefore need not call a deposit from him. He will give you the name of
Bates.' u went on and sold that clothing, and why they sold it God only knows. I
am no judge of clothing, but it looked to me to be in pretty good condition. Still,
it had been condemned by a proper board of officers, and it was none of my business. Mr. Matthews bought a great deal at that sale, and gave the name of Bates.
I never saw his $500 deposit.  It did not come to me, and would not come to me
at any rate; but Mr. Matthews was'Bates,' as I found out afterward.   I said to
Mr. Eldridge,'It seems to me  that these goods, these pea-jackets, sold very,
cheap; and if they are good for anything, I would like to have a half-dozen of
them, as I have a lot of poor people I would like to give them to;' and afterward'
I sent over for them, and they told me that I was to get them from Mr. Matthews.
599 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
I sent him my check for the goods, and he sent it back to me. I wrote him again,
and inclosed him the bill, and told him I was not in the habit of doing things in
that way; that when I bought things I proposed to pay for them. That is the only
transaction I had with him.
Q. Were the prices paid for those goods very low? A. I don't know, but I have
them on my books.  Still, you know, they were sold under the ban of'condemned clothing,' and you cannot expect people to pay high prices for what the
government says is not fit to be used.
Q. Did Mr. Matthews buy at any other sale that you made'?  A. I don't think he
ever bought of me at any other time.
Q. Do you know who this man Bates was?  A. O, it was Matthews.  There was
no Bates. Mr. Matthews was in the room."
BARTER AND EXCHANGE.
The gravest abuses which mark the Navy Department under its present head,
consists in this new business of barter and exchange. The bureau of provisions and
clothing bartered off its stock of condemned and unserviceable clothing, which,
as appears from Mr. Draper's testimony, was in very good order, and large quantities of stores and supplies. The bureau of construction and repairs has been,
and is bartering off its surplus iron, machinery, etc.; the bureau of steam engineering its surplus boilers, engines, etc.; and all these without any regular report or
action thereon being submitted by the Secretary of the Navy, who inferentially, if
not directly, would have the public believe that it was being done without his
knowledge or sanction; but he evidently, upon advisement ai.d reflection. saw that
such a suggestion was not of sufficient thickness, and now assumes, at least so far
as the materials apply to the bureau of construction, and the bureau of steam
engineering, are concerned, that he submitted to the appropriation committee of
the 43d Congress, the propriety of so using their useless materials. It is sufficient
to say that the sanction of such a committee without the authority of the two
Houses, and the President in regular form and expression, could not make or alter
the law governing such cases, as the Republican members of the naval committee
pretended to justify this system of bartering.
The estimated cost of the material belonging to the Government which has been
disposed of without advertisement and without competition is nearly fifteen millions
of dollars.  Much of the iron that was bartered from the Construction Bureau was
new or nearly so, and large quantities of it believed to be of such a character as
could have been used by that Bureau, and a past of it could have been rerolled at
least into bar-iron and other serviceable iron at the Boston Navy Yard. So says
Chief Engineer Bartleman.  Some of the boilers and engines belonging to the
Bureau of Steam Engineering so exchanged it is believed could have been used,
and some of them disposed of without being broken up, and in either case with
much greater profit to the.United States. The brass and composition and other
metal in such could have been rerolled and reworked at the Washington Navy Yard,
so as to have made a large saving to the Government. But no! it seemed that
personal friends had to be rewarded with contracts, and the puzzling question is
presented whether contracts are made to get rid of material or old material is
created to be disposed of to pay for contracts. Pennock & Co. and Seyford,
McManus-& Co. are favored with contracts to purchase from the Bureau of Construction old iron at 1 cents per pound, with privilege of paying therefor at 8 cents
per pound.  Pennock & Co., Seyford, McManus & Co., William Cramp & Son, John
Roach, and others received large quantities, named in the foregoing statement,
upon the following terms, to wit: three (3) tons of old to one (1) ton of new. The
profits upon these contracts are something perfectly enormous. The following
remarks of Hon. Abraham S. HIIewitt, of New York, delivered in the cour e of the
debate upon the report of the Naval Committee, will not be out of place.
" EXTRAVAGANT, WASTEFUL, AND IIPi-"OVIDENT CONTRACTS."
Mr. Hewitt, of New York (the floor having been yielded to him by Mr. Whitthorne,
of Tennessee, Chairman of the Naval Committee): 1 find in the report of the
minority of this committee, which I have not had such time to study as I ought
to have taken, a statement justifying the exchanges of old material for new material. The minority of the committee say that it was for the advantage of the
government.'I have patiently and carefully examined the tables appended to the
report of the majority containing the terms upon which these exchanges were made
600 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
so far as iron is concerned. Perhaps I may say to the House that in that particular line of business I suppose I am a competent judge.
On page V0 of the report of the majority I find a contract of exchange of old material for new; to exchange 4,538,781 pounds of old iron with Seyfert, McManus &
Co., a most reputable firm in the iron trade. The contract is upon the following
terms: "The old iron is to be taken at one and three-fourths cents per pound, and
the new iron to be returned at eight cents per pound." Now, I say that
is a most extravagent, wasteful, and improvident contract. I say that by that contract the Treasury of the United States was robbed, and the taxpayers of this
country must make good that robbery.
I say that if the Secretary of the Navy had done his duty and had advertised that
exchange to the iron trade of the United States, it could have been made upon a basis
of at least two cents per pound better than it was done. The firm with which I was
connccted at that time would have been only too glad to have been a bidder, and
they could have made and furnished all the materials that Seyfert, McManus & Co.
furnished. I find there are other contracts very much of the same character. If
these gentlemen who signed the minority report had taken the trouble to ask for the
testimony or opinion of any reputable gentleman in the iron trade they could have
had this information given to them.
Mr. Harris, of Massachusetts: Will the gentleman from Tennessee [Mr. Whitthornel allow me one single minute?
Mr. Whitthorne: Not now.
Mr. Harris, of Massachusetts: I desire to ask one single question of the gentleman who has just taken his seat.
Mr. Whitthorne: You can ask the question, and I will answer it.
Mr. Harris, of Massachusetts: I want to call the attention of the gentleman to
a fact which I think will cause him to change his statement.
Mr. Hewitt, of New York: I have no objection to the gentleman's question and
will answer it.
Mr. Harris, of Massachusetts: Has the gentleman taken into consideration the
fact that the iron to be furnished under that contract was to be iron in dimensions,
including beam iron and frame iron, just such iron as the Government might require?
Mr. Hewitt, of New York: I was a maker of beam iron and frame iron, just
such iron as the Government wants. Before I came to Congress, at the very time
this contract was being executed, we were supplying beam iron at four and threefourths cents per pound, iron cut to dimensions, just as the Government desired to
have it cut.  And in regard to frame iron, since 1873 there has been no time when
it could not have been bought for four cents a pound, yet under this contract the
Government paid eight cents per pound. I say that the old iron was worth one
and three-fourths cents per pound in cash in market, the price that was allowed
for it.
THE PRESENT CONDITION OF THE U. S. NAVY.
There is a material difference of opinion,with respect to the exact condition of our
navy, between no less distinguished persons than the Secretary of the Navy, Mr.
Robeson, and the active head of the same, Admiral Porter.
Before proceeding to comment upon this wide discrepancy, it will be well to
submit the expressed opinions of these two gentlemen, in order that the reader may
compare their statements:
From Secretary Robeson's last Annual   (Admiral Porter's Testimony before the
Report.)                        N         aval Committee of the House of Rep                                           resentatives, given.May 29, 1876.)
"I  Our navy, taken as a whole, is worth
nothing, and the sooner the country understands that fact the better. It would
require a great stretch of credulity to
make one believe that the navy is now
in the flourishing condition represented
by Chief Constructor Hanscom in his
late report to the Honorable Secretary
of the Navy. Probably he believed what
601
" It is gratifying to be able to report
that the navy is now in a stronger and
more efficient condition than it has ever
been at any time, -at least since the commencement of your Administration. It
is not very strong in the, number nor in
the class of its ships, but these axe, all
of them, in as good condition as practical to keep such material of war, under 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
the various and trying conditions  to
which they         are,  in a  high measure, constantl     y  exposed.   A falar larger   proportion  th   an usual of          w    ooden ships
are ready for                 service; our iron-clad
fleet is various; our storehouses are
fairly stocked with ordnances, equipments, and supplies, and we have on
hand  a fair supply of the     be        st          material
for the building and repairing of ships.
." The service has been placed in this
stgate of efficiency,          compared with what
existed     a few years ago, by  utilizing
[except with the case of eight (8) sloops
built under special appropriation] what
could be spared from the current appropriation and from the appropriation made
during the Cuban emergency, and applying these means practically and
steadily toward putting what was worth
saving of the navy as it existed in as
permanently good condition as the state
of the ships and the means at command
permitted. The wsdom of ths policy is,
I think, z7Zustrated by the strength of our
esstls to-day.
" It would be also well, I think, if Congress would afford the means to finish, at
once, the repair of the five (5) doubleturret monitors, since, when they are
finished according to the present design, our iron-clad fleet will be much
more powerful; and they are, while
undergoing repair, useless for any
present purpose; and the process of repairing them from what can be spared
from the current appropriations not only
cripples the Department in all its other
operations, but is, of course, very slow.
With these added to it, our iron-clad
force would, for purposes of defense,
present a very substantial barrier to
anything which would cross the seas
and attempt to enter our ports."
he said,'that the power of our ironclad for harbor and coast defense, where
the fighting would be done in smooth
water, must be considered equal, if not
superior, to that bf a large number of
sea-going iron-clads of foreign stations.'
' And that no officer in command of one
of our monitors would hesitate to engage in action, in smooth water, any
sea-going iron-clad vessel now afloat,
except, perhaps, a few of the latest
type.'
" Our officers, as has been proved, are
ready to do battle, even with the most
desperate odds against them; but I don't
believe there is any one who would engage one of the ships alluded to, in
smooth water or otherwise, unless he
wanted to throw his own vessel away.
" Many officers of the navy, who now
hold prominent positions, were in the
service in its palmy days, and can draw
a just comparison between its condition
then and now. They have seen it recede
from the high position it once held, and
realize its inefficiency to protect our interests at home or abroad.  Yet they
have been compelled to stand quietly by
and witness the navy go from bad to
worse without power to prevent it.  I
may therefore say that our navy, as
compared witb others, is like a foot soldier, armed with a pistol, encountering
a mounted man, clad in armor, and carrying a breech-loading rifle.  It would
be easy to imagine how little chance the
man on foot would have, should such a
conflict occur.
" I need scarcely say that officers of
the navy, *ho expect to take part in
any conflict that may arise between our
country and a foreign power, look with
anxiety for the improvement of our
ships, more particularly since the West
India drill made it apparent to the
youngest of them that our combined
force of vessels are incapable of a successful encounter with a fleet one-fourth
as large, built on modern principles. Indeed one such ship as the British ironclad' Invincible,' ought to go through a
fleet like ours, and put the vessels hors
de combat in a very short time, for she
could run them down or destroy them
at long range with her heavy rifled
guns.
"There is not a navy in the world that
is not in advance of us as regards ships
and guns, and I, in company with the
older officers of the service, feel an anxiety on the subject, which can only be
appreciated by those who have to command fleets and take them into battle.
If called upon at this time to command
the naval forces of the United States
602, 
OUR WORTHLESS NAYY.
in case of hostilities-a position which
it is my ambition and my right to fillI should be put to my wits' ends to succeed with such an incongruous set of
vessels as we now possess. * * * *
This is no exaggeration; it is simply
what will occur when we go to war; and
it would be better to have no navy at
all than one like the present-half armed
and with only half speed-unless we
inform the world that our establishment
is only intended for times of peace, and
to protect the missionaries against South
Sea Savages and Eastern fanatics.
* * * * * I speak strongly on the
subject, because I know the real condition of our navy, and its present inability to meet the wants of the nation; and
I may yet live to see my country humiliated from the fact that no attention
has been paid to the recommendations
of those whose duty it will be to lead
our ships into action and direct their
movements in time of war.  If we were
to lay up our present vessels, and build
a new set with improved machinery, it
would be economyin the end. The vessels would be run on half the present
amount, and would do their work twice
as well." 
As between the rose-colored statement of Secretary Robeson, and the severe
strictures of Admiral Porter, we would, in any event, place implicit credence in the
testimony of the Admiral.
But since the fact which Admiral Porter has presented and the views which he
has expressed are fortified and sustained by nearly every officer of standing in the
navy, no other alternative is left us but to repudiate the report of Secretary
Robeson, as spurious and false in every particular.
At the beginning of'their investigation into the affairs of the Navy Department,
the Naval Committee, in order to obtain a truthful account of the exact conditions
of the navy, addremsed to a large number of distinguished officers a circular letter,
containing certain interrogatories. One of these interrogatories was designed to
ilicit their opinions as to the present degree of efficiency of our vessels of war
compared to the navies of the principal powers of the world, class for class,
and whether the comparison was unfavorable to the United States and the reason
therefor-in construction, machinery, materials, or want of harmony in building.
We briefly subjoin the answers received to these inquiries:
OPINIONS IN WRITING OF NAVY  OFFICERS ON THE CONDITION OF OUR NAVY.
Vice-Admiral ROWAN: "Our cruising vessels of war are lamentably inferior in
speed as compared with the navies of the principal powers. Most of our wooden
ships, owing to defective steam power and want of speed, are placed at the mercy
of small armed cruisers of heavy rifled guns. Many of our steamships on the navy
list are utterly worthless and should be sold or broken up."
Rear-Admiral LE Roy: " The vessels of our navy are inferior in construction,
speed, armament, and other properties, to nearly all the vessels I have met belonging to foreign powers. We cannot continue our obsolete type while foreign nations
advance. " 
Rear-Admiral PENNOCK:  " Our navy compares unfavorably with other nations."
Rear-Admiral ALMY: " It is my opinion that the speed and efficiency of the
United States vessels ok war are, in general, inferior to the speed and efficiency
and accommodations of the vessels of war of other principal naval powers.  Some
603 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
times the fault is the model; sometimes it is in the character of the engine;
sometimes it is in the defective steam power, and sometimes it is in all these.
There seems to be a decided want of harmony in the different naval bureaus, to
judge from the results produced in the way of ship construction for the navy, the
consequence is that a national vessel is produced with which neither bureau is
satisfied, and the navy and the nation are not satisfied; and the result is discreditable in every manner and form."
Rear-Admiral C. R. P. RODGERS:  "As compared with the navies of the different foreign powers I think our own inefficient."
Rear-Admiral STRIBLING:  " I am not favorably impressed with the efficiency of
our navy. The reason of it I believe to be the want of a controlling power.
Each head of bureau now acts independent of the other chiefs. I believe a Board
6f Admiralty is the only remedy. At the time the'Board of Naval Commissioners' we had the most efficient navy for its size of any country."
Rear-Admiral LEE:   "We havn't one.vessel fit to cruise at large with an impunity commensurate with her class, or to cope with the cruisers now possessed by
the most formidable powers of Europe. The reorganization of the Navy Department is the one thing necessary to correct our navy troubles."
Rear-Admiral JENKINS: " That our vessels, as classed in models, in speed, in
armament, in first cost of construction, in cost of frequent repairs, and in naval
expense while in command, are not such as can be favorably compared with the
greater numbei of vessels we meet belonging to other maritime nations, is, I fear,
too plain not to be seen, even by our enemies as well as by ourselves. Fifteen or
twenty years since we had the credit, and I think we justly deserved it then, of
having vessel for vessel, and those superior to any foreign naval service of the same
class. Now, none so poor as to do us honor by offering us praise for anything
naval, but for discipline on board of ship, exercise, cleanliness, healthiness of crews
and officers, and of doing so marvellously well with our dull steaming, overloaded,
and often ridiculously rigged (at the fitting yards) vessels."
Rear-Admiral TAYLOR: " I don't consider the vessels of the navy as efficient as
they ought to be, either in style or steam."
Rear-Admiral CASE: " We can hardly compare the vessels of our navy with those of
any of the other foreign naval powers, for while we have been standing still, as it were,
the naval nations of Europe have been building vessels of new type and character
such as were unknown twenty years ago. Our monitors are behind the turret vessel
of the present day in Europe, and are really only fit to be broken up; money
expended on them, for repairs or alterations, would be, in my opinion, wasted.
Speed is one of the most important elements of a vessel of war, and none of our
vessels have it to a very great degree."
Rear-Admiral EMMONS: "We have gradually dwindled from a third to a sixth
or eighth rate power, while England, which has always been a first rate naval
power, has very much improved in every class of vessels for all of the requirements
of modern warfare for the last fifteen years."
Commodore PATTERSON: " All the naval powers are far in advance of us in
ships and guns, which will continue to be the case, in my opinion, until a board of
officers is constituted, whose duty by law it shall be to carefully consider, and advise the Secretary of the Navy what class and kind of vessels, specifying battery,
speed, etc., should be constructed."
Commodore EMMERS: "Our vessels are, in general, inferior in speed, and especially under steam, to those of the same class in the better foreign navies."
Commodore NICHOLS: " In regard to the efficiency of the vessels of our navy,
class for class, as compared with the navies of the principal powers of the world,
my opinion is that we are inferior to them."
Commodore PARKER:  "While acting as Chief of Staff (of the United fleets) in
the Bay of Florida, in the winter and spring of 1874, I was painfully impressed
with the inefficiency of our vessels of war, as set forth in a paper I read before the
Naval Institute, in December of that year.  And, now, the great drill, as the New
York Herald had' styled our exercises (in the water of Key West) being ended,
what was the lesson it had taught?  That the vessels before us were fin no respect
604 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
worthy of a great nation like ours, for what could be more lamentable, what
more painful to one who loves his country and his profession, than to see a fleet
armed with smooth-bore guns, requiring close quarters for their development,
moving at the rate of 4~ knots an hour; what inferior force could it attack, or
what superior one escape from, of any of the great naval powers of the earth?"
Commodore FAIRFAX: "A comparison must result unfavorably to the United
States, and this. in part, is accounted for by the present irresponsible system of the
bureaus. Our best ships do not compare favorably with those of the third ra e
European powers, either in point of speed or construction. Since Mr. Lenthall
retired from the Bureau of Construction, very little intelligence or judgment has
been displayed in its management. The navy has lost in him the only trained, well
educated constructor at present eligible for the position. We are reminded of this
forcibly, in the infliction upon the service of the iron vessels,'Alliance,'' Alert
and'Huron.'  They are unsuitedfor war purposes from their construction."
Commodore CROSBY: " I do not think that our vessels of war compare favorably
with the principal powers of the world, class for class, I think the slow speed of
our vessels is mostly owing to the machinery; somewhat, also, to the model of the
vessels."
Commodore MIDDLETON:  "The comparison of the present degree of efficiency of
our vessels, with that of those of the principal powers of the world, must be conceded as unfavorable to the United States. The reason for this condition must be
sought for in the inexperience of our constructors, and their want of familiarity with
foreign models. The same may be said, within limits, of our designers of machinery.  Our materials  tre as good, if not better, than any in the world.  Constructors and engineers of more than ordinary intelligence should be sent to gather
instructions in the line of their profession in European dock yards."
Captain RHIND:  "Our ships are far behind in power of resistance, in gun power,
and in speed. While our squadron was collected at Key West, at the time of the
'Virginius' affair, I formed and expressed the opinion that one modern war vessel
of the British nati(n, like the' Swisft Sure,' would destroy the whole of them  without
the least damage to herself Great reliance is placed on torpedoes, but very few of
our vessels have speed enough to use them successfully. The reason for this state
of affairs, is that those who command and fight the ships are not consulted in their
construction.  The fault is in construction, in machinery, and in want of harmony.',
Captain JEFFERS: " There is no doubt, but that the average speed of our navy,
taken collectively, is less than the average speed of foreign vessels, and their armament, etc., inferior."
Captain TEMPLE: " In my opinion our vessr  of war are inefficient; can neither
fight nor run awe,y, and will disgrace thair captain and the country whenever a war
emergency arises."
Captain WELLS:  " Our armed vessels of war do not compare favorably with those
of other navies."
Captain LOWRY: " Our ships do not compare favorably with the vessels of other
nations in any respect as regards              or their machinery, and as a consequence, we have neither speed nor efficiency; the reason for it is that the office of
Naval Constructor has been a political appointment, and used for political purposes.
I affirm, and defy contradiction (and believe every honest man in the navy  who is
not afraid of losing his position, will confirm me when I assert), that most of the
corruption in the navy yards. exists in the Naval Constructor s Bureau. and the
writer can relate to the Committee many instances where the efficiency of the ship
has been impaired by the constructor refusing to follow the suggestions of skillful
seamen commanding."
Captain TRUXTU.M:  "Nearly all our steam vessels are defective in their machinery. The disorganized state of the personnel, and the wretched condition of the
material of the navy, I attribute to the existence of nine (9) Secretaries of the
Navy."
Captain YOUNG:  "Our vessels of war do not compare, either in speed or battery,
with those of a similar class of the principal powers of the world.  In case of a
war with either of the'great naval powers, we have few vessels that could successfully contend with or run away from one of their vessels of a similar class, armed
605 
,OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
with rifle guns.  While other nations are improving every year in the efficiency of
their navy, we seem to be retrograding."
Captain JOUETT: " No comparison can be made since there is nothing to conmpare with. I do not know that any navy in the world has any such vessel as our
navy is composed of, and there should be no such vessel in our navy."
Commodore RAMSEY: "Our navy is inferior to that of all first class powers.  Our
cruising ships are deficient in speed, and our iron-clads are deficient in both, respecting power and speed. Our guns are entirely behind the age, rifle-guns having
proved themseves much superior to the smooth-bores. Under the present system,
each Chief of Bureau is a head, and gives instructions in regard to his particular
duties, entirely independent of the other bureaus; the consequence is that when
ships are built or repaired one bureau cannot know what the other is doing, and
the instructions of the Chief may conflict. An example of this occurred when the
' Kansas' was repaired at the Washington Navy Yard. When the ship was ready
for her battery, it was found that the constructor had changed the position of
the broadside ports, and there was not sufficient space to work the 9-inch guns she
had previously carried, and which the Chief of the Bureau of Ordnance had put
in her. The consequence was the interior arrangement had again to be altered.
The engines of our vessels compare most unfavorably with those of the vessels of
war of other nations."
Commander ERBEN: " I think our ships greatly inferior in speed and battery to
those of other naval nations."
Commander YATES: " My experience leads me to regretfully state that the vessels of our navy suffer greatly in comparison with those of the navies of France
and England, class for class."
Commander MAHN: " Vessels of the United States are inferior in:point of speed
to those of England."
It will thus be observed that
OUR NAVY IS EVEN WORSE THAN WORTHLESS,
since we are still compelled to keep up and support a large number of war vessels,
which in the event of any emergency, to use the expression of several of the naval
officers above quoted, "are neither fit to fight nor to run away "-and must ultimately be broken up. The people are also forced to pay for the maintenance of
nearly 8,000 officers and men, with which to man these rotten hulks.
It may be well at this point to recapitulate as to the condition of our navy. In
1869, when Secretary Robeson took charge, the navy bore upon its register 203
vessels. By authority of law, 8 sloops of war and 2 torpedo boats were added,
and by purchase 3 more were also added; making in all 216 vessels that should
now appear on the register. According to Secretary Robeson's last report, there
are only 146 vessels, as follows:
First rate screw ships............................................. 5
Second rate screw ships...........................................28
Second rate battle ships............................................ 1
Third rate screw ships............................................27
Third rate battle ships............................................ 3
Fourth rate battle ships........................................... 6
Wooden sailing vessels of all classes................................25
Iron-clad vessels.................................................24
Tugs, &c.......................................................27
Total........................................................146
So that 70 vessels have disappeared under Secretary Robeson's administration-.
Such is the opinion entertained of our navy by the Admiral, the Vice-Admiral,
11 Rear-Admirals, 8 or 10 Commodores, 8 or 10 Captains, and the same number'-of
Commanders, and all agree that our navy is inefficient.,
ROBESON'S CONTRACTOR CORNERED.
In opposition to this volume of proof there is but one counterstatement, and
that is the statement of Chief Constructor Hanscom.  To prove that Mr. Hanscom's reports are not only unreliable, but false upon their face, we shall at this
time give the testimony of that gallant young officer, Commander R. W. Meade,
whose love for, and pride in, the navy is earnest and deep-seated, as is evidenced
by his thoughtful study and reformatory suggestions for the promotion of its integrity and efficiency, and in the connection of the reliability of the comparison
'606 
OIUR WORTHELESS NAVY.
made by the Chief of the Bureau of Construction in his last annual report, Commander Meade said: "I read the report of the Chief Constructor with a great deal
of surprise, because, from my knowledge of the condition of the naval service, and
the condition of the vessels in the service here and on foreign service, I felt sure
that some of the statements made were not facts; in other words, they were calculated to deceive all but experts that were not familiar with the subject. My attention was particularly directed to the table given on page 185 of that report,
entitled,'Relative comparison of the relative tonnage of the English and United
States vessels.   In looking over this list, I find that all our ships of no value,
including vessels on the stocks, and every vessel that could be made to figure
upon paper, was included to swell the list, while on the English side, such vesselsare taken for the comparison as were by no means first-class vessels. And even
gunboats were included, omitting almost entirely the first-class ships  of  the
English navy.   As I went on over the list, I found that most of the English
vessels   taken   in  this  comparison   were   either   old   huilks  or training  ships   for  boys,   and   even   gunboats   and   second-class  vessels
in other words, scarcely a single important vessel of the English Navy was on the
list. And the vessels of that navy were compared with the best of ours, with the
idea of giving to the public the impression that the American Navy was in a relatively better condition than the English Navy, which is not true. None of the
modern vessels or none of any consequence are given in that list,with a few exceptions. I have all the official standard works on this subject and I know that the
comparison is not true. Since the publication of Mr. Hanscom's report, I have
taken the list as Hanscom gives it, and compared it with the official returns of the
English Navy, and find that his comparison is not correct, and that it is calculated
to deceive all but experts; I made a comparison correctly and carefully, and it is
from that comparison I speak now. This report is not correct; it is a false comparison, and is calculated to deceive. From a careful study of the subject I would
assert that it is no just comparison, and should not have been embodied in the
report of the Secretary of the Navy. The Secretary of the Navy was doubtless
misled by himself;.he is not an expert, and was evidently deceived by the report.
I have prepared a table which I beg to present. It is entitled'The comparative
cost of sorme of the vessels of the Amercan, Brwtish and French Navies.'  I have
made this comparison on an original plan, but one which on examination will be
found to be correct in every particular.  It is based upon a comparison of their
cost per ton of displacement, which I consider to be the only true way of arriving at the result. The system I adopted in making this estimate is as follows:  I take the entire cost of the vessel, and use as a divisor the number of
tons displaced by that vessel at the load-water line, and get from that division
the actual cost per ton of displacement, which must be mathematically correct.
This appears to me to be the only standard of comparison, and I have adopted
that in this table.  The table is as follows:
Table showing the Comparative Cos
and.
and FrencIL avie8.
.. 
.P,
am O.
4-a 
90 
v~4
I-D
E.3
C)
t.' 1
g
' 16
'o0
Cu
IUNITED STATES NAVY.
Tons.
Miantonomah (iron-clad)..  3,780
Florida (late Wampanoag)  4,220
Madawaska...............  4,220
Tennessee................. 4,220
Trenton.............. 3 650
-Adams........... 7... 0   22.. 1                                            1,870
Enterprise................ 1,370
Essex..................... 1,370
Alliance................. 1,370
Ranger.................... 995
Huron........... -       995   3      3       -............ 995
Alert...........................  995
I
-6,"
of som6 of the T7essel8 of
ench Navies.
the American, Briti8h,
I
i
0 15
0 91
0 41
H g
14
, g4
u
4)
e
41
.3
. 9
.3 00
4
u
A
9
NAXIM.
16
ID
m
$350
373
397
. 710
. 384
242
22:3?
237
2.84
2146
308
309
.$I,332,800 00
i 1,575,643 84
1,673-080 52
3,000,000 00?
1,400,000 00?
3:31,509 22
. 306,206 01
8*$,900 52
1889,687 94
294,126 69 -
307,024 54
307,139 13
4
12
21
23
11
6
6
6
4
4
4
8
15?
14
13?
13?
ii?
112
ii?
'll?
ii?
lOY2
.10%
Wood (iron plated)
do
do -
d
I do
.d
do
do
do
Iron...............
do....,
..........:
do..............
1865.
1865.
1865.
tl874-'75.
1875-'76.
1875-'76.
1875-'76.''
1875-'76.
i875-176.1
1874-'75.
1874-'75.
1874-'75. 
OU'R WORTHLESS NAVY.
0 E
U2
E-._
o4
0
o
I -
, - _
d 0
R C
C) 0
As
NAXE.
'.. 
i2
a
. L.
V5 alI
of -
*      BRITISH NAVY.
Tons.
3,548
9,137
8,6'7
6,034
5,782
3,078
6,633
9,286
9,188
4,912
5,284
4,027
Narcissus (unarmored.....
Warrior (iron-clad).......
Hercules (iron-clad)......
Audacious (iron-clad).....
Inconstant (unarmored)..
Volage (unarmored).............
Swiftsure (iron-clad)......
Sultan (iron-clad).........
Devastation (iron-clad)....
Glatton (iron-clad).......
Rupert (iron-clad).........
Boudicer (unarmored).....
0+.
E. 8
,A p
u
I.
ol~z
v.4
E-4
NANE,.
O
FRENCH NAVY.
Tons.
5,530
5,703
7,360
5,400
1,600
770
....
8,658
3,100
Gloire (iron-clad)........
Provence (iron-clad)......
Marengo (iron-clad)......
Duquesne (unarmored)....
enouilly (unarmored)....
Bonvet tunarmored)......
Tourville unarmored) *..-.
Du Petit Thomas (unarm  ored) t..................
Seignelay (unarmored)...
Redoubtable iron-clad)...
Duguay Troise............
Wood (iron-cased)..
Iron...............
do..............
do.....
Wood..'.....
do.............
.................
....................
Iron..............
do........
I)uguay Troise...........3,100    239          803,600 00   9  16       do.............1875.
* Same as Duquesne (nearly).            Same as Dugnay Troise.             Rebuilt.
NOTE.-With the exception of the Trenton, all the United States ships are armed with obsolete
smooth-bore cannon of limited range, while the British vessels are armed with muzzle-loading
rifle-guss of immense range and power. The ships of the Ranger class are particularly weak and
flimsy affairs.
The heaviest rifle-gun (not yet completed) in the United States navy is the 8-intch, throwing a
projectile (bullet) of 185 pounds, while as a rule the English vessels are armed with 7-inch, 9-inch,
12-inch, and even 14-linch rifles.  All the French ships are armed with breech-loading rifle-cannon
of great range and power. The Redoubtable's armament is particularly formidable.
THE DIFFERENCE IN COST.
It will be seen that while it cost the United States from $223 to $710 per ton of
displacement, exclusive of armament to produce armed wooden and flimsily built
unarmed iron vessels of significant power and speed-vessels utterly behind the age
and requirements of the times -England and France with their much-sneered-at
"Boards of Admniralty" are really prodlucing not only fast iron-clads, ironed with
12-inch, 13-inch, and even 14-inch rifled guns at from $157 to $253 per ton,
total cost.   But  swift commerce-destroyers like the "Inconstant" and  "Duquesne," carrying 9-inch rifled guns, capable of piercing any of our iron-clads in
service at near one mile range; and yet some persons have the audacity to asert
that the UnitedStates Navy is in a good condition as compared with those'of foreign
powers.
608
$162
196
223
197
1 178
198
I't 5
207
161
185
157
234
$577,097 40
1,78.3,600 00
1,940,840 00
I,,.01,480 00
1,034,017 6t)
610,498 24
1,183,840 00
1,926,fi8O 00
1,478,620 00
909,920 00
827,610 00
944,726 00
28
32
16
14
16
10
14
12
4
2
4
16
11
14.4
13.8
15
16.5
15.2
13.8
14.1
13.8
12.1
12.7
16. 5?
Wood.
do...............
do.....
do
do...............
d...............
do...............
do...............
do...............
do..............
do...............
1859.
1860.
1869.
186!).
1869.
1869.
l70.
18', 0.
1871.
l,b7l.
187;2.
18'i5-'76.
.3 Q;
-4 4.
Q Q-1
. Ei -s
I'k,
1)
4 -.-0
94
0
0
'o
m
I
;s
;4
-i
9
m
$4
A
0:
4)
co
$166
186
177
272
213
216
....
iso
259
$919,240 00
1,066,240 00
I'302,000 00
I IC, o,ooo 00
35-2,800 00
176,400 00
...........
:..........
i,,,,4,40... 0,0
803,600 00
8
-12
14
27
8
4
9
12.8
14
13.5
17
15
13
....
....
ii"
16
1859.
1868.
i869.
1875.
18-5,
185.
.........
.........
iAi''' "
1875:
* Same as Duquesne (nearly).
t Same as Duguay Troise.
Rebuilt. 
OUR WORTHLESS NAYY.
The idea evidently sought to be conveyed by Mr. Hanscom's table of comparison,
is that the United States Navy is in a more efficient condition relatively than the
British Navy, so far as the ships of each power are concerned. The falsity of this
estimate is readily demonstrated. In the first place, scarcely any of the large
modern unarmored ships of the Royal Navy are given in Mr. Hanscom's table of
British vessels, though he gives some new gunboats Such recent ships as the
"Inconstant," the  "Shah,"  the'Raleigh," etc, powerful and swift cruising
frigates of 161 knots speed, 4,780 to 5,782 tons displacement, and carrying 9-inch
rifled cannon, are ignored entirely. The striking power of these guns is greater
than that of the 15-inch smooth-bore with which the American monitors are armed.
and will enable these unarmed English cruisers to actually destroy our iron-clads
with impunity, by merely keeping beyond the limited range of the cannons of the
monitors and practising at the turret at leisure   Our ships having little speed could
do nothing, as they could not close with their adversary.
The effect of Mr. Hanscom's table of comparison is to mislead all but an expert,
and this is apparent to those familiar with the technical different kinds of tonnage.
Such tables as are published in the Secretary's latest report ought to bring the Chief
of the Bureau of Construction to court-martial for either willful deception or gross
ignorance. Such tables render our navy the laughing-stock of intelligent foreigners
and intelligent men.
FURTHER DECEPTION MADE IMPOSSIBLE.
The following table. compiled by Commander Meade, was presented by him to
the Naval Committee, and forms a part of his sworn testimony. It is well worthy
of attentive perusal, as showing the desperate attempt made by Chief Constructor
Hanscom to deceive the public in his last annual report:
(See page 185, Report ofkthe Secretary of the Navy for 1875.)
Ielative ompairison of the number of Gsuts and Tonnage of the English and United
States Navalt Vessels, accordtng to Mr Ha1stecom, with some additional data,ot
given by the Chief of the Bureau of Construction, ad Repair.
UNITED STATES NAVAL VESSELS.
GIvEN BY MR. HANSCOM. 
NAME OF THE           C       0
VESSEL.                I  E
H  I
:z 0
E.I 
PRESENT CONDITION OF VESSELS, 1876.
4,700  Receiving-ship at New York; half rotten; speed 7M
knots.
5,170  At sea; fair condition; speed about 8 knots.
4,700  In fair condition; speed about 8 knots.
5,440  Rotten; not worth repairing.
4,650  Receiving-ship at Boston; half rotten;  speed  7y
knots.
4,450  Rotten; on the stocks at Boston.
4,220  More than half rotten; at New London; not worth
repairing.
4,170  At sea;  recently repaired; speed said to be  13
knots.
4,000  Rotten; on the stocks at New York.
4,070    do
3,250  Rotten; at Portsmouth; probable cost of repairs
$750,000; not worth it.
3,000  At sea; speed 7: knots; half rotten; requires exten        sive repairs.
3, 000  At sea  speed 8 knots; not worth much  though her
repairs at Mare Island footed up over $1'000,000.
2,900  In fair condition; at sea; speed 8       knots.
2,700  At sea; half rotten; speed 8 knots.
3, 650  Unfinished; hull has already cost $800,000, engines to.
cost $600,000; probable speed 13 knots.
Colorado........2... 46 43,032
Franklin........... 39 3,173
Minnesota.......... 46 3,000
Niagara.............    12    2,958
Wabash. 45 3,000
Connecticut........ 21 2,869
Florida............. 12 2,13.5
Tennessee........... 23 2,135
Java..............   21        2,490
New York.......... 21 2,490
Lancaster.......... 22 2,120
Brooklyn........... 20 2,000
Pensacola......... 22.,000
Hartford........ 18   2,000
Richmnond......... 14 2,0001
Trenton.......... 11           2,300i
*' Mr. HanscomQ's "tonnage", column should be completed for him by adding the words.
"new measurement."
609..
W]EIAT MR. HANSCOM LEFT OUT. 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
RBeative comparson of the number of Guns and Tonnagqe of the English and TUnited
States Naval Vesqel, etc.-(Continued).
WHAT MR. HANSCOM LEFT OUT.
VESSEL..__
0
u  o
Powhattan......... 17        2,182    3,980  Obsolete old paddle-wheel craft; speed 8S  knots.
Alaska............. 12        1,122    2,400  At sea; needs repairs; speed 102 knots.
Benicia............ 12        1,122    2,400  At sea; half rotten; speed 10Ya knots.
Omaha............. 12    1,122    2,400  At sea; needs repairs; speed 10) knots.
Plymouth.......... 12     1,122    2,400  At sea; half rotten; speed 10  knots.
Lackawanna.......10  1  1,026    2,220  At sea; fair condition; speed 10a knots.
Ticonderoga.......11          1,019    2,220  Half rotten; at Portsmouth; speed 10 knots.
Canandaig ua.......10          955    2,130  Half rotten; at Norfolk; speed 10 knots.
Monongahela...... 11           960    2,100  In service; tolerable condition; speed 10~ knots.
Shenando.......11              929    2,100  Rotten; at New York; speed 7j knots.
Juniata.......... 8            828    1,900  Rotten; in use at Baltimorei speed 7X knots.
Ossipee............ 8    828  1,900 In   service; n             eeds great  repairs; speed  8 knots.
Quinnebaug....... 8            910    1,840  One of the ships nominally "repaired;" not yet test                               itr  910 1,8    ed; probable speed 11 knots.
Swatara.............. 8    1910!1,840 One of the ships "repaired;" speed 11 knots.
Galena.....  8.                  910    1,840   One of the ships unfinished; speed not likely to ex                               ~~~~I  I        ceed 11 knots.
Vandalia........... 8            910    1,840   One of the ships unfinished; speed 11 knots. (?)
Marion..... —.....   8         910    1,840   One of the ships unfinished; speed 12 knots. (?)
Iriquois............ 6         695    1,575  Rotten; at Mare Island; speed 10 knots.
Kearsage..........6            659    1,550  In fair condition; at sea; speed 11 knots.
Adams........... 6             650    1,370  New ship; boilers dangerous; speed not yet tested;
will probably make 11 knots.
Enterprise.........  6         650    1,370   New ship;  boilers dangerous; speed not yet tested;
will probably make 11 knots.
Essex............ 6           650    1,370   New ship; boilers dangerous;  speed not yet tested
will probably make 11 knots.
Huron.............           6650      1370 Ne w     s hip; boilers   dangerous; now   called Alliance.
Alert........ 4  450  995  New  ship; boilers dangerous; flimsily built; little
speed.
Alliance.......... 4           450      995 New ship; boilers dangerous;  flimsily built; little
speed; now called Huron.
Ranger............4            450      995   New  ship;  boilers dangerous; flimsily built; little
speed
Wachusett.........6            695    1,575  Rotten; at Boston; speed 9 knots; needs extensive
repairs.
Mohican.......... 8            671    1,550  Repairing at Mare Island, really rebuilding, with en                                              larged dimensions.
Tuscarora.........     6       726     1 560  In fair condition; at sea; speed 10 knots.
Wyoming......... 6             726    1,560  Half rotten; at Washington; needs new boilers; speed
about 12Y2 knots when first built.
Narragansett... 5 566 1,235I Rotten; at Mare Island; perfectly worthlesss as a
cruiser in these days.
Kansas............. 3          410      900  Rotten; at Portsmouth; speed 9 knots.
Nipsic.............3           410      900  Repairing at Washington  really rebuilding of double
I1 I00 old dimensions.
Saco.............. 3 410 900 In rotten condition; speed 10 knots.
Nyack............. 3           410      900  Rotten and worthless;  at Mare Island; to be  re                               h t  10!00    paired.
Shawmut........  3  1 410      900 IRotten; speed 9 knots; in service.
Yantic............ 3           410      900  Half rotten; speed 9 knots; in service.
Michigan.......... 8           450      685  Iron paddle-wheel; in good  condition;  speed 10
knots.
Frolic............. 8          614    1,300  An  old blockade-runner, formerly 14 knots speed,
ruined by the Bureau of Steam-Engineering;  pres                                              ent speed 8% knots.
Gettisburg......... 2          518    1,100   Old blockade-ruimer; speed now 8 knots.
Tallapoosa......... 2          650    1,270  Di.patch vessel; good speed.
Wasp           I.      1!   365....   Sold as worthless for $2,000, before Mr.  Hancom's
lI~~ ~         report was made public.
Palos t6                        306      420   An iron tug-boat on China station.
Dispatch...........4           730....   A yacht purchased from Mr. Smith, banker, of New
York; of no use to Government.
* Mr. Hanscom's "tonnage" column should be completed  for him by adding the words
" new mea t."
610
GIVEN BY MR. HANSCOM. 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
ENGLISH NAVAL VESSELS.
WHAT MR. HANSCOM LEMPT OUT.
N     PRESENT CONDITION OF VESSELS, 1876.
d-us~  ~     (See Navy List for April, 1876.)
2,396  Not on English navy list; sold or broken up.
2,486  A comparatively old ship; home service.
1,822  An old sailing-ship; training-ship for boys at Devon
port.
1,858   An old block-ship; 1 gun; at Chatham.
2,322   A new ship; on west coast of Africa.
1,758  Repeated as above to swell list.
1,462  An old ship laid up at Sheerness.
1,462  An old ship, but in service; Australia.
1,705  An old ship; laid up at Devonport.
1,705  An old hulk; no guns; no engines; at Devonport.
1,459  A good ship; in service  China.
I1,405  A good ship; in service; Pacific.
1,405  A good ship; in service; China.
Sold out of service as worthless several years ago.
2,000  The royal yacht  a paddle-wheel vessel.
1,462  An old ship* in surveying service.
1,506  An old ship, but in service, China.
...   New composite vessel; fitting out.
....  Old paddle-wheel  laid up at Devonport.
...    Old paddle-wheel sloop; Cape Good Hope.
....  Old paddle-wheel frigate; Devonport.
751  Old sloop; laid up at Chatham.
....  Repeated as above to swell list.
837  An old paddle-wheel vessel; used as a dispatch-boat.
673  An old sloop; laid up as worthless at Chatham.
672  An old sloop, but in service; nearly worn out.
727  New composite vessel.
835  An old paddle-wheel vessel; at Devonport.
669  An old sloop; nearly worn out, and ordered home.
837  An old paddle-wheel; used as dispatch-boat.
837  Repeated as above to swell list.
672  Coal-hulk; at Sheerness.
....  Old paddle-sloop, laid up worthless at Devonport.
....  Not on the navy-list at all.
462  Composite gun-vessel; nearly new.
4623            d
4 5             do
462             do
....   Composite sloop; new.
....     Old sailing-brig; used as a tender to Boscawen for
drilling boys at Portland.
...      Old saill'ng-sloop, in similar use for St. Vincent's
crew of boys at Portsmouth.
382  An old paddle-wheel; tender to Fisgard, at  Green         wich.
663  Gun-vessel; not new.
665 do
a6(;5 Gun-vessel; laid up for repairs.
665 do
44(4  Composite gun-vessel; nearly new.
4'8  An old sailing-sloo) p; used as a tender at Devenport
for drilling the boys on board of the Impregnable.
30S  Composite gun-boat; new.
ID     do
295           do
295           do
295           do
...   Paddle-wheel vessel: laid up for repairs at Sheerness.
462  Repeated as above to swell list.
428  An old gun-vessel; ordered home for repairs.'
428  Gun-vessel; laid up at Chatham.
269  One gun; an old gunboat twenty years old.
....   An old paddle-wheel vessel; tender to the Royal
Adelaide at Devenport; no guns.
663  Gun-vessel; not new, but in service.
e...........
Phae ton    [
Endymion.........I
Implacable.........
Pembroke......... 2 
Active.............. 
Pembroke.........
Scout.............
Pearl.............
Rattlesnake.......
Jason..............
Thalia.............
Amethyst........
Modeste.........
Pylades.....,,,.!
Victoria and Albert
Challenger........
Charybdis..........
Wild Swan..........
Sphynx...........
Spiteful............
Valorous...........
Fawn.............
Sphynx............
Helicon........l
Rosario............
Rapid..............
Sappho....
Salamis............
Petrel.............
Lively.............
Helicon.............
Columbine.........
Buzzard...........
Lyra..............
Frolic..............
Kestrel..........
Ready....'
Rifleman.........
Arab........'
Seaflower...........
Bittern............ 
Curlew............
Magpie............ 
Plover............
Midge...........
Squirrel............
0
c3
di
3,099
3,197
3,223
2,842
3,078
2,842
2,187
2,187
2,431
2,431
2,216
1,890
1,934
2,021
2,345
2,300
2.187
1,124
1,061
1,054
1,257
1,045
1,061
985
913
913
894
985
913
985
985
913
980
675
592
592
592
592
620
454
489
490
774
774
774
774
584
447
408
408
408
408
408
499
592
570
570
330
32;3
774I
Ariel...............
Coquette.:..........
Foam...............
MosFuito............
Merlin.............
Pioneer............
Ready..............
Nimble.............
Speedwell..'.'.....
Cockatrice..........
Vivid..............
* Mr. Hansecom's "t     onnage" column should be completed for him  by adding the words
"displaceuient:at L' W. L.' -.-.-.-.  
NOTE.-AS there are 773 vessels on the English active list for April, 1876, besides 132 hulks
etc., in harbor service for various purposes, making 905 in all, Mr. Hanscom must have gone to
some trouble to select the 60 vessels he has given above as the "representative ships'of the
British navy.
I
611
GIVEN IEIY MR. HANSCOX.
NAME OP THE
VESSIEL.
.6
9
lz
28
22
16
25
10
1
17
17
17
6
14
14
17
2
2
17
6
5
5
6
5
5
2
3
3
4
2
3
2
2
3
2
7
4
4
4
4
3
8
10
3
3
3
3
3
. 4
10
4
4
4
4
4
6
4 5
.5
a
Martin..............
Poretipine...........
Wood,Lark........ 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
A FEARFUL EXHIBIT.
According to
source, but is t
day of May, in
purposes, was,
'6 neither fight
let us turn our
the year 1868.
millions; add
20 millions; a
exchanged.  E
largely more th
present time 5
administration,
submitted:
Expenditure si
",   f{
Ship material l
estimated at
Direct liabiliti
Contingent or
,m......................................... 20,000,000 00
es assumed by Secretary Robeson..................5,000,000 00
maturing liabilities............................... 5,000 000 00
Total......................................... $210,037,481 49
The people who pay the taxes, the people who toil, the people who delve, the
people who mine, and the people who manufacture, when they ask for information
as to where, and in what direction this vast sum of money has gone, are now told in
a report of the Naval Committee of their House of Representatives, that a part of
it has been stolen by a ring of unscrupulous naval contractors; a part has been
squandered through ignorance and corrupt officials; a part has been used to pay the
strikers of the Republican party, and the balance has gone to the support of the
navy. which, instead of being our pride, and adequate to the defence of our honor
and our commerce. makes us appear contemptible in the eyes of the world, and
has emboldened Spain upon more than one occasion, notably inll the "Virginius"
affair. to seize our ships, trample our flag under foot. and shoot down American
citizens like dogs, without the sliihtest fear of any other consequence excepting
Secretary Fish's OILY-GAMMONED dispatches.
SECRETARY  ROBE)N  RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FRAUDS AND MISMANAGEMENT OF
THE NAVY.
Secretary Robeson in his defense replies, that if any frauds have existed he is not
responsible-that he leaves all the details of purchases and contracts to the heads
of the various bureaus.
We regret for the hoaor and integrity of the nation that Secretary Robeson's declarations of innocence are not sustained by proof, that he has interfered very often
with the chief of bureau, and that he has attended personally to the details of the
Department, will appear in a great many instances. Admiral Rodgers swore that
the Secretary personally interfered with the contract made with-S. P. Brown, of
Washington; and in another case Engineer Shock proved that the contract for
engines, etc., in the "Tennessee" was made with John Roach by direction of the
Secretary. Commodore Howe stated that all important contracts of his bureau were
brought to the attention of the Secretbary.
All advertisements for supplies by section 3,718 of the Revised Statutes are
directed to be made by the Secretary.  While it is admitted that the Secretary
cannot give attention in person to the examination of all these, he has the making
of reports and the giving of orders for the expenditures of money, and this
brings him such knowledge as gives him notice of the contracts and purchases
made in his department. To accept the statement of the Secretary in his logical
conclusion is to believe that of the millions expended in his department during his
administration, large sums have been expended without his knowledge or control.
And regarding it in this or any other way, the Secretary stands convicted under his
own admission of a gross dereliction of duty and betrayal of official trUsts reposed
in him by law. The Secretary of the Navy frequently and personally ordered by
name that mechanics should be employed in large numbers at the several navy
yards.  The letter of John Roach to the Secretary, dated July 31,'71, offering a
612 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.                                s
proposition  to   remodel  the  machinery  in  a  number  of  vessels,;'slo,
that the Secretary takes more interest than he would have us believe.' It wt'the
approval of this suggestion of John Roach by the Secretary that fixedJ the policy'df
the department and Roach, as to the contract with Roach in the matter of the
'Tennessee,' wherein engines and boilers were sacrificed which cost the government
large sums of money. This policy has led to the loss of large and valuable quantities
of materials to the government. Mr. Wm. M. Cramp, of the firm,- of Messrs.
Cramp and Sons, who had large contents with the Navy  Department (and wh&r-by
the way paid commissions to E. G. Cattell), testified that Mfr. Secretary WeGle  nner
attended to the details like the present Secretary does.  It therefore seems to be conclusive that Secretary Robeson was perfectly well posted and familiar with overything that transpired in his department, and his anxiety to shirk the responsibilities,
must be construed as an admission that the department has been managed in such
a manner, that it is no credit to him to be held responsible for its condition.    S
The Committee on Naval Affairs, in concluding their report to the House of Representatives on July 25, 1876, presented the following as the result of their investigations:
RESUME.
"This detail (,f abuses, errors, and frauds in the administration of the naval sevice might be, from the proof before your committee, enlarged and continued, but
they deem it unnecessary still further to particularize them. They pause to answer,
as best they may, the proper inquiry to be made, what is the cause of such evils?
The primary caase is the want of a proper sense upon the part of the officers controlling this branch of the public service, of the nature and responsibility of; the
trust, with which they have been clothed by the people.   They seem to regard
themselves as supreme in discretion, and that the government was made for them
and their friends; and that, in their use of position, the law has made no limit
upon their powers, and that there is no controlling authority save that of him who
possesses the power of appointment and remioval. That such views of their rights
and powers should beget personalism, corruption, and a disregard of the laws, auid
with it a contempt of the rights and complaints of the people is as natural as the
growth of infidelity in the moral man, who rejects reliance upon the Divine Author
of his being."
" With this defiance and disregard of law and contempt of the sovereign authority
of the people, upon the part of those who control the service, we find its legitimate
outgrowth of corruption, plundering and fraud among their subordinates. Naturally, we expect to and do find, front this premise, the secondary cause of the
errors, abuses, and frauds to which we have called attention, and that is divided responsibility. each one in the service claiming to act for himself, to know
nothing of the other parts of, or parties in. the public service, and denying accountability for everything save that which-in which they are caught. For errors,
abuses, and frauds existing at the navy yards, say those in charge, we are hot
responsible, because such are  he orders from WVashington; we simple obey.'FoFr
errors, abuses, and frauds, says the Secretary, I am not responsible; the details of
all matters of contracts, furnishing supplies, etc., I leave with  the chiefs of
bureaus. For errors, abuses, and frauds existing in the naval service, say the
chiefs of the bureaus, we are not responsible; the Secretary prescribes the general
policy of administration; we are but his subordinates, and through us details of
the management pass to purchasing-paymasters and officers of the yards, who execute them  according  to their discretion,  and if proper  surveys  or legiti
mate  advertisements  are not made we are not to be held liable.   And so it
travels in a circle.   But we state right here that they have been struck with
the almost total want of authority and control upon the part of commandants
of  navy  yards,  and  the immense  power and authority  exercised  by  the
chiefs of bureaus; and to their independent action in giving orders to the officers
and employes of their own bureaus in the navy yards, is, more than any one single
reason, to be ascribed the corruption and demoralization prevailing in the naval
service.  It is a pitiable reflection to make upon  naval management that the
commandment of the navy-yard at Brooklyn, an officer who, for his courage,
gallantry, intelligence, and long faithful service, has been promoted to one of the
highest posts of honor in the world, that of vice-admiral in the United States Navy,
should feel himself compelled to say that his duties as commandment  of the navy
yard were simply those of a post-master; that is to say, that he received and distributed letters from  the Secretary and the chiefs of bureaus to the independent 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
little chiefs of bureaus at the yard, and forwarded back their letters of reply.
Contrasts the position, duties, and subordination of Vice-Admiral Rowan with the
position, privileges, and power of Chief Constructor Hanscom, and need we wonder
that the public service is at the ebb we find it?"
REFORM SORELY NEEDED.
"Reformation, thorough and complete, is demanded in this branch of the public
service, not only to relieve the public treasury of the barnacles that are rapidly
destroying its wealth, but to restore the Navy to that proud eminence it once so
honorably occupied. This should be done, and speedily, if we would preserve it
'~ It can be done, and at a saving of seven to eight millions of dollars per annum
from the average appropriations of the last seven years. The proper support of our
Navy-that is to say, the pay of its officers and men, the maintenance of a sufficient
number of navy yards, the ordinary repair of vessels and their machinery, with their
proper equipment and armament, together with ordinory incidental and contingent
expenses, can be met with an annual appropriation of twelve millions of dollars per
annum, and then, with an annual appropriation of three millions of dollars per annum, devoted to a permanent increase of the Navy, wisely and judiciously expended
in conformity to and in harmony with the progress of modern improvements, in a
few years our Navy will regain its lost position before the world."
"Having hastily inquired into the causes of the errors, abuses, and frauds existing
in our naval service, and suggested the remedies that, in the opinion of your committee, will relieve the service, they have, before disposing of the inquiry as to who
are the responsible actors and promoters of these frauds and abuses, to direct the
attention of the House to the specific enactments of the law which they believe to
have been violated, evaded, and disregarded. They are the following, as embodied
in the Revised Statutes, and which provide as follows:
" SEC. 236. * * * All claims and demands whatever by the United States or
against them, and all accounts whatever in which the United States are concerned,
either as debtors or as creditors shall be settled and adjusted in the Department of
the Treasury."
"Disregarded in the cases of Hungerford, Matthews, if not others in this report
referred to."
' SEC. 1538. * * * Not more than $3,000 shall be expended at any navy yard in
repairing the hull and spars of any vessel, until the necessity and expediency of
such repairs and the probable cost thereof are ascertained and reported to the Navy
Department by an examining board, which shall be composed of one captain or
commander in the navy, designated by the Secretary of the Navy, naval constructor of the yard where such vessel may be ordered for repairs, and two masterworkmen of said yard, or one master-workman, and an engineer of the navy, according to the nature of the repairs to be made. Said master-workman and engineer shall be designated by the head of the Bureau of Construction and Repair."
"Violated in the rebuilding of the Galena,Vandalia, Marion, Quinnebaug, Puritan,
Terror, Tallapoosa, Nipsic, and other vessels."
"SEC. 1541. The Secretary of the Navy is authorized and directed to sell, at
public sale, such vessels and materials of the United States Navy as, in his judgment, cannot be advantageously used, repaired, or fitted out; and he shall, at the
opening of each session of Congress, make a full report to Congress of all vessels
and materials sold, the parties buying the same, and the amount realized therefrom, together with such other facts sas may be necessary to a full understanding
of his acts."
"Violated in this, that no report of the materials which have been "bartered and
exchanged," or of the breaking up of vessels that their materials might be so sold,
bartered, and exchanged, has been made to Congress by the Secretary, and the
private sale made of such materials is a violation of this law. Property that cost
the Government millions of dollars has thus been disposed of, and no' full" or
other official report has been made thereof."
- "SEC. 1544. Laborers shall be employed in the several navy yards by the proper
officers in charge, with reference to skill and efficiency, and without regard to
other considerations."
"SEC. 1546. No officer or employee of the Government shall require or request
any workingman in the navy yard to contribute or pay any money for political
purposes; nor shall any woikingman be removed or discharged for political
opinion; and any officer or employee of the Government who shall offend against
614 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
the provisions of this section shall be dismissed from the service of the United
states."
" These sections, passed to correct very grave abuses in the administration of the
navy yards, have been systematically disregarded at the various navy yards,
especially at Norfolk, Brooklyn, and Boston, and evidently with the knowledge and
connivance of the Secretary and the Chiefs of the Bureaus of Construction and
Steam Engineering."
"SEC. 1550. No person shall be employed or continued abroad to receive and
pay money for the use of the naval service on foreign stations, whether under contract or otherwise, who has not been, or shall not be, appointed by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate."
Violated by the Secretary of the Navy in the selection of Jay Cooke, McCulloch
&  Co., J. O. Bradford, and others, as agents for such purpose at London."
"SEC. 1764. * * * And no allowance or compensation shall be made for any
extra services whatever, which any officer or clerk may be required to perform,
unless expressly authorized by law."
" Section 1765 is in substance the same purport."
"These sections were violated in the case of F. H. Stickney, disbursing clerk of
the Navy Department. (See his proof, Miscellaneous testimony, p. 489.)"
"' SEC. 1780. Every officer who neglects or refuses to make any return or report
which he is required to make at stated times by any act of Congress   *   *  *
shall be fined not more than one thousand dollars and not less than one hundred
dollars. "
See reference under section 1541."
"SEC. 3619. All proceeds of sales of old materials, condemned stores, supplies, or
other public property of any kind, except the proceeds of the sale or leasing of
marine hospitals, or of the sales of revenue-cutters, or of the sales of commissary
stores to the officers and enlisted men of the army, or of the sale of condemned
navy clothing or of the sales of materials, stores, or supplies to any exploring or
surveying expedition authorized by law, shall be deposited and covered into the
Treasury as miscellaneous receipts,'on account of proceeds of government property,' and shall not be withdrawn or applied, except in consequence of a subsequent
appropriation made by law."
"Violated, in sale of boilers, engines, scrap-iron, copper, lead and provisions, made
by the Chiefs of the Bureaus of Construction and Repair, Steam Engineering, and
Provisions and Clothing, in their trade of bartering and exchanging these materials,
etc. By such barter and exchange, the proceeds of sales so made are not covered
into the Treasury."
"SEC. 3676. All appropriations for specific, general, and contingent expenses of
the Navy Department, shall be under the control and expended by the direction of
the Secretary of the Navy, and the appropriation for each bureau shall be kept
separate in the Treasury."
"SEC. 3678. All sums appropriated for the various branches of expenditure in the
public service shall be applied solely to the objects for which they are respectively
made, and for no others.
"SEC. 3679. No Department of the Government shall expend in any one fiscal
year any sum in excess of appropriations made by Congress for that fiscal year, or
involve the Government in any contract for the future payment of money in excess
of such appropriation."
"These sections of the law have been repeatedly violated; in diversion of the
appropriation to construct the eight sloops of war; in the transfer of funds,
notably the admitted instance of transfer of clothing fund to pay of the navy; in
the destruction of old bills and making new ones; and in the unquestioned indebtedness at this time of several of the bureaus beyond the appropriations made
for their benefit." 
"SEC. 3683. No part of the contingent fund appropriated to any Department,
bureau, or office shall be applied to the purchase of any article, except such as
the head of the Department shall deem necessary and proper to carry on the business of the Department, bureau, or office, and shall, by written order, direct to be
procured."
"Violated in the case of the payment made of the Hungerford claim by order of
the Secretary out of the contingent fund belonging to the Bureau of Yards and
Docks."
"SEC. 3709. All purohases and contracts for supplies or services, in any of the
Departments of the Government, except for personal services, shall be made by
615 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
advertising a sufficient time previously for proposals respecting the  game, when
the public exigencies do not require the immediate deliveries of the artibles or
performance of the service.  When immediate delivery or performanc is required
by the public exigencies, the articles or service required may be procured by open
purchase or contract at the places and in the manner in which such articles are
usually bought and sold, or such services engaged between individuals.
' SEC. 3718. All provisions, clothing, hemp, and other materials of every name
and nature, for the use of the navy, and the transportation thereof, when time
will permit, shall be furnished by contract by the lowest bidder, as follows: In the
case of provisions, clothing, hemp, and other materials, the Secretary of the Navy
shall advertise, once a week for at least four weeks, in one or more of the principal papers published in the place where such articles are to be furnished, for
sealed proposals for furnishing the same, or the whole of any particular classes
thereof, specifying the classes of materials and referring bidders to the several
chiefs of bureaus, who will furnish them with printed schedules, giving a full description of each and every article, with dates of delivery, and so forth. In the
case of transportation of such articles, he shall advertise for a period of not less
than five days. All such proposals shall be kept sealed until the specified day in
such advertisement for opening the same, when they shall be opened by or under
direction of the officer making such advertisement, in the presence of at least two
persons. The person offering to furnish any class of such articles, and giving satisfactory security for the performance thereof, under a forfeiture not exceeding
twice the contract price in case of failure, shall receive a contract for furnishing
the same."
"SEC. 3721 exempts from advertisement, etc.,'ordnance, gunpowder, or medicines, or the supplies which it may be necessary to purchase out of the United
States for vessels on foreign stations, or bunting delivered for the use of the navy,
or tobacco, or butter, or cheese destined for the use of the Navy, or things contraband of war,' etc.
"SEC. 3722 provides:'And no person shall be received as a contractor who is not
a manufacturer of or regular dealer in the articles which he offers to supply.'"
" These sections of the law have been constantly disregarded and violated. Multiplied millions of dollars' worth of supplies have been purchased and contracts made
in utter contempt and disregard of these laws. By section 372t certain articles are
excepted from the operations. of the law. These are specifically named, and it
would seem, from the well-known principles of construction of the law, that no
officer of the Government could err as to his duty in making advertisements, but
the facts are otherwise.'"
"SEC. 3732. No contract or purchase on behalf of the United States shall be made
unless the same is authorized by law, or is under an appropriation adequate to its
fulfillment, except in the War and Navy Departments, for clothing, subsistence,
forage, fuel, quarters, or transportation, which, however, shall not exceed the
necessities of the current year."
" This section is violated in the contracts made for the repairing of the Puritan,
Terror, Miantonomoh, Monadnock, and Amphitrite, etc., and in the purchases made
of the Planter, America, and Sea Weed."
"Sections 3744 and 3745, which require contracts to be in writing and signed by
the contracting parties, and that said contracts shall be filed, etc., are disregarded
and violated in the agreements made with George T. Wallace, Orville C. Grant, and
others referred to in this report."
"SEC. 5439. Every person who steals or embezzles, or knowingly applies to his own
use, or who unlawfully sells, conveys, or disposes of any ordnance, arms, ammunition, clothing, subsistence stores, money, or other property of the United States,
furnished or to be used for the military or naval service, shall be punished as prescribed in the preceding section."
"This law has been violated, in the opinion of your committee, in the manner of
the purchase of material for furniture at the Washington Navy Yard by the Secretary. It has been violated in the manner of the disposition of old material by
barter and exchange, and in the manner of the disposition of clothing and provisions by the Bureau of Provisions and Clothing."
CONCLUSION.
In this hurried review of the Navy Department, from the induction of George M
Robeson as Secretary of the Navy, to the present time, we have doubtless omitted
many interesting facts; but our aim has been to select and dwell upon the most
616. 
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.
flagrant abuses, particularly upon those with which Secretary Robeson is intimately
identified, and what a picture is here presented! During  the last seven years
the Secretary of the Navy has disregarded nearly every law upon the Statute
books which relates to his Department. He has violated the, law in the letting
of contracts; the purchasing of supplies; in the destruction and sale of
property belonging to the service; in failing to cover into the Treasury the
proceeds of sales of property; in the expenditure and disbursement of the
appropriations made for the support of the navy; in exceeding the appropriation made by Congress for a given fiscal year; in involving the government for
the future payment of money, in excess of the appropriation made for the Department; in making contracts to purchase, the same not being authorized by law, and
no appropriation adequate to their fulfillment being made; in the employment
of labor and mechanics upon private work; upon assessing employees for sums of
money to be used for political and partisan purposes; for failing to exact bonds
from contractors, and failure to enforce penalties of such bonds in case of default;
in the employment of persons to receive and pay money for the use of the naval
service on foreign stations; in the illegal disposition of the public funds; in failing to make report to Congress as required by law; in failure to exact fideltiy in
the administration of the law by subordinates whereby corruption has grown up;
in the administration of the revenue intrusted to the control of the Secretary of
the Navy, which from the peculiarity of its nature and the cunning of its contrivance must hereafter be known as   Cattellism."  This system of corruption,
likely to affect the entire revenue and credit of the country, should be checked,
and in the most vigorous manner rebuked by the people through the ballot-box at
the approaching election. The man who killed the Tammany Ring, and who
annihilated the Canal Ring of his State, will not fail to destroy the Navy Ring and
every other ring that infests the National Government, if he is elected President of
the United Staies.
617 
THE CREDIT MOBILIER.
OFFICIAL ACCOUNT OF THIE GREATEST STEAL OF
MODERN TIMES.
The history of the monstrous swindle by which FIFTY MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
were stolen in the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, is herewith submitted.
This statement of the facts connected with this gigantic robbery, consists almost
entirely of extracts from official reports and the debates in Congress.
The germ of the Pacific railroad legislation was the charter granted by the proslavery Legislature of Kansas Territory in 1855, for the Leavenworth, Pawnee, and
Western Railroad Company, which afterward became the Union Pacific, eastern
division, and is sometimes called the Denver Pacific. It is understood that this
company furnished the funds used in Congress in 1862 to promote the Pacific railroad bill, that road having been made a branch. Detailed statements of the distribution of these funds have been published, but as they are not official they are not
included here (see New York Tribune, September 28, 1872).
It was said in that debate that this road was the "pivot" of the bill.  The length
of the branch was not limited save by the one hundredth meridian, and the main
stem (Union Pacific) was to begin where the branch should end.
Mr. Pomeroy, who introduced the bill in the Senate, said the friends of this
branch had abandoned two degrees of its proposed length in compromise.
The circumstances attending that legislation of 1862 led Mr. Lovejoy to say in
the House:
"Mr. LOVEJOY: I am for a Pacific railroad, although I am free to confess that
1 dislike the idea of converting  Congress into a railroad company.   We are not
here as a railroad corporation," (see Globe, vol. 47, p. 1699).
THE ACT OF 1862.
The first bill in regard to building a Pacific railroad was passed July 1st, 1862. It
contemplated an organization composed of men from all quarters of the country, so
that the stock might be distributed in an equitable manner to the different sections
of the country.  There were 158 corporators named in the bill.  The main features of this act were first to incorporate the persons named with five commissioners
designated by the Secretary of the Interior under the name and style of the Union
Pacific Railroad Company, who were authorized to build and maintain a railroad
from the one Hundredth meridian to the western boundary of Nevada territory.
The capital stock was one hundred millions of dollars, divided into shares of one
thousand dollars each; not more than two hundred shares to be held by any one
person. As soon as two thousand shares or two per cent. of the stock was taken
and ten dollars a share or one per cent. paid in, the President and the Secretary of
the Board of Commissioners were to designate the time at which the subscribers to
the stock should meet and elect officers for the corporation. The right of way was
granted through all the public domain with all necessary grounds for stations, buildings, workshops, side-tracks, etc., and alternate sections of land for ten miles on
each side of the road. In addition there was granted United States bonds at the
rate of sixteen thousand dollars per mile for about one hundred and fifty miles;
forty-eight thousand dollars per mile for three hundred miles, to include the section
crossing Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada, and thirty-two thousand dollars per
mile for about eight hundred and fifty miles included between the two ranges
named. These bonds were declared to be a first mortgage upon the road, and the
grant was made on the express condition that they should be paid at maturity, and
all compensations for services rendered to the government was to be applied to pay
the interest on said bonds, and five per cent. of the yearly earnings of the road was
to be reserved and applied to the payment of the principal of said bonds. 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
The act of 1862 was overloaded with branches. receiving subsidies in lands and
bonds which were not needed to secure the roads, and herein consisted the abuses
of that act. These branches extended into Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa (with
branches of branches crossing the States). Out of one of these Iowa branches grew
the Sioux City Pacific, which was diverted from extending westward from Sioux
City across Nebraska to a line running southeast down the Missouri river, and
Government lands and bonds were taken on that line.
Speaking of these branches in 1862, Mr. Lovejoy said (see Globe, vol. 47, page
1700):
"ilr. LOVEJOY: We propose to give. 67,000,000, or $100,000,000 for this enterprise, the main trunk to receive not over $50,000,000; but when we come to trace
up the side roads and branches you find $17,000,000 more stowed away in these
roads to which we ought not to give one cent."
Mr. Morrill, of Vermont, moved an amendment to require that $1(),000,000 cash
capital be paid in, but it was defeated. The result is that speculators have operated
on Government subsidies, spending more money in corruption than they have invested in the road.
THE ACT OF 1864.
But the great wrong began in the act of 1864, which doubled the land grants,
abandoned the Government security by enabling the companies to place prior
mortgage, and provided equal amounts that only half the earnings on Government
freight should be applied on interest due the United States.
The time fixed for the completion of the roads was passing. The Union Pacific
was scarcely begun. They claimed that eighty miles of the eastern division were
graded and twenty miles in running order.  They also claimed to have $2,000,000
of stock subscribed and $200,000 paid in, and to have expended $800,000.
During the debate in 1864, Mr. E. B. Washburne said (see vol. 53, page 351):
"Mr. WASHIBURNE, of Illinois. Who are the men who are here to lobby this bill
through'? Have the men of high character and of national reputation whose names
were at an earlier period connected with this enterprise been here, animated by a
commendable public spirit, by motives of patriotism, to ask us to pass this bill?
I have not heard of such men being here for that purpose, but on the other hand,
the work of'putting the bill through' has gone into the hands of such men as
Samuel Hallett and George Francis Train, pagr nobile f'atrum."
Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois, in opposing the provisions of this act of 1864 which
gave the company the right to issue first mortgage bonds and make the government lien on the road secondary to the mortgage which secured the bonds issued
by the company (Globe, volume 53, page 315'), said:
"I come now to the tenth section of the bill, and I confess to a sort of admiration of the sublime audacity which parties must have to come here and ask Congress to enact such a provision into a law.
"I have called attention to other provisions of an extraordinary nature, but this
proposed enactment throws all others far into the shade, and stands out in bold'
relief as an indication of the'base uses' that this company have conceived that
Congress may be put to in their behalf. I carefully read the section, that every
gentleman may know its exact meaning and purport:
"SEC. 10. And be itfurther enacted, That section five of said act be so modified and amended that the Union Pacific Railroad Company, the Central Pacific
Railroad Company, and any other company authorized to participate in the construction of said road, may issue their first mortgage bonds on their respective railroads
and telegraph lines to an amount not exceeding the amount of the bonds of the United
States authorized to be issued to said railroad companies respectively. And the
lien of the United States bonds shall be subordinate to that of the bonds of any
or either of said companies hereby authorized to be issued on their respective
roads, property, and equipments. And said section is further amended by striking
out the word'forty' and inserting in lieu thereof the words'on each and every
section of not less than twenty."
SURRENDERING EVERYTHING TO THE CORPORATION.
"Now, it will be recollected that the fifth section of the existing law provides for
the repayment of the bonds issued to the company, and declares that the issue and
delivery of them to the company shall ipso facto constitute a first mortgage on the
whole line of road and telegraph, together with the rolling stock. This was the
security which Congress had a right to demand of any company that should be
organized. It was its duty to require it unless it was intended to surrender up
619 
CRIEDiTr MOBILIER.
everything and place the most gigantic interests at the feet of the company, without control an,t without challenge. We donated, as I have before stated, millions
upon millions of,cres of the public lands to the company for this purpose, then we
agreed to give our bonds for the amount, with the interest thereon, of $96,000,000,
and if Congress had required less than a first mortgage as its security it would, in
my judgment, have been derelict in its duty to the country, whose interests in this
regard it can alone protect.
" What is now proposed by this amendment? I demand that gentlemen shall look
at it; let the mirror be held up to nature. Nothing less than the government, with
its liability of a hundred millions, shall relinqutish its first mortgage and subordinate
its lien to the liens of all the companies created for building the road. The bonds
of the United States are to be issued to the company, and the government is to
have no prior lien for its security; but by this provision the company, representing
as it may but one per cent. or a little ovei of the amount that the government is
liable for, is to subordinate that government to its own interests, raise money on
the means that the government has furnished, give a first mortgage for the security
of that money, and leave the United States as a second mortgagee, obliged to pay
off the first mortgage before it can be in a position to take advantage of any security
there might by possibility be as a second mortgagee. But who is wild enough to
believe that should the provisions of this section become a law the remaining
security of the government will be worth a straw?
" It is worse than idle to contend that we shall have any security left for all our liability if this bill shall pass. And further, by the fifth section of the law bonds
cannot be issued till forty consecutive miles of the road are fully completed and
equipped. It is now proposed by this tenth section to strike out forty and make it
twenty. This company, not content with snatching from the Government the security it now holds for the bonds it issues, cannot even wait to finish the forty miles
of road at present required before grabbing what is proposed to put into their hands,
but they must cut it down so they can go in on twenty miles. Sir, on my responsibility as a Representative I pronounce this as the most monstrous and flagrant
attempt to overreach the government and the people that can be found in all the
legislative annals of the country. When we look at the original law with all its
liberal and just provisions, when we look at the compay organized under it and see
how far it has failed to meet its proper obligations, and consider the extraordinary
amendments here proposed, are we not filled with astonishment at what is demanded
of us as the guardians of the people's rights? Indeed, may we now exclaim:
"' Can such things be,
And overcome us like a summner's cloud,
Without our special wonder?'
WARNINGS WIt(CH WERE NOT HEEDED.
"I walm the true friends of the road, I warn Congress and the people what will be
the result. The present directors of the company hold for three years, and the
whole business of the directors is done by an executive committee of the board, who
hold for the same time. The real state of the case seems to be that the executive
committee is the board of directors, and one man is the executive committee"
The vote on the motion of Mr. E. B. Washburne, to strike out this tenth section
subordinating the Government lien, was taken June 24, 1864 (Globe, vol. 52, p.
3244).
The yeas were 38, nays 81, not voting, 63. Among the yeas were Messrs. Boutwell. Farnsworth, Holman, Orth, Scofield, Spalding, and B. B. Washburne.
Among the nays, Messrs. Allison, Ames Blaine, Brooks, Dawes, Eliot, Kelley, and
Wilson.
Among those not voting. Messrs. Alley, Garfield, and Hooper.
The final vote on the passage of the bill was taken June 25, 1864 (see Globe, vol.
53, p.:'267), and resulted, yeas 70, nays 38. not voting, 74.
Among the yeas were Messrs. Allison, Ames, Blaine, Brooks, Dawes, Eliot, Garfield, Hooper, and Wilson.
Among the nays, Messrs. Boutwell, Holman, Orth, Scofield. and E. B WVashburne.
Among those not voting, Messrs. Alley, Cox, Eldredge, Farnsworth, Kelley, Randall, and Voorhees.
The bill returned to the Senate, and finally passed on a conference report, which
was not printed, the call of E. B. Washburne for the yeas and nays being refused
(see Globe, vol. 53, p. 3481).
620 
CREDIT'I  Mt)BIL1IE E.
Under the provisions of the act of 1862 and the amendments of 1864. the Union
Pacific railroad obtained about twelve millions of acres of land and bonds guaranteed by the government to the amount of $27,236,512, and was authorized to issue
first mortgage bonds to a like amount. The first section of the act of 1862 required a subscription of $2,000,000 to be made, and ten per cent. thereon to be paid
before organization. The sum of $2,180,000 was subscribed, and ten per cent.,
$218,000, paid in, and in October, 1863, the company was organized and the Board
of Directors was elected.                                        ~
In addition to the first mortgage bonds of the company, and the government
bonds of $54,473,024, the company also issued land-grant bonds, and income bonds,
and stock, amounting in all to about $50,000,000, so that there were assets, independent of the 12,000,000 acres of public lands, about $111,000,000.
OVER A MILLION THIE FIRST HAUL.
The first contract for the construction of the road was made with one H. M.
Hoxie, who seemed to have been a person of little pecuniary responsibility. His
proposal to build and equip one hundred miles of the railroad and telegraph is
dated New York, August 8, 1864, signed H. M. Hoxie, by H. C. Crane, attorney.
It was accepted by the company September 23, 1864. On the 30th of September,
1864, Hoxie agreed to assign this contract to Thomas C. Durant, who was then
Vice-President and Director of the Union Pacific railroad, or such parties as he
might designate. On the 4th of October, 1864, this contract was extended to the
one hundreth meridian, an additional one hundred and forty-six and forty-five
hundreth miles the agreement for extension being signed by Crane as attorney of
Hoxie. Hoxie was an employee of the company at the time, and Mr. Crane, who
signed as Hoxie's attorney, was Durant's "confidential man," as Durant himself
expresses it.
By this contract, and its extension Hoxie agreed to build two hundred and fortysix and forty-five hundreths miles of road, to furnish money on the securities of
the company, to subscribe one million dollars to the capital stock, and he was to
receive fifty thousand dollars per mile for the work.
On the eleventh day of October, 1864;', an agreement was entered into by Durant, Bushnell, Lambard, McComb, all directors of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company, and Gray, a stockholder, to take from Hoxie the assignment of his contract (which assignment he had previously bound himself to make to such persons
as Durant should designate), and to contribute $1,600,000 for the purpose of carrying the contract out.
The then Chief Engineer of the road, Peter A. Dey, in his testi-oiny before the
VWilson Investigating Committee of the Third  Session, Forty-second Congr ss
testified that at the time this Hoxie contract was made, he had surveved and esti mated the one hundred miles embraced  in it, and that upon  that estlm-ate he
made the cost not to exceed $30,000 per mile.  He was directed to rtake a larger
estimate, which he did, bringing up the cost to about $50,000 per mile.  \Nhen the
Hoxie contract was submitted to him, he objected to it, and finding that it was to
be executed and the work done under it, he resigned his position as Chief Engineer
and said in his letter of resignation, dated December 7, 1864, to the President of
the Company, Gen. John A. Dix: " My reasons for this step are simply that I do not
approve of the contract made with Mr. Hoxie for building the first hundred miles
from Omaha West, and I do not care to have my name so connected with the rail road that I shall appear to endorse this contract."
The directors of the company above named who procured the assignment of the
Hoxie contract to themselves, were liable individually as partners for all debts
incurred in the joint undertaking. This was not to their liking, and so they looked
about for a corporation which would stand between them and this responsibility;
they found the Credit Mobilier of America.
H[ISTORY OF THIIE CREDIT MOBIIIER.
The history of this now famous corporation is as follows: On November 1, 1859,
the Legislature of the State of Pennsylvania incorporated the  " Pennsylvania
Fiscal Agency."   The powers conferred upon this corporation were something
wonderful.   It was empowered  to  carry on  almost  every sort of financial
business, except banking, without individual liability on the part of its stockholders. The company had been organized before the war of the rebellion, a part
of its stock subscribed, and an instalment thereon paid in.  Among the corporators
were Duff Green, David R. Porter, formerly Governor of the St, te of Pennsylvania
621 
CREDIT MOBII,TER.
and a number of other Pennsylvania capitalists. The promoter of this enterprise
was Duff Green, and his intention was to use it in building a Southern Pacific Rail road along the line since adopted by Tom Scott's Texas Pacific Company. While
Durant, Bushnell, McComb, and the other directors of the Union Pacific Railroad
were puzzling their heads in order to evolve a plan Whereby they might execute
the Hoxie contract without incurring individual liability, George Francis Train,
who knew of DufGreen's fiscal agency, suggested to Durant the idea of purchas ing it. There was one difficulty, however, in the way. None of the officers of the.
fiscal agency were to be found except the Secretary, a fellow named Barnes. Duff
Green, the President, the owner of the majority of the stock. was within the Con federate lines, but Barnes got together a few of the stockholders, organized anew
the concern, and sold it to Durant through George Francis Train. Then Train
suggested that the name of the corporation be changed to the Credit i'obilier of
America.
The charter provided that an agency might be established in the city of New
York, and accordingly Durant and his associates transplanted the corporation, and
the stock of it was taken by the men who had subscribed for the two million and odd
dollars of the stock of the Union Pacific Railroad. This done, these same men as
officers of the Credit Mobilier of America purchased from themselves the stock of the
Union Pacific Railroad which they had subscribed for. They went ahead then and
completed, under the Hoxie contract, that portion of the Union Pacific Railroad
lying between Omaha and the one hundredth meridian.
This contract cost the Union Pacific Railroad Company............$12,974,416 24
It cost the Credit Moblier of America...........................   7,806,183 30
Thus the first profits realized were................................ $5,168,233 91
When the Hoxie contract was completed an agreement was made (November 10,
1866), by Thomas ('. Dutant, Vice-President of the Union Pacific Railroad, with a
Mr. Boomer, for the construction of one hundred and firty-three and thirty-five
one hundredths miles west of the one hundredth melidian. Fifty-eight miles of road
were completed under this contract and accepted by the government. It cost the
contractor about $27,500 per mile to build these fifty-eight miles of road. The
Credit Mobilier of Anmerica was not satisfied with this arrangement and would not
suffer the contract to be carried out, although Durant, the vice-president of the
road, and the? real manager of it, insisted that the contract should be executed.
However, the majority of the Board of Directors of the railroad company, who
were also a majority of the directors of the Credit Mobilier of America, opposed
Durant, and, on January 5, 1867, they passed a resolution extending the Hoxie
contract over six hundred and fifty-eight miles of this completed railroad, thereby
proposing to pay to the Credit Mobilier the sum of $22,500 per mile for this fiftyeight miles, amounting to the sum of $1,345,000, without any consideration whatever.  Subsequently $1,104,000 was, under this resolution, paid to the Credo
Mobilier on account of this fifty-eight miles, for the construction of which it had
never had even the semblance of a contract (see pages 6, 7, 8, Wilson Report,
Credit Mobilier Investigation, Third Session, Forty-second Congress).
DURANT WAS INDIGNANT.
The cause of his indignation is not quite apparent to outsiders, but from
the character of the man it is reasonable to suppose that he expected to make
more for himself through the Boomer contract than he would get by his dividends from the Credit Mobilier. At any rate a fight ensued between Durant and
the majority of the directors of the road, who  were the officers of the CreditMobilier.  Both sides were threatening to appeal to the  courts, and did sue out
writs of injunction.  There seemed to be a New England party and a New York
party.  Oakes Ames, John B. Alley, and other New England capitalists, were not
satisfied with Durant and wanted to depose him.  They thought that Durant had"
too much influence with the New York courts, and hence they came to Congress to
get legislation which would enable them to change the time and place of holdiugthe meetings of the stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad Company.  A joint
resolution was introduced by Mr. Dawes, of Massachusetts, in the House of Rep —
reentatives, Deeember 16, 1867, and was debated that day and paed  (see' Con —
gresional Globe,; volume 65, pages 211 and 212)..i
During the debate on this resolution, Mr. WAS[BU'E  ai::..;
69,2 
CREDIT AIOBILIER.
I desire to add to the resolution the following proviso:
Provided, That hereafter the said railroad company shall not be allowed to charge
and receive for freight or passage over the said road more than double the
amount which shall be charged on the principal lines of railroads between the
Mississippi river and the Atlantic coast.
I presume the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Dawes] will not object to that.
[rMr. DAWES: "I do not desire to have attached so important a provision as that
upon this simple resolution in reference to the choosing of the officers of this road."
Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois: "I shall continue to press this matter upon Congress
while I have a seat here, until Congress shall adopt the provision I have read, and
I think I can convince the House that there is no more just provision than the one
I have proposed; and I am surprised that my friend from Massachusetts [Mr.
Dawes] should stand here and oppose it. I would ask my friend whether he knows
that this company, whose road the government is building by its enormous subsidies of $95,000,000 and some forty million acres of land, the company getting
the road without the expenditure of a single dollar of its own money, is charging
ten cents a mile for every passenger, and on freight one cent per mile on every
hundred pounds, more enormous charges than have ever been known in any
country? I think it is the duty of the representatives of the people, unless they
intend to become a party to this monopoly, to step in at the earliest moment and
put a stop to this system of exorbitant charges."
UNSEASONABLE OPPOSITION.
Mr. DAWES:  "Mr. Speaker, I wish to state in reply to what the gentleman from
Illinois has said, by way of justification of my asking the House to pass this resolution, that he knows me well enough to know if I ever failed to co-operate with him
in any opposition he makes to any appropriation of land or money, it is because he
not only opposes such measures in season, but, sometimes, he opposes them out of
season. It is only then, sir, that I fail to co-operate with him. I know very well
the gentleman's position on land grants, and almost always go with him; but why
does he bring that in here in connection with this simple proposition to allow these
stockholders to change the place of annual meeting? It is a privilege accorded to
every corporation."
Mr. HARDING:  " Where do they meet now?"
Mr. DAWES:  "I will tell the gentleman all about that.   They are required to
meet in the city of New York, and nowhere else, and on a particular day in October.  They want the privilege to hold their annual meeting in the spring instead of
in the fall, and to designate at one meeting where they will assemble at the next
within certain limits; that is, within five places named."
Mr. GARFIELD: " I desire to make an inquiry of the gentleman from Massachusetts [Mr. Dawes].  I understand that there has been a serious difference. not
to use a harsher term-perhaps we ought to call it a very severe quarrel-in the
board of directors in reference to the management of the affairs of this railroad;
as the gentleman from Massachusetts suggests, it might well be called the'recent
unpleasantness' in connection with this road. I desire to know whether the proposition here offered has any relation to that quarrel and makes us in any way a
party to it-whether we take sides with either party to that quairrel? I would be
glad to know that before I am called on to vote on it."
Mr. DAWES:  " I am frank to say that I know nothing about this quarrel, and I
do not represent any one party.  But I do not see how this can affect it at all.  It
simply changes the time and fixes the place for holding the next annual meeting.
That is all."
Mr. GARFIELD:  " That change of time may get one party out of power and the
other in. That is the only point that I raise."
Mr. DAWES:  "I move to suspend the rules to enable me to introduce the joint
resolution."
The reution having passed the House,  was retur7ned fron the Senate  with
mndrments, and its considerati  was resumed  by the House Deembe  17, 1867
(see Globe, vol. 65, pp. 232, 233).
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.
The next business on the Speaker's table was an amendment of the Senate to
the joint resolution of the House No. 126, changing the time of holding the annual
meeting of the stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad Company...
623 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
The amendment of the Senate was to add to the joint resolution the following:
And providedfurther, That on the election of directors herein provided for, to
take place in March, A. D. 1868, the  terms of office of the persons then acting,
or claiming the right to act as directors of said company shall cease and determine.
Mr. DAWES:  "That amendment is merely expressing what of course would be
the legal effect of the joint resolution without it. I move that the amendment be
concurred in; and upon that motion, I call for the previous question."
Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois: "Will the gentleman permit me to ask a question?
Mr. DAWES: "' Certainly."
Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois: "I ask the gentleman whether there is a quarrel
between two sets of directors, and whether this is not in the interest of one set of
directors?"
Mr. DAWES: " I will answer, that when I came in with this resolution yesterday
I did not know that fact. I have no communication with any set of directors. I
told the house then frankly all I knew about this subject. I never heard of a corporation before that had not the power in and of itself to change the time for
holding its annual meeting. It was proper in the organic act to fix some time. I
have no doubt the stockholders will designate the proper time."
Mr. BaRoOKS:  " Is it settled who are the stockholders of the Pacific Railroad? Is
it known who they are?"
Mr. DAWES:' "1 am told since I came here that there has been a difficulty about
the election of directors, and that makes it necessary to have a provision for calling
another meeting in March next, so the stockholders can meet and settle it.  With
whom can it be more safely trusted? \With whom shall we trust the question who
shall be the directors better than the stockholders themselves? And here is a
promulgation to every stockholder in the wide country of this meeting for the election of directors. What can be fairer than that? I have no interest with one side
or the other.
Mr. BROOKS: "Who are the stockholders?"
Mr. DAWES:  " I will answer in the wordsof the friend before me, that the stockholders are those who hold the stock. [Laughter.] I demand the previous question."
Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois, called for tellers.
Tellers were ordered; and Mr. DAWES and Mr. BROOKS were appointed.
The House divided; and the tellers reported —ayes, 67; noes, 58.
So the previous question was seconded.
The main question was then ordered.
Mr. WASUBURNE, of Illinois, moved that the amendment of the Senate be laid
on the table; and on that motion demanded the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The question was taken, and it was decided in the negative-yeas 44, nays 97,
not voting 47.
Among the yeas were Messrs. Garfield, Logan, Elihu B. Washburne.
Among the nays were Messrs. Allison, Ames, Bingham, Blaine, Dawes, Eliot,
Hooper, Kelley, Peters, Pike, Scofield, James F. Wilson.
Among those not voting, Messrs. Boutwell and Brooks.
- So the House refused to lay the amendment on the table.
The amendment of the Senate was then concurred in.
Mr. DAWES moved to reconsider and lay on the table; which was done.
While this resolution was pending, Durant, in order to compel his opponents to
compromise with him, announced his determination to make a complete exposure
of all the rascality connected with the building of the Union Pacific Railroad. Accordingly he wrote a letter in which he set out all the facts, and actually mailed it
to Mr. Washburne. When his opponents learned of this, they agreed to his compromise, and then went to the Post Office and got Durant's letter out and destroyed
it (see Credit Mobilier Investigation, Poland Committee, Third Session, Forty-second
Congress, p. 175). Then Mr. J. M. F. Williams, of Boston, was given the contract
to build and equip two hundred and sixty-seven and fifty-two one hundred miles
west from the one hundredth meridian, at fifty thousand dollars per mile. This
contract he proposed to assign to the Credit Mobilier, of America, in order to enable
it, or the managing Directors of the Union Pacific Railroad through it, to make a
profit of about 22,500 dollars per mile on ninety-eight and one quarter iniles of
road which had by this time been completed under the Boomer contract. With
reference to this, Mr. Williams was asked: 
" Q. Then What purpose had you to propose to build a road that had already been
624 
CREDIT MOBILI,IER
built by the company at a cost to them of less than the amount mentioned in your
proposition? A. We  were identical in interest.   The Credit Mobilier and the
Union Pacific Railroad ('o. were the same identical parties, We  were building it
for ourselves, by ourselves, and among ourselves. There was not twenty thousand
dollars outside interest in it
Q. Was this understood at the time? A. Yes, sir; it was understood that we.
were dealinr with ourselves to get the control in the right hands."
DURANT AGAIN INTERFERED AND DEFEATED THIS PROJECT BY LEGAL
P lIOCEEDINGS.
Then a new device was resorted to; on the sixteenth of August, 1867,'The
Oakes Ames Contract' was entered into.  At this itme. onehundred and thirty-eight
miles of road had been completed and accepted west of the one hundredth meridian,
at a cost of one hundred and twenty-seven thousand dollars per mile. A portion of"
the road em raced in the Ames contract began at the one hundredth meridian.and.
extended westward six hundred and sixty-seven miles. and by the terms of the
contract the railroad company was to pay as follows:
For the first one hundred miles $42,000) per mile................... $4,200,000
".  next 167 miles, $45.000 per mile...........................'     7,515.000
""100  "         96,000   "...........................  9,600,000
" "100"          80,0(0   ".............................8,000,000
""100  "    90,I)00  i'........................               9,000,000
' "100           96,000   "........................... 9,600,000
667                                                         $47,925,000
At the time this contract was made there was an understanding that it was for
the benefit of the shareholders of the Credit Mobilier.  Ames  was  the  only
medium through whom these shareholders should receive the benefits accruing
from it.
This contract was signed on. behalf of the railroad company by Oliver Ames, as
President pro tenmpore, who was brother and business partner of Oakes Ames.
It was approved by Oliver Ames, C. S. Bushnell, Springer Harbaugh, and Thomas
C. Durant, as Executive Committee of the Railroad Company, all of whom, excepting Harbaugh, were interested in the Credit Mobilier.
Pursuant to the previous understanding that this contract was to be for the benefit
of the shareholders of the Credit Mobilier, on the 15th day of October, 1867, it was
signed by a tripartite agreement to seven trustees, namely, Thomas C. Durant,
Oliver Ames, John B. Alley, Sydney Dillon, Cornelius S. Bushnell. Henry S.
Mce'omb. and Benj. E. Bates, all stockholders in the Union Pacific Railroad Company and in the Credit Mobilier, Oliver Ames occupying the anamolous position of
president of the railroad company making the contract, and one of the parties to
whom it was assigned-all of them were directors of the railroad company.
"It will be seen by this that in order to procure any of the proceeds of this contract stockholders of the Credit Mobilier who owned stock in the Union Pacific
Railroad Company, were compelled to give an irrevocable proxy to these seven
trustees to vote in all cases six-tenths of their railroad stock.
"The stockholders in the two corporations were substantially identical. These
proxies were executed and delivered to these trustees; they represented a majority
of the stock, and by this means the entire control of the railroad company passed
out of the hands of the stockholders of the latter company, and was reposed in the
seven trustees, -and for two years they exercised the power thus acquired."
The management of the affairs of the railroad company during the execution of
the work under this contract, was under the control of -the beneficiaries thereof,
and of course the trustees who acquired this power by means of the proxies above
mentionedl were not very anxious to protect the interest of the Union Pacific Railroad Company.
"THIS OAKES AMES CONTRACT
extended over 138 miles of road completed and accepted That portion already
completed had cost not to exceed $27,500 per mile, and by embracing these one
hundred and thirty-eight miles in the contract. the persons interested derived a
profit which enabled them to make a dividend among themselves, in less than sixty
days after the assignment, as follows:
Sixty per cent. in first mortgage bonds of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company................................................... $2,244,000)
Sixty per cent. in stock of the Union Pacific Railroad Company........ 2,244,000
625 
CREDIT MOBILIER
"This was mainly, if not entirely, derived from the owners of the cdntract
over what the one hundred and thirty-eight miles had cost.  The trustees proceed.d to construct the road under this contract, and from a balance sheet taken
from the books of the company. it appeals
That the cost to the railroad company, was...................... $57,140,102 74
The cost to the contractors, was................................   27,285,141 99
Profits................................................. $29,854  141 99
The Oakes Ames contract was entered into August 16, 18(67, and on December 9,
1867, Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, introduced House resolution  No. 252, which was
referred to the Committee on Pacific Railroads.   This resolution provided that the
Secretary of War, the Secretary of the Interior, and Attorney-General of the United States, should appoint a Board of Commissioners. whose duty it should be, on
the first day of July in each year. to establish a tariff for freight and passengers
over the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads, and their branches, which
tariff was to be equitable and just, and not exceeding double the  average  rates
charged on the different lines of railroad between  the  Mississippi River and the
Atlantic Ocean, and in latitude north of St. Louis, Mo., and it should not be lawful
for said company to charge any sum in excess of the rates so fixed and established.
The Committee on Pacific Railroads not reporting,n this resolution, it was reintroduced in the morning hour, Mlonday, January 20, 1868, by  Ar. Windom, and
read the first and second time; but the lprevious question not being
seconded,  Mr.   Higby   arose  and  debated  the  resolution.  It  went  over
under  the rules, but  came  up  again March 12, 1868, and  debated.  Between. the reintroduction of this Waishburne resolution, on January 20 and March
i2, when the debate, which will be quoted hereafter, occurred, the following correspondence between Oakes Ames and II. S. McComb ensued:
OAKES AMES' LETTERS, W.TII LIST OF ASSIGNMENTS AS GIVEN TO MCCOMB.
*  ~   ~    WAStIINOTON, JTn(uay? 25, 1868.
DEArt SIR: Yours of the 23d is at hand. in which you say Senators liayard and
Fowler have written you in relation to their sto(:k.   I have spoken to Fowler but
not to lBayard. I have never been introduced to Bayard, but will see him soon.
You say I must not put too much in one locality.   i halre as.eiged, as far as I have
gone  to. Jftr- fronm  z a1s.saehumtts. one from New  lIampshire, one Delaware,
one  Tennessee,  one  Ohio.  two  l'ennsylvania, one  Indiana,  one  Maine,
and I have three to place, which I shall put where they will do
most   good   to   us.   I   am   here   on   the  spot,   and  can  better
judge where they should go. I think after this dividend is paid we should make
our capital to four millions, and di-tribute the new stock where it will protect
u, let them have the stock at par, atnd profits made in the future; the fiity per
cent. increase on the old stock I want for distribution here, and soon. Alley is
opposed to the division of the bonds; says we will need them, etc. I should think
that we ought to be able to spare them, wiith Alley and Cisco on the Finance Coinmittee-we use to be able to borrow when we had no credit and debts piessing.
We are now out of debt and in good credit -what say you about the bond dividend
-a part of the purchasers here are poor, and want their bonds to sell to enable
them to meet their payment on the stock in the C. M.  I have told them what they
would get as dividend, and they expect, I think, when the bonds the parties receive
as the eighty per cent. dividend, we better give them the bonds —it will not amount
to anything with us. Some of the large ho(lders will not care whether they have
the bonds or certificatei. or they will lend their bonds to the company, as they have
done before, or lend them money.  Quigley has been here, and we have got that
one-tenth that was Underwood's.  I have taken half, Quigley one-quarter, and you
one- quarter.  J. Carter wants a part of it; at some future day we are to surrender
a part to him.
Yours, truly,
OAKES AMES.
H. S. McCoMn, Esq.
\\'ASIITNGTON, January 30, 1 8l;8.
DEARt SIR: Yours of the 28th is at hand, inclosing copy of letter from, or rather
to, Mr. King.  I do)i't fear any invest.qation here.    VItat some (of Durant's friends
may do in  New'J'ork courts. can't be counted Upon with any cert-ainty.  You (to not
understa'td by your letter what I lulve donre and anzm to do wit my sales of stock.   )'o
626 
CR E;DIT MOBILIER.
say none to New Yoark.  I have placed some with Neew York, or,have aqreed to.  You
mu?st remenbei that it wtos nearly all pl(tce( (s you saw it on the list in New Yorkc. and
there was but si. 0. ei.ht m. for me to place.  I could not give all the world all they
might want out of that. You would not want me to offer less than one thousand
m to any one.  We allow Durant to place some fifty-eight thousand to some three
or four of his friends, or keep it himself.
ll(tLve used tlds where it iwili produce most good to us, ] think.  in viewo of King's
letter and  Vashburnes 8 move here, I go in for making our bond dividend in tull.
We case do it with petfect stfety.  I understand the opposition to it comes from
Alley; he is on the Finance Committee, and can raise money easy if we come short,
which I don't believe we shall, and if we do we  can loan our bonds to the company, or loan them the money we get from the bonds.  The contract calls for the
division, and I say have it.  When shall I see you in Washington?
Y rs truly,
OAKES AMES.
B. S. MCCOMB.
W%e st:and about like this:
Bonds, first mortgage, received on 525 miles, at 16 m................   $8,400,000
Bonds, first morg-age, received on 15 miles, at 48 m.................. 720, 100
Bonds, first mortgage, received on 100 miles, at 48 m................. 4,80u(),000
Ten millions sold and to sell to pay our debts.....................I 0,000,000
Eighty per cent. dividend on 3,700,000 0. M. of A..................3,(00,000
government bonds received this day..............................060.()00
Due for transportation four hundred m., one half cash................2()0,000
In addition to this we can draw government bonds for two-thirds of the work
done in advance of track, if we desire it.
'Oakes Ames' list of names as showed to day to me for Credit Mobilier: Illaine,
of Maine, 3,000; Patterson, ew Hampshire,;i,000; Wilson, IMnsschui,etts, 2;
Painter, repoxter for ]nquirer. 3; 8. Colfax, Speaker, 2; Elliott. ilassachusetts, 3';
Dawes, Massachusetts. 2; Boutwell, Massachusetts, 2; lingham and Garfield,
qhio; Scofield and Kelley, Pennsylvania; Fowler, Tennessee.
WASuINGTON. lIebru. ary 22, 1868.
DEAR SIR: Yours of the 21st is at hand; am glad to hear that you are getting
along so well with Mr. West; hope you will bring it out all satisfactory, so that it
will be so rich that we cannot help going into it.  I return you the paper by mail
that you ask for.  You ask me if I will sell some of my Union Pacific Railroad
stock. I will sell some of it at par Credit Mcbilier of A ilerica. I don't care to
sell.  I hear that MH. B ites ofe'ed his at $309. bitt 1 don't want Bpttes to sell out.
1 ttink Grimes may se,!l a part of his at $350.  1 w tnt that $14 00)O i/icrease of the
Credit Mobiier to sell here.  TVe want morie friends int thi C(ongress, arid if a man
owill look i,to the taw (,tied it ig die,uilt to get them to do it unless tlhe!y /have atn interest
to do to), he cannot help being convinced that we should not be interfered with.  Hope
o see yoti here or at New York the I ltlx.
Yours truly,
OAKES AMES.
H. S. McCOMB, Esq.
(See Report Foladd Con, pp. 4, 5, 6, 7.)
On March 12, 1868, the following debate occurredl in the House of Represent,.
tives on the Washburne Resolution (see Congress onal Globe, vol. 66, p. 16il I).
The next business lying over under the rules was hIouse joint resolution No. 16.,
to regulate the tariff for freight and passenoers on the Union and Central Pa,cifio
Railroads and their branches, introduced by fSir. Windom, January 20, 1863.
Mr. GARFIELILD. I move to refer it to the Committee on the Post Office and Post
Roads, and call the previous question.
627 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois.  I hope the House will not second the previous
question. Let us have a square vote and see who is in favor of this resolution.
Mr. DAWES. We had a square vote the other day.
Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois.  And the gentleman was  with the monopolist
[Laughter.]  (See vote on Dawes' resolution, page 21. )
On seconding the previous question there were-ayes 52, nays 51.
Mr. WASIIBURNE, of Illinois. I demand tellers.
Tellers were ordered; and the Chair appointed Messrs. Garfield and Woodward.
Mr. ALLISON. Let the joint resolution be reported in full.
The SPEAKER. The Clerk not expecting this business to be reached to-day, the
joint resolution is not here; it is on the files at the Clerk's office.
Mr. GARFrEr.D. I think it is very proper. therefore, to have it referred.
Mr. WAS[BURNE, of Illinois.  It is a resolution that ought to be passed.
The House divided; and the tellers reported-ayes 42, nays 54.
So the previous question was not secondl.
The SPEAKER. The Clerk will now report the joint resolution.
It was read.
Mr. WASHBURNE, of Illinois, demanded the previous question.
Mr. VAN HORN moved to lav the resolution on the table.
Mr. HOOPER, of Massachusetts, called the yeas and nays; and they were ordered
The vote on laying on the table stood-yeas 53, nays 70, not voting 66.
Among those voting to lay on the table were Messrs. Beck, Brooks, Dawes, Eliot,
Hooper, Kelley, Scofield, and Twichell.
Among those against, Messrs. Allison, Blaine, Garfield, C. C Washburn, and E,
B. Washburne.
Among those not voting, Messrs. Ames, Bingham, Boutwell, Dodge, and James
F. Wilson.
So the House refused to lay the bill on the table.
The SPEAKER. The morning hour has expired, and the bill goes to the Speaker's
table."
Ma,rch 2'0, 1868, (see Globe, vol. 66, p 2029) -The resolution was again in order,
and Mr. C. C. Washburn. of \Visconsin, addressed the House. The following are
extracts from his remarks. as printed in Globe, vol. 69, pp.  297-98, Appendix:
GRADE OF ROUTE.
"Mr. WASHBURN, of Wisconsin.  There is great exaggeration about the diffioulties attending the building of these Pacific railroads. If gentlemen want information 1 will give it to them.  I  will give the gentleman from Iowa (Mr.
Dodge), the very able and distinguished engineer of the road, some of his own
figures. I will refer to his report of 1868.
It was asserted in Colngress inr 1864. that there were miles of this road that would
cost $500,000 per mile to build.   Here is my friend's own report made in 1868.
The table of grades shows upon the line from Omaha to the eastern line of California, a distance of one thousand six hundred and twenty-two and a half miles;
of dead level ground, two hundre i and seventy-two miles; from level to twenty
feet per mile. six hundred and sixty-fivw miles; ranging from twenty feet to forty
feet, three hundred and forty-three miles; from forty to sixty feet per mile,
ninety six miles; from sixty to eighty feet per mile, eighty-one miles; from
eighty to one hundred feet per mile, forty-five miles; from one hundred to one
hundred and sixteen feet per mile. thirty-seven miles
Such are the grades of this Pacific road as determined by their own engineers.
The almost impassable mountains of which'"Pathfinders" and others give such
marvellous accounts. when brought to the unerring test of the engineer's level,
dwindle into insignificance. And I think I can safely assert here that there is no
sixteen hundred miles of road running in any given direction in the United States
that show such easy grades as from Omaha to the line of California. There was
much difficulty in determining where the base of the Rocky Mountains was, but it
was finally determined in the level valley of the Platte river at Crow Creek crossing,
and from that point to the summit of the mountains the distance is only between
thirty-one and thirty-two miles, although we give them a subsidy of $48,000 per
mile for one hundred and fifty miles at this point of the road.
COST OF ROAD.
Now, sir, I have asserted that this road can nearly or quite be built with the
government subsidy The first five hundred miles are nearly a dead level. I amn
628 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
assured by gentlemen who have traveled over the route that up to the base of the
Rocky Mountains it is a dead level, so that the sleepers are laid down for miles and
miles on the naked soil without any grading, only a ditch on each side.
There cannot be a shadow of doubt that your subsidy in bonds will nearly or
quite build and equip the road, for this pai,t of the line at least, with the vast
grant of lands thrown in.
I have always said that this road could be built for the Government subsidies, and
I reiterate that, provided it is built as other roads are built, by contracting with the
lowest bidder. To make the road cost the stockholders no more than absolutely
necessary. and at the same time to make it represent a nominal cost that would
relieve the stockholders from the appearance of not.putting in money of their own,
and also to relieve them from the ten per cent. dividend proposition, t!iey resort to
a device unheard of before in this country.
CREDIt MOBILI,IER.
The stockholders in the Pacific road are few in number. They could easily have
made a contract with themselves for the building of the road, without bids or
advertisements of any kind. They could have agreed to have paid themselves one
or two hundred thousand dollars per mile, and swelled the nominal cost to such a
figure as to neutralize the ten per cent. proviso in regard to earnings. But would
such a transaction have been regarded as an honest or legitimate and straight
forward one, and binding on the Government? Clearly not. Would a transaction
which amounts to precisely the same thing, arrived at in an indirect manner, be
any more honorable and straightforward or binding on the Government? Instead
of contracting for the construction of the road as all other roads have been built,
what do they do? A, B, C, and D are the stockholders of the company. A, B, C,
and D, under a charter from the State of Pennsylvania, organize themselves into a
company called the  Credit Mobilier of America.  A, B, C, and D, stockholders,
enter into a contract with the Credit Mobilier to build this road at fabulous prices,
and the Credit Mobilier let out the contract at the lowest figure at which the road
can be built making a (lear profit of the differen(ce between the price at which the
contract is taken and the price actually paid to those who do the work, a sum I am
assured that will not fall short of many. many million dollars. It will readily be
seen from this that the company practically contracts with itself to build the road,
and that the enormous figures they exhibit as representing the cost of the road are
absolutely fictitious."
March 25, 1868 (see Globe, volume sixty-seven, pp. 2109, 2113), the resolution
was again in order, and was debated at length, Mr. Price answering Mr. Washburne. and Messrs. Garfield, Scofield. and Dtwes took part in the proceedings.
Mr. Price moved to refer the resolution to the Pacific Railroad Committee, and
demanded the previous question.  The  morning hour having expired, Mr.  Garfield asked that the time be extended in order to reach a vote, which was done;
but pending the previous question the House adjourned.
March 26, 1868 (see Globe, volume sixty-seven,  p. 2129), the subject was
resumed. Mr. Washburne, of Illinois, asked further time for debate, as there was
no quorum. This was resisted, and MIr. Washburne moved a call of the House;
and upon division there were-ayes 33, noes 55; no quorum  voting.  Tellers were
ordered, and annlounced-ayes 40, noes 61. Mr. WVashburne demanded the yeas
and nays, and they were ordered; and on a motion for a call of the House there
were-yeas 45, nays 86, not voting 58.
Among the yeas were Messrs. C. C. Washburn and E. B. Washburne.
Among the nays, Mlessrs. Allison, Ames,  Bingham,  Boutwell, Dawes,  Dodge,
Eliot, Hooper. Kelley, Scofield, Twichell, and Jares F. Wilson.
Among those not voting, M'essrs. Blaine, Brooks, and Garfield.
The previous question was seconded, and on ordering the main question on
referring the resolution, the yeas were 73, the nays 54, not voting 62.
Among the yeas were Messrs. Allison, Ames, Binugham, Boutwell, D.wes, Dodge,
Eliot, Hooper, Kelley, Twichell, and James F. Wilson.
Among the nays, Mr. E. B. Washburne.
Among those not voting, Mlessrs. Blaine, Brooks, Garfield, and Scofield.
So the main question was ordered.
And thereupon the following proceedings occurred:
Mr. HOLMAN:' I rise to a privileged question.   I make the request that under
the twenty-ninth rule of the House the gentlemen who are interested in the result
.629 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
of this question may be permitted to withdraw their votes. If it be proper I make
that point now."
The SPEAKER:
" TIIAT POINT CANNOT BE MADE
during a roll-call, as the gentleman from Indiana is aware."
Mr. l[O,.MAN: Must it be made before the roll-call?
The SIt'S:,KEit: "It must; it cannot be made while the roll-call continues, anc
the roll-call continues until the Chair announces the result. Otherwise there might
be roll-calls within roll-calls, the yeas and nays being ordered on the questions arising
under the point of order." *
The vote was then announced as above recorded.
The question recurred on the motion to refer to the Committee on the Pacific
Railroad.
Mr. WVASIIBURNE, of Illinois, demanded the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
Mr. WASIIBUITNE, of Illinois: "I ask that this vote shall be considered as a test
vote on this question. Those-in favor of the resolution will vote'"
Mr. PRICE: "I call the gentleman to order."
The SPEAKERt: "  Debate is not in order."
M1r. HOL.0AN: " I now rise for the purpose of asking the Clerk to read the twentyninth lrle of the Ilouse."
The Clerk read as follows:
"No member shall vote on any question in the event of which he is immediately
and particul rly interested, or in any case where he was not within the bar of the
Houne when the question was put."
The question was taken; and it was decided in the affirmative-yeas 83, nays 49'
not voting 5)7.
Among the yeas, MIessrs. Ames, Bingham, Boutwell, Dawes, Dodge, Eliot, Hooper,
Twichell, and James F. Wilson.
Among the nays, Messrs. Holman and C. C. and E. B. Washburne.
Not voting. Messrs. Blaine, Brooks. Garfield and Scofield.
So the resolution was referred to the Committee on the Pacific Railroad, and Mr.
Wilson, of Iowa, mioved to reconsider and lay on the table; which was done."
The resolution having been thus referred, Mr. E. B. Washburne raised the question in another form (seg Globe, vol. 67, p. 2133, of March 26, 1868):
UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.
Mr. WAsrnjuRSE, of Illinois: "I rise to a privileged question.  I call up  the
motion submitted on the 26th of February by the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr.
Washburn) to reconsider the vote by which the letter of the Secretary of the
Treasury relative to the Union Pacific Railroad was ordered to be printed.
I congratulate my friend from Iowa (MIr. Price) on his success in preventing my
being heard this morning. by getting the previous question on his motion to commit
the joint resolution to the Committee on the Pacific Railroad, of which he is
chairman."
TIIE SLEEP TIHAT KNOWS NO WAKING.
Mr. WASTBURN, of Wisconsin: "Mr. Speaker, I was desirous at the close of the
remarks of the chairman of the Pacific Railroad Committee [Mr. Price] and his
colleague [M.. Dodge] yesterday of making a few remarks in reply. But. sir, so
determined were the - friends of this great monopoly to stifle discussion that they
resisted every appeal that I could make to allow me even that poor privilege.
That I am now enabled to defy all attempts to silence discussion is in no degree
due to the friends  of these  roads, but  in spite of  them.   It is simply
due to the fact that I had the foresight some time since to enter a motion to reconuider a vote upon a proposition connected with the Pacific Railroad.  I entered that,
motion because I thought aa occasion might arise such as has actually arisen here.
I stated that I had b.come satisfied when I offered the resolution that there
would be great delay in reporting, even if the resolution did not sleep in the committee' the sleep that knows no waking,' which I feared it would.
Now for the facts upon which I based that declaration; and I will leave the
* This ruling was reversed at the last session, in the case of Mr. Hooper voting on question
affecting his interest as a stockholder, and in the case of members who voted to pay themselves
for contesting elections. It is understood to be the ruling of which Ames boasted to McComb.
630 
House and the country to judge whether or not I had good reason to believe tha
the committee intended to let that bill sleep on, whether they were friendly or
unfriendly to it.  I introduced that bill as long ago as the 9th of December, and
it was referred to the Pacific Railroad Committee.  Nothing having been heard
from it, and thinking that perhaps the committee would not be called for some
time, or that there might be very considerable delay, I introduced on the.17th of
February the joint resolution which was discussed yesterday.   A motion was made
to lay that joint resolution on the table.  Who voted against laying it on the table?
Certainly not my friend from Iowa."            -:
Mr. PRItcE: " Do me the justice to say that]I did not vote the other way.
Mr. W.ASIIBUItN, of Wisconsin:  "I will; I was going to say that.  I will say
that he was not found voting at all, from which I certainly had the right to infer
that he wa3 not particularly friendly to the joint resolution,  There are three
members of the committee who did not vote; I do not know why.
*             *,      *              *             *.        *
The gentleman says in his speech that I ought to have known that the committee
intended to report it, because he had told me so.  Well, he did tell me that the
committee intended to report something, and that they were considering the
matter; and he said yesterday that the committee had instructed him to write to
these different companies and find out what their earnings and expenses were and
what they thought would be right.
A HAPPY SIMILE.
Now, if the committee are friendly to this proposition, it is most astonishing that
they should wait until they could hear what the wishes of these railroad companies
are. The calling on these companies to learn what should be done to protect the
people sounds very like some fablt I have read at some time.  Now, my friend represents a State blessed with vast flocks of sheep, and, if I mistake not, a colleague
of his in the last Congress was a great shepherd.   Now, what would be thought of
that former colleague, if. when his sheep appealed to him for protection against the
wolves, whom they alleged were claiming more mutton than enough to satisfy their
reasonable appetites he should say to them,'I have written to the wolves to know
if they are not going it rather strong, and to ask if they could not suggest some
meastire by whi,.h you may be restricted in your forays upon my flocks?'  It occurs
to me that it will be about a parallel case to that of my friend from Iowa calling
on those roads for protection; and, if I mistake not, I read in  Esop's Fables,
when I was a boy, a fable very much resembling this"
Mr. Washburne, of Illinois. reviewed at length the legislation of 1864, quoting
his own ar-ument made when the bill of 1864 was pending, and showing under
what circumstances it was passed and how the amendment of Mr. Holman relative
to freights was voted down, and repeating his own speech of 1864 against the tenth
section postponing the Government lien.
On the 22d of June, the House again resumed the consideration of this bill, and
the gentleman from Iowa [Mir. Wilson] got on an amendment for a grant of land
for the- Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.  A  long discussion followed on many of the provisions of the bill, participated in by Mr. Sweat, of Maine,
a member of the Pacific Railroad Committee, and by the gentleman from New
York, [Mar. Prayn.] who, though connected with the building of the road, was not
satishedl with the bill, with that sense of honor which belongs to him, refused to
vote, furnishing an example that might well be followed.
IMMENSE LAND GRANTS AND OTIIER STARTLING PROVISIONS.
On the 24th of June (Congressional Globe, volume 5:3, page 3244), I moved to
strike out the tenth sect'on, which provided that the Union Pacific Railroad Company, the Central Pacific Railroad Company, and any other company authorized to
participate in the collnstruction of said road, might issue the first mortgage bonds of
their respective railroad and telegraph lines to an amount not exceeding the amount
of the bonds of the United States. authorized to be issued to said railroad companies
respectively, and that the lien of United States bonds should be subordinated to that
of the bonds of any or either of said companies which were thereby authorized to be
issued by said railroad companies on their respective roads, property, or equipments;
and which provided. further, that the fifth section of the original act should be further amended by striking out'forty,' and inserting in lieu thereof'on each and
every section of not less than twenty.'  And other startling provisions were in the
bill doubling the amount of land, making a grant amounting to more than double
dai
CREDIT MOBILIER. 
CREDIT MOBII,IER.
the area of Great Britain and Ireland, as I have before said.  Upon that amendment the yeas and nays were ordered, and that section, thus subordinating the
Seurity of the United States to that of these companies, was retained, and the
amendment rejected by a vote of 38 to 81.
Yeas-Messrs. Ancona,. Arnold, Bailey, John D. Baldwin, Boutwell, Cobb, Creswell, Dawson, Denison, Eden. Edgerton, Farnsworth, Hale, Harding, Harrington,
Herrick, Holman, William Johnson. Orlando Kellogg, Kernan, Law, Marcy. McDowell, Morrison, Nelson, John O'Neil, Orth, Rogers, Edward,Scofield,
Sloan, Spalding, Stiles, Thayer, Tracy, Opson, Elihu B. Washburne, and Joseph
W. White-38.
Nays-Messrs. Allison, Ames, Anderson, Ashley, Baxter. Beaman, Blaine, Blair,
Blow, Boyd, Brooks, Broomall, Ambrose WV. Clark, Cole. Thomas T. Davis, Dawes,
Deming, Dixon, Donnelly, Driggs, Eckley, Eldridge, Eliot, English, Finck, Gooch,
GrisWold, Benjamin G. Harris, Higby, Hotchkiss, Asahel W. Hubbard, John H.
Hubbard, Hulbard, Julian, Kelley, Francis W. Kellogg. Knapp, Knox, Le Blond,
Littlejohn, Long, Longyear, Marvin, McBride, McClurg, Samuel F. Miller, Morrill,
Daniel Morris, James R. Morris, Amos Myers, Leonard Myers, Noble, Norton.
Charles O'Neil, Perham, Pomeroy, Price. Samuel J. Randall, John H. Rice, James
S. Rollins, Ross, Schenck, Scott, Shannon, Smithers, John B. Steele, William G.
Steele, Stevens, Stuart, Sweat, Van Valkenburgh, Ward, William B. Washburn,
Webster, Whaley, Wheeler, Williams, Wilson, Windom, Winfield, and Benjamin
Wood-81. Congressional Globe, vol. 53, page,'244.
The previous question having been ordered and the bill having passed to its third
reading, the gentleman froml Indiana [Mr. Holman] ctalled for the reading of the
engrossed bill, which resulted in postponing its final passage until Monday, June 25.
The bill was on that day brought before the House and was passed by a vote of 70
to 3B8; which vote is recorded in the Congressional Globe, volume fifty-three, page
3267, as follows:
Yeas-Messrs. Allison, Ames, Ashley, Augustus C. Baldwin, Beaman, Blaine,
Blair, Blow, Brandegee, Brooks, William G. Brown,  Ambrose W. Clark. Coffroth,
Cole, Creswell, Thomas T. Davis, Dawes, Deming, Dixon. Donnelly, Eliot. English,
Fenton, Garfield, Griswold, Hale, Higby, Hooper, Asahel, W. Hubbard, John H.
Hubbard, Hulburd, Jenckes. Julian Kalbfleisch, Orlando Kellogg, Knox. Littlejohn,
Loan, Longyear, Marvin, McBride. McC]urg, Moorhead, Morrill, Morrison, Amos
Myers, Noble, Odell, Charles O'Neill. Patterson, Perham, Pomeroy Price. John H.
Rice, Ross, Schenck. Shannon, Sloan, Smithers, John B. Steele, William G. Steele,
Stevens, Stuart, Sweat, Thayer, Upson, Webster. Wilson, Wrindom, and Benjamin
Wood-70.
Nays-Messrs. Ancona, Bailey, Bliss. ]Boutwell, Chandler, Dawson, Denison, Eden,
Edgerton, Gooch, Grider, Harding, Harrington, Benjamin G. Harris. Holman,
Philip Johnson, Kernan, Knapp, Law, Le Blond, Mallory, Marcy. McDowell,
McKinney, John O'Neill, Orth. Radford. Ro inson. Rogers, Edward H. Rollins,
Scofield, Styles, Thomas, Elihu B. Washburne. William B. Washburn, Chilton A.
White, Joseph W. White. and Fernando Wood-38.
The members of the present Congress who voted for the bill were as follows:
Allison of Iowa, Ames of Massachusetts. Ashley of Ohio. Baldwin of Massachnsetts. Beaman of Michigan. Blaine of Maine, Blrooks of New York. Dawes of Massachusetts, Dixon of Rhode Island, Donnelly of Minnesota, Eliot of Massa.husetts,
Garfield of Ohio, Griswold of New York, Higbv of California, Hooper of Massachusetts, Hubbard of Iowa Jenckes of Rhode lsland, Julian of Indiana, Loan of
Missouri. Marvin of New York, McClurg of Missouri, Moorhead of Pennsylvania,
O'Neill of Pennsylvamia, Perhliam of Maine, Pomeroy of New York, Price of Iowa,
Ross of Illinois, Schenck of Ohio. Stevens of Pennsylvania, Upson of Michigan,
Wilson of Iowa, and Windom of Minnesota.
Those members of the present Congress who voted in the negative were as follows: Boutwell of Massachusetts, Chanler of New York. Holman of Indiana, Orth
of Indiana, Scofield of Pennsylvania, WA'ashburne of Illinois, Washburn of Massachusetts, and Fernando Wood of New York
THOUSANDS OF DOILLARS VOTED AWAY, AND CONGRESSMEN AFRAID TO PUT
THEMSELVES ON RECOR)D.
The bill then went to the Senate and came back with amendments, upon which
a Committee of Conference was ordered.  On the I st of July the Committee of
Conference reported, bringing up such new matter as would. in my opinion, be in
violation of every rule which governs Committees of Conference in legislative
632 
CREDIT MOBII,IEt.3
bodies.  Gentlemen, by turning to the Globe, volume fifty-three, page 3480, will
see that the new matter so introduced covers nearly a page of nonpareil.   And
this report. changing so materially the bill as acted upon by the House and Senate,
was gagged through; the opponents of the measure were" not permitted to have it
printed and postponed so that they could see what it was. I struggled in vain for
the printing of the report, and for its delay until the meeiber's of the House could
have an opportunity of reading it; but the gentleman ftom Pennsylvania [Mr.
Stevens] demanded  the previous question, which was seconded and the main
question ordered to be put; and it would seem incredible that in a matter of legislation involving interests so vast and pledging amounts of money so enormous,
even the yeas and nays were refused —that even tellers were refused. I read from
the proceedings as reported in the Globe. volume fifty-three, page:3481:
'-Mr. WASIIBURNE. of Illinois. demainded the yeas and nays; on agreeing to the
report; and tellers upon the yeas an(l nays.
Tellers were not ordered, and the yeas and nays were not ordered
Mr. WASHBUIRNE, of Illinois, demanded tellers on agreeing to the report.
Tellers were not ordered.
The report was agreed to."
Thus ends the story of the action of the House touching this extraordinary legislation, which will go into the history of the country.
Mr. WASHBURNE. of Illinois:'- Let the country understand that the Sioux City
Branch. instead of running toward the Pacific ocean, runs to the east in the State
of Iowa, and is twenty-five miles further from the Pacific ocean when it gets
south than it was when it started. These were the lands that I referred to * * *
Mr. WASHIBUR\E, of Illinois: "The  gentleman from New York [Mr. B.-iley]
does not desire to speak now.  I therefore move to lay the motion to reconsider on
the table
The motion was agreed to."
On May 12. 1868 (see Globe, vol. 67, p. 2421, the committee reported a substitute for the resolution, adding to the original a proviso that it should not take
effect until the ro,d should be broth completed (they are not yet held by the Government to have been completed in 187:3) and limiting the discretion of the board
so that they could not reduce charges below eight cents per mile for freight and 6
cents per mile for passengers.
A GREAT BARGAIN FOR THE MONOPOLIES AT THE PEOPLE'S COST.
Mr. Upson objected to this proviso, and Mr. Van Wyck of New York, and Mr.
Johnson of California made speeches against it, in which they said:
Mr. VAN WYCK:' Now, what do we see from the company's repolt? That a
road eleven hundred miles in length, by their own report, is to be built, which will
cost, with all their fabulous prices for construction, $82,000,000. That is the cost
according to their report. And then they show what they have to build this road
with.  They have of the United States bonds, $29,000.000; of first mortgage
bonds, $29).000,000; of capital stock paid in, $8,000,000; of land grants. fourteen
millions eight hundred thousand acres, which at $1.50 per acre, amounts to $21,000,00(), making in all $88,000,000.
Now, mark. they say the cost of eleven hundred miles is $82,000,000. and yet they
have $88,000,000 to build it  So they will have $6,000,000 more in their treasury
when the road is completed than they have resources to build it.. Of that $88,000,000, $8,U0,000 is money which they have put in their hands for building the
road; so that when it is finished they will have paid out, according to their own
figures. only $2.000.000 to build it.
But this road does not cost $82,000,000.  These gentlemen have made contracts
with themselves, whereby they pay double the amount to build the road that it
ought to cost, They have contracted to build it for the first five hundred miles
at $50,000) per mile; and the government commissioners. who certainly are not
unfriendly to these parties, in speaking of this matter, dated July 8, 1865, say:
'In October. 1864, when we assumed the duties of our appointment, we found
that in the months of August and September previous a contract had been arranged
and consummated by the executive commnittee, in which are vested the powers of
the board when not in session, for the construction and equipment of the first one
hundred miles of the road west of the Missouri river at the rate of $50,000 per mile,
payable $5,000 per mile in the stock of the company, and the balance in the cur
rency bonds of the government and the securities of the company. From the
first the contract price appeared to us to be very high. At ptesent, with the
633 
CREDIT MOBII,IE1R.
probable decline in the cost of labor -n i mnaterials, and advance in the value of
government bonds, it.seems extravagant.'
Another commissioner reports, on the 26th of August, 186.). that the balance of
the five hundred miles could be built at a small cost compared with  the rate at
which the first one hundred miles were contracted.   And yet $50,000 per mile has
been paid for building the roa., which could not have cost over $2.),000.
The eastern division, a more expensive road, cost less than.S30,0i() to build it.
The Atchison branch has cost less than that.  
CREDIT MOBILIER-A  RING WITIHIN THiE PACIFIC IEAII,ROAI).
These men, then, do not go outside of their own corporation to make contracts.
They have created a Credit Mobilier.  They have created a ring inside the corporation.  Look.  In 1864 there were one hundred and tw nty five stockholders in this
Pacific Railroad, holding two thousand shares of stock.  In January. 1666. there
were one hundred and twenty-three stockholders, holding twenty-eight thousand
shares of stock.  In the report which these gentlemen were required to make they
named the stockholders and the amount of stock held.  In  the last report  the
number of stockholders had dwindled down to fifty-three. and they do not state the
number of shares they own. Only fifty-three stockholders, a year and a half ago,
owning a road representing $1 00,0(00,000 of capital! It takes twenty of these
stockholders to make a directory, so that you have thirty outside. Sir, they have
demonstrated that the obstacles in the way of the construction of this road have
passed away.  The company is now drawing a triple subsidy of $96,000 a mile for
building what was said to be the most'difficult and mountainous' part of the road.
From the foot of the Black  tills, wlhich are claimed to be the base of the Rocky
Mountains, they run about forty-five miles and then strike the Laramie plain and
run one hundred miles almost on a level, and on these one hundred and fifty miles
they are receiving the triple subsidy."
Mr. JOhINSON, of Californi:    The Central Pacific division of that great road is
now charging the people of noe State of California fifteen cents a mile for freight,
and ten cents a mile for paE;angers."
Mr. WASIIBURNE, of Illinois  In gold?"
Mr. JOHNSO, of California:   In gold.  The net proceeds of that road, which is
about ninety miiles in length, were last year nearly one million and a half dollars.
In a very short time that road, like a mighty vortex, will drink up all the wealth
of our new and growing S ate.  Now, Mr. Speaker, if there is any honest intention
on the part of this House to protect our people against this oppression, 1 ask that
the demand for the previous question be voted down, and allow this amendment to
be made, restricting this corporation, and not leaving them the latitude of the four
winds."
Mr. CLARIKE, of Kansas: "At the moment the merchants of the city of Topeka
ar e        transporting their freight by oxen and horse teams to the city of Leavenwortha distance of folrty-five or fifty miles-instead of sending it by railroad'
END OF A BRAVE C1)NTEST FOR THE RIGIHT.
After further debate the following votes were taken, May 12, 1868. (See Globe,
vol. 67, pp. 2428-29.)
On IMr. Farnsworth's motion to recommit, the yeas were 62, nays 59. not voting 58.
Among the yeas, Messrs. Ames, Brooks, Dodge, Eliot, Hooper, Kelly, Scofield,
and T'rwichell.
Among the nays, Messrs. Allison, Blaine, Butler, Garfield, E. B. Washburne, and
James F. Wilson.
Among those not voting, Messrs. Bingham. Boutwell, Dawes and C. C. Washbume.
The next question was on motion to amend the substitute by striking out the
provisio, on which the yeas were 75, nays 48, not voting 6().
Among the yeas were Messrs. Holman and E. B. Washburne.
Among the nays, Messrs. Allison, Ames, Brooks, Butler, Dodge, Eliot, Garfield,
Hooper, Scofield, Twichell, and James F. Wilson.
Among those not voting, Messrs. Bingham, Blaine, Boutwell, Dawes and Kelley.
And thereupon a further amendment was adopted and the substitute for the resolution passed without division.
It went to the Senate, was referred to the Committee on the Pacific Rai!road,
and there it "slept the sleep that knows no waking."
Thus was began, prosecuted, and ended one of the bravest contests ever made for
the tights of the people.
634 
CREDIT MOBILIEII.
A PROPOSIT TON.
On November first,'James W. Davis submitted a proposition to the Directors of
the Union Pacific Railroad, to construct the remainder of the road from the point
where the Oakes Ames contract left cff, to the junction of the Central Pacific.
This proposition was accepted subject to the approval of all the stockholders,
November 1, 1868.  In regard to this contract the Wilson Committee, to investigate
the Credit Mobilier and Union Pacific Railroad, i-i their repoit, say fsee Report No.
78, H. R., 42d Congress, Third Session, pages 13 and 14):
"This was a contract made with J.'V. Da.-vis, a man of little, if any, pecuniary
ability (and not expected to perform the contract), for the construction of that part
of the road teginning at the western terminus of the' Ames contract' and extending to the western terminus of the road, a distance of one hundred and twenty-five
and twenty-three one hundredths miles.  It was upcn the same terms as the Ames
contract, and was assigned to the same Board of Trustees.
"Under it the remainder of the road was constructed, and from a balance.sheet
taken from the books of the railroad company. it appears that the cost to the railroad company was.......................................... $23,431,768 10
And from a balance-sheet taken from the books of the trustees, that
the cost to the contractor was.......................... 15,629,633 62
Your Committee present the following summary of the cost of this road to the
Railroad Co. and to the contractors, as appears by the books:
COST TO TIIE RAIILROAD COMPANY.
Hoxie contract............................................~.......$12,'74,416 24
Ames contract................................................. 57,140, 1 02 94
Davis contract................................................. 23,431,768 10
Total............................................ $93,546,287 28
COST TO THE CONTRACTORS.
Hoxie contract.................................    $7,806,183 33
Ames contract.................................. 27,285.141 99
Davis contract.................................... 15,6(;29,633 62
---— ~-    50,720,9-)8 94
$42,825,328 34
To this should be added amount paid Credit Mobilier, on account of
58 miles................................................. 1,104,000 00
Total profit on construction....................... $43,995,328 34
"The balance-sheets, from which the foregoing results have been obtained. were
made out by Mr. Crane and Mr. Ham, accountants familiar with the books and
with most of the transactions.  Your committee have earnestly endeavor('d to get
the exact ccst of the road. to the company and to the contractors, and if they
have failed it is because those who should klnow and have had the opportunity to
inform the committee have failed to give the information. The books have been
kept in such a way, and the transactions have been of such a character, as that
their true nature has been very much disguised."
JIM FISK AND JAY GOULD ANXIOUS TO JOIN TIIE CRIEDIT MOBILIER RING.
It was well known to capitalists and specul,tors in all the great monetary centres of the country, that the men interested in the Union Pacific Railroad were
making enormous profits by building the same themselves, through the medium
of the Credit Mobilier of America.   It appears that the notorious Jay Gould and
Jimn Fisk had by some means or other obt inad a sort of interest min the Union
Pacific Ra.ilroad, and they wanted to force themselves into the Oakes Ames Ring,
which was making so much money through the Credit Mobilier.  Accordingly
they began proceedings in the New York courts, and Judge Barnard issued various injunctions and restraining orders, and orders to compel the Union Pacific
Railro.ad Company, and the Credit Mobilier of Ainerica to state accounts, and the
Oakes Ames Ring was soon in a very bad way, and were dreadfully frightened.   As
has already been shown in this compilation of the record, facts connected with
this Credit Mobilier scandal, Ames had distributed the stock of the Credit Mobilier
where it would do the most good, to influential members of the Republican ma
635 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
jority in Congress. Therefore it was very natural that he, in this emergency,
when Jay Gould and Fisk, with Judge Barnard, were pushing them to the wall,
should come to Congress for relief.
We quote again from the Congressional Globe:
Marc/l 15, 1869.
Mr. BINGHAM: "I ask unanimous consent to introduce a joint resolution for the
protection of the interests of the United States in the Union Pacific Railroad Company and for other purposes."
The joint resolution was read, as follows:
JOINT RESOLUTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE INTERESTS OF THE UNITED
STATES IN THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
Whereas, The proceedings of the regular annual meeting of the stockholders of
the Union Pacific Railroad Company, convened in the city of New York on the 10th
day of March, 1869, were interrupted by an e.-p,:1rte injunction, issued by a Justice
of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, before the business of said meet
ing was concluded and before the time for closing its proceedings; and
Whereas  The Government of the United States is largely interested in the
proper management of the affairs of said company, and in a strict observance and
proper administration of the laws organizing and governing the same; and
WHF,REAs3, Important legal questions may arise as to the validity of the acts of the
meeting interrupted as aforesaid; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, By the Senate and iloqo,se of Repre.sertativei of the United State*
in Cong7ress Assemnbled, That the said meeting of the stockholders of said company
mentioned in the preamble to this resolution, be and the same is hereby declared to
have been lawfully convened and organized, and that the resolution adjourning the
same, to meet in the city of Washington. on Thursday, the 10th day of March, 1869,
and fixing the city of Boston as the place for holding the annual meeting of the
stockholders, for the year 1870, be and the same is hereby declared valid, and of full
legal force; and the said stockholders who convene in said adjourned meeting, in
the city of Washington as aforesaid, or in any adjourned meeting thereto to be held
within one month at Washington or Boston, are hereby required to elect a Board of
Directors for said company for this year, and after their successors shall have been
elected and qualified, they may then transact such other business as they are required
to do, or may lawfully do; and every stockholder at such meeting shall be entitled
in person, or by proxy, to cast one vote for each share of stock lawfully held by
him and standing in his name on the books of the company on the first day of March,
186(i9; and in all proxies given to be used at the said meeting of the tenth of March,
1869, which were given on or since the first day of September, 186S, and none other
shall be good and valid at the adjourned meeting, to be held on the 18th day of
March, 1869, and at any adjourned meeting thereof, and may be used thereat with
the same effect as they could have been used at the meeting of the 10th of March,
1869 but nothing in this resolution shall be construed to effect or limit the right of
any stockholder who has given any proxy to vote his stock in person, or his right to
revoke his proxy, by giving one of a later date, or otherwise; but the right of any
stockholder then to vote for himself, or to so revoke his proxy previously given, is
hereby fully confirmed ind established,
Providedfirt/her, That on the election of the directors herein provided for, the
term of office of all persons then acting or claiming the right to act as directors of
the said company, except the government directors, shall cease and terminate,
And providedfuirther, That the Board of Directors of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company shall have power, whenever in their judgment the interests of the company or of the government of the United States may require it, to remove the
general office of said company and all the books, papers, and effects from the city
of New York to either of the cities of Boston, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Chicago,
St. Louis, Council Bluffs, or Omaha, and in no manner shall a free exercise of said
judgment to remove be restrained;
Provided further, That no court, other than the United States Circuit or District
Court, shall have power or jurisdiction to enjoin any of the acts in this resolution,
authorize or appoint a receiver for or on account of any of the rights, property,
assets, and effects or interests of the said Union Pacific Railroad Company in any
case in which the defense rests on the constitution or any law or treaty of the United
states; and all actions in any court, so far as in conflict with this clause of the.resolution, shall, upon the application of the said Union Pacific Railroad Company or
any person interested therein as a bona fide stockholder, be removed to the United
686 
CREDIT MOBTLI,ER.
States District or Circuit Court having jurisdiction in the district within which said
action or actions may arise. which said application to remove may be made directly
to said United States District or Circuit (,ourt, and the joining of other parties to
the said company shall not affect the right of said company to remove such application or its right to have such cause or causes removed as aforesaid;
"And providedfurther, That the annual meeting of the stockholders of the said
Union Pacific Railroad Company, after the meeting provided for, as aforesaid, to be
held in the City of Boston in the year 1870, may be held either in the cities of Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Washington, Cincinnati, Chicago, Omaha, or St.
Louis. as may be determined by the said stockholders at the next preceding annual
meeting."
CONGRESS RESCUES THE U. P. ROAD FROM FISK & GOULD.
A more effectual preventative against interference by Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, or any
other designing persons through the State Courts of New York, or any other State,
could not have been devised than the above quoted joint resolution, prepared and
introduced by Mr. Bingham, who was then Chairman of the Judiciary Committee
of the House of Representatives. It will be observed that this joint resolution,
among other things, legalized the proceedings of the director's meeting at New
York, which had been broken up by an injunction issued by Judge Barnard, restraining the officers 2nd directors of the Union Pacific Railroad Company from holding such
a meeting. It will also be observed that it was provided that an adjourned meeting of
.the directors might be held in the City of Washington,which, under the charter of the
railroad company, would not have been possible without this special legislation. It
will also be further observed that this resolution in effect placed the Union Pacific
Railroad corporation on wheels, and allowed it to be run about the country as Oakes
Ames and the principal managers of it might deem expedient, in order to avoid
legal process issued on the petition of bona fide stockholders whom they were defrauding through the Credit Mobilier of America. At this very time the officers of
the Union Pacific Railroad Company and of the Credit Mobilier of America were
hiding in out-of-the-way places to avoid legal process. The books of these two companies had been in defiance of the restraining order of the Supreme Court of the
State of New York, abstracted from the company's offices and carried first to New
Jersey, thence to Philadelphia, and subsequently to the City of Boston. Moreover,
as was proven in the two investigations ordered by the House of Representatives at
the third session of the Forty-second Congress, some of the most important books
of the Credit Mobilier Company were lost or pretended to be lost during the time
they were being carried about the country, and to this day the officers of this company aver that they do not know of their whereabouts; and still further during this
time $500,000 belonging to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, part of them being
the bonds endorsed by the government, and the balance the first mortgage bonds of
the railroad company, were lost and have never been accounted for, although it has
been shown by competent testimony that the interest on a portion of these bonds is
regularly drawn by some of the officers of the railroad company.
When the resolution above quoted had been read in the house on March 15,
1869   Mr. AXTELL of California said: "I Object to the consideration of the joint resolution."
Mr  BINGHAM:  "I move  to suspend the rules in order to introduce the joint
resolution."
Mr. WOOD: "Mr. Speaker, I doubt whether the House understands this resolu tion. " 
Mr. BINGHAM: "I object to debate."
The question being put on suspending the rules there were-Ayes 90; nays 47.
Mr. BINGHAM:  "I call for tellers."
Tellers were ordered, and Messrs. Bingham and Axtell were appointed.
The House divided and the tellers reported- Ayes 96; nays 28.
So, two-thirds having voted in favor thereof, the rules were suspended.
The joint resolution (H. R. No. 6), for the protection of the interests-of the United
States in the Union Pacific Railroad, and for other purposes, was read a first and
second time, was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, and being engrossed
it was accordingly read a third time.
Mr. BINGHAM:  " I demand the previous question on the passage."
Mr. WOOD:  "Is it now in order to refer the resolution to the Committee on the
Pacific Railroads?',
637 
CREDIT 1[OBILIER.
The SREAKER: "It is not If the previous question is not sustained, the Chair will
then entertain that motion."
The previous question was seconded and the main question ordered.
Mr. WOOD: I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The question was taken and decided in the affirmnative. Yeas 99, nays 32; not
voting 66.
Among those who voted in the affirmative, were, Ames, Banks, Bingham, Dawes,
Garfield. Kelly, and Scofield.
THE CREDIT MOBrLIER IN THE SENATE.
The resolution having passed the House, it went to the Senate. When it came
up there for debate, Mr. Stewart of Nevada, in the course of a remarkable speech,
said:
M Nir. PRESIDIENT: This extraordinary measure must have emanated from some extraordinary set of facts. Here is a great corporation, in the first place, asking Congress
to place it on wheels -to send it all over the country.  In the next place. it asks
Congress to exempt it fro i- the jurisdiction of the courts, and confer upon it special
privileges.  If there is anything clear in law, if there is any rule of law that has been
determined since the foundation of the Government, it is that a corporation, no
matter whether the Government holds stock in it or not, is subject to all the incidents of every other corporation. It was claimed on the part of the United States
Bank, that because the Government of the United States was the largest stock-'
holder. it could be taken out of the State courts; that it could be endowed with
certain extraordinary privileges; but Chief Justice Marshall took hold of that question and laid down the law in a manner that has never been doubted until now.
By this resolution the House of Representatives proposes to endow the Union Pacific Railroad with rights above all the laws of the States, and not only that, but to
allow it to travel all over the United States; to give it a roving mission and to
liberate it from the j'risdiction of the State courts. If the Government of the
United States can establish such a corporation for one purpose they can for all purposea., and you have no United Sta,tes at all. The power exists in the general government to carry on everything by one corporation if this resolution be constitutional.
EXTRAORDINARY LEGISLATION  FOR TIIE BENEFIT OF THE  U. P. ROAD.
Why are we called upon for this extraordinary legislation? Since the formation
of the Union Pacific Railro Ld Company we have given it some legislation in this di rection. We passed a joint resolution when they hadcl another election up. The
Union Pacific [toad got into difficulty in 1867, and they came to Congress for relief
and Congress passed this resolution.
" Be it refsoled etc.. That the time of holding the annual meeting of the stock holders of the Union Pacific Railroad Company for the choice of directors is hereby
changed from the first Wednesday in October to the first Wednesday after the
fourth day of March, and the stockholders are authorized to determine the place at
which such annual meeting shall be held at the last annual meeting of the stockholders' meeting preceding such annual meeting: Provided the same shall be held
in either of the cities of New York, Washington, Boston, Baltimore Philadelphia,
Cincinnati, Chicago, or St. Louis; ani provided further that on  the election of
directors herein provided for to take place in March, A. D. 1818, the terms,f office
of all persons then acting or claiming the right to act as directors of said company
shall cease and terminate."
(This is the same resolution that Mr Dawes passed through the House of
Repres3ntative, I ith of December, 1857, the proceedings in regard to which have
heretofore been given).
Mlr. Stewart further called attention to a remarkable act of Congress which was
passedi in July, 1868, at the solicitation of the Pacific Railroad Ring.  This was the
time their first litigation began in New York.
Mr STEWARIT said:' They got into law suits and then came to Congress in July,
1868, and said somebody was going to eat them up directly unless they could get a
law passed to take them out of these horrid State courts; and in the last days of
the session of Congress did actually pass the following very remarkable  law, the
constitutionality of whiLh is very doubtful:
" That aily corporation or member thereof. other than a banking corporation organized under a law of the United States and against which a suit at law or equity
-638 
CREDIT MOBILIEII.
has been or may be commenced in any court other than a Circuit or District Court
of the United States for any liability or illeged liability of such corporation, or any
member thereof, as such member, may have such suit removed from the court in
which it may be pending to the Circuit or District Court of the United States, upon
filing a petition therefor, certifying by oath either before or after issue joined, stating that they have a defense arising unde'  or by virtue of the Constitution of the
United States, or of any treaty or law of the United States, and giving good and
sufficient surety for entering in any such court.   On the first day of its session
copies of all proceedings, pleadings. depositions, testimony and other proceedings
in said suit, and doing such other proper acts as are required to be done by the act
entitled'An act for the removal of causes in certain cases from State courts, appr)ved July 2'7, 1866,' and it would be the duty of the Court to accept the surety
and proceed no further in the suit; and the said copies being ent red, as aforesaid,
in such court of the United States, the suit shall then proceed in the same manner
as if it had been brought there by original process; and all the provisions of said
act in this section referred to respecting any bill, attachment, delay, injunction, or
other restraining process, and respecting any -bonds of indemnity of other allegations given upon the issue or granting of any attachment, injunction or other restraining process, shall apply with like force and effect in all respects to similar
matters, process or things. in the suits for the removal of each, which the act
provides."
A REMARKABLE DOCUMENT.
This was passed at the instance and for the benefit of the Union Pacific Railroad
Company.  Now, why are they in these difficulties?  I have in my hand a paper
which will illustrate the beginning of this trouble. As they are calling upon Congress for this extraordinary legislation, I desire to have this paper read. and I wish
to call special attention to this document, for I do believe that in this controversy
the dignity and honor of Congress and of the country are more or less involved. I
ask for the reading of the docament, which I send to the Chair."
This document, which was read by the clerk at MIr. Stewart's instance, was the
agreement made on the 16th day of October, 1867, between the seven trustees under the Oakes Ames contract, by which these men, who held a majority of the
stock of the Union Pacific Railroad, pledged themselves to prbtect their mutual interests in this contract by voting at each annual stockholders' meeting the directors who were then holding office, in order-that there might be no interference with
the Oakes Ames contrac t, the profits of which were to be shared pro rata with
these seven trustees, according to their respective interests.
After the reading of this document O[r. Stewart went on to say, that he had also
a paper purporting to be a bill in equity, filed by James Fisk against the officers of
the Union Pacific Railroad, setting forth that there is a conspiracy between a certain body of people styled the Credit Ilobilier, a ring consisting of the members of
the Union l'acific Railroad Company; that these men have reaped immense profits
from this arrangement, to the injury of other stockholders who were not in the
ring; that some thirty millions of dollars have been obtained and divided in this
way.
In commenting upon this Mr. Stewart said:
'* 1 are hiear.-l it stated that leading members of the Uomrnmittee on Pacific Railroad8
in the tH)?me were not only in the UTion lI,tct#z, bet in this id'ntical Crelit Mublier,
andl were tloe recipients of enormous divdel.ds, and I Aave not heard it denied.  It is
fut.ther stated. thatfor that very reason. the thlingq  ould never' be itnvetiqated; and
it is said you want to take it out of the courts, you want to stifle investigation
everywhere. Are we prepared to place Congress in that situation, if there is anything wrong about this matter. (See Congressional Globe, first session, Forty-third
, Forty-first Congress, pp. 303, 305.)
MORE REVELATIONS.
The next day. when the resolution was again un(ler consideration, Mr. Stewart
said that he had called attention to some singular and rather remarkable paper connected with the Credit Mobiiier, and a memorandum of agreement with certain
stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad Company. Since then he had looked
farther into the subject, and he had some more revelations to make to the Senate.
He then read the title of Mr. McComb's bill in equity against the Credit Mobilier,
and also some extracts from the body of the bill itself. He called particular atten-tion to the fact that Ames was charged with having 343 shares as a secret trust
630 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
for persons whose names do not appear on the books of the company, and  the
allegation that he was distributing the dividends among unknown parties. Thus
it will be seen that the scandal of the Credit Mobilier and Oakes Ames' distribution of the stock of the same among members of Congress was, as far back as 1869,
gravely discussed in Congress. This suit of McComb against the Credit Mobilier,
which Stewart spoke of, was pending in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. It
lingered there, only little progress being made until 18 2, when a Master of Chancery
was appointed to take testimony. Mr. McComb appeared before the Master and
was examined at great length. and gave in detail the history of the operation of
the Credit Mobilier in building the Union Pacific Railroad. Then it was that the
famous letters of Oakes Ames were produced by McComb. and made a part of his
evidence before the Master in Chancery. On the third day of September, 1872,
the New York Sitb published in full the testimony of McComb. including the letters
of Ames, which have been set out in the preceding pages of this record. This publication was made upon the eve of the election in the State of Maine.   Thename of
James G. Blaine headed the list of Credit Mobilier Congressmen, which was written
upon the back of one of the Ames' letters to Mr. McComb, with the number of
shares allotted to each. Ten days later, on September 5th, the testimonyof McComb
having been copied from the New York Sun by the Bo)ston Herald. Mr. James G.
Blaine published the following card:
HOW THE CHRISTIAN STATESMEN DENIED.
To the Editor of the Kenntebeck Journal:
' The sensational story in the Boston Herald of yesterday, in regard to my
ownership in the Credit Mobilier of the Union Pacific Railroad, in connection with
Secretary Boutwell. Senator Wilson, Messrs. Dawes, Bingham. Garfield and others
of the House of Representatives, is a mere campaign cana,rd throughout, baseless
and groundless. I never owned a dollar in the company in my life, either directly
or indirectly, through myself or through another. I depart in this instance from
my usual practice of suffering campaign slanders to pass without notice. because
this particular falsehood is circumstantially narrated, and is, as [ understand, to be
largely distributed over the Third District, in order to influence the vote on
Monday.
JAMES G. BLAINE."
The next Credit Mobilier Congressman to come to the front was Henry L. Dawes,
who presented the following:    -
"PITTSFIELD, MASS., Sept. 11, 1872.
MY DEAR ROGERS -I thank you for denouncing as a false libel the charge in the
New York Sun. So far as I am concerned, neither Oakes Ames or any other man,
dead or alive, ever gave me, directly or indirectly, a penny of the stock of the Credit.
Mobilier, or any other corporation in the world. I never owned a dollar of any
stock or any property of any kind that I did not pay the full value of —that my own
money or my own labor did not earn.
Very truly yours,
HEINRY L. DAWES."
Next came Henry Wilson:
"NATICK, Sept. 12, 1872.
To the Pditor of the Troy W/rig:
I send you a speech of General Hawley. His statement is correct. But I do not
wish to write any more letters. And I do not intend to do so, if I am charged with
every crime.  In 1855 I made one speculation.  I bought a house and lot in my
town for one hundred and fifty dollars, and sold it for four hundred dollars
HENRY WILSON."
General Hawley's speech, which Mr. Wilson referred to in the above card, contains the following:
'Henry Wilson has been seventeen years in the Senate, and I defy the world to
prove that he is worth ten thousand dollars to-day. I defy the world to prove that
he ever took ai dollar's interest in any measure which has been before Congress. I
defy the whole world to prove that he has a cent interest in the Northern Pacific,
Central Pacific, or Southern Pacific, or any other stock, bonds or contracts of any
sort. I tell his slanderers to go to Washington and go among the lobby there and
canvass with the most notorious gamblers and they will find that among the men
that cannot be bought will be the name of Henry Wilson."
Wm. D. Kelley. of Pa, denied his connection with the Credit Mobilier, as follows:
But let who may be responsible for the story, it is false.  I have never owned a
640 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
share of stock in the Credit Mobilier of America, nor has any member of my
family either directly or by the intervention of a trustee or agent, nor have I nor
did I ever own a share of stock of the Union Pacific Railroad, nor is there any
held by anybody for my use or that of any member of my  family, or for my
heirs and assigns; nor have I or they ever owned a Pacific Railroad bond except
one one thousand dollars income bond which was purchased for me in open market
some months since by Henry C. Townsend, Esq.. my counsel, at my request, with
funds he had collected for me. I had hoped to be able to keep this ten per cent.
investment long enough to enable me to collect at least one year's interest on it,
but was some time since constrained to request Mr. Townsend to sell it, which
would not have been necessary had there been any truth in that portion of Mr.
McComb's testimony which refers to me.  Trusting, my  dear friend, that you will
give this such publicity as it may in your judgment deserve, I remain,:
Yours, very truly,
WM. D. KELLEY.
AMES, GARFIELI,D & CO.
To THos. W. PRICE, Esq.
Oakes Ames also published a card to his constituents in which he denied that he
had done anything wrong, but he was very careful in the statement he made in
regard to his distribution of stock to Congressmen. He did not deny that the list
of names given by McComb was correct, but contented himself with saying that
Mr. McComb had no authority from him to make any such list.
General Garfield was more careful than the majority of his Credit Mobilier
Associates. He published no card, but authorized a Washington correspondent teo
telegraph the following:
"General Garfield, who has just arrived here from the Indian Country, has today had the first opportunity of seeing the charges connecting his name with
receiving shares of the Credit Mobilier from Oakes Ames. He authorizes the statement that he never subscribed for a single share of that stock, and that he never
received nor saw a share of it.
G. F. T.
When the company was first formed, George Francis Train, active in it, came to
Washington and exhibited a list of subscribers of leading capitalists and some
members of Ccngress to the stock of the company, described it as a popular one,
thousand dollars each. Train asked General Garfield to subscribe on one or tweo
occasions, but each time he declined. Subsequently he was again informed that
the list was nearly completed and that a chance remained for him to subscribe,
when he again declined, and to this day has not subscribed nor received any share,
stock, or bond of the company.
Now let us see what the Committee of the House of Representatives, appointed
on the motion of James G. Blaine, unanimously reported in regard to this gentleman, Mr. James G. Blaine, of Maine:
MR. JAMES G. BLAINE, OF MAINE.
"Among those who have in the public press been charged with improper participation in Credit Mobilier stock is the present Speaker, Mr. Blaine, who moved the
resolution for this investigation. The committee have, therefore, taken evidence
in regard to him.  They find from it that Ames had conversations with Mr. Blaine
in regard to taking ten shares of the stock and recommending it as a good investment. Upon consideration, Mr. Blaine concluded inot to take the stock, and never
did take it, and never paid or received anything on account of it; and Ml. Blaine
never had an interest, direct or indirect, in Credit Mobilier stock or stock of the
Union Pacific Railroad Company."
MR. IIENRY L. DAWES, OF MASSACIIUSETTS:
" Mr. Dawes had, prior to December, 1867, made some small investments in railroad bonds, through Mr. Ames   In December, 1867, Mr. Dawes applied to Mr.
Ames to purchase a thousand dollar bond of the Cedar Rapid Road in Iowa.
Mr. Ames informed him that he had sold them all, but that he would let him have
for his thousand dollars ten shares of the Credit Mobilier stock, which he thought
was better than the railroad bonds. In answer to inquiry by Mr. Dawes, Mr. Ames
said the Credit Mobilier'Company had the contract to build the Union Pacific Railroad, a d thought they would make money out of it, and that it'would be a good
641 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
thing; that he would guarantee that he should get ten per cent. on his money, and
that if at any time Mr. Dawes did not want the stock he would pay back his money,
with ten per cent interest.  Mr. Dawes made some further inquiry in relation to
the stock of Mr. John B. Alley, who said he thought it was good stock, but not as
good as Mr. Ames thought, but that Mr. Ames' guarantee would make it a perfectly
safe investment.
Mr. Dawes thereupon concluded to purchase the ten shares, and on the 11th of
January he paid Mr. Ames eight hundred dollars, and in a few days thereafter the
balance of the price of this stock at par and interest from July previous. In June,
1868, Mr. Dawes received a dividend of sixty per cent. in money on his stock, and of
it paid to Mr Dawes four hundred dollars and applied the balance of two hundred
dollars upon accounts between them. This four hundred dollars was all that was
paid over to Mr. Dawes as a dividend upon his stock. At some time prior to December, 1868, Mr. Dawes was informed that a suit had been commenced in the
courts of Pennsylvania by former owners of the charter of the Credit Mobilier, claiming that those then claiming and using it had no right to do so. Mr., Dawes thereupon informed Mr. Ames that as there was a litigation about the matter he did not
desire to keep the stock. On the 9th of December, 1868, Mr. Ames and Mr. Dawes.
had a settlement of their matters, in which Mr. Dawes was allowed for the money
he paid for the stock, with ten per cent. interest upon it, and accounted to Mr. Ames
for the four hundred dollars he had received as a dividend. Mr. Dawes received no
other benefit under the contract than to get ten per cent. upon his-money, and after
the settlement had no further interest in the stock."
MR. GLENN W. SCOFIELD, OF PENNSYLVANIA.
"In 1868 Mr. Scofield purchased some Cedar Rapid bonds of Mr. Ames, and in that
year they had conversations about Mr. Scofield taking stock in the Credit Mobilier
Company, but no contract was consummated. In December, 1867. Mr. Scofield
applied to Mr. Ames to purchase more Cedar Rapid bonds, when  Mr. Ames suggested he should purchase some Credit Mobilier stock, and explained generally that
it was a contracting company to build the Union Pacific Railroad; that it was a
Pennsylvania corporation, and he should like to have some Pennsylvanians in it;
that he would sell it to him at par and interest, and that he would guarantee he
should get eight per cent., if Mr. Scofield would give him half of the dividends
above that.   Mr. Scofield said he thought hlie would take one thousand dollars of
the stock; but before anything further was done, Mr. Scofield was called home
by sickness in his family.  On his return, the latter part of January, 1868, he spoke
to Mr. Ames about the stock, when Mr. Ames said he thought it was all sold, but
he would take his money and give him a receipt and get the stock for him if he
could. Mr. Scofield thereupon paid Mr. Ames $1,041 and took his receipt therefor.
Not long after Mr. Ames informed Mr. Scofield he could have his stock, but could
not give him a certificate for it until he could get a larger certificate dividend. Mr. Scofield received the bond dividend at eighty per cent., which was
payable Janu.ry 3,1868, taking a bond for $1,000 and paying Mr. Ames the difference. Mr. Ames received the sixty per cent. cash dividend on the stock in June,
1868. and paid over to Mr. Scofield.$600. the amount of it.
Before the close of that session of Congress, which was toward the end of July,
Mr. Scofield became, for some reason, disinclined to take the stock, and a settlement
was made between them, by which Mr. Ames was to retain the Credit Mobilier
stock, and Mr. Scofield took a thousand Union Pacific bond, and ten shares of the
Union Pacific Railroad stock.
The precise basis of the settlement does not appear. Neither Mr. Ames nor Mr.
Scofield having any full data in reference to it, Mr. Scofield thinks that he only
received back his money and interest upon it, while Mr. Ames states that he thinks
Mr. Scofield had ten shares of Union Pacific stock in addition. The committee -do
not deem it specially important to settle this difference of recollection. Since that
settlement Mr. Scofield has had no interest in the Credit Mobilier stock and derived
no benefit therefrom."
Mr. JOHN A. BINGHAM, of Ohio: "In December, 1867, Mr. Ames advised Mr.
Bingham to invest in the stock of the Credit Mobilier, assuring him that it would
return him his money with profitable dividends. Mr. Bingham agreed to take
twenty shares, and about the first of January, 1868, paid to Mr. Ames the par value
of the stock, for which Mr. Ames executed to him some receipt or agreement. Mr.
Ames received'all the dividends on the stock, whether in Union Pacifie bonds or in
stock or money. Some more delivered to Mr. Bingham,'and some retained by Mr.
642 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
Alues. This matter was not finally adjusted between them until February, 1872,
when it was settled, Mr. Ames retaining the twenty shares of Credit Mobilier stock,
and accounting to Mr. Binghqm for such dividends upon it as Mr. Bingham had not
already received. Mr. Bingham was treated as the real owner of the stock from
the time of the agreement to taking it in December, 1867, to the settlement in February, 1872, and had the benefit of all the dividends upon it. Neither Mr. Ames
nor Bingham had such records of their dealings as to be able to give the precise
amount of those dividends."
Mr. WM. D. KELLY, of Pennsylvania: "The Committee find from the evidence
that in the early part of the second session of the Fortieth Congress, and probably
in December, 1867, Mr. Ames agreed with Mr. Kelly to sell him ten shares of
Credit Mobilier stock at par, and interest from July 1, 1867.  Mr. Kelly was not then
prepared to pay for the stock, and Mr. Ames agreed to carry the stock for him until
he could pay for it. On the third day of January, 1868, there was a dividend of
80 per cent. on Credit Mobilier stock in Union Pacific bonds. Mr. Ames received
the bonds as the stock stood in his name, and sold them for ninety-seven per cent.
of their face. In June, 1868, there was a cash dividend of sixty per cent., which
Mr. Ames also received. The proceeds of the bonds sold, and the.cash dividends
received by Mr. Ames amounted to $1,047; so that, after paying for the stock, there
was a balance of dividend dae Mr. Kelly of $329.
On the 23d day of June, 1868, Mr. Ames gave Mr. Kelly a check for that sum on
the Sergeant-at-Arms of House of Representatives, and Mr. Kelly received the
money thereon. The Committee find that Mr. Kelly then understood that the
money he thus received was a balance of dividends due him after paying for the
stock.
All the subsequent dividends were either in Union Pacific stock or bond, and they
were all received by Mr. Ames in September, 1868.  Mr.  Kelly received from Mr.
Ames seven hundred and fifty dollars in money, which was understood between
them to be an advance to be paid out of dividends. There has never been an adjustment of the matter between them. and there is an entire variance in the
testimony of the two men as to what the transactions between them was, but the
Committee are unanimous in finding the facts above stated. The evidence reported
to the House gives some subsequent conversation and negotiation between Mr.
Kelly and Mr. Ames on this subject. The Committee do not deem it material to
refer to it in their report."
MR. JAMES A. GARFIELD OF OHIO.
"The facts in regard to Mr. Garfield, as found by the Committee, are identical
with the case of Mr. Kelly to the point of reception of the check for $329. He
-agreed with Mr. Ames to take ten shares of Credit Mobilier stock, but did not pay
for the same.  Mr. Ames received the eighty per ceut. dividend in bonds, and sold
them for ninety-seven per cent, and also received the sixty per cent cash dividend,
which together paid the price of the stock and interest, and left a balance of $329.
This sum was paid over to Mr. Garfield by a check on the Sergeant-at-Arms, and
Mr. Garfield then understood this sum was the balance of dividend after paying for
the stock. Mr. Ames received all the subsequent dividends, and the Committee do
not find that since that payment of the $329, there has been any communication
between Mr. Ames and Mr. Garfield on the subject until the investigation began.
Some correspondence between Mr. Garfield and Mr. Ames and some conversation
between them during the investigation, will be found in the reported testimony.
Some of the gentlemen whose names were indorsed on the'back of one of Mr.
Ames' letters by Mr. McComb, as having received Credit Mobilier stock, were
United States Senators. The Senate directed a select committee, of which Mr. Morrill, of Mine, was chairman.,to investigate the charges against these gentlemen.
Here is wlit they reported:
MR. JNO. A. LOGAN
In December, 1867, Mr. Logan made an arrangement with Mr. Ames to purchase
ten shares of the stock, commonly known as the stock of the Credit Mobilier of
America, upon the recommendation of Mr. Ames, that the stock was valuable. No
payment was made in consideration of the arrangement'at any time, and no stock
was ever delivered. In June following Mr. Ames stated to Mr. Logan an account,
in which he credited him with two dividends arising on the stock, subsequent to its
purchase, of eighty an& sixty per cent.. respectively, from which he deducted one
thousand dollars, the price of stock, and gave Mr. Logan a check' on the Sergeant
643 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
at-Arms of the House for the balance, $329, which check was paid. On the o10th of
July following, having become doubtful whether it was good stock, or whether
there would not be a difficulty about it, Mr. Logan paid to Mr. Ames the amount of
money received on the check, with interest thereon, stating to him that he had concluded not to take the stock, to which Mr. Ames assented; and here the transaction
ended, Mr. Logan having no further interest in it. Mr. Logan and Mr. Ames were
members of the House of Representatives at the date of the transaction.
MR. HIENRY WILSON.
"On or about December, 1867, on behalf of his wife, at the instance of Mr. Ames,
and upon the advice of friends, contracted for twenty shares of the Credit Mobilier
stock, having therefor in cash two thousand dollars, which belonged to his wife,
Mr. Ames giving a receipt for the same, and a guarantee for the payment of ten per
cent interest thereon. Mr. Wilson became dissatisfied with the transaction from
what he had learned of differences in the management of the Credit Mobilier and
Union Pacific Railroad Company, concluded to regard the transaction as incomplete;
and so stated to Mr. Ames, who consented to so regard it, and an adjustment was
thereupon made, by which Mr. Ames paid back the two thousand dollars to Mr.
Wilson, paying back to Mr Ames all dividends upon the stock and paying Mrs.
Wilson the $814, the amount she would have received as dividends accruing upon
the stock. The money paid to Mr. Ames was Mrs. Wilson's; it was contracted by
her husband, and Mr. Wilson had no right or interest therein except as such as grew
out of these facts."
MR. JAMES HARLAND, IOWA.
"It appears that Thomas C. Durant, of New York, Vice-President
of  the   Union  Pacific  Railroad  Company,  had   taken  an   interest   in
the Senatorial election of 1866, in the State of Iowa, between whom and Mr.
Ilarland there had been a long personal intercourse, and who had a large personal
interest in the State of Iowa, and professed to believe that Harland understood the
interests of the State, and had been long enough at Washington to know how to
care for those interests, and had, in the year 1865, given to Mr. Harland ten thousand dollars for the purpose of securing Mr. Harland's election to the Senate of the
United States.  Mr. Durant did not know how the money was applied, nor does it
appear that he gave any direction as to its application, but seemed to expect that
it was to be in part, at least, used to secure the influence of some newspapers in
that State. Mr. Harland states that he received the money for election purposes in
1865, and that it was so used; that it was intended to cover expenses which his
friends had incurred in the State canvass of that year, and also their expenses at
the Legislature; that the contribution of Durant was voluntary, and not solicited
by him, was not in consideration of any services performed or to be performed personally, or officially, or otherwise; that its reception and use had no reference to
the donor's connection with any public or private enterprise, and that it was used
in paying the expenses of the canvass at the Fall election of the members of the
Legislature, and for expenses coming to, staying at and returning from the capital
of Iowa, at the election of Senator."
Mr. PATTERSON, OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
"The transaction between Mr. Patterson and Oakes Ames discloses three
principal facts, viz.: That on the 31st of August, 1867, Patterson purchased of Mr. Ames thirty shares of Credit Mobilier stock, paying therefor
at   that  date  three  thousand  dollars,   which   stock   was   subsequently
delivered by Ames to Morton, Bliss & Co., of New York (the busiless correspondents of Mr. Patterson). Upon the 12th of May, 1871, on that dale, Morton,
Bliss & Co. mailed a letter, addressed to Senator Patterson, informing him of such
deposit; that Ames had retained the possession of his stock, receiving the dividends payable thereon, and paying them over to Mr. Patterson as they were
declared in February and June following, until 6th of May, when, on a final settlement between the parties, the balance of the dividends was adjusted, and in pursuance of which the stock was placed in the hands of Morton, Bliss & Co.
On two occassions subsequently and prior to 1871 Mr. Patterson purchased of
Mr. Ames Union Pacific Railroad stock and bonds, investing therein. in all, the
sum of four thousand dollars, which stock and bonds were placed in the hands of
Morton, Bliss & Co., and were by them sold on Mr. Patterson's account.
644 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
The market value of Credit Mobilier stock in August, 1867, was at par and rose
in the next six or eight months to the value of $200 or $225 per share.
On this stock were paid in dividends on February 14, 1868, $2,328; on  the 23d
of June following, $1,800; on the 6th of May, 1871, $75)7.24, and one hundred
shares of Union Pacific stock and two thousand dollars in income bonds on that
road."
Schuyler Colfax was Vice-President. and neither the House or the Senate had
jurisdiction in his case, save that the House might present articles of impeachment
against him; hence, neither the House Committee or the Senate Committee mentioned his case in their report. Mr. Colfax appeared before the Poland Committee
and testified as follows:
I state explicitly that no one ever gave or offered to give me any share of stock
in the Credit Mobilier or Union Pacific Railroad. I have neveiireceived nor have had
tendered to me any dividends in cash, stock or bonds accruing upon any stock of
either of said oiganizations.  I told him (Ames), that I would agree  to purchase
twenty shares at par and interest, to be.paid for as soon as I had the money.. Some
weeks or months afterward, at the same session, I paid Mr. Ames about five hundred
dollars in cash e n this contract of purchase, being all the money I had, but received
no dividend or certificate of stock, in whole or in part. My impression is that he told
me one or two dividends had been earned, but they were not in cash, and were as yet
unadjusted; certainly I did not receive any, and was not offered any, in cash, bonds,
or stock, then or since.  A few weeks or months after this,  I heard a rumor that
unpleasant controversy existed among the largest stockholders, which was certain to
involve the organization in prolonged litigation. The very day I heard the rumor I
told Mr. Ames that no profit, present or prospective, could induce me to buy into a
lawsuit, that I must therefore recede entirely from the transactions between us; he
assented to this, and nothing was said as to the money paid, my anxiety being not
to get in a lawsuit. The next year, or the year after, Mr. Ames suspended payments,
inconsequence, as was said, of financial involvments connected with the Pacific
Railroad, and his creditors gave him an extension on his liabilities. But regretting
his failure and its cause, I voluntarily told him to dismiss from his mind the small
amount of money between us.
Mr. Ames followed Colfax. After a long, tedious wrangle, in which Mr. Colfax in
vain tried to extract an admission from Mr. Ames that their contract was off, and
during which Mi. Ames told him he had heard that suggestion for the first time
from his lips at Worinley's after the investigation bad begun, Mr. Colfax concluded
by saying, " I want again to state to the committee, that I do not remember (before
he was positive) ever having received one dollar from Mr. Ames, and I hope to be
able to prove that fact. I think there is a mistake in this statement Mr. Ames
makes. "
This episode concluded, the Chairman resumed the examination of Mr. Ames:
"Q. Are we to understand, in relation to this matter between you and Mr. Colfaxand we want you to testify from your recollection-whether you understand that
this contract about the Credit Mobilier was ever rescinded? A. I do not recollect it.
Q. Do you now remember anything in connection with any conversation between
you and Mr. Colfax in relation to putting an end to it or being off? A. Nothing
except a casual remark. There never has been any negotiation about having it off,
or any agreement about it.
Q. What do you think that remark was-just what he said?  A. I have no  par ticular recollection of it.
Q. Have you any recollection? A. I do not think I have. I think what I did
was what I got from him this winter.
Q. Have you any impression of any such thing being said between you and him?
A. I do not think I have until this winter. I am willing to have it go any way Mr.
Colfax pleases-to call it off or call it on.
At the conclusion Mr. Ames submitted the following memoranda, from which he
had testified:
"S.C.  Dr.
1868.
To 20 shares C. M. of A........................................... $2,000 00
To interest....................................................... 86 72
June 19th, to cash..........................................1,200 00
Total............................................. $3,286 72
645 
CREDIT MOBILIER.
1868.                               Cr.
March 5, by cash................................................. $534 72
Feb. 14, dividends of bonds U. P. R., $2,000; eighty per cent. $1,600;
less three per cent............................................. 1,552 00
June 17th, by dividend collected for his account......................   1,200 00
$3,286 72
The report of the House Committee in regard to the gentlemen who had accepted
bribes was a whitewashing one. The committee was organized for that purpose.
Before any testimony was taken all the gentlemen implicated were present at a
meeting held in the room of the Committee on Pacific Railroads, where they were
called together by Mr. Blaine, for consultation. They then and there agreed upon
a story which every one of them was to swear to before the committee. This agreement was carried out. The Committee began its proceedings with closed doors and
continued to sit in secret from December 12, 187 to December 19, when Congress
took a recess for the holidays.
The independent press of the country demanded an open investigation, and public sentiment was so wrought up. that upon the reassembling of Congress, after
the holiday adjournment, the House was compelled to direct the committee to open
its doors. This spoiled the game of the Credit Mobilier (congressmen. Had the
committee been able to continue in secret session, they might have got out of the
scrape by pursuing the plan as above related; but, little by little, Oakes Ames was
forced up to the point where he must either perjure himself, in order to save the
men he had bribed, or else come out and tell the whole truth.
He had, singularly as it may seem, conscientious scruples about perjury, and
accordingly he told the whole truth.
646 
A MODEL CARPET-BAG SENATOR.
JOHN J. PATTERSON, OF PENNSYLVANIA AND SOUTH
CAROLINA, WHO ESCAPED THE PENITEN              TIARY AND BOUGHT A SEAT IN THE
UNITED STATES SENATE.
We subjoin the correct biography of United States Senator Patterson, of South
Carolina, from the New-York Sun. Patterson was one of the most urgent instigators
of the recent outrageous order of Attoriney-General Taft, by which the United States
army has been placed at the service of the carpet-bag Republican politicians of the
South, to enable them to overawe the Southern people and defraud them of their votes
at the coming Presidential election. Is a party that honors such fellows as Patterson
worthy of the support of honest men?
From the New-York Sun of Novembr 5, 1873.
As a private citizen of Juniata County, Pennsylvania, John J. Patterson was comparatively an unimportant and vulgar fraction of society. It was of little consequence
outside his immediate neighborhood whether he was a saint or a lrogue.   But when
John J. Patterson became the successor of John C. Calhoun, by purchasing a seat in
the United States Senate from the negro Legislature of South Carolina, the history of
his life became of interest to the whole country.
The full import of this man's elevation to the Senate of the United States by wholesale bribery has not been grasped by the public mind. He stands in the Senate
Chamber the representative of all the moral and political degradation that the last
decade has given birth to in this country.
John J. Patterson entered the school of politics in 1853, by migrating from Juniata
County, Pennsylvania, to Harrisburg, where he purchased of Theo. Fenn and Philo
Sedgwick the Pennsylvania Telegraph. There was nothing about him at that early
period to indicate that he was destined to occupy a place in the United States Senate,
and it was impossible to conceive of any political earthquake mighty enough to upheave such a creature into the seat of John C. Calhoun. On the contrary, as afterward
sufficiently appeared, hlie had already set out on the road which in those days commonly
led to the penitentiary; and as Christian statesmanship had not yet been invented as an
employment for the superfluous rogues of the land, John's chances of ending his days
ill making shoes or plaiting chair-bottoms for the State were as good as those of any
young man of his age.
John got along, however, during the year that he affected to direct public opinion
through the columns of the Telegraph without coming to any special harm. The fraud
he had in contemplation, by which he afterward cheated the luckless owner of that
newspaper out of the purchase money, nobody, of course, knew anything about but
himself, while as a political writer his stupidity disarmed antagonism.
A GOOD BEGINNING
On the first of November, 1853, John came into the possession of the Telegraph,
paying one-third of the purchase money, and giving his obligations for the payment of
the rest at stated periods.  Mr. Fenn says that "at the time of the sale, Patterson represented himself as abundantly able to meet his obligations, having in his own right,
$8,000, which he had inherited, independent of his father, who was represented as being
wealthy." The too confiding vendors learned when it was too late, that this was a
lie out of the whole cloth.
In the spring of 1854, before any of his obligations to Fenn and Sedgwick had
become due, Patterson sold the Telegraph to Messrs. Clyde & Miller for an advance
of three thousand dollars, and left the city. Fenn, a thrifty and enterprising man, had
647 
A MODEL CARPET-BAG SENATOR.
gone into business in Lancaster, Pa., and was promptly on hand when his money wvas
due. He found the bird had flown, but he hunted him down and threatened sum mary proceedings if his money was not forthcoming. Whereupon Patterson assured
him that he had not the slightest intention in the world to defraud him, but in selling
the Telegraph he had received no cash, and could not pay until he had negotiated the
paper.  Fenn offered to take the notes of Clyde & Miller, but Patterson declined to
surrender them, and upon Fenn's threatening to attach the money in their hands, John
opened his heart to the old man, and told him how he had courted and won a "ladye
of high degree," to whom he was very shortly to be united in wedlock. "If," said he,
"you proceed against me in this manner a great scandal will be created, and my hopes
blighted, my prospects blasted. Trust to my honor, and I solemnly declare I will pay
you every farthing I owe you." Fenn replied, "It shall be as you say, Mr. Patterson,
a debt of honor, I will trust you."
Alas for the unsophisticated Theophilus! Patterson disposed of Clyde and Miller's
notes to John H. Berryhill, and the next time Mr. Fenn called upon him to redeem
his pledge and pay the debt of honor, he was coolly told to get his money the best way
he could. Fenn employed John C. Kunkel, Esq., and at the August Term, 1858, he
obtained, in the Court of Common Pleas of Dauphin county, judgments against John
J. Patterson for $3,904.22, with $918.17+ interest. There was nothing, however, in
the name of John J. Patterson whereby he could recover, and Mr. Fenn still could
not see his way clear to outwit the young rogue. However, he was blessed with
patience, and resolved to bide his time until John's father, who was quite old and
feeble, passed away, when he thought, by being quick on the trigger, he might get
his money.  But here again he was circumvented by the young and promising swindler.  John confessed judgment to his wife in the sum of $10,000 soon after his father
died, and at the September Term of the Court of Common Pleas of Juniata counity
judgment was entered in that amount for the benefit of Lucretia E. Patterson, his wife.
ANOTHER  CHAPTER  OF RASCALITY.
In the meantime Patterson had gone to Philadelphia, where he engaged in the
banking business, having for his partner one Samuel Slaymaker.  His career as a
banker was of short duration, but long enough to defraud sundry creditors, and fleece
his partner out of goodly sums of money.
All this time Patterson was an active local politiciani, doing whatever the Winnebago Chief wished done in the way of manipulating county conventions in Juniata,
Snyder and Northumberland counties. Filially the war came, and Cameron, being
Secretary of War, gave John an appointment as Paymaster in the army. He acted
in this capacity for a short time without-being confirmed by the Senate, and exhibited
the same obliquity of moral vision which had distinguished his dealings with Fenn &
Sedgwick in Harrisburg, and with Slaymaker in Philadelphia. He mistook the funds
of the Government for his own, and when his name came up for confirmation as Paymaster the Senate resolutely refused to approve his appointment, because it was
clearly shown that he had already defrauded the Government by overcharges in his
accounts. His backers were powerless to save him, and he quit the service in disgrace.
He had, however, with the Cameron influence to aid him, the adroitness to obtain
the regular Republican nomination for Congress in the Fourteenth Congressional District, composed of Juniata, Snyder, Northumberland, Union, and Dauphin counties.
This was Theo. Fenn's great opportunity.  He had waited patiently for eight long
years for a chance to revenge his wrongs.  He wrote out "a plain statement of facts,"
giving the true history of the manner in which John J. Patterson had swindled him,
and had the same printed in large type in handbills, which he distributed throughout
the Fourteenth District.   He traveled through and through the District himself,
posting his handbills and telling the story of his wrongs at Patterson's hands to the
honest yeomanry with whom he had been well acquainted for many years as the old
editor of the Pennsylvania Telegraph.
A CERTIFICATE OF CHARACTER.
From this "plain statement of facts" I will quote the following paragraph:
"It is now eight years and six months since Patterson has had in his pocket, or possession, or been
using the monay due me for the Pennsylvntia Telegraph, a press that I had spent twenty-three of the best
years of my life in establishing and building up to a circulation and influence never before possessed by
any press at the seat of government of Pennsylvania. No one acquainted with his means doubts that
Patterson has had it in his power to pay me at any time within that period if he had had the h,n'asty to do
s   The sum he owes me, as will be seen by a copy from the docket, certified by the Prothonotary of
Dauphin county, is about five thousand d,,llars.  The portion of the purchase price of the Telegraph
owed by him to Mr. Sedgwick was, after years of fruitless attempts to obtain pa)meint by the latter,
extinguished in this Wanner: Mr. Sedgwick was indnuced by Patterson in 1860 to take of him stock in
an insurance company in Philadelphia, which proved to be an utterly defunct, bogus affair, a swindle
end a f,aud.
r),48 
A MODEL CARPET-BAG SENATOR.
"To show more conclusively the knavery and rank dishonesty of this man Patterson, I need only
refer to the fact established by the certified record of the Prothonotary of Juniata county, which will be
seen below, that he had abundant means to psy the debt he owes me, but that he hid his property and
refused to do so from an innate dishonesty, and a predetermination to defraud me. That after the
decease of his father, who was reputed to have left a large estate to three heirs, John J. Patterson gave
his wife a judgment of ten thousand dollars!
"If he had not the means to pay mne, as he alleged, why did he give his wife judgments to the
amount of ten tho,sand dollars? Was it not done to keep me from collecting an honest debt?  What
other motive could have induced him to do so?  No other c,Jlstructio/e ca, be placed upon this act than a
res, lee t(, cheat honest creditors.
"Now, I ask, is there an honest man in Dauphin, Northumberland, Union, Snyder, or Juniata
counties that can or will vote for John J. Patterson to represent the people of this district in the
national councils with this brand of dishonesty fastened upon ltim? With such an exposition of his true
character, can he have the presumption, aye, the insulting impudence, to ask a man to vote for him?
Or even to look an hones' man i,o the face?  Should he do so, tell him to seek su:port among the knaves
and scoundrels of his own stripe I Spurn him from your presence, and teach other knaves who aim to
make party politics subservient to their ambition and their avarice, that'honesty is the bestpolicy; I and
combine to'lash the rascal naked th,rough the world!'
"Will the Republican party of this district sanction and uphold the dishonesty of this man Patterson
by giving hlim their votes? Is it reduced to the necessity ef supporting such a man? Has it lost that
high moral integrity that has ever characterized it?  That has been itslock of strength and its beacon of
succe,s? Will it commit political suicide by electing an untalented, unqualified and dishonest man to
represent them in Congress?  Is it now ready to fall in disgrace-to invite defeat under opprobrium?
Can it feel under any obligations to vote for a man without any claims upon them, and destitute of every
requisite qualification to represent them creditably in the Halls of Congress? Will it put such a man in
a position to plunder the nation or sell his party whenever he can do so for his own benefit? What else
can be expected of a knave who aspires to such a position?
"Did we want more evidence of the unworthiness of John J. Patterson we would point to the action
of the United States Senate, where his n,minatios, for the office of Paymaster in the army was rej cted o.,,
the ground of allegedfrauds or ov,rcharges i, his accounts!  Why do not his backers clear up tidi
charge against his official acts? Why are they so studiously silent on the subject, when he is placed.
before the people for the highest office now in their gift? The cause of their silence cannot be mistaken.
If the charge was not true, would not the Telegraph ere this have heralded his innocence, and branded
his calumniators? Would it have preserved a prudent silence while the Senate, by its deliberate action,
branded him with its scorn and condemnation?"
REPUDIATED BY HIS PARTY.
This manifesto and the personal appeals of Theo. Fenn during his jaunts through
the mountains, joined to the general distrust in which Patterson was held by all honest
men of his party, overcame a standing Republican majority of 2,500, and elected the
Hon. William H. Miller of Harrisburg, an uncompromising Democrat, by a handsome
majority. The Republicans of the mountain counties had yet not been debauchedgiven over completely to political simony.
This defeat evidently impressed Patters6n with the idea that the old man Fenn was
a very vindictive and rather troublesome fellow to have following up an ambitious
swindler.  At any rate he not long since compromised with Fenn by satisfying the
judgments standing against him on the records of Dauphin county, and stipulated
that the war should cease, a pledge which the old man has religiously kept, none of the
facts herein given having been obtained from him.
The poor widow of Philo Sedgwick, the partner of Fenn, who was swindled with
the bogus insurance stock, has not fared so well, as will be seen by the following letter:
CORNWALL HOLLOW, Conn., July 26, 1873.
DEAR SIR:  Mr. Sedgwick. at the time of his death, had a certificate of insurance stock of a
thousand dollars, which I have no doubt he received from John J. Patterson in part payment for his
interest in the Pennsylva,,ia Telegraph. I sent it to Philadelphia to W. F. Judson, Esq., for collection,
who returned it to me with the information that it was worthless. I have since destroyed it, with other
papers that I supposed worthless. I am certain that Mr. Patterson is still indebted to him. He never
paid him but one thousand dollars to my knowledge, and that after many years' waiting and much
urging.  Mr. and Mrs. Fenn are both aware of the facts in the case.  Mr. Patterson's conduct was rascally, as you probably know.  I have never had any communication with him since Mr. Sedgwick's
death. Never has he written a word about redeeming the bogus stock.
Yours respectfully,                                    ELIZA A. SEDGWICK.
Philo Sedgwick was a brother of the distinguished Gen. John Sedgwick, who won
such a glorious record with the army of the Potomac. Mrs. Sedgwick, the writer of
the above letter, is living in very reduced circumstances, and this fact is well known
to Patterson, who, while acknowledging his indebtedness to her late husband, has
within a few months refused to make any amends for his dishonorable conduct.
CORRUPTION.
In the spring of 1863, there was a United States Senator to be chosen by the Pennsylvania Legislature. The Democrats had a majority of one on joint ballot, but this
did not discourage Sim,in Cameron in the least.  He felt certain of being able to buy
one or two men; and he entered into the contest with all his old zeal and true Scotch
pertinacity.
649 
A MODEL (,ARPET-BAG SENATOR.
The Democrats had agreed in caucus to cast their votes for Buckalew, and Cameron
had managed by liberal expenditure of money and promises to set up the Republican
caucus in his favor.  This done, he summoned to Harrisburg men who could buy
votes. Chief among them were Jim Burns, a fellow named Brobst, and our dapper
little rogue, JohnJ. Patterson.  John was the youngest of them all, but nevertheless
was adjudged old and experienced enough to be employed on the most important and
delicate missions. Simon, to his surprise, founid unusual difficulty-not in finding purchasable Democrats-but in securing those who had sufficient nerve to take his motney
and the consequences sure to follow on selling their votes. The Democracy of every
portion of the State were fully aware of the fact that Simon meant to buy enough of
their men to secure his election, and the leaders of the party were there in force, deter —
mined that every mall who was suspected should be "shadowed" night and day.
It soon became apparent to the wily old Scot that he must pick out a man who was
unsuspected, and secure him regardless of cost. After careful deliberation he settled
upon a member from Clearfield county-a Dr. T. Jefferson Boyer-and Brobst and
Patterson were instructed to capture him. They set about their work, and to theirgreat
delight found Boyer an apparently willing victim. The Doctor was by no means an
unsophisticated man, but on the contrary a shrewd, determined patriot; and when he
was approached by Brobst he instantly came to the conclusion that he would listen to
their overtures, seem to consent, and then at the proper moment, expose the plot and
bring them to justice.
BRIBERY.
His story as told by himself to the committee of the House by whom the whole subject was investigated, reads as follows:
"In the early part of the session he met Mr. William Brobst of Lewisburg, at the Pennsylvania
House in this city; and after several meetings, at the request of Mr. Brobet he granted him a private
interview in his own room. During this private interview Mr. Brobst made known to Dr Boyer his
ardent desire for the election of Gen. Cameron to the Senate of the United States; assuring him that
he was authorized by Gen. Cameron to enter into preliminary arrangemnents with any member of the
Legislature to secure his vote. and to offer $5,000 to any one who would agree to absent himself
on the day of election.
"Mr. Brobst informed Dr. Boyer that Gen. Cameron desired to see him; and arrangements were
accordingly made by them to go to Gen Cameron's house, but were not carried out.  Afterward  Mr.
Brobst told Dr. Boyer that Gen. Cameron wanted to se him at the State Capital Bank; and on Dr.
Boyer's consenting to the interview. he was conducted by Mr. Brohst to a back room in said bank,
where he found Gen Cameron. The General then shut the door, put down the blinds, and had a
private interview with Dr. Boyer. He asked the Doctor what he would think of $10.000 for a vote, to
be paid when the work was done? And remarked that he regarded this suni only as a first installment.
He spoke of two paymasterships in the army, which were life applointments, at a salary of $3,000 a
year, one of which lie could secure for Dr. Boyer. He also requested the Doctor to name some one
who should arrange matters between them in the future; and, at the suggestion of Gen. Cameron, they
agreed on Jinm Burns.
"Mr. Brobst again met Dr Boyer and made another engagement with him to go to Gen. Cameron's
house, but failed to fulfill his promise. The next day, being the Friday prior to the election for United
States Senator. Mr. Brobst informed Dr. Boyer that Gen. Cameron desired to see him at the State
Capital Bank. but as Dr. Boyer refused to meet him there, Gen. Cameron, at the instance of Mr. Brobst,
was conducted to the room of, Dr. Boyer in the Pennsylvania House. At this interview Gen. Cameron
agreed to give Dr. Boyer $15,000 for his vote; and informed him that he was going that afternoon
to Philadelphia on the Lebanon Valley cars; that Jim Burns was sick, and that John J. Patterson
would go in the Fame train, and would make arrangements in regard to the titoney.
"On the morning of that day, Dr. Boyer met with John J. Patterson who told him that he had seen
Gen. Cameron. and that he was aware of the whole matter. proposing at the same time to meet
Dr. Boyer at the Lebanon Valley depot.  They accordingly met, and took the car. for Reading, Gen.
Cameron also being on the train. In the baggage apartment of the New-York car, Mr. Patterson
agreed w th Dr Boyer that he,hould have $2Q,000 if he would vote for Gen. Cameron for United States.
Senator, subject, however, to the approval of the General, and Mr. Pa terson afterward informed Dr.
Boyer that Gen. Cameron had agreed to the price. Arrangements were made by Mr. Patterson and Dr.
Boyer to meet with Gen. Cameron on Saturday evening at the house of J. Don Cameron.  Accordingly
they all met at the appointed time and place, and it was then agreed upon that Gen. Cameron would
give Dr. Boyer $20,000 for his vote.
"On Tuesday morning, the day of the election for Senator, Mr. Patterson called at the Pennsylvania House immediately after breakfast and accompanied Dr Boyer to his (Patterson's) rooms in
Herr's Hotel, where they found Gen. Cameron.  The General told Dr. Boyer that Dr. Fuller would
have an interview with him there whenever he was ready to receive him. and requested Dr. Boyer
to say to Dr. Fuller that he would vote for him (Gen. Cameron) for United States Senator. Dr. Fuller
was immediately introduced into the room, and inquired, as'the Chairman of a committee appointed
by the Republican caucus,' whether Dr. Boyer would vote for Gen. Cameron, and receiving from
Dr. Boyer an affirmative answer, retired."
PEIRJURY.
The election came off in due time, and to the astonishment of Gen. Cameron, "the
Chairman of the committee appointed by the Republican caucus," and all the pimps
and purveyors of the Cameron school, Mr. Buckalew was elected by two votes.  Not
only did Dr. Bayer fail to vote for Gen. Cameron, but immediately after the election
he publicly stated that an attempt had been made to bribe him to vote for Cameron,.
and asked that a committee be appointed by the House to investigate the whole subject..
650 
A MODEL GARPET-RAG SENATOR.
A resolution to that effect was introduced and passed by the House soon after, and
a committee composed of S. Wakefield, D. Kaine, Thos. J. Barger, Cyrus L. Pershing,
W. D. Brown, D. Lilley, and M. C. Beebe, was named to conduct the investigation,
and report the facts and their conclusions to the House at as early a day as practicable.
On April 3 (see House Journal, p. 781) Mr. Pershing made the majority report from
which I have already quoted the statement of Dr. Boyer. The committee were unanimous on one point-in disbelieving the testimony of Brobst and Patterson. The
majority expressed their belief in Boyer's statement, and very emphatically, but
decor,usly, declared that in their opinion Brobst and Patterson had perjured themselves in delying the offer of money to Boyer to vote for Cameron. Both admitted
that they had had repeated interviews with Dr. Boyer, their statements agreeing in
every respect with his save in regard to the money. They both denied that they had,
either f,,r Gen. Cameron, themselves, or anybody else, offered him any money for his
vote, or insinuated that he should have any other valuable consideration.
The statements of Dr. Boyer in regard to all his meetings with the conspirators
were corroborated by the testimony of a number of disinterested witnesses, and it
therefore only remained for the committee to decide as to the truth of Boyer's statement, contradicted by Brobst and Patterson as to the offers of money.
On the 14th of April the House, by an aye and nay vote of 48 to 45 passed the
following resolution:
RPsolved, That the Governor be requested to instruct the Attorney-General of this Commonwealth
to institute criminal proceedings against Simon Cameron, William Brobst, John J. Patterson and
Henry Thomas.
CHEATING HIS SISTERS.
There is a still darker side to the history of John J. Patterson's life-a still more
circumstantially proven story of crime to be related.   William  H. Patterson,  the
father of John, was a well-to-do citizen of Juniata county, ow::ing a tract of land on
the east side of the Juniata river opposite Mifflintown, a valuable tannery at Peru
Mills, and the seminary property at Academia, seven or eight miles from Mifflintown.
He died Aug. 24, 1858, leaving a will, and John J. Patterson and James M. Sellers his
executors.  His estate was generally believed to be worth $25,000, and by the terms of
his will was to be settled up within five years, and the proceeds divided amon
his four children, John and three daughters. One of the daughters, Jane, had married
thle Hon. James P. Sterrett, now President Judge of the Courts of Allegheny county,.
Pennsylvania. In defiance of the terms of the will, the executors made no effort to
settle up the estate within'the five years, and it was not until at the petition of the
Hon. James P. Sterrett they were cited to state an account that they in 1860 filed
partial accounts-not jointly, but separately.
The account of John J. Patterson brought the estate in debt to him $2,870.05.
The attorneys of the heirs, at the request of the Hon. James P. Sterrett, filed twentysix exceptions to this account, wherein they alleged that he had mismanaged and
wasted the estate; that he had not charged himself, as he should have done, with
judgments to the amount of some $2,000 which he had qDllected, and that he had
credited himself with greater amounts of interest than he was legally entitled to; that
he had not accounted for 100 shares of stock in the Union National Bank of Philadelphia, or for real estate of great value which he had fraudllently and collusively sold
to his wife and other parties.  They also alleged that hlie had not charged himself with
a note for $3,490.83 from the firm of Slaymaker & Patterson to the testator; and finally
that he had taken credit for a note for $2,000, and $1,124 interest on same, which pur —
ported to be from the testator, William H. Patfterson, to John J. Patterson, and dated
Aug. 18, 1858. They denied the genuineness of the note, and alleged it to be a forgery...
The seminary property' at Academia, of which the testator owned an undivided
half, contained sixty acres of valuable land, and was improved by a fine large brick
building which had formerly been occupied for a female seminary. During his lifetime, Wrilliam H. Patterson paid $7,000 for this property and greatly improved it.
This, John J. Patterson, in a seemingly regular manner, and with the consent of his
co-executor, sold to his own wife for the pitiful sum of $100, and joined in conveying
the same to her. About the same time he, as executor of his father's estate, gave a
power of attorney to one James Abel White to transfer, without any consideration
whatever, to James M. Sellers, his co-executor, the one hundred shares of stock in the
Union National Bank of Philadelphia, which belonged to his father's estate.
A  MATTER  OF  FORGERY.
This whole matter was fought over for some time before an auditor was appointed
by the Orphan's Court, but Judge Sterrett being thoroughly convinced that the $2,000
note was a forgery, and that the same could be established, he petitioned the Orphan's
Court to direct an issue to the Common Pleas to determine this point. This was done,
6511 
A MODEL CARPET-BAG SENATOR.
iand at the September Term, 1869, the cause came on for trial, John J. Patterson being
made plaintiff and John M. Kennedy administrator, &c., of Jane H. Sterrett, deceased,
et al., defendants. The defendants were also permitted to give evidence of the alleged
indebtedness of the late firm of Slaymaker & Patterson to Wm. H. Patterson, deceased.
The plaintiff, John J. Patterson, was represented by the Hon. Alexander K.
McClure as his counsel, who displayed great ability in trying this vt ry important case.
By the manner in which the issue had been directed by the Court, the burden of proof
lay with the plaintiff to prove the genuineness of his father's signature to the $2,000
note.  The defendants could prove by the letters of the plaintiff to his late partner,
Samuel Slaymaker, that the firm was indebted to the estate of Wm. H. Patterson in
the sum of $3,490.83, and that a note for this amount had been given. It was therefore
necessary for the plaintiff so show also that he had been individually released by his
father during his life-time from his share of this liability. The following brief history
of this trial I condense from the Judge's notes, which are now before me.
The plaintiff went about his work in a very simple and direct way. He produced
two witnesses, a relative, Captain William H. Patterson, and a brother-in-law, Dr.
Thomas Moore, who swore they were at the house of John J. Patterson, in Academia,
with whom William H. Patterson, his father, lived, on the 18th of August, 1858, and
saw the $2,000 note written by John J. Patterson and signed by his father. The words
" with interest" were added at a subsequent time by John J. Patterson at the request
of his father.  The consideration was 200 acres of land in Iowa, which William H. Patterson purchased from his son John J. to give to his daughter Salina. This done, the
plaintiff rested.
DAMAGING TESTIMONY.
The defendants produced William Russel, a banker of Lewistown, who testified
that he was very familiar with the handwriting of the deceased, and that in his opinion
the signature to the note was forged. John Patterson, a brother of the deceased, also
testified to the same effect, as did also Judge Burchfield, of Mifflintown, Samuel Slaymaker, the former partner of John J. Patterson, and Alex. M. Guthrie, William Roseburgh, John Magoflin, James W. Kennedy, and John M. Laughlin, bankers and experts of Pittsburgh. They then proved by John Patterson that John J. Patterson
admitted to him the evening after his father's funeral that he had exchanged the 200
acres of Iowa land with his father for other Western land; that he made a sacrifice in
so doing, but did so for the benefit of his sister Salina, to whom his father had given
the Iowa land. James Patterson, son of John Patterson, also testified to the same fact,
as did also Robert Patterson. Elizabeth Shultz, the old housekeeper of William H.
Patterson, testified to hearing a conversation between John J. Patterson and his father
a few days before the latter died about exchanging Western lands.
The defendants produced a letter from Capt. W H. Patterson to Dr. J P. Sterrett,
dlated Aug. 19, 1858, at Mount Pleasant, in which he inquired about political matters
in the neighborhood of Academia. This was to show that he could not possibly have
been at John J. Patterson's house the day before They also proved by domestics that
they had not seen Capt. W. H. Patterson at John J. Patterson's house  for several
days preceding his father's death. Dr. Sterrett testified that he was W. H. Patterson's
physician and attended him in his last illness, and was frequently at John J. Patterson's house, and that he did not see either Capt. Patterson or Dr. Moore there.
In regard to the Slaymaker and Patterson note, the letters of John J. Patterson to
Samuel Slaymaker were produced by defendants, in all of which he spoke of their
indebtedness to his father, and in one be mentioned a note for $3,490.83, and inclosed
a copy of the same in the letter.  He was urging him (Slaymaker) to pay one-half of
tllis indebtedness, so that he (Patterson) would not be held for the whole.
HOW HE SAVED HIMSELF.
To rebut this damaging testimony, Capt. Patterson and Dr. Moore were recalled.
They testified still more positively to what they saw and heard on the 18th of August,
1858, when the note was signed. They described with great minuteness the positions
in which John J. Patterson, his father, and themselves were seated in the room, and
'epeated several remarks alleged to have been made on unimportant topics at the time.
They also testified that at the time the words "with interest" were added to the note,
Wm. H. Patterson came into the room with some papers in his hand and gave them to
John J. Patterson, saying, "Here are those Slaymaker papers.  They are of no use to
me; do what you please with them."  Capt. Patterson further testified to having a
conversation with'the old man some time previous, in which he said "that if John
would come and live with him, he would forgive him the Slaymaker debt." He
accounted for and explained the letter he wrote to Dr. Sterrett on the 19th of August,
1858, in an ingenious way, which was well calculated to deceive.
4652 
A MODEL CARPET-BAG SENATOR.
Ex-Sheriff Joseph Bell and a carpenter named John Sherlock were important witnesses to prove that William H. Patterson had admitted to them a few days before his
death that he had bought the Iowa land of his son John for $2,000, and given him his
obligation for the same, and also that he had released him from the Slaymaker debt.
They testified to this in a very emphatic and businesslike manner. A deed from John
J. Patterson and wife, bearing date and acknowledged Aug. 18, 1858, was also given
in evidence by the plaintiff. It may be noted here that John J. Patterson had all
along strenuously denied that his father had any Western land, and made oath to the
same effect before the Auditor;- Samnuel, Slaymaker testified that John J. Patterson
had, while a partner of his, visited the West for the purpose of purchasing land for
himself and father, and that while West he drew on him for large sums of money,
which were paid, and afterward, by direction of John, charged to his father's account.
After argument by counsel, and an able and impartial charge by Judge Graham,
the case was given to the jury in the evening, and the next morning they returned a
verdict for the plaintiff, very much to the surprise of many, and not a little to the joy
of John J. Patterson.
CONFESSING  HIMSELF  A  SCOUNDREL.
And now comes the strangest part of this strange story. The defendants' counsel
immediately moved for a new trial on the ground that the jury had not passed upon
the whole issue, as directed by the Court. Here the matter rested until April 27, 1870,
when the counsel for defendants came into court and asked leave to file the following
additionial reasons for a new trial:
1. That since the last term material testimony, important to the defendants, has
been discovered, and which before trial they had no means of ascertaining.
2. That since the last court it has come to the knowledge of the defendants, from a
source believed reliable that suborned and false testimony was introduced on the trial, by
the plaintiff, and that the verdict was procured by corrupt means.
The knowledge of this "suborned and false testimony" came to the defendants in
the following manner: The Hon. Alex. K. McClure, John J. Patterson and J. V.
Cresswell were interested in certain railroad speculations in South Carolina, and
shortly after this trial was over they all went South, and while stopping at the Nickerson House, in Columbia, S. C., John J. Patterson in Cresswell's room, and in his presence, admitted to McClure that he had suborned Capt. Patterson and John Sherlock to
testify falsely in this suit. McClure, it seems, had had his suspicions aroused in regard to
the testimony of these witnesses as well as of others on the plaintiff's side during the
progress of the trial, and immediately after the verdict had been rendered compelled
Patterson to accompany him to Judge Sterrett and allow him, McClure, to propose a
compromise and settlement, McClure at the time stating that he was satisfied there was;
something wrong about Patterson's account so far as Western lands were concerned.
When Patterson made the admission about suborning witnesses McClure at once
determined to get himself out of a very ugly and rather perilous situation. He came
North, and in Philadelphia took counsel with one of the ablest lawyers at the bar as to
the course he should pursue. Following the advice he received, McClure appeared at
Mifflintown at the June Term of court, and in open court asked to be marked on the
record as withdrawn from this case. It also seems that he stated privately to Judge
Graham his reasons, or some of them, for so doing. He had also previously communicated the facts to Judge Sterrett, one of the defendants, who immediately caused the
additional reasons for new trial, as above given, to be filed.  When  McClure made a
statement to Judge Graham, that officer was so incensed, or so excited, that he made
hasty remarks rather severely reflecting on Patterson, and when he became calm he
would n,,t consent to hear the motion for new trial, because he thought his remarks
incapacitated him.  He, therefore, requested Judge Robt. J. Fisher, of the Nineteenth
Judicial District, to hear the motion. At a special term, held June 7, 1870, the hear
ing was had. I transcribe from Judge Fisher's notes the most important testimony:
EVIDENCE GIVEN UNDER OATH.
"The Hon. James P. Sterrett sworn: I first acquired the information a short time after the trial from
Col. McClure, in the presence of the plaintiff. that there were certain matters in this case which the
defendants were not acquainted with. This was an hour or two or less after the verdict was rendered.
He said he was satisfied the case ought to be settled, and had so advised his client. He did not state to
me what the matters were. I afterward learned, through other sources, information which induced me
to call upon Col. McClure, and in an interview with him r learned facts and circumstances from which I
did believe that the grounds laid in the supplemental reasons for a new trial were true, and that they
could be substantiated by competent testimony.  This conversation  in which this knowledge was
acquired occurred two or three days before these reasons were filed. We then embraced the first opportunity to assign the reasons in court.
"Col. A. K. MoClure sworn. I was called upon by Col. Patterson in July of last year, before the
trial, to assist in the trial of this case. I had been of counsel for the co-executors in the argument of the
exceptions to the accounts. I declined to try the case for Mr. Patterson, and gave him my reasons for it.
Subsequently he asked me again and urged me to take part in the trial. I told him I had reason to fear
659 
A MODEL CARPET-BAG SENATOR.
that his account was incorrect. I went on and tried the case. In the progress of the trial there were
certain facts developed not communicated by Mr. Patterson nor discernible by an examination*of his
p pers, that led me to doubt the correctness of his case.  The case was heard and a verdict rendered for
the plaintiff.
"The verdict was rendered in the morning. The first opportunity I had after the verdict to confer
with Mr. Patterson I told him that he had now been vindicated personally in the case, but as to his
executors' account it was not correct.  I wished him to go with me and confer with Judge Sterrett and
propose a just and amicable settlement of all the questions at issue between them without reference to
the verdict. I believed the verdict right so far as he was personally vindicated, but that I did not regard
the verdict as correct as far as it related to the questions of accounts and money involved. I had no
direct evidence of any moral turpitude in the case, but from circumstances which had developed on trial
not fully explained to my own mind I did not believe thatthe verdict was in all respects a just one. He
declined to see Judge Sterrett.   I then told him if he did not accompany me I would go to see Judge
Sterrett myself and state to him all I knew about the estate that he had withheld from me.
"He then accompanied me to see Judge Sterrett. We found him in front of the Court House, in
conversation with his brother.  I called him away, and told him in the presence of Patterson that I
had brought him there to endeavor to effect a settlement of all the matters between them. I said I
thought he had done Patterson injustice in charging him with forgery, and I declared that I believed
him properly vindicated; that I had reason'to believe that in some material respects Mr. Patterson was
not in the right, and I desired that all questions between them should be amicably and justly settled as
though there had been no verdict affecting those questions. I stated to Judige Sterrett that Mr. Patterson
could and should account to him for some lands, and if both parties agreed honestly and kindly they
could settle everything in relation to the estate.
"The matter was talked over for nearly an hour, and I believed from the disposition shown on both
sides that they would be able to settle. I stated distinctly in this conversation, in the presence of the
plaintiff and defendant, that I had reason to believe that Mr. Patterson's statement was not in all
respects correct. I spoke in general terms on the subject, because I did not wish to develop anything
that might impede an adjustment. I certainly intended to make it plain to both that I did not approve
of that verdict, although when I became counsel in the case and was engaged in the trial of it, I had no
information to make me doubt the correctness of my alient's case.
PATTERSON'S FATAL ADMISSIONS.
"A short time after, I spoke to Mr. Patterson on the Fame subject. Itold him I believed Mr.
.Sterrett would settle this question, and that he must press it to) a settlement He told me he would
write to Judge Sterrett on the subject, and pr opose a meeting at an early day for that purpose. From
,that time until January or February last I did not doubt but that tbis settlement would be made, and I
certainly believed from all my conversations with Mr.'Patterson on the subject, that he regarded a settlement as certain.  A motion for a new trial had been filed   I gave it no attention whatever, because
I believed the case would be disposed of. I was with Mr. Patterson in South Carolina for two months,
embracing the period of the next court: stopped at the same house with him; was connected with him
in business, and had daily interviews with him during that period. He had all this time no conversation with me that would induce me to think I would ever try this case again.  I did not learn what
disposition had been made of it until fully a month after the court had'adjourned.
"Mr. Patterson never informed or advised with me about it, although it had been spoken of by
me occasionally, but I did not doubt all the time that a settlement would be effected, and did not
doubt that he desired a settlement also.  He spoke to me, when in South Carolina, of the case. of the
witnesses, and of the evidence, and in a casual and careless conversation, in a manner I certainly thought
he would not have done had he supposed further proceedings in the ease possible. These.'onversations
were sometimes rather reckless in their character. In one conversation. for instance, when I stated that
I did not believe the testimony of Wm. H. Patterson he stated that it required him and thewitness, Wm. H.
Patterson, two weeks of careful studte to determitn which of two  or three liys could be most successfully
sworn to i, this case.  And he thought they had fixed it up damned cunningly by the lies they had
adopted. That testimony related to one of the most vital points of the case. That point was in relation
to the presence of Capt. Wm. H. Patterson at the home,,f the testator at a particular date, when he
was proven to have been elsewhere by his letters, and also to conversations he testified to have had
with the testator.  Wm. H. Patterson's testimony covered every point in the case.
"On another occasion. in a room with Mr. Cresswell, he opened a letter he had received from home,
containing notice of a protest of a note drawn by  Mr. Sherlock, another witness in the case, and
indorsed by Mr. Patterson. He showed whose note it was, and said'Here is another note I will have to
pay.'  I said to him,'Colonel, is that not the price of Mr. Sherlock's testinmony in your case'?' His answer
was:'Y,s, it i. dam,ed cheap; o,,ly one hiundred and sixty, or eighty. doal,rs,' which he said, I do not
remember. After the trial was over, I had spoken to him about Sherlock'. testimony. Mr. Sellers,
Mr. Creswell, and myself were connected with Patterson in the construction of a railroad in So)uth
Carolina. Mr. Patterson had requested, when we were all together before the trial on our South Carolina business, that he (Patterson) should be allowed to dispose of certain contracts, for he had promised
those contracts to., r. Sherlock and other parties in Juniata county. Upon the examination of Mr.
Sherlock at the time, he (Sherlock) was subjected to a rigid cross-examination upon the subject of
having obtained money from Mr. Patterson and the promise of contracts to build bridges in South Caro lina. Soon after the trial, Mr. Patterson had another conversation with Mr. Sellers, myself, and Mr.
Cresswell, in relation to our contracts. He then renewed the demand that he must have the bridges for
Mr. Sherlock because he had promised them to him. In a subsequent conversation on the same subject,
he was again insisting upon having the bridges for Mr. Sherlock, as lie had promised them to him
before the trial  I reminded him of Sherlock's examination, when Sherlock stated that no such conversation was had. He said it did not make a damned bit of difference what Sherlock had sworn to-that
he had promised them to him.
A SUBORNED WITNESS CONFESSES.
"I also had several conversations with him as to thetestimony of Sheriff Bell. He had asked me to try
a case for Sheriff Jos. Bell, which was on the list immediately before his, which I did. It involved the
validity of a recognizance and the presumption of its. payment-a recognizance in the Orphan's Court.
I stated to Pattersgn after the trial that I had reason to believe that the recognizance was forged. (It
was not recorded, and was presumed to have been lost.)  He said it made no difference whether it was
or not; that it answered tie purpose; that Mr. Bell was one of his most important witnesses; and he
had to help him out, and besides, he, Patterson, was to get part of the money.  Mr. Patterson did not
admit it was a forged paper.
1654 
A MODEL CARIPET-BAG SENATOR.
"When I was at the court in this town in February, 1870, Mr. Bell asked me out into the Prothonotary's office, and told me that he understood I was going to make trouble out of the Bell case and the
Patterson case.  I told him I had no desire to make trouble out of his case at all; that I believed the
paper was forged, but without the paper he would be justly entitled to the verdict; that what I had
complained of and meant to bring to the notice of the Court was a subornation of himself and others in
the Patterson case.  He answered just in these words:'I hnow it was wrong, but wkat can I do?' an d
then he said Patterso, took $500 of the money as soon as the verdict was rendered.  I said I would say
nothing about it; that his suit was right, and he must make Patterson refund the money he took from
him, and if hereafter there was any investigation of the Patterson ease, he must tell the truth. He said
he would. All he asked for was that I should not interfere with his suit. I have had no further conversation with him or seen him since.
"Up to the 1st of February I had no knowledge ofthese facts. I believed this case would be settled,
therefore I did not speak of them unless to a few confidential triends. as I thought it best the case should
be settled.  I do not remember that I communicated this to any one except s me one or two confidential
friends-except Judge Black. I attended the February court with the intention of making this statement
to the Court then. Atthat term the defendants had no knowledge of my purpose. The argument of the
case had been concluded before I arrived at this place. I attended the April term for the same purpose;
the defendants, not knowing my business, consented to continue it again. I then went to Judge Sterrett
and stated to him my business here. and that when the motion for a new trial was to be argued, I intended
to state in open court my reasons for withdrawing from the case, as I had information touching its merits
making it impossible for me to press the case to judgment. Upon this information the supplementary
reasons for a new trial were filed.
"Mr. Sherlock swore to every portion of the case except the alteration of the note.
"I have not stated that I would commence a prosecution against Patterson for defrauding the Government when paymaster.  I have held conferences with some persons at Washington on the subject.
I have not attempted to put him ilk the Penitentiary, but frop  my ow. knowledge I do nat know anly one who
deserves it be:ter."
DID HE STEAL $25,000 IN SOUTH CAROLINA?
James M. Sellers, Patterson's co-executor, testified that he was aware of William
H. Patterson, deceased, owning lands in Wisconsin, and that John J. Patterson was
also apprised of that fact.  Mr. Sellers corroborated Col. McClure's testimony in regard
to Patterson promising bridge contracts to Sherlock.
"J. V. Cresswell-I had no quarrel with Patterson. I am still on friendly terms with him as far as
I know.  We were so when in the South.  I have charged Patterson with unlawfully taking money I
had an interest in.  He and a big constable stole about $25 000 from us.  I do not know what you call
it, but I know he took it. I was pre-ent at Columbia, S. C., when Mr. Patterson received Some letters.
Among them was one containing a protest on a note of Mr. Sherlock's.  Mr. McClure asked him if
that was what Sherlock charged him for his testimony. He said it was, and it was very cheap. The
amount of the note was between $160 and $190.
"Cross-examined:
"Q.-Were you a pretty jovial. funny set of men there!  A.-Reasonably so. Patterson is such a
party. He is able to take care of himself.
"Q.-When Patterson made that remark, was not his answer jocular-an answer the same as the
remark of McClure's? A.-I cannot say that. Can't say whether his answer was jocular or not. I
do not think Col. McClure's manner was jocular.  I thought Col. McClure's remark was in earnest."
The Hon. James P. Sterrett recalled:
"I had knowledge that the testator had Western lands from the testator himself, but did not know
where they were located. I had knowledge of the same fact from at least two conversations with
Col. Patterson himself, and which occurred shortly after the death of the testator. After the accounts
of the executors were fied I saw there was no account of them, and while the account was pending
before the Auditor, I sought to obtain from Col. Patterson some information in relation to them and
what had become of them.  Notice was served on Col. Patterson to produce before the Auditor any
evidence of title to those lands in his possession. The papers were called for during the pending of
the account before the Auditor, and Col. Patterson denied on oath that he knew anything about the
lands or the title papers to them."
When this testimony had been heard, the counsel of Patterson, after asking for an
adjournment till August, and being granted the favor, came into court on the 9th of
August, 1870, and said that his client was now anxious for a new trial, that he might
vindicate himself before- a jury of his countrymen. Three years have passed since
then, but John J. Patterson has quietly rested under this load of infamy during all
this time. The defendants have time and again moved for trial, but the plaintiff's
attorney has always asked for a continuance. Not only this, but Patterson has opened
negotiations with his brother-in-law, Judge Sterrett, and is now pleading for a compromise and settlement.
HE INVEIGLES COL. TOM SCOTT.
Patterson became connr cted with the Hon. A. K. McClure and Col. Thomas A.
Scott in railroad speculations in South Carolina in the following manner: He had
visited the South for the purpose of spying out new opportunities for the pursuit of his
vocation. In that State he met plenty of kindred spirits, and vast opportunities for
plunder were pointed out to him. But unfortunately Patterson and his new Southern
friends had neither capital nor credit to operate with.
Vast fortunes were to'be made in manipulating railroads if they could only find
men of means and national reputation to embark in their enterprises and give them
credit in the markets of the world. They had charters, or could procure them for
i
65i5 
a very small consideration from the negro Legislature for as many railroads as they
wanted. Patterson knew that the Southern Security Company-one of Col. Scott's
schemes for consolidating Southern railroads into  great trunk lines to feed the
Pennsylvania Railroad-needed a connecting link through a portion of South Carolina for one of their combinations.  He thought he could make a strike by going
North and laying his plans before the great railroad magnate.  Accordinglyindue
time he submitted his project to Col. McClure, who in turn submitted it to Col.
Scott. The railroad king dispatched Col. McClure to South Carolina to examine
into the state of affairs and report on the speculation proposed by Patterson.  Col.
McClure went South. and reported in faivor of the scheme, but at the same time
said that the State Government was run by a gang of thieving scoundrels, and
there was danger of their being robbed unless every move was made with deliberation.
There was, however, a great deal of money to be made legitimately and honestly.
The showing was good, and Scott decided to go in, provided McClure would go South
and personally superintend all the details.  ietc had no confidence in Patterson, and
wanted to have nothing to do with him, directly or indirectly.  If McClure could keep
him up to the mark he had no objection to his having a large interest in the railroad.
A MODEL CARPET-BAG SENATOR.
HE  BEATS  COL. TOM  SCOTT.
This was all Patterson wanted-the use of Scott's name.  It gave securities a market value, and Patterson and his confederates could issue bonds and vote themselves
all the State aid they desired   For a time hlie acted in apparent good faith with Scott
and McClure, but all the while he was conspirinig with the Southi Carolina thieves to
bag the game entire and cut loose from the man who had given them credit. In a very
short time they succeeded.  Scott and McClure could not afford to be concerned in
swindling and open robbery, and the result was they withdrew, content with whatever
Patterson and his fellow-rogues were willing to give them.
It turned out in the end, however, that they could not get away with all the money
paid to them.  Patterson was an expert in suborning witnesses, and in South Carolina
he had no difficulty in buying up courts also. When he and his fellow cons,irators
paid to the agent of Col. Scott the last installment of money due him and McClure$25,000-Patterson was prepared with affidavits and a subservient court charging the
agent with intent to embezzle the money and defraud his employers-Scott and
McClure.  He ha,l him arrested, thrown in jail, and secured the money for himself.
There was no relief possible for either -the agent or his employers. The former was
glad to escape with his life, and the latter could do nothing with the courts and clouds
of purchasable witnesses at the beck of the scoundrels who had defrauded them.
After this brilliant piece of strategy, Patterson and his confederates maniliulated
their railroad securities, State bonds, State scrip, etc., realizing handsomely  thereby.
It is said by well-informed men who were cognizant of Patterson's transactions, that he
made in this way in a year or two at least $500,000.
HE ALSO OVERCOMES GOV. SCOTT.
He had  always a liking for politics, and cherished an idea of becoming a statesman.
He therefore determined to set up the Legislature, and carry off the 1Tliited States
Senatorship.   Gov. Scott was ambitious of the Senatorial toga, and Patterson concluded that it would be a good dodge to be a Scott man, control Scott's lfunds, and
secure his own election with them.  He therefore concealed his aspirations, but corrupted and made an ally of Nagle, the State Comptroller, who was Scott's batiker and
geieral manager in the Senatorial contest.
It was agreed between Patterson and Nagle that the latter was to bleed the Governor freely, and make him believe his election was certain, but was to buy up his members to vote as instructed on the morning of the election. Some thirty thousand dollars
were advanced by Gov. Scott and used in this way, and when the election canme off
John was on hand with plenty of cash. This money was invested in the open purchase
of the Legislature, but to the surprise of everybody in South Carolina as well as elsewhere, this notorious confidence man was elected United States Senator.
HE AGAIN ESCAPES THE PENITENTIARY.
After the first surprise, Scott and his few faithful friends began criminal prosecutions, and Patterson was arrested. But here again his moniey was omnipotent, and for
so much cash paid down the prosecution was discontinued. In addition to the money
advanced by Gov. Scott, Patterson has admitted that it cost him not less than $60,000o
to secure his election, besides several thousand morn which'he paid to stop the criminal
proceedings.
656 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
WHAT THE DEMOCRATIC HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ACCOMPLISHED.
SPRECH OF HON. SAM. J. RANDALL.
Mr. RANDALL. Mr. Speaker, before the final adjournment of a protracted
and laborious session, it is proper to review our action concerning appropriations
from the public Treasury to carry on the Government for the fiscal year ending
June 30, 1877. In the discharge of this task I am sensible of no other motive
than that there shall be a complete and impartial exhibit of the work in behalf of
retrenchment and reform which we set out to do, and the difficulties and opposition which met us at every step in the interest of those who saw in any reduction
of the public expenditure loss to them of salary or place, notwithstanding there
was consequent advantage to the tax-payers and the efficiency of the Governmental administration was in no degree impaired.
We were met at the very threshold by inexorable alternative of reducing expenditures to a just and economical basis, or, by allowing appropriations to be
made at the same figures of previous years, with increased taxation; and this
latter was our plighted faith and solemn duty to prevent in behalf of the great
body of the people borne down by a heavy load of taxation, and who were
further distressed beyond measure by derangement and misfortune in every
avenue of agricultural, manufacturing, mechanical, and commercial activity. To
this end every item of public expense, whether large or small, was subjected to
the severest scrutiny, and an inspection of every Bureau and Department of the
Government undertaken without parallel, I believe, for a quarter of a century.
The Committee on Appropriations gave to this work their most earnest attention. It required incessant labor and much patience. Arrayed against us were
all those whose favorite selfish schemes were to be frustrated for the public good;
eager and greedy corporations who sought to fatten from the public purse, placehunters and place-holders, and the friends and partisans of all, high or low, who
were in any way to be affected by reduction, and especially by the marked unwillingness on all hands by chiefs of bureaus and heads of departments to agree
to any withdrawal of their official patronage. But we had the comforting assurance that we had behind us the people who demanded that their burdens should
be lightened by practical and necessary reductions, and this consoled us oftentimes in the discharge of an imperative public duty when we found ourselves compelled to deny appropriations to the extent desired for objects dearly cherished by
our constituents.
The majority of this House of Representatives was elected to reform manifold
abuses of administration. And when we assembled in December last that reform
element assumed full authority in this hall, and obtained partial control over public expenditures. The first difficulty which presented itself to the execution of the
trust confided to us was the existence of a rule of the House which prevented
the repeal or even modification of any law asto appropriations upon an appropria 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
tion bill unless two-thirds of the members assented thereto, which number the
majority did not have.
The construction which had been given to that rule allowed amendments to
increase compensation to officers, clerks, and employ6s, but adroitly prevented as
out of order any reduction whatever. To overcome this obstruction a proposition
was submitted to so change the rule as to allow the incorporation into appropriation bills of such legislation, which, being germane, retrenched expenditures, thus
making a complete revolution in the operation of the rule and turning legislative
action in this House from extravagance into the better and safer direction of
economy. That change, for the purpose I have indicated, was vigorously resisted
by the Republican side of the House, for the reason that, composing as they did
and do more than one-third of its members, no amendments changing existing law
could be made or put upon an appropriation bill except when such amendments
increased salaries, as under the old practice two-thirds were required to suspend
the rules to allow the majority to vote even on such amendments; and that twothirds, as I have already stated, the minority in this House could at any time
refuse.
Without such a change any and all efforts on the part of the House to reduce
the expenditures of the Government would have been as idle as the wind.  Here
stood the Republican members of more than one-third to prevent and obstruct any
such reduction, with a Senate, as we afterward found, even more determined in
its purpose.  Finally, through the agency of the Committee on Rules, we secured
a report of the alteration so much desired, and the House adopted it by a majority composed exclusively of democrats. Almost all the reductions we have accomplished have followed as the result of that first step, for it opened the way.
It must not be forgotten that when Congress assembled the country was prostrated in all the essentials which go to make a people prosperous, contented, and
happy. Many of our manufacturing establishments were closed, and most of
those still running were working only a portion of the time. Commerce languished, agriculture went unrewarded, and a feeling of distrust widely prevailed,
causing capital to be unusually cautious. Almost all new enterprises were abandoned, and labor, then as now seeking employment, was to the extent of its activity inadequately remunerated.
Our duty in such a condition of affairs was too plain to be mistaken. It was
to lop off at once, and resolutely, every extravagant and unnecessary expense.
This we have partially accomplished, and in a manner which will in no degree
cripple the Administration in its legitimate functions. But to secure even this
partial result without producing friction has required long and patient examination, investigation and study. A further plan of procedure adopted was to
reduce 10 per cent. all salaries over $1,200 and provide a reduction in the force
of clerks and employes of 20 per cent. These two provisions, if fully adopted,
would have secured a much larger reduction of appropriations and the discharge
of all supernumerary clerks and employes, of which there are still a large
number.
It is well known that all over the land private establishments of every sort and
description have reduced the rates of compensation to their employes. A signal
instance of this is shown at Lowell, Massachusetts, which is the guide in a measure for all New England. The working people there have themselves consented
to a reduction of 10 per cent. as just and fair, not the first either to which they
have recently been subjected. The House considered this not an unreasonable reduction in amount under the circumstances. But this reduction has almost wholly
failed because of the obstinacy of the Senate and the Senate conferees in relation
thereto. A reduction in the number of clerks and employ6s has been only partially realized, as the House conferees were forced to yield a part of their recommendations. It will surprise many when they learn the fact that as many as one
hundred thousand persons receive pay from the Federal Treasury.
In order that no harm should possibly come from reduction of force, we directed
the attention of the executive officers of the Government to the existing law in
reference to the hours of labor required for the clerks and the employes.  It is to
be found in section 162 of the Revised Statutes, as follows:
Sec. 162. From the first day of October until the 1st day of April, in each
year, all the Bureaus and Offices in the State, War, Treasury, Navy and PostOffice Departments, and in the General Land Office, shall be open for the transaction of the public business at least eight hours in each day; and from the 1st day
,658 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
,of April until the 1st day of October, in each year, at least ten hours in each day,
~except Sundays and days declared public holidays by law.
Heretofore clerks have only been required to devote six hours a day to the service of the Government. Recently, on the coming in of the Democratic House,
by orders to the Bureaus, that time has been extended to seven hours. If, however, the terms of the law are adhered to, more actual hours of service will be
secured udder the reduced numher of clerks and employ6s agreed upon than we
have now with the present excessive force.
Great complaint has been made against our change of laws upon appropriation
bills, as though it were at this time a novel and unheard-of thing and never before attempted in the Legislation of the Government.  Let us see how that is.
I append herewith a list of changes of laws which have been incorporated into
appropriation bills during all the years from 1865 down to and including 1875.
The extent to which such legislation has been carried on will, I have no doubt,
surprise many; and I regret to say that during those years of undisputed Republican rule in both branches of Congress the change has almost always been in the
direction of increased appropriation and expenditure.
I will here mention a few notable instances of such legislation.  They embrace
changes in the staff and line both of the Army and Navy.
The Pacific Mail steamship subsidy found its place on such act.
The re-organization of the Post-Office department.
The re-organization of the diplomatic and consular service.
The partial re-organization of the sub-treasury system.
The prohibiting the pardon or amnesty of any claimant in the Court of Claims
being admissible to establish his standing in court.
The re-organization of the civil service in the Treasury Department.
Legislation as to the enforcement act.
The manner of settlement of judgments by the Court of Claims and the Supreme
Court as to capture of cotton.
The section declaring that the General of the Army shall be permanently
stationed in Washington and only removed by the advice and consent of the Senate, and directing all Army orders to go through the General of the Army,
whether issued by the President of the United States or by the Secretary of War.
On the appropriation bill last year the rates on newspapers were doubled, to
the great injury of those in the rural sections especially, and the rates on thirdclass matter were so increased as to take it from the mails and drive it to the express companies.
I mention these few to show the general character and wide scope of the legislation which has been put into appropriation bills, and beg to refer to the appendix hereto annexed, which will show the enormous mass of legislation of
greater or less importance which has been from time to time during the past ten
years fastened on such acts, relating as it does to almost every conceivable
subject.
Again, Mr. Speaker, as a natural result of the prostration of all business, the
revenues of the Government have diminished to an alarming extent, and the warning held out to us was one not to be disregarded, as it might turn out in the coming fiscal year, the reduction would be so great that the revenues would fall below
the amount required to meet the expenditures of the Government. In this emergency it was absolutely essential to provide for reduction of expenses rather than
entail any increase of our interest bearing debt or any addition to our present taxation. Nay, more; if the full measure of reductions recommended had been acceded to by the Republican minority in this House and the majority in the Senate, then, even with a falling revenue, the internal and other taxes could have
been reduced to an extent of say $10,000,000, with comparative safety.
Before I leave the general discussion of these subjects and go to a detailed
examination of the respective appropriation acts, I wish to direct public attention
to what I deem some abuses in reference to expenditure which have gradually
accumulated until they have become of dangerous proportions.  Under existing
laws we have a system of what is known as "permanent specific" and "permanent indenfinite" appropriations. They embrace among others the sum necessary to pay the interest on the public debt, the sum necessary to pa the interest
on the bonds of the various Pacific railroads, and guaranteed by the United States,
and the amount necessary to be paid in obedience to law to the sinking fund on
account of the liquidation of the principal of the public debt.'
659 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
In so far as the foregoing objects are concerned I do not raise serious objections. Their provisions go to make easy the mind of the public creditor by
the certainty of no hitch in the prompt and regular payment of our public interest. But the laws go further and include others which in my judgment should
pass under the annual supervision of Congress, among which are the sums necessary to collect the revenues from customs, which is only limited as to amount of
expenditures by the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury, a power too
eat for permanent safety; for arming and equipping the military of the several
btates; the salaries and expenses of the southern claims commission; the return
of the proceeds from the sale of captured and abandoned property to owners
thereof; the commission to be paid to persons negotiating the refunding of the
national debt + per cent.; the salaries and expenses of the steamboat inspectors;
the refunding of money due to owners or reputed owners of cotton improperly
seized after the 30th of June, 1865; allowances and drawbacks in the Internal
Revenue Bureau; the refunding of illegal internal taxes; there payment of duties
levied in excess from customs as well as debenture, drawbacks, bounties and
allowances in the custom service. Most if not all of the latter character should
have the frequent inspection of Congress and the people. I would suggest,
therefore, at our next session, legislation to remedy these dangers.   About
$18,000,000 pass each year out of the Treasury under these heads, in excess of
the amount paid on account of interest on the public debt and the sinking fund,
which is an enormous sum to be under the control of executive offleers without
check.
I shall now proceed to an examination of the several appropriation bills, in
order of date as they were enacted in law.
PENSIONS.
Appropriations last year, $30,000,000; Department estimates for the year ending
June 30, 1877, $29,533,500; recommendation of House Committee on Appropriations, $29,533,500; House passed $29,533,500; Senate Committee recommended
$29,533,500; Senate passed $29,533,500; law as finally enacted, $29,533,500.
The respective Committe of the two Houses and both Houses of Congress
agreed in the amount to be appropriated for pensions, which was in full as indicated by the estimate.
A pleasant incident in connection with this appropriation was the fact of its
being in Committee and in the House in charge of a member of the Committee
(Mr. Atkins, of Tennessee), formerly an officer in the confederate army and a
member of the confederate congress. Such exhibitions give the denial to the
political charge that the leading men of the South still bear any hostility to the
Union, for he was scrupulous in seeing that no pensioner'of the Union suffered
in the least degree.
Many reforms are imperatively needed in connection with the distribution of
pensions.
The Committee on Pensions recommended the transfer of the Pension Bureau
from the Interior Department to the War Department, where it formerly was,
as appears by their report, for reasons, among others, as follows: Pension
Agencies which now cost annually $448,000, the Committee on Pensions report
could be dispensed with, and twenty efficient clerks, divided equally among the
four classes of clerks known to the law, at a cost of $30,000, could do the work
as efficiently and with less delay than now occurs.
The work, if under the War Department, could be done in the main by the retired officers of the army, with one-half pay in addition to present retired pay of
such officers, and the amount of pay saved would be quite one-half. At present
more than one-half is done at the Surgeon-General's and Adjutant-General's
Offices. Both these Bureaus now employ one hundred and sixteen persons on
this work and an equal number of additional clerks, if duties were transferred to
War Department, to wit, two hundred and thirty-two clerks in all would be ample;
whereas the present force in the Pension Bureau is over four hundred; nearly
three hundred over what economy and necessity require.  The character of the
work is in a measure judicial, requiring legal knowledge; and yet last year one
hundred and twenty-eight enployes were discharged and ninety-six new appointments made-putting out experienced clerks and substituting for such men ignor
ant and inefficient persons in their stead. This was done mainly for political considerations. The truth is, as the evidence establishes, the Bureau is run as a political
660 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
machine. Two clerks of the National Republican Congressional Committee of
last year were entered on the pension-roll and paid from pension funds.
The War and Pension Departments being separate, there was required last
year 56,000 duplicates of rolls from these two offices, requiring transmission by
mail and messenger, which might all have been done in the same office. The
fact is, the delays now incident to applications for pensions or increase of pensions, arise almost entirely from these separations of duty, causing years of
delay to those least able to bear procrastination, and those, too, who never ought
to be subjected to such annoyances and privations.
I will allude to another abuse and then leave this branch of my subject.
The finance division of the Pension Bureau can be dispensed with all together,
employing forty-eight clerks. This is set forth in Mr. Clark's testimony. In reply to a question whether that division ought not to be lopped off he said:
If the work in the Auditor's Office was up to date, the work in the finance
division would be useless.
There cannot therefore be a reasonable doubt as to the economy to be gained
and the general propriety of the transfer.
DEFICIENCIES.
Appropriations last year, $4,703,599.18; Department estimates for year ending
June 30, 1877, $2,723,471.70; recommended by House Committee on Appropriations, $662,315.07; House passed $671,486.74; Senate Committee recommended
$849,831.27; Senate passed $840,831.27; the law as finally enacted, $816,723.56.
I believe these deficiencies are less than usual and heretofore, because of the
knowledge by the Departments that a dem6cratic House was to be in authority
this year, notice having been given last year by the then democratic minority of
the Forty-third Congress that the practice of allowing large deficiencies would
not be countenanced. The departments are, however, entitled to partial credit,
for their estimates of deficiencies this year were considerably less than heretofore.
The same rigid rule will be again applied, and the Departments must govern
themselves accordingly.
FORTIFICATIONS.
Appropriations last year, $850,000; Department estimates for year ending June
35, 1877, $3,406,000; recommendations of House Committee on appropriations,
$315,000; House passed $315,000: Senate Committee recommended $315,000;
Senate passed $315,000; the law as finally enacted, $315,000.
This was a large comparative reduction, but I believe no material interests will
suffer therefrom, either in respect to our fortifications or as to experiments to be
made in the trial of armament or torpedoes. The largest sized guns of our recent
war are'now considered ineffective. Earth-works, experience has shown to be the
best protection against artillery on land or iron-clads on water. The sums so lavishly expended since the war have not brought any adequate return in these respects. In the past ten years, up to and including this year ending June 30, 1876,
we appropriated for these purposes more than $13,000,000, a large amount of which
'could as well have been saved by the same character of reductions which we have
made this year.
NAVY.
Naval service appropriation last year, $17,001,006.40. Department estimates
for year ending June 30, 1877, $20,871,666.40. Recommendations of House Committee on Appropriations, $12,808,655.40. House passed $12,432,855.40. Senate
Committee recommended $16,167,855.40. Senate passed $14,857,855.40. The
law as finally enacted, $12,740,355.40.
The appropriations for the naval establishment are largely reduced. It is a
branch of the service where large savings can be prudently made. I need not allude at length to the sums heretofore expended and the manner of their expenditure. The department in its management has been thoroughly examined into by
a committee of this House, and their findings are in print, which render a further
criticism in this connection unnecessary. These reduced appropriations come up
to the full measure of recommendations by the Naval Committee.
POST-OFFICE.
Post-office appropriations last year, $8,376,205; Department estimate for year
ending June 30, 1877, $8,431,602.99; amount recommended by House Committee
661 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
on Appropriations, $2,680,906; amount passed the House, $4,230,906; amount
recommended by Senate Committee on Appropriations, $7,587,647; amount passed
Senate, $7,288,647; the law as finally enacted, $5,967,498.                t
The reductions in this act arise mainly from the cutting off of the salariesof
the higher class of postmasters, which have been confessedly too high, and the
reduction of 10 per cent. on the amounts to be paid to the railroads for the transportation of mails, among which is what is known as the "fast mail."  An
erroneous impression prevails as to this latter service.
The fast mails were not provided for by law. Speed was not taken into consideration in determining the compensation. Weight and the number of postal
cars were and are the elements in fixing the pay to railroads.
This extra line was first established less than a year ago by throwing an increase in the quantity of mail matter on these principal roads, thus increasing the
number of postal cars, and with additional weight, causing an increased amount
of payment to special roads. The compensation as fixed by act of March, 1873,
was a very great increase over former rates. Prior to that time, $375 per mile on
all lines was the maximum rate. Under that act the pay on some lines was increased to $705 per mile per year, and on the fast lines as high as $1,016 per mile
per year.
This Congress has reduced the rates for railroad service generally 10 per cent.
which is a moderate reduction. The compensation on star lines and steamboat
service has been reduced far more than 10 per cent, since March, 1873 * in fact
from 10 to 40 per cent. The amount paid before the passage of the act of March,
1873, was considered high even for that period. The reduced price of every
commodity which goes into the cost of running a railroad is far greater than 10
per cent. These roads have reduced the compensation to their employees, and together with a general shrinkage of value, it goes to show that the amount now
fixed is comparatively higher than it was at the time the former rate was agreed
to. I am indebted to the gentleman from Indiana [Mr. Holman] for these facts
and conclusions; and any one who knows his care and accuracy in such matters
will at once accept them as true and correct.
After all that can be said, the benefits of the fast mail are divided between the
railroads receiving the increased pay and the newspapers of our great cities in the
quick transit of their papers. In this day of telegraphing. the newspapers of the
various cities of the Union are more on an equality in furnishing promptly tho
important news of the day, which renders continuance of these high raees unnecessary even for the people in reeeiving prompt public information.
The post-office appropriation act for the year ending June 30, 1876, raised the
rates of postage on third-class mail matter, so as to take it from the mails and
give the monopoly of its transportation to the express companies, while at the.
same time the postage on newspapers was doubled.
The latter imposition has been removed by the legislation of this year, but the
first still remains a burden upon the people in behalf of the express companies,
and is estimated as worth to those companies half a million dollars per annum in
increased receipts from transportation of merchandise, &c. The House at every
opportunity sought to accomplish full repeal of both provisions, but the Senate
was obdurate, and refused to concede the repeal of the merchandise portion of the
act.
ARMY.
Appropriation last year, $27,933,830; Department estimate for year ending
June 30, 1877, $33,348,748.50; recommendation of House Committee on Appropriations, $23,155,077.12; House passed $23,179,819.52; Senate Committee recommended $27,717,877.20; Senate passed $27,715,877.20; the law as finally enacted $25,987,167.50.
The Army appropriation act does not show that extent of reduction which we
intended and had reason to hope we should obtain at the opening of the session,
because of our Indian troubles, and because of the determination of the Administration to keep a large force in the South. The House bill fixed the Army at
22,000 soldiers, relatively divided between the three arms of the service, and
sought in addition to reduce the compensations of certain officers which were
deemed disproportionate and too high. The manner of payment of these compensations is in some respects highly objectionable, rendering it almost impossible
to compute with accuracy the pay received by officers of the Army. The Senate
662 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
was resolute against all these changes, and the House was compelled to yield, and
only succeeded in securing the following legislation:
SEC. 24. That the whole subject-matter of reform and re-organization of the
army of the United States shall be referred to the commission hereinafter provided
for, who shall carefully and thoroughly examine into the matter with reference to
the demands of the public service, as to the number and pay of the men and officers and the proportion of the several arms, and also as to the rank, pay and duties
of the several staff corps, and whether any and what reductions can be made
either in the line or staff, in numbers or in pay, by consolidation or otherwise,
consistently with the public service, having in view a just and reasonable economy in the expenditures of public money, the actual necessities of the military
service, and the capacity for rapid and effective increase in time of actual war.
The commission hereby created shall consist of two members of the Senate and
two members of the House of Representatives to be appointed by the presiding officers of each House, respectively, of the Secretary of War, and two officers
of the army, one from the line and one from the staff corps, to be selected by the
President with special reference to their knowledge of the organization and experience in service. Such commission shall assemble as soon as practicable and
proceed to tbe consideration of the matters with which they are charged, and
make report to Congress by the first day of the next session through the President of the United States, with all the evidence, record or otherwise, which they
shall have received and considered. And the sum of $1,000 is hereby appropriated from the contingent fund of the War Department to defray the expenses of
such commission, to be expended under the direction of the president of said
commission.
The result of the foregoing, it is believed, will ultimately remedy such defects.
We felt that they were so glaring as to demand immediate change.
SUNDRY CIVIL BILL.
Appropriated last year, $26,644,350.09; Department estimates for year ending
June 30, 1867, $32,560.475.29; amount recommended by House CQmmittee on
Appropriations, $14,626,981.74; amount passed the House, $14,857,326.54; Senate
Committee recommended $18,501,601.24; Senate passed $19,956,496.99; the law
as finally enacted, $16,357,905.47.
This act, which covers the sundry civil expenses of the Government, is that
upon which it is attempted to ingraft all doubtful schemes and unnecessary expenses, which to any other general appropriation bill would be ruled out of
order as not germane.
In reference to this particular act, the President of the United States saw fit,
although approving the same, to send a message condemning the character of our
reductions, I propose now, and here, with due respect to the Chief Magistrate,
to inquire into the justice of his criticisms.
In the first place, he says: 
Notably among the first class is the reduction in the ordinary annual appropriations for the revenue-cutter service, to the prejudice of the customs revenue.
This criticism is completely refuted by a plain statement of the facts, which
show that the amount appropriated is in excess of the amount expended in the
revenue-cutter service during the last fiscal year. The expenditures for the year
ending June 30, 1876, were $842,000, and the appropriations for the year ending
June 30, 1877, $874,891, the latter exceeding the former more than $30,000.
Next as to the amount given to continue the Signal Service.  This service
cost last year nearly a million dollars. It has grown to be an immense Bureau
in its workings, and we think is extravagantly conducted.   It draws its resources from three appropriation bills-the legislative, the army, and the sundry
civil-and aggregates, as stated, $1,000,000. We are advised that the Western
Union Telegraph Company can perform the same service with equal satisfaction
to the public for one-half the money, and that the Company is willing to undertake it at that reduction. This, we understand, is also the opinion of many
officers heretofore in charge of the War Department. Our reduction, in view
of this statement, have been very moderate. amounting to $100,000 in the general
expense provided for in the Sundry Civil bill, and of only fifty enlisted men in
the army for this corps.  At some of the stations the employes numbered as high
as seven, and by careful revision of the force at the several stations this reduction
of fifty men will hardly be felt.
663 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
The criticism as to the mints evidently arose from want of knowledge of the
amounts appropriated in the several bills. It would have been seen by examina tion that the amount appropriated for running the mints and assay offices was
fully up to the necessities of the country, even taking into cansideration the in creased expense for coining sudsidiary silver recently authorized by law in sub stitution for fractional currency.
Now as to the objection urged to reductions of appropriations for the construction of public buildings throughout the country, and the building for the State,
War and Navy Departments in the city of Washington.   The policy which
guided the House was to make appropriations this year for no building the construction of which has not yet commenced, and in making appropriations for
those already begun to give a sufficient sum to finish and furnish those of smaller
size, such as the custom-house at New-Orleans; the custom-house and post-office
at Raleigh, North Carolina; the custom-house and post-office at Trenton, New
Jersey; the custom-house and post-office at Port Huron, Michigan; the customhouse and post-office at Parkersburgh, West Virginia; the court-house and postoffice at Lincoln, Nebraska, and the custom-house and post-office at Rockland,
Maine, giving the balance which we deemed wise to appropriate in a moderate
degree to the larger structures, so as to go on with the work slowly. The appropriation is two millions less than last year, when the appropriations for public
buildings, new and old, were unusually extravagant.
As to the appropriation for new structure for the State, War, and Navy Departments in the city of Washington, it was under the same rule.   The expenditures for this structure are made an exception, all the others being under the
Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, while this is under an engineer of the Army, General O. E. Babcock.
For the repairs and preservation of the navy-yards we gave $100,000 against
$500,000 last year. We deemed that for the legitimate purposes of repairs proper
at the different navy-yards and stations and the preservation of the same $100,000
is adequate, and believed the half million heretofore given was diverted to other
purposes uot properly chargeable to this particular service.
In reference to armories and arsenals the reductions, excepting one or two instancesof no small amount, were those recommended  by the late Secretary of
War, Mr. Taft, in his communication to Congress revising the estimates of his
predecessor.
In regard to the judicial expenses of the Government, reduction was made
upon the recommendation of the-Committee on Expenditures in the Department
of Justice, and justified after thorough investigation by exposure of the most
outrageous frauds upon the Government, perpetrated by marshals and other
United States officers, the most flagrant of which were in the States of Arkansas
and North Carolina. The justice and propriety of this reduction are undoubted.
The action of the committee concerning surveys of the public lands was taken
after full conference with members on both sides of the House representing
Western districts, as well as with Delegates from the Territories. The gentleman
from Minnesota [Mr. Dunnell], when the bill came up first for consideration,
used the following language:
There are many things in this appropriation bill referring to the public lands
which meet my approval. I believe that we have appropriated a much larger
sum of money in years past for the survey of the public lands than was needed,
and I have said to members of the Committee on Appropriations that I believed
there could be retrenchment and a saving of money in this direction at the present
time, and while I represent a Western land State, I am very free to say that we
may appropriate no more than is in this bill with a very good reason for the present year.
I do not believe that a single State or a single Territory will suffer practically
by this reduction.
It is only necessary for me to add the further fact, that there are now 160,000000 acres of the public domain surveyed and undisposed of.
The President further complained that we had impaired the efficiency of the
light-house service. Reference to figures shows the complaint to be without
foundation. The appropriation last year was $1,999,000, and for this year $2,018600, the appropriation for this year being nearly $20,000 over that of last year.
Appropriations for light-houses, beacons and fog-lights were made after consultation with the proper officer having that service in charge, and we gave a sum
sufficient, as we were advised, for all that was absolutely necessary during the
664 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
fiscal year. There were some which were desirable for which we did not make
appropriation, but they were not such as we thought to be demanded now.
Appropriations for the District of Columbia are generally included in this act,
and I need not stop to give the reasons why we sought to be cautious in whatever
we did. Past experience has shown such profligacy in the management of the
affairs of this district that common justice to the people required we should surround all our appropriations with every possible safeguard.
We authorized an advance from the Treasury of the United States of the
money necessary to meet the interest on the public debt of the District for the
entire fiscal year; thus preventing any default of prompt payment like that which
has heretofore occurred, although a portion of the debt had been reported by a
committee of this House to have been illegally contracted.
We also appropriated for the various charities and charitable institutions within the District; authorized the repaving of Pennsylvania avenue, a proportionate
share of the expense to be borne by the Government; provided for the payment
of one-half the expense of the Police and Board of Health; and besides, allowed the government of the District to increase the temporary debt to the extent of over $400,000, so that no embarrassment should or is likely to occur. The
appropriations for the year ending June 30, 1875, amounted to $2,962,251.11, almost all of which was exclusively for the benefit of the people of the District.
The amount appropriated for the year ending June 30, 1876, was $1,865,136.43.
The implied statement by the President that the aggregate appropriations of
the sundry civil bill are in amount not more than 65 per cent. of those heretofore made should command approbation rather than censure.
For life-saving and life-boat stations our appropriations are in excess of those
made last year. We gave this year $237,460, while the amount appropriated last
year was $231,580. Surely we cannot be charged with injuring this humane
service of the Government when we have in this democratic House appropriated
more than was appropriated by the previous republican House.
The appropriation for public printing and binding we reduce largely, on the
recommendation of the Committee on Printing of this House, which established
the fact of gross abuse and extravagance in the administration of that office. The
amount asked for the current year was $2,296,056.56. The amount given last
year was $1,665,507,66. The amount allowed this year, under advice of the
Committee on Printing, is $1,133,737.50, about half a million dollars less than the
appropriation last year. The report of this committee, to which I have alluded,
clearly establishes the fact that this sum should have been sufficient to have done
the work last year if the proper prices had been paid for material, and the running expense had been rightfully adjusted.
For the support of the National Home for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers we gave
the exact amount asked, $668,733.44.
The appropriations for the sundry civil expenses of the Government for the
year ending June 30, 1868, were $5,307,191.38. In 1870 they had crept up to
$9,976,228.81.  In 1872 they further advanced to $24,161,773.86.  Finally, in
1874, they reached the enormous amount of $32,186,129. In 1875, when the distress in the country became so prevalent it could no longer pass unheeded, even
in a Republican House of Representatives, we find there was a small reduction
from $32,186,129 to $27,009,744.81; in 1876, to $26,644,350. We have reduced
the sundry civil expenses this year below the appropriation of last year $10,441,780.01, appropriating only about one-half the amount appropriatad in 1874, being
a reduction of about $16,000,000.
MILITARY ACADEMY.
Appropriations last year, $364,740; Department estimates for year ending June
30, 1877, $437,470; amount recommended by House Committee on Appropriations, $231,241. amount passed the House, $259,231; Senate Committee recommended $308,841, Senate passed $308,841, the law as finally enacted, $290,065.
There was in controversy between the two Houses the question of compensation to professors at West Point. The House deemed that in some instances,
being over $6,000 per annum, they were higher than for similar services in civil
life, especially when we take into consideration the fact that these professors,
without encountering any of the privations, hardships and dangers of army life,
are, when they reach a condition of impaired usefulness, placed upon the retired
list, and receive three-qtarters of their pay at the time they are retired. The Sen
665 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
ate demanded the question of this reduction should be remitted to the commission
created to inquire into the reorganization of the army, and the House was compelled to accede thereto.
RIVER AND HIARBOR BILL.
River and harbor appropriations last year, $6,643,517.50; Department estimates
for year ending June 30, 1877, $14,301,100; amount recommended by House
Committee on Appropriations, $5,872,850; amount passed the House, $5,872,850;
Senate committee recommended $4,993,000; Senate passed $5,000,000; the law as
finally enacted, $5,000,000.
This bill was not made up by the Committee on Appropriations, and therefore
I have not that full knowledge which would warrant me in speaking of its details
in comparison with previous bills with the same certainty that I am able to do
concerning the eleven other appropriation bills. It is, however, a large reduction
upon the amount appropriated last year for the same purposes, and an immense
reduction, as will be seen by the foregoing figures, upon the estimnates of the Department.
INDIAN BILL.
Appropriations last year, $5,360,554.55; Department estimates for year ending
June 30, 1877, $5,787,995.60; amount recommended by House Committee on Appropriations, $3,905,771.27; amount passed the House, $3,979,602.11; Senate
Committee recommended $5,206,861.27; Senate passed $4,958,361.27; the law as
finally enacted $4,670,117.02.
The principle disagreement between the two Houses related to the transfer
of the Indian Bureau from the Interior to the War Department. The House believed that the management of Indian affairs could be more economically and efficiently administered by Army officers already under pay than by civil officers,under whom had grown up a wide-spread system of peculation upon the the Indian
as well as upon the Government. One of the grounds which induced the Indian
to go to war against the white man was that treaty stipulations in reference to the
delivery of subsistence and other supplies were not faithfully fulfilled. An army
officer holding a life position dependent upon integrity and good behavior, and
with a strong desire for promotion, which can only occur upon the active and
faithful discharge of his duties, is more likely to execute the promises of the
Government toward the Indian than the civil officer who comes in and goes out
with every change of Administration. And the present double-headed system
of dispensing subsistence and supplies to the Indians throngh the agency of
civil officers, while restraining and keeping them at peace by the military army,
has been lproved by long experience to be not only enormously expensive, but
without any adequate beneficial results either to the Indians or to the Government. The hand that feeds should be the hand to punish in case of wrong
doing. Viewed as an economic question, we have General Sheridan for authority,
and almost all of the officers who have come into collision with the Indians, to
show that the opinion I here express is a just one.
There is a misconception as to the Army officer.  He does not desire constant
warfare with the Indians, for, while he has to undergo great privations and hardship, he at the,same time endangers his life in battle with the Indians without
that honor which attaches to warfare between civilized nations. Indeed, of all
the people in the world, the Army officer has less to gain and more to lose by
Indian hostilities than any other of our citizens.
The House authorized the transfer in the Indian appropriation bill, having previously passed a separate proposition on the same subject, which was transmitted
to the Senate on the 25th of April last, but which the Senate never took up for
consideration or discussion. Incidentally, however, they did discuss the clause
in the Indian bill, and voted it down, upon the ground that it was a change of
law upon an appropriated bill. We think the country had a right to expect from
the Senate more consideration of this subject, and the House only yielded at last,
when longer persistence would result in unlimited extension of the session without corresponding good.
The mismanagement now existing, although!unfortunate, is well illustrated
by the fact that the hostile Sioux are armed with better weapons than the troops
put into the field against them. At this very session we have been compelled to
pass a law prohibiting the Indian agents from further supplying to these hostile
666 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHIMENT AND REFORM.                       667
Indians improved arms and ammunition. I doubt neither the propriety nor the
absolute necessity of the proposed transfer, and only regret to say the proposition
has been defeated in the Senate more by indirection than by open opposition.
Let me pause for a moment to state a fact which carries with it its own
commcntary. While there are in the Army 26,000 men, 15,000 of them in the
Military Division of the Missouri, embracing the whole Black Hills country
where the recent fights and massacres occured, General Terry and General
Crook have been left until lately to resist the combined hostile Indians under
Sitting Bull with a force of less than three thousand men. We are now asked
to add to the Army twenty-five hundred cavalry, when it must be apparent to
the most casual observer that such addition is entirely unnecessary if the force
was taken from where it is of no service whatever and transferred to where it is
needed to win success to our arms.
I yet hope for the transfer at the next session, We have made reductions,
even under its present inefficient management, of $700,000 or thereabouts.
CONSULAR AND DIPLOMATIC BILL.
Appropriations last year, $1,374,985; Department estimates for year ending
June 30, 1877, $1,352,485; amount recommended by House Committee on Appropriations $922,847.50; amount passed the House, $912,747.50; Senate Committee
recommended $1,341,657.50; Senate passed $1,341,647.50; the law as finally enacted, $1,158,579.50.
The House held that our diplomatic service was conducted with unnecssary
expense and that the salaries paid to foreign ministers were excessive when contrasted with salaries paid to other governmental officials, while at the same time
officers of the highest diplomatic rank were accredited to governments where
charges d'affairs with greatly reduced salaries would be equally efficient. The
truth is that all important matters in controversy between this and foreign governments are to-day directly negotiated and, adjusted through by the State
Department at Washington, and therefore in many cases the posit ion of foreign
Ministers is little more than a costly sinecure. Under what is known as the Orth
bill, the salaries of these officers were increased, and that increase in a measure we
have taken off.
It must not be forgotten that our ministers abroad are not valuable for any
service they render to our commerce, but that, on the contrary, it is our consular
system which is brought into direct contact with the American shipping, and
therefore we would like to see that thorough revision of the consular system
which secure its improvement and greater efficiency.
The claim because the consular system is not only self-supporting, but has an
excess over receipts from the payment of fees, that therefore all the money received should be expended in the service, is about as just as to claim that the
customs revenue and the internal revenue, because of receipts beyond expenditures, should likewise be administered with extravagance.
We have not secured the reductions we sought, and which we believe to be
proper, but we have at least accomplished enough to reward us for the effort.
LEGISLATIVE, EXECUTIVE AND JUDICIAL APPROPRIATION BILL.
Appropriations last year. $18,902,236.99; Department estimates for year ending June 30, 1877. $20,836,307; amount recommended by House Committee on
Appropriations, $13,009,807.61; amount passed the House, $12,998,815.61; Senate Committee recommended, $16,606,858; Senate passed, $16,635,338; the law
as finally enacted, $15,373,960.
The great struggle of the session took place on this bill. I have already spoken of our plan of reduction, both as to the force and the salary of Government
employes. The House sought to reduce both, while the Senate, with equal tenacity, resisted reduction either of force or salary. The result of the controversy
is, that while we recommended twelve hundred and twelve reduction of clerks
and employes, they have yielded but seven hundred and sixty-five, who are to go
out of office on the 10th day of October. We agreed to make this reduction
gradual, one-third on the 10th of September, one-third on the 10th of October,
and one-third on the 10th of November; but the Secretary of Treasury requested
we should change it in the manner in which it has been finally agreed, to wit,
that the entire reduction shall take place on the 10th of October. 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
The House incorporated in this bill a clause repealing the increase of the salary
of the President from $25,000 to $50,000 a year, providing that on and after the
4th day of March, 1877, the salary of the President of the United States be $25,000
per annum. The House saw nothing wrong in this, since both Houses of Congress at this session had passed a bill on the same subject to the same effect.  The
bill originated in the Senate and was returned to that body vetoed by the President. This salary was doubled when the salaries of Senators and Representatives
were increased, and it was equally condemned by the people. The salaries of
Senators and Representatives were restored to $5,000, but the Constitation intervened to prevent any reduction of the President's salary from $50,000 a year during his term of office.  Therefore it was that in obedience to the will of the people, we provide for the restoration of the salary of the President to $25,000, begining with the expiration of the present Presidential term. The Senate struck this
clause out of the House bill, and the House conferees, unwilling to yield on this
point, referred the subject to the two Houses.   The Senate still adhered, and
finally the House was compelled to yield.
This increase of the President's salary was originally made upon an appropriation bill which the President signed without demur, and the House saw a fitness
therefore that the repeal of the obnoxious increase which the people so unmistakably condemned should be passed in a bill of a like character. When salaries
are increased upon appropriation bills, there is no hesitation, no impropriety, no
injustice, but everything is right and just and lawful; but when an effort is made
to decrease salaries, and lighten the burden upon the tax-payers, then it is all
wrong, and to be fought to the last extremity. I have the sincere conviction that
the people will see this matter in its true light, and if we have gained nothing else
in our retrenchment efforts, we have made a great step in advancing in favor of
economical administration when we have attracted public attention to these cryingevils.
he next point of difference was as to the compensation of Senators and Representatives. The House applied to the general rule of ten per cent. reduction,
because it seemed only fair, when starting out to reduce all other salaries, we
should first begin with our own. The Senate refused to yield, and the House conferees were equally firm, and the question finally was remitted to the House,
and the decision was similar to that in the case of the President's salary.
It was urged on the part of the Senate that when the salary was reduced to
$5,000 the franking privilege had been abolished, and therefore the charge upon
Senators and Representatives for postage was about equal to the proposed 10
per cent. decrease.  This at the time seemed proper to take into consideration; but
since the House was compelled to yield, the Senate has restored the franking
privilege so far as that body could. This action on their part certainly will
not escape criticism.
The Senate refused to reduce, in any respect, the salaries of the higher
departmental and bureau officers. They were willing to reduce the intermediate salaries-that is, of those between the higher positions and the three classes
of clerks receiving $1,400, $1,600 and $1,800 per annum-and, on those changed,
only consented to a reduction of 5 per cent., so that these intermediate salaries
are the only ones which have been reduced in the Departments, under the
operation of the bill as it was enacted into law.
Another effort in favor of reduction of expenditures was made by the
House in reference to the employes and attaches of the two Houses. These
expenses have gradually grown to very large sums, and are altogether disproportionate to what is fairly required by the needs of the service. Last year
the Senate expenditures were $282,276.80. The House recommended a reduction to $170,840. The Senate Committee increased this to $245,648. The bill,
as passed, appropriates, $273,520.80.  The House expenditures last year were
$878,975.70.   The  House Committee recommended a reduction to $295,948,
which the Senate increased to $345,511.20. The bill, as passed, appropriates
$312,028. The Senate claimed the right, which has been heretofore conceded,
to have the exclusive control of the number and pay of their employes. The
reduction, therefore, in the expenses of the Senate between this and last year
is only a little over $8,000, while the House have reduced their expenses
$67,000. The House were compelled to raise their expenses somewhat from
the original recommendation, because of the great disparity which the Senate
insisted upon in favor,of the salaries of their employes.
668 
PRACTICAL RETRENCIM NT AND REFORM.
By a compromise arranged by the Conference Committee upon the Legislative,
Executive, and Judicial bill, at the recent session of Congress it was agreed that
the Senate and the House of Representatives should each be permitted to fix the
number and pay of its own officers and employes. Below will be found the
appropriations voted by each House, there being 301 members and delegates in
the House of Representatives. while there are only 74 Senators. It will be seen
that the expenditure of the Republican Senate for officers and employes is in proportion to the number of members four times greater than that incurred by the
Democratic House for the same purpose.
COMPENSATION OF SENATE OFFICERS.
For Secretary of Senate and as Disbursing Officer ----------------  4,896 00
For hire of horses and wagons... --------------------------— 1,200 00
For Chief Clerk —---------------------------------------- 4,000 00
For Principal Clerk --------------------------------------— 2,592 00
For Principal ex-Clerk -----------------------------------— 2,592 00
For Minute and Journal Clerk ------------------------------— 2,592 00
For Financial Clerk --------------------------------------- 2,592 00
For Librarian ------------------------------------------— 2,220 00
For seven clerks at $2,220 --------' ------------------------— 15,540 00
For one Clerk of Printing Records --------------------------— 2,220 00
For five clerks at $2,100 ----------------------------------— 10,500 00
For Keeper of Stationery ----------------------------------— 2,102 40
For one messenger ---------------------------------------— 1,296 00
For four laborers at $720 ----------------------------------— __  2,180 00
For one special policeman ---------------------------------— 1,296 00
For Chaplain__                               ------------------ 900 00
For Secretary to Vice-President -----------------------------— 2,102 40
For Clerk to the Committee on Finance -----------------------— 2,220 00
For Clerk to the Committee on Claims -------------------------- 2,220 00
For Clerk to the Committee on Appropriations ------------------— 2,500 00
For Clerk to the Committee on Commerce ---------------------— 2,220 00
For Clerk to the Committee on Judiciary ----------------------— 2,220 00
For Clerk to the Committee on Private Land Claims -------—. —--- 2,220 00
For Assistant Keeper of Stationery ---------------------------- 1,800 00
For Sergeant-at-Arms and Doorkeeper  ----------------------— 4,320 00
For Assistant Doorkeeper ----------------------------------- 2,592 00
For Acting Assistant Doorkeeper ---------------------------— 2,592 00
For Three Messengers acting Doorkeepers at $1,800 --------------- 5,400 00
For Postmaster to the Senate. ----------------------------- 2,100 00
For Assistant Postmaster and Mail Carrier. —--------------------- 2,088 00
For four Mail Carriers at $1,200 ----------------------------— 4,800 00
For Superintendent of Document Room ------------------------ 2,160 00
For one Assistant Superintendent of Document Room -------------- 1,440 00
For one Assistant Superintendent of Document Room. -------------- 1,440 00
For Superintendent of Folding Room ------------------------— 2,160 00
For one Assistant Superintendent of Folding Room --------------— 1,200 00
For twenty-one Messengers at $1,440 -----------------------— 30,240 00
For one laborer in charge of private passage --------------------— 840 00
For chief engineer --------------------------------------— 2.160 00
For three assistant engineers at $1,440__ ------------------------- 4,200 00
For assistant engineer in charge of elevator --------------------— 1,440 00
For fireman --------------------------------------------- 1,095 00
Foronefireman ------------------------------------------- 1,095 00
To pay Wm. H. St. John, in charge of storeroom and doc. wagon ---— 1,200 00
For eight laborers, skilled, at $1,000 --------------------------— 8,000 00
For ten laborers at $720 -----------------------------------— 7,200 00
To pay Kate Dodson, in charge ladies' reception room.. —-------—.  720 00
Telegraph operator during session —---------------------------- 400 00
Twelve laborers during session, at $720 ----------------------— 8,640 00
Total -------------------------------------------— $170,802 80
For Contingent Expenses of the Senate, namely:
For stationery and newspapers                              $14,250 00
669 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
For twenty-eight clerks to committees, at $6 per day during session — 20,328 00
For nineteen pages, at $2 50 per day while employed --------------- 5,400 00
For hire of horses and mail wagons --------------------------— 3,000 00
For materials for folding -----------------------------------— 4,000 00
For four folders, not exceeding $3 per day while employed ---------- 3,000 00
For fuel and oil for heating apparatus -------------------------- 10,000 00
For furniture and repairs of furniture ------------------------— 5,000 00
For packing boxes ------------------------------------------- 740 00
For miscellaneous items, exclusive of labor —-------------------- 37,000 00
For reporting the debates and proceedings ---------------------- 25,000 00
For expenses of compiling and preparing Congressional Directory ---- 1,200 00
For cartage ------------------------------------------------ 700 00
Total -------------------------------------------- $129,618 00
Grand total -------------------------------------— $300,000 00
COMPENSATION OF HOUSE OFFICERS.
For Clerk of House of Representatives, and as disbursing officer ---- $4,500 00
For hire of horses and wagons for use of office -------------------— 600 00
For chief clerk ------------------------------------------— 2,500 00
For journal clerk ------------------------------------------ 2,500 00
For one reading clerk --------------------------------------- 2,500 00
For one reading clerk -------------------------------------— 2,500 00
For one tally clerk. —---------------------------------------- 2,500 00
For one disbursing clerk.... —-----—.. ------------------------- 2,250 00
For one file clerk ------------------------------------------ 2,250 00
Eor one printing and bill clerk -------------------------------— 2,250 00
For one enrolling clerk.. —----------------------- ------------— 2,250 00
For oneassistant to chief clerk -------------------------------- 2,000 00
For one assistant to enrolling clerk ---------------------------— 2,000 00
For one resolution and petition clerk --------------------------— 2,000 00
For one newspaper clerk -----------------------------------— 2,000 00
For one superintendent of document room ---------------------— 2,000 00
For one index clerk ---------------------------------------— 2,000 00
For one librarian. ----------------------------------------— 2,000 00
For one distributing clerk ----------------------------------— 1,800 00
For one stationery clerk ------------------------------------- 1,500 00
For one document clerk ------------------------------------- 1,440 00
For one upholsterer and locksmith ---------------------------— 1,440 00
For one chief messenger ------------------------------------- 1,440 00
For one messenger, assistant librarian ------------------------— 1,440 00
For one bookkeeper --------------------------------------— 1,600 00
For four clerks at $1,600 ----------— 6,400 00
For one engineer                     --------- 1,440 00
For two assistant engineers at $1,200 --------------------------- 2,400 00
For five firemen at $900 ------------------------------------- 4;500 00
For one laborer --------------------------------------------- 820 00
For Assistant Doorkeeper ------------------------------------ 2,000 00
For clerk to Doorkeeper ----------------------------—. —-—. — 1,200 00
For janitor to Doorkeeper.. —-----------------------------—, 1,200 00
For Postmaster -------------------------------------------- 2,500 00
For Assistant Postmaster... —-----------------------------------  2,000 00
For four messengers at $1,000 ------------------------------— 4,000 00
For eight messengers during the session at $600 -----------------— 4,800 00
For four laborers at $720 —-------------------------------------- 2,880 00
For one telegraph operator ----------------------------------— 400 00
For one page at $2.50 per day during session --------------------— 225 00
For one clerk to Comn. of Ways and Means. —--------------------- 2,500 00
For one messengerto Com. of Ways and Means ------------------- 1,200 00
For one clerk to Committee on'Appropriations -----------------— 2,500 00
For one messenger to Committee on Appropriations --------------— 1,200 00
For one clerk to Committee on Claims -------------------------- 2,000 00
For one clerk to Committee on Public Lands. —------------------- 2,000 00
670 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
For one clerk to Committee on War Claims ----------------------— 2,000 00
For one clerk to Speaker's table ------------------------------ 1,800 00
For one private secretary to Speaker -------------------------— 1,800 00
For one Sergeant-at-Arms of the House ----------------------— 4,000 00
For one horse and wagon for his use --------------------------— 500 00
For clerk to Sergeant-at-arms ------------------------------— 2,000 00
For paying teller to Sergeant-at-arms —---------------------    2,000 00
For messenger to Sergeant-at-arms ---------------------------— 1,200 00
For Doorkeeper —---------------------------------------- 2,500 00
For Chaplain ---------------------------------------------- 900 00
For five official reporters at $5,000 -------------------------— 25,000 00
For one.stenographer for committees --------------------------- 5,000 00
For one stenographer for committees -------------------------— 5,000 00
For superintendent of folding room ----------------------------- 2,000 00
For one clerk of folding room -------------------------------- 1,800 00
For one clerk of folding room.... —------------------------------ 1,200 00
For one clerkof folding room........ ------------------------------— 1,200 00
For one folder in sealing room ------------------------------- 1,200 00
For Superintendent in document room -----------------------— 1,800 00
For chief assistant in document room -------------------------— 1,800 00
For document file clerk room ------------------------------— 1,400 00
For eight messengers at $1,200 -----------------------------— 9,600 00
For ten messengers at $1,000 ------------------------------— 10,000 00
For eleven laborers under superintendent folding room at $720 ------- 7,920 00
For ten laborers during session at $720 -----------------------— 7,200 00
For one laborer —------------------------------------------ 600 00
For one laborer -------------------------------------------- 840 00
For one female attendant in ladies' retiring room -----------------— 600 00
For fourteen messengers on Union soldiers' roll at $1,200 ----------— 16,800 00
Total  --------------------------------------— $196,420 00
For Contingent Expenses, House of Representatives:
For twenty-one clerks to committees, at $6 per day during the session $15,120 00
For materials for folding    _ ------------------------------------ 8,000 00
For labor in folding books, speeches and pamphlets --------------— 7,000 00
For fuel and oil for heating apparatus -----------------------— 10,000 00
For hire of horses and mail wagons --------------------------— 4,000 00
For furniture and repair of same ----------------------------- 5,000 00
For packing boxes. —--------------------------------------- 2,718 00
For cartage —---------------------------------------------- 700 00
For miscellaneous items. —------- --------------------------- 18,000 00
To pay outstanding indebtedness incurred by committees ----------— 3,000 00
For postage-stamps for Sergeant-at-Arms, Clerk and Postmaster —----- 300 00
For newspapers and stationery -----------------------------— 43,370 b0
For twenty-eight pages, while actually employed ----------------— 8,400 00
Total ------------------------------------------- $125,608 00
Grand total ---------------------------------------- 322,028 00
One other valuable result accomplished is the enactment of a clause in the
direction of civil service reform, prohibiting all officers or employ6s of the Government not appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, from requiring or requesting, giving to or receiving from, any other officer or employs
of the same, or other person, directly or indirectly, any money,  property or
other thing of value, for political purposes; and any such officer or employe
doing so shall he dismissed at once from the service of the United States, and
also be guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof, shall be fined in
the sum of not more than $500.
I now append in tabular form a comparative recapitulation, from which
it will be seen that between the appropriation of this year and last year we
have made a reduction within a fraction of $30,000,000.
Mr. SPRINGER. I have made an estimate of the amount of money to each
congressional district, and find that it would be $102,555.65.  And I have also
671 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
estimated the amount which this would save annually to the State of Illinois, the
State which I have the honor in part to represent, and I find it would -be
$1,948,557.35, and my friend from New York,'[Mr. Cox,] suggests that this
would amount to an annual saving of $3,384,336.45 to the State of New York.
Every gentleman can make the computation for his own State. This is a most
important result, and when brought home to the people of each district, they
will not fail to appreciate the fact. By the action of this House, through the
efficient services of the Committee on Appropriations, an annual burden of
$102,555.65 has been lifted from the shoulders of the tax-payers of each congressional district.
Mr. FOSTER. IS that the reduction on the estimates?
Mr. SPRINGER. That is the amount of reduction for each congressional
district.
Mr. RANDALL. The amount is $102,555.65.
Mr. FOSTER. On the estimates or appropriations?
Mr. SPRINGER. On the appropriations actually made.
Mr. FOSTER.  As against the estimates or appropriations?
Mr. RANDALL. I cannot yield further.
The re-appropriations in Army  and sundry civil bills are added in our
aggregates.
Early in the session, under provocation in debate, but after careful examination and close study, I stated it as my belief that the expenditures of the Government could be reduced from $30,000,000 to $40,000,000 without being prejudicial in any degree to an efficient administration of all governmental functions.
At the time this was considered to be an exaggeration. Events, however, have
demonstrated the correctness of the statement. And I regret to say that in our
struggle with the Senate we have been compelled to yield to that body to the
extent of $10,500,000 from the reduction proposed by the House Committee. In
another year, we hope, and believe, the Senate, by the verdict of the people,
will concur with us in that regard. And I here assert that, with a Chief Magistrate acting in harmony with the purpose of the present House, a further reduction can readily be made of $10,000,000, bringing with it no difficulties in the
administration of the Government.
These facts and figures, Mr. Speaker, speak for themselves, and need no
elaboration at my hands. Upon the result which they demonstrate we rest our
claim of having earnestly and faithfully discharged our duty to the people
in the way which they required when they sent us here. We have not reduced
expenditures  as much as they expected; but that we have not done so is no
fault of ours.
i One more suggestion and I will close. I believe the real, natural, safe, and permanent way to the resumption of specie payments is in the reduction of the expenditures of the Government to what is needed by an economical administration. Human foresight, in my judgment, cannot fix the exact hour or day when
it shall take place. But, the truth is self-evident, if we save $20,000,000 or $30,000,000 or $40,000,000 a year, we do not only provide the means for a speedy resumption by the establishment of a rigid economy and just expenditure, but we
establish that confidence which must inevitably precede the desired result. [Loud
applause.]
The following are the tables referred to:
672 
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFORM.
From estimates.
rom last year's
law.
HOUSE COMMITTEE REDUCTIONS.
Pensions —-----------------------------------                       9
Military Academy —-------      ---------------       90
Consular and diplomatic —-------------------- 
Fortifications —---------------------------— 3,
Legislative, executive and judicial —----------,
River and harbor —--------------------------          
Deficiencies —----------------------------— 20
Post Office —------------------------------- 
Naval service -----------------------------—.
Indian —----------------------------------- 
Army —------------------------------------            3
Sundry civil ------------------------------—.
Total —-------------------------------—.
From estimates.
HOUSE REDUCTIONS.
Pensions —-----------------------------------
Military Academy —-------------------------- 
Consular and diplomatic —--------------------
Fortifications —------------------------------
Legislative, executive and judicial —-----------
River and harbor —--------------------------          
Deficiencies —-------------------------------
Post Office ----------------------------—..
Naval service —------------------------------ 
Indian —----------------------------------- 
Army —------------------------------------ 
Sundry civil —------------------------------ 
Total.. —-------------------------------- $64,346,682 06
From estimates.
THIS YEAR'S LAW REDUCTIONS.
Pensions —----------------------------------
Military Academyl —--------------------------
Consular and Diplomatic ---------------------
Fortifications —------------------------------
Legislative, executive and judicial —------------ 
River and harbor —--------------------------
Deficiencies —------------------------------- 
Post Office —--------------------------------
Naval service —----------------------------- 
Indian —------------------------------------ 
Army —------------------------------------- 
Sundry civil.. —------------------------------
Total ----------------------------------
I
6,i-3
Object.
i
$466,500 00
133,499 00
452, I''7 50
535,000 00
5,892,429 38
770,667 50
4,041,384 11
5,335,252 00
4,192,'351 00
1,454,-,83 28
4,778,752 88
12,017,368 35
$40,430,172 00
$206,229 00
429,637 501
b',091,000 00
,,826,499 39
8,428,250 00
2,061,156 63
5,750,696 99
8,063,011 00
1,882,224 33
10,193,671 38
17,933,493 55
$65,865,869 77
i
Object.
From last year.
$466,500 00
105,500 00
462,237 50
535,000 00
5,903,421 38
770.667 50
4,032,212 44
4,145,299 00
4,568,151 00
1,380,952 44
4,754,010 48
11,787,023 55
---------------
$178,230 00
439,737 50
3,091,000 00
7,837,491 39
8,428,250 00
2,051,984 96
.4,200,696 99
8,438,811 00
1,808,393 49
10,168,928 98
.17,703,148 75
$38,910,984 29
Object.
From last year.
$466,500 00
74,675 00
216,405 50
535,000 00
3,528,276 99
1,643,517 50
3,886,975. 62
2,408,701 00
4,260,651 00
8 690,437 59
0 1,946,662 10
2 10,286,444 62
3 $29,944,252 86 
COMPARATIVE REC(APITULATION.
5,72 85   0, 993 V0 a: 0
- 7 4 8 4  0,31  I
0           0~
$29,533,500 00 $29,533,500 00
3259,231 00    304       8,8 4       1 00 
912,747 501  1,341,647 50
315,000  60 315,000 O60
12,998,815 61  16,606,858 001
,5,872,850 601  4,993,000 00
671,486 74    840,831 27
33,739,109 60  37,094,850 60
12,432,855 40  16,167,855 40
3,979,602 11  5,206,861 27
23,179,819 52  27,715,877 20
14,857,326 54  18,501,601 24
138,752,343 42 158,6226,72 88
0                  ce
o                 o
$29,533,5(!0  00:$30,000,(,00 00
290,065  00       364,,40  0(
1,158,579  50    1,374,985 00
315,000  00!       850,000 00
15,373,960  00' 18,902,236   99
5,000,000 00   6,643,517  50
816,723 56' 4,703,699 18
35,475,701 00  37,524,361  00
12,740,355 401 17,001,006 40
4,670,117 02   5,360,554   55
25,987,167 90   27,933,830  00
16,357,905 47   26,644,350 09
$29,533,500 OC
231,241 OC
922,847 5C
315,000 OC
13,009,807 61
5,872,850OC0
662,315 07
32,189,109OC0
12,808,655 40
3,905,771 27
23,155,077 12
14,626,981 74
Q
3
-2
Q
Pensions              -
Military Academy -
Consular & dipl'tic_
Fortifications, &cLegislative, execu  tive and judicial_
River and  harbor —
Deficiency ---------
Post-Office --—. —Naval service ------
Indian -------------
Army --------
Sundry  civil
I=
1%
d
$29,533,500 00
437,470 00
1,352,485 00i
3,406,000 00
20,836,307  00
14,301,100 00
2,'723,471 70
37,939,805 99
20,871,666,40
5,787,995  60
33,348,748 50!
32,560,475 29
$29,533,500 00
308,841 00
1,341,647 50
315,000 00
16,635,338  0
5,000,000 00
840,831 27
36,796,850 00
14,857,855 40
4,958,361 27
27,715,877 20
19,956,496 99
Objects.
147,719,074 85, 177,663,327 71
Total       - -------— 203,099,025 48 137,233 155 7: 
THE VIRGINIUS.
OUR FLAG TRAMPLED UNDER FOOT BY THE SPANIARD.
AND DON HAMILTON FISH CAVES IN.
On the 26th of September, 1870, the steamer Virginius was registered in the
Custom House at New York as the property of a citizen of the United States.
Having complied with the requisites of the statutes, she cleared in the usual way
for the port of Curaqoa, and on or about the fourth day of October, 1873, she sailed
for that port.
It is not disputed that she made the voyage according to her clearage. It
is also understood that she preserved her American papers; and that, when
within foreign ports, she made the practice of putting forth a claim to
American nationality, which was recognized by the authorities of such ports.
When, therefore, she left the port of Kingston, Jamaica, on October 23, 1873, under the flag of the United States, she had, as against all powers excepting the
United States, the right to fly that flag and to claim its protection, as enjoyed by
all the regularly documented vessels registered as part of our commercial marine.
THE "VIRGINIUS" CHASED AND CAPTURED BY A SPANISH MAN-OF-WAR.
A few hours after the Virginius left Kingston she sprunk a leak, and put into
the Haytian port of Caimit for repairs. She sailed from thence on the 30th of October, 1873, and, while between the islands of Cuba and Jamaica, about twenty
odd miles from the coast of Cuba, she was chased by the Spanish war steamer
Tornado, and captured about eighteen miles north of Morrant, on the east end of
the island of Jamaica, about ten o'clock at night, the Tornado having fired several
shots over her. The Virginius was then taken in charge by a boarding-officer of
the Spanish navy, who stated that he did so on his own responsibility, knowing
the Virginius to be an American vessel.  The American flag was forcibly hauled
down and trampled under foot by several Spanish sa.lors, and the act seemed to receive
the passive acquiescence of their officers. The Virginius was then brought into the
port of Santiago de Cuba on the first day of November, 1873, about five o'clock in
the afternoon. There were 155 persons on board the Virginius at the time of her
capture, 52 of whom composed the crew, the number of passengers being 103.
A DRUM-HEAD COURT MARTIAL —THE MURDERS BEGIN.
Upon the arrival of the Virginius at Santiago de Cuba, some hundred and odd
of the passengers were brought to prison. Captain Fry and his crew were kept
on board the Spanish man-of-war Tornado. A drum-head court martial was immediately organized for the trial of the prisoners, and, on the 7th of November,
four of the persons who had been captured on board the vessel, one of whomColonel Ryan-was an American citizen, were shot to death.   The execution of
these four persons was fdrced on with indecent and barbarous haste, and in defiance of all humanity end regard for the usages of the civilized world.  It was 
THE VIRGINIUS.
precipitated in advance of the knowledge of the capture reaching Havana or
Madrid, and it would seem to have been thus precipitated in cold blood and vindictiveness to intercept and prevent the interposition of any humane restraints upon the
ferocity of the local authorities from the Government at Madrid or its representative in
Havana.  In fact, from the moment the Virginius arrived at the port of Santiago
de Cuba, General Juan Burriel, the Governor of that locality (who displayed a
blood-thirstiness hardly to be expected in a human being), fearful of any interposition that might prevent him from carrying out his programme of bloodt, caused
the telegraph wires betwe(:n Santiago de Cuba and Havana to be cut, and withheld all telegrams from the American Consul at Santiago to the American Consuls
at Havana and Kingston, announcing the capture of the Virginius.
It was by thus cutting off all communication with the outer world that Burriel
was enabled to contribute another instance to the long catalogue of defiance of
the home-government by those entrusted with authority in Cuba, and add another page to the dark chapter of bloody vengeance and cruel disregard of the rules
of civilized war and of common humanity, which the military and other officials
in Cuba have but too frequently made part of the history of Spain's government
of its colony.
A WORTHY CONSUL.
Our Consul at Santiago, Mr. Schmitt, acted with commendable promptness,
and, throughout the momentous period which followed, displayed unusual prudence, and endeavored his utmost, by courageous and emphatic protests, personal
and by letter, to prevent the shocking murders that took place. As a part of this
bloody drama, we append the following correspondence between Consul Schmitt
and General Burriel, who has since earned the well-merited sobriquet of
I' Butcher."
THE AMERICAN CONSUL'S PROTEST.
[Mr. Schmitt to General Burriel.]
"UNITED STATES CONSULATE, I
"Santiago de Cuba, Nov. 3, 1873. 
SIR:-I would most respectfully inform your Excellency that it has come to
my knowledge that the steamer Virginius which was brought into this port at
"half past five o'clock P. M. on the 1st instant, convoyed by the Spanish war"steamer Tornado as a vessel captured on the high seas, having on board a great
' many passengers, besides the captain and crew, was cleared from Kingston, Ja maica, and as I understood that the said steamer sailed under the American
"colors, I therefore, as the representative of the United States Government at
"this city and port of Santiago de Cuba, went yesterday morning, at 9 o'clock
"precisely, to the office of the Submarine Cable Telegraph Company to transmit
"a telegram to the United States Consul at Kingston, Jamaica, asking the nation"ality of the steamer Virginius, and if cleared under American papers, which
"telegram was objected to and detained by your Excellency, as I had the honor
"to communicate to your Excellency by my letter of yesterday, 2d instant, of
"which I am surprised at receiving no reply relative to the subject, which, under
"such pressing circumstances would be of great value to the numerous American
" citizens concerned, and which answer I am anxiously awaiting.
"I would also beg your Excellency (not having received any communication
"from any of the Spanish authorities, and particularlyfrom your Excellency, of the
"event), considering that I ought to have been notified, and also permitted to call on
"the American citizens detained at the jail in this city, as well as the captain and
"crew of the aforesaid steamer, to allow that I be admitted to the jail and on
"board of the vessels where the latter are detained as prisoners, to enable me to
"fulfill my duties as Consul, representative of the United States Government.
"I have, &c.,                                  E.G. SCHMITT."
ANOTHER APPEAL TO THE "BUTCHER" BURRIEL ON BEHALF OF HUMANITY.
[MAr. Schmitt to General' Burriel.]
"UNITED  STATES CONSULATE, 
" Santiago de Cuba, November 3, 1873. f
"SIR:-I would most respectfully inform your Excellency that until this hour,
"half-past 6 P.' M., November 3, I have not had the honor to receive any reply
676 
THEI VIRGINIUS.
"from your Excellency to my official communications of 2d instant and of this
"morning, referring to a telegram directed to the United States Consul at Kings"ton, Jamaica, detained by your Excellency and not forwarded, and also to not
"having received any communication from any of the Spanish authorities, and
"particularly from your Excellency, of the affair of the steamer Virginius, which
"was, according to the last reports published in the newspapers, and publicly
"known in the neighboring island of Jamaica as a national American steamer, un"derthe flag ofthe United States of America, with all her papers and clearance
"legally authenticated and sealed with the arms of the said United States; and to
"my request to be permitted to call and communicate with the American citizens,
"captain, crew and passengers of the aforesaid steamer, either in jail or on
"board of the vessels in port, having to fulfill my consular duties as the repre"sentative of the American Government, and according to the treaty between
"Spain and the United States of the year 1795.
" And as I have not been in any way or manner attended to by your Excellency
in consideration of my reiterated requests in this matter, and not having ad"mitted any of them, neither knowing what has been done as to the rights of the
"American citizens as well as those of the captain, crew and vessel, in accordance
"to the aforesaid treaty between Spain and the United States, article seventh, I must
"respectfully protest, your Excellency, against the authorities and the Spanish
"Government, as I, in the name and as the representative of the United States, do
" solemnly protest against the Spanish Government, and all and every person or
"persons, for their performances, irregularities, trials and condemnations that
"may occur to any and every American citizen or citizens concerned, detained,
"and imprisoned for all damages, prejudices, whether personal or otherwise,
"which may happen to any and every one of the American citizens who were
"on board of the American steamer Virginius, as well as to all interests or value
"of the aforesaid steamer which may be claimed by her owners, or whomsoever
"interested; all of which shall be transmitted to the Consul-General at Havana
"and tp the Department of State at Washington.
"I am, &C.,                       E. G. SCHMITT."
THE " BUTCHER" BURRIEL'S REPLY —HIS RELIGIOUS MEDITATIONS.
[General Burriel to MHr. Schmitt.]
.B~ " POLITICAL GOVERNMENT OF THE
"EASTERN DEPARTMENT OF THE ISLAND OF CUBA. 
"I have received your communications, one dated the 2d instant, and the re"maining two others the 3d instant; the first inquiring if it was true that a
"telegram had been detained by my orders, which you had addressed to the
"United States Consul in Kingston, Jamaica, asking information as to the na"tionality of the steamer Virginius, seized on the high seas as a pirate by the
"Spanish war steamer Tornado. In my desire to correspond duly to the exqui"site zeal which you show in this matter, I would have replied  at once to your
"communication, but as I received it precisely at the moment of important and
"peremptory affairs, to which I had to devote myself exclusively; further, the
"past two days were holidays, upon which the offcials do not come to the office, being
"engaged, as well as every one else, in the meditation of the divine mysteries of All
" Saints, and the commemoration of All Souls' days, as prescribed by our holy religion;
"consequently it was impossible for me, until early this morning, to comply with
"your wishes as well as my own, to answer your communications.
"Upon doing so, I have to inform you that, although I regretted to do so, I
"gave the order to the chief of the telegraphic station to which you refer to de"tain your telegram, acting thus by virtue of the powers granted me by the
"regulations, according to which this service is performed on this island, and
"approved by government.
"Regarding the first of the two communications which I received yesterday
"from your consulate, in which you are pleased to state your surprise at not
"having received an answer to that of the previous day, and especially for not
"having been called to the jail, nor notified of the capture of the pirate vessel,
"which, as you have heard, was sailing under American colors, and the interests
"of numerous Americaq citizens therein concerned, you undoubtedly referring to
"the so-called passengers of the Virginius, I have to state in reply that you
"ought not to have been surprised at not receiving my answer, as much on ac
677 
"count of the short period of time between one and the other communication, as
"for the circumstances which prevented my doing so, as I have already stated.
"And as to being surprised at not having been notified, I regret on that account
"the concern which you show, as although, in effect, the Virginius sailed under
"American colors (a phrase not very intelligible for me, supposing you mean to
"say that she sailed under cover of the flag of the nation you represent, as, in
"this sense there are as many American colors as there are nations in both con"tinents of the New World, and even in some of the islands), you will permit me
"to say, in reply, that I could not, for my part, decide upon the act of notification
"you desired. In the first place every one knows, for the fact was public and
"notorious in Europe as well as in America, that the steamer VTirginius, destined,
"by its successive and numerous owners, to aid the insurrection in this island
"bringing to it, secretly and piratically arms, munitions of war, and men, was
"accustomed to sail under all colors, making use of the national distinctions of
"different nations, even those of Russia, China or Japan, according as their wicked
"piratical plans might require, although more often covering themselves with the
"respectable flag of the United States, inferring thereby, in my opinion and in
"that of honorable men of all civilized countries, a grave insult to the noble na"tion you represent, and whose liberality has been so abused by the said vessel.
"Besides, as the vessel and her crew are now held to the action of a court, the only
"competent authority to judge of the convenience, justice, and necessity of giv"ing information to a foreign consulate concerning their proceedings, my au"thority was and is not sufficient to decide on the convenience and necessity of
"doing as you requested.
"Neither could I forsee your desire to repair with such haste to the jail where
"the prisoners were incarcerated, much less that you desired to do so, showing an
"officiousness so marked, when you had received from none of them any remon"strance whatever, which they would have made at once, through my conduct,
"if their conscience had permitted them to even suppose that they were innocent
"and worthy of the protection of your vice-consulate, undoubtedly impelled
"thereto on this occasion for unknown and suspicious purposes.
"These purposes, I may suppose, were only those of coming to the defense of
"your countrymen if they were unjustly molested, or their lives or property in
"danger, and such noble and honorable intentions would exalt your conduct;
"but, as upon the occasion to which you refer in your communications, nor upon
"any other, has there been any reasonable motive of complaint, or of alarm, to
"be entertained by any foreign subject, principally North American, who has
"observed the respect due to Spanish laws to the tranquility of the country, and
"to the preservation of the public peace, conditions which every man of honor
"should comply with in order to live in a foreign country, you will permit me to
"state, also, that, although in the crew and among those whom you call passengers
"by the Virginius there may be one or more American citizens, the mere fact of
"being found in company of the most conspicuous chiefs of the insurrection
"which desolates this island would be sufficient, if it were not known that some
"of them, erroneously supposed to be of the former, were comprised among the
"latter-named, would be sufficient for them to lose, in conformity to international
"law, all kind of protection whatever from the countries from which they came,
"because these countries, if they insist upon defending criminals of this class,
"will incur in the responsibility, at least moral, which the law is in duty bound to
"exact of them.
"Furthermore, you may address to whomsoever you please all the protests
"you deem necessary, as you state and do in your third communication, as I am
"satisfied, on my side, that the same are and will be unfounded for the fact to
"which you refer in your three communications. And so unfounded are they
"that Mr. O'Ryan, for whom you came in person to speak with me and obtain
"permission to witness the will he desired to make as a North American citizen,
"as you stated and incorrectly assured me, has himself confessed he was a British
"subject and born in Canada.
"Such conduct, especially after you were advised by the fiscal that Mr. O'Ryan
"was an Englishman, obliges me to apply to the Government and propose that
"your exequatur to perform the duties of your vice-consulate may be withdrawn,
"as an officer who addresses protests so slightly founded, and who after that at"tempts to surprise the intention of the Spanish authorities, accustomed to act
"with the rectitude and loyalty known by all, cannot help compromising the honor
678
TT-wE ~IRGrINTUS. 
THE VIRGINIUS.
4 of the country he represents and being the cause of vexatious questions between
"friendly nations which should mutually respect each other.
"God preserve you many years.
, CUBA, 4 November, 1873.                            JUAN N. BURRIEL."
THE AMERICAN CONSUL'S REJOINDER.
[Mr. Schnitt to General Burriel.]
"UNITED STATES CONSULATE, 
" Santiago de Cuba, November 5, 1873. 
SIR:  I have had the honor to receive your Excellency's communication of
"yesterday's date, the contents of which fill me with surprise and profound re gret that my previous dispatches to your Excellency and motives which caused
"them, should have been so misconstrued by your Excellency as to lead even to
personal imputations upon my character.
"In this country, as in every other, even the greatest of criminals have lawyers
"assigned to their defense, without, in the event of their condemnation, the repu"tation of such lawyers suffering therefrom, and I, who represent a foreign
"country here, have an absolute duty, when I hear that any of the citizens of that
"country are in any trouble, to the last extremity afford them all alleviation
"or consolation as lies in my power, and a right to do so without identifying
4 myself with the citizens in question and their actions or opinion, or exposing
myself to the suspicions and insinuations of your Excellency.
"Your Excellency's communication barring me from all interference on behalf
"of my fellow citizens, I must beg your Excellency will, at all events, allow me
to proffer a few remarks in my own defense.
"I should have been the last person to disturb the important duties of your
Excellency, and the religious meditations which your Exellency's subordinates were
"indulging in, had it not been that I considered the case a pressing one, and imagined
'that where  there  was  sufficient time  to  censure  and  detain my  tele gram there might have been also time for a few lines of explanation, with the
" additional motive of my second dispatch, that I observed that'the circumstances
"which your Excellency enumerates were no hinderance to the dispatch of other
business connected with the steamer.
"Due to a misconception, though not a maltranslation, my meaning with regard
"to colors has not been correctly conveyed to your Excellency.  I used the word
"in its acception of flag, and not with reference to the different distinctive shades
"which form the national emblems of countries.
"I shall, therefore, abstain from saying anything further on this point than
"that it seems to me, considering that the Virginius was flying the United States
"flag at the time of her capture, that she claimed to be a United States merchant
"steamer, and her papers as such were surrendered by her captain to the board"ing officer from the steamer Tornado, it would have been a delicate attention on
"the part of your Excellency to have informed me thereof, and that the use of
"such flag and papers was an abuse on the goodness of the country which I rep"resent, in order that I might have brought the same to the notice of my Gov"ernment, and have been spared the necessity of telegraphing to Jamaica, and
"the disagreeableness to which said telegram has given rise.
"As regards the protest I directed to your Excellency, my duty to cover my
"responsibility, in case of a reclamation, was so manifest, and a protest is not
"subsequently authorized by such reclamation-so entirely inoffensive-that  I
"cannot for a moment suppose your Excellency can take exception to my action
"'in this matter.
"With regard to my interview with your Excellency, when I asked permission
"to see O'Ryan, and when your Excellency's treatment of me in your Excellency's
"own residence was not what I should have expected from the amiability and
"hospitality of your Excellency, as your Excellency's remarks contain a personal
"imputation on my character, accusing me of an intention to take your Excel"lency by surprise and obtain an undue advantage by dishonorable means, I can
"only deny most emphatically even having harbored such intentions, or attempted
"to put them in execution.
"Finally, I note your Excellency's intention to apply for the revocation of my
"exequatur, and while,ignorant of any cause given by me therefor, I can only as"sure your Excellency that my conscience being perfectly clear in the question,
679 
THE VIRGINIUS.
"and having acted honorably, and as I considered for the best, the result of your
" Excellency's application is to me a matter of profound indifference..
"I have, &c.,                        E. G. SCHMITT."
"BUTCHER" BURRIEL'S MENDACITY.
[General Burriel to Mr. Schmitt.]
" POLITICAL GOVERNMENT OF r'HE            )
"EASTERN DEPARTMENT OF THE ISLAND OF CUBA. 
November 7, 1872.  )
"I have received your communication of the 5th instant, in reply to that from
"this Government of the previous day, relative to those you had already addressed
"me, regarding the capture of the pirate vessel Virginius.   I am  sorry at
"having caused you the profound regret you mention in consequence of my reply
" or the interpretation which you say was given to your communications, for which
"no fault can be imputed to me, as I did my duty just as you purposed to do yours
"in the matter. The interpretation given to your dispatches could be no other as
"officially and in writing, and investing the act with a solemnity which could not
"be allowed to it, you addressed yourself to this Government, making inquiries to
"which you could have verbally been answered had you pleased to call on me in.
"person, because the matter was very plain, and, in my opinion did not deserve
"the honor of a dispatch, unless you did so purposely, endeavoring to give it more
"importance than it really had.  After your first communication making the in"quiry to which I refer, you addressed me two others on the same day, exact"ing explanations regarding affairs, the gravity of which could not but impose
"upon me the most prudent reserve; and as you were desirous of obtaining with
"unnecessary haste a reply which could not then be given, you became alarmed en"tirely without reason, and protested against my conduct, against the actions of
"the courts who had charge of the matter to which you refer, and this without
"possibly knowing or being informed what was such action. As I am dis"posed to receive at my office any person claiming the aid of the authorities, es"pecially the Consul and Vice-Consul, resident in this city, you will understand
"that the means of which you endeavor to avail yourself were not the most suitable
"to induce belief in the sincerity of your acts, for if you had called upon me
"and verbally set forth your doubts and apprehensions, I would have been pleased
"to attend to your wishes within the limits of prudence and convenience, which
"my office and the present circumstances impose upon me.
"Far from having put any impediment to the defense of your citizens residing in
' this city and in all this department, in no wise have I prevented you from doing so,
"limiting myself to my communications to express the surprise which your per"sistent officiousness caused me, asking to interfere in affairs to which no one had
"called your assistance and which did not treat of citizens.of the United States
"who might be under the protection of your vice-consulate, but of chiefs, rebels to
"the Spanish government, of armed men who came to swell the ranks of the insur"gent parties of this island, and of the crew of a steamer seized on the high seas as a
"pirate, and subject by this act alone to the immediate action of the courts of jus"tice, in accordance to the laws regarding piracy ruling in this island and of
" which you are undoubtedly informed.
"If the marine court which tried the pirate crew had had the slightest doubt as
"to the status of the vessel, and had it not considered itself absolutely and exelus" ively competent to try it, the same court would have addressed you through my
"official medium, or some one of the prisoners would have done so, if allof them
"had not been confessedly convicted of the crime of piracy. All these explana"tions you could have obtained, as I have before stated, if, with the desire to be
"out of doubt, you had called upon me; but the way in which you addressed me
"and the expressions you used, could not but otherwise make me believe in a desire
"on the part of your vice-consulate to give the question a character of gravity it did
"not possess.
"No one, therefore, has objected to your making the defense of your citizens; no,
"one has excluded you from any interference in favor of your citizens; no one has
"interpreted your words in a sense different to their meaning, as that of'the Amer"can colors' was taken to mean the North American flag, as you afterward stated;"and, finally, no one has considered himself, with any moral authorization what
680 
THE VIRGINIUS.
"ever, to believe that the steamer Virginins was a merchant vessel, which lawfully
"used the United States flag, as her character as a pirate was public and notorious
"all over the world; consequently, your communication, to which I now reply,
"however flattering the explanation you give to your acts, has no foundation re"specting the interpretation you are pleased to give to my phrases and to the con"duct I have observed in this motive.
"As to the reception I gave you at my residence, when you called to see me,
"after addressing me three communications, you will excuse my saying that the
"reception I made you was as polite, respectful and affable as usual, and so much
"so, you cannot forget that I granted you the permission that you asked for, to
"witness the execution before a notary of the will of M. O'Ryan in the belief
"on my part that you had, if not the absolute certainty, at least the moral con"viction that he was a citizen of the United States and that you had been called
"for by him, understanding you were the consul of his nalion. But as you said
"this in my presence, after being told at the jail, whither you had repaired before
"seeing me, by the fiscal of the case, the best informed person in the matter, and
"been assured that Mr. O'Ryan was not an American citizen, but an Englishman,
"according to his own declarations, which circumstance you concealed from me,
"through inadvertence or otherwise, it was then that I felt obliged, by my posi"tion, by the dignity of my office, and by the importance of the concession I
"had made, in virtue of assertions which had already been answered officially by
"proper persons, to express the surprise your conduct caused me, which might be
"all the loyal you could wish, but which appeared suspicious, as wanting in cin"cerity and frankness, and you could rest assured that if you had asked me-in a
' private and friendly manner to see Mr. O'Ryan or any other of the prisoners,
"permission would have been granted in the act, as was done to various persons; but,
"exacting officially, and in demand of a right which did not exist, it was impos"sible such could be granted.   This is all I have to say in reply, reserving to his
"Excellency, the superior political governor, the decision respecting the revoca"tion of your exequatur, which I have asked for, much more when this is so
"indifferent to you, as you state as to the contrary I should have a real feeling of
"regret, as aside from the question which occasions these replies, I have ever en"deavored to keep up with you as with the rest of the consular corps most
"respectful and cordial relations.
"God preserve you many years.
"Cuba, November 7th, 1874.
(Signed,)
" JUAN M. BURRIEL.
"The United States Consul in thi City."
THE MURDER OF CAPTAIN FRY AND HIS CREW.
On the 7th of November Captain Fry and thirty-six of the Virginiu8 crew were
executed, and on the 8th and the next day, sixteen passengers suffered death. On
the day before his death, Capt. Fry addressed the following note to the American
Consul at Santiago:
"SIR:-I have made several ineffectual efforts to communicate with you, and
"am at a loss to understand why the agent of a Government as powerful as the
-United States should not at once communicate with the master of an American
"vessel, captured on the high seas, in times of profound peace, by a Spanish man-of"war. I desire that the papers of the Virginius should be examined by you, and the
"facts and incidents of her attempted voyage noted and communicated at once by
"telegraph to the Government, as it may serve to save future complications between
"the Governments of Spain and the United States.
"I am, &c.,                             JOSEPH FRY,
"Master of the Steamship' Virginius,' now a prisoler
"in the Spanish Man-of-war' Tornado."'
An hour or two before death, Capt. Fry, upon oath, made a declaration, which
concluded as follows:
"I have been refused officially all chances of application or appliance to my Consul
"for protection, and I have been condemned to death with the greatest part of my
"crew, under no known public law or pretense, and I have only time to make this appeal,
"being hurried in my preparations for death."
681 
THE VIRGINIUS.
MORE INSULTS TO OUR FLAG.
Capt. Fry is also understood to have written a private letter to the Secretary of
State, wherein he informed that functionary that he died without a country or a
home. On the day of the execution of Capt. Fry and his crew, two Spanish soldiers and a corporal were stationed at the door of the American Consul's house,
without any previous notice having been given of such an intention on the part of
the authorities. Against this fresh indignity the Consul protested, but his protest
has probably shared the fate of every other indignity heaped upon the American
flag in Cuba. In a letter by Hamilton Fish to Gen. Sickles, under date of Nov.
12th, 1873, we are informed that our State Department had heard nothing of the capture of the Virginius until the evening of the 5th, and the first intimation that it
received of the execution, on the 4th, of the four persons who had been captured on
board of the Virginius, was on the 7th, when Mr. Fish immediately called the attention of Gen. Sickles to the atrocity and ordered him to request the Home Government to order its subordinates in Cuba to cease these murders.
WORDS! WORDS! WORDS!
We have neither space nor inclination to follow Mr. Fish in his prolonged diplomatic correspondence with Gen. Sickles, and the correspondence of Gen. Sickles
with the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Carvajal, with respect to this
latest indignity upon the flag and the honor of our country.
SECRETARY ROBESON SEIZES THIS OPPORTUNITY TO DISTRIBUTE $6,000,000
AMONG THE NAVY "RING."
For the first few days after the perpetration of this outrage, and whilst the
popular excitement in the United States was at its height, and the public voice
called for immediate vengeance upon the assassins, Secretary Robeson pretended
to be exceedingly busy in his preparations for war, and, without any authority,
spent nearly six millions of dollars in equipping a navy that was worthless beyond
all hope, and placing it upon a war footing! As the reader will observe, by reference to our sketch upon the Navy Department, published elsewhere in this book,
the greater part of this money spent by Mr. Robeson went into the pockets of the
parasites of the Navy Department.  Mr. Robeson knew very well that we had a
navy only in name at that time, which could not cope with the Spanish iron-clads,
and that the expenditure of these vast sums of money was entirely useless and
unnecessary.  We had no ship that was fit-in the language of Admiral Porter"either to fight or run away."  The attention of the reader is directed to the
testimony of Admiral Porter, published in our chapter on the Navy Department.
A SHAMEFUL SIGHT.
The Administration did not dare to go to war in vindication of its honor, and
its negotiations for a settlement with the Spanish government were conducted
with a cowardice which was both contemptible and degrading, and has made the
United States the laughing-stock of the world ever since.
It was fortunate for us that Spain was at that t me torn by intestine strife, and
that Cuba was also harassed by an insurrection; otherwise, it is doubtful whether
we would have secured the favorable terms we did. It was also a lucky thing that
at the head of the Spanish Government in that crisis was Don Emilio Castelar, who
has always been a sincere friend of the United States, and who realized the fearful predicament in which Don Hamilton Fish was placed.
We ought not to omit stating the fact that very early in the diplomatic negotiations, Don Hamilton Fish, dreading that General Sickles might not manage matters in the same cowardly and cringing manner as himself, assumed full charge of
the discussion and opened the correspondence directly with the Spanish Minister
at Washington. It was owing to this circumstance that General Sickles resigned
his post at Madrid within a few days after the preliminary settlement of the difficulty terminated.
A HALF LOAF, &C., &,'.
At length, on the 29th of November, after innumerable cable dispatches and
long letters between the two Governments, a protocol was signed between: Admiral
Polo, the Spanish Minister at Washington, and Don Hamilton Fish, by which
Spain stipulated to restore the Tirginius immediately, together with such passen
682 
THE VIRGINIIUS.
gers and crew as had not been murdered, and to salute the American flag on
Christmas Day following. But the latter event depended upon the contingency
that, if it should be proven to the satisfaction of the Government of the United
States that the Virginius was not entitled to carry the American flag, and was
carrying it at the time of her capture without right and improperly, the salute
was to be dispensed with. The first part of this arrangement, that is to say, the
delivery of the Virginius, was faithfully complied with, but the event was attended
with great excitement in Cuba, and it was only after repeated truckling proclamations by the Captain-General of Cuba to the Spanish volunteers that the Virginiiis
was finally surrendered.
HOW THE UNITED STATES CAVED IN.
The second part of the agreement contained in the protocol was waived, as it was
probably intended it should be at the time the protocol was signed. On the 17th of
December, 1873, Attorney-General Williams addressed a letter to the Secretary of
State, from which we append the following extracts:
"Assuming the question to be what appears to conform to the intent of the
"protocol, whether or not the Virgyinius, at the time of her capture, had a right as
' against the United States to carry the American flag, I am of the opinion that she
"had no such right, because she had not been registered according to law. Spain
"undoubtedly has a right to capture a vessel with the American registry and car"rying the American flag, found in her own waters assisting or endeavoring to as"sist the insurrection in Cuba, but she has no right to capture such a vessel upon
"the high seas upon the apprehension that, in violation of the neutrality or navi"gation laws of the United States, she was on her way to assist said rebellion.
Spain cannot rightfully raise that question as to the  Virginius, but the United
"States may, and, as I understand the protocol, they have agreed to do it; and,
"governed by that agreement and without admitting that Spain would otherwise
"have any interest in the question, I decide that the Virginius, at the time of'her
"capture, was without right and improperly carrying the American flag."
Upon receipt of this opinion of the Attorney-General, which was doubtless manufactured to order, Secretary Fish informed the Spanish Minister that the United
States waived the salute to its flag as agreed upon in the protocol. So ended this
part of the settlement.
$80,000 FOR 53 LIVES.
Upon the employment of Mr. Caleb Cushing as Minister to Spain, our Government entered a claim for the pecuniary relief of the persons who had been murdered
at Santiago de Cuba. After months of diplomatic correspondence the Spanish
Government paid the sum of $80,000 in full satisfaction of the 53 lives that were
taken from on board the Virginius, an American ship, sailing under the protection
of the American flag.
The number murdered are as follows:
On Nov. 4th, 1873 ---------- 4 persons.
8th,  "  ------ ---— 12 passengers, including Capt. Fry.
13th,  "...........37 of the crew.
Total executed ------------------— 53.
The total survivors of the crew were 15, and of the passengers 87, who were
surrendered at the same time as the Virginits and conveyed with that vessel to the
port of New York.
A MARKED CONTRAST-SALONICA.
In bold contrast to Secretary Fish's pusillanimous foreign policy in this affair,
and every other, except the Venezuela matter, in which he was very plucky, stands
the murder of the French and German Consuls at Salonica in Turkey. Those
two officials suffered death at the hands of an infuriated mob, whose acts the
Turkish Government could not control.   No sooner did the intelligence of this
assassination reach the powers represented by the two Consuls than there almost immediately appeared in the bay of Salonica a fleet of German and French men-of-war.
Satisfaction was demanded instantly, and seven of the murderers,which number was
all that could be identified, were at once immediately tried and sentenced to death.
The marines and sailors from the French and German men-of-war were disembarked and marched to the place of execution to witness the death of the murderers, and, lastly, the Turkish Government was compelled to pay to each of the
Consul's families $100,000. That is the way that powerful nations make themselves respected.
683 
JOBBERY IN GRAVESTONES.
EVEN DEAD SOLDIERS ARE VICTIMIZED BY REPUBLI                             CAN SHARKS.
It was seen, or widely suspected, when an appropriation was made by Congress of a million of dollars for the erection of headstones at the graves of soldiers buried in the national cemeteries, that behind this pretence of patriotic
gratitude there lurked a currupt possibility or purpose. Like Joseph Surface
in the play, the Republican leaders had taken so strongly to "moral ideas" and
superfine sentiment while simultaneously robbing the Treasury and laughing
aside at the people who trusted them, that it was thought when they cried out for
a profusion of marble to point the ashes of departed valor, to which the country
really owed a dedication and a tribute, that their concern was not so much lest the
soldier should be forgotten, as that they might not forget themselves. The event
has justified the expectation, as is shown by the testimony taken before the Committee on Military Affairs of the House, and the accompanying Report, submitted by unanimous consent, the Republican members themselves concurring.
Proposals for the furnishing of these stones were invited by advertisement,
and the bids opened in the office of the Quartermaster-General. Instead of the
contract having been given as a unit to the lowest bidder, and instead of the lowest bid having been accepted, the former was divided and distributed according
to the caprice of the Secretary of War, General Belknap, and the latter was
passed over in behalf of an arbitrary personal preference exercised by that functionary. Contracts for material and work subject to the same specifications were
also awarded in the lettings to different parties at varying rates, without warrant
of law, in injury alike of the Government and of honest competition. Changes
in the details as they were at first exacted were also subsequently made by the
Secretary, both as regards the dimensions of the stones and the amount of lettering, in the interest of the favored recipients. Bridges, who as a bidder, was not
entitled to any portion of the contract, but who was preferred was a fellowtownsman and particular friend of General Belknap's. From such an arrangement it is impossible to exclude the imputation of venality. But a few months
have passed since a mercenary grasp was laid upon these graveyards, and the
Secretary himself is festering in his shroud.
It was, indeed, however it may revolt, eminently fitting that a party whose
policy and knavery had inordinately augmented taxation, while palsying industry-which had robbed the infant in its cradle by taking the father's bread, which
had set the haggard impress of perplexity and want upon the brow of manly toil,
and diminished the widow's cruse-should not hesitate, as an insatiable scourge
of the living, to enlarge its field of operations by an alliance with Death itself.
The following is the unanimous report:
The Committee on Military Affairs, having taken the testimony of various wit
in the matter of contracts to furnish soldisers' head stones, report:
That Congrels having appropriated $1,000,000 for the erection of soldiers'
head-stones at the graves of soldiers buried in national cemeteries, the Quarter 
JOBBERY IN GRAVESTONES.
master-General, on the 27th of June, 1873, invited proposals to furnish these
stones in an advertisement, from which the following is an extract:
PROPOSALS FOR HEAD-STONES FOR NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERIES.
"WAR DEPARTMENT, QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Washington, June 27, 1873.
"Provided, That the head-stones required by an act entitled'An act to establish
and protect national cemeteries,' approved February 22, 1867, and the act amendatory thereof, approved June 8, 1872, shall be of durable stone, and of such
design and weight as shall keep them in place when set, and the contract for
supplying the same shall be awarded by the Secretary of War, after sixty days'
advertisement in ten newspapers of general circulation, to some responsible person or persons whose samples and bids shall in the greatest measure combine the
elements of durability, decency, and cheapness; and the sum of one million
dollars is hereby appropriated for said purpose out of any money in the Treasury
not otherwise appropriated; and the Secretary of War shall first determine for
the various cemeteries the size and model for such head-stones, and the standards
of quality and color of the stone to be used, and bids shall be made and decided
with reference thereto; and contracts may be made for separate quantities of such
head-stones; and the contracts made under this act shall provide for furnishing
and setting all the head-stones, and shall not in the aggregate exceed the sum
hereby appropriated."
"The total number to be furnished is estimated at 253,088.   For the known,
147,694; for the unknown, 105,394.
"Specifications describing in detail the standard fixed by the Secretary of War
can be had on application by letter to this office, where, also, a specimen will be
placed on exhibition within a few days.
"The proposals should be in sealed envelopes, marked,'Proposals for headstones for national military cemeteries,' and addressed to the QuartermasterGeneral of the Army,  in whose office they will be opened, in the presence of bidders, on Saturday, September 6, 1873, commencing at 11 o'clock A. M.
"By order of the Secretary of War.
"M. C. MEIGS.
"' Quartermaster-General, Brevet Major-General United States Army.
On the 6th of September, 1873, the various bids to furnish head-stones were
opened at the Quartermasters-General's office.
The following is a schedule of the bids coming within the terms of the advertisement:
NiIumber of slabs, 147,694.  Number of blocks, 105,394.
Slabs. Blocks. Total cost.
C. M. Howell —---------------------------— 0.
D.C. Sage -----------------------—. —--------
Walsh Bros —-----------------------------
D. V. Howell -------------------------------—.
Brandon Marble Company —------------------
J. Parker —-------------------------------
J. W. Detta -----------------------------—.
Walsh Bros.. —-----------------------------
Samuel G. Bridges. —---------------------------
T.'P. Morgan ---------------------—. —-------
Charles S. Jones —------------------------- 
Knoxville Marble Company —-----------------
For some reason not explained, the contract was not awarded until the 17th of
November following, a period of nearly two and a half months after the bids
were opened. The award under the provisions of the law was not made by the
Quartermaster-General, who superintended the advertising, the receiving and
opening of bids, but by the then Secretary of War, General Belknap.   General
Belknap did not give the contract to the lowest bidder.   The Knoxville Marble
I
685
$5 00
3 93
4 65
--------
3 89
3 85
4 25
3 65
--------
3 40
3 39
3 50
$2 42
3 93
2 90
-------
3 89
3 85
3 25
3 65
--------
3 40
3 39
2 65
$999,998 00
994,146 54
994,146 54
983,079 39
973,861 35
970,154 75
960,000 00
923,271 15
900,000 00
860,033 40
857,503 89
796,154 75 
JOBBERY IN GRAVESTONES.
Company's bid was $796,154.75, being $61,349.14 less than any other bid.
Although this was the lowest bid, and one that was deemed within the terms of
the advertisement for proposals by the Quartermaster-General, the Secretary of
War, in the exercise of his discretion, ruled this bid out, because the color of the
marble did not suit him. This ruling of the Secretary of War against the bid of
the Knoxville Marble Company cost the Government $61,349.14.
Walsh Brothers, of New York, claimed to be the lowest bidders for the contract.  Their bid was $923,271.15 for the work.   They proposed to use Italian
marble.  The duty on the Italian marble they claimed would be over $200,000, and
as this duty would be paid to the Government, they claimed that they would only
receive for the work $723,271.25.
BELKNAP'S CONTEMPT FOR CONGRESS.
The ruling out of this bid by the Secretary is best explained in the testimony
"Q. Where Were the lettings conducted? A. The bids were opened in the
Quartermaster-General's office, and those of the bids that were entertained were
sent to the Secretary of War. The Quartermaster-General recommended my
specimens of marble as being the best inside of the appropriation, and I was given
to understand that he sent a letter to the Secretary of War to tbat effect. The
Secretary of War told me that General Meigs recommended my stone as being
the best. Sometime afterward I went to see General Belknap, and asked him how
it was that I did not get the contract, and whether he found any fault with my
ability to perform it, or my security. He said no. I told him that if he did I
would furnish him with real estate security to the full amount of the contract.
He said that that was not the trouble, but that the President had told him that he
should not have foreign stone over the heads of American soldiers. I asked the
Secretary whether the act of Congress barred foreign stones, and he'said he did
not care anything about the act of Congress, he wou]dhold himself responsible."
Charles S. Jones, whose proposal complied with all the requirements of the advertisement, was the next lowest bidder for the entire work; his bid was $857,503.99. The next lowest bidder was T. P. Morgan, being $860,033.40. The next
is the bid of Samuel G. Bridges, of Keokuk, Iowa; this was a bid in gross for
the entire work of $900,000, being $40,000 more than Morgan's bid, $43,000 more
than Jones's, and $100,000 more than the bid of the Knoxville Marble Company.
Among the bidders was D. C. Sage, whose bid for the entire work was $994,146.54. Mr. Sage bid to furnish the slabs at $5 each, and the blocks for $2.42
each. The Secretary awarded Mr. Sage a contract to furnish all the blocks at
$2.42 each. He awarded to Charles S. Jones a contract to furnish 49,597 slabs at
$3.39 each; to Morgan a contract to furnish 49.597 slabs at $3.40 each, and to
Bridges a contract to furnish 48,500 slabs at $3.56 each.
Why Mr. Bridges should receive a contract for about one-third of the slabs at
$3.56 eacb, when Mr. Morgan only got $3.40 for the same slabs, and Mr. Jones
only $3.39, is a matter unexplained by either Mr. Bridges or any of the witnesses
examined, but it is just to say that the Secretary of War was not examined before
Why the contract was not given to the lowest responsible bidder, as the law
required, and why the contract for the slabs was given to three different persons,
at three different prices, who were not the lowest bidders, the testimony does not
A CONTRACTOR'S MISTAKE.
Mr. Charles S. Jones, the lowest bidder for the entire contract (except the
Knoxville Marble Company), to whom a contract for about one-third of the slabs
was awarded, says:
"On the 27th of October, 1873, nearly two months after the opening of bids, I
received a communication from the Acting Quartermaster-General of the Army (a
copy of this letter is appended, marked'A'), desiring to know whether I would
agree to furnish about one-fourth the total number of slabs required in the cemeteries at the same. price each for which I had in my bid of September 6th offered to
furnish both slabs and blocks for the entire work? Now, I had averaged both
the slabs and blocks as to price (as had most of the bidders), knowing full well
that, while very little would be made at my price on the former, there was a considerable margin of profit on the latter.
686 
JOBBERY IN GRAVESTONES.
"Could I have anticipated any such division of my proposal it would have been
stated at $4.39 for slabs and $2.39 for blocks; but supposing that, as in all such
cases, the aggregate in dollars and cents would be the controlling element in a
final award of the contract; I averaged the bid for the two descriptions of work as
a mere matter of convenient calculation. Three days before the receipt of this
letter from the Acting Quartermaster-General, namely, on the 25th of October, D).
C. Sage, one of the bidders, who was then in the city, informed me that he was
authorized to state that I would only be given a portion of the work, and if I did
not accept what was offered I would not be allowed to have any of it.
"Notwithstanding this, regarding the proposition conitained in the letter just
referred to as being grossly unjust and inequitable, as well as in violation of my
legal rights as the then lowest bidder for the whole work, four days thereafter,
viz., on the 31st of October, I addressed a letter to the Quartermaster-General's
office (a copy of this letter is appended, marked' B'), in effect declining it. On
Tuesday, November 4, 1873, about 11 A. M., I was standing on Seventeenth
street, near the northwest corner of the War Department, awaiting a friend from
the direction of Georgetown.  Turning my eye in an opposite direction, I saw
Mr. Sage and another person enter the War Department inclosure at the north
gate, and upon reaching the main door under the portico they were met by Secretary Belknap, who received them very cordially, and the three walked together
out of the inclosure to the avenue, and eastwardly, until I lost sight of them.
"About 1 o'clock P. M., same day, Mr. Sage, whom I did not at the moment
see, hailed me as I was passing along the north side of F street, near Fifteenth
street, opposite the Treasury Department. After the exchange of a few friendly
salutations, he asked me how things were going on in regard to the head-stone
contracts? I replied that it was impossible to tell, as everything in that line
seemed very much mixed.' So I understand,' said he,'since coming here this
morning, and I hear that Secretary Belknap is very much embarrassed on the
subject, hardly knowing what to do.' He then proceeded to express his great
regret that I had not accepted the offer contained in the letter of the Acting
Quartermaster-General of October 27, evidently having a full knowledge of it
before meeting me. He stated that, if I did not ultimately accept it, I would be
altogether excluded from the work; but that if I would reconsider my determination, and accept the same, he would pay me as high as $15,000 in cash upon its
being assigned to him, and the same amount to MIr. Morgan for his part.  This I
agreed to do; and on the same day addressed a letter to the Secretary of War (a
copy of this letter is appended, marked' C') withdrawing my letter of October
31, preceding, and signifying my acceptance of the proposition of the Acting
Quartermaster-General, dated October 27,1873.  I stated the conversation alluded
to, within an hour after it occurred, to Mr. T. P. Morgan, of this city, who will
verify what I say in respect to it."
THE GOVERNMENT GETS THE WORST OF THE BARGAIN AS USUAL.
This awarding of the contract, as shown by the testimony, was unfortunate for
the Government, unfair to bidders, and surrounded by circumstances that indicate collusion between the Secretary of War and the successful bidder, Bridges.
An impression seems to have prevailed among bidders before the opening of the
bids that the letting was not to be a fair one; that it was the intention to give the
contract to S. G. Bridges, of Keokuk, Iowa, a man of slight pecuniary responsibility, of no knowledge of the marble business, never having been in it, a jeweller by trade, and a friend of the Secretary, Upon this subject Charles F. Benjamin, Chief Clerk in the Southern Claims Commission, says in his testimony
(page 68):
"Mr. Eagleson and his partner, Mr. De Vean, had been here several times in
the interim, on their way to and from the South, where they had a large business
with marble-dealers there, and generally stopped in to see me.  They desired to
go into the bids the second time. There seemed to have been a great deal of gossip in the meantime, and they were in doubt as to the sincerity of this thing.
They told me that they had spent a great deal of money to get information on
which to make their former bids; that they had to write to all the transportation
companies in the country, and spend money to get friends to go and get information about the location of the cemeteries, and so on, and they were not disposed
to go into it a second time unless there was going to be a contract given, nor unless it was going to be Liven out fairly. I told them that, so far as General Meigs
687 
JOBBERY IN GRAVESTONES.
was concerned, I was satisfied that it would be fairly done; and that, as I was quite
intimate with the Secretary of War, I would go and see him and tell him frankly
just how they felt about this thing, that they would like to go into it, but wanted
to be assured that it was going to be a fair thing."
JOBBERY AND BRIBERY.
Again, this witness says (page 69):
"What they feared was that therc was to be jobbery and political influence,
bribery, and all sorts of things of that kind, About a couple of days before the
bids were opened, one of them came to me and said that he had been over to Baltimore the night before, on the New York train, and on the train he saw the Secretary of War, and a man named Bridges, who, he was told, was from Keokuk,
and he said some stone-men had said that Bridges was on here with reference to
this contract. I said,'I don't think that can be. Why, Bridges is a jeweler at
Keokuk; he has got nothing to do with the stone business.'"
There is some proof tending to show that Bridge's bid for the work was deposited after a part of the bids had been opened; and in this connection the Committee refer to the testimony of John M. Wright, viz. (page 20):
"Q. Were you present when those bids were opened?  A. I was.
"Q. And that bid of Bridges came in after the other bids were opened?  A. It
is my impression that it did. I know that one bid came in, and I am under the
impression that it was this one from the color of the envelope. Mr. Bridges and
myself then walked toward the Ebbitt House. He said that they could not do
anything against that bid; that it was all right; and he invited me to go up to his
room in the Ebbitt House, which I did. He then showed me specimens of marble which he had obtained from quarries in Vermont, together with the prices
with which the parties had agreed to furnish him with the stone; and then he
showed me the amount of work he had done in preparing his bid, showing that
he had made abbreviations of names, ranks, regiments, and States, and that he
had made close calculations on the lettering.  He also showed me a letter, which
he claimed was sent by the Secretary of War, in which the Secretary consents that
certain abbreviations of names and ranks shall be made. He showed me, also,
other letters, which he claimed to have received from the same source on the
same subject, or, rather, he showed me the envelopes that inclosed them. This
occurred on September 6, 1873.  Mr. Bridges professed to be an intimate acquaintance of the Secretary of War, and said that he had seen him frequently on the
subject.
"Q. Did he intimate to you that he knew that he was going to receive the contract? A. He intimated to me that he thought he would-that he was certain of
it."
But this statement is explicitly denied by Mr. Bridges; and Captain McGonnigle, who superintended the reception of bids, has not been examined before the
Committee.
The evidence shows that the Secretary of War retained the bids for two and a
half months before he made any awards: that he divided the contract into four
parts among bidders who did not stand on an equality of price, which the committee believe he was not authorized to do; that he gave as an excuse therefor
that one person could not perform so large a contract, although the fact appears
that Bridges did buy out all parties to whom contracts were awarded, and thus
obtained control of all the work; that he accepted Bridge's bid, and allowed him
more money for his contract than he allowed two other parties for the same
character and quantity of work; that after the contracts were let, modifications
were made in the lettering and shape of the stones very decidedly in the interest
of the contractors; that the original contract, which provided that all work in a
cemetery must be completed before any money could be drawn on it, was so modified as to allow contractors to draw 60 per cent. as soon as $5,000 of material was
delivered to a cemetery.
THE DEMOCRATIC HOUSE UNEARTHS THE FRAUD AND $200,000 ARE SAVED THE U. S.
The conclusions of most moment to the public service to which your committee
have arrived are the following:
"That the awarding of the contracts for head-ston8es referred to were made i~n  ol
tion of law, andshow a disregard of offcial duty.
688 
JOBBERY IN GRAVESTONES.                            689
"That the contracts were not awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, as required
by law.
"That the separation or division of the contract, and the awarding of parts of
the same to different contractors at different rates, claimed to have been done by
the Secretary of War, in the exercise of discretionary power, is not warranted by
any law, and that such discretion was assumed without right, to the prejudice of
the Government and the injury of binders.
"That some of the inspections appear to have been corruptly made, and the inspector who made them was unworthy of trust, and the committee are informed
that he has been dismissed.
"That the changes in form and dimensions of the head-stones, without a corresponding change in the price, have been made by the Secretary of War after the
work was commenced, in the interest of the contractor, and in the judgment of
the.committee, constitute an abuse of official power on the part of that officer.
"In conclusion, your committee find that the awarding of the contracts appears
to have been unfair, unjust, and in violation of law, and to have been decided'
without any proper consideration of the rights of bidders, and with the special purpose to give a portion of the contract to Samuel G. Bridges, of Keokuk, Iowa,
who, under his bid, was not entitled,to the contract, nor any part of the same;
that this Samuel G. Bridges, who figures in the evidence as the friend of the Secretary, purchased all of the contracts that were awarded to others; that he was not
a man of sufficient pecuniary means to carry out this contract alone, and without
large assistance from other persons.
"Your committee further find that the assignees and attorneys of Bridges, who
in fact, are now performing the work, are responsible and trustworthy men, and
are finishing the work speedily, and so far as your committee can learn, in a workman-like manner.
"Your committee further find that when the work shall have been completed
there will be left of the appropriation $200,000 to be covered into the Treasury.
"The Secretary of War, Hon, J. D. Cameron, having on the 25th day of July,
1876, issued an order, under the law passed by this Congress, transferring the entire management of national cemeteries and the head-stone contracts to the Quartermaster-General of the Army, who has returned to duty since this investigation
commenced, and the committee having entire confidence that under the management of this officer the work will be prosecuted rapidly and properly, and the
rights of both the Government and the contractors protected, do not deem it
necessary to offer any resolutions for the consideration of the House, either in
regard to the conduct of the officer criticised, or the annulment of the contract."
H. B. BENNING,
WM. TERRY.
J. M. GLOVER.
A. S. WILLIAMS.
A. A. HARDENBERGH.
JOHN REILLY.
PHILIP COOK.
C. D. MAcDOUGAL.
H. B. STRAIT.
S. A. HURLBUT. 
THE PENSION FRAUDS.
THE FUNDS FOR THE RELIEF OF THE WIDOWS AND
ORPHANS OF DEAD SOLDIERS APPROPRIATED
BY REPUBLICAN POLITICIANS.
The pension service of the United States, if faithfully administered, is one of
the most beneficent of the Departments of Government. In the hour of the Nation's peril, by Congressional enactment, a promise was made to each patriot soldier before he entered the ranks of his country's army, that if he should be disabled in the service in the line of his duty, he would receive a pensiov from the
date of his discharge; or if he died in the service, those dependent on him, and
whom he loved, would become the wards of the Nation, and be provided for by a
grateful country. To sacredly keep this promise is the wish of this great people.
But, under the present Administration, the lust for office and the greed of gain
have frustrated the purpose of the Nation, and diverted funds that should have
gone to the needy pensioner to the maintenance of party supremacy and to the
greedy office-holder. In the year 1866, with a clerical force of one hundred and
seventy-five, over fifty thousand original pensions were adjudicated and granted.
At that time integrity and efficiency were characteristic of the Pension Bureau.
The will of the Nation was obeyed, and the needy poor received
their dues. In the year 1875, with an average clerical force of four hundred and twenty, only about twelve thousand eight hundred original cases
and their equivalent in case of increase, were adjudicated and granted. In 1866
about 284 cases were disposed of by each employ6. In 1875 each employ6 only
averaged about thirty-one cases. As the office is now conducted the delays and
annoyances to which the applicants are subjected are most unreasonable and unjust.
THE PENSION BURBAU A LABYRINTH OF RED TAPE.
Arbitrary rules and inconsistent and unreasonable decisions make this Bureau
a labyrinth, from whose intricate maze no mortal can, unless by accident, escape.
The system "how not to do it " has nearly been perfected here. Why this
should be can only be accounted for on the theory that it is the policy of the
administration to prevent the disposal of the claims, in order that its nu merous
employes, who are principally the political proteges of the Republican politicians, shall not be thrown out of employ. As the whole number of cases
pending is only about 66,000, and if they were disposed of at the rate they
should be, there would not be work  for more than one year, and the half
regiment of employes would be discharged. Besides, in the little progress
that is made, injustice is often the result, in consequence of the inexperience of
those engaged in the work. Between the 4th of March, 1875, and the 3d of February, 1876, one hundred and twenty-eight employes were discharged to make
room for ninety-six new ones. Between the 1st of May, 1875, and the 1st of
July, 1876, four different incumbents have occupied the position of Commissioner 
THE PENSION FRAUDS.                             691
.of Pensions. Mr. Baker, the first of the four, having been closely pursued for
the reckless use of the funds of the office, resigned to receive another appointment under the Executive in the Territories, where his eccentricities might be less
observed. Mr. Atkinson, the second, after he had sworn before the Invalid
Pension Committee of the House, that, in pursuance of a custom of the office, he
had carried two clerks of the Republican Congressional Committee on the pay
rolls of the office, and paid them out of its funds, in following of the precedent
.of the late Secretary of War, resigned, and was by the Executive promptly rewarded with the more lucrative and congenial position of Surveyor-General of
Minnesota. The third, Mr. Gill, so far as is known was guilty of nothing more
criminal than imbecility, and could only be returned to the obscurity of private
life.  The fourth, Mr. Bently, has but recently assumed his official duties.  There
is conclusive evidence of the maladministration of the office, in
THE DIVERSION OF THE PUBLIC MONEY FROM THE PENSIONERS.
This has been shown in three different ways. As an illustration of the first,
it has been the custom of the office in late years to pay the clerks of the Republi can Congressional Committee out of its funds, as is established by the testimony
of John Stiles and Mr. Atkinson, taken before the Committee of Invalid Pensions
of the House, on the 15th day of February, 1876.
H. M. ATKINSON, ex-Commissioner of Pensions, examined:
Q. Do you know General Stiles? A. Yes.
Q. Was he an employs in the Pension Bureau last Summer? A. Yes, sir.
Q. Was he not Clerk of the Congressional Committee last Summer?  A. He
was employed by that committee. [believe.
Q. Did he not spend the greater part of the Summer attending to the duties of
clerk of the Congressional Republican Committee? A. That I cannot say; he
was not in the office the entire time.
Q. Was he not out of the office nearly the entire time? A. That I cannot say,
from the fact that I had no immediate supervision over him.
Q. Did he not draw pay regularly from the Pension Office? A. I suppose he
did; I cannot say whether he did or not.
Q. Do you know William Caffrey? A. Yes.
Q. Was he in the employment of the Pension Bureau at that time?-A. Yes.
Q. What work did he do?-A. He wasemployed by the Congressional Committee, and, by the verbal directions of the Assistant Secretary, he and Mr. Stiles were
so assigned, as that was customary, as I understood, by all parties, and hence was
not considered improper.
Q. And while he was on that he drew his pay from the Pension Office? A. Yes.
Q. For what length of time?  A. I think from June to September.
Q. How much did he draw during that time? A. $100 a month. I do not
know, but it was only up to August, he was on it two or three months.
JOHN STILES sworn and examined:
Question. State whether you were in the employment of the Pension Bureau
last Summer? Answer. Yes, sir.
Q. From what date to what date? A. From the first January, 1875, right
through the year.
Q. During the Summer what were you doing? A. During a portion of the
Summer I was detailed on special duty.
Q. Were you not clerk of the Republican Congressional Committee? A. I
was writing for the Committee,
Q. How much of your time did you consume in writing for the Republican
Congressional Committee? A. I think from the 13th May to the 4th or 5th
November.
Q. During all that time you were working for the Republican Congressional
Committee under a detail from the office? A. Yes, sir.
Q. How much salary did you draw?  A. I drew my usual salary-$1,200 a
year.
Q. After the 4th of November were you not promoted from the Pension
Bureau to a clerkship of a higher grade in the Interior Department? A. Yes, sir.
Q. And you are holding that now? A. Yes, sir.
Q. At whose instance, were you detailed as clerk to the Republican Con 
THE PENSION FRAUDS.
gressional Committee? A. The order came to me, I think from Mr. Atkinson
It came in the form of a telegram for me to report to Mr. Atkinson, and I believe
it was signed by him.
Q. How much did you receive from the Republican Congressional Committee? A. $50 a month, in addition to my regular salary.
Q. What salary do you get now? A. I am paid at the rate of $2,000 a year,
The second mode has been to add to the pay rolls employ6s who are doing
only nominal or useless labor, as appears from the testimony of Mr. Clark, the
chief clerk of the Bureau, who confessed that the finance division, in which fortyeight clerks are employed, would be useless if the Third Auditor's office should
keep up with its work.
O. P. J. CLARK sworn and examined:
Q. Is not the whole Finance Division of the Pension Office, in your judgmentalmost or altogether useless? A. I should think not.
Q. What is the utility of it? Is there not an duplicate of its books kept in the
Third Auditor's office? A. While they do the work of the Third Auditor's office,
there is, in addition to that, much other work. That is to say, the Finance Division consists of forty-eight clerks, but they are not all on the finance work of the
office.
Q. If they were on the finance work of the office would not that, in your judgment, be useless labor? A. I hate to say yes or no to a question like that.
Q. Give us your best judgment. Ought not that division to be lopped off? A.
If the work of the Auditor's office was up to date, the work of that division
would be useless.
INFORMATION FROM THE DEPARTMENT TO PERSONS IN COLLUSION WITH TIEE
OFFICE.
The third mode has been to furnish information from the Department to.
persons in collusion with the office, by means of which false and fraudulent
Bounty Land Claims are passed. As an illustration of this class, in less than one
year about 2,300 fraudulent bounty land warrants were issued, besides a large
number of fractional warrants, thereby depriving the rightful soldier claimants
of over four hundred thousand acres of land, as appears by the testimony of Mr.
Lackey and Mr. Seaton. These among other illustrations are sufficient to
establish the fact that th ebeneficent and just uses of this Bireau are perverted, and!
a department which of all others should be administered with integrity, is made
only to pander to the greed of the corrupt official and his unscrupulous parasites
while the meritorious and needy soldiers of the Republic
E. A. HARDING examined:
Q. Do you know of one Chapman having been in the Pension Bureau, and
being sent out as a special detective to Maine? A. Yes, sir; that is J. C. Chapman, who is in the Patent Office now.
Q. What did he do when in Maine, in the special detective service? A. I
know nothing only by report.
Q. What was the report? A. The report was that he caused to be struck
from the rolls a large number of pensioners; or, rather, caused a suspension of a
number of pensioners at the agencies of Augusta and Bangor, Maine. I heard
that. That is all I know about it.
Q. Of those that he caused to be struck from the roll, or suspended, how many
were reinstated? A. I know nothing about it only from rumor.
Q. Was the number large or small? A. From recollection, I believe I understood it was 45 at one agency, and 75 at the other.
Q. Was it not charged that there was a pension attorney who took this man:
around and got these cases suspended? A. Well, not exactly so.
Q. He went with him and struck them from the rolls? A. No, no; that he
was with the attorney.
O. P. J. CLARK, Chief Clerk, examined:
Q. Do you know Mr. Richards? A. Yes.
Q. What work does he do?  A. Mr. Richards has been a sort of general
utility man; he is an apt clerk and is qualified for almost any position.
Q. Does he do any actual work? A. I would not,say whether he was a
good worker or not, for the reason that I am unable to state.
692 
THE PENSION FRAUDS.                            693
*            *             *            *             * 
Q. Does he not spend a good share of his time around the Capitol and
amusing himself generally?  A. I cannot tell you, because I have no means of
knowing it.
Q. He has no specific duties assigned him? A. No. I do not think that I
can say that he is an examiner or anything else.
AN EX-GOVERNOR OF NEBRASKA AS PENSION AGENT.
H. M. ATKINSON, Commissioner of Pensions, sworn:
Q. Did you appoint a detective from Nebraska who had been once Governor
of that State? A. Yes.
Q. What was his name? A. R. W. Furniss.
Q. Did he not solicit you to appoint him in order that he might have an
opportunity to travel?' A. No, sir; Governor Furniss had been in good circumstances, but he was unfortunate in his business  The grasshoppers swept
his nursery and destroyed his property. He was in actual destitution, and, out
of consideration for him, I appointed him to the duty of special agent.
Q. Did he know anything at all about the business to which he was appointed
prior to his appointment? A. No, sir; but he soon learned it, and he made an
excellent agent.
Q. What pay did he get per month? A. He drew at the rate of $1,600 a year.
Q. Traveling expenses in addition? A. Yes.
Q. Is he still in the employment of the Pension Bureau? A. Yes; he is still an
agent.
Q. Did he state to you that he would like to have an opportunity to travel in
the United States? A. I do not recollect; perhaps he may have; I expect he did;
I have no doubt that he did, and he has had a very good opportunity as special
agent.
Q. You have now got 393 clerks there, while the appropriation authorizes but
365? A. Yes.
Q. Why did you not comply with the law? What was the difficulty? A. The
only difficulty was the pressure for office.
Q. Did not the rolls on 30th June show four hundred and twenty persons in
the office? A. It is possible they did.
Q. How many hours do the clerks there work? A. Originally they worked
from nine to three; that continued up to the 1st November, but now they work
from nine to four.
It might be supposed that an administrative department like that of Pensions,
conceived in patriotic gratitude and dedicated to honorable benevolence, would
escape the chicanery and corruption which, under the existing Republican regime,
have attached to our more sordid politics. That it has not been kept untainted is
made abundantly and painfully manifest by testimony taken before Committees
of the House of Representatives, touching the Pension Agencies at Chicago and
Macon, Mo.
In all the teeming fraud of these bad civic times, there is, indeed, nothing more
disreputable than the disclosures produced by the Chicago investigation.  They
begin with a vulgar bargaining for influence in the procuring of office, and end
with a dastardly conspiracy to ruin the daughter of a dead and distinguished
soldier. The experiences of Miss Sweet in her relations with Republican officeholders read like the villainous plot of a very villainous French novel.
INFLUENCE WITH GRANT SOLD:FOR $2,500.
The contract for influence to procure an appointment, as it has precedence in
point of time, may be first considered. In the year 1869, it appears that General
B. J. Sweet, a meritorious officer, severely wounded in the war, now deceased,
was a candidate for the position of pension agent at Chicago; and that George
W. Campbell was also a candidate for the same office. That J. Russell Jones,
then Marshal for the northern district of Illinois, and afterwards Collector of the
Port of Chicago, was the person principally relied on by Campbell to procure his
nomination. That the friends of General Sweet sought to secure Mr. Jones' supposed powerful influence for their candidate. That Jones promised his influence
to Sweet if the latter would agree to appoint George W Campbell as clerk, at a
salary of $2,500 per annum; and, finally, that Sweet accepted the offer, and was
appointed pension agent, and did, in fact, appoint George W. Campbell clerk 
THIE PENSION FRAUDS.
at the rate stipulated for, the employment continuing for nearly a year. At theend of about eleven months, Sweet and Campbell made a new arrangement, by
which Campbell was to receive $1,500 per annum, and do no duty in the office.
The very circumstance of such an arrangement evinces Sweet's appreciation of
the clerical worthlessness of Campbell, discloses a fear that he might exert a
treacherous espionage, or reveals the reluctance of a generous mind betrayed into
mercenary artifice to be associated daily with its visible reproach. It may be additionally mentioned that the chief clerk in the office earned and received but
$1,500 a year. Campbell was continued in this pseudo-employment until the
removal of General Sweet from the office. Here was a position of high responsibilities created by and for the whole people of the United States, trafficked for'
in an almost open market, and bought by a single office-seeker of a solitary officeholder, who had no other claim upon it than that he had, or was supposed to have,
audience and favor with the appointing power. Such a purchase and payment
would have incensed the purer morals of the past to the severest vigor of condemnation.
MISS SWEET.
In the early part of the year 1874, David Blakely was pension agent at Chicago, having succeded General Sweet. He was also editor and part proprietor of a
newspaper in that city. He was desperately involved, and, in fact, practically
insolvent. He had procured from Mr. Benjamin H. Campbell, since Marshal of
the Northern District of Illinois, and Mr. Bradley, clerk of the United States
Circuit Court, a loan of their credit by an indorsement on his note for $5,000,
discounted in the National Bank of Illinois at Chicago. This note he was unable
to meet, and it was from time to time renewed, on payment of interest. He was
about to withdraw from Chicago and seek a new field at St. Paul. The only
thing which he appears at that time to have possessed which he considered merchantable, was his position as pension agent. Miss Sweet, the orphan daughter
of his predecessor, then a clerk in the Internal Revenue Office, wished to obtain
this place, and had the support of many good citizens both on her own account
and that of her father. General Sweet had died a poor man, and she was anxious
to provide for her family.  The difficulty was to create the vacancy, as Mr. Blakely's term did not expire until April, 1875. She was familiar with the duties
of the office, having been clerk for her father.
THE PROPOSITION ACCEPTED.
In March, 1874, Blakely proposes to her to create the vacancy by resigning,
and to give all the influence he can command to secure her appointment, on
condition that she will devote all the earnings of the office, above necessary expenses and a small salary for herself during the first year, to the payment of the
one, among his many debts, which he chose to consider a debt of honor. This
proposition he binds the young lady to consider as a great personal favor to her,
and compels her to secrecy, interdicting that she should communicate with orconsult her friends on the subject.  Miss Sweet accepts the proposition, with its
accompanying obligation of secrecy, and the arrangement was completed. She
agreed to pay Benjamin H. Campbell, within the year, $2,100 out of the
earnings of the office, and to pay the expenses of the office; and also topay Blakely $2,000 for books, furniture, papers, and outstanding feeds.
Mr. Campbell was informed by Blakely of the understanding, and by his
request Miss Sweet came to his office and stated in precise terms the
sums to be paid him, and the times when the instalments would be due and payable. When the days arrived, Mr. Campbell called at Miss Sweet's office and received from her the amounts agreed to be paid; and for these his receipts are
produced and are in evidence. These payments were continued from April,
1874, to April, 1875, when Miss Sweet claimed that her contract was fulfilled.
THE DARK PHASE OF THE TRANSACTION-BETRAYED.
And now we arrive at a far darker phase of this disreputable transaction.
On the rendition of Blakely's final accounts an item improperly charged by
him of about $3,200 was disallowed by the proper accounting officers, and he
was ordered forthwith to make it good by paying over the amount to Miss Sweet,
his successor. Again Blakely tries his powers of persuasion upon that lady. Herepresents to her that he cannot raise the money at the time, but will soon be able
694 
THE PENSION FRAUDS.
to; that discovery will ruin him; that she ought to help him, and can safely do
so; and thus, by prayers and promises, overpersuades her to give him a receipt
as a public officer for money which he owed the Government, without actual receipt by her of the sum pretended to be paid, thus transferring both the crime
and the consequences of the default from himself to her.
She gave him a receipt for $40,000, when she had only received from him $37,000. Elated with this success Blakely departs for Minnesota, and begins to play
the part of a successful scoundrel, shutting his ears to the piteous appeals of the
victim whom he had cheated and betrayed. Letter after letter, telegram after
telegram, follow him to his various haunts. Miss Sweet is left alone to her own
distresses, for she still respects the pledge of secrecy. It is, however, to the credit
of her native integrity that no attempt was made by her to conceal by any artifice of book-keeping the fact which was of apparent record that she was in default to the Government. In addition to the other burdens which he had imposed, Blakely had borrowed privately of his successor the sum of four hundred
dollars.
In October, 1874, Mr. Lockey, then Deputy Commissioner of Pensions, called
at the Chicago office, and, in the course of an examination, ascertained the deficit, and called Miss Sweet's attention to it. Feeling still measurably bound by
the pledge of secrecy, she did not at that time explain to Lockey its real nature
and cause. Miss Sweet follows Blakely up with telegrams, and on the 2d and 3d
of October receives from him the two telegrams that follow:
"' BRADFORD, -;Vt.
e all right.
D. BLAKELY."
"BRADFORD, Vt.
"All right.  Have telegraphed Baker this morning.
D. BLAEELY."
Thus the fact of the communication by Blakely of the impending danger of
discovery to Baker, then Commissioner of Pensions, is established, and Baker
himself, in his testimony, admits the fact. It is also in evidence that Miss Sweet
wrote to Baker more than once about this deficit, and the cause of it, before
Lockey's visit. Mr. Lockey returned to Chicago within three or four days, but
while at Dubuque he had received from Baker the following telegram:
"You need not stop at the Chicago agency, as I will go there."
On his arrival at Chicago, whither he went, notwithstanding, Lockey had a full
conversation with Miss Sweet, who informed him exactly how this deficiency
occurred,  and  how  she  had  been persuaded by Blakely to assume  it.
Lockey, on his return to Washington, informed his superior, Baker, of the entire
transaction. Thus, in the early part of October, and before Baker went out to
Chicago, he was informed of this deficit, and all its circumstances, from three
sources: from Blakely, from Miss Sweet, and from his official deputy. It is further in evidence that Blakely and Baker passed through Chicago on their way to
Minnesota, to attend the November election, and that after the election in that
State, they appeared together in Chicago, and that a peremptory demand was
at once made by the Commissioner on Miss Sweet to settle this deficit on that day.
Blakely had procured of some friends in Minnesota notes to the amount of $2,000,
which he proposed to leave with his accomplice, Baker, as security to that extent;
that Miss Sweet should pay the balance in cash, when Baker would allow her to
carry the remainder of the deficiency upon the security of this paper.   Miss
Sweet insisted that the notes be delivered to her, and at last broke the confidence
under which she had been held, and consulted her friends.   By their aid she
raised the whole amount of the deficit on her own credit and on the discount of
the notes, and escaped from the designs of these two dishonorable men.
THE CONSPIRACY FAILED, BUT THE CONSPIRATORS HONORED BY GRANT.
The atrocity of this conspiracy to extort money from an innocent woman upon
the alternative of her public disgrace, beggars all epithet. An average burglar
would have disdained the meanness of such a crime, as contrived and practiced
against the woman and,the orphan, the weak and the defenseless. The testimony
of Miss Sweet is direct, modest and conclusive. and her relations with the procuring of office for herself under the contract may be passed over with light censure
695 
THE PENSION FRAUDS.
as not of her own devising, but the suggestion of others in whom she believed. And
now it may be asked what measure of retribution, where retribution could be visited,
was meted to these implicated and convicted men? Campbell, under the pressure of exposure and social odium, returned to Miss Sweet the money which she
had paid him in behalf of Blakely, and was continued in an important Federal
Marshalship. Baker was transferred by President Grant from the Commissionership of Pensions to the more lucrative Surveyor-Generalship of Minnesota. It is
not certainly known that Blakely has yet again been invested with any positionof
profit or trust by this Republican Administration.
THE MACON INVESTIGATION-MRS. BOGGS.
Of the Macon investigation, a briefer narrative must suffice. John T. Clement
held the pension agency there under President Lincoln, and was removed by
Grant, who espoused the intolerant Drake faction of the Radical party in
Missouri, because he was a favorer of white enfranchisement in that State.   One
Ebert was appointed his successor, and held the office until January, 1875.
In December, 1874, however, Clements was re-appointed and confirmed, and
took possession of the office again in the following January. Mrs. Louisa Boggs
was the widow of a former business partner of General Grant. Her husband was
also related in the Dent strain of consanguinity, to the President, having been a
cousin of Mrs. Grant. This lady was not disposed to forget her claims upon the
risen fortunes of the family. It appears, indeed, that she had rendered it some
substantial services at the supposed crisis of our national existence, when the
heart of patriotism beat in despondent pulses and Europe was either cold or hostile, having, according to her own testimony, "nourished little Fred through a
long and severe illness when he was run down with camp dysentery." She was
employed as a teacher in a private school at St. Louis, and her income was limited. It occurred to Mrs. Boggs that she ought to derive some collateral advantage from one of the President's many offices. She could not perceive that her
desert was less than that of the other kinsmen and kinswomen who had been directly and indirectly provided for, even to the third and fourth generation-and,
to be candid, it is apparent, apart from the error of judgment to be considered,
that she was a worthy woman.   She communicated this desire to be pensioned
upon an office-holder to the President, and it was favorably entertained. She essayed Ebert, or was approached by him when hungry Republican combinations
hostile to him were to be circumvented, as the case may be; and this man, a
thorough rascal, possessed of a great deal of cunning, kept her dangling with suggestions and' proffers in a state of expectation which he never intended to gratify.
This is the more surprising in a fellow who could indite such abject expressions
as the following:  "The President is the great central head of the party, and we
office-holders his subjects, to whom his smile or his frown is official life or death"
-which sound like a sentence from an editorial of the Washington Republican,
and was probably appropriated from that journal. And the surprise culminates
when we find an indorsement of the President's pleasure upon a letter intended
for Ebert's eye, to this effect:
"I have no doubt that Mrs. Boggs, whom I have known for many years, would
make a most efficient clerk in the Macon Pension Office.
"U. S. GRANT."
THE BARGAIN FALLS THROUGH.
Finally, however, Mrs. Boggs discovered the trickery of Ebert, and proceeded
to cast her net in other waters. Clements, who had been suspended by Johnson
and removed by Grant, still longed to serve his country. To that end he bethought him that the influence of Mrs. Boggs would prove a valuable auxiliary.
They came together, as by a sort of centripetal attraction.  Clements agreed to
pay the poor relation for her court influence twelve hundred dollars a year out
of the income of the agency in quarterly installments, and the negotiation was
closed. He actually did thus pay to her eleven hundred dollars, when both the
parties were constrained by the popular anger which followed the Belknap disclosures, temporarily, at least, to renounce the arrangement.
Such, illustrated by the several instances adduced, ranging from vulgar chicanery
to the deepest turpitude, is the Republican party of to-day as a corrupt political
potency which, like the destroying angel that passed over the houses of the Egyp
696 
THE PENSION FRAUDS.
tians spares from its touch neither man, woman nor child. Its official thieves despise
even the proverbial equity of plunder, and would rob each other-as Ebert
schemed to have transferred to his own, and for his own emolument, a portion of
the pensioners of the adjoining agency. That man must be remarkably sanguine
or immeasurably credulous who is persuaded, after the accumulated and flagrant
exposures of the last twelve months of official corruption in every department of
the Government, there is still a possibility of reform by the Republican party, and
within itself.
697 
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.
The following report from the Committee on Expenditures in the War Department, made to the House of Representatives August 5, 1876, discusses in an
able and impartial manner the various abuses which have grown up under Republican administration in the distribution of such patronage as post trader and Indian traderships at our western frontier posts. To show how near the surface
these corruptions have been during many years, it is only necessary to instance
the Fort Sill Tradership. The very first witness the committee examined gave
evidence which was so conclusive that it was alone sufficient to warrant the impeachment of W.  W.  Belknap, Secretary of War.  Testimony developing the
fact that ithe post-tradership at Fort Sill was being farmed out by Caleb P. Marsh
was given before the Military Committee of the House in 1872, but no steps were
taken by the Republican majority to probe the matter further. This evidence
was given by General Hazen, a distinguished officer of the army, and for his
temerity in reporting facts of this nature he was punished by Belknap by being
ordered to the most disagreeable posts on the frontier, and by other petty, spiteful treatment. The Committee on Expenditures in the War Department had not,
previous to the last Congress, made a report for eleven years. Indeed, there is no
evidence that it had during that period even held a meeting.   The committees on
expenditures in the various departments are the most important of all the standing
committees of the House of Representatives. It is their duty, under the rules of
the House, to examine carefully" into the state of the accounts and expenditures respectively submitted to them, and to inquire particularly whether the expenditures of the respective departments arejustified by law; whether the claimsfrom time to time satisf ed and discharged by the respective departments are supported by sufficient vouchers establishing
their justness both as to their character and amount; whether such claims have been digcharged out offunde appropriated therefor, and whether all moneys have been disbursed
in conformity with appropriation laws; and whether any and what provisions are
nessary to be adopted, toprovide more perfectly for the proper application of the public
moneys, and to secure the Governmentfrom demands unjust in ther character or extravagant in their amount. And it shall be, moreover, the duty of the said committees to report, from time to time, whether any, and what. retrenchment can be made in the
expenditures of the several departments, without detriment to the public service; whether
any, and what, abuses at any time exist in thefailure to enforce thepayments of moneys
which may be due to the United States from public defaulters or others; and to report
from time to time such provisions and arrangements as may be necessary to add to the
economy of the several departments and the accountability of their officers."
Notwithstanding the committees on expenditures were required by the rules
of the House, as well as by law, to make the searching inquiries, and perform
all the important duties specified in the above quotation from the rules, not
one of them ever held a meeting during nearly a decade.
Had the committees been efficiently constituted and zealous in the discharge
of their duties, very many of the flagrant abuses which pervade every Executive Department of the Government would have either been prevented or remedied. The great frauds in the payment of claims, which have been so frequent
of late years, could not have been perpetrated had these committees faithfully
performed their appropriate functions.
Therefore it is that the Committees on Expenditures in the War Department of
the Democratic House is entitled to so much praise for what it did at the last ses 
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.
sion of Congress. It set a good example and accomplished a great work, and is
entitled to the thanks of the whole country.
In regard to the post trader frauds, the committee say:
THE WAY APPOINTMENTS WERE MADE.
"Prior to 1867 the sutlers at military posts were designatedlor appointed by the
officers in command. By the act of July, 1866, the office of sutler was abolished, and by a joint resolution of the same year the General of the Army was
authorized to permit trading establishments to be maintained at any military post
on the frontiers, and on July 15, 1870, the following act was passed:
' "The Secretary of War is authorized to permit one or more trading establishments to be maintained at any military post on the frontier not in the vicinity of
any city or town, when he believes such an establishment is needed for the accommodation of emigrants, freighters, or other citizens. The persons to maintain such establishments shall be appointed by him, and shall be under protection
and control as camp-followers."'
By this act the power of appointment was vested in the Secretary of War. It
does not certainly appear to your committee by whom or through whose influence
the passage of the foregoing act was secured; yet it was stated in the Senate that
the section (act) was prepared to carry out the views of the Secretary of War and
of officers of the army. That it placed a vast patronage in his hands is evident,
and from the manner of its use it may not be doubted that the then occupant of
the place was fully alive to its value as a means by which to enrich himself, the
members of his family, and his special friends. Immediately on the passage of
the law those who formerly had held the position of sutlers or traders at the several military posts became solicitous as to their continuance in office now that
they were subject to appointment by the Secretary of War, and, in person or by
attorney, they appeared at the seat of Government to secure their re-appointment.
It is a matter of history how, in the Fort Sill case, the Secretary of War dealt directly with Marsh and Evans; how for years he received at the rate of $6,000,
and, subsequently, at the rate of $3,000 annually from that post alone.
At this same period, during the Autumn of 1870, there appeared on the stage
two other persons, who, throughout the testimony herewith submitted, appear as
the chief brokers in post-traderships, whose influence with the Secretary of War
was all-powerful to secure appointments, to whom no request was ever denied,
and who had it in their power, even in opposition to the express preference of
the General of the Army, to have appointed to the most lucrative and important
posts persons who were strangers thereto and of no recognized position, and who
had no other claim or right save that conferred by their preference.   These two
persons were Gen. J. M. Hedrick, of Ottumwa, Iowa, who had formerly served
with the late Secretary of War in the Army, and Gen. E. W. Rice, of Washington. It will be instructive and interesting to detail the amounts received by these
worthies, respectively, for their services in securing appointments to post-traderships, and although they did not fail to swear that the then Secretary of War was
not their partner in the transactions, and that the richpatronage was for their own
sole profit, yet the country will form the conclusions which are warranted by the
facts and circumstances in the case.
AN INTERESTING ARRAY OF FIGURES.
"General Hedrick received from James Trainor"For securing his appointment at Fort Concho, Texas —-------------- - 5
"For securing appointment of A. E. Reynolds at Camp Supply —-----— 4
"For securing appointment of R. C. Seip at Fort A. Lincoln —----------
"For securing appointment of A. C. Leighton at Forts Bu'ford and Fetter    man -----------------------------------------------— 10,000
"F scrnhiapTotalt-    For20o —-Teas —----------------------— 2,750
man ------------------------------------------------------------ 10,000
" Total ----------------------------------------------------- 20,750
Making the sum of $20,750 actually received by said Hedrick for his services in
securing the appointment of said persons to said several posts. In addition thereto, he held a one-third interest in the,post-traderships at Forts Buford, Abraham
Lincoln, Griffin and Fetterman, in which, according to his own testimony, he
had never invested one dollar, and all of which, amounting to tens of thousands
of dollars, he owned by reason of the unexplained, if not inexplicable, influence
699 
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.
wielded by him over William W. Belknap, then Secretary of War, his intimate
friend and townsman, who had never denied him any request.
These interests in the several trading posts named he held with the brothers
Leighton, Alvin C., Joseph and James, of Ottumwa, Iowa, who furnished all the
capital, and gave the business their personal supervision; General Hedrick being
at the same time a supervisor of internal revenue, at a salary of $3,000 per annum. The account of General E. W. Rice stands as follows:
He received"For the introduction of J. S. Evans applicant for the post-tradership
at Fort Sill, to the Secretary of War —------------------------- ----
"For securing the appointment of Joseph Loeb to Fort Concho —--------
"For securing the appointment of Henry Reed to Fort Wingate —------
"For securing the appointment of Major Hicks at Fort Griffin —--------
"For his interest in the tradership at Fort Richardson, received from L.
M. Gregory ---------------------------------------------
"For his interest in tradership at Fort A. Lincoln, from R. C. Seip —----—,
at Fort Sill, to the Secretary of War -------------------------------  $1,000
"      Fo r securing the appointment of Joseph Loebi thso Fo rt Con taho  - - ---- m2,000
" For securing     the    appoin tmen t of Henry Reed to Fort Wingate he —- vrfo o1,500
tFor securing the  appointmentdasc  of Major Hieks at F ort Griffin   ---  ne - 5,000
iFor his interest         in t he tradership at  o rt Riechardson, received from L.
M. Gregory                       ---                           -    --------------------------------------------- -.2,000
pFor  his interest in traderiship at For t A. Lincoln, from R. C. Seip wo- ba3,750
"Total.-.... —--------------------- 15,250
What  the remaining interest of General Rice               in these several traderships may be
your committee is unable to determine. The progress of this investigation doubtless terminated many of them. Seated at the very footstool of power, basking in
its sunshine, the intimate and associate of the late Secretary of War, never denied his presence, and all-powerful in his every recommendation, it is not surprising that vast sums were paid him for mere introductions, but it would be a just
cause of surprise if the  hoarded prof its we re not divided wit h him from whose
hands t     hey  were d erived,  and who se mere will opened avenu es  of wealth to this
intimate and office-broker. That this will be the general judgment of men who
may doubt? In addition to these sums thus paid to these two favored brokers
in traderships, there was paid by eleven of the traders summoned by your committee the sum of $10,775, as assessments for political purposes, during and since
the year 1872. There were others in a small way engaged in the business of procuring appointments for post traders from the War Department, such as Hawkins
Taylor and B. Gordon Daniels, whose gains were so inconsiderable as compared
with those of Hedrick and Rice that it is not deemed necessary to state at length
the facts regarding themn.
ORVILLE L. GRANT'S SCHMES.
There was still another person engaged in post and Indian traderships regarding
whom your committee, by reason of his near relationship to the President of the
United States, feel that it is mortifying to be compelled to express an opinion,
Orville L. Grant. At the time of the passage of the law of 1870 giving the appointment of post-traders to the Secretary of War, Durfee & Peck, a firm largely
engaged in transportation on the Missouri River, were the post-traders at Fort
Sully, Fort Rice, Fort Stevenson, and Fort Buford, and Indian traders at Cheyenne agency and Standing Rock, mixed Indian and army posts.
These positions they had theretofore held by the choice of the officers of the
several posts and by license from the Indian Department. They were responsible
traders, and had large sums invested in goods, buildings, &c., at these several
posts. On the 6th of October, 1870, they were dispossessed at Fort Buford by
the appointment of Alvin C. Leighton, a partner of Hedrick, who compelled
them to remove their goods and abandon their buildings at a great sacrifice. In
their own names and that of J. W. Wham and J. W. Marsh they held Fort Stevenson until July 4, 1874, when they were finally removed to make place for A. L.
Bonnafon, jr., of Philadelphia. Fort Rice they held in their own name and that
of Henry J. Miller and William Harmon until June 30, 1874, when James P. Pitts
was appointed, whose partner in the enterprise was to have been Mr. John Tomlinson, now dead, the brother-in-law of the late Secretary of War. Pitts did not
take the position until the Spring of 1875, Durfee and Peck, or Harmon, their
agent, paying him a portion of the profits for the privilege of remaining until
he took the position.
Fort Sully was held by Durfee & Peck and George H. Durfee until July 3,
1874, when John F. Athy, the clerk of General W. C. Babcock, surveyor-general
of Kansas, who is a brother of General Orville E. Babcock, was appointed, not
700 
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.
by the Secretary of War, but by the President. Athy was without means to stock
the post, and could not, for this reason, take the position. In about nine months
he found parties who furnished the means to do so, but Durfee & Peck were
obliged to pay the sum of $750 a quarter, or, in the whole, $2,250, for the privilege of trading during the interval. It is to be remarked that Surveyor-General
Babcock drew up the contract for the payment of this sum, and that the money
was sent to him and not to Athy.  On or about the 5th of September, 1874, Durfee
& Peck, represented by John 1i. Charles, were removed as traders from the Cheyenne agency by the appointment of George W. Felt, the order for whose appointment was made by the President personally, "at the instance of Orville L. Grant.
In the Summer of 1874 Durfee & Peck were removed from' the Standing Rock
Indian agency by the appointment of J. R. Casselberry, of Philadelphia, Orville
L. Grant being his partner.
THE CASE OF MR. JOHN W. CHARLES.
From the foregoing narrative it appears that by the summer of 1874 this greatest trading firm of the Upper Missouri were driven from every post, and financial
ruin stared them in the face.   They well understood that some sinister influence was working their destruction, and to save something from the wreck,
and to secure their chief creditor, they transferred to him, Mr. John W. Charles,
one of the oldest and most reputable citizens and now the mayor of Sioux City,
all their interest in these several Army and trading posts. The Act of July 26,
1866, prescribes that  "Any loyal person, a citizen of the United States, of good moral character
shall be permitted to trade with any Indian tribe, upon giving bond to the United
States in the penal sum of not less than five, nor more than ten, thousand dollars,
with at least two good sureties, to be approved by the superintendent of the district within which such person proposes to trade, or by the United States district
judge or district attorney for the district in which the obligor resides, renewable
each year, conditioned that such person will faithfully observe all laws and regulations made for the government of trade and intercourse with the Indian tribes,
and in no respect violate the same.-(Act of July 26, 1866. Revised Statutes
United States, page 374, section 2128.)
In obedience to the provisions of this Act, Mr. Charles made immediate application to the Indian Department, through the several agents for license to trade at
Cheyenne, Standing Rock, Fort Berthold, Fort Peck, Fort Belknap, and Fort
Turney, and filed the requisite bond in each case. The agent at Cheyenne at
once accepted his application and the Department of the Interior approved it and
sent it back. How it was canceled and G. W. Felt appointed by the President in
September, 1874, has heretofore been shown.   For some reason Mr. Charles was
denied and never received license to trade at either of the other posts. He besieged the Indian Department by letters regarding the matter, but received no
reply. He came to Washington, called on the Commissioner, inquired why his
letters were not answered; he asked if he was not entitled to licenses,'and why
they were not granted. The Commissioner endeavored to evade, but at last replied, "Well, you understand that as well as I do. So far as I am concerned, I
would grant you a license." That was all the explanation he gave.
In view of the imperative terms of the law, in view of the fact that Mr. Charles
had complied with its every provision, and in view of the fixed determination of
the Commissioner to disobey its provisions, it will be instructive to inquire into
the actual cause which defeated Mr. Charles's application and ignored his absolute
right. Upon his arrival in Washington, Mr. Charles called upon the President
and handed him a letter, of which the following is a copy:
MR. CHARLES'S LETTER TO THE PRESIDENT.
"WASHINGTON, D. C.,, 187.
"To the PRESIDENT:
"SIR: Regretting very much that circumstances compel me to trouble you with
the subject matter of this letter, I only do so because my all is at stake; and as I
have failed to obtain just relief from your subordinates, the President and Congress are the only tribunals to which I can appeal for justice, and as this lies
within your jurisdictioh. I was granted licenses to establish trading posts at
certain points on the Missouri River. Under those licenses I went on, purchased
701 
702                    POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.
stocks of goods, erected or purchased the necessary buildings and warehouses, and
prepared for trade. While prosecuting my business, without a single charge having
been preferred against me, my licenses were revoked and Mr. Orville L. Grant was
given the sole right to trade on the river. The law nowhere contemplates that this
right of trade shall be made a monopoly. I was and am still willing to withdraw
from that country and give up the trade, provided that Mr. Grant will pay a reasonable price for my buildings and stock on hand; we to agree upon the prices wherever we can, and to leave the prices of all things upon which we cannot agree
to be settled by arbitrators, appointed in the usual manner.
"To such an arrangement I was and am willing to agree, and to break up my
business and withdraw from trade in that country, upon any basis that will not
involve my total ruin.
"If Mr. Grant, coming in with exclusive powers and privileges, will not do
this, then I hope and entreat that as a matter of fairness and justice you will order
the Secretary of the Interior to carry out the law, to renew my licenses, withdraw
the interdiction on my trade, and allow me to carry on my business in fair and
honorable competition.
"Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"JOHN H. CHARLES,
"Per THUM."
THE EFFECT AND RESULTS OF THE LETTER.
This letter was presented to the President about the 1st of December, 1874. The
testimony of Mr. Charles regarding the presentation of the letter, and its effect and
results, will be instructive. It is as follows:
"Q. Did you write that letter?  A. I did, sir.
"Q. You sent it to the President of the United States? A. My impression is
that I handed it to the President myself; I may have sent it by mail. What is the
date of that letter?
"Q. It is a copy of the letter, and I have not dated it. A. If you have a copy
of the original letter, the trade of the Cheyenne agency was made by me with
Felt, I think, in the first of December or the last of November, 1874, but still we
had already spoken about it some time before.
"Q. Did you call the attention of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Mr.
Smith, to the fact that the law was imperative that you had a right to trade at
Indian posts if you furnished bonds and were of good moral character? A. Well,
I talked to him about the substance of that letter.
"Q. Did you tell the President also the substance of that letter in your interview with him? A. Yes, sir; Senator Allison was present when the interview
took place.
' Q. What did the President say?  A. Well, he said he had fixed that thing,
and was not going to change it, and he bit the end of his cigar, as if he didn't
like me a bit.
" Q. Was not your license at Cheyenne revoked by telegraph? A. I think I
got notice of it by telegraph.
"Q. From whom? A. I think it came from the agent, through the regular
channel.
"Q. What authority had the agent for doing that?  A. Well, it came from
the Department of the Interior, of course."
HOW THE PRESIDENT "FIXED THINGS."
From the foregoing it is evident that it was the President of the United States
who had "fixed that thing," and that it was by his direct order that Mr. Commissioner Smith had purposely and deliberately disregarded and violated the express terms of the statute. Was there any great and overshadowing public necessity, was there any high and patriotic purpose, was there any pure and noble
aspiration for the general welfare, which induced the President thus to violate the
law, thus to bring ruin upon the individual citizen by the arbitrary exercise of his
influence over subordinates in the Government?  From the testimony of Mr.
Orvil L. Grant it appears that during the summer of 1874, his brother, the President of the United States, wrote him a letter informing him that there would be
vacancies in the trading posts at Standing Rock, Fort Peck, and Fort Belknap,
and possibly also at the Cheyenne agency, although of this last he was not posi 
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.
tive. Armed with this letter he went into the market and bartered his power
and influence. By it he became the owner of a one-third interest in the post of
Standing Rock, with J. R. Casselberry and A. L. Bonnafon, sr., of Philadelphia; never having advanced a dollar toward the capital until January, 1876,
when he put in about $2,000, although he had theretofore drawn out $1,100 on
account of profits. He became the equal partner of Joseph Leighton at Fort
Peck, where the capital invested amounted to about $25,000, although he had
never invested a dollar. Having had the promise of the post-tradership at Fort
Berthold, he withdrew his claims in favor of Raymond, receiving therefor $1,000.
At Fort Belknap he assisted a man named Conrad to get the license, although he
swears he has no interest therein.  It will thus appear that of the posts at which
Mr. Charles applied for licenses to trade Cheyenne is in the hands of G. W.
Felt, a personal appointee of the President; that at Standing Rock Orville L. Grant
is the owner with Casselberry and Bonnafon; that Orville L. Grant and Joseph
Leighton are the owners at Fort Peck; that Fort Berthold is held by Raymond
who has paid Orville L. Grant $1,000 to permit him to remain; that Fort Belknap
is held by Conrad, whom Orville L. Grant assisted in securing his appointment.
Of Fort Turney we have no record; and we have heretofore shown that A. L.
Bonnafon, jr., had been appointed post-trader at Fort Stevenson in July, 1874.
He is the son of A. L. Bonnafon, sr., the partner of Orville L. Grant, at Standing Rock, and received his appointment through Grant's influence. This statement will enable this House and the country to judge of the motives which induced the President to direct the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to disregard the
law, and refuse to give John W. Charles a license to trade at these Indian posts.
If they be worthy, he will receive due commendation; if otherwise, merited condemnation. From the facts in the case, it is not doubted by your committee that
the object in refusing a license to John H. Charles at these several posts was to
enable the favorites who held them to trade unmolested and unembarrassed by
any competition whatever. This conclusion is fortified by other executive orders
and proceeding.
Prior to January, 1875, the Missouri River was the eastern boundary of the
great Sioux reservation upon which Standing Rock tradinglpost was situated, and
at which Grant, Casselberry, and Bonnafon, sr., were the traders. Settlers had
located on the eastern bank. At one place there was a thriving settlement called
Brule city, containing a saw-mill, stores, and shops, and immediately opposite the
Standing Rock agency there was another settlement. By executive orders, the
first issued January 11, 1875, the second March 16, 1875, and the third May 20,
1875, the boundaries of the great Sioux reservation were extended so as to cover
all the eastern bank of the Missouri river, and thereby break up these various
settlements, drive out the inhabitants, and thus effectively shut off all competition with the favored traders on the western bank. In order to show the effect
of these orders, your committee would refer to the evidence of O. C. Treadway,
page 45, of the accompanying testimony; to that of A. W. Burleigh, page 41; to
that of John Lawrence, page 45; to that of General Custer, page 55.
O. C. Treadway sworn and examined:
By the Chairman:
"Question. Where do you reside? Answer. Sioux City, Iowa.
"Q. Are you in any way connected with post-trading? A. No, sir.
"Q. Do you know this Upper Missouri River?  A. Yes, sir.
Q. Do you know this great Sioux reservation?  A. Yes, sir. I know the country pretty well from Sioux City to the mouth of the Yellowstone.
" Q. That is an official map, and you see that reservation, as it has been extended, marked upon it. Will you be kind enough to state to the committee
what was the effect of that extension of the reservation to the east bank of the
river on the trading posts and military posts? A. The effect, if it was enforced, would be to make them absolutely and unqualifiedly Indian and military
trading posts, without any opposition; to drive out everything to the edge of the
reservation. That is what we used to do when I was a trader-choke off every
man that was not within the scope of the law.
"Q. When you were a trader would you have considered it a great advantage
to have the limits extended so as to drive out all those people? A. Yes, sir
there is no doubt about its being an advantage.
"Q. Do you know any other parties except those at Brule City who had paid
for their lands, but had not received their patents? A. Yes, sir; Judge Oliver,
703 
POST-TRADER AND OTHIER FRAUDS.
our representative, conferred with me the other day in reference to an Iowa man
who was trying to get his money back for lands he had purchased in this extensiOn, and he could not succeed. 
"Q. Have you any idea'of the~amount of m~.ney that you would have to be
paid back for those lands?  A. I have not examined that.
"Q. The Lower Brule6 Agency is an Indian agency? A. Yes, sir; and there
are soldiers kept there also.  Brule City is:below that.
" Q. Has the effect of that order been to prevent, the further growth of that
place? A. Yes, sir; it has stopped the growth.  It is so represented to'me' by
may.clients that the agent prohibited their making any further improvements in
that city,!and' went so far as even to forbid homesteaders from plowing,  as it
angered the Indians.:                 -
"Q. Did he close up all the places of'business in- that city where they were
selling goods?  A. That was what he threatened to do, and I was'conferred with
as counsel as to what course to pursue on that point.  Whether he closed' them
up or not, I do not know.  -They came'to me and made these:representations,
and I told them they had better aequiesce, for'if they' got into the clutches of'the
military or the Indian Department I did not thinkhtheir property was worth five"
cents on a dollar.  I told them they had better look out.'
." Q. Would the closing up of; all businessat'Brule City be advantageous to the
Indian and post-traders at Lower Brul6 agency? A. Yes,,sir; the closing up of
the trade on the east:bank of the -river woUld be beneficial to all those posts.  As
we used to travel it was about two days-march from where Brule6 City is now to
where Brule agency is located.  Brule City is about forty miles below the agency
I should judge."  
:W. A. Burleigh sworn and examined, March 15, t8 76:
-' Q. State the nature of the Executive order on that subject. A. In the first place
I will state that, under the treaty with the' Yanktons, there were four hundred
thousand acres of land set apart on the east bank'of the Missouri River for their
permanent occupation, extending about thirty:miles'up and down the river. The
river was then open for more than one hundred miles on that side of the river,
and, with the exception of a small portion of'the'Fort Randall reservation, which
was vacated by the'Government several years ago, the country was surveyed.
There was no other reservation until you got up to Crow  Creek, about one
hundred miles above, where there was a small reservation for the Sioux and Winnebagoes, but the Winnabagoes afterward moved down  into Nebraska.  The
country from there to the 46th parallel on the -east bank of the Missouri River,
was open to settlement, with exception of the Fort Sullymilitary reservation.  A
considerable portion of this was occupied by homesteaders and pre-emptors, who
had gone there, as they had a right to do by virtue of the homestead and preemption laws, and settled.   For some unaccountable reason these parties were
notified that, by an Executive order, this land had been set apart-this monstrous
reservation on the other side of the river, almost one-third of our territory; and
when we came to look into the thing we found an Executive order issued January
11, 1875, running down from a point here [indicating on the map], striking the
Missouri River so as to leave an open space between the Yankton reservation and
the Sioux reservation.   That order did not cover the ground, and  on the 16th
July, 1875, it took in the country opposite the Standing Rock agency, and on'
May 20, 1875, there was another one' which closed up the entire country on'the
east of the Missouri for a distance ranging from ten to thirty miles, and shut
everybody out, and the military were sent to clear the country.
"Q. What was the effect of that order upon the trading posts?-A. The effect
of driving these people out and closing up all those stores was to give an entire,
monopoly to the trading posts situated on the other side of the river.
"Q. Would not the effect of the enforcement of these orders be to greatly en
hance the value of the trading-posts?  A. Unquestionably."
John Lawrence sworn and examined, March 15, 1876.
By the CHAIRMAN:
"Question. You are well acquainted with the Upper Missouri, and know all
the posts spoken of by Dr. Burleigh here? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. You have lived there, you say, fifteen years?  Yes, sir. 
* "Q. Do you know of these Executive orders having been issued? A. Yes,
sir; two of them, one of the 11th of January, and one of May 20, 1875.
"Q. From your knowledge of that country, what was the effect of those
704 
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.
orders? A. The effect of that was virtually to drive the citizens out of that
country, with a few exceptions.
"Q. Were thiere any citizens who had paid for their land in that agency who,
nevertheless, bad not received their warrants?  A. Yes, sir; quite a number.
"Q. Had some of those citizens stores? A. I think one, Mr. Day, had a store
at Brule City."
TESTIMONY OF GEN. CUSTER.
George A. Custer sworn and examined March 29, 1876:
"Q. Do you know anything about the extension of this Great Sioux reservation
across tile east bank of the Missouri River?  A. Yes, sir.
"Q. That was done by the proclamation of the President in January last year
and by another proclamation in April? A. Yes, sir.
"Q. What was the effect of that proclamation upon the value of the traderships along that river? A. It greatly enhanced their value by making them a
more perfect monopoly, by removing all opposition and rivalry.
"Q. Did it disposess any people who had acquired title to lands there?  A. I
cannot say that it dispossessed any people who had acquired title, because I am
not sufficiently familiar with the legality of their title, but I know that it dispossessed people who claimed that they had a title, and who, no doubt, but for this
would eventually have acquired title."
Although the ostensible and alleged object of these several executive orders
extending the boundaries of the Great Sioux reservation so as to include the cast
bank was the "suppression of the liquor traffic with the Indians on the Missouri
River," yet the real effect and necessary result of the same is gathered from the
foregoing testimony of witnesses who knew whereof they were speaking. It was
to drive off all the settlers from the east bank of the river, to break up and destroy thriving settlements, and make the Government justly liable to claims
amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages done to property and
vested interests, and, over and above all, to remove and suppress all competitiop
on the part of the settlers and traders on the eastern bank with those favorites of
the President who were interested in the several trading posts on the western
bank.
We leave this House and the country to judge, upon the evidence as given,
whether said orders were issued from philanthropic motives toward the'Indians.
If  so, it is  an  anomaly  in  our  affairs that the interests, especially the
moral interests, of the Indian has been cared for, to the subversion and destruction of the vested rights and privileges of the whites. While it is to be regretted
that so great a number, and so many of them, have been destroyed by these Executive orders, there may be compensation in the reflection that the profits and
emoluments of the Indian traders within the extended limits of the reservation
have been greatly enhanced and increased. With this recital of Executive disobedience to law, and direct interposition of authority for the purpose of advancing the interests and increasing the fortunes of favorites and relatives at the expense of the people generally, we would dismiss this subject of posts and Indian
traderships, save that there is still one case remaining so glaring in its wrong
and so naked in its iniquity that justice demands of us a brief statement of the
facts.
In 1867, J. E. Barrow, of St. Louis, had sent a large stock of goods to New
Mexico. Finding no market for them, he applied for a post-tradership at Fort
Union, in that Territory. President Grant was then General of the Army, and had
the power of appointment.  Finding difficully in securing the place, Barrow applied
to W. D. W. Bernard, the brother-in-law of John C. Dent, the eldest brother-in-law of
General Grant, who agreed to aid him on condition that he would give him one-third
of the profits; whereupon, Barrow agreeing thereto, Bernard wrote General Grant a
letter stating that Barrow was to give him one-third of the profits annually for
his influence in getting him the place. After a month or six weeks Barrow was
appointed. What happened subsequently is stated so clearly and succinctly by
Barrow that we insert his evidence (pages 137 and 138), as follows:
MARCH 28, 1876.
J. E. BARROW sworn and examined:
Q. Go on and state all thie facts. A. After getting the appointment I removed my
goods from Las Vegas, where I had them, to Fort Union, in the Winter of 1867-,
705 
706                  1POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.
built my house, and opened my goods for sale.  Mr. Moore was at the same time,
also, sutler there.  After being there some eight months, I was removed while I
was absent at Saint Louis.  Mr. Bernard, in the mean time, was out there, and
proposed to take his share of the profits and stay in the house, which he did for
some time. After I went to Saint Louis, in the Fall of 1868, without any notification whatever I received a dispatch from my clerk, stating that my permit was
revoked, and that Mr. Bernard was appointed in my place.  I had a large stock
of goods on hand, probably fifty or sixty thousand dollars' worth; my buildings
cost me several thousand dollars. It was a thing unexpected to me, and placed
me in a very peculiar situation, as I owed many thousand dollars at Saint Louis
to my creditors. I did not know what to do to give them satisfaction. I tried to
make arrangements to sell out; I did not know whom to sell to; I could not take
the goods away, as they were not adapted for any other place than a sutler's store.
I then met Mr. Dent; Bernard had telegraphed Dent to see me, and to arrange
about buying the stock of goods.  I was not disposed to let Bernard have anything to do with it. He was considered a profligate and a man of very reckless
habits, and a spendthrift. I took Mr. Dent down with me to the fort, and when
I got there Bernard had charge of everything. I made the sale there to him, and
went to Saint Louis to consummate it, and after I got there he refused to accede
to the terms that he had made at the fort.
Q. Who refused? A. Air. Dent; but after two or three weeks I had to accept
his own terms, which subjected me to a loss on the debts I had out there of $16,000
or $18,000, and a loss on my goods of between $30,000 and $40,000.
Q You sold out then to John C. Dent? A. Yes, sir.
Q. He was the brother-in-law of the President? A. Yes, sir.  There was at
least $16,000 or $17,000 of debts owing me there, and I sold out to Dent at a loss
,of $25,000 or $30,000.
Q. What were your total losses in the operation 9?  A. Between $30,000 or
$40,000.  I sold on long credit, and compromised with my creditors at 50 cents
on the dollars
Q. When  you were supplanted by Bernard, did you make any efforts to be
retained?  A. I wrote to General Grant and told him the facts of the case, but
got no answer from him.
Q.What did you tell him? A. I told him that Mr. Bernard was a profligate, that
he had got my things in his hands out there, that he had no money and no credit,
and I was afraid to let him have charge of them, and of course I preferred to sell
out Mr. Dent, or some one else,, and save myself.
Q. You received no reply from the President, who was then General of the
Armies? A. No, sir.
Q. In the letter which you sent to General Grant, making application for the
post-it was written by Bernard in the first place, and in that all the terms. of
your agreement were fully set forth? A. Yes, sir.
Q. That in case you were appointed, Bernard was to have one-third of the
profits? Yes, sir.
Q. Was he to put any capital in? A. No, sir.
Q. What was he to have that one-third of the profits for? A. For his influence
with General Grant in obtaining the appointment for me. I knew nothing of
Mr. Bernard only what I had heard-that he had been intimate with him, been
drunk with him, given him a horse, and all that kind of thing, and I concluded I
would apply to him for my permit.
Q. Bernard, you say, is married to a sister of John C. Dent?  A. No, sir;
Dent and Bernard married sisters.
Q. So that Bernard is not a brother-in-law of the President? A. No, sir; he is a
brother-in-law of John C. Dent.  Bernard was appointed in my place, and then
Dent was afterward appointed, and Bernard was then appointed Inspector of
Banks in Saint Louis, which he is now. He is bank examiner there.
Q. Has his character improved any since then?  A. I do not know.  Gentlemen of Saint Louis will be apt to know better than I; they have seen him for
years,.and know his reputation. He is considered a profligate, and a man of
reckless habits.
We' leave the House and the country to form their own conclusion Upon the
facts as stated. They are unchallenged and uncontradicted. We present them
as corroborative testimony of all that is charged in this report touching the unfailing willingness of the President to serve his friends.'1To those who question 
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.
it we commend a careful perusal of the whole of the testimony of Barrow, asait
appears on pages 136 to 144 inclusive.
THE CLAIM  OF  THE KENTUCKY  CENTRAL  RAILROAD  COMPANY AGAINST THE
GOVERNMENT, AND THE RELATION OF THE HON. GEORGE H. PENDLETON THERETO.
The charge made before your committee was that George H. Pendleton had cor-ruptly used money in the prosecution and collection of a claim, in the War Department, of the Kentucky Central Railroad against the Goverment, which was
brought to the notice of the committee, not by the testimony of any witness, or
the order of the House, but by rumors published and circulated in the newspapers.
Mr.  Pendleton  promptly offered  himself for examination,  and  testified
in the most direct, explicit, and comprehensive manner that no corrupt
or improper means had been used in the prosecution and collection of the claim.
Many witnesses were examined, embracing the officers and clerks of the Kentucky Central Railroad, the owners of the road and claim, the newspaper correspondents and those who circulated the rumor, the persons with whom it was said
to have originated, the officers of the banks in New York and Cincinnati, and
every person suggested to the committee as likely to have knowledge or information bearing on the case whose presence could be secured.
Their testimony not only did not impair in the least degree the force of George
H. Pendleton's statement, but did, in every particular absolutely verify and confirm it.                                                                 -
As bearing upon the charge against Mr. Pendleton, your committee examined
fully into the origin, nature, and merits of the claim of said railroad against the
Government; examined General William McKee Dunn, Judge-Advocate'-General
of the Army, who passed upon the claim and recommended its payment, and they
find that said claim was just and valid, and fully established by the clearest testimony.
Your committee believes that, in the absence of all fraud, the Government or
the public have no interest in the question of compensation paid by the railroad
company to Mr. Pendletoh; but as the amount paid to him has been the subject
of much public comment, the committee deem it but right to say that Mlr.
Pendleton freely stated to them the amount he was to receive, and that the proof
was clear that every person interested in and owning said railroad fully understood and approved the contract with Mr. Pendleton for his contingent compensation in the collection of said claim, and that all of said owners were then and
are now fully satisfied with it, and cordially approve the final settlement of the
claim under it.
Mr. Pendleton is, therefore, in the opinion of your committee, fully exonerated
from all charges against him.
~ CONTRACTS WITH COWLES & BREGA FOR THE EXTERMINATION OF MOTHS IN
ARMY CLOTHING.
Your committee deem it proper to refer to the facts developed in the matter of
what is known as "Cowles & Co.'s process for preservation of Army clothing
Land equipage."
It appears that from the 15th of June, 1871, to the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1876, there was expended in the use and application of said process
the sum of $489,040.07. That after the process had been adopted and, for some
time in use, the Secretary of War directed its discontinuance, which order was,
however, revoked. That in the Army Appropriation Bill for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1875, the following appropriation is found:
For the purchase and manufacture of clothing and camp and garrison equipage,
and for preserving and repacking stock of clothing and camp and garrison equipage, and materials on hand at the Philadelphia, Jeffersonville and other depots
of the Quartermaster's Department, one million four hundred and fifty thousand
dollars:  Provided, That no part of this sum shall be paid for the use of any
patent process for the preservation of cloth from moth or mildew.
It also appears that the proviso in this section was specially intended by Congress to stop the use of the said Cowles & Co.'s process, though so worded as to
exclude from use all patented processes, of which this was one.  General M. (.
M-eigs, Quartermaster-General, recognizing the plain obligations imposed by this
,act of Congress, refused to apply any portion of the appropriation to the purchase, 
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUL S.
use, or application of this process, but upon the 1st day of June, 1875, General
Meigs was temporarily relieved by General Rufus Ingalls, who on that day assumed the duties of the office, as Acting Quartermaster-General, and on that
day there was filed in his office the application of Cowles & Co. for the
payment  to them of $39,040.07, for the use or application of their process to  the  clothing  and  equipage of the United  States Army.   This
request was referred by General Ingalls, to the Secretary of War, and by him
referred to the Attorney-General of the United States, Hon. Edwards Pierrepont,
who upon the 25th day of August, 1875, submitted, for the guidance of the
Department, the following singular opinion, which, because of the subtle distinctions drawn, as well as the anomalous conclusions reached, deserves, and will
doubtless receive, no small amount of attention at the hands of the legal
profession throughout the country:
OPINION OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
DEPARTMENT OT JUSTICE 
Washington, 1). C., August 25. 1875.
Hon. W. W. BELKNAP, Secretary of War:
SIR: I have considered the question proposed in a letter from Mr. H. T. Crosby,
chief clerk of your Department, dated the 30th ultimo, which was accompanied
by a communication from Messrs. George A. Cowles and Co., of Philadelphia, and
other papers, touching the preservation of Army clothing by what is known as
the Cowles process.  The question put is, " Whether or not the appropriation for
clothing for the present fiscal year (18 Stat., 454) can be legally used in applying
this process to the preservation of Army clothing?"
That appropriation is in the following terms: "For purchase and manufacture of
clothing and camp and garrison equipage. and for preserving and repacking stock
of clothing and camp and garrison equipage, and materials on hand at the
Philadelphia, Jeffersonville, and othler depots of ihe Quartermaster's Department, one million four hundred and fifty thousand dollars: Provided, That no
part of this sum shall be paid for the use of any patent process for the preservation of cloth from moth or mildew."
The above question is understood to arise on the proviso just quoted, and it
involves the inquiry as to the effect of the latter upon expenditures for one of the
objects enumerated in the appropriation, viz., for "preserving" the stock of
clothing on hand.  That the proviso prohibits the payment of any part of the
sum appropriated "for the use of any patent process" for the object mentioned
is very clear, but with its prohibitory operation seenis to end.
It does not forbid the application of any patent process to the preservation of
the clothing where the use of the process may be obtained without paying therefor or incurring any obligation to pay therefor.
Accordingly, if the use of Cowles's process can be had without charge, directly
or indirectly, or without incurring any obligation to pay for such use, I think the
appropriation in question may be legally employed in applying the same (i. e., in
paying for the mere labor necessary to apply the same) to the preservation of
Army clothing.
Here is the plainest of Congressional statutes, the object of which was well
known to every one, enacted for the expressed purposed of protecting the Treasury
from what Congress deemed waste and pillage, so understood and regarded by
the Quartermaster-General (General Meigs, see page 459 of the testimony), openly
defied, and the Department making the disbursement of the money, in the face
and in direct violation of the law, pleads the opinion of the Attorney-General
as its authority in the premises. Whether the opinion illustrates in the late
Attorney-General, the legal adviser of the Administration, a greater fitness for
correctly construing and expounding the law, or for discovering methods for its
evasion or open violation, your committee will not undertake to determine. Of
one thing, however, there can be'no doubt, viz.: Had the country, at that juncture,
not been deprived of the services of its Quartermaster-General (General Meigs),
and the duties of his office devolved upon General Ingalls, this infraction of the
law would not have occurred, nor the Treasury been depleted of $39,040.07.
Whether the responsibility for this high-handed action rests with the then
Attorney-General or the Acting Quartermaster-General, or is to be shared by both
those officials, it is not necessary and may not be proper for us to determine. The
transaction itself must stand as irrefutable proof of a laxity of administration and
708 
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.                            709
disregard of the limitations of law, meriting the severest censure of all rightthinking men.
The following is the bank-account of Cowles & Co. during a part of the time of
their contract with the Government:
Amoutnt collected by Fant, Washingtork & Co., agent of G. A. Cowles & Co., between
February or March, 1872, to July or August, 1874.
From the Army, Navy, and Ordnance Departments. ------------- $403,875.00
Distributed as follows:
G. A. Cowles & Co., manager, expense account ----------------—. 41,374.18
G. A. Cowles & Co., Army account --------------------— I —--- 63,525.10
G. A. Cowles & Co., individual account ------------------------ 92,570.99
George W. Brega, individual account. —------------------- ----- 92,570.99
L. H. Bacon, of Hartford, Conn. —--------------------------- 57,93426
Victor Vierow, of Philadelphia -------------------------------.          28,967.13
Donn Piatt ----------------------------------------                       22,934.35
Commissions toFant, Washington & Co., 1 per cent. -------------— 3,998.00
Making the total amount received from the Government ----— 403,875.00
From which it appears that the sum of $294,877.54 were the profits realized
by the parties engaged in this questionable contract, out of an aggragate appropriation of $403,875.  Their insatiable rapacity is shown by their subsequent dexnand for the additional sum of $39,040.07, which they obtained under the opinion
of the late Attorney-General, above cited.        *
HIESTER CLYMER.
WM. M. ROBBINS.
JOS. C. S. BLACKBURN. 
NEPOTISM AND GRANTISIM.
ORVILLE GRANT AND JOHN S. DELANO AS GOVERN                      MENT CONTRACTORS.
The following report made by the Committee on Expenditures in the Interior
Department to the House of Representatives, August 2, 1876, shows how a brother
of the President of the United States and a son of one of his cabinet officers
profited at the expense of the tax-payers from contracts to survey the public lands
in Wyoming Territory:
It having been represented to your committee that certain abuses had been
practiced in the awarding of contracts by surveyors-general for the survey of the
public lands, they determined to inquire into the truth or falsity of the charges by
the examination of witnesses who, it was supposed, had knowledge of the fact,
that such abuses existed. The time of the committee having been occupied
almost exclusively in the investigation of other matters, they found it impossible
to give attention to any of the charges except those relating to surveys in the
Territory of Wyoming. It having been alleged that Dr. Silas Reed, late surveyorgeneral of that Territory, was in the habit of compelling deputy surveyors who,
received contracts from him to divide the profits of their contracts with such
friends of his as he would designate, who did no work and assumed none of the
responsibilities which attached to the contractor, and whose only connection with
the surveys was to receive their share of the profits after the work was completed,
your committee proceeded to take the testimony of a number of witnesses in sup
port of the allegations, and they herewith submit it as a part of their report.
Dr. Reed became surveyor-general of Wyoming Territory in the year 1870,
and held the position until the spring of 1873, when he was removed, and a Dr. H.
Latham was appointed his successor.  In speaking of his removal, Dr. Reed, in
his testimony, says
TESTIMONY OF DR. SILAS REED.
" I was appointed the second time in February, 1870. I went out there, and in
March, 1873, at the time of the President's inauguration, this ring that is now
hatching up this difficulty, mystifying and misrepresenting it, came down here
and represented me to the President as a great Greeley man, and as having attended
Greeley conventions, etc., and the President, forgetting that he had appointed me
the second time, appointed a man in my place."
Upon the receipt of his notice of dismissal, Dr. Reed at once proceeded to
-Washington, and having convinced President Grant that the report to the effect
that he had been wanting in fealty to him was a malicious fabrication invented by
the " ring" for selfish purposes, he was at once re-appointed. and again entered
upon his duties as surveyor-general of the Territory. The contracts for surveys
for the season of 1873 having been already let by Dr. Latham, none were given out
by Dr. Reed until the following season, being the summer of 1874.
The act of May 18, 1796, provides that "every surveyor-general shall engage a sufficient number of skillful surveyors as his deputies," and by the act of March 3, 1831,
" every deputy surveyor is required to enter into bonds with sufficient security for the
faithful performance of all surveying-contracts, and to take an oath that the surveys
have been faithfully and correctly executed according to law and the instructions of
the surveyor-general." In the opinion of the committee, the plain provisions of the
statutes regulating the surveying of the public lands require all contracts to be let
only to persons killed in the art of surveying, and to such as will give the bond
and take the oath required by those statutes. The term skillful surveyors cannot. 
NEPOTISM AND GRANTISM.
be interpreted to mean any class of persons except such as have been educated in
the business of surveying.   The manual of surveying-instructions, however.
authorized by the act of 1872, and issued by the Commissioner of the General
Land Office, contains a provision declaring that where there are two contractors,
one only shall be required to be a practical surveyor, the other may be the mnoneyed man of the firm; the one to execute the work and swear to the field-notes,
the other to furnish the necessary means for the outfit. This regulation, made, as
is claimed, in'pursuance of law, enables surveyors-general to award heavy contracts to favorites, who have, no knowledge whatever of the work to be done, or of
the manner of doing it, and who scarcely ever go into the field. As surveying-contracts are always awarded at the maximum sum allowed by law, the profits realized
are generally very large in proportion to the amount invested by the moneyed man
of the firm.  This system of partnership in surveying was somewhat improved by
Dr. Reed, very much to the advantage of the moneyed man of the firm, who, it
appears from the testimony, was not only not required to do any work, but did not
sign a contract, give a bond, take the oath, nor advance any money.  Under the
doctor's system, the moneyed man did no work and assumed no responsibility; he
was a silent partner, with nothing to do except to receive his share of the profits of
the contract. This system was put into practical operation in the spring of 1874,
when the first contracts were let by Dr. Reed after his reappointment to the office
of surveyor-general of the Territory, and the beneficiaries under it were Mr. John
S. Delano, Mr. Orville L. Grant, and a Mr. H. H. Houghton, an editor of a newspaper in Galena, Ill. Although each of these gentlemen participated in the distribution of the pro'fits of surveying-contracts, none of them took any of the
responsibilities of contracting parties, nor did any of the work required to be
done, and, so far as the evidence shows, only one of them (Mr. Delano) advanced
any money to purchase an outfit for the men in the field.
DELANO RECEIVES ONE-HALF OF THE PROFITS.
In May, 1874, two contracts were given to J. Wesley Hammond, of which the
aggregate liability was $4,000. Subsequently, and during the same summer, a contract was given to Mr. Rogers, the liability of which was $2,100; one to Mr. Hays,
of the same liability; one to Mr. Reed, liability $1,800; and one to Mr. Thomas,
liability $2,900. These contracts were all for surveying township and section
lines, and were awarded at the maximum sum allowed by law for that kind of surveying.  The only contracting parties, so far asthe papers in the Land Office show,
were the government and the parties above named. Yet Mr. Delano was the
recipient of one-half the profits of each contract, amounting in the aggregate to
from $3,000 to $5,000. The settlements with the deputies were made by Dr.
Reed, and the amount due by each one to Mr. Delano deducted by him. For purposes which may readily be imagined, it seems Dr. Reed was particularly
anxious that Mr. Delano should have an interest in surveying contracts. According to his own statement, as early as May  or June,  1873, when, it
will be remembered, he was out of office and was in Washington soliciting
a re-appointment, he had a conversation with Ex-Secretary Delano in regard to the
health of his son, who, it seems, was afflicted with a disease of the lungs, in which
conversation he suggested that John should go to the mountains for the benefit of
his health. Subsequently, he relates, he had an interview with Mr. Drummond,
the Commissioner of the Land Office, with regard to the propriety of giving Mr.
Delano a contract, and that that official advised him that he could properly do so.
Dr. Reed, by his testimony, endeavors to create the impression that there was no
intention to conceal the fact that Mr. Delano had an interest in surveying contracts, but that the transaction was an open one and in no way inconsistent with
his sworn duty as a government official. He insists that the only reason why Mr.
Delano's name was not inserted in the contracts, and he required to file his bond
and take the oath, was because, on account of the sickness of his wife, he could
not reach the Territory in time to comply with these requirementsof the law.  In
this assertion the doctor is not sustained by the evidence. On the contrary, it is
clearly proven that he used all means in his power to keep the matter a profound
secret, and that he peremptorily discharged an honest and faithful clerk from his
office because he, in the conscientious discharge of his duty, attempted to correct
the abuses that were being practiced.
Mr. L. C. Stevens, who was chief clerk in Dr. Reed's office at Cheyenne, and
who was removed because he endeavored to expose the dishonest transactions of
711 
NEPOTISM AND GRANTISM
the office, testifies in respect to the Hammond contract that at the instance of Dr.
Reed he told Hammond that there was a chance for him to get work.  He says,
PI told him that if he was willing to go into the field and let Mr. Delano in on
profits he could get work, and asked him if he would be willing to take a contract
on such terms. I talked quite a while with him about it and talked freely. He
was an intimate of mine and I advised him that that was the only show he had to
get anything to do, and that he had better do that than be idle; that he would do
pretty well out of it himself anyhow; that he had better do it, and he said he
would.  I then reported to Dr. Reed that I had seen Mr. Hammond and that it
was all right; so the contract was let to Mr. Hammond."  This witness says Mr.
Delano "shared equally with Mr. Hammond in the profits."   "As I understood,"
he says, "from conversations with the doctor afterward, Mr. Hammond had owned
the outfit, the mules, the compass, and the equipments generally, and also did the
work; and for the use of his outfit and for his services he was to receive $125 a
month, which was deducted before the division." In answer to a question as to
whether the witness had anything to do with the payment of money to Mr. Delano,
he says, "Some time in November, 1874, the draft was received from the
Treasury for Mr. Hammond in payment for those contracts.  Mr. Hammond was
not in town at that time. I received his mail when he was not in town and
attended to his business, and I placed these Treasury drafts in the bank to his
credit. Mr. Hammond had told me that he had given to Dr. Reed notes; that the
doctor had required him to give notes for what was coming to Mr. Delano, and
that they were all right. I was acquainted with the arrangement from the beginning. On the 21st of November, 1874, Dr. Reed showed me these notes given by
Hammond; they were notes made on a form of the First National Bank of Cheyenne, and these [producing papers] are exact copies of the notes:
$400.]                                               CHIEYENNE, October 26, 1874.
On or before February 1, 1874, we jointly and severally promise to pay to John
L. Merriam or bearer, out of the draft of my surveying contract No. 62, of May
20, 1874, as soon as received, $400 at the First National Bank of Cheyenne, for
value received, waiving benefit of stay and exemption laws, with interest at two
per cent. per month from maturity, till paid.
J. WESLEY HAMMOND.
$1,000.]                                        WASHINGTON, October 26, 1874.
On or before February 1, 1874, -we jointly and severally promise to pay to John
L. Merriam or bearer, out of my survey contract No. 62, of May 20, 1874, $1,000
as soon as received, at the First National Bank of Cheyenne, for value received,
waiving benefit of stay and exemption laws, with interest at two per cent. from
maturity, till paid.
J. WESLEY HAMMOND.
The fact that the name of John L. Merriam was inserted in the above notes
instead of that of Mr. Delano is another circumstance going to show the intention
of Dr. Reed to cover up the transaction with Mr. Delano; and the reason for this
name being put there will be found in the following letter, which is still stronger
evidence that the parties desired that the fact that Mr. Delano had an interest in
surveying contracts should be a secret:
INTERIOR DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON, D. C., May 26, 1874. f
DEAR  GENERAL-I have been detained by my wife's illness, but hope at least
to get off to Saint Paul by Monday, and to reach Cheyenne in June. I shall have
to return here by the last of June on my wife's account, but shall not go back west
for the summer and fall.
Hope you will be able to put Merriam (I think it had better be in his name)
into a good contract for me.  I shall sadly need the profits for my summer's outlay —out of office, sick, unable to attend to my own affairs, runs me behind a good
deal. Thanks for your kind letter.
Yours, truly,
J. S. DELANO.
This letter flatly contradicts the assertion made by Dr. Reed to  the effect  that
the only reason why the name of Mr. Delano was omitted from the Hammond con
712 
NEPOTISM AND GRANTiSM.
tract, and he not required to qualify as a deputy,  was because he was unable to
reach the Territory in time to do so.  It will be observed the letter is dated six
days after the date of the contract, and that the name of Merriam does not occur
in any of the papers, excepting in the notes subsequently given by Hammond to
secure the payment of Delano's share.  The truth is, the Hammond contract had
been awarded to him, with the distinct understanding that he was to divide the
profits equally with Delano, some time before the latter had signified to Dr. Read
his intention of coming to the Territory.
If any other evidence were necessary to prove beyond the possibility of a doubt
that it was the intention of the parties to keep the transaction entirely secret, it
will be found in the conduct of Dr. Reed in removing Mr. Stevens, his chief clerk,
so soon as he had ascertained that that gentleman had attempted to expose the
affair to the authorities at Washington.
PROOFS OF ILLEGAL TRANSACTIONS SENT TO WASHINGTON.
Mr. Stevens testifies that Dr. Reed handed him the two notes given by Hammond to Medary, with a request that he collect them, and, as he had charge of
Hammond's money matters during his absence in the field, he drew his check on
the First National Bank of Cheyenne for $1,400, signed "J. Wesley Hammond,
by L. C. Stevens," and with this money paid the notes.  Five hundred and five
dollars of this amount he gave to Dr. Reed, and with the balance, $895., he purchased a draft on New York, payable to the order of J. S. Delano. This draft,
he says, Dr. Reed inclosed, with a letter directed to Mr. Delano. After the
draft had been paid and returned to the bank, Mr. Stevens says he obtained
possession of it, and in the latter part of March, 1875, inclosed it, together with
other proofs of the transaction, to Hon. B. H. Bristow, with a request that he lay
the papers before President Grant. At this time Dr. Reed was absent from the
Territory, staying at St. Louis. Mr. Bristow testifies that he received the papers
sent, and, in obedience to the request of Stevens, laid them before the President.
That among the papers he thinks there was a letter from Ex-Secretary Delano to
Dr. Reed, thanking him for some kindness done his son. That the papers related to
surveying contracts in the Territory of Wyoming, and on their face showed evidence of improper transactions between the surveyor-general and John S. Delano.
On the 28th of April, Dr. Reed, who. as has been stated, was in St. Louis, camel
to Washington City. Immediately upon his arrival he was informed by Mr. J. S.
Delano and others that the President was in possession of these papers. Mr.
Delano, it seems, from his own testimony, had seen the papers, they having been
shown him by General O. E. Babcock, the President's private secretary. On receiving this information, Dr. Reed at once telegraphed his chief clerk, Mr. Stevens,
as follows:
. C., April 29, 1875.
Mr. L. C. STEVENS,
Surveyor- General's Office:
How did Campbell obtain D.'s letters to me about surveys?
SILAS REED.
Dr. Reed further testifies that on this same day he had an interview with the
President; that he informed the President that the papers had been stolen; that
one of them was a private or semi-official letter to him, and that he did not think
it ought to be floating about, because it would be misunderstood or misinterpreted
among strangers; that the President replied that he did not see that they amounted
to anything; he had not thought enough of the matter to mention it to Secretary
Delano or pay any attention to it, and that he would return the papers to J..S.
Delano. After the interview with the President, Dr. Reed went to the telegraph
office and sent a telegram to Cheyenne removing Mr. Stevens, his chief clerk.
The letter which the doctor alluded to as not desiring to have "floating
around," for fear that it might be'" misunderstood or misinterpreted by strangers,"
was an autograph-letter from Ex-Secretary Delano to Dr. Reed, written in the
month of October. and some time prior to the date of the settlements between
the deputy surveyors, in whose contracts J. S. Delano was interested, and the government.  Mr. Stevens says that a month before sending the draft to J. S.
Delano, Dr. Reed showed him this letter, and, in doing so, said, "I was writing
the Secretary not long ago, and I mentioned to him that I was doing something
713 
NEPOTISM AND GRANTISM.
for John out here. I got a letter from him this morning, and I want to show it f
you. Just see how careful he is."
It was an autographletter of Secretary Delano's, and addressed to Dr. Reed.
The first part of it was in regard to some other work, which I did not pay any
attention to or charge my mind with. The part to which he directed my attention,
and which he had referred to was like this: "You mention that you are doing something for John.  I hope you will be careful not to do anything that will have the
appearance of being wrong." In his testimony, Dr. Reed admits having received this
letter, and that it contained a clause in which the writer thanked him forhis kindness toward his son.
With regard to the surveys in which Orville L. Grant had an interest, the testimony
of Mr. Stevens shows that a brother-in-law of Grant's, named Medary, had several
heavy contracts, first under Surveyor-General Latham, subsequently under Dr.
Reed. Stevens says, "The doctor told me in 1873 that Medary was to help Orville
out of some of his debts."  He also said that as Medary was "spending his money
pretty fast, there would be nothing left for Orville." The witness further says thatin
the spring of 1874 he asked the doctor whether Medary had helped Orville out as he
promised, and the doctor said that was fixed up all right. That in the summer of 1874
Medary had contracts all the while to large amounts. That one day the doctor asked
witness what he thought Medary ought to make out of his work. Witness said, "Not
less than $5,000, however he manage."' The doctor added,'; That's just what I
thought, and just what I told Mr. Grant. I told Mr. Grant that that ought to be
the basis, and that if Medary did not report that much profit, he had not managed
his work right."  This witness says that Medary was by no means a favorite of the
doctor's. That the doctor told himn one time that he did not like to have him about.
That he wished Grant would get somebody else. He could get a man who would
make more money for him and be pleasanter about the office. In a letter written
from Washington by Dr. Reed to his clerk, he says: "Medary's last draft has gone
to Cedar Falls, and O. L. G. seems worried that nothing has come from the source
of his prosperity yet."  In another portion of the letter he says:' I have this
moment parted with O. L. G. I have suggested that he hire a good assistant and
go out on his own hook next season, for all his plans seem to have failed this year,
and it is not certain he will receive a dollar from M."
Dr. Reed does not deny that Grant had an interest in all the contracts given
to Medary, although his name nowhere appears in any of the papers on file in the
land office, nor was he in the Territory at any time while the work was being done.
The testimony further goes to show that Medary himself was not a practical surveyor, and that the work allotted to him was done by a compass-man by the name
of Corey, whom he employed by the month. Contracts were all awarded, as was
the case in those in which Delano was interested, at the maximum price fixed bylaw.
Mr. Stevens also testifies that a man. by the name of HI. H. Houghton, who
published a newspaper at Galena, Ill., called the Galena Advertiser, had an interest
to the extent of $600 in a surveying contract to two deputies named James and
Rodgers. He does not know certainly that Houghton received the money, but
the deputies told him they had paid it. He says the doctor told him he intended
to help Mr. Houghton, who was his old friend. That he had offered him a contract,
but that he could not come out there to work, and so he was going to let some of
the deputies make up to him about the amount he could make on a small contract
Your committee believe that John S. Delano, Orville L. Grant, and H. H.
Houghton rendered no service whatever to the government for the money received
by them, but that they were mere "dead-heads" and pensioners upon the fund
appropriated by Congress for surveys of the public lands in the Territory of
Wyoming for the year 1874, and that Dr. Silas Reed, the surveyor-general of that
Territory, violated his official oath by awarding contracts for surveying at the
maximum price upon condition that the deputies would divide their profits with
men who  gave no equivalent  for the  money they received.   The  precise
amount of the public money thus fraudulently and corruptly used the
committee are unable to state, but it is quite certain that it amounts to several
thousand dollars, and that the entire sum should have been saved to the government, because the evidence shows that the work could and would have been done
by the deputies to whom the contracts were awarded at the price they actually
received after deducting the amount each was compelled to pay to his silent partner
as a bonus for his contract.
714-' 
NEPOTISM AND GRANTISM.
In justification of his conduct in thus misapplying the public money, Dr. Reed
says he was induced to offer Mr. Delano an interest in surveying contracts because
he was unwell, and he, as a physician, knew that if he could get him to go to the
mountains his health would be restored; that he was his father's only son, and as
he, witness, had but one son, he had great sympathy for the father. As to Orville
L. Grant, he had been burned out in Chicago and was poor; besides, Medary was
a single man, while Grant had a family and was supporting Medary's mother, and
he thou,ght it was no more than right that the latter should divide profits with him.
When it is remembered that one of these recipients of the government bounty is
a near blood-relative of the then Secretary of the Interior and the other of the
President, and that the sympathizing doctor held his official position at the pleasure
of these two high officials, it will be seen that the motive which prompted him to
relieve their necessities was as humane and unselfish as any that ever moved the
philanthropic heart of the illustrious Pecksniff.  Although the fact that this unfaithful official had been guilty of corruptly using the public money was known to
the authorities by whose favor he held his office in March, yet he was permitted to
retain his position until the month of August, when, as will be seen by the following letter of President Grant, his resignation was accepted:
LONG BRANcH, N.J., August 7, 1875.
DEAR SIR-Your letter of resignation of the 30th of July was duly received,
but has not been acted upon until now. I have this day forwarded it to the Secretary of the Interior, with instructions to accept it, to take effect on the 10th of
September, or as soon thereafter as your successor may qualify.  In accepting
your resignation allow me to say that I know of no reason to be dissatisfied with
your administration of the office of surveyor-general. On the contrary, I believe
it has been efficiently, and advantageously to the government, filled during your
entire administration.
With sincere wishes for your welfare, and assurances of my personal friendship, I am, very truly, your obedient servant,
U.S. GRANT.
Dr. SILAS REED,
Surveyor-General, W. T.
Your committee deem it necessary, in order to prevent any misappropriation
of the money set apart for defraying the expenses of surveying the public lands in
the future, to recommend that the law regulating surveys should be so amended as
to impose a penalty upon surveyors-general who may award a contract to any one
not a skillful surveyor, and also a penalty upon any person receiving a contract who.
inay neglect or refuse to superintend the work allotted him in person.
WM. MUTCHLER,
A. R. BOONE,
WM. B. ANDERSON.
715, 
THE OFFICIAL BOUQUET SHOP.
WHAT IT COSTS TO SUPPLY OUR REPUBLICAN RULERS
WITH FLOWERS.
The supervision of the Commissioner of Public Buildings and Grounds is at present
confined t,) the President's house and the public grounds and reservations open to the public. The Capitol building and grounds are in charge of the architect appointed
by the Secretary of the Interior; all the Department buildings, with the grounda
attached thereto, are in charge of superintendents appointed by the heads of the
Departments occupying them. In planting the grounds, the robust English plan of
setting exclusively hardy plants, shrubs, and trees, formerly prevailed in Washington.
The expensive mannerism of the French of studding the roads in summer with topplants, preserved during the winter in greenhouses, has only obtained during the
past few years around the Executive mansion.  Nothing is required besides laying
and taking up again annually a limited number of bulbs and pot-flowers, mostly for
the Capitol grounds and the President's garden.  The public grounds have long
been well stocked with the most esteemed hardy shrubs, such as weigelias, spireas,
grape, myrtles, etc. To keep the trees well trimmed and the grounds in good order,
Congress appropriates annually, in the legislative, executive, and judicial appropriation bills, money for salaries of gardeners, foremen, laborers, clerks, and contingencies.  Section 1799 of the Re.vised Statutes defines the status of these officials,
thus: " The Chief of Engineers, in charge of public buildings and grounds, is
authorized to employ in his office and about the public buildings and groundsunder
" his control such number of persons for such employments and at such rates of
"compensation as may be appropriated for by Congress from year to year."  This
law was openly violated by Babcock, and, as specimens, we quote the employment
of his brother-in-law Geo. D. Benjamin, first as'" Superintendent," and subsequently  as  " Overseer,"  at a salary of $2,000 per annu-m.    In order  to
avoid the neglects to perform dutie., and the limitations of laws as to amount
of salary,  Benjamin  was  carried on  the pay-roll of laborers,  engaged  on
-the care and improvement of public grounds. In the same corrupt way he carried
George Gideon, Boss Shepherd's maitre de plaisir, at a salary of $1,825, unider the
xidiculous pretence pf "Inspector of Bridges."
Formerly it was the custom of Babcock's predecessors  to propagate  valuabVle
plants on the grounds, and to increase this variety by exchanges, without extra
expense. In the Sundry Civil Bill money was thus provided for manure, hire of
carts, tools, trees, tree boxes, etc.; and specified sums were also added to pay for
extra labor in extending the area of the cultivated reservations.
This unostentatious, honest, and efficient course has been radically changed since
Orville E. Babcock got control of the office.  He made it a cumbersome and expen —
sive machine of corruption. His predecessors occupied rooms in the spacious basement of the Capitol, and their contingent expenses were, a few years ago, restricted
to $250 per annum. Babcock rented the house above the grocery store, No. 2102
Pennsylvania avenue, which is convenient to his private mansion, for $1,500 per
.annum; diverted the funds for care and improvement of the public grounds to pay
the rental. to erect stables in the rear of the lot, and to keep stylish horses, coup6,
buggy and carriage, under the head of repairs, and even to board his dog, who has
cost the United States. up to date, $5)00 for maintenance.  To  illustrate the outrageons nature qf these charges for keeping up this fancy establishment, we transcribe, literally, a few of the official vouchers: 
THE OFFICIAL BOUQUET SHOP.
(FORM 8.)
Appropliation for Imnprovement and Care of Public Grounds.
The United States (for repairing coupe4), To John McDermott & Bro., Dr.
1871.
Oct. 31-For repairing, trimming, and painting government coupe6...... $173 50
Received at Washington, this Nov. 3, 1871, from Major 0. E. Babcock, Corps of
Engineers, the sum of one hundred and seventy-three fifty one-hundredths dollars,
in full payment of the above account.  Check No. 76, dated Nov. 3, 1871, on
Treasurer at Washington, for $173.50.
(Signed in duplicate)             JOHN McDERMOTT & BROS.
I certify that the above account is correct and just.
O. E. BABCOCK,
Major of Engineers, U. S. A.
(FORM 8.)
Appropriationfor Improvement and Care of Public Grounds.
The United States (for repairs), To J. McDermott & Bro., Dr.
1872.
May 31-For repairing coupe, office carriage, and buggy, from Aug. 8,
1871, to May 31, 1872........................................... $169 156
Received June 6, 1872, from Major O. E. Babcock, Corps of Engineers, the sum
of one hundred and sixty-nine fifteen one-hundredths dollars, in full payment of
the above account. Check No. 255, dated June 5, 1872, on Treasurer at Washington, for $169.15.
(Signed in duplicate)            JOHN McDERMOTT & BROS.
I certify that the above account is correct and just.
O. E. BABCOCK,
Major of Engineers, U. S. A.
(FORM 8.)
Appropriation for Imnprovement and Care of Public Grounds.
The United States (for repairs), To John McDermott & Bros, Dr.
1872.
Sept. 25-For thoroughly repairing, trimming, and painting, including
new wheels, axles, lamps, and trimmings complete.   Application:
"On coupe6".................................................. $550 00
Received at Washington, D. C., this Oct. 19, 1872, from Major 0. E. Babcock,
Corps of Engineers,the sum of five hundred and fifty dollars, in full payment of the
above account. Check No. 408, Oct. 19, 1872, on Treasurer at Washington, for
$550.
(Singed in duplicate).     JOHN  McDERMOTT & BROS.
I certify that the above account is correct and just.
O. E. BABCOCK,
Major of Engineers, U.S. A.
(FORM 8.)
Appropriationfor [mprovement and Care of Public Grounds.
The United States (for repairs), To John McDermott & Bros., Dr.
1872.
July 2 to Nov. 30.-For painting, trimming, and necessary repairs on car    riage and buggy. Application; office use..........................$215 50
(Receipted, as above, Jan  29, 1873.) Check No. 476, Jan. 29, 1873, on Treasurer,
Washington, for $215.50.
I certify that the above a.count is correct aud just, the articles to be (or have
been) accounted for in my return for the first quarter of 1873.
O. E. BABCOCK,
Major of Engineers, U. S. A.
717 
THE OFFICIAL BOUQUET SHOP.
NOW FOR A SPECIMEN OF THE DOG VOUCHERS.
(FORM 8.)
Appropriation for Improvement ciid (Gate of Publc Grounds.
The United States (for sundries), To Patrick Sweeney, Dr.
1872.
Sept. 30-For board and care of dog for July, August, and September,
three months, at $10.  Application; used in place of watchman....   $30 00
(Receipted as above.) Paid by Check No. 328, dated Sept. 30, 1872, for $41, on
Treasurer, Washington.
I certify that the above account is correct and just, the articles to be (or have
been) accounted for in my return for the third quarter of 1872.
O. E. BABCOCK,
Major of Engineers, U. S. A.
We need scarcely add that the blooded animals, who drew the conveyances, appear
to be exceedingly voracious and well clothed. The traveling expenses of foremen
and overseers were not defrayed from the contingent funds, as everywhere else; -
these men received their mileage like any general of the army, but this has lately
been stopped by the enforcement of the army orders.
HOW DO THE TAX-PAYERS LIKE THIS.
The Department ot Agriculture, under authority of distributing valuable seeds
through the country, had for years bought up new and old seeds, and spread them
over the country through Senators and members of Congress. The Superintendent
of the Botanical Garden was known to make capital for himself by lowering the
standard of his establishment, and converting it into a shop for making up bouquets
for use of the families of influential officials and members of Congress, and of late
years both offices run a race in sending around the country young plants by mail.
These splendid opportunities Babcock was not inclined to lose, and he made at
once bold efforts to outdo both the Department of Agriculture and the Botanical Garden, and earn a corresponding amount of popularity at the expense
of the United States. In his report, dated July 1, 1875, he states: "A package
containing fifty papers of seeds was sent to each member of Congress.- In addition
to the seeds, an assortment of plants, 102 in all, were also set aside for each member, and either given to him here,-or sent to any address that was furnished."  *  *
In his annual report, dated July 1, 1876, he states: "Sixty-five thousand plants
were distributed to members of Congress, being packed and sent by express or
otherwise, as the members wished." These excrescences, of course, required an
inordinate and stealthy increase of the greenhouses, for the service of which a
force of salaried laborers, besides those authorized by law in the executive appropriation bill, were carried on the pay-rolls for care and improvement  of public
grounds. They cost the United States $400 per month. The misuse of the
services of these men became public by a petition of the florists of Washington to
Congress, in which they protested against the steadily increasing interference with
their legitimate business by Babcock.  It was established that he was in:the
habit of furnishing floral decorations for the homes of Ring officials when parties
were given by them or any others whose influence he craved, and that he carried
on a large business in manufacturing bouquets and expensive floral ornaments for
show dinners and funerals, while his madame attended to the requirements of
births, weddings, and other family affairs. An examination of Babcock's vouchers
brought out the scandalous fact that over his certificate there was worked up in
the manufacture of bouquets, bouquet-wire costing $102.82, twine costing $69.30,
bouquet-green bought at an expense of $130, eight gross "' Italiens" costing $63.50
wrapping paper costing $62.25; cut flowers were even bou(4ht when the supply of
bouquets exceeded the yield of the greenhouses, and then the charges for tinfoil,
bouquet holders, paper boxes for bouquets, are enough to disgust any decent man.
The vouchers for wire skeletons of the more elaborate floral gifts, though incomplete, give at least some idea to what extent this nauseating business was carried
on.  There are definite charges for skeletons of 1,228 flower baskets, 224 wreaths,
183 crosses, 72 vases, and of anchors, crowns, flower-stands, etc.
BOILER AND STEAM PIPES FOR GREENHIIOUSE.
1871.     o6
September 5.-A. R. Shepherd, 1 new boiler and pipes............... $664 94
718 
THE OFFICIAL BOUQUET SH:OP.
1872.
November. —A. R. Shepherd, for heating apparatus................   627 84
1873.
September.-Witchings &-Co., 1 new boiler............................. 356 90
September 15.-A. R. Shepherd, refitting heating pipes of greenhouse.. 1,683 29
October 27.-A. R. Shepherd, plumbing at greenhouse................861 15
1074.
........ A. R. Shepherd, plumbing at greenhouse.................. 50 80
October 1.-    "    "    overhauling greenhouse pipes............. 2 0 05
October 26.-  "      "   1 new boiler and pipes for greenhouse..... 1,255 07
December 12.-"       "   plumbing at greenhouse................. 165 88
1875.
October 16.-A. R. Shepherd, 1 new boiler, and plumbing at greenhouse.   616 76
Total......................................................... $6,512 68
A CORRUPT SYSTEMI NURSED BY BABCOCK.
How Babcock succeeded in nursing up to its full growth such a corrupt system
will be readily understood by the following statement. We have before us the
annual report of one of his predecessors. Congress makes the appropriations in
this sundry civil bill for specified objects, each of itself, and without making an
addition of same. The civilian predecessors of Babcock drew against these items,
and gave a detached account of the expenditure under each.  This system of accountability Babcock discarded, and lumped these sums appropriated and drew
against them in toto, so that his arbitrary will took the place of any system of
checks, and he was thus master of the situation.  The pay-rolls for labor and carts,
exceeding often $10,000 per month, in the summer, and aggregating about
$325,000, are nearly all signed by cross-marks, and were certified to by Babcock
while he was basking in the sunshine at Long Branch. A. R. Shepherd got the jobs
of furnishing about 900 very ricketty settees for the grounds, at $8 a piece, and
next, Mr. Dermott, the carriagemaker in charge of the famous coupds, got $1 a
piece for furnishing iron clamps to fasten them to the ground.
Again, Shepherd furnishes him an iron railing and charges in voucher
No. 51, 2d quarter of 1875, therefor................................  $1,436 75
Next, in voucher No. 82, 2d quarter of 1875, for the stone blocks under
the posts.................................................. 201  25
Then, in voucher No. 108, 2dquarter of 1875, for altering it to grade, and
setting it up..................................................... 361 32
Total........................................... $1,999 32
In fact, as long as Shepherd was in power, the office of commisssioner of public
grounds was simply a tender to Shepherd's locomotive. Shepherd was by law to
keep ou side of the reservation, to lay simply pavements and sewers around them;
the appropriations made for Babcock we-e to cover any and all expenditures inside
the reservations. Shepherd relieved Babcock from such expenditures by taking
this work, in any case the noble pair saw fit, off his hands, when Babcock had it
measured, certified and charged to the United States, along with the street work,
and thus funds remained available for jobbing.
One of numerous instances of the recklessness of these charges is furnished by
the account of the vacant ground south of the President's house, and north of the
Washington monument ground, between 15th and 17th streets, N. W. These
grounds contain about thirty acres, are in part occupied by the extensive buildings,
con aining the machinery for the engraving and printing bureau of the treasury,
had become low by the filling of the surrounding streets and were long a dumping
ground for surplus earth from various sources, for which the Superintendent of
Public Grounds allowed the sum of 12 cents per cubic yard. Babcock asked and
obtained the following sums for these gro,unds:
For care and improvement of grounds south of Executive mansion (in sundry
appropriation bills):
For fiscal year 1871-1872......................................... $5,000 00
."    "    1872-1873............................................. 10,000 00
"    173-1874......................................... 10,000 00
. 1874-1875........................       0.......... 10,000 00
"    "    1875-1876..................................... 10,000 00
" " 1876-1877............................................ 5,000 00
Appropriated..................................... $50,000 00
711) 
THE OFFICIAL BOUQUET SHOP.
In all this time not a tree has been set, a trifling amount of sewerage was defrayed
by a separate appropriation, the work was confined to the dumping of earth, as
stated above, and, according to the vouchers, the following has been paid on the
account:
Fiscal year 1871-1872............................................. nothing
"    1872-1873, 13,637 cubic yards dumped, costing............ $1,850 96
' 1873-1874, 26,076         "      "      "............         3,519 97
1874-1875, 25,899     "............ 3,107 88
"    1875-1876, 41,110   "      "............         4,933 20
Add to this cost of removal of two old lodges from Capitol grounds to
these grounds..............................................800 00
Expended.......................................... $14,212 01
All these items are taken from the official vouchers, except the cost of the dump
during last fiscal year, which has been inserted at former prices. This item will
show the recklessness of Babcock's estimates and margins he has for corrupting the
public service.
720 
HOW THE PEOPLE'S MONEY WAS WASTfED.
The Committee on Expenditures in the Department of Justice of the House of
Representatives at the late Session entered upon the duties imposed upon them
immediately on their appointment.
The ramifications of the Department of Justice being so various, and extending
into every State and Territory of the Union, the Committee felt that their attention should first be given to those evils and abuses which were the most common
and universal, before turning to those which were merely local in their character.
But as the work of the Committee advanced, complaints from different localities all
over the Union were made, charging United States Marshals and their deputies,
clerks of the United States Courts, United States Commissioners, district-attorneys, supervisors, and even judges, with all kinds of malfeasance in office. The
Committee found it impossible to make a thorough investigation of all the dfferent charges, but went so far into their investigation as the length of the session
would permit.
The first thing investigated was the Attorney-General's Department, which was
visited several times. The Committee found an unnecessary force of employes.
It was also manifest a much larger amount had been appropriated for this Department than was necessary for an economical administration of the same.
They recommended in their report a reduction of employe6s' salaries and contingent expenses, amounting in the aggregate to $25,200. They also reported to the
Committee on Appropriations a recommendation cutting of all horses, carriages
and vehicles attached to the Attorney-General's office, which was done, with the
exception of one wagon left for the purpose of conveying books and materials to
and from the other Departments.  The Committee found that there had been, for
some years, annually an appropriation of $50,000 for the detection and prosecution of crimes against the United States. This fund was under the direction
and control of the Attorney-General, and had been principally used in hunting'
up the Ku-Klux cases in the South. Although this sum had been appropriated
and expended, still there was no account rendered of its disbursement, and from
the books of the office the Committee could not learn whether the sums were
legally or illegally expended; they, therefore, made a thorough investigation of
the matter.
It appears from their investigation that when the first appropriation was made
Mr. Ackerman, who was then Attorney-General, sought the advice of some of the
offcers of the Treasury Department, knowing that that Department had a detective
system for the pupose of securing the services of some one who was trusty and at
the same time capable, to whom he could commit the business necessary to accomnplish the object which Congress had in view in making the appropriation.  He was referrrd to Col. H. C. Whitley, at that time the chief of the secret
service division of the Treasury Department, whose services were secured.   Mr.
Ackerman instructed the disbursing clerk of his Department from time to time,
to pay Col. Whitley such money as he required. Col. Whitley would write the
Attorney -General, stating he wanted so much money, and would inclose his receipt. Upon that receipt the Attorney-General would direct the disbursing clerk
to make the advances. Col. Whitley paid the money out, sometimes for services
and sometimes for information in regard to crimes. He employed men to go into
the Southern States and "enter into arrangements for discovering the persons engaged in Ku-Klux organizations" and sometimes these men were authorized to
employ others to assist them, when such assistance could be used to advantage. 
H2OW THE PEOPLE'S MONEY WAS WASTED.
Some of these men were never heard from after they were sent South by Col.
Whitley. Generally he supplied them with money before they started. They
would come to him, and be able, by laying the case before him, to convince him
that they could do certain work, and he would take the chances of obtaining the
desired information.
Col. Whitley's directions to these men were to go to a certain point and carry on
what detectives call a "stall," that is, to pretend to be engaged in some class of
business by which they conld make excuses for appearing among the people and
becoming to some extent intimate with them. They were instructed, in this way,
to get upon as good terms as possible with the people, and find out all they could
about the Ku-Klux-Klan, and if there was such on organization at that point, to
work into its secrets, and break it up. As an instance, some men were sent
to a point in Alabama, where they bought out a grocery and liquor store and a
billiard room, and went into that business as a blind, Col. Whitley furnishing the
money for that purpose.
At other times Col. Whitley would say to his disbursing clerk, "Give this man
$500," or "Give this man $1,000," and his clerk would do as directed.  No returns of the money spent were ever made to the Department of Justice. Col.
Whitley made returns of the amount of work done, but such returns did not
show anything about how the money was expended.
There was not any book in the Attorney-General's Department, or in the
Treasury Department, which showed an account of the money spent, except
that it was paid to Col. Whitley, for which his receipts were taken. The whole
sum was placed under the absolute of Col. Whitley, who spent it as he pleased,
without being required to account for it further than to report the work which
he was doing.
The Committee further ascertained that it had been the custom of the Department to furnish in an extravagant manner a room at the residence of the
Attorney-General, also at the residences of the Assistant-Attorney-General and
the Solicitor-General, as private offices for those officials.
The Committee regarded this as an extravagance, and an unauthorized use of
the Government funds which could not be too strongly condemned.
Charges were made before the Committee against certain Marshals on account
of having failed to settle their accounts as required by law. They recommended
suits to be instituted against them by the Attorney-General. Certain other Marshals were dismissed after the Committee commenced to investigate their conduct. The Committee took considerable proof as to a too common custom of
Marshals in taking blank receipts from their deputies.
In many instances, it was shown that Marshals were in the habit of taking receipts from their deputies for three-fourths of the amount of their gross earnings,
when not more than half of the amount stated in the receipt was paid to the
deputies.
In the case of S. H. Tourtelotte, for instance, who was connected with United
States Marshal's office for the Northern District of Illinois from 1865 to 1873, it
was shown that for the latter half year of 1867 the amount that was charged up
to Mr. Tourtelotte in the emolument account of the Marshal, was $3,205.83, while
the amount actually received by him did exceed $750. The gross amount of the
emolument account for Mr. Tourtelotte's earnings for that period amounted to
$4,274.45.  The account purports to have paid Mr. Tourtelotte 75 per cent. of
this sum, which was the maximum amount authorized by law; for the first half
year of 1868, the emolument account showed that Mr. Tourtelotte had received
75 per cent. of his gross earnings amounting to $3,533.77, while the amount
actually received by him did not exceed $1,000. For the last half year of 1858,
the amount which the emolument account showed that Mr. Tourtelotte had
received was $1,782.51, while the amount actually received by him did not exceed $750. For the period from January 1, 1869 to April 13, 1869, the emolument account showed that Mr. Tourtelotte had received $1,720.44, while he received not over $750. The foregoing transactions occurred while J. Russell
Jones was the Marshal of the District.  He was succeeded by Benjamin H.
Campbell.  After Mr. Campbell came into office from the 13th of April, 1869 to
the 30th June, 1869, that being the balance of the first half of the year 1869, Mr.
Tourtelotte is charged in the emolument account with having received $623.77,
while he did not more than $375. For the last half of the year 1869, Mr. Tourtelotte, according to the emolument account, received $1,493.44, while the amount
722 
HOW THE PEOPLE'S MONEY WAS WASTED.
actually received by him did not exceed $850. For the first half year of 1870, he
is charged in the emolument account with $1,496.48, while he did not receive
more than $900. For the last half year of 1870, he is charged with having received $1,740.18, while the amount received by him did not exceed $750.
He is charged with $1,768.68 in the emolument account for the year 1871,
which was at least $750 more than he received.  For the first half year of 1872,
he is charged with $1,116.68, while the amount he received did not exceed $750.
For the last half of that year he is charged with $1,459.90, while the actual
amount received by him did not exceed $1,000. For the first half year of 1873
he is charged with $1,500. He received probably $1,000. For the time from
July to September of that year, when he left the office, he is charged with
$687.01. He did not receive exceeding $500.
The receipts which were given by Mr. Tourtelotte for these amounts, and
which are now on file in the Treasury Department, were all signed by him in
blank, and the amounts subsequently filled in.
The Committee also found that, in some instances, the clerks were charging illegal fees, and that some of the Marshal's clerks and District Attorneys had failed
to settle their accounts as required by law, and the committee took steps in the
Department to require them to settle their accounts promptly.
723 
DEFALCATION S.
$5,500,595.93 L()ST TO THE GOVERNMENT SINCE 1869
,,nl Oficial Staterme,,t, showimn_  4mo,ounts Stolen in each case.
Senator Windom, in a speech made in the Senate on Aug. 16th, 1876, submitted
"a statement" prepared by Assistant Secretary Conant, "to show what the
losses were which had been sustained by the Government of the United States
since 1869, to June 30, 1876, on account of defalcations by officers in the col]cction of Customs, Internal Revenue, Direct Tax, Receipts from Public Lands,
miscellaneous sources, and disbursement of the same." According to this statement the total loss sustained in every way was only $1,276,882.60. (See Congressional Re cord, Aug.17, 1876, page 12.)
To show how monstrously false the above statement is, we subjoin the following,
by which it will be seen that the total losses to the Government from 1869 to June
19, 1876, by defalcations, are $5,500,595.93. And this, be it remembered, does
not include the amounts stolen by corrupt officials who have combined with the
whisky ring and smugglers to defraud the Government. The amount stolen by
TREASURY DEPARTMENT,
WASHINGTON, D. C., June 19, 1876.
Hon. W. T. FERRY, President pe'o tern., U. S. Senate:
SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of Senate Resolution of
February 9, 1876, calling for a statement of all the balances due to the United
States from public officers, and all such balances due from other parties (no
longer in the public service).  *  *       *  *  In reply, I have to transmit here —
with the statement of balances called for, &c., &c.
Very respectfully,
(Signed)      B.  H. BRISTOW,
Secretary.
The subjoined table is copied from the above report, and is a correct transcript
thereof.
LIST OF POSTMASTERS INDEBTED  TO THE UNITED STATES WHOSE ACCOUNTS HAVE,
TERMINATED SINCE 1869, SHOWING THE AMOUNT DUE FROM  EACH, &C., &C., AS
REPORTED BY THE SECRETARY OF THE  TREASURY TO THE  U.S. SENATE ON JUNE.
19th, 1876:
S. Chism, 1869-71 Newton Mass.................................. $1,644 85
F. P. Arnold, 186974, N. Pembroke, Mass.................................. 31 27
C. E. Grove, 1871-73, Gloucester, Mass....................................... 1,428 35
P. H. Jones, 1869-73 New York, N. Y................................,. 101'       712 87
E. Wright, 1870-73 lrinceton, N. J........................................... 1164 
J. M. Skaamp, 186-70, Malaga, N. J..........................................230 18
M. S. Brady, 1872-73, Millersville, Penn....................................... 191 26
James Lewis, 1869-73 Wilmington, Del....................................... 1,3 )6 77
James Lewis, 1874, Wilmington, Del......................................... 1,481 58
Daniel Price, 1870, Livingston, Ala........................................... 392 71 
DEFALCATIONS.
.J. A. Robinson, 1871-72, Madison C. H., Va...................................
D. H. Howard, 1871, Eastville, Va............................................
J. W. Craycroft, 1869-71, Kanawha C. H. W. Va..............................
R. R. Baker, 1866-72, Kanawha Station, W. Va...............................
Miss B. Waddle 186970 Capon Springs, W. Va..............................
John W. Cole, 87274, ittsylvania C. H., Va..................................
M. W. Johnson, 1871-72, Charlestown W. Va................................
John Beazley, 186970, Sparta C. H., a.......................................
A. B. Woodcock, 1869, Piedmont, W. Va....................................
Archibald Hunter, 1870-73, Hillsboro, N. C....................................
Nathan Lankford, 1872, Fairview, N. C.......................................
J. P. Gillian, 1870-72, Stone Mountain, N. C...................................
S. H. Fleming, 1871-72, Marion, N. C.........................................
P. H. Wilkins, 1870-73, Columbia, N. C.................................... 225
P. B. Jowers, 1869-74, Lilesville, N. C.........................................
Jennie McElrath, 1871, Morgantown, N. C.....................................
M. M. McDonald, 1870, Lumberton, N. C......................................
E. MeR. Ivey, 1870-71, Lumberton, N. C......................................
Osmond Witter, 1873-75, Camden, S. C..............................5..
Osmond Witter,.1873-75, Camden, S. C.......................................
W. Hummell, 1871-73, Williston, S. C....................................
E. Cannon, 1871-73, Spartansburg,. C.......................................
1872-73,  It,g 5285
"' 187g7,    "  -'.....................................
Sa&iuel Place, 1870-72, Camden, S. C.....................................
F. H. Hubbell, 1869, Orangeburg S. C.....................................
J. W. Hayward, 1870, Edgfield,. C...........................................
W. T. Crane, 1871-73, Athens, Ga...........................................
M. M. Morgan, 1875 Washington  Ga........................................
L. Claiborne, 1871-72, Lawrenceville, Ga..................................... 
C. S. Evans, 1870-72, Ringgold, Ga..........................................
-J. H. Washington, 1869-71, Macon, Ga......................................
C. K. Osgood, 1871-73, Savannah, Ga........................................
W. B. Jones, 1872-73, Montezuma, Ga........................................
EI. W. McCrainie, 1873-74, Stockton, Ga......................................
HjE. W. McCrainie, 187'34  StocktonG'81
D. Whelan, 1869-70, Newman, Ga............................................
A. T. Shackleford, 1870, Thomaston Ga......................................
C. J. Brown, 1869-71, Thomasville, ha........................................
S. A. Whitefield, 1869, Hrrell, Ga............................................
Reuben Marshall, 1872-74, St. Marks, Fla.................................
E. H. Reed, 1871, Jacksonville, Fla...........................................
E. L. Young, 1873-74, Archer, Fla.............................................
H. P. Lovering, 1870-72, Cedar Keys, Fla.....................................
John T. Jolly, 1870, Cedar Keys, Fla..........................................
.J. C. Emerson, 1872-74, Fernandina, Fla......................................
M. Scarborough, 1869 Wellborn, Fla.........................................
S.C. Green, 186-70, Sanderson, Fla,.........................................
W. Richter, 1869-70, Warrington, Fla......................................... 
"  1870,        "      "..................................6             7
E. H. Reed, 1869-71, Jacksonville, Fla.............................             
R. M. Byrd, 1872-74, Burnsville, Fla.........................................
J. T. Morris, 1874-75, Chambers C. H., Fla...................................
C. H. Davis, 1873-74, Union Spring, Fla......................................
C(. W. Dustan, 1872-73 Demo(,polis, Fla........................................
W. W. Brown, 1870-72. R'indolph, Fla.........................................
H. W. Warren. 1870-72, L! igliton, Fla........................................
T. E. Warren, 1873-74 Birmjngliam, Fla.....................................
-T.. Warrten, 1873, Birmilighan, Fla.........................................
R. M  Evans, 1874, Ladiza, Fla..............................................
-G. W. B own, 1869-71 MarioI, Ala...........................................
I. W. Gates, 1873-74 Pickensville, Ala.....................................
C H. Davis, 1873, Union Sprinzs, Ala.........................................
M. O'Brien, 1872, Georgiana, Ala.............................................
JtJohn Lamb, 1870-72, Athens, Ala...........................................
W. H. Tennent, 1869-71, Ce,,tre Star, Ala....................................
T. E. Warren, 1873-74, Birmingham, Ala......................................
*C. M. HopsorI, 1869-70, Talladeza, Ala.........................................
,G. W. B-rown, 1869-71, Marion, Ala...........................................
A. D. Joties, 1871-74, Cor-ii,th, Miss...........................................
H. C. Manken, 1873-74, Wfn'na, Miss.........................................
T. D. Johnson, 1874, Rodney Miss...........................................
N. B. Ward, 1872, Bahala, Miss...............................................
G. W. Smith, 187374, Bahala, Miss...........................................
P. W. Ingram, 18704, Byhalia, Miss.........................................
725
155 92
650 59
2,403 50
.224 87
120 21
110 97
90'2 67
29 67
984 53
106 59
722 17
513 18
156 40
232 55
131 71
188 13
295 93
341 59
505 33
1,331 80
571 65
1,552 85
236 40
117 41
200 00
342 95
234 88
445 96
67 96
1,688 85
3'539 22
3,592 66
344 07
78 18
236 66
231 87
139 76
115 27
143 03
813 94
4,191 02
481 91
679 53
645 94
117 66
111 43
1,114 52
63 73
784 95
63 85
92 64
1,498 15
441 39
255 85
552 70
1,475 95
260 74
117 41
344 50
144 80
876 60
570 36
1,217 42
2398
814 99
307 45
1,218 88
712 33
227 5O
646 75
167 40
102 14
99 96
I 
DEFALCATIONS.
A. D. Jones, 1871-74, Corinth, Miss....................................
I. T. Gibson, 1870-71, Corinth, Miss..........................................
A. Leffingwell, 1870-75, Woodville, Miss.....................................
N. C. Smith, 1870, Port Gibson, Mi.s.................................150O
I. B. Weatherby, 1869-71, Pailding, Miss....................................
C. M. Baskin, 1869-70, Hazlehurst, Miss.................................
W. C. Gilmer, 186-70, Greenville, Miss.....................................
E. M. Pepper, 1869-71, Monticello, Miss......................................
I. H. Sharrer, 1872, Terre Bonne, La........................................
J. F. Yates, 1873-74, Conshatta Chute, La....................................
Charles Levy, 186972, Naellitoches, La........................................
Robert Luckner, 186970, Cheneyvile, La....................................
W. T. Jackson, 1869-73, Big Cane, La.......................................
W. C. James, 1869-73, Cotile, La.............................................
H. Rieder, 187971, Vacherie Road  La.......................................
D. P. C. Hill, 1871-72, Opelousas, La........................................
H. Schlesinger, 1873-74, Terre Bonne, La.....................................
H. B. Holcomb, Jr., 1872-73, Terre Bonne, La................................
Simon Fox, 1872, Delhi La................................................
J. E. Yerkes, 1870-74, Tangapaho La........................................
J. O'Callahan, 1871-74, Jackson, La..........................................
J. E. Horanson, 1871-72, Boulte, La..........................................
J. L. Belden, 1870-73, Honma, La........................................... 
R. W. Francis, 1869-70, Honma, La..........................................
R. W. Francis 1869-70, Honma, La..........................................
A. Lalley, 1866, St. Joseph La...............................................
W. A. Moulton, 1869, Bastrop, La...........................................
J. A. Woodry, 1871, Milliken's Bend, La......................................
E. Fontenette, 1869-71, St. Martinville, La...................................
J. N. Barthalow 1872, Mexia, Texas.....................................
Edward Fink, 1i71-72, Sabine Pass, Texas...................................
J. G. Hardin, 1872-73, Comanche, Texas.....................................
N. W. Lane, 1871-72, Eagle Lake, Texas.....................................
P. W. Hall, 1872-73, Calvert, Texas..........................................
P. W. Hall, 1870-71, Calvert, Texas..........................................
Jesse F. Rasburg, 1872-73, Tyler, Texas......................................
Jesse F. Rasburg, 1872-73, Tyler, Texas......................................
H. W. Saddler, 1871, Valley Mills, Texas.....................................
John Flynn, 1871-72, Tyler, Texas..........................................
E. A. Gage, 1872-74, Barnard's Mills, Texas...........................583
E. C. Thornton 1872-73, Stephensville, Texas................................
S. Lockett 1871-73,Cleburne, Texas.........................................
W. M. Seeley, 1873-74, Fairfield, Texas......................................
T. P. Terrell, 1873-74, Calvert, Texas........................................
Miss D. Houston, 1871-72. Springfield, Texas.................................
P. W. Hall, 1872-73,Calvert, Texas..........................................
John C. Smith, 1872-73, Belton, Texas........................................
E. S. Graham, 1872-73, Henderson, Texas....................................
I. M. Taylor, 1871-72, Long View, Texas.....................................
F. W. Rhinehardt, 1871-72, Groesbeck, Texas.................................
J. W. Tompkins 1869-74, Ironwood, Texas...................................
John Flynn, 1871-72, Tyler, Texas.........................................
.........
A. W. Prewett, 1872-73, Millican, Texas.....................................
G. W. Farron, 1872-73 Groesbeck, Texas.....................................
F. C. Bauman, 1872-74, Sumpter, Texas......................................
C. S. Gillespie, 1871-72, Calvert, Texas.........................................
W. W. Knight, 1871-74, Waxahatchie, Texas................................. 
James King, 1871-72, Fairfie'd, Texas........................................
T. P. Terrell, 1873-74, Cayer', Texas.........................................
V. P. Caldwell, 1872-73, Navasoto, Texas.....................................
B. F. Boldridge, 1871-72, Millican, Texas.....................................
A. B. Hall, 1874, Galveston, Texas...........................................
F. W. Rhinehardt, 1871 Groesback, Texas...................................
W. P. de Normandie, 1869, Austin, Texas....................................
S. D. Belden, 1871-73, Washington, Ark...................................... 
R. T. Markham, 1872-73, Lewisburgh, Ark...................................
E. Bancroft, 1874-75, Texarkana, Ark..........................................
E. A. Fulton, 1874, Monticello, Ark..........................................
J. B. Smith, 1871-73, Locksburgh, Ark.......................................
J. W. Rawlings, 1871-74, Rose Mary, Ark....................................
Wm. L. Harris, 1871-73, Cypress Creek, Ark..................................
W. J. Neeley, 1871-74, Hartsville, Tenn......................................
G. W. Martin, 1869-75, McMinnville, Tenn...................................
605 82
279 91
984 11
1,520 05
257 81
547 01
634 20
370 72
89 85
233 37'
1,957 32
134 52
197 80
50 53     50 72
575 79,
49 43
80 65
94 93,
27 18:
574 81
W2 98
1,573 01
7,865 33.
987 04
238 20
141 07
420 72
326 06,
345 35.
96 60
238 43
161 96,
603 09
86 72
135 08.
293 48
76 60
1,403 94
58 32,
128 11
594 79
68 95
1,626 64
176 43,.
1,073 76.
752 75   208 45
961 87
541 98,
79 29
867 13,
199 64
425 94,
46 84
772 73.
846 87
95 03
922 6~
322 67
51 63
10,181 12
527 32
2,452 95
1,171 25
394 84
282 49,b
1,192 40
141 91
45 57
35 70- a
4,306~3 75~,
726 
DEFALCATIONS.
W. J. Neeley, 1869-73, Hartsville, Tenn......................................
T. J. Nichols, 1869-73, Sweet Water, Tenn...................................
S. F. Scott, 1874, Wartburg, Tenn............................................
C. B. Coffin, 1870-71, Camp Stanton, Ala.....................................
Robt. C. Gist, 1869, Memphis, Tenn.........................................
G. W. Martin, 1869-70, McMinnville, Tenn....................................
C. W. Preddy, 1868-71, Monticello, Ark......................................
J. W. Johnson, 1873, Moorehead, Ky........................................
G. W. Gooley, 1872, New Holland, Ohio......................................
N. P. Guffy, 1871, Celina, Ohio..............................................
L. H. Jewett, 1870-75, Reynolds, Ind........................................
S. Prater, 1870-71, Sweetsers, Ind............................................
A. C. Lovejoy, 1869-71, Americus, Ind........................................
L. H. Jewett, 1870-75, Reynolds, Ind........................................
D. L. Ford, 1869-70, Ft. Wallace, Kansas.....................................
D. G. Rose, 1869, Indianapolis, Ind..........................................
C. P. Ford, 1869-71, Clinton, Ill..............................................
W. T. Monical, 1872-73, Louisville, Ill........................................
B. Bishop, 1871-72, Freemanton Ill.........................................
P. J. Melling, 1870, Buckinn, Ill..............................................
J. E. Barnum, 1871-73, Morgan, Mich........................................
T. L. Reynolds, 1871-73, St. Joseph, Mich....................................
J. L. Perry, 1871-74, Eagle, Wis.............................................
J. T. Moore, 1873, Lebanon, Mo.............................................
W. H. Mass, 1868-70, Clarkville, Mo.........................................
Robt. Hornsey, 1870, Potosi, Mo.............................................
W. B. Proctor, 1870, Morley, Mo............................................. 
A. J. Buchanan, 1870-73, Ramey, Mo.........................................
Owen Wilson, 187-74, Milan, Mo...........................................
Wm. H. Morrow, 1869L72, Tipton, Iowa......................................
E. M. Day, 1872-73, Casey, Iowa......................................'.....
W. H. Morrow, 1869-72, Tipton, Iowa.......................................
W. A. Weaver, 1871-72, Delevan Station, Minn................................ 
H. D. O'Brien, 1871, St. Anthony's Falls, Minn...............................
S. T. Martin, 1872-73, Council Grove, Kansas.................................
J. F. McDowell, 1870, Columbus, Kansas.................................... 
M. J. Martin, 1872, Arkansas City, Kansas...................................
C. C. Moore, 1871-72, Carbondale, Kansas...................................
G.W. Williams, 186976, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas.......................... 
E. H. Doyle, 1871-72, Sumner, Kansas........................................
J. S. B. Coggershall, 1869-71, Harristown Station, Miss.......................
R. Calhoun, 1870-71, Lyndon, Kansas........................................
L. J. Martin, 187 -73, Council Grove, Kansas.................................
T. E. Sawyer, 1869, Eugene, Kansas..........................................
R. B. Lockwood, 186971, Council Grove, Kansas.............................
J. P. Hogan, 1870, Brookville, Kansas........................................
J. A. Scarborough, 1874 Jewell, Kansas......................................
J. D. Coulter, 1870-71, Oswego,    Kansas.................................... 
B. S. Heath, 1870-71, La Cygne, Kansas...................................... 
J. A. Oliphant, 1871-73, Boston, Kansas......................................
G. W. Williams, 187-73, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas........................... 
L. H. Fletcher, 1869, Topeka, Kansas.........................................
.........21 4.........................
D. Cartwright, 1874-75, Boston, Kansas.................................... 
W. H. Leutz, 1869, Petaluma, Kansas.........................................
W. T. McDonald, 1873, Half Moon Bay, Kansas...............................
W. H. Leutz, 1870, Petaluma, Kansas........................................ 
T. W. Abraham, 1873-74, Pioche, Nevada....................................
G. Vandeventer, 1872-73, Falls City, Nevada..................................
.... —-.............................*
B. F. Small, 1869, Carson City, Nevada........................................
C. Morrill, 1870, Diamond Mountain, Nevada.................................
W. D. Toers, 1869, Hamilton, Nevada........................................
W. R. Parrish, 1872-73, Mineral City, Nevada.................................
H. M. Barnes, 1872-73, Pioche, Nevada.......................................
.1871-72,   "     "....................................
G. W. Howland, 1869-70, Santa Fe, New Mexico.............................. 
G. T. Martin, 1869, Santa Fe, Ndw Mexico....................................
A. P. Sullivan, 1871-72, Santa Fe, New Mexico................................
E. Everett, 187-73, Santa Fe, New Mexico...............................              22
T. E. McLelland, 1870, Cheyenne, Wyoming...............                       4,48 -62.....
G. W. B. Dixon, 1870-71, South Pass City, Wyoming............................
727
225 96
130 34
52 72
240 11
7,613 79
262 82
807 24
21 21
590 78
272 23
685 72
157 71
109 68
182 71
125 80
8,068 00
462 81
395 19
195 87
365 73
159 77
1,221 23
199 77
407 42
240 38
149 34
185 82
3  65
13 57
2,968 58
200 00
565 87
110 68
920 39
124 23
237 02
192 47
174 66
176 27
85 21
367 63
363 38
459 49
174 97
1,691 28
409 56
130 38
932 76
628 90
123 04
124 56
553 27
2,144 47
115 19
1,776 99
402 21
787 10
1,920 23
428 70
294 89
2,888 78
230 32
1,094 23
164 23
1,367 32
935 37
2,707 47
1,033 96
'190 41
2,106 24
1,376 22
4,481 62
1,070 30 
DEFALCATIOI S.
Henry Greene, 1872-73, Diamond, Utah......................................
I. H. Teats, 1870, Sherman, Wyoming........................................
G.W. B. Dixon, 1869-70, South Pass City, Wyoming............................
G. W. Barnard, 187S71, Prescott, Arizona...................................
....................................
E. Bancroft, 1874, Texarkana, Ark............................................
H. A. Filler 1873, Grenada, Colorado............................................
F. Bern, 1871-73, Ziskov, Dakota..............................................
C. H. McIntire, 1873-74, Yankton, Dakota..................................
J. McElroy, 1871, Beartown, Dakota........................................
T. A. Foster, 1874, Verbera, Alabama........................................
W. H. P. Denney, 1869-74, Circleville, Ohio.....................................
I. W. McDonough, 1873, Galveston, Texas...................................
I. C. Council, 1872-74, Nacogdoches, Texas...................................
I. F. Baird, 1873-75, Columbia, Tenn....................................... 
John Potter, 1869, Helena, Montana...........................................
Samuel Harper, 1869, Houston, Texas.......................................
D. Hay, 1868-70, Egg Harbor City, N. J.....................................
A. B. Southall, 1870, Hamburgh, S. C........................................
W. E. O'Neill, 1872, Napoleon, Arkansas.....................................
C. W. Pressley, 1870, Trenton, Georgia.......................................
A. W. Pickering, 1870-71, Oswego, Kansas...................................
Martha Steed, 1869-71, Ulniontown Ala......................................
Jane Aekers, 18X, Lovely Mount, Va........................................
J. M. Brossell, 1870, Forest, Miss............................................
Elizabeth Cowan, 1871, Chatterton, Va.......................................
G. W. Graham, 1871, Stevenson, Ala.........................................
S. M. Reaves, 1869-72, El Dorado, Oregon....................................
D. C. Tomlinson, 1870-71, Stuart, Iowa......................................
Jonathan Davidson, 1871, Richmond, Ala....................................
C. E. Gibson, 1872, Dave's Mines, Va.........................................
F. H. Lee 1873, Fulton, Arkansas...............................................
M.'E. H. Lee, 1873, Nebraska, Va............................................
Chas. A. Rogers, 1871-72, Alma, Va...........................................
D. A. Borfield, 1874, Shelby Springs, Ala......................................
E. R. Petherbridge, 1873, Pittsburgh, Pa.....................................
J. R. Smith, 1871, South Gaston, S. C.......................................
E. McK. Irey, 1870-71, Lumberton N. C..................................... 
M. McDonald, 1870, Lumberton. C..........................................
J. M. Skarup, 1869-70, Malaga, N. J..........................................
C. T. Tapsicot, 1872-75, Kilmarnock, Va......................................
Julius Shain, 1870, Wheeling, La.............................................
P. L. Crossman, 1870, Newton, Iowa.........................................
E. A. Kingman, 1873-75, West Somerville, Mass..............................
A. Keyser, 187375, Havana,   N. Y...........................................
A. E. Cherry, 1875, Bar River.................................................
A. G. Smith, 1871-75, Buena Vista, Ga........................................
A. S. Richardson, 1873-75 Chester C. H., S. C................................
W. E. Williams, 18775, Orangeburg, S. C....................................
B. J. Clay, 1874-75, Brookville, Miss..........................................
A. K. Davis, 1874-75, Macon, Miss............................................
A. Robbins, 1873-75, Aberdeen, Miss.........................................
P. Casey, 1873-75, Vicksburg, Miss...........................................
S. Good, 1875, Cherry Camps, Va.............................................
M. H. Brooks, 1874-75, Huntington, W. Va..................................
W. H. Wilder, 1872-75, Amite City, La.........................................
P. Landry, 1873-75, Donaldsonville, La.......................................
J. D. Harper, 187275, Meriden, La...........................................
J. F. DeVarges, 1872-74, Natchitoches, La....................................
A. L. Steele, 1873-75, Groesbeck, Texas,.................................
J. Murray, 1879-75, Lake Village, Texas......................................
C. T. Coffin, 1872-75, Madison, Ind...........................................
W. C. Snyder, 1871-75, Fulton, Ills...........................................
J W. Andrews, 1872-75, Indianola, Iowa............................... 
W. K. Beylip, 1874-75, Wheatland, Iowa.......................................
H. Lumback, 1873-75, Maxfield, Iowa........................................
L. W. Slaughter, 1874-75, Bismarck, Dakota,..................................
J. N. Bond, 1872-75, Mesilla, New Mexico....................................
Wm. Polleys, 1871-75, Waverly, N. Y...................................          
A. E. Laird, 187-75, Clayton, Ala.....................................3         4
J. E. Whitney, 1873-74, Houston, Texas......................................
A. Thompson, 1870-75, Clarksville, Texas..................................  3
M. E. Coffey, 1871-75, Barrett C. H., Texas...................................
256 43
395 25
2,493 81
1'959 46
1,977 66
298 79
152 45
81 69
502 40
146 76
52 74
1,343 74
6',858 59
165 17
759 20
8,643 20
653 82
197 45
420 21
721 46
96 06
411 00
275'5S
142 11
214 54
705 19
415 59
103 63
507 77
260 16
155 08
249 02
180 20
168 50
219 97
393 32
200 13
'341 59
295 93
230 18
106 04
109 40
378 39
115 50
445 93
109 72
103 97
331 04
625 25
107 92
481 58
365 78
1,634 95
100 06
235 94
408 73
197 30
140 94
238 18
166 34
290 87
355 39
381 00
104 05
167 50
101 96
100.00
289 40
282 52
321 42
764 47
397 77
112 60 
W. Jones, 1874-75, Dallas, Texas............................................. 316 31
J. Winnox, 1871-74, Concha, Texas.............................   201 17
H. S. Webb, 1873-74, Belton, Texas.......................................... 141 19
J. Donaho, 1870-75, West Union, W. Va...................................... 150 11
A. J. Sherwood, 1872-75, Thayer, Kansas.....................................  428 65
S. A. Mack, 1873-75, Cottonwood Falls, Kansas............................... 126 94
J. C. Warner, 1871-75, Bunker Hill, Kansas..................................   231 98
R. L. West, 1874-75. Wichita, Kansas......................................... 1,512 56
H. Tucker, 1871-74, Sigle, Texas.............................................125 80
R. K. Brost, 1874-75, Elkhart, Ind........................................................ 594 15
W. Goodall, 1873-75, Monticello, Fla........................................ 137 33
R. H. Prester, 1869-75, Louisberg, Pa......................................... 486 58
T. J. Tickerson, 1869-74, Mason, Tenn....................................... 123 22
F. W. Marshall, 1871-75, Chernyville La...................................... 227 06
M. McPherson, 1873-75, Effingham, Il..................................... 162 04
J. C. McCoy, 1871-73, Versailles, Mo......................................... 201 41
E. Everett, 1874-75, Windsor, Mo........................................... 131 49
T. J. Lee, 1875, Monticello, Mo.............................................. 152 32
J. F. Rousey, 1874-75, Eureka, Nevada...................................... 226 65
J. A. Sowood, 1872-74, Kit Carson, Col..................................... 233 83
E. L. Bennett, 1874, Clyde, N. J............................................. 143 65
R. L. Hipplin. 1873-74, Dripton, Fla.......................................... 166 27
G. Hunt, 187g, Hartsells, Ala................................................ 104 78
W. H. Gilian, 1874, Seattle Washington Territory.......................... 443 00
A. S. Gibbs, 1875, Wilson, Kansas........................................... 157 06
* Sundries, 1869-75......................................................... 40,000 00
Total. —--------------------------------—. $373,371 74
BALANCES DUE THE U.S. FROM Ex-U. S. MARSHALS ON ACCOUNT OF EXPENSES OF
COURTS FROM 1869 TO JUNE 19,1876:
Amt. Due
Name.                       District.               Date.    U. S.
Q. E. Thomas.........................N. Alabama..................1871-75 $1,653 43
Edw. Phelphs.........................Arizona....................... 1871  9,480 84
Isaac Dickason.......................Arizona....................1871-74  5,710 15
J. C. Mills.......................... E. Arkansas...................1872-75    683 84
W. A. Britton...................W. Arkansas............ 1872-73  48,991 60
John N. Sarber........................W.  Arkansas.................1873-74 63,456 99
M. A. Shaffenberg....................Colorado.....................1872-75  22,740 69
tGeo. E. Wentworth................. N. Florida....................1869-71  1,367 54
Geo. D. Allen.........................S. Florida..................... 1874   576 17
H. W. Moulton.......................Idaho................... 1869-70    955 33
A. W. Patterson......................N. Mississippi................1869-70  3,877 42
C. A. Newcomb.......................E. Missouri...................1873-75  23,168 32
Thomas G. Young....................Ore........n    1869-74  5,762 10
E. M. Gregory........................E. Pennsylvania..............1869-71  1,186 72.
J. H. Blackburn...........M. Tennessee................. 1870  10,000 00
T. J. Harrison........................M. Tennessee.................1870-71    929 12
J. M. Tomeny...................W. Tennessee..............1870  12,194 23
" Tom" Ochiltree................E. Texas..................... 1873-74  9,248 64
Philip Retz.....................Washington Territory......... 18670    241 57
F. Wolcott............................Wyoming.....................1872-75  20,829 31
G. Adams.............................Wyoming..................... 1875  6,206 00
Total.. —----------------------------------- $249,260 01
BALANCES DUE THE U. S. FROM OWERS OF COURTS ON ACCOUNT OF OFFICIAL EMOLU                        MENTS, FROM 1869 TO JUNE 19, 1876:
Ai,tt. Due
N_amf s.                            District.               Date.    U. S.
S. T. Carrow, Marshal................ North Carolina.......... 187-73.$46,914 28
A. Drake, Clerk Circuit Court............Missouri...................1872...   278 05
C. Claiborne, Clerk Dist. Court...........Louisiana..................1873...  10,875 50
Total --------------------------------------- $58,067 83
Since the above report was transmitted to the Senate by the Secretary of the
Treasury, the defalcation of the late H. Bucher Swoope, U. S. District-Attorney for the
* In amounts too small to print.
t Afterwards appointed Postmaster of Pensacola.
729
DEFALCATIONS. 
DEFALCATIONS.
Western District of' Pennsylvania, from 1872 till 1874, in the sum of $20,000, has been
made public.
Name.      Rank.        Territory.    Date.
J. M. Ashley............Gov.......... Montana........18670..1869.....$0
*E. J. Curtis............Gov............Idaho.............1871............
Alvan Flanders.........Gov.........   Washington.......1869.............
J. W. Jenkins...........Sec'y........... Colorado..........1874-76..........
E. M. Lee............... Sec'y...........Wyoming.........1869-70..........   86
Edw. M. McCook.......Gov........... Colorado......... 1874-75.......
W. A. Pile..............Gov............New Mexico.......1869-71..........6
J. W. Schaffer......... Gov............Utah............ 1870.............
V. H. Vaughan..........Gov............Utah..............1870.............
T. M. Wilkins................ Dakota............1869-70..........
ORIES:
Amt.
due U.S.
$1,500 00
242 08
1,250 00
3,370 31
593 86
1,000 00
2,000 62
' 63'37
500 00
267 98
o0,788 22
BALANCES DUE TIE U. S. FROM SUNDRY PUBLIC OFFICERS, &C., &C., OUT OF SERVICE,
FROM 1869 TO JUNE 19, 1876.
Bal. due
Bal~ due
Name.                 Offcial Position.       Date.              U. S.
W. H. Armstrong...Disbursing Agent, Court House, at Williamsport,
Pa.............................................1871... $3,000 00
F. W. Dimon......Disbursing Clerk, State Department.............. 1871-73   2,634 00
L. S. Hanks........Disbursing Agent, C. H. & P. O., at Madison,
Wisconsin..................................1870-71    195 60
D. M. French......Disbursing Agent, Branch Mint, Dallas City, Ore                    gon........................................... 1869-71   1,211 98
F. D. Hettuck.....Superintendent Mint, Carson City, Nevada......... 26,753 12
J. R. McBride.....   Superintendent. Assay Office, Boise City, Idaho....1871-72  3,923 85
F. W. Clemens... Disbursing Clerk, Interior Department..............1870-73    422 37
Henry D. Cooke... Treasurer House of Correction for boys, Soldier's
and Sailor's Orphan Home, Building and ground,
Reform School, Dist. Col........................186673 177,500 00
F. A. McCartney.. Disbursing Clerk, P.O. Dep't................1869-71  35,000 00
Henry D. Cooke...Treasurer Reform School, Dist. Columbia.........1872-73 10,000 00
B. Vaughan Abbott.Disbursing Agent............................. 1870-73    279 82
S. B. Kendig......Disbursing Agent, New Jail, Dist. Columbia....1871...  4,793 08
Total -------------------------------------- $265,713 12
BALANCES DUE TIEE U. S. FROM late ASSESSORS OF INTERNAL REVENUE.
Amt. due
Names.             Collection Dist.    Date.          U. S.
T. F. Shaw..........................2 Ohio..................1869-71.......... $948 33
Elias Nigh...................11 Ohio............1873...........159 87
Joseph R. Smith.............. 21 Penn................18673............ 361 30
Total. —-----------------------------------— $1,469 50
BALANCES DUE THE U. S. FROM EX-COLLECTORS OF INTERNAL REVENUE, ON THEIR
ACCOUNT, AS DISBURSING AGENTS, FI.OM 1869 TO JUNE 19, 1876.
No. of                          Amt. due
Name.                    Dist. State.         Date.        U. S.
Francis Widner...................... 2 Alabama.............8673........ $5,434 06
Alfred Briggs.........................4 California.................1873........ 5,158 11
I. H. Gould...........................1 Georgia............. 172............. 176 93
James Atkins.........................4 Georgia...................1872........ 6,458 21
J. Cary Greer........................ Idaho................ 1873........ 3,014 71
C. B. Wilkinson.......................6 Missouri...............1873-75........794 75
M. H. Treadwell......................2 New York............ 1871-73........ 7,044 46
Jesse Taylor..........................6 Tennessee.............1871-72........ 78 70
A. J. Crane...........................3 Vermont.................1874........ 3,783 99
Hazard Stevens...................... Washington Territory....1871........   1,574 18
Total -------------------------------------— $33,518 10
* He is now Secretary of the Territory. Balance due will b e deducted from his salary.
730
I' ~:, 
DEFALCATIONS.
NaVtme.                Location.            Date.
Rush Burgess..................Richmond, Va...............1870-75........
R. H. Brentlinger..............Greenville, Miss..............1871-73.........6 
W.E. Cunningham............. Bristol, Tenn.............. 1871........
J. N. Camp.............. Galveston, Texas................  1870-73 
Daniel R. Chambers..............Emory C. H., Texas.......1871-73........   5
L. C. Dils......................Piketon, Ky................ 1869-72........
J. L. Edwards.................Pawnee City, Neb............1869-70........46B. B. Emory................Corinth, Miss.................1870-71....
John T. Foster................ Mobile. Ala...........1870-73........18
J. M. Gayle................ Camden, S. C................ 1873........
John H. Gould................ Savannah, Ga................ 1869-72 
G. E. Green................ Jackson, Tenn................   1865-72 
Frank W. Glenn...............Galveston, Texas.............1869-70.......
Samuel Harper.............. Houston, Texas.............. 1871.......30 
C. W. Hatch..................Greensborough, Ala..........1869-71.........16
Luther Menning............. Warrington, -la..............187273........
S. M. Preston.................Natchez, Miss................ 1869-73....
Wm. Price..................... Grenada, Miss................187-72........
W. M. Smallwood.............New Orleans, La.............. 1869.... 1....9
W. R. P. Seaman............St. James, Mo................1869-71.........   8
R. W. Taliaferro.............. New Orleans, La.............. 1869........1
R. S. Van Wey............ Clarksville, Texas............ 1871-73........ 
Francis Widiner...............Montgomery, Ala............ 1869-73........
1876.
Bal. due
U. S.
$351 99
657 62
149 03
2,719 76
296 50
159 50
420 32
3,254 25
1,508 50
643 40
9,28971
2,188 08
4,498 82
3'04064
284 65
361 73
454 32
226 47
8,159 40
832 85
27,908 33
359 89
1,541 18
69,306 94
BALANCES DUE THE U. S. FROM DIPLOMATIC  AND CONSULAR OFFICERS FROM 1869 TO
JUNE, 1876.
Amouj,nt
due
Name.                        Rank-Location.             Date.    G(,v't.
Aukersmit H. J............... Vice-Consul, Batavia, Java...............1871-74  $89 24
Brown, J. P..................Sec. Legation, Constantinople............ 1872 4,029 48
Brand, J. C.....................Consul, Nuremburg...................1870-71 1,603 09
Coffey T. J............... Sec. Legation. Russia..................1869-70 1,990 53
Duff, i. L........Consul, Glasgow,............ 1869 2,552 21
Davy, Herbert..................Consul, New Castle, O. T.................1876  129 93
Dezeyk, A. J...................Vice-Consul, Leipsic................... 1870  131 20
Francis, J. W...............Minister to Greece.................. 1871-73    893
Goulding, C. W............ Consul, Hong Kong,....................1869-70  211 50
Hole, W................ Vice-Consul, Singapore..................1871  139 84
Irish, O. H.....................Consul, Dresden..................... 1869-72  110 27
Jourdan, Alex............ Consul, Seville and Venice.........1869-74   32 97
Lyon, Lemuel..................Consul, Kanagawa.167.............1869-71 1,247 20
LeGendre, C. W........... Consul, Amoy and China..................1872  537 04
Long, J. D............... Consul, Montevideo...............1870 1,707 67
Moore, W. F............. Vice-Consul, St. Croix............1871-74  335 CO
Moore J E.........Consul General, Monrovia.................1873  484 90
McPherson, D.................Consul, Hobarttown......................1876  239 43
Morse, F.......................Consul, London..........................1870 18,643 86
Onderdonk, A. S............... Consul, Santiago, Cuba................1871-73  383 90
Perry, C. E.....................Consul, Aspinwall....................1869-70  225 00
Perkins, Chas. A...............Consul, Barcelona, Spain..............1869-70  576 50
Raymond J. L................. Vice-Consul Agent, Bradford..........1871...  145 83
Thweat, Chas. F................Vice-Consul, Rio Janeiro..............1870-71  592 69
Vardereau A. E............Consular Clerk, Vienna................1871-72  268 98
Wright, W. G.................. Consul, Bay of Islands, Jamaica........1870... 4,287 15.
Wheeler, Jas. R................Consul, Kingston, Jamaica............. 186970  533 75
Total —....................- -      $41,338 09
U. S. BANERS.
Clews, Habicht & Co........................................................$130,178 84
731 
BALANCES DUE THE U. S. ON ACCOUNT OF INDIAN SERVICE FROM OFFICERS OUT OF
SERVICE, FROM 1869 TO JUNE, 1876. *
Amount
Namnk  ae. ank.                                      ate.  due U.S.
Beck, Henry L.............Capt. U. S. A..........................1870...... $511 55
Clarke, Selden W...........Agent.................................18771...   774 56
Darlington, Brinton.......................... 1869-72... 12,494 26
Drew, Chas. E............Lieut............................ 18670...  311 74
Gregory, HenryE...........Ag ent....................................  451 29
Jones, Jonn B....................................... 1871-74...   192 51
King, Chas. S............."... 18.........................1871...... 1,098 78
Miller, Jas. H............... "......................... 1871-72...   282 45
Miles, John D............. "..............................1869-70... 3,179 26
McKenny, Thos. J..........Supt..........................1872...... 1,861 12
Miley, Benajah H........Agent.........................1873.......823 12
Robinson, Lucien N.........Supt..............................1869...... 6,896 26
Williamson, Jos. A.........Special Agent.........................1868-73..  4,404 15
Wright, Ja............Supt..............................1872-73...  3,738 60
".........................................1873-74...  1,852 39
~Total —---. —. — ---------- ~0$38,872 04
Total_ —-------------------- $38,872 04
BALANCES DUE FROM PENSION AGENTS, OUT OF SERVICE, ARISING FROM 1869, TO
JUNEm, 1876. t
I ~~~~~~~~Amt. due.
Name.              State.           Agency.          Date.     U. S.
H. C. Bennett.......... Cal..............San Francisco........1869-73... $23,750 64
W. T. Collins...............D. C............Washington..........1869-71.... 51,414 83
Benj. J. Sweet..............Ill..............Chicago..............1869-71.....   840 05
Stewart Goodsell......... Iowa.............Des  oines..........1869-72...  1,643 14
A. H. Adams...............Ky..............Lexington............1871-73.... 10,944 16
Samuel McKee.............Ky...............Louisville............1869-71.... 10,262 91
W. D. Gallagher........... K..y..........Louisville............1871-73....   381 05
D. W. Haynes..........NY............. Brooklyn.............1869-71.... 6,006 35
W. H. Lawrence...........N. Y.............New York............18672.... 65,884 01
Geo. W. Van Buren........N. Y............. New York........... 1870-71.... 2,416 15
W. T. Forbes.............Penn..............Philadelphia..........1869-71.... 38,322 05
A. R. Calhoun............ Penn.............Philadelphia..........1869-71.... 11,187 46
W. J. Stokes...............Tenn.............Nashville.............1869-73....  5,772 00
Total ------------------------------------  $228,824 80
BALANCES DUE THE U. S. FROM EX-COLLECTORS OF INTERNAL REVENUE APPO
PRESIDENT GRANT, FROM 1869, TO JUNE, 1876:
Names.                 State.               Date.
lJno. T. Foster........................1 Ala.....................1869-73....
;Francis Widner......................2 Ala.................... 1869-73....
John Brooker..........................2 Ark.....................1873-75....
IR. W. Wishard.......................3 Ark.....................1869-71....
J. O. Rawlins..........................1 Cal..................... 1869-7 0....
H. Jenkins, Jr..... Fla....................... Fla.................1869-73....
TJ. H. Gouldl...........................1 Ga.................186972....
IJ. F. Dever.... 4 Ga..................... Ga.................1872-73....
J. A. Hottzelaw......................4 Ga..  Ga........... 1873-75....
J. C. Geer..............................Idaho....................186973....1,2
Enoch Emory..........................5 Ills.................... 1869-71....
Horace Weeks..........................6 Ills.....................1872-75....
J. Richmond..........................7 Ills................ 7l1869-76....
:Jno. T. Harper.................... 8 Ills.....................1869-73....
lAndrew Lewis...................  d..................... 1869-70....
John P. Hall....................1 Ky.......               1 Ky..................1869- 74...
Thos. D. Burnes 4. 4 Ky.................................1869-70....
* In a large number of cases, the Secretary's report does not state the actual balance due the
/Government by Indian Agents, because the final accounts were not credited at the time the statement was transmitted to the Senate. Hence a few more defalcations in this Department will
doubtless be announced from time to time during the present fiscal year.
t The amount taken from the Government by Pension Agents, from 1861, when the Republican
Party came into power, to June 30, 1875, is $355,018.05.
*4t The: amounts oppositel thosel names prefixed with a  t, stand for "uncollected  taxes" a
alleged by the Collecto7s.
732
DEFALCATIONS.
Amt. due.
U. S.
$5,404 27
46,676 17
18,876 56
17,352 25
30,881 18
19,893 73
49,506 49
2,753 99
13,698 22
21,512 86
76,084 33
30,873 97
42,993 17
721,522 70
13,804 93
6'712 58
'261 45 
*Jno. S. Chapman.....................2 La......................1869-71....  20,469 88
B. T. Beauregard.................2La...................... 1871-73....  5,561 58
*W. R. Wilmer...................5 Md...................... 1872-75....  1,838 54
*D. L. Stanton...................5 Md.....................1869-72....  22,166 58
Mark Flanigan........................1 Mich..................1873-75....  12,269 42
Const. Maguire................... 1 Miss............... 1873-75.... 154,587 27
Lindsay Murdock......................2 Miss...............1869-73...   1,033 84
Jarred Benson...............:.........2 Minn....................1870-71....    319 93
Henry B. McClure.....................2 Miss....................1874.......  273 32
J. T. Smith..................... Miss...............1869-73....      9 72
W. C. N. Hicks........................3 Miss....................1869....... 4,371 99
*Benj. B. Emory.................. Miss...............1869-71....  46,703 46
Chester Pike....................... 3 N. H..................1869-75....  13 34
M. H. Treadwell...................... 2 N. Y.................... 1871-73....  3,892 11
Joshua F. Bailey...................4&32N. Y...............1865-70.... 676,188 18
*George Peck...................2N. C...............18773....   7,789 91
*W. B. Richardson.....................1....186-73....  7,610 61
.   Richardson.............. N.106
Samuel H. Hurst......................12 Ohio...................1869-75....  52 92
Jno. B. Kenney........................1 Penn...................1871-73....  18,273 10
*W. I. Pollock........................2 Penn...................1872-75....  3,433 33
I. R. Breidenbach......................6 Penn...................1869-73....    246 11
Franklin Travis....................7 Tenn...................1867-73....  26,560 19
A. W. Hawkins........................7 Tenn...................1873-76....  69,958 54
*T. W. Glenn..........................1 Texas..................1869-70....  25,946 34
*Jno. N. Camp........................1 Texas..................18773....  34,472 17
Lewis G. Brown........................2 Texas..................1869-74....    838 21
W. A. Saylor..........................2 Texas..................1874.......  957 55
Chas. E. Norris........................3 Texas..................1874-75....  16,637 36
*Edw. K. Snead..................1 Va......................1871-74....  10,720 94
Jno. H. Anderso..... 4     Va........................ 1869....... 25,985 97
*A. P. Lothrop....................... 4 Va......................1871-73....  4,936 00
*W. H. H. Stowell...........................1869-71....  9,616 94
Total. —---------------------------—. $2,312,544 20
BALANCES DUE THE U. S. BY EX-OFFICERS OF THE CUSTOMS, SINCE 1869.
F. A. Wilson, Pt. Townsend, W. T., Collector to 1870.................... $1,484 58
Chas. Anthony, Providence, Collector to 1870................................. 1,358 21
John Stannes, Keokuk, Surveyor to 1870...................................... 3,903 45
Jacob Anthony, New Albany, Surveyor to 1875................................ 1,116 10
George J. Stannard, Burlington, Vt., Collector to 1872...................... 8,575 74
J. M. Humphrey, Richmond, Collector to 1872...........................911 94
Denard Rumley, Wilmington, N. C., Collector to 1874....................... 6,832 03
L. C. Armistead, Apalachicola, Fla., Collector, 1869-71....................... 1,810 99
Thomas Kearney, Corpus Christi, Texas, Collector, 1869-73.................... 12,468 66
Felix Coste, St. Louis, Surveyor, 1869-70...................................... 2,253 32
D. C. Marsh, El Paso, Texas, Collector, 1869-73............................... 5,209 46
Washington Rogers, St. Marks, Fla., Collector, 18671....................... 759 65
Wells R. Bill, Selma, Ala., Surveyor, 1869-74.................................2,805 53
B. S. Cooper, Memphis, Tenn., Surveyor, 1870-71..............................933 38
J. C. Woodward, Paducah, Ky., Surveyor, 1870-75............................ 428 18
C. W. Foy, St. Louis, Mo., Surveyor, 1870-74.......................... 10,000 00
Geo. E. Hosie, Vicksburgh, Va., Collector, 1870-72............................ 32 03
W. H. Daniel, Apalachicola, Fla., Collector, 1871-1872....................... 703 13
Geo. A. Edes, Sitka, Alaska, Collector, 1871-1873........................... 1,159 20
E. Hohn, Troy, N.Y., Surveyor, 18774..................................... 665 70
Thomas Russell, Boston, Collector, 1871-74............................ 1,955 26
R. W. Mullen, Brashear, La., Collector, 1872-74.............................. 418 03
Henry Hazen, Fernandina, Fla., Collector, 1873-75............................ 2,036 61
J. M. Parker, New Orleans, Surveyor, 1873-75................................. 1,742 11
Nelson Peats, Corpus Christi, Collector, 1873-75.............................. 1,384 29
Willie Chapman, Sitka, Alaska, Collector, 1873-74............................ 110 25
W. J. McCormick, San Diego, Cal., Collector, 1873-74.................... 2,595 84
Total. —-------------------------------- $73,752 67
BALANcES DUE THE U. S. FROM RECEIVERS OF PUBLIC MONEY, DISBURSING AGENTS,
SURVEYORS, GENERAL REGISTERS OF LAND OFFICES, &C., FROM 1869 TO JUNE, 1876.
H. M. Stocking, Receiver, Eau Claire,Wis., 1869-73............................. $900 93
H. M. Stocking, Disbursing Agent, Eau Claire, Wis., 1869-73................ 451 65
733
DEFALCATIONS. 
DEFALCATIONS.
Oscar Roos,'Receiver, Faylor's Falls, Minn., 1871-75.......................... 305 62
Oscar Roos, Disbursing Agent, Faylor's Falls, Minn., 1871-75................936 08
T. C. McClure, Receiver, St Cloud, Minn., 1870-74............................ 7,930 81
Recive..    q   7 4.................7908
J. H. Van Dyke, Receiver Alexandrina, Minn., 1870-74....................... 313 32
J. C. Brayden, Receiver, Litchfield, Minn., 1869-74............................ 6,651 14
Reuben Reynolds, Receiver, Detroit, Minn., 1872-75.......................... 1,233 31
Reuben Reynolds Disbursing Agent, Detroit, Minn., 1872-75................. 1,930 37
Lewis Lewiston, Disbursing Agent, Duluth, Minn., 1873-74....................2,066 68
Lewis Lewiston, Disbursing Agent, Duluth, Minn., 1873-74..................4... 499 12
J. E. Knowlton, Receiver, D)uluth, Minn., 1875...............................,175 93
W. J. Bodenhamer, Receiver, Springfield Mo., 1869-74....................4621 50
J. C. Austin, Receiver, Dardanelle, Mo., 1871-73..............................,050 85
J. R. Laffery, Receiver,Dardanelle, Mo., 1873.................................  2,433 06
J. R. Laffery,:Disbursing Agent, Dardanelle, Mo., 1873....................... 867 51
D. C. Tuttle, Receiver, Camden, Ark., 1873-75................................1,86358
J. G. Blackwell, Receiver, Huntsville, Ala., 1870-75..........................402 41
J. Fules Bossier, Receiver, Natchitoches, La., 1871-73.......................... 5,171 44
J. Fules Bossier, Disbursing Agent, Natchitoches, La., 1871-73................ 1,922 89
S. D. Houston, Receiver, Salina, Kansas, 1871................................. 716 61
W. A. Shannon, Receiver, Wichita, Kansas, 1870-72............................ 812 24
M. W. Reynolds, Receiver, Independence, Kansas, 1871-73.................... 435 28
Geo. Merritt, Receiver, Topeka, Kansas, 1871-75............................. 1,702 91
E. S. Nichol, Receiver, Independence, Kansas, 1873-74.................... 1,791 66
Jesse Turner, Receiver, Grand Island, Neb., 1872.............................. 625 78
Nathan Blakeley, Receiver, Beatrice, Neb., 1870-75...........................  638 0
W. F. Chapin, Receiver, Lincoln, Neb., 1869-72............................... 460 69
M. P. Freeman, Receiver, Elko, Neb., 1872.................................. 514 00
G. S. Agersberg  Receiver, Springfield, Dakota, 1870-72.................... 193 91
G. S. Agersberg, Disbursing Agent, Springfield, Dakota, 1870-72........... 1,181 99
Geo. F. Potter, Receiver, Pembina, Dakota, 1870-74.......................... 8,564 77
Geo. F. Potter, Disbursing Agent, Pembina, Dakota, 1870-74................... 1,682 12
R. B. Chappell, Receiver, Farpla, Colorado, 1874,...........................  10,331 12
W. A. Arnold, Receiver, Central City, Colorado, 1873,.........................  1,825 53
W. A. Arnold, Disbursing Agent, Central City Colorado, 1873.................493 06
Chas. A. Cook, Receiver, Pueblo, Colorado, 1871-74......................... 227 98
A. Steck, Receiver, Denver, Colorado, 1873-75................................ 1  00
L. Mitchell, Receiver, Pueblo, Colorado, 1874-76............................ 7,682 40
L. Mitchell, Disbursing Agent, Pueblo, Col., 1874-76.......................... 1,145 53
Giles B. Overton, Receiver, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1870-75...................7,238 14
E. W. Little, Receiver, Santa Fe, N. M.......................................205 00
S. Star Disbursing Agent, Helena, Montana 1872-75......................... 798 39
G.0. O. Tiffany, Receiver, Los Angees, Cal., 1872-73............................ 1,622 74
E. Feegarden, Receiver, Marysville, Cal., 1871-75............................. 427 66
F. Walcott, Disbursing Ag ent, Cheyenne, Wyoming, 1870-72.................. 703 76
C. H. McLaughlin  DisbursingAgent, Denver City, Col., 1869-72............. 127 88
N.J. Wallace, Disbursing Agent, Vermillion, Dakota, 1869-73.............. 810 69
C. J. Bockins, Disbursing Agent, Marysville, Cal., 1869-71................... 2,945 61
Total ------------------------------------- $103,636 65
BALANCE DUE THE GOVERNMENT BY Ex-COMMISSIONERS OF DIRECT TAHES FOR THE
INSURRECTIONARY STATES  OF  ARKANSAS, GEORGIA, LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI
NORTH CAROLINA, TEXAS AND VIRGINIA, FROM 1864 TO 1867, IS.......$82,665.21
There is not the remotest probability of the Government ever recovering one farthing of this amount, nor is it likely that ever an attempt will be made at its collection.
LIST OF EX-OFFICERS OF THE UNITED STATES NAVY AND OTHERS HAVINS
AGAINST THEM ON THE BOOKS OF THE FOURTH AUDITOR, FROM THE
UNTIL JUNE, 1876.
Amt. due
US.   Gov't.
$26,513 75
14',173 90
4'234 74
1936 41
564 74
438 00
115 29'
- 2,847 92
10,756 91
418,124 62
Name.                   Rank.                 Date.
Allen, R. L.......Contractor for Marine Corps Clothing.....1873-74........$5  7
Bemis, G. F...... P. A. P........................8774...........18774 
Barnum, C...... Contractor for Marine Corps Clothing.....1870-74........,   74
Cushing, M. B...Paymaster................................1870-74..
Carendy, E......Boatswain.......................1873..........18 7  4 
Crossman A. F.. Commander...............................1872...........
Carter, W........ A. Carpenter.....................1870...........
Fabens, J. W....Coal Ag't.......................1870...........1870 
Healey, W. J....A. P..                          186971.........1860,5 
Irving, W. Paymaster.........................1870..........
734 
DEFALCATIONS.
Mitchell, A. M...Lt.-Commander......................... 1873........... 641 00
Meade, H. M.... Paymaster.........................1872.......... 2,537 10
Marcy, W......Paymaster......................... 1869......... 130,761 55
Simonds, S. A................................... 1870........... 111 77
Simmons, J. W.Boatswain..........................1872................... 276 12
Wainwright, J.W.Ensign....................................1870........... 175 00
Total ----------------------------------- $623,208 79
BALANCES DUE FROM ARMY OFFICERS OUT OF SERVICE, FROM THE YEAR 1869 UNTIL
JUNE, 1876.
Am't due
Name.                 Rank.             Date.        U.S. Gov't.
Whiting, C. J.................Lt. Col. 6th Inf.............1869-71........... $ 815 83
Wasson, J. R.................Lt. 4th Cav................ 1871.............. 187 50
Barcela, M...................Contractor Q. M. D..........1872.............. 1,035 60
Bateman, J. C................Lt. Q. M. D............... 1872.............. 1,038 36
Clements, G. G. H............Lt.................1870............... 400 00
Chamberlain, L. A............Lt..................1875............. 746 20
Campbell, C. E........... Lt..... "................1872.............. 1,450 14
Hosmer, J. E............ Capt.................1870.............. 348 24
Eckerson, E. P..............Lt. "................1872-75............ 14,399 29
Hunter, P..............Lt......................1871.............. 18,410 68
Fenno, D. G.............Lt..".............. 1871.............. 1,991 21
Jennings, G. D........... Lt.... "................1871............. 221 45
Foster, S. H..................Capt.................1871.............. 17,419 34
Jordan C               Lt.................. "...............1872.............. 1,075 53
Hunt, T. B.............Capt. "................1874.............. 50,000 00
Kane, W. J............... Capt. ".............. 1872.............. 655 42
Inman, H...............Cpt.......................1872.............. 10,280 00
Kinzie, R. A.................Maj. "................1871-72........... 182 00
McCoy, Jno.................. 1871............... 290 65
McComas, D. H...........Lt. "................1869-70...........642 25
Metcalfe, C..................Lt................1872-73............ 702 01
Neeley, R...................Lt..................1870-74............ 4,014 34
Norton, L. B................ Lt..................1871.............. 2,192 74
Norton, H....................Lt. "................1871.............. 2,100 00
Roberts, W. M................A. Eng."..............1870............... 1,946 57
Ryan, E. T..............Lt.................1873...........1873.... 1,218 39
Sanbourne, M. C.............Lt. ".................1871-73............ 1,451 80
Sunderland, John W..........Lt.....................1870.............. 12,773 14
Sherman, Duncan.........Lt.....................1869-72............ 502 40
Seely, E.................Lt..................1870-75............ 947 55
Sunderland, J. W.............Lt..."..............1870.............. 18,584 66
Smith, J. A.............Capt................7.............    820 00
Sawyer, N. D. A.............Capt. "..................1872.............. 6,940 50
Dana, S...................... Add. Paymaster............1870............. 19,896 75
Townsend, E. H..............Lt. Q. M. D................1872.............. 3,822 44
Hodge, G. L..................Paymaster.................1871...............442,518 12
Taggart, David...............Add. Paymaster............1873............... 3,286 40
Walker, J. 8.................. "............1873............... 2,552 71
Birney, J. G..................Capt. Subsistence...........1870.............. 108,366 28
Ebbets, G. A.................Lt. Q. M. D................1869............... 28,226 57
Total ---------------------------------— $784,553 07
RCAI'I'UATION.
Balances due from Postmasters indebted to the United States, whose ac counts have terminated since 1869 up to June 19th, 1876................... $373,371 74
Balances due from Ex-United States Marshals on account of expenses of
Courts from 1869to June 19th, 1876........................................ 249,260 01
Balances due from Officers of Courts on account of official emoluments from
1869 to June 19th, 1876................................................... 58,067 83
Defalcation of H. B. Swoope................................................ 20,000 00
Balances due the United States from Governors and Secretaries of Territories  10,788 22
Balances due from sundry public officers, &c., out of service from 1869 to
June 19th, 1876............................................265,713 12
735 
DEFALCATIONS.
Balances due the United States from late Assessors of Internal Revenue...... 1,469 50
Balances due from Ex-Collectors of Internal Revenue, on their accounts as
Disbursing Agents, from 1869 to June 19th, 1876.......................... 33,518 10
Balances due the United States from late Stamp Agents from 1869 to June 19th,
1      876...................................................................... 69,306 94
Balances due the United States from Diplomatic and Consular Officers from
1869 to June, 1876........................................................ 41,333 09
Balances due from U.S. Bankers (C. H. & Co.)............................. 130,178 84
Balances due the United States on account of Indian Service by officers out of
service from 1869 to June, 1876............................................ 38,872 04
Balances due the U. S. from Pension Agents out of service from 1869 to
June, 1876.................................................. 228,824 80
Balances due the U.S. from Ex-Collectors of Internal Revenue appointed by 
Presid't Grant from 1869 to June, 1876....................................2,312,544 26
Balances due the U.S. by Ex-Officers of the Customs, since 1869............ 73,752 67
Balances due the U.S. from Receivers of Public Money, Disbursing Agents,
Surveyors, General Registers of Land Offices, &c., from 1869 to 1876........ 103,636 65
Balances due the Government by Ex-Commissioners of Direct Taxes for the
Insurrectionary States of Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North
Carolina, Texas, and Virginia, from 1864 to 1857........................... 82,665 21
Balances due from Ex-Officers of the U.S. Navy and others on the books
of the Fourth Auditor from the year 1869 to June, 1876.................... 623,208 79
Balances due from Army Officers out of service from the year 1869 to June,
1876...................................................................... 784,553 07
Total.........................................................$5,500,595 9&
736 
DEMOCRATIC APPOINTMENTS.
A FALSEHOOD NAILED- THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS.
In the bloody-shirt canvass which the Republican party has inaugurated, its
leading chanticleers upon the stump, are asserting everywhere that the Democratic House of Representatives marked its accession to power by discharging a
large number of disabled Union soldiers from its employment, and in their places
appointed ex-Confederate soldiers. Even W. A. Wheeler, the Republican candidate for Vice-President of the United States, gave utterance to this slander in his
first campaign speech at St. Albans, Vt.
The table which is published below, obtained from official sources, tells the true
story, and summarily disposes of this accusation.
RADICAL HYPOCRISY.
Mr. Morrison, of Illinois, Chairman of the House Committeee on Ways and
Means, in answering these charges against the Democracy during the last hours
of the session, spoke as follows:
Another small piece of hypocrisy is much practiced here by those who are continually bewailing the removal of Union soldiers. Every man on the disabled
soldiers' roll who has not died or qvoluntarily given up his place IS STILL HERE IN THE
EMPLOY OF THE HOUSE. Those who were here during the former Congresses and
are not here now, were elective officers and their appointees, and all Republican
politicians. Some have been replaced with other Union soldiers and some with
soldiers of the army against whom they fought. If men who bore arms against
the Government are allowed, as they have been by the gentleman from Maine
(Mr. Hale), and his party to enter this hall as members, it is difficult to see what
greater injury can befall the country if a few of the men who did no more are
allowed to open the doors. And there is ex-Doorkeeper Fitzhugh.
What of him? He wrote a foolish letter, showing him to be unfitted for an
important trust, and we displaced him too. Now let us inquire who it was that
he displaced. It will be recollected that, at the last Congress, it was proven before
the Ways and Means Committee, and reported to the House, that nearly a MILLION OF
DOLLARS HAD BEEN CORRUPTLY EXPENDED IN SECURING  THE MAIL STEAMSHIP
SUBSIDY, through a law enacted by Congress, and that $4,500 of this went into
the hands of the assistant doorkeeper of the Republican  [ause, and a greater
sum to another employee.
REPUBLICANS REWARD BRIBE-TAKERS.
The gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Kosson) presented the report of the Committee
to the House, saying, among other things, the following:
" The Committee do not recommend further action in the case of the two employees
"of this House who, after the passage of this Act, received rewards, as shown in their
"evidence, being informed that both of them have resigned." 
DEMOCRATIC APPOINTMENTS.
Both of them who had shared in the corruption fund we were told by this
report had resigned.   The assistant doorkeeper disappeared at once from  his
desk at the door, but there was a place from which he did not disappear until the
meeting of this House, and that was  the pay-roll of the officers of the House.
Here were our Republican friends, who have so much to say of clerks and doorkeepers, assuring the House and the country of the unfitness and displacement of
this man and yet retaining him on the pay-roll at a cost of $2,000,  tntil displaced
by ts. of the majority nine months afterwarcds, he rendering no services in the mean
time. Will it be said that this was done by the door-keeper who retained the
assistant, and that our friends over the way, who talk so much of the appointment
of improper persons by us, are not responsible to us?
MORE OF W. A. WHEELER'S RECORD.
Why, gentlemen, you indorsed and approved, every man of you, including
your amiable candidate for VTice-President, who presented his Pame. as a candidate,
favoring the re-election, and voted for the doorkeeper at the commencement of
this session, thus indorsing and approving his retention of the corrupt assistant.
Mr. Speaker, I find no pleasure in calling attention to these bad and inexcusable
acts of the minority here, but the injustice and insincerity of their criticisms of
the organization of the House, and of our acts and purposes generally, have impelled me to say so much in explanation and justification of changes made in the
organization of the House. We made some mistakes in our appointments and
we speedily corrected them. It were well for the country if our Republican
friends could truly say as much.
738 
DE.MOCRATIC APPOINTMENTS.
Persons Appointed by J. H. Patterson, Doorkeeper House of Represen
tatives, 44th Congress.
IN  WHAT  CAPACITY   STTE              KIND  OF
ACTING.                           OATH.
Assistant doorkeeper. Texas...... Iron-clad.
Supt. folding room... Penna......"
Supt. document  rooml Georgia.... Modified.
Asst. Supt. doc. room| Ohio.......    Iron-clad.
Clerk, folding room..! Georgia....  Modified.
Clerk,document room  Texinsevc.......Maya  Iron-clad.
Clerk t o  doorkeeper.n Kentucky..h........N    "J
Messenger........... N. C....... odified.
"........... New York.. Iron-clad.
"........... Indiana...."
".............. W. Va...... 
"........... Texas...... Modified.
"........... Ohio....... Iron-clad.
'.......... Ohio..... "
'........... Missouri..    "
...........   Virginia.... Modified.
'        I           llinois.....  Iron-clad.
........... Missouri... Modified.
'...........  New York.. Iron-clad.
"...........  New York.. "
........... Arkansas...   "
".......... N. C....... "
"........... | Alabama.... Modified.
"...........                 Kentucky.. Iron-clad.
"........... Mass....... "
"........... Maryland... "
"........... N. Jersey.. "
"........... Tennessee.."
Folding room......... Missouri...
........... k Illinois.....1
".......... Penna...... "
"........... Indiana....
"........... Texas...... "
"........... Texas...... "
..........., Tennessee.. "
"........... Ohio....... Modified.
;........... Penna...... Iron-cltd.
"........... Louisiana.. "
"........... New York..'
"........... Georgia.... "
".......... Wisconsin.., "
"........... California.. Modified.
............ Conn......l Iron-clad.
*........... W. Va..... Modified.
"............  Georgia..... Iron-clad.
"O........ IChio......! "
"............. Florida.....!Modified.
"............. 1M a r y l a n d...!I ron -clad.
"........... IN. Jersey. l "
'........... Penna......  "
"...........! Maryland...
...........i  Penna.....
"........... Miss.......i 
"...........              Maryland..
Foldingroom......... New York..
......... Penna......,
".........  Indiana
Seal room, H. of Reps]       "..
Officer in Union Army........
Sent Sub. to Union  Army, 4
years
Confederate Army...........
Officer in U. S. Army,'61 to'70
Confederate Army...........
Too young for service...........rn
Not in service (citizen).......
Lt. Col. Confederate Army...
9th New York, two years....
Not in service (citizen); was
in Mexican War
Quartermaster's Dept. Union
Army
Confederate service..........
Union Army,  Nat'l Soldiers'
Home
Too young for service........
Medical Dep't, U. S. Armoy...
Confederate service..........
Col. Federal Army..........
Not in service..............
...............
Enrolling officer, Union Army
Not in service................
Too young for service........
Messenger toConfederateH'se
Not in service (citizen).......
...............
Samuel E. Gittings          ~................Mrln
Paymaster's Dep'tUuiolnArmy
Not in service (citizen).......
...............           
.......................
Enrolling officer, IUnion Army
Too young for service........
...............
....Temple H n...  T...
Not in late war; was in Mexi can war
Not in late war (citizen)......
Too young for service........
In Union Army.............
Not in service (citizen).......
Chas. A.                                                                Wisco;
...............
~~A. B   obse                                                             on           rnca
...............
Confederate service..........
Too young for service.......
...............
Confederate service..........
Not in service (citizen).......
Union  Army, three months...
Union Army, nine months....
Union Army, three years...
Union Army, two years.....
Too young for service........
Union Army................
In Union Army, six months..
Drill master, Union Army....
Not in service (citizen).......
Too young for service........
With his father, Col. Rose, of
Indiana, in Union Army
i
I
i
i
I
I
i
I
I
73 '-)
NAME oi, APPOI[NTEE.
POLITICAL STAT-US.
I
,J. W. Je'
A. W. Finentclnesr. - -.. -....
Amderson W. Reese..
-C. C. Aleshire........
James G. Paine.....
,Lafayette Fitzhugh..
W. J. McCord.......
W. W. Stringtield....
Eu ene Duriiin......
F  nk M. Schell. I...
IN. S. Clark..........
— Sam'l J. Richardson.
William Deagan.....
George M. LeFevre..
E. H. Dulan..........
,,C. C. Buckner.......
. G e o. A. Bacon.......
.Silas Carr............
Timothy G. Sullivan.
'John Baxter.........
S. 0. Hemmin way
Wilmo
nt Leact,......
Patrick Doran.......
Granville J. Huston..
Tim. J. Leary........
Samuel E. Gittings...
George K. Colerdan..
Jesse S. Harris.......
,C. W. Coombs.......
- J a s. G. Long.........
J. R. Dunbar.........
R. D. Brown.........
C. T. Lewis..........
Temple Houston......
Ja& C. Court.........
George V. Hebb.....
K. . Blood..........
W. F. Weeks........
Jno. K. Doii,-,herty...
-Jas. L. Knight.......
Chas. A. Ebert.......
C. W. C. Dunnington'
A. B. Corbusier......
Harvey M. Scott.....,
B. E. Hambleton.....
Albert E. Robinson..
N. Q. Henderson.....
Lewis Neilson......
Alex. S. Whiteside...
W. M. LonI,........
Samll M. eman...
Stephen W. Buck....
R. H. Paxton........
Jno. T. Chancy.......
-John B. Trainer......
Wm. Tucker.........
B. Oney Shindler....
,J. B. Fossett.........
E. L. Rose........... 
DEMOCRATIC APPOINTMENTS.
List of Persons Alipointed-Continued.
NAMIE OF APPOINTEE. I
James T. Blackistone Ni
Charles E. Demar      D..                                
Sam'l H. Decker... 
John Ryan.........
P. W. Coleman.....hs                      I
W. T. Fitch........
J. A. Travis.......d                e       t
C. S. Reisinger.....a 
Henry Cliff.........e
Geo. A. Schlreiner.. J
Jacob D. Hutton.....
Thos G.  Hibben.......
Edward Webster.....
James I. A cC'onnell..
Patrick Sullivan...".
Edward Stockdale....
E. WV. Armstrong.....
Archie D. Conn......
Thomas Brown.......
Jno. R. Moore.......
J. T. Riggs..........
Wmi. Barr...........
Frank L. Donnally...
Graham Gordan......
Edward Eakle.......
Edward Donoghue...
Arthur May..........
W. H. Cook..........
KIND O         r'
OATH.
Modified.
Iron-clad.    Tic
..
..
..
..e
1&
..
..     ~,
.od.fi
Irnca...
ks
...............
Thos G. Hibben                                                                                                              Indiana.........
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. oo young for service...                Pg.....                                    O
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Jno. ~         ~          ~         i B.MorsOi
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Gaa Gordag..........A n
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Fred Wright                                                                                                                 Vcrm...........
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Lbrr...............
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Labre.........
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a............
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Oho..........
NewnYorky..
Indiana....
Arkansas...
Idian.a....
WIincoi s'.
Ohio.......
Kentuika...
Louisia...
N.iC.......
Ohio.......
Kentucky 
Dist. Col...
Dist. Col...
Arkansas...
Conn....
Illinois.....
Penna......
41
-Na. S. H.
Ohio.......
Va.....
Illinois.....
Misso......
California..
Virginia....
Texas....;..
W.i-s.a......
Vermolnt...
Indiana....
...........
D e' f-Va'r'e..'.
.Maine......
Louisiana..
N.  C.......
Olrego~n.....
Penna......
N.  C.......
W.'Va.....
Miss.......
Maryland....
D~ist. Col...
Maryland..
James Whitley.......
George Webber......
Joseph Callahan.....
Henry Major.........
Thomas Bryan.......
Joel Grayson.......
W. Sidney Warrick..
Chas. C. B. Waller...
Jerry White..........
Edward Yost.........
Jno. E. Mason.......
Fred Wright.........
Willis Foley.........
C. Sullivan   Henry....
Frank Angerer......
James M. Johns......
James Morrow......
W. F. Price..........
C. L. Freeman.......
C. N. Muller........
A. A. Johnson.......
Leonard E, Chapman.
Thos. T. Dugan......
W. H. Lester.........
Not in service (citizen).......
...............
Too young for service.......
In Union Army, three years..
N ot in service (citizen)......
Too young for service........
Too young for service........
Confederate service..........
(Wiiartermaster's  Dep't Con.
Army.
Union Army...............
Not  in service, held  present
position for many years.
Not  in service, h, ld present
position, laborer, for many
years.
Not in service................
Too young for service........
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Woman......................
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Charge of ladies' re  tiring room.........
Laborer.............
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roo young for service........
Soot in service................
'oo young for service........
'Vas servant for his master in
Confederate service, until
I,,t   b'' - rol,,lrm.
I
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I
740
STATE.
i
,IN WHAT CAPACIT
ACTING.
oldiing room........
etail'od as inesseiiger:s ir, chase of d'rs
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
il
11
11
Wm.'H. Pinn(colored)
Henry Douglass.1
Thos. P. Bcll                       11
11
.............
Charge of Member
water closets.......
Laborer..............
Daniel Bell 11
,T. C. Nicke-ns                   11 "
Chas. Carter 11
E-nos P. Schell....... I
.J. Babcock (colored,
J. Doufflass
A. B. Thonias:1
Jaiii es Hall 11.
Beiii. Stewart 11
Loui,lana.
Xew York..
Dist. Col...
California..
Dist. Col...
IPen-na......
Georg,, a....
Georgia....
.I11
11
11
11
1.
.1
.1 
DEMOCRATIC APPOINTMENTS.
Recapitulation.
Whole number of appointments made by J. H. Patterson, Doorkeeper House of Rep     resentatives, 44th Congress.......................................................
:Nlumber of appointees who served in Union Army......................................
Number of appointees who served il Confederate Army...............................
Number of appointess who served in Mexican war.....................................
Number of appointees who are colored.......................................
Number of appointees who are.non-combatants, page boys, &c., &c...................
123    123
The Iron-Clad'oath is only taken by Union soldiers and Union men. The modified oath is
taken by those who were  in the Confederate Army, or who  were in connection with the
Reb ellion.
J. H. PATTERSON,
Doorkeeper  House of Pepresentatives.
DOORKEEPER'S DEPARTMIENT, 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
February4th, 1876.
For January, 1874, there were on the pay rolls of  the
former Doorkeeper, House of Representatives, 153 appointees.
Of 1these, from the best information lo be had from a reliable
Union soldier of the old appointment, and now a new appointee, there were only 18  Union  soldiers of  the 153
appointments.
1741
lb
123
35
10
2
11
65 
WHY THE SOUTH SHOULD RE RESCUED r
HlARMON'Y BETWVEEN THIE SECTIONS ESSENTIAL TO
NA-TIONAL  PROSPEPRI'TY.
IMIPORTANT DATA ANID lFACTS.
The policy of the Republican party, in seeking to fan anew into glowing coals the
dying embers of sectional prejudice is not only inimical to that sentiment of fraternity
which can alone make the union of the States perfect, but it is fatal to the prosperity
and happiness of the people of all sections.
To enable the diversified interests of the whole country to be fully developed-to
make possible the highest state of civilization, and to build up the peculiar pursuits
of each locality there must be as little antagonism as possible, and the general government must be administered, not in the interest of one section, but with reference tothe greatest good of the whole country.
There must be no class legislation, and above all the people of one section must
not be arrayed politically against their fellow citizens of another section, because the
inevitable result will be to interfere in the end with commercial relations which are
essential to the welfare of the whole country.
The products of the Southern soil are more abundant and intrinsically more valuable than those of any other section of the Union, and hence agriculture is more remunerative there than at the North or West.  The cotton, sugar and tobaeco growing
regions of the South, therefore, become the best marklets for the sale of Northern products, the home production of which is either impossible or unprofitable.   With the
South prosperous, the demand for the product of Northern labor and Northern ingenuity is increased in direct proportion. But if, through misrule, unstable governments, oppressive taxation and social disorder, the industrial interests of the South
are prostrated, the consumption of Northern products is immediat ely decreased and the
effect is sensibly felt in the manufacturing centres as well as in the grain growing
regions of the North and West.
It must be borne in mind that although the growth of the cereals is not profitable,
per se, in the cotton States, nevertheless it has been demonstrated during the past few
years that the production of sufficient corn and wheat for breadstuffs can be profitably
grown in connection with the cotton crop. The fact is that this year the cotton states,
in addition to an enormous crop of their valuable staple, have produced sufficient of
the cereals to supply them with their breadstuffs.  With the same energies and industry exclusively directed to the growth of cotton, of course the results would have been
far more profitable to the cotton planters, and the breadstuffs for all that region could
have been supplied from the overflowing graneries of the northwest.
The question may be asked, "why do the cotton planters grow the cereals at all,
if it would be more profitable to produce cotton?" We answer, because they desire to
be independent of Northern supplies.  "But," exclaims the advocates of the bloody
shirt policy, "that is disloyal.  Haven't we told you that the Southern people are still
rebels!"  In answer to this argument (?)we reply no, it is not disloyalty to grow your
own corn and wheat.  It is not disloyal to cultivate a spirit of independence!  It is no
proof of the existence of a spirit of rebellion at the South that her people, even at some
sacrifice to themselves, are determined to be self supporting. On the contrary, it argues
the possession of qualities by that people which are calculated to make them better
citizens "of the republic, because self-denial, industry, patience and perseverance areo
traits of character found only among the highest types of men. Where there is frugality,.
there also is found sobriety; where industry and independence are found, there also, 
WHY TIlE SOUTHi  SIIOULD) BE RESCUED!
will be good morals and business integrity! A higher order of eivilization insensibly
grows out of such a condition of things, and the people affected thereby are certain to
be more patriotic and loyal to a wise and beneficial government, administered for the
common good of all sections.
But would it be natural to expect the Southern people to struggle with unselfish
zeal for the common  good of the whole country, while a majority of the Northern people, with pure selfishness, seek their own agrandizemeniit and suffer governments to be
imposed, by the power of the Federal Government, upon the Southern States, which
are intended to perpetuate anarchy, foment social disorders, and impose oppressive
taxation? The continual appeal to Northern prejudices, excited to abnormal growth
during the late civil war, is, of course, calculated to keep alive sectional feelings at the
South also; and unless there is to be an end of this unholy agitation, the inevitable result must be the transmission of these antagonistic feelings from father to son, and thus
two rival nations will grow up side by side under the same government.
Hlere, again, the advocates of the bloody shirt policy will exclaim "treason! ""rebellion!"
Is it possible for intelligent men to have their reason upset by this demagogical
cry?  Let us see how much of "treason" there is in the propositions we have submitted.
The productions of the cotton States, considering the area of soil cultivated, yield more
returns in solid wealth than any other territory of like extent on the face of the globe.
The cotton crop alone forms more than one-third of our annual exports.. For the last
five years the money value of exported cotton, raw and manufactured, equalled nearly
two-thirds the total exports fromn the Northern States. If you add to the cotton exported,
tobacco, spirits of turpentine and naval stores, which are exclusive Southern products,
all the other products of the whole country exported have during the same period
exceeded those four Southern exports by only about one hundred million dollars. And
this, it must be borne in mind, was durig a period in which the South has been misgoverned as no other country supposed To have a government "' of the people, by the
people, for the people" ever has been.
And moreover it must be remembered that the bulk of the Southern products exported were grown in States which the democratic party has during that period
obtained control of, and this result is at once an argument in favor of the ascendenev
of that party, and proof positive of the falseness of the "outrage stories" which the
radical press and orators so industriously circulate. If the Southern people in the cotton States habitually maltreat and oppress the negroes, how comes it that so much
cottonri is grown? It cannot be grown without the labor of the negroes; and, as a rule,
it is grown on " the shares,"-the owner ot the plantation supplying the land and the
capital, while the inegroes supply the labor and divide the product.   That this system
results in the decided benefit of the iiegroes is evidenced by the fact that the official
statistics of the State of Georgia show that the amount of taxable property owned by
negroes in that State averages $1f00 per each head of family-an exhibit that cannot be
made by any other laboring population in the world.
The political future of the south under the continued administration of the Federal government by the radical party cannot be worse than her past has been, and thus
prosperity will come to that section through the energy, industry and patience of the
Indomitable race that people it, despite all the efforts the ruling party to the contrary.
And just so surely also will the continued appeals of the radical leaders to northern
prejudice have a reflex effect upon the Southern mind and the result will be a south
antagonistic to the north, or vice versa.  This is no trivial matter for the people of the
North to contenmplate. The resources of the South are as varied and inexhaustible as
those of the North. The vast and fertile plains of Texas will grow more than sufficient
breadstuffs and provisions for the whole South, while the mineral wealth of South West
Virginia, Northern Georgia and Alabama and East Tennessee, with their unrivalled
water power, will afford manafacturing facilities irnequalled by those of any Northern
state.
Is it wisdom or folly to pursue a policy which must, inevitably, perpetuate Southern feelings, and stimulate the people of that Section to develop and build up their
country as a rival to the North?  It is the habit of mitany intelligent Northern men to
sneer at Southern industry, So)uthern energy and Southern perseverance.  They talk
about the South having been demoralized by the system of slave labor; about the energies of the Souther n people being paralyzed by that curse. and point with becoming
pride to the wonderful progress which the Northern people have made in the inventive
and industrial arts, and smile complacently when Southern competition is mentioned.
They forget that the Sduthern people have been purified in the furnace of affliction,
and that a new people was born during the four years of dreadful war through which
743 
WHY THE SOUTH SHOULD BE RESCUED!
they passed. They start far behind in the race and are handicapped with many dis- -
advantages it is true, but they have the advantages  of climate and sPil, and with industry and thrift equal to that of their Northern competitors, the Southern people will
prove no mean rivals.  Their agricultural products exported, alone, dqual Iwo-thirds
of the entire exports of the whole country and this, be. it remembered, has been accomplished under the most unfavorable circumstances.
There is, however, a higher standpoint from which to appeal to the northern intelligence; and we would invite all patriotic men to give more than pasting attention to
what we have to say. During the past five years the balance of trade has been largely against the United States. The gold, or its equivalent, requisite to pay the interest
on our national debt, and to pay for our foreign importations has been,drained off, and
hence we are cursed wih an irredeemable currency.  Whenever our exports largely
exceed, in gold value, the interest on our public debt and the importations of foreign
products, then we will be on the high road to national prosperity.  This  cannot be
without a prosperous South, and prosperity, misrule, social disorder and excessive taxation, never come together.  What the North would accomplish toward sustaining the
national burden, without the South, and vice versa, will be shown by the tables on
page 4.:
(1.) A table showirig the amount of prizncipal NORTHIERN PRODI)UCTS exported each year,
from 1872 to 1876, both inclusive, and tihe relative proportion these exports bear to
the cost of net imports and the interest on the -Aatidnal -Debt.
NORTHERN             NET         INTEREST ON THME DE F              I
PRODUCTS.IT                      IIMPORT s. NATIONAL E DEFICIT.          Northern Products, in                  -'I.OUT  _vas.AINLD                             eluding breadstuffs, agri$1201,914,049 00  $617,569,017 00  $117,357,839 72  $533,013,807 72  cultural   impl'ts,  iron,
24:.,702,989 00   635,467,636 00!  104,750,688 44   495,515,335 44 manufactures of iron, lo 308,455,085 00   572,080,910 00,   107,119,815 21   370,745,640 21  comotives, oils, oil cake
249,945,216 00   531,472,529 00:   103,093,544 57   384,62()0,857 57  tallow, hops, sewing'ma
291,089,053 00   455,407,836 00l  102,017,554 81   266,346,327 81  chines 4nd provisions.
$1,295,106,392 00 $2,811,9973928 eel $534,339,442 751$2,050,231,968 75
(2.) A table showing the amount ofprincipal SOUTHERRN; PRODUCTS exported each year;from
1872 to 1876, both inclusive, and thle relative proportion these exports bear to thecost
of net imports and the interest on the Pablic Debt.
EXPORTS-                            INTEREST
NET
O3UTHERN           IMPORTS           OXN THE           DEFICIT.
- PRODUCTS.         1POT.        NATIONAL DEBT,
- _____-  -~   -_________   -          Southern Products, in1872  $215,968,283 00  $617,569,017 00:  $117,357,839 72  $731,949,573 72  eluding  cotton,  and its
1873   262,753,129 00   635,467,636 001  104,750,688 44   477,465,195 44  manufactures,   tobacco,
1874   254,654,350 00   572,080,910 801   107,119,815 20   414,546,375 21  naval  stores,  spirits  of
1875: 228,671,672 00   531,472,529 00   103,093,544 57   4805,894,401 57   turpentine, hemp.
1876   230,860,485 0    455,407,836 00   102,017,554 811 326,674,905 81
i$1,192,907.919 00,l$2,811,997,928 00  $53.339.442 75 $2,153,429.451 75
In the table, page 5, it will be observed that, under the head of Northern products,
is included everything exported from the United States, except cotton,'tobacco, naval
stores, spirits of turpentine and henip. This is not fair to the South, because these five
articles by no means eomprise her entire exports.  It; has been done, however, in
order that it will not be possible to say that the South has been favored in this ex,
hibit.  Now, what is the result of lhe last five years?  The Northern products that
is, everything except cotton, tobacco. naval stores, spirits of turpentine and hemp,
amount, during that period, from 1872 to 1876, both inclusive, to $1,613,008,501.
On the other hand, the' total received from cotton, tobacco, naval stores, spirits of turpentine and hemp, five leading Southern products, during the same period, amount to
$1,192,907,919, only $420,100,586  less than the entire  products  of
Northern'capital, and Northern industry throwing in the value of such Southern exports as North Ca,olina pine, South Carolina phosphates, sugar, Texas beef, hides and
the like.
744
1872
1873
1874
1875
1876
I 
that we have, unntil the last year, had to stagger under a load too great for both sections to bear will be seen by the following tabte
(3.) A table showving the net outgo for Interest on National Debt and  Imports for each yearfrom 1872 to 1876, both
inclusive, together with the net income from  Northern  and Soutthern exports, and the balance that has run against
the United States dturing that period.
TO PAY IN COIN OR ITS EQUIVALENT.
Southern Pro-         Total.               I
ducts. t
$215,968,283 00  $472.233,652 00 $
262,753,129 00    561,250,156 00 
254,654,350 00   629,219,144 00 
228,671,672 00    554,099,3s38 00
Net Imports.                                                                 ut
$617,569,017 00
635,467,636 00
572,0o0,910 ooi
531,472,529 00'
z
m,
,,
,-D
so
wn
pg
cU
4n
$262,693,204 72
178,978,168 44
49,981,581 21
80,466,735 57
Excess.
t$31,698,7 39 1-9
$540,420,950 75
455,407,836 00'    557,425,390 81
186.....,,,                                25
$2,811,997,928 00! $3,346,337,370 75
* Northern exports include everything, except gold, silver coin and bullion, and articles included in Southern exports.
t Southern exports (products include cotton, raw and manufactured, tobacco do., naval stores, spirits of turpentine, hemp, &c).
$ Vide-This year (1876) the total exports exceed the national debt interest and imports by $31,698,739.75.
a The amount given as the interest upon the public debt for this year is taken from the Reports of the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, datsd
December 6th, 1875, Washington, D. 0., and is made up as follows:
Interest paid for the first quarter ending September 30, 1875................................. $34,517,554 81
Estimated interest for the three remaining quarter.......................................... 67,500,000 00
$102,017,554 81
i
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I
WHAT WE HAD
Interest on the
National Debt.
$117,357,839 72
104,750,688 44
107,119,815 21
103,093,544 57
WHAT WE IIAD TO PAY WITII,
DF,FICIT.
Northern Pro     ducts.*
1 $256,265,369 00
298,487,027 00
374,564,794 00
325,427,666 00
i872.....
1873.....
1874.....
i875.....
$734,926,856 721
1
740,218,324 44i
'           1
679,200,725 21 ,
I
634,566,073 57,
1876....., aIO2,017,557 81
I -- I
$534,339,442 75
I -.,. 358,261,645 00
1 $1,613,008,501 O(I
230,860,495 00i 589,124,130 00
,1,192,907,919 00 $2,805,916,420 00
I
-Z 
CARPET-BAGGERS IN SOUTH CAROLINA.
From proceedings of the Tax-payers' Association of South Carolina we cite the
following facts as showing the indebtedness and expenditures under carpet-bagrule:
Property valuation.
In 1860.........................................................  $490,000,000
In 1870......................................................... 170,000,000
A decline in thirteen years of 67 per cent.
Tax levy.
In 1 860....................................................
In 1873.........................................................
An increase in thirteen years of nearly 500 per cent.
Legislative expenses.
In 1860......................................................... 40,000
In 1873........................................................ 291,000
An increase in thirteen years of nearly 700 per cent. The public printing for
sixty years aggregated $400,000, or an annual average of $6,666.
Now mark the difference under Republican rule, as shown by the following
table:
Petblic printi-i,g.
October, 1870, to October, 1871.................................. $134,151 44
October, 1871, to October, 1     872................................. 215,129 86
October, 1872, to October, 1 8 7 3.................................. 331,945 66
Undrawn appropriation......................................... 118,054 34
Extra session, 1 874............................................. 125,000 00
Total for three years..................................  924,281 30
Annual average of $308,093.76.
Showing the expense for public printing for three years under Republican carpet-bag rule to be $500,000 more than the expense for sixty years under the administration of the Democratic citizens of South Carolina before the war. From
October 31, 1872, to November 19, 1873, the amount paid for public printing in
South Carolina was $575,000, while the total revenues of the State for the same
period were but $1,719,728. (See State Treasurer's Report.)
Annual legislative expenses before the war, $40,000; annual legislative expenses
since the war, $300,000; an increase of more than 700 per cent., while property
has decreased more than 100 per cent.
The annual stationery bill of the Legislature before the war was $400; the
annual stationery bill of the Legislature since the war, $16,000, or over 4,000 per
cent.
The amount of taxes paid by State and legislative officials under Republican
carpet-bag rule is as follows:
The Governor pays none; the Secretary of State pays none; the ComptrollerGeneral pays none; the Treasurer pays none; the Superintendent of Education
pays none; the Lieutenant-Governor pays $15.99; the Adjutant and Inspector'
General pays $1.
The State Legislature is composed of fifty-seven white and ninety-eight colored members. Of these fifty-seven whites twenty-four pay no taxes, and of the
ninety-eight colored sixty-seven pay no taxes; and the names of eighty-five members of the Legislature are not to be found upon the tax-books; a State governed
by men who do not represent a single interest, who create taxes, but pay none.
(See report of tax-payers; also report Joint Committee on condition of the South,
Congressional Globe, volume 2, page 1239.)
Now, taking the legislative expenses of South Carolina for 1873 at $291,000,
and public printing at $331,945.66, the two items make $622,945.66, or nearl100 per cent. more than the entire cost of the State government of New York;
while taking the cost of public printing alone for three years in the State of South
Carolina the suni-total, $924,281.30, exceeds the annual cost of the annual State
governments of New York, Massachusetts, and Ohio by $117,533.
500,000
2,700,000 
EXTRAVAGANCE ()F THE REPUBLICANS.
A MARKED CONTRAST.
The Republican party is always about to retrench expenditures and reform
abuses. The active party managers promised the country, in 1872, that the Civil
Service should be reformed, and the number of office holders largely reduced.
How they have fulfilled these promises will be seen upon an examination of the
following exhibit, compiled from the official registers of the various Departments
of the government, which gives the number of civil employes in government employ from 1859 to 1875, inclusive:
Number of civil employes underMr. Buchanan's administration....................................... 44,527
Mr. Lincoln's administration in 1861.................................. 46,049
Mr. Lincoln's administration in 1-863.............................. 47,375,
Lincoln's and Johnson's administration in 1865........................ 53,167
President Johnson in 1867........................................... 56,z113
President Grant in 1 8 6 9.............................................. 54,207
President Grant in 187t........................................... 57,605
President Grant in 1873...........................................   86,660
President Grant in 1875.............................................. 94,119
President Grant in 1876.............................................  102,350,
Economy and simplicity should characterize a Republican government, and
honesty and fidelity should mark the character of its public servants. In the
earlier days of the Republic this was the case. From the 4th day of March, 1789,
the day the Federal Constitution went into operation, down to June 30, 1875, the
entire net ordinary receipts of the government, exclusive of loans, amounted to
$6,337,043,618.27.  Of this sum only $1,841,953,353.62 were collected from the
foundation of the government down to 1861, and $4,495,081,264.63 have been collected since that time. More than twice as much money has been collected from
the people in fourteen years of Republican rule than was collected in more than
seventy years prior to their advent to power. Now let us see how about the expenses for the same period of time. From March 4, 1789, to June 30, 1875, the
net ordinary expenses of the government-as any one may see by adding the
figures under the head of "Net ordinary expenses," on page 65 to 67 of the official
report of the Register of the Treasury, made November 4, 1875 amounted to
$6,801,956,954.69. We have caused a table to be made, grouping these expenditures so as to show the amounts expended each four years of the successive administrations of the government. Here it is:
Civil List and Net Ordinary Expenditures of the United States Goovernment, by
periods of four years, from the organization of the Government-(Condensed
from the Report of the Register of the Treasury for 1875.)
DCIVIL LIST.   NET ORDINARY
CIVIL LEXPENDITURES..
I.         1 ~~EXPENDITURES..
From March 4, 1789, to December 31, 1792.... 
For four years ending December 31, 1796.     1..9
For four years ending December 31, 1800..    2
For four years ending December 31, 1804...      2
For four years ending December 31, 1808.....
For four years ending December 31, 181.2.....87179:3,1,5
For four years ending December 31, 1816.....6,461.....8
For four years ending December 31, 1820..... l
For four years ending December 31, 1824....    
For four years ending December 31, 1828.....21143             50519
For four years ending December 31, 1832.....083073            5,7,
For four years ending December 31, 1836.....
For four years ending December 31, 1840.....989465           12,2,
From January 1, 1841, to June 30, 1845......5486            1430131
DATES.
$3,797,493 20,
12,093,205  35
21,348,351 19^
17,174,432 96
25,926,355 72
36,117,357 98
108,537,086 89'
57,698,087 71
45,665,421  88
50,501,913  31
56,270,480 62
89,522,286 68
121,729,801 16
104,360,163' 10,
$1,138,052 03
1,607,969 07
2,329,433 08
2,297,648 17
2,616,772 77
2,887,197 98
3,768,342 61
4,494,606 42
4, 665,602 11
5.271,124  34
6,081,307  73
7,659,086 86
9,899,496  58
11,508,546 86, 
EXTRAVAGANCE OF THE REPUBLICANS.
CIVIL LIST.
For four years ending June 30, 1849.........
For four years ending June 30, 1853.....96
For four years ending June 30, 1857 (Pierce).. 
For four years ending June 30,1861 (Buchanan)
For four years ending June 30, 1865 (Lincoln).
For four years ending June 30, 1869 (Johnson)
For four years ending June 30, 1873 (Grant)..
For one year ending June 30, 1874 (Grant)....
For one year ending June 30, 1875 (Grant)....
* This includes $7,200,000 paid for Alaska; also $5,505,451.79 paid for mail service Post-office
Department.
1- Total in six years of Grant's two terms, $1,021,813,950.91.
From March 4, 1789, to June 30, 1861, the entire net ordinary expenses of the
governmentamounted to $1,58t,706,195.34.  From June30, 1861, to June30, 1875,
fourteen years of Republican rule, the net ordinary expenses amounted to
$5,220,250,759.35; and this is exclusive of the public or war debt; that is, fourteen years of Republican rule cost the government more than three times as much
money as the whole cost of the government from 1789 to 1861, a period of seventytwo years. But it may well be said that the ordinary expenses of the government
during the war were necessarilyincreased.  That is true, and to make the comparison fair, let us take a period of ten years since the war; atid we wish it to be borne
in mind that we are now speaking of the "net ordinary expenses" of the government, exclusive of the interest paid on the public debt, which amounted to
$1,000,000,000, and the sums paid on the public debt itself, which amounted to
many hundred millions more. From March 4, 1789, to June 30, 1861, the expenses
of the government-embracing a period of more than seventy-two years, covering
the war of 1812, the Indian wars, and the Mexican war, and the purchase of
Louisiana, the great northwestern Territory, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and
California-amounted, as we have already shown, to only $1,581,706,195.34. The net
ordinary expenses of the four years of Johnson's administration was $1,012,420,202.14; six years of President Grant, $1,021,813,950; making in ten years of
peace the enormous sum of $2,034,233,412.14, being nearly one-third more than
all the expenses of the government for seventy-two years, from 1789 to 1861, ineluding the war of 1812, the Indian and Mexican wars; and if you add to the ordinary expenses of the six years of President Grant's administration the amount of
principal and interest paid on the public debt, it will amount to $4,008,438,461.82;
that is, more than two and a half times as much as the entire expenses of the government from March 4, 1789, to June 30, 1861. We have here the table showing
the total expenditures under the administration of President Grant for six years,
from June 30. 1869, to June 30, 1875, as will be seen from the official report of the
Register of the Treasury, page 67 of the pamphlet report:
Year ending June 30- 
1870..................................................... $703,155,391 43
1871..................................................... 692,238'332 40
1872........................................................ 682,360,760 17
1873...................................................... 522,785,932 23
1874..................................................... 724,897,160 26
1875..................................................... 682,000,885 32
Making a total for six years....................... $4,008,438,461 82
Total receipts from all sources for the same period of six years (see page 62):
Year ending June 301870......................................................  $696,729,973 63
1871...................................................... 652,095,864 54
1872.....................................................679,158,419 73
1873.................................................... 548,672,269 47
1874..................................................... 744,252,331 30
1875..................................................... 675,971,607 10
Total receipts for six years......................... $3,996,880,464 77
748
NET ORDINARY
EXPENDITURIIS.
165,381,026 34
165,684,050 48
232,820,632 35
261,165,809 62
3,176,017,346 93
1,012,42,0,202 14
656,066,892 39
194,217,210 27
171,529,848 27
DATES.
10,615,571  14
14,214,458 90
25,036,171 74
25,180,671 32
30,765,508 71
*66.412,391 61
t69,989,774 16
17,646,253 38
17,346,929 53 
EXPENSES OF THIE'"WHIITE IHIOUSE."
The following table shows the comparative expenditures for'the Executive
Mansion under Democratic and Republican rule, and exhibits in a forcible manner
the extravagance and royal notions of our present rulers:
LAST SEVEN
YEARS OF
REPUBLICAN
RULE.
EXECUTIVE MANSIO-N.
LAST FOUR
YEARS OF
DEMOCRATI      C
RULE.
Annual repairs, including painting, etc............
Refurnishing interior, etc........................
Care and improvement of grounds south of house..
Repairs. etc., of green-houses and plants..........
Fuel in part for President's house................
Books for library                                      0................
Iron fencing around grounds.....................
New stables, to replace those torn down to make
room for Treasury...........................
SALARIES TO EMPLOYEES IN EXECUTIVE MANSION.
Night Watchmen...............................
Door-keepers...................................
Furnace-keeper..................................
Policemen (2)..................................
Usher.........................................
SALARIES TO OFFICERS IN EXECUTIVE OFFICE.
President of the United States...................
Secretary to sign land warrants..................
Private Secretary............................... -
.Assistant Private Secretary......................
Clerks (2)......................................
Steward.......................................
Messenger..................................
Contingent expenses (including stationery)........
Postage stamps for official use...................
Totals...............................
4
RECAPITULATION.
Expenditure during four years of Democratic rule, from 1857 to
186;1..... v
1861...............................................$23...G
Expenditure during seven years of Republican power and misrule,
from March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1876.......................
Average annual expenditure under Republican rule...............  $121,284 60
Average annual expenditure under Democratic rule............... 53,257 00
Average annual saving under Democratic administration..........  $68,027 25
-or more than twice a's much.
I
i
I
I
$32,000 00
20,000 00
5,500 00
1,000 00
7,200 00
1,000 00
..........
20,000 00
$123.,345 00
172,000 00
79,719 25
31,500 00
35,000 OD.
. 6....
26 0 00
..........
3,600 00
18,000 00
1,565 00
..........
....
9,900 00
14,560 00
5,328 00
18,440 00
3,600 00
I 100,000 00
..........
8,750 00
..........
......
,200 00
.3,150 00
2,625 00
..........
$213,028 00
250,000 00
71500 OD
il
87,500 00
28,000'00
600 00
.$848,992 25
$213,02 00
8487992 2,5 
EXPENSES OF THE WHIITE-IIOUSE.
The following table shows the average annual expenditures under Democratic
-md Republican rule on account of certain outlays connected with the Executive
Mansion:
EXCESS
DEMOCRATIC. REPUBLICAN..    UNDER
REPUBLICAN.
$8,000 00    $17,620 71      $9,620 71
5,000 00      10,2S5 97       5,285 97
1,37500       11,388 46 10,013 46
25000 4,500 00 4,250 00
1.800 O0      5,000 00 3,200 00
90000        1,414 28 514 28
450 00      2,080 O0       1,630 O0
391 25 761 14                369 89
4,025 00     12,.500O 00     8,475 00
656 25 7,000 O0            6,343 75
25,000 oo     35,714 29      10,714 29
$47.847 50   $108,264 85    $60,417 a
Annual repairs to President's house....................
Expenses, refurnishing........................
Expense, care and improvement of grounds....
Expense of greenhouses, etc...................
Expense of fuel................................
Compensation, Night Watch...................
Compensation, Doorkeepers...................
Compensation, Furnace-keeper................
Compensation to Private Secretaries, etc.......
Contingent expenses of office..................
President's salary (Grant, 4 years, $25,000; 3
years, $50,000)................................
I
'750 
SQUANDERING THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
How the public domain has been squandered on greedy corporations to the
great injury of settlers will be seen upon examination of the following official table
prepared in the Interior Department:
&Schedule of Land Gratnts to Corporationst and Afonopolies since the Bepublian'Party
ha(rve been in, power.
NO. OF
ACRES.
STATE.       YEAR.
Wisconsin...   1866    Breakwater and Ship Canial.........................  200,000
Michigan...... 1865    Portage Lake Ship Canal............................ 200,000
Michigan....... 186;    Portage Lake Ship Canal.............................. 200,000
Michigan...... 1866    La Belle Ship Canal.................................... 100, 000
Alabama....... 1871 S. Alabama Railroad................................ 576,000
Alabama....... 1869    Alabama and Chatanooga Railroad.................... 897,920
Louisiana........ 1871    New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Vicksburg Railroad.. 1,600000
Arkansas..... 1866    Cairo and Fulton..................................... 966,700
Arkansas......  1866    Memphis and Little Rock............................  365,539
Arkansas...... 1866    Little Rock and Fort Smith.......................... 458,771
Arkansas...... 1866    Iron Mountain Railroad............................. 864,000
Missouri......... t1866    Cairo and Fulton Railroad............................ 182,718
Missouri........ 1866    Saint Louis and Iron Mountain..................... 1,400,000
Iowa.......... 1866    Burlington and Missouri River........................ 101,110
Iowa........... 1864    Chicago and Rock Island Railroad.................... 116,276
Iowa........... 1864    Cedar Rapids and Missouri River..................... 342,406
Iowa........... 1864    McGregor and Missouri River......................... 1,536,000
Iowa........... 1864    Sioux City and Saint Paul............................. 256,000
Iowa........... 1864    Sioux City and Pacific............................. 580,000
Michigan......   1866    Jackson, Lansing, and Michigan (re-grant)      1,052,469
Michigan.......   1865    Flint and Pere Marquette...........................586,828
Michigan...... 1864    Grand Rapids and Indiana.......................... 531,200
Michigan...... 1865    Bay de Noquet and Marquette....................... 128,000
Michigan...... 1865    Marquette and Ontonagon........................... 243,200
Michigan...... 1862    Chicago and Northwestern............................ 375,680
Michigan...... 1865    Chicago and Northwestern.................I........... 188,800
Wisconsin.....   1864    West Wisconsin...................................... 675,000
Wisconsin...... 1864    Saint Croix and Lake Superior........................  350,000
W      isconsin..... 1864    Bayfield Branch....................................... 215,000
Wisconsin..... 162    Chicago and Northwestern (re-grant).................. 600,000
Wisconsin.. 1864    P            rtage and Superior.................................  750,000
Minnesota.....taul and Pacific................................. 500,000
Minnesota..... 1865    Saint Paul and Pacific Branch........................ 725,000
Minnesota..... 1865    Minnesota Central.................................... 290,000
Minnesota..... 1865 Winona and Saint Peter............................... 690,000
Minnesota........ 1864    Saint Paul and Sioux City............................. 150,000
Minnesota..... 1864'66  Lake Superior and Mississippi...................... 800,000
Minnesota......  1866    Minnesota Southern................................... 735,000
Minnesota..... 1866    Hastings and Dakota................................. 350,000
Kansas......... 1863    Leavenworth, Lawrence, and Galveston............... 800,000
Kansas... 1864    Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe...................... 1,200,000
Kansas...!  1864    Union Pacific, Southern Branch....................... 500,000
Kansas.........:  1866  ISaint Joseph and Denver..............................1,700,000
Kansas......... 1866    Fort Scott and Gulf.................................. 17,000
Kansas......... 1866    Southern Branch Union Pacific...................... 1,203,000
California...... 1866    Placerville and Sacramento......................... 200,000
California...... 1867    Central Pacific, Oregon Branch........................ 1,540,000
California...... 1866    Stockton and Copperopolis............................ 320,000
Oregon.......... 1870    Oregon and California...........................1...... 1,660,000
Oregon.......... 1866    Oregon Central...................................... 1,200,000
...............  1862-'70  Union Pacific, Central Pacific, and Kansas Pacific....'15,000,000
186...............  14-'70  Northern Pacific Railroad............................. 47,000,000
................  1866    Atlantic and Pacific Railroad....................... 42,000,000
................  1871    Southern Pacific Railroad......................... 3,000,000
................  1862-'64  Central Pacific Railroad............................... 245,166
................  171    Texas Pacific Railroad................................  13,400,000
................  1862-'71   Wagon roads, chiefly in Northwest.................... 4,000,000
Total acres not reserved for free h o m e s..................................... 175,835,405
Total number of acres bestowed in land grants.............................. 296,000,000
AREAS IN SQUARE MILES.
Maine................. 35,000 Connecticut............ 4,700 Maryland............. 11,000
New Hampshire........ 9,300 New York.............47,000 Ohio................... 40,000
Yermont...............,10,200  New Jersey............ 8,000 Indiana................ 83,800
Massachusetts........  7,800 Pennsylvania..........  46,000
Rhode Island......... 1,300  Delaware............. 2,100           Total.......... 256,200
Republican land grants, 294,758 square miles.
CORPORATION. 
LOANING PUBLIC CREDIT TO CORPORATIONS.
Bonds issued to the Pacific Ralway Companies, interest payable in lawful money.
[Bonds payable thirty years from date; interest at the rate of 6 per cent. per annum, payable in January and July.]
Interest re-    Balance of
paid by       Interest paid
Transportation       by the
of Mails, &c.  United States.
$1,268,192. 12   $11,312,612) 75
1,462,065 84    2,020,007 25
4,085,701 62    9,432,813 75
44,408 05      833,400 21
9,367 00     831,246 74
39,470 28     740,932 81
Central Pacific.................................
Kansas Pacific...............................
Union Pacific..................................
Central Branch Union Pacific..................
Western Pacific................................
Sioux City and Pacific............................
.......................................K   $64,623,512  o0                         
The foregoing is a correct statement of the public debt as appears from the books and Treasurer's returns in the Department at the
close of brsiness, July 31, 1876.
LOT M. MORRILL,
Secretary of the Treasury.
I
I
I
Principal
Outstanc-ling.
NAME OF RAILWAY.
Atithorizing Acts.
July 1, 1862, and July 2, 1864......
July 1, 1862, and July 2, 1864......
July 1, IF62, and July 2, 1864......
July 1, 1862, and July 2, 1864......
July 1, 1862, and July 2, 1864......
I
July 1, 1862, and July 2, 1864......!
$25,885,120 00
6,303,000 00
27,236,512 00
1,600,000 00
1,9-iO,560 00
1,628,320 00
$129,425 60 $12,580,804 87
31,515 00 3,482,073 09
136,182 56 13,518,515 37
8,000  00 8-,'7,808 26
9,852 80 840,613 74
8,141 60 780,403 09
$823,117 56 $32,080,218 42
$6,9G9,204 91 1; $25,171,013 51
Totals............................ 
R. B. HAYES ON FINANCE.
A LITTLE SCRAP FROM THE RECORD THAT CAME
VERY NEAR BEING OMITTED,
In view of Mr. Hayes' present position on the currency question and the Specie
Resumption Act, it may be interesting to note his financial record in Congress.
On the 10th day of December, 1866, Mr. Harding, of Illinois, offered the following
resolution:
"Resolved, That the Committee on Banking and Currency be instructed to report
to the House a bill for a law which shall prohiit any diminttion of the National legaltender currency, and that it is the right and the interest of the whole people of the
United States that the Government should issue all bills intended to circulate as money,
and the exercise of the power to issue bank-notes or currency by corporations under Nalonal
or State law should be discouraged."
"Washburne, of Illinois-This resolution is mandatory in its character.  I move
that it be laid on the table.
On this motion to lay on the table, Mr. Hayes, then in Congress from one of the
Cincinnati districts, voted no. Thus for the resolution. (See Cong. Globe, part 1,
Thirty-ninth Congress, Second Session, p. 449.)
This resolution, it will be seen, embraces every proposition in the "Rag-Baby
Creed," and was so shaped that any one not ready to take the creed in all its parts must
vote against the resolution. If Mr. Hayes voted honestly, which we can not doubt,
and with the intelligence of a man fit for President, he was then in full sympathy with
the "Rag Baby" financial creed
This, however, is not all.
On the 17th of December, 1866, Mr. Cook offered a resolution in favor of "the
withdrawal of the currency issued by the National Banks," and "supplying the place
of such currency with legal-tender notes issued by the Government of the United
States."
On this resolution Mr. Hayes voted AYE. (See Globe, 2d ses. 39th Con., pt. 1st,
page 150.)
On the same day Mr. Baker offered the following resolution:
"Resolved, That the Committee on Banking and'Currency be instructed to report a
bill forbidding for some temporary period the further withdrawal of the legal-tender
currency."
"Mr. Morrill-I move to lay the resolution on the table."
On this motion Mr. Hayes voted NAY.  Thus he was in favor of the resolution.
(See Globe, next page, 151.)
On February 4, 1867, Mr. Grinnell offered the same resolution in substance, and
Mr. Hayes voted the same way!  (See Globe, 2d Ses., same Con., pt. 2, p. 992.)  February 18th, Mr. Eldridge offered a resolution to replace the National bank-notes by
"Treasury-notes," instead of legal tenders, as proposed by Mr. Cook in his resolution
of the 17th December, aild Mr. Hayes voted just as the inflationists would now have
him vote if he was in Congress. (See Globe, same Ses., pt. 2d, p. 1,314.)
On the financial question Mr. Hayes was consistent throughout his Congressional
career, and stood precisely where Peter Cooper and Gen. Carey now stand on the same
question.
On March 23, 1866, he voted against the resolution authorizingiecretaryMcCulloch
to contract the greenback currency $10,000,000 in six months, and then at the rate of
s,
I  t. 
R. B. HAYES ON FINANCE.
$4,000,000 per month. It passed-83 yeas, 53 nays. (Con. Globe, Part 2, First Session Thirty-ninth Congress, p. 1,614.)
On July 25, 1866, on the bill relating to national currency, on Thad. Stevens'
amendment to strike out the substitution of National bank currency for greenbacks, on
which motion Stevens declared he was for issuing more greenbacks, and denounced the
contraction policy, Hayes voted in a minority-of twenty-eight with his old leader.
(Congressional Globe, pt. 1st, 39th Congress, 1st Session, p. 4,154.) These votes, in
view of his present declarations, prove how he.can be influenced by his surroundings
and the will of a strolminded man in woin heelrs eondence.
Indeed, Mr. Hayes seems to have no settled opinions of his own on the financial
question, but is governed by those he acts with. In his speech at Sidney, Ohio, September 4, 1867, in the canvass against Judge Thurman for Governor, he says: "The
very measure which was intended to carry out this policy of Secretary McCulloch to
enable himn to take up the greenback currency with interest bearing bonds was introduced in Congress in March, 1866. I have here the votes upon that question, and I
say to you that the Democratic party in both Houses-all the members of the Democratic party in both Houses-voted for Secretary McCuiloch's plan, and that Mr. Julian,
Judge Scofield, Mr. Lawrence-all of whom I see here-and myself, a majority of the
Republican members voted against the scheme, and it became a law because the minority
of the Union party, with the unanimous vote of the Democratic party, supported it, and
because, when it was subwitted to Andrew Johnson, instead of vetoing it as he did all
Union party measures, he wrote his name on the 12th of April at the bottom,' Approaed: Andrew Johnson.' I think, then, I am authAorized in saying that these gentlemen are mistaken when they accuse the Union party of being in favor of taking up
the greenback currency and putting in the place of it interestbearing, non-taxable
bonds."-Howard's Campaign Life of Hayes, p. 206.
754 
INDEX.
Page.
647
A MODEL CARPET-BAG SENATOR..................................................
ACCEPTANCE, Gov. TILDEN's Letter of.......................................................
Reform in Public Expenses................................................
The South..............................................................
Currency Reform......................................................
Resumption of Specie Payment............................................
Resumption Plan of St. Louis Platform....................................
Relief for business distresses..............................................
Civil Service Reform....................................................
ACCrPTANCE, Gov. HEND'RWK's Letter of...........................................
Reforms needed..........................................................
Finance and Currency........................................................
Our Industries...................................................................
Our Schools...............................................................
Gov. Tild':.....................................................
ADAMs, CHARLES FRANCIS, letter of...................................................... 35
Why he votes for Tilden......................................... 35
AEis, Gov.-Actions of, in Mississippi....................................................   282
On witness stand.......................................................   261
Boston Post Office Frauds..................................................    354
BELKNAP, Impeachment of..,.......................................................... 496
Argument of E. G. Lapham................................................ 496
Belknapvirtuallv confesses his gu ilt........................................ 497
The evidence against him................................................... 497
Marsh's letter to Bel    knap........................................... 499
Post-traderships bartered by Belknap....................................... 499
Belknap shields Evans in his extortion..................................... 501
U. S. soldiers robbed for traders' benefit.................................. 503
Belknap's orders........................................................ 504
They connive at extortion....................................... 504
Why extortions were not reported......................................... 506
Money traced to Belknap............................................. 507
-HRe knew where it came from...........................................508
$21,000 for Belknap........................................... 510
Stupid confidence of Grant................................................ 512
Course in regard to Gravestones............................................ 686
Afgument for Belknap by Hon. J. S. Black................................. 513
Presents as a bribe......................................................... 514
Grant as guilty as Belknap................................................  515
BLACK FRIDAY.-How Jay Gould managed the President....................................  33
Boutwell's policy in the interest of gold jobbers.......................... 234
How the Gold Panic was brought about.................................. 235
Investigation..............................................................   235
Jay Gould tells how he fixed G r a n t...................................... 237
Meeting between Gould and Grant....................................... 238
Beginning of the panic...................................................   239
Mrs. Grant's interest......................................................  241
Fish tells his story......................................................... 242
The crisis.................................................................   242
Babcock's and Porter's connection with the scheme fully demonstrated..   244
The order to sell gold made known to Gould beforehand.................. 243
CANAL RING.-Gov. Tilden's attack on................................................. 39
Facts and figures concerning............................................... 4045
Robberies of............................................................. 39
-CLAPP, The Government Printer..............................................328
Account of his transactions............................................32834
'7'
7
1 8
8
9-11
li
12
12,
-14,
14
14
15
15
16 
Page.
CARPET-BAGGERS IX SOUTH CAROLINA.................................................... 746
A few tables for Republicans......................................... 746
CUSTOM HOUSE FRAUDS OF NEW YORK.-The new system................................... 835
A. T. Stewart's opinion................................................36
The Republicans refuse to end the swindle..................................338
338
The Custom House "aired "............................................... 34245
Grant's letter to Tom Murphy............................................. 345
Comparison of ocean freight and Custom House storage bills............... 341
CURTIs, GEo. WLLIE, on Civil Service Reform.................................. 385
Why he left the Civil Service Board........................................ 387
CASEY, JA,xEs F., Collector at New Orleans.                Obstructs investigation..................................................... 154
Fraudulent pay rolls..................................................... 158
Why he did not appear before the committee..............................  159
Committee recommended suits against him................................ 160
Described by Warmoth................................................... 111
Dispatch to President...................;............124
Telegraphs to President of "desperate efforts" of Democrats.............. 126
Urges recognition of Pinchback as Governor........................ 127
Crvo SIBRvIcE.-Profession-Practice.........................................367
Butler tells the House what the President means.......................... 367
The men who nominated Hayes............................................. 369
What they think of Civil Service Reform................................... 369
Morton's opinion of Hayes..............................................   30
Conklinig's opinion of Collector Murphy...................................  371
Wm. E. Dodge, Jr.'s opinion of the New York Custom House............  873
A glance at the workings of the New York: Custom Houe.....................  374
Early efforts for Civil Service Reform..............................  376
Secretary Cox's letter to the Ohio Committee.....................................  377
The political guns brought to bear on him............................... 380
Mr. Cox renews the contest.....................                  380
The Civil Service Reform Bill passed under compulsion.................. 381
CREDIT MOBILIER.-The great steal................................,.................
Congress convertedinto a railroad company.............................
Surrendering everything to the corporation................................
Over a million the first haul.....................................
History of the organization......................................
Oakes Ames' contract.................,......................................
Oakes Ames' letter with the assignment of stock...........................
The credit Mobilier explained....................................
Immense land grants and other startling provisions...."...................
A great bargain for the monopoly and the people pay fr it..............
Credit Mobilier profits........................................                Fisk and Gould anxious to join............................................
Congress rescues thejUnion Pacific R. R. from Fisk and Gould............
Remarkable legislation for the benefit of U. P. Railroad.................. 6
How Blaine denied............................................
Ames, Garfield & Co........................................................
George Francis Train....................................................
James G. Blaine..........................4.........................
Lenry L. Dawes..............................................
Glenn W. Scofield............................................
James A. Garfield............................................643
John A. Logan......................................................
Henry Wilson..............................................................
James Harland..............................................:
Mr. Patterson..........................................................
The Committee's report a whitewashing one.............................4
DIZPLcAIoNs.-Amounts stolen.................................................. 724
By Postmasters.............................................................. 724
"U. S. Marshals.......................................................... 729
Officers of Courts.......................................................  729
Governors................................................ 730
Internal Revenue Assessors................................... 730
"Stamp Agents.......................................................... 731
Diplomatic officers...................................................... 731
Bankers...................................................................  731
"Indian Service........................................................... 732
Ex-collectors of Internal Revenue...................................... 732
Pension Agents........................................................... 732
" Ex-officers of Custom.................................................. 733
Other officials............................................................ 733-5
"Total amount stolen.......................................................  736
DEXOCRATIC APPOrNTMENTS..................................................................  737
Radical hypocrisy............................................................ 787
Bribe-takers rewarded by Republicans..................................... 787
List of persons appointed to 44th Congress................................ 739
Number of Union and Confederate sordiers appointed..................... 741
ii
INDEX.
618
618
619
.,621
625
627
629
631
633
635
635
637
638
640
641
641
641
641
642
643
644
644
644
644
646 
INDEX.
Page.
444
444:
445
445)
446
447
447
448
448
449
450
450
373
I)AVENPORT, LITTLE JOHNNY..................................................................
Description...............................................................
As Supervisor............................. 
The action of the House secured by false pretenses.......................
A big job.................................................................
His patriotism.............................................................
Hugh Hastings has a finger in the pie......................................
Davenport after the people's money........................................
He renders no vouchers....................................................
Davenport's bill.............................................................
The ridiculousness of his bills.............................................
The Government freely bled......................................
Samuel I. Glassey's testimony concerning Davenport.....................
Davenport compelled to disgorge..........................................
DODGE, WM. E. Jr.                 On the N. Y. Custom House...............................................
DURELL, Judge.
Illegal orders.............................................
First injunction               against Wa rmoth's Board of Canvassers..................
Midnight order............................................................
His intamous end.......................................................
DIx, LETTER OF GEN. JOHN A., to SAMUEL J. TILDEN.....................................
EMMA MINE SWINDLE, THE                 Committee's Report on Robert C. Schenck...............................
The way in which Minister Schenck deceived people.......................
Large dividends-o paper..220.
Large dividendson paper................................-.............
Worth of the shares in 1872 and at the present time........................
Minister Schei-ck becomes a Director..............................
His name needed to perpetrate the swindle...............................
Falseness of the telegram of Minister Schenck............................
Schenck resigns...........................................................
300 shares more for Schenck..............................................
The poker-playing Schenck rebuked......................................
:EXTRAVAGANCE OF TBHE REPUBLICANS.....................................................
EXPENSES OF THE WHITE HOUSE.............................................
FRAUDS IN ERECTING PUBLIC BUILDINGS....................................................
FREEDMEN'S BUREAU AND SAVINGS BANK.-Twin Monsters ofFraud...................               5
Its object..................................................       5
The powers of the Bureau...........................................
Charges against Howard..........................................
The improper appropriation of $500,000...................................
Legislative juggling......................................................
Trickery used in obtaining the charter of the Freedmen's Bank............
A false statement in order to deceive the Negroes........................
Howard's recommendation of         the bank............................
Tennyson outdone by the Freedmen's Bank................................
A list of the defalcations at the branch banks...............................
Shameless frauds upon the Negro..........................................
Worthless bonds...............................!' —---
Anether illustration 6f the faithlesesses  of the Bank officials...............
Accounts destroyed........................................................
[ODWIN PARKE, LETTER OF................................................................
Democrats alone for reform.................................................
Republican platform deficient..............................................
St. Louis Convention.....................................................
The Democratic platform highly commendable.............................
Republican and Democratic platforms compared..........................
GLAS8EY'S SAM. J.                 Testimony of Davenport....................................................
GRANT, ORVILLE                 His connection with the Whisky Ring.....................................
,GRANT, PRESIDENT                 On the employment of troops at New Orleans..............................
Refuses troops when the Legislature asked for them........................
Recognizes Pinchback as Governor...............................1
Refuses to reconsider..........................................
Messages on Louisiana.....................................................
Refuses immunity to Seleye who could testify on frauds in New Orleans
Custom House....................................................
111
117
127
145
149
154
iii
118
120
m
m
25
217
220
220
220
222
222
224
225
227
2,30
747
749
347
. 536
5m
539
50
541
w
546
547
547
Ns
549
549
552
552
560
27
27
30
31
32
32
450
465 
INDEX.
Page..
46,~
49; 
48;  5!
52e
57'
59  59,:
60
62
753
LYcs-RECORD of RUrHERFORD B................................................
Follower of party leaders.................................................
Supporter of subsidy jobs.................................................
The Comanche job........................................................4
The Credit Mobilier......................................................
Kansas Pacilfic steal.......................................................
Atlantic and Pacific job....................................................
Alarm at his schemes.....................................................
A list of schemes...........................................................
Bouligny claim...............................................
The politician's tool...........................................
His financial record in Congress...................................
HATCH, Mr., a United States citizen, held a prisoner in San Domingo.  The Administration
takes no action.............................................................408-12
HOWARD, GEN., his connection with the Freedmen's Bureau................................. 53644
How THE PEOPLE'S MONEY WAS WASTED................................................... 721
INDIAN FRAUDS. --
How contracts are made to pay............................................ 294
All the honorable men leave the Peace Commissi      on................  296
A sham Commission appointed............................................ 297
The showing of official figures............................................    298
A comparison of the American and Canadian Indian Service.............. 298
Illegal sales of pine timber................................................. 299
Illegal contracts for supplies, &c..........................................   300
Ring influence in the Interior Department................................3
Beef cattle frauds......................................................... 301
Indian Commissioner Smith exposed.....................................    305
Prof. Marsh's efforts at reform, and the recep tion they met with...........307-12
Testimony of Gen. Custer................................................. 316
His reason for not reporting frauds........................................ 319
IPEAC[HENT OF BELKNAP.............................................................. 496
JOBBERY IN GRAVESTONES..................................................................
Even dead soldiers robbel of this last token of affection and remembrance.
Belknap's contempt for Congress..........................................
A contractor's mistake...................................................
The jobbery in gravestones (I).........................................
The fraud unearthed by the Democratic House-$200,000 saved............
Contracts not awarded to the lowest bidders..............................
KELLOGG, Gov., of LOUISIANA.                Refuses to send aid to Colfax................................
His administration.......................................................
Orders for troops.........................................
Invokes aid of udge Durell............................................
LOANING PIBLIC CREDIT TO CORPORATIONS................................................
LITTLE JOHNNY DAVENPORT.............................................................
LOSSES OF THE GOVERNMENT                Accurate information offered...............................................
Stolen cotton............................................................
Large discrepancies in accounts.........................................
A $5,000,000 deficit........................................ 
Kaufman's confession.................................. 
No protection for the Government..........................................
A specimen fraud...........................................................
Report of a special agent.....................................................
-Testimony of an honest clerk.............................................
517
5191
52
522:
-528
529
53O
531
533
LOUIsIANA-Readmitted APRIL 18,'68.
The form of government Guaranteed to the South by the Republicans....... 98
Gov. Warmoth Controls Elections......................................... 100
Warmoth's Election Laws......................................101
Republican opinions of them..............................................  102                Despotism of Warmoth................................................... 103
One of Warmoth's villainies............................................ 104
Pinchback and others as Bribe Takers.............................1....  05
Pinchback sells his v o t e........................................ 105
Warmoth defies the Constitution.................................105
The Corrupt Republican Judiciary................................107'
Quarrel among the plunderers.................................... 107
. S. Senator West....................................................... 108
Custom House Convention..................................................  110
Warmoth's description of Casey...................................111
Senator ay................................................................
Caseyr Holdes a Corruption Fund...................................... 
Speaker Carter's description of Warmoth...... I................... 113.
.iv
684686,
686
688
688
689
133.,
136
140 
.120-1
751
444 
INDEX.
Page.
LOUISIANA. -(Continued.)
Warmoth's grand villainy.................................................
Bloodshed-eign of Trror................................................... 116
Use of United States Troops............................................116
PART II.
Usurpation of the State Government Sustained by President Grant........
Kellogg seeks the aid of Judge Durell...................................
Durell's first injunction................................................
Ominous dispatch from the Attorney-General.............................
Durell's midnight orders..........................................
The Edict of Usurpation...................................................
A Bogus Legislature-Pinchback, the Bribe Taker, becomes Governor.....
Appeals for justice unnoticed............................................
The U.S. Senate sustains the usurpation.................................
PART IH.
From Colfax Massacre in April, 1873, to Invasion of Legislature, January,
1874................................................. 130 et e
Colfax Massacre........................................................... i
Where the responsibility belongs.......................................... 131
The Colfax crisis approaching.......................................... 132
Kellogg refuses aid........................................................ 1.32
The Conflict...............................................................   133
Negro violation of a flag of truce......................................... 134
Political murders............................................................135
Vicious laws of Kellogg's Administration............................ 136
Terrible state of finances and repudiation.................................. 137
Republican description of the White Leagues............................  138
Revolution of New Orleans in September, 1874............................ 139
Meeting of Legislature, Jan. 4, 1876;........................................  139
Kellogg's infamous orders................................................. 140
Election of Speaker Vaughan..................................... 141
Speaker Wiltz forced to leave the hall.......................................... 142
The Committee of Congress declares that the Democrats had a majority... 142
The Returning Board censured by the Republican Congressional Committee  14
A sample of the intimidation............................................. 4
The action of the Returning Board in the Parish of Rapides................. 144
Congressmaii's Hoar's Report and President Grant's compared............. 145
Gen. Sheridan's course in New Orleans.................................. 147
The opinion of his actions as given by the New York Times and President
* Grant.................................................   149
How the Army Officers discharged their duties............................ 150
Political oppression..................................................... 152
PART IV.
The Brother-in-law................................................1.......
Justice defeated by the Administration...................................
Frauds in New Orleans Custom House....................................
The way contract jobs are arranged........................................
Adverse report of Casey by Congressional Committee.....................
MARSH, PROFESSOR                His testimony against the frauds of Indian Department....................306-13
McENERY-Declared Governor of Louisiana............................................. 121
Asks Grant to hear both sides.....................................128
How he was answered.................................................... 128
MORTON, SENATOR.                 His statements of the South false......................................... 255
NEW YORK CUSTOM HOUsE FRAUDS................................................................ 335
NEPOTISM AND GRANTISM                Orville Grant and John S. Delano as contractors.........................
Delano receives one-half of profits which a contractor may realize.........
Proofs of illegal transactions sent to Washington...........................
The President's letter.....................................................
NAVY DEPARTMENT.                 Its worthlessness..............          -t
A shameful exhibit............................................
Secretary Robeson......................................................
How he got into the Cabinet 5.........................
Robeson's income before and after he became Secretary of the Navy-a
delightful showing.....................................................
Speculations at Long Branch...........................................
A. G. Cattell & Co's..................................................
Where Mrs. Robeson did her shopping....................................
How E. G. Cattell bled the navy contractors..............................
v
119
120
120
122
123
m
125
127
129
154
155
156
158
160
710
711
713
715
m
563
563
563
. 565
565
566
570
571 
Page.
573
578
581
584
587
589
591
592
594
596
597
599
599
600
601
603
607
609
612
612
563
400
400
401
403
NAVY DEPARTMENT.-(Continued.)
The person that paid Mrs. Robeson's bills...........................'.
Secor Claim.............................................................
Hungerford Claim..........................................................
What was Robeson's share'..............................................
Failure of Jay Cooke, fiscal agent of the Government......................
Modus operandi of swindling contractors..................................
Navy yards used as political machines....................................
How it is done................................................          5
Bribery of naval clerks....................................................
Statement of war vessels illegally broken up...............................
Contracts not awarded to lowest bidders................................
Government materials used by Secretary Robeson for private purposes...
',~'   ~    Good clothing sold for condemned........................................
Extravagant contracts......................................
Robeson's report on the conditionof the navy and AAdmiral Porter's com                     pared...................................................
Opinions of many other officers on the condition of the U.S. Navy........
Cost of foreign navies compared with the U. S.............................
Relative comparison of guns and tonnage of U.S. and English vessels....
A fearful exhibit...........................................................
Secretary Robeson responsible.............................................
OUR WORTHLESS NAVY.....................................................................
ORTH, GODLOVE S...........................................................................
As Minister to Austria......................................................
His connection with the Venezuela Scandal....................................
Compelled to resign from the contest for Governor in Indiana..............
OFFICIAL BOUQUET SHOP                Decoration of the White House grounds.............................
Dog-money.................................................................
Wrapping-paper for bouquets, $62.25 etc...................................
What it costs to keep the Executive Mansion grounds in repair.............
PARKE GODWIN'S LETTER.................................................................. 27
PUBLIC LANDS.-How squandered...........................................?......... 751
PUBLIC CREDIT.-Amount loaned to Corporations............................................
PRACTICAL RETRENCHMENT AND REFOR................................. 658                 Speech of Hon. Sam. J. Randall.1 JA masterly defense of the D)emocratic
House Appropriations.................................... 657-674
PINCHBACK
Bribe-taker................................................................ 105
Sells his vote................................................105
Elected Senator........................................................... 114
PLUNDERED SOUTH, THE.                 The reliance of the South upon Northern promises....................... 245
Grant's letter on the South................................................. 248
Reconstruction laws....................................................... 249
Financial condition of the South................................. 2504
PENSION FRAUDs.-The Bureau a labyrinth of red tape......................................
Pension money used for a wrong purpose...................................
Fraudulent Bounty land warrants issued.................................
An ex-Governor of Nebraska as a Pension agent............................
Influence with Grant sold for $2,500..................................
The dark side of the transaction......................................
Grant honors the conspirators.....................................
The Macon investigation......................................................
PATTERSON, JOHN J.                A model carpet-bag Senator..............................................
His biography as given in the N.Y. Sun....................................
A good beginning......................................................
Another chapter of rascality................................................
A certificate of character...................................................
Repudiated by his own party................................................
Corruption......:
Corruption.......................................................
B      riber y and Perjury...........................................6
Cheating his sisters...............................................
Forgery.....................................................................
How he saved himself....................................................
Confesses he is a scoundrel.....................................
Did he steal $25,000 in South Carolina...............................
He gets ahead of Tom Scott.........................................6
Also, overcomes Gov. Scott of South Carolina.............................
He again escapes the Penitentiary............................................
ri
-MDXX.
716
718
718
719
752
690
691
692
693
693
694
695
696
(347
e,47
647
648
648
649
649
650
651
651
652
653
65.5
656
656
656 
INDEX.
Page.
PUBLIC BUILDINGS                Frauds in erection of.................................................... 347
A suggestive exhibit.......................................................347-50
Magnitude of the jobbery........................................ 351
Where Boss Shepherd came in............................................ 351
N.Y. City Post office................................................. 352
How contracts are made................................................... 353
Boston Post office............................................. 354
Butler's connection................................................. 355
How the cost was swelled.................................................. 356
Shepherd's proposition for robbing the Government......................... 358
POST-TRADER AND OTHER FRAUDS.-Report of the committee...............................
The way appointments were made..........................................
The price for post traderships.............................................
The case of Mr. John W. Charles................................
His letter to the President.................................................
The effect of the letter......................................................
How the President "fixed things "..........................................
Gen. Custer testifies.......I................................................
The claim of the Kentucky Central Railroad against the Government, and
Geo. H. Pendleton's connection therewith..............................
Contract for the extermination of moths..................................
The amount of profit....................................................
PLATFORM OF THE DEMOCRACY...........................................................
Reform a duty...........................................................
Sound currency............................................................
Retrenchment...............................................................
Resumption................................................................
Reform in taxation........................................................
Public Expenditures....................................................
Public lands..............................................................
Sectarianism...............................................................
Sectionalism.................................................
Civil Service..............................................................
Official crimes............................................................
Republican reform impossible.............................................
PosT OFFICE DEPARTMENT.                Republican mismanagement....................................         4
Rings within Rings....................................................
Suggestive evidence.......................................................
Peterson's influence........................................................
Creswell's little game....................................................
"Cooking" of accounts...................................................
Loose manner of making contracts.........................................
A glaring fraud............................................................
Huntley's allowances for mail service:......................................
Every thing at loose ends............................
The Assistant Postmaster-General trying to make arrangements for robbing
the Government......................................................
PRINTING FRAUDS.......................................................................... 320
The responsibility of the President and U.S. Senate....................   320
The establishment of the Gov't office..................................... 321
A great source of abuse..................................................  322
The Senate covering up frauds............................................... 324
The Democratic House exposes them.................................... 324
Overcharges proven........................................................ 326
Astounding disclosures........................................ 326
The amount stolen...................................................  327
Fraud in purchase of materials........................................   328
A criminal violation of law............................................. 329
An account of the transactions of Government printer Clapp..............3..328324
E3mbezzlement........ 332
Embezzlement..............................................332
Overcharges illustrated.................................................... 333
The object of undercharging............................................... 334
ITEPUBLICAN MISMANAGEMENT; POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT. I........................430
Ra B. HAYES' RECORD.................................................................... 46
RECORD OF WM. A. WH        E E LER...............................................63...............
REUBLICAN EXTRAVAGANCE.                Contrast between Democratic and Republican rule.................... 747
O]BESON, SECRETART.                His entry into the Cabinet....................................568
The returns of his income for different years........................565
Speculations in real estate.............................................. 566
Where his wife did her shopping and w hy..........................57U
He uses government materials for private purposes.................599
vil
698
699
699
701
701
702
702
705
707
707
709
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
6
430
431
434
435
437
438
439
440
441
443
443 
Page
R. B. HAYEs ON FNANCE.................................................................... 755
REPUBLICAN CIVIL SERVICE REFORM................................................. 367r
RANDALL, HON. SAM. J.-Speech on Retrenchment and Reform.........................
Masterly defense of the Democratic Congress........................658.
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI.                 The Clinton Riot......................................................
Effect of Clinton and Yazoo riots..........................................
Gov. Ames incites antagonism...........................................
He appeals to Grant.......................................................
Democrats watchful for the safety of Ames...............................
Testimony in reference to interference with voters.........................
A specimen of the attempts to create sectional prejudice...................
Social ostracism..........................................................
Interference of Federal authorities.........................................
A suggestive spectacle......................................................
Peabody's Relief Fund, and how disposed of...............................
RADICAL RULE IN MISSISSIPPI..............................................................
Senator Morton's statementsproven untrue by Republicans................
Boutwell's fanaticism.....................................................
Grant's animosity to the South..............................................
Republican report on Mississippi...........................................
The condition of Mississippi.....................................
Gov. Ames on witness stand..............................................
The rule or ruin policy of Congress........................................
Condition of Mississippi under Ames....................................
The negroes incensed against the whites by carpet-baggers.................
Official ignorance in Republican strongholds..............................
Insolvence of the blacks...........................................
Military preparation of Gov. Ames........................................
Campaign of 1875..........................................................
The manner of compiling Senator Morton's speech........................
Political brawls.............................................................
The riot at Vicksburg......................................................
Yazoo Cityriot............................................................
REPUBLICAN" RINd " RULE IN DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.                 A fair test of the party...................................................
A National Exhibition job.................................................
A rich Bonanza for pilfering and stealing..................................
The Ring impatient for millions...........................................
Boss Shepherd to the front.................................................
Description of him.........................................................
Pennsylvania Avenue job..................................:...............
The Ring Paving Company...............................................
A satire on free government.................................................
The Boss and the Supervising Architect....................................
C. S. A. bonds sought bytheRin..........................................
Magruder and his book-keeping............................................
Shepherd and Babcock...................................................
Stealing of millions........................................................
Corruption of judges......................................................
Real estate pool............................................................
Concocting schemes for plunder..........................................
Kilbourn used by the Ring................................................
A suggestive Letter........................................................
-Addition, Division and Silence............................................
Ring profits-a fair sample...............................................
Trying to defraud creditors...............................................
How some rogues were paid......................................
Specimen frauds of the Ring................................................
Tweed Ring outdone...........................................1.
Manner of letting contracts.................................................
A $200,000 haul......................................................1
Liberal response of the Senate..............................................
A typical case................................................................
Doctoring "of accounts.................................................
How Garfieqd's aid was paid for...........................................
The District Jail job.......................................................
Boss Shepherd appears....................................................
Mullett's lavish expenditure.......................................
A dodge to cover fraud....................................................
A characteristic Ring trick.................................................
More appropriations........................................................
Babcock's lightning calculation......................................
Another $1,500,000 fraud...............................................
Its exposure.......................................................... 
Sawyer & Sargent removed...............................................
Other raids on the Treasury...................................................
Harrington rewarded for his attempt to kidnap Dana......................
Robbing the school funds............................ e............
viii
INDEX.
275278
282
283
285
286
289
290
290
291
294
2,%
255
256
257
257
260,
261
26!t
269
264
265266
269,'
27
27t
27a -
274
274
161
16t
163
163
164165
166;
166,
168'
169,
169,
169
170
172
172173,
17&
17-T
175
176
176.
177178,
179,
179'
1801 n,
183.
184186
189,
18
19D
191
191
193
196
197
2w 
TiDEX.
Page.
RPusBLIcAw "RING" RULE.-(CGontinued.)
Babcock's system or measurements......................................... 201
The debt legacy of the Ring................................................,
The darkest crime of the age.............................................. 2
Grant supports Shepherd...................................................
Shepher still'.................................................
The greatest of all swindlers...............................................  207
Effect of five years ring rule............................................... 210
Statement of the debt of the District   of Columbia........................ 211
Epenses in 1875, under Reform (?) rule...................................... 214
Other schemes which are contemplated............................216
SQUANDERING THE PUBLIC DOMAIN......................................................... 75
SAMIUEL J. TLDEN'S REFOP.RM RECORD..................................................... 17
STEWART, A. T.                His opinion of the N.Y. Custom House..................................... 336
SANBORN FRAUDs.........................................................................  360
How the law was enacted.......................................... 360
Compensation of Sanborn & Co...................................... 361-3
Testimony before the Committee......................................... 365
S   DOMIrNGO JOB...................................................................... 404
President Grant's pet scheme.............................................. 404
Where the idea came from.............................................. 404
Who were in it............................................................  407
Arrest of Mr. Hatch............................. 408
Babcock sent to San Domingo by President Grant                   409
Tampering with and expurgating letters concerning Mr. Hatch............ 409-12
Annexation................................................................   415
Babcock's treaty.............................................. 415
Robeson's orders........................................................ 417
Perry demolishes Babcock......................................418
Astounding report of Senate Committee................................... 420
Minority report............................................................  420
Directions from the White House....................................... 424
Raymond H. Perry, an atrocious plot against h i m......................... 425,
Failure of the plot........................................................ 426
SAMUEL J. TILDEN.........................................................................
As a reformer.............................................................
As Chairman Democratic State Cmmittee.................................
In the Legislature..........;............................................
Nominated for Governor........................................
His election..............................................................
As Governor............................................................
War on the canal plunderers...............................................
Address of Gen. Dix.........................................................
As a ring breaker........................................................ 
Chief instrument in conviction ofTweed................................
Reduction of Taxation N. Y. State.......................................
Saving of P,000,000.......................................................
His opposition to the Tweed Ring......................................
Was he a sham reformner........................................
'TLDEN AS A RInG-BREAKERR.......................................................3
TwIN MONSTERS OF FRAUD.................................................. 
TxMEs, N. Y.                Its testimony for Samuel J. Tilden in 1874-5...................
VIRGINUS.-......       th s..............................................
Description of the steamer....................
Captired by a Spanish Man-of-War...............................
The murders...;,.............................................
The Amreritan Consul's protest.......................................
An appeal to the "Butcher" Burriel....................................
His reply................................................................
The murder of Capt. Fry and the crew of the Virginius...................
More insults to our flag..............................................
Pusilaniminity of Sec. Fish..............................................
A marked contrast-Salonica.............................................
17
675
675
675
676
676
676
677
681
682
683
683
VENEZUELA SCANDAL.......................................................391
D. H, Talmage appointed Commissioner for the Americans.................391
His abilities and character................................................ 391
Suspicious circumstances................................................. 392
Fraud fully proved.................................................... 393
A sample of the bogus claims............................................ 39
Perjury of Talmage...................................................... 390
The amount stolen..................................................... 399
The Republicans admit the swindle, but sustain the rascals.............. 400
Orth, a swindler's lobbyist as Minister to Austria......................... 409
Orth takes the fraudulent certificates.................................... 401
A Democratic House champions the cause of truth and right............03
Godlove S. O'rth compelled to withdraw from the ticket in Indiana.......403
ix
17
17
18
20,
23
24
24
25
25.
36.
38
40-43
45
18.
18-19
36
535 
- INDEX.
Page.
468
749
517
298
WIsON'S, BLUrORD, Testimony of Whisky Ring...........................................
WuT  Hous.   ense  of.................................................
WroSTE HoudsE. —Exrpenses of...............................................................
WHAT THE GlOVERNMENT HAS LOST.......................................................
W3LSH, WM., exposure of Indian Commissioner Smith..............................'9
WEST, Senator, ofLouisiana....................................................
Two different reports of him......................................
WHY THE SOUTH SHOULD BE RESCUED......................................................
Table of Northern Products...................
" Southern   "................................................. 
o f Louisiana...............................................................
Controls elections..........................................................
Unlimited power..........................................................
One of his rascalities...........................................................
His Judiciary..............................................................
Quarrels with Dunn and Packard..........................................
Described by Speaker Carter his Coup d'etat...............................
Complains to President...................................................
"Fusion" ticket...........................................................
Removes Secretary of State...............................................
Appoints new Board of Canvassers........................................
Proclaims McEnery elected.....................................
WHEELER, Wm. A.-R-EcoRD oF-Congressional investigations..............................
Efforts to defeat investigations...........................................
He aids the corruptionists...................................
Persists in preventing investigation........................................
In 41st, 42d and 43d Congresses............................................
Hand-in-hand with corrupt corporations....................................
Burlington and Missouri Railroad Job.....................................
Ten little jobs..........................................................
Big Northern Pacific job..................................................
Choking off debate.......................................................
A $5,000,000 job................................................
Defender of corporations.................................................
The same old $5,000,000 job................................................
He favors Tom Scott's big job.............................................
Serving his masters.......................................................
His attempt to defeat the Louisville and Portland Canal...................
The Supreme Court and Republicans against him..........................
WHISKY RING CONSPIRACY.................................................................
Bribe-takers in high places.................................................
Beginning of the Ring.....................................................
Congressmen corrupted...................................................
Thad. Stevens' bill.......................................................
Taxing the stock on hand..................................................
Stevens astonished.......................................................
A premium on fraud.....................................................
The Whisky Ring controlled Congress.....................................
The Gaiena Ring and how they were shielded..............................
The President's brother.......................................4
Senator Logan one of the Ring...........................................
A jail birdys banquet..........................................4
Blufiord Wilson's testimony......................................
The "1 Sylph " telegram.........................................
Gen. Babcock's indictment.................................................
The conference between the President and Bluford Wilso................
Dismissal of Henderson....................................................
The President makes everything known to Babcock.......................
x
107
107
742
744
744
WMMOTH, Gov.
w
100
103
104
I07
107
116
119
115
119
159
121
64
65
66
67
77
77
78
79
79
82
83
84
85
88
90
92
94
456
457
458
459
459
460
460
462
468
464
465
466
467
468
479
418
480
481
485