Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1830-06-22
CHE Constitutional oWbtg.
MONDAY MORNING, JUNE FL, 1880.
MIR. KING.

answer to Kendall will appear in a short time
Those who were just enough TO suspend the forma
aoa of final opinion this subject, until Mr. kim
was heard from, will find their forbearance re,uarded
tas the manifestation of innocence falsely accused
carries pleasure to the just and uprigh) by his COM
fete vndication against the charges, the nsnuations
and the inuendoes of Secretary Branch. In saving
this we anticipate what will be- and is obliged to be
every candid and intelligent mans conclusion, after
perusaf of Mr.. Kings letter.
II his reply to The more subtle allegations of Au-
ditor Kendall, shall be rs lucid and unans,yerable
AS bis anawer to Secretary Branch no man will be at
a loss to understand that Mr. King was removed in
the first instance for political reasons and the
to make him out defaulter afterwards resorted tn
to5usJfy that otherwise unjusfabe STEP Power
having grnt6ed its resenments by an act of turunny
sough next to excuse it, by act ofbaseness which
IS hardly describable-the ruin of an innocent mnn,s
reputation, to justify its own desposm This we
say, mill be the conclusion, if Mr.. King refues Ken
dali as triumphantly as he has refuted Mr. Secretary
Branch. We believe he will do so.
For the better understanding of MIR. King, we re-
publish the letter of the Secretary of the NAVY which
accuses him.
LETTER FROM THE SEcRErARY OF THE NAVY.
Navy Department, .uay 27 1880
StR: have the honor, in obedience to the resoIn-
ton OF the House of Representatives of the 5th in
slant, calling for certain information in relation to
the accounts, &c of Miles King, late Navy Agent
Mt Norfolk Va, to present the accompanying report
OF the Fourth Auditor of the Treasury cont ainina
part of the information called for
There is also transmitted, marked A. COPIES of
Certain vouchers presented to the Department by the
said agent, which have been rejected on each of
which, respectively Is given the reasons for their re-
lection or disallowance by tho Department.
la addition to the reasons assigned on these YOU
mr. thor fInp \
way of explanation, to part of them, that the
salary of Navy Agent limited by law to 90 .oOe
per ennum; and that all sums allowed 20 the aren't.
over and above this amount, are intended To covor
expenses which have been rly incurred in tho
discharge of the duties of his office for clerk hire
office rent stationery fuel, &c. In the vouchers al
luded to, 1t appears, tina. the demands of Mr. King
20 cover these expenditures, were made from to
tme allowed by the respective Secretaries and the
several carried to his credit the books of the
Treasury. After a lapse of from ten to thirteen
years, these charges for clerk hire &C. are reprodu-
ced, and the items considerably Increased in amount
I'm answer to that paItof the resolution which calls
for information as to the manner in which Mr. King
has kept his accounts, and made his monthly and
quarterly returns, it may be promised that the law
requires the Navy Agent to make quarterly returns
of his accounts to the Treasury Department. and that
these shall be accompanied 10y ''vouchers necessary
to the correct and prompt settlement thereof" and it
is required that monthly returns shall be made to the
Secretary of the Navy, of the moneys received and
expended during the preceding month, and of the
unexpended balance in his hands,
This regulation enables the Secretary of the Navy
to remit to the agent the necessary for prompt
compliance with all contracts entered into by the
Navy Department, and to limit the advance to the
agent, that an unnecessary dnd large amour. of
money may not be left in his hands. The monthly
returns of Mr.. King not made in conformity to
these requisites OF the law. acquisitions were made
upon the Department In the early part of May 1929
for considerable amount of money, when the month
ly return of April Showed that he had in his hands
large balances, applicable to the same objects for
which his acquisitions drawn An eXpa nation
was asked of this variance between his acquisitions
and 'eturn. (See letter of the 18th May, 829) No
satisfactory explanation given.
1t was then deemed proper to examine into the
state OF his accounts with the Treasury from which
it appeared that whilst the return tina: Depart
,nent the Both of June, 1920. exhibited balance
to be due from Mr.. King to the United States of
S26 ,568 35, the monthly returns to the NAVY De-
partment, ending on he day, stated balance
to be due from the United States TO him of go O65
II, making difference between these returns of
S45,633 90.
further investigation of this subject, developed
the two following facts: LIST. That the monthly re-
turns to the Navy Department, from the year 1922,
did agree with the returns made to the Treast-
fy Department for the time and same purposes:
and, Cd. That they invariably showed smaller bal
ance against MIR. King than was proven to be the
fact, by his settlements with the Treasury Depart
The Importance of hose disa greements will
be better understood when is kept i'll mind that the
quarterly made the Treasury or settle
Faent, while the monthly returns the Navy Depart
ent, are statements upon which advances to be
made to the Agent 1t can scarcely be necessary to
remark that If the accounts of the Agent contained
correct representation of the transactions of his Of
flee, the three monthly returns the NAVY Dppart-
men, should agree with the quarterly returns made
to the Treasury Department for the same period
This was found be the fact with the returns of the
other principal Agents.
The paper marked contains synopsis of these
discrepancies, from 1929, to June the 30lh, 1929.
FMS document shows that Mr. King had for the last
seven years with the exception Of short time, pre-
ceding his removal from oce, retained his hands,
acknowledged to the Navy Department, amount
OF the public monies averaging from $4,000 to
$4,000 per annum.
me paper marked SHOWS the amount Of the
questions made upon the Department by Mr. King
from the 18th of May to tho 9Th of August 1929, and
it also shows, accurately as could be determined
the amount neccssary to meet the exnenses for tic