Richmond Indiana palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1837-1839, 1838-12-01
From tina Mliisouian.
From the NadI5onian.
THE NEW YORK DEFALCATlON-TiIE
TREASURY DEPARTMENT..

eminent. We have seen heavy losses to the
enue from failures Of merchants; and also, by
failures of banks; but, we nave never before had
q dcfaIcation Of OF the officers OF the FEEDER
al Government o. like magnitude, which probably
exceeds double the sum ever lost by any mer-
chant, and goes beyond The sum lost by all the
Banks put together.
Tho attcmDt il alrc .dy made by the official r.
gan Of the Administration 10 inpiicate the ''.Mer-
chantsr and the 'FederaIists;' and eveh goes so
far as to suggest, that had Btnks never been EN-
p!oyed as repositories Of the public money, such
..abomnnb!e speculation could never have oc-
CURED. The object is plain. 1t is to divert and
draw off the public mind from those who, through
delinquency of their official duty, have been the
principal causes Of the dealcation.
WAC that has the least knowledge OF the man
ner in which the public business AT the Custom
Houses is conducted, and the laws and regulations
provided TO govern the business between them
and the Treasury Department., bat must be sure,
that there has been neglect upon neglect OF the
most reprehensble character, that has permitted
transactions Of the kind that Iave accompanied
this defa lcaton to 60 undiscovered? Where has
the Naval officer been whose duty It Is to operate
as "a check the Collector in all his transactions!
1t is said these defa!cations commenced us early
as 1880 What has the Naval officer been doing
that he ne er detected themi
Above all, what has the Second Secretary OF the
Treasury been occupied about, that he has per-
mitted tho public money to be secretly distracted
to the amount of more than million and quar-
ter of dollars? The writer Of this knows well,
that what has occurred, was predicted by more
than one person. within the walls Of the present
Treasury building nearly four years ago; and,
that prediction often repeated, not as mere
specuations but founded OH strong reasons then
existing.
1t is said, the def,lca ton was managed in the
cash account, until it became OF TOO great magni-
tude longer to keep it easily concealed; when II
was changed from that to the bond account. This
il is said, occurred principally after the general
suspension and extension of payment OF bonds IN
1887.
1t is we'll known that under The regulations, the
Collector required to deposite once a week
at the credit Of tho Treasurer of the United States
the money collected by him, and toward certif-
cato Of tho Same to the Treasury Department.
Where was the Secretary of the Treasury, that
after the depositcs were made for which certifl
Gates were forwarded to him, that he permitted |
balances of hundreds on hundreds Of thousands on
thousands Of dollars still to remain in the hands
of the Collector This nlono sufficient to |
have awakened his suspicious. and led to an in
vestiga ton, even without prediction OF defalca-
ton, which might have reached his ears at the
time made above referred TO.
It is notorious that for many months in 1887,
the Treasury Department was obliged to send
from hero money to pay the expenses incurred at
the New York Custom House, or payable there.
This too, at time when the Collector held unac-
u
the public money. What Il commentary on the
saeacity of the head OF the Treasury Depart
ment. Is
This is not ALL The Secretary in his annual
report in December, 1887, estimated the amount
of ,ostponcd BOMBS at four million dollars. Thus
it stood until May following, when behold, It was
there was error! In place OF the
amount beng four millions, it was said by Mr.. {
JONES' Of the Committee of Ways and Means,
that it would amount six millions, "but beI'ev-
d. I.~Lt - tt,o
change of the amount Of the defalcaion from the
cash to the bond account, together with an addi- {
ton to it under the latter account, that led to
these DISCREPANCIES and this confession. But where
was the Secretary of the Treasury all this timer
Where the monthly, even the quarterly list OF
bonds unpaid, as we'll as running to maturity, that
the Collector by the regulations was required 10 i
forward the Department.
Are the accounts of the Treasury Department '
kept in that loose irregular manner, that II cannot
be ascertaned whether postponed bonds amount +
to four million to nine million dolars2 1t would e
seem 80 from Mr. jones' speech, who was a men, n
Der Of the Finance Committee. No wonder then
The Opposite system failed. No system whatev- '
er could be devised however perfect in ITSELF that
could withstand such bnngIing and neglect n
As to the suretes in this case. Will any one O
or a moment suppose they can be held liable to a
he extent of a single far,hing? Common sense n
orbids it. The cupable neglect that the affair 0
carries on its very enough to exhonorate n
! thousand suretes. The report OF the Secreta- Il
v of the Treasury made to Congress last session
md printed, document 29lo furnishes evidence
# Mr.. Swartwout's Irregularities in his bust "
less that were complained of as long ago 1885 f;
If any thing had been wanting now, to satisfy 81
my one, OF the many who have entertained the oil
pinion, that the present Secretary of the Treas c.
lry has shown himself wholly incompetent to man
&c that Department, and that the whole course "
f policy connected with its management has been "
10Th imbecc and paltering in its character; e,
houd think there is ample proof furnished IN the c,
ase in question. hi
When all the circumstances connected with this
are taken into consideration, il can II
ot be otherwise, but the pubic voice will demand in
thorough investigation by committee OF Con- n
ress. The people, whose treasure has been ab- c,
tracted from their Treasury. will expect and have
right tc know, all the particulars attending the te
ransaction. They will expect to have It made III
lear to them as the bright sun at MONDAY, that
he sentines in tho watchower have been true TO ii
he trusts confided to them. This is an afiir IN m
,hich the whole nation interested and there CO
pre-, ought not to partake of party. These con- fe
iderations it NAV be reasonably supposed Will
cad the House of Representatives, one of its SC
rst after il meets to appoint committee to
investigate this matter and probe it to the bottom
hot oofa char,