Madison Whig advocate. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1839-1841, 1839-05-25

! self, and present them merely as spe
cimens; scores of the same sort-the
! Phosphorescent glimmerings of eorrup.
tion-break through the darkness. and
illuminate the path of the Secretary
from the very moment he came into of
fee. Should treat of them all. the 4th
of March would find me here. and the
chronicles of the defaulters still un-
finished.
! The first case 10 which | will call at
tention is that of Colonel John Spencer,
receiver OF public moneys at Fort
4 Wayne, Indiana, and which commenced
IN 1886. The report OF the whole case
Is found in document lag of the second
session of the twenty-fourth Congress.
| shall extract such portions as are in
point.
Under date of the 18th April, 1856,
the Secretary writes to Colonel Spen-
Ger, among other things, as follow:
Gas these statements for January and
February last have not been received at
the Department, | must claim your at
| tentlon to the omission, and insist on
their transmission, in future, immediate
| ly after the close of each month. At
the same time. would also claim your
strict attention to the regulations of the
Department in respect to the periodical
deposites of the public money, and to
the duty of transmitting the usual evil
dences of such deposites to the Secre-
tary of the Treasury, as the instruc-
tions require"
Immediately afterwards, the Secre-
tary writes again to the following
effect:
Treasury Department, May, %, 1886.
SIR: Since the date of my letter to
for the month of April have been receiv-
ed, from which | perceive that the pub
lie moneys in your hands on the Both
ultimo amounted to the sum of S247,-
251 81, which amount is the accumuIa-
ted receipts of your Office since the LIST
of Janury last. You cannot but be aware
that the retention of the public moneys
in your hands, beyond the period of one
month, unless the receipts of such month
be less than $4,000, is a violation of
your instructions. The object of this
letter is, LIST. To require that the whole
balance on hand at the time of the re-
ceipt of this letter shall be Immediately
deposited, and a certificate of such de-
posIte transmitted to the Department.
without delay. Cd. To inform you that
the Department cannot overlook the |
omission to do SO, or your future neglect |
to deposite monthly, and to transmit |
your monthly returns, accompanied by
the evidence of your deposite, in time to
be received at this office within the /
month next preceding that for which the
return is rendered. Sd. That any neg-I
lect or inattention to these requirements
unless satisfactorily accounted tor VIII
require of me, from a sense of official
duty, that you be reported to the Presi-
dent, with recommendation that you be
removed from office.
| am, very respectfully, ffic.
LEVI WOODBURY.,
Col. SPENCER.
Secretary of the Treasury.
On the 9th of July, the Secretary
directed that Mr.. West (who, it seems,
was a sort of rotary portion of the De-
partment, called an examiner) should
proceed in person ''to make special IN
quiry into the matter, and report to the
Department the result"
Accordingly, Mr.. West proceeded to
Fort Wayne, to examine into the delln-
uuencv of the receiver; and having &C
complished his task, made report to
the Department From this report it
appears that he met Colonel Spencer.
who was on his way TO Richmond to
raise money to make up his deficit to the
Government. The following is an ex-
tract from the report, in relation TO a
charge of "shaving" upon the public
moneys:
sUpon the subject of using the mon
ev of the United States, beg leave to
state, that | find it universally stated
and believed, and-it is conceded to as a
fact by the clerks in the receiver office,
that both he and his relative Dawson
have been much in the habit, an the office,
of shaving money, !. e. exchanging the
money which could not be received for
public lands; the rate of exchange or
discount varying from three TO five per
cent. find in the case of Irish Wells,
of Marion county, Ohio, that so recently
as the 9Th instant, he paid into the hands
of the receiver, in his office, eight dol
lars for exchange two hundred and forty
dollars of Ohio bank notes, of five dol
lars each To what extent this shaving"
business has been carried on in the Of
fee, of course | do not know. but am
satisfied il has been TO very considera-
bic extent; and that the Government
money paid in by one person, has been
handed out by the receiver IN exchange
for uncurrent (or not land office) money
he receiving for his own private use
the discount as agreed upon; and that
the same Government money again is
passed into the land office, TO be again
used for the like purpose, IN pay for the
public lands.
"That the receiver has taken in bank
notes of FIVE dollars, contrary to orders,
the schedule prepared at his office, here
with enclosed, will prove; that he re-
ceived bonus for taking the same, IS,
| think, almost beyond a doubt"
u