Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1839-03-07
6o1ESTIC INTELLIGENCE.
HIPORT Of THE INvESrIGATINGCo COM
WyTTFr on THE DEFALCAT|ONS.


MITTEE ON THE DEFALoAi,oNs'
The National Iuteliieencer oil TUESDAY eon'''"s
an .hxract of This report, from "heu We nav ar
RANGED the following. somewhat more aoo'e''aeu.
The commuee state IN their " predatory fe"s'ss |
thai In entering upon their duiies d WIS mos OBJ
,ious that the whole field ei inquiry. presented oy
the resolution appointing the eo,"""ee' eo"'o "e'
be properly traveIssd TO report thefeon e'thefsa
fsctcrly 10 the country or 10 the COMMITTEE curing
the shor remainder OF the present Congress, anu
that they Induced 10 limit their 10
such suhjso,s as had deeply excited p"o''e a"A'e''
and alar ~ and only SO much oi these as 'go'p T
hausted within the hriel time aiioteu TO urn, -
express the hope that the investigato WIN W W"
tluued and completed by the next congress.
They express the conviction tliat al no pe'o' ~
the history Of the Federal Government has "''e
been deeper better founded cause than 'A,s's ~
the present moment. tor every pa'f'o' near ~ "e
prompt consummation OF that s'ena' 'ssN W "
form" which public sentiment "'any years s'"ce
Inscribed on the list OF Executive ou'es, :" 'n"'ae-
sers too legible TO be overlooked reqn"ing' par
sieularly the correction oil those ABUSES 'na' nave
bsoueht the patronage of Inc feoefa, 'o'e'","eh'
into conflict with the freedom 81 e,eeuons' ana 'he
counteraction OF those cause which nave disturbed
the rightiul courses OF appointment, ana nave pa
ced or continued power IN uniahui OF incompetent
handle"
They then proceed TO give an Outline oil Inc man
ner in which their examinations have been conduct
rectness OF the returns made by the present collector
ofihe customs aud the naval officer At New hok,
"cousidcring that the customs collected III New
York equal nearlyt"o thirds oil The whole anountin
the United States" But" say they, ~ the exc
cuticn of so much ofthis part OF their inquiries as
related TO the present collector ofNew York. they
were compelled 10 encounter most unexpected obsta'
ciea, interposed BY the collector himself and setting
Al defiance the authority delegated 10 The Commit
tee by the House.
ia nf thl
vestigaiou they supposedly proper and safe 10 place
themselves undef the guidance Of several SPECIAL re-
ports TO Congress from the Secretary o the Ireasu-
" and others. =" 1t however, very soon became es-
dent that those reports TO be implicitly re
lied on as auxiliacs 10 finding out either the law
the facts Of the case and thai on thr contrary, they
furnished bnt an lque view of both the aud
duration of Mr. Swartwou,'s delalcatons, as also Of
the Law aud maLy material facts which develop the
true character oil those defalcalions OF necessity,
therefore, these fepcris although emanaiing from
the hiph hest orders of official functionares employed
the collection and disbursements OF the public
venues be came the subjects oil AS cautious and crit
ical examination as any other portions OF evidence.
which the case presented and as such will be OBJ
ligatory upon the Committee 10 treat them in this
report.
In reviewing the details Of their aboIs SO that the
progress and results of them may be presented IN
the simplest form the Committee propose to cousd-
er-
PanrI The tefalcation of Mr. Swartwout
P,nrIJ The def,leatiop nj Mr. Price
Par H. The correctness of The returns which
have been n AIDE by the present collector and naval
officer of the pou of New York ,especiiycly
partly. The deialtal,on among receivers ofthe
pubhc money
PARr v The fae,s connrcted with The FOREGOING
defaIc atoms and deemed material 10 d,yelop lbc,,
syue cbaracl,r
The COMMITTEE express disanpointment and re-
eret nj no, being able to present 10 the House doc
omen, for which thew had made call mon the
President embracing list of the delalc atoms thai
have taken place among collectors. receivers and
diskurspp officers nj npbi,e Nancy and o,he, nublic
officers, since the Alb Of March, 1879, showing the
amount of each Nc which wonld have had
an important influence on The iudpmen, OF the House
relative TO the deaica,ions of pubc officers and the
cause Of their MULTIPLICATION
More than four weeks have elapscd since the call
had been made and the only information Obtained to
report TO the House is the following letter from which
the Committee conclude -
LIST. That the accounts and records of the several
Departments, in general are so incomplete AMI de.
fecve as TO exhibit, without urea labor aud de-
lay the true relations of collectors RECEIVERS and
disbnrsers of the public money and OF other officers
ofttc Government as TO Distinguish debtors itom
dsfaulters and creditors from both.
2dly. That the number ofthe dcfauliers have mul-
tpl,ed SO rapidly since 1890, under the system oil
accountability pursued towards collectors, receivers
and d'sburses the public moIey, and other officers
~ 10 preclude ,ne ptaeueabh'y oil RECEIVING an ac
eoun. current o, then ueialca''ons with the cler
'cs. 'ofce al ihe command oil ihose departments,
"noer eAh'ine laws ana appropriations
e"ne, inference DC Just, land none othei oil e.
qua weight seems 10 De larry dedueble itom the
4 ma tteef