The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-03-16


MIR. swartwout's Indebtedness 10 the Government
until siler the expiration Of his term Of office, and
therefore such omissions did not affect The adjust
ment OF his current quarterly accounts; and their
condition. existence, was not matter OF inquiry
BY me-the outstanding balance Of previous
quarter being always brought into succeeding
quarter.
Question So. In auditing the weekly, monthly, and
quarterly accounts Of Mr.. Swariwout, did you have
access to all accounts abstracts, and vouchers,
which were afterwards sent by him to the Treasury
Department.
Answer. All accounts for the Treasury Depart
ment are kept In the auditors Office and pass under
my supervision. In general, made cursory ex-
animation Of ALL before they were sent from the Gus
tom house.
Mr.. Underwood the confidential agent Of the
Treasury Department, with equal care and propre-
~, throughout his testimony, discIiminales between
the accounts Of Mr.. Swarlwout as rendered prior
and those rendered subsequent, TO the commence
ment oflhe year 1887 The fra2daieat coacealmeat
Is not by him made TO attach 10 any returns prior to
1897, but TO the abstract OF bonds taken and paid
in 1887"
Examined bv Mr. Foster.
Question 26. You say, in answer 10 the 9th inter-
rogatory, that you have no reason 10 believe that
in Mr. SIS quarterly accounts, adjusted at the Trea-
sury he concealed by means OF fraud and falsehood
the true aud aggregate balance of his account" Will
you please 10 state whether you have not reason to
believe that he iraudeny concealed In those ac-
counts The true amount Of money he had receired; and
moi his accounts made out as to induce be-
lief that he had accounted fairly for all the money
which had come to bis handsf
Answer. When said, in my answer 10 the 9th
interrogaioIy 81 have no reason TO believe that In
MIR. Swartwout's quarterly accounts adjusted al the
Treasury, he concealed, by means of fraud and
ialsehood the true and aggregate balance Of his ac-
count" meant that he had not in those accounts
omitted to credit the United States and make him
self accountable for all The duties secured By dim.
did not mean 10 convey the idea that the items
prisng the balance Of his account were not erroneous
In amount. and frandnleftiy so the item OF bonds
aaeoteefed In 1887 being too large, and that of cash
and unsettled and suspense accounts" correspondingiy
too sn,aH. have reason to believe, that by the abb
slract OF bonds taken and paid rendered in 1897,
he fruduleny concealed the true amount of money
he had received" although, al the same time, the
aggregate balance Of his account Of the customs for
each quarter, was correct one
With equal precision the First Auditor repudiates
the idea of any fraud or defalcation in Swarwouts
accounts prior to 1887. He was examined by Mr..
Curtis, and answered as follows:
Question g. Was there any omission, in Swart-
wouts quarterly returns to your office, Of any sum or
item which he ought to have charged TO himself, or
credited to the United States therein In other
words, were not Swartwoul's quarterly returns in
point of FORM made according to the standing usages
and orders OF the Treasury Department.; and in
point Of fact did they not show the true balance due
from Swartwout2
Answer. As far as my knowledge extends, the
quarterly accounts of Swarwout were rendered in
the usual form, and the proper credits for duties
cured and other moneys received by him, belonging
10 the United States, given at least nothing TO the
contrary has yet been discovered. But they were
and fraudulent this; that he failed Gas
appears from the late investigation by the Comprol
Ter and Solicitor made at the custom house In New
York 10 credit his bond account in The first quarter
Of 1887 and IN some subsequent quarters with the foil
amount of bonds paid within those quarters the
effect Of which was, to exhibit larger balance Of
bonds than in point of fact hand and TO lessen
the cash balances or, in other words, he failed to
account truly for the cash he had received on bonds
and his account current Of bonds made to exhibit
a false balance.
The defalcat,ons of Mr. Swartwout in 1887, and
the first quarter Of 1888, principally, however, In
the two first quarters Of 1887 consisted Of the pro,
ceeds Of bonds falling due within that period, and
collected by him. OF all these bonds, however, he
had regularly charged himself in his accounts re-
turned to the Treasury Department, and they con-
sttuted portion of the aggregate balance due from
him to the Government. When he collected them,
instead Of paying the amount into the Treasury, and
thus osettiDg the charge for bonds In his accounts
rendered TO the Department by charge against the
Government of the cash so paid into the Treasury,
he retained and used the cash, leaving his indebted
ness for bonds In its original amount.
OF all the sum Withdrawn from his bank -deposite
account as collector and used for private purposes,
prior and subsequent TO 1887 as contained In pri-
vate memorandum kept by Mr. Phillips, his cashier,
in the custom house, and forming part Of the re-
ported defalcation in House document ID, the evil
dence is that 1t was from time 10 time, replaced by
MIR Swartwout's own funds and by funds derived
from the bonds of 1887, as well as by anticipating
the cash or other duties of a succeeding week to
make good his return of cash reported as received
whole defalcations arising from the use OF the mo-
neys reported BY Mr.. Phillips upon the final weekly
return OF Mr. Swartwout.
Joshua Phillips examined BIZ Mr.. Smith.
Question GO. In House document IL, pages SO and
SO, is a schedule OF your own, of numerous sums,
amounting TO $l93602 20, which were drawn from
the public deposites, BY Mr. Swarwout, for his own
use. Do you mean said sums were drawn from his
cash deposites as collector in the banksa 1fyea, in
what banks, according to the " check books" spoken
of by you at the foot of said schedules Do you not
know that Mr.. Swartwout also replaced money thus
taken and il yea 10 what amount
Answer. The sums referred to in document Is,
pages SO and SO, amounting TO Sl93,6O2 70, were
drawn by him, as collector, from his cash deposiies
They were drawn from the Bank of America, Me
chanics' Bank, and Manhattan Company. do not
know that Mr. Swartwout ever replaced any OF the
particular sums contained in said fist. He was, as
have stated, in the habit of drawing money, and
would sometimes replace it, but cannot particu-
larize the amounts. was not always in the habit
of noting the checks that Mr.. Swartwout used, and
cannot undertake to say what portion OF the above
amount was returned.
Question a. How did Mr.. Swartwout conceal,
in his weekly cash returns to the Secretary OF the
Treasury, the weekly deficit in his bank accounts,
occasioned BY the sums Withdrawn, and not replaced,
to which you refer in your last answerl
Answer. The collections made BY the banks up to
o'clock do not appear on the books OF the custom
house until the followngday; consequently, in making
up the weekly account for the Treasury Department,
to o'clock on Saturday, the amount collected at The
bank on Saturday would not appear on the custom
house books until Monday morning; by this means,
he would have in bank the collections of bonds of
Saturday, which do not appear in the weekly ac-
count Of that Saturday; and that amount, so collect
ed, would be carried to the next weekly account,
and so continue on.
Question II. Please now to state, defnitively,
whether, taking your 3d. Gath, and 10Th answers,
does il not necessarily follow as truth, that the
aggregate deficit in Mr. Swartwout's cash accounts
at the banks, occasioned by the sums Withdrawn, as
BY, his last and final weekly cash returns, il