Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1840-09-15

I
before many months the spcculatr"ns he had entered
into would result in such way as TO enable hn 10 pa!
all up Nor this ALL they had before the!h
statement of MIR Philips the assistant CASHIER IN these
words "Mr. Swartwout came into office, as collector
of the port of New York, on the ls May. lc3 and a:
far as nv memory serves int r,c months hdd GaPset
before he draing money for has Pr're uses
which he continued for period Of nearly mne years
without any great nterm'sson Nor was this all thel
had an actual list Of than forty checks, Tor SUM
VARYING from 81 600 TO Sl2GO0, drawn By Mr. Swart
won't, on the public deposit, for his use, previous
To the year 1887 and they knew that books containing
the evidence OF other similar checks had been lost OF
mislad Which, then, is erroneous, the statement o.
the Secretary OF the Treasury or the "conclus'oh
the Committee
Nor was Swartwouts yindication and e1cu patton the
only object That there other persons concerned
in his fraud upon the public money, nobody can doubt
That they persons of congenIa disposition IN po
lItics and speculation, equally probable. ne &C.
crearv and offices of the Treasury believing this, had
pushed their inquiries as far they could but the
secret nature the transactions baflcd them, with the
slender means placed IN their hands by the existing
laws They had however pursued their examinations,
as far as the law authorized them 10 co. they had eS-
| amned the books, vouchers, and accounts OF Swart
won't they had obtained such testimony as they could
from individuals connected with the revenue at New
York; they had ascerained the exact amount of public
money abslracted they had discovered the times and
manner Gifts being TAKEN they had traced the several
funds where the deficits occurred; the state OF Tie ac-
counts whether kept at the Customhouse or exam
incd at the Treasury, had been explicitly and fully pre-
scned Yet with all this, the President, aware OF the
limited powers Of the Treasury Department, IN press
ing such investigation, had recommended inrlter
INQUIRY under the extensive powers of Congress That
body itself with the results before them of what the
Treasury officers had DONE still thought that there were
other developments material 10 the true character o"
dclacations and that these, their committee, vested
with such am pie authority, could, and ought to make.
Have they done so What single material fact tending
10 develop The true character defacaons is now
known the public that was not before known Is The
amount of the dedication changed, or its source or the
mode in which il pcrpetrated: In no instance has
this been done. What facts, al all material TO !e
velop the character Of these detcatnns brought to
light: The Committee bound tn have removed
the veil of mystery that hangs over the transactms
and which they alone could remove The Treasury
officers had shown that Custom-hnuse bonds to The
amount of six hundred and fortysix thousand dollars
had been surrendered by Swartwout, and the money
not paid into the Treasury, they had shown that
hundred and eleven thousand dollars OF these had been
surrendered IN one quarter "i HE year 1917; they
had GIVEN A LIST OF THE PERSONS BY
WHOM NEARLY SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND
DOLLARS OF THESE BONDS MUST HAVE
BEEN PAID, FPAID AT ALL. Beyond this, The
Treasury officers had no power 10 go. They had no
right authority 10 examine these persons or Ia make
further inquiry regard To thosr payments, cx,racrd
nary and mv,rron< the whole matter was SUCH
POWER THE COMMITTEE OF iNEESTIGA-
TIUN HAD. The transaction was one above all
others airria 10 develop The true character Of The
deEacatirn. VT Il i0tai!y and 0bS0I"t''y dSrc
ydrdsd: and the whole of il, after the Committee had
passed fourteen days New York, where the persons
perfectly able 10 disclose every thing relating to II resi-
drd-was left in the same "hscnrity as on the day
when the Committee appointed
WIS it not sna,rria to the development Of this de.
lalcaion to ascertain in what manner this amount Of
more than halfa million OF dollars, apparently collected
in thee months, had been disposed OF Yet none of the
papers sent for that could disclose this
Was not materia:-ycs prcultar and 'nd'spensaby
natcual-to know in what manner the whole of Swar.
twouls appropriations OF public money had been APP
Piled what property he had; where the Government,
were to look for indemnify repayment. Yet no ray
of light Is thrown upon this branch of the subject.
Bot, If the COMMITTEE jealous in putting upon
Swariwout transactions the best possible Co!orng
and 10 maintaining prudent lrnce regard to those
who in oil probability IN The undrsurhcd enjoy
me Of no small portion of the public money winch
he had helped them, they troubled with no such
scruplrS towards the Secretary of the Treasury and the
other officers of his Department. Misrepresentation
Pronunciation and abuse Of those officers very
turally proportionrd 20 the vndcatinn of Swartwou
md the refusal 10 pass The laws for Furnishing default
recommended BY Mr.. Van Buren,
The character of Mr.. Woodbury. seems to have bren
the principal point Of attack The elevated position
$50" ",'' ''.r.-'rr! iii - much rGness and cft-
cheney by THIS "lo"r ~i-'"A I'll; ~ 49,. -"
prolira,e schemes which had been concerted for plum
u
,rding them relief from the embarrassment into which
they had been plunged By the violation Of the most
cred Obligations had rendered him particularly "bnnxi-
Gus 10 the Wing and Conservative leaders, by whom
these schemes had been arranged During the warfare
carried on al the expense Of the productive interests Of
The Union for the benefit of the hanks he the prnci
pal target at which all their weapons were pointed.
The success Of Mr. Woodbury., carrying on the pub
lie service in spite of every species Of opposition and
embarrassment which the banks and their satellites had
been able to conrve, had wholly twarted the designs
of the coalition between the Wings and Conservatives,
and had rendered their hopes of trIumphIng over The
interests Of the people totally desperate The main
qualification left for the solacc of their chaGrin was IN
destroy Mr. Woodbury.. The cry OF IMPEACHMENT
was raised by the leaders Of the Wing party in the
House, and responded 10, in advance OF all evidence
duplicating his conduct, by the coalition.
In this spirit the famous investigating Committee
got up BY the Wing party in Congress, and after
endcavoring we have seen TO vindicae Swartwou,,
they laborcd with equal industry-and with about
equal successful accomplish the rest Of their purpose
Every step of their proceedings directed To tins
main object ofther mission, the of which might
weaken rnot destroy the confidence Of the people in
| the Administration. For this purpose they posted oil
to New York. under tn. expectation of finding max
ing evidence which would shew that MIR. Woodbury.
was acquainted with Swar'wouts default long time
before November 1885, and concealed the tac corrupt
" and by design, in order TO prevent s producing an
unay ofable influence upon the fall elections.
IN me WnnlP OF lnlS scNtnc llty sIShdl'i
the result of the examination into Swarlwouts case
convinced every unprcimdccd man, that tue deialca
ton caused by the facilities given 10 corrupt and
pernred officer by the existing laws. The point OF at
tack then changed and the long array OF default
ers, of which have already exposed the perversIonf
and Measurements, paradrd for purposes which
Swartwouts not adequate I" supply Pre-
raised III Congress Of collision on the par
of Mr.. Woodbury. with receivers Of the pubic money
and corrupy wlnkng at the loss ofgrrat sums ny thr
defaults These were pretended 10 be borne out by
series of letters from The Department. pointing on
some presumed oversighs and occasional delays IN the
returns of those officers, which, with characteristic
fairness, required to be spread before the public
while the eHcnlpai"ry replies, not being called Tor a
the same time, not permitted TO be given Al
last, these replies also obtained, and, n"twiih
standing the designs Of the Wings, the whole cores
ppndruce was exhibited 10 the people II destroys
totally des.royscvcry allegation that had been found
cd on the previous unfair and one sided movement
No read all This correspondence without being