The daily union. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1845-1857, 1848-06-25


admit of doabt or question They had placed the repu
iaton OF th, Secretary for sagacy and foresight where
1t might safdy defy the attacks of the committee and Of
every one csc.
But the attack of the committee was leveled-hough
they did moi seem TO be OF the fact themselves
at the Reg and all their ammunition was exhausted
upon ms tales appended TO the Secretarys report Now
what were the Registers duties prescribed by the same
act OF 1881 Section provided
THAT II ssal be the duty of the Register keep
counts OF and expenditures OF the public money,
ceive from tie Comptroller the which shall have
been finally adjusted and to preserve such accounts with
the receipts Or payment OF moneys at the treasury certify
the same teeon and to transmit 10 the Secretary of the
Treauy eoes of the certificates of balances Of accounts
adjusted, as Is herein directed"
Such were the duties of the Register, prescribed by
law, wolld thus be seen at glance that the Register
very different officer from the Secretary and is Who'll
y independent of him Now, every error which the
committee had affected to nd is contained by their own
showing. in the tables OF the Register appended to the
Of tie h Secretary eta and not u h the report Itself
nothing TO do. 1t was not his duty to compare them
it not his duty to examine them; and if he had dis
Puted and refused 70 receive them he would have NO
lated his duty and the law; for he bound by the law
to take the tables furnished and certified by the Register
who bound by law to keep the books and to furnish
these tables and these tables legal evidence, not
only to the Secretary, but even in a court OF justice
Every error, Mr. b. repeated again. which the committee
thought they had found is these tables OF the Register
and in the report Of the Secretary The estimates OF
to and one would Judge, from reading the report OF the
committee that they either regarded the Secretary and the
Register and the same officer, or that they actually
believed to be the duty OF the Secretary to examine
compare, and prove the tables OF the Register before ne
had them appended to his report Sir, said Mr. b. the
present Secretary OF tie Treasury has never shrunk from
the law requires at his hands, he has performed with
aacnty and with consummate ability The Hercuean
tasks which have devoved upon him during the present
administration, would have deferred or crushed any one
destitute OF his ability and indomitable energy But to
do what the committee to regard as his duty; to
compare, examine, and prove a the tables Which the
law requires the Register to certify and furnish him WITH
in addition his other labors, were task which no hui
man being could accomplish. This the trainers OF the
law oresaw. and relieved the Secretary from those la
bors by creating Register, on whom they devoved
Appended the report OF the Secretary sent to the House
on the sth of December last there are Mnty-ttco
tables from the Registers office; all OF which are
the sh embracing the whole operations OF the govern
men as to its debts its receipts, and its commerce. or
from 1889 down to the LIST OF December, 1877 these
are contained in enormous library OF ollo volumes
Now if the committee suppose the Secretary could, be-
tween the LIST and Sh day OF December, IN addition to
other labors, examine and compare all these thrtytwo
tables with the books from which they taken they
give him credit for greater laborng powers than any OF
his friends ever claimed for him.
Thus it would be SEEM continued Mr. b. that in their
superservceabe zeal the committee had dealt their blows
at the wrong person. and wherever Secretary OF the
Treasury in their report, we should read keFs
ter of the Treasury since IT was that ohcers tables
rvs report and this fundamental and all important
error of the committee Here he might rest the defence
But he would proceed to examine the attack OF the com
upon the tables of the and show that the
sole result of the investigation OF the committee had been
convict themselves OF very many errors whilst f9sX
one which had been discovered long before by other per-
sons.
But he desired first to call the attention of the House
to the method adopted by the committee, and the manner
in which thew had proceeded in their investigation the
committee had not asseredhad not pretended to assert
that they had, at any time, applied to the Secretary
the Acting Secretary, for information aud in the prose-
cuton of their researches But according to their
showing such information as they had gathered, and
such tables they had procured were furnished them
by clerks in the Registers office and these tables thus
furnished not signed or attested by any human
being Here, then, was a committee attacking the
regularly attesed certified, and legal tables OF the
Register upon the bare testimony OF certain unsigned
unattesed unauthorized statements, made out by
tain irresponsible clerks in the Registers ofice And
upon such authority the committee asked the House
and the country to condemn the Secretarys report, and
the tables regularly made out and legally attested by
the Register. Would the House-would the country
place any confidence in report made upon such data,
and which did not pretend to exhibit solitary table
statement properly or legally authenticated Would the
country compare the properly tables appended to
the Secreys report with the unauthentcated copies OF
irresponsible clerks, whose are not even attached
to them, and condemn the report upon such evidence!
Mr. STROHM nterposed to explain, and was under
stood say that the committee had had recourse to the
books themselves, for some part of the statements:
Mr. BEDINGER did not doubt it, But how did that
mend the matter Who was to say whether the commit
tee had copied and quoted the books accurately He
would show many In the committees report some
of which they themselves admitted How then, could he
rely upon the accuracy of their examination OF the books
He repeated again. they had nor exhibited one solitary au
thenc coIy record table He deed them to produce
one SUCH and he that fact alone was sufficient
to condemn their whole report One OF the most re-
nakabe errors Of the committee seemed to him to be
the fact that they appeared to have regarded It as the duty
of the Secretary compare the Registers tables not only
with the books but also with these their own statements,
which furnished them by the clerks until weeks
and months after the Secretys report had been sent to
the House For it these statements by which they
tried and condemned him; and of course, the inference
is irresistible that by those they supposed he should
have comnred the tables in his report But even allow
ing the committee the full benefit Of the clerks manifested
lowing then all to be accurate and correct; still, what
error had he committee detected AS he said before,
they had discovered they had pointed out and call
ed attention to one ony and that had been discovered
by the Hon Mr. HUNTER of the Finance Committee OF the
Senate an of 81 ,401 900 IN table OF the
Register This had been discovered as he stated be-
FORE by thu Hon Mr. HUNTER, of the Senate, early IN the
winter had been long made public, acknowledged
by the REGISTER and satisfactorily accounted tor Mr. b.
held in hishand letter from the Hon. Mr. ATHERroN
of the Seate dated early in February last calling the
attention the Register to this errors and referred to
Mr. ArHElToNs speech in which 1t was fully and salts
factory accounted for This was the only actual error
he appeaed 10 any unpreludlced man VINO would care
fully EXAMINE the Teport-that the committee had been
able to pont and that had been discovered Tor them
by the Committee on Finance in the Senate yet the com
mttee had taken as much credit TO themselves as II heY
had actually made the detection themselves lhey had
usured tie thunder of the Senate committee and Claimed
il as their .wn With the labor of the whole winter
and spring then they had shown but one actual error IN
/ - D. Lac.