New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1854-10-16
Where Does it Go .

= COFfuptl0n C0mmitLee6 nave DecQHle q ulLe as
common and necessary, in Washington and
other great cities. as Finance, Judiciary, or
General Committees, In fact they sometimes
have more, and more difficult as we'll as more
disagreeable, work before them for investiga-
ton than any Of those we have named. They
are required to look into and detect rascalities,
populations and robberies of the most extensive
character, carried on by experts and concealed
in the most ingenious manner. It cannot be
forgotten how numerous have been the corrup-
ton committees in Washington during the last
twenty years, and what mass Of villainy has
been exposed by them. They have been hardly
less numerous in New York, and have succeeded
notably in ferreting out misdemeanors and
rogueries. We hear Of them in Boston and Bal
timore and elsewhere searching into legisla-
tive, railroad, steamboat and MI descrip-
lions of corporate corruption. Whether we are
about being compelled to similar Instrumental
ties for preserving the pockets Of our city, our
Stats, ourselves and our friends from depletion,
remains to be seen. If all the charges made
publicly and privately could be sustained, We
might improve our condition by the instant APP
pointment Of at least q dozen.
we have several times been requested to
refer publicly, in our columns, to different
matters wherein venality or rascality were
supposed to Turk, and have as invariably re-
fused, owing to the want Of that presumptive
evidence. which would warrant rs in such a
course a case has been placed before us, how
ever, which, if true in all respects, is deserving
Of investigation and condemnation.
1t is charged that some Of our officials have
been in the habit Of making out passports for
every free negro brought into this port by cap
tains Of ships or steamboats,, at the rate of two
dollars apiece, and collecting the same from the
captains Of said boats or ships as legal tax.
This taxation amounts to an average Of from
four to FIVE hundred dollars month, and has
been collected for the last two years. 1t is said
that the tax is unauthorized and Illegal, but not
having overlooked the city charter and rules
under which it might come, we are unable to
maintain the statement The more serious
charge is. that during these two years in which
this tax has been collected, not one picayune of
ii has been paid into the Treasurer's office
Where does it goa What has become of it?
We are aware that great many things are
claimed BY public officers as G perqnisites,' y
and, as such, pocketed and forgotten. Some Of
them may. by long custom and undisputed pre-
3cedents, be entitled to this classification, but
how tax laid BY the State or city for the city
or State benefit, can be collected and appropri-
ated justly, without account, it is beyond our
power to see. If there is any excuse, we should
like to know what it is If there is not, the
credit Of the city, in more senses than one, will
be improved by an early and thorough exami-
nation Of the facts
We have refrained from publishing some per-
sonal statements that have come to our ears,
and only make these general remarks as they
affect the public interests. and are proper for
public examination. Where does the money
gos What becomes Of it, Will somebody in
form us--the Finance or Police Committees'
Can they tell