The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1859-02-18
[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPOND EMIT 7

WASHINGTON, Feb. II, 1859.
am informed that resolution is in the hands of
a member of the House, ordering a COMMITTEE of
Investigation into charges of corruption preferred
against the Committee on Accounts by a portion of
the public press, and that it will be moved before
adjournment. The telegraph will doubtless advise
you of the result before this reaches YOU. Two
members of the Committee involved in these CHARGES
have stated their desire for investigation, but
nither of them, of course, could well it, as &C
cordng to parliamentary practice, the mover must
be Chairman of the Committee of Investigation,
and the members of the Committee of Accounts
themselves, all implicated in the general charge
If the Committee is raised | have good reason to
believe that the most positive testimony will be in
troduced, showing that member of the Committee
on Accounts barganed to receive, and subsequently,
demanded several hundred dollars as a considera-
ton for passing certain bill against the House of
Representatives through his Committee. The facts
In brief, as | understand them, are as follows: A
gentleman, formerly Of Baltimore supplied the
House with suhdry articles of furniture the bill for
which amounted to several thousand dollars This
bill was referred by the Committee on Accounts to
one of their number to report upon. This member
delaying action for a long time, the claimant re-
peatedly appealed to him to act but without pet-
ting any satisfaction. Finally after repeated in
terviews, the desire of the member to make a cor
rupt arrangement developed itself, and the result
was that the claimant agreed to paw the member a
certain amount to pass his account.
Soon after the account passed, for a reduced
amount, but notwithstanding the reduction, the
member still demanded four hundred dollars for his
agency in the matter. The claimant failed to re-
Spond satisfactorily. Be it remembered now that
the Committee on Accounts had already passed the
reduced bill, for some S6000 which it then deyol.
we'd upon the Clerk of the House. or his proper SUI
bordinate to pay. The claimant called at the Clerks
Office for his money, but put off upon the pre-
there M piafin o,,tn f ,oL
to pay it. Thus time was gained until CONGRESS
adjourned. If lack of appropriation had been the
difficulty before, it could be no longer in the way
for Congress had made all needful appropriations
for the current year. Indeed, it remains to be
seen whether there erer was any deficiency in the
contingent fund of the House out of which this bill
was to be paid. Still, however, the claimant was
put Oft, month after month, at the Clerks office.
Meantime the bill had been assigned to another
party, who, becoming ncensed at the strange re-
usa to settle the BILL declared his belief that the
delay was consequence of the refusal of the oriei
nal claimant to pay the member his corrupt demand
and threatened to expose the entire transaction
Soon after this Mr.. CARTER, Chief Clerk under Mr..
ALLEN, addressed a letter to the original claimant
declaring that he could not pay the account while
imputations In connection with it out, reflect
ing upon any one! This letter was accompanied
by drafts of two others to be signed by the claim
ant and his assignee, in which they exonerated
everybody from suspicion. They now declare that
they did this under duress, seeing that they could
~ 80 "ohey InlesS tney ulQ sign Them
They took the precaution, however, to sign copies
OF those letters retaining the original drafts 1t
requires no great acuteness to fathom the motives
of this proceeding. But the parties make it more
apparent, stated that they were assured if thew
would hush up and sign the letters the Committee
on Accounts should reconsider the original bill at
the present session and allow the sum that it had
been reduced These facts fully believe W i'll all be
sworn to by respectable men, who have corrobora-
tive circumstances to relate which must carry con-
viction of the truths of their statements.