Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-04-09
Frauds upon the Government No. q.

frauds, 40 developed by the Investigating Com
mittee in connection with the Coal Agency at
Philadelphia 1t was proved that the fhce was
given to practising physician. without any ref
erence whatever to his qualifications; and that the
enormous commissions which were received out q
the Treasury. were divided among three Politicians,
with the view Of reimbursing them for the m"ney
which they had contributed towards the election
of Mr.. Buchanan. II was also shown that the
nominal Agent paid no attention TO The duties OF
the Office but entrusted the whole matter 10 anolh-
er man, who charged half dollar per ton more
for the coal than other dealers would have iur-
nished it at-and who charged double a much
coal to the Government as had ever been furnish
cd before in the length of tune. Whether
all Of the coal charged was actually delivered or
not, must remain question Of d'ut'. "a say the
least Of it.
Suspicious as these development. are. til y ARE
mild and harmless in comparison with It's &c rcla-
ting 10 the contracts for furnishing the' senlne"'
with "Live-Oak,"a kind Of wood mHca e. II
NAVY Yards in the construction AID l. pal, YES
sells
It appears that in 1854 ma. by ,h~ mime Of
H..
tered into a Wr,tten agreement with George Pint
Of Philadelphia, prominent politician, and nm
intimate personal friend oi Nj. Buchanan, to this
effect: Pitt was to use his influence in Obtaining
live-oak contracts for Swift. for which The latter
was TO allow him ten per cent upon III" ieceip'S.-
During the Presidential canvass "i 1856 Pitt in
troduced Swift to Mr.. Buchanan. and ec"mmend-
ed him in warm terms. Pitt, ut that time, was
Treasurer" of the Democratic Stute Central Com
mittee of Pennsy lvania-and, in this capacity, re-
ceiyed from Swift sixteen thousand dollars. which
was contributed" by Swift aud his friends, ito
be used in the pending election
Mr. Buchanan. SO the evidence shows, was in.
formed before the election thu, Mr.. Swift was nm
old-line Wing who had come over to his party,and
was taking an actipe part ia the election and he
was subsequently informed Of he amount contrib
uted by Swift"
Thus it appears that Swift contributed sixteen
thousand dollars to Mr.. Buchanans election and
that Mr.. Buchanan knee IT, There is no evidence
that Mr.. Buchanan knew of the ten per cent that
Pitt was to get on all contracts awarded to Swift
but as Pitt and Mr.. Buchanan were intimate
personal friends, it is not n violent presumption
that he did
Now let US see what was the result. Mr.. Buchanan
was inaugurated President March 4th, 1857. Be-
fore December Of that year, S~!d had received
hce-odk contracts amounting in rdlue 10 t,co hun
dred and thirty tsco thousand, nine hundred and
forty dollars!
There were other competitors for the contract,
and a: iosocr rates than Swifts bid-but under
the pretence of Immediately wanting the timber
(which was not the case) the Secretary of tho
Navy awarded the contract to Swift. Swift's
original contract was to receive from the Govern
ment one dollar aud thirty cents per cubic foot
Another firm offered to furnish u portion of the
timber-one hundred thousand cubic fect-for
$8l, 750-iess than dollar a foot. Their hid was
accepted at frst but the contract was subsequent.
ly annulled, and given to Swift.
The evidence before the Committee shows too,
that Swift's timber of inferior quality The
Report says: "Pror to June 1855 Swift brought
to sumo OF the Navy Yards lurge quantities Of live
oak, which was rejected; some of it because the
size was below that prescribed by the contract
and some for its inferior quality" This rejected
timber. instead Of being removed from the Navy
Yards as thelaw requires. was allowed to remain
there, and was subsequently bought aud paid for
by the Government.
Now, upon this statement of facts we ask tie
verdict Of the intelligent reader. 1t i,u plain
story throughout. How was it that Swil {. uld
aurd to contribute sixteen thou sand d liars to
neip to carry Pennsylvania for Buchnnuu and t,
pay fiitt ten per cent. the contract beside. -
Maniiestly, by expecting to receive as lie iii re.
ceive an unfair contract from the Government,
and being paid for his timber infinitely above it's
value. There is no other explanation 1T.
We would like to know what the difference ia.
practically. between stealng from he Government,
in this way, and the felonious breaking open the
vaults Of the SabTreasury with crow-l,ar. a, d
carrying Of the money at the dead of night? II
anything, the latter is more honest-f,r. in the
hrst instance, the money, by the confession Of the
parties themsel0es. was used in c"rruptng the in
tegrity Of the people. and taintins the purity Of
the elective franchise.
Does anybody suppose that this is an exception
81 caser II %. let him be undeceyed. There are
hundrsds Of other fraudulent contracts made every
year. very nearly akin to this one. The only DIFF
ferance 10. that the others are not found ont uht
fkis ere scs. And probably this one never would
have ben fiand out, but for the fact that Swift
wheis esnains Yankee. after be gut the contract
rVssad r. sj EIA his Il. per eent--and Pitt, il
~ tAaqeoe q the burglars. '.blowed" on him
Pin svsn wsnt - Sis - 10 consult Mr.. Buohana,