The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1860-04-17
AN ELECTIONEERINGC CORRUPTION
FUND.
WHO COT THE MONEY!
President Buchanan Implicated.

President buchanan Implicated.
Some remarkable and most disgraceful
Developments of corruption and bribery
have been brought to light by the Com.
mittee on Public Expenditures in the
House, who have been investigating the
manner in which the public printing has
been conducted under Mr.. Buchanan's nd
ministration. The evidence before the
Committee proves that the money arising
from the profits of the Government print.
ing, which are OF the most ruinouS charac-
ter, has been used under the direction OF
the President himself to sustain etiete 4"
! Democratic papers, and to elect pro slavery
members Of Congress all over the country,
aud to an Unlimited amount. Mr.. Wen
/ delPS testimony, some extracts from which
will be- found below, shows that Mr. Bu
chanan WAS Il party to these corrupt pro.
cecdIngs; that the negotiation for the trans,
fer of the Union wSpaper-uow the Con
shtutioH--to Gen. Bowman by Wendell
/ tone condition of which was that the latter
should give taoeaty thousand dollars an
nu lily for political purposes as an induce
ment for Bowman to take the paper off his
hands ms a free gif,) was carried m direct
/ ly with the President. In short, it is
proved that the President n,adc the bar.
gain with Wendell, by which barge clec.
tioreering, or corruption, fund was ex;orted
from the latter. Bat let the testimony
speak for Itself
Mr. Wendell testified before the Com
mittce thai he was the printer, de fac q, Of
tho last Congress; that James b. Stcalman
was elected Printer of the House, but new
er performed the duties Of the Office, Wen
del! doing the work and getting ca cents
out Of each dollar received hy Stealman,
who consequently pockeled SO cents on the
dollar of the money paid by Congress, with
out rro"bing himself to do more than rc-
ceive the pay. This was the arrangement
at iirNt, hut aflcrward it was set aside, and
Steadman being "yory 9uxious for money!"
Wendell bought him oat entirely, five
months after his election, aud paid him the
round sum of $4,000 as a bonus. About
a year later, tc,tiiiys Mr.. Wendell, "ralher
than have Il row in the House about the
matter, paid him SI,9OO. 1t was a
hnckmaiI opperation with him; ho threat
ened to resign and make muss general
ly."
Nr \. D. Banks, Of Virginia, Mr.
Washington Mclean, Judge Walker, and
two or three Others, held minor interests in
the profits of the Office TO which NJ. Stead
man lad bacn rcted. Mr.. Banks & g..
amount Of oue.baf, Mr.. Mclean Que third
and Judge Walker aquartcr interest. Mr.
Stodman at the tmo Of his election to the
House had no facilIties-"uone whatever"
for doing the work which the public
printer would bc compelled 10 Do.
The amount paid for printing pgstoflieo
blanks averages about $4,000 year.
The proti on thi, is $2O,GOO. Thi. fat
job Mr. Wendell says is s!uca 1872 in the
disposal Of the Snpcrinlcn]on. Of public
printing, and he has given it ITO the
printer most generally connected with tho
or4au of the Prcsidpnt'-that is to the
p'inlcr Of thc Union newspaper, or -, it i,
BOW called the CoHStimioa Major IIar.
ris, of Missouri. was printer Of tni, organ
and Mr.. Wendell bought linn out, u he
N'tN h'sO '9NCilildU, IDI S-N,HbD'
In answer to a question hy the clair
man Of the Committee, Mr. Wendell tcs.
titled that the editor Of the central organ
commands the patronage Of the President,
which amounts 10 100000 Annually, and
upon which there is IN average profit of
tfy per cent, or fifty thousand dollars
year-that Mr.. Buchanan directly controls
this patronage as Mr., Pierce did, though
lar gives it to the Leads Of Departments
and that there was an understanding he.
tween him and Mr.. Wendell that a por
ton Of the profits should go to the support
of the Presidents organ.
From Il written statement sub uitlcd to
the Committee ty Mr.. Wendell, it appears
that the aggrcgat amount paid for prin
ting binding, &c, by Congress 10 the last
six years, was !s, 1853 IL, or a yearly
average Of uealy 100000! In addition
to this the printing debt fo- the Executive
Departments Of the Government, during
the same six years, amounted to $3,747,.
22S The p,otit ou This work ranges from
9s to 20 per cent, averaging 80 per cent.
at least; that is t, say, the work done ios
those six years la, cost the Government
just Sl7ls,9l2 20 more than It should
have done.
Mr. James Eueli.h, Mr.. Wcnlylls fore
man tur Xix years past, states, under oath
With such AL establishment rs Mr.. Wen
del : could take the printing and do it
tor E'y cont, on tic dollar aud make
M my; - an EVIDENCE Of that fact. Mr..
Laicombr aud myself have offered to DO it
for Nj. Wendell, in case he got the whole
Of ii, for forty cents on the dollar, and at
that rate we should be able to make few
GoItas.
Mr.. Larcombc, also a practical printer,
tcstIfes that he and Mr. English had of
fered 10 Mr. Wendell to do the printing
for 40 cents on dollar Of the legal prices,
that is, 60 cents less on dollar than the
law gave Wendell.
Mr.. George w. Bowman, late Supern-
dent Of Public Printing, thus explains to
the Committee one source of these immense
profits: When / was appointed Supern.
dent of the Public Printing | discovered
that about $4,000 year were paid for
what is called double composition" that
is to say, Printer was elected for the Sen.
ate and printer for the House, and by
power Of attorney their rights were transfer
red to Mr.. Wendell, and he became tie
Printer in fact for both Houses of Con.