Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1853-1862, 1860-06-19

quarterly, i read with some prise the statement
81 the Auditor that it is not the ordinary course Of
least six months necessarily eapse before the debts
and credits for deposits are fully posted upon the
books Of this (hsl Office y and that Mr.. Fowler's
account upon the ledger was an open and running
account wherein debts and credits were perpetual
" occurring, and no balances were otherwise ad-
justed than for the mere purpose Of making rests
and furnishing copies thereof from time to time
they were called for" That books thus kept are a
compliance with either the letter or spirit of the
law cited is q conclusion not easily arrived at In
every branch Of the public service it is believed
that the policy Of the Government looks to quar-
tery settlement Of the accounts Of all officers in its
service; upon the enforcement Of this policy de-
ponds the safety Of the public revenues. If 50 re-
laxed an Interpretation Of the law is insisted
on could be INDUCED then defaulters engaged in the
receipt and disbursement Of the public moneys may
be continued in Office for months and years without
their defalcaton being verified, and without an OPP
pOrtunity being afforded the appointing power to
remove them. But, be this as it may, regard it
as clear, from the Auditors own showing, that the
deficits Of Mr. Fowler, which we're indicated from
quarter to quarter during several years. all APP
peared through the debts and credits posted up
on his ledgers, except those Two occurring within
the six months Immediately preceding the hnai dis
cOvery and exposure of the ENFORCEMENT. Il is al
so evident that, when the rest was made IN this
running account" on the 10Th November, 1858, it
was known to the Auditor that Mr.. Fowler was
defaulter to the amount Of S76,S7l S. up to the
Both September, 1858. Nor does the fact that the
account was then balanced by appropriating the
revenues of a subsequent quarter IN any manner
confuse or obscure this knowledge. This operation
left more than six weeks Of the quarter, for whose
receipts there were no corresponding deposits. This
exhibited a default perfectly apparent to the Audi
tor, but which could not be known to the finance
Office Of this Department because it had no knowl
edge that such perYersOn of the deposites it had
superintendent had been allowed
The geneI al principle that debtor may direct the
application of payment and on his failure to do
so that such apphcatianmay be made by the creditor
not denied, but its bearing on the question under
consideration is not perceived the weekly deposites
required by law and the regulations of the Depart
ment are intended to be, and in fact the current
revenues and they should be held to meet the La
bilities Of the quarter IN which these revenues
arose. Such an appropriation Of them as was made
in this case, if permitted, would defeat the whole
object Of the law by retaining for weeks and months
in the HANDS Of defaulting officers the public moneys
which the statute cOntemplates shall be promptly
placed in the treasury for the use OF the Govern
ment but, whether the appropriation was right
fully or wrOngfuy made, it disclosed to all concern
/ ed in the act of the existence a defalcation.
/ While pronouncing as l feel constrained to Go,
this application of a part Of the deposites of the
last quarter Of 1858 to be irregular, and tending
alike to subvert the true policy of the law and TO
favor the concealment Of the enbezzement that
was in progress, it is due to the memory of my Ia
mented predecessor to ssy that the statement that
the account was thus closed by his direction rests
solely upon the authority Of the Sixth Auditor. AZ
| ter diligent inquiry l am Justhed IN saying that
/ there is no trace in this Department OF any such
order, nor any knowledge on the part Of those con-
eerned in its administration that such proceeding
ever had the sanction Of the Postmaster General
Having, them the knowledge of this defalcation,
was not the Auditor bound to communicate it to the
Postmaster General? Can it be supposed that he
| believed this knowledge had already reached the
present head Of this Department, and that, with all
the endeavOrs he making to retrieve the postal
revenues from their embarrassments, he was capa-
BILE of permitting this vast to be embezzled and
the amount increased from quarter to quarter with
out making single effort to arrest the crime or dis
! miss the offender from the public servicef The
suppOsitiOn is too eXtravagant to be ndulged in. 1t
may be safely assumed that while he knew of the de-
falcatiOn he at the same time perfectly aware
| that the Postmaster General did not know it. Does
the regulation that he quotes absOye him from the
| duty which the general law imposes? The terms of
! the statute are as comprehensive as our language
affords. He is required to report promptly ALL
delinquencies of the pOstmasters in paying the
proceeds Of their Offices" no matter to what class
! they may belong
The regulation referred 10 should be construed so
as to harmonic with the existing laws but the inter
probation of it sought to be maintained would bring
/ II into direct conflict with the very words of the
statute and, of course, would render the regulation
| itself imperative The duties of the "fnance Of
fee" relate to business not 'deyOlved by law upon
the Auditor" but the making of this report to the
Postmaster General is in the most express and en-
phatic manner "devolved by law upon the Auditor y
The Third Assistant Postmaster General, being the
officer in charge of the finance office is bound to see
that the weekly deposits made and that they
uptO what he estimates to be the average weekly rev.
enues. BE receives the quarterly returns of post
masters, but they not in his Office for scrutiny
| or comparison but simply to be handed, with an
account Of all deposits made, to the Auditor. He
might conjecture the existence of defalcstiOn, but
] l. M
ever imperfect information he may have on the sub
ject, this does lot relieve the Auditor from dis
] charging the duty which the law imposes on him,
and which the thorough and complete knowledge he
! possesses enables him promptly and so faith
] fully to perform. To the Auditor belongs the
| accounts in any manner connected with this De-
partment. He is the officer, therefore, who verifes
and first certainly knows tina: an embezZlement has
/ been committed. The lawmakers, fully compre-
hending this and being thoroughly acquainted with
the organization of the Government, have most ap-
prOpriately assigned to him the duty of reporting
the denquencies thus exposed in the administration
of his Office and they have assigned this duty TO him
! alone. In the case of the New York postmaster
he has failed to perform it by any communication or
/ intimation Of any kind and hence the defalcatiOn
permitted to grow from quarter to quarter, and
from year TO year. until it attained the startling pro-
portions which it bore when finally brought to the
light. In making this declaration personal mpu-
| tation upon the Auditor is intended He has been
spoken of in his official capacity only, and the knOwl
edge his part which has been asserted as the ba-
sis Of his responsibility is that which is believed TO
have been furnished by the records of his Office
and with which, in consequence, according to the
theory of the law, he seems to be necessarily
| chargeable.
The accompanying record shows that between lst
of January, 1857, and lst of January 1889 there
were at least eleven weeks in which no deposits
of the revenues of the post Office at New York were
made. In this enumeration of those omitted are
embraced those due Sth of August 1857 and 18th
of November, 1885, on which days deposits of S2O-
900 and Sl3,03352 were made, but as they were
special in their character, and were in their terms
in payment of pre-existing liabilities, they were not
a compliance with the regulation requiring weekly
deposits of the current revenues During the peri
cd referred to, the deposits repeatedly fell low
SIX, fiVe and on two occasions, four thousand dol
lars per week; an amount so far below the average
that the suspicious of the finance Office should at once
have been excited. find indications in this De-
partment, have Iany reason 10 believe that these
defaults were made known to my predecessor. AT
ter careful examination Of this record it is scarce
ly possible to escape from the impression that there
was negligence the part of the Third Assistant
Postmaster General in his supervision of these
weekly deposits. Had the proper vigilance been
exercised either the deposits would have been en-
forced at the times and IN the amounts due, or
the postmaster would have been dismissed Gs a
delinquent from the service. 1t is painful to be
obliged thus to review the official action of one who
has passed away, and who unquestlOnably sustained
the very highest reputation in the service to which
he belonged but our first obligations are to truth
and in our tenderness for the memory of the dead
not permittedtO forget justice to the living
1t is but due to the present Third Assistant Post
master General to note that since March, 1859 when
he assumed the administration of the finance office
weekly deposits of the revenues of the New York /
post office have been regularly made and generally
IN amounts which, in comparison with the average |
OF preceding weeks, and in the absence of all sus-
picOn, could have left doubt in his mind but that
the sums deposited faithfully represented the actual
receipts On but two occasions does theze appear
to have been such falling off in the amount as was
to awaken inquiry and apprehension and
on one of these the deposit of the succeeding week
was apparently large enough TO cover the deficit
The comprehensive character of the inquiry con-
tanned in the resolution induces me to submit the ac
cOmpanying papers, numbered from one to nine
teen, inclusive, which present all the information in
the possession Of this Department in reference to
the origin and progress of the embezzlement and
the measures which have taken to protect as far as
practicable, the public interests in connection there
with.
have the honor to be, very respectfully your