Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1865-07-29

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q Dn Ms'xes, July 25sh, lst ,. A
HoN. Jxo. WILSON,
3rd auditor y. 8. Irrdsury'
S;r-Your attention IL re<pecdui'y IN
v;ted to an article which originally appear
ID n he Nev York ZIibase oft zafh vita
al extensively copied in the leadisg Jsue'
nj. Of the country, purporting - give -
full and carefully prepared statement OF the
..co,nt Of the Stats OF lows for rsiuburse
-, ~ xpensea incurred IN enrolling, sub
sting. clothing. supplying, arming. cquip.
n;ny having aud transporting troops raised
~ her in suppressing the great rebellion,
and amounting in the aggregate TO the sum
Of t647, 565.5S." fsfsfa
The pretended expose assumes that this
large claim presented By the State Of Iowa,
on account Of money alleged 70 have been
cxpended by her, on behalf Of the United
States. in furnishing troops for suppressing
the rebellion. has been carefully examined
by the Accounting officers Of the Treasury,
and all but 32O 900 Of the entire amount
suspended or disaowed In explanation
Of this very cxtraol binary proceeding. the
article charges, in bold and general terms,
.'neclect oc the simplest rules of business''
on the part Of those entrusted with the du-
" of making, auditing, paying and present
ing these accounts for the State. Thit
wholesale dcnunciation. by an anony nous
and irresponsible newsmongor, Of the bust
ness accuracy and fidelity Of the Auditing
Commissioners, Auditor, Treasurer and PAY
master General Of this State, through whose
hands all these claims have passed, conta ms
an aggregate Of error. faIsehood, and mabg-
nifty seldom ever condensed int an article
OF equal length. By whom the materials
for this extraordinary stateujeNt Were fur
nishsd. or wha, motipe prompted its pnhics.
ton 1t thus particular juncturc, doubtless
you ~ well rs myself ar unadvised.
CLAIMS OF IOWA NOT ALLOWED.
Nearly . month has closed since this
newspaper article appeared before the pub
lie. yet have rcccivtd no information Of the
disallowance or suspension Of the Iowa
clainSs, and no =" sheet Of difference as
yourself, Mr.. Gangewer, and Mr.. Sherman.
chief Of the division. promised mc shonid be
promptly furnished a. soon ~ the pr0limi-
nary examination was concluded there
fore think hazard nothing by tho asssstioo
that the Iowa claims have not get been
carefully examined by the Accounting Off
GERS Of the Treasury, and disallowed or sus-
pended" II may be, however, that an ir
Bureau has looked through a mass Of pa
pcrs known AZ Iowa accounts and I'M
der certain prescribed rulcs has discovered
and noted various technical or fancied Oh
jections TO their allowance, put this prcim
mary examination is, il | understand the
mode OF doing business in your department,
very far from being such an o lical aud care
full examination by the Accounting officers
Of the Treasury" AZ binds the State or IN
any way whatever precludes the ultimate
allowance Of he claims. stfr
Permit me in this connection, to remind
you, AZ have frequently done before, Of
some prominent difficulties which present
themselves in the exawinatioh of these &c
counts, and which no amount Of business
accuracy on the part ef the auditing dis
bursting officers Of this State could have
4oreseen or avoided.
CLASSIFICATION OF ACCOUNTS.
For the purpose Of anil easier and more
Of these accounts, il will be necessary to
consider them under two distinct classes -
lat, The claims examined end allowed by
the Auditing Commissioners, for which
warrants were issued Ivy thu Auditor o
State aud paid by the Treasurer. which EN-
brace all MOI cy paid by the State for snb
sistcnce, clothing supplying, arming. equip
ping and transporting troops to the United
States. in pursuance Of Chapter 10, Acts Of
General Assembly, special Session, May
1861 2nd. All payments Of money made
70 troops bv the Paymaster General Of the
State in pursuance Of Chapter IL Of the
same Session.
now TUE CLAIMS ACCRUED.
A large portion Of these claims accrued in
1861 in organizing and fitting the first rcg-
ments for the field, under an appropriation
made by the General Assembly at it's extra
session Of that year and before the Act OF
{, ngtcss rcimbursing States for military
expenditures was passed, and before we had
ary definite understanding that the Federal
Government would reimburse the State for
The money SO expended. The fund so ap-
p, opriatcd by the General Assembly was de
nom mated THE War and Defence Fund"
and was to be expended in organizing and
sending Iowa troops into the Federal service
To properly guard this fur d, and guaranty
its faithful application to tue purposes con
templatcd, Board Of Auditing Commits
sioner>" was organized consisting Of three
experienced and competent business men,
whose duty il was under the law to "Audit
all accounts and disbursements arising un
der the laws Of this State, having reference
to military organizations, arming aud sub
sistance Of the same, and the expenditure
OF the fund known as the War and Defence
Fund &c" No claim against that or any
other appropriation for military purposes
could be paid, unless the same was first sub
mitted to and carefully examined and allow
ed bv this Board Of Commissioners accord
thg to tIn And in order to still further
protect the interests Of the State, mark how
very careful the General Assembly was to
prescribe the manner Of allowing and nav.
ing such claims. No account against this
Fund could be allowed or paid unless tn,
same was established by proper evidence DC
fore the Commissioners in the manner an 4
form in which accounts are established in
courts Of Justice in this State, and recognlz-
ing the came rules Of eridencs that there gov
ern end control causes. And whenesas
unde, the provisions Of said Act, the Com
missioaers allowed any claim they were se-
quirsd to endorse on the trck thereof that
the same was examined and alloRed BY
them, and sign their namcs thereto, with
the time and place Of aaid allowance; which
claims SO allowed, and when presented to
the Auditor Of State cntitlc the holder
thereof to Warrant of the 81 War and De
fence Fund.-" in the hands Of the Treasurer.
No receipt from the holder Of the Warrant
VNs rcOuired his name written bv hi,nsalt