Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1865-07-20
Iowa War Expenditures.

This is the heading of a long arti-
Gle in the New York Tribune of the
2Sth ult., which contains so much in.
justice. and is calculated to do so
much harm in the way of creating
wrong impressions, that we propose
to tell the truth about the matter
The article in the Tribune, so far as
its statements touching the condition
of the account of the State of Iowa
with the General Government are con.
cerned, is not incorrect. We presume,
indeed, that it was prepared by some
one in the Third Auditors Office,
Treasury Department, at Washington
perhaps by John Wilson himself,
the Auditor. who, according to the
Tribune's Washington special, has
been about to be appointed assistant
Secretary to nearly every Department
in the Government for the last six
months. But the reasons assigned by
the Tribune article for the suspension
of nearly all the claim presented by
our State, abusive of Iowa officials,
and laudatory, at least by implication,
of the government officials, are false.
"Had those entrusted with the
management of these expenditures"
says the article, "and with making
up the accounts of the State against
the United States, exercised reasona-
bic and ordinary precaution known to
business men, the large sum, (of dis.
allowance,) instead of being wholly
suspended and disallowed, as it now
is, would undoubtedly have been, il
not entirely, at least in great part,
allowed and paid over to the State. !"
And again: This, however, (making
explanations, that is, will require
time and an amount of trouble and in.
vestigation on the part of those in.
trusted with the business of the State,
which might have been wholly olivia
ted, if the simplest rules of business
accuracy had been applied to the max.
ing up of the account"
From which it may be gathered
that the terriffically wise officials oil
the Third Auditors Office have very
contemplate ideas of the business ca.
pacity of some of the best business
men in Iowa. The truth is, the man.
ner in which the State claims against
the government have been examined,
at least until very recently, is q per.
feet burlesque on all business rules,
on the rules Of law, and on common
sense. The claim of Iowa, for in.
stance, was first put into the hands OF
a young gentleman from Kentucky
poet, dreaming of Parnassus and
Pegasus, ramming his fingers through
his hair to make himself look like
Tennyson, murmuring scraps OF his
own admired verses to himself all
day, and repeating them to his ador-
ed companion all night-a man know
ing no more about business affairs, of
any sort whatever, than pig knows
about the Greek tongue. lie had
been engaged on the claim about two
months when Gov. Stone called to see
about it. 1t is absolutely true The
young gentleman could give him nc
more information about its condition
than the man in the moon could have
done. So the young man went back
to his poetry and posies, and the claim
passed into the hands Of another per.
son, to be overloaded de noro. This
man from New York State, examined
the account on the principle that eve
~ cent of it which by hook or CROOK
could be rejected, should be. With
him a receipt, which is the lowest pos
sible kind of evidence, is SINE qua non
No other proof of payment was worth
a row of pins. He suspected fraud in
most of the vouchers in the nature OF
pay-rolls, and suspended them on his
suspicion When he got through
with his examination, he had only al
lowed about $40, 600 out of the whole
claim, amounting to SCAT, 563 SO, and
inasmuch as about $50, 900 had previ.
ously been admitted, and, as requisi
tons in favor of the State, amounting
to 500, 900, had been issued, the re.
suit of the settlement is that Iowa il
brought out about $50, 900 in debt tc
the government !-Muscatiac Journal.
The Des Moines correspondent o.
the Chicago Journal writes:
Not little disturbance was crea
ted in official circles here few days
since by the reception of the intelli
gence that the United States Treasu.
ry Department, instead of allowing the
claim Of Iowa, of $3.50, 900, for expcn-
ditures in raising and fitting out
troops for the field in 1861, it had &C.
tually reported the State in debt to
the Government to the amount OF
$50, 900. The New York Tribune,
with unusual sagacity and wisdom,
explains this discrepancy in the State
and Government accounts, by saying
it is chargeable to the want of system
and proper accuracy in keeping of &C.
counts by the State officials, which is
decidedly cool and refreshing for a
July day. Had the editors of the New
York Tribune taken the trouble 10
have inquired at the proper place,
they would have been informed that
the claims presented by this State are
just, and, what is more, will be paid,
though they may be delayed by red
tape.
The Des Moines Register, evidently
speaking by authority. gives the fol-
lowing version of the question
There never was an account be.
tween the State and General Gov
ernment." These expenses were near.
y all Of them incurred and paid be.
fore it was ever known, or surmised,
that the General Government would
repay the expenditures of States, the
appropriation for which reimburse
ment was approved July II, 1861.
The Iowa Legislature in framing its
system (for it is system, and bu.
siness one, too. of allowing and pay
ing military expenses, sought simplv
to prevent frauds and excuses for its
own individual protection, and never
dreamed that il was acting as trustee
to the National Government. The
difficulty that has kept these Just