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

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"a Ds Ne'ses, July s5sh, 1874 J. 4
Hos. Jxo. WILSON,
3rd auditor u. 8. Treasury,
Nr:--Your attention 10 re4pecstuhy IN
vited to an article which Originally aPpe,.'
Cd in tbe Nev York ztsb"se o. ,ne ~" 80
aAd excessively copied in the iead'"g J'
malls Of the country, puspcrane = give
full and carefully prepared statement o. '"e
account Of the State OF lows Tor rsa0oesse
urnt OF expenses incurred IN enrolling, SUD
s;.tinc. clothing. supplying, ar'n'"g, eqo'p.,
ming paying and transporting troops raised
bv her in suppressng the great rebellion,
and amounting in the aggregate to the sum
Of tC47 ,565. g." 4tf.ts. -. 81
The pretended expose assumes that this
large claim presented BY the State Of Iowa,
ON account Of money alleged to 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 $4,000 Of the entirs amount
suspended or disallowed In explanation
Of this very cxtrao. binary proceeding. the
article charges, in bold and general terms,
neglect of the simplest rules Of busints5'
on the part Of those entrusted with the du-
" of making. auditing, paying and present
ing these accounts for the Stats. Thie
wholesale dcnunciation, by m anony nous
and irresponsible newsm0ngsr, Of the bust
ness accuracy and fidelity Of the Auditing
Commiss toner's. Auditor, Treasurer and Pay
master General Of this State, through whose
hands all these claims have passed, conta ms
an aggregate Of error, falschood, and maig-
nifty seldom ever condensed into an article
Of equal length. by whom, the materials
for this extraordinary statement ~ere fur
nisl,ed. or what motipe pronsptsdits pubics.
ton at tins particulars juncturs, doubtless
you ~ well rs myself ar. unadvised.
CLAIMS or IOWA NOT ALLOWED.
Nearly Il month has closed since this
newspaper article appeared before the pub
lie. yet have received no information Of the
disallowance or Suspension Of the Iowa
claims, and no sheet Of difference as
yourself, Mr.. Gangcwcr, and Mr.. Sherman.
chief Of the division, promised me- shonid be
promptly furnished a. soon ~ the prelimi-
nary examination was concluded there
fore think hazard nothing by the Insertion
that the Iowa claims have not yet been
carefully examined by the Accounting Off
GERS of the Treasury, and disallowed or sus
pended" II may be, however, that an ir-
responsible clerk working at . desk in your
Bureau has looked through a mass Of pa
pcrs known ~ Iowa accounts" and I'M
der certain prescribed rules has discovered
and noted various technical or fancied ob
jcctions to their allowance, put this prclim
mary examination is, il I understand the
mode Of doing business in your department,
very far from being such an u Iicial aud care
full examination by the Accounting officers
Of the Treasury" AZ binds the State or IN
allowance Of he claims. F.s~
Permit me in this connection. to remind
you, AZ have frequently done before, Of
some prominent difficulties which present
themselves in the cxawination Of these ac
counts, and which no amount Of business
accuracy on the part Of the auditing dis
bursting officers Of this State could have
forescen or avoided.
CLASSIFICATION OF ACCOUNTS.
For the purpose Of and easier and more
convenient understanding Of the condition
Of these accounts, il will he necessary TO
consider them under two distinct classes -
1st, 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 TO- Acts oil
General Assembly, special Session, May
1861 2nd. All payments Of money made
10 troops by the Paymaster General Of the
State in pursuance Of Chapter ii Of the
same Session.
now THE CLAIMS ACCRUED.
n iaIEc VI tiiCSS SiotuiN b'Ct uSu III
1861 in organizing and fitting the first rcgi-
ments for the field. under an appropriation
made by the General Assembly at its extra
session Of that year, and before the Act of
C,ngiess rcimbursing States for military
expenditures was passed, and before we had
ary definite understanding that the Federal
Government would reimburse the State for
tie money so expended. The fund so ap-
p, opriatcsl by the General Assembly was de
nominated 1.-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 the purposes con
templated a Board of Auditing Commits
sioner>' was organized consisting OF thre.
experienced and competent business men.
whose duty il was under the law to "Audt
all accounts and disbursements arising un
der the laws Of this State, having reference
to military organizations, armng and 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
eng to l1n 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 pay
ing such claims. No account against this
Fund could be allowed or paid unless the
same was established by proper evidence bc
fore the Commissioners in the manner an a
form in which accounts are established in
courts Of Justice in this State. and recogniz.
ing the came rules Of eridencs that there gov
ern Vpd control causes. And whenever
unde, the provisions Of said Act. the Com
missioaers allowed any Claim they were re-
quirsd to endorse on the trck thereof that
the same was examined and allowed BY
them, and sign their names thereto, with
the time and place Of aaid allowance; which
claims SO allowed, and when presented to
the Auditor Of State entitle the holder
thereof to Warrant Of the " War and De
fence Fund.-" in the hands Of the Treasurer.
No receipt from the holder of the Warrant
Was required. his name written bv himself