The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-05-31
Bureau Finance,

Bureau Finance.
Beyond the act approved 81 March, 1865, to es-
tablsh a Bureau for the Relief OF Freedmen and
kefugees We arc unaware of any further statute
Ill this regard-the only determnate attempt TO
lcgisatc more broadly thereon, having NJ will be
remembered, been summariiy squelchod by the
first OF MIR. Johnson's vctoes. Taking, then, this
act of Sd March as the sole enactment, it is pro-
posed to consider what officials it allows and what
sources OF expenditure it permits legitimate.
First, the men, and then the money. It provides
that thoro shall be one commissioner" y" whose
compensation shall bo three Thousand dollars per
annum, and such number of clerks as may ba as
signed to him by the Secretary of War, not exceed
ing ono chief clerk two of the fourth c tss two of
all, whose aggregate compensation, as wo remenl-
Der tho respective salaries OF the grades named,
would amount to SIS, 500.
III addition, assistant commissioners arc al
lowed, mot exceeding ten i'll number and each
to receive 'an annual salary Of two thousand five
hundred dollars in full compensation for all his
services" Adding all these salaries up, the re-
suit will be s43 500 the allowed for Bureau
officials ly the terms of thG act whereby said Bit
reau came into being. Dnt allowing like sum for
ltborers, etc, We have ss7 600 in full of a per-
missibe compensation. tissues of provisions,
clothing and fuel" for "immediatc and temporary
shelter and supply OF certain necessitous per-
sons, are authorized by the act for tho amount
thus needed we will take tho figures as given by
Congress, so called, S2,S73, $50. Adding to the
grand total thus made ono million of dollars for
all legitimate incidental expenses. as stationery,
telegraphDg, print e, and the like, we get the
approximately lawful expenditures of this Bureau
bogus tHouse" calls for. Item, salaries of assist
ant and sub-assistant commissioners sf7,5UO-
S22,to0 too mnch, ten assistant c mnlissiouers
functionares utterly unknown to either tho letter
spirit of the law. Hem, salaries OF clerks sS2-
SO0-sG7, 800 too much, tho ten clerks allowed
SIS, 500; lem, Stationery and printing" sG36O6
let that pass. Quarters aud fuel" s15, ,9I0-
and let that pass too though what pennyworth
of firowood this is to that ntolcrable deal Of fools
cap. "Cothing for distribution" sl,75n, 000 and
let that pass too, though we would like to sec, by
way OF curiosity Gcorria niger rigged up in
Bureau shoddy., The act allows clothing, and we
hope that Captain CLAWS who "disposed ot IL large
amount Of such clothing at private sale Tvi'l.
Gen. Steedman's report is tho only jeremy Did
der that has thus cheated the blacks. "Cun,:
for the act allows provisions and some Of the pork
and sugar, even in North Carolina must reach tho
colored epiglottis Medical department" $780,
0O0-where is the authority for o half million of
pills, powders and boiuses, and why was it that
poor black men aud women pershed of neglected
small -pox when all this money IL estimated for
their behoof3 Transportation" 81, ,9sO, 900. Some
OF this we can perceive as necessary, but let us
| know the exact proportion spent in carrying kid
mapped negroes from their homes to foreign fields
OF bondage. sehooi isuperintendents," s2i GOO
iSf Sf sshtb9r6EK 65Hses ESa BHeag a
$4,000, ,00O-three millions, mind you, for which
there il not one single line OF warrant in the law
the whole thing being gross, palpable, and
shameless malversation,
And with this there comes to an end the bead
roll of Radical smuggling. About four millions
are shown to be the extreme limit Of any possible
lawful expenditure under this act, and yet over
| seven millions more clapped upon this al
| ready staggering exhibit. About fifty employ. es
was doubtless all the law ever contemplated, and
yet in Virginia alone learn there are seventy
| eight military and two hundred and thirty three
civilian attaches In North Carolina are thirty
| five military employees, and in the medical de-
partment alone, for Of that only is return made,
fifty seven civilians. How they swarm in Geor-
gia, and 10 her right and her left, above her and
below, we will not daunt imagination by attempt
ing to conceive. Erected for ono simple purpose,
the Bureau has spread out its shade like some
poisonous banyan tree: Intended to be operated
by corps OF clerks, like any other governmental
bureau, it has lashed out into u bewildering pro.
fusion of parsons, pedagogues, advocates, judges
goalers, janissaries, orimps, et id omne genus
| the list would stretch out to the crack OF doom
Quicquid honaines dguut that is done in the Bu-
reau, for that Bureau is world and q wicked
world, in silhouette.
But this is getting into metaphor, and we Or O.
fer to stick to plain arithmetic. Side by eide we
give the figures:
THE BUREAU UNDER rHpI THE BUREAU As A Jon