The evening Argus. [volume] (Rock Island, Ill.) 1861-1871, 1867-12-28
AZ this radical off;ce.holder now:

WASHINGTON, D. c., Nov. 20, 1867.
| SIR: desire in this communication to call
your attention - some facts in coanection WIN
the office of the EeresAnt Arms q lhe Hooss e
Representatives of The United alntss, n oresr
| that the sense eftAe house nay eexpre1ed, "a
ordering or refusing, an inxestienfion into -
allegations shall herewith msks, in WhiSaA
| shall chsfge M. erdway With having sysesnAh-
cally defrauded myself snd the governnsnI.
On the I'd of May, 1865, went on dutY IN NJ.
Ordway's Office as Temporary Clerk, at least
discharged these duties. / had not been in she
Office long before became convinced f.a1 .'
ordway was not discharging his duf'cs IN sccofd-
snce with his oath of once tn that aseusS !.
NV Sntv 70 cali ths stte-.on of some member of
soyns ,rs,nhsr Of ~. louise to my suspicious and
diasss In The ~. part OF July, lses. aaszs
Dn,;nr th.TsSess Of congress- and through the
. nailng s6 rs became fun, ecnyinced that. in
nv ~ 7oas suspicious, was right, and again
| M 1doncd them to several New Hampshire
L 6ntlemen, from whom L took counsel as TO the
best course to pursue. Before the adjournment
on the 4th of March, 1867, made an effort to
have the matter brought to the attention of the
house, but Ne action was taken. ss.as
knowing that Mr.. Kerr of Indiana had intro.
duced resolution, which passed the house on
the I'd Of July, 1866, and which seemed TO me To
indicate that he had his suspicious that all was
not right in connection with the disbursement of
the contingent fund, I waited on that gentleman.
q NJ
On statements made by me, Mr.. Kerr introduced
resolution on the i1th day of March, 1857. look.
ing to an investigation: but this was objected to
by Mr.. Cullum, ''under the rules" and thus the
matter stands at the present time. ;
Still believing it to be my duty to bring the
matter before the members, have determined on
placing in the hands of each member specifca.
tions of what l charge Mr.. Ordway as being
guilty. In doing this, I desire to say, that am
not the instrument of any third party. 1 am
prompted to it that the ends of Justice NAV be
served, and that the members of the house NAV
know how thoroughly he has abused their conf
dence.
Standing thus alone, with nothing to support
me but the justice of my cause, and without the
aid OF influential men to back me, I ask of the
house the indulgence of an impartial hearing be-
fore committee of its own body before whom
claim that can establish the truth of the follow
ing charges: !
1. That Mr.. OrdTay has, to my certain knowl-
edge, made out bills, and received the amount of
such bills, in the name of S. S. Bean his brother
in law, for services as clerk in his Office, when
said Bean was, during the time charged for, cult
waiting his farm in New Hampshire
2. That, in making out bills against commit
tees for serving ,esn.s, and Travelling after
witnesses, he has. by changing the dates. charged
in some cases, two, three, and four times the
amount he was entitled to, and has implicated
charm en- of the committees in these overcharges
to this extent that he did it under instructions
from them, which do not believe was the case
3. That he had made bills oftravel of himself
for journeys he did not perform. -
4. That he has, after getting bills approved"
by chairmen of committees, increased the footing
Of such bills.
S. That it was by his means that the resolu-
ton which passed the house, July 3, 1s66,--which
was designed, the resolution itself shows, to
guard the interest of the government against
false accounts being paid. was virtually repealed.
% D. That he has, rs / verify believe sacrileg-
iously availed himself the occasion of the death
of honorable members of the house to feed his
appetite for gain.
All of which is respectfully submitted for your
consideration and action, by
Your obedient servant.
j. W. WILKINSON,
Late Clerk in Office of Sergeant-at-Arms. &
1t is stated that Ordway's bill for sun
mCning witnesses in the impeachment in
vestigation amounts to $l50,00U. Ii the
above charges are true, this statement will
not appear improbable. If he has been al
lowed pay for persons not employed has
been permitted to charge "two, three and
four times the amount he was entitled to :"
has been allowed pay for Journeys not made !;
has been in the habit of increasing the foot
ings of bills after they had been approved
if this is the way he has made up his bills
for services, it is probably only a sample
of the way the radical ofice-holders general
ly swindle the peonle