Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1869-03-28
IMMENSE BOUNTY FRAUDS.
Revelations from the Treasury
Department.
VilIainy Praeticed in Tennessee.

WASHINGTON, March 25.-The second
Auditor Of the Treasury, to-day, sent to
the chairman Of the Senate committee
on pensions, report Of one OF the for
mer clerks detailed by him to investigate
the fraudulent practices Of claim agents
in the collection of claims for pay and
bounty in cases of cOlored troops The
Auditor says he has used all the means
in his power to check these frauds, but
owing to the want of authority to organize
any detective system, he has not sue
ceeded to the extent no otherwise might
have done. SO many fraudulent claims
having lately been filed he has suspended
action upon a large number of them,
and held treasury certificates amounting
to over one hundred and fifty thousand
dollars in anticipation of further legisla
ton by Congress atiording greater pros
lection to the government
The Commissioner Of Pensions con.
ours entirely in the view expressed by
the Auditor. lie says the report shows
the most systematic and startling frauds
upon the government, and unless some
thing be done ut once to correct the
growing evil, government must be a suf-
ferer. Like the Auditor, he regards the
bill introduced by Senator Wilson as OF
vital Importance, and hopes sincerely it
will meet the approval OF Congress
1t appears from the report and eVi-
dence that a complete system of de-
frauding and cheating the cOlored claim
ants prevails in and around Memphis,
Tennessee, and that the system Of pre-
pairing and prosecuting claims by the
claim agents, is one of utter reckless
ness and fraud. The author of the re-
port carried with him over one hundred
claims for bounty in behalf of widows,
as a test, and from investigation he
found nearly every claim to be fraudu-
lent In twenty claims, where the names
Of same witnesses appeared in every
case as having seen all OF. the twenty
claimants married, he found that these
witnesses did not know any Of the Wild
oWs never saw any Of them married;
| and were never at some of the places
where the marriages were alleged to have
occurred.
1t appears that neither the claim
agents, nor the officer before whom the
claims are executed, read and carefully
| explained to the witnesses the papers
they are requested to sign and from the
| fact that these agents have used the same
| names as witnesses to several hundred
marriages, at places widely apart, in the
same year, and sometimes in the same
month, he concludes that the agent is
the principal party to the frauds, and the
runners generally but dupes and tools
The colored men, known as runners or
claim hunters s, are hired by the agents to
bring them claimants, the agents paying
from one to three dollars for ordinary
claimants Gather or mOther), but four
dollars for widows. This premium is
offered on widows claims because peD-
sion is involved i'll all such cases, and
doubtless from the fact that the agent
secures not only large fee but a contin-
uous one, so long as the pension may be
granted. By the way claims are now
being prepared, and evidence of mar
riage or cOhabitatiOn manufactured, a
widow claim for pensions will be pre-
scented in the case of every deceased
soldier. And by the same means the
agent proves the fact of marriages, he
will prove the existence of minor chill
dren, issue of the soldiers, and have tbs
pensions corresponding inclosed.
Two Of the principal agents at Mem
phis, has each for time one of theil
own clerks appointed Deputy County
Clerk for no other purpose than to ad
minister oaths in their claims. These
deputies did not have access to the sea
of the court, but would simply admins
ter the oath, then send the papers to tht
principal clerk for him to sign and atti1
his seal And even after the authority
to these deputies was revoked and thu
witnesses sent to the county clerk to bt
qualified, he would ask if the papers had
been read to them at the agents office
and if they said yes" he would admins
ter the oath, sign and atfx his seal.
The author OF the report details a
length the means by which agents con
duet their dishonest business.