Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1869-04-09
The Treasury Printing Bureau.

The report of the Committee on Retrenchment,
submitted by Senator Edmunds on Saturday,
discloses an amount Of carelessness and looseness
in the accounts Of the Treasury printing bureau,
that is simply criminal The country has been
given to understand, when from time to time re-
ports Of loose management in this bureau
have been rife, that the system adopted was such
that every sheet of stamps and every bond print
ed, was duly accounted for But there appears
to have been very little system about the bust
ness, judging from the results reported. The
DISCREPANCIES between the amount Of bonds print
I'd and the number accounted for, and the
amounts ordered destroyed Of which no record Of
the destruction exists, and the failures to account
distinctly, in one shape and another, foot up
some firo end q half millions Of dollars. 1t Is
true the committee believes the government has
not actually Teen the loser by this amount, or
by any great amount but this is matter OF
inference from the fact that there has been no
oyer-relemption Of the securities, and no over
payment Of interest on the public debt, and
other considerations. For aught that appear,
from any positive proof, the government mag
have been a heavy loser, and might have been
much more so in the absence Of any thorough
and accurate system in the bureau. The com
mittee report that the aggregate Of all govern
ment securities printed since 1860, amounts to
over eighteen and quarter billions Of dollars.
OF the issue Of bonds under the act Of 1861,
called the second series, Of $50 notes there is a
difference of 2S3 notes, and OF 500 notes DIFF
ference Of 20, and difference Of 80 of the $1,000
notes, between the number printed and delivered
and the number accounted for. Of the $4,000
notes there are a similarly unaccounted for
1t is thought by Mr.. Shannon, who received
these notes. that they were destroyed in the
course of business, and that certificate Of their
destruction, which should have been forthcom-
ing, has been lost. The redemption Of these
notes down to March, 1869, had not reachp the
whole number appearing by the books to nave
been issued. This fact supports in some degree
the probability raised upon the testimony that no
frauds have been committed upon the~govern- |
nent in respect to them, but the want of any |
documentary or other specific proof, accounting |
for these notes, Is, considering what ought to he
the exacness Of such operations, quite unsatisac-
tory. OF the third series of coupon FIVE twenties
of62, one 100 dollar bond and l03 of the 500 1
dollar bonds are not accounted for The com
mttee say Of large amount Of these bonds de-
livered to the register Of the treasury by the
printing bureau, and claimed by those officers to
have been handed over to a committee for de-
struction, that no documentary proof of the fact
is to be found further than that destruction was
directed; and the coming in of sundry duplicated
coupons of this series produce in the minds Of
the committee some solcitude on the whole sub
ject Of this series, though the whole redemption
of the coupons does not exceed the amount is
sued. The result is that Of those bonds, which
went into the registers Office, there is not sats-
fac,orily accounted for: of the ffties, &c bonds:
of the hundreds, 1912; of the FIVE hundreds,
1887; and of the one thousands, 36s. In rela-
ton to these bonds, the committee came to the
conclusion that there must be an error in the ac-
count or an erroneous printing Large discrep-
ancies exist in the issue of two year 5 per cent
treasury notes under the act Of March, 1868
OF gold certificates issued under the act of
March 3, 1868, all are accounted for except
81, $3.50, 600 As they have never since appeared,
and from the ether evidence presented, the CON-
mittee conclude that they were destroyed, but
crticse severely the loosenesS of the procedure by
which such an amount of securities could disap-
pear unaccounted for, and without any certain
method of fixing the delinquency upon any one
person. Various other differences and discrep-
ancies are noticed. but not Of large amount.
The committee state iE reference to the duplca-
ton of the third series of 5-20's Of 60, that
they do not agree with Mr.. Clark. Super;ntend-
ent Of the Printing Bureau, that they are fraudu-
lent, and produced by impression from a gen.
uine plate before it came to the Treasury. They '
state the reas ms which satisfy them that they a
were printed in the department, and stare. as a 9
singular fact, that no duplicates of bonds of that
Issue which to perfect them would require for v
gerry or conniyance of number of persons in b
different bureaus, have been presented, but du u
plicate coupons, which are complete when they h
leave the printing bureau, have been presented {
Aad paid. There has been, however, no over L
redemption of any of the securities, and the
semi-annual payments of interest have fallen )
below the amount shown by the is i