Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1869-09-06
How the Treasury is Robbed.

ton or appropriation of, or damage to- prop
erty by the army or navy, from the jurisdiction
of the Court OF Claims. 1t also required that
al claims of loyal citizens of States rot IN re-
belion, for quartermasters' stores or subsis
tence supplies actually furnished the army and
receipted for by the proper officer. OF which
may have been taken by him without giving
receipt, may be presented TO the quarterlnas'
ter-general or commissary- general OF supsi5'
tence accompanied by such proofs as the claim,
ant can furnish. The latter officer is ordered
to cause the same to be examined, and when
convinced of the justice of the claim and toyd'tg
OF the claimant, TO recommend Its settlement
| by the Third Auditor of the Treasury.
! Where the claimant does not possess re,
CENT, his claim is classed as Irregular, and
| his application, by the rule adopted, must be
accompanied by an affidavit either from the
| officer receiving the property, or from some
one competent to testify to the TACT ; an oIM OF
dlle0ianee, certificate OF loyahy from u. ;.
officer certificate of citizenship from the
clerk OF the county court where claimant re-
sides: and the oaths Of two persons to his iden'
tity. 1t will be noticed that loyalty Is the
preliminary and fixed requisite to application
| Under the operation of this law most OF the
heavy claims pending in the departments were
aunulled, and they could only be continued Dy
wholesale forgery Of all the proofs, ior the iea
son that lit is stated as positive lactl hine-
tenths of the applications on file were from dis
loyal persons, or from those who bad no right
under the law to apply. leaving out the ques;;
ton of fraudulent applications. The years OF
1866 found many quarcrmasters and COM
missares with property on hand and accounts
unsettled. An opportunity was given them to
close their books. 1t has transpired that some
of these officers credited and gave vouchers tor
the property on hand to parties from whom
none had been received, and divided the pro
fits. In these cases nearly all the proofs outside
of that act were forged. Acting under tins be
lief, private inquiry was Instituted, when ~
many cases resulted in receiving ans%erS IKE
that which may be cited here. The Commis
sary General, doubling the genuneness OF
claim presented on behalf of . prominent gen
tleman in Tennessee, whose signature was
cross. mark, wrote him letter OF inquiry: The
answer was, in part, as follows: Il did not
finnish your army with any subsistence. l
have presented no claim against your govern
ment | never made mark in connection
with government matters, except upon \ an
Eco soldier when | was in the Confederate
The firm of Blackburn & Hanford, Claim
agents in n town in East Tennessee, were large
" interested in procuring payments upon this
class of claims. Col. Blackburn, the senior
mariner, had previously been and continued TO
act while associated with EIanford as volun
tecr revenue detective, his salary b>Ing the
notifies allowed by law to inlormcr5 against
Illicit distilicrs and whist y. lie came 10
WASHINGTON in 1868 with claims for quarter
master stores, amounting 10 IS OOO, expect
ing to get them through the department IN y
few DAYS, but failed to oft Lie placed them in
| l. L. 4 ola m SpVnnth street.
borrowed So 600 upon them and went hack to
Tennessee They were presented lii the rrgu-
lar wav by the Washington agent ana nave
now reached the Settlement bur'?u, having
nsssed through all the rest One ii2o morning
Hanicrd, (BIackburn's partner as vel as a
large amount OF cash derived from the bounty
claims that had just been settled wre missed,
and neither have since been heard from. Now
Blackburn comes to Washington and represent
that the claims for quartermaster stores are al
fraudulent, that they were made up upon false
papers by his partner without his Blackburn )
knowledge. In addition, he aihrms that Ger
tain lieutenant, then connected with the quar-
termaster's department in Elst Tennessee, now
in the regular army, acting IN the Freedmen
Bureau, was a close friend of Hanford, that
from their conversation about the time these
claims were made up he inferred they kept well
suppIied with proofs, forged in blank. lie says
he has found several blank certificates OF 10y
alty," ready signed and blank certificates OF
citizenship, bearing the signature OF the clerk
of the County Court, and the seal OF the
court, in Hanford's desk. The mention OF the
name of the lieutenant above alluded 10 re-
minded the officers at the Treasury that he too
had been claim agent, and the record was cx-
smined. From that source and from private
inouiry il has been discovered that he drew
several thousand dollars upon batch OF claims;
that there are no 'brief marks upon any OF the
papers showing the red tape evidence OF their
having passed through the tedious department
al routine that no clerk or other person has
any record or remembrance OF their having
PASSED through his hands, consequently they
must have been sprung at the first start, upon
the Settlement bureau. In addition to this
it is certain that in less than two weeks after
he presented the claims they were paid, when
the usual period required to accomplish such
business is from one to fcur years and, Worse
than all, it is discovered that the papers them
selves, the Treasury warrant and the lndorse-
mrnt unon which the warrant was paid, are all
downright forgelies. The Treasury detectives
orc working the case up. How far the rascali-
ties will extend it is impossible now to say, but
it is hated that several gentlemen holding, or
who have held positions under government,
are in danger of having their shirt collars
runled by the indicate hands of persons hold
ing commissions as special agents OF the Urea
sury Department. u
TIE OYSTER SEASON IN MARYLAND. The
season for taking and catching oysters has com
menced. Licenses are granted for this purpose
from the first Of September to the first Of June.
Every person applying for license to take
oysters with a scoop, drag or dredge, must have
been, for twelve months preceding the appca.
ton a resident Of the State OF Mary and and the
owner or owners and masters OF vessels, apply
ing for licenses, are required to NAL Re oath that
they have resided as aforesaid, and that there
is no lien on their vessels held 10y non residents.
The license rates are three dollars per ton,
for every ton the boat for which license Is
desired, may measure, according to It's custom,
house enrolment or license. Vessels so licensed
as above are not allowed to take oysters on or
about Talley's Point, Sandy Point, Hackett,,s
Point. Thomas Point the Three Sisters, Ho-
land. Point Bar, Plum Point and Parker's
Greek, on the Western side of the Chesapeake