The Republican journal., 1870-03-31
THE PAPER CREDIT lNlOuITY.

tional and void.
THE PAPER CREDIT INIQulTY.
When u Committee Of Investigation into
the Paper Credit Frauds was appointed by
the present Legislature we expressed the
opinion that the further il proceeded with its
investigation the more rottcnness il would
| find, and that if the committee was an honest
one it would so report. We are gratfird to
be able to state that the committc WHS dill
cent enough To ferret out the dishonesty
which was more than suspected, and honest
enough to make the facts known to the publici
through It's report 10 the Legislature. That
report publish in another column, and
ask for il m attentive pelusai
There never was Il matter of the kind in
which the people of the State lll, 50 deep IN
| interest rs they have in this, or one concern
ING which they should ask for 50 rigid m in
vestigatng. This report reitcratcs the de
claration of the former one, that million Of
dollars has been delraudcd from the people
of the State, This vast sum has gone to en-
rich Z set of men, who are holding their
heads high, living sumptuously, and loudly
asserting their honor and honesty!
| The foregoing is bad enough, but il has all
along been suspected that the facilities tor
pcrpcratng these frauds could not have
| been obtained without the conniyance Of high
State officials, we may say even the highest.
and that the corruption spread downward
through all the grades Of the civil and mill
tary service, and outward to the very borders
OF the State This theory finds much 10 sup
| port ii in the deyeopemento of the research thus
| far made. What are we to think of the eases
in which the committee find that towns are
charged with Indebtedness and funds withheld
to the amounts Of three, five ana seven
thousand dollars each, when as Il matter of
fact no Indebtedness exists? What are we
to think when, rs is shown. the state paid once
l'or men and the town paid swndlmg brokers
over again for the same men?
And so ON to the end Of this heartlesS high
way robbery, that pundered right and left,
without regard to deccncy or the laws of
God or man--there is nothing that does not
arouse the utmost Indignation, and the de
sire for 4 whip that shall lash the raScals
naked through the world.
Mr.. Hume, of Cherryiicld, to whose de-
termination and tearlcssness the people of
the State are largely indebted for the light
that has been shed on these dark transactions
reported the result of the Investigations ofthc
Committee to the House on the 22l. with the
resolve for n Commission to sit in the recess
and report to the next Legislature. He an
nounccd to the House some of the astound-
ing discoveries that the Committee had made
One of these wa that the naval men credit
ed TO the State by the authorities at Wash
ington We're three thousand, '.and that one
thousand of the names thus credited were
sold by brokers TO various towns in the State
at q price ranging from $500 to 800; also,
that for these very men the State paid an adj
dtional bounty of three hundred dollars per
man.
The Governor is authorized to appoint
three Commissioners with ample authority to
go to the bottom Of this business. We hope
that he will appoint able fearless and honest
men to discharge this important truN-men
who will discharge their duties without fear
or favor, and drag out to the light of day
these plundcrcrs, be they high or low.
Bailey, the detaulting New York Collector,
was one of the officials that President John
son attempted to remove, but who was kept
in place by that lovely enactment, the Tenure
of Office Law. Bailey was erected into q
kind of Republican brcvct martyr, and eNhib
tied Us 4 choice specimen of Radical virtue.
Under protection of the party, ms chief occlt-
patton, in the intervals Of stealing, was to
say and write the most insulting things of
the President. Now, having stolen half a
million and fled to parts unknown, we sup
competent successor, who will howl in the
same key, until he too can get his arm into
the treasury And thus rotation in Office will
go on.
Our readers who relish bits of quiet fun
will find them in the DoddletoWn correspond
ence which we are publishing. The an
thor, who is not unknown to fame, has a rich
vein of humor which will continue to over
flow into our columns. We believe in MAX
ing people laugh, and thus keeping them
good humored. II oman is pendulum twiNt
a smile and tear as popular poet AYERS,
we propose to swing him to the Jolly side reg
ularly once week. if he reads the journal.