New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1870-06-04
,JOHNSONS LAST LEGACY.

JOHNSOPS LAST LEGACY
The official existence of the Special Com
missioner of the Revenue terminates, by
limitation of the law that made him, on the
Both of June, 1870. When his collaboration,
deputy, and double gauger Delmar, late Di-
rector of the Bureau of Statistics, departed,
he was snufied out, without enough OF him
left to smoke but even in Mr.. Weiss ashes
something of his wonted fire is left to smolder
under the putting and blOwing-up that it is
getting. The putting is being done by the
Golden Club of London. The Atlantic Tele-
graph of the 9th ult. informs us that his
English hackers are printing his last report on
the industry trade, commerce, currency, Con-
gress and general "cussednessr of the United
States, for universal circulation" The
blowing-up is done by the Committee on
Manufactures of our own House OF Represent
atives, in their report of the 10Th of May.
An ambiguous situation this for our National
financier, statistician, political economist, and
controller general of the American system of
trade and tax legislation. The construction at
least, if not the situation, is doubtful, like
that of the ambidextrOus steward mentioned
in the Gospel, who prudently made for himself
friends of the mammOn of unrighteOusness, in
anticipation of his discharge from office.
His lord, it seems, commended him, and
our Steward of the Revenue, after having
also rendered his last account of his steward
ship, is strongly Endorsed by the party that is
entirely satisfied with it. The policy of so adj
ministering the debts and resources of ones
employer TO secure an independence OF his
trust, and q snug retreat upon it's withdrawal,
-, ,INxrint h,,t hot for ant of
clear understanding of the exemplar in the par
able, is about all that we see to admire in the
imitation. We remember the indignation with
which we heard the story of one of our West
Pointers who went into Secession in 1861,
leaving the bombshells in the arsenal under
his charge filed with sawdust. Mr.. Wells has
done better than that for the enemy. He has
carried the bombshells collected for our arm
DRY, and at our expense, in prime order over
to the Golden Club in England and its auxil
aries in the United States and they are firing
them into our works with all the explosive
force there is in them.
Mr.. Wells, during the first half of his official
term, travelled all over the Union and Europe,
had interviews with everybody, examined ev
erything, summoned experts, ciphered inces-
sanity, discussed all sorts of subjects, digested
an infinity of statistics, employed a host of
adopts, published volumes of pamphlets, cOun-
seled Congress and the country, made himself
an authority, turned his office into tract So
ciety, and in the end turned up Revenue
RefOrmer, and a renegade; and now he leaves
the service with budget of statistics on his
back, and an array of reasons for kicking at
our confidence which leaves us nothing to won
der at or doubt about, when we reflect upon
the trials he has been exposed to, except the
weight of the motives which have determined
him to go over bodily to the enemy.
We cannot help remembering now with
what an innocent hopefulness we accepted
the appointment of Revenue Commissioner,
and how impatiently we had long borne our
ignorance of the industries the resources and
the commercial movements of the country,
and how full of confidence we felt when Con-
gress at last made provision for obtaining Off
cial information of our home affairs, with their
relations to our foreign commerce, which up to
that time was the only thing that we knew of
the business on which our welfare depends and
the last report of the Commission is the issue!
Ii was printed last December, and published
far and wide under the official frank, and re-
published and distributed by the Free Trade
League throughout the United States; and
again it is sent freshly upon its travels
through Europe by the allied anti-American
prOpagandists of Great Britain. This history
is Of itself enough to put the public of this
country on its guard. But thousands of per-
sons interested in almost every department of
our home industries early appealed to Congress
for an authoritative exposition of it's perver-
sions of facts, its culpable omissions, and its
mischievOus recommendations of legislative
policy. The Committee on Manufactures of
the House of Representatives have attended to
this duty, and done it with fullness and
effectiveness that challenges our admiration.
In the Judgment of any qualified and candid
reader of their report we venture to believe,
never was man more completely demolished,
and never was indictment containing 80
many counts charging official malversation 80
fully proved. The Committee, indeed, have
not exhausted their subject They necessarily
passed over with no notice, or slight illusions,
many of the most formidable and assailable
offenses of the document, but they have