Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1871-10-21
MORE RADICAL ROBBERY.
The Freedmen's 'Barsaa This Tim


which has been frequently asked in the
columns ofDemocratic papers, but to which
there has never yet, been . satisfactory an
swer, at least so far as the deeds of the
officials have been concerned. The Radical
party claims all Of the morality, virtue, and
patriotism OF the country; and this too, in
spite of the fact that that such men as But
Ter, Harlan, Ponneroy, and Morton are
among its High Priests. q And yet in the
last five or SIX years under Radical rule,
there has been more robbery, defalcation,
and rascality than in all the years when
Democracy had possession of the Govern
mert. Under Democratic Administrations,
defalcations of public officers were the ex-
ception. Now they are the general rule.
~ THE LAST GREAT DrFAI;rAT4oS. {
which startled the country, was that of Mai.
Hodge. He was, tried, convicted and sem
fenced. Now we have another defalcation,
or, as the Secretary of the Treasury, and
others of the Treasury officials choose to
term it, 10
AN IRREGULARrrY.
Perhaps it Is an sirregularity, but If so, IL is
a very serious one. The last ssirregularity"
affected the pay department proper. This
4" irregIlarityp affects taht immaculate con-
Germ known as the Freedmen's Bureau, and
which was only saved last year by the white
washing which it received al the hands Of a
Radical Congress. i.4i UIS
1t has long been mystery how it was
that officers Of the Freedmen's Bureau have
managed, on their small salaries, to accu-
mulate so much property and build fine
houses, and the story Of Gen. Balloch's
little irregularity may tend to explain the
whole matter. - ssa---er.
Immediately afterthe Hodge 'irregGlari-
ty," the War Department proceeded to seru-
tinize and investigate the accounts of all
disbursing officers connected with that de-
partment, and in doing so they discovered a
discrepancy in the accounts of Gen. George
W. Balloch, the dishursing officer and treas
urer of the FreedmeIis Bureau. A quarter
of million of dollars should have been to
his credit in the New York Sub Treasury,
but upon investigation nothing was found
there. - --z.+
1t is stated that, upon this discovery, an
order was issued from the War Department
for 80 rrr av
GEN. BALLoCH's ARREST q ga
but before it could be executed, Gen. o. o.
Howard appeared at the War Office, and al
his suggestion and request the order of ar
rest was suspended upon an assurance that
Balloch could satisfactorily explain any APP
parent discrepancy. As he has done on
other occasions, when his pet bureau was
charged with shortcomings, Gen. Howard
plead the baby act, and asserted, as he had
often done before, that the report of irTegrI.
larity was .a.GE
STARTED BY SOME ENEMY OF THE BUREAU
But this way of begging the question i;
played ont, and so early one fine morning
before Gen. Howard had had time to cal
his little breakfast, Gen. Shriver appeared
upon the scene of Howard University Hill
| and said he wanted Howard and Balloch tC
ride with him forthwith to I the Treasury
Department, and then and there explain
his accounts. Arrived at the Treasury, the
clerk produced a package of 100000 il
bonds, which was deposited to Gen. Bal
loch's credit as disbursing officer, and some
explanation was made by both Howard ant
Balioch about outstanding checks, etc. A
well put and direct question, however, de
yeloped the fact that besides the $500, 900
Balloch had $4,000 in bonds to his owl
credit, and. which he claimed was his per
sonal property. Even Gen. Howard was 8
little staggered at this $4,000 business, fol
he had not been let into the secret about
that, but both the Freedmen's Bureau off
Gals left the department under the impres
sion that everything was fixed UP, and thai
| their explanations we've satisfactory.
But it was clear that
-BAILoCH COULD NOT BE TRUSTED,
and so an order was issued relieving him o
| further duty and responsibility as disburs
! ing officer, for it was shown that he haC
been converting the coupons upon all thu
! bonds, but had failed to make return of tn;
same. When Gen. Howard was directed
to act as disbursing officer, he stated thai
| the business was new to him, and he re
! quested that Balloch be allowed to remain {
week or ten days until Howard could famil
| iarize himself with the duties of the new
I position. This was peremptorily refused
| and How ard was directed not to allow Bal
loch to enter the office. Meanwhile the
! Second Auditors office is engaged in exam
lining the accounts to ascertain exactly how
the matter stands. $50
1t will soon be ascertained whether this il
| defalcatiOn, as some people believe it is
or whether it is only an irregularity. Ii
| either case Balloch has violated the law, anC
ought to be punished, instead of being
! SCREENED BY HIGH FEDERAL OFFICIALS
! He knew very well that he had no RICH
| to deposit the public money elsewhere thai
/ in designated depository. BY the act ere
! ating the Freedmen's Bureau, and by sub
seqient acts, all officers of the bureau arr
subject to military discipline, and BallOcf
is clearly culpable under the following sec
! ton of the articles of war:
'And no officerin the military servic,
! charged withSthe safe-keeping, transfer o.
/ disbursement of public money, shall con
! vert to his own use or invest in auy kind o
merchandise or property, or loan with, o.
without interest, or deposit in any bank
| or exchange for other funds, except as al
lowed in the preceding article, any publ
! money entrusted to him; and every sucl
act shall be deemed to be felony and al
embezzlement of so much money as may b,
taken, converted, invested, used, loaned
deposited, or exchanged"
| OF course, like all other Radicals who ar
| caught in 'ways that are dark and trick
that are vain," ...-..s.-s --...
BALLoCH HAS AN EXPLANATION READY
he says that early last spring he
Had in his possession, for the payment o
bounties to colored troops,the sum of $3.50,
900. This he invested in United State
stocks, and on the LIST of August last drew
the quarterly interest on the same.
seems that in the payment of several partie
before this investment he had been imposed
upon that, in fact, the claimants for bount,
were bogus, and that their papers wer
fraudulent. After drawing the interest re
| ferred to, the real claimants came forward
and proving, by the very best evidence, thei
right to the bounty, which had already beef
paid in their names, Gen. BallOch, OF
| consultation with Gen. Howard, and
he asserts, with Gen. Spinner, salts
fed their just demands with a portion
of the interest of the United States bond
which he had purchased from the Treasury
Department. Gen Spinner says he doe
not remember that Gen. BallOch asked hi
advice in regard to using the interest in tn
manner specified, although it is barrel,
possible he did so. He further saws tina
while Gen. BIS course was doubtless littl
irregular, he cannot see that he was in an
way guilty of a moral wrong, as it is custom
airy for Congress to make provision 70
similar emergencies. Secretary Boutwell,
says he has rs yet seen no evidence to prov
that Gen. BallOch is a defaulter in an
sense. We state these facts because ther
seems to be disposition in some quarter
to circulate charges affecting the official in
tegity of Gen. Balloch."
The above is a most remarkable state
ment, and it is enough of itself to conviC
Balloch. He violated plain law and arm
order in using the interest, as he admit
/ ba did. and the ahOva ,rae o,-;Jo,.l