New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-07-26
IS MIR. BOUTWELL, FAIRP

Within the last few weeks considerable
light has been directed upon the subject of
the management of the finances by the Ad-
ministration of President Grant. Of this, we
may say it without Boosting, THE TRIBUNE
has contributed its share. We present this
morning an elaborate article from the pen OF
David A. Wells traversing in part the same
ground. We have maintained, not only that
the Administration has failed to show econ
omy in the use of the public money, but that
it has undertaken deliberately TO deceive the
people by sort of trickery to which no
honest man would consent to resort in private
affairs. This charge, also, is fully sub
stantated by the independent investi-
cations of Mr.. Wells, and is made
in plain terms by that gentleman. 1t is
also cOncurred in by The Nation (virulently
anti-Greeley), the paper for which Mr.. Wells's
article was prepared. Says The Nation: "The
Statement in question, therefore, of Gen.
"Wison and Mr.. Boutwell, respecting the
comparative decrease of the public expendi-
"tures, while technically true, is, in the sense
4" in which it has been presented to the people,
"not true; and as the Secretary, unless he
"was merely crammed by some Treasury
"clerk, must have known all the circumstances,
"the act is, to say the least discreditable."
What shall we say of the complete exposure
of the absurd and more disgraceiul falsehOod
that Grants Administration (allowing for ez-
pendtures necessarily arising from the war
and the increased public debit is more
economical than any Administration we have
had since Martin Van Burens, the truth
Al. oil
burdens entailed by the war, the Grant Ad-
ministration has been more extravagant than
any former Administration since the fOunda-
ton of the Government
Undiscouraged and unabashed by being made
to appear in so disgraceful plight, the ADJ
ministratiOn is even now preparing and set
ting afloat new set of preyarications, de-
signed TO convey the impression that less pub
lie money has been stolen by its ofiicehOld-
ers than was stolen by LincOln's and john
sons ofiicehOldeIs. How much was spirited
away by the latter we have no means Of
knowing; but this we do know, and shall
demonstrate at no distant day, that the loss
by robberies under Grant nightly exceeds
the sums set forth in the official campaign
documents. For an example, we have the
"theftsn in his Office have been less than
a dollar out of every million dollars passing
through the Office. To get at this result he
goes back to 1861 and figures up the fabulous
amount of ffty-0Ue thousand million dollars as
having passed through his hands! In the
office of the United States Treasurer, sup
posing official morals, to be but moderately
superior to those of the cities of the plain, it
ought to be physically impossible to lose any
thing without immediate detection. In fact,
Gen. Spinner did get along safely for eight
years under Lincoln and Johnson, but under
Grant he was suddenly startled one day to
learn that his clerks had contrived, right
under his nose, to rob the United States Treas
ury of $4,000 More has gone the same way
since. And yet the organs say, "Does any
zone believe that Horace Greeley could i'm
"prove on the official integrity shown by the
above exhibit of the TreasureTs accounts ?"
Rohf