The Ottawa free trader., 1872-06-15
The Chorpenning Steal.

The connection of President Grant with nu
merous corrupt Jobs, such as the Secor claim
the general order corruption, the mOnstrou:
'Black Friday" swindle, &C., &c, has been
'ablished by such incontrovertible evidence
Z that few candid men longer deny it. How
otherwise, is the natural inquiry, could the
man who went into office poor be now worth
/ $2,OOo,O00? Allusion has also frequently
been made to Grants connection with the
"Chorpennlng steal," and in reference to this
the evidence is equally clear that his hands
arc badly soiled, yet few have taken the pains
to inform themselves fully OF the exact nature
of this monstrous swlndle, because the details
are spread over larger mass of congressional
reports and speeches than most people care
about reading. We have, however, in a care.
fully prepared editorial of the Tribune the fol.
lowing clear and succinct history of this dirty
job, which not only gives all the facts in a
nut shell, but in way to make them interest
ing reading:
From 1851 to 1857, George Chorpenning contract
ed to carry the mail between Sacramento and San
Pedra California, and Salt Lake. After being paid
the full amount of his contract, be lobbied con-
gress and the department for special sllowan
and hnally got special act OF congress passed
under which Postmaster General Aaron V. Brown
PAID an extra allowance, amounting to $lO9 ,OO0
All additional claims over this were rejected, and
the case was settled and closed by the post office
department by the payment OF this sum during
Buchanan's administration. On the appointment
OF Postmaster General Holt, it was tried to induce
him to reopen the matter, but the attempt failed.
N Sspnn nf n Tsr do
Chorpenning renewed his claim before MOntgom-
cry Blair, who. whatever may be said against the
Blair family, was not corrupt. he held that he
could not even reopen the matter, as it had been
of his predecessor. Chorpenning then trumped
up different claim for $Sl 900 ascertaining that
certain portions of the mail had, by mistake, not
been charged at their iull weight. Mr. Blair con-
came postmaster r general, Chorpenning tried him.
but was unceremoniously spurned. Even when
the indefatigable Chorpenning had obtained from
President johnson an order that Randall should
reopen the case and examine the facts anew he
resOlutely refused to do so.
At this point Cherpenning succeeded in enlisting
the friendly interest Of General Grant. Through
his influence President Johnson again directed the
postmaster. general to reopen the case. Mr.. Ran.
dali thereupOn submitted the matter to ATTORNEY.
General Stanberry, who decided that the President
had no power to order the case re.opened. All
this fidelity to duty and to the treasury was dis.
played by cabinet whom our Springfield conven.
ton would style "copperhead.'
Chorpenning next went before the court of
claims. BY this time " ring had been formed,
and the CLAIM had grown to $l76.OOG The court
rejected the claim, and held the decision of Post
master.General Brown, made ten years before, to
be final Chorpenning then applied to the COM
mlttee on claims Of the house Of representatives
for 900, but failed.
Thus far one of the chief obstacles to the pay
ment of the claim had been Mr.. Mcclellan, second
assistant postmaster general. Singularly enough,
autograph letters from General Grant to Andrew
johnson appear about this time asking for the re-
moval Of Mcclellan as a "radical" and recon-
mending the appointment Of General e. A. Smith.
President johnson. however, demurred, and so
Chorpenning had to wait until Grant himself came
into power. Then he at once appointed Creswel
(whose law partner, George Earle, was the attor-
ney ct the Chorpennng ring) to be postmaster
general Creswell appointed Earle himself. the
| attorney OF the ChorPennlng ring his first assist
ant postmaster. general. and Gen. Giles A. Smith.
Grants candidate, his second assistant, with
special control of the contract Office. An accept.
able auditor was appointed in the treasury depart
ment
Thus, with the pipe all lald. Creswell sat down
TO write requisition on the treasury Tor the
Chorpenning claim. But, now that the wheels
we're sc thoroughly creased, no such patry sum
as the original $Sl COO, nor even the Sl75,OOO TO
which the claim had afterward grown, would satisfy
the expansive soul of Chorpennng The possmas-
ter generals requisiton on the treasury was
signed for the enormous sum Of $4,000. It was
presented to the sixth auditor of the treasury,
Judge Martin, and was about TO be passed by him,
when clerk in his bureau divulged the facts to
Mr.. Dawes, now chairman Of the committee of ways
and means, who had barely time to spring the sub.
ject before congress, aud recite the facts above
set forth, whereupOn both houses Of congress
promptly passed q resolution ferbidding its pay.
ment. This constituted the tenth official rejection
OF the claim, and its second rejection by congress
Congress is still 80 conscious Of the unscrupu-
lous and powerful nature of the combins walt
ing for the payment of the Chorpenning claim that
it atfixes standing proviso to appropriations -
"Provided That none Of the funds so apprOprlat-
ed shall be applied to the payment Of the Chorp
| enning claim"
| No one can consider these facts without seeing
that this claim was upon the very verge of being
| paid, through the direct influence Of ring, Of
| whom Creswe Earle and Smith were the leading
| members, and that the President himself was
| thwarted IN his scheme when Congress, by its ON
| nipotent fiat, shut down on the ten.tines con.
demned fraud. The Secor fraud was of exactly the
same character, and would have been stopped in
| the same manner by the fiat Of congress II some
faithful clerk in the navy department had informed
congress Of the affair before it had been paid.
Both were old, shameless swindles-thc Chorp.
enning claim the oldest and most unprneipl ed Of
| the two. Creswel Is the hero Of one and Robson
Of the other and the President shares the glory of
| both.