Tama County Republican. (Toledo, Tama County, Iowa) 1867-1872, 1872-10-24

revenues Of the United States are annual
lost in .he collection and for large pal
Of that loss system Of the service whicl
10 fatally unsound may reasonably be Mel
responsible"
The calculations to which We allude
we're made under The administration Of An
drew Johnsor. when the evils sf the 'spoils
system culmins,sd, aid W selected tn
facts Of its worst condition - the mos
foreibls illustration Of the mischief Of th,
o stem. The calculations are found In th
report Of the commission !or the revision 0
the revenue laws in January, 1866, and i,
the report Of the special commission Of tn,
revenues for the year 1868.
The Hon T. A. Jenckes. in . speech deliv
cred in New York in January. 1869 re
marked: II have said, in discussions Of
this bill, that the present condition Of tn
public service loses to the people annual,
500, ,OO0, 600. When cay I,
you thss I hsvs stuaied this matter for fou
years, and taken the testimony Of hundrrd,
d siassaes, fnd that none can trac an,
other result. have stated IL
the House Of Representatives thst by III,
due collection Of the revenue by eficien
revenue officers, you can gain 500, ,0OO, ,0O(
annually"
He proceeded to quote The report Of th,
Special Commissioner in evidence Of hii
statement and pointing out the effect upon
the payment Of the public debt and upor
the natiopal credit Of the gain hs had men.
TONED, hs concludes; "That does not de.
pend upos my statement il 10 sanctioned
BY the report Of the Secretary Of the Treas
ury." Mr.. Nc Culloch was then Secretary
These are the calculations Of "those who
have made careful study Of the facts tc
which We alluds, and the cAsrseter Of the
close which they describe is apparent. 1,
Was chiefly Indirect. 1t did not arise from
defalcations 90 much % from smuggling,
undervaluations and evasions Of every kind.
Thus, for some time, the rate Of the tax up
on vhisksy was not less than 700 per cent.
in excess Of the net cost Of production 50
that the fraudulent distiller was fairly paid
If he could successfully place ons out Of
eight barrels Of whiskey on the msrke,
without paying the tax. The actual eva
sion upon this commodity amounted at one
time to not less than from 400 to 500, 6JO OF
even 200 per cent, instead Of the moderate
rate Of tHen'y per cent.
The loss contemplated BY the calculati lions
to which We referred was due to oiiisial
connivance or inefficiency. Il was, how.
ever, not loss Of money actually collected
and stolen on the way to the Treasury,
which 10 Mr.. Trumbulls assertion, but ri
money that, under the law, was due, but
never collected. Greater henesty and eff
cheney In the service would have saved
much Of that indirect loss, and, Therefore,
the report says; "For large part of that
loss system Of the service which 10 fully
unsound may reasonably be held response
bls."
Our object was to show the bad results Of
n evil system which had bsen adopted BY
every administration Of all parties for forty
years, and which the administration Of Gen
Grant has been the first attempt to reform,
ss the report itself was the proof. Had We
supposed it possible that, for the merest
partisan purpose, Senator Of the United
States would pervert, to the injury Of this
Administrstioa, . statement which Was Pc
culiarly inapplicable to it, " should have
prevented the intended injury BY . more
ample explanation.
How great the practical reform in the
honesty and economy Of administration has
been during the tern Of General Grant. .
few facts show. Official figures Of the
Treasury Department relative to the actual
total defalcat tions and deficiencies under the
Internal Revenue law. since it went into
operation, indicate that they have amount.
edto 81, 200, ,OoO, instead Of SO, 900 900, q
10 ofisn stated, and that Of this amount
$500, coo was under Lncoln's administra.
tion, S2,lOO,O0O under Johns: ms, and the
remainder, about $500, 900, under Grants.
An exhaustive statement Of the losses OF
the government from dsfalcations in the In
ternsl Revenue Bureau is in preparation
Meanwhile Acting Secrstary Richardson
states, In . letter dated June ~, 1872, that
the estimated ultimate loss to the govern
ment upon the reesipts Of the internal rsvs.
nue. from March 8, 1869, " March 8, 1871,
is less than one-6fth part Of one Per cent,
or less than two dollars in ten thousand
dollars.
In the customs the estimated ultimate loss
from the Let Of April, 1869, to the 3lst ol
December, l>7l, 10 ono two-hundredth part
Of one per cent, or somewhat less than 1--WE
dollars in one hundred thousand dollars.
On the basis Of constant average amount
Of deposits, the rates " estimated annual
loss to creditors from the insolvency Of the
national banks from June I, 1869, to june
l, 1872, has been l-ls6 part Of one psr cent
Of the deposits, or i've and thrse-eighth, do
lars in one hundred thousand dollars.
II 10 in vie& Of such facts that Senate,
Trumbull publicly states that Gen. Grant''
friends confess that quarter Of the reve
nue. 10 stolen every year in consequence o.
the corrup.ions Of the administration. W.
repeat that we do not learn that hs profess
es to believe what hs tries to persuade hi,
hearers to believe; and We regret that il
our desire to diyest our report Of any par
tisan character whatever, and to make i
as consiss - possible, We failed to sxplai,
this statement moro in DETAIL and to shov
how vigorous and powerful we're the effort
Of the administration to prevent the loss l.
which We alluded. Respectfully,
lSihned,l GEoRoE WILLIAM CUarls.
ALEXANDER g. CArTgLL.