Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1872-10-04

[CopY.1
WAsH1NGroN, p. c., Sept. 4, 1872.
Hon. John A. Logan.
DEAR S1R:-Your letter would
have received an earlier answer but
for the fact that we were all in
different parts Of the country when
1t was received.
Your letter states that the charge
has been publicly made by Senator
Trumbull that twenty-five per cent,
or, as he states it,S95, $3.50, 9S6, O22,is
lost to the Government annually
from our revenues, and that he re-
fers to our report Of December Is,
1871, as evidence of the fact that so
much money is plundcrcd from the
revenues when collected, and that
this is the result Of Il corrupt ad-
ministration of the laws by the pre-
sent authorities at Washington.
You do not say that Senator Trum-
bull states that he believes that
there is any such enormous theft,
although his remarks necessarily
convey the impression that the
friends Of the Administration ac-
knowledge it; nor indeed is it con-
ceivablc that any well-informed
man should believe it. But as lie
makes the statement and quotes our
report as evidence, it is proper that
we should explain the paragraph to
which he alludes, and which is as
follows:
sit is not easy to compute in
figures the exact economical differ
ence between good and bad sys-
tenn OF the civil service. 1t is,
necessarily, Il matter of inference
and of comparison between the pro-
bable operation of a careless and
careful method. But it is calculated
by those who have made careful
study of all the facts, that one fourth
OF the revenues of the United States
are annually lost in the collection,
and for large part Of that loss
system of the service which is
fatally unsound may reasonably be
held responsible"
The calculations to which we
alluded were made under the ad
ministration Of Andrew johnson,
when the evils Of the "spoils" sys.
TEN eliminated, and we selected
the facts Of its worst condition as
the most forcible illustration of the
mischief Of the system. The cal
culations are found in the report of
the commission for the revision Of
the revenue laws in January, 1866,
and in the report of the Special
Commission Of the Revenues for the
year 1868.
The Hon. T. A. Jenckes,. in
speech delivered in New York in
January, 1859, remarked: 81 have
said, in discussions on this bill,
that the present condition of the
public service loses to the people
annual 800, OOO,O =
When ! say to you that l have
studied this matter for four years,
and taken the testimony ofhundreds
Of witnesses, find that none can
trace any other result. ~
l have stated in the House Of Rep
resentatives that by the due collec-
ton of the revenue by efficient rcvc-
nue. officers you can gain SlOO,OOO,-
600 annually"
lie proceeded to quote the report
of the Special Commissioner in evil
dence of his statement, and pointing
out the effect upon the payment Of
the public debt and upon the nation
al credit of the gain he had men
toned, he concludes: "That does
not depend upon my statement, it is
sanctioned by the support of the
Secretary Of the Treasury" Mr..
Me- ulloch was then Secretary.
These are the calculations of
"those who have made careful
study of the facts" to which we al
luded, and the character of the
"loss" which they describe is APP
parent. 1t was chiefly indirect. 1t
did not arise from defalcations so
much as from smuggling, under
valuations and .cvasions Of every
kind. Thus, for some time, tho
rate Of the tax upon whisky was not
less than 700 per cent. in excess Of
the net cost of production; SO that
the fraudulent distiller was fairly
paid if he could successfully place
one out Of eight barrels of whisky
on the market without paying the
tax. The actual evasion upon this
commodity amounted at one time to
not less than from 400 to 500, 600,
or even 700 per cent, instead of the
moderate rate Of twenty per cent.
The loss contemplated by the
calculations to which we referred
was due to official connivance or
inefhciency. 1t was, however, not
loss Of money actually collected
and stolen on the way to the Treas.
ury, which is Mr.. Trumbulrs as
| sertion, but Of money that, under
the law, was due, but never collec-
ted. Greater honesty and efficiency
in the service would have saved
much of that indirect loss, and there
fore, the report says: "For large
part Of that loss a system Of tho
service which is fully unsound may
reasonably be held responsible"
Our object was to show the bad
results Of an evil system which has