The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1850-1873, 1872-09-13

In 1852, the firms Of Secor = Co, and
/ Perine, Secor q Co., eOntracted with
the Government to build thEoe moni-
tors, the Tecumseh, Mah0 ana
Manhattan. for 81 .S6O, 900. III we're
completed and paid for in 1884. The
contractors fled q claim for extr1 work,
| which was referred to . Board, beaded
| By Admiral Gregory. On TINS cialn,
$51 1858 was paid. This was In 1904:
The account was then formally closed
by the Navy Department Secretary
Wells, and Chief Engineer Wood have
testified that this was the case. The
fact Is important, inasmuch as . rule
of the departmnt forbids the opening,
by one Secretary, Of an account that
has been closed by another. Early in
1865, the Secors ACKNOWLEDGED that thy
could bring no more claims before the
DEPARTMENT, by appealing to Con-
gress for relief. On March 2, 1857,
Congress ordered the appointment Of .
Board which should Investigate the
claims of all contractors for building
vessels-of-war" under contracts made
between May I, 1861, and Jan. 1, 1854.
This Board was headed by Commo-
dore Marchand, and reported in favor
of paying the Secors Sl15, ,539. 10. The
report was submitted to Congress
which, on July Is, 1858 passed its final
law on the matter. The part of it re-
lating to the Secors is as follows:
Be u enacted etc., That the Secretary Of
the Treasury b, and is hereby, suthoriIed and
directed to sss1s &c Ca End .b;.s
shall be IN the full dischorge ofoH cfofns against
the United States on ocooanf Of the vessels uPo"
rhich the Board made their allowance. as per
their report.
This sum, making, in all $685., 7S4.59
extra, was paid. OF its receipt by the
Secors, the Naval Committee, in its
report of May IL, 1870, says: That,
in law, such receipt was acompiete
bar to all further recourse, cannot De
be denied" twill be noticed that the
Board which recommended this pay
ment was formed by order of Congress,
not by order of the Secretary Of the
Navy; that the Secretary took no ac-
tion upon its report himself, but sent
it to Congress; and that no money was
paid until Congress madea a special ap-
for that purpose. Compare
with this the course of Robson. When
Borie's influence put him at the head
of the Naval Department, he was
at once asked by the Secors to reopen
their account, closed five years before
by the Department and three years be-
fore by congress. He did so. He, and
not Congress, ordered new Board,
headed by Commodore Boggs, to be
appointed. He, and not Congress,
considered its report, recommending
the payment of $685. to the Secors.
He, and not Congress, ordered this
paid. Before, the Secretary had done
Congress everything. Now,
Congress did nothing, the Secretary
everything. The Constitution and the
laws forbade the payment of this claim
special appropriation, and
the law of July Is, 1868, forbade its
payment i'm any event Moreover,
took the $93, 900 from the
money appropriated for the current
expenses of the Navy during 1870.
Porter demonstrated against
his; Chief Bureau Lenthal declared
It illegal. 1t was i'm vain. Jan.
1870, the Secors were paid In giving
hem sos, 1000 of the peoples money,
Robeson violated (D the De-
Dartment rule forbidding one Secretary
% open an account which had been
closed by another; (2) the
which (Art. I, Sec, IX-)
,ays: mo money shall be drawn from
he Treasury but In consequence of ap-
made by law" (S) the
many laws which have been passed
N enforcement of this clause; (4 the
aw of July -, 1858; and (5) the law
1y which the money he used was set
apart for the current expenses OF the
Navy during 1870. 1t is noteworthy
hat, while Robson was preparing to
,ay the Secor claim and CresswelI was
a year later, to pay the
claim, Congress was in
session; that both Secretaries took
pains to conceal their plans from Con-
yress; and that Creswell, was sum-
narily checked in his plot; while
Robson, who succeeded in this, sue.
,eeded also in eonsummating his
scheme. Dubious deeds are best done
in darkness.