Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1873-06-21
LOCAL NEWS

An UNSUCCESSFUL ATTENPr TO APPROPRIATE
S7S O00 ONT or rpR nIsrRIcr rpRAsrRy

AN CNSrCCEesFUL ATTEMrT TO APPROPRIATE
5,0oo OUT OF TIE DISTRICT TREASURY.
Mr.. John W. Thompson, chairman OF the
finance committee Of the Council. deserves
credit for his report last night exposing the
barefaced renewal of the attempt 10 appropriate
$4,000 from the District treasury to pay Ger
tain claims heretofore shut out by q very excel
lent proviso, which il was proposed to repeal.
The opening of the report is as follows:
- The committee Of finance, 20 which was referred
appropriation 10 pay the oatst snding nd-btein--s
OF the late corporatons OF Washington Geor SetOwn.
ommendaiion tina; il do pot pass.
This bill proposes to enact That all and singular
10, 1871, entitled act making 81 appropriation TO
pay the oustanding Indebtedness Of the Lite cor po-
Court, be, and b same are hereby, required 20 be
paid by the commissioners Of the snkB fund Of the
the said act mentioned and provided any proviso in
the said act 20 the contrary Notwithstanding
to or direct the s I" The h .Sbps
fund to dir' gard the proyisO 10 the act OF January
cri That claim be PAID aid that has not ban
acted on by the apdting c"1misson and By the
House Of Delegates, aud approved by them"
membe OF m esss% that h hsrs no
Ieeosnae The Rroprety and the Justice q this pro-
raticns were very numerous and 10 order thai faIl
Justice mic ut be done 20 the various claimants, the
to receive and udssy examine haes
claims and report their decision with the evidence
commission was in session nearly six months, hay-
Ing during that time advertisements In the different
pfesena Tn sai%s r 60
ported to the Legislative Assembly be;V cen ave and
provsl, and also such as they had rejected This
Tepsrt was Tserred e. the Committee ON indebted;
fayorably on the claims allowed by the auditing
is7a eporied said claims in the f,rm ~ amsnimnft.
e bill which had previously been twice read and
reported consisted of nearly six hundred distinct
Items OF appropriation, for each claimant whose
name was given and the amount awarded TO him
This Of matter, in the form Of appropriations
was introduced AT the heel of the session. within
forty-eight hours Of the hnal adj0urnment There
was no time for reading printing, for delbera
do Justice 10 the creditors of the late corporations
and no one questioned the int diligence or integrity
OF the auditing commission, which had been occu-
pied nearly half a year in examining aud making
up their judgment on the laldity Of the mulIifa-
wac willing e. confirm their awards unless shows 10
be erroneous by the committee indebtedness, but
was ing TO 60 sny further, rs IL clearly shown
BY the insertion of the proyisO directing that no
nat contained ip the bill should be paid,
spproixed by both the auditing commission and the
the bill could not have been passed II was essen
tla as well Tor the Protection Of the treasury TO
ospuIsement OF nearly snillion dollars Of the peo
The proyiso proved to be wise ani eficacious for
when the law was published disclosed the fact that
many items Of appropriation been inter afed
Tor claims which had never been presented TO the
auditing commissi0n, and some items for claims
which had even been rejected by that confmi sion
How these items got into the act is a mystery which
your committee will not attempt to solve but fortu
nately the proviso debarred and still debars the
payment OF these interpolated items, several Of
which are the more remark able in view of the action
OF the auditing commission respecting them"
Some OF the items are then reviewed, among
them the much-talked-of Donovan claim for
Sl3,'l2, which will be remembered by many of
our citizens. pretty full history of it is given,
and the remark made that sit has been rejected
by the executive, judicial and legislative author
ties OF the late corporations, as well as by the
auditing commission organized by and acting
for the government of the District but BY some
unknown agency IL has been included among
the appropriations in the bill Of the 18th Of JAM
uary, 1872, and its payment prevented only by
force OF the proviso which the pending bill pro-
poses to repeal" "0ther items inter-
polated in the act Of 1872 are for the payment
Of claims for pretended extra work.
The report concludes as follows;
"Your committee therefore cob,frained 10 re-
port against this bill. III among the inter palsted
items there be any that are mertorious the parties
interested have ample means Of redress by appeal
Ing TO the urts by presenting their respective
cases, each mon its merits, TO the Legislative
ASSEMBLY Your committee cannot advise their pay
ment in the indirect manner il Is proposed TO be done
by the bill which is now adversely reported upon
The claims which would be required TO be paid il
this bill should pass, will amount TO about SIS 900.