American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-08-30
Post Office Dishonesty.

The New York SIM, one of the
ablest, as it is, unqueStiOnably, the
most fearless of Northern Journals,
brings to light some startling facts
connected with Grants thieving
officials. From the following, it will
be seen how the poor Southerners
have been victimized by one Nc
Lellan, a rascally postal clerk:
We learn from Col. FOrney's
Press that the embellishments of
Bryce Mcclellan, lately chief postal
clerk between New York and
Washington, reach the sum of s4O,-
900, and that after the rObberies
had been detected he was permit
ted by Postmaster General Cres-
well to resign, although forty let
tiers purlOined from the mails were
found in his possession. Nearly all
the money he had stolen was ia
ken according to the Press, in
small sums of not over 81 or 80
from letters sent by Southern sub
scribers to Northern publishers
The Press adds that he was peach
ed upon 'shy one of his accOmpli
ces, who still retains his place in
the department..
The fact that Mcclellan is allow
ed to resign without being indicted
and brought to trial shows anew
and in most impressive manner
that his offence is regarded by his
official superiors as merely venial
in its nature. He has only stolen
$4,000 from poor people in the
Sonth, who had sent their petty re
mittances to procure the newSpa-
pers or the magazines which they
desired. He had only broken
open fifteen or twenty thousand let
tiers that had been entrusted to the
care OF the Post Office. His thiev-
ings amounted to something in the
aggregate, but they were made up
of trifling sums, Besides, his faith
err had once been Assistant Post
master-G General; and accordingly
Mr.. Creswell, bearing in mind his
own great ChOrpenning swindle,
where $443, 900 was to be taken at
one haul, looked upon this poor lit
tie tibet with compaSsion; and
while he allowed HIM to resign and
go away in his fine clothes, ana not
in State prison uniform, his accom-
plice who had betrayed him "still
retains his place in the depart
ment," and can go on breaking
open letters and stealing their con
tents.
The next case cited by the sam
is the ten million deficit in the
United States Treasury. Thus it
will appear that while a miserable
postal clerk steals thousands from
Southerners, some
high officials appropriate mil
lions from the Cover nment of
their master.
The Tribune in an able article
shows that there is in the
a deficit OF about thirteen
millions of dollars, this is higher
than our information has stated il,
but not so high as it has been given
by the Herald. The Tribune also
AYERS that during the month of
June there was a nominal addition
of twelve millions to the gold in the
Treasury. but not a dollar of gold
was really taken there. This
agrees with the explanation which
we published yesterday from our
correspondent to the
effect that the syndicate, being I'M
able to make their payments for
bonds, had some eleven millions put
to their credit which they had real
ly paid in. In other words the
Treasury loaned them eleven mil
lions in gold to make up the amount
of money which they were bound to
furnish but could not.
Our correspondent alleges how
ever, that even apart from this
tine and important transac-
ton, there is still deficit of ten
millions in the cash account of the |
Treasury. In other words, the |
books show that there ought to be
ten millions more than actually is
there. What has become of this
great sum? Has it been lost! Has |
it been carried off! Or is it merely |
IN inaccuracy in book keeping?-
And how can such an inaccuracy |
occur in a public Office like the
Treasury of the United States.