The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1873-07-21

QheQnteuiqen4r
The Freedmen'v Bureau Frauds.
A BAD SHOWING FOR GENERAL HOWARD

MI, LIE d. nANDOLIu hhlAI IuV w oSH'
ngton correspondent Of the Pittsburgh
Commercial, furnishes that journal the
following summary Of the case against
Gen. HOWARD:
There now appears less doubt than
ever about the deliberate criminalityj Of
the management Of the Freedmen's Blu
rrau AFFAIRS, and there is no longer any
doubt that extensive frauds have been
committed, greater than has been sup
posed.
The history OF these discoveries might
BE- summed up as follows:
War Department general order No. %,
dated June %, 1872, promulgated the act
Of Congress approved June 10, 1872, dis,
continuing the Bureau Of Refugees,
Freedmen and Abandoned Lands, and
directed that from and after June 30,
1879, the business Of the discontinued
Bureau should be. conducted through the
Adjutant General Of the army. The
special Jurisdiction Of this new branch Of
duty was assigned 10 an Assistant Adju'
tanl General OF the Army, General Vim
cent. The letter of that officer dated
October z, 1872, gives the following cpit.
ONE of the condition Of tho records and
papers turned over to the Department ::
1.-THE records, when delivered, were
found 10 be In a state Of much confusion
the books and files of the different offices
being prOmiscously interminglCd, the
desks full OF papers belonging to the files,
anL the files themselves in general disor.
der. Especially was this the case with
records of the arChiye division, the. books
and papers of one State being mixed with
those Of other States, and with those OF
other divisions oil the office. Many and
important papers, covering dates from
the organization of the Bureau to the
date of its disc0ntinuanCe, some oil them
containing soldiers discharge papers, had
been placed on the files in various places,
seemingly at the then present convenience
Ol tho persons having them in charge,
without being recorded in the books Of
the office, and consequently without any
means by which they could be referred
to; and 1t is found, by the experience
already had in the search OF information,
that In many cases, particularly In the
claims division, no proper record was
made OF the action had on papers passing
through the Bureau II was also disCov.
cred that important papers are missing
from the files; OF the transfer thereIrom
there is no record evidence" One "letter
sent book belonging 10 the claims divi-
sion was missing, and was only restored
after Il suspiciously technical correspond
cnCe.
The records of the Assistant Commits
siOnGrs Of the several States and oil local
agents were found TO be very imperfect,
and led General Vincent to believe that
there Ia good reason 10 believe that many
Of the agents Of the late Bureau, both
State and local, have retained possession
Of n mart or the whole OF the records Of
their late offices" In fact the grossest
negligence was apparent everywhere; Let
tiers were never recorded, many not
hriGIed. For nine months, In. 1872, little
or no attention was given to the proper
transa6tlon,of the important business Of
the claims division. Over one thousand
papers, relating to soldiers claims fled BY
The Bureau, and to contested fraudulent
claims referred by the Second Auditor fol
investigation by Bureau agents, were I'M
touched, and thousands Of soldiers' dis
charge papers wero apparently Enacted
upon, while the poor and needy depend
ing often upon favorable action in regard
to them for support were kept in heart.
less delay. The number Of unpaid claims
transferred amounted 10 $73059G so, and
the amount transferred for their payment
$72G,S42 II, leaving an immediate deficit
Of $3,7jl 60 unaCcounted Tor. General
Vincent adds: complaints have been
made that claimants have not received
from the late Bureau their bOuntiGs, or.
rears OF nay, &C., although the Treasury
accounts OF the Bureau Disturbing officer
show payment to have been made, and
there Is reason to believe that claimants
have been deirauded extensively Of the
said moneys"
Now, no one can be SO excessively oh.
fuse as 10 imagine that General Vincent,
an officer most highly esteemed in private
as well as military circles, would mako
such serious accusations without sufficient
grounds. After q careful investigation OF
the facts and records in his possession, he
reports the condition Of affairs to tho Sec
retary OF War. That high officer Is con.
WINGED Of the Justice Of these charges, and
refers the question 10 the Attorney Cen
eral, requesting his opinion rs TO how
suits might be commenced iUr the dis
Covery Of the responsible party, and fol
the recovery OF the money, u possible
The decision of the Attorney General, il
is known, acknowledges violation Of
the law In the matter ofthc bond, and Rd'
mits that great frauds have been commit
ted. On this decision it is proposed to
try General Howard by court martial. 1t
has been represented, or at least the i'll
ference of the general dispatches sent
nom here has been that the officers now
in charge Of this ugly affair are acting
upon the sole impulse Of putting period
to General Towards highly piOus, highly
benevolent and highly honest course,
The injustice of any such charge is ap'
parent without much explanation. The
act Of Congress requires the affair OF the
Bureau to be wound up by the War De-
partment In the execution Of this duty
the Department finds It's impossible &c
make the accounts balance. Upon inves
tigstiOn II Is found that there has been
leak somewhere, and further investiga-
ton leads to the discovery OF every evil
dence Of fraudulent transactions, Hence
this whole exposure has come TO light IL
the natural order Of business, and unit
some official action Is taken the accounts
Of the Bureau will have to remain unad-
lusted. Hence the proposed official ex-
animation.
General Howard has been indelatigablC
n his epdeayors 10 keen IN tho nublit