St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-12-19
The Crane Defalcation.

seemed unfair To Mr. JeWctt. we nave |
published them that all which may he
material to the guilt OF innocence of the !
accused may go into the case that the
public may judge with fairness. The /
lnprciudccd reader must have noted Il
few very remarkable points IN this case
which have not been enlarged upon 10y (
MI Crane or his friends:
H. The accounts of this detalcatl"n,
published the first tw" weeks after 1t
was discovered. were virtually Collec-
Tor Cranes account of the matter; and
while We imputc nothing unworthy To
Nh. Crane. of whom We know nothing.
impartial Judges will hardly condemn
Il man when the evidence of only one
side is in. and that too from the party
most Interested.
e. When time enough elapsed I"
heal from Mr.. Jcwctt. he made an EN-
platic denial to these charges of Nj.
Crane If innocent. what could he do
more and wrote. Il shall leave t"l
Vermont at the earliest moment posi-
bic. and shall insist upon Il full and
thorough investigation of the chdrgc>
made against me" The parties VIII"
were bound To reverse the usual order
of things. and hold It man guilty until
he was proved innocent, Expressed great
surprise that Nh. Jcwctt WIS mot a.
reddg on the spot +" press the Invc>t-
CATION" Waving the fact that if inmo-
cent he had right To Take his own
time to come. Nh. J,.rctt explained that
the Superintendent at the Pullman Car
Co. had gone south ON business. leaving
him III charge. aud ne could not leave
at once without dctlimrnt I" The COM
pamy and to himself.
Ga Much stress has been laid 10y
Nj. Crane. aS stated IN the Free Press,
upon the fact that since, the overhaul
inc of his books. aud disclosure of his
deficiency. MI Crane has been made
collector ot the cnlaIg ed district. formed
hN the division of the first district and
consolidation of half of it with the SEC
nnd district. Had Mr. Crane been re
Tar,lcd as It thief 1T the department..
this Irappointmcnt, for such II virtually
i. would have been Il simple impo>>l-
hility." This is not the least strange
thing in this singular affair. Here Is II
government officer, an acknowledged
dctaultcr to large amount, and Yet re-
appointed. and to an enlarged district
If this l. not IN Indication that the civil
service needs reforming. We dO not
know where to look ton one. In the
early history of this dctalratiolI. MI.
Cranes papers acknowledged that he
alone. with his bnnd>mem. were rcspon-
siblc to the Government that although
he charged the enlightenment upon his
clerk, he expected to share the blaine.
and make the dctalcHtiuu good. Yet,
is appointed To Il better position, and
the government is induced 10 take NJ
the cause against his clerk. and Il nitcd
States Marshal j. posted oil a thousand
miles to mlc>t hin,. when they have
assurances that he i coming ON of hi,
own tree will and indeed ON reaching
Chicago. the Marshal finds him with hi,
business arranged just ready t" tax,
the train for Burlington tu face his aC
ru>ci>.
ll 1t should he borne in mind tina
Mr.. ,Icwctt left the Collector office an,
Mr.. Cranes employ Nv" and ahalf year
ago: that he removed to Chicago onl,
two ol three weeks before the dctalca
ton hccamc public; that the last tc
DAYS before he went To Chicago, he WA
Il guest in Mr.. Cranes hntel-y not
breath WAS uttered 10 him or agans
him. In the light at these facts til
following paragraph from the Mont
pclier Waterman Is important. Ih
paper i edited hy Hon. Joseph POLAND
for several wears collector of his diStrlc
(thr same office a> held 10y Mr.. Gran,
aud who must know from official e>
prlicmcc whereof he speaks: I'VE III
utterly at Il loss to imagine, unless thel
was some neglect of duty III the dcpar
mrmt at Washington, how this detalci
ton could have possibly been concealt
for such i length Of time. The checl
in the office of the Commissioner of Ii
telnal Revenue are perfect. and know
edge of this dctalcation must have con
to that Office and have been transmi
tcd directly to the collector. wtthW 5
months from tie time II occUTed.
In amy event we the think the dcpal
mcmt at Washington. must bear son
"f the odium Of this shameful trans;t
ton"
As we have minated above. VI
Jewett reached Burlington Monday.
company with Gen. Foster. and he e!
poets to have II hearing before Jud!
Smallcv in Il few days. He met sever
of his friends from this place IT Viii
River Junction on Tuesday. and he t."
them ~ lac has written always. that
is innocent of the charges made again
him. and that an investigation will sho
who is the guilty party. 1t is needle
I" say. perhaps. that Nj. Jewett
friends believe this story.
On reaching Burlington. Nj. Jcwc
found that although the Govelnme
had taken ny this ease against him. III
that there were legal gentlemen in Il
employ of the Government whose sp