National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-05-23
DISTRICT INVESTIGATION
Continued from, Supplement.

DISTRICT INVESTIGATION
Continued from Supplement.
Q. What are the duties of the assessor Of
the Board of Public Worksf A. HIS present
duties are the collection of all special Assess
ments msdc, such as sewerage taxes and for
general improvements upon the streets.
.,o g. The ne. eOlls ss, A. The s0ll &C.
the purpose Of making tho assessments;
bat The engiDcers' department having made
the estimates, and being better fitted by their
force that they had In theft Office to make the
assessments, It was thought, / suppose, sd
visable by the board to allow assessments 10
be made 1p there, md have them transmitted
Q. Who makes up those assessments A
They are made up In the Office of Mr.. Forsyth.
Q. Who signs them and returns them to youi
A. The vice president Of the board, Mr.. VII
lard. {
Q. How long has Mr.. Forsyth been making
out these assessmentsi- A. Ever since the
organization OF the Board Of Public Works,
think. + tt- s-
Q. Has that been one Of his special dutiesi
A. That could not say.
Q. He has had the entire management Of
that part of II, has hef A. That cannot an
sWer.
o. Would not the records OF your Office
the transmittal of the assessments and their
entry on our books.
Q. They come from hint A. They como
from the vice president. ] suppose they come
from him 70 the vice president.
o. Is not there anything on those assess
ment-sheets that indicates who makes themi
A. There is letter of transmittal, I supposs,
from him.
Q. From the vice president, A. No, sir;
| from Mr.: Forsyth. he transmits to the vice
president, and then the vice.president, upon
passing upon the same, transmits to US for col
lection. : - 4.-.s--.- n > -
Q. So that while the assessors office is that
of an assessment In name, It is really a COL
lector's officel A. We'll, IF I understood the
| title that we were first organized under, 1t was
superintendent of assessments and collections;
or at least at that time we were In bureaus
| when the board first started-a bureau of as
| sessments and collections The understand
| ing was that we were to make the assessments
and collections, so far as know; but there
being nobody employed in the Office at that
| time, except Mr.. Beal and myself, and the
force not being sufficient to make up the as
sessments and collect them at the same time,
/ suppose, without any knowledge on my own
part, that the board determined that they
should be made out by the parties making the
| measurements.
By Mr.. Wilson: How many employees are
there in this assessment ofiicel A. Mr.. For
syth's oficei . .
| Q. No, your office. A. At the present timel
Q. Yes, sir. A. suppose there are eight or
ten.
Q. Has there been any more than that here
toforei A. Yes, sir; during the sending out
and collection of this general sewerage tax, /
had some forty men or more. .-.
| Q. What is your salaryi A. Eighteen hun
dred dollars.
@. How long Is It since you have been paid
anything on account of your salary. A. The
first of last November; nearly seven months
ago.
Q. Nearly seven months pay is due you
nowi A. At the end of this month.
Q. Have you had certificates issued to you
from time to timel A. No, sir. What do you
| Dean-auditor's certificates
Q. Yes, sir; or any kind Of evidence of in
debtednessa A. The first of November, be-
lieve, we received four months pay.
| Q. In what! A. Ny pay at that time, be-
| lieve, due me was $3.50. got $3.50 In sewer
bonds and 5000 in cash.
l. @. Since that time have you had nothing at
ala A. Nothing at all, sir.
| Q. Is that the case with all the employees in
your Officer A. So far as know, sir. Not
all In my office, because some Of them have
not been employed as long as that !; but since
they have been employed IN the Office subse-
quent to that date, to my knowledge, they
have received no pay.
By Mr.. Christy Q. Who made up the tabu-
lar statement attached to the Governors an
swer for the Office of the superintendent of
assessments A. made portion of it, and
Mr.. Beall made the other portion. In fact,
Mr.. Besll, being the head of the Office, It
rightfully belongs to him, but, in fact, ] made
portion of it. 1t was part of my duty.
| Q. am not criticisiDg that. Did you keep
bank account at the time that you received
this money! A. Do you mean In regard to
certiicatesi
| Q. want 10 know whether you had any
money on deposit at the time you received that
two thirds Of the sum paid under this arrange
ment upon the sale Of that contract A. Bank
account
Q. Yes, sir. Had you any bank account
A. fes, sir. think the bank burst since that.
| Q. What bank was thatl A. The Bank of
Washington; or, not the Bank Of Washington,
the Washington City Savings Bank.
| @. Then you received under this arrange
meht 81 ,S69.SSf A. Yes, sir; two thirds of
s., 900.
g. What disposition did you make of that
What did you do with iti A. do not know
as shall answer that question.
Q. insist upon your answer and hand you
over to the committee. A. / think the money
it as pleased.
Mr.. Black, Ito Mr.. Christy.) Are you in
earnesti
Mr.. Christy. Judge Black inquiries of me If 1
am in earnest. I certainly am.
By the Chairman: Q. Did you make de-
post of that money! A. A portion of it.
Q. Do you remember what portioni A. No,
sir; do not.
O. Did you keep bank-account at the
timei A. That would not be certain of; 1
think did, sir.
Q. Are you certain you only deposited por-
ton Of it, A. am certain only deposited 9
portion of It, because we had just got through
the campaign, and money was con inually pass
ing through my hands from Mr.. Shepherd and
other sources to carry on that campaign. Hay-
ing the whole expenditure of the money nat
urally incurred some debts-to what extent
am unable, at the present time, to state.
@. You don't remember how much of It you
deposited A. No, sir; do not.
Mr.. Christy. desire that this witness be re-
quired to produce his handbook relating to
these transactions.
The Chairman. We VIM think of that, Mr..
Christy.
Mr. Christy. I would like to be heard upon
1t. deem il important.
The Chairman. The committee will consider
1t.
Mr.. Christy. I want to prove, If I can, the
truth of the statement of Mr.. Seitz, if It can
be done.
Dy Inc SualTIndus v. LOU nave YOUR Ddnk-
booki A. don't know, sir; can see by look
ing among my papers. At the time the Wash
ington City Savings bank collapsed, think
had IS and some cents in there; was not .
very heavy loser, because when came to draw
my dividend I found the amount was very
small. i have done quite business with that
bank. While am on the stand, there was one
item in connection with this money that ought
to have mentioned. About year or if
teen months previous to the reception Of this
money, had purchased some property on o
street, between Tenth and Eleventh; think
portion Of that moneyswent to liqufdate one
of the notes due on that property, If that Is any
consolation to the gentleman.
Mr.. Christy. We are not asking for consola-
ton at all, from this or any other witness.
ask that the ordinory rules be enforced against
him. He has admitted that he obtained the
money snrreptiously and upon false state
ment. r 80 --
BY Mr. Hamilton: Q. Had you any interest
in any other contract A. No, sir.
Q. That is the only contract that you had
any interest int A. I do not hardly call that
an interest. ---. - ..-.-
By the Chairman; Q. You had no similar
transaction with reference to any other con-
tract or contractor A. No, sir; and am very
sorry that / had anything to do with that.