Wilmington daily gazette., 1874-02-24
rhs 8 an born contact,
TIE MOST ExrsAoRDsSAKY eeAsE On

L
From tie Nav York sun.
| The movements 10 relation " the Stuborr.
contracts a re becoming exciting. with prospect
f exceedingly tinteI Iesting dev velopments 10 the
future. 3 r :.
| This 10 a quarrel. il should be understood, be-
tween supporters of: the Administration, and it
should be viewed entirely outside of all partisan
| con onsiderations. District Attorney Tenney, who
Instituted the suits against sanborh, Hawley.
and Vanderwerken, is an able and prominent
| Republican. He stUmped the State for Grant
| in 1872, aud his fidelity 10 his party was never
| questioned until il was discovered that IN en-
desvoring to protect the Uoited States Treasury
from fraud. be had accidentally trodden upon
the toes Of Gen. Butler and other eminent pa
triot, aud Republican magnates. Ii is import
ami 10 bear these facts in mind 10 order TO ap-
| precia,e the present situation Of ths case.
| District Attorney Tenney is required by his
oath Of Office 10 prosecute persons guilty OF de-
| frsuding the Government. 1t appears by pro-
ceedipes in the Uuied States Circuit Court that
| be discovered, how we are not informed that
conspiracy was in progress by means OF which It
il alleged that j. Ohm o. Sanboru Lucien Hawley,
and Alfl ed Vanderwerken had already succeed
| ed in defrauding The Government out OF large
sums of money, with prospect oi increasing
their illegal gains indefinitely, We have here
tofore fully explained the manoer in which these
| frauds were accomplished, but it may here be
briefly described again. 10 May 1872, clause
wac inserted 10 an appropriation bill, under the
pretence that certain persons bad definite infor-
mstion regarding moneys due the Government
for taxes, whereby the Secretary Of the Treas
ury was authorized under certain conditions 10
contract with not over three persons TO discover
aud collect such moneys belonging 10 the United
States upon such terms aud conditions as the
Secretary should deem best. This was very
loose legislation, as it gave the Secretary power
to allow the parties collecting the money nioety-
nine oue-huudreths of all the collections II he
saw fit to do So But MIR. Boutwell,, who was
then Secretary, was more moderate in his viewf,
and was satisfied with the contract made IN his
temporary sbsence by Mr.. Richardson, as Act
ing Secretary, by which SanborR and others
were 10 be permitted TO retain one-half of all
The public money. they coGid get their hands on.
1t will readily be seen what an opening for
frauds upoT the Government was provided nn-
der these contracts; and when District AnsrEey
Tspuey ai<covered that Nauderwerkep and
Hawiey were handing over 10 .Sanboru money
collected for taxes which should have been paid
q the Coilacor of the Frat I0ternal Revenue
District of ,be State Of New York, 30 as TO be
covered into the Treasury without expense 10
the Government, and that tsey were handing 1t
over simply 10 order that this faSoiad contrac-
tor might seize half Of it for his OVID USE &nJ that
of his accomphces be very properly had ill
concerned in the swindlng indicted and arrest
ed for conspiracy
So far ali is plain enough, and the case TO this
pon. can easily be comprehendsd by any per-
son of ordinary intelligence. But just here is
where the mystery begins. 1t would materially
be supposed that lAe zeal ot the District Attorn-
ey in endeayoring 10 protect the Treasury fiom
such robbery would have called forth the warm
est Communications from the head of that depart
nfent, and that the Secretary would 1t once have
offered his most earnest co operation 40 thia ef
fort 10 suppress fraud. Such, however, was not
the cuse. On the contrary, MIR. Tenney appears
to have been met with the strongest oppositon
from the very officials on whom he had The best
right u depend for support. One OF his most
important witnesses, a revenue othcer, was order
ed by the department to Washington. and thence
sent OF 10 the Pacific coast to be out of the wsy;
while Gen. Butler, wi o has large Iecuniary in-
terest in the suceess of Sanborn's schemes. has
openly declared thai Mr.. Tenney shall be remov-
ed from Office for interfering with the profitable
operations of Sanborn. In short, We see here a
spectacle which it is safe 10 say IS sntrsy with
out precedent in the history OF aoy eisill2ed
country. sworn officer Of the Govarnp9ept
having discovered, as he believes, The existence
of Rot to defrsud the Treasury is met by the
Secretary Of the Treasury and his suboi dinates
with the most strenuous efforts to impede the
SUCCESS of his proceedings, and ia openly threat
ened BY officials in the confidence Of the Admin
stration with summary dism;ssi from Office for
daring TO fulfill his official OATH