New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-02-02

| TIE LJINO CIoE.
| A notorious case Of fraud came to an end al
! Harrisburg OH Saturday. 1t was type OF
many which grew out Of the claims OF States
! against the National Government but It was
! doubtless the most hagrant of them all Its
history, which was so familiar a few years ago,
can be summed up briefly. Pennsylvania was
one of the first States to settle with the Ma
tional Government Early iii the year 1861
Gov. Curtin and Secretary Chase personally
adjusted the accounts The State had claims
amounting to about $9i00,0O0 against the
Government for furnishing troops and for war
expenditures. of which 100000 had already
been paid. The Government tax upon the State
amounted to over 81 100000 with an abatement
of Is per cent if paid before June 90, 1852 The
claims were allowed "a an offset to the tax.
and the matter was settled, the Government
paying 10 per cent to the State and the State
returning the balance of the tax to the Ma
4;onal Trcn,ury. This Transaction H. mattnr
of record, having been incorporated in Il mes
sage from Gov. Curtin to the Legislature.
There were other claims still unsettled, and
to adjust these the Legislature in March, 1867,
authorized the appointment of an agent. Gov.
Geary appointed Geo. 0. Evans, ag-makcr,
who signed an agreement tnat his remunera-
ton for services should not exceed 10 per
cent of the sums collected.
Mr.. Evans began his work, and collected at
different times 1921 Ola al, Of which amount
he has turned over to the State Treasury only
429,9G7 So. The trial which has just ended In
his conviction was to recover the remainder,
with interest from the dates of its collection,
the latest of which was Aug. e6, 1870. The
defense in the case has been very weak. 1t
was argued that after the settlement between
Gov. Curtin and Secretary Chase in 1862, the
Go 3fnment refused to allow some OF the
vouchers on which the State had established
its claims, and hence Mr.. Evans had to collect
them over again. For this service his
fees amounted to $4,000. The evidence
for the State shows the transparency of this
plea by producing letter from Secretary Chase
congratulatng Gov. Curtin that PENNSYLVANIA
was the first State to pay her direct tax, and
by the latteI's message detailing the transac-
ton In one of his speeches during the last
Presidential campaign ex-Gov. Curtin stated
that he wrote to Secretary McCulloch. O
long time after the settlement, and received u
reply that the adjustment was entirely salts
factory. MS ltlttl, ODN' CulJIu ulsO oiiu,
had mysterously disappeared from the State
records. 1t was not reproduced at the trial,
and its disappearance would indicate what was
plainly asserted by ex-Gov. Curtin more than
once in 1872, that high officials in Pennsylvania
were implicated with Mr.. Evans.
During the trial the critical condition of
Mr.. Evans's health has had a powerful influ-
ence in awakening public sentiment in his
favor, and this doubtless has had its effect
upon the jury, since they bring in verdict
for the State of only $lS5,C63 80. Another ar
gument in his favor has been found in the
present poverty OF the defendant, who is said
to be iu an absolutely penniless condition.
This fact gives force to the assertion that his
i'll gotten gains were shared by others. Wit
nesses Of the trial say there has been contin-
ually manifested by both prosecution and de-
Tense an anxiety to keep facts in the back
ground, as if there were features in the case
which neither side dared to have brought out.
1t is barely possible that Mr.. Evans is the
only guilty man, but it is more than probable
that he has been made the scapegoat of
greater rascals than he ever thought of being
himself,