The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1874-04-15
orp WASHINGTON LETTER

in the case ol lnc - IN L. ,,ar
nnblished yesterday, it VIII pe at Pe'
reiyed is practically decision aoIa sn
NJ sanoorn ct al under the lceie-
L..,o5 Sanborn contracts with 'he
Trassnrv Department obtained mon
.r in a lawful way which was que
and payable by virtue oil Jaw
mi contract. Hence there could be no
fraud or crime of any kind connected
with the prosecution which utterly
failed for this substantial reason.
Vet the New York Tribune whose
indepeudance regarding government
transactions like that of its Washing
ton correspondents consists of an
Independence Of truth and honesty
has the effrontery to say in the face
of his Secession and of the facts that
the case was dismissed on account
of n fatal technical error is the In
dictment and that the question Of
their guilt or innocenc has not been
tried. The animus of this wreatched
fIzle on the part Of District Attorney
Tenney is brought out by the admis-
sion of the Tribune editor that this
District Attorney procured important
papers in the prosecution from the
Tribune Office. His opening speech
in which he stated that "the Tweed
charges paled in significance before
those is this case" was published
in substanc, all over the country
and vet the very contract on which
be based q charge Of withholding from
the Treasury less than $500 of tax
was the ground of his failure and Of
the exhibition Of the fact that he
was capable of understanding the
simplest rules Of construction regard
the statute on which the contract was
founded. The Tribune editor plain
" falsifes the record of Judge Ben
edict's decision at the same time that
be admits it TO pe correct, by alleging
that il stated that the law allowed
Sanborn under his contract to take
50 per cent. of taxes which he had
no share in discovering or collecting.
This neither was the fact nor was il
so decided by the Court 1t was de,
cided that the pointing out of the tax
es withheld specifically under oath
by Mr.. Sanborn was renderin all
the assistance in their collection that
the law or the contract required.
His position was that of informer in
discovering and aiding the collection
of overdue taxes withheld by persons
and corporations. With the most
reckless disregard Of the truth, the
associated press reporter and the
Tribune both state that Commission
er Douglass testified on Tuesday be-
fore the WAYS and Means Committee
that all the Sanborn claims were in
course of collection before Mr. San
born procured his contracts. Mr..
Doaglass denied this positively yes
terdav. and states that he said simi-
lar claims or claims of the same class
were in course of collection by the
revenue officers. He never denied
that the particular claim were for
taxes withheld and from two 70 ten
wears overdue.
Secretary Richardson's evidence
given on Tuesday was also grossly dis
torted as the published testimony will
show when the official report is made
He said that in routine business where
the law and the transaction under il
was plain and unquestioned he looked
only to the endorsement of the Chief
of Division having the special bust
ness in hand, and that the Sanborn
matters were o. this character 1t is
q well known fact, and he never
stated 20 the contrary, that when any
doubt of law or fact arises, the spe-
cial attention of the Secretary is al
ways called to such cases, and ample
time is given for n thorough personal
examination. This was not done in
the Sanborn matter, because it was q
plain and simple carrying out Of a
act of Congress in the interest
of the public service. The gleanings
Of the well-worked field of internal
revenue 10 the extent of $425, 900,
a moiety of which has been saved
from loss by the Sanborn contracts,
should be hailed with proud satisfac-
ton by the country. Instead of cal
umny and clamor, thanks should be
extended to the Department for ef-
fecting what perhaps could never
have been achieved by less well
paid and competent corps of experts
The fact that it was an unparalleled
exploit in the detective business is all
that has made the matter famous and
aroused so much ignorant opposition
and jealousy.
The peaceful termination by arbi-
tration of the issues between the gov
crnments of the United States and
Great Britain, growing out of our
civil war, demonstrates that a large
proportion, at least, of the differences
arising between nations might be
peacefully adjusted by an interna-
tional tribunal. Indeed, even the
expenses and possibly bad feelings at
tending arbitration would often be
avoided by the establishment Of such
a court. England, for example,
would not have permitted the Ala
bama TO be armed or manned in her
ports, and TO sail from them to prey
upon the commerce of the United
States, nor would our government
have permitted men TO be recruited
in America, and to sail from an
American port, with arms and am
munition, as in the case of the Vir-
ginius, for the avowed purpose of in
vading the territory Of q friendly
power, if it had been known that
heavy damages, awarded by an inter-
national court, would have been the
inevitable consequence to any nation
allowing such rebels to fit out in and
leave her ports.
The monthly debt statement shows
that the payment of the debt is going
forward again with reasonable speed.
A reduction of 81, 2,ls9, ,33s46 during
the month of March is a subject for
congratulation. Two months more
at the same rate will wipe out all
the increase of debt incurred by the
panic scare.
J. Amber Smith yesterday intro
duced bill to prevent government
clerks in the Departments from prac-