Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1874-05-06
The Sanb0rn Report.

The report OF the ways aod mean
Y committee of Congress upon the SanborI
: contracts, so far as it is d narrative o
9 facts, is a very old story. The investiga
ton was public, aud the testimony tho
roughly reported. The main interest nov
: is in the degree and manner Of the sen
, tence upon the derelict officials.
The committee are first struck with the
remarkable fact that, Notwithstanding the
careful regulations issued by Secretary
Boutwell,. prior to the closing of the first
contract, these regulations were complied
with in not a single case. The report
shows that. Notwithstanding the Jaw set
up the contractor to assist the proper
officers, the chief proper officer" to
wit. the commissioner of internal revenue,
was '~studiously Ignored by the secretary
of the treasury and the officers in the
office of the secretary" 1.-The whole
power Of the internal revenue bureau, as
the entire machirer, Of the government
for tho collection of taxes, was placed at
the disposal Of Sanborn, as the following
proofs conclusively show"-the same be-
ing the orders from both Boutwell, and
Richardson, securing SaDborn admission
to all '%'oficial records" and directing all
officers to 'please render him such assis-
tancc as he requires
The committee sum up all the facts OF
Sanborn's unblushing use of internal rev.
enue officers and official records, Of the
issue of sham commissions to his agents.
Of his recovery of money which he had
no share in collecting and of the very
mysterious circumstance Of his being paid
nearly $4,000 which he never could
have collected. from sheer ignorance of
the transaction, had not somc one in the
treasury department telegraphed him the
number of draft by which the money was
paid in. Of which he claimed half. They
fud that there was not the slightest pre-.
tense for his collection Of legacy and sue
ccssion taxes. aud that "a very large per-
centage, if not all, Of the S437,0O0 col
lccted by the internal revenue officers in
the discharge Of their tutJ." The theory
Of the law was in practice completely re-
versed.
The report, after some praise ofSuper.
visor Tutton's stand against tho contracts,
proceeds to characterize the testimony and
conduct Of the treasury officers. The Sec
rotary exhibited an entire want ofkDowl-
edge" Of the matter and was connected
with it only as a matter Of routine" The
committee greatly deplore' the contra
dictions and disagrcemcDts Of the s~ccreta-
~, the assistant secletarj and solicitor,
''look with serious apprehension upon the
arparenteforts of these gentlemen to trans
fer the responsibility each from himself to
the other" and severely condemn" all
three for the manner in which they Ter-
mitted this law to be administered. Then
there is q little cxcusiDg. There had been
contracts before Boutwell,, which Boutwell,
abolished upon taking Office. He didn't
think the Sanborn contracts would amount
to much. Richardson found the contracts
upon taking office, and took them as he
found them. This is all very well as re-
CARDS bare CHRONOLOGY, but, in fact, proba.
bly, Richardson's knowledge of them goes
back to as early a date as Boutwell's. 1t
is substantially one administration, and to
attempt to make out Richardson an inno-
cent gossoon up to the moment of his TAX
ing his present Office is too thin, and dis
an otherwise very honest report.
The committee were not able to find any
thing impeaching the integrity Of tho treas
ury officers, and most people can add, pa.
renthetically, of Gen. Butler. They rec.
ommend the repeal of the law aud debar-
ring Of Sanborn from the court of claims.
Altogether, the report presents a pretty
large Interrogation point to the American
How did it all happen? Great
and the best civil service in the
world guarding the public treasury,a quar-.
ter of u million dollars nevertheless going
into one rogue's pocket, and nobody cor.
ruptec, no official integrity impoached, no
puss under the "%Injun y Springfield
Republican.