The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1874-05-15
THE SANB0RN CONTRACTS.

AnS SAnDOIA SOHITacI6 USC8m
notorious during the past winter
and the investigation by the Com
mittee of Ways and Means intc
the alleged abuses arising out o.
them, has been watched Will
much interest. The committed
have at last made their report
which will be found in full in oul
special dispatches from Washing
ton. Prior to the second session
OF the FOrty-second Congress, the
law provided for the payment Of
moieties to informers in internal
revenue as in other cases. At the
! second session of that Congress
however, this provision was re-
pealed, but in the last hours OF
the session, and while q committee
OF conference were engaged in
perfecting the legislative, execu-
tive and judicial appropriation
bill, clause was added to the
usual sentence relating to the In
ternal Revenue Bureau, authoriz-
ing the Secretary of the Treasury
to employ three persons to assist
the proper officers of the govern
ment in discovering and collect
ing any money belonging to the
United States wherever the same
had been withheld by any person
or corporation upon such terms
and conditions as he (the Secre-
tary) should deem best for the
United States. There was moth
ing wrong in this provision per Sc.
1t is only because the authority
thus conferred has been abused
that public attention is now called
to the necessity of guarding more
carefully every law that touches
upon the system of moieties or
percentages in the collection of
the revenue. Under this author
ity q number of persons secured
contracts. None of them sue
ceeded in making anything out of
them until John d. Sanborn, at
the time n special agent of the
Treasury Department, obtained q
contract and went to work under
the law. They call attention to the
fact that the laso provides that the
persons receiving contracts shall
assist the proper officers in discoV-
ering and securing the money so
withheld, while the contracts pro-
vide that they ''may proceed to
collect" them, thereby ignoring
the internal revenue officers alto
gether, The committee not only
criticise the disregard of an i'm
portant provision of the law, but
they declare that from first to last
the Commissioners of Internal
Revenue was studiously ignored,
and his assistant directed to s:as-
sist these contractors" instead of
the contractors being required to
assist the officers. The result was
that in numerous cases where the
officers of internal revenue were
on the track OF cases where money
due the government had been
withheld, Sanborn came in and
under the authority conferred up
on him, employed them to com
plete the work in his interest, and
when the money was collected re-
ceived the fifty per cent. stipula-
ted in the contract. The full
amount collected by Sanborn
amounted to $437, 900, and the
committee believe that q very
large percentage, if not all, of
this should have been collected by
the Internal Revenue Bureau in
the ordinary discharge of duty.
Their comments on the testimony
of the Secretary and his assist
ants are severe, but in view of the
facts as stated, can hardly be said
to be unmerited. Though acquit-
ting the Secretary, Assistant Sec
rotary and other officers of the
Treasury Department of any cor
rupt motive in the matter, the
committee declare that they view
"with apprehension the apparent
effort OF these gentlemen to trans
fer the responsibility each from
himself to the other" and serious
ly deplore the disagreements and
contradictions apparent in their
testimony in the case. Accompa-
nying the report is bill to repeal
the law, which we presume will
pass without opposItion.-Inter-
Ocean.