New-York tribune., 1874-04-27
VOL. XXXlv. No. 1887.
WASHINGTON.
r,rr sANRnRN CONTRACTS.

s,NBORNs JOBS PlCkbD fho" N
ps.PPAERANCE OF A. q. FAY
vrauIAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE IhiboNA''
,.o,,,xoros. April 26.-The Sanborn inquiry was
"a1 by the Ways and Means Committee Satur-
iVfs.ornino to some purpose, and while what hao
a'' .oviouslv shown with reference 10 the us
..sl rractices under the law of Nav {, 1877 weie
-, sensational importance, the facts ellcited TO-
are Of a character so much more serious 'n"'
49,. ,yiI be received with amazement. Shoulu 'ne
'..;r,onv elected be confirmed, and there docs no'
nnor % he doubt Of its truthfuness 1t VIII sho"
Spte ~ roOuery hardly credible to an ordinary
"a Of conrseit relates to Sanborn, but II is oe-
N, more discreditable to the Government OF
sosrs who bave been responsible for the @uoh
taken ,,oo,.
committee were two-one Simon Herman n aulstuiei
aud auctioneer and Mr.. Stilwel, deputy clerk VI
oue OF the courts, both of New-fork. MI. heruian'
= German. whose simplicity and creduhty were
evidently easily worked upon had faileu W comply
9TH rho law with reference to the tax on ten bar
rels of whisky. In March, 1872, bill was hled
against him. aud he was indicted before the court
In the MAY following the act under which the san
born contracts were made was passed. As IS wei.
known. this law provides for the discovery OF
,rands against the Government. the Secretary ol
,he Treasury being empowered 10 contract with
persons TO collect such taxes as the persons might
discover TO be due and withheld. Under the
Indictment Mr.. Herman, who said he belonged To
the church and would have paid almost anything
rather than have indictment resting against him.
was induced to employ as counsel A &. Fay. This
,eptleman. according TO testimony already adduced
is great friend 70 Sanborn and TO Gen. Butler. He
WAS appointed Special Agent Of the Treasury on
the recommendation of Sanborn and Batter, and
WAS sent TO Europe ostensibly in the interest
Of the Treasury, but really in the interest
of Sanborn. He was the counsel of SanboTn
and warm personal friend. SO intimate and kind
was be that Inc did many professional acts as law
yer for Sanbon, and took infinite pains and spent
much time in serving him; and, although Sanborn
was receiving at the rate of $25OOO0 year, accord
ng to his testimony before the Committee, he never
paid FAY dollar for his services Herman paid
Fay, at the beginning, 500 or $500 as a retainer.
This was in midsummer. Subsequently, Mr. San
born made his first contract under the law of May
1872 In one of his contracts the name of Herman
appears with & score or more of names indicted at
the same time as lleman before the law was passed
Sanbom thus could not have discovered" the fraud
Of Herman, but must have copied his name with the
others from the record Of the courts Previous 20
November of the same year QS72, Fay besought
Herman TO have the matter settled. Herman was
eager TO have the closed. Fay told him that he
would have the indictments quashed for S2GG0. and
that the Distrct-AttOmey would compromise for
1900 mOre-in aal $1,000.
Herman thought the price was too high, but he
-- led to believe that it very difficult matter
as q part of the money had to go TO Washington and
$1,000 TO Sanb0rn. He fually consented TO pay
$1,000 TO Noah Davis, the DistTict-Attorney, as a
compromise with the Government, and $4,000 to
Fay to have the indictment set aside. Mr. Davis
Seoucted $50 as his fee, and the $3.50 was sent to
Washington. OF this sum SanbOrn received $3.50
and the Government 500. Fay represented to
Herman that he had to pay Sanborn half OF
hs 5000 fee for getting the Indictment set
aside. At this point comes in De Kay, who
was appointed Assistant District-AttOrney 10
Davis il is said, at the request OF Gen. Butler Her
man rendered 10 Judge Davis his check for $1,000,
but the Judge advised him not to pay it, and the
two separated. Subsequently, Herman saw De Kay
and Fay, and in the presence Of Yates. now IN the
Tombs. he gave De Kay his check for 81. 900 above
spoken Of and lis check to pay for $1,000 Ii was
represented to Herman that orders had been received
from Washington to set aside the indictment, which
is of course absurd on its face II was on the mo.
uon Of De Kay that the Indictment in Judge Bene-
diets court was annulled.
NJ Stiwell, Deputy Clerk Of the Court was ex-
amined after Mr. Herman had finished his testi-
mony lie merely testified to the dates and ciTcum-
stances confirming the statement that De Kay made
the motion on behalf of the Committee TO nOe pros
the indictment. lie also believed that De Kay told
him that the facts TO BE kept secret and that
the reporters should not be furnished with any in
formation about the Casa fact of itself which
bears suspicious look. The point in the case
which in the present light looks the most criminal
and despoable is this: If Fay demanded and OBJ
tanned 5000 from Herman, the latter being in
trouble and the former receiving the money without
rendering an equivalent, 1T is piece
Of simple blackmailing or barefaced swindling.
But if for the $1,000 Fay obtained the abrogaton of
the Indictment il the buying ION the part of
Herman OF Fay of official acts Sanborn's part in
the case has probably been seen already. He took
the name OF Herman from the books of the court
and sent il to Washington, and it was made part OF
his contract. That was all he had TO do with it.
The Dsirict-AttoTney compromised the case, and
the Secretary Of the Treasury gave Sanborn half the
proceeds although Sanbom had no more 10 do with
the case than any messenger in the Treasury De
psTtment IL having been discovered before the
contract law was passed. There were number OF
other indictments made a. the same time against
Herman. and these OF most of them were also made
part of the Sanborn contracts.
The lame Of Gen. Butler appears in this case, as
III most of the other cases brought out Of the San
born contracts, but the Committee while always in
full view of bis coat tails, have never been able TO
catch him. One Of the counsel for Sanborn says
that the latter never received half of the 81 600 fee
of Fay. Fay and De Kay will be examined to-mor-
row, and it is possible they may be able to place
their transactions in better light. The checks oi
Herman are expected TO arrive tomorrow
EXTRAORDINARY REVELATION.
lGESERAL PRESS DISPATCH
WASHINGTON, April 25.-The Committee Oh
u. AZ tod