New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-03-26
COLLECTING THE RRVENUE.

The Secretary OF the Treasury has sent 10
the Committee of Ways and Means copies of
some of the applications for contracts under
the SanbOrn law, and has explained that he
did not send them before because the Com
mittee did not call for them. He is good
enough to say that there may be other dOcu-
ments of the same kind in the files of the De-
partment but the index is kept in such man
ner that it is impossible to tell what the
archives contain and there is no certain way
of finding all the papers relating to any par
ticular subject unless one knows pretty well
beforehand what is in them. This is pleasant
information for q Committee in pur-
suit of knowledge under difficulties;
but perhaps we have enough already
to show Congress what action is re-
ouired. Mr. John ID. COughlin had been
for nine years an Assistant Assessor of In
ternal Revenue in this city, having especial
charge of the legacy and succession tax, and
turning in large sums from that source an
nually. After he went ont of Office he applied
for a contract to collect taxes of this char
acter under the Sanborn law for a commission
of Is per cent, explaining that his experience
gave him great facilities in ascertaining what
WAS due the Government. This application
reached the hands of Assistant Secretary
Sawyer and was formally referred by him to
Solicitor Banfcld. and there it stopped. No
answer was made to COughin. The Secretary
went on paying 80 per cent to SaDbOrn, when
an experienced person offered to do 1t for 10,
and this in spite of the fact that
the contract by its terms was re-
vocable whenever the Secretary saw fit
COughlin then agreed to sell SanbOrn the
knowledge and experience he had acquired
in the Assessors office, and the legacy and
succession taxes were accordingly taken out
of the hands of the regular officers and handed
over to the new Ring for collection,-Cough-
lin getting 12i per cent for doing the work,
George Bliss, jr.. per cent for bringing suits
when necessary, and Sanborn the rest of half
the gross proceeds, apparently for no service
whatever. Mr.. COughlin tells us that when
he went out of Office large amount of money
was known to be due for legacy and success
sion taxes. and it is a reasonable inference
that instead of laying the necessary facts be-
fore his successor in Office he carried them to
Sanborn. In other cases SanbOrn is shown to
have dealt directly with officers of the revenue,
and conspired with them to divert the taxes
from the proper channels into his hands-as
in the Hawey and yanderwerken transactions
which have been made the basis of a criminal
indictment.
As to the character Of Mr.. SanbOrn's opera
tons we suppose there can be no question.
But we are not sure that Congress realizes
the position in which this investigation places
Mr.. Richardson. The Secretary of the Treas
ury was not required to make these contracts.
He could break them at any time after they
were made. If Mr.. Richardson understood
what fraud was perpetrating upon the Gov
eminent he deserves indictment quite as much
as SanbOrn, and Vanderwerken, and Hawley.
If he did not know how the paid officers of
the revenue were employed under orders from
the Department to assist this Massachusetts
adventurer in plundering the Treasury, how
collectors and special agents were instructed
to open their books for his inspection, how
the regular officers were hidden to keep their
hands off taxes which Sanborn proposed to
divide with the United States,-if he did not
know all this, then what are we to think of
his fitness to be Secretary Of the Treasury