Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1874-05-05
A NICE CLEAN A

be conceded that the existence Of the
virtue depends Ia great measure upon
the truth Of statements positively
made. On the 10th ult. the Enterprise
In an article entitled "The Animus Of
the War Against anbsrn, "took strong
ground In favor Of that rsdoubtable
informsr and Government spy, and a..
serted that the efforts made to break
up his contracts-by which he had then
robbed the Government Of some $685.
900, received As melety for collections,
which weuli have been made by reg
ular revenue oflcsrs-wsrs instigated
by wealthy corporations. who were
sndsavoring to avoid payment OF their
taxes. In other words, that tho illus
trious Sanborn, like his great hacker
and defender, Ben. Butler were emil
nsntly the friends Of the poor and
laboring classes. or course every In
tslligent reader who has psrussd the
Developments made during the inves-
tlgation OF these notorious swindles, at
once knew that these statements were
mere bosh, not warranted either BY
the facts developed or the character OF
the chief figure In the fraud, his Geek
eyed highnsss, Benjamin Bottlsd.up
Butler.
Now, however. come tho Committee
Of Ways and Means who have for two
months past been engaged in unearth-
Ing tho mysterious operations Of this
mos. wonderfully favored spy, and
render their report. What do they
say?
FInt-"That paid Government OIL.
GERS Furnished Sanborn Information by
means Of which he obtained \ contract
for collecting unpaid taxes" In 9th.
er words, all the information which
this man Sanborn had was In psssc;-
sion Of the Government before hs OBJ
tanned his contracts.
Sesond-"That when he obtained
the list Of Delinquent railroads he was
allowed by the Treasury officials to
add the names Of nearly all the roads
In the United States, and his contract
was made to include 500 reads instead
Of $50 AZ originally contemplated"
In other words, and as developed b.
the testimony. after he had obtained
the names Of $50 railroads delinquent
In tax payments, he went to q railroad
directory and took thorefrom n list Of
every railroad In the country and with.
cut knowing whether or not they were
delinquent, put them all In a lump,
swore las he wss required BY law that
they were all delinquent and had them
all embraced In his contract.
Third-"That while the law pre-
vides three persons to assist tho proper
persons In collecting. this contract
provides that paid Government OIL
Gals shall assist tho contractor" In
other words, while tho law authorized
Mr.. Sanborn to employ three persons
to assist him, at his o,ca expense, he
obtained a contract with Instructions
commanding all revenue officers to
furnish him Information and assist In
his collections.
Fourth-rhat the Commissioner Of
Internal Revenue, In 3 letter to the
Secretary Of the Treasury, protested
against making revenue agents OF the
Government merely assistants to en-
rich MI. Sanborn, and that the letter
wa, never answered. Truly, All hon.
orablc and economical method Of COL
Letting taxes, when we remember that
Sanborn got one-hslf OF all he collect
ted through tho aid Of paid officers Of
the Government. II q mar who adopts
such courses to enrich himself and de-
fraud the Government be q friend OF
tho taxpaylng people, the fact Is not
apparent to Nj uncultivated judg-
ment. Following Ia further extract
from the Committees report upon this
dslectsble business:
Sin no case does the committee find
the contractor assistlng the Govern
inent officers, but the whole Govern.
ment machinery was at tho disposal Of
Sanborn. In the opinion OF the CON-
mlttee = large percentage OF the
amount collected under the contract
could have been easily collected
through tho regular channels, aud
were not a proper subject OF the con-
tract. When tho committee. feeling
alarmed at the losssness with which
the Treasury Department was con-
Quoted, attempted to elicit informa-
| ton irsm Its three highest officers. on
whose responsibility II rested, each
u professed ignorance Of the mat
ter, aud attempted to shlft the re-
sp~onsibillty. The incongrulty Of the
testimony given BY these gentlemen
was dcplorable, and the fact cannot be
Ignored ny the committee that they
deserve ' condemnation for the
mannsr In which they permitted this
law to be administered. The CON-
mlttss find nothing impeaching the
integrity Of Secretary Boutwell, or
Richardsoa, and the testimony proves
no corrupt motive In their actioa."
We submit that II the facts found by
the committee do not impsach tho la
tegrity OF Secretary Richardson, they
prove HIN to b. the most unnltigated
ass who ever held high Office In this
Government. Either his integrity 10
a myth or his Ignorance Is %stupondous.
lie signs a contract giving plensry
powers to an adventurer, and to,tlacs
before the committee that he IL L.
norant Of what he aligned. Deserve
condemnation? Well, 1t would APP
pear so. Here ara three prominent
officers Of the most important depart
msnt OF this nation, the Solicitor, As
sistant Secretary aud Secretary Of the
Treasury. One draws up a contract,
--.. .,l L.,l. IL -, ...sst.-