Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-03-12

| al and reiied mon tho statements upon the
| books as being entirely correct. And when itWAs
| discovered and made known to me that there va
| balance against me in my accounts as Disbursins
Agent, never made any concea ment OF inc Iscss
J to the amount OF money that had drawn, OF ciA@
ed that had not drawn 80 much; but only ciaimeul
as the fact was in truth, that had drawn II 10 gooo
faith supposing and having the best OF reasons ior
| suppos'ns. that II was legally my due
That the deficiency in my disburslns account oe
Cured not through any criminal or wlliul appio-
! praton OF the fund upon my part, but tni9usa
mistake Of iact us TO how mucn was enlltIou -
and was led iato this mistake By rely ing upon the
/ experience and udgment Of one whom nsu every
reason to believe competent to determine ~hat
| was rishtfully entitled TO.
An examination OF the records OF my account u
discussing agent, now in the Collectors Office VIII
prove the truth Of the statement herein made
further say in reference to :he charge OF making
false entries in the books OF the Collector accounts
that the facts these: When II was hrst uscoVei
ed and made known to me in the summer OF ISL
! that there a deficiency in my account as C9i-
lec,or and before was aware of the extent of the
deficiency, which was not correctly ascertalheo IN
| Ill some time in the Summer OF 1873, after MI.
Jeyett left my employ, which was in August, ISL,
| directed my clerks to enter and apply some mon
les that at that time collected in places Of some
that had been previously collected, and when nae
| not been entered upon the books az al, put NAG
/ bean collected and appropriated by somebody 1
caused this be done not for the purpose OF Gov
ering up or concealing an embezzlement ny any
body; but caused ii 10 bs done Tor THIS reason =
| MT knoWing the extent Of the deficiency al this
time or whether it was the result OF mistake, or
/ 4 wilful appropriation OF the money! hopeo anu
| expected to be able 10 replace 1t out OF my own
| funds and thus TO save the government from any
! loss Ia consequence Of Il.
| further say that l never appropriated, or took
| from the Collectors funds one dollar Tor my own
use, nor was onv dollar taken from itwith my con
! sent or EnoWet-e.
! A. J. CRANE.
! Sworn To this 9Th day o. March,
Is.. before me.
L. .. Commissioner.
la addition to the facts set forth in the
| affidavit, the counsel stated that IN the sum
/ mer ofls13 the government sent two special
| agents. who made thorough examination
4 of Mr.. Cranes books, both as Collector and
As Discussing Agent. They ascertained
the deficiency in each case, and made re-
| port which was put on record IN the de-
partment at Washington, and which COM
! pletely exOneratei Mr.. Crane from gait IN
the matter Moreover, the authorities IN
Washington had so much confidence in Mr..
| Crane. that. in the Fall of 1873, they en-
| larged his district and retained him ~ Col
| lector Of the enlarged district, which oihce
he held until the following Spring, when his
resignation was accepted. The fact that a
mol. pros. had been entered by the District
Attorney upon the count charging him
with ealbezzlement Of the collection iund,
should be taken a conclusive. that no
claim wa now made that Mr.. Crane was
guilty of appr3priating money to his own
use. Mr.. Ballard added that he had au-
thority for saying that the Internal Rev
| enue Department would have been satisfied
| ifa mol. pros. had been entered in the entire
| case.
Nj. Phelps followed lie said that he
was in Washington when the fact OF the
| deialcation was made public. 1t was
/ widely telegraphed through the country.
/ He caiei at the department. and was IN
formed hy the Commissioner of Internal
/ Revenue. that he greatly regretted the
publicity gwen 10 the fact of the deficiency;
/ that the department had been aware Of 1t
| Tor some time. was satisfied that the money
had not been t4ken by Mr. Crane, and
had kept HIM in the office, in order that be
might have an opportunity to make up the
deficiency to the government. lie (counsel)
| did not know what became Of the money
/ but he was confident that jury would never
/ have found that Mr.. Crane had Intentionally
retained the public moneys entrusted to
hun Mr. Crane had made an honest effort
t. make good tnc deficiency and 20 gain
| time 80 to do, he had carried along the de
hciency hy false entries This was an error
Vi judgmen: On his part.
A. % the disblrSing account, Mr.. Crane
had only drawn the amounts which the
quarterly statements rendered TO him by the
Internal Revenue Department showed he
vas entitled to. These statements were
/ erroneous but that they were 50. was the
| fault u! tue department and not of Mr.
/ Crane. The monthly reports We're made
/ By Jewelt but there cOGl! have been no
motive tor Jcwet, - ialsiiy them, for he
/ had nothing to gain by 50 doing. Mr.
.l.a.f tFIi Inn To ssruN n.
fhe.s IONS OF toe lnternal Revenue
and Tcsgn.. 1t avoiding inlrae,iOns
and q the d.ihcuiN " who had any
ot them. experienced by a. ia,-
business - do with the departmeu
ing pleaded guilty. his client could not now
MAINTAIN his entire innocence. la continu-
ing these false entries. be la. been guilty
OF al error ami IA offence bat IL was nOts
shown thAt be had prolted by 1t, OF by the
dedication Hsrp.ead gully to technical
emhezL.cment hut he was not morally
guilty AID j.. was un4uestionably case,
a winch the l.aieIey Ot the c1ur. could
be properly invoked
District Attorney F.iel replied tie re
peaiel that j, was not hi, luty or his desire
to prosecute this case in any yindictiye
spirit But be must DO his duty. lie could
not admit that Mr. Cranes offence was
statement, made by the respondents c1uu-
sei did no; embrace the whole story There |
were some mysterious features about the /
ease.
Nc Jewctt TIC Ie up the monthly reports |
oi the discussing account. showing the pay |
ment-, and the commissions due the dis |
bur-ia- agent They were made out cor
rcrtiy, and il Ny. Crane had only drawn |
Tor his own Use the sums those reports
showed that he was entitled TO, there would |
have been no trouble But in the quarter
~ statements rendered hy the Department
he was credited with the commissions due
him, for the quarter. a. If they had not a.
ready been deducted hY him. And Mr.
Crane had drawn the amounts thus
doubiy credited 10 him, though, knowing
what he wa entitled to monthly, he must
have known that - much could not be
properly his dHe quarterly. lie had thus
drawn IN one year some s. 900. when he
was only entitled 10 about 81 900 The
calculation OF his commissions was very
simple matter. Could it be supposed that
he was not aware that be was taking more
than he was entitled to? Again it appear
ed from the evidence before the Grand
Jury, that Mr.. Crane checked from this
1isburslng fund. Unfortunately Tor his
private use. 10 entering no! pros on the
first count, he did not cOncede that Mr.
Crane was not guilty Of taking the money
Nor did he assert that Mr.. Jewett took it.
There was another circumstance. which
must have its weight In ISL, Mr. Crane
iismisSet Jowett, and then at all events, il ;
not before, he was aware of the deficiency
md he went to work To make it up. But
'lr. Crane never charged jewett with '
aking that money till 1873. when the l
government had discovered the dcialca
ion. Mr.. Jewett remained in Burlington {
iver a Year, but he was not arrested by {
'lr Crane. lie was forced from all the {
circumstances Ia The inference that the re- |
p0uG.n; took she none, unierstand,ngly
" reckie~-'y nnd without proper extmin- 7
ton. a. ta y bat WAS has dac. '
\ question HayIng arisen a. to the extent I
Il punishment, Judge ShIpman requested t
he District Attorney and counsel to ex I
mine and repor: IN the morning.
Ills Honor added that he felt some en- |
ara--ment in this case. as he was a stranger {
n Vermont, and 20 all the parties. On |
he one hand were circumstances indicating
guilty knowledge, on the part o. the re- I
pondent. On the other hand his counsel. :
rho, Of course, desire to make out the best t
a>e for their client. but who are also O
worn officers of the Court and honorable t
zen, state their convictions that there was a
o guilty knowledge. lie should do as 0
airy as he could by the respondent and by ?
he government, 10 view of his duty to do b
Il in his power to prevent the prevailing #
generalization in regard to offences against t
be revenue. lie would. therefore. suspend a
,ntencc for the present I'll he had more t
ally considered the case Meanwhile the {
esp1ndent's bail would be discharged and :
he reSnonhent pil,ed in ch9rrs of the = V