The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1875-06-17
TREASURY STEALINGS.


U. >. Treasurer's department, still Gre
ates considerable comment. Gen. Spin
ner Is worried and hard at work to trace
out the thief. 1t is strange that the
losses in this department are not larger
than they have been, considering the
vast amounts which pass through the
hands of so many clerks. A correspon-
dent of the Inter- Ocean notes several
instances of attempts of this kind. He
says:
About twelve years ago Gen. Spinner
had his suspicious aroused by the sud
den increase of fortune of one of the
Reglster's clerks who was doing duty in
has office. He told the Register, but the
man had such a. excellent character that
his chief refused to doubt him. But the
General worked away at his theory all
by himself, and he found out that, sure
enough, the clerk was stealing, stealing
every other day in the week, by taking
half notes out of the packages cancelled
for redemption, piecing them, and pre-
senting them for redemption 6. second
time. The General kept his own counsel
very discretely for some time, and it
must have cost his frank, outspoken ma
tIre severe struggle to carry on such
an organized Discrimination. But finally
he got all his meshes n GOOD working
order, and one fine afternoon he respect
fully requested the Secretary to step
down to his Office, whittier he had lnvit-
ed the Register and the chief of the
Treasury Police. Then a message, such
as is heard in the Office forty times day,
that sthe General would like to see him."
was sent to the clerk, who answered it
promptly and unsuspecting. As soon as
,a /,,.nc ca1 {l>0 IL IL
walked over to the door, locked it, turn
ed to the Secretary and other officers,
and said j: "Gentlemen, this mans name
is. He has stolen $4,000; if he
says he didn't he's a liar, for I have
the proofs" After which novel but
direct way of administering justice, the
General left them to deal with the pris-
oner. The money was all recovered, I
think.
Another time he played detective, and
by hiding behind door, discovered
woman stealing notes from the clerks
desks, but that amount was small, for,
as he says, women are too cowardly to
take big sums. In 1870 $4,000 was
stolen from the Division of Issues Gin the
Treasurer's Bureau) by two men who
came into the room with a party of visit
ors whom Collector Tullock was showing
through. The chief of the room thought
they were Mr.. Tullock's friends, and
Mr.. Tullock thought they were the chiefs
friends, so they passed leisurly down the
long aisle, and while one addressed
question to the messenger, who was
watching the money table, the other
slipped the little package Git was 500
notes. into his pocket. Sixteen thousand
dollars of that was recovered.
Then came the Edwins defalcation.
the most cleverly managed of all, for not
a shadow of suspicion rested on the of
fender till he confessed his guilt He
was special, al,protege of General Spinner,
trusted clerk, and writer of some
refnte his peclllations covered several
years, and consisted in taking packages
sent for redemption, replacing them with
others, and thus covering his tracks. At
the time his deeds were brought to light
he owed the government something over
Sc, 900, part of which he refunded. He
had his tickets bought for Europe, and
had gone as far as New York, when some
impulse-perhapsa affection for the friend
whose trust he had abused-made him
return to Washington and go straight
to General Spinner with his story.
Two or three years afterward an over
hauling of the books of the Office reveal
ed deficit of about $4,000 in two
officers accounts. When these gentle
calmly and candidly avowed they had
taken it, and said simultaneously they
were very much relieved by the avowal,
as it had been a great load to carry.
Part OF this amount was also refunded