New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-04-10
WASHINGTON TOPICS.
A CABINET SIDEBOARD.

sux ANALOGY BETWEEN A LANDAULEr FOR MR.. VIII
LIAMs AND FINE FURNITURE FOR Mr.. robson,
AND FONT AND PICTURE FRAMES FOR OTHERS
fyRoM THE REGULAR CORRESPONDENT OF THE TRiBoNh'I
WASHINGTON, April 4.-The appropriation OF
Government property to private use is form Oh ol'-
dial dishonesty which has long prevailed 10 greater
Or lees extent In nearly every department OF tne
vublic service Instances of it are as familiar 70
newspaper readers as household words. Cabinet ana
Bureau officers in Washington have for years used
the horses and carriages belonging to the united
States for private purposes and still do 3d. In spite OF
the fact that Attorney General Willlamss landauiet
cost him the position of ChefJustice of the Supreme
Court of the United States Some of the same Off
sers have rooms in their houses richly furnished at
Government expense, on the theory that they ought
70 be provided by the United States with the means
Of transscting business at home.
The employment of the Government workshops,
Government material, and Government labor for
the manufacture of articles for private use has also
heen common. 1t used to be asserted that under
former administrations Of the Treasury Department
drawings and plans for the private residences OF
Government officials were sometimes prepared In
the Office of the Supervising Architect, and furni-
ture for private was also manufactured In the
Treasury cabinet-shop. 1t is believed that under
Secretary Bristows administration nothing OF this
kind has occurred.
The work shops in the Navy-Yards have always
been used to some extent for the purpose OF private
manufacturing. and In some of them regulations
have been established by which this can be done in
certain cases. and the Government be fully reim-
bursed. In the Washington Yard this is sometimes
done in the following way; An order from the
Chief of the Bureau Of Construction and Repair for
the manufacture of q certain article is obtained.
This is presented to the proper officer Of the Yard,
who issues order to the proper foreman with in
stxuctons to keep q strict account of the material
used and the labor employed. When the work Is
completed the paymaster of the Yard is paid In &C
cordance with bill prepared by the foreman who
did the work, and vouchers for the material and
labor 90 used are made out in trphcate. One is re-
tanned BY the paymaster, one by the foreman under
whose direction the work done, and one is sent
to the Bureau of Construction and Repair in the
Navy Department 1t is doubtful if there is any legal
authority for using the Government workshops for
private purposes even under these regulations, but
In such cases the Government is reimbursed and
really loses nothing.
High officials have been recently accused of using
Che Washington Navy-Yard and the Government ma
teral and labor for the manufacture of articles for
private use without requiring any account to be
kept or any other means to be taken by which pay
ment could be made if it were desired. On the 9Th
of February, some men formerly employed In the
Nayy-Yard, who had the means of knowing what
they asserted offered to prove that splendid side
board had been made in the Navy-Yard for Secre-
tary Robson out of Government material and In
the main by Government employees; that the latter
had been paid by the paym2ster Of the Yard and
that no separate account of the material or labor