The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-10-19

| property in his own name, 10 act ~ Treas
uior, thus entirely ignOring The Treasurer
for tho District vi Columbia, created 10y
| law TO haYc the custody Of IA, pnbuc
roney. A. the Ring wac really the local
Government, no opposition was raised TO
TINS Illegal diversion OF tho-. funds, and
| Ecs- sI'FrNGNp thus became thn absolute
n.at'r of every COLLAR tlat came into the
| Treasury, for M,oRuDGR u "a the Others
were mere tools ian hi hunds, vino wanted
! nothing moro thnn their hare OF The
| syoi's.
| II wac shown bIforo The invc4,iea Ion
| that more than Fifteen millions OF dollars
passed through MAonUoGR's hands in less
than three years; but his boolt- were plr-
| posciy kopt IN sreh way that no dscrim-
! ira'ion wns made between money actually
| received aud patd out, ANA certificates Of
,btrdncss whlch The Board of Public
Works is'ued 10 contractors, and which
| sold on the man Sct for q long time at a
discount vary ing from twenty-five TO fifty
per cent.
by this system of fraudulent bookkeep-
ing, DEVISED for the purpose of swiuding,
| NhN hNihF NOhih anu hib atahN Aiit ihhA'f'o
received from the Government and the
people, applied them to th,ir own uses, and
then turned in certificates of indebtedness
al par, held either by them or their con-
fodrrltcs, or purchased in market, to offset
the amount thus drawn from the Treasury.
In other words, il they drew out say live
or ten millions in greenbacks, ms was nc
tunlly done, they replaced this sum with
certificates charged up Mt the full face
value, when they were selling perhaps at
half of Il on the street.
The profits were therefore measured by
the cash that could be diverted to this
traffic, aud they aggregated several mill
lions, of which no trace can be found on
the books. MAGRUDER swore he could
not tell how much money or how many
certificates had been paid out to contrac-
tors or creditors. He treated them both as
of equal value, and only took care to zee
that the debts and credits generally
agreed.
That was all the satisfaction the COM
mittee of investigation could get for the
stolen millions. And the report OF the
Board of Audit, made last February.
throws no further light on the subject.
Since then Mr.. w. T.. WARREN IA capable
expert, has gone over the books and ne
counts rs submitted to him, and he
reports balance of s2G,G03.u against
MAGRUDER by his own showing. But
this small balance is nothing more than
the blunders i'm MAGRUDER's bookkecp-
ing. IL does not touch the real ques-
ton ut all. which lies behind the books
Ring to steal the money which came into
their keeping through appropriations
made by Congress or special taxes levied
OH the plundered community. Into whose
pockets did those millions 20? How was
ii divided? Why do not the books show
honestly what proportion of cash and
what proportion of certificates were paid
to creditorsy
Ii was not expected that Mr. WARREN
could satisfy the public interest on th,Sc
points, because nc had nothing placed be-
fore him but the accounts Of MAGRUDER
made up with special referenc, to the in
quiry, and intended by preconcerted
plan to prevent discovery. Nothing Is
clearer in all this business from the APP
puintment Of MAGRt'DEn down to this last
chapter than thar the rang deliberately
connected this villaiuy rs a means Of rob-
bling the Treasury and coucealng their
crime at one and the same time.
There is power in the House Of Repre-
sentauvcs in spite of all these artilccs, e.
bring the Ring to justice and to expose
the methods by which they have grown
rich at the expense OF the pub ic. The
a~t Investigation ,cll short OF Ms duty. no
cause thu Republican majority were
directly concerned in protecting Boss
snarurnpmd his rang of thieves. Now.
there Is no suca corrupt alliance, aud
rigorous inquiry is demanded, 50 that
these rogucs may b. punished for their
crime. AMI made 10 disgorge their iu-got-
ton g.tns.