The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1876-09-08

ton and saw four years and more OF
hard service.
J. B. EuVeue was member Of a
Wisconsin regiment. He served curing
P large part OF the war and lest an aIui
in rhe service
lie. w. Thompson was also dis
charged by Fitzhugh among the first of
tb, Union soldiers sent off TO make
room for confederates. He lost a leg
in one OF the notable battles OF the
war.
PfiIip W. Coleman was one of the
recent discharges from the Door.
keepers department. He lost ali arm
while battling for the Union. and WAS
four times severely v wounded az james
| Island. South Carolina. He served IL
the Eighth Michigan Infantry
| That the House was not fort uLate 10
the character o. iis appointees has been
well known, but a brief summary oil a
few instances l. worth attention. Inc
Clerk. Mr.. Adams, has been under In
ves.jcation, and of the charges Of cor,
| ruption has been acquitted. no donbt
deservedly. A committee still has DE
! fore il Il resolution of inquiry whether
Adams has not labored to oppose the
/ legislation Of the House relative 70 the
reduction of has own salary. This he
admits. ia q way, but the committee
has not reported any condemnation OF
! such action. His fault consisted chiefly
| in trying TO secure assistance in this
affair from the Republican side of the
House. While Adams himself escapes
any condemnation, the appOintees
under him have been less fortunate.
The veteran journal clerk, John II.
Barclay, who had held the position for
thirty years, and was still II most val
uabIe officer, was forced to resign, and
his assistant, j. w Clayton, was dis
missed. One c. II. Smith, of New
HamL shire, was appointed to succeed
Barclay, and proved to he not only in
capable, Dut dishonest. He was caught
using his position to secure business AZ
IL claim agent in anticipation of the
passage of the bill equalizing soldiers
| bounties, and he was no doubt count
ing upon aiding the passage CT the bill
by using the influence of his Office. He
was investigated, threatened with dis
missai and resigned in disgrace.
7
Chief Clerk in the office of the Clerk
of the House il Green Adams, the un-
Gle of the Clerk Adams, case of ne
potism reversed. Green Adams was
formerly Auditor Of the Treasury for
the Post Office Department. While in
that position the chief clerk, Sharretts,
sold waste paper to the value of So, =
392. 76, and paid to Green Adams out
of the amount S1,5l752. Neither
Sharretts nor Adams ever accounted
for the money till both were out of
office. When the facts were partially
discovered through the man who
bought the paper, Sharretts refunded
81. 1921, and turned over Green
Adams's receipts for the remainder to
| the amount stated above Adams
makes . long -.aiement. which is in
effect that he was informed by Shar-
retts that this money had been kept by
the auditors because there was no fund
into which it could be received in the
Treasury Department, and Sharretts
said, '1f you pay it TO any person, pay
it to your successor in office" But
Sharretts had never heard of this
money being paid over except by one
auditor. Adams had intended to pay
the money over TO his successor, but
went home before his successor was
appointed These facts appear in the
public records, and show that the pres
ent Chief Clerk is either not Il very
honest man or not a very competent
officer. Adams is also an eX member
of the House.
The engineer, Ellison, is under in
vestigation on various charges, and no
report has been made. 1t would re
quire more space to set forth the ma
ture of the charges affecting bis char
acter than Is warranted by the import
ance of his position. The greatest
trouble with him is his incompetence
/ Mr.. Hewitt, who originally recon-
mended Ellison. Withdrew his recon-
mendation on discovering by iBqui-
ries OF his own that Ellison did not
know there was any difference between
n high pressure and al owpressure en
| giue, and could not explain what he
would do if be found the water III the
boiler had become too low. Ellison
was afterward put through a competi-
| tive examination, and came out at the
head and WAS appointed. 1t IS com
monty supposed that he was CRAM
! med" for the occasion, and knew what
questions to expect. That he was in
competent was shown 10y the condition
of the air in the House, which never
was so bad before, though the nachi-
merry remains unchanged. The result
| of the investigation Is unknown.
J. J. Piatt, the Librarian of the
| House. a writer aud scholar of some
celebrity, was succeeded by John ID.
Ycuny. a Democratic eN member of
Congress.
John h. Clark, jr., a Union soldier,
superintendent of the document room,
was succeeded by Morgan Rawles, an
ex confederate and Democratic eX
member of Congress.
The committees have II larger army
of clerks than ever were employed be
fore. They are supposed to be made
necessary by the numerous investiga-
lions. Many clerks to commits. as are
not regularly appointed, but are simply
employed and paid on vouchers, so
their real positions will not appear in
in the records. The disgrace of two
of the most important of the regular
committee clerks is notorious
Morrison appointed Hs clerk of the
Committee of Ways and Means j. p.
Halnbleton. This man was a cotton
claim agent and lobbyist, and, besides,
was an unusually bitter and vitupera-
tive rebel. He ramed son John
Wilkes Booth, for the assassin of Abra- |
ham Lincoln. This charge having
been made, he denied il intemperateIy. |
The charge having been proved, Nor |
rison was unable to stand the pressure,
and Hambleton resigned
Boughton, clerk of the Committe on
Military Affairs, was charged with en-
tering into collusion, while a Reyenue
officer, with fraudulent whisky distilI.
ers, and sharing the profits of the
frauds The investigation was rnaSs
by his own coInmittee, which was sc
lenient as possible. The er parte case
was clear against him, but division
arose In the committee about the er-
tent of the examination, and he was
finally permitted TO resign. instead of |
being dismissed. His offeuse was out.
lawed under the the statute of lirnita- |
tions
Several committee clerks were dis
charged employees of the Departments. |
Such men seemed To be preferred for |
committee clerks, aud in one or two
notable instances they used the COM
mittees instruments for revenge, not.
however, very successfully.
The only reform in tie democratic party
that know of is the reform of the chairman
OF the GoInfni ittee on Appropriations He
mas reformed, from being the leader OF s
side OF the house In al forms of govern
H eH.'lt eNtraHasance- who has time and
again on this floor advocated higb SaIariaS |
even up TO and including the closing hons
oi me Forty-Ihitd Congress who onee went
50 on. Iar =. ~ 70 say that man who could moi