New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-06-14
The CONGRESSIONAL COMMITTEE.

THE CONGR EssIONAL C0MMITTEE.
Investigates Continued t
The Congressional investigating commit.
| tee continued the examination Of witnesses
| yesterday morning 1T ton O'Clock. All the
| members were present, except Messrs. Oar.
rail- and Reilly, who were engaged in the
| examination Of vouchers at the Custom.
| house.
John Ueber, sworn-In the latter part Of
1869, was sent for by General Sypher and
| Governor WarmOth, and asked to run tor
| Representative from the ninth ward; de.
| cliued, as witness was . school teacher, and
would have NO time to spare to electioneer;
General Sypher said he could fix that ell
right; that Icould earn something outside of
school hours; signed paper in the Custom
mouse, and received some money; was not
employed by the government; in 1870
| signed the documents in Deputy Collector
Herwig's room; received 500; thought at
| the time it was payment for campaign pur-
poses.
To Mr.. Conger-No one connected with
| the committee influenced witness to appear
and give his evidence; received more than
one payment Of money; does not remember
whether there was an oath to be sworn to
printed on the voucher or not; WAS i'm.
pressed with the idea that P. F. Herwig was
| the treasurer of the campaign fund; wrote
to Collector Casey, reminding him of the
promise made to give him employment out
Of school hours.
To Mr.. New-Aoout one month after the
letter was written, witness received some
money from Mr.; HerwiR; Collector Casey
did not answer the letter; NO AllueiOn was
made to it IN the interview which followed.
To Mr.. Vauce-Received no money from
United States officials since that time; was
not employed - inspector in 1874; did not
know that his name was on the pay rolls of
the Customh0use that year.
Philip Neff sworn-Is employed in the
Customhouse; has been there eleven years;
witness business is to repair furniture and
since being in the Customhouse; made .
small srmoir for Mr. Herwig with front and
sides of black walnut, worth about $40; it
generally took five or six days to make one;
made also como triAing articles occasionally
for Mrs Herwig, such - moulding, chop
ping and ironing boards for the kitchen;
witness also made . small bureau out of
poplar wood for Collector Casey; leisure
hours were sometimes used in fixing hinges
ON doors, or work of that nature; received
only his regular pay from the Customhouse.
To Mr.. Conger-Eight hours was days
work, but worked over hours sufficient to
make up for the time occupied for private
work in regular hours; did not work for
the collector or his deputy during business
during leisure hours; when making these
articles did not think he was rObbing the
government, as he worked on other occa
sions, including Sundaye, enough to make
up for that, which he could prove.
To Mr.. Gibson-Did these little favors to
keep in the good graces of Collector Casey
and Deputy Herwig; got the lumber from
Mr.. Brown out of tho lumber yard; has no
remembrance of doing work for other per.
sons in the Customhouse.
Frank Ottend0rfer, swOrn-Is pilot and
captain Of steamboats,; was on the post roll
of the CustomhOuse in 1872, during the
election, and received $50 per month;
went to see Collector Casey and Mr.. Her
wig, and they said if worked during the
election for the interest of the Republican
party should be paid; witness rendered no
service to the government whatever; when
witness first went to the Cust0mhOu
Marshal Packard, Collector Casey and Mr.
Herwig were in the room; witness asked
that his name and five others be placed on
the pay roll; they said that was too many;
it was finally agreed that witness and three
of his men should be placed on the pay roll;
the understanding was that they should
work for the Republican party; witness was
paid in cash; believes the three men were
Mr.. Herwig asked witness to give him $25
for the support of the National Republican
newspaper; witness agreed to give Mr.. Her
wig q check on his next months pay for
that amount
To Mr.. Woodburn-Was last employed
on the steamboat Fleta as captain of that
boat; witness was president Of Q secret Or
gsnization called the Knights of Syria; that
was at the time he went to get the men on
the pay rolls.
Messrs. Reilly and Darrell here arrived
and submitted their report to the commit
tee. They called at tho Customhouse; did
not see Collector Casey, but saw Special
Deputy Herwig; asked to see duplicates of
vouchers for payment of money from 1870
to 1874. Mr.. Herwig replied that he had
sent all the vouchers in the possession of the
committee replied these were not the ones
the committee desired to see. Mr.. Herwig |
replied he did not know what had become |
of the ones referred to or where they were;
that temporary rolls were not re-
tained; that . great many changes had
been made in the CustOmhouse, and the |
documents could not be found at present. |
seen the originals in Washington, and sup |
posed that duplicates we're kept. Mr.. |
Reilly then requested the deputy collector |
to furnish to the committee an account of |
all the moneys received for seizures and the |
disposition of the proceeds; also an account !
Of disbursements in the construction de- !
partment, together with the disbursements |
each year since March 4. 1869; also the pay |
rolls of men employed in the construction |
for 1873, 1874 and 1875 Special |
Deputy Herwig promised to furnish the |
same.
The subcommittee then stated that they |
had examined Mr.. Aikman, auditor of the |
relative to his supervision Of |
the accounts.
Mr.. Gibson observed that he had written
TO Mr.. Aikman, requesting him to furnish
the committee with q statement of the num-
Der of persons employed, etc., but as yet
had received no answer from him.
w. B. Henderson, swOrn-Wae o clerk in
he house Of jackson & Anderson; IN 1871
was partner in the house of jackson, Kill
patrick & Henderson.
To Mr.. Gibson-Found deficit of six
,ents charged for Customhouee dues on the
largo of salt by the ship Pericles which ar
ived here in December, 1870; Mr.. jack
on's attention was called to the fact by
witness; Mr.. jackson said it would be made
III right; witness shortly after lett the firm,
where he was at that time employed as
afterwa wrote to Secretary
Boutwell, of the Irregularities; received no
'nswer from the Secretary; the affair was
adjusted under the super
'ision of Mr.. Kinsells, the special agent Of
he treasury; witness, previous to this, had
made affidavit that frauds were perpe-
rated in the salt business; with Mr.. Kin
ella witness looked over the books Of Jack
ON & Anderson; the entries C. H w. and
J. H. j. amounted to about $2500; often
AZ Customhouse officers in the store; did
ot know what their positions were.
To Mr.. Woodburn-The full amount of