The New York herald., 1876-03-18
A Serious Charge Against the Sec
retary of the Treasury.
A MODERN KENTUCKY FRAUD.
An Interesting Story About the
Delivery of Mules.
A CURIOUS DECISION AND No APPEAL.
LOuIsvILLr. Ky March IL, $50.


transaction which many persons u Kentuesy theve
to have been fraud OF as dark type ths CAD ~
and Gardiner swndles wherewii1 tha co1niry wns
startled quarter of a century Tho connection -
Secretary Bristow's name with tls modern Kentucky
fraud, whether innocently oi.erwse ths feature
that gives special interest and pfomfCaco AZ This
time, though other high aust Tfmain lpreSer
associated with IT, including iAn Of IhHiae Attorney
General Mr. Williams
1t will require some little dsisl TO Elnld TIE case
but am the narrative viii not 10 unraaoable
as 1t flows from the end OF ny dea AID Rgqd pen.
on the 9th day OF March. 1861 caYiain Henry How
land Depot Quartermaster .ho uia.cd states Army
at Nashville, Tenn, gave tie ioyllns memorandum
or order to one 'T T. Taylor agynt''--
OFFICE AssIst ASr qrAsyssgsAsyssss:
ment receive of 7. r. aSlor ageai 400 good,
viceable mules that will inapec ~ u III required
Standard said mules tc be Nthyfed % Nashville.
Tenn, on before the 2Oth da!tA next, at the
following prces--to wit, AlpN ~ 30 ma $l75 each,
respectively for fourteou, lOufIsn aid one-haf and
fifteen hand mules BgNitY ROWLAND
Capta~ csinz Qaartermaster.
II will be observed n is wholly ON
the sido OF tho COVER el5. IN n, agent, doea
not agree bind hinit glc mule. The
contract, moreover caled-was
made in fiat volstlrt sfahVls Nv which re-
quired tina, all asi,4 a. AZ and nature
should be adverissa .e o iden mill
tary exgency,v o. Sh lr .n9 -o mandint
geIesnl must he the ~af} iiTe jaas and the
purchasing oaicer ws.f s % have IL written
order OF the general ashc for any hgtchase
made ohorxl lac than tAIoa "a aad ADVERTISE vents.
Hero therr was eyidflnuy VI ''eKts,ncy,n for IN T.
Taylor axsRs was gfen Six kseks IN shiep 70 denver
his riuIss He iuAy delivered t~@tyiour nIles
and got hiz PAY lhoresef and when leeNuenderel,
Aprn 8 be calned 10 haN D additional sulcs readt
for doll, cgy at SaFhvile. e,th many huegel .aore
corrslled at different points IN Konsuoky rnacagter-
master who had meanwhile sucocedod HoNSnr de
clined 10 receive any more mules, tic soNrnpen'
did not need then-ust e. e7erywhcre II h-oueleat u
country the supply oi army material was stsg9st-
AM there the snoalf have rest,4 forever
A grasses } scESk
After ,hs fashion ol lhs tomances the reader Nil
now throw his mind over nAc years o. time, AID he
scene is changed TO he Unn d states Court OF Claims
in Washington And there find John a Thompson
ct al of Keatuoky, claiming be the iirinc.pais OF
T. T. Taylor agent and suiag the government for the
alleged loss on sshs hundred seventy (s70 mules
which they asserthey purchased under the memo
random or Captain Henry Rowland, and which, owing
to the close OF the and the fall in the price OF
mules thev compelled to sell at $4c so pcr head
They raiu Cd pay for tho difference, which was
$12s pcr head ior $40 mules--not one OF which was
ever delivered the United States. Benjamin II.
Brstow, OF Kensncky attorney for the claimants
The represented by Assistant Attorney
Genera Goossh the Court strange to say, by bars
majority gave the whole claimed by the plain
t-realiy ordering the payment of s1os $50 as con-
sderation Tor $40 mules which were like ''men in
buckram, never or knQwl
The opinion vas delivered ly Mr.. Justice Mott. con-
Cured IN by Judges Peck and Milligan; but on the
most vital por; OF tho Whole tho Court said
"the question mot free ro doubt" and they evil
IDENTIFY stated Their eocuson nth hesitation and tim
idity Justice Lons. the eldest and by many regarded
as the ablest Of the Court d. not sit in the case by
reason Of i'll health, while Chef Justice Drake deliv
cred of the most exhaustive dissenting opinions
He literally stripped the case OF all pretence
plausbility and exposed s, as having status
whatever IN Court He declared that Judgment for tho
plaintiff would uniform and unbroken deci-
sons of the Court of Claims and Of the Supreme Court
of the United States well. AS lawyer, familiar
with the scope and quality OF judicial decisions, I
declare that never read more conclusive rrefuta-
BILE, unanswerable opinion than that Of Judge Drake.
1t was confidently expected--nay, believed by every
one-that the Supreme Court would make very short
work OF the when 1t should come before them on
appeal with the Court OF Claims divided, with
the majority admitting that the most vital question o
the whole case ''was free from doubt" with the
Oldest Judge not sitting aud with the Chief Justice
appeal was to be expected, nothing else proper
nothing else was honest, nothing else consistent
with fidelity to the government Aud yet appeal
was taken and the large OF $l0S $50 paid in
thirty days after the judgment entered-pad a
few weeks before Mr. Brstow became Secretary of the
Treasury There is similar case record where
the government failed to appeal the Supreme Court
WHAT SECRETARY GOT.
Thus far have detailed only what is matter OF
record 1t is said, and far as know without con-
tradiction, that Mr. Bristow had half the judgment
SOL 375 his fec and that he got $1,000 additional
for preventing appeal the Supreme Court and
curing prompt payment OF the claim the Treasury.
These facts If facts could be ascertaned Attorney
General Williams officially responsible for waivns
an appeal, and he could tell why and how IL waa
waived. Mr.. Bristow Solicitor General had been in.
! timately associated with Mr. Williams Attorney
! General and these two gentlemen could doubtless tell
just why an appeal to the Supreme Court was never
\ made in this extraordinary
II Is further said here Kentucky, though do not
say with Mr. Bristow's knowledge, that the whole
case was a manufactured one, that John A. Thompson
never had tie $40 mules corraed that they
sold out at $42 so per head Every one here rcmem.
bers that there was no such fall this in the price Of
mules The demand for mules In the cotton States by
the cessation Of the war kept up the price, and
ridiculous to pretend that any fine lot of mules
sold at Sl2 so per head in 1865 or any year since
Iffurther Information should be wanted IN this cas-,
suggest that two gentlemen in the United States
could SO readily furnish II as Mr. Bristow and Mr.
williams l venture also TO suggest that the curious
inquirer might hnd something by questioning General
Oscar H. Burbridgc, Captain Rowland I. I. Taylor,
John A. Thompson, and possibly Treasury on
Gals at Washington The case is which deserves
very iul ventilation, for am persuaded that every
dollar paid wrongfully taken from the Treasury oi
the United states LEX.