Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1876-03-15
FAL.STFICA TTON OF TREASUR y
ACCOVNT.S

IA L.SIFTCA 1TON TREASURY y
ACCOUNTS
During the last two years The Sun
has repeatedly called upon Congress
to investigate the books of the Treas
ury, in order to sil tho conflicting Of
fetal statements of the public debt and
expenditures, ana to establish some
satisfactory basis upon which the pub
lie might rely.
By law the Register Of the Treasury
is practically the bookkceper of the
/ Government. Ali the accounts OF re-
oeipts and expenditures are registered,
! and finally deposited in his office; and
from the organization of the Treasury
down to 1870, no other statement was
authorized or published, in regard TO
either, than that which bore his official
signature. But the system which
Hamilton organized, and Gallatin af-
terwaid administered, was not salts
factory 10 Mr.. Boutwell, 1t was
straightforward, simple, and would
not serve TO conceal transactions of
vast magnitude, upon which worse
than dark suspicion now rests. SO he
contrived statement Of his own,
monthly and annual, intended to super
sedc that Of the Register, and prcdicat-
cd upon different state of facts and
figures. This scheme was concoctcd
for partisan uses, and the monthly
statements sent out TO the country
were false TO the extent that warrants
for large sums were withheld until af.
ter the publication, so as TO make q
deceptive exhibit of the condition of
the Treasury. That practice became
thoroughly established under Boutwell,
and Richardson, and is still continued
under Brstow.
When the annual reports of the Sec
rotary of the Treasury and the Regsi-
ter came to be compared, enormous
discrepancies were discovered Tor the
same series Of years IN the public debt
and the expenditures Attcmps were
made in Congress to have an inquiry,
but the Republican majoritics voted
down every resolution, and the doors
Of the Treasury were slammed in the
faces of members who sought iniorma-
ton. Mr.. Boutwell, set to work to re-
concile these contradictory figures, with
the aid Of Richardson and Others
They went back for many years, al
tered the aggregates OF thepublic debt,
and introduced into the accounts new
elements which were previously un-
known. When they could not be
made Il, agree with the Registers
books, It was explained that the two
started from different points, and there
fore they must reach different results I;
but by including in one, certain ele-
ments omitted from the other, they
whould be reconcilcd.
In the ,debato on this subject Mr.
Boutwell, repeated this lame explana.
tion in these words;
"rhe consequence is that At any particular
momeat Of time the apparent debt of the Gov.
crnment as represented In the Registers Office
and a' represented In III olioe of the Secretary
o. tho Treasury, wiH Be different"
Now, by turning to the reports of
the Secretary and Register since 1871,
II will be found that they agree to a
cent, and therefore the whole theory
of Mr. Boutwell, falls to the ground,
and his explanation is absolutely un-
true. There is no possibility of agree
mont between them, IL, as he stated
they are composed of different ele.
ments. Then how do they now hap
pen TO be identical? Mr.. Boutwell, is
Iabundantly able to answer this qucs-
tion, though he pretended ignorance
in the Senate, and audaciously said he
bad no responsibility for the sudden
and remarkable change in statements
made during his management of the
Treasury. The Registers figures pcrc
made 10 conform 10 those Of tie Secretary
BY an cypress order Of the latter, That
is to say, the public accounts were
falsifcd by an official rcscript from the
head OF the department.
II will naturally be asked, what was
the controlling motive for these alter
tions and these conflicting statemcnts2
The answer is belief only, but just.
fed by many facts which can be vcri.
fed or rejected by investigation. Itis
believed that many millions of bonds
and notes have been issued in excess
of lawful authority, that many millions
Of both havo been forged and accepted
at the Treasury, and that there is a
larger amount of interest paid than
the actual debt calls for. More than
this, there is prevailing opinion that
balances were forced during the terms
Of Boutwell, and Richardson; that the
books were tampercd with in various
bureaus; and that they now bear cvi.
dcncc Of erasures interlineations, and
changes. II is easy to ascertain wheth-
or these opinions and reports are well
founded or not.
This Is not n party question, and
ought not to be considered in that
light All sides should agree that the
integrity Of the public accounts ought
to be strictly preserved, and that the
system which Mr. Boutwell, inaugural.
cd, of having two contradictory state
mcnts of the public debt must be pre-
Judicial to tho public credit at home
and abroad No other enlightened
country presents sachia spectacle, and
no man can to-day, upon the authority
of those figures, come within fifty Or a
hundred millions Of the real debt, from
the confusion and conflict which they
create. And the Secretary of the
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