The Ottawa free trader., 1876-11-04

there were not some abuses to corrpct--some
wasteways to plug up. We found in some
of them twice and others three times as many
clerks employed us were needed. We dlscoV-
cred every imaginable sort of extravaganza
) wherever we looked. The Attorney General
must ride from his Office at the department to
Ibis other office at the Capitol, and he kept
servants at each, and servants to wait upon
servants, as did other officials. This fancy
carriage and horses were purchased with pub
: lie money, and the servants and ektrayagant
offices all paid for out Of the same,
The members of cOngress-manyo of them
had much longer walks to make from their
lodgings to the Capitol, but they did not ride
at government expense; they either walked
or paid the street car cents. General Pier.
repont had a horse and carriage that cost the
government $1,000. We did not hlieve that
the servant of the people should ride in a
splendid carriage, with servants ana grooms
to attend, while we members OF the house
: must walk. So we stopped that leak. We
cut off the extra postage allowed mployees,
who hitherto had used postage stamps vary
ing from one thousand TO two tn dusand dol
lars per month. In this and slmihr items we
managed to reduce an annual expenditure of
S3j 900 to just $1,000, and the bisiness will
90 on just as well as ever
1 We thus. In systematic way Topped off
all that was useless and left only The necessa-
Try. Thus we saved the nation thity millions
OF dollars in single session. (Appause.
We insisted on our first proposition, which
was to reduce the annual expenditures about
sixty millions of dollars lowG than the
amount allowed by the last house and about
one hundred and twenty mllionI of dollars
lower than Grants present administration had
demanded! But the republicai senate re-
fused to pass our bill, but passel it with an
enormous figure over ours Con erence com.
mittees met but neither would yield, the
democratic or "rebel house" nasting on re-
Itrenchment and reform, and tho republican
senate adherlng to extravaganc, and profit
4 gacy-yes, even trying to lncreaS public ex.
pendlturcs. why" said BlaineI"thcse seats
are comfortable and we will sit iere all win
ter before we will agree to reelection of our
demands" At length we wen forced to
yield portion and saved helS3O 100000.
i Had we been met bv a senate favoring
economy, and back of all democratic presi.
dent, we would in this one bill hive saved the
tax payers of the United States ,ot less than
one hundred millions of dollars in single
year. ID.
This cutting down of supernmerarles and
extra clerks, landaus, carriages, servants,
grooms, &c, made US very Unpopular with
the republicans. | remembe when Hon.
John J. Crttenden was the AttGney General
of seeing that white haired dd gentleman
walking up and down Pennsylvania Avenue
with his books under his arm to and from
court. He had no carriage at piblic expense,
and yet he was lncomparably superior to any
attorney general thatt the republican party has
ever produced. Laughter andapplause.l
The prevailing style of the leaders of the
republican party Is to ape thlt OF the arls-
tocracy over the seas We mist check this
tendency and come back to democratic SIM
plicity
To the Attorney Generals apartment fifty
thousand dollars had annuall' been appro-
priated for several years TO b, used for the
suppression and punishment oicrime-really
intended to be employed IN slppressing and
Furnishing the Ku Klux. There had also
been annually appropriated $4,000 as
a secret service fund, for detectives, &c, to
catch cOunterieiterS and that dass of offend
ers In looking these items up, we found
that the money had all been drawn from the
treasury, but not a receipt could be found
showing any service performed. We discov-
cred that one Whlteley, of New York, chief
of the L. s. detective force, had been drawing
out $4,000 and $4,000 dollars at a time.
This same Whiteley had previously been
turned out of public oflice-discbarged as a
thief and villain. Yet his receipts were
taken at the departments as sufficient vouch-
ers for this money. We inquired Of Pierre.
pont, who said he knew nothing about it.
His predecessor had done business in this
way, and it had not been changed. We
found that Whiteley lived at the time on the
borders of Mexico. We had him arrested
and brought before us. In explanation, he
said: II employed men to 90 south and set
up whisky shops, dry goods stores, taverns,
&c, to get isto the confidence ofthe ku
Kux. The government furnished tie money.
| kept no account OF 1t and the mCaey paid
out To them. | did not expect then ever to
return it or account for 1t TO me Dr TO the
government, since most OF them put 1t in
their pockets and were never heard of after
wards" In answer to another question,
Whitley answered; 81 live IN Nassachu.
sets and am engaged in sheep fTmIng in
Mexico, because | can make mTe down
there" We became satisfied as to vhere the
money came from for this sheep business.
We pushed him to further revelations, and
finally he acknowledged that a larie sum OF
these $4,000 went through his hands into
those of John |. Davenport, Of N. Y, prom
nent republican politician, just lsfore the
election IN that state, and that monS was so
used that it reduced the democraticmajority
10000 votes. It was done by bribery nd by ar
resting leading democrats on various pre-
texts a few days before and releasing them
after election day
In reply to the question, "Who directed
YOU to pay this money to Da;nport!'
Whitley responded, attorney Genera Pierre
ponl ordered me to do So" and Plrrepo nj
informed us that Gen. Grant ordered him to
thus send the money to Davenport. Here we
have the President himself interfering in the
election in New York city for TIE enefit OF
the republican party, and using TIC public
money for that Infamous purpose. The testi-
mony was unconradictCd. Thus tbs money
voted to be used in suppressng the ku klux
down south was used to benefit therepubli-
cans of New York city.
The republicans, The better to courol elec-
tions north and south, and in yiolati,n of the
national constitution and those Of every state
Inn the Union, passed law enoblin. the al,
into & i llI