The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1877-11-29

The Public Debt and the Expenditures.
From the time of ALEXANDER HAMILTON,
who established the system of checks and
balances in the Treasury down to the adj
went OF GEORGE :. BOUTWELL, a. Secretary.
the statement. of the public debt and Of the
receipts and expenditures of the Govern
mcnt were exclusively made bv the Regis
ter of the Treasury, who may Ice properly
described as the national hOokkccpcr and
III whose Office alone all the public ac-
counts and vouchers are deposited after
settlement.
These official statements were never
questioned at homo or abroad, and they
were accepted not only a. the basil, of the
operations of the Treasury. but ~ guide,
IN legislation. II was not possible for trust
worthy exhibits t. De made from any other
Office simply because mono other possesses
the Indispensable requisites for accurate
transcripts from the public books. But
Mr.. BO, rwELL was not content TO follow
in the footsteps of his predecessors for
eighty years, or 10 adopt the work Of ALIEN
ANDER HAMILTON. H. it had been transmit
ted from the foundation of the Government
II" had been grocer at Groton. and wanted
II method OF bookkeeping adapted to his
former occupation. Soon after entering
Office he changed the old practice of annual
statements of tho debit by the Register. and
published monthly statements from his own
Office When they came To- be- summed up.
the two conilictcl Icy tens Of millions.
His next move was to 20 back to the ycar
1888, reopen the accounts which had been
settled for more than a third Of century.
and 10y Introducing new elements radically
change the debt totals from that date To the
period Of his rcadiustcd figures The re-
suits published in his first annual report
differed by more than hundred millions
from the report Of the Register for the same
years. as it also differed from the report Of
the Treasurer of the United states
But II this result was extraordinary. his
second report was still more So for his own
tables of 1870 and 1871, for the same years
show difference in the debit statements Of
two hundred and forty millions Of dollars,
And when the public expenditures are ana
lyzod. an enormous difference Is also found
Various lame explanations of these astound-
ing discrepancies have been made by Mr.
BOUTWELL, personally on the floor Of the
Senate. and by the Treasury Department;
but they have all cvadcd the real question
and concealed the bottom facts
Different efforts 90 investigate the books
aud accounts have invariably failed by on
position and devices from the Republican
side. Mr.. DAVIS asked for u special com
mittee in the last Congress. and it was re-
sisted by Mr.. SHERMAN and others upon the
flimsicst protests. Finally. the subject was
referred to Mr. SHERMASs Committee OF
Finance, and by them to the very Treasury
officials who under boutwell, had altered
the statements. No member Of the commit
tee made personal Investigation, and the
old story was repeated IN a new form
Now II concerns hcpuhlic credit that those
alterations OF the accounts involving the
actual amount Of the debt should he cleared
up definitely, ~ ~ to silence all dispute.
This is not a party question IN any sense.
Doubt creates disru~t. and there is a wide
spread belief whether we'll or i'll founded
We shall not say, that many millions Of
bonds, notes, and other Government issues
havcb been stolen. lest, and 50 successfully
c"untcricilrd as to bc redeemed at the
Treasury. These robberics, losses, and
countcrlcits are alleged to nave occurred
during and since the civil war.
II ia" allegations are true, then motive
Tor covering mp past niqultieS by read
Ju-tment OF the accounts is manifest. With
out charging this intention ON anybody. We
state the fact, which awaits an answer. One
thing Will bc proven beyond all dispute at
the proper time, Tor the proof exists; and this
II, that when Mr.. BOUTWELL, made these
changes In the debt and other statements,
he addressed an official letter to the Register
Of the Treasury, directing him to conform
his figures 10 those of the department, in
order that no discrepancy should appear in
their respective reports to Congress.
What would be- thought Il the President
OF "a bank who had made statements of its
Indebtedness and as-cts contradictlng tho
res uts shown by the books, ordering the
buokhcorcr to force balances aud to mako
alterations 10y which they would agree be-
fore the stockholders? This is precisely what
Mr.. BOUTWELL, did on a national scale TO
the extent Of hundreds Of millions Of dollars.
His excuse that particular items were in
cluded that should have been excluded in
the former accounts, or oice C,rsd, turnish hes
no justification for upsctting the accounts
which had been CLOSED lur thn'ty-fOur years,
AMI introducing IL novel system to confuse
'ho public mind.
committee OF five was recently appointed
toeNaruin" th" books, onmutouo Mr. DAVIS,
and MI WHEELER pat three Republicans ON
itagalnSi tWO Democrats A. usual there was
n long opposition, and only one stcnographcr
aud two clerks wcrc allowed to 20 over
the work upon which hundr4l4 are now en-
gaSod When Nh DAVIS goes to the Ircasn-
ry Mr. SHERMAN will tell him the books are
N daily use, aud the clerks are all occupied,
- that he can get no assistance from that
quarter On the contrary every impede
mont viii re- thrown in the way, and We have