The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1879-07-17

NN T fitNIFNH ". Y Ftr lV.Myf
The following from Tho N. Y Star is doc
ument which deserves the thoughtful con.
sideration ofevery cltizen,no matter what
may be his political predictions. 1t is
the report ofthe Congressional Commit.
tee of which Hon. John NJ. Glover was
Chairman, which committee was en-
powered to investigate the afflirs of the
q Treasury Department and the numerous
ramifCstioDs, including the Sscret Ser.
vice and the Printing and Engraving
Bureaus. Republican inf renee of the
strongest character has been brought to
bear on the members of the committee
and upon Congress itself to prevent pub.
licity being given to the history Of the
shameless Encouragement of the ma.
tional finances which the committee dis
covered. The result was that notwith-
standing Democratic activity the report
of the committee was suppressed in
Congress, and every eff1rt to bring it to
the light has met with the most violent
partisan opposition up to the present
time.
The record of infamy and corruption
in the National Treasury and its various
bureaus, under the management of John
Sherman and his immediate predeces-
sors, is startling one, and has been
fully laid bare by the committee. Mil
lions upon millions Of dollars OF the peo.
ple's money have been squandered and
stolen; the Department has been made
tool for most infamous purposes; secret
issues of money have been made to carry
elections for the Republicans; all ave.
nues that might lead to exposure have
been closed, and honest, conscientious
officials dismissed the Southern people
have been shamelessly plundered by
sherman's Treasury Ring; the mints
have been mine for official thieves,
spectators and defaulters, and the coun.
try has been flooded with counterfeit
paper whenever such course served |
the purposes of the Ring and its depend
ents, The report, moreover, shows that |
there is absolutely no check or safeguard |
against the perpetration or repetition of
the greatest frauds in the national fnan-
ces under Sherman's management, and
closes with recommendations which can.
not but be deemed necessary under the
ga..t q.
Toe report in substance is as follows:
The document opens by stating that
Rule 109 Of the House, adopted during
Madison's Administration, directs this
to inquire and report whether
the expenditures of the Treasury De.
partment are justified by law; whether
The claims satisfied are supported by
vouchers establishing their justness;
the moneys disbursed have
been so paid in accordance with appfo.
priation laws, and whether any and what
provisions are necessary to provide more
perfectly for the proper application of
the public moneys, and to secure the
from demands unjust in
character or extravagant in amount; to
report from time to time whether any
and what retrenChment can be made in
the expenditure of the Department with.
out detriment to the public service
whether any and what abuses exist in
the failure 10 inforce the payment of
moneys due the United States from pub.
lie defaulters or others; whether any
offices in the Department have become
useless or unnecessary; and to report OF
the expediency of modifying or abolish
ing such offices. Under this rule little
was done for long time, and when Mr..
Glover was placed at the head of the
committee in 1877 the gathered wrongs I
Of years had to be inquired into. The
committee had been hahitually packed
by Speakers Colfax and Blaine with do
January IL, 1873, the House
instructed the committee to proceed
with its duties (Which it had sometime
before begun), and empowered it to send /
'or persons and papers compel attend
lnce Of witnesses and production of doc
lments needed as evidence and to pay l
he attendant expense), and to examine
Vi the affairs of the Treasury for such l
)eriad as the committee might deem
necessary for its own guidance or the
of the public interests and the i
Exposing of any frauds or abuses. The
necessary authority to pay clerk and !
xperts was, however, by the intrigues Il
t interested parties delayed until March
, when the session was more than half !
one. Nevertheless, the work was push.
d as fast and far as circumstances would
lloW. 1
The Treasury at Washington contains {
yer thirty bureaus and divisions equiv. L
lent to bureaus, charged with important a
motions and the oversight of more than =
2 600 employees. The scope Of its pow .
rs extend from New Brunswick to Cali. d
>rnis, from the Mexican Gulf to the Pc. b
n Ocean, and those powers are in their
xerclse often despotic to degree that =
dmlts OF the suppression of proof of Off y
lal misconduct. Beside these thirty Be
dd Bureaus at Washington the Treasury
department. contains sub.treasuries at A
altimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati. i
ew Orleans, New York, PHILADELPHIA,
an Francisco and ST. Louis. 1t also con-
inns mints at Philadelphia, San Francis.
}, Carson, Denver and New OrleaLs
Isay Offices at Boise Charlotte, Helena n
n0 new YORK chain of custom hOu ef
's and custom offices stretching across 70
le continent from Eastport, Me-, along 70
lee frontiers ofNew Brunswick, Canada, va
axes Ontario, Huron and Superior, the ira
ontiers of Manitoba and British Colum. al
"a, to Port Townsend on Pdget Sound ri
'ashington Territory, thence north. va
ard along the Pacific Coast to the Asi. itr
TIC Sea, southwark to the boundary of rs
over California, eastward and south. "a
arc along the frontier of Mexico, east. 'u
Iard along the shores Of the Gulf south. "
,,ard 70 Key West, and thence nortbeast al
long the Atlantic Coast to Maine, with ~
n organization embracing also the inta, or
lor States Of Illinois, indiana IowS ga
.entuCkV. MiaannI NoL.,' IVA %