The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-07-24

claimants disappeared. lie stalo abr0a(
till 1877, and when Williams was In dan
ger, returned to defend him. james
II. Robinson, Assistant Solicitor Of the
Treasury declined to aid Moore's investi
CATION, saying, "They don't want it coz
tinued up stairs" referring to the Secre
tary's Office; ard he co-operated with
Appointment Clerk Porter in an effort t.
break down Moore's investigation by
abolishing the force of Inspectors of Gus
toms, to which Moore's assistant in thu
ma,ter-who had first traced the Jone.
pacxage-belonged. Robinson suddenly
manufactu ID an opinion that there was
no law for tho existence of this force
which has existed over fifty years
When Moore informed Assistant Secre
tary Conant of Williams frauds, Conant
to Moore's establishment, advised him tc
drop the inquiry, and he threw such diff
culties in its way that Moore felt forced
to suspend it the whole time that Conan
was Acting Secretary of the Treasury
When Sherman became Secretary
Moore reported the facts to him, anc
Sherman referred the matter to George
F. Talbot, Solicitor of the Treas
ury, instruct;ng him to complete the in.
quiry in accordance with Moore's sugges-
tions. Moore and Treasurer Gil.
fillan, who had co-opcrated, con.
ferred with Talbot and enabled him to
obtain evidence to establish the facts.
They cautioned him against Conant, Big.
Glow, Baker, Robinson and others but
within forty-eight hours they were shut
out from the Investigation, and these very
men, including Williams, were in con-
slant communication with Talbot. The
suspected parties had possession Of and
passed round the testimony and re-
ports against Williams, and sore OF
them called Treasurer Gilfllan to
to account for telling what he knew.
iilfillan went to New York to aid Dis
trict Attorney Woodford to arrest and
prosecute Williams there. Williams
was warned Of this, and passed Gilfillan
between New York aud Washington, ap-
pearing before Talbot and saying he was
informed Talbot wanted him. While
Gilfillan was arranging Williams arrest
with Woodford, the latter received a tele-
gram from Talbot directing him to act
in concert with Bigelow, Williams friend,
and himself under suspicion, and to try
to have Williams give up the list of own
ers of unclaimed interest to Bigelow !
Before the Glover Committee Talbot
swore that he never sent such telegram.
hnt the committee obtained copy OF it.
with his signature! This dispatch stopp-
ed Gilfillan. Talbot allowed Williams to
be examined without arrest by United
States Commissioner of Williams choos-
ing. Neither Moore, Gilfillan nor any
other person who knew the facts, was no.
tilted of this Examination" or allowed
too 0r1, -. L.
were examined and he was discharged.
When Middleton & Co. were asked to re-
fund the sums wrongfully paid to them
on Williams fraudulent account, the let
ter addressed to them at Washington was
answered by Williams from London.
Talbot made a whitewashing report to
Secretary Sherman, devoted mainly to
e-culpating Conant, against whom no
charges had been laid before him; but
Sherman deemed it policy for Conant to
retire; he was sent to London to keep Bige
low company, and the foreign loan opera
tions of the Government have since been
conducted by men who successfully did
their best to shield confessed forger and
swindler, who with The aid of Treasury
confederates stole the money that be-
longed to widows, lunatics, orphans and
foreigners. The forged signatures were
unlike the true ones, and Williams con-
fede rate, Interest Teller Jones, made nc
con- parison or test Of their reality, viola
ting thus the rules of Office. All these
officials but one, Baker, are still in office,
and Porter has been made Financial
Clerk of the Coast Survey, while Wy
man and his bondsmen have been freed
from responsibility. The sole punish
ment meted out was that to Supervising
Special Agent Moore, the one man who
persistently tried to expose the wrong.
and who was reduced to q subordinate
post.
When the Grand Trunk Railway was
opened the exports from Canada passed
over it through Vermont, New Hamp-
shire and Maine to Portland, where they
were shipped abroad. This trade soon
grew 30 large that whole lines of ocean
steamers were built for it, and 100 large
bonded warehouses were set up at Port
land to accommodate it, Under the
Treasury regulations the commodities
were loaded on cars in Canada, the cars
then sealed by the United States Consul
at the starting point, and run through
without opening or delay to the port of
in the States. Thus they pass
ed free of ali annoyance by Custom
House officials, not being subject to duty,
al they merely passed through the
country. The Joint High Commission,
which framed the Alabama Treaty, agreed
(Article 20 of Treaty. that this should
go on. March 80, 1875, the Secretary
of the Treasury issued an order confirm
ing and regulating the practice. With
in month after he published regula-
tionB practically abolishing it. He re-
CURED that all goods coming from Cana
da should be entered, opened, inspected
and put under bonds for their shipment
abroad, at the first port ofentry they reach
ed after crossing the border. On the Grand
Trunk Railway this was the small town
of Island Pond, VT, where the facilities
for making the entries were 30 inadequate
that the order could not possibly be car
-;ca cut. the penal bonds required,
amounting to millions of dollars at q
time, all had to be executed by two per-
sons who were worth but few thousand
dollars, which made the bonds worthless
and showed that the stoppage at Island
Pond gave no security against SNUG
Cling. The first effect of the order was to
enlarge the compensation of the Collec-
tor OF Customs at Islaud Pond to $40, 600
or $50, 900 year, three or four times that
of the Collector of New York; but the
second result was to destroy the in
transitu trade, to drive it ont of the
States back down the St. Lawrence Riv.
er, to ruin the owners of q hundred
bonded warehouses at Portland, to break
up the steamship lines from that port
and to infict heavy loss on the vwners OF
the Grand Trunk Railway. To this out.
rageous piece of tyranny is due much o.
the hard times that have lately prevailed