Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1880-10-15

~
At irregular intervals, ssys ~ Vs.
inston Star, . paragraph ~ seee
nouncing the receipt - 10 TSta611y
Department Of sontsibutioa 10 -
conscisnce fund. Thsoe ec9l1fbup
lions Row.a-days vary Iron - ld6alae
to between ono ard tive hundred. =
few years ago they were much larger.
The money comes from al peets Of the
country, Philsdelphis and New York
leading in the number 81 contributions.
A member Of Congress from New York,
when Mr.. Bristow Was In The Treasury,
referring TO this fact, Yanaxked thAt i
showed conelusively that New York and
Pennsylvania were the most religious
States in the Unien. Mr.. Bristcw ~
piled that in his opinion i only sbowe4
that these two States had done th6moee
stealing. The money which comes n
from nce-stricken people - On
account Of frauds on the customs,
frauds under the income tax law. or On
the revenue. The income tax having
been abolished some years ago. contxt-
buttons on il account ere very few.
The first record Of money received By
the Government from repontAnt defIAudp
ers was in 1868. When General Spinner
was Treasurer he kept the account
separate, but the spractice was dieoon-
tinued. The money now. asit has been
for the greater number OF years since
1868. when the contributions began, d
turned into the Treasury - miscella-
neous receipts. Repeated attempts
have been made by members Of Con-
gress to secure appropriations TO BE-
paid ont Of the conscience fund. i
the money goes into the Treasury -
miscellaneous receipts, 1t ceases 10 b :
separate fund, and cannot be drawn
upon. It il mot known how much the
conscience money now amounts g.
The total amount from December 4,
1868. to June 30, 1874, - given in Ne
Treasurer's report for the latter year,
was 2162, 914. Since then no account
Of the contributions has been kept.
Treasurer Gilfillan, however. estimates
that the money now foots mp e26O, 600.
The contributions, - rule, come
through the mail, witk . note saying
for what purpose the money 10 forward
ed. Very frequently q penitential ex-
| PLANTATION IL included. Some Of these
explanations are very curious, An, suass
very laughable. The ladies CO 's,nis
. good deal. They repent p..,.. r,Aiy
over false returns made under ..- in-
come tax, and for having svadsd the
duties upon articles Of dress.
A lady visited this country in 1854
from England. She struggled IN,
while here, silk aress pattern. 4
short time ago she wrote, conieesing
kha avaninn ~ NuaAnrna dukioa ana aAu1-
ing $15 to clear her conscience. 6ho
gave the value Of the dress, and Wanted
the balance sent back to her il the d.
ties did not amount to 316. The oug-
tom division Of the Treasury made .
computation based upon the duties dis-
charged in 1854, and found that NE
lady owed exactly $3.50. The balances
Was RENTED. Ministers Of the Goepel
are very frequently the medium THROUGH
which the money 10 refunded. Whtlo
administering spiritual consolation ~
confession Of defrsuding the 0oveenrl
ment ID made. and restitution follows.
The clergy transmit the money without
mentioning names. The largest amonnt
ever received - one contribution ~
&15, 600 in United States 7.8O no1oo.
This contribution was announood 81
the newspaper. Many and ingenious
attempts we're made TO got this money
out Of the Treasury. Ono man said
that his father had sent the oontribu-
ton, and that he was crazy. The con
tributor OF it had carefully Ont ont the
numbers Of the notes, 20 - 10 make e
impossible to discover from the hooks
who had sent them.--N. =. 1ri6xns.