The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-11-11
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to "estimate" them at last fall; the agen-
cies and means by which the robberies
We're committed are still open for use;
and the robbers are still in possession
of the Government offices.
1t is one thing to discover that a rob-
berry has been committed; it is another
to detect and point out the robber. You
find your watch dog chloroformed, your
windows broken, scaling ladder hang
ing from them, an abandoned jimmy or
bunch of skeleton keys, and at the same
time you miss your silver spoons. These
circumstances convince you that you
have been robbed, but they do not in
form you who the roober is. During my
investigations in the Treasury, | found
such disorder, 80 many unlawful, irregu-
lar, inexplicabl9 practices, and such dis
CrepanCies between the accounts and the
money and property on hand, as to
prove, beyond all question, that the Gov.
ernment had been and still was being
systematically plundered. Senator D4-
Wis of West Virginia, who afterward .ex-
amined small portion of the same field,
the discrepant cash balances of the
Treasury, found the same fact and nei
ther when l communicated them to Mr.
Boutwell, and the public over my own
signature in 1869, nor when Mr.. Davis
publicly charged them in the Senate Of
| 1876, were they denied or explained. AS
a means OF defence to Mr.. Davis's char
ges, the partisans of the robbers resorted
to pettifogging and bewilderment, and
there, for the lack of Executive inter-
ference and examination, the charges
ended.
That robberies have been committed
to the extent of several hundred mil
lions there can be no doubt. The most
Cursory glances at the d!sordered public
accounts and vouchers prove this. Who
committed the robberies, and who is
still committing them, are much more
difficult questions to answer In many
cases the public vouchers and other rec
ords have been seCreted, stolen, or de-
s.royed by the robbers. The archives
have been confused and plundered; the
indiCes neglected or destroyed; mysteri-
GUS fires have occurred in the archives
of the Navy Department, Of the second
Auditors bureau, and Of other public
Offices; and former officer of the Treas
ury, and others who were personally
Cognzant of suspicious warrants signed
in the Treasury, have been induced to
remove to other countries beyond the
reach of inquiry.
During one of the few luls in the cut
tie fsh war that was waged upon the
Administration of President Johnson
an attempt was made by the Govern
ment to strike a decisive blow in the
cause of reform, by examining the ma
terial in charge of the War Department,
exposing the robberies that had been
committed therein, and apprehending
sume of the principal robbers; but no
sooner did the latter fl I'D themselves
pursued, than they called upon the myr.
lad of dupes who had been taught to re.
gard them as political leaders, and sue.
Ceeded in effcting sucN scandalous and
noisy diversion, that the President was
nearly driven mad, and his patriotic at.
tempt had to be abandoned. The diver
sion of the robbers was known as the
Impeachment trial, the seventh article
of which reads as follows:
"That said Andrew Johnson, Presi-
dent of the United States, unmindful of
the high duties of his Office, and of his
oath of office, on the 2lst o February,
in the year of our Lord 1868 at Wash
ington, in the District of Columbia, did
unlawfully Conspire with one Lorenzo
Thomas, with intent unlawfully to seize,
take and possess the property of the
United States in the Department OF
War, in the custody and charge of Ed
win M. Stanton, Secretary of sad de.
partment, with intent to violate and dis.
regard the act entitled, "An Act regulat
ing the tenure of certai / civil Offices"
passed March 2, 1867, whereby said An.
drew Johnson, President of the United
States did then and there commit high
misdemeanor in Office"
Shortly afcer Mr.. Stanton's forCible re
storation to Office by Congress he died,
and within few months VIM. W. Belk.
nap was appointed in his place by Presi
dent Grant. Belknap retained thi posi-.
ii IN for several years, during which he
accumulated an ample fortune. A qlar-
rel between two robbers brought to light
the fact that Belknap had sold to one of
them, named John S. Evans, the post
leadership of Fort Sill for $25 600, and
Belknap's general avariCe and laCk of
caution threatening to endanger his col
leagues or supporters, he was impeached
on five charges of embezz ement in 1876
and, pending trial, he resigned his of.
fee. He was then tried by the Senate,
found guilty on all the charges, and &C.
q1itted on a techniCality.
The Republican party, having carried
into effect all its great and patriotic
measures, really ceased to exist in 1865,
but from that time to 1875 the political
organization governed by the robbers,
and falsely called the Republican party
controlled both Houses of Congress, and
until 1878 controlled the Senate. Any
real investigation or reform of the civil
service previous to 1878 could, therefore,
not be undertaken Every attempt of
the sort was frustrated For example,
an investigation of the Currency Print
ing Bureau, ordered in 1867 was bsfllsd
by obstacles ilterposed in the House Of
Representatives; and an investigation of
the New York Custom House, made in
1872 by Senator Bayard and Casserly,
was refused publication by the action Of
the Senate.
When the Democrats secured tte
House without the Senate, in 1875, sew
eral Investigations were instituted by
House committees. From one cause or
another their purpose was invariably
defeated. The investigators were mex
perienCed and pressed for time the
short method they pursued, that of seek
ing to iuculpate individuals on their own
testimony, rather than go to the pains
of examining the accounts and vouchers
of the Government WAS defective. Whit.
thorne, Beebe, and the other chairmen
of Investigating committees of the House
were no match for such experienced sim
ners as Geo. M. Robeson and Alex, G.
Cattell, and whe her on direct or cross
examination, the latter easily slipped
through the obvious meshes that were
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