New-York tribune., 1881-12-27
THE TREASURY INVESTIGATION.
my TELEGRAPH TO THE rRIBUNE.I


the Treasury Contingent Fund investigation with
closed doors was doubtless conceived in 2Grsre to
render evcn-handed justice. 5ut it IS fau-
ing OF its purpose. The mystery to when
the secret iSqufry gives rise furnishes such an
c,1,,rTunity TO the scandal-mongers TO ply their
trade as they never could have if the truth Were
made known All the old stories OF last summer are
again in circulation. with additions, as the dlScON-
| cries of the investigators.
Among these is one 10 the effect that the late AS
! sistant Secretary Hawley approved vouchers ior
large amount Of money, payable to man ron
| Chicago, who furnished a worthless attachment
TO the stcamhcating apparatus OF the Department
the consd Grafton being that this Shonld help
| TO secure Hawlcy's domination by the RopubHcahs
rs a candidate for Governor Of Illinois The fact Is,
the boilcra tachments purchased by Chief Clerk
Ipton after they had been tested thoroughly by the
engineer of the Department They are stlll in use,
and il is thought that the saving in single year III
fuel is about equal Ia the cost Of the apparatus.
Mr. ITavley had nothing to do with this purchase,
but afterward he did approve the purchase OF SIM
! liar apparatus for public buildings in New
! York and Chicago. As matter ol
! fact, however the investigating committee
has not yet had this matter before IT, The inveSt!-
gators are keeping their own counsel; but they 90
not impose secrecy upon all their witnesses, and
/
developments have been made and that the pro-
! cccdings are rather pTOsy.
1t is understood that eX-Custodian Pitney said to
the committee that he furnished stationery from tie
Treasury Department TO the Sherman political COM
mittec upon the request Of Mr. Moulton one OF It's
managers, and with the approval of Assistant-Sec-
rctary Upton. Upon she other hand there are the
assertions of Mr.. Moulton and Mr.. Upton
to the contrary, and of Mr. Sturtevant the Super
intendent of Stationery, that he never furnished
any stationery Tnorc is an unexplained feature oi
what is known as the flc-hoder transaction. Ii Is
understood that Pitncy said TO the committee that
stationery was furnished by Washington dealer
10 Mr. Sherman's committee, and that the vouchers
were sent to the Department made ont rs
for file holders and were paid by Mr. Pltney, the
amount being something more than $500. When
the committee Of Treasury clerks began 10 nvc-u
gate the subject last summer the Washington dealer
made haste to cover the money back INTO the Treas
ury. and he was aftorward paid $500 in cash
by one of Mr. Shcrman's political
managers for the stationery actually furnished
the committee. II is inferred, from the fact that all
vouchers must bear the approval Of the chief clerk
OF the Department, that Major Power, the present
chief clerk, must have been cognzant Of this rcr-
ularity; but ~ a matter of fact the chief clerk can
not personally know of the purchase and delivery Of
all the articles consumed. If hc should undertake
such an examination il would require All ms
time in the stOGe-room. To cnnsunnate fraGd
Of tins kind woull ordinarily require the conniyancc
of two persons-thc custodian who pays the money
and the s0rckecpcr who ccriGcs that the articles
have been delivered. In this instance 1t
appears that Mr.. Phitney secured tue certificate
Of the stOIcAccpcr by saving that the
bill holders were FOR in the cusndiaus "icc and
it would De necessary to send them down into the
/ Tv.r. 4 lIt.r.. 81.
nothing to show that The stationery dcalcrcycr pre-
scntcd his bill to the Sherman Committee, or
that its managers ever heard OF 1t before they
paid il.
II has been learned by the Investigating Commit
tee that the sleigh purchased last winter for Sccre-
tary Sherman paid for IN a youcher which de-
| scrbcd the expenditure for repairs TO wlg ms.
and that a buggy purchased for the Department was
charged as an express wagon These articles
were both necessary; were purcha-ed openly by
authority Of the proper officials and are still the
property of the Government. There was not
the slightest necessity for conccalment and one
except possibly Mr.. Pituey knows why they wcre
not accounted for in the vouchers aud statements
under their proper designations
Much has been SAID about the expenditure Of
So 900 a year for horses and wagons for The Treas
ury Department. the assumption being that the sum
is all expended osteusby for the subsistence of the
horses and the repairs Of wagons and harness.
In fact, tho pay OF four or five drivers
and stableman comes from this fund and when II
is considered that there are more than n dozen
horses in constant use several of them for exceed
Inplv heavy trucking the sum not found cxtrava.
giant. There is feature of this expenditure
which may become a subject of legitimate
criticism. The Department keeps four coupcS, one
each for the secretary and the two Assistant Sec
retarcs, and for general use. While IL
is necessary that the head Of the Department should
| have the means at his disposal of rapid and com
| Portable transit about the city, single coupe
would seem 10 DE sufficient for the purpose, while
| another might he used for other and
general purposes. There - little doubt
! that some Of these coupcs have been used
! to a great extent for the private convenience and
! pleasure OF officials and their families. In this
! respect however, there has been an improve
mcnt rs compared with several years ago, when the
! Department owned fourteen COupce the expenses
! for which were paid by the Government.
II does not apprar that m any of the Transactions
dc.Cribcd the Government is loser, or f!incy or
! articles are known to have been purchased and
! accounted FOR under misleading names leads
| to a suspicion that great many other trans
! actions OF like character took place. They can
| only DO explained the theory that Mr..
| PltncY thought he would, by such q course, find
invest igators under oath that when the stationery
transactions were first brought 10 light last summer,
| Mr. Pitney told him that Sccrc-ary Sherman knew
nothing about them and that be i'itueyI regretted
that he had not brought the matter 10 the Score
tarys attention, and had II made lIt from tho be
| ginning
CTrppEsT TOPICS AT 'grfL' NApITAT