The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1881-12-03
MILLIONS OF TAXES STOLEN.

ol great frauds in the Tax Office caused a
stir to-day. Tax Receiver Hunter,aiaed by
Comptroller Pattison and a subcommittee
Of the Reform Committee of One Hundred,
have made what investigation they could,
and will place the result before the proper
legal authorities as suon as possible. Some
very startling disclosures are promised.
Theodore Hanel, an ex-clerk in the Tax
Office, who served sentence Cor embezzle-
nent, has acted as a sort Of detective for Mr..
Hunter and the committee. He has point
ed out to them Just where to look, and in
many instances they have verified his state
ments. Large corporations whose taxes
never reached the City Treasurer have given
information from their books when such
taxes were paid, and when no traces of such
moneys could be found, il was natural to
suppose that the amounts had been stolen.
Mr.. Hanol to-day gave reporter addition
al facts concerning the robberies in tho Tax
Office between 1872 and ls77,while Thomas
j. Smith was Trustee and the step brother
OF the delinquent Tax Collector, Donohugb,
was receiver. It is Hanel's firm belief, based
upon careful observation and close figuring,
that at least 81 ,0O0, 900 ofthe peoples money
were stolen during the FIVE years Of Receiy-
er Smiths administration. How many
more thousands or millions we're stolen un-
der the noses OF the several receivers, whose
accounts are now undergoing the scrutiny
cf Messrs Hunter aud Pattison, cannot be
guessed at until tho facts and figures are
submitted to the Distric. Attorney and The
Attorney General.
According to IIanel's revelations the clerks
under Receiver Smith enjoyed "go-as-you-
| please" thieving game. uanel himself re-
ceived as much as 5000, 900 in one day for
taxes. That was on the lst day of March
each year, the taxpayers desiring to take
advantage of the discount then allowed of
nine per cent. per annum for prompt pay
me1t. If the taxpayer had postponed pay
lnent. until March 2nd his discount would
have been 1866 less, and so on until Aug.
lst, when penalty for non payment was
imposed. At least one million dollars was
usually collected on March LIST, such heavy
taxpayers as the Girard estate the Penna
Railroad Co. and the Ridgway estate being
among those that paid without delay. As
no discount was made upon State taxes, the
mlsappropriation Of money so paid was fac
ilitated. The Philadelphia Saving Fund
was among the prompt payers. Its State
taxes then amounted TO about $4,000 per
annum; and Hanel says il was the custom
of person in tho Tax Office to retain that
money for his own use from March or April
until August, when il had to be tui ned into
the City Treasury il an entry OF its receipt
had been made. If the employee took
notion to steel fart of it, he had only to
bring his expert bookkeeping into service,
as was done in so many other cases which
have just been unearthed.
The Girard Insurance Annuity and Trust |
Company was mentioned yesterday as one
of the institutions whose money failed to
reach the city Treasury. The clerk who re-
ceved its taxes, about $4,000, in 1873, and |
wEo is charged with stealing the money,
has been employed in one of the United |
States Government departments in this city |
ever since the eexpiration of Receiver Smiths |
term in December, 1877. The clerk who !
received the company's tax for the two
subsequent years, and who will be called |
upon to account for the disappearance of |
about Sl2 900, has also been in Governm ment |
employ for an equal length of time. The lei |
low clerk OF his, now residing in German
town, and styled gentleman" in the Direc-
tory, will be held accountable for probab- |
ly much greater sum. Among other iusti-
tutions whose State tax Hanel told the Re. |
formers committee had probably gone the |
way of the Girard Company's, were about
eight or ten of the national banks Of the |
city, which he named.
~ belieye," said Hanel to day, "that the
committees subsequent investigation satis-
fed them that was right While in many |
instances the sum stolen all at once ran far |
up into the thousands, yet, as a rule, the
dishonest accunulntions were the result of
long-continued stealing of comparatively
small sums, say 5000 or 5000. The clerks
had little fear Of detection in those davs.
They did not dread the coming in of per.
sons who might discover that they had not
beer credited with money paid for taxes.
Suppose sold you house, and before pay
log me for it, you went to the search de-
partment Of the Tax Office to see ifany tax
arrearoges were charged against it. If the
arrearages were due more than five years
they were outlawed, and neither you nor |
bothered about them. If, however, they
were due for year within that time, YOU
came back to me and told me Of the fact,
and added that must pay the amount. As
prised, aud went to haul the Tax Office
people over the Goals for it. When they saw
my receipt they said it would be all right,
and that clerk had only made mistake,
that was all. Now my money having been
stolen, and no entry of its receipt having
been made, Of course my account would
have been banded over TO the delinquent
tax collector, il affairs had been properly
conducted. But, you see, ifthis had been
done tsere would have been another aud
worse row when the delinquent tax collec-
tors deputy pouneed upon me. Such un.
desirable developments were prevented by
collision between the Receivers office and
the delinquent tax office. While Harry
Bumm was delinquent tax collector, from
1872 until 1874, care was taken to avoid
this particular mode of stealing, for when
eyer he discovered mistake or irregulnrty
Of any kind he always raised row. He did
not suit Tom Smith at all, and that's the
reason he was not reappointed, William ].
Donohugh being put in his place"
PHLADELPHA. Nov. 2O.-To all appear
nnces Philadelphia is hotbed ofcorruption.
Charges of fraud are springirg up on every
side. Tax receiver Hunter, who has been
mn sn m IN tho ,,,;,I