The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-02-03
MURRAY'S VOUCHERS.
Some of the Official Evidence Of his
Dishonesty.
A Mass of Documents COncluSively
Showing Fraudulent Over
charges-Mr...Spring-
er's Intentions.

Glazing that the statements before
the committee On expenditure in
the Department of Justice rejecting
upon his official conduct while
Marshal Of Kentucky are wholly
false and malicious, does not dispose
of the case against him as it stands
before Mr.. Springer and his associ
ates. All the papers referring to
the alleged overcharges made by
him which are with the committee
have been sent there by the Depart
ment of Justice, and Mr.. Ralph Bal
lin, an examiner in the department,
detailed to assist MIR. Springer in
examining the papers, has been at
work to-day making briefs of the
documents. Expert assistance is
necessary, for the great bundle of
papers would be only go much use
less manuscript unless person fam
liar with the business of the United
States courts, their practice. and the
rights and duties Of the Msrshals
were on hand to pick out the items
showing fraudulent charges and
false entries. Already, before he
has completed his inspection, Mr..
BALM finds enough ugly facts to
justify him in saying that the mat
ter ought to be looked into further.
He says, however, that it is a one.
sided story, as no. answers appear to
have been sent in to the charges
made against Governor Murray.
This part of the task of Investigating
the Department of Justice has
taken Mr.. Springer's committee
back number of years, and If his
work is. TO be conducted as thor
oughly in every respect as he appears
to be determined to pur1
sue the inquiry into Gov
ernor Mu1ray's conduct as
Marshal of Kentucky, it seems
altogether probable that the inves.
tigation will make persons who have
been government employees in diff
ferent capacities extremely anxious
to know what the outcome is to be.
The charges against Governor
Murray appear by the papers to have
been suggested by an article pub
lished in a Kentucky paper. This
article led to an investigation of the
accounts Of the MarshaPs office from
July, 1875, to January 1876, and the
examiner who made this investigs-
ton, Mr., G. K. Chase, wrote long
which is included among the
papers in Mr.. Springer's possession.
He enumerated great many in
stances of apparently deliberate
falsifylng of reports, by
which the Government was over
charged for services alleged to have
been performed by the Marshal or
his deputies, the Marshal sharing
in the gains secured by this system
of making fees and emoluments. So
far as the examination of the papers
has gone, 1t compeis the conclusion
that Deputy Marshal Wyatt's ex-
penses and his charges for mileage
were excessive. In the emolument
returns for the second half of 1875
credit is claimed for $3.50 for an
stationery bill from Brady
& Gilbert. This is regarded as an
extraordinary charge to be made by
Marshals who do not use much sta
tionery. the only papers they need
being those furnished by the courts
In the shape OF procefse to be
served. Deputies have in many
instances charged for separate
guards when several prisoners were
transported together, and when
guards were not needed in every
case the travelling charges of the
deputies appear to be very heavy.
The deputy marshals sued out
warrants of arrest which in
many cases were dismissed, appar-
emily msjority of such cases being
disposed Of in this manner. The de-
puties seem to have taken prisoners
for whose arrest they had more than
one warrant before several commits
sioners on the same day. The only
object to be discovered In this pro-
ceeding was to make fees for the
commissioners and the Marshal,
who shared all the fees of his depu-
ties. In the case of the United
States against Matt McCord. a post.
office case, in which the costs were
eharged, there is ne name given of
the officer making the arrest. Ac-
tual expenses are charged on differ
ent 1ates and different cases, when
probably the service of papers in the
hands OF the Marshal was made on
the same trip. Attendance in com.
courts Is charged for
persons who do not attend. In Mr..
Chase's charges he tells of Instances
where persons visiting Louisville
for purposes entirely unconn ected
with the courts were put down as
witnesses from considerable dis.
lance, and the travelling expenses
set down for them. Changes of
names appear to have been made to
deceive the accounting officers. De-
putty marshals' receipts to emolu-
ment returns are found in different
Ink from the text of the returns,
md were probably signed in blank.
Marshal Murray's personal fee ac>
count shows charges for attendance
Of deputies on commissioners
courts in cases wherein the warrant
was served by the Marshal in per- |
son. In the case Of the arrest of |
Wash Richard and Harvey Marion,
living in Barren county, itemized |
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