McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1884-11-06
CHARGES OF FRAUD.
The Comptroller Of the Currency Shotcn Up
to the President.

to the President.
The following open letter to President
Arthur has been made public:
Hon. Chester Arthur, President of the United
States:
SIR: Having recently resigned clerkship
in the treasury department. desire to give you
an explicit reason for my action and to furnish
you with the details concerning the transaction
OF public business that / feel assured are I'M
known to you. was employed in the first
comptroller's office. In the absence of the
first comptroller First Deputy Comptroller
Aug invariably called me to his assistance. I
know the manner in which accounts arc pre-
sented and passed upon in several divisions of
the first comptrollcr's Office, but am especially
familiar with the books and accounts of the
judiciary division, having occupied a desk in
that division long enough to acauaint myself
thoroughly with the details. resigned my
place in the service of the United States for the
simple reason that / declined to be an Access
sorry to the systematic frauds that are being
perpetrated through the first comptroller's Of
flee OF the treasury department. L challenge a
production of the records in the first comp
troller's office to dispute a single statement
contained herein. l only give a few instances
of wrongful extraction of the public funds and
assert that | am ready to multiply the exam
pies. / say the United Stacs attorneys present
false bills to the department and that they are
allowed often.
THEIR FALsITY HAS BEEN SHOWN
to the first comptroller, and as an example l
cite the case of William A. Stone, United States
attorney for the western district of Pennsyl-
vania, and | say that his charges in his ac-
count of 1888 were manifestly illegal, and I
assert that myself called the attention of the
comptroller to them, and that in the presence
of witnesses he said the claim was illegal and
should not be allowed. l say that the first
comptroller sent for R. M. Reynolds, first
auditor, in whose Office the account had been
audited, and that the first comptroller severely
censured the act of the auditors office and
again asserted the bill and all of its character
would be disallowed in the comptroller's Of
flee. l assert that, notwithstanding this
promise, the bill of William A. Stone was al
lowed. The bill of Nathan S. Dixon, attorney
for Rhode Island, was also brought to his at
tention by myself, and promise given me
that it should not be allowed, but it was al
lowed. These are only a few of the many
of this class that might be cited. John A.
Shields, commissioner of the United States
court, New York city, filed bill for 81 400 for
swearing United States deputy marshals and
supervisors of election at the election of 1880.
If any sum was due it WAS payable by bene-
a. L
the bill to the first comptroller, and he
ADMITTED ITS ILLEGALITY,
and promised its disallowance, but it was af-
forwards allowed. I assert that Joel B.
Echardt, marshal of the eastern district of
New York, presented vouchers showing that
he had paid to the supervisors and deputy
marshals at the election of 1880 more than
$50, 600, and say that, whereas the law con-
templates that these supervisors of elections
chn1l lrr,nc nxNff1
charged and was paid for full maximum of
five days, and l assert that l myself carried
these vouchers to the first comptroller and
called his attention to them and offered to
bring half million dollars of the same sort,
and assert that over my protest the claim was
allowed and paid. This is one Instance of its
kind. | assert that the senate executive docu-
ment of the FOrty-eighth session, No. $50,
which is supplemental and shows the addi-
tiOnal expenditure in the star route cases only
begins to show the enormous sums that were
actually paid out in the so-called star route
trial-and assert that the sum of about SILL
600 shown to have been wrongfully expended
made by the first comptroller. He says: II
now assert that this was settled in this office
without being called to my attention or that
of the chief of the division. That
STATEMENT IS NOT TRUE.
l took the account to the first comptroller and
pointed out its illegality and this after the al
lowance of this $1,000 the sheriff of the judi
ciary district, through whose hands the bill
passed, denied having passed it within six DAYS
of its allowance, and assert that whereas the
payment of the witnesses in the star route tri-
ais should appear as having been paid in the
District of Columbia, the bills of these wit
nesses for attendance were sent by such wit
nesses from the various states and territories
and were paid. 1 assert that clerks in the
T lit n1,o hat
were allowed, and 1 say that c. II. Hill, of
Boston, uniformally charged per diems for
every day in the year except Sundays, the
Fourth of July and Christmas, when every
body knows that court is not always in session.
/ assert that H. C. Geisbcrg, clerk at Kansas
City, Mo-, filed an emolulent return for 1883,
that bore unmistakable evidence of fraud, and
assert that am ordered by the chief of the
judiciary division to pass the account just as
it was presented, and that when l refuse to
do so
WAS REPRIMANDED
BY the first comptroller for not doing so. l
assert that on my own motion l went to the
department of justice and that the matter was
by an agent being sent to Kansas
City and portion of the illegal items diSal-
lowed.
I deem it my duty to say that the first comp
trollor is, in my opinion, personally honest,
but that he lacks courage to stand up for his
and that when these various out
side officials act in concert as they do they
compel him to accede to their demands. Heis
also a monomaniac on the subject of his So
called decisions and devotes his time and that
of his immediate subordinates so exclusively
to the production of these decisions that he
finds little or no time to attend to the details
of his Office. stand ready to prove by vouch-
ers on file in the registers office of the treasu-
ry department that millions of dollars have
thus been wrongfully taken from the United
States treasury.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,