The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1885-11-25
WASHINGTON.



department. Attic lasF session OF congress
$1,000 was Appropriated Ia enable the sec
| retary o tile interior TO investigate the
claims for compensation for depreda'ians
was % cover all cases, whether faF rabiy
/ reported heretofore or not These claims
| aggregate 10000. and are mostly paya-
bic out of funds held By tile government for
| the various Indian tribes The yestiga-
| ton IS now be ng made by three persons
appointed py the secretary, one of them be
l Ing Dir. Stevens. ex-enlef clerk OF the In
/ dian office, ana the o her TWO lawyers, eas'R
one being paid : day. The findings OF
these three investigations are revised by
/ the commissioner of Indian fairs or his
/ chief clerk. and the results. as last as they
| are reached. will be transmitted 10 congress.
The INVESTIGATION IS better one than any
congressional committee could give, and If
| congress would vot without debate to pay
/ the awards repor ed TO tile secretary and by
him transmitted 10 congress approximate
| Justice would be don AMI congressional
time would be saved. But there are always
/ few congressman VINO VIII never los
! chance for winning a little cheap reputation
/ BY sisting the payment OF claim. 1t il
| be an Old clam. they denounce it as stale
and say it would have been paid long ago
II il had been good II i pc new, they are
/ some more. In the last congress the pres
| ent attorney general introduced bill refer
ring to the department OF justice for eXami-
nation all claims which had no standing in
the court of claims. The department of JUS
/ tee was tn report to CONGRESS annually the
| resul of its investigation aud IN tncon-
| troyerted cases the awards OF the depart
/ ment were TO be appropriated Ior oy con-
| gres' just rs the judgments OF the courts OF
| claims are appropriate for
TREASURY BooKKF EPING.
| For several years Senator Davis, of West
/ Vir mia availed himself Of every opportu-
nifty to denounce the bookkeeping in the
! treasury and to insist that there was def
| cit OF 500 900 20 i the treasury which oc-
| CURED between 1870 and 1880 and winch
| the officials were Trying to cover up. Now
| Gen. R0secranS. a gentleman of Senator
| Davis own political faith, IS the register or
| supervising bookkeeper of the treasury and
| III his annual report he uses the following
| language.
| In clos ng this report l must shy that the
| system of keeping the public accounts is as
/ perfect as human wisdom has been able tn
| devise, as Is evidenced by reference to the
| accompanying table ON page 164 which
/ shows the entire cash receipts of the gov
| eminent from March, 1882. to jane so lSN5.
| amounting tn 81. e49. sos, Gal, and disburse-
| ments OF SILL S,Ol1,615 for the same period
| leaving the cash balance in the hands of the
/ United States treasurer. as pr his report of
| June 3d. L s., of S 21 I. 1, g without the
| difference of cent. In the keeping of these
| vast accounts especially during the period
ON 1871 to 1850. eXlr ORDINARY laborS were
| devolved upon the treasury. Some irregu-
| lar ciaSsificatiOnS of accounts occurred. to
| which the honorable secretary of the treas
| ury called the ttent on of congress in his
| finance report of 1871 page 80 and in bse-
| quent rep rts. Til Sc ire ularities were
| carefully scrutiniZed by a committee of con-
gress, and report made by the senate COM
| mtttee on finance of the furty-fourth con-
| e eSs, first session, on the subject reco II
mendlng appropriate legislation. 1t is earn
| estly hoped that this subject may receive
/ prompt at ention
COURT OF ALABAMA CLAIMS
Atty. Gen. Garland, 10 whom Secretary
| Bayard some weeks ago referred the ques-
! ton of the legality of the expenses OF the
| court of Alabama claims, having sgnlfied
! his concurrence i'll the opinion of the solicit
| tor of the state department Mr.. Francis
| Wharton, the publication of Mr. Wharton'S
| opinion Is authorized by the state depart
| ment. He holds that the court having been
| appointed for specific purpose, can not be
| construed to have as wide power as a gener-
| al court, but that it must be held strictly to
| lis functi0ps as outlined in the act creating
| it; that this is especially true in tais case
| because congress saw fit TO mlnutely limit
| its powers; that the act does not expressly
| allow 1t the appointment of any of its sub
| OrdlnateS or necessary assistants except its
! stenographer, the attorney for the United
| States and even the clerk of the court being
| appointed by other authority; tn l. in the
| face OF thl the appointment of list of as
| sistant attorneys whose aggregate compen-
| sation in comparison with that of the chief
| federal counsel is In the ratio of sixteen to
| twenty-five, of a nulnb,r of professional
experts, and various clerks. all under the
heal of incidental expenses" is manifest
| ly absurd. Moreover, lie holds that tile APP
/ pOintment of counsel i an executive. not
| judicial. func ion, and that the employment
| of salaried experts is something unknown
| in jur sprudence. That these expenses have
| been allowed i'll the past, he says, is not to be
| taN en- as bar against an inquiry into them
now. else wrong mi sht cite its own ilnmu-
nifty as ground toT its perpctudtion. He
maintains that the force of assistant attor-
| neyS, experts, clerks etc, has been Illegally
| employed, and that all those whose salaries
can legitimately be paid out OF the lncldel-
| tai expenses are the servants employed In
| cleaning the courtroom and the criers, up
| slaves, and messengers.
CRIT SERVICE BuREA'-.
The chief of the secret rvice division, In
| his annual report to the Solicitor OF the
| Treasury, shows that during the last fiscal
| ear Al arrests were made by the opprl-
| tives of the service SISTED by local otfi-
| GERS, a large majority of which were Tor
passing dealing in. or manutac uring cou1-
terfeit money. The amount of counterfeit
money captured during the year WAS o305-
$50 mainly i'm flash notes. A large amount
of plates dies, mOlds and counterteltlng
material was seized and destroyed. The
chief of division expresses the opinion that
there are now in the hand OF counterteiters
about Sl0l 900 IN naSe money of the follow
ing character: $50 silver certificates; $40
United StHteS notes: SD note of the THIRD
National Bank of Cincinnati; s. United
States notes. The report slys The counter
feiting of coin is on the increase, which, I'D
the case of the cent Nickel IS due to the
disparity between its face and intrinsic
value. 1t also speaks OF the good results OF
the law for the punishment OF persons VINO
counterfeit foreign money ana securities.
The report also says that while counterfeit
ers of paper money have been unusually
active during the past year, they have been
generally unsuccessful in their eff nrt to float
the results of their work. A recommends
ton is made for legslItion prohibiting the
making of dies or molds for making FAC
SMILES for business PURPOSES OF United
States coins, and another for leglS. llon &c
ex end the powers of the service s. as {
include authority to act in ali cases OF frauds
against the government
THE NAVAL ACADEMY.
Capt. r mSey, superintendent OF the ma
val academy, III his annual report to tn
secretary of the navy reeomm 'nds that per
mts for admission as cadets be issued on
year PRIOR TO the time fixed for examination
! AMI renews the recomme dItioH that nj
. candidates for admission be required To re
d port tor examination on the 18th OF NJ y
1 The number of ca tets to go on the mex
practice cruise renders it necess Try that
" ship to take the place of the ID lie shall b
: fitted out for practce-ship and sent to All
0 napolis. i'll May, 1t will, lys Capt. Il un
V sey, be impossible to do justice to the cadet
q and give them the required instruction Wit
only one practlce-sulp. lie recommend
that the selections for the line, enginee
!. corps, and marine corps be made at the EN-
q of the four years course instead or the ST
e years course.
d THE POSToFFICE DEPARTMENT.
/ From the annual report OF Chief Inspet
n | tor West of the postotiice dep Irtment.
j | appears that SO arrests w re made by pos
= office inspectors during the year. C'nvlt
D ton were obtained in l79 eases in Unite'
States courts; in "a cases in st tie courts
232 persons arrested await trial, and tn
0 her cases We're dismissed or not proSeeu
ed. During the year 40 postoffleeS wei
robbed and &c burned. Thirty-three po'
tal-cars We're destroyed by fire. Complaint
o of loss of mails to the NUMBER of 5)9 wer
Ut investigated. and actual los, was fount I
lie have occurred in 800 cases. The inspector
- recovered 81 ,293 of missing funds, an
$4,000 was restored to the owners. Frol
de inqGent pOstm listers SIS, S52 was reco'
- cred and turned into the treasury.
~ NEW MEXICO.
y. Governor Edmund G. Ross, of New Mex
re co, i'm his annual report dwets on the fa'
= that immigration into the Territory Is r
r stricted by fear as to the validity of Ian
Of titles there. lie recites how Spanish an
- Mexican grants have been IN ide 10 GOV,
Ct tracts vastly larger than was originally Il
8 tended. and that large quantities OF Ian
" have been fraudulently entered thfoug
forgery and PERU y he recommends tn
Congress appoint eoinmIsS on to quI
titles. The Indian troubles of the Terrltol
are treated at length
OF Senator Miller. of alifornia, is too i'll
III be present at the Opening0t Congress.
nj A. /. e lgerton has rendered his resign
, !. ton as chief justice of tue supreme court
i Dakota
on Commissioner Atkins has just return'
~ from a visit to nearly all ths Indian trib
y in the southwest. which he found in g9t
-, circumstances.