The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1886-01-14
OUR WASHINGTON LETTRR.
WASHINGTON, D. c. Jan. II, 1886.

WASHINGTON, D. G. Jan. IL, 1886.
Another of the Navy Department
fraudulent voucher cases has ended in
the aquittal of the defendant. These
suits are what might be called technical
fraud suits, and why innocent men,
standing high in business and social
circles, should be put to the expense OF
defending them is :. mystery. Just
before Chandler retired from The Navy
Department as its Secretary he instituted
an investigation into the manner OF
conducting business by some of his
Bureau Chiefs, and rumors of immense
frauds we're telegraphed from the Atlantic
to the Pacific. All the defendants 50 iar
tried have been acquitted, and as matter
of National interest it may be briefly
stated how color was given 10 the charges,
Congress in making appropriations Tor
the different Department speci6 es par
ticular fund, oat OF which specified arti'
cles or expenses are to be paid for
instance, there is fund for stationery
another for furniture, &c, &c. Any
unused ba lance from any of these funds
is to be turned into the Treasury at the
close of the year, aud the accounting
officers are not permitted to pay for .pur-
chases in one specified class out of anoth'
er fund. 1t frequently happens that one
fund is exhausted before; ;tanother, and
then when articles of that class are
wanted i, is usual to purchase them and
charge them up in duplicate vouchers
prepared by the Government officers
under the name of articles coming under
the head of the expended fund. These
vouchers are receiptcd by tue seller, and
the Government gets what it needs, and
the accounting officers on the face OF the
papers pay only Tor what was authorized
by law. It will thus be seen that the
Government in such cases receives an
equivalent for every cent paid out; but
the charge is made under a different name
from what was actually received, so as to
comply nominally with the law. This
practice has been very common one,
and the evidence in these fraud trials has
proved it to be 80. If any person violat.
ed the law it was the Government officers,
who did so to supply the needs of the
Government, and if any person should
be punished it is these. officers and not
the merchants who actually furnished an
equivalent for every cent received. This
is s little bit of inside Government his
tory that will explain to people away
from here why it is that so many men
tried on these fraudulent charges are
acquitted. Merchants here understand
it, but most people away from here do
not.
The other day the house of DR.. Emil
Bessels, who was with DR.. Hall in his
Arctic expedition, and who is supposed
to know more about the cause of DR..
Halls death thsn he cares to tel, was
burned to the ground, and the Doctor
was compelled to jump from the second
story to save his life. The library which
was completely destroyed contained a
large collection of rare and costly
scientific books, valuable manuscripts
and Arctic charts.
Senator TIoar, of Massachusetts, has
introduced bill fixing the lime for the
meeting of Congress in 1886 and every
second year thereafter, on the first Mon
day in October instead of December as
now, and in 1887 and every second year
ON the second Monday in
November. It is thought that by thus
adding from two to three months to the
Session of Congress, the business of the
country can be properly attended to.
The fact that 5000 bills have already
been introduced, makes apparent the
necessity for Congress to do something
more than it has done in the past TO en-
able it to act on the business coming be.
fore it.
Within the past week a strange visitor
from the sky shot its way through the
roof of a house and nearly frightened to
death yonug lady occupant, who
thought that some evil disposed person
was making pistol target of her. The
meteorlite, for such Prof. Yeates, of the
Smithsonian. pronounced it to be, made
q hole about two inches in diameter in
the ceiling, and exploded after entering
the room. No damage was done other
than to knock down some of the plaster,
and unstrung the nerves of the young
lady for some days.
1t is believed that Congress will this
session make provision for erecting
grand National Library building, which
subject has been discussed to some
extent in every Congress for the past
five years. A bill has just been intro.
duced by Mr.. Long, to purchase for
s55O,000, the square just east of the Cap.
itol grounds. This square has on it
some handsome residences erected
within the past two years for which
Congress will of course have to pay
stiff price, aud then have them torn
down to make room for the Library
building. This increased cost is due to
the folly Of Congress in not buying the
square when it was talked of, and could
have been bought for much less money,
three years ago. 1t is but another illus.
tration of the force of the proverb "pen-
ny wise and pound foolish" H.
An Engines Desperate Leap.
Passenger train No. 45, north bound,
over the Atlantic coast line, due here at
10 o'clock a. M, made a very narrow