The sun., 1889-12-15
LIVE WASHINGTON TOPICS.
DySCoTRRIEs MADE BY THE sILC0TT
IyYEsTIGATING COMMITTEE


Yirst, that Leedoua's BondsEeA Are Net
Rnsponsibie fer the DefalcatIsn, nnd
tseeend. that EIeatt Was DisbursinE
Oneer or the Governnent-A Deficiency
Bm to Cover the Shortage 10 be Reported.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 14-The special COM
mitteo OF the House engaged In the invsstiRa-
ton OF the Silcott forgery have made two dis
coveries both OF which are rather pleasing to
Sergeant at Arms Leedom and tho unfortunate
members who have overdrawn their accounts.
The first discovery is that Mr.. Leedom's sure
ties are not responsible ON his bond for Sill
cott's defalcation. The bond IL distinctly lin
tied to liabilities occurring with the Fittleth
Congress. and the defalcatlon occurs in respect
10 salaries OF members elected to the Fifty
first Congress. Secondly they have about
made up their minds that Silcott was de
facto II not dc jurs disbursing officer Of
the Government, and under the resolution
passed on Thursday last they will report
deficiency bill to cover the shortage These
timely discoveries are exceedingly refreshing
and interesting in view OF the fact that the de-
velopments in the case, while they do not fix
dishonesty upon anybody but Silcott. show an
astounding looseness in the financial transac-
items throughout that Office There seoms to
have been very little regard for fine points OF
proprlety As the testimony appears to mem-
bers OF the committee, Mr.. Leedom simply
neglected tho financial Affairs OF his Office
leaving everything to Silcott. Some members
were in the habit OF discounting their notes on
their salaries before they were due. and some
members had overdrswn their accounts.
As far as Mr.. Leedom himself is concerned
the evidence before the committee indicated
that he neglected to count his cash and attend
to the financial Affairs Of the office. Members
ID III, f%r to TO- sho
alleged fact that he discounted members notes
out OF the public money, and the thing that
they condemn him for is that as they say, he
was aware OF the bad habits OF Silcott. and yet
trusted him in the face OF this knowledge. Mr..
tending the races and betting: therefore Lee
dom knew Of this habit Of aii his cashier and Il Is
iass ssgdi ie % IN otSer nHS r"speess This was Known
also. to number OF members. and the habit OF
dlscounting notes seems to have grown out OF
the rapid pace at which certain members OF
t6ousSi. in Company with Mr.; silcott. While
ago are alleged to have been iorGeries
@ %hSh fSs gen
appears TO have been going on for years.
While mombers have a perfect right to give
propriety Of their conducting their business
It might be a fair assumption that the money
advanced came from the public fund. The
committee are under the impression, as indi-
Gated in this report. and by some OF It's mem-
bers in discussing this matter that these sd.
yances were made from the public fund, and
It was because he knew nothing about tho
state OF his Own or Of the public finances in the
1t appeared from the books OF the Sergeant
alarms that Mr.. Adams. whoi the Chairman
Of the. Investigating Committee. has over
ex x-Speaker Carlisle has overdrawn his account
TO the amount OF $4l6: that MIR. Reed has over
StSSr @s Cheaha
Houk, s348: Lee, q. and Spinola, s4lG;; IN the
vouchers have been fled. In the case Of
Speaker Reed T. seems s to be only Ia technical
tSi the transaction Ta @ as follows: - ~ '
hae SFaWh aad sb.Vf It
cate that the money might be got for me from
the Treasury in the form Of a draft on, New
sec see how they Gould have - got tho draft Without out
depositinR the certificate In the regular way:
do not see how this can be put in the light OF
an over draft 1t is certainly not due to any
act OF mine."
T6ere seems to be no real effort being made
prominent official Of the Treasury Department
called attention to this fact to-day. and said:
taken at the other end OF the avenue toward
the offering Of a reward for the capture OF Sill
cott. il seems to me that IL the Investigation
Silcotts apprehension would be worth $1,000
or $4,000 to his captors. they would have had
gardng his movements. 1t has been urged that
sllcott Is not fugitive from Justice. and that
therefore 1t Is impossible to ,.apprehend him.
OF common sense logic, There is a. sum OF
money missing. 40 is Silcott: there is not u
thing about 1t. We need that man 10 carry on
our investigations. whether he is guilty or
would warrant some tan ngibe results in mi iea:
than week. for every policeman and private
detective throughout the country would be on
the alert"
Treasurer Huston has decided to add to the
precautions now in use in his office to prevent
adopted cancelling number stamp, which
cuts from the paper on which the check is
written in q series Of small round holes. tho
figures representinG the amount to be drawn.
preceded by the dollar mark
Bids will be opened on Monday mt the Navy
Department for furnishing steOl plates for use
in the construction of the armored battle ship
Texas at the Norfolk Navy Yard. The material
required comprises GGl tons iof steel plates.
AZ pounds to the square foot, 246 tons OF which
are for the lower layer lay OF protective desk plat
ers OF protective plating. the upper and lower
layers OF the top o; redoubt and the protective
sido plating. Deliveries arc to commence with
in 80 days from date OF contract and to b0 COM
pelled within so days Of the same date. In tho
case OF delay. deductions OF $50 u day shall
be made for every day beyond the specified
time. All plates are to be OF domostio' manu-
facture. and will be accepted only after pass
ing the tests prescribed by the department.
The House Committee on Elections to-day
received batch OF testimony. under seal. in
the case OF the contest of Jehu Baker against
William s. Foreman sitting member from the
Belleville, H.. district The clerk OF the COM
mittee said the case was now one TO him. and
contest is based Baker is u Republican, who
defeated William r. Morrison for reelection in
] 1856. and was himself defeated by Foreman
last year by 26 votes
The Democratic Senatorial Caucus Commit
tee. to arrange the minority representation on
tho new committees held IL meeting at the
Capitol to-day. Only four.of the seven mem-
bers. were present, Messrs. Cockrell. Harris.
Blackburn, and RANSOM, OF the committee on
the Worlds Fair in 1892 it is SAID Senators
Eustis; n; Golq9itt. and Voorhees, will be mem
DeTs The Democratic caucus will meet on
Monday at 10 A. NJ, to act upon the commit
tees report and IL is expected that the full
committees will be presented to the Senate
that day and elected.
Connecticut Towns Policy Mad