Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-11
Have Contributed $3.50, 900 to Uncle
Sans Conscience Fund.
BIG SUMS In CHEAP ENVELOPES.
Letters From officers, Soldiers, Smugglers
and Poker Players.
THE PUBLIC DEBT A Two-CENT AFFAIR

accompanying the Enclosures give no sign
The amounts sent range all the way from
cents to hundreds OF dollars and the ma
Jority OF the notes state that the money right
fully belongs to the United States and ha
been wrongfully taken from it. Some o
the writers give anonymous signatures
Many sign themselves Conscience.
Scores afix the word Restitution" to the
disguised hand which they write and few
give no signature whatever. Some are like
the following which was written on a hal
page of foolscap inclosing S100 bill anG
bearing in the middle of sheet of papel
these words:
From one who wishes to observe hereafter
the commandment: Thou shalt not steal"
This was all. There was not even a dash
in the way of signature. Another letter in.
closing S12 30 read as follows:
A troubled conscience sends sl2 so which he
| stole from the Government. He is sorry fol
his fault and will send the rest till all is paid
Another written by an illiterate man and
dated Chicago contained S14 and the sender
writes:
Mr.. TREAsURER-Please except this from
one making his pease with God and appropriate
| 1t TO the use of the Government. 1t belongs to
| the United States. RESTITUTION.
HISTORY OF THE CONSCIENCE FUND.
The Government began its conscience
| fund in 1911, and during that year $3.50 was
| covered into the Treasury under it. From
that time on till the close Of the war the
amounts received were small except in 1880,
| when they amounted to $1,000. During the
war they jumped rapidly upward, and at
the time of the settlement Of the accounts at
the close of the war there was a large in
crease through conscience-stricken paymas-
ters and suffers, so that in 1868 S29, 600 were
sent in, and in 1867 $4,000 In 1873 s2S, 900
were received, and the amounts come in
now at the rate of thousands of dollars a
year. The total in 1883 amounted to S241,-
900, and now in 1890 it reaches considerably
over $3.50, 900. I spent some hours to-day
looking over the great packages of letters
which have been received containing con-
science money. find many of them full of
pathos and every one, if it could speak,
could tell its story of crime. The biggest
amount ever received from one man was
So, 900. 1t came in the cheapest of MANILA
envelopes, wrapped up in one-fourth of a
sheet of dirty note paper, upon which was
written the following:
Hon. HUGH McCULLoCH-The inclosed is
money that rightfully belongs to the United
States, though the world would say came hon.
u
of more value than money can represent or ex-
press.
The money sent was in Treasury notes Of
81, 900 and under. ~ - -
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES OFFICERS.
Some of the letters received from the
army officers are interesting, and they show
that the soldiers conscience is we'll devel.
oped. Here is one received at the close Of
the war:
TROY. N. Y. 1867.
1nclosed find Sl12 which l was paid for
horse lost in the service of the United States,
but which was lost partly through my fault. /
have never felt fully satisfied when thinking of
this affair. and shall ever hereafter feel better
in mind to have refunded this amount to the
Government. find the way of religion narrow
RESTITUTION.
Another officer writes at about the same
time stating that he was an officer in the
United States Army and was entitled to two
servants but that he used only one while
drawing the salary for two. He says this
custom was known to the paymasters, and
it was a regular thing with thousands of
officers. He incloses $3.50 in his letter, and
states that he entered the army poor and
left it poor and sick, "too poor in fact to get
along without clear conscience, which he
money" His letter is not signed.
The following came from Hartford Conn. !:
Hon. Hugh McCulloch, Secretary Of the Treasury,
Washington, ID, c.:
DEAR SIR-Inclosed please find a check for
fifty dollars ($50). which is honestly due the
Government by me. About three years ago
the paymaster gave me over my Just pay eighty
dollars (SSO). Since that time have never had
an opportunity to make any restitution. was
soldier at the ume. assure you, dear sir, it
has troubled me more than little. still owe
thirty dollars (S3O). which intend paying this
summer. After it is paid l shall feel that
have done nothing but what / ought to have
done. Not soul save God and myself knows
that kept the money or that it was ever paid
me. am Catholic, and as such 1t is my duty
to pay back what is justly due. ! do not wish
to sign my name to this. and, sir, 1 beg of you
that you will do me the favor of not speaking
of it to any person whereby it might get into
the public press.
Hoping, dear sir. that you viii look favor
ably on this, remain, yours respectfully,
SOLDIER.
LETTERS FROM SMUGGLERS.
There are hundreds of such letters, and
those received from smugglers are quite
as numerous. Ladies who have smug-
g]ed jewelry, gloves and Paris dresses past
the customs officers at New York on theirre-
turn from Europe become conscience stricken
and inclose money to the Treasurer of the
United States. Here is one containing
s. 30, which represents the duty on the kid
gloves of a New York lady, who says she is
sorry to trouble the Secretary of the Treas
ury about the matter but she does not know
where else to send it. Here are $500 from
Chicago, which represents extra tariff
duties unlawfully evaded, and here is
Baltimore hardware man who SAYS
he has cheated Uncle Sam out of S270
in duties and incloses the amount in gold.
The letter, which is unsigned, states that
the writer sis anxious to deal fairly with all
men, and wishes to be at peace with God
and his country"
Not a few Of these conscience-stricken
people pay back the money they have taken
from the Government in piecemeal. One
poor man sends S14. and says he will send
more by-and-bv. Another writes and sends
the letter to the President of the United
States. He says:
Mr.. PRESIDENT-Inclosed you will find SlO
more but have repented and beg your pardon.
The amount fnclosed is only very small part
OF what would give if it lay in my power.
IN TWO INsTALLMENTs.
A Boston man, whose letter is signed with
a DASH wrote to Secretary McCulloch in
closing 81, 500 in three $500 notes. As he
originally wrote the letter in ink he SAYS he
incloses s., 500 and the ''25'' in the ink is
stricken out and the word ''fifteen" in
pencil written above it. This letter was re-
ceived in May, 1866. A few weeks later
letter in the same handwriting came to the
Treasury Department inclosing another
81, 900, and stating that the amount was the
balance of the writer's indebtedness to the
Internal Revenue Department. This letter |
was also signed with dash, and its envelope
bore the Boston postmark. i
Some OF the letters are evidently brought |
out by religious revivals, and one or two |
u roe the Affinarc nf thu nraaer1r1- naranrt L