The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-08-22
HE IS SHORT IN ACCOUNTS
LIBRARIAN SPOFFORD GIVES 4
 SUPPLEMENT- TO THE PUBLIC.

ton From the President That His Services
 will he Dispensed With-The Charge of Receiving Illegal Fees Is Baseless-G Great
 Amount of Work Crowded Upon Him.
 Washington, Aug. 21.-Investigation into the accounts of Congressional Lii brarian Spofford seems to verify the statements published that he is $35,OOo short. The accounts have been exam ined by an expert in the office of Au- ditor Holcomb, and his report is believ- ed to have been carried to President Cleveland at Gray Gables by Assistant Secretary Hamlin of the treasury de- partment, who went to his cottage at Marion, Mass, a few days ago to spend his vacation. At the treasury depart ment no information was learned re- garding the matter, the officials declin- ing to discuss it or to reveal the results of the investigation.
 MT. Spofford was shown the state ments regarding his accounts and made the following statement:
 ''In a matter involving so many par ticulars, both of missta atements and of distortion of facts, 1t can only be said that this is not the first time, nor is it likely to be the last, that public ofti- cial has been laid up to odium for of- fences not committed. Stripped of all sensational statements, the whole mat ter rests upon an admitted confusion ! of accounts, growing out of the ex- treme pressure constantly upon the li- brarian in his double office as librarian of congress and register of copyrights to the whole country. This neglect has been owing to the fact that while the daily and onerous business of deciding upon and issuing copyrights and the almost incessant demands upon the li- brarian for information by congress and the public cannot be postponed the matter of access can be and has been delayed.
 "The charge of having received il- legal fees is baseless. The copyright law distinctly provides that for certi- flying a copy of a copyright record there shall be collected fifty cents. The applications for such records are very numerous, because of the constant liti- gation involving copyright property The furnishing of certified statements as to how the record stands is no part of the regular correspondence, but is to meet special demands for evidence to defend and institute suits involving copyright property. This charge for the labor about fifty cents an hour fairly represents what the government pays in clerical salaries and the search fees charged are regularly recorded in the cash book, thus reimbursing the government for its own expenditure on these special searches.
 As to the statement that fraudulent vouchers have been presented the facts are that two bills, one for $25 and one for about $6, both bearing receipts, but neither marked 'duplicate were ren- dered in the accounts from the library, the duplica tton not having been detect ed either by myself or by the clerk having these accounts in charge. The amount overdrawn was at once made good on attention being called to the error.
 Regarding payments of salaries, it is true that the librarian has for long time secured larger services for the library under appropriations specifi- cally for a larger sum than that paid and this under the authority of the law, which provides that whenever the duties of a clerk of higher grade can as well be performed by one of a lower 1t shall be lawful to employ more than one within the limits of the ap- propriation made. Acting under this I have in good faith employed in cases where no expert of adequate experience was found for a vacancy two persons for the salary of one person for a much long time within the limits of the ap- propriation made. This has secured for ithe government much more service for the amounts and it never occurred to me as a thing improper, much less illegal
 MT. Spofford said that instead of there being only twenty-four persons employed in the library as had been stated, there were actually thirty-eight the law requiring thirty.
 ''To those who know anything of the nultifarious duties thrust upon the librarian continued Mr. Spofford, ''ii will not appear strange that l have asked for a separation of the duties oi register of copyrights, which should be under the charge of a distinct bonded officer connected with the library from those of library of congress from those of librarian so as to secure the full benefit of the publications record ed under the copyright law.
 "The net result of the whole matter so far as now seen, is that there vii be due the treasury about $22000 or adjustment of copyright and salary ac counts, although no absolutely fina audit has yet been reached The amount I am, of course, ready to pay immediately"
 MT. Spofford said that he had received no intimation that his services were likely to be dispensed with by the pres ident. He added that ne had received only the most courteous treatment al the hands of the executive officials