Sunday morning globe., 1901-09-29

for The Sunday Globe,
The doomed wretch, palsied with
fright and covering in the shadow Of
the electric chair at Auburn, is a typi-
cal embodiment Of the terror that has
seized certain guilty souls, tenanting
luxurious quarters within the granite
walls of the building assigned to the
business of the Army and Navy, since
the accession to the Presidency Of
Theodore Roosevelt They need no
handwriting on the wall to warn them
that the day Of reckoning is nigh The
mere fact that the Man at The White
House is known to possess the courage
to strike at official corruption and to
stamp it out is enough, and the ague
smitten crowd are we'll aware that a
short shrift awaits them all when the
official investigation is ordered in con-
nectiOn with the movement of troops
and supplies from San Francisco to the
Philippines.
To account for the panic prevailing
in the War Department, IL must be
explained that when the time came for
adjusting the United States Govern
ment's accounts with the creditors at
that period, il was found impossible
to obtain an approximately correct
statement Of the indebtedness by rea-
son Of the slip-shod methods in vogue
In handling the innumerable accounts.
The Departments books were so hope.
lessly tangled that outside expert ac-
cOuntants had to be called in to give
some semblance Of form to the chaotic
mass Of acquisitions, vouchers, and
other yoluminous records pertaining
to the transfer of an army corps to
the antipodes, claims amounting to up
wards Of S15000,000 we're piled up in
carloads, while hundreds of duns we're
clamoring at the portals of the pay
master for their dues. The clerical
force became demoralized over the sit
uation, and their chiefs proved inca
pable of meeting the emergency.
The experts being summoned, a sort
of stupor fell upon the rank and file
of employees, many Of whom had no in
telligent idea Of their duties. The ex-
perts struggled heroically for weeks
and months, and finally got upon a
possible working bases. But their con-
dition was not attained without dis
coveries that astounded and provoked
them. Evidence Of gigantic fraud, or
else of unprecedented carelessness,
confronted the examiners at every
step.
Bills varying from ten to a hundred
thousand dollars had been passed for
payment upon fiimsy vouchers, giving
no itemized statements. For example:
U. S. Army, Dr., to Brown, Smith g.
Co., for loading three steamers, $75,.
900. An intialed o. X. would be the
only evidence to show that anybody
on earth had knowledge Of the trans.
action.
But Uncle Sam was expected to
stand and deliver, no matter how vague
or how absurd was the charge aimed
at his pocketbook by the land pirates
ground the Golden Gate OF course,
some accounts we're straight, but many
were palpably crooked. What happen
ed after the experts we're relieved or
had resigned, which some OF them did, !
is not widely known. But there is no
report current that anybody who |
thought he had a claim got left, so the |
inference is that the enormous total /
was paid over without a kick from the |
Department and that the customary /
rake-off came off. But there are others
In important stations beyond the linn |
its Of the Government Department
conservators Of vast railway and |
steamship interests-who may be sub |
jected to an X-ray examination that .
may result in the discovery in their |
inside pockets of some millions, more |
or less, Of Uncle Sans money never |
honestly earned. These autocrats OF |
finance, who work upon "the cOmmu- |
nifty Of ltheir) interests plan are |
prominent potentates of our transpor- |
tati0n system. Rocketpicking will not /
be the charge brought against these |
merry mOnarchs of the monetary king /
dom. But they may be called upon to |
make restitution for enormous sums .
overcharged and collected through the |
connivance or corruption OF Govern.
ment employees, whose official duty was
to prevent fraud in the settlement OF .
all such accounts.
The inquisition necessitated by this
Chinese mode Of doing business in
Washington will not be conducted in
the open. There will be no bands and
no irecrackers in the vicinity, but
when all is ready. something ponderous
will drop strenuOusly with a sickening
thud, and quite a full regiment Of peo-
pie who consider themselves prominent
socially and officially wi.l discover that
the string to their pulp has been cut
and that they themselves are left dang
ling In space, with nothing in sight to
stand on.
A well known and prominent expert
bookkeeper and accountant, who had
been engaged In an effort to unravel
the tangle OF claims. vouchers and
lump claims, expressed himself so un-
guardedly as TO the business methods
OF the War Department and it's system
OF auditing and filing claims that he
was hauled up short and asked for an