The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-02-25
Loss OF MANY MILLIONS
The DefaIeati0ns Of Government
Agents for a Century.
The Total Amounts to SI6.OOO-OOO.
Some of Which Has Been Collected.
Spanish-AmerIcnn War Officers
Pay WithheId-Period of Honesty

In one hundred and ten years the gross
receipts of the United States Government
have amounted to So. sos. SIS, 54S-13. In
that time the Government has lost
through dishonest agents and officials ap-
proximately $4,000, goo. Gradually por-
tions Of these defalcatious are being col
IecJed by Uncle Sans agents Occasion
ally some bondsman of defaulter. who
failed TO make good his pledge. has a bal
ance due him from the Government from
some contract secured or services render
ed, which is withheld and applied to his
former Indebtedness. In this way a con
siderable portion OF the SIC, 600 900 due he
United States is gradually being collected
Reimbursements were numerous in the
Spanish-American war. A number of men
who were defauIters or who had been on
the bonds Of dishonest agents of the Gov
ernmclIt, secured positions in the volun-
teer army. IN some cases their unsa tished
obligations had been running on for Pc
Rod Of forty years They supposed thai
the account had been lost sight of by In
Gle Sans agents. Imagine their surprise
when the paymaster visited their regi-
ments and rendered them instead OF their
salary. certificate of receipt for the
amount of money due them, which had
been applied On their old Indebtedness to
the Government In that way a good many
thousands Of dollars were collected in 1898
and 1893
When officers discovered that they were
not 10 receive the cash for their services,
but merely certificate OF allowance On
their old indebtedness. they usually ten
Gered their designations In one case,
however. a major CT volunteers continued
TO serve until his regiment was mustered
cut his entire salary being applied 10 the
extinction Of his old debt TO the Govern
ment. while he merely drew his subsist-
eLce allowance.
At the solicitors Office in the Treasury
Department is kept a minute record Of all
Government creditors whose terms Of serV-
ice has expired This record dates back 20
1888 1t includes not only list Of de-
faGlterS and embezzlers, but list OF their
bondsmen as well. In some cases the
amounts are small. while in others they
extend into thousands OF dollars In near
y every case the defaulter had given a
bond which proved worthless or was in
sufficient 10 cover the amount OF his short
age. In some cases not a dollar was re-
allied on the bond which had been &C
ceDted BY Uncle Sans agents
It is an interesting fact 20 note that for
twenty years after the organization of the
Government there was not a single detail
cation From 1920 10 1910 shortages in the
accounts Of the Government officials be-
came numerous and from 1870 &c 1859
there was very marked increase. The
ten years from 1860 TO 1870 exceed any
similar period as the opportunities for
embezziemenls were greater. The Post
office Department has been since the be
ginning Of t1e Government the most opu-
lent hzId for the defauIter
Shortages in the accounts Of pCstmas-
ters from 1920 to 1886. when the system Of
insBectiOn became extremely rigid. were
OF frequent occurrence. In most cases.
however. the full amount of the defalca-
lion was collected from the bondsmen. In
about 10 per cent of these defaIcations.
however. the bonds we're proved to be
practically worthless. and Uncle Sam be
came the loser Shortages for small
amounts we're usually paid promptly by
the bondsmen- but when it came 10 set
ting for a large amount it has been more
difficult
So much trouble has been experienced
in compelling b8ndsemen 10 make good
the amount of their pledges that the Gov
eminent has adopted the policy in recent
years Of encouraging bonds by companies
organized fer that purpose There are
two advantages in this: First, a Federal
official realizes when he has a company on
his bond that if there is a shortage in his
accounts there viii be no mercy shown
him, and that he must suffer the extreme
peanIty of the law This has tendency
70 make him careful Second, the Gov
ernmenL has no difficulty il exacting the
bond from the company, for should there
be any unnecessary delay in payment the
company realizes that it would secure 10
more Government business, and for this
reason l. is punctiIious in settling.
Only few months ago a bonding COM
pany was called upon TO pay $1C0.o90 for
q dedication which occurred in Califor-
MIA. Within twcnty-fCur hours at. CT a
full investigation had been completed. a
certified check for the amount was sent
70 the Secretary OF the Treasury Al
though the company lost d considerable
sum, the expense proved invaluable as
an advertisement. IN addition to The ad-
szutages offered the Government BIZ hay
ing companies as surety for officials IL
has peeB found that the defalcalions Of
employees giving such security are rare
In the last four years only four defaIla-
tons where companies have been on the
bonds Of officials have been reported As
compared with the defaIcati0us Of these
who gave private bonds, this is d remark
able record.
The Internal Revenue Service from the
beginning Of the Government to ths pres
eth time has been remarkably free from
dishonest officials There Is not case on
record IN the Treasury Department OF an
internal revenue collector being a de-
faulter. Treasury officials are at a loss
TO assign a reason for this. as the sys-
TEN Of inspection is no more rigid end
Is the amount Of money handled by in
ternal revenue collectors is greater than
than handled by any other officials of the
Government.