The Savannah morning news., 1903-09-06

scale of the governments operations
of those days (the governments reve-
nue. averaged annually about $50, 100000
during tn years in which Swartwout
was in office, as compared with $559,
600 5000 in the fiscal year 1909 would
be about equal to $22000,00O to-day
This was not the first instance OF
monetary crookedness in an important
federal Office, but it was more noto-
rious than any which preceded 1t, ana,
after it sdiscovery, it attracted more
attention for a year or two than did
any of the national steals which came
since then. Washington and Adams
each removed one defaulter, and Mad
ison turned three out.
The Civil War and reconstruction pc
RODS social dislocation melted a car
nival of fraud vastly larger in gross
amount than that of the Jackson-Van
Buren, era, though not greater in pro-
portion to the sums of money handled
by the federal officers. Historically,
the most important of any of the lat
ter steals were the whisky conspiracy
and the Belknap post-tradership crook
edness. The whisky ring had its head
quarters in St. Louis, but it extended
to Chicago, New Orleans, Milwaukee,
Peoria and Cincinnati.
The st. Louis Merchants Exchanges
figures of whisky shipments from that
city in 1874 showed a shortage of about
81 1000 900 in the amount of taxes paid
into the treasury thereon in that year.
This melted a secret investigation, as
a result of which the government off,
GERS, on May 10, 1875, in st. Louis, Chi
cago and Milwaukee, simultaneously
seized sixteen distilleries and as many
rectifying houses. Others were taken
possession of Immediately afterward in
different parts of the country, and 23S
persons were indicted President Grant
Endorsed the papers i'm one of the cases
with the injunction, Let no guilty man
escape" Gen. o. +. Babcock, the Presi-
dents private secretary, was one Of
the persons indicted, but on the trial
he was acquitted. Immediately after
ward, however, Grant removed him,
and put another secretary in his place.
About the time that the whisky con-
spiracy was being assailed in the courts,
or in February, 1876, ii was discovered
that Gen. William w. Belknap, Secre-
tary of War, had for several years been
receiving money for the appointment
and retention in office of the post
trader at Fort Sill, /. T., the amount
involved being $24, $50. On March 2,
1876, the House of Representatives vot-
ed unanimously to impeach him, but a
few hours earlier he resigned his Of
fee, and President Grant accepted the
resignation. He was tried before the
Senate. pleaded that he was no longer
a civil officer of the United States, and
consequently not liable to impeach-
ment, and, as a two-thirds' vote was
not obtained In the Senate against him,
he was acquitted.
At the outset Of President Arthur's
service he was confronted with frauds
IN the postal service fully as large as
those IN the Postal Department which
are receiving President Roosevelt's at-
iention at this moment. These were in
the star-route service. the routes over
which. from lack OF railroad or steam
boat facilities. the mails have 10 be
carried I'm q wagon or on horseback.
and which, on the books OF the post
office Department, are marked with a
star ~. Second Assistant Postmaster
General Thomas J Brady, several sub
lrdinntes in the pcRtofiice Department.
senator stephen W Dorsey 0f Arkan-
'ns. and others were accused OF con-
piring with mail contractors 10 defraud
be government.
indictments early IA 1882 were found