Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1915-09-24
Laxty h Framing Bills Gives
Opportunity for Huge
Amount of Irregularities in
Departments Washington
GOVERNMENT MULCTED
BY QUEER METHODS
Marriages Of Officers to Daug6-
tiers Of Senators and Repre-
SeotatiyeS Also Given as
Source of Trouble,


Source of Trouble,
ESPECIAL eoREssroHutses 70 MORNING JOURNAL
Washington, Sept 23.-T1les Of the
alleged graft IN at least one govern
meut department have filtered into
circulation since the transfer of George
r.. Downey from the office of COM
troller Of the treasury to the bench OF
the court of claims. in the form Of
stories of some of his achievements
in bringing much of this graft to an
end
BY a man on the inside the respon-
sihilty fer most of the alleged graft is
laid directly at the doors of congress,
whose laxity ana carelessness. as he
describes it, in framing the army
navy ana other appropriation bills
give tremendous opportunity for an
enormous variety of irregularities. In
fact, he AYERS, much of the graft ac-
tually is lawful and some has been
suppressed only by announcement that
the controllers office proposed to eX-
pose the entire situation to the house
committees and the house of repre-
sentadves, itself
Fuel Allowance" in Tropics.
In one case. for instance it was said
that an army officer assigned to a
post i'm the tropics aud residing in a
toIrd CLINE demanded his fuel all
loWance" of $75 month for cheat
ing his home, and threatened all sorts
of dire consequences for the control
ler's office when it declined to honor
his bin. AS a matter of fact il was
explained, this officer was entitled by
law to such fuel allowance with
out resurrection or qualification as to
whether or not he might need it, Still,
he did not get it, in Downey's ncum-
benCy bat he may have better luck
with some less eompaisant watchdog.
Another evil prevails IN the system
of government leasing of homes for
army officers and others in thar SER
vice, Imposition on the United States
in this line is said to be So general
rs to be virtually recognized custom
and accepted as perQuisite Of SER
vice in the ranks and file as well as
higher up"
Money in Rentals
I'm going over various leases, says a
man who served under Downey he
was struck in many cases by the SINH
larity i'm the name of the lessor and
the officer for whom the premises
We're rented and an investigation was
ordered on this line. The first case
taken up was that Of Captain ---- for
whom a house was leased from Mrs
----.
on following up the trail the invcs-
tigator found that the house was rent
ed by the officers wife, from the
real owner Of the property at $3.50
a month and by her was leased to the
government for her own familys oc-
Cupancy at $50 a month. In other
cases. il was said, the actual owner
put in bill to the government for
twice the amount of the real rental
value and turned the differences over
TO his Tenant, although, it was eX
planned, the owner IT. such instances
seldom demanded any part Of the
overonarge for himself.
This procedure is made possible
through the fixing by congress Of an
actual maximum of rental for Off
GERS quarters and the almost unani- !
nous drawing Of this maximum by Of
ficers regardless of the real rent
which may be paid for their dwell |
ings 1r other words. it is said to be |
customary and is considered ethica
FOR an officer to rent a house for, say, !
$40 and charge the government $50, |
under the law and put the difference
IN his own pocket.
or course not every officer in the |
army or any other branch Of the ser
vice is even suspected Of such a course,
hut investigations say the custom is /
general
Case of Two Nurses.
Another case cited by the same in I
Vestigator was that Of two nurses, |
who, under the law, were entitled to |
the rent of two rooms apiece for their
quarters. Leases were submitted 7
from these nurses, he says, showing +
that each had taken two rooms in a /
Washington house and actually giving I
the dimensions Of the rooms so many .
feet long, so many feet wide and so
many feet high. Yet, when the inves-
tigator called he found, it is SAID, that I
the two nurses rented only one room I
between them and that the otffi'T
apartments were entirely imaginary 4
In still another instance, a sergeant
in the army was found to he drawing I
his fun allowance of coal although /
he lived in a boarding house Again, |
the investigator went to work and. on
calling at the house, learned that the /
man was paying his board in coal /
which was supplied by the govern
ment
Why, some men even in the ranks T
are buying houses on the instalment /
plan and the United States is paying
for them, said this investigator
Law on Freight as Aid.
Another indirect source Of aug
mentaUon o. income, as william
Jennings Bryan would put it, Is said
to be found in the law which provides
for the payment OF freight on an off
GERS goods when switched from one
post to another Besides transporta-
Non at seven cents a mile, he is al
lowed 5000 pounds OF chattels and al