University of South Carolina Libraries
./' ' " ''" ^?^''''' " ^ ^ ^ ^ n ? / BY E. B. MURRAY & CO. ANDERSON, S. C, THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 24, 1879._;_VOL. XV-NO. 2. j THE SUPPRESSED 6L0YEB BEPOET. -Millions on Millions of the Public Funds Stolen and Squandered?Fraud Absolute? ly Unchecked and the National Finance-) a* the Mercy of Thieves and Bobbers. {Continued from Last Week.) It Is remarkable, and somewhat alarm? ing, that this corrupt and law-defying Bureau has by its showing, printed notes and bonds for which the Government is liable to the extent, np to June SO, 1878, of $6,550,000,000, and that while it has been conducted with extreme secrecy, it has done $5,775,000,000 within nine years past, and also- $18,000,000,000 of revenue stamps. In 1878, when the panic was at its beight, George F. -Cutter, then Navy Pay Director at New York and now Pay? master-General of the Navy, remitted to Pay Director Bradford at London $500, 000 to meet drafts drawn by Paymasters all over the world on Jay Cooke, Me CulIoch&Co. Cutter bought bills of exchange from Francis O. Trench, ex? change teller of the Firat National Bank of New York and New York agent of Jay Cooke, McCulloch & Co., the very house against whose threatened failure * the many drafts at London were to be frotected by remitting to Bradford. Oct. he drew from theJNew York Sub-Treas? ury $300,000, and Oct. 6 $181,823, and paid them to French for bills of exchange. This he did some days before the mail left for London, and, as cash was then worth 5 per cent, a day in the market. French and his associates were enabled to use this half million to make $100,000 or upward. Cutter swore that he did ' this by order of Secretary Eobeson. Thousands of dollars, the total not being ascertainable without a much lon? ger investigation, were found to have been obtained from the Treasury as in-1 terest on registered bonds by forging powers of attorney for their collection, the forgers in many cases having confed? erates in the Treasury. Besiide this, Treas? ury employes, who had means of know? ing to whom this interest was due, had confederates outside who went to the owners and told them?the 'existence of the claim being forgotten or in some way overlooked or unknown?that they knew where there was money due them, and could procure it, but must have half for (heir services. This extortion was made practicable by the Treasury taking no steps to notify owners of the failure to collect, and keeping the whole matter a profound secret Geo. Sharp Jenkins, the man who seems to have been most largely engaged in these extortions was warned of his approaching arrest by some one in the secret, and fled the coun? try ; but not till a package containing $500 thus obtained and addressed by him to the wife of the clerk in the First Auditor's Office who had furnished the information, had fallen into the bands of Maj. William B. Moore, Supervising Special* Agent of the Treasury ,, who detected the operations. Moore asked the detail of an operative from the Secret Service to help this de? tection ; one Maxwell was detailed, who had been appointed in reward for party services in J876, who afterward received an appointment in the Army for the same cause, who has since been sent to the pen? itentiary for misconduct in the Army, and who seems to have played the spy and done all he could to shield the par? ties concerned. This inquiry, however, which seemed to be desired by all the Treasury au? thorities, while it related to extortion, had a very different fate when it reached the forgeries. At the same time that the package of $500 fell into Supervising Agent Moore's hands, a package was also found addressed to the wife of the Inter? est Teller of the Treasurer's office con t.-iining a valuable Bilk dress pattern. This was kept by the teller, C. L. Jones, till he learned that one of Moore's assis? tants had inquired about it, when he re? turned it to the sender, H. M. Williams, formerly Deputy Collector of Customs at New York, who had been indicted for complicity in the "Lawrence" frauds on the revenue, and who was soon after de? tected in fraudulently collecting un? claimed interest from the Government by forging powers of attorney. In three cases it was ascertained that A. U. Wy man, Treasurer of the United States, had learned of these frauds, and instead of exposing Williams and having him pun? ished, had compelled him to refund the money, and then surrendered to him the forged papers that would have convicted him. One of these three forg? ed powers of attorney was drawn in favor of interest Teller Jones, who in paying the many sums collected by Williams, drew the check, in violation of regula? tions, in favor of Williams, instead of in favor of the claimant, and gave Williams other privileges. Treasurer Wyman knew of Williams' fraud before Moore' found the package addressed to Mrs. Jones; but while he urged the investiga? tion of the extortion by outsiders, he let Moore know nothing of these forgeries, though Moore informed him of the find? ing of the Jones package. Williams was introduced to Jones and vouched for? while under indictment?by the Appoint? ment Clerk of the Treasury, J. W. Por? ter, and by D. Baker, Chief of the Loan Division of the Secretary's Office. Du? ring the Glover investigation Baker re? signed. Some of these fraudulent pay? ments were made to Williams through Middleton & Co., bankers, of Washing? ton. The head, S. E. Middleton, was one of Treasurer Wyman's bondsmen, form? erly Cashier of the Treasurer's office, and in at least one case where Wyman re? turned the forged papers to Williams, Middleton & Co., at last accounts still held the money, no effort being made by the Treasury officials to compel its re? turn, and Wyman is still a defaulter to that extent. The startling facts were discovered by the committee that Wy? man's accounts had been passed and settled as correct, this defalcation not being known to the persons who settled hiaacccoon'a except to his bondsman Middleton, who said naught of it; that the Treasury records do not show the character of the fraudulent payments; that the sole means of detection is for the owner to claim the money, and that the fraudulent transaction and the forged sig? nature to the receipt for the money were scratched off the Treasurer's office rec? ords. This unclaimed interest has at times been several millions in amount. When not called for after a long time, it should revert to the Government, but the Treasury has taken no steps of this" kind. It turns out that Charles F. Conant, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, was intimate with tlie forger and swindler Williams, and that J. W. Porter, Ap? pointment Clerk of the Treasury, and .1). Baker, Chief of tho Loan Division of the Secretary's office, who introduced Wil? liams, and vouched for him while under indictment, to Interest Teller Jones, knew nil about the unclaimed interest business, Baker having been designated by the Secretary to aid and protect owners in collecting their money, and Porter hav? ing had charge of the fund in the First Auditor's office. In 1874 John P. Bigelow, then Ci i f of the Loan Division, Secretary's Office, under Secretary Richardson, obtained a ^copy of the record of unclaimed interest, Mich of which was doe to parties abroad. Soon after, he was made London agent of the Goverment in syndicate opera? tions. When he went abroad the list of claimants disappeared. He staid abroad till 1877, and when Williams was in dan fer, returned to defend him. James [. Robinson, Assistant Solicitor of the Treasury declined to aid Moore'6 investi? gation, saying, "They don't want it con? tinued up stairs," referring to the Secre? tary's Office; and he co-operated with Appointment Clerk Porter in an effort to break down Moore's investigation by abolishing the force of Inspectors of Cus? toms, to which Moore's assistant in the matter?who had first traced the Jones package?belonged. Robinson suddenly manufactured an opinion that there was no law for the existence of this force, which has existed over_ fifty years. When Moore informed Assistant Secre? tary Conant of Williams' frauds, Conant, to Moore's astonishment, advised him to drop the inquiry, and he threw such diffi? culties in its way that Moore felt forced to suspend it the whole time that (Sonant was Acting Secretary of the Treasury. When Sherman became Secretary Moore reported the facts to him, and Sherman referred the matter to George F. Talbot, Solicitor of the Treas? ury, instructing him-to complete the in? quiry in accordance with Moore's sugges? tions. Moore and Treasurer Gil? fillan, who had co-operated, con? ferred with Talbot and enabled him to obtain evidence to establish the facts. They cautioned him against Conant, Big el ow. Baker, Robinson and others; but within forty-eight hours they were shut out from the investigation, and these very men, including Williams, were in con? stant communication with Talbot. The suspected parties had possession of and passed round the testimony and re? ports against Williams, and some of them called Treasurer Gilfillan to to account for telling what he knew. Gilfillan went to New York to aid Dis? trict Attorney Woodford to arrest and prosecute Williams there. Williams was warned of this, and passed Gilfillan between New York and Washington, ap? pearing before Talbot and Baying he was informed Talbot wanted him. While Gilfillan was arranging Williams' arrest with Woodford, the latter received a tele? gram from Talbot directing him to act in concert with Bigelow, Williams' friend, and himself under suspicion, and to try to have Williams give up the list of own I era of unclaimed interest to Bigelow! Before the Glover Committee Talbot swore that he never sent such a telegram, but the committee obtained a copy of it, with his signature! This dispatch stopp? ed Gilfillan. Talbot allowed Williams to be examined without arrest by a United States Commissioner of Williams' choos? ing. Neither Moore, Gilfillan nor any other person who knew the facts, was no? tified of this "examination," or allowed to testify; only witnesses friendly to him were examined and he was discharged. When Middleton & Co. were asked to re? fund the sums wrongfully paid to them on Williams' fraudulent account, the let? ter addressed to them at Washington was answered by Williams from London. Talbot made a whitewashing report to Secretary Sherman, devoted mainly to evculpating Conant, against whom no charges had been laid before him ; but Sherman deemed it policy for Conant to retire; he was sent to London to keep Bige low company, and the foreign loan opera? tions of the Government have since been conducted by men who successfully did their best to shield a confessed forger and swindler, who with the aid of Treasury confederates stole the money that be? longed to widows, lunatics, orphans and foreigners. The forged signatures were unlike the true ones, and Williams' con? federate, Interest Teller Jones, made no comparison or test of their reality, viola? ting thus the rules of office. All these officials but one, Baker, are still in office, and Porter has been made Financial Clerk of the Coast Survey, while Wy man and Iiis bondsmen have been freed ftom responsibility. The sole punish? ment meted out was that to Supervising Special Agent Moore, the one man who persistently tried to expose the *rongj and who was reduced to a subordinate post. When the Grand Trunk Railway was opened the exports from Canada passed over it through Vermont, New Hamp? shire and Maine to Portland, where they were shipped abroad. This trade soon grew so large that whole lines of ocean steamers were built for it, and 100 large bonded warehouses were set up at Port? land to accommodate it. Under the Treasury regulations the commodities were loaded on cars in Canada, the cars then sealed by the United States Consul at the starting point, and run through without opening or delay to the port of shipment in the States. Thus they pass? ed free of all annoyance by Custom House officials, not being subject to duty, as they merely passed through the country. The Joint High Commission; which framed the Alabama Treaty, agreed (Article 29 of Treaty) that this should go on. March 30, 1875, the Secretary of the Treasury issued an order con film? ing and regulating the practice. With? in a month after he published regula? tions practically abolishing it. He re Suired that all goods coming from Cana a should be entered, opened, inspected and put under bonds for their shipment abroad, at the first port of entry they reach? ed after crossing the border. On the Grand Trunk Railway this was the small town of Island Pond, Vt., where the facilities for making the entries were bo inadequate that the order could not possibly be car? ried out. The penal bonds required, amounting to millions of dollars at a time, all had to be executed by two per? sons who were worth but a few thousand dollars, which made the bonds worthless and showed that the stoppage at Island Pond gave no security against smug? gling. The first effect of the order was to enlarge the compensation of the Collec? tor of Customs at Island Pond to $40,000 or $50,000 a year, three or four times that of the Collector of New York; but the second result was to destroy the in transitu trade, to drive ic out of the States back down the St. Lawrence Riv? er, to ruin the owners of a hundred bonded warehouses at Portland, to break up the steamship lines from that port, and to inflict heavy loss on the owners of the Grand Trunk Railway. To this out? rageous piece of tyranny is due much of the hard times that have lately prevailed in Northern New England. It is said that this exploit was engineered by Judge Poland, in exchange for his sup? port of Secretary Bristowatthe Cincinna? ti Nominating Convention, where Po | laud violated his constituents' instruc I tions by such support. Senator Ed? munds, "however, wrote a letter to the ! Glover Committee claiming for himself 1 the credit of arranging the Island Pond J achievement, and stated in the commit ; tee room that he did it to benefit the i Collector, who was in some way related t to him. Jasper W. Johnson of Oregon, Secre? tary of the Liberal Republican National Committee, was appointed in 1876 an Inspector of Customs and kept on the I pay rollB ?evjeral months, receiving sev? eral hundred dollars, without rendering 1 any service to the Government. He was uent by Assistant Secretary Conant to Blufbrd Wilson, at Cincinnati, to help capture the Convention for Bristow. A system of theft, which had gone on for years, was detected at Norfolk in 1877 by Maj. Moore, special agent. In? stead of turning into the Treasury duties collected from merchants on goods, the Collector of Customs and other officials stole the money and omitted to enter it on the books. While Moore was engag? ed in exposing these frauds he was sud? denly dismissed from the service, and the matter was put into the hands of Ayer and Chamberlain, the special agents whose neglect to examine the books had made these frauds easy. A habit of smuggling wines, etc., by the officers of naval vessels returning to this country has long existed. In 1876 while the Sixth Auditor was confined to his bed by illness, a whole? sale removal was made of the more ex? perienced clerks, and raw hands were substituted. The Appointment Clerk of the Treasury explained it by saying that the Secretary had promised appoint? ments for political purposes, and must have vacancies to fill. L. E. Gannon of the Supervising Ar? chitect's Office was detected in criminal dealings with contractors, whose ac? counts he examined and passed on. He admitted his guilt, but was neither pun? ished nor dismissed. A!.er some time he resigned and was given two months' leave of absence with pay. He has since been allowed to practice before the ar? chitect's office where he committed these wrongs, as claim agent and representa? tives of contractors. When the page of the Sundry Civil Appropriation bill containing the Hot Springs appropriation disappeared from the bill last year, Chief James J. Brooks of the Secret Service employed Thomas A. Britt to obtain proof that the missing sheet was Btolen by Senator Conover of Florida, out of spite to ex-Gov. Stearns, one of the Hot Springs Commis? sioners, whose pay depended on the ap Sropriation. Assistant Chief Simon B. enson soon took direction of the inqui? ry, aud a purpose was revealed to make up b case against Conover that would either force him to vote to seat D. T. Corbin in place of Senator Butler of South Carolina, or remove him from the Senate by prosecution and conviction in time to prevent his voting. Britt pick? ed up in a drinking saloon two fellows, named William G. Coleman and T. H. S. Boyd, to whom he proposed that they make affidavits implicating Conover. They hesitated, whereon Benson gave Britt a note to be shown to them, prom? ising reward. To this note he attached the initials of his superior officer, Hon. Kenneth Rayner, Solicitor of the Treas? ury, without Mr. Rayner's knowledge or authority. The note is as follows: I understand you to say that a reliable gentleman has some knowledge of the transaction between certain parties on the last night of Congress, tending to show that certain parties in some mys? terious manner had some knowledge, or were in some way cognizant of the loss of certain items in the Sundry Civil bill which had been agreed to by the Committee of Conference of both houses. It is a fact and truth that such legislation has disappeared, and its loss cannot be ac? counted for. It certainly was not neg? ligence that caused the loss, but is be? lieved to be the work of designing par? ties. To detect and bring to the front the guilty parties is an object greatly to be desired and proved; to fasten the f;uilt of this great outrage upon the pub? ic greatly to be desired, and the person or persons who would aid the officers in Congress and the Government would be rewarded in proportion to the result produced, and he would be entitled to the commendation of all good citi? zens. X. R. To Wm. G. Berrett, Washington D. C, July 18, 1878. Please let the gentleman (your infor? mant) reduce his statement to writing, and bring it to roe and I will then arrange for a meeting with him. K. R. "William G. Berrett" was the alias of Britt in obtaining witnesses. When they saw this note the reluctant witnesses con? sented to make the desired affidavits which they took to Benson, who caused them to be altered so as to make affiants say that they made these affidavits "without any inducement or promise of reward." Benson in conversation told Coleman what he wanted him to swear to, and that he and Britt "would be taken care of." Benson took no steps to inform himself of the method of enrolling bills, so as to test the probability of the truth of Coleman, Holt and Boyd's statements. (Walter Holt had been taken to Alexan? dria by Britt andjthere induced to make a like affidavit.) Benson, before the Glover Committee, admitted that he did not know whether the stolen proviso or? iginated in the Senate or House, or to which house the manuscript bill was sent from the conference committee. He took no steps to learn the character of Britt or of the witnesses used by him. The affidavits themselves were found by the committee to afford convincing proof of the utter improbability of their state? ments. Britt told Sherman Conant, United States Marshal of the Northern District of Florida, that he had a sum? mer's job, and that was all he wanted. Benson tried to induce a clerk in the Treasury to get Senator Conover drunk and obtain a confession from him. So? licitor Rayner testified that both he and Chief Brooks said Benson had no case against Conover. Chief Brooks, becoming disgusted with Britt, dismissed him; but in Brooks' ab? sence Benson, acting Chief, rc-eroployed him to get testimony in another case. Benson publicly denounced Solicitor Rayner for ^fusing to send worthless charges to^tbaGracd Jury, and carried this so far that? Judge Rayner felt oblig? ed to suspend personal intercourse with him and to ask Secretary Sherman "to dismiss him. Solicitor Rayner being resolved to ex? ercise his power as the head of the Se? cret Service and to make honest 'rul? ings in Treasury law matters, the Treas? ury Ring were anxious to get rid of him. The Secret Service wanted Assistant So? licitor Robinson in Rayner's place, and laid a plot to work tho latter's removal. Benson employed Britt to go to cx-Gov. Gibbs, who represented the surety of Edward B. Taylor, a deceased Indian ageut, and try to get him to induce Ray? ner to write a letter to the District At? torney of Nebraska, demanding the ac? ceptance of a compromise of a claim of $11,000 for $185.50. Britt offered if this letter was written to take it to tho Dis? trict Attorney at Omaha himself. Had it been written, however, it was to bo shown to Secretary Sherman to Bccure Rayner's removal. The report states that the Secret Ser? vice appears to have been used largely for blackmailing purposes and persecu? tion of private individuals, and that men are employed in it without any test of qualification, provided they have what seems to be information against persons; and that persons of character and repu? tation who have felt the force of its methods have as a rule declined to put their grievances before the committee, prefering rather to suffer in silence than to encounter the plots they felt sure would follow their complaints. Solicitor Rayner testified: " Within eight months I know of eight or ten private gentlemen, who have violated no law, whose names hare been entered there, and have been reported on in the most terrible way." Wild, the Secret Service agent at New Orleans, was dismissed from the Depart? ment of Justice for taking money from claimants in a case he officially examin? ed. The contract made by him with the claimants, and the check paid to him, are in the Department of Justice records. Yet he is now engaged to "protect" the Government and the public against counterfeiters and swindlers in several States. The report recommends the ab? olition or thorough reconstruction of the j Secret Service. j In 1862 Congress provided for Treasury special agents collecting captured and abandoned properly at the South, and for turning into the Treasury the pro? ceeds of such property, to be returned to the owners on proof before the Court of Claims of ownership and freedom from complicity with the Rebellion. Under this act 175,000 bales of cotton were col? lected, and sold, the proceeds being as nearly as could be ascertained, $36,500 000. Of this, $9,310,787 were eaten up in "expenses," leaving over ?27,000,000. Of this, $9,545,000 have been returned to owners under judgments of the Court of Claims, $1,623,000 by the Secretary of the Treasury, $292,000 under special acts of Congress and $188,000 under the act of May 18, 1872?in all $11,648,000. This should leave on hand over $15,500, 000, but the report of the Secretary of the Treasury show but about $9,000,000 on hand. What has become of the other six and a half millions the committee could not learn. This great raid and seizure of 175,000 bales of cotton, however, was not the whole spoliation. Contrary to law, thou? sands and thousands of bales were seized by Quartermasters and other Army officers and sold, the proceeds never reaching the Treasury. In one year?May, 1863, to May, 1864?the Chief Quartermaster at New Orleans, Col. S. B. Holabird, re? ceived 12,779 bales, worth at least $2, 500,000, yet he only acknowledged $834, 000 net proceeds, and states that this sum was spent for Army purposes by or? der of Gen. Banks. jl Also contrary to law, Admiral Porter, wnile patrolling the Mississippi and its tributaries, seized large amounts of cot? ton on land and shipped it to Cairo as maritime prize of war. The Supreme Court has decided that this cotton was unlawfully taken by Porter, yet the Treasury refuses to return the money to the owners. When the Committee on the Treasury called in 1876 for the production of the original records of cotton seizures, a Cab? inet meeting was held and an Executive order was issued by Grant forbidding the production of original books and papers before corrmittees of Congress. The law placing cotton matters in the Customs division of the office of the Sec? retary of the Treasury has been disre? garded and a special bureau formed without authority of law with a chief and assistant and clerks, and with salaries from $1,200 to $3,000 a year. The duty of Martin Luther Noerr, chief, is to fur? nish the Court of Claims true copies of all records in that bureau pertaining to particular lots of cotton. Judge Nott of that court stated from the bench that Noerr had furnished four different re? ports of captures of cotton at Atlanta; the first report admitting the capture of but twenty bales, but the last admitting 467! He declared that the Cotton Bu? reau's statements as made up by Noerr were wholly unreliable, and stated that thelasv requiring keepingof, "books of ac? count showing from whom the cotton was received, the cost of transportation and proceeds of sales," had been flagi? tiously and scandalously evaded and de? fied by officers intrusted with its execu? tion. Noerr reported to the Court that there were in the Treasury the records of about 640 bales from Vicksburg, not over $130,000. Mr. Eveleth, Commissioner appointed by the Court to examine the cotton records, found that- over 5,000 bales had been seized at Vicksburg, and that the proceeds had gone into the Treasury, $025,000. Chief Justice Casey of the Court of Claims swore that Noerr showed no disposition to correct his statement, and that he had tried in vain to get Noerr to explain this great dis? crepancy. The Chief Juitice also testifi? ed that it was "impossible for claimants or their friends to get any information or satisfaction at all in reference to their claims from this division, except through calls by the Court of Claims, the an? swers to which both the Bar and the Court regarded as wholly unreliable. In my judgment they (Noerr's reports) were in many cases intended and design? ed to mislead and to prevent parties from getting justice." William Fessenden, assistant toNoerr, was dismissed from the Army in 1864 as a defaulting additional Paymaster, for embezzling $20,000. He lent the public money to Salmon B. Colby, a contractor, and William Coombs, a clerk in the In? terior Department, for use in speculating in lumber. Fessenden to receive for the use of the money 10 per cent, of the ac? tual Bales. The money was lost by Fes aenden's treachery, Colby claims, and Colby was bankrupted. Within a year afterward he was made clerk in the Cot? ton bureau, where he has since received on an average $2,000 per year salary and large sums for "extra services." From August 25,1865, to May 5,1873 the Treasury paid to attorneys, agents and informers more than $1,000,000 from the money which belonged to owners of cotton. One Charles Earns and various partners were paid within ten months of 1866 and 1867 $420,000 by order of Secretary McCulloch, $158,000 being shared by l5ames with John A. Logan, then Representative and now Seuator from Illinois. In about eigh? teen months of those years McCulloch caused to be paid to S. H. Kauffman, First Chief of the Cotton Bureau, $82,000; and Kauflraau soon turned up as part? ner with Boss Shepherd and W. Adams, correspondent of the New York World, in ownership and managemnt of the Washington Star, which has been con? spicuous in defending the District of Columbia Ring and belying the Glover investigations. Robert ?. Hale of New York was employed as special counsel of the Treasury Department by McCul? loch and Boutwell, and was paid $24,369 for services rendered in the course of two years. James S. Frazier of Indiana was employed by Secretaries Richardson aud Bristow to aid in adjusting cotton cases under the act of May, 1872, and re? ceived for services in the courBe of two years $15,513. Beside this, appropria? tions amounting to $166,000 have been procured by the Treasury from Congress to be expended by that Department in defending the Secretary and his agenta against suits for seizures, aud in defend? ing suits in the Court of Claims, and the Department of Justice has procured in the same time appropriations of $285,000 to be spent by that Department in de? fending suits "against the "captured and abandoned property fund"?$451,000 in all, and the Attorney General continues to ask an appropriation for the same pur-, po?es of $25,000 every year, though he and all his subordinates are salaried offi? cials, and though under the law very few cotton cases are now allowed to go before the Court. An infamous law, procured from Con? gress by implicated parties, forbids the owners of cotton to sue the Secretary of the Treasury or his agents, for taking away their cotton, appropriations have been repeatedly obtained to pay special coun? sel for using their legal skill to prevent owners from getting back their own ! A?drew Hosmer, a Union officer set? tled in Alabama in the spring of 1865 and raised a crop of cotton worth about $30, 000. When it was ready for marketone of the Treasury thieves seized it. The Cot? ton Bureau kept Hosmer out of his money ten years, took from him one-fourth as "commission" to the robber, another fourth as "expenses," and returned half his property minus ten years' interest. There were twenty-one supervising special property agents, and their ac? counts were ordered to be settled by Robert E. Preston of the First Auditor's office. In his statement Preston reports that J. M. Tomeny, agent, collected 7,468 bales, and sent Draper 5,468; but Tom? eny swore before the Glover committee that he collected 15,690 bales and sent to Draper 11,111, 5,643 more than Pres? ton credited him with in the official settle? ment. Special Agent O. H. Burbridge swore that Preston demar'ied and re? ceived money from him before ho would begin settling his accounts; that Pres? ton made a second demand, which was refused, and that hence Burbridge's ac? counts remain unsettled. The Supreme Court has decided that the proceeds of captured cotton are a trust fund in the hands of the Treasury for the benefit of the owners; but as has been seen, this trust is shamefully abused. Millionsot this trust fund were deposited by Secreraty McCulloch in Jay Cooke's First Na tional Bank of Washington, which en? joyed the use and profit thereof, while the owners suffered. William E. Chan? dler, while Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, caused a full list of the cotton claims to be made out and furnished to him, and soon after resigned and went into the practice of "law" at Washing? ton. The official who made Chandler the list swore that it was worth at least $100,000 to its holder. Dr. John M. Woodworth, Supervising Surgeon-General of Marine Hospitals, testified that under his management the Marine Hospital service was not self sustaining, though he had reported to make it appear that it was, doubled the tax on sailors and had a revenue of over $350,000 a year to support the service with ; that he had obtained from Assis? tant Secretary Conant approval of vouch? ers for $2,100 extra pay and traveling expenses for seven months, in violation of law, while preparing a report on chol? era, which extras, without law or author? ity, were taken from the hospital fund collected from sailors; that the Register of the Treasury's statements never showed the true condition of the Marine Hospital fund, the Register's figures being always better than the facts, and that he was not allowed to state the truth in bis report, because it would differ from the Regis? ter's, and that there were often many unpaid bills. Dr. Woodworth further testified that there was no law regulating the number or appointment of marine hospital offi? cers, and that, though the service was not self-supporting, he wished to appoint 19 more officers; that there was no law for Jiroper examination of such officers be bre appointment; that he had been at perpetual war with the appointment of? fice of the Treasury as to who the hospit? al officers sbould be; that there was no law regulating the expenditure for build? ings. It turned out that Woodworth, while professing to investigate the chol? era epidemic, had drawn contrary to law $6 a day and 10 cents a mile traveling expenses, in addition to his salary, for seven months, over $2,000; that the statements of expenses of the service in some of his reports did not include re? pairs, fuel, furniture, salaries of engineers and firemen, lights and water, which, in 1874 and 1875, amounted to $62,006, and that hence these statements of expense are incorrect and unreliable; that the Treasury had long been in the habit of unlawfully allowing "commutation" in? stead of actual expenses to traveling of? ficials, thus unlawfully increasing their compensation. Woodworth's bills above mentioned were rendered and passed by the Auditor and Comptroller, contrary to law, as "compensation" for collecting information. When the Glover Commit? tee caused them to be examined they were found to be altered from "compen? sation" to '?commutation/-' and the words "for expenses" put in, both in Wood worth's handwriting. Dr. Frank W. Reilly, one of Woodworth's assistants, drew his regular pay from the hospital fund, and other pay for investigating two subjects at the same time. The Marine Hospital at Tittsburg was sold on Woodworth's recommendation for $37,000, a verbal opinion being ob? tained from the First Comptroller that $20,000 already received from sale of a part of the grounds could be used for a new building. Gen. Negley engineered a bill through Congress authorizing the sale and purchase of a new site. The sale being made, a site was bought from Negley on recommendation of a com? mission of Treasury clerks, designated by Assistant Secretary Conant, for $30, 000, which, according to the best infor? mation obtainable, wus worth $5,000 or $0,000. Then the First Comptroller dis? covered that to apply the $20,000 for a new building would be unlawful; and Gen. Negley having got his $30,000 of sailors' money, the land remains unused. Woodworth acknowledged that $50,000 had been spent in the service in three years above the receipts. The bills for $2,100 in seven months for preparing a report on cholera of fourteen pages, be? sides his regular pay for services ren? dered as Surgeon General in the same time, above referred to, were made out and certified correct by Woodworth him? self, and paid on his order from the Marine Hospital Fund by the Collector of Customs at Georgetown. A letter authorizing this unlawful compensation was written beforehand and signed by Secretary Richardson. The bulk of the cholera report, a vol? ume of about COO pages, was furnished, not by Woodworth, but by the Army surgeon associated with him, Dr. Mc Clcllan. Woodworth made up his report for 1S77 in form to show that he had made the hospital service self-supporting, and did not acknowledge that it was not so till the committee had ascertained that it was not. At Baltimore the charges for care and maintenance of sick seamen were under fifty cents a day, but at New York they were eighty cents, and at Philadelphia ninety, which leaves mar? gin for a nice profit to seme one. We do not Wonder.?Wo do not wonder that housewives who have been accustomed to use Dr. Price's Special Fla? voring Extracts should turn in disgust from the trash often sold under the name of Flavoring Extracts, which stuff smells and tastes like turpentine. Dr. Price's Flavoring Extracts have tho taste aud odor of the fresh fruits. A TALE WITH TOOMBS. Why, In III? Opinion,tho Confederacy FhII od?A Slutrp Arraignment of Jefferson Davis for General Inefflclcncya Philadelphia Times ^Atlanta Letter. The recent speech made by Gen. "Bob" Toombs in the case of the State against Treasurer "Jack" Jones disclosed an alarming condition of physical weakness on the part of the old man eloquent, and gave too plain evidence that his race has been nearly run. Three or four times he tottered to his chair and sat down to rest. His mind is still power? ful, and his frame is massive and erect, but it is quite clear that he is not equal to a sustained effort. The people of Georgia never loved any man better than they love Gen. Toombs, and the signs of his breakiug down have awakened a ten? der interest in him and all that to him pertains. He is the most remarkable man in many respects that the South ever produced, and it is doubtful if the records of a lordlier life than his can be found in the history of our Republic. In a long talk with your correspon? dent he talked freely of the events that led up to secession, the organization of the secession government, the causes of the failure of the Confederacy, of his flight after the collapse, of his opinion of reconstruction, and threw much light on these inteusting topics. "I have always believed iu the sover? eignty of the State," he said, ''but I have been very much misunderstood on the subject of secession. I have never be? lieved the Constitution of the United States was a good one, and as an original question I would never have voted for it ?but I was not the blatant secessionist that I have been represented, that is, up to the time that I thought there was no Elace or security for my people in the 'nio:i. Then I determined to lead them out of a compact that was protected by nothing but good faith, and was shown to have no good faith back of it. My first vote was cast for Andrew Jackson, but I fell out with him about the nullifi? cation troubles. In 1850 I supported the Clay compromises very strongly. It has never been my custom to consult my constituents on public matters. When, therefore, they became angered at my ad? herence to the compromise that promised to save the Union, I only stuck to it the closer. My position was made an issue in Georgia, and a convention of the people was called. I came home to de? tenu it. I united with Howell Cobb, who was conspicuous just then for having refused to sign the 'Southern Address,' and with Alexander Stephens, who stood upon the same ground I did. Mr. Cobb ran for Governor, Stephens for Congress, and I fought for my record. We whipped the fire-eaters out and car? ried the State handsomely. I stood by those views of compromise in the Union substantially until after the failure of the Crittenden compromise. I suppor? ted Breckidridgo in that campaign of I860. Mr. Stephens supported Douglas and Ben Hill supported Bell. We led the three elements iu Georgia at that time. '?After Lincoln's election I saw thai; trouble was brewing, but I was still un? willing to commit myself to secession, and then, too, I was not certain that Georgia could be carried on that issue. Stepheus and Hill were both for Union. I telegraphed Breckinridge, asking him to appoint a representative committee that would offer some compromise to meet the pressing exigency. He ap? pointed on this committee, among oth? ers, Crittcnuen, to represent Bell and Everett, or rather the men who had sup? ported them; Jeff. Davis and myself for his friend: Seward for Lincoln, and Dou? glas himself. The Crittenden compro? mise was offered. I supported it hearti? ly and sincerely, although the sullen ob? stinacy of Seward had made it almost impossible to do anything. For suppor? ting this compromise I was denounced in Georgia by Ben Hill as having betrayed my section and my people. I didn't mind this at all, as Ben is always de? nouncing somebody or something. At length I saw that the compromise meas? ures must fail. With a persistent obsti? nacy that I have never yet seen surpassed, Seward and his backers refused every overture. I then telegraphed to Atlanta': 'All is at an end. North determined. Seward will not budge an inch. Am in favor of secession.' When the fight was fairly opened I still felt doubtful about carrying the State. The people were de? termined against submission to the un? just encroachments of the North, but there were many who favored the ap? pointment of a peace commission, oth? ers who wanted to wait for co-operation, and still others who feared to take so desperate a step; and let me say right here that I never doubted the gravity of the situation. The statement that I said that I would drink all the blood that was spilled is one of stereotyped lies they have circulated about me when I left the Senate. I knew it meant war, and I said in my farewell speech that the next time I looked upon Washington I thought it would be at the head of Southern troops." "What about the meeting at Montgom? ery?" ?'Tho secret history of that meeting has never been given. The majority of the delegatea were opposed to the elec? tion of Mr. Davis. His own State, Mis? sissippi, was opposed to him, and if the vote had bcea cast by delegates rather than by Sta.es he would never have been, elected Carolina was for Davis all the time. He suited the extreme views of that State, and Mr. Rhett held the delegates well in hand. Florida had only three votes. One of these, Ander? son, was au old school-fellow of Davis,' and Owens was a Carolinian and under the influence of Rhett. They out-voted I the third delegate and gave Davis the State. With ther.e two States, each counting as much as Georgia, he secured the Alabama delegation by one vote ?by means of what trickery I will not discuss. Georgia, Mississippi and Louis? iana would have preferred either Mr. Cobb or myself; but neither "of us were candidates, and neither would consent to have a struggle: so they agreed with the three btates that bad spoken, lexas, informally represented, acquiesced, and Mr. Davis was elected. I was not on good terms with Mr. Davis. He appoin? ted me Secretary of State. I declined to accept it, preferring to go at once to the field. 1 was urged to reconsider, and at length did so, fearing that my refusal might be considered as significant of a lack of harmony. 1 was never satisfied with my position in the cabinet. The 1 trouble was that too many of our leaders sought such places when they were needed iu tho field. I secured our recog? nition as belligerents, established rela? tions with the unseceded Southern States, and then insisted on retiring. By this time other States had joined us, and I felt that the Cabinet should be reor? ganized. Isuggestedto Mr.Davis that he ask for the resignation of all the portfolios, that all the later States might be repre? sented. He said he disliked to do so, and I then said I would do it for ? him. He acquiesced in this, and I informed the Cabinet of whai; I had thought of do iug, and what I thought they should do. ? It was a bombshell in the ranks. They asked me if Mr. Davis had went me to i them. I then told them exactly what j had happened, but they declined to give up their places. I then resigned and went to the field." I "What in your opinion was the cause j of the failure of the Confederacy?" "If I had to name one thing that wa9 most fatal I should say the conscript act. That demoralized the troops and I the country. There was no necessity for it, and it sprang from Mr. Davis' de? sire to have the appointment of officers. He was crazy over his West Point mar? tinets, and when he could not appoint the officers of the volunteers, he went to Congress and demanded the conscript law and got it. I said at the time: The cause is lost, and this should be its epi? taph : 'Killed by West Point.' In gen? eral terms the absolute inefficiency at Richmond was the cause of our failure. Davis is a remarkable character. He i3 a good writer, and that is all. He was a slow man, and always acted rashly at last. His delay was not caused by de? liberation, but was a combination of va? riety and a refusal to think. He is a very small military man. I told him that ninety per cent, of war was business ?that we must organize victory rath than trust to fighting entirely. I urged him to send to England to buy all the arms there. He ordered 8,000 rifles. Joe Brown, of Georgia, bad more arms for a long time than the Confederacy had. Under pretense of giving the Unionists time to leave the South, I kept our ports open for sixty days. No new government ever started with such unlimited credit as we had. We had any amount of cotton offered us. I urged Mr. Davis to send this to England as fast as it could be carried, and buy ships and arms with it. We could have bor? rowed any amount we wanted. The first loan made was $50,000, when it should have been $5,000,000. But it seemed to be impossible to get the Government to look at the matter in a serious light. Had the first sixty days of the Confeaer ate Government been properly improved we could have so organized that defeat would have been impossible. At one time it was announced that there was an error of $600,000,000 in the amount of bills out and the amount on the books of the Government. There was never a moment during the war when Davis ac? tually appreciated the situation. Why, after the march of the Confederates from Rappahannock to Sharpsburg and back again, when they had swept everything before them, numbers not availing any thing against them, Davis thought the war was over, and actually began to quarrel about who had whipped it. He was as jealous as a Barbary hen, and once started to have me arrested for ridiculing him. I am thoroughly satisfied that the establishment of a Government under Mr. Davis was an impossibility. Indeed the fight was hazardous from beginning to end, without method or statesmanship, and sustained only by miraculous valor as long as it was. The Constitution was a good one, but there praise of the Con? federate Government and its work must end." "Have you ever taken the oath of al? legiance to the Uuited States Govern? ment?" "No, sir. The last oath I took was to the Confederate States, and I shall never take another. I do not like the General Government, and I would not consent to serve it any capacity. It is a tempora? ry concern at best. The Constitution has no power within itself. It depends solely on the good faith of the people, and that guarantee alone can not continue to bind together a great country of diverse interests. I have never really beiieved since 1850 that the Union was a perpe? tuity. The terrible experience of the late war will probably deter any faction from making a row for the next few years. Had it not been for this the West might have precipitated a collision during the election muddle of 1876. I have no faith in the Puritan New Eng? landers, the fellows that Macaulay said were opposed to bear-baiting not because it hurt the bear, but it pleased the peo? ple. As to the talk about the Northern people forgiving me, I have nothing to say. As I have not forgiven them, and don't expect to, lam indifferent as to the state of their feelings." Beecher. on Recoxciuatjox.?This great nation, was divided by an invisible line, morally visible enough, on both sides of which the north and south bad stood in bloody antagonism for five terri? ble years. In my own judgment, when I consider human nature, when I consid? er that a proud people have seen them? selves emptied out of power, their politi? cal existence almost annihilated, their property swept out of their haiuTs as by a despised slave established over them by what was to him a foreign arm, I should not have wondered if there had been ten times the resistance that there had been to reconstructive measures. Never in history has a people borne so much with so much patience, gallantry and patriot? ism?a spectable of moral grandeur and of substantial good intent and honor in those who have been so terrifically scourged which is without parallel. The spirit which would set the north against the south, the east against the west, the Germans against the old Puritans or the old Puritans against the Germans, the whites against the blacks or the blacks against the whites, is not only politically criminal, but it is absolutely subversive of the fundamental instincts of humanity. There is yet the power and the honor in this country to hold men to? gether in charity and unity. When it was the need of the untempered north to be nerved to resist the arrogance of plan? tation domination I was not wanting. What we need now is love, charity, union. I speak again. Though I hated slavery I did not bate the slaveholder. I loved him and I still love him. I love all mankind not only for what they are, but for what they are going to be. flame, the ascendancy of the Contesting Wills. The controversies o ver Vanderbill's and Stewart's wills has tended to make pop? ular the contesting of wills. One of the latest cases is that of Mr. T. W. Waller, of Tidioute, Pa. He had for years suffer? ed a continuous death from a scrofulous swelling, or "fever-sore," on his limb. No physician could cure, or even give relief. In his pain aud despair, he will? ed to have his leg cut off. His friends contested his will, and after repeated trials succeeded in "breaking" it and persuaded him to use Dr. Pierce's Gold? en Medical Discovery and Pleasant Pur? gative Pellets. Under date of December 14, 1877, he writes thai "after trying every thing I could hear of in vain, I took Dr. Tierce's Golden .Medical Dis? covery and Pleasant Purgative Pellets, and they effected a speedy, perfect, and permanent cure." Read the People, Common Sense Medical Adviser, an il? lustrated work of over 900 pages. 100, 000 copies already sold. Price, post? paid, $1.50. Address the author, R. V. Pierce, M. D., Buffalo, N. Y. Bill Arp oil Female Colleges. j Our sex is thoroughly subdued iu tho progressive city. Every rooster that ' gets on a fence flaps his wings and crows, "'Women rules here-erc-ri-e.' Its ' these female colleges that a doin it. I . came over here to see sixteen blooming j damsels graduate at the Shorter college; ; for you see one of them was mine and ; Mrs. Arp's, and as you hadent heard anything about a female college I had a mind to send you a hasty scrap. I have thought for some time you ought to put an occasional paragraph in your colums about female college commencements. There are several female colleges in the State and its about the time of the year when they dress up and come forth for an airing. The girls always buzz around with the Juno bugs, and the big boys run' after the one just like the little boys run after the other?Just to hear em June. The female sex are monopolizing pub? lic attention now. They have got five colleges to our one. Theres hardly a town in the State where they aint educa? ting two girls to one boy. if this thing goes on whats to become of us? Wont they be putting us in the back-ground under the shadows, and after while just ke?p us at home for their amusement? Why I know of several farmers who have got their boys plowing and hoeing to makecotton to raise money to send their daughters off to college. They say that the'girls cant make any money tosend the boys off, and so if the girls dont go n '?'odv goes. Hows that? What are we going to do about it? The cart has gone before the horse again. Well, I reckon its all right, for they say a smart mother makes a smart sou. The human race will breed after the dam but its mighty hard on the country boys. Most all the nice girls and the rich girls are sent to the towns and cit? ies to schools, and when they get there the young lawyers and doctors and store clerks go for em on a still hunt. They watch em like a chicken hawk watches for chickens iu the spring of the) year, and by the time they quit school they pounce down upon em and carry em off with an impudence that is amazing. The poor country boy dont get nary chicken at all. S.id, ain't it ? He made love to that gal before she left home and her low, sweet promise made him plan deeper and hoe harder, and he whipped up old Dobbins with a lively lick. But there's nary Mary Jane for him. There's a pale faced gent from the town at her father's. He drives a fine horse and has gloves on and a standing collar, and his hair is colonyficd, and his hat stuck on the side of his head and Mary Jane has surrendered. An impertinent Borne boy told me that was what female colleges was for? a sort of quartermaster department the town boys draw their supplies from. It wasn't exactly this way when I was a youth. Athens was a wealthy, aristo? cratic city, the college boys there kept the place drained of its rich beautiful girls. They married them just as fast as they grew up, and they carried them off. An Athens boy couldent touched, em with a ten-foot pole. If he wanted a wife he had to emigrate to git one. So its bad all around for the boy who cant go to college. In fact its a swindle?a fraud?and must be rectified in someway. Why, I couldent hire a buggy yester? day nowhere, for these townooys had every one of em and was riding around with the college girls like a tornado was after them. I complained of it to an observing friend and he said you need ent be alarmed ; these arc the smartest girls you ever saw in your life, and their parents were smart before em. They are not going to marry these flashy young bucks. Why, I heard a graduate making fun of a feller she rode out with because he said "I taken" and "they had went" and spelt three words wrong in his note. She said she was going to open a school exclusively for young men to study grammar. The fact is, the boys are neglected and Rome must have a male college to keep the sexes on a bal? ance. The Young Lady Graduate.? What the Valedictory said?Kind teach? ers, ever shall we look back to the happy davs when under your patient and lov ing pilotage, we climed the hill of knowl? edge ; ever shall we hold the recollec? tion of your self-sacrificing devotion among our holiest remembrances. And classmates, though the links are at last broken that have so long united us in their tender chain, yet are we still per? mitted in memory's forge to reweld the scattered fragments, andl live once again in fancy the happy existence that has been ours, and which we prize more than ever now that it can be lived in reality no more. What the Valedictorian Thought Thank the Lord, I shall soon see the last of old Smith! He never was fic for a teacher, any way, cross old bear! And then ho shows partiality so! I never could see what he finds in Sal Stebbing so attractive. No matter what she does, he's good as pie to her. I guess I'd have to take it if I should come to school with lessons no better than hers. And Mfes Jones! H'm! the old maid! She's just hateful. And Miss Brown, too! What a dowdy she is! No wonder no body'll have her. Thank heaven ! I'm free of them all now! I don't believe I'd speak to one of them if I should meet them on the street. Let's see?I must cut that Periwinkle girl right|away. I don't want to be dogged 'round by her any longer, and, what's more, I won't. I shall nave to keep on good terms with Steve Stowers' sister, though I do hate her so; for Steve's got a jolly team, and he always dresses nobby, and all the girls envy me and Steve when we go ri? ding 'long. And I'm going to give Sal Stebbings a bit of my mind and then good-bye to her, the minx! Well, I'm glad it's all over; I never want to think of school again or see a school book. What a life I have led, to be sure! But I shall go into society, now, thank for? tune, where I belong !?Boston Tran? script._ Mutilating the Coin.?We have before us four silver coins, a dollar, two half dollars and a dime, all of which have holes pierced through them. It is not, perhaps, generally known that for any person to subtract a portion of the silver or gold from coin of the United States so as to make it of less weight or value than it ought to be pursuant to law is a statu table offense, which is pun? ishable by imprisonment for not more than two years, and by a fine of not more than $2,000. It is a mean thing to mutilate the coins of the country, even apart from the purpose of effecting a lit? tle gain thereby, as it destroys theibeauty of their artistic appearance.?Baltimore Sun. Queen of the Oven.?A biscuit made with Dr. Price's Cream Baking Powder is certainly the queen of the oven. So light, white and enjoyable! After breakfasting on biscuit made with Dr. Price's Cream Baking Powder, what man would contemplate suicide, or grum? ble because his wife aske<L.him far mon? ey?