The New York Herald Newspaper, September 20, 1875, Page 4

4 INDIAN FRAUDS The Model Agency at Fort Ber- thold Investigated. the eastern end of the road. His operations here are bad enough. I had no suspicion that he was working with Sperry to learn if I belonged to the government. Then I knew that he was preparing to hide some iniquity of his own, leads from his store in Bismarck to the agency ware- claw beneath his glove, No man in Sing Sing can do a How the Indians are Robbed and Chris- tianity Disgraced, Once in my innocence I went to his mercantile bank to gentlemanly cashier gave me the money. Within an among honorable men are considered business secrets, and instead of calling on my indorser, who lived in the | next block, he glided around after me giving and beg- ging information on the sly, But when he met me be SLANK VOUCHERS AND FALSE STATEMENTS. A Sketch of the Agent and a feit like the softest velvet. His Partners, HOW THE POST TRADER POOLED THE HERALD. chuckle of the Ring, he said:—“That Henan chap is | investigating. But Iam too much for him, Ihave got | A FORCED RESIGNATION. Berthold hay contract. [I put in a bid at $6 anda | fraction a ton and I got it for $11.” 1 heard afterward that the price paid him was $9 and Mr. Welsh Sums Up the Vil- \ lanies of the Ring. Fortunately I can produce an affidavit that will inter- fere with what he may say to the contrary. We now | THE LAW INVOKED. are guilty of frauds of the most startling character, BROTHER ORVILLE, Fort Berraonp, Dakota, Sept. 12, 1875. MMer visiting Standing Rock and Fort Peck, I re- Auctantly prepared to investigate the affairs of this I was reluctant because believed the agent | Berthold to understand that he had got to leave or come Orville Grant made his grand blackmailing tour up this river in search of public plunder he gave the trader at NEW YORK more quiet piece of villainy than he. Sperry is nery- | Sperry has done, ous. He works on the surface, Raymond moves stealth- | has uncovered enough of his iniquities to disgrace any ily, with smiles on his face and deceit in his heart, | man. nesses that he tried to silence, he has offered to sell out getadraft cashed. It was properly indorsed, and the | his business, so 1am told. Mr, Sperry, the immaculate But there ts still another shadow on the wall. When | somewhat irregular, ney. Sete eons and capable in every particular, A promi- | down with the cash, Raymond was the Bent steamboat captain said, “theothers may be cor- | Indian trader. He had secured the ‘yupt, but this man is ‘square,’ and as perfectagentle- Slip immediately after the advent of our | maa can be found anywhere.” An army officer | fiend Sperry. ‘This, in addition to his store in assured me that he was a model Christian, of keen un- | #ismarck, gave him a fine increase of business, Thero ‘derstanding and with a practical business education, i was some misunderstanding in regard to the place and (Tho pame of this agent is L. B, Sperry. Ho represents | h# Was about to lose it, when suddenly a despatch the Arickaree, Gros Ventre and Mandan tribes, Mr. Sperry is not an ordinary man. His enterprise | and intelligence have lifted him from the obscurity of a | country village to his present position, which has not “been obtained without great influence, He was born and reared in Sherman, Chautauqua county, New York, Bear the head of Chautauqua Lake. I have visited that neighborhood, and, after thorough investigation there and here, 1 am convinced that he is a bad man, with | one of us; let him stay.” Orville was willing, and I drawn from the Upper Missouri 1 suppose that he will want his back pay. THE POOR MEN OF THE RING, i | All of these men say that they have lost money, yet | fessed. He said that he would lose his place and it is strange that they live so well. Sporry began poor | Sperry would make it hard for him. that the money went into Mr. Sperry’s private fund. He may copy his cash book and, with the help of Com- missioner Smith, forge new vouchers and papers, but until I discovered that he was tracking me and trying | it will not hide the truth, HIGHER SALAKINS NERDED. Five thousand dollars a year is little enough to pay and it was not long before I struck the black trailwhich | an agent, Tho boss farmer should have $3,000, the clerk $3,000 a year, and the other employés’ salaries in houses in Fort Berthold, He isa crafty man, with a | proportion, ‘Then they would not be tempted to make false vouchers and cheat the government as Mr. He knows very well that the HeraLp Raymond knows it; and since I found some wit- conception of the Indian Department, who sent two seta hour Raymond was on the street disclosing what | of blank vouchérs in June for a steamboat captain in Bismarck to sign, knows that his villany is to be pub- lished to the world. Since I went to Canada after wit- nesses who left soon after I reached Dakota, Sperry. Raymond & Co. have threatened and entreated and was as bland as a June morning, and his extended palm | coaxed, and now that Iam ready to publish the result | of my investigations, Mr. Sperry threatens to resign. Suid he to a “friend”? the other day, “The Hinmaup is One day he called on a friend, and, with the password | about to print a damaging statement about the agency, the burning of the buildings, and the landing of a steam- bout load of Indian goods in the woods last fail. these fellows where they live and they can’t touch me. | What do you think of these charges ?”’/he asked, ‘They Why,” said he, with chuckle No. 2, “I have secured the | ldok bad,’ said the triend. “I admit it,” replied the terrified maker of blank vouchers, HOW THE REFORM WORKED. One of the first things Mr. Sperry tried his hand at, @ fraction a ton, but the only person known in the con- | after he had fairly embarked in his scheme of reform, tract to outsiders was not‘Raymond, but a friend of hi. | was to engage a carpenter to make twenty-flve Red River carts, The man agreed to make them for $10 apiece, When they were finished Sperry prepared his have a brief outline of Mr, Sperry and his partner, who | vouchers and said that he owed the carpenter for some | other work and could not pay him unless he worked it in with the cart account. He admitted that it was I find by consulting the new dic- tiouary compiled by Smith, Relano & Co, that there is no such word as “stealing,” but when an agent robs the government he commits an irregularity. Well, after some urging, the carpenter signed the trader- vouchers for making twenty-five carts at $15 cach, the Now, the moral of all this is that the carpenter received only $225, and Dave Sperry, the agent’s brother, got the $150 which belonged to the government, Whether the twins whacked up when they were alone total amount being $375. came from Washington to the effect that “Raymond is | 1am unable to say. The operation was planned and executed by L. B. Sperry. I asked the carpenter about understand that he bas not collected his blackmail | it and he tried to let Sperry out, In fact, 1 could get no | from the firm to this day; but, now that he has with- | satisfaction until I took a United States marshal with me as witness and told the carpenter that I could prove that he received only $10 apiece for the carts and that Dave got the $150, The man trembled, turned pale and con- | Mr. Sperry is few of tho generous instincts that made Fisk and Tweed | #54 claims that he makes nothing; but he traveis over | hereby informed that I discovered the steal at Fort the country as though he were a wealthy tourist. Who foots the bills? Raymond began asaclerk. He does | a large business, and he has become so important that | our distinguished Secretary of War, W. W. Belknap, popular among the masses, But he has the art of pleasing strangers, and those who meet him on the cars or in hotel parlors think him a rare gentleman, THE MODEL AGENT. Stevenson, and not from the source that he suspects, THE AGENT MAKES A SPEECH, About the time these carts were under way Mr, Sperry made a specch to the men. He said that he ‘fo graduated from Oberlin, where he won the friend- called on him during his brief visit the other day, and | intended to deal fairly by the Indians, to reform the ellp of its President and bis family, and to-day he has | ‘he conduetor had to hold the train that he might con- | agency and build up a Christian community, He as- clude his talk with Raymond, the Indian trader, | has several judges (one, of brother-in-law of the a long line of acquaintances, extending from Fort Buford to Washington. Iam sorry to say that he was | Bismarck recommended to this agency by the American Mission- | 8 @ ‘ary Society, of New York. He was then a professor in Ripon College, Wisconsin, He taught in several of the departments, and spent a season in travelling through the Lake Superior region collecting mineral specimens for his institution. Previous to this, he had been a physician. Mr. Sperry is small in stature, with keen blue eyes and a prepossessing countenance. He is an active, restless man, and exhibits an air of considerable | PY losing money. Orville Grant declares that he lost shrewdness, I have conversed with men who knew him from boyhood. Those who watched with pride his earlier career, and who loved him for his virtues, called only on Mr. Raymond, the man who says that ho receives $5 more a ton for cutting government hay than began poor, but now he is rich, and I suppose he sym- accounts for his strange conduct when he visited his | victims last year. He was so poor that the government | sorrowfully admit that he has greatly disappointed bad to transport him from post to post, The journey | Bismarck, ‘There were six of them, but twelve were | entered on the government books. from Stevenson to Buford is along one in winter, Or- them, Facts in these letters will show that this young man of honorable parentage, who was admired by | Ville did noteven buyalunch forthe trip, and he andhis-| with one of his men about the number. The black- ,4 | travelling companions were saved from starvation by rob- | smith aeclared that only six were delivered, and that a wide circle of acquaintances, is now detested by friends and relatives. who know him | deat; that he has violated the in im by the government; that he has starved ne the Indians, robbed the people and disgraced the | Provisiow’s, The chief of traders did offer him $7, but Christian society of which he isa member. It is need- | the soldier courtly said, ‘That does not pay me, sir.” Joss to add that he enjoys the friendship and confidence | 1 have seen few men who met Orville during his visit of the Interior Department, and that Commissioner | W40 do not despise him. This Orville Grant is, or was, Siti As hte, Deck atid thie: the third silent partnor of the firm of Raymond, Sperry At Ripon College he worked hard and was very am- | & 00. bitious. With a wife to support ona small salary he | When Mr. Sperry reached the agency he gave tho | was naturally anxious to find more profitable employ. | Indians and whites to understand thut the reign of the | ment, Then he lad some trouble with the faculty, | Wicked was at an end. When the matter was talked | which made his position unpleasant, When it was de. | Ver in Sherman three objects were in view. First, to termined to remove Mr. Tappan, who was agent here, | Christianize the Indiaus ayd reform the agency ; second, | Mr. Sperry's friends called Commissioner Smith’s | ‘drive away the ‘‘squaw men;” third, to divide the attention to bis ‘many qualifications,” and a few words | legitimate patronage among the faithful. from the Missionary Society got him the appointment. | DEACOS BRALMG, OF MICHIGAN, Of course it is human to look out for one’s friends, | S00n afler tho new order was established, Deacon | Mr. Sperry selected his staff of assistants and | Beales and his daughter arrived from Michigan. He be- prepared to move hither. It was said that the | lieved that the only way to save the Indians was to ¢on- | agent then in charge had defrauded the gov- | Vertthem to Christianity, He told the men who had ernment of large amounts, and bad demoralized ®14W8 that they must turn over # new leaf or leave the the Indians until their condition was most pitiful. Com. | 8°ncy. He was to be boss farmer, the successor of Dave | missioner Smith and the missionary people said tha, SP¢fry, brother of the agent. The deacon was a talka- | the red men must be brought to the Christian fold and | UVe old gentleman, and one day he told a friend how he | tesened from the men who were stealing their annuities | 69t bis appointment, It seems that he carried General and seducing their women, Howard’s brother two barrels of Michigan apples ns s0diiny vo done vedvacic. | Brother Howard is very fond of apples, and when he Mr. Sporty entered on his mission with apparent en- | S¢t bis teeth into one of Deacon Beales’ pippins a peace. Chusiasm. He gathered bis relatives and friends around ft! smile took possestion of his face. Perhaps it is not | bing the driver of his rations. The poor man drove for the route he was not even thanked for his services and tim at Sherman and took the cars for Dakota He | severally known that Newtown pippins grow | (wanted Christian men and women, he said. Thosewho Perfection in Deacon Beales’ nighborhood. Queen Victoria is so fond of them that she | went with him were considered honest and intelligent. Most of them could sing and play. Musical instruments were taken, and the prospect for # noble work among the Indians was really encouraging. Some Michigan and Wisconsin friends who bad received appointments ander the new agent joined him on the route, and there was much rejoicing. As the train rolled over the grand prairies of Dakota they sang sweet hymns, and the passengers were in- vited to join in their worship. What passed through the mind of Mr. Sporry during that meme journey heaven only ‘knows, but the frst thing that he did on reaching Bismarck was to call on Mr. J. W. Raymond, a fellow graduate of Oberlin, ‘as dapat aeaieaccaal tnd now one of the largest merchants between Fort ‘ | Among those whom Mr. Sperry brought to assist him Benton and Yankton. It will be shown in these col- : bpaad nd “agate in his work of reform may be mentioned E. D, Morgans smns that Mr, Sperry’s wicked career dates from this | 6¢ Chentanqua county, agency éngineer, married to | buccaneers A Oa | Sperry’s ‘cousin; D. W. Sperty, assistant farmer and | Fort Berthold agency is situated on the Missouri | brother of Sperry; Stephen Grannis, teamster, married | River, ninety miles by land northwest of Bismarck | “ Sperry’s cousin; Chester Grannis, teamster, son of | Fort Stevenson, 4 military post under command of , Stephen; Mrs Sperry, wifo of agent, teacher. Deacon Dolonel Huston, lies sixteen miles below this agency, | Beales, his accomplished daughter, and all of the rela_ When Mr. Sperry reached Fort Stevenson, and before “ves which Sperry brought out have left the agency be had even set foot on lus reservation, be was met by | !006 0. They soon found that he starved them and | ‘certain Jieutenant who wished to sell him what ig | ™ade them so many false promises that they must get | known as “the company savings.” Sperry refused to | #WaY to save reputation and life, vuy, on the ground that according'to the rules of the | The following is a list of the present employés in the department he mast frst advertise for supplies that | *seucy, with their yearly salaries:— orders a good supply from Michigan every year, The Deacon watched Brother Howard’s counte- bance as it brightened, and at the proper mo- ment he tola him that he was a member of the mission- ary society in New York, und that he had heard | Brother Sperry was to be agent at Berthold, and he wanted the boss farmership. Mr. Howard saw at once tbat the author of such apples was just the man to initiate the savage into the mysteries of agriculture, so | he took another bite, and wrote a letter to friend | Smith in Washington on behalf of Deacon Beales, and in due time the distinguished apple tarmer received his | Appointment. a the Indians might have the benefit of competition. The one! gy ee eee . bow rd | feutenant told him that the old agent had bought of Engineer B. F. Thomas.....-.... : 000 dim, as be sold at the lowest market price. | Boss Farmer William Courtenay. ; | vm ‘ ‘ 3 | Carpenter Harvey Hendrick: : Mr. Sperry then said that he would see- him Blacksmith George Gates . 900 ‘gain, and he went on his way. A few days after | Teamster W. A. King (nep : 900 | ut but when the bil | Herder James Walker. 4 0 that he took the provisions, bu e Np rath edda ‘70 was sent in, and (he lieutenant wished to sell more, Sperry observed sharply that they were too high. The | bilicer did pot agree with him, as the prices were really ‘ower than those asked at the stores’ Mr. Sperry grew Warm, and startled his opponent by saying that be knew | what he was talking about, Raymond, in Bismarck, | agent to the Commissioner, and the most fruitful cause bo said, sold cheaper, in fact he had made arrangements | of it is the small salary allowed the agents. There is no Yo buy his supplies of bim on his first trip up the river, instance in public or private service where men are ox- The Wentenant was completely silenced, but be told pected to asfume 80 much responsibility for $1,500 a his friends that the new agent had proved himself a | year. The sam is an insdlt to a man of capacity and Yar, god he believed him tobe @ scoundrel. For, on | honor. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are to be ac- ‘is first visit, he said he must advertise for Indian sap- , counted for, and the agont’s life is in constant danger, plies according to law, but soon afterward, in the heat | The friends of the retiring agent and the stoolpigeons of Sf discussion, ho acknowledged that he had made a | the ring will circulate the most damaging and malicious bargain to buy of Raymond before he had even seen | stories about any man, no mattor how honest or sin- the Indians which he was to reform. Such was the | cere he may be. Tho contractors and setni-official seginning of the new dispensation under the auspices | thieves of Sioux City, St Paul and Washington ef areligious society and the direction of a Christian | have agents and friends in every town, and tho Vommissioner. | moment they find that they can’t control an agent . oe THE AGENT'S raRTNER | they set about to ruin him by slander, “But,” say JOW. Raymond, who is known as Sperry’s partners | Mr, Sperry’s friends, “you describe Mr. Sperry’s caso bails from Allegheny City, near Pittsburg, a locality | exactly. He is the model agent, the one Christian gen- ‘hich is well represented on the Upper Missouri by tleman on the Missouri River. These stories that you ‘Megmpoatmen who handle the Indian supplies sent to | hear are false. Go to Messra Sperry & Raymond {hat mysterious region. As before stated, ho was edu- | and they will set you right.” I roply that a man who vated at Oberlin, He has done business at different | kills the (ndians’ cattle, sells the beef and sends them ints on the Northern Pacific Railway since ita com- | the entrails, as Mr. Sperry did last winter, is a bad jencement, and his record ie dark all the way from | Teacher — (formerly $600). Interpreter Packenaud Interpreter Pierre.,. ONK OF THE CAUSES OF CORRUPTION, | The entire Indian Department is rotten from the i 400 tn the days when Smith, Wilder & Co, swindled , no entry of it in his cash book, is corrupt. I have seen Indians, and be has much influence with the Wash- | wagon loads of provisions issued to the Indians at this Bing. [shall not repeat the charges that are | place, and I know that they are starved. I have eaten ‘against him whon he was an employé in a store at | at Mr. Sperry’s mosshouse and paid for it and I know late Parepa- | them food and Christian protection. Rosa), besides preachers, lawyers, editors, merchants, | mon, he hoped that they would have no moro to do ex-army offers and post traders, but Mr. Belknap | with the squaws and their heathen practices. | agent, had stolen $44,000, or tried to, but happily he he asked aver his own signature, Mr, Belknap himself | (Sperry) discovered the fraud in time to warn Com- pathizes with such men as Raymond, who grow wealthy | On other occasions, when the “squaw men” were | much by his post trading operations. This probably | tures on religion and the beauties of a moral life, trast placed | Severaldays onan empty stomach, and at the end of | sisted that he bought twelve. Whether he bought | | the effect that when Sperry first came in from the | wagon he ‘said, ‘here are six elbows from Bismarck; | have them pat up.”’ | «the little liar.” | edly. | Christian policy. | ment would shame the pirates of the seventeenth | contemptible kind. For open, shameless robbery on @ 00 | grand scale Raymond is called im, as I shall show in 400 | tance of ninety miles. | Marsh $10 for the ride and put the money in his pocket, deepest alarm among the Missouri river members of the Ring. Raymond wants to seli out, and Sperry has | positively sent his resignation to his friend, the Rev. E. P. Smith, Commissioner at Washington. Inspector Watkins has whitewashed the agency fraud, and taken | Particular pains to write letters to certain parties, saylng that he is satisfied that none of the charges against Sperry are true, My next letter will ‘hrow light on Inspector Watkins’ mode of in- vestigation, ‘The Indians have been in the wildest state of excitement; they have predicted for two months that the “little thief’? would soon go away with the white man’s trons on his wrists, His life is in danger while he stays hero. Recently, when the boat came with annuity goods, a body of Indians took their guns and marched down to the new agency, buildings, more than a mile ‘below, and declared that nothing should be landed there, The boat was forced to come up here to the regular landing and unload. ‘The In- dians say that Sperry wanted to get their goods away from them into the new building go that he could stea them, They openly threaten to burn-the building, Sperry’s resignation is duo entirely to the Hxkaup’s exposures, WELSH'’S LAST WORDS. THE LAW INVOKED TO PUNISH THE ACCUSED OFFICIALS—HOW THE INDIAN SEKVICH MAY BE PURGED OF ITS ABUSES. The following is the sixth and closing letter of the Welsh-Marsh indictment of the officials of the Interior | Department for their alleged misdemeanors and frauds in the conduct of the Indian Bureau of that branch of the government:— Pmtavenenta, Sept. 18, 1875. Professor 0. C, Mansm:— Dear Sin—Tho subject indicated tor this, the sixth and last letter oj the promised series, 18 “A’Summing Up, with Remedial Sa; Lions, ? Your address to the Investigating Commission and your additional testimony, with that of Mr. Samuel Walker and the testimony of Bishop Hare, seem to make @ summing up somewhat superfluous. Indeed, the people, who are not participants in or concealers of frauds upon the government or its wards, almost unani- mously pronounce the officers of the Interior Depart- ment guilty and demand their removal and punishment, ‘Yhe whole deparunent has go long been absorbing poisonous exhalations that it should be thoroughly ven- tilated and poritied before 11 can be a sate depository for trust funds, Secretaries Delano, Cowan and Indian Commissioner Smith know each other intimately, have mutual con- fidence, and their principles are identical. ‘This trio has, after thorough knowledge of the parties and long experience with them, taken two other men into this alliance, both offensive and defensive. I refer to J. W. Bosler, of Carlisle, and A. H. Wilder, of St. Paul, Minn., both very rich men, as is believed. This voluntary union has become as intimate as the involuntary union between the Siamese twins, The guilt of either will attach equally to ail. This is not an uncharitable as- sumption, but follows from their repeated and deliberate words and deeds. The “initiated,” both within and without the Interior Department, assert that De Witt Bosler and Wilder have publicly claimed him as a partner, yet Messrs. Delano, Cowan and Smith have not done so openly. 1 will just here confess to my own innocency of having, for a long time, thorough contl- dence in the Secretary, Assisiant Secretary and Com- missioner of Indian Affairs, domg, perhaps, more: than auy other private citizen to strengthen their hands. Nearly, two years since my eyes were opened by their sured them that he was an honest man, that the Indians them | had been robbed and starved. He had come to give | As for the white He took particular pains to tell them that Tappan, the former | { missioner Stnith and stop the payment of the vouchers. waching him too closely for comfort, he gave them lec- A TRANSACTION IN SKKT IRON, About this time he bought some stove-pipe elbows in He had some words only six were mentioned in the bill, bat Sperry in- twelve or fifty, all the workmen agree that no more than six were ever found, aud the man who put them up says the same thing. An affidavit can be shown to Aman who knows Sperry well says that ifhe has a chance to make a dollar honestly and easily, and a chance to swindle the government out of ten cents at the risk of his reputation, he will go for tne ten centa every time, The Indians are more graphic in their figures of speech. They paint him this way:— | “He is little, but his pockets are deep.” “He is small, but he fills a large room.”? ‘Their household name for him is “the little thief,” They not only speak of him in this way among themselves, but they address him so to his | face. They have told him hundreds of times that he robs them, and they have threatened his life repeat, Their hatred of him is something frightful. His pretended regard for their souls is mockery, and all that he has ever done for them, except in the way of | limited agriculture, is a burlesque on the Christian religion. A PIELD POR HONEST MEN, There never was a better opening for a kind and faithful missionary, Deacon Beales’ daughter was a good woman, The record that she has left among | these Indians is an everlasting rebuke tothe shoddy venders of mock morality, such as Sperry and his apologists, Miss Beales was a teacher bere, and I have never heard a word said against her. The “squaw men,” the Indians, and the enemies of Sperry all unite in saying that she was a noble Christian philanthropist—as practical as she was good, It is such persons as she that are needed among the Indians at the agencies. These sham missionaries which Smith sent out to rob and rule the Indians, have not the least'sympathy with them in any respect. Sperry has moved his quarters nearly two miles away from the place where they have lived for long years, because he hates and despises the poor peo- ple whom ho starves and swindles, FATHER DE SMET has left testimony that cannot be overturned. THe tray- elled everywhere nearly half a century ago, and until his death, a few years since, he was received by the tribes with open arms, and he has been their friend from the day that he left the colleges of Europe until he laid down his life in their behalf. Sperry’s philan- thropy is the philanthropy of the Forty thieves, and he is no more to be compared with De Smet than Dick Turpin is to be compared with John Howard. Asa Protestant, I protest against calling our Indian policy a Ihave visited the Catholic agency at Standing Rock, the Methodist agency at Fort Peck, and lastly the Congregational agency here at Fort Berthold, As an employé told me the other day, their manage- century. Sperry’s chief forte is in petty stealing of the most future letters, While Marsh was trader during the earlier part of Sperry’s administration he had occasion | to ride with the agent from Bismarck to Berthold, a dis- ‘The horses that drew the vehi- cle belonged to the government. Sperry charged THE AGENT'S RESTAURANT, Sperry’s cooking establishment is quite profitable; but, like Brother Orville, he says that he makes nothing, The mess contains from ten to twenty porsons, Every | employ6 except the agent is charged $25 a month. | Sperry says that the Commissionor gave hun permission | So the clerk (who | does twice the work done by Sperry), the boss farmer | to charge this sum or $300 a year. and all but bis wife have t pay thelr board, At Fort Peck and other agencies no one ever dreamed of paying for meals, especially if eraployed by the agency. Employés are fed at the expense of the government | fled me that he had cast in his lot with A. H. Wilder, | refused $1 60, transacions with A. H’ Wilder and J. W. Bosler, who seemed to control some branches of the department My observation was aiso quickened by a professed de- sire on the part of the Secretary and Assistant Secre- tary to md the department of fraudulent practices known to exist, while they invariably impugned the | motives and attacked the character of those who prof- fered their assistance im unearthing and remedying fraudulent practices, Two illustrations of this flash idly beiore me:— First—Mr. Delano rendered me no assistance when I engaged single handed in the fight with the bold de- frauders of the government, backed by General Parker, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, Covert attacks upon meand my motives, emanating from thé Interior De- partment and the White House, were telegraphed all over the country, But right triumphed, notwithstand- ing official sneers, Necond—When reliable documents, confirmed by the partial confession of Indian Commissioner Smith, satis- and had departed from the paths of truth and honesty, I felt in honor bound to so inform Secretary Delano. He certainly did not thank me for my.frankness, as I hope ever to thank any gentleman who puts me on my guard about any oilicer under my supervision. He during a long conversation, said it had been suggested thyt [desired to be Commissioner of Indian Affairs. ‘This was so supremely ridiculous that, instead of being vexed at the intentional insult, 1 was amused and in- terested at the fertility of mvention manifested by the Indian Ring to destroy the force of testimony against their nefarious practices, This illustration is the more forcible because Secretary Delanocertainly knew that I have a life work in trying to incorporate’ the masses of our working people into the Church, and that I could not be drawn aside by any political oifice in the gift of man. . ‘The guilt of J. W. Bosler, the fraudulent but favored beef contractor, has been too clearly shown to need | further comment, and when he is compelled to restore to the Treasury all that he hos taken from it illegally there will be a humiliating | revelation, A. H. Wilder, of Minnesota, the still more highly favored ring contractor and personal friend of Secretaries Delabo and Cowan and of Indian Commissioner Smith, has made an open confession, showing that he is out of prison only because of the supineness or complicity of the officers of the Interior Department. Since the date of my last letter Wilder, over his own signature, admitted thut he and his chief | clerk, Samuel Gordon, conspired together to defraud the government by the manufacture of false vouchers, on which they obtained money from the Treasury of the United States, General Cowan, in a public letter addressed te me, and more recently in telegrams, tried to excnse him: self for a fraudulent transaction with Wilder by quo- ting from the fabulous report of a Delano investigating commission, If that transaction ever comes before a | competent legal tribunal, it will undoubtedly be | proved that General Cowan and the Rev. E. P. Smith | conspired with A. H. Wilder to defraud the Chippewa Indians for over $1,000,000 in a single transaction, and we will then learn how the profits were to be divided. It is true that my friend Bishop Whipple, acting not under the guidance of his head, but under the impulses of his large heart, which yearns toward the clergy, said he thought the Kov. E. P. Smith had no fraudulent intent, But in the same letter he gave a forcible illustration of Pope's adage “damning with faint praise” by saying, “I believe that the sale was a mistake and illegal; that he had no right to sell it with- out the consent of the Indians, to whom it belonged; that the mode of the sale (without advertising), and in one parcel, and to extend over twenty years, was un- wise.’’ The Bishop also added this clause:—‘‘A gentle- man of the highest character has offered to pay $2 per thousand for this pine, under the same contract, and at once repay Mr Wilder for his advance, The contract with Mr. Wilder was at $1 15 per thousand, although the Rev, E. P, Smith had sold a portion of this timber belonging to certain of the Indians at $1 60 per thousand, subject to their approval. This last. named contract’ was cancelled because the Indians disapproved, and yet Mr. Smith immediately after sold the same ‘timber to Wilder at $1 15, with the full knowledge that the Indians had The offer by Bishop Whipple would have given $500,000 additional to the Indians, while, if sold in lots at $3 per thousand, the market value, as testified to beiore the committee of the Minnesota Legislatare, it would have produced $1,250,000 over the contract to Wilder. General Cowan and Indian Commissioner Smith concealed this sale even from Secretary Delano, as he averred, and then induced the Board of Indian Commissioners to favor Wilder with beef contracts at rather higher rates than other bidders, which contracts would not have been given to him had the Commis- sioners known of the illegal and fraudulent sale of pine timber, or had they suspected that Messrs. Delano, Cowan’ or Smith had any joint transactions with Wilder. It seems, however, to be a waste of time to dwell on these disgraceful transactions, except to incite the President and tne people to demand of the law officers of the district or of the general poe the arrest of the officers of the Interior Department, in accordance with the following letter, which the organ of the adininistration says is of general application, although originally directed to the Secretary of the Treasury :— Let no guilty toan escape if it can be avoided. Be spect- ally vigilant, and instruct those engaged In the prosecution of fraud to bo againse all who insinuate tbat they’ have high influence to protect them. No personal considerations should stand in the way of performing public duty. U. 8. GRANT. As an additional incentive to such action I will en- deavor to show how the Secretary of the Interior, the Assistant Secretary and the Commissioner of Indian Atlairs have cach been guilty of a gross “misde- meanor in ofilee,”” Executive document No. 123, For- ty-third Congress, first session, shows that Secretary C, Delano has, over his own signature, confessed w a knowledge of, and a participation in, the repeated viola- tion of a jaw of the United States made to protect its treasury and its Indian wards. The Secretary there coufessed to a knowledge of the following statute:— “By an act of Congress approved July 15, 1870 (statutes vol. 16, p. 960), it was made ‘the duty of said Commis- sioners to supervise all expenditures of money appro- priated for the benefit of Indians in the United States tho same as soldiers. Thoir salaries are small and they ought not to be obliged to pay, But allowing that Sperry is right in making these exceptional charges, there 1s no honest reason why he should keep the pro- ceeds as he does, unless he buys his provisions with his own money and employs a cook that is not paid by the government; yet he uses the Indians’ provisions and pockets the money, | he got a man from Bismarck to run his mess in bis own name, but the provisions are stolen as usual and the manager Of this mess is carried on the rolls as assistant farmer at $000 a year and paid out of the government man; that a man who keeps boarders on the Indians’ | py nqg, to Fort Berthold, He had astore at Oak Lake | provisions and puts the money in his pocket and makes | RING OFFICIALS RESIGNING—AN ALARM ALONG THE LINE, Fort Breton, Dakota, Sept, 18, 1975, The Hegaup’s investigations continue to excite the Sinee I began my investigations | 8, and to inspect all goods purchased for said Indians in | connection with the Comunissioner of Indian Affairs, whose duty it shall be w consult said Commissioners ‘mn making purchases of such goods, This provision | is part of the Indian Appropriation bill, As the | Commissioner of Indian Affairs has no author- | ity to make any purchase until after he has con- | sulted with Board of Indian Commission- | ers appointed by the President, any attem on his part to act independently of them in making purchases was a clear violation of law, Tho Secretary of the Interior and Assistant Secretary, after having been notitied by the Board of Indian Commis. sioners of such contracts and purchases in violation of Jaw, and after the Board had remonstrated again: | for goods thus illegally purchased, not only violat | law by paying, but, by uniting with the Commissioner of Indian Affairs in Violating a law, they committed @ criminal misdemeanor, Comimissioner Parker, when before the investigating committee of Congress, at tho instance of his lawyer, attempted to excuse himself for violating this law by sayit he thought goods only applied to dry goods, therefore he did not consult the jourd of Indian | Commissioners in statement of the expenditure of Clinton Wheeler, of Buckley, Welling & Co., of New | the money. The followin; voucher, rae by Second York, is the head centre of this alliance and | Auditor French because of its illegality and irregularity, & most skilful lobbyist, I will not refer | was afterward paid under a peremptory order from again to him in this letter, for although | General Cowan when acting Secretary of the Interior, being his own bill for both mileag Mileage to Fort Benton and return (6,003 miles, at ten cents),. BCA UMHS yuta.s "$606 30 Commnaialioe of personal expenses (106 days at eee tee eee tenes tee eeeeeeeerees Expenses of Daniel Burke (messenger of Interior Department)...... ta dectoesenss C180 DOWLS sasiselsnassins sae deenaieh aanaaes xaos ces CIE: The clerks in the Interior Department aud'in the Second Auditor's office not only knew of this violation of the law, but many of them ‘also knew that a large part of the journey had been performed at th of the governinent or of the coutractors. good citizen, will demand that the law officers government make an example of those who are now at the head of the Interior Department and Indian | Otfice similar measures of reform can soon be extended to other departments, and the expenses of the general government reduced one-third, Then reforms can be extended to State and municipal governments, where also at least one-third of the cost can be save any decrease of efliciency. | ing to throw off this yoke of bondage, When walking with HERALD, “MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1875.-TRIPLE SHEET. tho extent of millions’ of doliaw” pps Del Assistan' ares and Indian it Secretary cuenuaivoes Smith had the repo Sional investigating committee in their possession, from which they learned that for this’ contemptible quibble Comnussioner Parker was Severely censured by the and that the language of the law was inter- rally and impressed emphatically. They also new that this clause was inserted by Co! to give be one ee aan Commissionsre Risk control over ey, that ster might check exist- ing frauds in the Indian service, otwithstanding thi itappears from the executive document just rete to that within six months contracts amounting to be- tween $400,000 and $500,000 were made without con- sultation with the Indian Commissioners, chiefly b £. P. Smith, Commissioner of Indian Afiairs, ‘with Wilder and other members of the Indian ring. The executive document also shows that tho Secre- tary of the Interior and Assistant Secretary paid notwithstanding the retusal for these illegal contracts, of the Board of Indian Commissiuners to approve them, The Secretary of the Interior appended signature to the report of these open and it violati Jaw—a report made under louse of Representatives calling on “the President to state the extent of contracts, purchases and expenditures of the Indian service made since July 1, 1873, without con- ference with the Board of Indian’ Commissioners ap- pointed by the President.” The Board of Indian Com- missioners, comprising Messrs, brunot, Cam Stuart, Bishop ——, Dodge, Farwell, Tobey and Lang. made these violations of the law the subject of a special report to the President, It was, therefore, well known to all the officers of the Interior Department, This misdemeanor in oflice was certainly more flagrant than apy other on recoi because the President selected some of the best men in the nation to aid in protecting the Treasury of the United States, under a law enacted with his sanction, and yet in defiance of the remonstrances of this Board of Indian Commissioners, the Secretary of the Interior and the Assistant Secretary, acting for him, paid millions of dollars in direct violation of a law of the United States, thus wampling it under foot and virtually dismissing these guardians of the ‘reasury. It is true that the Secretary of the Interior had a discretion lodged with him to pay at his own risk legal vouchers, even if objected to by the Board of Indian Commissioners, but this authority did not extend vo purchases made again and again in dtrect violation of a law of thegUnited States. Another point that should be considered by the law officers of the District and of the general government is the payment by the Secretary of the Interior of vouchers not only declared to bo fraudulent by the Board of Indian Commissioners, but where frauds can still be proved before any com- petent tribunal, Surely the Hon, C. Delano is bound to Tepay money so abstracted from the Treasury, Somo mode of preventing the Secretary of tho Interior from getting money for illegal and fraudulent vouchers shouid be devised. Under existing laws his order on. the Treasury is supreme, and there does not seem to be any check by the officers who audit his accounts, Tho ‘Treasury Department does not itemize appropriations for Indians, although the law is thus enacted. The jooseness with which the Secretary of the Interior keeps his accounts is shown in executive document No, 123, where, under an order from the House of Representatives, he gave an account of “tho extent and nature of expenditures for the Indian service.’ One item is $32,000 paid to R. Joseph, treas- urer, in coin, to sell for currency. How the currency was disposed of does not appear. Another is $243,743 paid to Hon. ©. Delano, as trustee of various Indian tribes, but there is no fe and commutation, in violation of law and custom:— ; expen: Ifyou, as o of the ‘thout It is idle to suppose that any political party in power will retorm itself, It is not, however, idle to suppose that the intelligent peo- ple of this nation, as soon as they realize their impov- erishment by these frauds, and when their sufferings become still more severe and general, will demand the nomination of honest men for all tho oflices that are now sought for or filled by plunderers, The following statement is startling, and if carefully pondered by every taxpayer it will surely assist in inciting the great body of working people to demand a reformation in every tax-laying govern- ment. The expenditures of the Unived States govern- ment for tive years prior to June 80, 1861, were $540,000,000, while $3,$67,000,000 were expended dur- ing tho ‘following five years ending June 30, 1868. Of this large expenditure, it is believed by many intelli- gent and close observers, that one-third would have been saved if the contracts had been made and the money expended honestly and as intelligently as suc- cesstul business men expend their money, This saving would have been nearly $1,289,000,000, which sum, at the legal interest of six percent, compounded for nine years, gives $2,177,000,000, or rather more than the existing national debt, lest ‘the money on hand in the | ‘Treasury. Many of the State and city expenses nave increased about in the same ratio, with, at least, as large a proportion of fraud, as is illustrated by the wealth of office holders and ‘the poverty of the people, At least nine-tenths of the voters are honest and suf- ficiently intelligent to protect their interests when tacts | are clearly placed before thea. Your open advocacy of honesty toward the helpless wards of the nation is pro- ducing so profound a sense of disgrace, owing to obvious governmental injustice to them, that I hope the reform likely to be produced in that department will soon extend to other departments, until it becomes revolu- tionary, discarding political plunderers and placing the government inthe hands of the people, to whom it rightly belongs, To the timid and hopeless this may seem Utopian, but the imprisonment of officials first in New York city, then in that State, and latterly in Schuylkill county, Pennsylvania, makes me hopeful that the people, long enslaved by political dynasties, aro resolv- General Anderson, of Fort Sumter celebrity, during the darkest period of the lave fearful rebellion, I directed his attention to the forlorn aspect of a national ensign that had been nailed to the flagstaff, The wintry storms | had sadly frayed the stripes of red and white repre- senting the thirteen original States, but the blue field was still entire, with its stars equalling in number the existing States. To my question, Is\it not sad that our people and their property are even thus wasting away ? the General replied, “Yes, looking sadly for the tno- ment, and then instantly a smile revealed a hopeful thought. Ho said, “Look, seo! not a single star has ne; 80, after this wasting war ceases every State will the more firmly fixed in the Union.” If this hope- ful prophetic vision bad not been realized our coming | Centennial would haye been celebrated in sadness, if at all, Even now it car! only be made lustrous and bene- ficial by the people of this great nation again evincin; true patriotism by demanding freedom from a political thraldom possibly more demoralizing and wasting than African bondage. REMEDIAL MBASURES IN THE INDIAN SERVICE, It is a hopetul sign that the measures necessary to protect the Indian in his rights and to promote his civilization are receiving more consideration than ever before, and that the press and the people demand it of the government. The experiment of taking the nommation of Indian agents from politicians and intrusting it to the various missionary organizations was a successful temporary expedient. Experience has demonstrated that the experiment was justiflabl but itcan never become a permanent government principle. Indeed, there would be almost equal pro- priety in calling upon the churches to nominate for all other governmental offices, It will be a virtual | acknowledgment of the partial failure of the republi- can form of government when the Church is applied to for protection against Congressional patronage. It is true that the Society of Friends has special fitness for this work, because of the beneficence and remark- able self-sacrificing <evotion of its members, and be- cause the work <r nominating agents and supervising agencies is cc.nmittod entirely (experienced laymen, without au© jealousy on tho part of its ministers, In other religious bodies missionary organizations aro usually managed by ministers, educated in theological seminaries and not in the business world, They are, by the nature of their calling, unsuspicious, and dro too often imposed on by sharp-witted office seekers or office holders. A permanent alliance of the general government with churches has hitherto been deomed inexpedient and tending to secularize or demoralize the Christian ministry. Few, if any, statesmen are dis- posed to recommend the continuance of the present as @ permanent system, The transferring the care of the Indians to the War Department is gaining in favor and has many advantages, It 18 hardly likely that by any other plan Indian agents will, upon the average, be as honest and intelligent ag if composed of army’ officers. The Commissary and Quartermaster’s departments are so efficiently organ- ized that great facilities would be given in supplies and transportation. Many of the officers are the best and most intelligent friends of Indians I have ever met | with. As a temporary expedient at the commencement of President Grant’s administration the use of officers as Indian agents was not objectionable, because its ad- vantages fur outweighed the disadvantages of continu- ing the old class of Indian agents, 1 then had a good opportunity of looking into the workings of that sys- tem, and became satisfied tl it would be unwise to transfer the {udian service to the War Departinent for many reasons, among which are the following :— First—The Uanger to a republic if the power of the | military arm of the government is unduly increased and exiended beyond its legitimate sphere, This has been demonstrated of late years during the unsettled | condition of some of the Southern States, Second—The difficulty in rejecting officers who are profane or otherwise immoral, and of Laake ring men who have business habits and are interested in Indian civilization, Third—Tho dissatisfaction of army officers when taken from the line of promotion and settled permanently on ‘an Indian reservation, as they are compelled to do work that is usually distasteful and at variance with the pro- fession to which they are devoted, Fourth—The difficulty in the War Department of ad- ministering all the complicated trusts and accounts with the various Indian tribes, It may not be ne to enumerate other equal: cogent reasons, as General Sherman and Gene: Harney, Augur and mast be viewed as com- potent having athorough knowl. | Company of Providence, judges in High edge of partment, Coy more intimate, the War Dey Practica knowledge of Indians any other men that cam be named. I therefore make the following extract from their report to the Preaident of, the United States, dated January 7, 1863:—‘We believe the Indian question to be one of such momentous import- ance, as it respects both the honor and interests of the nation, as to require for its proper solution an undi- vided responsibility, The vast and complicated duties now devolved upom the Secretary of the Interior leave him too little time to examine and determine the multiplicity of questions necessarily connected with the government and civilization of arace. Tho same may be said of the Secretary of War, As things now are, it is difficult to fix responsibility. When errors are committed the civil department blames the military; the military retort by the charge of inefil- ciency or corruption inst the officers of the burea’, The Commissioner of Indian Affairs escapes responsi- bility by pointing to the Secretary of the Interior, while the Secretary may well respond that, though im theory he may be responsi! tically he is gov- erned by the head of the onl Ve, therefore, reo ommend that Indian affairs be committed to an inde~ pendent bureau or doy ent, Whether the head of the department should be made a member of the Prosi- dent’s Cabinet is a matter for the discretion of Congress and yourself, and may be as well settled without any 8 ions from us,” ly own observation and reflection brought me to the same conclusion, which, I think, will also now be con- curred in by every fair-minded man who is intelligent in Indian affairs. It ts not without precedent, as is seen in the establishment ot the Bureau of Agriculture, The Lighthouse Board forms another striking illustration, as it has performed its work Pesce sey honestly and without reproach since its formation, the year 1852” T know of no other department of the remanent that retained its full integrity during the fearful temptation to peculation caused by the rebel- lion. It consists of two officers of the navy and two ollicers of the engineer corps of the army, of high rank, and two eminent civihans, all of them appointed by the President, the Secretary of the Treasury being «x officio president of the Board, but rarely serving. A. bureau charged with the care of the nation’s Indian wards may be made equally eflicient, if the judges of the Supreme Court are authorized to nominate to the President of the United States, for his rejection or ap- pointment, the nan or the men to Der cuarged with all the restraining and civilizing influences decreed by Congress for the care of Indians. If this board is com- posed of two oilficers of the army, not below the rank of colonel, and of two civilians of intelligence and ex- perience, they might be the permanent superviso and be intrusted with the nomination to the President of one or more executive oflicers, tu be charged with all the business appertaining to the offic. Confirma- tion by the Senate in each case should be a prerequisite when that body is in session, These mecgeehinny, ag to the mode of forming the board are crude, and I would be perfectly content with a nomination to the Senate by the President, provided it is distinctly understood that appropriations for the Indians are to be placed beyond the domain of political patronage, To give the permanency absolutely Recessary to promote the civilization of Indians the members of this board should not be changed, ex- cept for misfeasance or malfeasance in office. Indiana will be quite prepared to modify their treaties if they acquire confidence in the integrity and stability of those who stand between them and the government, Pray do use your influence to produce this change, which will be less difficult now than ever before, be- cause it is popular, and because the political patronage bitherto so highly prized has been taken from mem- bers of Congress and committed to missionary associa- tions, Asl have never had the pleasure of meeting you it seems right that I should close with this briet Statement. Tho advocacy of the Indian causo was forced upon me by the Indians themselves and by their best friends and also by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, Yours, respectfully, WILLIAM WELSH. NEW JERSEY’S CONSTITUTION. eee AN INTERVIEW WITH BISHOP CORRIGAN’S ‘‘ALTED KGO"—SENATOR TAYLOR ON THE TWELFTB AMENDMENT—HOW POLITICIANS ARE AFFECTED, It is now nearly two weeks since the special election was held in New Jersey touching the constitutional amendments, but the maelstrom which swept them through into the body of the fundamental law of the State has not yet entirely subsided. There is still blowing quite a breeze over the whole subject, emanat- ing from unwise action, bad management and bigotry and ignorance on the part of the religionists of the State. Bishop Corrigan’s circular to his clergy, counselling them to advise their respective congregations to “make assurance doubly sire” and prevent Church property from being taxed by “striking out the whole ballot,” is still the theme of general discussion in the State, but public opinion is not appreciably changed since election. ‘There is, however, a much more general expression on the part of the intelligent Catholics that it would have been infinitely better if the Bishop had kept his hands clean of the whole affair, better for the Church and better for Catholics as individual citizens, However that may be, the evidence is overwhelming that, but for the Bishop’s letter, the amendments would probably have gone by default, That letter acted in the face ot Jersey Protestants as avred rag does flaunted in the face of a Spanish bull. With a view to obtaining authentic information touch ing the origin of the Bishop’s action a Heraup repre sentative had an interview with the right reverend gen tleman’s “second self,” the Very Rev. G, H. Doang Vicar General and Chancellor of the diocese, The Vicar General insisted that the Catholic Union, which toob the initiative in she opposition, was acting not on the offensive, as had boon widely charged, but on the de fensive, a Protestant circular having frst been issued and published, calling upon Protestants to support th amendments ‘as against Catholics He asks whether the latter had not an equal right with the former ta issue circulars, and why it was that one was found s¢ | much fault with, but none whatever with the other! ‘With regard to the Bishop's circular the Vicar General said that many influential Protestants had askeo whether Catholics could be advised to vote against the | twelfth paragraph or amendment, the one doing away with the Five Counties or Mortgage act, Nothin; however, was donb, as it was thought, as the seque sowed, that interference would do more harm than good, and raise AN INTOLERANT HUE AND CRY, instead of securing a fair consideration of the merits ot the case, Subsequently it was discovered that the bal- lots sent all over the State by the Catholic Union re- tained the twelfth paragraph. “It was thought,’? con- tinued the very reverend father, ‘that that paragraph might have a wider sweep than the mere doing away with the Five Counties act, and might result in taxing churches, colleges, schools, orphan asylumns, hos- pitals, &c., and that if Catholics used the ballot | provided them by the union they might be voting for such @ measure. It was then and then only that tha Bishop’s circular was sent out, the object of which was to prevent a use being made of the ballot which every Catholic would regret. Examination into the matter since shows that what was feared will not be the result of the carrying this amendment. 1 have been informed by Senator Taylor, President of the New Jersey Senate, that the property referred to will not, under the twelfth paragraph, besubiect to taxation. Senator Taylor was a member of the commission which pro- posed the amendment. One of the results of the rous- ing of religious prejudices is that a large number ot prominent Catholics affiliated with politics and dis- posed to run for office nave quietly withdrawo. But the political end of this subject is not yet.” SHAKY INSURANCE COMPANIES. WHY WAS THE LICENSE OF THE PROVIDENCE CITY COMPANY REVOKED? The revocation of the license of the City Insurance RL, which empow- ered it to transact business and take risks in this State, has caused considerable comment among parties interested in the insurance business. It was thought that a wholesale crusade was about to be made against companies which have been either doing bus- iness in New York without a license, or who have been taking fraudulent risks, ‘The arrival in this city of Mr, Orlow W. Chapman, Superintendent of Insurance, gave color to this rumor, but when called upon by a Heratp reporter Mr, Chapman disclaimed all knowledge of any crusade. In regard to the City Insurance Company of Providence, he explainea that when any company out of the State of New York desired to transact business within its limits, said company had first to furnish a list to the insurance department of their authorized agents, before they could legally issue any policies, It frequently occurs that a company decides to withdraw its business from the State, in which event the agenv’s license is revoked, as in the case of the company mon- tioned. Mr, Chapman further said that frequently a company, rather than undergo an examination of its affairs by the authorized State Commissioners, with- draws from doing business in the State, When asked if there was nota large amount of insurance businesa transacted in the State by unauthorized agents of companies, and, if so, what was the penalty attached in the event of detection, Mr. Chapman replied:— ‘The Insurance Department of the State is not only a very important but a comprehensive one, It takes in life, fire, marine and accident companies, There was a law passed last winter which authorized any indivi- dual or corporation interested in insurance matters to prosecute agents doing business illegally and in tho event of conviction the penalty attached is $500 fine. But few convictions have been made, however, for whenever the attention of the Attorney General of’ the State has been called to a case, as a rule he has referred it to the District Attorney of the county where the alleged offence has been committed, The district attor- neys generally have been lax in prosecuting and so the cases were let drop. The Board of Underwriters, hogy- ever, can at any time prosecute, as they are partics in- terested in the eyes of the law, but as an initia(ry step to the prosecution the complainant must furnish bonds for the costs of the suit in the event of his failure to convict,” Mr, Chapman said that he made it-an absolute rule never to express any opmion of the affairs of any com- pany previous to an examination, and reiterated the assertion that his presence in New York had no connec- tion with any propos, f ”’ but that he was hero simply to attend nap fel @ National Insurance Commission, which is to be to nigh