The New York Herald Newspaper, February 22, 1876, Page 3

NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1876—TRIPLE SHEET. WASHINGTON. Latest Movement of ‘the Politicians Against Secretary Bristow. JUDGE PIERREPONT’S POSITION. & # The Military Committee and the Expenditures of the War Department. Trouble in the Unhappy Fam- ily of Democrats. The Centennial Appropria- tion in Danger. The Contest Over the Place of Meeting of the Democratic Convention. FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, Wasmuxarox, Feb. 21, 1876. WHE INTRIGUES FOR THE REMOVAL OF BRIS- TOW—A BLOW AT THE SECRETARY THROUGH SOLICITOR WILSON—FEARS OF THER REFUB- GIOAN KEADERS FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE PARTY—"‘THIS THING MUST BE STOPPED, ‘ae Foe who are determined to get Secretary Bristow out'of the Cabinet comprehend the extreme awkwardness of forcing him out, They b: m for “ y woeks trying to worry him out by pelly ani of which the constant false rumors of iween himself and the President, of high words and violent scenes, have formed a part, at Senators, close friends of the President, Shave tried to make troubic, and all kinds of means have been used to disgust the Secretary with his posi- ton. ‘As, however, Mr. Bristow has gone on quictly with bis work, and gives no sign of a desire to retire before the whiskey prosecations are completed, the Whiskey Ring and the baser kind of politicians have hit upon a new plan, one which shows the extremity of their distress and the urgency with which they pursue their object. They now propose to persuade the Presi- dent to remove Bluford Wilson, the Solicitor of the Treasury. As this intrigue may succeed, it is well for the public to understand precisely what it means. The Solicitor of the Treasury is an officer ander the Attorney Gen- eral, but with special duties which are defined in seo tion 876 of the Revised Statutes, which are in these words :— The Solicitor of the Treasury, under the direction of the Secretary of. aie Trepeery. shall take cognizance of all frauds or attempted fra upon the revenue and shall exercise a general supervision over the measures for their prevention and detection and for the su tion of persons charged with the commission thereof, He has thus a limited bat very important range of duties imposed apon bim, in the performance of which he is amenable to the orders of the Secretary of the Treasury alone, and not to the Attorney General. He is to fact the right arm of the Secretary in all matters relating to the detection, preveation and punishment of frauds on the revenue, concerning all which matters various sections of the Revised Statutes give the Secre- tary of the Treasury the control, to the exclusion of, the Attorney General. ‘ ‘The Solicitor of the Treasury is appointed by the President, by and with the consent of the Senate, and be may, of course, be removed by the President. It is easy to sce that to make the office effective for the de- {eption, prevention and punishment of fraud on the Fevenue it is absolutely necessary that'the Secretary ‘and the Solicitor sball be in the closest harmony, and ‘there is no douvt that the thoroughness with which the whiskey thieves have been prosecuted under Mr, Bristow’s management is due, in a great measure, to thg fact that the Solicitor has been as earnest, as zeal (@&s 20d as indomitable as the Secretary bimself, and bas very ably executed whatever the Secretary planned. To remove the Solicitor without the consent of the Secretary would at any time be to cripple that officer. To remove Solicitor Wilson would be to strike a fatal blow ut the efficiency‘ of the Secretary, ‘and those who mean to force Mr. Bristow out of the Cabinet comprehend this perfectly. They take it for granted that he will resist Solicitor Wilson’s removal, and that, if the President can be brought to tnsist upon Mand does actually remove Mr. Wilson, this will make Mr. Bristow resign at once. There is a good @ecal of reason to believe that they are right. It is not ‘easy to see how he could retain his office when his ehief lieutenant, who has, under bis orders, carried on go courageously and thoroughly the war against the ‘whiskey thieves, is flung out in disgrace. ‘The real question is not what would Mr. Bristow do ifthe Solicitor were removed, but will the President take the serious responsibility of removing him? This responsibility Would be very nearly as graveand awk- | ward as to force the Secretary bimself out of the Cabinet. It has for its only object to do that. and it would cripple at once the whiskey prosecutions in Chicago, Milwaukee and elsewhere, for a new man could not effectively take up the tangled threads of the ihvestigations which have gone on for months in those places. The country may as well understand that the ejection of Solicitor Wilson means protection tothe prominent and influential whiskey thieves in the North- ‘west and at New Orleans. Will the President take the responsibility and the odium of such astep? And can he persuade his Cabinet to sbare both with him, as they must if they consent? Can the Attorney General, of whose staff the Solicitor is a member, afford, in view of what has passed, to consent to his sacrifice? ‘These are questions which are eagerly discussed hero, because they vitally interest a great many per- sons. A revolt in the Cabinet, for instance, leading to the resignation of its most important members, ‘would be an uncommonly interesting event to a good many ambitious souls here, who would like places for themselves or their friends, though it 1s difficult te see how any reputable public man could be per- Buaded to take a place vacated under such circum. Blances. A disorganization of the whiskey prosecutions, alrcady mysteriously stoppea at Chicago as though ‘waiting upon some coming event, would relieve the fears of a great number of persons, some of them of Mot slight political tmportance. Finally, it is a lamentable fact that the disappearance of Mr. Bristow and the stoppage of the whiskey prose- cations would not grieve some prominent republican candidates for the Presidency, who have got very tired of this everlasting ery of “E-con-o-my, sir, and re- trench-ment, sir!’ as one of them is reported to have Bardonically remarked. The theory of these persons is that if they can only get Mr. Bristow out of the ‘Treasury—no matter how—the scandal will be forgotten before the Cincinnati Convention meets, and they expect that Mr. Bristow will sink !nto obscurity as oon a8 Joses power and public position, If you talk with the follower and echo of one of these politi- Clans ho will tell you that:— “It Is high time to stop this thing,’’ and he will Gad that “there is no statesmanship in {t” and that “it is barting the party, sir,” and that “there is a higher kind of than going about with informers and spies, sir,”” And if you don’t take care, when this eloquent patriot gets excited, he will spit tobacco juice all over you, while be covers poor Bristow with curses, Please to ‘anderstand that bis principal does not talk so mach at yandom, nor in the hotel lobbies at all, Meantime I do not believe that either Mr. Bristow or Solicitor Wilson is going oak 1 do not believe the President will ask them, and 1 do not believe they wil! go out unasked, General Grant has no doubt felt bit- torly the indictment and trial of General Babcock. He may, for aught I know, bave evon resented the convic- tion of some of his old friends in St, Louis; but he can- fot mean to do that which would destroy both his own good name and bis party’s hope of success, and I shall continue to believe, in spite of the ramor mongers and fn spite of what really seem to be the probabilities, that dhe President will remst the importanities of bis fale tagomuze I. | | | friends and designing politicians and do his duty to the country. 2 THE ATTORNEY GENERAL REQUESTED TO EX- PLAIN HIS LETTER TO THE DI§TRICT ATTOR- NEYS. : Mr. Scott Lord, democratic member from the Utica district, to-day called the attention of the House of Representatives to the letter of Atvorney General Pier- repont to the district attorneys, and on bis motion Mr, Pierrepont was asked to imform the House by what au- thority and for what purpose he recently gave instruc- tions to his subordinates in relation to the testimony of accomplices, thus overruling all precedent, The resolution wad adopted without a dissenting vote. Mr. Pierrepont’s answer is looked for with some curiosity. His letter is regarded by many lawyers who have, by late discussions, been led to examine it, to be not only, as ur. Lord’s resolution says, contrary to all precendents in threatening informers and tending to discourage witnesses, as Judge Black said of it, but an illegal in- terference by the Attorney General in matters which the statutes take from his control. Sections 3215 and 838 and others of the Revised Statutes, place the district attorneys, so far as the management of revenue cases is concereed, entirely under the control ofthe Secretary of the Treasury and leave the Attor- ney General noroom for interference. He would hi done well to explain this to the President when he was directed thus to interfere. FROM OUR REGULAR CORRESPONDENT, Wasmixotox, Fob. 21, 1876. THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION AND ITS PLACE OF MEETING. A member of Congress from Kansas stated to-day that ten members of the Democratic National Executive Committee bave given their pledges to vote in favor of holding the Convention in St. Louis. The general impression prevails, however, that Cincinnati will be agreed upon. In the canvassing made to-day a strong feeling was discovered in favor of holding it at Boston. The committee will meet to-morrow. It seems to be pretty generally understood that the time of meeting will be fixed on to take place after the Republican Con- vention has been held and an opportunity given the democrats to ascertain the substance of their platform and to prepare declarations and steps to strongly an- ‘Mr papel, of Bostof, the of the committee, regrets the probability of this and is in favor of hoiding the Convention at the earliest moment practicable without waiting and of taking the aggres- sive with the simple watchword of *Reform,” without allowing the party to be betrayed into the discussion or distracting consideration of outside issues upon which the various elements of the party as relate to section maybe, as has been found, unalterably, divided ; andany fresh agitation of the questions of finance, free trade and kindred leading political top- ics is not looked = upon = as advisable, The Southern Lp green to think that Philadelphia would be the best place to hold the Dem- ocratic Convention, The suggestion about Boston came from such men as Lamar, of Mississippi, who believed it would be a? n of the recent good feeling shown bythe people of Boston to go there and cement the union of North and South with the National Con- vention. During the course of the evening an informal meet- ing or conference was held at the Democratic Cam- paign Headquarters to arrange a programme for to- morrow. The committee will meet in the forenoon at Willard’s Hall, on F stréet, and give ® hearing to the several delegations representing St Louis and contest- ing cities, It ts generaily acknowledged that the question of candidacy of any particular person is not involved in the place selected for the session of the Convention. After these delegations have been heard the committee will go into executive seasion to choose the place, The impression gains ground that the choice lies between St Louis and Cincinnati. During the conference to-night a strong feeling was developed in favor of holding the Convention in advance of the Republican Convention and as early as the 10th of May. Otherwise the date geberally mentioned was the 27th of June, THE CHASM BETWEEN THE HARD AND SOFT MONEY DEMOCRATS—A REQQLTWION THsT MB. HOLMAN WAS NOT ALLOWED TO OFFER. The gap between the hard and thé soft money demo- crats has widened again, and the breach, which last night looked as if about to close up, seems to-night as yawning as ever. The caucus committee was in session again to-day, and its deliberations were attended by the display of a good deal of warm feeling. The debate attimes was sharp, especially between Mr. Morrison, leader of the House, a bard money man, and Mr. Hol- man, of Indiana, an uncompromising inflationist, 1; so happens that the Indiana Democratic Convention meets at an early day, and as Mr. Holman believes that the party in Indiana is at heart for inflation, and as be is among the ‘candidates for the nomina- tion” for Governor, ‘he will not back down from his principles, although the committee has la- Dored and wrestled with him as no sinner has ever deen wrestled with in class meeting. As a consequence- the committee is still unable to present a unanimous Teport to the caucus on the subject of a financial pob icy, and the caucus is likely to be further prorogued. Mr. Morrison was seen in earnest debate with Mr. Holman during the subsequent session of the House, and no little excitement and considerable fun was cre- ated on the floor when he discovered that Mr. Holman had a resolation to offer for the repeal of the Resump- tion act, which he (Holman) was trying, to got in at the first opportunity as an ad capitandum for the ap- proaching Indiana State Convention. To head this project off gave Mr. Morrison lots of work the rest of the day, and the two men wete jumping ap to gether every time there was a lull or a break in the closing business of the afternoon. Fortunately Mr. Cox was in the chair, and he had a blind eye for Mr. Holman, whose resolution was thus put in chancery and not given ventilation, Eventually, when Mr. Springer had Bnished his ex- planation under the question of privilege, and when Mr. Holman was about to burst all restraint and fling his resolution on the House, Mr. Morrison gave the signal ‘and the House adjourned instanter. As the resolution is a paper which the world would not willngly let die, it ig here reproduced for the benefit of the public and history :— Resolved, That in the judgment of this House the Die ea Serio 14, 1875, which suthorized the Secretary of the to redeem and cancel fractional cu: United notes, and to issue and sell United bonds for the accomplishment of thut purpose, ought to be repealed. THE APPAIRS OF THE FREEDMAN'S BANK—PROB- ING THE MYSTERIES OF THE FREEDMEN’S BU- BEAU. The committee engaged in investigating the affairs of the Freedman’s Bank called upon the Secrevary of War short time since for a report of the transactions of what was known by tho officers of the Freedmen’s Ba- reau as the Rost Home Coloay in Louisiana This was & plantation originally seized by the Bureau, and after restoration to the owner rented by the officers of the Bureau and cultivated at public expense on the plea ‘that tt was for the purpose of giving employment to ne- grees out of employment By some means commis- sary and quartermaster stores were obtained upoa credit, and im this way the government has lost about {$30,000 or $40,000, as these accounts were never set- tied. The crop raised tho first year was estimated to be worth about $80,000, and there should have been a sufficient surplas to have reimbursed the government, Jost where all thie money went does not clearly ap- pear, The only proceeds which can be traced are a matter of $15,000, which was deposited in a Louisiana branch of the Freedman’s Bank by direction of the former Commissioner, This money was sent to the central branch here in Washington, in accordance with the orders which drained all the Southern branches of ready money, and put it into the bands of the leeches here, who wore using it for their own ad- vantage, Soon after thie $15,000, which. had been de- posited in Louisiana as a fund for educational pur- poses, reached Washington, the government bonds, in which 1t bad been invested for security, were sold, and the money was loaned out to some favorite here and secarity taken on some unavailable real estate in this city. This security ts all the colored educational fond has for the movey thus stolen through a viola- ton of a trast, MR SPRINGER, OF ILLINOIS, AND THE CEN- TENNIAL APPROPRIATION. Mr. Springer, of Illinois, took the floor this after. Room, On a question of privilege, to reply to the charge first made through the HeRacp tbat bis amendment to ‘thieves and murderers, without unduly weakening the Centennial bill had been so clumsily worded as to Prevent the government from coming in for any return Of its appropriation. until after the’ stockholders had deen paid in full for their stock. Ho also wished to Offer joint resolution to amend the defect, if such there was im the original bill, but under the call for the regular order he was not allowed to do more than acquit himself of the explanation permitted him under the question of privilege. Judge Kelley, of Penasyl- Vania, protested that the gentleman had nothing to explain; the amendment was Mr. Springer’s and if the Centennial stockholders had been unwittingly bene fited it was without their solicitation. Mr. Springer said afterward in private conversation that it was mot his purpose at all to charge the Cen- tennial people with any trickery or jobbery. He haa offered his amendment to secure the government as a preferred creditor, and if he had failed to accomplish his purpose he wanted to bave tho matter remedied by further legislation, that was all. More than one democratic Senator vowcd vengeance to-day on the Centennial celobration in conversations with brother members on the floor, though the matter ‘was not broaght into open debate. The statement that is going around to the effect that the provisions of tho appropriation bill just passed will not be complied with, as Congress bas no power to interfere with the divi- dends of private corporations, is creating talk and ox- citing much hard feeling toward the Centennial For the first time the full force of Senator Edmunds’ declaration that he doubted if the dividend clause was egal is just beginning to break on the Senatorial brain. The conservative members of the Senate will, it is said, offer a resolu- tion denouncing the alleged bad faith shown by the Centennial managers, and they will, if they can, devise a plan for modifying the bill. FROM AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT. Wasuinctor, Feb. 21, 1876. THE HOUSE MILITARY COMMITTEE CUTTING DOWN THE ARMY APPROPRIATIONS—PROPOSED REFORMS IN THE QUARTERMASTER’S AND 8UR- GEON GENERAL'S DEPARTMENTS—HOW A MILL- ION MAY BE SAVED ON OFFICERS’ QUARTERS— THE KNIFE POINTED AT THE BUREAU OF MIL- ITARY JUSTICE—WILL LOGAN OPPOSE THE BE- Rays Fadually, but detorminedly, the Military Committee in the House is making satisfactory headway toward reducing the enormous and needless expenditure of money by the War Department. And in following out this line of conduct the committee is adopting the sug- gestions heretofore set forth in the Heratp, which were to lop off the extravagances and costly abuses authorized and sanctioned by the War Department, at the same time not to interfere with or cut down the fighting or active force of the army. It has come to be generally regarded as true by men of both parties here that the army, considering its present strength and the vast demand which is made upon its services, cannot dispense with a single soldier. On the contrary, itis doubtfal if the present small effective force can be so disposed of as to give needed and necessary protection from dangers now threatening our immense line of frontier, The War Department is still deliberating how to concentrate a sufficient number of troops on the Texas and Mexico boundary to Protect that much abused and neglected part of the country from the incursions of the Mexican cattle the forces scattered along at other points of the bor- der exposed to the more dreaded raids and depreda- tions of the Indians, the latter being reported to be unuscally hostile and threatening and intent upon commencing hostilities early in the ensuing spring. It | must have been encourging to Mr. Randall, considering his expressed determination last year to reduce the national expenditures $40,000,000 if the democrats got control of the purse strings, to see the Military Com- mittee afew days ago report cnanimously, as it did, the Fortification bill cutting down the appropriation from $3,500,000 to $315,000, thereby saving in this ftem alone $3,185,000. The vote of the committee being unanimous in its favor, and the bill being re- Ported and its adoption urged by Wheeler, one of the republican leaders of the House and a possible candi- date for the Presidency on. the republican ticket, pre- Vents republicans from characterizing this measure as anarbitrary one, introduced by the majority for political effect or with a view of crippling the resources of the government, In 1860, with an army whose effective force was al- Most as great as that at present mentioned, the entire expense of the War Department was only $16,472,202, whereas in 1874 the appropriation for the same depart- ment amounted to the enormous sam of $42,313,927, an amount far greater than was required to defray the entire expense of the national government fifty years ago. This enormous increase between 1860 and 1874 cannot be brushed away by discussing the premium upon gold, difference in prices, &c., bat is chargeable almost entirely to extravagance asd corruption and a lack of ordinary economy. There is searcely an officor of the army of five years’ service but can point to practices or systems im the War Department which produce their share of this immense needless expendi- tare of public funds, and tor which no fair equivalent is received by the government. If asked why they do not call attention to these leaks the reply is that it will do no good to ask the department to correct its own errors, for it Shas the law and the propbets in the shape of regulations and customs of service to guard them, while to call the attention of a member of Congress to any evils of the War Department is practi- cally forbidden by an order of ihe Secretary of War, & copy of which was read in the House some time ago by Sunset Cox. The terms of this order forbid any | officers from writing to members of Congress in regard to the correttion of abuses, unless the letter is first sent to the War Department and receives the approval ‘of its bead—an approval not likely to be given if the object was to interfere with some pet system already in pratice, Op February 1 the Henatp published a long article calling attention to the many rumors which have Peached here from the West in regard to the sale ofa tax upon army traderships, While it is evident that this tax must come from the pocket of the soldier it is hot go well known into whose pocket it eventually is carried; but, acting no doubt upon the information given in the columns of the Hxratp, the Military Com- tnittee seems to have decided to push an investigation of this matter, and introduce, through Mr. Clymer, the chairman of the Committee on War Department Ex- penditures, a resolution calling upon the Secretary of War fora report showing the names and residences when appointed of all the army traders and the names of persons who recommended them for appointment. In a former despatch the HeraLp correspondent pointed out how the Military Committee could make a step in the direction of economy almost as Important as that by which a saving of over $3,000,000 is effected fn the Fortification bill, and that was by withholding or refusing to pass an appropriation to pay the im- mense rent bill incurred by the numerous officers, par- ticulariy general officers and their staf, who are quartered in the most expensive houses in all our great cities from New York to San Francisco, The government owns and keeps in repair an ample and sufficient amount of public build- ings to comfortably and suitably house every officer in its service, and if the committee will give this mat- ter its attention and follow the suggestions heretofore given in the Henato the government can be saved the expenditure of over $1,000,000 in this one item alone of hire of costly houses in our expensive cities for officers’ quarters. There is scarcely one of the so-called staff depart- ments but is 80 loaded down with fossilized barnacies | And official imbecties as not only to seriously impair their usefulness, but constitute them asource of much neediess expense to the public treasury. This state- should not tnciude the I Generai’s and the Adjutant General’s, but it is partieularly applicable to the Quartermaster General’s Department, which is 80 overburdened by men whose ability and efficiency are ‘80 far below their rank that it ba¥ become a serious question with the War Department where to stow many of them away, in order that they may be so located as to be able to accomplish as little harm as possible, If the proposed consolidation of the sevoral staff corps shail resalt in lopping off the imbecile portions, thus feducing the number and cost to the government of staf officers, at the same time increasing the value and efficiency of the sta corps, the measure is one de- serving universal support. Among other consolida- tions it is proposed to consolidate the Quartermaster’s and Commissary departments ‘There seems no reason why the same man who buys corn, oats and hay for the horses and mules in the army and who buve clothes for the soldiers shawl not also buy pork and beans and beef and bread for the men. It is a fact that at nearly ail the important mil- itary posts in the country a leutenamt performs the combined duty of quartermaster and commissary, and makes purchases and issues in both departments, and the duties of both departments are done well, At all the different headquarters there is stationed an officer of bigh rank from each department, the Commissary and Quartermaster’s. One could perform the duty of both, and in such a manner as not only to save to the government the amouat required to pay the salary, cost of fuel, quarters, forage, &c., of the other, but as the quartermaster has to provide transportation for the supplies purchased bythe commissary, the latter often buys from parties and localities so remote from the place at which the supplies are needed that the additional and unnecessary cost of transportation adds largely to the total expense of the government. This additional expense could be avoided if the purchasing officer and the one to provide transportation were one and the same, The Surgeon General’s Department, if overhauled by an energetic Congressional committee, would reveal mach that is costly and useless. Thousands upon thou- sands of dollars of puplic money is annually thrown away under the direction of the Surgeon General in the pablication of books that are of no more value or bene- fit to the army than so much blank paper, Take the Medical and Surgical History of the War, a useful work no doubt, in its way, and for a special class of people, Dut of no apparent or probable value to the army or to any but medical students. If the governmert is going to set itself up as@ medical and surgical coliege and provide its own text books it is all very well, but the records show thas not less than $80,000 has been placed in tho hands of the Surgeon General by former Con- gresses to defray the expenses of publication of a single book The same tendency is observable in the Surgeon General’s Department as in the Quarter. master’s and Commissary departments—the herding together at comfortable stations in the clties of an unnecessary number of officers of high rank, while the harder and more dangerous duty upon the frontier is performed largely by an unlimited number of hired civilian doctors, These latter receive about the pay and emoluments of a second lieutenant, yet the number who may be appointed is not restricted by any law, nor are they required to possess any particular qualification or ability in order to secure the appoint- | ment A proper distribution of the medical officers now authorized by law would do away with the great expense now incarred by the employment of civilian doctors, The Surgeon General has authority to appoint as many hospital stewards as he sees fit, The quence is there are enough hospital stewards scattered over the country ana hidden away in the Surgeon General’s office, as clerks, messengers, &c,, to supply an army of 250,000 men, Yet these hospital stewards are among the highest in rank and most expensive of the non-commissioned officers of the army, many of them being located where the government has to hire expensive rooms for their use as quarters. If the Congressional axe of reduction, or even utter abolishment is to fall upon either of the staff corps, the one whose considerable curtailment or complete dletting from existence would be followed with the least regret is the misnamed Bureau of Military Jus- tice, which, until recently, was presided over by Holt If the justice peddied out by this bureau is military Justice let us pray hereafter to receive justice of an ‘unmilitary kind, When the army was formerly main- tained at a strength but little inferior to the present force one officer, with the rank of major, was found capable of discharging the entire duty, now distributed simong one brigadier general and eight, majors. Con- gress bas already provided by law that when the num- ber of judge advocates became reduced to four that number shall be maintained as the future strength of the bureau, If the present Congress would study the wants of the service it would make a still further re- duction, The decisions of Holt’s bureau have done more to defeat military justice, as interpreted in the army, than any other single cause The trouble has been that the bureau was loaded down with such in- different lawyers, men who, probably, could not suc- ceed in the practice of Jaw in civil life, that in review- ing cases tried by military courts the object seemed to be not to punish offenders, but to make a weak display of legal knowledge by quibbling over some unimpor- tant technicality jy whieh a loophole would be dis- covered resulting in the escape of delinquents from deserved punishment, The rolls of the army to-day show the names of officers who, by a verdict of their peers and the laws and customs of the service, were pronounced guilty of conduct unbecoming an officer and agentleman, the penalty of which is disgraceful dismissal; yet these offenders have been enabled to escape through technicalities to which the army was formerly astranger. It will not do, however, to re quire the Burean of Military Justice, as it is called, to bear the responsibility of all these unworthy restora- tien. Thero is a case in point of an ex-officer of the army, @ resident of this city, who was brought before the famous Benzine Board, years ago, and expellod trom the service on account of drunkenness and gen- eral inefMiciency. His rank then was that of captain in the line. It was universally admitted then, and never contradicted since, that his expulsion trom the army was & proper and commendable act; but through political and family’ influence this man, who was thus deemed unworthy to hold the rank of captain, has succeeded in obtaining not simply bis restoration to his former rank, but his appointment to a grade higher than he would have attained had his conduct and record been unim- peachable, that of Major and Paymaster of the United States Army, The man who could not bo intrusted with tue simple duties and responsibilities of a cap- tain in ‘the line! is’ now appointed ‘to a place where miliffons of the’ public funds pass through bis hands. No woncer we occasiona!.y have a Paymaster Hodge affair, Fortunately the appomtment of this man hangs fire in the Senate, and it may be that the sober sense of that body may save the service the humiliation of numbering on its list so unworthy a name. While the reforms promised already by the House Committee are greatly to be desired, lopping off as they do needless expenses on the army without im- pairing or reducing its strength, 1s is to be teared that they may encounter serious opposition in the Senate, as Logan is the chairman of the Military Committee there and dislikes to see any measure affecting the army prevail in the preparation of which Logan did not havea hand, or, to ase the words of Babcock, ‘You know what ® sensitive man Logan is’ But of this more hereafter. A HUSBAND EUCHRED. A WIFB OF TWO MEN A STAKE AT CARDS—A WILLIAMBBURG EPISODE. On Sunday afternoon and evening one of the most singular incidents in the history of the matrimonial lottery took place at No. 154 Johnson avenue, Williams- burg, it being the playing of a game at cards for the possession of a wife by her two living husbands. ‘The causes of this phenomenal incident, briefly told, are as follows:—In the fall of 1871 Louis Lange, a barber, married Annie Hortsmann, of Hudson City, N, J., after a courtship of two weeks. They lived to- gether a very quarrelgome life for a few months, and then, ina fit of passion, he deserted her ana went to Chicago. She, being left without means, went home to her parents; but; having obtained a situation, retufned to Wilhamsvurg. Hote she met the groomsman, Ciaus Doscher, who officiated at her wedding. After waiting two years without hearing from Lange Mrs. Lange married Doscher in 1874. Last weex Lange returned to Brooklyn, and, intent on being more bappy in the fu- ture, sought his wife to make amends for his previous ill treatment and give promises for better treatment in the fature, He was horrified to find her the wife of hig groomsman, bat after considerable self-commanion he decided to arrange the affair amicably. 80, with a ‘tual friend who was acquainted with all the he called on her, in the rear of No. 154 Jonavon ave: Doacher, old boy, she ain't Joy to you with her,” and he aeoparty tk commenced and Ph oh Pag rosea tae BABCOCK’S PLEA, Mr. Storrs Harangues the Jury All Day. A DOZEN OF STOICS. The Secret Correspondence with McDonald Ignored. Grant’s Deposition and the Sermon on the Mount. THE “SYLPH” DESPATCH. A Moving Spectacle During the Peroration. Sr. Louis, Mo,, Feb, 21, 1876, Emory A. Storrs occupied the whole day with his Speech for the defense, which was so sentimental and pathetic that it would certainly ha rawb tears to the eyes of the jury were it not for the lamentable lack of handkerchiefs, heretofore alluded to. Storrs is a a little, trim, compactly built man, with » wily, foxy face, the lower part of which is hidden beneath a frizzly auburn beard and mustache, with a short nose, that seems to have stopped short in a quizzical way before it finished growing, large, promment, keen eyes, with which he fixed overy individual juror and pierced him through and through, low retreating forehead and smooth, short, dark hair, For so small a man his head is very long and his voice unusually hard and loud. Ho must have been cohstructed on some new patent wire spring, for his head and upper body were bobbing forward incessantly while he was talking to the Jury and sometimes so much so that it looked as if hig frisky figure were about to collapse, His flat, outstretched palm swung up and down before the jury while he emphasized his words, and every uow and then he would turn com- pletely round to flourish his fists before Colonel Dyer and Judge Dillon while in his raptures over tho ap- proaching triumph of innocence. If Williams’ oponing"| address was flowery, Storrs’ speech was A PERVECT BOTANICAL GARDEN, He called the President’s confidence in Ford ‘‘a green spot in the desert of this case,’’ and contrasted it with the lugubrious exhibition of the want of all human feolings shown by tho “conspirators”? He trans- planted the jurors to their bedrooms, “when, tn the still hours of the night, they would call up the past, see their children around them, and find peaceful rest in the glorious consciousness of having acquitted the defendant” ‘The jurors,” he said, were asked by the prosecution ‘to suppress every prompting of their consciences and every throbbing of their hearts, which could only prompta throb in one direction.’? When, in glowing language, he showed how i was Hoge and not Babcock who furnished informa- tion to the Ring, he exclaimed enthusiastically, ‘Joy to all mankind! We have discovered the leak at last; bat it has been discovered at the cost of unspeakable anguish and of a fortune.” Tho witnesses for the pros- ecution, he said, would swear the sun out of tho sky and the water out of the rivers, whose infinite flowing on he thon described with much poetical feeling. High- ly melodramatic was his description of how Everest had to ‘damn his soul” and to swear to the two let- | ters he mailed, “With the penitentiary yawning before bim and with bis wife waiting trembling at home.” Everest would have sworn that he saw Joyce put-the money into the second letter, but “ The eternal form of Justice rose up before him and he couldn't do it” “The same great God that watched our fathers watched over this young man;’’ and as to Evorest’s testimony, he thus summed up his opinions upon it:— “Buried deeper than the plummet sounded let this lie rot in its dishonored grave,” A DANTESQUE PICTURE. After highly extolling Magill he pictured in truly Dantesque style a scone when Fitzroy or some one of his co-conspirators, would knock at the gate of heaven for admission, and behind him would be Magill; and the eternal gatekeeper would say, ‘Come in, Magill, get out Fitzroy.” But Mr. Storrs was not only tragical he was also funny, and called forth the laughter of the jence by his highly flavored character delineations. The conspiracy he called ‘*This boxed ap mussiness of scoundrelism,” Everest, “the great leaker,” &e. In fact, the whole speech, both in its serious and humor- ous parts, was like a performance ina comedy, and the broad grins of the spectators at Storrs’ turgid and tropical metaphors contrasted strangely with the grim faces of the jury; but even a few of them could scarcely suppress a smile, ‘THE JURY TovctED. It was only in conclusion, when Mr. Storrs, with adrott tenderness, dwelt upon tho terrible anxiety of Bab- cock’s children and his wife, and implored the jury to lift up these children and this wife, that the audience was really moved, evidently appreciating their harrow- ing position, and here a spectacle really touching pro- sented itself. The defondant, whose handsome, florid face was wreathed in smiling confidence, all day,, could not overcome bis feelings as he heard Mr. Storrs pic- turing his children praying on their knees for bis release, and, imperceptibly and evidently against his will, his eyes slowly filled with tears, He tried hard to suppress them, but did not succeed before a few of the jurors bad wistfully gazed at his moist eyes The specch was profusely interlarded with the most extravagant compliments to the jury, and never, probably, in the entire history of jurispradence | had a jury been the recipient of so much ‘soft soap,’? or had “‘soft solder” been so skilfully applied. They are certainly remarkably stoical men, if they can with- stand all Mr. Storrs’ honeyed words and convict the defendant, It is considered remarkable that during Mr. Storrs’ gushing speech, which lasted six hours, against Broadhead’s two, he wholly overlooked tho secret correspondence between Babcock and McDonald under cover to M Grimes, and and so light passed over the ‘“‘sylph” despatch, which he hi calied the “‘corner stone of the prosecution.” ARGUMENT POR THR DEYENCR CONTINUED. Mr. Storrs resumed bis speech as follows :— At the close of this discussion on Saturday afternoon Thad Ouished, as I the despatches between Joyce and Baboock rebesrye to the successor of ©. W. Ford. It seemed to that 1 had demonstrated that jire’s appointment was the result of the most hon- orable motive, From the nighest principles of justice the President consulted the wishes of Ford’s bonds- mes, who were bound to the extent of thousands of dollars for.the conduct of that officer. All this corre- SS passed in October, 1873. From that time ywn to March, 1874, there was a period of dead silence between General Babcock and Joyce and McDonald. I come now to the next d h, in order of time, from Joyce to Babcock in March, 1874:— ‘Start for San Franci-co to-morrow night. Make ‘D.’ call off his scandal hounds, that only blacken the mem- of Ford and friends, BUSLNESS,”” “hoageas himseif tells you in bis testimony that there was no direct suspicion against Joyce, but the revenue agents sent out here from time to time 1t back such stories of excessive hospitality that the missioner felt the necessity of transferri him for the time being to anether scene and sphere of usefalness, Joyoe attempted to visit Washington when be recetved the order, bat he was thwarted. Had Babcock then been a member of the conspiracy his offices would have been called in use to prevent the San Francisco trip, or at least to secure Joyce the de- sired visit to Washi General Babcock was not appealed to, and that is the best proof of his innocence and ignorance of any Ring at thi time, Referring directly to the “scandal hound” Mr. 8 asked who was Ford, the Prestdent’s deposition, refers to his lifelong friondship and says that for several years beiore Ford’s death he was intrasted with the care of the President's in- terests hore, and was the recipient of hundreds and thousands of dollars, which he dis! and of which, ‘#0 imphoit was the that nt kept no account, Said Mr. Storrs, for ‘this case, in the great void of truth and honesty, good ry like thia, Knowing the relations Fr the President, Joyce sent his despatch, ee nd oy call of 6° ee bounds, oR oe wonder that the private secretary of the 8 Dougiass were afloat’ thé letter fs aii oFbs z z 3 : i 3 lla the object of visit to San Francisco!" We that be ai! if Babcock was « Ley we’ ve Wouldn't he have known? Wouldn’t Joyce formed General Babcock as soon as he was ordered Sag Francisco, and have besought him to in! and prevent the trip? Gentlemen, | thmk I can safel: Jeave the ‘‘scan: hound” despatch in your han After this Joyce was in San Francisco several mont! No words between him and Babcock all time, Did you ever hear of such UNCOMMUNICATIVE CONSPIRATORS? Here is @ conspiracy from October, 1873, down t last May, and only one telegram from Babcock to Joy: and two asswered ones from Joyce to Babcock, an those creditable to the latter. Mr. Storrs then to the despatch of October, 1814, to Babcock— you talked with D.? Are these things right? Answer’. and said no attention was ever paid to this; it mained unanswered, Now, you must remember that McDonald, whom Joyce represented, was the super. Visor of this district; he was a trusted officer; he bi a right to make these inquiries; it was not only bi right, but his duty, to know of every act in connectio: with the revenue service which concerned his distric: If it had been a distiller who sent the message it woul: have been different; but here was a high official wh: had aright to know. Suppose Joy: were then engaged in conspiracy, the Commissiouer of Internal Revenue even, into w! department ran all the streams of information whic! could show the conspiracy. How could Geweral Babcoc it? Rogers, the chief clerk im the departmen: did not know it, abd had not ew jicion of Jo; and McDonald.’ Months after in the opring ol 1875, Rogers wrote contidentially to McDonald, askin him to finda place in Arkansas for a young mam, an thereby oblige member of the Cabinets and stil later, when Douglass was being montioned for a ship, Rogers wrote even more confidentially to Donald, telling him of Dougiass’ prospective promo« candidacy for the vacancy whic! ed and asking McDonald to di here, in their own homes, Joye considered efficient officials, an: had never been exposed. How, then, can you say that General Babcock should have know! of it? The place where, if at all, tt should have bee: known was in the Internal Revenue Department, an yet the evidence shows that Baboock was never thers to see Dou but twice and never there at all to se Rogers, Ge Babcock had no means of knowin these frauds, even if tier had been known by ind Commissioner and tn his dopartment. RIDING WITH THE PRESIDENT. The next despatch was that from McDonald in Washa ngton to Joyee, telling him “Had long’ride with ea dent this afiernoon; 8. and H. here.” That despate! was sentto be read, and if the trath were knowm Joyce immediately on receipt of that despatch wen with it among the distillers, telling them:—‘‘See wha! Mac has done, He goes to headquarters. He keeps poste: on affairs, Brooks and Hoge are. there, and nothing to fear.” Can any one doubt that that the pe (nd of that telegram? The President tad simp! ¥ ugh courtesy taken McDonald inte his car< riage fora ride and whiskey matters. formed no pari of the conversation. Suppose McDonald ridden with Babcock and he had sent such a telegram, What a mountain of evidence would have been made o: it by the prosecution! Balcock’s mouth would hav been closed. But, asthe circumstances stand, fortu- nately the President’s mouth is wide open. Babcock had written to McDonald the letter wi Rogers did, asking personal favors, They are far mo! inculpatory than anything Babcock bas written, and ii Rogers, pure and straightforward as ho is, were, b; some misfortune, on trial, the fabric ef his 'reputatio: would vaniab before the letters. Hoge had been cor. rupted long before, and right here the letters of Hog to Bingham were in point. Mr. Storrs proceeded to rofer to the list of letters, the Mrat dating in March, 1874. He said this not only4 proved Hoge, the trusted agent of the governmen' was corrupted at that timo, but that was not the of his corruption. government has bee! a le to prove where the leak of information abou! revenue affairs at Washington was, and, therefore, cause they could not find it they asked’ that Babcoc! be convicted as leaky at a venture; but the defe: had found it, and here it was Hoge was the m: who, trusted as pure by the government, had sold him— self to infamy. The defendant might have been unabi to defend himself against the willing perjuries of th Ring but for this Thore was no perjury that coul appall some of these men. Who could doubt the un. blinking and nawiaking: Fitzroy, if occasion requi would solemaly swear that the Mississippi River was dry ? tion and of his own 5 INFORMATION OF THE RAID. The speaker reviewed the letters until he came to the one ving ntemation of the very raid the discov<} ery of which had caused such a great degree of com= motion. Could thero, said he, be any,doubt now whe! the leak was? There is no more honorable man thal Mr. Brooks; yet sup; that he wason trial; thi Hoge was brought as a witness against him; thaw Brooks? letter to Rogers asking that the corrupt Hoge be associated with him in these raids, could be escape conviction? There is no man im the entire de~ partment who ever had any correspondence with tha St. Louis district against whom a stronger case tham this against Babcock could not have been made, Mr. Storrs differed with Colonel Brodhead as to =| character of that letter of Brooks to Rogers. He hel that it was very liable to misconstruction. McDonak prepared Babcock for construing it, by declaring that he would not submit to having men of doubtful charac; ter sent into his district to work over his head. Bab cock recognized this feeling as natural, showed the lets ter to the President, and, feeling that McDonald bad just cause for complaint. urged pot that the raids be abandoned, bat that responsible men be sent to maka, them, us responsible men were always chosen to make investigations in the army, Was there anything wrong ip this position of Babcock’s? Does nou the proof as to Brashear, Hoge and, otherd show that the system of sending irresponsible sneaked over the country was more injurious than no system ag all? Was there anything criminal in Babcock’s having that letter in his possession? Would it have been sa publicly acknowledged as that Babcock should show the document to both the President and the Commis- sioner? Mr. Storrs finished the reading of the Hoga letters with & most eloquent denunciation of that treacherous scoundrel as the chief of the conspirators, the head devil, the keystone of this iniquitous The moment Rogers found out that the famous plan fo: raiding this district was known to McDonald he abandoned it and McDonald sent his ultant ‘Dead Dog” telegram, and i | discovered several day afterward = that the | plan was abandoned, and thinking he was telling soma news telegraphed McDonald. Never was a more worth- Jess telegram sent, as it conveyed information that # thing had been’ abandoned, which sbandoomen@ occurred before he ever knew that it was contemplated, TOE “SYLPH”’ TELEGRAM. Mr, Storrs then took up the revocation of the order transferring sapervisers Joyce sent to Babcock, om February 3, 1875, about noon, the despaten whieh tie signed *Sylph:’”—"We have official information thi the enemy weakens. Push things."’ Babcock received, this despatch at three o'clock in the afternoon. The speaker was tbus particular as to the time because the prosecution set tho example. Babcock did not under-: stapd this despatch and did not answer it The prose« cution had argued that Babcock had understood thig, despateh and had pushed things, but the trouble was at the time Babgock received that despatch i bod been pushed and the order had been revoked. The in- terview Bubéock bad with the Commissioner relative to the revocation of this order was not bad as a result of this telegram, but was had a week betore. Thus prosecution was actually invoking a reversion of reasons to sustain their casc, and asking the jury to believe that an act on the 20th of January was an effect of @ cause— namely, a telegram, which did not exist until Feb- raary 3 The testimony of the President and Mr. Tut that the utter called on the former at oue ue day when Joyce sent that telegram, ard g that interview Lhe President determined. to revoke the order. Two hours after Baboock re~ ceived a telegram to push things, and the prosecution advances the theory that Babcock thereujion pro- ceeded to.use bis influence to induce an act which bad already been consummated. Counsel then referred 1o the opposition of the sus pervisors all over the country; to the order transferring, them; the political influence which bad been used to effect’a revocatfon of the order; the visit of Supervisor Tutton to Commissioner Douglass, Secretary Bris~ tow, and finally to the President He then said, “Was it not something for Ai cand to be proud of that the chief executive officer of the government could thus remain obstinate against poht- ical influence, bat = to the logic of a plain an ractical citizen? Can anybody resist the force ‘ubton’s jument? Hardly. So the order was nul only revoked, but the very plan suggested by Tu was adopted and the whole conspiracy was exposed ad the conspirators wero brought to punishment. Bat cock had no part whatever in procuring this revocation, THR PRESIDENT’S MOTIVES PURR. All the evidence shows it and the President’s depost« tion places it beyond doubt. No power of rbetoric or argument could convince rad honest minded man thaf the order was not revoked by the President with the Sen motives, yet for months that high officer hat rn subjected to the attacks and calumny of the pres# for bis course. The show most clearly that 84 fevocation was not a proceeding on the tof whi President to thwart the aspirations and plins of tha Secretary of the Treasury ; for the Secretary had beforg the President was spoken to acknowledged and dec! that the revocation would serve the best interests of the government. There was no disagreement whatever, Fd el the counsel for the prosecution charge thq ident with interfering with the Secretary et plans. Satisfied that the same arguments that bad Vinced bis own mind would convince the President, th sent Tutton to the President to lay the cas@ before him and secure the revocation. No party bua gan enable a man to see any spot or stain In the revoca~ The Presiden ox< dience to the law whose majesty he recognizes, now stands fully vindicated. There are no more flowers of rhetoric in bis deposition than in Christ’s Sermon on tha Mount. Bat it goes right to the heart of every Lonen® man. He intended no rebuke, yet what a rebuke wa by toe extgeecioe ot Soo case, caliod by the dent, the Secretary, the Commissioner and this ‘fant staod vindicated before the country by the devel rom the promu' wil. te tion