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diff --git a/old/63245-0.txt b/old/63245-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4d44df1..0000000 --- a/old/63245-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1594 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Washers and Scrubbers: The Men Who -Robbed Them, by F. C. Adams - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: The Washers and Scrubbers: The Men Who Robbed Them - -Author: F. C. Adams - -Release Date: September 19, 2020 [EBook #63245] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WASHERS AND SCRUBBERS *** - - - - -Produced by hekula03 and the Online Distributed Proofreading -Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from -images generously made available by the Library of Congress) - - - - - - - - - - - THE WASHERS AND SCRUBBERS. - - THE MEN WHO ROBBED THEM. - - BY - F. C. ADAMS, - - _Author of the Siege of Washington, Story of a Trooper, and - other books_. - - WASHINGTON, D. C.: - PRINTED BY JUDD & DETWEILER. - 1878. - - - - - “WHITE MAN BERY UNSARTIN.” - - “NIGGER HAINT GOT NO FRIENDS. NO HOW.” - - THE BLACKEST CHAPTER IN THE HISTORY - OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. - - THE MEN WHO ROBBED AND COMBINED TO ROB - THE FREEDMEN - OF THEIR HARD EARNINGS. - - WASHINGTON: - JOS. SHILLINGTON, Publisher, - 363 Pa. Avenue. - - - - -THE WASHERS AND THE SCRUBBERS—THE MEN WHO ROBBED THEM. - - -The last report of the three Commissioners for winding up (this is a -misnomer) the affairs of the bankrupt Freedmen’s Bank, brought out -in response to a resolution of Congress, introduced by the Honorable -Nicholas Muller, of New York, is one of the most remarkable documents -ever given to the American people. It is remarkable as illustrating -the heartlessness of man; remarkable as illustrating the amount of -scoundrelism there is in our social and political organizations; and -remarkable for its exemplification of those trite sayings so common among -the slaves of the South before the war, and which I have placed at the -head of this article. “White man very unsartin.” “Nigger haint got no -friends, no how.” - -I again approach this black chapter in the history of the great—perhaps I -should say once great—Republican party with feelings of sadness. Here, in -this remarkable report, we have man’s inhumanity to man portrayed in all -its darkest colors. - -Just here let me pause for a moment to thank kind, generous-hearted Mr. -Muller for introducing the resolution which brought out the strange -chapter of scoundrelism contained in this remarkable report. And I do -this the more cheerfully because he is a Democrat and I am an old time -Republican, perhaps I should say Abolitionist, and had failed in three -attempts to get a Republican to introduce it. - -Before proceeding to dissect this remarkable report, however, I propose -to say, as a matter of history, something in regard to the formation of -the plot concocted by, to use a vulgar phrase, Boss Shepherd and his Ring -to rob this bank for the earnings of the poor. - -Even high-toned robbery has its vein of romance, and there was something -romantic in the early stages of the history of this gigantic robbery. One -cold, stormy November night, in the year 1871, my rooms were invaded, -and my reveries broken by a man I regarded as an intruder. He threw off -his wet coat, put his umbrella in the coal box, and I invited him to -take a seat. “I am here,” he said, “on a very important mission.” He was -considerably excited, and for some minutes spoke with a tremulous voice -and somewhat incoherently. At first I thought he was under the influence -of liquor, but I remembered that he was not given to the cup. I begged -him to concentrate his thoughts, and tell me in the fewest words possible -what he had to say. - -“Mr. Adams,” he said, after pausing a moment, “I know you are a true -friend of the colored man.” - -“Well, never mind that,” said I, “proceed with what you have to say.” - -He did proceed, and disclosed to me the most monstrous plot for getting -possession of the money deposited in the Freedmen’s Bank, and that by -men who had been prominent Republicans and professing Christians. There -was something so monstrous, so heartless, and so at variance with the -laws which ordinarily govern human actions, as to create a doubt in my -mind of the truth of what he said. The name of this gentleman was John R. -Elvans, a member of the Examining Committee of the bank, who informed me -that he had protested, in the name of honesty and humanity, against the -contemplated robbery, and had resigned rather than have it appear that -he had countenanced so monstrous a wrong. (Just here I desire to put on -record this acknowledgment of Mr. Elvans’ honesty.) - -The substance of the plot was that the six millions of hard earnings of -the slaves, constituting their lifetime savings, were to be got by the -conspirators on worthless securities, such as bogus paving company stock, -second mortgage bonds, and stock of the Seneca Sandstone Company, shares -of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and other stuff even more -worthless. He also insisted, with considerable emphasis, that the Seneca -Sandstone Ring had got complete control of the bank’s money. - -In reply to a request that Mr. Elvans would give me the names of the -men prominent in so dastardly a conspiracy, he gave me those of A. -R. Shepherd, Hallett Kilbourn, William S. Huntington, Doctor John L. -Kidwell, Lewis Clephane, O. O. Howard, and D. L. Eaton. He also asserted -with some vehemence that the officers of the bank, professing Christians -and pretended friends of the negroes, were “deepest in the fraud.” - -In order to be sure of my ground, and not to be misled, I requested Mr. -Elvans to get me a transcript from the books of the bank, of the loans -he had asserted had been made on those worthless securities. Two days -afterwards he brought me the desired transcript, which is now before me -in his own handwriting. The following is an exact copy of it: - - 1. “$20,000 Seneca Sandstone Quarry Company, at 90 cents, to - Dr. John L. Kidwell. Loan, $18,000.” - - 2. “Loan to M. G. Emery of $25,000, on corporation coupon - certificates, par value of $50,000.” - -Mr. Emery was mayor of the city at the time, and it is only right to -say here that the loan was a legitimate one, and ultimately paid, with -interest. - - 3. “Loan to H. K.” (which meant Hallett Kilbourn.) “on 300 - shares of Metropolis Paving Company, $14,000. The par value of - stock $30,000, only $3,500 paid up.” - -The stock of this concern of which Lewis Clephane was president, and at -the same time one of the Finance Committee of the Bank, was at the time -it was hypothecated utterly worthless. This Lewis Clephane was what we -shall call here, a high society Republican, and twenty years ago was -book-keeper for Doctor Guilmel Bailey, editor of the _National Era_, an -ultra anti-slavery journal. Mr. Clephane is now a man of wealth, lives -in a thirty thousand dollar house, pretentiously located on the corner -of 13th and K streets. How he got the money to build such an elegant -house, to ride in his carriage, and fare sumptuously every day, is not a -matter for so humble an individual as myself to inquire into. Washington -has its laws, socially, legally, and morally, and I have sometimes -thought that the bigger the thief the greater were his immunities. The -difference between the big thief, in Washington, and the little thief, -was beautifully illustrated a few weeks ago in the sentence of one of -our judges who sent a black man of the name of George Washington to the -Maryland penitentiary for six months, at hard labor, for stealing a -goat. Yes, for stealing a goat, commonly regarded as a public nuisance. -With so righteous a sentence, staring us in the face, who will dare say -justice is jobbed in this District? - -As to the matter of Mr. Clephane’s wealth, so suddenly acquired, I can -safely leave that as a matter to be decided between his conscience and -himself. Enough of this. Let us return to Mr. Elvans’ transcript. - - 4. “Demand Note, of _Scharf_ Paving Company, collateral, 200 - shares, of $100 each. (Worthless.) Loan, $3,000.” - -This Scharf Paving Company was an offshoot of the rascally Metropolis -Paving Company, of which John O. Evans, Kilbourn, and other congenial -spirits, were the managers, and Lewis Clephane the president. And just -here I beg the innocent reader not to forget that during all this time -Lewis Clephane, the high society Republican, described above, was a -member of the Finance Committee of the Freedman’s Bank, made such, -because of his supposed friendship for the colored man. - - 5. “Loan to John L. Kidwell, apothecary, and President of the - Seneca Sandstone Company, 20 bonds of $500 each. Loan. $4,000, - at 10 per cent.” - -These bonds were not worth the paper they were printed on. - - -GENERAL O. O. HOWARD, THE GREAT CHRISTIAN SOLDIER, COMES UPON THE STAGE -AS A SPECULATOR. - - 6. “Gen’l O. O. Howard, (late Vice-President of the Bank,) on - Lot 11, in Block 4, subdivision of Smith’s farm; also sundry - good and bad bonds as collateral. Loan, $24,000.” - -To avoid argument, let us accept General O. O. Howard as a first-class -Christian and an accepted friend of the colored man and brother. But the -reader must not forget that, from the days of Adam, our great forefather, -down to the illustrious Babcock, temptation could be made too strong for -even the purest of Christians. And, too, there were crimes by which even -the angels fell. The six millions of dollars deposited in the Freedmen’s -Bank by the slaves just set free, after nearly two centuries of the most -abject bondage, proved Brother Howard’s Satan, tempting him on to commit -crime. The temptation was too strong for him, and he fell a victim to his -ambition for speculation, just as Satan, before him, had fallen under the -too great weight of another kind of temptation. Yes, the great, the good, -the Christian soldier fell a victim to his love of gain. Our Saviour -scourged the money-changers for a crime much less heinous, and he drove -them out of the Temple, too. It is in proof that this walking example -of Christian purity, this soldier of the Lord, resigned his position -as Vice-President of the Bank for the safe keeping of the freedmen’s -earnings, because the law debarred him from being a borrower, and three -days afterwards appeared at the counter of the bank and borrowed $24,000 -of its money—that, too, for the vulgar purpose of speculating in corner -lots. General O. O. Howard still holds his position as a high society -Republican, and is an idol of the church. - -I now come to that great modern statesman, Christian, friend of the -church, and defender of the illustrious U. S. Grant, and the still more -illustrious Babcock, the personification of the late Board of Public -Works, and all the crimes it was heir to. It was not to be expected that -a gentleman of so much goodness of heart, so wise, modest, and retiring; -a gentleman whose heart yearned every hour of the day to do generous -acts for the benefit of his fellow-men—who went to bed of a night -contemplating the amount of good he could do for mankind in general and -Washington in particular; whose disinterestedness caused him to forget -himself entirely—a man, I assert here without fear of contradiction, -who, by his own unaided exertions, had raised himself from the position -of an humble plumber and gas-fitter—thankful for a job, no matter how -small—to the high position of a governor, a modern statesman, a friend of -humanity, and an adviser of the President. Here let me say, as a lover -of truth and justice, that a great deal has been said about the fall -of this great modern statesman, and very little about his rise. To us -the rise is the most important part of it, and for the very reason that -it repeats the story of Whittington and his cat, thrice Lord Mayor of -London, to say nothing of honest Sancho Panza and his government of the -island of Barritario. But comparisons between governors are odious, as -Mrs. Malliprop said. - -Just here I confess, as a lover of the truth of history, to have erred -and strayed from my subject. My object was to show you that Alexander R. -Shepherd (according to Mr. Elvans,) was one of the original conspirators -for robbing the Freedmen’s Bank! This is sad, but it is true. He appears -in Mr. John R. Elvans’ transcript, as follows: - - 7. “Loan to A. R. S.” (Alexander R. Shepherd) “of $15,000, on - lots 5 and 6, square 452.” - -I was informed on good authority that these lots, on which Mr. A. R. -Shepherd borrowed fifteen thousand dollars, were not worth half the -amount. This gentleman’s future operations with the bank were conducted -on a more magnificent scale, but in the names of other persons. As Mr. -Beverly Douglas said during his investigation into the affairs of the -bank, it was marvelous to see how many of other peoples’ fingers Mr. -Shepherd had used to pull the Freedmen’s Bank chestnuts for him. I had -hoped that the solemn and impressive death of that other great modern -statesman and benefactor of mankind, William Marcy Tweed, would have had -a good effect on the moral and religious status of our late governor. But -recent events convince me that the solemn and impressive warning remains -unheeded. - -Here again we have another Christian statesman, of high standing in the -Republican church, who wants the Freedmen’s money—doubtless for a pious -purpose. - - 8. “Henry D. Cooke, (chairman of the Finance Committee,) loan - of $10,000 on 400 shares of stock of the Young Men’s Christian - Association.” - -It is due to Mr. Cooke to say that this sum was afterwards paid. -Doubtless his intentions were good when he borrowed the money. Naturally -a well-meaning man, he fell a victim to bad association. - - 9. “P. T. Langley’s note, endorsed by D. L. Eaton, actuary of - the bank. Loan, $500, no security.” - -This completes the transcript brought me from the books of the bank, in -November, 1871. I need hardly tell the reader that the gentlemen whose -names appear as original conspirators to rob the bank were Republicans of -high standing in the party, and professed friends of the colored man. -It will also be observed that they initiated the robbery, by getting the -money on worthless securities, and with two or three additions of men of -the same stamp, in politics as well as religion, continued it to the very -end. - -Fully satisfied that what Mr. Elvans had told me was true—satisfied also -of the existence of a conspiracy to steal the funds of the bank—the next -question was, as to how the disaster, sure to result from it, could be -averted. I laid Mr. Elvans’ statement before several leading Republicans, -in and outside of Congress, and appealed to them to assist me in rescuing -the bank and its money from this combination of robbers. I use very -plain language in treating of this very black crime—one which should -sink the Republican party so far out of sight that it would never again -have an existence. Must I confess here that I appealed to Republicans in -vain? Some of them had for years been shedding tears over the sorrows -of the slave; but, like Pomeroy, of Kansas, they had borrowed the newly -emancipated slave’s money, and it had sealed their lips and withered -their consciences. - -I appealed to a member of Grant’s cabinet. He had previously professed -friendship for the negro. He glanced over Mr. Elvans’ black list of -loans, smiled, and handed it back, saying, the names were those of highly -honorable gentlemen, who would not do a dishonest act. He intimated, -also, that Mr. Elvans was bent on creating a sensation. This cabinet -minister, as was afterwards proven, was connected with the most prominent -of these conspirators in real estate and other speculations. In plain -language, this gang of Republican knaves were all powerful at court, at -that time. Grant, himself, was their friend, associate, and partner in -Seneca sandstone and other speculations. Indeed it is only the truth to -say of Grant that such was the force of his democratic instincts that he -never had any real, honest sympathy with the negro, to say nothing of his -contempt for poor men of whatever color. It was Grant’s native dislike of -the negro and the abolitionist alike, that led him into his unfortunate -quarrel with Mr. Sumner. That quarrel initiated the independent -Republicans, and it also initiated the disintegration of the Republican -party. - -I associate the robbery of this bank with the Republican party, because, -as I said before, the robbers were all Republicans of high standing -in the church; and the chosen leaders of the party looked on with -indifference while the robbery was going on, and continued to look on -with indifference until the bank closed its doors in bankruptcy. - -Then for the first time the cry of shame went up, but not from the -leaders of the Republican party. Their energies were given to protect the -robbers, to stifle investigation, and to slander the men fearless enough -to expose the hideous conspiracy. - -Here we were brought face to face with the fact that the Republican -party had abandoned its principles, had abandoned truth and justice—even -humanity itself—and in the future would depend on dollars and cents for -its strength. Its political morality strongly resembled the Democratic -party as it was twenty years ago, when slavery was its Political -Fetish—when it had a Jew banker at one end of it and a prize fighter at -the other. - -Again we were brought face to face with the fact that the Republican -party and its professed leaders had reached that very high standard -of modern civilization, when a bank for the savings of the wages of -the poor could be made part of a system of robbery, the robbers being -encouraged and recognized by the administration and society. To be even -more explicit, it was the first time in the history of felony that the -workmen and workwomen, the scrubbers and washers, the orphans and widows -of the poorest and most ignorant classes in the city of Washington, were -unwittingly made to cash obligations issued by an organized gang of -thieves and plunderers. - -May I ask the reader to go back with me to the time Mr. John R. Elvans -made his statement. Finding there was no other way of stopping the -robbery or exposing the crime but through the press, I had recourse to -that. My first articles, as is very well known, appeared in the _Savannah -Morning News_. The _New York Sun_, on being assured of the correctness -of my statements, afterwards came to the rescue and did good service -in making the hideous crime public. The appearance of these articles -created great excitement in Washington, as well they might. Denials came -thick and fast, the robbers and their friends—and they were numerous -and strong—asserted that the bank was in a perfectly sound condition, -that its management was above suspicion. Of course the author of the -articles was denounced as a libeler, and threatened with vengeance. The -officers of the bank, without distinction of color or previous condition -of servitude, were declared to be Republicans in good standing, and very -high-toned gentlemen. I had heard something very similar to this before. - -There was a weak and somewhat dyspeptic Democratic journal, called the -_Patriot_, published in Washington at that time, and to the columns of -which Montgomery Blair and other patriots contributed. The managing -editor of this paper was a Mr. Harris, an experienced journalist, who -appreciated the value of truth to a properly-conducted newspaper. This -gentleman intensified the excitement then prevailing, by republishing, in -a somewhat modified form, two of the articles from the _Savannah Morning -News_. For this great offense he not only lost his place, but the paper -made two of the most abject and cowardly apologies journalism has any -account of. The chiefs of the gang forced these abject apologies from the -managers of the _Patriot_ by threatening castigation and libel suits. - -It is hardly necessary to say here that subsequent developments have -shown the black chapter of that robbery to have been ten times blacker -than I had painted it. The villainy unearthed by Mr. Beverly Douglas’ -committee, three years ago, stands to-day the blackest crime in our -criminal history. That committee, in its clear and able report, gave -us the names of the prominent actors in that great crime; and yet the -finger of justice has not touched one of them. Strange as it may seem -to the ordinary thinker, these men, so well known at this day, and who -committed the meanest theft history has any account of, stand as high in -the Republican church to-day as they did when General Grant was the great -high priest of the party. - -Here let me say that the fact must not be overlooked, that - - -A REPUBLICAN CONGRESS - -was, in a great measure, responsible for the robbery of the Freedmen’s -Bank. And this I say more in sorrow than anger. The reader will bear in -mind that the acts of Congress, under which the bank’s original charter -was granted, prescribed the character of the securities (Government -bonds) on which its money could be loaned. The men who had combined to -get possession of the bank’s money, on worthless securities, such as -Paving Company stock, Seneca Sandstone stock, Morris’ Mining Company -stock, stock of the Young Men’s Christian Association, and other stock -equally worthless and fraudulent, found this simple and very requisite -safeguard a serious impediment to the successful carrying out of their -infamous project. They went before a Republican Congress, and with the -assurance of experienced cracksmen, asked it to repeal the restrictive -clause, and pass an act which made the robbery that followed, possible. -And, as the vote will show, a Republican Congress was only too glad to -accommodate them. In truth, Congress enacted laws for their benefit, -and which virtually placed the funds of the bank at the mercy of the -thieves and plunderers, who at once entered its vaults and began the work -of emptying them. A Republican Congress placed in the hands of these -bad, designing men, the power to make the scrubbers and the washers, -the widows and orphans of the poor and the ignorant—even the maimed -soldier—unwittingly cash their worthless obligations. - -Here, and now let me say a few words in - - -DEFENSE OF THE NEGRO. - -Much has been said and written on the vices, great and small, of the -negro. He has been accused of being ignorant, brutish, and vicious, of -want of thrift, of having largely developed animal propensities, of a -chronic inability to tell the truth, of a disposition to accumulate -property not his own, and of a weakness to explore the chicken roosts -of his neighbors. In truth he has for more than a century been charged -with no end of small vices, and a propensity to do the meanest kind of -stealing. Heaven knows he has small vices enough. I admit it and deplore -it, as well for its bad effect on society generally, as for the damage -it inflicts on his own people. But the thoughtful and candid reader will -join me in saying that the negro, in his very worst and most vicious -condition to-day, is precisely what slavery made him. Slavery was based -on cruelty and tyranny, and was alike destructive—morally, mentally, and -commercially—of the best interests of black and white. - -Slavery, in the very magnitude of its cruelty, denied the black man -education, manhood, the right to think or act for himself. Slavery denied -him all right to his own offspring, all right to regard himself as a man. -It caused him to be born a chattel, to be raised a chattel; it degraded -him, made him brutish, and sold him in the market like a beast of -burden. When the day of his deliverance came he was found to be exactly -what slavery made him—nothing more, nothing less. And I appeal to the -thoughtful reader, to the just and the generous, if it is not too great -an exaction to expect examples of morality and high Christian virtues, of -a race so long held in degrading bondage? - -Criminal and vicious classes are not confined to race, color, or -country. They are found everywhere. A long residence in the South -enabled me to observe and study the habits of both black and white. A -more illiterate, vicious, and depraved—a class more reckless of human -life than the poor whites of the South it would be difficult to find in -any country. I refer more particularly to what are known as crackers, -wire-grass, and sand-hill men. Depraved and vicious to an extent almost -beyond belief, they yet, in many things, hold the better classes subject -to their dictation, and too frequently make them responsible for their -crimes. My experience has been that for Christian virtues, for all that -was kindly and tractable in human nature, the negro, even as a slave, -was by far the poor white’s superior; in truth, I never saw the time, -in the South, when I would not prefer trusting myself in his hands. Now -that the negro is a man, a citizen, a voter, and a factor in the body -politic of the South, it seems to me that it should not only be the -desire but the ambition of the “ruling classes” (I use an old and much -abused expression) to treat him fairly, as if he had always been a man -entitled to the value of his own labor, to educate and elevate him—in a -word, to make him part and parcel of their own welfare. They must make -him something more than he was when he came out of the fiery furnace of -slavery, as a means to their own protection. I would suggest, also, as I -did twenty-seven years ago, that the “ruling classes” of the South would -find it to their benefit to try the experiment of education on that large -and very dangerous class I referred to above, called poor whites. I make -this suggestion, fully aware that these poor whites—lawless, vicious, and -degraded as they are—have heretofore fiercely resisted all attempts in -that direction, firmly believing, as they do, that education is an evil, -and civilization an infringement of their sovereign rights to roam over -the sand hills, raid on the plantations of the rich, shoot negroes at -sight, and burn down school houses. - -The present Governor of Kentucky understood the situation I have been -discussing perfectly when he said, in his message vetoing the act for -the restoration of that relic of barbarism and cruelty, the whipping -post: “Mankind is already too much degraded. He who can elevate and place -mankind on an higher plane is a benefactor of his race.” I have had these -words printed in letters of gold, framed, and hung on the walls of my -humble sanctum. - - -NOT TO BE FORGOTTEN. - -Out of all the charges of vice laid at the door of the negro race there -rises the fact that almost on the heels of their emancipation the men and -women composing it brought out their savings of a lifetime and deposited -nearly six million of dollars in this Freedmen’s Bank and its thirty-odd -agencies. The candid-minded will admit that this fact is something -greatly to their credit, and must not be forgotten when their virtue or -want of virtue is under discussion. Indeed, it speaks volumes for their -thrift, for their love of saving, and providing for future wants. Most -of this money was drawn from the middle southern States, the negroes -of Georgia alone contributing nearly half a million, all of which, or -nearly all of which, was brought here and placed at the mercy of a ring -of Republican sharpers, and with the shocking result already known. It is -also something to the credit of the race that, during and just after the -war, very many of them, with remarkable shrewdness, purchased property -and built comfortable little homes in what is now the most desirable part -of the city, and where real estate is the most valuable. The imposing -churches and school houses they have built in this neighborhood must also -be accepted as proof of their thrift and progress. It is also something -to their credit that, during the reign of Mr. Shepherd and his vile Ring, -they successfully resisted the shameful attempts made to get possession -of their property and drive them from their homes. Here let me say that -the greatest danger to the future prospects of the race will come from -those mischievous, ambitious, and restless men, more white than black, -who set themselves up as leaders, and are always shedding tears over -what they call the sorrows of “their race.” They have no claim to race -distinction, being a bad cross between a bad white man and an unchaste -negress. I cannot help thinking that their example is bad and their -teachings worse. - -The damaging effect, morally, physically, and otherwise, on the negro, -of the robbery of the Freedmen’s Bank can hardly be over estimated. It -was a very serious blow to his progress—to his future hopes. It made him -lose faith in the integrity of the white man. The hope of gain no longer -sweetens labor with him. He no longer saves his money to deposit in a -saving bank, where he was so plausibly told it would bring him large -interest, and ultimately a home. No; my experience has been that a large -majority of the negroes to-day spend their money as they earn it, and -indeed have lost that ambition to put something aside for a rainy day -which characterized them a few years ago. - -I will here relate an instance in proof of what is said in the above, -and which will forceably illustrate a thousand other cases. During the -campaign on the peninsula (1862) under McClellan, we had our headquarters -(Franklin’s) at Toler’s Farm, Cumberland Landing, on the Pamunkey. A -very intelligent and respectable colored man came to me and disclosed -the secret that he had more than fourteen hundred dollars, in silver, -buried in the cellar. His wife, a wonderfully active woman, and one -child were owned by the Tolers. He, himself, was the slave of a Mr. -Myers, of Richmond, of whom he bought his time, as was common among the -more intelligent and thrifty slaves. He boasted that his master would -trust him anywhere, and had always been very kind to him. The Tolers, -on the other hand, were very hard on their slaves, and Henry’s greatest -ambition was to get money enough to purchase the freedom of his wife and -child, and the money he had saved from fishing and oystering on the York -and Pamunkey rivers was for that purpose. For that he had toiled, and -toiled, and toiled for sixteen years to get money enough to purchase the -freedom of his wife and child. Even then he could have taken his money, -his wife, and his child, and gone to Washington; but he refused. Indeed, -he remained true to his master until the fall of Richmond. Then he came -here, put what money he had left in the Freedmen’s Bank, and the painful -story is told in these words: he lost it. The Washington sharpers got it. -I met this man a few years ago; dissipation had overtaken him; he was a -changed man; uttering curses on the heads of the men who had robbed him. - -Let us retrace our steps again. - - -A REPUBLICAN CONGRESS - -was again derelict of its duty. When the gang organized to rob the bank -had finished its nefarious work, and its doors were closed in bankruptcy, -one would have supposed that the most important question to be decided -was the quickest and most economical method of winding up its affairs, to -the end of saving as much as possible to the poor, deluded depositors. A -Republican Congress did exactly the opposite of this. - -Instead of authorizing the President to appoint a receiver, a man of -well-known integrity and business capacity, it authorized him to appoint -a board of three commissioners, each at a salary of three thousand -dollars a year, to be paid out of the funds of the bank. This was -virtually giving the commissioners a long lease of the funds. - -Grant, in making these appointments, charmingly illustrated what is known -as Grantism. Creswell, who resigned his position in Grant’s cabinet -to escape impeachment, and with whose official and political record -the country is already familiar, was his first choice. Money is Mr. -Creswell’s fetish, no one has ever accused him of doing a charitable act, -and as for political convictions, he has about as much use for them as a -savage has for a time-piece. When a Senator, a true friend of the race, -remonstrated against this appointment and predicted the result, Grant -said Creswell was a lawyer, and as such could make himself useful in -managing the legal affairs. We shall see what kind of legal service this -lawyer has rendered. - -Grant’s next choice was an aged black man, with a very benevolent -face, named Purvis. Of law, banking, finance, poor Purvis knew just -nothing. His knowledge of medicine even was slender, and he resided in -Philadelphia. These qualifications, however, were satisfactory to Grant, -who said the Board would not be complete without “one nigger,” whose -presence was necessary to inspire confidence in the plundered depositors. -He doubtless meant the poor devils, the washers and scrubbers, the very -poor and the very ignorant, who had been plundered by his cronies. - -Grant’s third choice was R. H. T. Leipold.[1] His qualifications were -that he was a Hessian by birth, had lived in Wisconsin, was a favorite of -Senator Howe of that State, and had been a clerk in that great American -penal colony, the Treasury Department. I want the reader to make a note -of this Senator Howe part of the business, as I shall have something to -say on it hereafter, when a son-in-law of that Senator figures somewhat -numerically. - -To men of Purvis’ and Leipold’s type, this salary of three thousand -dollars a year was a god-send of no mean dimensions. But placing them in -charge of the bank’s money was a very dangerous power to intrust such -men with. Grant, I am told, used to allude to these commissioners as -representing Europe, Africa, and America. That it was a charming blending -of colors must be confessed. The sombre clouding, however, hung around -America, represented by the man Creswell. - -Let us turn now and see how these commissioners have discharged this - - -MOST SACRED TRUST. - -Let us survey the field carefully and thoroughly, and see how these -commissioners have got away with the savings of the scrubbers and the -washers, the widows and the orphans of the very poor and the very -ignorant. And I will begin this by turning to the testimony and report of -Hon. Beverly Douglass’ Investigating Committee, made to Congress May 9th, -1876. That investigation developed: - - First: A chapter of fraud unparalleled in the history of crime. - - Second: Shameful dereliction of duty on the part of the - commissioners. - - Third: That J. A. J. Creswell was too much engaged in other - business, to give any of his valuable time to the bank. That he - paid Leipold $500 for attending to his part of the business, - and quietly pocketed $2,500. - - Fourth: That the colored man Purvis, followed the example of - Creswell—paid Leipold $500 to excuse him. - - Fifth: That Leipold was the great Republican high priest, who - ran the bank according to his own methods. - - Sixth: That the remaining funds were fast disappearing into the - pockets of the commissioners and their favorites. - - Seventh: That the commissioners were appointed on the 4th of - July, 1874, and that no report of their management has been - made, as was required by law. - - Eighth: That more than sixty thousand dollars had disappeared - in a single year, for what was called “expense account.” - - Ninth: That there was at least a suspicious connection between - Leipold, Senator Howe’s man, and lawyer Totten, a son-in-law of - the same Senator. - - Tenth: That G. W. Stickney succeeded D. L. Eaton, as Actuary of - the bank; that some of the very worst frauds on the bank were - committed during his administration, and with his knowledge. - Not only this, but that he was found to be individually - indebted to the bank to the amount of $2,680. - -Brother G. W. Stickney, sometimes called Colonel Stickney, is well known -in Washington, alike for his praying propensities and sharp practices. -He is, if I may be pardoned for using the phrase, an outwash of the war, -a Christian statesman of the Schuyler Colfax type. He is one of those -persons who could, at any time, get a certificate of good character from -those illustrious friends of humanity, U. S. Grant and Boss Shepherd. - -Let us turn to page 50 of Mr. Beverly Douglas’ report and see what -Brother J. W. Alvord, at one time president of the Freedmen’s Bank, says -of Brother G. W. Stickney: - - By the Chairman (Douglas): - - Q. I want you to tell the Committee, without any evasion or - concealment, whether, during your administration as president, - or your connection with the bank as trustee, there was, to - your mind and your comprehension, a fair, faithful, and honest - administration of its funds? - - A. I can answer in the language of Saturday last. There was I - would not say dishonest, but improper loaning to men who were - not responsible; loaning upon insufficient security; loaning - on illegal security, such as city scrip and personal chattels; - and permitting employees at the branches to loan without the - knowledge of the trustees. The Actuary [Stickney] gave them - such permission as that. They quoted him as authority for such - loans. I do not think that the trustees ever stole any money. - [Credulous Alvord!] The matter of Vandenburgh is one of the - marked instances that I would range under insufficient security. - - Q. You seem to be very well acquainted with Vandenburgh, from - your boyhood up. Do you know whether there was any business - connection in the street paving business between Vandenburgh - and Alexander R. Shepherd at the time these loans were being - negotiated? - - A. I do not know that there was any business connection. - - Q. Tell us of any other connection that there was between them. - - A. I know that they were acquaintances, and that Mr. Shepherd - was at the head of affairs here, while Mr. Vandenburgh was a - contractor. - - Q. Contractor under him? - - A. Contractor of him; he contracted to do his work in the city - for pay.... - - By Mr. Bradford: - - Q. Where is this Mr. Stickney, the actuary? Does he live in - this city? - - A. Yes, sir. - - Q. What was his pecuniary condition when he entered the service - of the Freedmen’s Bank? - - A. He was a man without any appearance of any considerable - amount of means—not very large amount of property. He is a - wide-a-wake, active, business real estate broker. - - Q. How much property has he got now? - - A. I cannot tell.... I think he has an interest in a good many - pieces of property; how large that interest is, or how well - secured, I cannot say. - -The above will serve to show what kind of a man this G. W. Stickney was. -The simple truth is that, when he took charge of the bank’s affairs, -about all the property he had was his pretensions to being a high church -Republican, and his stock in trade in religion of an assorted kind. - -Old man Alvord was an unwilling witness. He could have told the Committee -much more than he did of the connection between Stickney and Shepherd, -Vandenburgh and Shepherd, John O. Evans, Lewis Clephane, and Hallett -Kilbourn. Vandenburgh is a free and easy, good natured, open-handed -man, and not naturally dishonest. And yet he was, during the reign of -Mr. Shepherd and his Ring, a sample sheep, of which Clephane, Evans, -Kilbourn, and Shepherd constituted the flock. He was associated with -them in the paving business, and the very large amounts of money he was -permitted to draw from the bank from time to time, and while Stickney -had almost absolute control of its funds—nearly $200,000—convinces me -that there was not only collusion, but that Vandenburgh was used as an -instrument by his more designing confederates. These “Vandenburgh loans,” -as they are called, are regarded as bad as any made by the bank. That -Vandenburgh never could have used so large an amount of money in his own -business, the Committee were satisfied. This, too, must be said, that Mr. -Beverly Douglas was very decidedly of the opinion that Vandenburgh was -“used by the master spirits of the ring to pull their chestnuts out of -the fire.” - -Stickney was responsible for these bad loans. They were made with his -consent, perhaps not criminally. I have, however, given enough proof to -convince the candid reader that he never should have been employed as an -officer of the bank again. - - -THE SADDEST CHAPTER OF ALL. - -I come now to the saddest and most melancholy chapter of this history -of fraud. I refer to the report recently wrung from the commissioners -in response to Mr. Muller’s resolution, introduced in Congress February -25th, 1878. This report, (Mis. Doc. 43, House of Representatives, 45th -Congress, 2d Session,) is a very remarkable document, and merits to be -extensively read and carefully studied. It is a remarkable document, as -well for the force in which it illustrates the blighting power of money, -the want of heart, soul, and conscience, even the better class of mankind -is afflicted with at the present day, and, worst of all, that there -is very little difference between the men, who, in 1870, deliberately -plotted to rob the bank, and the men, who, in 1878, and under the -disguise of law, make themselves and their friends the beneficiaries of -what there is left. - -The following passage is quoted from this remarkable report, to which the -names of the three commissioners are attached. It reads like a bit of -exquisite satire: - - “In conclusion, permit us to say that we have no knowledge of - any improper use of the funds of the company to which reference - is made in the preamble of the resolution of the House of - Representatives, except sums required for the payment of petty - expenditures and expenses incurred by agents and deducted from - their collections.” - -This is a very singular statement to make to Congress, and is false on -its face. Can it be possible that these commissioners were so deaf to -public sentiment that they did not hear the criticisms made on their -conduct in managing the affairs of the bank for the last three years? -Do they not know that the atmosphere of Washington has been foul with -scandals in regard to the relations between one of the commissioners and -a well-known Washington lawyer, who was enriching himself at the expense -of the washers and scrubbers, the very poor and the very ignorant? Do -they not know that these suspicious relations have been the talk of the -Washington bar for at least two years? Why, gentlemen commissioners, this -report of yours is, of itself, the best proof that there was just cause -for these scandals, if such you choose to call them. - -I have shown that Creswell and Purvis were mere figureheads, who pocketed -their salaries with heartless regularity, while Leipold did all the -business, and was really the Board of Commissioners. I have also shown -this man Leipold’s relations to Senator Howe, and his son-in-law, lawyer -Enoch Totten. We have now only to turn and see what an extensive field -lawyer Enoch Totten found for his legal services, and how splendidly he -improved it. Here are some of his charges: - - January 20, 1875, Fees, &c., $22 00 - March 1, 1875, Enoch Totten, Attorney 34 00 - March 20, 1875, ” ” 13 00 - April 7, 1875, ” ” 12 00 - April 13, 1875, ” ” 11 00 - May 10, 1875, ” ” 23 00 - May 28, 1875, ” ” (fees) 500 00 - June 25, 1875, ” ” (fees, &c.) 58 00 - September 27, 1875, ” ” 29 00 - October 6, 1875, ” ” 17 00 - November 3, 1875, ” ” 22 00 - ” ” ” (fees) 500 00 - December 23, 1875, ” ” (fees) 1,000 00 - ---------- - $2,241 00 - ========== - March 11, 1876, Enoch Totten, Attorney $13 00 - March 28, 1876, ” ” (fees) 1,500 00 - April 21, 1876, ” ” (costs) 85 00 - May 5, 1876, ” ” 69 00 - May 16, 1876, ” ” 85 00 - May 23, 1876, ” ” 85 00 - June 10, 1876, ” ” (fees) 1,886 90 - June 30, 1876, ” ” 22 00 - July 20, 1876, ” ” (fees & costs) 49 00 - Aug’st 15, 1876, Filing Bill in Equity 14 00 - Aug’st 18, 1876, Attorney’s Fees 500 00 - Nov’r 22, 1876, Attorney’s Fees 1,000 00 - Dec’r 11, 1876, Attorney’s Costs, &c., 30 00 - Dec’r 22, 1876, Attorney’s Fees 1,000 00 - ---------- - $6,338 90 - ========== - Jan’ry 10, 1877, Enoch Totten, (costs) $16 35 - Feb’ry 9, 1877, ” 11 00 - Feb’ry 23, 1877, ” (fees and costs) 68 43 - April 5, 1877, ” (legal service) 500 00 - April 19, 1877, ” (costs) 12 00 - May 5, 1877, ” (fees) 500 00 - May 17, 1877, ” (fees) 25 00 - May 31, 1877, ” (fees) 150 00 - June 30, 1877, ” (fees) 10 00 - July 5, 1877, ” (attorney’s fees) 500 00 - July 13, 1877, ” 125 00 - July 19, 1877, ” (attorney’s fees) 60 00 - Sept’r 1, 1877, ” ” ” 1,200 00 - Sept’r 15, 1877, ” ” ” 1,409 53 - Oct’br 18, 1877, ” Attorney 25 00 - Nov’br 22, 1877, ” Attorney 30 00 - Dec’br 13, 1877, ” (attorney’s fees) 250 00 - ---------- - $4,821 21 - ========== - - _Summary._ - - 1875 $2,241 00 - 1876 6,338 90 - 1877 4,821 21 - ---------- - Total $13,401 11 - ========== - -The sad story of greed recorded in the above account of fees is so well -told as to render comment by me unnecessary. And yet the above is by no -means all lawyer Enoch Totten got of the money of the washers and the -scrubbers, the very poor and the very ignorant. He can afford to ride in -his coach; and I hope he can sleep at night with the self-satisfaction -that he has been just and generous to the poor freedmen who had been so -cruelly robbed, and had pocketed only what was right of their money. - -Not very long since, Mr. Frederick Douglas said there were men in -Washington, living in palaces, and riding in their coaches, who were -prominent in robbing his people of their hard earnings. Mr. Douglas never -told a greater truth. I envy no man destined to carry a guilty conscience -through the world with him. - -To turn to this lawyer Totten, he may be eminent as a lawyer, but I never -heard of it. Nor have I ever heard that his reputation at the Washington -Bar was such as to entitle him to excessive fees.[2] I have heard of -Attorney-at-Law Totten, in connection with the “Beaufort and Texas Prize -Claim,” which, in the language of District Attorney Wells, was one of the -very worst frauds invented to get nearly a million dollars out of the -Treasury of the United States. - -I am assured that the legal services rendered by Mr. Totten, were of -a very simple and commonplace kind; and that there are at least fifty -members of the Washington Bar, as good and perhaps better lawyers than -Mr. Totten, who would have gladly performed the service for one-sixth of -the amount charged. - -You have in the above a faint glimpse of the ways and means by which the -money of these poor, plundered people is disappearing. And yet these -well paid Commissioners, who have proven themselves so recreant to this -trust, tell us with a coolness that challenges our credulity, that they -have “no knowledge of any improper use of the funds of the company to -which reference is made in the preamble of the resolution of the House -of Representatives.” How very innocent these Commissioners are. Their -innocence is only equalled by Mr. Attorney-at-Law Totten’s great respect -for the money of his clients, the washers and the scrubbers, the very -poor and the very ignorant. It was Sheridan, I believe, who said that if -he wanted to find a first-class scoundrel, heartless and soulless, he -would search for him in the legal profession. Had he lived in this age of -Christian statesmen he certainly would have improved on that. - - -MORE FEES FOR LEGAL SERVICES. - -Here, too, is our legal brother, John H. Cook, colored, following -modestly in the footsteps of his paler-faced brother, Totten. John found -the field open and went in and made a goodly harvest of fees. Ordinarily, -John H. Cook’s clients are of the ten, fifteen, and twenty dollar class. -Here, however, he improved on himself, like Mr. Frederick Douglass. John -H. Cook, a member in good standing at the Washington Bar, never forgets -that he is a friend of “his race.” I would here say, however, that I -am assured by several members of the Washington Bar that Mr. Cook’s -services in behalf of the bank extended over as long a period of time and -were quite as valuable as those rendered by Mr. Totten. A glance at the -list of his charges, published below, will at least convince the reader -that he was more modest in making up his accounts. Why the Commissioners -should have discriminated against color in this remarkable manner is a -question the reader can decide for himself. - -There are other attorneys-at-law, plain and colored, who were employed by -the Commissioners, and who got fees to a very considerable amount; but I -nowhere find the name of that eminent patriot and statesman, John Andrew -Jackson Creswell. Indeed he does not seem to have rendered legal or any -other service, notwithstanding General Grant’s assurance that as a lawyer -he would be very useful in winding up the affairs of the bank. - -Here is Brother Cook’s account current for legal services. I have omitted -dates: - - John H. Cook $2 00 - ” 59 00 - ” 155 00 - ” 15 00 - ” 325 00 - ” 44 00 - ” 7 00 - ” 15 00 - ” 132 00 - ” 110 00 - ” 115 00 - ” 246 00 - ” 45 00 - ” 170 00 - ” 106 00 - ” 864 00 - ” 340 00 - ” 160 00 - ” 154 00 - ” 95 00 - ” 21 00 - ” 95 00 - ” 10 00 - ” 200 00 - ” 29 00 - ” 130 00 - ” 73 00 - ” 50 00 - ” 25 00 - --------- - $3,792 00 - -One of the worst features of this bad case, one which will astonish -and set the intelligent reader to thinking, will be found in the fact -that these Commissioners, whose feelings seem blunted by avarice, again -employed the man G. W. Stickney, and in defiance of law, and I was going -to say decency itself, paid him the salary of a Commissioner. This of -itself should condemn them as unfit for their high trust. - -George W. Stickney, the man who brought so much scandal and disgrace -on the bank, again employed and paid the salary of a Commissioner! -Shame! What service this man could render, except explaining his own -irregularities, I am unable to discover. - -The Hon. Beverly Douglas, in his report to Congress more than two years -ago, showed us exactly what manner of man this Stickney was. He also -showed us, in language not to be mistaken, how shamefully Stickney had -abused his trust. He showed us that Stickney had not only allowed his -friends to raid on the bank’s funds, but was himself a debtor to it in a -very considerable amount; also that he was responsible for the large and -very bad loans made to what was known as the Washington Ring.[3] - -I can only account for Stickney’s employment by the Commissioners on -the theory that the old Washington Ring is still active in controlling -the bank’s officials, and that the Commissioners are more in sympathy -with the men who defrauded the bank, than the men and women who were the -victims of the fraud. In the face of all this the Commissioners tell us -again they have “no knowledge of any improper use of the funds of the -company to which reference is made in the preamble of the resolution” -(Mr. Muller’s) “of the House of Representatives.” - -Why, gentlemen Commissioners, this Stickney business has been the scandal -of the town for months, and it is your fault that you have been deaf to -it. - -Now mark this strange admission. In a side note on page 87 of the report -made in response to Mr. Muller’s resolution, the Commissioners say, -“Balance due from him (Stickney) as late Actuary Freedmen’s Savings and -Trust Company, being paid by services.” The reader will admit that this -is a new, if not entirely novel, method of allowing a delinquent official -to discharge his indebtedness to a bank for the savings of the poor. - - -THE COMMISSIONERS. - -These gentlemen ask us to give them credit for, after more than two -years, paying a dividend of 10 per cent., (making 30 per cent. in all,) -and affect to regret that they could not, indeed had not the means -to make it ten more. And yet they admit the fact that their “expense -account,” in three years, reaches the enormous sum of $179,437.20; -$62,536.22 of this was for their own salaries and the salaries of clerks, -and $23,008.92 for fees paid to favorite lawyers. In other words, -eighty-five thousand and five hundred and forty-five dollars and fourteen -cents ($85,545.14) went into their own, and the pockets of the type of -lawyers I have described in another part of this work. Well might Mr. -Beverly Douglas exclaim: “The Commissioners regard what there is left -of this sad wreck as a legacy for the benefit of themselves and their -retainers.” That the money is fast disappearing into their own pockets, -and that in two or three years more there will be but very little of -it left for the washers and the scrubbers, the very poor and the very -ignorant, who were so cruelly robbed, we here have ample proof. - -A glance over the salary list referred to will show with what heartless -regularity these well-paid Commissioners came up to the bank’s counter -on the _last_ day of each month and drew their salary. I here insert a -few specimens: - - January 29, 1875. Sundry persons by N. Y. drafts 391 00 - J. A. J. Creswell 250 00 - Robert Purvis 250 00 - R. H. T. Leipold 250 00 - George W. Stickney 250 00 - A. M. Sperry 208 33 - G. W. Clapp 116 66 - H. S. Nyman 100 00 - C. A. Fleetwood 166 66 - G. H. Bruce 55 00 - C. H. Jones 70 00 - Henry Mason 60 00 - John T. Green 45 00 - E. A. Wheeler 125 00 - W. E. Augusta 100 00 - A. F. Hill 100 00 - D. A. Ritter 100 00 - -------- - $2,637 65 - ========= - - February 27, 1875. John A. J. Creswell 250 00 - Robert Purvis 250 00 - R. H. T. Leipold 250 00 - George W. Stickney 250 00 - A. M. Sperry 208 33 - G. W. Clapp 116 66 - H. S. Nyman 100 00 - C. A. Fleetwood 116 66 - C. H. Jones 70 00 - G. H. Bruce 55 00 - Henry Mason 60 00 - John T. Green 45 00 - E. A. Wheeler 125 00 - W. E. Augusta 100 00 - A. F. Hill 100 00 - -------- - $2,096 65 - ========= - - March 29, 1875. John A. J. Creswell 250 00 - R. H. T. Leipold 250 00 - George W. Stickney 250 00 - G. W. Clapp 116 66 - H. S. Nyman 100 00 - C. A. Fleetwood 116 66 - C. H. Jones 70 00 - G. H. Bruce 55 00 - Henry Mason 60 00 - John T. Green 45 00 - E. A. Wheeler 125 00 - W. E. Augusta 100 00 - A. F. Hill 100 00 - Horace Morris 100 00 - New York drafts for agents 256 00 - -------- - $1,994 32 - ========= - -The wonder is that Creswell and Leipold did not ask us to credit them -with generous intentions for not waiting until the first day of each -month. These worthy gentlemen, so true to themselves, are Republicans, -holding front seats in the church of Christian statesmen; they are loud -to preach and strong to pray, and they thank God of a Sunday that they -are not as other men. And yet amidst all the suffering and distress, -all the poverty and want, the class of poor robbed by the officials -of this bank here in Washington have been afflicted with for the past -two winters, and which the good and the generous so worthily came -forward to relieve, it does not seem for once to have occurred to these -Commissioners, who were enriching themselves on the money of the washers -and scrubbers, that even one month’s salary would have purchased fuel -and bread enough to feed a thousand starving and shivering families for -a month. There is no charity on that side of Mr. John Andrew Jackson -Creswell’s ledger. He is deaf and dumb when humanity speaks. His name -is not down in charity’s album; at least I have not seen it there. Nor -have I seen Leipold’s mite recorded. And I am sure Attorney-at-law Totten -would regard it as a libel on his reputation to be accused of giving for -charity’s sake. - -Let me end this sad story by saying that I want no better proof of the -prudence, docility, and deference of the negro race to the white man than -the fact that they did not rise up and take summary vengeance of the -scoundrels who so cruelly robbed them of their hard earnings. - -I have shown: - - First: That the Freedmen’s Bank, like the Freedmen’s Bureau, - was an offspring of the Republican party. - - Second: That its managers were Republicans of the most radical - type, from O. O. Howard down to ex-Senator Pomeroy; and from - Pomeroy down to G. W. Stickney. - - Third: That the men who invented the diabolical plot to rob the - bank, and did rob it, were not only Republicans holding front - seats in its political tabernacle, but friends and associates - of ex-President Grant. - - Fourth: That the Commissioners, who have so shamefully - neglected their trust, were high-church Republicans, one of - them an ex-member of Grant’s cabinet. - - Fifth: That with the single exception of Vice-President Wilson, - not a Republican, high or low, in or out of Congress, has - raised a hand or voice against the robbers, or come to the - defense of the poor negroes who were being so cruelly robbed. - - Sixth: That Republicans have, with the single exception I have - named, invariably apologized for and defended the robbers. - - Seventh: That the thoughtful reader will agree with me that - there is a meaner and more despicable class of theft than that - which applies to chicken-roosts. - - Eighth: That the men guilty of this robbery are all well known; - that the most prominent of them, to use the language of Mr. - Frederick Douglass, “live in palaces and ride in coaches,” and - yet Justice has not laid even its most dainty finger on them. - -It now remains for Congress to assert its prerogative, to rise up and -wipe out this abomination, to put a stop to a scandal that has become -national, and place the winding up of the affairs of the bank under -the Secretary of War, with authority to appoint a competent officer to -perform the duty, to the end of saving what there is left of the wreck to -the poor victims of this cruel robbery, instead of having it pass into -the pockets of the Commissioners and their legal retainers. We all know -and appreciate the prompt, honest, and economical way in which Adjutant -General Vincent brought the affairs of the Freedmen’s Bureau to a close, -and exposed the canting hypocrites who had grown rich by pocketing the -colored man’s bounties. We want just such a faithful and efficient -officer to wind up the affairs of the Freedmen’s Bank. - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] My old friend, General Spinner, can further enlighten the reader -on Leipold’s fitness for a commissioner to wind up the affairs of the -Freedmen’s Bank. - -[2] Since writing this, one S. A. Peugh, a Claim and Pension Agent, -was convicted by a jury of this District for taking an excessive fee. -Compared with Attorney-at-Law Totten’s charges, his fee was extremely -moderate. - -[3] Mr. Johnson, the Auditor, to whom the Court referred for adjustment -certain accounts of the Freedmen’s Bank, has just furnished me with the -following statements: - - In the case of Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company _vs._ - Abbott Paving Company, No. 4465, found balance due the bank, - $63,890.80. - - To meet this there is on hand, in depreciated and worthless - securities, $44,165.67. - - FREEDMEN’S SAVINGS AND TRUST CO. _vs._ VANDENBURGH. No. 4463. - - Found balance due the bank, $85,372.64. - - Securities on hand to meet this, depreciated and worthless - $75,208.21. - -Stickney’s shameful and criminal mismanagement is forcibly told in the -above. If we had a Tweed to tell us the true inwardness of the Abbott -Paving Company, and the men behind its scenes, the story would be doubly -interesting. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Washers and Scrubbers: The Men Who -Robbed Them, by F. C. 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