It will be perceived by the accompanying papers that in all cases in which, during the recess of the Senate, suspensions have been recommended by the Commissioner on charges and evidence of "misconduct in office, or crime, or for any reason" rendering the persons "incapable or legally disqualified" to perform the duties of the office, the recommendations have been complied with by the President; and it may be proper for me to remark that all recommendations for removals during the session of the Senate have received prompt and proper attention by the Executive. It is apparent from the statement herewith presented, as well as from other facts within the knowledge of the Senate, that very much of the difficulty in the way of the removal of dishonest or incompetent collectors and assessors arises from the restraint upon Executive authority imposed by the “civil tenure bill" in the recess of the Senate, and the want of accord between the Executive and the Senate in regard to nominations during the sessions. I am, very respectfully, Hon. B. F. WADE, President of the Senate. H. MCCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury. Schedule of contents of communications of Commissioner of Internal Revenue, addressed to the Secretary of the Treasury. 1. In regard to the appointment of a suitable person to fill the vacant assessorship of the first district of Ohio. Dated June 17, 1867. 2. In regard to the administration of the revenue law, stating existing vacancies, and recommending that they be filled; also recommending removal of certain incumbents. Dated July 15, 1867. 3. In regard to the administration of the revenue law, and recommending changes in certain districts. Dated December 30, 1867. 4. Recommends removals of certain incumbents. Dated January 15, 1868. 5. Recommends the removal of Benjamin H. Sheppard, collector of internal revenue for the third district of Mississippi. Dated February 3, 1868. 6. Withdraws his recommendation for the removal of William H. McCartney, collector third district of Massachusetts. Dated February 12, 1868. Also transmitted a letter of the Secretary of the Treasury forwarding additional evidence in the cases of Collector John H. Anderson and Assessor John H. Patteson, fourth district of Virginia, suspended for misconduct in office. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE of Internal Revenue, Washington, June 17, 1867. SIR: Several vacancies exist in internal revenue offices to be filled by presidential appointment. Of these the most important, perhaps, is that of assessor of the first collection district of Ohio, comprising a portion of the city of Cincinnati, and created by the death of Mr. Langdon. I desire to write briefly of Mr. Langdon's successor, and generally of appointments to important positions in the revenue service, and lest I should be misunderstood in what I shall write, or any motives be suspected, I will state that ever since its organization I have been, as I am now, a member of the republican party; casting my ballots, as you know, for its nominees, and approving of many of the acts of Congress that did not meet the approval of the President. I have not used my office, however, as you also know, to thwart the will of the Executive, but have endeavored rather, in the discharge of my official duties and as a subordinate officer, to execute his expressed pleasure. The receipts of internal revenue in great degree depend upon the administration of the laws by the local officers. The laws themselves, and their construction, with rules, regulations, and instructions under them, are of little profit if assessors and collectors lack either integrity or ability. A tarnished reputation even is a hindrance to success, and as much disqualifies a man for either of these positions as for the pulpit or the bench. He, too, should only receive appointment who has won the confidence of his community by fidelity in other places of trust, and who will give character to the office, rather than he who seeks prominence and importance through official position, and whose principal claim is political service. Unworthy men of little ability may possibly answer for other positions on the civil list where there is less opportunity for fraudulent collusion without detection, and where incompetency will not prove such a terrible cost to the treasury; but unless great care is exercised in the appointments of which I am speaking, the administration of the revenue laws will be a reproach, and the laws themselves will soon become insufferable to the public, regardless of party. Faithful revenue officers, too, become more valuable as they have more experience. As their acquaintance with the law and the precedents of the office, and with the tax-payers of the several districts, becomes more intimate and more thorough, violations of the law are more easily prevented or detected, and the receipts of the treasury are multiplied. It is because of this that the many and oftentimes repeated changes during the past year have prejudiced the revenue to the extent of many millions of dollars. I speak of this, and in this connection, with a hope that those may be appointed to place of the character I have indicated-men who have such moral and business qualifications, without noisy partisanship, that the Senate cannot do otherwise than confirm them. I neither ask nor expect the preferment of men merely because they are republicans. I ask nothing at all, nor do I claim anything, from personal or political considerations, for I would, if possible, take the service altogether out of party politics I do not ask you even to hear me for the appointment of any particular man, although I believe that the practice which long prevailed under which nominations were made by this office to yours can alone secure thorough discipline and efficiency; but as Commissioner of Internal Revenue, charged with important public trusts, and solicitous for the success of the Treasury Department, I do pray you that in Ohio and elsewhere, wherever vacancies exist, or shall hereafter occur, they shall be filled by those whose past lives and present reputations shall entitle them to the unmeasured confidence of the department and the public. In Cincinnati, Representative Eggleston urges Mr. Davis, but Davis is a republican, and, from what I understand to be the expressed purpose of the President in such cases, I cannot expect his appointment. But those who are not republicans, and who do come within what I have described as the absolute necessities of the service, are Mr. James F. Torrence and Mr. P. W. Strader. I am not personally acquainted with either of these gentlemen, nor with any who recommend them, but you assure me that several gentlemen, who are not politicians, and in whose integrity and judgment you have full confidence, indorse them as friends of the President politically, and of such eminent fitness for the place in question that their confirmation is not uncertain. I shall be satisfied with either of them, or with any one of like capacity and character. I cannot be satisfied with any one less worthy, for his appointment would not be consistent with the public good and the requirements of the service. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. HUGH MCCULLOCH, E. A. ROLLINS, Commissioner. Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C. TREASURY DEPartment, Office of Internal Revenue, MR. SECRETARY: Several vacancies in the offices of assessors and collectors of internal revenue existed at the adjournment of the Senate in April last, and cannot be filled in its absence. They are as follows: Assessor, first district, New York; assessor, tenth district, Pennsylvania; assessor, twelfth district, Pennsylvania; assessor, fifteenth district, Pennsylvania; assessor, second district, Indiana; assessor, ninth district, Illinois; assessor, fourth district, Wisconsin; collector, fifth district, Missouri. The duties of these positions are now temporarily discharged by persons not generally regarded as fitted for permanent appointment, and I believe that the best interests of the service require that the vacancies should be filled immediately. Frequent changes of officers I have always regarded as inconsistent with the successful administration of the revenue laws, and because of this, I have deeply regretted the many changes of the last two months, and cannot but hope that with the vexed political questions measurably concluded, removals and appointments may be substantially returned by the President to the Treasury Department, where alone they can be considered in connection with the good of the revenue. For the revenue, however, some changes should now be made, and because of the tenure of office act, they should be made while the Senate is in session. I recommend that successors be appointed to Assessor Homer Franklin, ninth New York; Assessor Abram Hyatt, tenth New York; Assessor Henry A. Weaver, twenty-second Pennsylvania; Assessor M. P. Gaddis, second Ohio; Collector E. T. Cunningham, seventh Illinois; Collector William James, third Virginia; Collector Francis W. Kellogg, first Alabama. The reasons for this recommendation are already familiar to you. I shall deem it my duty to suggest additional ones, including some of the new appointees. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, E. A. ROLLINS, Commissioner. Hon. HUGH MCCULLOCH, Secretary of the Treasury, Washington, D. C. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF INTERNAL REVENUE, SIR: I beg to call your earnest attention again to the subject of frauds upon the revenue. In the collection of the tax on distilled spirits these frauds have become so monstrous as to excite serious alarm, and unless they can be suppressed or materially checked will still further reduce the revenue and bring disgrace upon this office and upon the Treasury Department. I know of no way to suppress or check them otherwise than by insisting upon increased fidelity and vigilance on the part of all who are intrusted with the execution of the law, especially on the part of the assessors and collectors in the several districts where the frauds are perpetrated, as through them alone can their subordinate officers practically be reached. I stated in a letter from this office, addressed to collectors of internal revenue and bearing date the 13th of May last: "I am instructed by the Secretary of the Treasury to say that in any district in which these frauds continue, he will consider it his duty to see that such changes are made in the officers of the district as may give promise of greater energy and fidelity." These instructions were based upon the idea that assessors and collectors should be held responsible for the suppression of frauds in their several districts, and that the failure to suppress or check them should be considered as evidence either of the incompetency of the officers or of their complicity with the parties. engaged in frauds. In many districts, as I have frequently stated to you before, and as you are aware, the officers are incompetent or unfaithful, and in others they are corrupt. For a time I hoped that good results might follow from the appointment of special agents and inspectors, but there is reason to fear that many of these have yielded to temptation, and as their number has been multiplied, frauds seem to have increased. An efficient remedy is imperatively demanded. No legislation, however stringent, can avail without honest and capable officers, and I see no reason to change the views I have so often expressed to you that inefficient or dishonest officers must be removed and men of integrity and superior ability appointed in their places. I therefore respectfully refer you again to my communication of the 15th of July last, in which I recommended the retirement of the several officers therein named. I have seen no reason to change that recommendation, and now earnestly renew it; and in addition to the changes then proposed, I earnestly recommend that successors be appointed to Collector James B. Steedman, first Louisiana; Collector John M. Cashman, third Missouri; Collector Orvin L. Mann, first Illinois; Collector William H. McCartney, third Massachusetts; Collector Thomas O'Callaghan, ninth New York; Collector Samuel M. Zulick, third Pennsylvania; Collector Charles Abel, first Pennsylvania; Collector William O. Collins, sixth Ohio; Assessor Alexander H. Hall, first Mississippi; Assessor William S. King, third Massachusetts. The Secretary, the President, and the country, under a proper organization of my office, would have a right to hold me, as Commissioner of Internal Revenue, responsible for the faithful execution of the revenue laws. The efficient discharge of this duty on my part is absolutely impossible if subordinate officers, through whom alone laws can be enforced and the tax collected, fail from any cause whatever to enforce the laws and collect the tax. I therefore feel it my duty to again call your attention to this important subject, that you may know why these frauds are continued, and to urge upon you the immediate application of the only remedy within my knowledge for their correction, namely, the retirement of officers found to be inefficient or unfaithful, and the substitution of efficient and faithful men in their places. Other changes should be made and will be formally submitted whenever the recommendations here made and those already before you shall have been acted upon. The best interests of the revenue require me also to call your attention to the several vacancies in the office of assessor referred to in my letter of July last, which still remain unfilled. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. HUGH MCCULLOCH, E. A. ROLLINS, Secretary of the Treasury. TREASURY Department, Office of Internal Revenue, Washington, January 15, 1868. SIR: I respectfully recommend that successors be appointed to Thomas Wellwood, assessor, third district, New York; Peter M. Pearson, assessor, District of Columbia; Lewis Peck, assessor, twenty-fifth district, New York; David T. Littler, collector, eighth district, Illinois; James T. Abernathy, collector, second district, Tennessee. The reasons for this recommendation are, in general, the same as stated in previous recommendations of this character. Assistant assessors, inspectors of revenue, storekeepers of bonded warehouses, inspectors of distilled spirits, of coal oil, and tobacco, are appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury, but, as a rule, are appointed alone upon the recommendation of the principal revenue officers of the several districts where they are to be employed. Were it not, therefore, almost self-evident, every day's experience would more and more assure me that the service can be recovered from dishonor, and the laws vigorously enforced only where the assessors and collectors are heid personally responsible for all failures of their subordinate officers. I trust that I may be encouraged to send the names of officers who should be retired in favor of men of superior ability and integrity. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Hon. HUGH MCCULLOCH, E. A. ROLLINS, Commissioner. Secretary of the Treasury. TREASURY DEPARTMENT, OFFICE OF INTERNAL REVENUE, SIR I would respectfully request the removal of Benjamin H. Sheppard from the office of collector of internal revenue for the third district of Mississippi, for the reasons, as established by his own letter of the 27th December, last, and the affidavits, herewith transmitted, that he gave aid, countenance, and encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility to the United States, and also yielded voluntary support to a pretended government, authority, power, and constitution, within the United States, hostile and inimical thereto. First. In accepting and exercising the functions of provost marshal for General Bragg, in the so-called confederate service, in March, April, and May, 1862, at Okalona, in Mississippi. in Second. That in August, 1864, when all the men under fifty years of age Mississippi, were called out by proclamation of the rebel governor to "repel invasion," meaning by "invasion" the approach of the United States forces engaged in repressing the rebellion and restoring the authority of the United States, he, the said Sheppard, (stating now in his letter referred to that he "could not shirk" the call,) joined the body of these insurgents which assembled at Okalona, and acted as their quartermaster for thirty days, the whole term of service. To use his own words: "I consented to act, at the request of the officer in command, in superintending the issue of rations and forage to the animals, biped and quadruped, collected here for the said thirty days." Third. That during the late rebellion said Sheppard piloted from Okalona to Tupelo a part of the insurgent forces of the so-called confederate General Roddy, which came to take part in a battle between the rebels and the forces of the United States. The first two specifications are proved by the aforesaid letter of Collector Sheppard, and the last one by the affidavit of C. M. B. Davis. |