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. Adams