forced to resign, on account of
a report of the committee of ways and means condemning him for his part
in making a contract, while acting Secretary of the Treasury, with one
Sanborn, for collecting for the Treasury, on shares, taxes which it was
the business of regular officers of the government to collect. Immense
power was given by the contract, and the resources of the Treasury
Department were put at the service of a crew of irresponsible
inquisitors before whom the business community trembled. They extorted
immense sums in dishonorable ways which aroused popular resentment. The
President saw no wrong, and accepted Secretary Richardson's resignation
unwillingly, at once nominating him to be Chief Justice of the Court of
Claims, a reward for malfeasance which amazed the country, although the
administration supporters in the Senate confirmed it.

General Benjamin H. Bristow, of Kentucky, became Secretary of the
Treasury, a man of superior ability, aggressive honesty, and moral
firmness. He quickly uncovered a mass of various wrongdoing,--the
safe-burglary frauds of the corrupt ring governing Washington, the
seal-lock frauds, the subsidy frauds, and, most formidable of all, the
frauds of the powerful whiskey ring having headquarters in St. Louis.
The administration of the Treasury Department, especially the Internal
Revenue Bureau, was permeated with corruption. The worst feature of it
all was that officers who desired to be upright found themselves
powerless against the intrigues and the potent political influence of
the rascals at the headquarters of executive authority. When the
evidence of wrongdoing accumulated by the new Secretary of the Treasury
was laid before the President he was dumfounded by its wickedness and
extent, but showed himself resolute and vigorous in supporting his able
and resourceful Secretary. The trap was sprung in May, 1875. Indictments
were found against 150 private citizens and 86 government officers,
among the latter the chief clerk in the Treasury Department, and the
President's private secretary, General O. E. Babcock. All the principal
defendants were convicted except Babcock, and he was dismissed by the
President.

During all these proceedings, in spite of the President's professions,
the Treasury Department was beset by subtle hostile influences and
impediments. The politicians who had the President's ear made him
believe that it was the ruin of himself and his household that the
in