Show e Urged To ht Acts By y Conscience I WASHINGTON DC D.C. The D.C.-The The nu- nu numan I Iman makes I Imen man conscience sometimes men do many strange things Among An Ai n these is i ic the particular act U o r or decision to ease ones one's conscience I by making restitution for a fancied or real theft or deception I For instance the White House I recently received a letter the other I II day which said I I Enclosed is 5 cents which I owe j i jI iI I I the government While out on the I Atlantic in a boat I dropped a nickel overboard Here is another I one to put back in the mint i Officials believe the the letter was written in all sincerity that there was nothing facetious about it Many federal agencies get letters from people with guilty consciences and most of the letters contain money If they do they go to the conscience fund under the treasury's treas treas- treasury's treasury's I ury's bureau of accounts Joseph A. A Woodson chief The money ends I up in the general federal kitty and andis andis is spent Started in iu 1811 First known contributions to the conscience fund were during the administration of President Madison Madi Madi- Madison Madison I son back in 1811 The total that year was For the fiscal year 1948 it was I Some people sign their names I others do not A great many say sayI they have found religion and with I it a pang of conscience for some I II past wrong A few jokesters are involved I who sent in Like the f woman stamps to tobe It be applied against our I billion dollar public debt The letters though are not funny to the conscience fund people who I maintain a large office on the fourth and floor of the treasury building elaborate file and book book- bookkeeping bookkeeping bookkeeping keep an keeping system on such matters Each signed letter is answered po po- of notes con can contains cant contains The current crop service service- servicemen servicemen many from former t men men- men for 30 One sent a money m ney order to for property he he stole while 1 wearing pay an army uniform Another bad hod filched filched- a bunch oL of o- o L b from r ram m the die navy navy V I I dont don't know how many he said but I think 10 will cover it it Returns A marine declared he had bad been overpaid by at the time of at athis his discharge He returned it plus lOc in interest A soldier said he had walked out outI I of a separation center somehow somehow- with his discharge papers in one I hand and a bass drum in the other He sent 1750 with a notation that I it was such a poor drum drum it couldn't have been worth more than that A woman not long ago mailed in hi in cash She explained that she owed the government that much and had sent the amount in hi before I III didn't receive any reply from fromi i you the first time tune so here here- hereit it is her name again She didn't sign to either letter G a Sometimes the amount is small I but in hi the past startled clerks have hav havI I opened plain envelopes containing as much as I |