Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1840-08-17

26i5 barrels -four, s2 barrels hard bread, 272 2
bushels beans, 10 Id bushels cornrnea, 1863 bush
ella corn SOC bushels salt, 75,027 pounds sugar,
Al 297 pounds coffee, 5436 pounds rice, Sal 900
pounds bacon, 20, pounds soap, l4,il0 pounds
candles, 81 gallons whskey, s, las gallons vinegar,
and all the issuing apparatus, such as scales, weights
and measures, used while the volunteer troops
were in service. These articles produced the
nett sum Of S52l17 90"
This, sir, is the official account And what do
prove 10y this, Mr.. Chairman? That this vast
amount OF supplies, collected unnecessarily cost,
as will appear by the accounts of the Department,
upwards of t,co hundred and siry thousand dollars
including transportation, commissions, buildings
crested for their preservation &c. and were sold
Ivy this all wise aud competent Administration for
less than one I'm Of cost. This, sir, is the man
ner in which the money of the people is wasted.
It seems, sir. that the 25,l8l pounds of soap
were not needed Ivy the army. II ought never to
have been sold, sir. 1t should have been shipped
to Washington, and would have served as u irac-
ton of the quantity requisite to cleanse this foul
Admins ration. But, sir, l will give you another
item Of snes of stores, &C.. purchased unnecessa
rily, and sold NJ auction in the Cherokee country,
in 1888, and embraced in this same cornmunica-
ton find, sir that corn, which cost the Govern.
tnent at least one dollar and half, and in many
instances two dollars per hnshel, and accumulated
unnecessarily in vast quantities, was sold by this
economical Administration as follows:
1881 bushels corn, at II l cents per bushe
5215 do nj ii 50 do
499034 do ut 10 Ia do
400 do at 3 81 do
4 239 l.2 do at 1884 do
This, sir, is specimen Of the prices at which
this article was sold, and thousands of dollars
thrown away in thus one article OF corn alone
And this sir, is only fraction of the quantity
sold. find further sir, that oats purchased at
double the usual COST were sold Mt 3 l2 cents per
h,,gI, a.,
Tor the report states them to have been sound and
the damaged corn sold separately. | could pro-
coed, sir, to edumerae hundreds of cases OF the
same nature but time will not permit. will close
by giving an extract from n letter of the Creek
agents at Fort Gibson, addressed to the Commits
sioner of Indian Affairs complaining of the action
of the Administration, in forwarding such i'm =
mense quantities of supplies unnecessarily to that
post, and which also had to be sold at an immense
sacrifice;
"But, Whatever he the apology of the measure
in question: whether it be ignorance of the re-
sources of the country, dstrust of the capability
OF the officers cha ged with the subsistence of the
Indians, or dread OF failure of their efforts in
that respect one thing is demonstraby true, that
The great loss ohich is no,o inepitab consequent up
on The measure, might hare been dDoided had timely
directions been given 10 dispose Of this erirdordina
~ supply Of provision as ii ,rds aScertdned
not 10 BE- needed"
lie again says:
"lnsead of this cargo after cargo continued to
arrive as The necessity decreased"
Again, sir, the same agent says:
81 repeat, sir, fearless of contradiction had the
agents here been instructed, in the first instance,
as agents Of the Government ought 10 hare BEEN
where its interest was concerned, the pnbIic would
not have sustained the loss of single dollar; the
provision purchased in New Orleans would have
been sold, and not transported here, as has been
The case, at an enormous expense i0here ii Das not
needed, aud at an additional expense of several
thousands to erect suitable buildings to cover it
from the weather.
Such revelations as these, from, The official docu
ments, need no comment. Look at it: Ill vessels
chartered in single year for the Florida war, any
two of which vessels would transport every Indian
warrior in Florida Chartered at such prices,
too, that the money paid for their mere use would
actually more than pay for the boats themselves !!
TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS paid for trans
porting 100 cords of wood, and $50 a cord for
wood, in country which abounds in wood But
| we will not recapitulate. In next we will pay
our respects to the NAVAL EXPENDITURES.