The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-05-02

OCCASION or its use as depot learn that prior
its sale and when the private facilities for transportation
were far loss abundant than they now, the govern
ment could wen accomplish all it's purposes Of supply
those frontier posts without the aid of Fort Smell
ling This is curious and interesting fact and
deserves 10 BIZ further elucidateda HNtaf tiH o. =.
Listen the clear and conclusive statement of tiosd
Francs Lee thix poipt Itisa,gaf, w - .t.fsi. y
spring ISL TO The had charge Of the
ssa ss cannot esas way fs as as
,as ~" fof, Sp.sps y % lsn p,n aua ~ % o
ars have been furnish
cd % other posts from there that post has BEEN reues and
per Paul TO Port Ripley and directly up
q Question lstl from wheres
Answer From where the contractors furnished them
delivery directly to thu military
nd would absardi 70 stop and deliver provisions =,
tho river and put them ehouscs.n
de-, DO ws s0 Sy S ' Dn
sending the supplies direc than by making Fort Smelling depot
Answer Certainly. has always never been
=. Again i Csspt. J. b. s, Todd states i,r...
swhs eouaad lAere Tor years. supplies
n ~ n saea y ss ns ssS o Ssy fS S
going su sns1g sner tbs .na. the thing
w dong regard e f0 % Ss s0 about sS aa
and reshpped TO the fort direct in 1853 and 1854" "a
= Again, ws learn from the Hon. Henry H. Rec.
IppisA Ripley years received
ss s Il saS sn spes sn a Sss been 0 2
from ~ able portion was
~ ssss y %sSy v 'sss e r's l
NOT, do MOI know y 97si tebiH @
There Ia bat aspect Of our national policy think
In which il could be maintained that the government
should have held the control and of the Fort
Smelling reservation. and that would have BEEN have
met requirement called for by the existing military
system Of the country Within the last twenty years
haapr nm in hy
local interest and too much favored by Congress- of To-
eating posts in advance OF settlement and of distributing
troops at numerous posts in small garrsons. Expe
encc has shown that these small posts nearly power
lcss beyond their own limits, whilst they enormously
multiply the cost Of transportation involve the frequent
construction and abandonment Of posts etar discipline
and impair the Of The troops The present system
is condemned by the most enlightened officers of the
army Secretary Davis in bis annual report OF the LIST
of December 1855, argues with much force and ability
in favor Of change OF the present policy urges the
lection OF few points, accessible by steamboat and rail-
way, from which strong dsschments should annually be
sent out into the Indian country during the when
the gras will suffice for the support Of cavalry horses
and beasts OF draught burden He cites with
dation the ocoapation of Algeria by the French pre-
scnting Of parallelism TO western frontier
Had these views met with the approval of Congress- it is
manifest that Fort Smelling would have possessed an i'm
portance, In military point of view which it lay no
claim to at present But these views permitted
pass UNDECIDED by Congress and the changes too
radical to beintroduccd without its assent In the close
Of that portion Of the report he says As present
policy rests upon various acts Of legislation and the
current views of several preceding administrations
change radical that which here suggested should
receive critical examination and perhaps require lcgsla
tive action before being adopted
Having shown think concusively, that
sderaons OF military policy required the further reten
ton Of Fort Snens either post Of defence or de-
pot of supply will proceed next to examine the OBJ
jections which are token to the mode of SALE
Wasde mode of sale Objectionable p
AS general rule of executive action we concur most
cordially with the majority in the opinion that all sales
of government property should be made at public
ton, and after due notice thereby aordng to every cit
zen who desires it fair and equal opportunity to part
cpate in the purchase This Ia rule demanded not only
by the relation which exists in country like ours
between the government and the people, but it is
important check to official favoritism and partially
and operates benefcially in guarding against that
of individual injustice which springs from the
preference of one man another, where all have
common rights SO strong are individual con-
vicons this subject that it would require proof
Of very perverted sentiment in any State or Terri
tory to excuse, in our judgment, departure from
sound aud sautary rule of action The amount which
the government will at any time realize from sale of its
property must be insignificant compared with the more
important benefit which it must derive from alper
vadng impression of its fairness Justice and dsntrest
edness And yet it is difficult for any fair minded man
who reads the accompanying evidence and learns that
system Of combination which controls the results of pub
lie sales the West to cast the slightest cesure upon
the motives and conduct of the commissioners of sale
not condemn it individual case, under the circum
stances That they acted honestly and in their iudg-
ment for the best interests of the government have
doubt that their mode of sale beneficial to the
public treasury cannot question the evidence but
we trust that plan may be devised if practicable
for the future that will combine all the advantages of
free and uprcstraned competition with the necessary
safeguards for the public interests ~
Whilst such individual opinions, it may be |
proper to remark that law has existed from the orr
gin Of our government to the present time which re-
quires contemplates sale of military reserva
ton ct public auction On the contrary the legislation
of Congress has shown marked diversity of policy in the
regulations which it has prescribed for the sale of the
great of the public domain and those which II has
adopted in relation to the reserves severed from it In
the they have uniformly required them to be
sold at public auction the government being content in
view OF the benefits accrung from settlement and cutva
ton to receive the minimum price per acre. whilst in
the other case looking to the special value impaired to
these by the progress of settlements around
Them and the pablo money expended upon thcm have
left the Secretary Of War free to pursue that mode of
sale which, in his Judgment best calculated to real
ze their true and fair value. To carry out this mani
fest intention OF Congress various modes of sale have
been adopted, at different periods by the War Depart
ment, to realize, fur practicable, the value of
the reservations brought into market In instance
in the year l840 where the reservation lay within the
corporate limits of the growing and hourishng city
of Chicago it was surveyed and laid off in conformity
to the general plan of that city, the streets extended
public squares reserved and the residue divided into
lots Of twenty-five feet 'front.' the property valued before
SALE bids not amounting to onefourh the cash value
the lots required to be rejected and the bidding made
IN