The south-western. [volume] (Shreveport, La.) 1852-1870, 1858-10-06


had hoped that the bottom of the dark cats
logue had been reached. But it would appea
to be endless The latest item developed wa
elected during the court Of inquiry convene
at Fort Leasenworth 10 investigate the charge
brought BY the war department against quartz
d master Van Vliet, for alleged disobedience {
> its official instructions. One would suppos
from the tenor Of the order that the quartz
master had been guilty Of some grievous sin
Al while, in fact ftappears that be merely perform
ed the duties appertalnlng to his Office and pfo
tected the interests OF the government from th
frauds Of swindling contractors. 1t came on
on the investigation that the quarter master hat
been verdant enough to believe that it was hi
duty to reject all broken down and unsount
horses and mules offered by those who contrac
ted to fill the requistion for The army during
the campaign against the saints Of Utah, anC
therefore refused to accept a score Of diseased
animals, furnished by one Green, brother of the
! Missouri senator of that name. This, in the
opinion Of secretary Floyd, was an offence of SC
serious an import that court of inquiry must
be held, for the sole purpose Of ascertaining
how an officer of the u. S. army could have the
audacity and presumption to refuse receiving
diseased mules and passing them as sound and
serViceable when rendered by such an nfluen-
tial individual as the contractor The court
/ thste osfa Va 1,ol
transgressed the duties Of his office, and that in
the use of his discretionary powers he had pur-
chased first class animals, in place Of the lame
and halt ones rejected, at prices far below what
the department at Washington had agreed to
pay its pet po1itico contractors. 1t was like
wise developed, as another singular feature Of
this business, that the average price paid BY the
war department for mules for the army in Utah
was not less than one hundred and seventy dol
lars while it was shown that COL Crossman,
deputy quarter master general, at St. Louis, re-
ceived a proposal from Caldwell d Geary of
lndianoS, Texas, to supply the army with all
mules that might be required, and to deliver
the animals at fort Leayenworth, at prices va
rging from Ell ghty five to one hundred dollars
a head. Col. Crossman forwarded this tender
to the war department. where it is ROW On file,
but it did not accord with the political plans of
that bureau to accept the offer; although, as the
lowest bid, according to the advertisements,
it was entitled to the contract Caldwell d Gea-
ry are well known to many officers of the ar
my, including several members Of the court of
inquiry, the quarter master generals general
Twiggs, &c, who certified that they were re-
sponsible parties, who could with comparative
ease fill a requistion for any number of animals
at any time. They furnished captain Pope with
Ills teams when he went out on the expedi- |
ton for boring artesian wells, and for many 9TH
er military expeditions. But, if their offer had
been accepted, the jobbers in and about the
war department would have been unable to get
4 grab at the fat pickings. This could not be
endured by such hungry dgnitares as now fill
he official offices, consequently instead of pay
ne from $75 to 500, according to quality, for
mules, Uncle Sam has been jugged into giving
'ne hundred and sixty dollars head-o,more
han twice the sum demanded. In private life,
such transactions would be dcnominated swim
ling but in official circles, is styled rewarding
mes friends. It is stated that senatx jeff Da-
is and Two Or three members of the house of
representatives have been put in possession of
he facts in this case, and it is not unlikely that
N the meeting Of congress special committee
viii be demanded to sift the matter.
Incidental to this mule swindle, another fea
ure IN the great Fort Smelling fraud has been
rought 10 ight. The particular political friends
f the war department, on whom Fort Smelling
nd its reservation was bestowed for a mere
ong, made bold attempt to likewise get pos
esson of Fort Leavenworlh and its depend {
noes. The plot was matured and the wires
ct to work, but the job was spoiled by COL |
'rossman, deputy quarter master general, hay
e the presumption to boldly inform secretary
oyd's friends that he would not allow any
roperty belonging to the general government o
Ii HotCA ~ HIS Cdtc W De stolen. ana general G
farney, at his solicaton, forbid the sale until 6
lie receipt OF further ORDERS. Geo. Saunders !,
Of the firm of Russell Waddell IL Co.. and Il
lie other recipiauts of official bounty, had cary
the fort and the greater part of the reserva- [
on for their own use and ownership, for which tt
ley promised to pay twenty-five dollars an :.
ire, the fine buildings and improvements of "
purse included. The secretary Of war express
his willingness to consummate the sale, but \
lie assent of the commanding officer Harvey o.
as indispensably essential. This could not be =
otained, as Crossman had explained to him =.
lie rascalty of the whole scheme, aud avowed
S determination to offer one hundred dollars a.
9r acre for the reservation himself, if the Sc d
etary persisted on selling This fearless stand +.
ted as a bomb among tie conspirators and +. +,
altered their well laid scheme, and for a time u
least the military reservation in Kansas has az
capped the fate Of the reservation in Minneso- III
The facts of this case are too well authcn-
Il