Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1859-04-15
Frauds upon the oovernment-No 2.

trahcs r The. machinery Of six new sloops oil war.
4 wepppose to-day to investigate q somewhat sim
liar transaction, equally conclusive Of fraud, and
equally demonstratiye Of the fact that this Gov
eminent 10 not administered for the benefit OF the
people at large brt for the benefit Of greedy par
ti.ana, and in reward for their contributions to
the success Of political party.
1t appears that it was determined. sometime last
year, to build q new ship at Philadelphia As an
experiment of new model invented by n certain.
| Mr. Griffith. This Mr.. Griffith contended thathc
could build ship upon new and improved plan
| which would be vastly hyperion to the Govern
ment vessels now in use. Authority To build the
ship was given him, and the Government. AS usn-
nj, advertised for proposals for the machinery.
Mr.. Norris in Philadelphia made bid /" con-
struct the machinery for the sum of Sl26 .Oo0.-
Another firm (Rcany, Neafc& Coz offered to fur
nish il for $4,000.
Before the award was made, each of these firms
tried to succeed by political influence. Nembers
! Of Congress employed to urge their claims be
fore the Department The names of these mem
bers were Thomas b, Florence. Henry NJ. Phil.
! lips and James Lnndy--all Of whom mem
bers of the A.. House William H. Witte an cx-
member of Congress, and John Hamilton Jr, II
prominent Politician were also employed.
Witte was employed by the firm Of Rcany, Nca
| fe Co., and tho evidence shows that if that firm
got the contract, the understanding was that Wite
WINS to receive one Jo,uM cfHe proffs' This
same man. for securing n similar contract on
| previous OCCASION bad received from The same
firm the sum of fire housand dollars. lie knew
nothing whatever of machinery, and yet he under
took to recommend to the Government what ma
chnists should be employed to do the work Tor the
| Navy!
| Reany, Ncnfo and & Co. also employed I.andy.
There is no evidence Of what was to DO Lunlys
share of the fraudulent contract.
Norris the competing bidder, employed Phil
lips, Florence and Hamilton. What were to be
their pny. in Of success does no, appeal
Now what were the arguments aldnccd by the
! respective advocates Of these iilmsY The honest
and unsuspcious reader will answer that they re
commended their friends, respectively. aq being
skillui maohinist-. aud capable and reliable men.
! No other qualification for such work - needed,
and the natural presumption is that they were re-
| commended upon these considerations alone.
Not n bit Of it. The Collector at Philadelphia
. wrote u lcttcf recommending tllat MOTIFS fnpliu
have the contract far the following reason;
II have been intimately acquainted with Mes
Norris Brothers for many years, and have had
large business transactions with them, AMI a. may
not be amiss state That they have Away bcr /
ia abbreviated ond SUStu,nedHc DsmocTat phfF.
Ia the can IN ot lS56. their c>tahshln, tat not
only contributed many huud,t2 tofcs Ia elect
pre- cnt CHIEF Magistrate hui, to my knowledge,
oontribntci h'yeiy IN 0htD m"Fs 10 brmg .tipus
that result
Observe the reasons why the contract should bo
given 20 Norris The firm had not only contrib
utcd "mnny hundred votes hut bad contributed
"iHycly in oidcr er s., t, the election Of NJ. Eu-
chanan. What those "nthor way" were the read
or will he ut 40 l,ss to drtormiu'
Norris him eli, in letter to the Scercta Of
tie Navy, urged his own claims to the eont,ayt--
| Here IS an cAuuc, from it:
"On tho score Of rotics, which haze mover
mentioned before have greater claims mp II the
! Government thnn my competitors. Our shop, nj
| Bush Ill., Philadelphia. waS the first Institution
in this country that raise the banner oi Burha.
nan aud b Breckenridge. The day after the uomina-
ton raised the standard, with full portraits II
the President and Vice President, and ut the cleo
ton our shop furnished srr-a haa3rti 0ai s.ri}
fonr rotes for them. Notwithstanding the present
monetary depression, we gave three huair,d au,
twclvcs VOTES fer the Administration ut the last
election. " hareSupportcd He prty HW matte
RAJ aid By thousands II doii1rS. and roTtr8 tart,
as any ofHe party IN PdHadciphia wW tsstiy."
The Honorable (?) Henry NJ. Phillips, urged Tie
claims of Norris in tho following style;
''Messrs. Norris nrc good Democrats. Wiling
and faithful members of the party, who, through
veal and through wue have luborcd zealou>ly for
its success
l,y such means MS these did Norris eulcnyor To
secnre the contract The other firm -Reanv,
Neafe & Co--lrocured similar leuors. certifying
that they wcrc active members of .'thc party and
had Contributed materially to i,s success
Their agents, Wittc and .nndy, also appeared
personally before the Secretary Of the Navy and
urged their selection, to perform the work.
Thus far il seems to have been drawn game
between the two competitors for the contract
What followed, VIC extrac. from the Report it.
self
| On the Doth of November. 1858. the Sccrrtar,
desired board Of civil engineers NOT of the Navy.
10 examine the propositions OF Mr.. Norris, and Of
| Reaney, Ncafe Il Co.. and To express in writing:
which of the two was preferable. majority o.
the board reported in favor of Mr.. N0rriss plan
| Thus the matter stood until December 81 1853,
| Mr.. Norris surprising that the question was set
tied in his favor At this date the Secretary sub
| mtted to Mr.. Norris written proposition Of qua
| rantce of speed, which, Mt the request OF the Sec
retcry, Mr. Norris copied and signed. Norris VAS
not informed that it would be considered MS
OTTER or varying his former bid but he signcd
it for the satisfaction Of the Secretary and in the
worlds written by him. The next day. if,hc date
| is correct, December %, 1853, Wiue. the agent
OF Reney' Neafe Co., submitted written EEK
paton" of their proposal. in which they stipulated
for somewhat higher speed Their guarantees