, 1860-04-27

.COluiuloSiO'' Dl IdNSllB 'bt Ia" l'I III
commission, by inducing the people of Ore
gon and Washington 10 come before III
board aud prove their clliQlS, they hcl,
forth the clearest promise to those peopl
that the awards Of that commission wOuI,
be conclusive evidence Of the iadchtmrut o
the government. The law aud the award
founded npon it gave value TO the scrip is
sued for the war expenses. They wrr,
held or negotiated aSgoytrnmrnt securities
\ great prs Of the business transactions
Of these territories, and even their negotia
tons abroad, have been based upon conf
dcucc given 10 these securities by the action
of the government. The government coald
with as li;tle honor repudate the bonds o
its treasury, as destroy these securities By
repuiiaIing the action Of its Own tribunal
which gave them valuc.
! In this cOnncXion it becomes necessary
to notice the report Of the Third Auditor
in response to the resolutions which passed
the House at the last session of Congress
directing him to examine the vouchers aud
papers now OH Gle in his Office, aud report
the amount which would be respectively
due to each company AMI individual en-,
gagged in the service, by reducing the pay
and allowances Of volunteers TO those given
to officers aud soldiers in the regular ser.
vice, rejecting all double aud triple allow.
anres for pay, reducing the amounts paid
| for supplies, transportation, and other ser.
vices, to the prices carreut in the country
Al the time, with certain other instructions
not necessary in this place to be enumcra-
ted. 1t has alseady been shown that Con
| gress, by its directing the Secretary 10 ex-
anime into the amount necessarily incurred
in the suppression Of Indian hostililieS, had
pledged the faith Of the government to pay
the debt according 10 the awards'of the
commission appointed hy the Secretary;
and that fraud or want of jurisdiction
must he shown on the part of the commits
sions to Vitiute their action, or to authorize
Congress TO go behind such action without
Just imputation upon its good faith The
resolutions of the House'is not an act of
Congress, and cannot by possibility affect
the legal effect Of its own deliberate act.
There is this most important distinction
between the awards Of the commission and
the report of the Third Auditor. The com
missioners acted judcially under the pres
sure of personal accountability, both to the
government and the claimants. The report
OF the Auditor is "a mere criticism upon that
award, made with no direct accountability
but in the routine Of ordinary departmental
labor, and, as the fact must be from bis po-
stion, under no responsibilities TO the claim
ants, but only to the government whose in
terests alone bis position requires him to
consult.
The resolutions Of the House are simple
and clear. The Auditor is directed by the
first resolution 10 recognize no company or
individual as entitled to pay, except such
as were called into service by the Terrific
rial authortiesof 0regoa and Washington,
or such whose services have been recos
nized aud accepted by the said an hSrjties.
This would seem perfectly plain Yet the
Auditor travels out Of the record entirely,
goes into the circumstances attending \the
origin OF the war, dwellS Oh the difficulties
between the authorities Of the terri orr hnd
the officers in command OF the regular
troops. calls for the opinions, and quotes as
authority she opinions Of General Wool anil
others, notoronsly known to be deeply en-
bittered against the volunteer service
equally well known when Congress arknow-
ledged the whole matter by authorizing Il
commission, US xhea the Auditor made this
repoFt-and inlnlges in many speculations
as to the probable effect upon the number
of volunteers which would have been re-
quired, and tic probable cost. had there
been harmony between the two, and had
the volunteers Been mustered into the reg
ular service, In his appendix, he gives let
tiers from Gen. Wool, Lieut.. Col Sias Ca
sey, Capt. T. J. Cram, AMI others, which
are almost exclusively directed to these
points, and with which the Auditor under
these resolutions had no concern whatever.
1t seems extraordinary that after, in spite
Of the efforts Of these same gentlemen to
present the authorities and the people OF
these distant territories in an odious light
to the country, the country had been salts.
fed that both had.acted in good faith, and
that the services Of their volunteers ought
to be recognized, a public functionary should
rehash these worn out and exploded
grounds Of accusation, in reply to resolu-
tions of the House, which not even by in
ference call for any such thing. (See pages
to l3) Yet the result Of oil this fruit.
less labor is, that he reports all for pay,
(with individual exceptions hereinafter to
be menIioned,) and for the simple reason
that be had the testimony of both the com
mission and the territorial executives, that
none were presented for pay except such a.
had been called into serrice By The territorial
authorities Of Washington and Oregon, 0,
such lehOss serrtees had been recognised and ao
oepted By The said authorities.
The exceptions above referred to are
cases Of staff officers, whose names he ha!
summarily struck from the rolls, and Of stat
officers and company officers, whom he hal
summarily reduced to lower rank or actu
ally deprived of their commissions. ReaC
these extracts from page Is:
"IHe rank and number of tie field aHt
staff are in accordance NTH The OrganisatiO,
IoC The army Of The United States in lime o.