, 1860-05-18


sufficient guarantee ihst there was no fraud
so far as they were personally concerned,
and that they were not likely to be imposed
on by the fraudulent representations Of 9TH
ers, Recollect, those gentlemen were all
familiar with the operations in that couu.
/ try They were familiar with the regular
service they were familiar with the vol
unteer service; they knew everything about
prices they understood the character Of
tho country they understood the Indians
\ Two Of them were officers Of the army, hav-
ing no tics TO connects sthem with the peo-
pie of the territory, having no associations
to swerve them in the slightest degree from
having the most faithful and vigilant eye
TO The interests Of the government.
would he very glad il the chairman Of this
committee would take the tronblc to call
upon the Quartermaster General and ns.
certain from him the character OF Capt. In-
gals one of the officers of that commission.
lie will ascertain that there is no officer in
the whole Quartermaster's service who is
esteemed to be his superior either in ability
or character He will find that Capt.
Smith, the president Of that commission,
gentleman who served many years In south
crn Oregon, is esteemed throughout the
service also IS man Of experience and
integrity. The third gentleman, Mr. Gro
yer, was, it is true, citizen of Oregon
but he was selected in consequence Of al
ready having had experience on commits
sions, where his duties were discharged to
the satisfaction Of the government here.
Mr.. Chairman, this committee is not left
in doubt as to the course taken by that
commissionin making their awards. They
state explicitly, under the responsibility OF
their oaths, that they travelled through
both territories extensively; that they as
certnined the prices current Of the several
markets; that they prepared-prepdred Mr..
Chhirman, carefully adjusted prices curreut
for these several markets, aud. they made
their awards in conformity with these caro-
fully adjusted prices current. This is their
official declaration They state, further
more, that in all cases Of doubt they took
sworn testimony, and the sworn testimony
Of disinterested witnesses---not Of the par,
ties, but Of disinicrosted witnesses Now,
submit to this committee whether they
have the slightest evidence before them, IN
the report Of the Third Auditor, which l
hold in my hand, fnd TO which / will now
proceed to call your attention, 10 rebnt this
explicit, this forcible, and this official state
ment of the commission ITSELF Ia touching
upon the report OF the Auditor, feel
bound 10 express the opinlon that the re-
port showsJhat the Auditor has avery Bit
ter prejudice against our claims; and sub
nit that the report itself shows that this
prejudice incapacitates him from making
even the examination which hisown records
would enable him to make, small and ifuit-
less as that examination may be,
The first evidence which adduce Of the
bitter hostility aud prejudice Of the Audit.
or, is the fact that he has not complied with
the resolutions Of tho last House OF Rep
resentatives. In express terms, those reso-
lutions required him 10 make report Of the
amount due TO each company and indiyidu-
al in the service. Why has he not com
piled with this resolution2 Why has he
failed to report The amount dne 10 each iu-
dividuali He has reported nothing Of the
kind, Why does be occupy almost eleven
entire pages, from page to page I 4. 10
inquiring into the CAUSES Of the var, pre-
senting the fact that there was not harmo-
ny and agreement between the Territorial
executives and Gen. Wool-between tho
regulars and the voluntecra- --specnlaiing
about the probable results, if there hsd
been such harmony and agreement--qnol-
ing the opinionso Of Wool, Cram, and others.
10 regard to these subjects, &el Dosshe
have any warFant In the resolutions Of the
last House for this procednrel Do they
call upon hi n to inquire into the causes Of
the war, and to indulge in all these specu-
lAtlons, or do they exact from him report
Of the amount due to each company aud
eacli individual engaged IN that volunteer
service. according 10 the rules established
in those resolutonsg He has travelled out
Of the record without warrant aud he has
failed TO make the report which he wasre-
quired TO make. I win now read TO the
committee certain extracts from bis report
as follows: ri1fra silllla i nfT
.The rsul and number Of the Geia ard sta1 are n
accordance With the Organization Of ne army oI The
uuited States In time OF var aad any cheer Or ann
Der Of officers, o. higher rank OF heyUnd what i r.
cognzed By said organizatOn has Been reduced aci
cordihgly. Similar reductions have been made, ina
few instances, in the officers Of small squads 81 men
called companiosn Amer The date ol The discharge
Of the last Of The volunteers, no stall other oceTs,
except quartermasters and eommissares, have been
reported for pay, and aier said time the quailermas
tefs and commissaries have been allowed with their
clerks three months additional 70 make out and close
their accounts" "Qnartermasters and commlssatias
where they appear 10 have been actually doing duty
and to have rendered accounts have been reeogn1pa
The nature Of the service In sparsey settled country
is presumed TO have required tie number hctaaly on
duty, Some Of them have, however, been redussdfn
rank, and OF course As 70 pay, whilst lev oIler,
who seemed TO have performed no DUTY nd rendered
no retnrns, have been stricken of entiFeg.s 81 3ti
Now, what authority had be to iake this
coursel What authority had he to deter
mine, sitting in his oiIlee, how mary aid-de--
camps the executive either Of Oregon OF
Washington should have-how many staiF
officers we're required in connection with ihe
movement Of the troops-what quarter
masters, commissarieS, surgeons, and assis-
tant surgeons. the service neededg When
he had ascertained from the papers Tue
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