Daily national Democrat., 1861-08-23
Better Army Rations---fsemarkso of Sen-
ator Baker.

The following remarks of Senator Baker,
recently made in his place in the Senate, will
attract the attention of the whole country:
Mr. BAKER-Mr President have been
away so much that do not propose to in
terf-re in the discussion as to the retiring G
board. ! expressed my opinion on that sub
ject some time ago, and have not changed it
since. On the subject of the Army Ration, |
confess TO IL profound establishment at the
report of the Committee of Conference Sir,
| will not vote for it in any part Two
thirds of the time | have spent with the
troops, during the last month, has been to
rectifv the difficulties of the Comnissary De-
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. There is not day
! that there are not one hundred men in every
regiment in this army who go to bed hungry.
| | introduced, and by the aid of the Commit
tee on Military Affairs, was able TO carry
through this body provision increasing the
article of bread, adding a little beans, and
giving the men "A pound Of potatoes day
three times a week if practicable. To my
great astonishment, find that stricken ont
by the Committee of Conference, aud poor
emascualed substitute, that the Commissary
| General may change the characi er of the ra-
tion, provided the expense is not increased.
|
TO tell the Senate what he has seen of the
nature of that ration now w e are more de-
frauded than any people ever were, in lite
of ourselves; and if it were for nothing else
than to put the ration up to what it ought to
be to avoid fraud, the Senate ought to refuse
to concur in tins report, so far as it changes
that provision in regard to the ration. An
army officer of high rank in the Commissary
Department told me the other day that the
army ration cost bnt fourteen cents daV ;
| and when you take all the frauds out of it,
submit to the appetite of any Senator here,
what fourteen cents a day is to feed your
troops in the field. If any Of yon will take
the pains to go into the camps of your own
States, or into mine | will show you the
most profound and intense dissatisfaction in
all the volunteer service. Sir know where
this proposition to allow the Commissarv
Departmental to change the ration, so that the
price is not increased. comes from, and | am
opposed TO the whole Of it,
The proposition proposed to be stricken
out by this report gives the private soldier
twenty-five ounces of dry bread 1t increass
the ration four ounces and the cost about a
cent day AT present you propose TO give
when they have good luck and can get it
there to each man ut the rate Of ten pounds
of rice to hundred men day and that is
all his, vegetable; that is, one-tenth of
pound of rice day to each man or, if YOU
do not give him that, you give believe.
eight quarts Of beans TO each hundred men
1t may be ten quarts. but | think it is eight
Now, the way they contriye to cheat us in
that is this in my own con mend they could
not cheat us enough without that but they
issued to us what they called bean meal
Nov
there cannot be any very great cheating, eX
cept that they are two or three years old,
instead OF being fresh. but they must dry
them and put them in oltmea or someh hing
else, and call that Just favored with beans
-" bean meal" and Issue that to US.
Now, sir propose that twen;y-tw two ounces
of Tread he given to each man. that he shall
have the hundredth part of eight quarts of
beans and the hundredth plrt of ten pounds
of rice every day if it can be procured; and
that he shall have, when they can be had,
If practicable, one pound of potatoes three
times week. That, with little sugar and
coffee, and three-quarters of pound Of salt
meat, pra ;tically constitutes the ration. Now,
consider again, what three-quarers of
pound of salt meat is. Ia the first place
three lif,hs Of the time it is issued 20 US, it Is
salt pork that fat the honorable Senator il
lu-trates by showing the length Of his hand |,
aud nearly as old as am, Laughter In
the next place. it issued to us toy the barrel
200 pounds to the BARREL whether it is one
year old or three. Every merchant knows
you sir, Mr. handler, know the difference
between real weight and the weight we buy.
In the next place. if sometimes we get hams
such hams You eat a piece of troiled
ham for breakfast If YOU hpv three quar-
t.rs e a n,u,,l ,,,J 1.,iu.t th., .r.( - I,.
whicl is not fit TO eat, the bone, the spoiled
part and you do not en- an average get six or
seven ounces at the most, of what is fit to go
into a mans stomach.
Now, | say, after a long experience on the
subject, that this is the condition of the ra-
tion Of the army. Then the Commssarics
both volunteer and and regular, regimental
and Governmental Commssaries do not do
their duty IL they allow the contractors to
cheat them, all the contingencies come off us,
and we gain nothing The exact amount is
all that we by possibility can get
am not familiar with parliamentary rules,
but | suppose we have right to reject this
report Of the Committee of Conference for
that or any other reason. | do not think |
should be doing my duty to the volunteer
service, with which | am connected, and
some parts of which understand, without
saying in this body, that vital do ] con-
slider this to the spirits aud character of the
men, that intend to try my best to put on
the record the senators from every State on
that vital question of feeding his own troops
If You doubt it. delay this day and go
among your troops We get eleven dollars
month My men have not been paid cent
y9t; perhaps it is not time bat there has
not been week when those men, receiving
eleven dollars month"; would not spend at
least one dollar n week of that money fer
food, if they could possibly get it.