, 1861-12-03
THE MISSOURI FRAUDS.
Testimony before the Investiga-
ting Committee.
McKINsTRY, sEL0vER, FOX, NEIL.
HASKELL & co.

MeklESTRF,s sELOvER, FOX, NEIL,
HASKELL Il co.
THE WAY THE HONEY GOES,
Revelations Concerning Contracts.
Tie New York 4ridune Of Friday, 229th, CON
tsins page in fine type Of The testimony taken
BY tic Congressional Investigating Committee
at St, Louis. Only part Of the testimony is
printed, and the Committee have not yet pre-
pared their report to Congress.
The New York Tribune las been q strcnn.
ous partizan Of Fremont and defender Of his
administration Of public af:lirs in Missouri. 1t
Will now probably have occasion to revise and
amend its opinions. This exposure. as fer as
it extends, fully sustains all the Chicago Ta1-
BCSE charged, and covers with confusion those
Journals which have so Indignantly assailed its
motives and imprudently traycrsed its state
ments. We pledged our readers that the sworn
testimony would sustain every allegation We
made. We proceed to give them the first in
stallment Of the proof Of the frauds, robberics
and rascalities pcrpetratcd upon the Govern
ment during Fremont's administration in Mis-
souri,. Want Of space compc1s Us to abbrcvi-
ate the testimony as much as possible
GOVERNMENT CHEATED IS PER CENT, ON
cA.u-KETTLEs.
ST. LOUIS, no, Oct. 16, 1e6t.
Giles F. Filley, being duly swo1n, was ex-
amincd us follows:
Examination ty III: Hash5nyne-Q. State
to the Committee your residence and tie clar
actcr Of your business.
A I reside in this city, and am engaged in
the manufacture of stoves.
Q. Have you furnished stoves, or any other
articles which have gone to the use Of tic
Government, through third parties?
a: Yes, sir: We have contract now with
third parties for camp-kcttles and mess-paus
thai is, NC have orders for them.
=. State everything connected with that
- 4. About two months since, should think,
Fox, Of Child, Pratt s. Fox, came to me fol
the purpose OF getting complexities and mess
pans, articles which are manufactured by us.
Finally lie said, S'as tue Government is order
ing these things from us, charge them over to
us.h or course VIC did SO without knowing
what they charged for them. We made them
without charging much profit, suppoEing that
they charged The Government only what. NC
charged them.
@. How much did you charge for them9
a We charged about Is IL cents per
pound for the kettles and Is IL cents for the
mess-pans. Those prices equal about ~ IL
cents each for the mcss-pans, on an average.
understand that this house charges the Gov
crnmcnt G5 GENTS for the camp-keft1es, and IS
cents for the mess-pans. We subsequently
sent a letter to the Quarternlaster's Depart
mcnt, Of which the following is copy:
t'DEAE Sir: learned tlis morning that YOU
would Shortly meg large number Of calnp.kettles
and 4ess-pans. Hthey are to be same size and
ofthe best quality of charcoal shcet- -iror-No Is
wire gaugc-I will furnish them at the following
pricrs provided the order Is given for, say, 20W
Camp kettles. at az cents zach,
Respectfully YOURS anE5E: F. Fl EH4zr:
'tGen. j. McK1SsrR9''
To this letter received reply, Of wlichtne
following is copy:
'orF1cE a. 2. N. GEN., EEsTEns; DR'rl
ST. LoC1s Sept, 13, 1861.
In IN In reply to your ofsf to furnish canp
" S' q? C 2fss 55s A. 9s*&RfSfa 6 E asasi
,.,,x n; Y: 6. CLEaEsTs. chisf Clerk.
Mr- GILES F. FI1LET, st. Louis, Mo-
Since fhat correspondence took place have
slpphed = the house Of Child, Pratt & Fox
gu camp -ketlcs and 800 mcss-paus, and have
further ordel' from the same house for 8, $50
pans and ,5S4 kettles. o'oS~
t. Was that h,usc engaged in the mauufac-
t11e Of those artiacs?
4. No, Sir.
O. Then what reason, ifauy. can Won rive
Why they should have aeen ordered to furnish
them? ~ Luz LIZ L
A Well, sir, I suppose that McKinstv. the
Quartcrmastcr, owed his appointmcnt as much
TO Fog as to anybody.
,rS
nishcd to Child, Pratt & Fox? "''' o0 1o1-
4 In amount, to over 81, 4,00o worth.
Y. Upon those you have furnished. vhat IL
the difference in cost to fhc Government 1,,s-
tween what you proposed to furnish tlle1n for
and what you understand they actually paid
1or them to Child, Pratt & Fox?
A Taking into consideration the difference
between the MfssoatTi Honey which We received
and Treasury notes which the Governnaont
pays, rs well as the difference in price, and it
would be about So pcr cent.
=. Would there have been any practical
dlfhcnlty III tue Government dealiug directly
with the manufacturer, and thereby obtaining
the articles at the lowest price?
a. None whatever. OF course there was 4
good deal OF feeling about q lot of Califpr1fans
coming into the city and getting contracts.
THE s5oo,oo0 SHOT AND SHELL sw1SDLE
Ex-Mayor Fillcy, being desired by the Com
mittcc to tell Of other transactions, pro
ceeded:
Fox came 10 me one morning and asked me
if wanted to take contract for making 20
UVO tons Of shot and shells for the Govern
ment. Tie stated that there were two parties
here who had the means of obtaining tic con-
tract from the GOTcrnment--as understood
from Gen. Fremont. told him could make
them, but that would not make them for am
third party; that if the Government wanted
shot aud shell understood it was their duty
to CONTRACT with me, manufacturer, for them;
that had already made 4 proposition to the
Goyernment to give them tic use Of my Joandcry
Il they wanted it, Or that would myself make
them at small margin above the actual cost,
to cover contingencies; and that under those
circumstances I could not offer to make them
Tor third party. He said it did not make any
difference with me how I got the contract,
provided only got it. replied that it did
hare Since understood that the contract has
been made, and that it las gone to tho OHIO
Rl9er; where and to whom do not know.
" TO whom did you make the offer to fur
nish your foundcry?
!. I sent a sote directly to Gen, Fremont.
u v Lat was the substance Of the note?
a. Ile substance OF tho offer was that if the
Government wanted my toundcry to make shot
and shell, 1t was at their service; or if thcy
wanted me to make shot and shell for them, +
would make them for small advance above
the cost, to cover contingent expenses.
" Diu sou E,sCI any TcplEs
4. No, sir.
@. How long after this did Fox come to
yon with the proposition you have just stated?
4. should jndgc it was two or three weeks.
Z. 10 you know the terms upon which this
contract WAS takene
a. heard upon the street that it was ut fire
tf71tS PR pound.
Q. How would five cents per pound differ
from your own Offer9
A. dtoM t7ro cents.
Y. You think the Offer vou made to the Gov
eminent, either to make them themselves in
your iounlcry or employ You to make them 1T
the price you offered, would he Il difference in
favor q the Government Of ut Least tno ems a
pounds >~''' =
a. should Judge SO.
" ana You have understood that contract
Las been let for five cents?
A. I do not SAY that from nv oyn knov-
ledge, but that was the ru1nor, and it would
make difference upon 10000 tons of eiaHt
haHd1fu thousand dollars {SS0O, ,0D0). When Mr.
Fox left Inc he stated that these two parties
wcrc waiting at lis store while he was getting
his answer from me rs to the price for which
would make them
@. Who were the parties he left at his storc9
A One was Selo,rr, and think the other was
HuskrU.
@. Yon told Fox that if you did any work at
all it must be directly for the Government, and
not for third parties, who would come in aud
spcculatc upon the Government?
A. Yes, sir.
A SMALL sWISDLE.
q. Do you know anything in relation to the
roohDS OF the barracks at Camp Benton: and
if SO, state all you know in relation tlerctos
a. When heard that this roofing was to be