Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-11-05

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The public arc aware ihe. attbs last isessIon
4 Of CopEress an iuvesugsilngt committee was
created, whose dufios were prescribed BY reso-
iu,Ions passed BY that body. This commitee
! Charles Van Wyck. Of New York; Hon. Ellhu
| n w Washburne, OF Illinois, Hon. VIM. 8, Hol-
man. ot Indiana; Hon, Reuben e. Fenton, Of
New York, Hon Henry L. Dawes. OF Massa-
chnsst.s, Hon. VIM. g, Steele, of New jerseyi
and Hon. James 8. JAckeoa, Of Kentucky =
Hon. Edward M. Ball, Sergeant-at- cf the
! IIonse. accompanied ihe committed, and II. ~.
Andrews, ESQ az Chief Clerk. The commit.
tee held their ilrst session In New York City,
aud during seven weeks stay In that city re-
ceIyed Two thousand two hundred pages Of ten
Itimopy In relation TO frauds and impositiong on
the Government, none Of which, however, were
OF s.artling character, as vill appear In their
report 70 Congress. There were evidences OF
losercharglng on Government supplies and .
general looseness In the management OF Gov
eminent Affairs, in all Of which the committee
has given special attention, ard, when reported
on. viii exhiblt singular and peculiar condi-
ton Of things In that department Az Boston
| ana OtueE EAbLtku ylbtD tu0 1lVAAlNAtNIN nOND
found but little that was not strictly proper.
A part Of the committee--Messrs, Wash
burne, Holman, Dawes and Steele, With the
Sergeant,at-Arms and Clsfk--repaired to St.
Louis 70 Inquire into the condition Of afiairs in
The Department Of the West. They have been
10 session In that city since the 10th Of October
a-iourteen daye--Worklng twelve hours each
day, and examining one hundred and twenty
three Witnesses. The manuscript OF evidence,
on legal cap, numbers two thousand, four hund'
red and eighty pages.
In giving an abstract Of the testimony, which
| 10 90 voluminous, we propose only 70 give part
bearing on the different heahs of fraud, Rs
summed up IA tho commlttee's report The
entire testimony has been sent to Washington
60 be laid before Congress at its next session.
The synopAis we publish is Q faithful abstract
Of the evidence before the committee, although
many OF The MOOR details have been omitted,
The fret act Of fraud was the presentation to
Mrs Brigadier General McKinslry, on the 2O!h
of September, OF q complete set Of silver SER
vice OF the Jenny Lind pattern, which service
cost % 600 and upward, and being the finest
ever made in the West, took the premium Of
the State Agricultural Fair held in st. Louis
This service was presented BY parties exclusive
ly interested in Government contracts, among
4
John M. Crum, E L Beard, OF California, and
others. General McKinstry was Quartermas-
ter General Of the Western Department by ap.
pointment Of Msjor-General ]. G. Fremont,
and as such Quarterm ister-G General, controlled
the horbe and mule contracts, building OF bar.
racks, and all supplies and purchases appertan'
insto that Department. The committee in
their report say, "The frauds In contracts in the
Quartermaster's Department are numerous and
have been clearly proven, and extend through
all branches Of his control and supervision"
4 In relation 70 the purchase of horses--the
second act Of fraud4the testimony Is extensive
| as TO the various species of imposition prac.
ticed, the ."old English jockey tricks" as they
are called, being 10 this case Of the lesser mag
nitude. !, A party contracts to furnish one thou
sand head Of horses, at $il9 SO per head, to the
lGoternment, through the Quartermaater. Th,
contractor's agent, who Is approved by the
Quartermaster, has charge Of the field wher'
the contractors horses are to be passed upon
A countryman, having horses to sell to the Gov
ernment, pays $40 entrance fee to the field
where his horses are examined, and upon thl
payment Of another fee Of $40. they are recon
\ msnded TO the contractor, who purchases tn,
same at the very lowest figure, which, through
Tout the entire evidence, never exceeded $65 anC
$50 per bead. The contractor takes his pur
chases to the inspector, who is also Reimbursed
by fee, which amount ls computed according
% the quality Of the animal. The contractor
lon obtaining certificate from the Inspector
demands the money Of the Quattefmsstsr, who
pays the same, when the t0aus for said pay ymeni
/ Is guaranteed. The evidence difcloses several
such schemes and many other ways In which
horses and mules are obtained. The testimony
also shovs that the horses, in o majority of
instances, are Of the most inferior kind, and
have broken down or fell dead on the road
Around the depots where horses were kept thut
j purch ssed, numerous dead carcasees have beer
Hound. Omnibus aud stage horaes have beer
trotted ont, -''fun Of bran and peppered," bj
coutractors, who received $ll5 and $3.50 fe
each horse they furnished. One of the recen
Irsports Of Board Of Survey will suffice In Civ
ing the character Of horses the Government fur
nished to regiments upon the regulation o.
their commanding ofiler. Other similar re
ports the committee have,on file: ~ u '.l. 70
sac' Carr SULLIVAN, WARsAw, Oct. 81, 1861.
| To CoLonEI WIN. BIsBoP: The undersigned
having been summoned, as board of survey
70 examine and inspect the condition OF thu
horses Forwarded 10 the regiment from Saint
Louis and report the result 20 your heRdqusr
ters, would respectfully report that we have ex
amined said horses and and seventy-six (76) III
for service. Eve (5) dead, and three hundred and
/ libiity $500 undersizsd, under and over aged
shfed. ringboned, blind, spawned, and inclira6li
unit for any public service. said horses being q
part Of the Missouri Contract s--as-a o.
ig3Very respectfully e nlc 5.J, s. Z
|fSlguedl DAVID Nick EE, Major, -a
- GsssisGEoRGE RoCKWEL Captain,
~, sdJ JOHN SCHEE, Lieutenant. o or
The committee also have in evidence that U
8. District Attorney Jones was associated With
Msssrs. Thompson and Bowen in the purchase
Of horses and mules, their contract being a,
sll9.5O each horse. Bowen sold ont to Thomp.
500 and Jones for $4,000, payable 10 bankable
iunds. Thompson went TO McKinstry for pay
ment on horses Messrs. Thompson and Jones
had furnished, and was told that "another party
was interested In this horse business, and unless
the $1,000 IN gold was deducted by Messrs.
Thompson and Jones, none Of the money could
DO paid.n The $4,000 was kept by McKinstry,
and the rensindsr paid over 70 Thompson and M
Jones', = \ -. "a 49, ~, - -. ,,.,,
!, Under this head Of fraud, the committee have
Testimony Of over half q million Of dollars sunk
in hay contracts. The Quartermsster paid
Sit so per ton for hay In bales, which on ex.
animation is found to be prairie grass, and hay
of n very poor quality. The cost of transpor.
tssion between st, Louis and SedAlla, Is about
90 per ton, or $25 per ton delivered at Sedalia.
The committee have accumnlatve evidence
that fresh hay from the stacks, and 10 abundenoe
along the entire route to Warsaw, can be- ob5
tanned at S6 10 So per ton. ,,svss..,s e,osl n,
10 Government. Nagona the evidence shows
that large numbers are here without any owners
until after they have been pressed into the ser
Woe, and then the builders present their claims