Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1861-12-25


Van Ntth iHtt lIfalma rommulre. y.
ihuiu6 SOME ttuH NuaN economy oh
ilo nytubbaNhu,m twpa1 ocea,
thei a latr, tun.f. HNi thUNa .ytiemhi
io tnuutp ui Dee lmN a HluNl nyoii
hetnt 10 make 81. nuth Oa iaD.l DO cot "a
thp rmptetutip. ~ thy tUuuNNI
The lniutu,UipucD andtpttbuB eNtth,n.
paurc of tipuun, From, ut d, shown iu gla.
ling color lhp simple B eu ol buiiuR
condemned A uHhn piusk,ts MI tuihcc
tor cNanu lr rvonN'h'c ih.u@ud oi
them N,lr IuohA-rd m urc lots the
CommitIr 90, u IA pumUlr That the
arms had been rJcclcd hUm The Austrian
service, aud purchased on speculutlon a.d
sent 10 this country In view OF the extra.
ordinary demand for arms. The arm, Ia
! tho condition IN which IL was purchased,
will certainly never lc used 10y our army
and when altered, ~ proposed its inlcri-
Iori,v to the arms which are rapidly nccu-
imuiatinr, together with the almost uni
vcrsal prejudice Of soldiers 10 altered arms,
will almost certainly exclude ttem from
the army. The amount cluimed for the
arms, including the special ammunition, Is
about Sl66, ,0OO. The Committee are oi
/ the opinion that the arm will never be OF
ANY service 10 the government, aud VIII
never hc used except ~ some case OF Tn
| iorsecn and extraordinary emergency.
The purchase Of the arm was an act OF
manifest iinurovidencc, and the loss eX~
cusablc because lhe arm had been disap-
proved oi even al less price than that
/ p.id 10y General Fremont by the experiN
enced ordinance oiticer ut New York
The immediate necessity for arms can
scarcely be considered as furnishing an
excuse, for the arm was practically use
less until altered, and to effect that delay
was inevitable, and the purchase was
made without any examination as TO the
oractibiity OF Improvement 10y alteration.
The Committee found large number
OF these arms at Cairo, and, notwiihstand
ing the urgent necessity Of arms at that
point, who'll regiments, even on the eve
, Of the battle OF Belmont, we're almost des
; titute Of arms These arms were left in
l the boxes in which they were shipped
! rromthc arsenal at st. Louis.
, Improvideuce and disregard of reasona
\ bls economy on the part Of the Govern.
} mcnt on the one hand. and Il spirit OF
/ ruthless speculation on the other, hav e
q made this contract, and it is question OF
I public Justice how far it shall be carried
, into effect. Tho committee deem it their
, duty to present the facts for the considers
2 alton Of tho House, without any special
= Recommendation.
r Another transaction in the purchase OF
arms, to which the attention Of the COM
/ imittec has been direc ed is the purchase
I of five thousand Of Halls carbnes by Gen
3 Fremont, through Simon Stevens, of Penn
r sylyania. This transaction Is, in some
. respects of the same character with the
} purchase of the Austrian muskets, but
a mach more remarkable in illustrating the
. improvidence Of gentlemen prominently
, connected with the public service, the
lcorrapl system of brokerage by which the
Tire. sury has been plundered, and the
D prostitution OF public confidence to pur'
: poses OF individual aggrandzement.
. In the month Of June last, Arthur M
= Eastman. of Manchester, \. H., purchased
il at the Ordnance Bureau five thousand foul
). hundred Halls c&rbiues. at three dcllar'
Ia fty cents each, and after slight ahera
{ uon of the arms at o cost Of from sGventy
}. fvs cents to one dollar and twenty-five
{ cents on each arm, sold five thousand O
d them to Simon Stevens for twelve dollar
and fifty cents each, who immediatel
/, sold the entire lot to Gen Fremont prob
Il ably laboriue under some misappreher
Z sion as to the nature Of the purchase OF th
II aims.
e These armies seem to have been sole
l. privately, and without inviting any com
z petition aud sold, too, for an almns
It nominal price. The sale was made 10y or
ID der Of the Secretary Of war, on rccnmmer
!; dation Of tho Ordinance rurcs. No gov
|, ernmcnt that has ever existed can susiai
ir itse'fwith such improyidenco ia the man
n acememt of It's Affairs. One agcut Of TN
20 government sells these arms at three dol
al lars and fifty cents each in the midst Of
y pressing demand for arms, and a few week
Is afterwards, and without any increase j
ID that demand the same arms, slightly a
;. tered, are resold to the goveInmer
at through another agent for twenty >tw
As dollars each, the government losing in S
e, small transaction, if permitted to b
io consummatcd, over ninty thousand dol
n lars, or nasmuch as all the !all carbinc
+ owned by the government were sold
4. Eastman, and Of course embraced the sew
ct en- hundred and ninety bought of Mr.. Al
ID ex. Cummings, as the agent OF the Wa
a Department, foI fifteen dollars each, tn
10 case as to these would stand thus The
,c are condemned and sold by tho govern
cf ment at merely nominal price aTNer
as wards in April last, an agent of the Wa
is Department purchased them for the gov
vs. ernmeut at fifteen dollars each, and i
IN June they are sold by Eastman by tn
n War Department for three dollars and fl
al ty cents each, and in August they al
ce purchased by General Fremont for tn
e government at twenty-five dollars each.
tn
or Death Of Horn r. Kneass.