The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1861-09-04

recently been called to the principal posi-
tion on. your staff. I will 60 one ste]
further, and say for myself that in ap
proving the resolution had no intention
of imputing corruption" to yourself per
sonally. "a -
| What was intended by the Convention
and what fair construction of its Ian
guage imports is, that in the administra
tion Of the War Department, which from
i necessity employs numerous subordinate,
and agents. through the incompetency OF
lconnivance of those acting in behalf o
the State, improvident contracts have been
made, extravagant prices paid for inferio,
articles of clothing and supplies, frauds
have been perpetrated, and personal and
fpartisan favorites have pro6ted at the ex-
pense of the public treasury. Or it may
be paraphrased in these words. '"The Gov
ernor, who is really q very clever gentle
man, and who with his staff was abundant
lly competent to discharge the duties Of
Commander.in. chief of the Ohio militia,
while restricted to the peace establishment,
was in fact not qualified by military edu-
cation or a previous experience for the
multiplied difficulty and arduous respon-
sibilities of war emergency, and com.
mitting the fatal mistake Of not promptly
summoning to his guidance q board of
experienced counselors. he long continued
his feeble and inefficient administration,
until through the want of judgment and
incompetency of himself and some portion
of his subordinates, extravagance. fraud
and favoritism were practiced, whereby
the public service was seriously prejndiced
and the public treasury depleted" gso;
AS thus defined, the accusation is sufi,.
ciently grave, I admit; and the Demo
cratic Convention should not have given
currency to it. except from an honest con-
yiction of its truth. Whether they had
probable cause for the condemnation they
administered the public must decide,
Judging from the tone of your letter, q
stranger would infer that you had not
heard the s0isdom and sntegrIty.' Of your
management called IN question: until you
read the proceedings Of the Democratic
Conventionl Whereas. in truth, these
charges of imbecility and ,malfeasance
were originally preferred. and have been
most stoutly maintained, BY the men and
the press of your political friends. In
deed, your present move savors of an
adroit purpose to raise smoke under the
cry of "party mslignity," and sympathy
for rebels" in order that you may with.
draw from, danger the frail bark in which
is freighted whatever Of Official reputation
has survived the broadside Of Republican
batteries. .5f..s,ss.s.-,
The Democratic papers have treated
you with singular forbearance and ten
derness. But the Republican press of
the State, as far back as the months of
May and June, abounded in charges OF
mismanagement, fayoritismm and fraud
against your administration. They spe.
CITED the acts--named the parties-gave
the figures, and denounced the delinquen-
cies in terms of severity, in comparison
with which our resolution is moderation
itself aoLestlit may have escaped your
notice, suffe. me to give you one sor two
Eexampies The oAshtsbula Sentinel ol
EJune 10, said: s KeB O. I'd bae .aa1e.
tss1"We have denounced the management
of the War Department of Ohio because
Fit was bad--ihtolerably bad. 80 The Gov
|ernor, at the head of the Department, il
responsible, and as he has not shown tha
others were at fault, it is proper to holt
him to account. 4 Our neighbors of tn,
Warren Chronicle complain that We do no
specify any charges. We will specify tina
men were ordered into Columbus lbefor,
there was adequate, or even any, prepara
tion made for them. They were thel
sustained atian enormous cost, amounting
to an aggregate of at least one hundre,
thousand dollars more than it could hav
been done with proper economy. Wit
all this outlay the men were subjected t.
unnecessary hardships and absolute suffer
ing. They were not we'll fed, and the
were badly lodged. This state of thing
was continued for q long time after th
wrong and the cause of it we're under
: stood. The outrageous. price, for sus
tenance allowed at Camp jackson was no
! corrected, and no proper effort made t.
l correctit. A second contract was mad
, at Cincinnati, and a third one at Cleve
, land, at still higher figures. and that whe
there was time enough to adopta cheaps
+ plan. Neither of these contracts was re
, voked when they we're abused The cloth
. ing contracts were let without competi
. ton, and those who took them were a
lowed to divide them among themselves
> instead of being required to compete fo
8 them. Sixteen dollars - suit were pal
; in this manner, where not more sthan to
, dollars should have been paid. So it ha
, been with almost everything else. A
was characterized by the most fsgrau
: waste and extravaganza. ore sidT .s5o
This was the fault of the Department
: and the Commissary and Quartermaste
: might have been held accountable for i
8 But the fact is, the Governor usurped the
daties and uat1a contracts himself tbs