The Cadiz Democratic sentinel. [volume] (Cadiz, Ohio) 1854-1864, 1861-11-13

the opetations Of the Government in suppress
ing the rebellion sgainst its constituted authori
ty.
"Resolved, That the said committee be au-
thorized to sit during the recess OF Congress, at
such times and places as may be deemed prop
er."
The other tesolutions authorize the employ.
ment OF s;enographer, and directs the Ser
geant arms Of The House to attend the sit
tings ol the committee, serve all subpenas, pay
all witness fees and necessary expenses OF the
committee.
In giving an abstract OF the testimony, which
is so yoluminous. we. propose only to give a
part bearing on the different heads Of fraud, as
summed up in the committees report. The
entire testimony has been sent to Washington
to be laid before Congress at its next session.
The Synopsis we publish is faithful abstract of
the evidence before the committee, although
many OF the minor details have been omitted
The first act OF fraud was the presentation to
Mrs Brigadier- General Me kinstry, on the 10th
of September, OF a complete sett Of silver Ser.
vice Of the Jenny Lind pattern, which service
cost $4,000 and upward, and being the faest
ever made in The West. took the premium at the
State Agricultural Fair held in st. Louis
This service was presented by parties exclu
slVeIV Interested III OOHtTaCIS, a.
mong whom were Major Selover, Leonidas
Haskell, john NJ. Crum, Il. L. Beard, of Cali
fornia, and others General McKinstry was
Quartermaster General of the Western Depart
ment by appointment of Major General j. G.
Fremont, end as such Quarermaster General,
controlled the horse and mule contracts, build.
ing of barracks, and all supplies and purchases
appertaining to that Department The commit.
toa in tbn;r cav nIbot frauds -
tracts in the Qnar.e,master's Department are
numerous and have been clearly proven, and
extend through all branches oil his control and
supervision"
In relation to the purchase of horses-the
second act of fraud-the testimony is extensive
as to the various species Of imposition practiced,
the sold English jockey tricks" as they are
called, being in this case the lesser magnitude.
A PARTY contracts to furnish 1000 head OF hor.
ses at $1l9 so per head, to the Government,
through the Quartermaster. The contractors
agent, who is approved by the Quartermaster,
has charge OF the field where the contractors
horses are to be passed upon. A countryman
having horses to sell to the Government, pays
SO entrance lee to the field, where his horaeb
are examined, and upon the payment of anoth-
er fee Of SO, they are recommended to the con.
tractor, who purchases the same at the very
lowest figure, which, throughout the entire evil
dence never exceeded S85 and 800 per head
The contractor takes his purchases to the In
specror, who is also reimbursed oy fee, which
amount is computed according to the quality OF
the animal The contractor, on obtaining GER
tifcate from the Inspector, demands the money
OF the Quartermaster, who pays the same, when
the Ionus for said payment is guaranteed The
evidence dscloses several such schemes and
many other ways in which horses and mules are
obtained. The testimony also shows that the
horses, in a 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 thus purchased. nu-
merous dead carcases have been trotted out,
"iull of bran and peppered," by contractors,
VITO received S1l5@130 for each horse furnish
ed. One Of the recent reports OF Boards of Sur
yey will suffice in giving the character Of horses
Government furnished 20 regiments upon the
requisiton Of their commanding Officer. Other
similar repots the committee have on file:
CAMP SULLIVAN, WARSAW, Oct. 81, 1861.
To COLONEL WIN. BIsHoP! The undersigned
having been summoned, as board of survey,
to examine and inspect the condition of the
horses forwarded to this regiment from Saint
Louis and report the result to your headquar-
ters, would respectfully report that we have ex-
arnncd said horses and find seventy.six (76) fit
for service, five (5) dead, and three hundred
and thirty {33O)underszed; under and over a.
ged, stfled, ,ingboned, blind, spawned, and IN
curab1y unfit for any public service, sad horses
being q part OF the Missouri contract.
Very respectfully,
Signed DAVID MCKEE, Major,
GEORGE Il ROCKWELL Cap ain,
JOHN SCHEE, Lieutenant
The Committee also have in evidence that U.
s. District Attorney Jones was associated with
Messrs. Thomson and Bowen in the purchase Of
horses and mules, their contract being at Sll9
50 each horse. Bowan sold out to Thomson
and Jones for $5 600, payable in bankable funds
Thompson went to McKinstry for payments on
horses Messrs. Thompson and Jones had fur.
nished, and were told that "another party was
interested in this horse business and unless the
SIS ,OCO in gold was deducted by MeSsrs. Thomp-
son and Jones, none of the money could be
paid" The $4,000 was kept by McKinstry,
and the remainder paid over to Thompson and
Jones.
Under the head OF fraud, the Committee
have testimony Of over half million of dollars
sunk in pay contracts. The Quartermastcr paid
Sl7 so per tun Tor hay in bales, which on ex-
animation is found to be prairie grass, and hay
OF a very poor quality. The cost of transpor-
taton bot ween st. Louis and Sedalia, is about
SS per tun, or $25 per thu delivered at Scdala
The Committee have aceumulative evidence
that fresh hay from the stacks, and in abund-
ance along the entire route to sWarsaw, can be
obtained at S6@8 per tun. ~
In Government wagons the evidence shows
that large numbers are here without any own,
efs until after they have been pressed into the
service, and then the builders present their
claims A majority of these wagons are unfit
| for service. The aXles, reach, holsters, spokes
| hubs, e., are found to have been cracked, and
| the cracks filled with leather and putty, and
painted over where the fraud was patent Sew
eral Of the wagons were condemned The com
mittee will report that number OF the wagons
! thus received by the Quartermaster and his a
gent have broken down before the army had
proceeded far, and that all the wagons will b.
useless after few weeks service. -
The third act Of fraud is in the building o
| Notifications at st, Louis. On the 18Th Of Au
gust Colonel Hassendeube, by order of Genera
Fremont, engineered and surveyed the points
within the limits Of st. Louis ior tie erection
of eleven ill) forts. Under Major Ii s super
intendence five (5) we're built directly for thu
Government, without any intervening contract
er. The wages OF the laborers were 90 cent
each per day, and the cost OF each fortifcatiol
not 10 exceed $4,000. On the Goth Of Sep
tember, when General Fremont knew that th
forts, completed, cost $4,000 each, Quarter
master General MoKlnstry, per order OF Gen
eral Fremont, made contract with E. L. Bear,
Of California to build 6 additional forts for tn
Government, similar in all respects to the
+ constructed by Colonel HasSendeubel; agreeing
to pay 45 cents per cubic yard for all excava