Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1861-12-25
Frauds upon the Government-Repub-
ican Economy.


We publish below an extract from the
Van Wyck nvestiga'ing Committee, de.
failing some extraordinary economy, on
Tie Republican system. The report occu,
pies large volume. und -hnwSa systema.'
10 purpose On tho pnit H almost every
agent 10 make II. much ns possible out oil
the emergencle- of the country:
The improy't,ence and rccA less extrava'
gance of Gen.at! Fremont i, shown in gla'
ring colo.. '.e simple e,u Of buying
condemned A. strian plusk,ts VIII suffice
for exsnu lr. Twcn,y-fic thousand OF
them w,Ir I"r:'hn,rd ~ rtr lot; the
Committee -, II rs IIotmtsr that the
arms had Uccu rejected from the Austrian
service, aud purchased on speculation AID
sent to this country in view OF the extra
ordinary demand Tor arms. The arm, III
The condition in which it was purchased,
will certainly never lie used 10y our army,
and when altered, as proposed, its inleri'
ori,y to the arms which are rapidly accu~
mulating, together with the almost uni
yersal prejudice of soldiers TO altered arms,
will almost certainly exclude them from
the army. The amount claimed for the
arms, incluJng the special amunitio9, is
about $4,000 The Committee arc OF
the opinion that the arm will never be OF
any service 10 the government, and will
never be used except in some case OF TN.
lorseen and extraordinary emergency.
The purchase of the arm was an act OF
manifest improyidence, and the loss ex'
cusaLle because The arm had been disap-
proved oi even at q less price than that
p.id by General Fremont by the eXperi'
enccd ordnance oiticcr at New York
The immediate necessity for arms can
scarcely be considered rs 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 10 the
nractibiliiy Of improvement 10y alteration,
The Committee found q large number
Of these arms at Cairo, and, notwilhStand,
ing the urgent necessity of arms at that
point, whols regiments, even on the eve
of the battle Of Belmont, were almost deS.
titute of arms. These arms were left in
the boxes in which they were shipped
from thr arsenal at St. Louis.
lmprovidence and disregard es reasona
bic economy on the part OF the Govern
ment on the one hand, and spirit oI
ruthless speculation on the other, hay e
made this contract and il is question OF
rnblic justice how far it shall be carried
into effect. Tho committee deem it their
duty to present the facts for the consider.
alton of the House, without any special
recommendation
Another transaction in the purchase OF
arms, TO which the attention of the cOm>
mi,tee has been directed is the purchase
of FIVE thousand of Halls carbnas by Gen
Fremont, through Simon Stevens, of Penn
sylyania. Thi. transaction is, in some
respects, of the same character with the
purchase of tho Austrian muskets, but
much more remarkable in Illustrating the
improyidence Of gentlemen prominently
connected with the public service, the
corrapt system of brokerage by which the
Tre sury has been plvndered, and the
prostitstion Of public confidence to rur'
poses OF individual aggrandilement.
Ia the month ofJune last, Arthur NJ.
Eastman,o of Manchester, y. H., purchased
at the Ordnance Bureau five thousand four
hundred Halls cGrbnes, at three dollars
fifty cents each, ana after slight ahera'
ton VI tiIu prIIs, at u ooot Of from a&Nonty
five cents to ono dollar and twenty-five
cents on each arm, sold five thousand OF
them to Simon Stevens for twelve dollar.
and fifty cents each, who Immediately
sold the entire lot to Gen Fremont prob
ably laboring under some misnpprchen
sion as 10 the nature Of the purchas o OF the
arms.
These armies seem to have been sold
privately, and without inviting any com
petition and sold, too, for an almost
nominal price The sale was made by OF.
der Of the Secretary orwar, on recommen,
daton OF tho Ordinance rurcs. No gov.
eminent that has ever existed can sustain
i,selfwith such improyidencc in the man
agement Of It's affairs. One agent Of the
government sells these arms at three dol
lars and fifty cents each in the midst Of a
pressing demand for arms, and few " eeks
afterwards, and without any increase in
that demand, the same arms, slightly al.
tered, are resold 10 the government
through another agent, for twenty two
dollars each, the government losing in so
small Transaction, if permitted to be
consummatcd, over ninty thousand DOL
larS, or,inasmuch as all the !all carbines
owneC by the government wcra sold to
Eastman, and Of course embraced the sey.
en- hundred and ninety bought Of Mr.. Al.
ex. Cummings, as the agent OF the War
Department, 70; fifteen dollars each, the
case as to these would stand thus They
are condemned and sold 10y tho govern,
ment at a merely nominal price AFTER
wards, in April last an agent of the War
Department purchased them for the gov,
ornment at fifteen dollars each, and in
June they are sold by Eastman by the
War Department for three dollars and If.
ty cents each, and in August they are
purchased by General Fremont for the
government at twenty-two dollars each.
Death of Horn R. Kneass.
With the most profound sorrow we are
again called on To placa on the sad racord