Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1861-06-12
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dslphia, made the following presentment;
To the Hon. John Cadwallader, Judge Of the
-Distfict Court Of ths. United States for the
Eastern District Of Pennsylvania; ~ .
The Grand Inquest beg leave respectfully %
present that they have carefully consIdered all
the bills laid before them by the District Attor-
|uey; thatthey have reported the same, with their
action upon them, 10 the Court that for two
weeks past they have been diligently and la
boriously engaged In the investigation Of al
legged fra uds against the United States Govern
ment, by persons furnishing provisions and cloth.
ing for the United States troops; that large
number of witnesses have been examined "a
touching these allegations, and that while the
most indubitable evidences Of the preparation
Of frauds have been so carefully concealed 90
sedulously guarded by the parties committing
them, that the Grand Jury has found 1t impos'
sible 90 to separate them al to be able to
present cases which would pro 2erly bring the
guilty parties under the jnrisaiction Of this
Court. .
The first and principal difficulty which pre-.
sented itself was that ofjurisdictiou. Thejuryl
had before II no reliable data upon which 10
found an opinion as to pfecisely where their
powers began aud where they ended. Il was
Known that large supplies, ol provisions and
clothing had been furnished the troops; bnt In the
indescrlbsble confusion which appears to have
prevailed'in the seversl military departments
located at Philadelphia and Harrisburg, Ii has
been utterly impossible for the Jury to a'certain
what proportion Of these supplies was properly
cbarge geable 10 the United States Government,
and what to the State Of Pennsylvania. a
On the part Of the Grand Jury, they sought
instructions from the Court in regard to the
jurisdiction Of the UDited States Grand Jury,
In cases occurring through the fundamentally
OF the State lave and State agencies The
Court, In reply, advised the jury Of its peculiar
powers and privieges, and, With the view 70
che protection Of the United States from fraud
with an anxiety for the welfare Of her SOL
dIers,. and disposition to punish men guilty Of
such Grimes, the inquest entered upon the inyes.
tigation. During its progress, which has ne
cessarily been protracted and tedious, mass Of
testimony has been heard, though in but siDgle
case was there direct evidence that q worthless
or UNIV wholesome article of diet was supplied the
troops, which case wac promptly reported to the
Court There was, however, no evidence be-
fore the Jury that euch article of diet was con-
sumed BY the soldiers after they were mustered
into the service Of the united States, and With.
out such evidence IL may be that this jury hae
transcended its Jurisdiction. ~
One Of the last witnesses examined in this In.
| vestgation was an accounting officer Of the
State of PeDnsy ylvania. He testified that no
bills for any supplies have yet been paid by the
Federal authorities. The propriety of an i'm
mediate suspension of the ipquisition became
apparent TO the Grand Jury, and they at once
suspended their labors. That full and search.
ing investigation should be made by some com
petent tribunal 10 manifest, but the difficulties
by which this jury are surrounded compel them
to dismiss this inquiry
The extreme vagueDess of all the informa.
ton In this direction brought to the notice Of
this inquest, has completely prostrated every at.
tempt TO present the charges 10 such form as
would be acceptable to the Court, and bring
them within the acts of Congress referred to BY
the Court in its several charges TO the Jury
This inability 10 bring the offending parties TO
trial does not, however, relieve the inquest
from the duty of specifying some of the particu
lar causes to which, in its opinion, a large pro.
portion of these mal.praetices are mainly attri
butable. Ia
Admitting the fact that, to meet sudden
and extraordinary emergency, the Executive Of
Pennsylvania was called upon BY the President
Of the United States to furnish provisions and
equipments for large body Of troops, and that
the military organization of the State was nor
upon such footing as would enable the State
Executive to comply with this requisite 40 econ.
omically as might have seemed desirable-still
this inquest has failed to discover In either the
yeuddennees or magnitude Of the reputation any.
thing to justify the palpable mismanagemeni
which characterized the effort. When men en-
tirely incompetent were appointed to take
charge of and assist in managing the most i'm
portant military departments, such result was
Inevitable. las 80 si7.s, t.faT t.+F!s3
In no case which came to the knoWledge oil
the Jury, was there 10 the Commissarist or
Quartermaster's Department anything In the
form of written contract between the Govern.
ment agent and the parties furnishing supplies
No evidence waspresented 70 the juryto show
that there Was any inspector Of the provisions
This fact applies more particularly to that branch
located at Philadelphia.
The requisitions appear to have been made
simply as to quantltyI quality and price were
rarely referred to, and for aught the jury coult
learn to the contrary, the orders were filed OF
not, as suited the disposition of the sellers
Beyond the mere issuiDg Of the regulations. th,
acting agents appear 70 have given .the'subjec
no further consideration. Iffhe parties fllinf
the acquisitions did not avail themselves Of tn,
doors Tor fraud, thus freely and widely opened
the FAULT was not with those Government agen
cies. -- .,a7-,o 1ito .sessissf fr.
With hundreds Of men 10 Philadelphia entire
ly convsrsant with the business-men who Il
not gratuitously) would have given their service
i to the Government for q fair compensation thi
i inquest cannot but condemn the policy of ap-
pointing to places Of such immense importanc
men 90 notoriously incompetensfors such duties
In the absence Of the original leamples, an
in the already referred to confusion In the &C.
counts, the inquest have found it impossible &,
trace these gross and pa pable frauds In supple
TO their legitimate sources. but they have evil
dence of the fact shat the purchases, 40 q gan.
eral thing, were made, not from frat hands
but through jobbers and middlemen, and that
In consequence, the prices paid were manifestl,
higher than the market rates at that time, d
than they would have been had the ordinary
rules of business governed the Transactions.
The inquest gladly closes this detail. I
would have been far more pleasant to have re
corded the fact, that the soldiers Of the Com
monwealtb had been sent to the field (whict
they were frs. to enter) well and comfortabl,
provided for; and tina. the very liberal appropri
ations of money for this purpose had been hon
estly and judiciously expended. Our duty hal
thus far been discharged as fully as the limited
powers Of the inquest would admit. II further
special presentmsn's have nos BEEN made, the
reasons for not making them have been given
In the former part OF the presentmeDt.
The arms supplied BY the United States Gov
ernment to some Of the troops from the Frapk.
ford Arsenal have, In many cases, been proven
unit for the soldiers, aud dangerous 10 them In
their own hands, for want Of proper inspection
The attention Of the authorities Ia directed "a
The neglect, mismapaesment or incompe: :ency
Of the United States oficere, there in charge,
and to the remedy thstis needed. stt
In compliance with the Recommendation Of
the Court, attention 10 alfo sgain directed "a
the insuficiency and discomfort Of toe present