, 1862-04-08

payment to 1eard Of $4,000 more.
In his adDfnistraion be virtually ignored The
existence Of tbs quarfef11assttess, and the com-
11isssrses departments, and sof tbs ordna1ce
bureau. and necessarily TINT Of The Govern
ment at Washington The most stupendous
contracts, Involving an almost unprecedented
waste at the public money, we're given out bX;
him in persbN to farorftes, over the heads Of
the competent and honest officers spPoanted
by law. It seemed to be his purpose to pro:
ee1t h11nseK as the embodiment 199 political
words and his conduct ho1 lits1e be depended
upon the Government Of hfs eoantry md how
ufssriy 1h1 disFegn9ded It's laNB, iB re&ulahnns
and is policy: OF eozsras s,sea tsis eEs'sf2k essta
not b ak4kY1Rse NaR oaakagss gssaa4e. The whole
framework of the polltIc1 and military sys-
TENS, as organized By !aw, was unhraced, and
where prevailed. There could be no obedience
when. the general :of the department ppsn1y :
taught and ptaetseed Resistance to the 1a~s as
= Hight, u not . duty. There could be ao
econemy WheTe the ganeral exposed himself
Efeas Office to feed the. greed. Of bis
followers for. gain. He occupied VIII h1s
family and several members If his STAT an1ArMe
palace, and lived amid its luxurious fuinfturc:
and gIttedug wares, at sEpulsted expense Of
@ Rsr a9nnm t2 e ts G2ysn%fea; af q ,,n3s @s
we're: datkened by the horrors Of civil War!;
Gould Il be- expected that his .fahozdinases5
would disp1ay any special sympathy With our
national suferings> Or anY marked Eoltc1tude
to guard the pabiie trcasnry from pIander9
done for a few dollars, on one OF the vessels
transporting his troops which accompanied
him, he chartered q magnificent steamer, at q
cost OF S., 600 to the Government, to convey
i: himself and cortege alone. This steamer was
anchored ont in the stream, instead: Of lying
at the wharf, rs al others did and do, and
when .the General drsve In his carriage and
four to the water's edge, Jet another steamer,;
At atnl further cost to the Government, IS We
learn from Claims presented for it, was CHI
. ployea to put himself and suite On board. "A
to1cIsn prince or p0tentate, In season Of na-
tional mourning. might thus dqe,, and fllns en-
Ter LIS pleasure yacht OF barge OF st3te; but
inseusihility amid the ealam1aes Of civil war,
and wastsfnlness when the public debt is be-
ing increased Of the rate Of from oae to two
millions daily, when exhibited by a. General Of
the American army, ls spectacle from which
the patriot may well turn away in grief and
As vast have been expected, the influence
Of such IN exhibition vas everywhere felt
High officers did not, it was true, dare charter
steauaers for their own convenience, but they
did, needless Of the expenditure, engage spe-
cial trains for the convenience Of themselves
and attendants, while yet humber officers,
sphere 81 their authority, fired at the livery
stables for months, buggles md horses at the
cost OF the government, and this although the
Law only recognized them On foot koras mount
and almost everywhere, under the maaign in
fuenee' Of the declaration that neither laws
nor regulations longer prevailed, there ~as
manifested disposition to convert the nation
al tragedy through which we are passing into
eaturna1ia Of personal aud official self1ndul-
genee and extravaganza.
While ne have necessarily devoted the prin-
cipl part Of our report to an exposure Of the
| abuses which characterized the Late adninis-
t-ation Of this department, we cannot close it
without bearing testimony to. the integrity
! which has generally been displayed By mer'
| chants, mechanics and manufacturers when
!! permitted to deal directly with Government.
Wide spread as has been the decentralization in
| official circles aud among their dependents
| and favorites, and startling as are the faudE
| which have been attempted and consumnaated
3 large majority Of the claimants which have
| presented themselves before us unimpeached
| By i1npntahons either upon their loyalty o.
We: We have examined some loo witnesses
| whose testimony has been taken By an accom-
| plished stenographer, {Mr. B. B. Hit, Of Chi
| cago,) and has been In part written ont. Tht
ing may delay the completion of the work, bu1
| We presume that In some three months tht
| whole evidence, which will consist Of from
| six to sereR thonRand> d>manuscript pages, vii
| be ready, and will then be filed In the depart
ment as part and In support of this report
| As several weeks viii be required TO close en-
| fircly the business Of the commission, th,
secretary and few of the clerks will be neces
sarily detained that time. The entire recori
! Of our proceedings, with the accompanying
papers, will then be transmitted.
| DAVID DAVIS.
| j. HoLT.
+ HUGE CAMrBELL.
| The Commissioners are now pc1formiu.
with commendab1e fidelity the same Office q
| to fraudulent contracts here that they per
! formed in St. Louis; witness, the Boxer arm
contract with its 81, 800, 600 swindle.
Mr. Watson Assistant Secretary Of War, ha
sent into the Senate list Of all VESSELS char
| tered and purchased By the War Department
since the 1st day Of April, 1851. The Who'll
number Of charters is 277, and the whole nun1
ber Of purchases 81. Mr.. John Tucker ap
pears to have been the Government agent i
etfecting 157 Of the charters and Is Of th
purchases Among the purchases by Mr
Tucker arc the steamer Winfield Scott, fol
merry the Constitution, at SICK, 600, and til
steamer Union at 100000 Opposite th
| Winfield Scott the following remark is found
ttBroke in two at Pine Island In January, 1851, :,
Opposite the Union is the remark: stDrive
ashore On g. C. coast IN November, 1881.
Neither of these steamers we're inspected b
Mr.. Tucker, or by anybody for him. before th
purchase. They had been previously relecte
BY naval officers but probably AF. Tucker Wa