Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1862-12-22

laton cloth. The Tot which the Me-sF- OLf>N
bid Tor al a. % vas given out % some Clhein
nat hrm Al s. IS. and 4 as sail ne clothing
was made Of half cotton goods. Gen. VAJES,
Ina hts testimony. thus en- plains the matter:
About the time the contract was 10 be let. 4
was cent by Governor Melton 70 Canada TO ar
range some contracts Tor guns. In which sue 4
ceciei very well From there | went to New /
York ADD there saw tise advertisements Tor pro- !
pOsal<T for furnishing these uniforms IL The 4
mean time there iad Teen y cali tnatie tor seversl
regiments OF volunteers The goods we're % be
reidy in twenty days irom a certain day When /
/ arrived home I found there were several reg- +
Imeuts there full: that they were subject 20 be
called into she held 81 any moment And u
proved 70 be so; for although many OF these
goods were delivered before the time expired. !
y found they came none too soon. ". III
Glenn a Co, represented a house IN Boston. l
think Who hid sent them samples Of goods.
They we're similar 60 regulation goods. but We
did hot consider the cloth " a. heavy enough The
goods we're himsy. and the thread sas
loose and not well spun You could
take the fabric in your fingers and
pull il apart | think took piece Of il 10
the Office OF the Governor. | conferred with In
spector Generai Murphy in regard To the matter.
and told him was not judge OF the goods ]
think the Governor, or some one about the State
tailors to pass their judgment in relation to the
quality Of the goods; but. upon looking around a
lille, found that every tailor in this city VAS
interested viii some OF the bidders, and " 4
should call IN the ones intended. the others
would have objected. So | told Col. Murphy
thar we had better rely upon our own Judgment
In reference 20 the matter. Glenn came 10 me
with letter from the firm in Boston. Offering TO
give me and ,lf per cent. on the contract
| told Glenn, IL | had NV own way about II, |
would not consider his bid at all for Offering such
bonus that; that they had known me for
years. and that they ought 10 know better than
To offer me a bribe. He said could use u for
any purpose | liked. / said that was all so
told them L was all proper 10 give something for
this cause provided they did so after the contract
was completed; but tliat il they put in their bid
upon the suppOstion that this amount would
have 10 be paid out of the proceeds. they had
better deduct the amount M once, and then
Their bids would stand better chance OF being
received think they did that aitcrward. When
the dsy came for AWARDING the contracts, con
suited Col. Murphy about il, aud he assisted Inc
in awarding the contracts and selecting the bids.
price and materials considered. We did not pay
that attention to, or examine so closely those
Eastern goods a We should have done, but for
the fact We did not want to run any risk IN
having th0Se goods furnished here an twenty
DAYS, even on less terms, especially when they
forty days ! conferred with Governor Morton
about the matter at that time, and he said we
must do the best We could and run no risk OF de
Law as the troops were here aud might be called
into the field at any moment. Ten regiments
were TO be clothed. and the uniforms were ob
taine az prices varying from So 10 to s. 70
suit
VAJES saws he 'was not judge Of the goods
vet he passes judgment on them himself. he did
not call to his ai any of tie merchants or tailors
in the city who were MORGAN, practical tailor
in his testimony. says he examined GLENS's
samples clo-eIy" and that if he Twas in the place
for receiving contracts for those goods. he would
have taken GLESN's proposition at three dollars
more than be would have taken the others for"
GLENN says in his testimony that "he put in the
bid because he wanted the soldiers to have good
clothes, and because he wanted the reputation
also, and not because he wante! to make any
thing out of it," He offered to deduct from his
proposal the two and a halt per cent. be was
toreceive for msking the contract. which would
have reduced his bid for the best suit offered.
made OF all wool kersey. to 81 rs. But Mr..
VAJEN awarded contracts at So %, as he testihes,
for an article worth at least 80 90 suit less than
those offered by w & II. GLENN 4 Co. They
did not offer the . : per cent. to VAJES as Il
bride TO procure the contract, but gift TO the
Government If that deduction was necessary to
secure he contract. But it appears from the ties
tmony OF GEIssENDoRFF that VAJES was getting
five and ten per cent bonus upon clothing
contracts, and no wonder that the virfuous Quar-
termaster said he would not consider his
GLENN s. bid at all for Offering such bonus as
that"
But enough of this investigation for the pres
ent We could Gil our columns for weeks with
extracts from the report of the committee, ex
posing the gross swindles and frauds upon the
Government in the purchase Of army supplies
General VAJES may be misrepresented by
the testimony. and we have only referred
to his case because the alleged abuses
were practiced right in our midst. and
when the great body of the people were NOV ed
with patriotic impulses, and were not only max
ing sacrifices. but ready TO mike all that
was necessary To aid the government to
maint,in its Integrity We have no issue with
Gen. NAJEN. Ii is with him and the committee.
We hope he will be able to explain away the
impu'aiions cast upon his integrity by the report
of the committee They say:
81 far as Gen. Wien, the Quartermaster is cor
cerned, the testimony compelled the committee
Co. questions the fidelity with which he bad per
formed his duties An unplrionaDle eagerness
20 make the misfortunes of the nation the source
of personal asgr ndzement, as in the case OF
other officials who have become directly or in
rt.ai and
Government contracts elsewhere mentioned, is
unfortunately To manifest. aud would require a
special report. IL instead of being officers of a
State. the parties were in the employ the Gen
erai Government
stanton nm "a New Character.
Among Other characteristics OF Lincnln's mex