The weekly mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1861-1862, 1862-02-22

publIcans have taken the matter in hant
With the evident intention Of exposing
and Furnishing the guilty parties, and re
forming the abuses. Speaking Of the de
bate in the U. S. Senate in regard to th'
employment Of Morgan by the Secretary
Of the Navy, the correspondent of thC
Boston TrGrelLer, jealous Republican
says, "the disclosure and the imputations
were most painful to all who admire and
expect integrity in men who occupy Of
ficial stations" And he adds that, "as
yet the country has hardly appreciated
the alphabet Of the great volume Of fraud
and iniqniiy which must shortly be open
ed and read by the world. Each day fur.
nishes . new Development and it seems
as though nobody could have anything to
do with Government matters without be-
coming demOralized and yielding to the
temptation to steal something"
The Albany argus, in commenting up
on the disgraceful disclosure, remarks
" No lover Of his country or friend Of
public virtue can run his eye over the
revelations contained in the speech Of Mr.
Dawse, of Mass, in the House of Repre-
sentatives, without feeling the intenseSt
indignation and slarm. The facts stated
will arrest the attention of the most indif,
ferent, while they will ill the public spir-
tied and truly loyal citizen with the deep
est apprehension. An army Of traitors,
viler and more dangerous than all the lie.
gions in armed rebellion, are sucking the
hearts blood of the Republic, and are Sc.
cretIy but surely and rapidly devouring
the sources Of its strength. The shame
full revelation cannot be doubted; it is not
the offspring Of partisan malice, but owes
its being to men who are In sympathy
with and supporters Of the present Ad-
Mr.. Dawse lisa Republican
member, and the discoveries he has made
have been extracted from unwilling wit
neSses, under the penalties of imprisOn-
ment and the obligation of an oath" ~-
We give few extfacts from the speech
Of Mr.. Dawse. He is an, ardent RepubIi.
can, friend of the Administration, and on
terms ofintimacy with the President He
represents in Congress the Berkshire Dis
trict of assachusetts--one ofthe strong
est Republican Districts in the Union.
Love of country and respect for his party
induced him to expose the corruption of
those in high places, not disappointment,
malice or envy. The reader must recol-
ect that the evidence he presents is of an
character, and "was given
under the sOlemnity of an OATH" He
says:
1.-THE very first contract into which the Gov.
eminent entered was for cattle, and that was
given not to man in that line Of business, but
- an old siipendiary Of Congress, who put in
lis pocket without stirring from his chair,
hirty.ttro thousand dollars, and the men who
Ictually furnished the cattle in question put in
o their pockets tUeHty.siE thOusdnd dollars
more, so that the contract under which these
200 head were furnished 10 the army, ives so
made that the profit Of -tftYeight thousand dol
drs was realized over THE fair market price"
This is but small item, scarcely worth
He next comes to the con-
ract for supplying the army with shoes,
md makes this astounding disclosure:
Poorly as the army is shod to day, mil
ION of shOts have already been worn out, and
million more are being manufactured, and
'et upon every one Of these shoes there has been
WASTE Of SEVENTY.FIVE CENTS"
Pretty good contract, that! Is it any
wonder that Cameron who, it is said,
shared in the profits Of contractors, un-
resigned? Again, we quote
rom the speech Of Mr.. Dawse:
"In one regiment of cavalry, a board of off.
,ers were obliged to condemn four hundred
md eighty.fUe out of the thousand horses pur-
'hased and paid for. The man who examined
hese horses declared, upon his oath, that there
MAS not one of them that was worth trenty
tOILdrs. They were blind, spawned, ring
1oned, afflicted with the heaves, with the CLAN
iers, and with every disease which horse flesh
5 heir to-"
Mr.. Dawse shows how contracts are
Agents of the Departments
sell them, and parties buying them sell
them to contractors Here is a specimen:
"A3 ex-governor Of one State offered to an
exjudge If another State .fUe M0uaand dollars
10 get him permission to raise one Of these
regiments Of cavalry; and when the ex.judge
brought him back the commission. the ex-gOv.
ernOr takes it to his room at the hotel, while
another plunderer sits at the key hole watch
ing like mastiff, while the inside counts up
forty thousand dolldrs profit on the horses. and
calculates twenty Thousand dollars more upon
The accOutremen;S and on the other details Of
these regiments"
The ex-governor could well afford to
pay the ex Judge " five thousand dollars
to get him permission to raise one of these
regiments of cavalry" He made nearly
sixty thousand dollars by it. The next
noticed by Mr.. Dawse was fraud on a
gigantic scale, costing the Government
millions of dollars! He says:
"There are outstanding contracts for the
Of Springfield muskets, made with
private individuals - not made upon advertise
ment, not made with the knowledge Of the
public-but made by ex-members Of Congress,
The first one of which cannot be deliveredin six
months from this day. There is contract for
The supply of one million and Ninety MOUsGnd
pluSkets At twenty eight dollars apiece. when
The same quality Of muskets are manufactured
At Springfield for THIRTEEN AND A HALF
and an ex-member Of Congress is
now in Massachusetts,, trying to get machinery
made by which he will be able to manufacture
some sir months hence, at trenty-Ons dOLlGrS
Jpiece, those rfed muskets manufactured to-
fay in that armory for THIRTEEN DOLLARS
AND A HALF"
What do the people, who have to pay
this money, think Of the abOveH The
Government swindled, by a few con-
out of sixteen or seventeen mill
ion of dolIars!! But this is only the
Here is another nice little