Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-02-10

j
ditlUn sf bis (WoOPs) health required re-
pose from arduous duties.
The Doctor was certainly a remarkable !
agent. The Secretary wants a. sRss9stie, n
tsISgeat and experienced man, Of course-One
more % than the Unioh Defense Committee
or the army officers in New York; one on |
t0hoM he can Tsly; yetthe Doctor apparently |
takes no interest but TO draw and pay the |
money. When he was called on especially |
to aid in purchases, he trusts It all To Mr.. !
Humphreys, his clerk. When vessels are to
be chartered, he doesn't deem it worth while
to examine Them. He gOOd-naturedly says
be took It for granted that what the owner
said was true. he was certainly conf
dence man. The Secretary says, nOtwith-
standing the pressure en- his private bust
ness. be Is sure he win aid him. Yet the
Doctor repsys this generous and unbounded
confidence by knowing nothing, absolutely
nothing, Of the purchasing OF articles or
loading of vessels.
Two million dollars, by the Secretary Of
the Treasury, were placed in the hands Of
committee OF high-toned, honorable men,
to be paid out on the order or requisition
of Mr.. Cummings, without his producing to
them any vouchers Strange as it may appear,
willie this money was there to respond 70 his
requisition, be draws $4,000, and de-
posits 1t in his mans, with his private
account IN one Of the city banks. stran-
ger still, four months after his agency had
ceased, he leaves no vouchers with the
! War Department. The War Department, in
its generous confidence, seeks no settlement
with ihe Doctor, nor an inspection Of his
vouchers.
Such were the prominent transactions oe-
curing at time when mans generous in
stincts should freely have offered everything
to his country.
This was the cloud no larger than q mans
hand which inereasd and spread until the
Whole sky has been wrapped in gloom, and
men 20 about the streets wondering where
this thing will end. The mania for stealing
seems to have run through all the relations
of Government. Almost from the General
to the drummsr-boy; from those nearest the
throne of power to the meFest tide waiier.
Nearly every man who deals with the Gov.
ernment seems to feel or desire that it would
not long survive, and each had common
right to plunder while it lived. Even in the
matter Of the purchase Of two sailing vessels
two men of New York, to the crime Of LAT
ceny, added the sin Of perjury, that they
might rob from the Treasury So 600 In thu
case of the Stars and Stripes the Presden
of the New Haven Propeller Company, after
taking from the Government SIS, 600 mor'
than she cost, took of that amount nearly S.,
900 to line his own pockets, and in excuse u
his company pretended that he had to brib'
an ex-member Of Congress TO gain an aud
fence to the head of the bereaui and iron
that insinuation an honorable, high-toned
e1-member of Congress, in Connecticut ha'
been subjected to calumuy. That President
before the committee, testified that after tax
ing Sl9 900 in profits from his country, b
was so anxious to serve her in this, the hou
. of her extremity, that he appropriated near
ly So, 900 of his colleagues money to his pr
, vate use, so be could devise some machin
to take all the Southern cities, and no on
3 get hurt. .-.... "a. d..
Colonies, entrusted with the power Of rails
I ing regiments colluding with contractors
I bartering away and dividing contracts 70
horses, and other supplies to enrich persons
fayorites purchasing articles, and compel
. ing false invoices to be given.
4 While it is no Justification, the exampl
! hiss been set In the very departments of tn
! Government. As general thing, none bu
4 fsvorites cal gain access there, and none 9th
4 er eau obtain contracts which bear enormOu
, profits. They violate the plain provisions {
4 the law requiring bids and proposals, on th
false and shallow pretext that the public e.
!, igency requires it. Should this last as Ion
as the Pelopenessisn war, the same eXeus
would be used. The Department which be
!. allowed conspiracies after the bidding hs
4 been closed, to defraud the Government {
!. the lowest bid, and by allowing the guilty I
!, reap the fruits of their crime, has beeom
4 itself paTtiesps eTiMiRis.
. Who pretends any public exigency for Civ
! ing out by private contract, without bid
! over one million muskets, st fabulous prices
n Who pretends a public exigeney to mak
!, private contracts for rihed cannon, to u
amount of $sOQ,99Q,AHIG HORSES.
s Kentucky is provsFbiaI for her sple7di
g horses Her loyal citizens would have bee
d benefited by sales to the Government. VII
e viii pretend that the public e1igency requil
Is ed that when cavalry regiments were to
It forwarded from the State of Pennsylvania
g the land Of the dark and bloody ground,
}, was necessary to transport, at great expenst
!, the remaining disabled, diseased horses lei
ID the Keystone state2 Ny colleague on th
b committee Mr. Dswes1 a few days sine
e spoke Of the peace offerings to Pennsylvani
! politicians, and referred to the horses of Co
d Williams's regiment
Q There Is yet another case. A contract, nc
b made upon the responsibility OF the Bureau
1 as the late Secretary said, but By his eEPre,
T order, and refused to be made until 80 order
9 ed. l refer to the contract to purchase on
J. thousand horses, to be delivered at Hunting
It don, Pennsylvania. Such a horse marke
t the world never saw. Tue FIRST Inspector
Q an honest man-of the first hundred rejecte
y three in Eve. The next day owners refuse
q TO present themselves, and by some legerde
# main he WAS removed and others substituted
d then horses of all ages, from two to thirty
s Of all diseases and defects, secret and oper
: were from day to day received The Who'll
: neighborhood were in arms. The people re
!, monstrated. Lawyers and olergyHen wer
s present at the Inspection, and sought to dete
:. the buccaneering crew by open condemnation
: the inspectors needed not this clamor, but OF
]. dered the horses to be ridden upon the crowd
d to drive them away If possible. Horse
: with running sores, which were seen by th
: inspectors, and branded and if one outrag
' ed common deeeney he would be rejected
i and an opportunity sought the same day I
\ pass and brand him. Immediately the horse
: we're subsisted BY Privste contracts 70 faoEr
: ties, at thirty.nine cents per day, and they
z sub-let to farmers, from twenty
: four to twenty-six. Over four hundred 0
i these horses were sent with Colonel Wyn
9 koop's regiment and the papers at Pitisburg
; report some actually so worthless they wer
left on the docks. The remaining FIVE hun
9 derd were left at Huntingdon for the bene6
f Of contractors, In that single transaction
over fifty thousand dollars we're stolen from
: the Government. Such hends in humar
b shape cars not for exposure; felon's doom