The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1862-02-04

The report Of the Potter investigating
Committee, recently submitted to the Federal
Congress. makes wra,hful reference 70 the
t,fcrts of Secretary Floyd 10 arm the South
~ Federal expense in advance OF the war
now prevailing Not content with dsnou"c
Ing the actual transfer Of great quanti'ieso OF
arms by that Secretary to orr threatened esc.
ton, the indignan, Potter makes exposure 81
several a,,cm pts 10 transfer other arms " hieh
did not prove successful
Il seems that che hnndred and forty can.
non Of superior quality and of very large
c.,;hr. ware ordered to be sent TO Texas and
I.,u,.;au. late In 1909 and that but for the
faithful promp,ituds Of Holt, Mr.. Floyds sue
sessor. they would have now been u part of the
Southern armament on the Missssip pi river
and the Texan waters. General Floyd is
doubtless quite willing to shoulder ali the
oiium which attaches to his efforts in respect
to these cannon but It 10 certain that he was
powerfully seconded inithem by Yankee Gu
pidity. The apTropri alton voted by Congress
for casting these cannon for unfinished South.
ern forts wae Passed by Congress, we believe,
the industrious lobbying of Pittsburg iron
founders. The guns were cast in obedience
to law, and the early shipment of them in ad-
vance Of the fun Completion Of the forts,
though not in advaa'e Of the readiness Of
the forts TO receive tteir armament, was due
more 10 the fact that the Pitts burg iron.
founders were bound by their contract to de-
lie. hor hat.ra THAR hau
10 the special eagerness of the Secretary to
get them on. The Secretary simply obey ed
a mandate Of Congress, and the PittsburQ
contractors simply obeyed the influences of
cupidity. I'll the treason or felony that IT.
tached to the business adheres to the skirts OF
the honorable body of which Mr. Potter is u
shining member.
The hundred thousand muskets that were
ordered to be sold To Bslknap, at two dollars
and half, bu. which were stopped by that
watchful Cerberus Holt were ordered to be
sold under a stsndin Z law of Congress, and
In pursuance Of numerous reports Of compe-
tent boa rds Of ordnance officers, declaring that
Government wonld 30 well to get rid Of them
nj two dollars. IL would have been glorious
thing If that additional number of arms lad
under authority SO distinct. and in a manner
~ free from blame, found their way in the
fall of 1860 into the arsenalS of the South
They did not find their way there. Why
Becsuse. though offered TO and urged upon
the Southern States, they would not take
them Virginia had previously taken few
thousand, Mississippi AZ many more, ana
Alabama a still greater number. Probably
South Carolina and Georgia took also few
thousand but when hundred Thousand
moro could have been had for a song, they
paid no attention to the subject The offer t
the States was at two dollars; the otter Il
Belkuap was not until afterwards and at TIVE
dollars and half Beiknaps scheme was t
sell the muskcts in Elrope, and not to thu
South, as Potter would intimate.
But in spite Of these refusals of the South
ern States to enter in earnest into the bust
ness Of preparing for war, there was mode
fonud Of filling their arsenals with arms -
with arms, too of II far better character thai
condemned muskets It had been the polio,
of she Federal secretaries of War TO allow al
the rifles and nuskets manufactured at tn
Federal armories, to be deposited Ill Northern
arsenals Tha, at Wsterviet, near New
York city, contained probably one half o
all the arms Of improved patterns, owne
by the Faderal Government.
Tine attack of John Brown upon Virgins
and the numerous efforts of Northern emissa
u excite Southern slaves to insurrectioI
suggested the importance Of distributing thei
quota of these fine guns among tho Souther
States Accordingly, orders were issued, in 1851
by Secretary Floyd, to transfer the Souther
quota of the arms in Northern arsenals. TIL
precise number of guns which were actual
transferred under these orders, we know no,
bat we happen to have the official figure
showing the number that went under the singl
order Of 30th Of May, 1860.
The number, the kind of arms respectively
and their destination, transferred under thi
order dated May Goth, 1850, were as follows:
IS 3 :