Juliet signal. [volume] (Juliet [i.e. Joliet], Ill.) 1844-1???, 1862-01-21
The REGULATION Mania.

with contracts and agreements by or with
the government, growing out of its opera,
tons in suppressing the rebellion, pro-
pensity to steal seems TO have seized upon
every department from toe Cabinet officers
down to the lowest employee.
The report of the investigating commit
tee reveals facts of the most startling char
acter. Peculaticns, plundering and mall
feasance. have been the order Of the day.
Millions and millions of money have been
flched from the pubic Treasury by the
greedy comorhnts who have had access
thereto, by means of contracts or in any
manner whatever. The frauds and steal
ings have become SO notorious and mon
strous that Congress has been forced to take
the matter in hand.
The disclosures already given to the pub
lie by the committee are enough to sicken
the heart of every honest American Four
hundred witnesses have been examined,
and the testimony cogers eleven hundred
pages. And the committee are not vet
through with their labors. Other devol-
opponents, fully as astounding are 10 pro-
cess of exposure.
We shall give abstracts of few of the
swindling transactions found in the printed
report of the committee.
An old steamer. the CatiliDe, was pur,
oh nd NV &c khn r Al
Department for $14 00O and then leased to
the government for no less than three
month at $4,000 per month; ard if the
vessel was destroyed within that time, the
government was to pay $4,000. The YES
sci was, of course destroyed and $500 is
claimed Of the government for what cost
the agent of the War Department but $l4,.
600.
Another vessel, the Stars and Stripes,
was cbarted by an agent of the Navy De-
partment, Lrother>in lalc to the Secretary,
| who was allowed a commission Of % per
cent. on all his transactions; and after
running the vessel two months at a price
which yielded her owners a net profit Of
$4,000, they sold her to the government
for S55 900. The vessel cost to build her
only S35 900.
The late Secretary of War placed at the
disposal Of man named Alexander Cum
mings, political newspaper editor in New
York, totally ignorant of army affairs, the
large sum of 81 900 900 to expend for army
supplies anyway aud everyday. Gums
| miugs himself cannot tell where the money
has been squandered and his account has
never been settled or his vouchers fled IN
the Department. This Cummings is a
political friend of the Administration.
The Secretary of the Navy gives his
| brother-in-law a commission to purchase
for the government, allowing q per cent.
on all he could buy. He goes to work,
and, in the short space of FIVE months,
runs bill up on the government to the
amount of Sl,735, 932, Fis own profit being
sos, 00S, nearly as much for his five months
service as the whole salary of the President
for the term Of four years.
The transactions in the purchase of arms
| the report of the committee shows up to
be most fraudulent and disgraceful A lot
of arms are sold by the government at a
time it needs them, in June last, for So, so
piece. a government agent figures again;
and the guns are bought up in July, the
next month, and the same guns sold to the
government for 500 piece. Those guns
that the government almost gave away, she
purchased back one month after for the
snug sum of $58,l75.
Another transaction in arms-condemned
Austrian muskets-cost our government
SlG6,0O0. These guns are worthless, can
never be used, were inyoiced to the coun-
Try at 3 piece ard offered 20 a regular
government officer for S. so, who rejected
them as not being fit for any kind of ser
vice. These worthless guns were after
wards purchased by friend of one of the
Cabinet for nominal sum and turned over
to the government at $3.50 each.
The report also discloses the most un-
blushing and astounding frauds in relation
to the purchase of horses, wagons, equip
ments and rations.
Estimating from the figures given by the
investigating committee, most of which
have been derived FROM the sworn testi-
moDy Of Improbable witnesses, the Ma
tional Treasury has been pundered by Old
Abe's officials Of more than one hundred
million of dollars.
Surely we have fallen upon evil times
The population mania seems to have seized
nearly all our government officials. In.
deed, it does seem to US, that if the peni-
tentiares Of the country were scraped, a
grander set of rascals could not be collected
together than, for the most part, have
charge of our public funds.
The Republican press glowed with de-
seriptions Of the alleged frauds of govern
ment officers during Mr.. Buchauan's Ad-
miniatration, but, as general thing, are
eHSLh uo"' P" oulu tnal there vere no
more stealing going or now, than there was
carried on during the last administration.
And, by the way, we hope that our Con,
gresham, the Hoe. Oven Lovejoy, will
display as much assiduity ~ fura ariing
the report OF the present investigating com.
mittee as be did in flooding the district
with the famous COvode report before the
last Pre- sidential election Covode's report
prepared as 1t was from falsehoods manu-
iaciuIed for electi0noering purposes, is cast
into the shade by the deeds of rascality
perpetTated by President Lincoln's officials.
DEFUNcT.-The obituary of the Young
Mems Association, Of this city, appeared
a. La