Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1863-02-26

plause. The dissonant Of din Of thes,
biologists Of New England will b.
drowned in the popular voice; the patrici
dal hate they have cngenderel will be as.
susged, AMI into the laceratod bosom oil
this nation will be poured the hallowed
and healing spirit Of mutual confidence
and concilation. Thus will the nation
reform itself. Tremendous and contin-
ned applause.
Mr.. Cox's speech was most enthusias.
tcally received, and he was congratulated
at the close Of toe meeting by numerous
friends on his able and eloquent effort.
a-----
The Terrible Frauds Upon the
GOvcruInent--Es for Car
rying on the War--TIie Swiud-
Icrs at Work
ASTOUNDING EXPOSURE OF rUBMc PLUMBER
If it is any longer possible for the peo-
PIE Of this country to be shocked by the
disclosure Of frauds npon the Government
they will be utterly aStounded by the re-
port Of committee Of the United States
Senate, published in the Inquirer this
morning. 1t was our purpose to brand
and stigmatze these frightful robberies Of
the public moneys in such terms as they
deserve, but we confess that our vocabu-
larry in insufficient to DO justice 0 the sub
iect. They are Utterly SO monstrous that
terms in common use fail to give any idea
Of their enormous turpituie. They must
be read by each man himself. If the rec
ord does not make his blood tiugle, and
canse words Of bitter execra.ion to leap in
stinctiyely to his lips. then he is not Of
"penetrable stuff That such disclosure
have been permitted to pass by heretofore
without arousing an eifectual public indig.
nation, can only be accounted Tor by the fact
that the swift current Of stirrning events,
set in motion by the rebellion sweeps away
the reconciliation Of crimes which, in or
dinary times. would shock society to its
center.
The report referei to is that Of Senator
Grimes, Of Iowa, upon the subject Of ships
and steamers chartered /, in transport troops
and supplies. In the very outset Of it the
reader will find an account Of the charter
, Of thirteen barges and steamers at Balti-
more, that will serve as an illustration Of
the whole. In that transaction It itappears
/ that these thirteen vessels cost their own
ers-mildle men, as usual-SGj, 2S3, and
that they were chartered to the Govern
ment at the rate, Of S345, Gj5 per annum,
an annual proft Of three hundre{ ant
tscenty Dre per cent. Among these was a
rotten old hulk called the Patap5co, which
was purchased by one of these middle men
for 81, 300, and then hired to the Govern
ment for $Sj per day, and the barge Del
aware, which cost 81 800, hired for so
day. The running erpenSes Of this latter
vessel were about six or seven dollars O
day, and all the rest were the profits Of
the culprits, whoever they are. These
vessels were hired by man named Hall, |
who had q monopoly o. the business; un-
der the direction OF Col. Belgor, assistant /
Quartermaster General, and John Tucker
Assistant Secretary Of War When is
borne in mind that tco Lun3ted and sey-
enty.tour vessels were chartered. by this |
man Hall, some idea may he gained of
the fearful amount Of which the Gov.
ernnent has been piundered by his opera
tons.
The mglag operanai was this: Hall, as
we have said, was "mildle man." and |
through the action Of Mr.. Tucker and |
Col. Belger, had a monopoly Of the bu5i-
nes of char,cring vessels at Baltimore
Nobody who had even coal boat to hire
could g acce to Il g Government officers .
except through him. lie was the agent Of
the Unite States, selected the vessels, .
and fixed their prices. At the same time
he was thc agent of those who owned the .
vessels, some of them being his own, and .
others having been bought up by his crea
lures. In every case he charged a com
mission ranging from five to twelve per
cent on the gross earnings of every yes |
sci chartered. Of course the hghe' the
rate the more this careful agent of the
Government was enabled to pocket. Thus
in the case of the steamer Cecil, chartered
of Captaih Size, although the vessel was
offered at fifty dollars day, Hall had
hired her at seventy-fve dollars before
the bargain was consummatcd, raised the
price, to the aStOniShmeRt of the Captain, !
to eighty dollars Der day. This scandal
Gus feature appears in every transac' /
ton. An agent Of the Government rails /
ing the rates on his own principle to ru-
mons prices, that he might get higher
commissions. Here again we must re-
mind the reader that this man Hall who
was the confidential agent of Col. Belger
and Mr. Tucker, chartered tro huRHrrd
and SegeniyJow vessels.
Baltamore, however, had not a manop-
oily of this "El Dorado" to the unfortu-
nate owners, of ofsteamerS, barges and tugs, /.
and the lucky ones who acted as agents
of the Government, The Committee eX-
tended their investigations to the Della.
ware, and on our river they found the |
same system Of plumber prevailing to the .
same fearful extent. Let our readers look
and be amazed at the prices that were
paid out Of their pockets for some Of the
worn out hulks, formerly so familiar to
their eyes Here also we had agents.
Here also we have the sorry spectacle of
men acting for the people, and at the same
time acting for themselves in fixing enor'
nous rates upon their own vessels, and
all, too, under the garb Of exalted patri-
oti>m.
To show the utterly reckless and dis
graceful character of the Baltimor opera
tions, we invite attention to the fact that
II