Gallipolis journal. [volume] (Gallipolis, Ohio) 1837-1919, 1864-06-16
GEN. McKINIsTRY.
EDs. GAzErrE:

EDS. GAzErTE:
n. Among those VII
e prominently figured IN She late Cor
e veution was General McKinstry
+ The same individual, If 1 mistak
= not was equally conspicuous in
: Copperhead Democratic Convention
: at Springfield, Ill. last fall. Bu
: there is no great inconsistency il
this Many persons may be curi
rious to know who this comparative
: Ily new light in politics is. HI,
was subsequently 8 brigadier-gener
, alof volunteers Accused by com
. mite ofthe National Honse of Rep.
resentatives- of which Hon C. r.
Van Wyck, of New. York was chair.
man--of dishonesty in his transac.
tions as quartermaster, he was arres-
ted, Nov. IL, 1851, by order of Gen.
Mcclellan, and placed in close con-
hnement. A general court martial
OF which Gen. P. St George Cooke
U; 5. A, was President, was conven-
ed for his trial in St. Louis. Septem-
Der "a, 1862. The charge, specffiea.
tions, findings and sentence of the
court, with the approval of President
Lincoln, were published in General
Orders No. 43. A. G. O., Feb. 13.
1863.
The charge is: Neglect and vio-
lation of duty to the prejudice of
good order and military discipline"
The specifications are sixty-one one
in number, and embrace every possi-
bic ofense that dishonest quarter
master can be guilty of OF twenty
six of these charges he was found
guilty. OF a few he was acquitted
on technical grounds; of the rest he
was declared not guilty.
The specifications of which he
was found guilty, were among other
acts, ''not purchasing horses in open
market nor at market value, but
without advertising for proposals
authorizing certain partie s
."to furnish the same" In one in
stance at one hundred and fifty dol
lars each. their market value being
one hundred and ten dollars each;
in another at one hundred and fifty
dollars each, their market value be-
ing only one hundred and fifteen
dollars each-all "to the great waste
and .misapplication of the public
funds, and to the disgrace of the
service" -.
Specification twenty second, of
which he was found guilty, charges
him with having purchased of one
Peay two hundred and ninety mules
for the service, at one hundred and
ten dollars each, and that he after
ward issued to one Neill a voucher
for the same mules, as if sold to the
United States by said Neill, at one
hundred and nineteen dollars EACH"
the honest official, "by means of
said false voucher pocketing the
sung little difference of S2,610i
This scandalous corruption is
shown in every branch of purchase.
He limits those with whom he deals
to few favorites. Others can only
sell by paying high commissions to
these. For tents that he might have
bought Of the original holder at
$50 each, he pays s65 each; for
mess-pans, which were in marked at
294 cents each, he pays 80 cents
each; for camp kettles, that were in
market at 42t cents each, he pays
65 cents; for plates, that were in
market at II cents each, he pays
cents: and so on ad i4fnitum.
Wanting ten thousand pairs of
shoes for the army, he contracts with
a hardware firm, and pays them one
dollar and seventy five cents a pair, !
when it is proven that they were |
purchased of six different shoe
dealers in st. Louis for one dollar
and thirty cents pair. This hard
ware firm { Child, Pratt & Fox) were
also given contract for "blouses,
overcoats, pants, jackets, cavalry
blankets, f1annels, blue
cloth, army caps" DC, amounting
to three hundred thousand dollars,
all of which were purchased in st.
Louis, and sold to McKinstry accor-
ding to the specification, sat an ad-
vance of from ten per cent. to one
hundred per cent.
But enough of this. McKinstry
was sentenced to be dismissed from
the service. The sentence was ap-
proved of by the President. He
seeks to he revenged by entering in
to political combinations to defeat
the Presidents re. election. His
personal influence among the tax
payers be so outrageously swlndled
is not likely to be very deep or ex-
tended.
HERE is little war story from the
e n A g