Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1867-08-29


of this kind costs the Government great
deal more than Is required to pay their
salaries during the same period. IL lie
nothing less than peculation from the
public crib. If these wearied officials
want to make cruise In yacht along
the coast let them charter vessel and
man and provision it out Of their own,
aud not out ofthe Governments revenue.
If they can't afford to do II, let them
travel like other citizens who cant afford
that luxury.
But it Is not this particular instance,
nor the host of similar ones, that is most
reprehensible of the customs which OH
tain in the navy, well known to any one
at all conservant with its management.
We have the facts of q startling and out
rageous imposition on the part of the
Navy Department, and of its egregious
favoritisn, which it ID fitting should be
made public, for such a proceeding is an
abuse of the trust imposed 10y the people
i'm its officials, meriting loud and hearty
rebuke, and even the deposition of the
guilty party from the authority which
he so flngitiously misuses. l..
The United States steamer Ossipee,
Capt G.. +. Emmons, arrived at Panama,
June IA, from Philadelphia via Rio jan
eiro, Cape Horn and Callao, on her way
to San Francisco, to report for duty in
the North Pacific squadron. At Panama,
waiting for conveyance to Callao to join
her husband was the wife of Rear Ad-
miral Dahlgren, with her babies, nurses,
trunks, boxes ard bandboxes, and she
sOds in posse sion Of papers authorizing
her to employ dny United States Uesset TO
conUey herSty, her attendants and bag
gage to CuU0O. BY these she counter
/ maudcd, or at least suspended the orders
! utp.Inr ~ hiah fha nacihaa ~ al N ~
about he public business, and the vessel
was Obliged to take the back track, and
serve as a private yacht to take her to
/ her destination.
There are regular passenger steamers
playing between Panama and Callao so
that there was no necessity for Mrs.
Dahlgreen to be furnished conveyance
by Government steamer, even If one
had been making the trip or public busi-
ness, and her presence on board would
have Occasioned no delay to the public
service, and this incident must he regard
e as special honor, taking rank with
the distinguished honor OF a similar char
acter paid to Lafayette, when he was the
guest of the nation.
1t is regulation Of the Navy Depart.
ment that naval officers may not travel
on public vessels except on public bus :
ness and under rders, and if no pubic
vessel is going on her regular course tu
the port to which ordered, they must tat e
passage by the ordinary routes and the
actual expenses of the fare are returned
to them, but in this case a man of waI
was specially detailed to convey person,
not an officer of the navy nor public
officer OF any sort, who was travelling,
not on public business, but for private
purposes, from Panama to Callao.
The trip from Panama to Callao and
back Is a distance of not less than three
thousand miles, which, including neces.
sary delays, could not well be performed
by such vessels as compose our navy
loaded with their heavy batteries and
stores for long cruise, in less than foul
weeks. The public service, in so far as
the Ossipee has any public service to per
form in the North Pacific, has been de-
layed to that extent.
The expense of this trip of the Ossipee
fifteen hundred miles and hack, was moi
less than three thousand dollars for Goa
alone. Add to this the wages of Officers
and men. the cost Of provisioning them
and the expense OF stores, and the tota
cost to the people of the United States
will amount to not much less than wha
the Rear Admiral receives as his yearly
stipend for the best services he can rem
der the country.
The Navy Department, out of the mon
ey of the people, has freely paid for con
veying Mrs. Rear Admiral Dahlgrei
from Panama to CallaO, somewhere be
, tween six and eight thousand dollars =
If it was absolutely essential to the pub
lie service that this lady should join he
, husband, so essential that the Navy De
, partment thought the people ought t.
pay the expenses of her journey, woult
, not it have been a. well to send her b,
, the ordinary cOnveyances, since it coult
!, have been done at about one-sixtieth O
= the expense. and would have involve,
i no delay to the public interests?