The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1870-05-18
The Great Frauds In the Navy Department.

Prom ire Tribune
There are now ten or twelve Admirals loung n q
about washington on enormous salaries and doing
i'eraly nothing. Ingenuity Ia taxed to nnd them
some nominal employ m Mt. Hence all the clamor
nr Keeping mp expensive sdusdronp sbroad 20 that
these Admiral and others m y ave some osten.tble
occupation. And these foreign suua 'tons ospecnlv
tat IN Europe are nothing but yachting excursions
ana 10 make them more strictly So the rernlationa
have been changed, so that Adm-als Captains and
the like, carry out Their wives and lariics and
sometimes escort other mems wives throl~h the
Mediterranean, In order to inproyc the discipline
u' course. And this Ia not al Tho public docu.
mems and Investigations made by commitfeea OF
Congress exhibit the most st,rtiug frauds an ven 4.
ny IN the etpendltures of tho sQuatron in Enrope
and Il Is to be presumed mat the same rule appies
!" al! tbe others. When the facts were exposed by
our Minister and Consuls, instead OF applying a
,,lnehy. the Bureau Officers here sought TO uphold
the plunderer', and defend them white i'm outing an
-orth> motives 70 Tie officials who had only obeyed
their instructions.
have before me "Er. Doc No a." published nv
order VI tue House Tie exposures In II astound
g, out what IL more aston tslrng still IL the flct
hat IN view OF the exhibition made, various Officers
have not been court-martiled AMI dismissed the
-ervice, ms they deserve 20 be. In the army that
would have bcea their fate. II 10 established beyond
controversy, not only that ali the supplies for the
European squadron we're furnished By one person at
Lisbon, Iu that sll the work was done through him
and the entire patronage OF every kind was turned
irin lis mill AT prices varying from rs 10 IN ner sent
above the market values. Yet this nan Ia not a mer.
chant, mechanic, nor a ship ehsndler-nothlng in
lluons require purchases 70 be made from regular
d.alers, and with strict regard to current prices
past, without word Of idmonidpu from tie Navy
department On the contrary, the Ring" inside
oi that concern Rave managed to rebuke The Minis
ters and Consus who exposed the corruption, be
cause they Ven.ured to Interfere with this nice little
Same. y which the people have been robbed OF hun
dreds OF thousands OF dollars.
LIT look a. the way Of doing business here. A
sreeulAtor IN Lisbon, encouraged by success thore
onesrs whoI hObnobbed with him 10 port, and sup
porled oy the moral power Of numerous cases OF
wine elgars, gloves and the like. lie presents him
T.. ID
for Goals. though he had never sold pound OF that
Sre1 nr t hs ne ~os' any know,siEs oIcr
Of Equipment gives him coatract for 2,5JJ tons on
the 18th OF February. 1857, tho very day OF his ap
ALLEN two shlllings per ton below tue contract
piee: When tie BRUSH Navy buys coal, II de-
which are well known u All eeseS. sns r MINES
against frauds. No such prccSution was taken in
tbs case, though American contractors at home
other Safeguards. Nine monlis aTtervarI'
before haf OF this 400 tons bad been consumed, The
ssne Spectator appeared again In Washington, and
this time he made another contract for 100 tons
with the same Bureau. all despatched Ms usual on
procSs uss, %a tO Sa :N tns T snd no
nous quantity OF coal wanted lori Il could not be
Government out from the beaedt OF any all in The
prices But thIs is not Vie worst Goa of the very
best guam; was At that very time purchased BY the
British and French navies al Is shilling. and d pence
yer ton, and soon amer the market price ELL 10 ~
slillings owing to ibe declius In freigts so tlut
We are Oouhl 10 pay ehlllhgs Tor every ton Uf coal
more than The niaIket price. The same spectator
anne here last veal and made contract for 5000
gallons Of olive oil, al 70 cents per gallon abogs the
market pIlce IN Lisbon, that Is to say the Bureau
paid hun SliO0O IN gold for his trip across tho
ocean.
Nh. Neal, Consul At Lisbon, appointed by Gen
Grant states OfciAy that the most frauds
are perperaied, aud the most glaring Cullusion
pracsed Oh the part Of O1cers sworn to protect the
uihc interests. Take one illustration IN point out
OF hundreds OF the same character. Mr.. Neal 10.
formed tut pitmasteIs VI our sIps that they were
pIllng Tor supplies about one fourth more than the
brltsh heet. which was lng In Dort at the same
umeon account oITadins with favored middlsmln,
instead u with regular dealers. The butcher who
InruishoC the British Meet aud who sold also tc hi.
niditIn IA, Unsrri I" furnish our vessels dreeily
Tor the SamS price that he did the Others But oar
NM speculatOr.