Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-04-30
REMARKABLE DISCLOSURES.
q. Victor Place, ihs French Cansul, Re,
oalled-Allegsd irregularities 10 the
PURCHASE Of Arms sad Supplies.

The New York papers Of Tuesday,
l tell a curious story in connection with
/ the recent displacement of NJ. Victor
/ Place as French Consul at this port
/ We have taken pains 10 test the accu-
I racy OF the charges made, which, it
/ viii be seen, are Of serious nature.
! The newly appointed Consul, NJ. De
/ Bughas, when called upon to-day,
/ failed 20 either deny or verify the
I truth of the statements made, and NJ.
| ROuhOut, the chancellor, also failed
/ to deny the accuracy of the reports.
| We give below the substance Of the
/ current rumOrs, without vOuching for
their truth:
In the beginning Of the recent war
between France and Prussia, the
1 French Government contracted with
1 the Remington Arms Company of this
CITY for all the arms then in the Dos
session Of the company, and for all
that could be manufactured uutil fur
ther orders. NJ. Victor Place was
then the French Consul, and upon
him devOlved the duty Of receiving
and paying for the weapons, and ship
ping them to France. He did not,
however, 1t Is said, assume the re-
spOnsibilities Of this position himself,
but appointed person named Hector
/ Chauviteau, as hls agent, and Installed
him in an Ohice in Broadway. To
/ Chauviteau NJ. Place referred all the
manufacturers OF firearms who applied
for contracts, and allowed him a com
mission Of one per cent. upon all pur-
chases made for the French Govern
ment NJ. Place also, it is reported,
charged the French Government two
per cent. commission upon all pay
ments made, and deducted that com
mission from the funds ia hand. He
justified this proceeding by referring
70 an old regulation by which q COM
mission of two per cent. was formerly
allowed to the French Consul General
in this city, on all purchases Of tobacco
made by him on behalf Of his Govern
ment.
As 81. Place is said to have paid
more than ten millions of dollars for
arms, ammunition ard provisions
during the war, his commission must
have amounted to more than two
I hundred thousand dollars. It is said
that this large sum is comparatively
insignificant when compared with
other amounts of which the French
nation has been defrauded here by
somebody, through the process of buy
ing arms at one price and selling them
to the French government at higher
rate. For instance, two hundred
thousand new Springfield mUskets,
/ bought al &l2O aud one hundred and
ten thousand service5ble Springfields,
bought So Sd, were charged 10 the
| French government AT Sl2 50 each.
In another case thirly-hve batteries Of
Napoleon guns, bought at 5000 a
battery, resOld TO the French govern
ment at SIC, 600 a battery
On another occasion, it is reported,
4 agents in New York exported forty
( thousand barrels of beef, purchased
ali Sl4 per barrel, and charged the
I French government 80 Sd per barrel,
clearing over $500 00J by the transac-
/ ton. About a month ago Nj. Bel
laigue de Bughas, formerly Consul at
Charleston, arrived st the French
Consulate and placed his seal upon
the books and safe. A French c0m-
mittee viii, it is said, thoroughly in
vestigate all these charges, and it is
hinted that some we'll known citizens,
said TO have influence at Washing
ton, will be found to have been inter
ested in the speculatious.