New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1872-02-25
for suspicion Of corrupt practices connected
with the transaction = 49,. ...s... .--

l
| under the ordinary circumstances surround
t | ing previous sales. 1t was true that gov
, eminent had been selling arms all alOn;
since the end of the rebellion, and no on
: found any fault, but when the great wa
between France and Germany had broker
out, and the President had issued his pro
clamation nf neutrality, would anybOd.
say that no extraordinary precautions wer
then necessary in the sale OF arms! Indi
viduals might be pardoned for takin,
} refuge behind the technical ignorance o
the destination Of arms, but nation cOult
not afford to do that, because it's honor ant
Its character among nations were at stake
MIR. Schurz read a letter written by thu
Chief OF Ordnance, describing, he said tn,
operations OF the War Department in max
ing the sale of arms at that period. The
letter stated that bids had been invited by
sending out letters to the principal dealers
in arms 1t was remarkable, however, thai
Baker q Co, the only very great arms mer
chants IN New York, were not notified, and
only learned by accident that the sales
were to take place. Upon making the dis
covery. Baker came to Washington and no
titled the Prussian Minister The Minister
went to the War Department. and asked
that the sales should be put off for few
days, which was done.
The Senator from New York tConkling)
had said that Baker Il Co. had bOug Oh
arms which afterward got into the hands of
Germany. That was a mistake He
! (Schurz) had been in communication with
that house, and had ascertained the fact,
which was that they had bid upon guam
| tlty OF arms for the purpose of keeping
them from the Frepch, expecting to be re-
compensed by the German government, but
that government declined to have anything
| to do with the arms, and they passed in the
hands of Schuyler Hartley & Graham and
atterward into the hands of the French
| There were new calls for bids to be open
! ed on the twentieth of October. On Oc-
| tOber 81, at p. NJ, sales of large amounts
| OF arms to several arms manufacturers were
completed. and according to dispatch
| from the French Consul all these arms had
already been partly paid for by the French
government, on the twenty second, Just
one day after the sales from the depart
meIit were completed Certainly the bust
was done promptly-[Iaughter], and the
question was naturally suggested whether,
agent, that the sales were not postponed in
order to give him an opportunity to make
arrangements with other parties He did
not charge that this was fact but he
would ask every fair minded man whether
suspicion did not lie dreadfully near.
Then came the sales to Richardson
When the War apartment was not offer
one of its letters to Thomas Richardson,
counselor at law, lion, New York
Laughter The Senator from New York
had laid great stress on what he assumed
to be the fact that Richardson need not
have appeared personally at the depart
ment in negotiating his purchases, and that
it could have been done by merely sending
in his bid, accompanied by twenty per cent
of the purchase money. The record
shaved hnUaVar fhaf fbA I'm
not be done in that way, because some eff
tort was necessary in order to satisfy the
conscience of the War Department about
the propriety of making sales of cartridges.
and it showed also that an effort was made.
not by Richardson in person, but by an
other acknowledgment the same
Remington who on the fifteenth of the pre-
ceding October, had been discovered to be |
agent OF the French government.
As further evidence that there did exist |
just ground for suspicion and, therefore, for |
an investigation, Mr.. Schurz read two ex-
tracts from the testimony given by Reming-
ton in France on the trial of Victor Place. |
Remington, being witness under oath,
said s. did not regard myself as obliged |
to make advances, and this still less mas
much as l had myself to pay to the govern
ment of the United States an advance of ten
to twenty per cent" Again. before the in
vestigating committee of the French Assem-
bly, he said: "But the French government |
and were charged to treat with the gov |
eminent of the United States" This last |
statement also, showed what brought Rem
ington back to this country in December of |
that year. He came to transact business |
connected with the purchase which was os-
tensibly made by Richardson, the lawyer,
and it was after his return here ON that err
rand that the interviews and negotiations
described in his (Remington's) letter took
place.
The Senator from Indiana (Morton) had
objected to his (Schurz's) statement the
other day, that the government was not
only bound not to sell to men whom they
knew TO he the agents of either beligerent,
but also to satisfy themselves by all the
means of information in their possession
that the persons applying for arms We're not
agents of one or the other belliserents. But
he tSchurz) was willing to accept Mr. Nor
tons statement of the rule, which was. that
if the government had reason to believe
that the person buying arms was an agent
Df the French government, they had no
tight to make the sale, and that all govern
nent was called on to know was that the
was not an agent of one or the
,ther of the belligerents; and he insisted |
hat government had failed to do its duty,
judged even by that rule. I
The Senator from New York (Conklingl
rad said that cash was the purchaser. That
night be WELL provided this Mr. Cash was
lot the representative of known agent of
he French government. No matter saws
he Senator from New York (Conklingl,
lash Is the man who buys. and we look at
lOthing but cash. But then where is our
eaSonable diligence! Where is eur good
aith! No matter. says the Senator, this |
.reat American republic of ours under |
tands her good faith and interprets her s
eutral duties ON strictly cash principles.
laughter Proudly the standard of our .
ational morality and honor was borne aloft j
" the Senator from New York, with a
ollar mark in cash as the coat Of arms of
his great republic of the United States. {
Laughter.
Seriously speaking, are we sensible men! .
re we honest men! Is this our rule of
eutral duty! Is this rule TO be observed I
OF only by us, but toward us. Let me /
'arn Senators to pause long before they COM S
lit themselves to any position SO absurd, I l
I'll them it is not safe for nations to play 8
tile tricky games. and endeavOr to cover q
lemselves up with little quibbling techni- i
llities. G
Mr.. Schurz discussed this at great length, f
nd as additional evidence that there was e
round for suspicion and investigation, l
lad passage from the testimony given by c
ules Lecesne, who was president of the b
committee at Tours, in France. Y
lille the sales were going on. The cues y
on was upon certain Overcharge on a | t
t of rifles, and this witness said There d
as no expense beyond the per centage al
wed Remington. since we had treated di- | @
city with the federal government of the I
nited States, which delivered these arms t,
ithout charge on board vessels"
After this and other statements, he il