The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1872-02-24
BAD About Secretary Robson.


The iates, indications from Washington are
tb.t Grants nominal Secretary of the Navy,
G.orge N. Robeson. q no, before he became &C
ou.inled T.. President, Was known as some
What impecuniOus secOnd-rate lawyer IN
Camden, n j., ut average honesty, has, under
his ueW associations as high 1uncuonary
OF tbs model atlm.us, alton, like Leet, Stock
my, Porter, &C., d., developed into first
class thief The revelations OF his peccadilIoes
within the las, week, have turned up one after
the other with rapldity ana multiplicity
trui, Stunning That there must be another
Investigating commi,lce' organi2"d immedi
st-iy to meet the case is psipable enough,
mausie tic fact thar nearly halT the senators
are afro dy kept from their Legitimate duties to
serve IN such committees to hunt down or
prepare whitewash 'nr radical thieves.
The irst ground of suspicion against Robe
Son, and thu. the entering wedge to the late
developments, was that, in spite of his known
c'mpHr tive poverty, no recently became the
owner in fee, clear of all ipcumbrancc, OF a
handsoms property in Washington City, worth
$4,000. Now that poor devil, on a salary
OF IS 000, should IN year be able to compass
such purchase looked strange; and as there
ere al ways people around "who want to know.
you know" they began to look behind the
thing, and found that the property was trans
ferled to Robeson by g. G.. Cattcll, OF pha
dclphia. Well, who is E. G. Cattell He
Turns up a big contractor, who supplies the
na,y-yards at Philadelphia, Brook Ign, and
Mare island with everything that is consumed
there, under contracts awarded him by Robe
Son without competition and without pro-
ppsals. That looked bad for Robson, and
provoked further inquiry, whereby it was de-
ve.oped that Cattcll had been employed by
dous fraud on the government, the steamer
Tennessee, although no board of survey had
ever conc "red the present machinery. Cat
tell u. j., at $1O0,OO0 and turned it
ov, - Roach & Sons, who put i'll the new
machinery At &C OF $4,000 and divided
the steal with Cht!u.
Then Congress had last winter appropriated
$500 900 for building two iron torpedo boats
The contract for supplying the iron plates for
these boats was given to Cattcll at 1924 a ton
1t took 1900 tons for each boat, while any
honest dealer would gladly have furnished the
p'"'"s at $50 per ton.
another soft thing leaks out in the ship
ping to California irom Philadelphia of $780,
0VO bricks for storchouse in the island navy
yard. The appropriation Is 100000. The
bricks were sent To New York by canal boat,
and thence by ship around Cape Horn, with a
treichtage tquai to the original cost When
the vessel arrived at her destination she had
cargo 81 brick dust, lot more than one thou.
sand bricks remaining whole. The bricks
could have been bought in California at an
advance on invoice cost in Philadelphia of not
more than 10 per cent, but if they had been
bought in California Cattell & Co. could no.
have raked III their "divvy"
Tic last job put Up by the Cattell-Robeson
rlrg takes shape in 'he bill introduced in the
house by Mr.. Tow. nd Tor tic building of 20
non-clad s!oops of-war on the broadside prin-
c.pe. In this .o. Robson, Cattcl d Co. ex-
prct to realize fortune for each of the firm
OF Roach d Sons, namely: John Roach, OF
Now York, +. G. Catlell, OF Philadelphia, A.
u. Ca.tcli, Ex-senator, George w. Robson,
secretary of the navy, Tom Florence and Sam
Archibald, late of the old firm. This enter
prising firm purchased the Chester iron and
steel works Just previous to the Introduction
OF The Townsend bill for 20 iron-clads, to cost
81 600 900. Robson, who was q poor man
who0 practising law in New Jersey, Is likely
to be very rich man before he quits his lu-
cr;,;yc office in Washington.