New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1874-05-07
WAR DEPARTMENT, Feb. IG, 1874.

WAR DEPARTMENT, Feb. lC, 1874.
GENTLEMEN: Il will attempt to make
| a plain statement in answer to the charges
| contained in the communication of the Ion
| Secretary OF War, now the subject of your
investigation, which was sent to Congress
| of date Dec. 4, 1873.
The letter begins in a busincss-like man.
ner to present the case, doubtless without
any generalization to do me wrong, vet the
very commencement L deem unjust to the
Bureau over which l had administrative
charge.
DEVELOPMENTS.
| l. The certain developments therein
named (page ~, do not appear to have arisen
OF themselves in the ordinary course of bust
ness, but seem to have been the result OF
careful and continued search and special
effort on the part of certain officials of the
| War Department, and clerks. Major Thorn
as Nj. Vincent's letter to the Secretary OF
War, of October :, 1872, (sent to Consress)
Indicates the character oil the structures
made upon the late Bureau, so that the eX-
preston, Silence no special search was made
bearing upon them" (mcaning the develop
mcnts), was plainly an error on his part.
! CORRUPTION.
.. The next sentence of accusation, be
ginning with complaint after complaint
and ending with strong proof was pre-
sentcd that the claimants had not been
PAID" gives picture of accusation which
has often been transferred to the press
| of the country, and which, on one occasion,
| l., myself, saw presented with embellishments
to a Philadelphia audience of some two
| thousand people as n remarkable illustration
| OF the corruption of the times. Without en-
PLANTATION, the statement carried an inference
that was cruelty unjust to me. 1t appears
that the complaints of colOred soldiers are
not disprOpOrtionate in number, when COM
pared with those from white soldiers, though
for many plain reasons they might reasona-
| bly, be expected to be much more numer.
Gus.
Notice in this connection the letter of the
I'd Auditor of the Secretary of War, of April
1872, which shows in this connection the re-
markable aid rendered by the Freedman s
Bureau to his office.
| FILING VOUCHERS AT TREASURY.
| 8. The filing of vouchers and taking o.
credit, before the money sent has actually
reached the claimants, is to my personal
knowledge not an unusual proceeding on the
part ofdisbursng officers, and was we'll known
to the accounting officers of the Treasury
tor the whole Eve years of the bounty dis.
bursemcnts of the Frcedman's Bureau
There was desire OF the part of myse
and my disbursing officers to hasten as much
rs possible the payment of bOunties by this
method of filing vouchers. We promptly
turned over money returned to us from sub
ordinate officers that the vouchers might
be cancelled, or settled, as justice de-
manded.
When ground for investigation of sucl
cases as those named was presented to me
appeared that fraud had been committed by
anybody, 1 proceeded at once against the
guilty parties themselves.
APOLOGY OF SECRETARY OF WAR.
4. The next item in the honorable Secre
tary's letter is an apology for not sooner
bringing me to trial, based upon the alleged
incomplete and disordered condition of the
records of the late Bureau" and the ncces
sity of collateral examination in the Treasury
Department. In answer, respectfully refer
to my former answer Up. 2, of the first eX
hibiO to the same charge made by MajO
Vincent in his letter of October 9, 1873. L
was not then too late to bring me to trial
This ''ncomplcteness" of records would have
been entirely remedied by the passage of thu
bill proposed to Congress by the Committe,
on Freedmen's Affairs, which was substan
; TALLY my recommendation, and was drawn
by me just before leaving Tor the West unde
orders. The passage Of the bill as draw
was prevented by the letter of the honorable
Secretary of War, dated May %, 1872, the
chairman of the Appropriation COMMITTEE,
recommending the omission of the section
which provided an appropriation for scttlin.
all outstanding claims and for completin!
the records, and provided also that hav,
charge of the work. l desire to state IN
belief that my responsibility for such com
pletion of records was relieved by this legis
lative action, and devolved that duty upo
the Secretary of War, in just accordance wit
the recommendations Of this letter above
referred to.
STATUTE OF LIMITATION.
5. To show that had no desire to avail
myself of the "limitatiOn of statute" sub
NIT the following letter, dated December q
1873, addressed to the Military Committee @
Congress, in answer to this letter of tn
Secretary of War, now under consideration
WASHINGTON, d. c., Dec. II, 1873.
Hon. JOHN COBURN,
Chairman Committee on Military Al
fairs, House OF Representatives:
SIR: In accordance with the request
yesterday, received from your committee,