Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-01-14
" U lin
Messy Greek, Tenn, Dec. "a.
NAVAL EXPENDITURES.
More Extravaganza UHearthed.
{ Recruiting Men and Expanding
Money without Authority.

L..
Money without Authority.
From the Cincinnati Commercial
WASHINGTON, Jan. lion last
Friday Mr.. Beck, of Kentucky, intro
duced a resolution asking that the Sec
rotary of the Navy be directed to in
form the House how many, if any, of
the fifteen hundred men sought to be
added temporarily to the navy by the
bill now pending in the Senate Of the
United States, which passed the House
of Representatives Dec. 8, 1873, have
been enlisted, giving the date Of said
enlistments, and the amount expended
IN consequence thereof, and that he
further inform the House how much OF
the appropriation made for the fiscal
year ending June 80, 1874, was expend-
ed prior to Jan. /, 1874, and that he
further inform the House how much of
the four millions of dollars appropri-
ated by the present Congress has been
expended, and for what purposes. The
resolution was agreed to without de-
bate or question.
By some means a rumor has obtain
ed credit that on tomorrow n recOnsid-
Grafton of this action viii be moved
with hope Of voting it down. In an
ticipation of such action Mr.. Beck has
prepared statement of the circum-
stances which led to the introduction of
the resolution, which discloses the
existence of a remarkable state of af-
fairs. When Secretary Robson on
the Sth of December wrote to Garfield,
Chairman of the Committee on Ap-
preparations, asking that he be author
lied to enlist men, he used the follow
ing language:
Il find on review of my letters to the
Speaker that l omitted to ask that
Congress give me the necessary author
ity to enlist men beyond the limit fixed
by law. shall be obliged IN order to
man the ships now ftting.out, to exceed
the limit by about fifteen hundred or
two thousand men, and this excess
should be authorized. The number of
men can be reduced at any time by
discharges when they are not need
ed"
On last Thursday, while the Naval
Appropriation bill was under considera-
ton, questions arose with regard to
this matter of enlisting a large num-
Der of new men, pending the discus
sion of which Mr.. Garfield made the
following extraordinary statement:
Il think gentlemen are laboring I'M
der misapprehensiona as to a matter
Of fact. The Secretary Of the Navy
sent III letter to the House of Repre-
sentatiYes, setting forth that when the
emergency arose he took the authority
and assumed 1t, IN order to meet an
emergency, of increasing the number
of enlisted men IN the navy up to ten
Nusand; that in doing so he exceeded
- - II he laid the facts before
S ~ law. -, AMI Sd Congress to pass
a condoning law and an a..,- ,''ionaI sum
Of money TO pay for The eRlistme4-' u
the additional men. He asked the Conn
mittee on appropriations to legalize his
actions: but the committee told him
that they could give him an appropria-
ton, but could not IN an appropriation
bill legalize what be had done contrary
10 law, and that he had better eall upon
the Naval Committee to bring IN con-
doning act, authorizing this temporary
of the navy. We referred that
very letter TO the Committee on Naval
and they brought in bill not
TO provide for n permanent increase Of
the navy, but to cOndOne what had
been done by the Secretary IN the
emergency"
As will be seen, the Secretary Of the
Navy made no such statement as that
to him by General Garfield,
and the whole discussion Of the affair
1T the time the bill passed the House
proceeded upon the assumption that
The Secretary desired to recruit the
men, but had not done SC, and would
not do so until law authorizing such
action was passed by Congress. Now
L is seen that the Secretary had already
recruited the men without lawful au-
.hority; had armed, clothed and paid
hem; that General Garfield certainly
and Mr.. Scofeld, Chairman of the
on Naval Affairs, presum-
lblyl, knew that this was the case when
he bill was passed by the House, on
he 10th Of December, and that they
,tudiously concealed their knowledge |
# it.
This certainly places these gentlemen |
n very singular position. What is
It'll more remarkable Is that the re- |
Jorts and books of the Secretary of the |
treasury show the following condition |
f the naval accounts: First, that the |
made last March for the |
Jay Of the navy" alone, for the fiscal |
rear ending June 80, 1874, amounted |
o S6,250,OOO; second, that there was
expended of that amount, which could |
'e used lawfully only to pay theOficers
md men of the navy up to the end of |
he first of October last, which was the |
md of the first quarter of the fiscal |
rear, S., 035, geo; and, third, that there |
unexpended on the lst of last |
October, applicable to the three re-
naming quarters of the fiscal year,
,nly little over twelve hundred thou |
and dollars. What was done with this |
money remains to be seen. Some small |
part of it doubtless was up to that time |
over In the hands of naval |
officers, but there is no doubt |
hat the most of it had been expend- |
ID for some purpose or other. As the |
Secretary did not hesitate to I'M
awfully recruit fifteen hundred to two |
thousand men, the inference is war
-anted that he would not hesitate at |
committing such otherunlawful acts as
MS fancy or regard for the interests
IF the Administration might dictate, |
II as might be demanded on his private
5ehalf. Especially would he feel free |
10 do this upon consideration of the |
that he would be able to |
command the assistance Of some of the |
most influential members Of the House |
when he had occasion to have his Of |
lenses ''condOned' by Congress. Ii, as
has been anticipated, a motion is made |
tomorrow to reconsider the vote by |
which Mr.. Beck s resolution was agreed |
TO, that gentleman will make the above |
statement together with other facts |
that have come to his knowledge con.
corning the matter, which will put the |
leaders of the House to their
Irumps. The fact that over $1,000, 900 |
IF the S6,250,0O0 had been expended
prior to the LIST of October, 1873, and
that at that time there was no intima-
ton or idea that any such trouble as
the Virginius affair would occur. where
hv an unusual draft uDOn the fIlpd