National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-10-19

PETITE pc tuulclcul W SNOW T0relkeidfa in
this transaction, but in view Of the iact that he
had been appointed inspector for the express Dur.
pose protecting the interests Of the Goyernment
It may Sc well to permit him to show by his own
admissions that he acted with full knowledge OF
the facts in the case, and that ne was not uncOn-
/ bargain. We quote from page 55S:
O. Did you see the advertisement before you
inspected the six hundred barrels Of prime mess
pork?
Q. "Now. having the advertisement before Won
| which called for mess pork and the contrlct
| which was silent upon the subject Of the quality
authority to receive an inferior Quality Of pork
A, Il did not consider the quality inferior Tho
] Q. II mean, did your own knowledge that he
could not furnish that pork at 81 barrel control
| A "Well, I presume, sir, in connection win the
Information received, that they were not re-
suired to furnish mess pork for the other Iocali-
| ties; that had something to do with It.
| O. "Wnl you say, at the time You inspected the
| six hundred barrels you had no knowledge OF tho
terms Of the advertisement as well as the terms Of
A. me, sir, cannot say that; have alresdy
sad Inherently. think had knowledge Of tho
q. And you did know. did you that there
was difference in the terms of the two adver-
A. ayes, SIR
Again, page SIS:
@. "Can you tell, while the contract was silent
as TO whether it should be mess or prime, why you
should not insist upon the best when you were act
ing for the Government?
A. Il did; insisted upon the best Mr.. SIa-
yens called my attention to the fact that it
was.
g., "Can you tell why the Government should
on the subject, as well as sISvens should insist
upon the second or third quality?
q. "If the contract is silent OnIthe subiect WIN
should not the Government have the benefit of It
as well as MI Slayens IN determining the quality
A. "Well, that is a question an not able to
answer. suppose If were buying of you, or Mr..
any given article, should certainly have the
grade specified in the contract, the particular
Kind.
20. You were acting not for Mr.. Slavens, but
for the Government.
"a. Yes, sir.
80. And you began by inspecting mess pork2'
"a. Yes, sir.
80. At his request you passed as sound pork
quantity below that grade because 1t was porkp
"a. Yes, sir had not noticed the terms of the
contract at the time 1 Inspected the frst. sup
posed, of course, IL required mess pork and
when he presented me mess pork, if found it
20. You did not communicate with the Depart
ment before accepting the 800 barrels?
"A. No, sir; but 1 did so Immediately after
ward"
In his letter to the Commissioner of Indian
Affairs of January /, 1875 Mr.. Slavens states (p-
inspector after this (frst) delivery was made that
the contract did not require "ness pork and this
seems to imply that the suggestion originated
with that ofnciaI Whether that is the case does
not clearly appear, and it is of little importancs
IN view Of the fact that whichever Of them first
made the suggestion, he seems to have had no
serious difficulty in bringing the other to act
uponit.
arrived at satisfactory understanding with each
other, nothing remained but to send the lower
grade Of pork to the agency, where they seem to
cepted without question, on the certificate of tho
inspector. But, before leaving this branch of tho
attention since it reveals a clear case Of fraudu
lent Misrepresentation by Mr.. Slayens to tho
Commissioner of Indian Affairs and to this Com
mission, and conviets Mr.. Threlkeld of ignorance
or dishonesty in the inspection which he actually
made after having consented to pass the lower
BY reference to the testimony of both these men,
which has been already quoted, ii will be seen
tnnt t4ey uniformly sPeak o. me SIX hundred bar
toned particularly on this point, Mr.. ThrelkeId
makes the following statement, Up. 5S9:)
Q. Are the grades marked on all the porkG a.
They are usually marked by the packer.
@. Do you recoIleet what this pork was markedr
A. 1t was marked Just what 1t was-prime mess
@. 1t was not marked prime? A. No, sir; ! think
1t was marked prime mess pork
Q. Do you recOllect sufficiently we'll to say? A
No, l could not say positively, but that is my
Q. What would be the difference in the value Of
those different kinds-what would prime be worthP
A; From the highest to the lowest, probably =
difference of SO barrel. The difference between
the first three is not so very much.
q. What would constitute prime pork? A. Pork
under size, 1 suppose, and probably lean and
almost all shoulder.
q. you remember whether you passed any OF
the grade called prime: A. don't think aid,
Q. Why would that not answer the advertise
ment just as well as the prime mess, if it was
@. Are you willing to say you did not pass the
lowest grade fpOrk on the contract? A. No, sir;
don't think it was the lowest grade of pork; but
think would be justified in passing the lowest
grade of pork if it was sweet and sound.
Mr.. Slayens Up. 595) is equally certain, or, per-
haPs we should say uncertain, that it was all
Iprime mess
q. There is low grade called prime pork made
up of thin and small pork? A. Yes, sir; and
lighter hogs than mess pork.
q. Do you know whether any portion OF this
pork which was purchased by you 10 make up the
six hundred barrels was of the quality known as
prime? A. No, sir; I think 1t was all prime mess
A am pretty certain that it was all prime mess.
Mr.. Slayens memory proved to be defective
also in respect to the price he had paid for this
pork, and the parties from whom he had purchased
it. though this was his only contract for pork that
year.
A. am not certain what firm we bought it through
1t was either through Holden & Co., or Gilbert,
Prior & Co; we had business with both of them
We may have bought portion Of these six hum
bred barrels here from PlankngtOn & Armour.
Q. understand that you did not deliver any
selves? A. The last two hundred barrels were of
pork packed ourselves.
Q. The pork that you bought in Chicago was
that delivered here? A. All delivered here.
@. Can you tell now what you paid for any pOr-
ton of that 600 barrels? A. No, Sir; do not re-
member; think about $40 a barrel.
Q. Do you think you paid for all of it the same
price: A. Very likely not; the market is chang
q. Have YOU in your possession books or means
of telling what you paid for all the pork? A. Yes,
sir; but not with me. have it in the office.
@. Could you, without any great Inconvenience,
write a note to the chairman Of the Commission in
st. Louis, within few days, and get an answer
for the question? A. Yes sir.
Q. suppose, in truth, you put in under that
contract any pork that would pass inspection? A.
Yes, sir; that was the test with me-inspeetion-
in all contracts.
O. Can you state what persons you bought pork
of? A. / have given you the brokers through
whom we got all the pork did not pack myself.
1t was bought through brokers. have given
their names.
The promise here given to forward to the chair
man a statement of the prices paid out has not
mission not only obtained the desired Information
on that point, but learned such additional facts
as leave no room for any other conclusion than
that the statements Just quoted respecting the
grade of pork purchased and inspected are >
tissue of falsehOOds. The good barrels of pork
whose name Slavens did not remember to give. A
transcript from their books, which was furnished
Ssbfm 1hss M s of 9OO barrels at 81 Der bar
rel October n 1874 200 barrels at Sl6 per barrel,
and October 81 1874 200 barrels at SIS per barrel
it was as stated BY Mr.. p. d. Armour, Of the
brand known as ''extra prime" which is the low
est grade recognized in the Chicago market. This
Is the pork as there seems no reason to doubt that
was certified by Threlkeld to be prime mess, and
as such delivered by Slavens to the Government.
II has already been stated that this article proved
UNIT for the use of the Indians, and that Agent
Saville promptly reported the fnet to the Commits
sioner at Washington. The Commissioner at
once addressed q complaint to Slayens, whose re-
ply is printed on page 594; a telegram to Threlk-
ED, directing him to accept nothing OF lower
grade than 'mess;' q letter to the same, calling
for particulars relative to the pork already in
spected and shipped, and letter to Saville, di-
reeting him to inspect each barrel when opened,
and appraise loss in value" and thereafter to
transport none but mess from Cheyenne"
After receiving the explanations Of Threlkeld
C 502) and of SIavens, already referred to, and
a statement of Agent Saville, that If the rest Of
the contract was filled with. fat pork or bacon,
ssthe prime pork on hand" could be used, he re-
ferred the matter to the Secretary Of the Interior
for instructions. The Secretary authorized the
Commissioner to accept Slayens' general propO-
sition and make the most advantageous settle
ment he could. The settlement as finally eff
fected required Slavens to furnish tone hundred
barrels Of mess pork, to be promptly delivered at
Red Cloud Indian Agency, Dakota Territory,
free of cost to the United States Government"
The cost of the pork thus required Of Slavens was
a. 100 and agentSavlle was directed to receipt for
Il as being a satisfaction of the difference In yalue
between six hundred barrels mess pork adyer-
tised and bid for, and the same quantity prime
mes delivered by contractor" Slayens' prop
ition was accepted by letter, dated april Is 1875
On the 18th Of August, nearly four months later,
Sayille notified the Indian Once that the pork