The New York herald., 1876-02-10
Extravaganee and CORRUPTION in the
War DePArtment-Let Secretary Bel
knaP BE Investigated.

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cratic leaders of the House. If the expenses
of the West Point cadets and of the consular
service in foreign parts deserve to be leading
objects of attention there is no excuse for
the existence of the democratic party We
require our army officers to be gentlemen;
we try them by court martial and cashier
them if they do anything inconsistent with
that character and it would seem plain in
ference that they should be trained to the
habits of gentlemen in the military school.
Tooth brushes, clean shirts, neat uni
forms and we'll blacked shoes foster
the self-respect of the cadets, have consider
able moral influence and facilitate disci-
! pline. 1t is a niggardly and ignoble economy
which grudges the cadets soup with their
| dinners and clean napkins. 1t is preposter-
ous to bring such matters into the foreground
and abridge the decencies of civilization at
! the Military Academy, when there is reason
to believe that the War Department is cor
ruptly managed by its head, and when there
are so many opportunities for curtailing
needless expenses, with great saving to the
Treasury. The letter which we printed yes
terday, exposing the corrupt system of black
mailing which has been practised under
Secretary Belknap in relation to army sut-
lers, calls for vigorous Investigation and un-
sparing remedies. The facts come to us
from an intelligent trustworthy source and,
assuming them to be true, Secretary Belknap
should not be allowed to retain his office for
a single day. If the President does not
remove him for levying blackmail on the
suffers who make it up out of the scanty
pay of the soldiers, he should be impeached
by the House and put on trial before the
Senate Besides investigating the official
conduct of the Secretary there is large
scope for useful Congressional work in scru-
tinizing and cutting down his estimates.
Let us make brief survey of the ex-
penses of the War Department. Secretary
Belknap spent last year over twenty
eight millions of dollars, and he asks this
year for nearly thirty-four millions. Now
we are at peace with all nations the
times are hard, and though Mr.. Belknap,
who lives in princely way himself, might
find it difficult to get on with less than
thirty-three millions, if the House told the
President plainly that he must carry on the
War Department for fifteen millions,
have faith enough in General Grant to be-
lieve he could find a man to do it for him
He would probably have to discharge Mr..
Belknap, but the country could survive his
disappearance from public life Let us see
how it looks. Mr. Belknap's estimates con-
tain, among others, these items -
Pay, travelling and general expenses OF the
army -. $40 2SS
Barracks and quarters .................... l9OOOOO
In these three items Secretary Belknap has
increased his estimates in this year of peace
and poverty by over million and quarter
Suppose the committee were to ask the Sec
retary what is the difference between
travelling" and transportation" expenses
what is the meaning of general expenses"
and whether he could not, if he tried hard, get
on with less than nearly two millions for
barracks and quarters ?" For two millions
of dollars he ought to be able to house the
whole army permanently. Docs he burn
down the barracks and quarters every year ?
We advise the committee to look into this
matter of barracks and quarters" very
closely They may discover that it would be
economical to lodge the army permanently
Mt the Fifth Avenue Hotel And then let
them examine also the transportation of the
army" -Four and a half millions for moving
the army about is monstrous Is the army
perpetually travelling? Why not keep it
quiet for awhile?
But this is not all. For transportation of
the army Mr.. Belknap demands four and
half millions ; for barracks and quarters, one
million nine hundred thousand dollars, and
then he adds to this -
Regular supplies, ouartermsster's Depart
Incidental expenses Qaaricrma:ers depart
ment 1900 900
Total over six millions more and the ac-
counts stand thus Mr. Belknap asks Con-
gress to let him spend in one year twelve
million two hundred thousand dollars for
lodging and moving about our little army
One of the great express companies, it is safe
to say, would undertake to do it for half the
money, and would not be badly paid either
But here are some other items Mr. Bel
knap spent last year for the .manufacture of
arms" one hundred and fifty thousand dol
lars and this year he wants five hundred
thousand He spent last year on the ''arm-
ament of Notifications" seventy-fve thou
sand dollars, and he coolly demands this
year one and quarter millions Whew
What is the matter? Are we going to war? Is
somebody threatening us? Are we bullying
somebody? We hope the House will look
this matter squarely in the face. We are not
warlike people; we do not like the Euro
pean nations, have TO live in dread of war
like and unscrupulous neighbors. Nobody is
going to attack us-we are too strong. We
do not want to attack anybody. The country
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