The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-03-04
KNAPP

; in love with this cOurtly Mr.. Marsh, and as
he seemed somewhat impecuniOus, decided
something must be done for him. II hap
pened about that time that the position OF
su,Ier or military trader at the post known
as Fort Sill, in the Indiana territory, was va
Icapt-that Is, the time for waich the man
who then held the position was appointed
was about to expire, and as the position was
known to be very protltabe-in fact, to have
millions in it'-thcsc agreeable ladies Geci.
ded to secure the position for their pet Mr..
Marsh. Meantime the incumbent of the
place, a 3Ir. Evans, had come to Washington
to secure his re-appointment, but was stunned
to find, on applying to Mr.. Belknap, with
whom the appointing power lay, that the
place had been promised TO Mr.. Marsh. II
was sad blow TO Mr. Evans, for he had erect
ed expensive buildings, and had large stock
of goods at For. Sill, and if he must give up
the pos, these would be nearly worthless and
| he would be ruined. So he sought out Nj
Marsh ard proposed terms to him. There
was good deal ofncgotiating back and forth
| in which the "ladies" took no small part, and
finally it was agreed between them that Mr..
Evsns should be reappon,ed, but on condi.
ton that he would pay Mr. Marsh Quarterly
in advance) the sum OF $4,000 year as a
bonus and between Marsh and the ladies II
was agreed that he was 10 pay half of this
b0aUs, each quarter as the installments were
received, to Mrs. Belknap. On this agree
mcnt, 10 which Mr. Belknap himself appears
TO have been privy, Mr.. Evans was re.appoint.
ed and from that time (fall OF 1870 10 this
the bonus was regularly received from Evans
by Marsh, and the half of it regularly for.
warded to Belknar, "for his wife"
The way the facts came out was through a
Mr. Armes, real estate agent in Washing
ton, who had once been ill-treated by Bel
KNAPP. and who in some way getting an ink.
ling Of the facts, reported them to the 'war
expenses committee of the house, who sum.
moned harsh before them and go, from him
the whole story in all its disgraceful details
When Belknsp, on Thursday, found that
the house committee was in possession OF all
the facts, aud that before noon that day arii.
Giles of impeachment would be presented
agains, him IN the house upon which his con.
viction was inevitable, he cayed like a wil,ed
cabbage. TO dodge the impeachment be
rushed forthwith TO Grant and rendered his
confused confession an inkling Of the state of
the case, prccipi.a,ely accepted, with re-
greet" Whether, however, the acceptance oil
his resignation by Grant Will save Belknap
from the disgrace Of removal by impesch.
ment, seems yet mootcd question. At all
events, the articles Of impeachment have been
prepared and adopted by the house, and the
chances are still that the senate will be oblig-
ed TO have the trial.
And thus falls Belknap. AS the Chicago
7imos says, she was one Of that peculiar
shoulder.strap ring of parasites, which includ-
ed also Adam Badeau and the "Sylph," by
which Grant, in the white house as IN the
field, has ever been surrounded. These men
were members of his military staff in the
field. They were his camp cronies, who fat.
tered his vanity and Jus.ed his little great.
ness. He carried them with him to the
white house, In defiance of good taste and &
republican sense Of propriety, which looks
with no favor upon civil magistrate sur.
rounded by military courtiers and parasites
One Of them turned out to be Sylph, but
that did not cause Grant 10 lose confidence
in him. Another has turned out to be rogue
in the su,lership line; hut as even nearer rels.
,ives OF Grant have been IN the same line of
roguery, why should that cause Grant 10 lose
in his military secretary
why was Belknsp such a fool as to resign
Resignation under the charges was confess.
ion Of guilt. II may be said that his guilt
was established by the proofs before the com.
mittee. But what of that? The committee
had NO power 10 convict. What Belknap
should have done was 10 protest his virtue,
as the Sylph did; get Grant TO pro,es, his
In him, a. in the Sylphs case,
and send for S,orrs. Does Belknsp Imagine
that the senate would have found him guilty
before the end Of his masters term il he had
followed the example of the Sylph:
The retirement of Belknap from the cabi.
net renders il necessary, under tho circum
stances, that Grant shall appoint him to Il Iii.
plomaiic station abroad. Unfortunately, the
mission at Brussels. lately vacated by Jones,
Is not now vacant. But, luckily. there is a
probability that the mission at 81. james will
soon be open for a new man. ScheBck is
hurrying home 10 vindicatc his virtue against
completely in the Emma minc business
Probably Schenck Will not want to 20 back
There, then will be an opening for Bclknap
He may not be SO expert a pokerisi Us
Schenck. Possibly he may not possess
Scbenck's qualifications as royer:j. for rinc
of bogus gold.mine swlndlers. But in dii.
ferent way, Belknap's qualifications for d..
plnmaiic mission abroad are AS good as
Schenck's Rinuham's or tnoso At ,,,, IN.