The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1876-03-16
SECRETARY BELKNAP'S DISGRACE.
Official Report of the Testimony of Caleb
y. Marsh Before the Congressional

WASHINGTON. Feb. 29.-The Committee
on Expenditures Of tie War Department met al
10 80 a. m.-Present-Messrs. Clymer, Black
Caleb p. Marsh, one of the witnesses ordered
TO be subpG aaed by the committee, being pres
ent, was duly sworn according 70 law;
Question (by the Chairman). Where do you
reside?
Answer. ! reside at 80 West Fifty seventh
Street. New York; have resided in New 1orE
I about eight years.
Q. (by Chairnan). Were you appointed OF
| rendered an appointment as post-trader at Fort
Sill, /. T., in the fall of $50, by the Secretary OF
War! If so, under what circumstances was said
| appointment rendered you? State also If you
were commissioned by the Secretary as such post
trader, or if not, who was so commissioned, and
II any other person than yourself was so COM
missioned. III any agreement was made between
you and the appOintee, state it, or produce 1t II
| in writing; and was such agreement with the
! knowledge of the Secretary of War; and state
| the circumstances connected with the making OF
| that agreement. and all transactions in detail
| hereunder fully and particularly as if you were
specially interrogated in regard TO the several
transactions and so fully as to save the necessity
of repeated inteTrogatOns.
A. In reply TO your question, 1 would state
I that in the supsaer Of SO myself and wife spent
| some weeks at Long Branch and on our return
| TO New York, Mrs. Belknap and Mrs. Bower
! the late Mrs. Belknaps sister and the present
Mrs. Belknapl, by our invitation, came for
visit to our house. Mrs. Belknap was i'll, dur
ing this visit, some three or four weeks, and, l
suppose, in consequence of our kindness to her.
she felt under some obligations, for she asked
one day, in the course of a conversation, why
did not apply for post leadership on the from
tier. asked what they were, and was told that
many of them were the most lucrative offices or
positions within the gift Of the Secretary of War,
and that If ! wanted one she would ask the
Secretary for one. Upon my replying that
thought such offices belonged to disabled
soldiers, and that, besides, / WAS
without political influence, she answered that
politicians got places, etc., etc. do not reInem
Der saying that if had valuable post of that
kind would remember her, but do remember
her saying something like this: 60 If can pre-
vail upon the Secretary Of War to award you
post, you must be careful to say nothing TO him
about presents, for a man once offered him Sl0,
coz for leadership of this kind, and he told him
If he did not leave the office he would kick him
down stairs" Remembering as l do this story,
/ presume the antecedent statement to be correct.
Mrs. Belknap and Mrs. Bowers returned to
Washington, and few we ks thereafter Mrs.
Belknap sent me word to come over. ! did SO.
She told me that the post leadership Fort Sill
was Vacant-that it was valuable post, as she
understood, and that she had either asked for it
for me, or had prevailed upon the Secretary of
War TO agree to give il to me. At all
events, l called upon the Secretary Of
War, and as near az can remember, made ap
plicatiOn for the position in a regular printed
form. The Secretary said he would appoint me
II | could bring proper letters and recommenda-
tons, and this said l could do. Either Mrs
Belknap or the Secretary told me that the present
trader at the post, John 5. Evans, was an apph-
cant for reappOintment, and that had better see
him, he being in the city as it would not be fair
to turn him out of Office without some notice, as
he would lose largely on his buildings, mer
chandise, etc, if the Office was taken from him,
and that it would be proper and just for me to
make arrangements with him for their
purchase, if | wished to run the post myself. /
saw Evans and found him alarmed at the pros
pect of losing the place. | remember that he
said that a firm of Western post traders, who
claimed a good deal of influence with the Secre-
tary of War, wished to have him appointed. He
found, on coming TO Washington, this firm to be
entirely without influence. Evans first proposed
a partnership, which declined, then bonus OF
of certain portions of the profits If | would al
low him TO hold the position and continue the
business. We finally agreed upon Sl5 DO per
year. Evans and myself went on to New York
together, where the contract was made and exc
cuted, which is herewith submitted. During our
trip over, however, Mr.. Evans saw something in
the Army and Ndry Journal which led him to think
that some of the troops were TO be removed from
the fort, and he had offered too large sum, and
before the contract drawn it was reduced
by agreement, to 5 900, the same being paya-
bic quarterly in advance. When the first remit
tance came to me, say probably in November,
$50, / sent one-half thereof to Mrs Belkuap,
either, presume, by Ger idcates of deposit, or
hank notes by eNpress. ReiDg i'm Washington at
Mrs. Beiknap'S funeral, some weeks after this,
had a conversation with Mrs. Bower 1.-THE present
Mrs. Belknapl to the following purport, as far
as ] can now remember: L rent up stairs IN the
nursery with Mrs. Bower to see the baby. said
to her: " This child will have money coming to
it before great while" She said 'les, the
money coming from you lmust take and keep for
it," ] said, "All right" and it seems to me !
said that perhaps the father ought to be con-
suited" | say il seems so, and yet can give no
reason for it, for, as far as | know, the father
knew nothing of any money transactions be-
tween the mother and myself. / have faint
recollection of a remark of Mrs. Bower,
that if l sent money TO the father lit be-
longed TO her 1.-THE babel and that she would
get it any way. l certainly had some under
standing then or subsequently, with her or him,
N ~ Umpnt
paid, sent one half thereof to the Secretary Of
War, and have continued substantially from that
day forward to the present time to do the same
About, l should say, one and n half to two years
after the commencement OF these payments re-
duced the amount to $4,000 per annum. The
reason of this reduction was partly because of
the combined complaints on the part of Evans
and his partner. and partly, SO far as now re-
member, in consequence of an article in the
newspapers about that time rejecting on the in
Justice done to soldiers at this fort, caused by
eXOTbitant charges, made necessary on the part
of the traders by reason Of the payment OF this
bonus.
To the best of my KNOWLEDGE and belief, the
above is true statement of all the facts IN the
case, and as complete as can remember the oc-
currences of so many years ago.
Being further questioned by members of the
committee, Mr.. Marsh made these additional
statements:
The money was sent according to instructions
of the Secretary of War; sometimes in bank
notes by the Adams Express; think on one or
more occasions by certificate of deposit on the
National Bank Of America in New York. Some
times have paid him in New York, in person.
1.-The first payment TO me by Evans was made
in the fall of 1870, at the rate of II 900 year
lie paid at that rate about year and a half or
two years. and since then at the rate of SO, ,0O0 4
year. 1t would aggregate about $40 900, one
half of which have disposed of as above stated.
Witness further stated, that upon receipt of the
subpoena to appear before the Congressional
Committee, he came to Washington and proceed
ed Immediately to the residence of Secretary
Belknap; that he had q conversation with the
Secretary and his wife regarding the evidence
he was to give before the committee, and that
Mrs. Belknap suggested that he could make
a statement which would satisfy the committee
and CXculpate the Secretary. ''She wanted
me to go before the committee and represent
that she and / had business transactions
together for many years, and that all the money
| had sent the Secretary was money that she had
from time to time deposited with me as a kind
of banker, and that she had instructed
me TO send it to the Secretary for her."
Witness declined to do this, and suggested in
stead that he had better leave the country. Bel
knap said it would ruin him if witness left.
Witness replied: 'It go before the commit
tee | will ruin you. for / will tell the truth
Other plans for evading the inquiries of the COM
mittee were suggested by Mr.. Tomlinson, broth
of Mrs. Belknap, but none of them were sue
cessful.