The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1878-12-07
Last Nights Dispatches.
WASHINGTON.

WASHINGTON, Dec. O.-Secretary
Schuiz before the joint commission on the
! transfer of the Indian bureau had read in
the papers a Statement by Gen. Marcy
| that when in the war department the
| bureau was worked smoothly enough; that
there was no mismanagement, and, ln fact,
as he had said, as If angels had descended
upon earth, doing gentle ministrations
among savages, to lead them to q higher
state Of we'll being. 1t was easily proved
that this was far from being the case. The
report of the COMMITTEES to the house of
representatives, made in 1912, when the
war department had charge of Indian af-
fairs, charged the clerks with unpardon-
able negligence; that the accounts showed
an almost total want of method; that the
accounts of expenditures were SO carelessly
kept as to furnish scarcely any traces of
expenditures of very large sums. For sew
! eral years entries were made in>so slovenly
Ia manner that the very clerks themselves
could not explain them. There was not
single entry referring to Indian lands, and
all the records left by the Indian officers of
the war department were scraps of mem
oranda, pencil notes, ETC., to bear out his
statement. With respect to malfeasance,
he quoted from the report of Lieut.. Gen
Hitchcock and iustauced the action of the
department in reference to the removal OF
the Cherokees. A contract was made at $40
per head and 10000 Cherokees were re-
moved, but 10000 in excess of the
actual number we're charged and paid
for, making the actual payment $204 ,276
in excess, or l.02 per capita. He also
read report dated 1884, which showed
the exhorbitant prices which the Indians
were charged for various articles, and con-
cluded that for this it would be seen that
the record of the War Departments man
agement of Indian affairs was by no means
so clean as Gen. Marcy tried to make out
He was not going to pretend that the civil
administration was pure, No such thing.
But he would say that they had no scan
dal quite 80 bad as tae Cherokee affair
He alluded to the difficulties of the super
, vision of different agencies, but said many
abuses that had formerly existed were be-
ing swept away With the exception of
the Treasury Departments prosecution of
J the whiskey ring, he did not think that
any department had been more active IN
prosecuting the contractors, when they
. were once detected. They had perhaps IF
teen or twenty under prosecution now and
: and only few weeks ago one Of these con-
, tractors was convicted. Now be should
t be very slow to assert that army officers,
as such, had dishonest tendencies. de
thought the army deserved as a whole
its reputation for honesty; that is
to say for honest intention. Yet il
D would be absurd to say that such a
s class of men were inaccessible to
q the bad impulses of human nature
: Gen. Marcy had stated that while the
= administration of the War Department
i cost 81 100000 the Indian Department
cost $4,000 difference OF So 200, coz
Such a comparison was absurd. The In
= dian business in lS49 was nothing to wha
= it had now become He read statement
: of the amount paid per 100 pounds of bee
f by the two departments for the Indian bu
! reau and the military, which showed a say
} ing of $6440O0 in favor OF the former
& Gen. Miles had stated that the transporta
h ton Of the army cost $4,000,000, while
the transportation of food. clothing, etc.
e for the Indians only cost 1925, 900.
e glance would show that the department Q
7. the interior got its transportation at cheap
l. er rates. He did not attribute any of thes
IT things to dishonesty of the army, but rath
d er TO their cavalier way of looking at an
) dealing with things. Soldiers never though
re of the cost Of thing ii it was thought t
'e he necessary. As an instaLc3 he meu
IS toned that at the close of the Sioux wa
h there were about 900 horses, ponies an
mules taken from the Indians, for whic
COWS were to be given to them, an
/ it turned out that these ponies and mule
or cost $l9, 400 besides the COWS, and that
d sell them cost $5,6S3 additional. Th
st was an instance of their cava!ierly wa
ty which was not found in the interior d
IT. partment.
It, G. c. Watkins. inspector Of the India
nd department, followed Schurz, and oppose
We the transfer. He explained the mode
he inspection of Indian supplies. FrieE
10 Miles gave bis reasons why the control
ty the Indian should not pass to the war d
as partment.
WASHINGTON, Dec, 6.-Postmaste
General Key to day directed letter
.. be prepared for transmission to Il
bis speaker of the house of Representative
at toreshadowiug the discontinuance of Il
cal postal car service in all parts of the cou
re- try on the lst of January next unless &C
gress shall in the meantime make appI
ID priations to continue It,
hm Senator Blaine has been engaged Il
days in preparing his speech in support
'ed his resolution to investigate the Sou
I've Carolina election, and Thurman Is prepi
lE- ing 10 answer him. The debate is eXpe,
"a ed to begin on Monday But Mr. L
munds is trying to prevent it, so as to
d. cure consideration of his bill to change t
,cl method of counting the electoral vo
ave 1he hoSt iupoi tan1 iea.uleS "a WI
ose munds' bill are the following:
oF Each state may provide. by law enact
prior to the day IN this act named for t
m appointment of the elections, for the tr
a. and determination of any controversy &C
for corning the appointment OF the electt
before the time fixed for the meeting
the electors, in any manner it shall de-
expedieut, and such decision shall COVE
for 10 the counting of the electoral votes.
ldy Section 6. after some preliminaries, g
ut on 10 enact that no electoral vote or vo
|, 9m : from any state from which but one retU
ley has been received shall be rejected by |
a3ln; affirmative votes Of both houses. Ii Nj
mug than one return or paper purporting to
a return from a state shall have been
ceiYed by the president of the sena
ton those votes, and those only, shall be cou
H ed which shall have been regularly giN
nm by the electors who are shown to b;
the been appointed; but il case there ST
ia arise the question which of two or more
ties such states tribunals, determining W
electors have been appointed. is the Il
full tribunal of such state. the votes re
IS. larly given OF those electors, and tn
dis only, from such state shall be com
Gftv whose titles as electors the two houl
own acting separately, shall coucurrentlg
sur eide is supported by tie decision Of
tribunal CT such state SO provided for