Daily Los Angeles herald., 1884-09-02

hge and straw are allowed for all
10 horses Of mounted officers. The
Ping officers are considered to be
tied, viz; General officers and their
lde-Camps; officers Of the General
/. g., Of the Adjutant- Generals;
termasters, Commissary of Subsis-
,, Inspector Generals, Paymasters,
nance and Medical Departments.
Artment Of Justice, Engineer. and
|al Corps (about 500 in all). all Field
ers, Wiz Colonies, Lieut.. Colonies
Majors, and their stats, regimental
utants and Quartermasters, all line
Fers Of the cavalry and light artillery.
bry General is entitled to forage for
|r; all other officers for two private
ses. Each animal is allowed -
dnds Of grain and IA pounds Of bay
day, and 100 pounds Of straw per
bnth. l will not discuss the necessity
private horses for officers Of cavalry
I'D mounted artillery when serving with
loops, although it is unexplained why
time Of peace an officer should use
NO horses when an enlisted man il
foubled toe much with one, but deny
hat any necessity exists for. any stan
bficer being mounted during times Of
peace. Now. can any Republican, no
matter how corrupt be is, explain to
L.. krr< &tofo - Ian xvb a
Judge Advocate. Paymaster or any other
|staff or general officer. with his Office ct
Washington, Governors Island or the
lPresidio Of San Francisco. should be
furnished forage for private horses. and
why an Aide-de- Camp. who is generally
a young infantry officer Of the line and
whose whole duty consists in wisbini'
the commanding Geperal good morning,
and in signing his name to q lot Of print
ed special orders in order to make them
Official" should have tie privilege
over his not so highly favored comrades
Of stealing and selling forage for two
horses, in addition to bis other advanta-
ges? The fact Is and was 90 evident
that Democratic House In 1879 or 1880
inserted q clause 10 the Army Appropri.
alton bill, that all mounted officers not
serving with their troops, east Of the
Mississippi river should purchase the
forage for their private horses from the
Quartermaster's Department. ct contract
rates. This clause, Feast OF the
Mississippi river" was 1 great mis-
take, because It gave staf onlcsFs
serving west Of that river an additional
allowance Of about go per month,
whereas private horses were not re-
quired BY officers either serving east or
west Of the Father Of rivera. OF course
there was no end Of growing, and upon
the recommendation Of the Reform Sec
retary Of War, the thing was set right
by the first House under Kiefer, and
forage for private horses allowed gratu
itously for all mounted officers as here
tofore.
But do not deal now with the ques-
ton whether there Is any necessity for
allowing to officers forage and store for
their private animals, do they actually
keep private animals! To this question
my answer il sdecidedly NO; except possibly
where division and department. headQuar-
ters are stationed At regular Rarrisons; and
staff officers are afraid to let enlisted
men fnd out their malpractices. Prior
to 1879, when headquarters were Sta
toned In the heart Of l large city the
general rule. A. is It'll the case In WASH
ington, was to cestify every month on
honor, that the horses are actually kept
by myself, aud ssthat tho nature Of my
duties demands the use Of these horses, !"
and then the forage was sold to livery
stable keeper.
Some Republicans will consider..this :
very small matter, whether these officers
pocketed so more or less per week, but
3 calculation of the aggregate amount
stolen thus from the Item of forage
alone, prior to the enActment Of the East
Mississippi bill II 1879. or before head
quarters were established 81 psrmanent
posts, and probably at the present time
again will show how great that sggre-
gate is. Taking as = very poor average
six hundred officers entitled to forage for
two horses each; eleven Generals sta
toned at Washington aud eight Gen
erals stationed outside Of Washington
70 four horses each---say an average OF
100 private horses only--we find that
438. 200 pounds Of grain, 5ll 900 pounds
Of bay and IA 600 pounds Of straw are
misappropriated or stolen every year;
and taking the average contract price Of
these articles all over the United states
at 81. 80 per 100 pounds Of grain. and n
per 100 pounds Of hay and straw, We find
the snug little sum Of el3, 40 appropri-
ated for officers own use by the officers
themselves.
l omitted in my last article q, calcu-
Ia "a - f-o -,
but shall include that item in my 8en-
eral resume, which hope viii appear
prior TO the time Of the November elec-
tion, which. let US hops, will put an end
to this swindle forever. For these cor
rupt practices, not the officers, but the
Administration itself must b. held re-
sponsible.
Even the Second Comptroller Of the U.
8. Treasury ruled once In 1859 or 10 II
forget the year now, but know It was
under Grants first corrupt administra-
tion) that all officers could draw and cell
the forage and pay the proceeds to liv-
cry stables st which they hired carriAgesy
provided they had actually used the
transportation 10 public service. OF
course, some Of those afiicers did use
carriages. but for private use, II they
were for public use they would never
fail to come to the Quartermastsr, have
their vouchers prepared and Cause the
Quartermaster to pay for their carriage
hire. still pocketing the money they had
received for this forage The Second
Comptroller ruled thus IN spite Of the
fact that every officer before he could
gst and sell his forage had to state in
writing: certify, on honor, that the
horses for which ths forage is REQUIRED
are actually kept by myself, etc. )"
A general officer who in 1915 actuaIIv
kept two horses for the use of his fam
lily. drew aud sold forage for the two al
ditional horses he was entitled to. giving
as an excuse to the clerk who prepared
acquisitions and orders, that occasionally
his private carriage needed repairs, and
that he had to take the money realized
from the sale Of forage for repairs Of his
private carriage.
How consciously officers will stick to
this stealing from force Of habitthe
following facts, which happened only q
little over year ago will show:
An infantry officer, who had been
stationed as Aid-de- Camp for over
eleven years on the staff Of ono Of his
nearest relatives, was relieved under al,
Act Of Congress reducing the numbe er Of
Abide Camps on the stad Of Brigadior-
Generals. aud an order that no Aid-de-
Camp should serve as such longer than
three years. He was the same day de-
tailed as superintendent Of target prac-
tice, IA late addition to the staff, and in
order that he should not lose the pro-
ceeds Of forage for two private horses
which he had drawn and sold for so
many years, the special order detailing
him as superintendent of target prac.
tice" provided ''that his services de-
manded his being mounted"
Now, in the namc OF cid General
jackson, can any one tell me why
superintendent Of target practice, "
who walks every morning from his
quar- iers to his Office, distance Of sixty
yards, and don't do anything eIse bnt
compile every month the different post