The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-11-21

evidence. Many claims OF this descrlp- |
ton were also presented by persons |
whose loyalty to the government was l
impeached by credible witnesses In /
rejecting these the commission set |
forth the disloyalty Of the claimants !
in the certificates written on the face |
Of their accounts. Other accounts, |
whose rightfulnesS was established, /
We're rejected on proof of disloyalty. |
The commission regarded completely in
the rebellion as barring all claims
against the United States.
A very small percentage of the claims
were rejected because of fraud In al
most every case it was possible to sup
pose that the apparent fraud was acct
dent. My observation throughout the
war was the same. [ do not believe
that so much business could be trans
acted with a closer adherence TO the
line of honesty. That there were frauds
is a. matter of course, because men,
and even some women, are wicked,
but they were the exception.
All the leisure that 1 had at Cairo 1
spent in horseback riding up and down
the river banks and in visiting the
adjacent military posts. My longest
and most interesting trip was on the
Fourth of July, when l went down the
Mississippi to attend a big celebration
at Memphis. [ remember it particu-
met General Grant. The officers sta
toned in the city gave a dinner that
day, to which 1 was invited. At the
table L was seated between Grant and
Major John A. Rawlins, of his staff.
1 remember distinctly the pleasant i'm
preston Grant made-that of a man
of simple manners, straightforward,
cordial and unpretending. He had al
ready fought the successful battles of
Fort Donelson and Shiloh, and when 1
met him was a major general in COM
nand Of the district of west Tennessee,
Department. of the Missouri, under Hal
! leck, with headquarters at Memphis.
Although one would not have sus-
pected it from his manners, he was
really under a cloud at the time be-
cause of the operations at Shiloh.
Those who did not like him had ac-
cused him of having been taken by
surprise there, and had declared that
he would have been beaten if Buell. had
not come up. | often talked later with
Grants staff officers about Shiloh, and
they all affirmed that he would have
| been successful if Buell. had not come
to his relief I believe Grant himself
| Thought so, although he never. in any
one of the many talks 1 afterward had
With him about the battle, said so di-
TectIy.
/ We finished our labors at Cairo on
July 81, 1852 and l went at once to
Washington with the report, placing it
in the hands of Mr.. Stanton on Aug. ).
1t was never printed and the manu-
script is still in the files Of the war
/ department
There was a great deal Of curiosity
among officers in Washington about
the result of our investigation, and all
the time that l was in the city 1 was
questioned on the subject. 1t was
] IL
/ been interested in our report. The
charges of fraud and corruption
against officers and contractors had
become SO reckless and general that
the mere sight Of a man in conference
with a high official led to the suspicion
and often the charge that he was con
! spring to rob the government. That
i'm this case, where the charges seemed
/ so well based, SO small a percentage of
corruption had been proved was
source of Solid satisfaction to every
| one in the war department.
AS Mr.. Stanton had no immediate
| need of my services, returned to New
York in August, where / was occupied
with various private matters until the
middle Of November. when received Il
telegram from Assistant Secretary Of
War P. H. Watson. asking me TO come
Immediately to Washington to enter
upon another investigation. I went,
and was received by Mr.. Stanton, who
/ offered me the place of assistant secre-
tary OF war. [ said I would accept.
'All right" said he, consider it set
tied"
AS I went from the war department
into the street I met Major Charles G.
Halpine (AIiles O'Reilly). of the Sixty
ninth New York infantry. had known
! Halpine well as a newspaper man ii
New York, and 1 told him of my ap-
pointment as Mr. StantOn's assistant.
He Immediately repeated what l had
told him to some newspaper people; it
| was reported in the New York papers
the next morning. The secretary was
greatly offended and withdrew the ap-
pointment. When I told Halpine, I
had, of course, no idea that he was go
ing to repeat it; besides, I did not think
there was any harm in telling.
Immediately after this episode l
formed a partnership with Roscoe
Conkling and George W. Chadwick to
buy cotton. The cutlery which the man
ufacturers had raised over their ina
bility to get cotton for their industries
had induced the government to permit
trading through the lines of the army,
and the business looked profitable.
Conkling and [ each put $4,000 into
the firm and Chadwick gave his ser
vices which, as he was an expert IN
cotton was considered equal to our
capital To facilitate our operations,
went to Washington to ask Er. STAN
ton for letters of recommendation to
the generals on and near the MISSISSIPPI
ri, where we proposed to begin our OPP
erations Mr.. Stanton and had sever
al conversations about the advisibility
of allowing such traffic, but he did not
hesitate about giving me the letters /
asked There We're several OF them
one to General Hurlbut, then at Mem
pnis; another to General Grant, who
was planning his operations against
Vicksburg, and another to General Cur
It's, who commanded in Arkansas. The
general purport of them was: 'Mr.
Dana is my friend. You can rely upon
what he says, and if you can be kind
to him in any way, you viii oblige
me-"
1t was in January, 1858, that Chad
wick and myself went to Memphis,
where we stayed at the GayOso hotel,
at that time the swell hotel of the town
and the headquarters of several Off
GERS.
It was not long after I began to
study the trade in cotton before 1 saw
it was a bad business and ought to be
stopped.
AS soon as could get away from
Memphis I Went to Washington, where
: l had many conversations with Mr..
Lincoln and Mr.. Stanton about restrict
!, ing the trade in cotton. They were
deeply interested in my observations
!, and questioned me closely about what
should be stopped had the more weight
because 1 was able to say: General
! Grant and every general officer whom
I have seen hopes it will be done"