The evening times., 1900-09-08

Rave Been Allowed to Lie Idle
and SiateriaIs Condemned Have
neen Resoid TO the Governn, ent
John Orme Cole, until lately an ac-
eeuntant in the office of the Quar-
termastar General OF the Army,
has made a number of very sensa-
tional statements regarding the meth
ods prevailing there The statements are
in the line CT confirmation of reports fire.
quentiy made with reference to Army cen
tracts growing out of the war with Spain
and in the Philippines.
On May Is last, after he voluntarily left
the department, Mr.. Cole addressed let
ter to President Mckinley, reciting his
allegations in details. So far as he knows
no notice has ever been taken Of this
communication. Mr. Cole says he left the
QuarJermaster Generals office because he
could not ccnscienfiously continue in a
service where SUCH practices prevailed.
Hearing nothing from the President ne
laid the matter before Senator William E.
Mason of Illinois. Mr. Mason addressed a
note TO the Secretary of War, assuring
him of his confidence in the truth Of the
revelations OF Mr.. Cole and requesting the
Secretary to have these allegations an
swared in detail from the proper quarter
After long delay an answer came to
| Senator Mason, which he considered eva
sive and Irrelevant, and he referred 1t
| back to the Secretary of War, Whefe 1t Is
| said the matter still rests
! Mr.. Cole, in his statements, charges that
! the Army officers in control in the Quar-
| termaster Generals Office are not less in
competent than arbitrary. He says they
know nothing whatever about business mat
tiers or the keeping of accounts and resent
all offers OF information from the clVliian
employees. He charges that in accounts
representing in the aggregate millions or
dollars proper vouchers were not elacted'
When he called the attention of one OF the
chiefs 10 this fact the only reply was: In
this great emergency there are many
things we have 10 wink at" Mr.. Cole al
| Ieges that enormous frauds characterize
| the work of buying, renting, and nttlng UP
/ vessels for transport duty. He states
! THE water transportation business, as
! conducted in the Quartermaster General
! Office contains the records OF the most
| shameful waste and misuse Of public funds
| during the Spanish wGr. II shows how the
! Government has been robbed in diHeren.
ways of sums Of money as compared WIZ
which the amounts involved in the Cuban
postal frauds are mere b1g2tslIe, ana
brands with deplOrable incOmpetency the
Army officers directly connected with them.
An investigation will show Taseality, also,
| somewhere"
Chartered Vessels Standing Idle
Rented vessels have been kept lying at
San Francisco ready to be turned back to
their owners for weeks, the Government
in the meanwhile paying from $500 to
| 81 coo per day for each of them. In many
cases the Government has paid in rent a
sum larger than the valuation OF the yes
sell which, in many eases. was too high.
| Corporations were also allowed to specu-
| late and make large profits on the days
| wages of their laboring men Proofs OF
these things are matter Of record in the
| War Department.
| In his statement Mr. Cole mentions the
| rames OF a number Of high Army officers
Y vhom he charges with responsibility lot
| thl Sc doings- Il IS SAID the most crying
eT prevails in the transport service at
! NJ Mia TRANSPORTS and freight ships are
said to remain at anchor for days ana
| weeks with no apparent effort at unload
! ing them. 1t is said that thousands OF
! tons of stores are constantly being con
| demued and sold for a few cents on the
| dollar to merchants in Manila, and the
! same stores are bought and used by the
| American colony and the large ho"els OF
| that city i is said that upon one occa-
! sion LOCO tons OF Government stores were
| condemned and sold for a song. The same
| stores were then shipped 10 Hongkong and
resoId 10 a Government purchasing agent
| and then reshipped to Manila, where they
| were used by the Government Mr.. Cole
| makes various other statements OF a
| startling nature on this subject hlS
! charges seem TO be made light of at the
Ouartermaster Generals office, but II
seems reasonable 10 suppose there must
be something in them or a Republican
United States Senator and supporter OF
the Mckinley Administration would not
have taken them up.
Mr.. Coles Responsibility.
Mr. Cole is a man Of standing and re-
sponsfbility He was chief clerk OF the