Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1903-01-22
old DOCUMENTS
PUT IN EVIDENCE
Musty Papers Used to Defeat
War Claim in House of
Representatives.
SOME UNPUBLISHED HISTORY
President Lincoln Had the Matter Sup
pressed for Fear That Its Revelation
Might Dishearten the Loyal People
of the North.

Washington, Jan. 19.-Sensationa!
chapters in the unpublished history o;
the army contract frauds at st. Louii
in 1862 were brought to light in con
gress and a claim of B. F. Moody q
Co. of Keokuk, Ia, for $8,446 for equip
ping the Third Iowa cavalry was
voted down upon the presentation OF
a report made in 1862 which President
Lincoln refused to make public fol
fear its revelations would make the
people of the north despair.
Congressman Hit, who was the
stenographer who wrote the famous re
port, identified the yellow, musty docu
ments, which saw the light for the
first time in thirty years.
Colleagues Divide.
Congressman Smith of Iowa was In
charge of B. F. Moody & Co.'S bill for
equipping the Third Iowa cavalry
Originally the claim exceeded $4,000,
put 1t was scaled down by the commit
tee to $8,446. Mr.. Smith contended
the claim was just, the contract hav
ing been executed under the authority
of Gen. John G. Fremont through his
agent, Gen. Cyrus Bussey.
Mr.. Hedge of Iowa, Mr.. Smiths col
league, denounced the claim. He i'm
peached it first on the ground that
1t had been allowed to slumber for
thirty years without being presented
to congress, and then proceeded to
point out that it had its origin in the
action of the famous commission con-
sisting Of David Davis, Hugh Camp
bell. and Joseph Holt, which unearthed
che alleged frauds in Gen. Fremont's
department of the st. Louis in 1862.
Identified by Hit.
He declared that the commission had
scaled millions upon millions off
army contracts, one Of which was that
of Moody & Co., and that Gen. Ere
mont had. been superseded because Of
the intolerable conditions that were
found to exist. "The report of that
committee" said he, was never print
ed, because Lincoln believed that it's
revelations would make the people
despair"
II have that record here" said Mr..
Smith, raising aloft package of pa
pers musty and yellow with age.
"But it was never printed" in
sisted Mr.. Hedge. 1T would not have
been advisable to print it."
] Then he called on Mr.. Hit, chair
man Of the committee on foreign af-
fairs, who had been an interested lis
tener to the debate, to bear out his
testimony, explaining that Mr.. Hit
had been the stenographer of the ST.
Louis commission.
Tells of Great Frauds.
The latter corroborated Mr.. Hedge,
saying that the report which Mr..
Smith had displayed had been written
by his own hand. He told of the gi-
gantic frauds unearthed in that inves-
tigation and of the unwillingness of
the authorities to permit the complete
story to become public owing to the
disheartening effect it might produce
on the people. Personally, he said, he
did not remember the details of the
particular claim of Moody & Co.
Mr.. Smith, in reply, while admitting
that the contract might have been
technically without authority, insisted
that the claim was not fraudulent in
law or in fact. The house, however,
voted the bill down, 80 to 70.