New-York tribune., 1903-01-17
FIGHT OVER CLAIMS.
LIVELY DAY IN HOUSE.
Sensational Chapters Of CiU7l Wdr
History EGploited.

Washington Jan. 16-The House devoted the
day to private claims passing about t"ehiS-
The two features of the day were the defeat OIL
a claim of B. F. Moody & Co., of keokuk' iowa.
for payment of the amount deducted from thelr
contract for furnishing equipment to the %
Iowa Cavalry by the famous commission WhIcn
unearthed the army contract frauds in St Louis
is 1862 and the fight of Mr.. Payne, the floor
leader of the majority, against an OMNIBUS
resolution to refer ninety Southern claims,
aggregating 100000, for stores and supplies
taken by the Union Army in the civil war; 10
the Court of Claims for finding Of fact under
the Tucker act The former bill led to lively
controversy between two Iowa members Messrs.
Smith and Hedge Mr.. Hit of Illinois, chair-
man of the Foreign Affairs Committee, was tne
stenogra pher of the commission, and was aDie
personally to corroborate Mr.. Hedge in MS op-
position to the bill The coniblnation IN 1aSor U1
the omnibus claims resolution was TOO STRONG
for Mr. Payne, but on the final vote the quorum
failed AS the previous question had peeI Or
dered the vote on the adoption OF the resolution
will be the first thing in order on the next cIdlis
day. -,
claim of Moody & Co, and in the course OF II
some sensational chapters in the history OF the
alleged army contract frauds were exploited.
Mr.. Smith, of Iowa, in charge of the bill.
The original amount of the claim exceeded Soo,-
OOo but it was scaled down by the committee
TO So 446 Mr. Smith contended that the claim
was lust the contract having been executed
under the authority of General John C. Fremont
through his agent General Cyrus Bussey. Mr..
Hedge Mr.. Smiths colleague, denounced the
claim with a vigor which attracted the atten-
ton of the entire House He impeached 1t, 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 It's origin in the action of the COM
IIJvoH a m
bell and Joseph Holt, which unearthed the al
legged frauds in General gFremonts department
He declared that the commission had scaled
millons on millions of army contracts, one OF
which was that of Moody g. Co., and said that
General Fremont had been superseded because
of the intolerable conditions found to exist
''The report of that commission he said was
never printed because Lincoln believed that its
revelations would make the people despair
"I have that record here" said Mr. Smith.
raising aloft a package Of papers musty and
yellow with age.
But It was never printed" insisted Mr.
Hedge. TT would not have been advisable TO
print it."
Then he called Mr. Hit, who had been an
interested listener to the debate. to bear out his
testimony explaining that Mr.. Hit had been
the stenographer of the st. Louis commission.
Mr. Hit said that the report which Mr.. Smith
displayed had been written by his own hand
He told Of the gigantic frauds unearthed in that
investigation, and of the unwillingness of the
authorities to permit the complete story TO be-
come public owing to the disheartenfng effect II
might produce on the people. Personally. he
said, he did not remember the details Of the par
ticuar 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 10
Among the bills passed was one to pay So,6S3
to Mrs Flora A. Darling for damages growing
out of her arrest by the military authorities of
New-Orleans in, 1864 while she was on a flag OF
truce boat under safe conduct.
Mr. Payne led a strong fight against the
omnibus claims resolution. He contended that
the resolution would remove he statute OF lin
itations which already barred many of these
old claims The claims all for stores and
supplies taken by the federal forces in the civil
War Mr. Payne conducted a filtbuster, but ne
was overridden by friends of the measure, who
comprised all the Democrats and about half
the Republicans. On rolicall on the adoption
of the resolution, however, the vote stood 81 TO
81, no quorum. and the House at 4:45 p. m ad-