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£ THE STEALING GROUND, Fort Sill Described in Text | and Diagram. Where Evans, Marsh, Belknap & | Oo, “Made Money.” TAXING THE SOLDIERS. Twenty Thousand Dollars a Year Extorted by Excessive Charges, } Statements by the President and Generals | Sherman and MeCook. | i | Like the overturned Jamp that originated the terrible | conflagration at Chicago, converting the greater por- Mon of a populous city into a desert waste, Fort Sill will be hereafter remembered as the starting point of | & disaster compared with which the burning of a thou- sand buildings is a mere trifle, No man supposes but | that the revelations of the last few days are the mere | beginning of the end and that the fearful conflagration | ‘of charactor which has been begun will continue util | it reaches places and men that have heretofore been regarded as unassailable, In this connection and as a | matter of considerable pablic interest at the present time, as well as for future reference, we propose to give 8 detailed description of Fort Sil and its surroundings, | Promising that this fort is a fair example of the frontier Mations of the army, so that when the further rovela- tions that are to come shail specify ihe various locali- | Hes that have in turn been made the sources of fraud and | torruption, this description will exemplify the circum- stances in each and every case. On the reorganization of the United States Army at the close of the civil war a general distribution of the troops was determined upon in accordance with a plan | that should accomplish a threefold purpose. First— | To keep open the lines of communication throughout the Western Territories. Second—To afford protection to | settlers and thus encourage and foster emigration. | Third—To overawe and subdue the roving tribes of {adians and to tnstil among them habits of civiliza- | tion, To this end @ series o1 military posts was es- | tablished at suitable localities in the West, from 100 to | 200 miles apart. At these posts were stationed the different regiments of the army or parts of regients, Sometimes portions of several regiments, a mixed com- mand of infantry and cavalry, under the supervision | of the senior officer in rank present with the troops, — | The post now known as Fort Sill was ono of the sta- tions so selected. It was located by General Grierson im June, 1808, under the name of “Camp Wichita.” The name was changed to Fort Sill July 2, 186% It 1s | ltuated on the Comanche, Kiowa and Apache reserva Hon, Indian Territory, in latitude 34 deg, 40 min., | longitude 21 deg min, west. ‘the eleva- Hou above the is 1,700 fect, 1b is 120 miles south of Fort Richardson, 160 miles south- west of Fort Griflin and 190 miles northwest of Camp Bupply. Major General Sheridan selected Fort Sill as & base of operations against the Cheyennes and Kiowas in his winter campaign of 1868-69, and from that date (thas becn the military centre of the reservation of the Comanches, Kiowas and the aililiated bands of the Wichitas, Keechies, Waeoes and Cuddoes, The reser- | vation is in the form of a quadrangle, nine miles in length by four ules wide, containing thirty-six square miles or 23,000 a0res.. Within its boundaries are in- | cluded tbe confluence of the Cache and Medicine Bluff erecks, with the rich timber aud bottom lauds skirt- ing those streams, the hills called Medicine Blutts, the Indian commissary buildings, lime kilus, grana- ries. &o, sea | i THE FORT ITSELY is situated at the junemgn of the two crecks named, Which unite to turm a branch of the Red River, and in the centre of the post reservation. Although this and | most of the otLer Western posts are callod forts they are inno sense of the word fortifications, Nor are | they fortified in any manner, with the exception of, perhaps, a small redoubt or sometimes a | block house or a stockade erected against & possible incursion of the Indians, They are simply ® collection of sometimes merely temporary struc- sures, at other times more permanent in their charac’ | ter where substantial building materials may be cheaply | abtarned, This last as the case with Fort Sill, where | the proximity of an excellent quality of limestone, | sasily quarried, has resulted in the use of this material | for the quarters of the troops, All the buildings of the j post are constr: “i of gray limestone, and furnish ac- commodation for 1,000 men and orticers, | THE BUILDINGS, as shown by the diagram, are arranged witha view to | military convenience and discipline. The barracks for | | 4 | &e, and theso places were very much sought for. | the Indian country, where no white man bad ever deen } su NEW YORK HERALD, TUESDAY, MARCH 7, 1876—TRIPLE SHEET with an exclusive privilege from Cameron, then Sec- | retary of War, tothe great dismay and ruin of the | regimental sutlers who had embarked their all in cn- terprises that thus came to naught, The history of the sutler business connected with the Army of the | Potomac would be very interesting reading at this juneture of affairs. On the return of peace and the distribution of the troops the sutlers’ positions be- came very attractive in consequence of the collateral | advantages connected with Indian trading and local | contracts for quartermasters’ supplies of fuci, forage, At Fort Sill, for instance, where an extensive Indian reservation was established and a large force perma- nently maintained, THR PROSPECTIVE PROFITS of the sutler loomed up in gigantic proportions. This appointment was secured by J. L, Evans, of Ken- tucky, who is conceded on all sides to be personally a MOst agreeable and fair dealing merchant. Evans went toa very great expense in erecting the buildings requisite for his purpose. Of course everything at Yhe outset was attended with much diificulty. | The remote position of the post, located in the heart of | betore, the impossibility of obtaining transportation exceptat an enormous outlay—all required a large capital and was attended with much uncertainty and | tisk, Evans, however, when once established, suc- ceeded in making the business remunerative. In fact, when the first obstacles are overcome a sutler’s busi- | ness is attended with fewer risks aud losses than ord- inary business of any other kind. The soldiers pay | cash for everything when they have it, and as the sut- ler is allowed to vollect at the pay table any debts which the soldiers incur within a reasonable limit he has few accounts to carry to profit and loss, ‘The pay of the officers and soldiers of @ regiment of a thousand men amounts to over $200,000, of which | the sutler receives the greater portion, at a protlt of twenty-five to 100 per ceut, and when to this is added | the profits of the Indian trade and that which can be | derived from quartermasters’ contracts it is very easy to seo that a position of this kind bas, to use a current phrase, ‘a good deal of money in it,” When the change in the law took place und the sutlers were con- verted into “traders”? appointed by the See- retary of War, and afterward the organized raid was made upon the traders, Mr. Evans found himself in a very unfortunate position, In a full confidence that the rights and privileges acquired by him in an honorable manner ani in accordance with the usages ofthe service would be protected, he bad invested everything he possessed in this business. He had every reason to believe that so long as he con- ducted himseif and his business to the satisfaction of those who had appointed him he should be undisturbed. Gog to Washington with the amplest recommenda- tions from the officers of the post, he anticipated that he ghould have little difficulty in maintaining the posi- tion he had secured at so much labor and expense, but he was doomed to disappointment, The Secretary of War appointed Caleb Marsh as post trader at Fort Sill, and there was nothing Jett for Kvans but to make the best bargain he could with the legalized highwayman who demanded his money. Large as was the sum de- manded and paid, it was after all no loss to Evans ‘That part of his contract with Marsh that does not ap- peur in writing, but’ which was, nevertheless, carried out to the letter, was that THX SOLDIARS AT FORT SILL should, out of their poor pittance of $13. month, pay @ tax through excessive charges to the amount of $12,000 per annum, levied upon them as the helpless Victius of this infamous conspiracy. Is there nothing to be said of a Congress that passes the law which ob- literates the time-honored custom that established the council of administration to place a check upon such extortion by limiting the percentage of prolit? Has the Congress that renderea this conspiracy possible no | share in the merited odium which is attached to ity keenly did Evans feel tho shame and injustice of which | ho was the medium that he felt it necessary to excuse the extortion that was practised by acknowledging that it was the tribute he was compelled to pay for retaiuing his position, Evans’ establishment at Fort Sill is more | eXtensive dhan any other trading house along that line So of posts, A familiarity with the Indian dialect gives him unusual facilities jor trading with the Indianson the reservation. The lnudians bring in buifato robes and other spoils of the chase, which they exchange for goods, The trade with the Indians is sometimes very large, and Evans & Co, have cvecded in making @ great deal of money. Their store isa very large one, and their assortment of goods extonsive and of great variety, In coming in trom their camps to barter tor goods the Indians | ride their ponies with a squaw un foot ruvning along- | side, on whose back the buffalo robes are strapped, | and in returning the same means of transportation are | used for conveying the blankets, calicoes and otbor things received in exchange. So it seems that the squaws at both ends of the line have, after all, the prin- cipal interest in the matters connected with post | traders, and on their backs the burdens or profits full in the end, whethor represented by Worth dresses in Washington or blankets at Fort Sill, INTEGRITY AND INTELLIGENCE, [From the Evening Post of yesterday.) We publish in the Evening Post to-day a communica- tion trom a correspondent who affirms his belief in the innocence of General Belknap, We should like to share | has | tron. the soldiers are cach double buildings, ono story in | our correspondent’s faith; all good citizens would re- height. The dimensions are 200 by 27 teet, with aheight | Joice to-day to know that the charge against the ex- of 12 feet to the eaves. Each division is intended for | Secretary is founded upon a mistake and that all the one company, and is divided into a barrack reom | suspicious circumstances may be easily explained. $4 fect in Jength, and an orderly room 27 feet What is called a “true story” is telegraphed trom | by 12 feet’ The barracks have covered porches | Washington to a morning newspaper. If we believe it | in trot, and extensions in rear tor mess rooms | We must believe that the wite of the Secretary deceived | and kitchens, and in the yard im rear of cach | him as to the nature of her transactions with Marsh; that she pretended that she had invested her own money with the latter, who had increased it by prout- barrack is a small building for laundress’ quarters and wash rooms. In the dormituries the men sleep on tingle tron bunks. The buildings for officers’ quarters | able management, and that the Secretary supposed are twelve in number, of Which nine contain two sets | that the payments were made upon that account. The of quarters entirely separated trom each other, making | Objection to this story and to others like it is that they in all twenty-one sets of quarters, Besides these are | assume Belknap to have been a fool. the guardifouse, hospital, hbrary, Quartermaster’s | The sale of trading posts is no fresh matter, It has and Commissary’s store houses, cavalry stables, &c, | been for years the subject of cominon talk on the The ground occupied by the buildings is a plateau of | Plains, in Washington and in newspaper columns. The irregular outline, sloping in all directions, and about | traders have excused themselves for charging high one-fourth of a mile square in extent. Its elevation | prices for their goods by saying that they were com- wbove the water of the adjacent stream is about tifty | pelled to pay high prices for their privileges, The par- feet, The garrison of Fort Sill for several years past has | deen mostly composed of the Tenth United States cav- alry (colored), together with several companies of in- fantry (white). The duties of the troops consist of Scouting the adjoining territory for predatory bands of | Indians, or their pursuit mto their pormanent jodges when depredations have been committe Uso in es- sorting trains of supplies trom ane post to another, At certain times and seasons the duties are extremely | irduous, and often attended with great privation and | suffering, horses and men falling by the roadside ja | utter exhanstion curing along pursuit of the Indians. | The personal wants of tho soldiers—their food und | tlothing—are, of course, amply supplied by the gov- ernment, and, in addition, the solticrs receive $13'a | month in money. While the ration of food that ts Wwsued to the soldier is generally wholesome, | ot good quality and insufficient in quantity, | At ts Of necessity a very simple form of dict and somo- What monotonous in character, and while the provision made for tho soldier is in every way arople for his com- fort, whether sick or weil, there isa very natural de. ‘Ure op his part for a greater variety in diet and for Many conveniences aud luxuries that are not provided by the government, and to obtain these he Is willing to devote the $13 a mouth whieh be receives in cash trom ‘the government. To this homan weakness or inclina | ‘Hon on the part of the soldier is due the origin and | existence of the individual known as " “rite sure’ He ts generally a shrewd, enterprising money making sort of a character, who forms during war one of the army of camp followers, and during peace a per. — manent trader in the necessities and conven!, | ences of life. Under the old army regulations each | military post was authorized to have a ‘“sutler,” wlio | received liv appointment from the officer in command, | ‘On the recommendation of a Board, cousisting of the | three highest in tho rank next below the commanding | oMecr. This Board was called the Council of Adui!nis- tration, and iv was their duty to examine a verified in. | ‘Voice of the goods offered for sale, and to fix/a tari of at whieh they were to be sold to the soldicts; of ‘allowanee was always made for the cost of | During the war nearly every regiment | out with its own satler, but it dit not tako for the cormorants of the War Department to the value of the rich placer that sutiers’ priv. ticulars of this very contract between Marsh and vans at Fort Sill were published in 1872 Is ft con- ceivable that Belknap’s attention was not directed to the publication? Is it probable that be, «ho ought to have had the liveliest concern in the matter, shouid of ail mon bave been ignorant of it or indifferent to it? Is st conceivable that he would not have asked himself whether the Marsh interested in the trading post was notthe Marsh woo was managing profitable invest- ments for Mrs. Belknap, and whetber she too might not hayea share in the contract? To suppose that | nothing of this would have occurred to Bolkuap is to | suppose him to bea fool; and that theory of the case | has not yet been suggested anywhere, His knowledge | of the uifair ig made clear beyond doubt unless uncon. tradicted assertions are false. It is said that | fg 1872 General Hazen, having ascertained | the facts. about Fort Sill and other posts, | communicated them to the Commitice on Mili- tary Affairs of the House of Representatives, he | appeared before the committes, and gave names, dates and other particulars, but nothing came of the investi. gation, Alter Hazon bad given evidence Belknap went to the President and asked him if he believed the story. ‘The President said he did not. The Secretary of War retained his portfolio, and Hagen was transierred to — Dakota Territory. We repeat that these assertions can | be easily contradicted if they are not true; and if Mr. | Garileld, who was chairman of the committee, has any- | thing to say in explanation of the circunmtances, he ought to lose no time In saying 1%. Even if the Fort Sill cage stood alone it would be impossible to acquit Belknap; but when all the circumstances are consid- ered it is too mach to expect the public to believe the “true story,” or to believe that Belknap was deceived by the shallow device which ts said to have been im- posed upon him, / Pattiog Belknay case aside, the persons who are 80 roady to accept any proposterous theory whieh es- tublishes an officer's innocence at the expense of his intelligence seems to be guided by alow conception of public duty. A man who is serving the country in an important position is bound to be houest, of course; but he is bound also not to bé stupi, The head of a department who permits his subordinates to steal— permits not by a direct license in terms, but by stolid insensibility to what is going on and by deliberate biindness and systematic carelessness—may not be so guilty in a personal sense as if he himself stole, but | with Chandler, bound to know whether they are honest; bound to give them no opportunities by bis indifference to act dishonestly. It must be said that the President has not always obeyed this ruk All fair minded citi- wens are glad to belie that the President had no band im the disgraceful transac- tions which are now, in course of exposure; but they can acquit him only by convicting him of defective watcbfulness and excessive confidence. His plan of filling important offices has made the consequences of the defect and the excess all the more serious, and has made them all the harder for him to bear, If the President had appointed Charles Francis Adams Secre- tary of War and if, which, of course, is a violent sup- position, Mr, Adams had been detected in selling trading posts the President would have suffered com- paratively little from the disclosure, As Mr. Adams is known to the whole country the country would have called him to account, ant would not have blamed the President for appointing a man of such large and excellent reputation. The truth ts, however, that the President has appointed to prominent places men who, whatever their character may bave been, were without any | wide repute Knowing little or notning about them, the coun- try simply took the Presidene’s word for them; it ac- cepted them upon bis certificate and held him respon- sible for them. When these ovscure persona are proved to be dishonest or incompetent they have no standing before the country and the President must bear the whole responsibility. The evils of admumstration which afflict the country are due, more than to any other cause, to the disregard by the President of the rule which all his predecessors have observed—that public: offices should be tilled by men of character, of experience, of ability aud widely known to be such, and not by men of mediocrity, known only to the President. The President’s policy has driven away from the Service men like Sumner, Schurz, Cox, of Obio; Curtis, and all Who in any sense can be called statesmen, and has given us men like Belknap and Robeson and Chandler. THE PRESIDENT’S STORY, (From the Chicago Inter-Ocean.) Wasuivetos, March 3, 1876, The President to-day said to a friend:—“I have heard it said trequently that if 1 had po other virtue it could uot be said of me that! did not stand by my friends. But my friends must not try my forbearance too far.’ J.ast evening the President sent for a distin- guished member of the Iilinois delegation and talked very freely with him for an hour or more and told him THE STORY OF BELKNAP, “On Thursday I had just finished my breakfast,” said the President, “and was opening some letters in the drawing room, when Scerctary Bristow was an- nounced. It was only a litte after nine o’clock and I wondered why he came so early, but I invited him mto the room and we talked for atime over some matters referred to in my mail, After a time the Secretary said, ‘Mr, President, there are some yory sad stories in cireulation about one of your Cabinet.’ I toid him 1 had not heard anything. The Secretary said they were dreadful stories, almost too bad to be believed. I inquired what they were, and the Secretary began to tell me, when in came Belknap and Chandler, Chandler looked very sober, and Belknap was changed so that you would hardly have known him. He looked as it he had not slept for a weck, I got up and shook hands with him, and asked him what was the matter. * He went on to teli me, in an incoherent way, about EVAN’S STORE BILLIARD nw ROOM CAVALRY STABLES | TT FORT SILL INDIAN TERRITORY the Congressional investigation; that it was going to damage him very much, and he said he had written his resignation and brought it with him, He took out the letter and I read it. I said to him that I would regret very much his leaving the Cabinet, tor I had contidence in him. At that UB HURST INTO TRARS and took hold of my hand. I asked him the nature of the tavestigation, and his manner more than the words of his reply showed me shat It was something of an unusual character. I understood that he was ex- pecting an investigation ‘that he could avaia by re- signing; that the facts if exposed would not damage him so much as his wife. He spoke of bis dead wife, too, I told him that he bad a great many friends and they would help him out, but he said it was impossible; that he had shouldered all the blame aud would be ruined, He insisted that tt would save me and the rest of the government a great deal of trouble if his resignation was accepted, I tried again to induce hin to wait awhile, but be said he must go before the committee that morning, and wanted to teil them he was no longer an officer of the govern- ment. Sol wrote hima letter accepting the resigna- tion, and, after thanking me for that and for what he called my kindness to him in the past ho went away Then RDMUNDS AND MORTON CAME IN, and they told me the whole story, 1 could not velieve them, and senta messenger for Bass, who, T understood, was a member of the thvestigating cam- mittee,” The President said that i he Mie a the whole trath he would not have accepted the resig- nation as be did, but would havo suspended Belkna) Mil the investigation was over, He wat tounded in his lite, There was no member of bis Cab- inet im whom he had more confidence, The Illinois | gentleman suggested that he felt like having Belknap tried by a dram-head court martial and shot, and the President replicd that no one could feet worse than ho did, After hearing the truth of the matier the Presi- donut Was so unsettied in mind that he was totally un- flitted for busmess, His frienas say they never saw him | so completely unnerved. All the afternoon he spent with his son Ulysses walking down on the bank of the river back of the White Mow Talking seemed to re- lieve bis mind and he spoke vory freely to several gen- tlemen who called upon him, GENERAL SHERMAN ON BELKNAP. {Interview in St. Louis Globe-Democrat. } Said General Sherman :—‘‘I have never bad anything to shock me as this shameful disclosyye. Tam aston- ished beyond measure, I have known Belknap # long time, and never had occasion to doubt his integrity. I know that bis previous record is without a blot. le has always been regarded as « man of scrupaloas honor. He served with me during the war, He went oat hs major of au Iowa régiment; subsequently he was pro- moted to a coloneley, and while we were before At- lunta. he was appofoted @ brigadier genicral’ on my recommenaation. He velouged to the Filteeath army corpa, under Frank Blair, who recommended him to me for promotion, He was a gallant officer, and though not educated in a miliary school, be vory rap- idiy by experience, and was proficient in all the com mands which he hold, He comes of a good stock of people, wis FATHER ‘was © brigadier genoral during the Mexican war."" “Can you think of @ cause for Belknap’s demoraliza- tion t” | fall is due more to the vicious organization of Wosb- ington society than anything else, 1 refer to the ridic- ulous extravaganee of those who move ‘n the first social circies ut the capital, Very few Cabinet officers are able to live within their means; none can begin to live within their salaries While I was there the only mem- ber of the Cabinet who could stand it was Fish; with his income of $200,000 a year he coald afford to pay most any price for social privileges; nevertheless, it | cost him $70,000 a year, Mr. Chandler, who bas gone | into the Cabinet since I came to St. Louis, is another | one whose private fortune is so ample that bis salary is no object t him. Outside of these two none of the pubiio officials in Washington can live within their salaries, I leit Washington chiefly because my salary would uot support me, and because I did not con- sider the society there the proper place m which to rear a family, I received $13,500 regular salary, be- sides $3,000 ior rent and horses, making $16,900 in all, 1 outlived this amount every year, by several thousand | dollars, 1 had to keep open house all the time. My fathily rarely had auy rest from entertaining people, most of them utter straugera, in whom we could feel uo interest. Besides, everybody covsider themselves privileged to practise extortion upon any person who holds « prominent place in- Washington; gas companies, house furnishers, marketers, &c., always charged me exorbitant prices, simply because I was General ot the Army, Now, Belknap got $5,000 a year, and bad | no outside resources. He had a fashionable wife, am- bitious to lead in society. She must have money and there was no other mode of gotting it except by resort- ing to unlawfal practices. In my mind, this is the key to the disgracefal conduct ot the Secretary of War.” “Do you kyow Mrs, Belanap !”” “Very well Ske was regarded as @ most estimable woman, intelligent, brilliant and pretty, Sho came of a good Kentucky family and was ambitious to lead in | sovicty. She wore a profusion of jewelry and her dresses were imported. Her receptions were among | the most agreeable and showy cntertainments at the national capital. It was impossible that she could , keep ber expenditures within her husband’s official in- | come,’” “Do you think Belknap will endedvor to shield him- | elf bebind his wife??? “To the contrary, 1 think he ts likely to suffer mach | personal odium by keeping sflent 1m order to shield bis wife, Ho is fot a man to protect himself at the ex- pense of his wife. If Mrs, Belknap, for a moneyed consideration from outside parties, influenced her hus- band to make appoint:tents, THE WORLD WILL NEVER KNOW IT through Belknap. ° On tho other hand, Mrs. Belknap is Just the wowan to shield her busbaad and will, doubt- Jéss, assatne as much of the odium as possible. Itis a very sad affair all through wnd will reflect much dis- credit upon our country dnd society at large.” “Do you not attribute, to some extent, the corrup- tion which has been discovered in the sale of trading posts to the présent system of managing that ser- vice?” “Ido, though the system ts not necessarily a corrupt one, The old plan was much safer and made dishonesty | _more improvab.e. No man could get tne appointment of post trader or sutlér, as’ they were formerly calfed, until he had secured the recommendation of the three senior offi¢ers next to the commandant of the post, “The name of the person selected by this council of three was submitted to post commandant, He indorsed and | forwarded it to the Secretary of War. The recom- meudavion always secured the appointment. The olli- | cers always selected the applicant who was known to | | them, and to whose society they did not object. Quite eften it was some former fellow officer who had lost His position in the army. During the war the matter was left pretty much to the General of the Army, as Was aiso the case justufier the war and during the ser- vice of General Rawlins as Secretary of War, When General Belknap came into oflice, in 1869, he removed, without consulting me, the sutler at Fort Laramie, Pulling in his place a man who was obuoxious to the cers at the post. I ousted Belknap’s appointee and | restored the old trader, though after the Congress of 1870 passed the act depriving the General of the Army | of all jurisdiction in the matter, and giving exclusive eoutrol thereof to the War Department, , WRURNAP REINSTATED HIS MLAs. | T thought it was unfair to deprive the officers of a Voice in choosing atrader. It scemed despotic to me and not in accordance with the genius of our republi- | can institutions. Living out on the far frontier, as it | Were m a little world to themselves, I looked upon frag | Wrong to force the soldiers to take any person wey did fot want. But the act was passed, and the army off. | cers, of course, subinitted.”? j “Has there been much complaint about Belknap’s | post traders “Oh, yes, there has been a good deal of dis: tion, Some of the, fellows appointed were regarded as suspicious characters and their society obnoxious to the oficers; but the question had been taken entirely | out of my Lauds, and 1 could say nothing without | intericring with the business of the Seeretary of War.’ “In view of recent developments, would you not | "recommend a re-establisument of the old system of | appointments?” } “Lwoutd. It would, in my opinion, be more satis- | factory, not only to tho army but the people gonerully. | Tt would make fraud almost impossible, and would be | More just, Ican think of a good many other changes fm the management of frontier alfuirs that would be galatary, Inasmuch as the army has to fight the In. divs, I think {t should have something to say about | their management. fhe policy of attaching the Indian | Bureau to the fnterior Department is all wrong. Bat this is a sunject the discussion of which would be use- | Jess and pomtiess now.” | “General, what were your personal feclings toward | Betknap*"’ | “Quite friendly, I have not approved everything done by Kelknap. In some instances 1 was ignored whiere | should not have been, and there was a strong ‘isposition on the art of the War Department to ab- the tnanagement of the army, Personally, how. Fer, I had only | KINDLY FEELINGS POR BELKNAP, and his disgrace is a cause of great regret to me.” “Mis it your opinion that tere has been any corrup. | mm copnection with the appoiutment of other posi- | rey” | “tis impossible that I should know anything post. ‘more than 150 trading posts on the frontier. Many are, perhaps, too small to excite the avarice of orative trade. ‘which has not yet been developed; but I give this as a ‘Mere speculation on my part.” “What do you think of Morton for Secretary of Wart” a would make a splendid War Secretary, He | party for the sutlership ut Fort Laramie, | the city of St. Loum Thereisa | erally esteemed, trve on this subject, but it tg quite hkely that the cor- | | ruption has been confined to the post at Fort Sill. There | gisiriot held its regular mecting last evening at No, 154 Dat at alarge proportion of them there is a | I fear there is a good deal of fraud | farmished, snd the correption that is now | bis official criminality is scarcely lesa. According to eropping out bad its origin at that time, At the safl- | the right rule of responsibility he is bound to be ing of the Port Royal expedition a sutler appoared | honest for his subordinates as well as for bimeeli— “Of course, I do not know the cause, but having lived in Washington during his tenure of office, I can form a pretty good idea of 1, In my opinion hisdown- ea of great intelligence, firm, and as honest as CM isloog. My opinion is that his acceptance of be js not likely, in view of the fact that Mor. ton is #o unequivocally and prominently before the people as a candidate for President.” GENERAL MCOOK ON BELKNAP, (Interview in the St. Louis Globe-Dewoerat.} “dT contidently expected the exposure, and knew that | it must come sooner or later.”” “Do you mean to say that the frauds alleged were | Known to you?” “Yes, to me and to every officer who has had gar- rison duty to perform iu tho West, for several years past. It is nota matter of wonderment to me, nor do 1 think it will be to them, that this widespread corrup- tion should have been exposed. "” “But, m youropinion, does the corruption extend | beyoud the post tradership at Fort Sill, winch is alleged to have been marketed away?” “There are OXK MUNPRED AND MIXETY-PIVE POSTS YET TO MBAR vROM, | aud rest assured the returns have not begun to come in yet. Dropping the question of fact, why should Fort ‘Sul be an exception iu this game of barter and trade hat has been yomg on? Does any one presume that | this fort affords the only corrupt exception, and that arule of bonest) management as to traderships pre- vuiled elsewhere? Why should Fort Sill have veen alove chosen for @ transaction of the character alleged, when otber posts may be as. readily manipulated by those at the head of the War Department ?”” “These are all grave questions, no doubt; but, Gen- eral, Jet me understand—Do you believe that the doubtful transactions showm to havo been engaged in by the Secretary of War extend to posts other than ; Fort Suny? “Do Lbelieveso! Yes, Ido Nay, Pthink I might | With propriety say that I kaow so, Now that this in! vestigation has been commenced by Congress, if there ts really a desiro to sift matters to the very bettom, let thom send for the post traders in all quarters, and there will be such revelations of corrupfon us will dwart the case already revealed into nothingness, This is but the entering wedge, which, if given the foree necessary, | will rend tbe entire system of post trading as now con- duetea.” “The matter of appointing post traders, thon, lies with the Secretary of War }” “Entirely. Formerly the Council of Administration at a post—this Council was made up of the three officers next in rank below the commanditg ollicer—choso A MAN YOR THR POSITION OF POSE SUTLER, ‘Their selection was a man of character, one who had a reputation jor honesty that he valued; ove who was their equal, and with whom they could associate on torms @f intjmacy, This selection was approved by the commanding officer, and, the matter being properly referred to the War Department, the appointment wag made.”” “What is the process now?” “In the year 1869, Mr. Hugh Campbell, of St, Louis, @ most reputable gentleman, recommended a certain The candi- date had an abundance of good words spoken for hitn; lis case was considered by the Council of Administra- tion, was approved by the commanding officer, and eventually he was appointed, He came to St, Louis, and, procuring a stock of goods, had it forwarded to | the fort; but before he could become settled in bis new position, along comes a Mosaic gentleman with a tresh commision of post sutler tn his pocket, upon which the ink was scarcely dry.’? “Was this a representative from the War Depart- ment?” e “Precisely, But the officers, with one accord, main- | taiped that they nad some rights in the promises that ' should be respected, and took steps to uphold the man whom they had recommended, The case was laid be- fore General Shermaa, who, with customary prompt- hess, issued an order upholding the first appointee, and leaving his would-be successor no recourse save through _ the War Department,” “Aud did thet terminate the matter?” “By no means, ‘This nay be properly said to have been the commencement of the TROUBLE BEIWREN SUERMAN AND BELKNAP, to which is due, as much as to auything, the present locatiou of military headquarters at St. Louis. ‘The issue of that slight contest for the post tradorship of Fort Laramie showed to Secretary Belknap the fact that he way not without restriction, and thut, as mat- ters then stood, the marketing of post positions was not free from the danger of exposure. Therolore, something mast be Accordingly, in 1870, he secured the passage by Congroas of an act transferring trom our hands altogether the power to choose, recom- mend or appoint post traders, and giving it into t hands of the Secretary of War, without any check or balance wheel to prevent that concerning which the Jaw is so explicit in its mandates.” “You mean, 1 presume, concerning the sale of ap- poirtive positions!” “Precisely, That divine command, ‘Thou shalt not steal,’ is no more plain, no more explicit, than is the | law pertaining to and governing the filling of these post positions; yet Its imfraction 1s the rule and its observance the exception, The law speaks in unmis- takable terms against the farming out of these post po- sitions, and yet I may say, that in the majority of cases the person appointed seidom, if ever, sees the post. What istheresalt? The actual traders and sut- Jers are those who can and will pay the most for the opportunity to speculath off the necessities of the soldicr, and, as a class, they are a sot of thieves, and instead of a Liessing, are a bane to the service.” “Do you know of any individval cases of ‘farming out’ that you can mention—that is, in addition 'to the case of Marsh, which bas been made prominent ?"’ “1 should not have to go a great way—not outside of van resident here who lives upon the proceeds of a sutlership which he is presumed (o hold at Fort Union, He had friends powerful enough to reach the Secretary of War, and he was appointed. But be prefers the comforts of civili- zation toa rude lite in camp; therefore, he farms “You have seen considerable service in Texas, Ger | eral; what was your experience down there as bearing upon this question #”” “Let me give a single instance, and I think it will suffice, since {t appears to be tho rule of proceduro in | most cases, Not a great while since there was a @at or to be appointed at Fort Concho, A young man, gen- atned Conrad, made application for the place, and as we officers all knew him to be a gen- | tleman and above the practices of the ordinary camp- trader we locked horns to get him appointed. He had a superabundance of recommendations, and ail who . knew him seemed to have had a desire to put them. selves on record in his tavoy. He wout to Washington to lend force to his application. “About the same tine there started for the seat of the national govern- ment a miserable, loathsome specimen of the Hebrew | race, who had in certain transactions given good cause for unpleasant suspicions, He, too, was an applicant for THK SUTLERSIIP AT FORT CoNcHo, Well, Conrad had no mouey to buy himself position if he would have done so, but the Hebraic applicant, after getting to Washington and going over the ground, sent | t home for $2,000, which was forwarded to him, and whon he returned to Concho he bore a post trader’s commission in his poeket,”” “Bat bad he succeeded in sponding his money at the capitaly” “Well, 1am not prepared to say that he paid his | money over the counter of the War Department, but he somehow got his commission, in spite of the supe- | | rior qualifications of his rival. Then again I know of A case where one man operates two posts, holding one jo hisown name and the other in the name of his | wite’s brother, Who have established their reliability by long’ years of service have been turned out to make way for those who have no scruples about bearing down upon the screws in order to make the most of the situation, It is the man who will pay the most for the privilege that gets the position and not he who is qualified by a record of probity, BELKNAP’S TROUBLE TO BLOW OVER. The Republicaa Association of the First Assembly Franklin street, General Joseph C, Pinckney ad- dressed the meet.ng in reference to the impeachment and fall of Secretary Belknap, He argued that all men are liable to fall if exposed to greater temptations than they can withstand He did not think that the trouble would affect the republican party in the coming Presidential cam- paign. He believed it would blow over, as have many other things equally as astounding, and that there was more made of it Fepablican had fallen tha if Belknap had beep @ democrat, Governor Tilden was & reformer $0 a certain @xient, but the sveaker shourht lad fifteen years of age. Old sutlers | that bis reform prinéipie was only usdd to obtain the PRESS REFLECTIONS ON BELKNAP. — President Grant knows as well as any one what the living is in Washington, apd when he saw the luxuri- ous household of his intimate friend Belknap, threce fold more expensive thin his income would warrant, he must bave known that his Minister of War could not.do this and be acting honorably. — Westliche Post. The Louisville Ledger says the news of Belknap’s guilt was told in Louisville before it was suspected at the White House. Ibis bata repetition of the old truth that when honor and integrity are sacrificed to false pride and a contemptible love of display there will come a bitter day of reckoning, The extravagance which must de- rive its life from illy-gotten spoils leads surely and swiftly to social degradation. —Louisville Ledger \dem.) The deep disgrace does not attach to Belknap alone. “It casts odidin in'@ measure upon the Its dark shadow is thrown back’ upon the party. It contaminates all within its reach, It weak- ens the confidence of the people in pubiic ry ives asevere shock to public virt integrity. foucr Other nations wil ‘snceringly % if such official malfeasance is an vatyrowth of inati- tions. —Toledu Commercial (rep.) : It is not the fall of Belknay which aisgrnees the tion or disgraces anybody, That which is a iagrace to this nation, a disgrace to represe! throughout the world and a disgrace. civilization, is the moustrous and unfathomable corrup- Won of our political lite, of which the Belknup business: is butone more manitestation.—Chicago Times (ind, As to Be'knap, there should be no relaxation ia | proceedings against him, If he could not maintain the cial elevation appropriate to his office he surely could him, for his erime against Justice and the nation is @ grievous one,—Dubuque (Lowa) Times (rep.) . It is shocking, scandaious, terrible. It is a disgrace to the entire country.—Burlington (lowa) Hawkeye (rep.) There are times when gin overreaches itself; wheb, emboldened by lidense, it grows careless of ceulment; when it dar too far. Corruption bas, at times in the history of the as. serted itself to dominativu; but when it has dene so the nation has fallen, and has fallen hopelessly, The revelation of ¥ sterday must restore to. people of the Cuited States, As lon, the compara. Uvely unknowy were uncovered by the huud of anves- Ugation the tide of corruption rau along its concealed ducts, brimming and disregarded. ‘Do-day it 18 a Cabi- net olficer, and the hand of pattie probity aud. parity to hin and thence to the tetid siream which is Z to flood and malarialize the eutire nation. - Louisville Courier-Journas (em. ) “Villany unprecedented |”—Albany Argus (dem) © The moral of this national disgrace—this great indi- vidual calamity—is easily pointed. We ue not to hold the two wives entirely reaponslbte for ‘ qriner are we to take the husband, wlio was bat them and lully cognizant of their proceedings, the sole guilty party. 1t was 4 faiso social system—a system that needs reformation—by which the Belknaps were ruined. —Cineinnati Enquirer (dem.) A thundervolt from a clear sky.—Kalamazoo (Mich.) Telegraph (rep.) $ Humiliating as are the circumstances attending the downlall of Secretary Belknap, there is a w! bublic apprehension that it is but the beginning of de- Velopments that will show how completely rot and corrupt is political and official society at the capital, There is tear that if the committees of tnves- tigation go at their work with the earuest purpose of finding out things Mr. Belknap’s is not the only head ‘that will fall in ciagrace, and thatothers PEN na of high trust will step down aud out, covered withcon- fusion and dishonor.—Cincinnati Commercial (ind), Belknap was picked up for pevetery of War because rant knew iat he was personally a good fellow, and and, above all, because he was the sort of man Military Ring of the White House wanted. Thus Bel- Knap became all at ou man. He had to sus- tain a sense of grandeus ‘incinnati Commercial (ind. ‘The biow fell, and, swift as Lucifer out of heaven, the Secretary of War went to his moral death. The guilly pair are now in. very much the same as that of Adam and Eve driven oe BE their Eden. A stain is in them that can nover removed, and wherever y may wanier their crime will sollow them. Jt matters little, so far ag punishment is con- cerned, whether the Secretary be impeac! by Coa- gress or not. It matters title whether he be impris- onedor not. He carrios bis punishment with him like the Ancient Muriver. His soldier's record has been honor- able, but it can avail Lim nothing now. «Her bewitch- ing beauty and brilliancy, her diamonds, laces and Velvets make no amends for her grievous fault, Itisa icture of a wounn’s silly Vanity and of a man’s moral weakness. —Chicago Tribune (rep.) MOODY AND SANKEY. The crowd at the Hippodrome at noon yester- day was somewhat smaller than last week at the same hour, but, in religious matters, Monday is gen- erally upon asa dullday. Messra, Moody and Sankey Were both present and several ministors trom the different churches in this and neighboring cities, | Among them were Rev. Dr. Foss, President of the Wesleyan College, Middletown; Rev. Dr. Anderson, Baptist; Rev. Dr. A. D. Vail, Methodist; Rev. George H. Hepworth and Mr. A. C.-Arnold, of the Church ot the Disciples; Rev. Mr, Osterhout, of Peekskill, Rev, Dr. Hiscox, of Mount Vernon; Rev. Mr. Haywood, of Paterson; Rev. Messrs, Wilson, Murphy, Coucklyn, Kirkpatrick and McCampbell, Presbyterian. i | Rev. Dr. King, Methodist, and Rev. Mr. boken. Hepworth read outa number of requests for © Alter the singing of the 110th hymn, ‘Joy to the world, the Lord is come,” by Mr. San! a a the con- grogation, Mr. Moody read the 105th and 107tb Psalms, and prayed God to biess ali those that were presest and fill them SoS Holy Spirit, Hoe was glad that Christ's beeu accepted by so aad Rehools | Rev. Dr. hoped that thousands more would accept it. Thee, Ob! Lord that so many Sunday and institutions and colleges and churches are beginning to inquire the way to Jesus, young converts are finding the way to | _ As the oceasion yesterday was a praise Mr. Moody called on several ministers present to give an account of the work in their churches. Rev. Dr. Hep- worth was the first to come forward. He suid that the ! Pag) work in bis chureh was making great progress. je was never more happy than on Sanday morning when thirty-five names were sent in to him for entrance into the membership of his eh thought ‘that the autograph Mr. Moody and Mr. Sankey waa written on the heart of each of i out 1 was told to him, He was a large hi his position and receives a goodly share of the spoils. convivial man, who had numbers cant com: panions. Abouta year ago he was e to a beau tilul young Jady, and everything was smiling before him, His fortune was ample, and her love for was tender and true; but the td lady died denly of some acute disease, and he became a broken- hearted man. He cursed heaven and earth and rushed | into all kinds of dissipation. For months he plunged | inte all the vices of this great city, trying to drown thooght. One morning, after a night's di he came dowa to bis counting room and met one of hie at € e old {nends there awaiting him. He.was looking through the sate that morning, and he brought out a packet that had isin there undisturbed for nearly | With the packet was a littio silver key, it, and there tay therein a. tress of golden haw had cut off when the young lady tay in her coffin. | took up the lock of bair and sad do you think [ shall ever seo friend answered him **Yes;"’ but bape poe Ed, ; there is no,room for me where is I we led, and will have a changed man before I can feel | fs any hope of it’ A month whose nume was Ed. Joined George jomed it, and he had saw on a man, Dr, Ledge ge, Dr. Vail, Dr. King, Rev, Mr. ypbell others, ‘who gave glowing accounts of the Messrs. Moody and revival on their tions. ‘The meeting ovacluded with the hymn, “Praise God, from whom all — EVENING SERVICES. ‘The Hippodrome was crowded to the outer wall last evening. The meeting was conducted by Mr. Sinkey, as Mr, Moody presided over @ private meoting | at Association Hall for the benefit of young con | verts and inquirers, all others being excluded, ‘The platforms were occupied by Christian workert ‘and ministers from all the evangelical churc.es, Mr | ‘Thurlow also prevent, and sat with the re \S Wot Soir was stronger than on any evening | Garing tho past two weoks, and assisted Mr Sankey | the hymn ‘Scatter Seeds of Kindness, 1 tents rendered with thrilling eifect | Mr Sanl announced that the meeting last ‘the in, Was peculiarly a as was phgrny y hanks to God for the He shor a the people of Now York | he introdueed the +A George Hepworth, whoad- | dressed the con; 5 Mr, toon sung the hymn, ‘Watehing and Waiting for Ma” The Key, » Fors fob lowed, and of innumerable bless. ings | God church, Rev. M bestowed upon his r. Murphy, of the Mariners’ church; Rev. Dr, Hastings, and Rev. Dr. made short aud the meeting concluded with the Cay 4 oft , yo sixty-firat hymn, “Go Bury Thy Sorrow. meu’s meeting, which was held in- the Fourth renal hall, wos subsequently attended by 3,000 persona, It wae over by the Rev. Dr. Hepworth, T there will be meetings in the Madi hal at twelve o'clock M., at jour o'clock in the and at eight o'clock in the evening, at all of which Mr, | Moody and Mr, Sank: ill be present, lea THE CAPRICE RAISED,