Shoddy ... so so shoddy. And corrupt! part 5

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Shoddy ... so so shoddy. And corrupt!  part 5


(from the article by Timothy Koenig)


"The federal government was cheated on many types of items. In September 1861, Fremont commissioned a fort to be built in St. Louis. The majority of the fort had already been built, but a separate builder received $150,000 for the seven days of work that it took to complete the fort. 

Quartermaster General Robert Allen was able to catch the closing stages of this deceit and stop another $60,000 from being paid. Animals were also the subject of corruption. The government once bought 411 horses from contractors in St. Louis—76 were in working condition, but all but five were too sick, worn out, or old to be used. The other five were already dead. Another $40,000 was lost on the transaction.
Secretary of War Cameron played a large part in crippling the Union war effort. He commissioned his good friend Alexander Cummings, whom he described as “a capital man,” to buy supplies for the War Department. 

Cummings did purchase some military-related items, including completely unserviceable carbines for $15 apiece, but he also spent more than $21,000 on such debatable items as herring, porter, ale, straw hats, linen pantaloons, and 23 barrels of pickles for the soldiers. 

Union supply trains were often needlessly rerouted through Cameron’s home state of Pennsylvania on the flimsiest of excuses, further lining the pockets of his political allies."


(My comment - Like always, a committee was formed to try to find out who to blame for all this graft. By the end of the committee’s investigation, it was estimated that fully one-fourth of the government’s spending had been lost to fraud. Makes me wonder about how things are going today.


After Edwin M. Stanton became Secretary of War, and Meigs became Quartermaster General, stricter regulations were put in place. And competitive bidding drove the costs down further.


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