Of this and other negligence and imprudence the practical result has been that a large proportion of our troops were armed with guns of a very inferior quality; that tens of thousands of the refuse arms of Europe are at this moment in our arsenals, and thousands more still to arrive, not one of which will outlast a single campaign, while most of them will near be issued at all, being entirely unfit to be placed in the hands of civilized troops. Add to this that in many cases these unserviceable arms were paid for at rates which, under a system of vigilance and obedience to law, would have procured improved rifles of the first class.

As regards orders or contracts for domestic arms, though the abuses in this branch are less glaring those above referred to, yet the system here also has been essentially faulty, and the loss to the Government thence resulting very large, while evils other than excess in prices have resulted from neglect of wholesome precautions and of checks and guards strictly demanded by law.

These contracts are chiefly for the Springfield rifle musket. The quality of this weapo- the best infantry arm in the world - has been carefully and sufficiently guarded.

But, first, the orders were greatly in excess of what the Ordnance Office estimated to be the wants of the service. One million one hundred and sixty-four thousand Springfield muskets had been contracted for, while the Chief of Ordnance reports to this commission that half a million is the number actually needed for a year to come, beyond what the Springfield Arsenal can supply.

To relieve the Government as far as, with due regard to equitable considerations,lay in our power from this excess of arms, the commission, governed as to the amount in each case by its peculiar features, have made certain reductions in a large majority of these- the total reductions thus made amounting to 473,000 guns. This leaves a margin, over and above the half million estimated to be needed, of 191,000 guns for probable or possible failures to make prompt deliveries, in part or in whole, by the contractors.

The legal grounds on which the right to make these deductions rest are fully set forth in the decision in Mason's case, No. 72. While actual investments, made in good faith, have, as far as the public interests would permit, been respected, the maxim has been recognized that the citizen must, in his dealings with the Government, as in his general conduct, be held to know the law and cannot be permitted to profit by its violation. The government of on civilized people has ever been administered on a different principle, nor, indeed, could it be.

Secondly. The price - in every instance $20 per gun, including appendages - is, the commission now believe, higher by several dollars that it need or ought to have been, at least when the contract was for a greater number than 25,000.

It is true that the was and unnecessary number of Springfield muskets contracted for, especially at such high rates, has very sensibly increased to the manufacturer the cost of the arms by causing an unexampled demand for materials (particularly of suitable iron for gun barrels, an article of which the present supply is limited) and for skilled labor; and in the early part of our investigations this consideration, together with the want of accurate and reliable information on the subject, so far weighed with us that we confirmed the first four contracts for 50,000 guns each, made with experienced manufactures, at the price of $20, which had been fixed by the Ordnance Office. But as we proceeded in our investigations, and as additional