John Harrison Wilson, The life of Charles Henry Dana

[309] coal or wood, and so on, through the entire list, nearly every article presented its chance for sophistication and dishonest profit. Every contractor had to be watched, and when it is remembered that the quartermasters and inspectors were not always honest, but frequently stood in for a share of the profit, it will be readily understood that Dana's time, as well as that of the first assistant secretary, was constantly employed. A system of detection had to be organized and carried into effect, and the more successful it was the greater the outcry and the harder the pressure from the politicians. War governors, representatives, senators, and even the President himself were pressed into the service of the “best citizens” who were caught cheating the government; but withal Dana pursued the noiseless tenor of his way, sure always of Stanton's support, and that the interests of the army and of the country would be promoted by a rigid enforcement of the laws and the regulations in regard to army contracts.

On the whole this work was carried on with increasing success, so that long before the end of the war supplies of all classes were secured fully up to contract and specifications, and the wants of the army were filled with promptitude and liberality never surpassed in any country. This was by no means a pleasant or popular service. It was seldom if ever praised by the newspapers, but the men who managed it are certainly entitled to as much praise as those who faced the enemy in the field. The cooperation of all was necessary to success, and the work of Stanton and his assistants, it must be admitted, was not less necessary than that of the soldiers themselves.

During this winter Dana saw much of the leading men at Washington. As a trusted agent of the War Department, who had been through both the Vicksburg and Chattanooga campaigns, it was correctly assumed that he