The Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [Va.]) 1822-1822, 1822-04-13
Congressional Proceedings.
From tie National imteAgencer.

| Hon. Nr. VUtHeT, " NOIUS-O"f o'o
] ma, IN the House Of Representatives.
| April 2, on
i BOUNTY LANDS.
/ RESOLVED, That the committee on Militia.
ry affairs be instructed to enquire into the
expediency of granting bounty OF land
TO the commissioned officers and pri-
Yates who enlisted and served y months
/ during the late war against Great Britain;
and who by existing laws are not entitled
to receive bounty in land.
| Mr.. Speaker, in offering this resolution !!
am not free from apprehensions that it may
be unavailing. and have to regret that |
cannot make more favorable calculations
| on the result, and almost anticipate some
objection, not on the ground OF principle,
| for it is evidently subject worthy OF en-
ouiry, and demands our attention; but my
| fear arise from past experience, this being
| the third Congress have made the same
| effort to effect a measure so equitable IN
its operations; and since my commence
ment, as member of this house, have all
| ways viewed it as radical defect in our
military regulations, and ever entertained
a wish for a more liberal policy. Yet the
unsuccessful attempts have made has by
no means abated my zeal or altered my
opinion in the pursuit of what ! conceived
to be my duty in soliciting claim OF mo-
raj right and equal justice for every soldier;
and the present Congress being composed
of some new materials, many new members
perhaps with new opinions, had induced
me on this proposition to hope for better
success. The object Of this resolution was
to present to this house and to the nation
the great inequality that has, and does
now exist, in rewarding the services OF the
different classes OF military men; soldiers
who enlisted during the late war, IN full
confidence Of obtaining bounty Ct land
from government which was promised and
now denied to a part OF them. BY the
existing avs, or rather by the construc.
ton of those laws by the officers OF 60
vernment. great injustice arose as II re-
CARDS the rights of certain classes of mill
tary men. And we who are here in our
legislative capacity. for the purpose OF ad-
ministering equal and indiscriminate Jus.
tice to all our citizens are morally bound
to keep open doors; not give 10 ssme and
withhold from others who have an equita-
BILE claim on government for military SER
vices, and who are truly sufferers by the
war A number of our citizens, advanc Cd
in life, who had families. enlisted for five
years Or during the war, and continued IN
service some one, two, and three years,
when mpeled from the impulse of hlial
affection and care of their families, they
procured substitutes, for which they gave
| more than their bounty wages, and return
ed home. Now the question is or ought
| to be, who is responsible for the perform
ance OF the substitute, the government or
| the original soldier? | have always un-
derstood that, according TO strict military
! rules, when man was received In place
| of another, by the commanding officer,
| the original soldier having no control o.
| yer bis future conduct, was exempt from
any further accountability for his service.
| 1t was so in the revolutionary war, and be
| believed the true discipline in all nations,
| although it had been otherwise considered
| in the late war. Another class who We're
| enlisted were minors, who continued in
| service some of them to the expiration of
| their time, and were discharged at the re-
! quest of their parents or guardians, as be-
| ing under age. Sir, by the present sys-
| TEN both, these classes, the old and the
young, are excluded from bounty OF
| land with their fellow soldiers, although
| they rendered the same service, perform
| ed the same duties, encountered the same
| dangers, faced the enemy 10 the frozen
| regions of the north, marched to the sui
try and sickly climate of the south, fought
our battles, gained our victories, suffered
all the privations of a military lite, and,
| after having sustained innumerabIe hard
ships, done ninety and nine good turns in
the service of their country, should, tbro'
misfortune, fail by the misconduct of their
substitutes to fulfil the last days duty,
must be refused of ,heir' rights, go unre
warded, and turned of: as castaways!-
This hard measure operates severely on
the feelings as well as the interest OF that
class OF our fellow citizens. They may
well excaim in the language of the poet,
! Oh cease! forbear to give the fatal stroke,
And wound the heart that is already broke.
Sir, | am grati6ed in being able to as
sert, that | believe the district represent
has furnished more soldiers, during the
late war, than any other section of the
union, in proportion to its population; a
mong whom are some of that unfortunate
description nave mere HotICeu Wno ic-
turned from the army, their health i'm
paired, their constitutions broken. their
families made poor by their absence, and
now without redress, unless government
should reward them with bounty of land
in proportion TO their services. The re-
collection of past events often arrests our
sensibility and teach US to feel for others
what we have felt ourselves in the old
war. Let US, then turn aside from the