, 1860-04-27


b fe,o instqnocs, in The officers Of small squad
p NJ men caiLcd companies" "After The dat
| If The discharge Of the last of The roianteerS
no STAFF or oiher officers, ercept quarteIm0s
icrS and commiSsarieS, hare been reported fo
pay and after sud time The quarternrasier
and cOmBliSSarieS hare been aH0red, pith then
= clerks, three months additional 10 make GU,
aud close their accounts" QHarigrriastCr!
aud eommissaries, 1riere they appear to har'
been Actually doiag duty, and 10 hare render
ed accounts, hare been recognised. THE ma
tare Of The serrice IN a sparseiy settled c0untrl
is presumed To hare required The number actu
ally on duty. Some of them hare, hOteeTr,
been reduced in rank, and of course as to pay
rrhiis! fe,o others, arhO seemed 10 hare per
formM no duty and rendered no returns, hare
teen stricken eft entirely"
All this he has done without tho slight
est warrant from either the letter or the
spirit of his MISREPRESENTATION the
slightest particle of evidence-in direct
rontravention of the certificates and state
ments of both the commission and the ter
ritorial authorities, and has even sneered at
The organization itself by speaking Of com
panies called out by proclaim Ition uS ''small
squads of men called companies" As
the Auditor has neglected to report the
amount respectively due each individual, as
required by the resolutions, it is impossible
to tell who will be injuTiously affected by
this Unauthorized procedure. The words
of the preamble of the resolutions are to
make report of the amount
due to each company and individual
1t is manifest that SO long as the eom
mission sat, there was a necessity for the
constant employment Of officers Of the sew
era departments with the necessary clerks
to finish up the business. In the statement
Of General Miller, quartermaster and COM
missary general of the Washington yolnu-
teers, it is demonstrated that lie was kept
on duty by the written order of the exeeu-
tive Of Washington for the purpose of pre-
paring and completing the papers according
TO the views of the commission, as shown
rby their correspondence with the executive.
This single case will show the practical in
Justice OF the decision Of the Auditor, in
his whole action, cutting off service after
the close of Geld operations absolutely iu-
dispensable to arrange and complete the
inai papers. g.
The practical injustice Of thesecond res
olution itself, allowing the volunteers only
the puy of the regular service, is appareat
from the fact that no sccount whateveris
taken Of tho heavy expense involved in re-
cruiting, diseiplining, preparing, aud send
ing regular troops to the Geld, amounting,
in the case Of troops serving in Oregon aud
Washington, to at least $3.50 to $500 per
man. The expenses of the volunteers com
menced when those of the regular troops
had reached this figure, but Of the advan-
tage of which, under the resolutions Of the
House, the volunteers are entirely deprived.
The volunteers were obliged at a moments
warming to abandon their usual avoeations,
TO let their property go TO ruin, in order 70
save the country from Indian rapine and
massacre The loss Of property, particu-I
larly in stock, was very great in conse-
quence. 1t would seem that equity requir-
ed that compensation should be in some
proportion to the wages Of the country.
and accordingly the legislature Of Oregon
established the rate at 50 per day, the
practical minimum of the regular service.
THIS same consideration Of equity has gov
erned Congress in the settlement Of the
war claims already provided for on the
western coast
Nothing but the extraordinary danger
and distress Of the country could induce
well-todo farmers, having large lands and
herds, and living in comfort with their fam
lilies, to shoulder the musket, 60 hundreds
Of miles from home in the depth Of winter,
and pass through an arduous campaign,
freqrently without tents, aud at times do
priYed OF necessary food and clothing
Yet it is fact that the great bulk OF vol
unteer troops were composed Of such mate
rials, and we're drawn from localities fur-
thest remote fsomdanger They were deter
mined to drive the foe from the frontier,
and nobly and gallantly did they do it,
Thus whilst there were at times nearly fout
thousand Indians on Whidby's island alone,
and at times much disafected, nearly two
thirds Of tue able-bodied men on that island,
and large proportion Of the able-bodled
men both Of Jefferson county 10 the west
and Whatcom county to the north, moved
to the eastern side Of the sound, ascended
the Snobowmish river, and penetrated the
forests thence 10 the war ground OF the
hostile Indians Here they were on daty
during their whole period OF service. II IS
true there was no war on the western side
of the sound, as stated by General Wool;
but it is also true that the citizens Of that
portion of the Territory, in comparatively
very large numbers, were to be found oper-
ating against the enemy in the forests aud
fastness east of the sound, where General
Wool admits the war ground to have been.
All these considerations apply with equal
force to the operations of both Territories
east of the Cascade mountains and those in
southern Oregon.
j. Ross Browne, esq, in his report to
the Department OF the Interior on the In
dian war in Oregon and Washington, says;
"On my arrival in Oregon conferred
with all the leading citizens, and obtained
+ the views of nearly every officer in the