Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1862-01-23
THE ALLOTMENT SYSTEM.


Tn No one thing connected with our immense
yolunteet force has there been more exact APP
rrec;ation of the wants of our soldiers display
ed than by the general government in origina-
ting the allotment system, and by certain of our
own State offices in perfectng its details and in
reducing its operations to a system at once eff
fective and inexpensive. Through its instru-
mentality the accumulated wages of our brave
men in the field are securely held for their own
benefit, or safely transmitted to their families
and friends without risk or expense to them
selves They generally will desire to save as
much Of their pay as they can consistently wish
a proper regard for their comfort in camp and
this can be safely done by signifying on the al
lotment rolls the portion of their monthly pay
that they thus wish to lay aside for themselves,
their families or friends. Men from every State
have been appointed by the general government
to visit the camps of the volunteers from their
respective States and circulate allotment rolls
for this purpose. The money thus allotted is
paid by the government TO the order of the
Treasurer of the State, and he RENTS at each
pay day the sums allotted to the several per-
sons designated by the soldiers on the allot-
ment rolls. But if no person is thus designa-
ted the money passes to the credit of the sol
der, in the Treasurer's office, and, if permitted
to remain six months interest at the rate of
five per cent per annum is added thereto, and
also at the end of every succeeding six months.
Thus the Treasury becomes Savings Bank
for the soldier, and the State is saved the ne
cessity of going into the market for just SO
much money as is deposited by our patriotic
sodery. The use of the money that is not
specially allotted for the benefit of particular in
dviduals, at five per cent interest, is all the
benefit the State receives for doing all the
business and guaranteeing the safety of the de-
posits
This allotment of course relates only TO the
monthly pay the soldier receives from the Uni
ted States, and has 10 reference to the seven
dollars per month paid by this State.
The wisdom of the measures thus devised
TO secure to the soldier the full benefit of his
hard earnings must be apparent to all, and the
benefits that will flow from it are incalcuable
1t would be deporablc indeed if our young
men, suddenly called from the industrial pur-
suits and economical habits of home-life, should
use their full wages in the many foolish ways
incident to camp-liie and which are constantly
devised by the ingenuity of greedy suffers to
devour their earnings, giving them love for
the kind OF reckless life it would foster, and at
the close of the war returning them to their
homes without money, and with habits totally
unsuited to the peaceful pursuits of civil life.
on the other hand the restraining influences
which saving money for dependent families and
friends or for ones own future use and rational
enjoyment will exercise, will be productive of
the highest good of the volunteer, to saw moth
ing OF his preservation from habits of extrava-
gance, intemperance and vice always engen-
dered by the prodgal use of money in the only
possible ways. that camp affords.
The Vermont Commissioners have nearly
completed their visit TO the camps of our vol
unteers, and partl, from their suggestions and
partly from other sources we are enabled to ap-
proXim ate the amount thus allotted. They be-
lieve, we understand, that the amount allotted
by the six regiments now in the field, including
the cavalry, will amount to S60,O 900 each pay day
lev cry two months) and possibly will reach
5 75,000. We areI informed that Company +
of the 18th Vermont, recruited in this village
have allotted $500, or 800 per month of their
pay. Allotment rolls have been circulated in
the Sth regiment, in camp here and we learn
that the allotment of the soldiers thus far will
average nearly $40 Fer month"; or $50 each pay
day,
With eight ,egimcnts, two batteries and three
companies of sharp shooters, our state will soon
have $500 men in the field. The alotments of
the men will not average much less than 81 |
per month each. AT this rate the amount sent
back to the State to be kept on deposit draw
ing interest, or to be disbursed to families and |
friends. will amount totSll0,OO0 every two
months, or to over SereR hundred thousand
dollars per annuni.
Surely Vermont has reason to be proud of
the character of her volunteers. They have
set proud example, one that does honor to the
land of their friends and their homes, and
speaks volumes for their character and worth.
We venture to say that in this matter of alIot-
ment OF pay they stand at the head of the vol
unteer army.