Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1864-09-09

A soldier belonging to Co. B, Doth Indiana
volunteers. writes US from the camp near Peters
burg, Va, under date of August 23d, PROFOUND
ing certain questions to Gov. Morton AZ that
public functonary claims 10 be the especial friend
OF the soldier, We presume he will condescend to
answer these interrogatories. We fully sat-
is6ed that deception was practised in 1862 to pro
cure recruits for the old regiments We have
seen statements in a number of our exchanges
similar to those given below, from col
diers whohad been duped into enlisting in
the old regiments by representations that they
would only be required to serve out the unexpired
term of the regiment. The soldiers themselves
are convinced that Morton was a party to the
swnde Here are some extracts from the letter
to the Governor:
"SIR: Did you not, iu July or August, 1862,
publish and cause to be put up throughout the
State of Indiana. handbls calling for recruits to
fill up the old regiments. and did not those bills
state that you had permission from the War De
partment to FIJI up their ranks with recruits for
the unexpired time of the regimentg And did
not the bills further state that the recruits would
be credited with the time the regiment had
served?
Will you deny that you told several of these
recruits, when they came to indianapolis To be
mustered into the service and refused to take the
oath 'for three years. unless sooner discharged ;"
there were no other kind of papers but those
that the regiment thus sworn in, and that our
papers had to be made out as theirs were. Did
you not then offer them some of those handbils,
and say to them, Here. take this. and that will
show how you were enlisted, and it will get your
discharge If they try to keep you after the time
of the regiment is out: but | tell you don't
want you any longer than for the unexpired
term of the reg iment for we have no authority
to enlist you for longer period than the regi
ment has to serve"
"Now, if person wishes to enter the United
States service, to whom must he 60 to enlist with
any assurance of not getting swindled2 Must he
go personally to Abraham Lincoln or General
Grantl de can't depend on what the recruiting
officer tells him, nor what the man says who
musters him in. Neither can he put any faith
in the statements of his Governor. for il seems
the War Department is not responsible for bar
gains Ire may see fit to make. The army regu-
lations afix heavy penalty on any officer who
NAV enlist under false pretenses; there is
nothing said about that. however, in this war
All they are after is the men, and they don't care
how they get them.
Now, Mr.. Governor, will YOU be so kind as to
inform the public how a person can enter the
service without being swindled y
The writer proceeds to show why these deceiv-
ed recruits complain of this matter When the
old regiment for which they were recruited is
disbanded they are distributed through different
regiments and put under strange officers. If ia
vors are to be granted. these men do not receive
them, but if extra hard duties are to be perform
ed they are called on for the work
As these men were deceived as TO their term of
enlistment, and Morton was party TO il. he
should try to have them discharged. Here is
good opportunity for him to make good his pro-
fessions of being "the soldiers friend We
can give him no encouragement to hope that
thy will vote for him. -. T. M" adds that he
wishes to see all good men vote against liars and
swindlers. We infer that he alludes to the 'sol-
dier's friend.-[ Sullivan Democrat.