Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1865-01-04

ttatLltI VIII the panAitF @ IYtty lty lAsAaS4i-
ed to false swearing before It. That the
Board make monthly reports TO the Gov
ernor and Auditor; and IFS allowance be
paid, wit6in the limits Of appropriations
made, from time to time, by the Lezisla-
ture. This amount Of confd fdence can Ger
tainly be TepOssd in this body of State eil.
GERS; and they can more carefully aud
safely pass upon these elainas than commit
tees or menlbersOf your bodies, under the
pressure Of legislative dulles. Unless some
provision Of this character is made, they
will press upon you in the form Of petitions,
and demand legislative action. %. he
REe1MENTAL FLAGS. 5-as q
A large number of the Ohio regiments
have presented their old battle flsgs 10 the
Stale. These are part Of our history.
They constitute an Important portion of
the record Of the patriotism, devotion and
sacrifice -four people, who have volunteer
ed for the defense Of our common country;
and as such should be saerealy p preserved
and honorablg cherished. The Adjutant-
General presents list of them, and sug
gesLs thsir deposit in the vacant panels Of
the rotunda Of the capitol building. No
better arrangement occurs TO me; and If
you concur in it, recommend 8 Sufficient
appropriation for the purpose, to be ex
peRdedunder the direction of that officer
ra--zs REEIEF LAW. a .5eI
As apprehended would be the case, the
fund for the relief of the families of sold
iers and marines has proved inadequate to
mset the wants of this meritorious class Of
persons; owing in part 10 the nsuffciency
of the tax; but mainly to the largely in
creased expe nses Of living. The families
# the National Guard made 8 censiders-
bic drain upon il; during the hundred days
they were in service. In view Of this, lap
propriated tho sumof fvo thousand dollars
from the Extraordinary Contingent Fund,
to this class of families, which was disburs-
ed by ihs fcveral county military commit
tees and accomplished much good. Aswe
cannot reasonably expect any material re-
ducliOn in the pricss Of living during the
next year, there would seem to be no re-
sort but an iucresssof the fund. For this
purpose I1uggest an increased levy of one
mill on the dollar.
The workings of tho law have not been
as smooth as expected and yet I do not
know that any amendment OF revision
would aid in the accomplishment of its OBJ
iects. The conflicting constructions of its
provisions have believe, become recon-
ciloi. Asa general thing, the county Off
ceR have performed their duties under it
with reasonable pronptitu1e. Numerous,
aE1 10 some cases serious, complaints have
been made az ainst Township Trustees, in
regard to the distribution of the fund.
The military committees have rendered
very valuable assistance in investigating
these complaints. In soma cases The omiE-
sions were found TO be accidental; in others
they arose from the insHtiieiency of the
fund TO meet the expectations of the par
ties; in very few they we're found to bs ex-
aggsrsted and fraudulent; and in many,
far TOO many, they we're found to be cor
rectly stated, and properly attributable to
the political hostility of the officers, not
only 70 the provisions of the law, but TO
the prosecuiiJn Of the war, and the cause
of the country. In no case reported to me
did this amount to absolute refusal 10 per
form the required duties; but in some in
stances they were tardly performed; 10
others, women were required to walk long
distances to get signatures to orders; in
Others, Hgain, the payments to them were
accompanied with harsh, and in some ess-
es ungentlsmsnly language, which in
many instances deferred females from sec
ond applications. 1t is painful to be COM
pslled to record these facts yet it affords
me pleasure 10 state that such conduct has
not teen generally manifested in he polit-
ieai party opposed to the government. The
cases are insulated, and have usually been
found connected with ignorance or intense
partisan bitterness
Township officers are under the imme-
diate control of tho county authorities.
Il is only when the latter refuse to act, and
correct abuses, thsttbe Executive is author
lied TO assume ccntrolsof the fund. But
one case of this kind has boon reported to
me- The Commissioners were Immediate
ly notified that the provisions of the law
would be enforced; upon which the mat
ter was adjusted between them and the
Military Committee, and further action
was thus avoided.
The reports required by the seventh
section of the law are not made with suf-
Hcient promptitude AT the present time
of writing, reports have been received
from only twenty-five counties and many
of these are defective, by reason OF reports
not having been made by trustees to county
officers. In number Oh the counties re.
ported, very considerable balances of the
fund remained on hand In October. In
The remainder the balances are smsll, ex-
eept the counties of Holmes and Marion,
which have paid out all the money received.
These reports are very important TO the
State officers and the Legislature The
neglect or delay of them defeats one OF the
most important paFposes of the law. l
suggest that reasonable penalty be at
tsched to the neglect to make them, either
by township or county officers.
OF the counties reporting, Columbians,
Cuyahoga, Ooshocton, Fulton, Guernsey,
Huron, Hamilton, Lawrence, Marion,
Perry, Preble, Stark, Summit, Van Vert
and Wood, made county lewis in aid OF
the fund, and 10 cover deficiencies in pre-
vious years.
THE NATIONAL GUARD.
The mi itia system of the State was put
to-a severe test during the year, and am
happy 10 say that it passed the ordeal in
the most satisfactory manner. In the
mUubn VI ApIilt NJ. a COuApHohCt VI buo
Governors of Ohio, Ihdisus, Illinois. Iowa,
and Wisconsin, it was determined 10 offer
to the Government the services of eighty
fve thousand militia for the term of one
hundred dsys-the quota of Ohio being
fixed at thirty thousand The policy Of
this movement did not admit of doubt OF
hesitancy The summer campaigns we're
about TO opon in Virginia and Tennessee.
Both Of them must necessarily operate
upon continually lengthening lines of
communication, requiring large forces to
protect them. At the same time it was
necessary that the Virginia army should
cover and protect the National Capital,
and that of Tennessee hold safe the bor-
der. In previous campaigns we had suf-
fered from this species of depletion to an
extent that seriously impaired the value of
our success. At the time of considering
this proposition lsrge body Of hardy and
veteran troops were engaged in garrison