The weekly pioneer and Democrat. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1855-1865, 1865-02-24
VIZ tAe Arnay = not Paia.

q WI .Ae Arny = not Paid.
The soysinmept has pursued short
sighted policy in regard to our officers and
soldiers ID the field. Private letters from
4innesota soldiers disclose the fact that
they have not BEEN paid for many months.
A soldier at Fort Smelling called on us the
other day and stated that the government
was owing him ten months pay, that bis
family was in the greatest need, and asked
what steps be muatIstake to get relief. An
officer at the front, sent home few days
ago money to pay his current expenses,
and intimated that be would have to re-
sign and come home solely because he
could not get bis pay. '~' %'s-.
In debate in the Senate on the 10th
inst. Mr.. WnsoN, Chairman of the Military
Committee, said: -
We owe to the armies of the United States
millions Of dolls-s. Many of our officers have
not been paid for months; many of them have
put into the hands of their commanding
officers their resignation, and are imploring
the government to accept their resignation for
the reason that their. families are suffering at
home while they are not paid even what the
Government owes them, which is not enough
to support them. This is the condition of our
armies. This is the condition of the families
of our soldiers and officers, We have not paid
them, and we have not the means to do it, at
at any rate as rapidly as wrought to do.
In the face of the fact that you
owe tens of miMons of dollars to our armies,
and that many OF our officers have been unpaid
for months; in the face of the fact that the of.
fcers of our army are sending in their resigna-
tons, and some of our Generals hold them by
the handful, asking to resign that they may
take care of their families; in the face of these
facts that We cannot help and cannot relieve,
owing to the financial difficulty Of the country,
We have an issue raised here in Congress by
one branch of this Government, in violation of
the laws of the country, to increase the com.
pensation of their clerks and the persons they
employ twenty per cent. It is utterly and
wholly indefensible.
This state Of things ought to be correct
ed at once. In a few months hence every
effort will be made to induce our veterans,
the men who entered the service in 1852,
to re-enlst fer another term, but the
chances are against success, if they are
not paid regularly and promptly. There
is higher motive than this, but We men
ton the lowest first; for in the corrupted
current that is now sweeping US onward,
the lowest is often most forcible. The
soldier fairly earns bis wages; often be
has family dependent on him for sup
port, and it is gross injustice and crime to
cause him or them to suffer unnecessarily.
The reason why the soldierbare not paid,
and why the market is glutted with gov
eminent vouchers, may be attributed sole
ly to the efforts of the Treasury Depart
ment to get along without further issues
of legal tenders. The attempt has neces-
sarily been failure. The enormous ex'
penses of the government cannot be met
by the sale of bonds, by internal revenue,
by imports, or through any source than a
further dilution of the currency, and the
sooner these facts are realized the better
it will be for all hands.