The Ebensburg Alleghanian. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1865-1871, 1866-06-07

their apprehension and delivery to Pro
vost Marshals was so small as to be very
ilttle lnducement TO any person to engage
In SO unpleasant business. When In the
course OF time, however, the country became
infested and almost flooded with. strag-
glers and deserters, and the Government
saw more plainly the necessity of securing
and remanoing them back to their COM
mands In the field, orders more stringent
ana rewards more liberal were promulga-
ted to accomplish their arrest.
The sum of $500 thirty dollars auth
orized IN paragraph 35 of the Revised
Regulations for the Provost Marshal
Generals Bureau, is sufficient to defray
all ordinary expenses incurred in the
arrest Of deserters, besides literally com
pensating for time employed and any
hazardous risks which sometimes must be
encountered. / believe this allowance to
have been strong incentive for the arrest
OF scores OF deseTters, and it is wise
provision which directs that it shall be
deducted from the pay of the soldier who
deserts, thus compelling him to pay the
reward for his own arrest
AS general thing, deserters from the
draft, or non-reporting drafted men, are
much more unpTincipled and defiant in
their 6enunciatlOns of the Government,
and more difficult to apprehend, than those
from the army. The latter class Of per
cons possess more apparent honesty of
purpose and real manhood than the for
mer. They have been in the service Of
their country ard witnessed the pomp
and power of Its armies on occasions cal
culated TO impress them With an abiding
sense of its terrible earnest, and inspire 2
belief IN the justice OF its cause.
Many Of them bear honorable scars that
tell Of their galantry and noble daring in
the presence of the foe; and all this sad
experience seems to have awakened and
deepened in them feeling of awe and
respect Cor the Government, which has no
le3gmeut an the hearts of the former class.
But men, who have not the disposition to
volunteer their services in the hour of
their country's greatest peril, and who,
having been chosen by the honest in
strumentallty of draft, prefer by dishon-
orable means to evade the just claims of a
magma nimous Government, rather than do
one single act of loyalty whose suspicious
deeds and guilty conseiences shun the
pure light of day and drive their adherents
into sWamps and forests to form broth
erhood with beasts and reptiles uen ike
these should scarcely longer be called
men, for they have merited ;.n appelation
no less odious than that Of descrter
ACCOUNTS.
The manner | have uniformly pursued
in keeping and settling accounts is very
simple and easy, and will require only a
brief notice. Before forwarding them for
payment at the close of each month, [
make an entry OF them in a ledger, prop
erly ruled, under the general heading of
abstract of Indebtedness" This entry
is of such q nature as to furnish at a
single glance all necessary information in
regard to them, until they have been paid
by the proper Disbursing Officer, when 1t
is completed in such way as to show the
number IF the voucher, the name of the
claimant, the nature of the account, its
amount, the date on which it was forwar-
ded for payment, the bureau to which it
is sent, the number of the check By which
it is paid, the date of payment by Disbur-
sing Officer, the date OF payment to claim
ant by District Provost Marshal, the
amount received on each account and the
amount deducted as internal revenue tax.
1t will be observed that until the ac-
count has been paid, the entry in the
ledger is not complete, but as soon as it
has been settled by the proper Disburs-
ing Officer, the necessary additional in-
formation is placed therein, and accounts
between the Government and claimant, to
employ familiar expression, are "squar-
ed" At the time [ received the appoint
ment of Provost Marshal aud entered up
on the duties of the office, | found the
finances not a little embarrassed Ac-
counts Of various natures had been allowed
TO accumulate, and the time at which they
ought to have been paid having gone by,
their settlement became more difficult than
it would otherwise have been Especial
ly was this true in regard to the accounts
of enrolling officers. In many cases their
appointments had never been approved, or
even so much as forwarded to the proper
Bureau for approval. In others, their
oaths OF allegiance and Office were not on
file, and thus, prevented and barred by a
score of little irregularities CT omissions,
their account had not been audited and
settled for several months.
A little close attention to established
rules and the accustomed routine of bust
ness, however, in this branch as we'll as
in all others of the department, soon re-
moved every obstacle in the way of reg
ular settlement of claims of this and every
other nature.
On several occasions found il extreme
ly difficult to determine by any light in
my possession to what bureau or depart