, 1866-01-12
IOWA.
nesaage Of GOV. william III. Stone 70
ahc loxcn LegfalAture, Delivered on
Monday, January 8, 1876.
SrAxx or IOWA. ExkeuI1YK QFY1cLL


Monday, January 8, 1876.
STATE or 1owA, EXECUTIVE OFF1c1,
DH Mo1SEA, Jan. S l9s&-
Gentlemen Of the Senate md House Of Reps-eenis-
ivos:
you arc convened IN obedience TO the require
ments Of the constitution, 10 discharge the
important duties which deyolyc upon the
branch Of the State Government,
and heartily congratulate you upon the
auspices unaer which We meet.
From condition OF disastrous and prptfacted
war, existing at the close Of your last session.
the country has tziumphantly passed to
sels nnd the continued blessing OF Fro vidcnce,
We tondly hope may become perpetual.
MILITARY E1rESsEs.
In communicating to you tho condition Of
the State, as required By the Constitution,
deem It expedienr for your information to
present, In connection with the financial
statement, m exhibit Of our military expeudi-
lures from the beginning Of the war to the
present time. And uaay be allowed to an
ticipate this exhibit with the remark that,
considering the spaFseness Of our settlements,
the. absence Of steamboat and railroad facili-
ties, largely supplied by wagon transparta-
tipn, and that, tn proportion 10 our popula
ton, we have furnished q larger numher Of
troops lhnn any other State, promptly filing
all our quotas, our record presents through
tho entire period an economy Of expenditure
equallcd by ro other State in the Union.
There Was expended for military purposes
Nav, 1861, 10 Nor. 4, 1861 ......$ssG,.s5sss Re, 5sss .
Noy.4 1, 1851, to nov. = 1868. G39, tG3.s5
Nov; 2 lezi- to nor. i I6t5.-.......... 169a310 90
: These dates express the periods within
which the above suIns we're paid, but not
when they were actually incurred. The
amount incurred from Jan. il, 1864, to Jan.
I, 1sGG, Is III ,a31.s 50, Total military expcndl-
tures for all purposes up to JANUARY l; 1865,
are 81, ,04B, 1850. {,
It win be observed TINT most Of these ex-
penditures were incurred during the period
beginning with the war and ending With the
fiscal year 1863. This was caused BY our be-
ing compelled. in order to facilitate the mill
tary operations Of the General Government,
to dcIfay large portion Of the expenses In en-
listing, transporting, snhslsting, quartering
and paying the volunteer forces organized in
this State. The sums thus expended were re-
en1ded, merely as money advanced to the
United States, for which, under the acts Of
Congress approved respectively July 18th and
9Th, 1851, we are entitled to reimbursement.
Although TIC hare tlled four several reqn.-
sitions Of tho President for troops, and organ
lied four regiments and one battalion, during
the last two years, yet the entire cost to the
While was anxious that our State should
promptly discharge its entire duty in contri-
huting to the national defence, In the
way Of furnishing men, ! refused to de.
: fray the expense involved In recruiting and
forwarding our quotas from the Statc Trcasu-
r.; and accordingly the expenditures thus
made we're paid By disbursing officers assign.
the expenditure Of these two years was in
CURED In organizing the State Militia, under
Act Of the General Assembly, approved
March 9B, 1864, transporting arms and ammu-
milton, expenses Of the Adjutant General's
OiIice, detail Of men for protecting Southern
border counties from threatened raids In the
fall Of 1854 and the winter Of 1865, and for oil
other military purposes except the Sanitary
Department. ......
CLAIMS AGAISsT TUE UNITED STATES.
desire in this connection, as briefly as
lcan, to present the condition Of our claims
against the United States for reimbursement
under the acts Of Congress above referred to.
The gums embraced IN These claims were
mostly expended during the first aud second
Fund appropriated by act OF the SPECIAL Ses-
sion, May, 1861. The history Of our military
transactions during this period is too veil
known to the members Of your honorable
body to require explanation here. The cg1-
dence il perfectly clear that these Claims aro
for money 4navoiaahly expended fot
nightingale ! military gu5p9sss ana d. a1so *,
the acconntingand iisbursing officers Of the
State, In strict conformity with the laws oi
the General Assembly. Upon this point
: there has never been any room for contro'
yersy, IS the accounting officers Of the United
States Treasury freely concede. But the real
difficulty between us arises from the fact,
that, after large share of these claims had
hntxS Eu ho Eto$A in In vyfS
faith, the Secretary Of tho q. s. Treasury
adopted & set OF regulations exceedingly
technical and unreasonable In their character
by which the accounting ottfcers Of that
department were required to be governed II
examining the military clains OF the several
States .
In compliance with tho provisions of Chap
ter I'll, Acts of last session, visited Wash
incton ind found the military claims Of The
State in very unsatisfactory condition. But
little progress had heen made In their exan1
nation, and, under the regulations above re
fcrred to, most Of them were necessarily sus
pointed out the gross hardship Of these regu
lations to the Secretary Of the Treasury, snt
repeatedly solicited their modification, so a.
TO make them conform to the laws Of thi.
Etatc, under which ou- clnIms were a1lowet
and paid. Failing In this, presented the mat
Ter 10 INC Efes4ueA+, VINO EenQ4J perceived
their injustice, and gavo his opidlon 10 The
Third Auditor OF the Treasury, that, under
the circumstances, they should not be sigo5.
Uusly applied to the examination OF Iowa
claims. Although this opinion WAS freely ex.
pressed by the President, yet he declined to
make anJ positive order for tho modification
Of fthese rules, on the ground that the subject
retaty ofthe Treasury. Repeated efforts have
been made by myse1f and others for suspen-
sion or change Of the regulations mentioned,
20 as to procure q favoEnbte examination OF
our clainls, but 60 far the labor has been IN
availing.
the Third Auditor TINT the preliminary exam.
inatIon of the Iowa claims had been con.
cluded, and statement of difference" " for.
wardcd. From this statement, now In the
Executive Office, 1t appears that the total
nmount OF lows claims On file In the Treasury
Department Is about S61G, ,1Sg.07. OF thE
amount s20, SIS. % haro been allowed, $E1330,
$500 suspended, and s165, ,5so, 2; dlsallowed
TohaTe fnl1 understanding Of the subject Il
will be necessary to bear In mind that this tota1
Of S61G, 9.o7 embraces the entire amout O
our military expenditures fos given period
including expenses Of tho Adjutant General'l
Office, Governors Aids, interest on money
borrowed, Stale Agents, duplicate payment
to troops, ETC., which do not come within the
which we cannot reasonably expect reimburse
ment. This class of claims amounts In the
aggregate to S1B5 ,5S9.23 stated as disallowed
The sum Of s4S0, Sso,8.T stated az suspended
Is money legitimately paid On behalf of the
United States, in recruiting and getting troops
into the field. This sum has been merely sus,
pended for want Of the technical proofs re.
guired BY the Treasury regulations above re-
1e1red to, and is subject to re-examinntion and
allowance. This Is the entire amount In dis
pute between the State and the General GOV.
epment under the acts Of July, 1851.
Under these circumstances, haEe deter
mined to hold these unadjusted claims as M
rected BY the General Assembly. This course
! have considered necessary to protect the In
terests Of the State from what ! am con,
strained to regard as exceedingly dlsIngenu.
tus conduct on the pnrt Of the Treasury De-
partment.. toward us. By pursuing thia
courec, but little detrtnent can result to the
State from the suspension of our claims. Bui
parties, steps should be. taken to procure II
without unnecessary delay and therefore
recommend the appointment OF a special com
mitee to investigate the subject, and report q
definite and practicable plan for securing 8
settlement.
FINANCE AND RgvxxuE.
Our financial affairs we're never in soundeI
condition. During the entire period Of The
war We have levied but two mills on the dol
Indebtedness Of only s3o0, 900, which was 10,
military expenditures during the first ytaro
the war. The total amount received in the
treasury during the fiscal two years ending
November 4, 1855, was $077, ,8o5.10 aud thf
amount expended for all pur poses for the same
period Is ~, ,s19: AZ. leaving balance in the
Tha ut ii nrnnurt. of 1tnf a rox-e,rn t1..;r,h1r