The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1866-01-11

homes and expatriated themselves. These
persons should be known of all men, and
held up to perpetual scorn. The citizen
who, in the hour Of his country's peril will
flee beyond the reach Of law to avoid the
performance Of military duty, is an un-
worthy subject of the government, and
should be rendered forever incapable of
enjoying the rights and privileges of eiti-
zenship.
During the last year of the war the regi-
ments from this State being assigned to so
many departments of the army, became
dispersed over almost the entire theatre of
military operations. This created the ne
cessity of an increased amount of sanitary
assistance, and imposed additional labor
and responsibility upon the Executive de-
partment. Every practicable effort was
made to secure proper attention to the
wants of our sick and wounded soldiers,
and, if any were Neglected, it was In most
cases because of their remote and isolated
Situation, or the misconduct Of u. s. Sur
Reons and other government officers en-
tirely beyond our reach. OF the $4,000
appropriated at the last session for extra
ordinary expenses of the Executive office
and relief Of sick and wounded soldiers,
up to the close of the last fiscal term $685.
500 have been expended, Of which SO, 500
were for claims unpaid under the prece-
ding appropriation, leaving the sum Of
Sl3,5OO, undrawn up to that date.
ARSENAL.
desire to urge upon your attention the
necessity of Immediately erecting build
ing for the safe-keeping of ordnance stores
belonging to the State, and the preserva-
ton of our military records. The last Cen
eral Assembly appropriated $1,000 for con-
struction of an Arsenal at Des Moines, and
directed the Adjutant General to COM
mence the building, provided the necessa-
ry grounds for that purpose could be pro-
cured without expense to the State. The
advance i'm prices so far increased the val
tie of labor and materials beyond the esti
mate upon which the appropriation was
based, that the Adiutant General deemed
it advisable to defer the work for the far
Their consideration of the General Assem-
blv.
We have now under our control about
$4,000 stands of arms and ieveral pieces of
artillery, besides large amount of ord
nance stores, which can only be preserved
from deterioration by having a suitable
building in which to place them. In addi-
ton to this, the Importance of a safe depos-
vi itory for the records of the Adj. Generals
office must not be overlooked. These
records contain the original rolls and all
the documents Of various kinds pertaining
fn tl,a on1 icf,, =;
Iowa soldiers, the destruction of which
would be an irretrievable loss to the State
We now have none but rented buildings
for this purpose, costing about 81 900 an
nualiy, and without ade1ute security
against fire. A fire-proof building of suf-
ficient capacity for all these purposes could
he erected at a moderate cost, and it sho'd
be done without unnecessary delay.
MILITIA, Ike.
Fairly in the summer Of 1864, General
Orders promulgated as contemplated by
the law enacted at the last session, for the
organization Of the State Militia. Hostile
Indians on the plains and guerrilla bands
in Missouri threatening our Southern and
Northwestern borders, and the prepara-
tions of tresonal |, order in the State to
offer forcible resistance to the Draft, ne
cessitated the distribution Oft large guam
tity of arms and ammunition to the mill
tia. In manv localities conspracies were
formed for securing the control Of compa-
MES by excluding men Of known loyalty,
and having them commanded by persons
chosen from the treasanable organization
mentioned. l therefore appointed COM
mittees of prominent gentlemen in nearly
all the counties to assist in the formation
of companies that would be loyal and re-
liable, and I also directed that to such
companies only We're commissions and
arms to be issued. Notwithstanding the
opposition interposed to these precaution-
nry measures. they were in preserving al
most uninterruptedly the tranquility of
the State.
The only serious outrage was perpetrated
in Poweshiek county, in October, 1864. by
a company styling themselves "Democrat
Rangers" Captain John l.. Bashore and
Josiah NJ. Woodruff were brutally muir
dered by members of this company, while
engaged in the execution of orders from
the Provost Marshal Of the Fourth Dis
trict. The facts connected with this afro
cious affair are fully set forth in the report
of the Adjutant General for 1865, to which
your attention is respectfully invited.
Having thus presented you with such
matters as deem most important for leg
islative consideration, I cannot close this
communication without congratulating
you upon the activity everywhere display
ed in recovering from all effects of the re-
cent Struggle for the preservation of the
Union. Where in all history has any ma
ton developed such wonderful energy and
power? The foreigner who now visits our
shores will hardly discover in the general
thrift and quietude Of the country the tr,f-
ces of that gigantic contest which so amaz.
ed the civilized world. With no intermis-
sion i'm the exercise ofits sovereign author.
ity, either on land or sea, except the briei
Nlsurpations of the iDsurrectionary States
or any material diminution i'm the vas,
try has continued to advance in all the
essential elements of national greatness
with a steadiness and rapidity unsurpass-
ed even during the periods of profound
tranquility. Terrible and bloody, beyond
all precedent, as the conflict was, it may
not, under Gods disposing Providence
have been uDproductive ofwholesome re-
suits. Nor, notwithstanding the unparal-
leled expenditure of life and treasure in
Cured in its prosecution, and the thous-