Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-02-05
, Ome,al. .I OF Of ,I,e La,o ' ConssaeraeS. y - :,

Officials of the Late Condolences. obs oTt
1t is a fact doubtless as patent and wellE VI
known to Southern people as It's notorious yraFro-
among those to whom 1t applies that there ,-,
was scarcely an instance where Quarter ~oi'
master or Paymaster, Agent, or other Gus, 1870
tOdian of Government funds accounted fi-a1G HTsh-
nally and full OF his stewardship during the 6oii
four years continuance of the war. ALI t-,f ID
men know equally well how those late Of q
cias of the late Government lived whie'rt sfh Fes
the twin carnival OF war and robbery lastSio 9no
ed; how they were r0bed in fine cloth of r,ss.N
Confederate gray; how they Jared snmptu-
ously every day, while the soldiers in camp y'gqA
and field coutended against hunger, eoldd INV y
and summers heat; how their dwellingsn93Tgn ~
were palatial houses of entertainments ,ltsio
how their blockade wines were the rarest, af
their fnrniturs the most gorgeous oand 'i'o'.A ~
recherche. Confederate Treasury notes nayi :.
were as plentiful as leaves In Vallambr0sa. ypf
1t was question whether the Secretary ,o- -
himself knew the aggregate, the sum total ,-,,,, d
of the currency issued ftom the outbreak to- oo -
the close of the war. The 'leaks' Wefg1q not
frfghtfully numerous-enough, to exhaust osp
the most plethoric reservoir-and the fn-- -, ,
gers in the Confederate pie were beyond t'''
all calculation. Paymasters and Quarter o1s 70 "
masters, and Chiefs of Bureaus, with payro vadi
ranging from two to three hundred dollars, ,,iars
were known to stake as many thousands -, "a
upon the turn of a card, night after night, A"y a
at faro tables; champagne by the dozen at - OH
SIPS per bottle were Cracked" with as lit- sansh
tie ceremony or count ofcost as II the order sI sd
had been bottled porter, while $500 sup
pers and midnight suppers, at fabulous but A'no
true Confederate figures, were rated poor -fA9N
and niggardly entertainments. Ensconced sbach
in bomb-proofs, sucking their thumbs,
with slippers elevated over superfuous
desks especially prepared for them; scrap ar -
G5icE: their onIv studv how to .,rase the E'g e1q
wind;" what cared they for the cause for ~ 9dl
which the rank and file were struggling in J'
the field? The boom of the great guns o. 5fi
from below that Jared their windows had rcii7s-
no alarms, no dangers for THEM. With b aoir
gold in their pockets, brass in their faces fzis
and upon their COATS, imbeclty and braid geoug z.
was the touchstone to power and place andg57f 20 {
preterment. When the cause was wrecked igSUn Z
these puppets the first to turn fu
"wreckers" and begin the "grab game"
shouting their watchword, "Every man for DO i.aAs
himself and the devil take the hindmost "77ioi nl
Who are the broken in purse, the penni- .f-.fH
less,and poverty stricken now? Certainly ....
not those vampires of whom we write.
They were mindful of their own interests; lv .'.
they made hay while the Confederate sun
shone and the goose hung high. They laid I'd III
up something for rainy day when the -t
weather was fair and the gold and the
greenbacks at reasonable premium. Their i r'i
smile to-day is compaisaut, their apparel f1 irf
as fine, and their iows as tat, and their skins -,.r
as fair as in the days when they pocketed ..
the price of their country's blood; for If
any nation was ever inundated on the altar
OF official imbecility, corruption, and recre- f
ancy to sacred trusts that nation was the ..,f
late Confederate States of America. No
people ever entered upon the achievement
of their nationality with more vim, unan-' b. fn
unity, and determined vigor. No people ...,.-r
ever pasled and paused 50 suddenly in their 1-q yE
cause ever wilted and sunk unaccounta-
| bly, in night. 1t was the canker- worm Of Hl2af
corruption at its roots. .. .. s.5afiysr. vi s0a
A political philosopher has written the .fsH
universal and accepted truth, that nation .s,
| can never be destroyed, but sometimes may '"
become the victim of self-destructio1 l4c2q
through the treaehery and faithlessness Of I-a2sf
its custodians With the latter will history - I'D
class the Confederation of the Southern
States Richmond Examiner. Do .'"H sh Il t"7