The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1867-08-30
SOLDIERS EXTRA BOUNTY.
etter from General Paine.-ImpOrtant
Information.

Gen. Paine. of Wisconsin, of the Con-
gressioral Committee on Soldiers B1un.
lies. has published the following leuer
MILwAUKEE. WTs.. Aug. 10, 1867.
His Exctlency, Lucius Fairchild, Gov.
e'nor of Wisconsin
DEAR SIR Il have received numerous
letters from soldiers of our State entitled
To X "a bounties under the act OF July
% 1865. which disclose the existence of
serious dissatisfaction with the pro gress
made in the settlement of these bounties.
and anxiety 10 ascertain who is responsi-
bic for tie delay, whether It is unavoida-
BILE, and whether any remedy of the evil
is to be expected. Finding it difficult to
answer at lergth all inquiries on this sub
jet, lake the liberty of addressing you
public letter for the Information Of all
concerned.
At the commencement of the last ses-
sion of Congress. the House of Represen-
latives adopted a resolution direetirq the
Secretaries of the Treasury and of War TO
inform that body whether additional Leg
islation was necessary to expedite the
payment of the extra bOunties. The sub
stance of the Information convened bv
their replies. and by the verbal statement
of the Second Auditor TO members OF the
House. was that. in cases of claims made
by living soldiers. the PAym 4ster Gener.
al makes the payment upon certificates
furnished on bis application, by the Sec
oGd Auditor, who has the custody of the
muster out rolls of the army, and upon
an examination of these rolls, certfiies
the fact 10 each case; that forty five
clerks were employed in the examination
of The rolls and preparations FIR these Ger
li6cates for the Paymaster General and
for the Commissioner of Pensions, who
ettle certain claims fer pensions upon
like certificates. that as many clerks were
engaged In this work as could be safely
and prof ably SIMPLIFY ed. that there had
already accumulated in the Office of the
Second Auditor ninety thousand unau-
swerab'e applications of the Paymaster
General for such information, aud in the
Paymaster Generals Office, about $50. 600
cases in which applications had not yet
been forwarded to the Second Auditor:
that during the three months the Second
Auditor had answered the Paymaater
Generals applications at the rate of l2,-
683 per month, and hoped eventually TO
reach 5 600 per month; that the settle
ment oil all The bouniies due under the
act could not be effected in less than three
years.
This Information, if correct, showed
that the delay aouId be remediless, unless
some plan could BE- assigned to this du,y.
A joint resolution. prepared by an ffieer
of the Pay Department. was passed BY
The House of Representatives. providing
that Photographic copies of the muster
Out rolls SHOULD be taken for be use OF
the Paymaster General, which would fur
nlsh HIM fac siHaae Of every roll. and so
render 1t possible 10 increase the clerical
force employed on ezra bounty claims
We are assured by a photographer who
had been many years 10 The Treasury De-.
pertinent, and bad copied papers much
larger Than the largest of these rolls, that
lhs provisions of lhe j,int resolution were
entirely practicable But the resolution
was defeated 10 the Sensts.
Il vas SAID that the Second Auditor !
had eighty thousand mus ler-out rolls for
the year 1866 alone; that the expense of !
pho'OgrsphIng would be very gTear; that
100 many of thee roll papers Of various
sizes we're 50 attached as 70 coEsr paris /
Of the rolls. and render it impossible per /
iectlg to photograph either the rolls OF the
apPendag' aud thsi many of the entries /
we're in red lux, which could not be con-
led by the Photographic process. The /
photographers referred to thought these
d Fl 'ulties could be easily suTmountsd
bat the Joint resolution was ind4 6nitelv |
postponed by the Senate on morton al
Senator Wilson, who said that "Wben We
passed the bounty bill il vas 90. sunnoee
ID the work could be onpleted npder |
three or four years.
on his motion the Senate disposed of
tbe subject by adopting resolution call.
ing upon the Secretaries OF the Treasury
and OF War Tor the Same information which !