Raftsman's journal. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1854-1948, 1868-01-15

1867, one thousand seven hundred and
eighteen claims have been settled, and three
hundred and twenty-one Treasury certih-
Gates collected, amounting to S24l ,669 A.
Two Thousand one hundred and twenty nine
new cases remain unsettled, the most Of which
VIII probably be settled by the 30th of June
next, at which period the appropriation ter
inmates. When this is exhausted, the De-
partment will have doubtless fulfilled its mis-
sion, and the documents and papers can be
transferred to the Adjutant Generals Office.
CEMETERIES.
/ The reports of the commissioners appoint
ed under the act of March y, 1867, to in
vestlgate the transactions relating to certain
cemeteries are herewith presented
Ihe work at.the Gettysburg cemetery is
progressing, but with less expedition than
was contemplated. in consequence of the
difficulty of procuring such blocks of marble
as were required for statuary
The approp; iation of three thousand dol
! lars to the cemetery at Antietam has been
withheld, as it appears from the act of in
! corporation by the Legislature of Maryland
/ and the resolutions of the board of trustees,
| that the rebel dead are to be inferred within
the enclosure and to be honored with the
same memorials as the Union soldiers who
are there buried.
honor those in death who won special honor
by meri;orious lives. The monuments rear
ed 20 the memory of departed worth bear
| ample testimony that our people have not
been unmindtul Of this custom But where
were such memorials ever erected for men
whose actions were infamous, and who per
| lshed IN an igDoble cause? Who would
gioflfy the treason of Benedict Arnold with
such monuments as have arisen TO the mem
| ory of Washington? Who would dare to
| insult the loyal heart of this nation by pro-
posing to lay, side by side, in the same sep
ulchfe, the body OF the assassin Booth aud
| that OF Abraham Lincoln No loyal man
would take The heartless Wirz and the other
demons that presided over the prison dens
of cruelty, starvation and death, aud the
executed conspirators against the nation S
iiustrious chief, and deposit them in the
same tomb with the patriotic men who sac
riiced their lives in battling for 'the right
against the wrong" Yetit is proposed that
the loyal States construct cemeteries for
their heroic dead, and then desecrate them
by the burial therein of those who prosecuted
az alnst the country warfare which for its
diaboiical ferocity is without parallel in the
history of civilization, and even to erect
monuments to their memory. Carry out this
purpose and what inducement can be here
diler OlteISu 10 tilG ip1dl Ugnt
against treason, when he feels assured that
should he fall in battle the traitor grave
will be honored equally with his own?
The cause of the Union was holy one,
while that which opposed it must have been
its converse TO one side alone the glory
belongs. This was not a war OF nations but
of treason against loyalty. Ii was a contest
of rebels who would have drained the life
blood of the government which had nurtured
and protected them, against its patriotic
sons who fought to save it from destruction.
1t was a war carried on by the defenders and
promoters of oppression against the friends
and lovers of liberty and their country in.
tegrity.
While there is no reasonable objection to
giving decent sepulture even to the rebel
dead, those VINO consider them deserving of
honorable testimonials may bestow them. 1t
is our duty to render honor only to whom
we believe honor is due.
MONUMENT To DECEASED SOLDIERS.
The commissioners appointed under an
act Of the Legislature, approved April %,
1858, ito contract for, and superlntend the
erection of a monument to the memory of
citizens of Pennsylvania who were slain or lost
their lives in the late war with Mexico, have
contracted for the erection OF a monument, in
prominent portion of the Capitol grounds,
and the work is progressing as rapidly as
circumstances will permit. The approprla-
ton Of $4,000, to which the commissioners
are limited, Is inadequate for the object con-
templated. The lowest bid for the contract
was SIS, 200 | join the commissioners, there
fore, in requesting an additional approprla-
ton of three thousand, to be used, or so
much thereof as may be necessary, TO COM
plcte the undertaking.
Your patriotism will doubtless give ia
vorabe response to this request, and the en-
liehtened people of the Commonwealth,
rising above selfish and partisan feeling, will
sanction such expenditure for the erection OF
this honorable memento. A State that has
been prodieal of her millions in the employ
ment of her physical resources and In the
performance of every noble and disinterested
act which philanthropy could suggest, can
not forget her gallant sons whose sufferlngs
and sacrifices for their country have never
been fully appreciated, and whose remains
lepose. among strangers, IN 1orelgn iand,
without a stone, however rude, to Indicate
their last resting places, or distinguish their
graves from those of their fallen enemies.
BURIAL OF DECEASED SOLDIERS.
A communication from the board of man
ayers of the Harrisburg cemetery is herewith
transmitted. to which your attention is lnvi-
ted. The subject Of which it treats, relative
to the burial of deceased soldiers during the
late war, isworthy oflegislative consideration.
CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS.
The Pennsylvania Institute for the Deaf
and Dumb, the Institution for the lnstruc-
ton of the Blind the Training Sehool, for
Feeble Minded Children; the, Northern
Home for Friendless Children, the Houses
of Refuge, several Soldiers Homes, and
other similar charities, which have received
| aid from the State, are, according to the re-
ports of the principals and superlntendents,