Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1870-02-11

| IN many IL not IN most cases, these names
were obtained by municipal officers, at a
| price nearly or about as much below the
bounty living men could be obtained as
| the reimbursement would amount to. 50
| that ~ Il mere money transaction, aside
/ from all questions of duty to the Govern
ment the towns that filled their quotas
| with these names are about Is well oil rs
/ those towns that filled their quotas with
their own valuable men and citizens, a,'d
| receive reimbursement thet eior under the
/ present act.
4. And finally, viewing the whole mat
1 ter { { these So-called paper credits IN
| the best light rs all the facts THAI we nave
/ been able Ia obtain. anu The best reason
inc we have been able 10 apply to ii, ii is
! The honest conviction of the Commission.
1 erS that the whole transaction was wrong
| and iniauitou>-a wrong to the Govern
/ ment struggling Tor its very existence
a wrong 10 the people of the municipali-
! ties whose money was paid away-and a
double and cruel wrong 10 the brave men
of the army then lying in the trenches vt
The Appomatox and the james; and that
AL who actively participated IN II, or pas
SivelV consented Ia IL have an unpleasant
account to settle with their own con-
sciences aud Self-rcspect at least, IL new
or with the wronged people and institu-
tons. And the Commissioners eau think
of No valid reasoning bywhich they could
Justify themselves Ia the people ot the
! State. il they had rcenactcd AMI per
pctu;,ted the wrong Ivy awarding many
thousands of the peoples money as reim-
bursemeu, for the class OF names IN qucs-
ton
There j another and smaller class of
men that were claimed aud diSallowed.
Iu the fall of 1862 a considerable number
ct men were enlisted aS recruits tor the
old regiments in the field. Some of these
recruits. on arriving at Augusta. instead
of going forward To the regiment for WHICH
they had been enlisted, went into the
regular army. generally into the 18th |.
= Inlautry All of which was very prop
or. These men were credited AZ the time
o. the municipalities that had furnished
them a. recruits Tor Maine regiments, and
were not credited n recruits for the regu-
lar army. Bu, IN 1864 IN order WAS
issued by the War Department directing
supcriptandcutS al the recruiting service
for the regular army tn make return To
the Aliuaut Generals OF the several
States The names OF all men recruited for
the regular army after NcptembcrS, l>b2.
udey th operation ct this order, ot course
the name, of the men above mentioned
were returned 10 the Adj. Gen. ot thi,
state. After the lapse of some eighteen
months. II j not surprising that the fact
was forgotten or overlooked that some OF
the men so returned by /. :. recruiting
officers had once been credited - recruits
for Maine regiments Bat when We i!ud
these men claimed hv municipalities rs
in thu ocular ARMY they Az claimed a.
having been furnished IN l>6i Oh the
quotas then pending, and in AL cases q,
hayiu. been paid pretty lsrgr bouutles.
On Investigation Ia such c)>y> i, has APP
prarc, that the bounti,> marked against
the names were paid 20 some person or
persons who assumed to sell these names
o. nil the quotas of towns. Tins TACT i
one oi the mysteries that we have no
means OF explaining. The soldiers IN
question receive Il their buUuiicS. State AMI
municipal IN the tail ut l>65 when they
enlisted, and were credited To- The towns
that furnished them. BY what possible
right then any man or firm should sell
the names u other towns ~ a price OF
4tN or 500 dollars each in the season OF
~6i, We cannot comprehend. T. make
plain the kind OF transaction we are HOW
speaking OF. take ease IN point. In
September. l>t9. the town Of Nateryille.
sly. enlisted John Smith On his quota, -
"A recruit iur the eth regiment. paid him u
l.. IN A.,
him 10 Augusta. he was mustered. re-
cciycd hlS State bounty, and Was placed
% the credit ot WaterSiile - of the eth
regiment; But he WAS. not immediately
sent forward. and finally consents To- 90
into The regular army instead, and hise
l.>tmcui> papers are changed to conform
Ia that tact Ills service ON his enlist
men, i not in the 7;h Maine regiment
then. hat IN the 18th L. = In lN6I, i'm
returning the names ct All men Enlisted
tor the regular army since September 3,
iNO3, John Smiths name i included ct
course When the claim ot China IL
presented 90 u for reimbursement. we
find there The name OF john Smith. 18th
|. : Infantry. - furnished on the quota
a.. 1861. and paid bounty OF say, 500.
AlANIN- llt N''ilt aAf-lN AAl liN.ltN ~ NillllsA
to establish IL claims j. a receipt from \.
r.. GER &. II. acknowledging the receipt of
500 from the Scire,meu ct China. for
furnishing John Smith OF the 18th /. =.
Infantry uu the quota at that town. We
institute careful investigation and find
j, 20 be- the identical John Smith whom
we have allowed to WalerviIle ~ Il recruit
Tor the 9Th Maine regiment m September.
lNG2. tina, John Smith has performed but
one service, and tor that WAS paid the
regular hpurticS two Years before. We
can Go nothing but strike the name from
the claim Of China, Tor We may no. reini- /.
bur>c twice for the same service.
Cases Ike thj, were not very numerous,
but enough OF them 10 have made one
man comfortable in money matters, il
one man had sold them all more eS-
peculiy il he also received State bounty
Tor each man 50 sold.
We also found upon some claims and .
credits "a considerable number Of men in .
the regular army who enlisted in the .
summer anil tall ct 1863, long after the /
war bad closed. The crediting OF them
may be regarded - a clerical error We .
need not add that they were disallowed .
by Us
just how MANY men or names of the .
several classes above described. have .
been di-allowoG for the reason, given,
We have not taken .imc or pains 10 esti-
mate How much money was paid 70
brokers fnr tho three rla>scs-the naval
commission men, the paper credits, and
the regular army men Who enlisted in
l>52 Tor Maine regiments, We could not
state or ascertain by any expenditure OF
Time aud pains, because - we have init
mated. there i good reason u believe
that SOME, ii not many, municipal officers
have omitted such names from their