The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1870-01-20

cov0A uoiloaS Auu Ava w.
! The applications aud evidence i
these cases, together with the pay
rolls Except for eighty dollars) Q
each company, have been furnishes
to the Commissioner of war claim
Of the State against the Uni.e'
States. 4
1 The duties Of tho Adjutant-Gend
| al, aside from those as acting Qu4
termaster General of the State, d
ing the last two years, have be
mostly confined to answering letta
from officials, and from officers
privates Of late volunteer force
An examination of the correspond
ence in relation to enlistmcnts, dates
of musters, credits, absences, dis
charges, etc., will show at once the
Importance of a correct record in this
department. Through the depart
ment of the Quartermaster General
ofthe United States, there has been
furnished to this State, in common
with the other States, about five
thousand pages Of printed matter,
showing the graves of the Union
dead in national cemeteries and else
where. Each State thus has an op.
portunity to transfer from that rec
ord the facts which give the place OF
burial, and location and number of
grave, of each of its soldiers, SO fal as
furnished. The data in the copies
furnished to this State have nearly
| all been transferred to our rosters OF
regiments, and upon the receipt and
entry of the numbers of these re-
ports, soon to be issued, we shall be
enabled to tell the exact location of
the remains of most of our dead.-
Still there will be many graves OF
brave men, which, in spite of all the
efforts of kind friends and all the
power and aid of the government,
will remain marked, "Unknown."
The Adjutant- General recommends
the copying .ofcertain documents and
rosters in his department, and wod
direct your attention in this matter.
There are still large amounts due
to Iowa officers and soldiers who SER
we'd in the Union Army. These
amounts include claims for back pay,
bounties, Communication Of different
kinds, and pensions, and there is a
strong probability that Congress will
pass some law for the relief of the
soldiers Of 1872. The Adjutant-Gen
eral is cognizant of most of the facts
in the more complicated cases ofthe
first named class OF claimants, still
unsettled and still unattended to end
it appears to me that it would be JUS
tice to our soldiers to require that
officer to attend to all these claims OF
our late volunteers. and also to those
| of the snldiars Of 1910 Those iact no
med veterans are fcw in number, and
are worthy of all the aid and assist
ance that can be rendered by the
State. This service should bo rend.
cred all these claimants, and all nee
essary blanks and instructions not
furnished by the United States should
be supplied from the Adjutant Gen.
erals office without charge.
WAR AND DEFENSE CLAIMS.
On the last day of the Fortieth Con-
gress, an act was passed, appropria-
ting 1929, 1882 or SO much thereof
as might be found necessary, to re-
imburse the State for expenses in
Cured and payments made during
the rebellion, as examined, audited,
and found due the State by Gen. Rob-
ert G. Buchanan, commissioner under
act of July 25. 1866. In accordance
with this act received in July last
from the general government, thro
the State Commissioner, a draft for
the sum of 1929, ,s27.39, the amount
ascertained by the auditing officer of
the federal government to be due the
State. | have also received, through
the same channel, a draft for SIS, III,
on account of claims arising prior to
the war, as before mentioned. For
both these amounts hold the Treas
urer's receipt.
The aggregate amount Of these
claims originally was s1,090,754.7S,
Of which Ss67, ,661.63 have been al
lowed and received by the State /;
S2S, 1922 have been suspended and
disallowed; and s194,353.93 are in
process of settlement. How large a
proportion of the amount yet with
held, namely, s223, ,O93.15, will be re-
covered is extremely doubtful. But
the commissioner thinks it not i'm
possible to collect within ten per
cent. of the gross amount of our
whole claims. To do this will require
payment by the general government
of an additional sum of s114,017.67.
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY.
The report of the State Geologist
is received, and will be laid before
you. The last General Assembly made
no provision for the printing of this
report, and no general law could be
found which would authorize the
publication oft. 1t will therefore
be submitted in manuscript.
This report presents important
facts connected with the geology of
the State. Among the valuable re-
suits of this Survey, we have strong
probability that the extent of the
coal area of the State will be found
to be much larger than at present
known, while we have also the north
erly and easterly limits OF these fields
defined. The existence OF vast guam
titles of peat has also been demon
strated. These facts, considered In
connection with the thriftiness with
which all sorts of native timber grow
in our soil, give highly favorable
solution to the question of a supply
of fuel-that vitality important one in
all prairie lands. The report con-
tains papers on various subjects con-
nected with theobjects of the Survey,
as wellas some valuable contributions
on other scientific matters of interest
and Importance to our agricultural
State.
1t is proper to state that this Sur
vey is not finished. believe it advisa-
Bile to make further appropriation for
its completion. Its value to the State
is Of n permanent character, and
ought not to be marred by incom-
pletencss. In any event, l would
urge, with tho Gcologist that the
unfinished work in tho coal field be
completed.
INSTITUTION FOR TUE EDUCATION Oh