Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1870-06-03
THE SOLDIERS RELIEF
FUND.
How and for What tfs Transfer was
made-DemOeratie ResPOnsibIIitI
thereGOr.

How and for What tfs Transfer was
made-Demoeratic- responsibility
thorefor.
There is no one subject in reference
to which there has been more malignant
and lying misrepresentation than the
temporary transfer of the Soldiers Re
lief Fund Again and again have these
calumnies been exploded, and as often
have they been revived by Democratic
papers and politicians, on eprinciple no
doubt that a lie well stuck to is as good as
the truth. In their present desperate ex-
tremities the Democratic propagandists
are once more spreading abroad these
oft-repeated falsehoods. We there
fore give place at this time to the follow
ing article giving the facts in regard to
the transfer, showing the concurrence of
the Democratic party therein and put
ting at rest forever, so far as an over
whelming refutation. can, the current
Democratic Misrepresentation on the
subject. The article appeared in the Ohio
STATE TourzlaI during the first session of
the Democratic Legislature of 1869,
and is from the pen of a gallant soldier
who was a member of the House when
the transfer was made and was therefore
personally familiar with the events he
relates.-EDs. DEL. GAZETTE.
The disposition made of the above
fund by the last Legislature was a fruit
full subject of Democratic lamentalon of
the crocodile sort during the campaign
of 1867, and ofIate there has been anoth
er flow of tears and indignation in re-
gard thereto, of the same character.
The party that maligned the soldiers
while they were at the front, that opposed
giving them the right of suffrage, and
that was hostile to every measure of aid
I or encouragement for themselves or their
cause, now exhibits remarkable at
! fection for their rights. From this party
came the only opposition to the Act tor
the Reliefof Soldiers and their families,
when it was enacted by a Republican
| Legislature, during the war, yet now
when the boys in blue are at home, and
/ the necessity for that measure of benev-
4 olence has in great measure passed
away, the Democracy gush with emotion
surprising that of Uriah Heep. over its
virtual repeal. The sympathetic Hughes,
of Highland, gushes; the tender Thorn
/ hill, of Coshocton, gushes; and all the
! Copperheads of the House gush in uni
son, and wipe their weeping eyes. The
virtuous ThornhiH relieved his mind on
this question a few days since, and spoke
with as much pious JUNCTION as he
would exhibit in perpetrating vulgar
! Joke, or relating a dirty story,-as fol-
lows:
eff ever there was a dishonest and in
sincere transaction, this IS one. We
hold the party that dine this great wrong
responsible for it-and, by the grace OF
! God, so far as l am concerned, they
shall not escape the responsibility OF
having banl1rupted the treasury, and oi
| having robbed the soldiers. The Dem
ocratic members of this House opposed
the whole transaction from its inception
to its conclusion.
J We propose to give some further facts
regarding the history of this matter
4 and to show that the devout Thornhill
! who invokes the grace of Cod 50 free
". has as little regard for truth, as he
has for the decencies Of speech or the
commonest rules of English grammar
! And we shall demonstrate that If meas
} ures to devote the relief fund to othel
4 purposes than that for which it was raiseC
were designed to rob the soldier, th'
: Democracy of the last House were guilty
of that crime, and that even the pure
: minded and high-toned Butternut iron
whom we have quoted above, is by NJ
means innocent. The truth IS, as w
4 shall clearly prove, that the Democrat1
Q members of that body, though hostile t
using the fund to pay the State deb
y which included the "Union Loan an
o other war Indebtedness, were anxious
g divert it from its original object, an
q especially to get it back into the count
/ treasures, where Democratic official
could use it for their own schemes.
When the Legislature assembled
1866. it was found that abont s., 900, ,oc
would come into the Treasury under th
Relief act. As the main object of that la
% was to provide for the females of soldiel
=. who had then returned to their home
- it was thought that only portion OF tn
:. large sum would be needed for the pu
-. pose originally contemplated. It W;
=. also found that the returns of the numb
... of distressed families, upon which Il
go distribution was based, were grossly i
-. correct. Many counties, among whiC
w the large Democratic counties we
.." prominent, made false returns, IN ord
-. TO procure larger share of the fund tha
-. they would otherwise have been entltl'
-. to. Some counties returned more di
... tressed soldiers families than the who
'.'' number of men they sent to the tel
-. Besides. there were loud complaints fro
'''' the extreme Copperhead counties, su
. as Holmes, that the local authorities, ]
..-' stead of applying the fund TO relief P'
poses, were using it for general cour
eI- expenditures. The Legislature thereto
ter determined to apply only part OF
fund at that time to relief, and to chan
the method of distribution OF the rema
m. der. The disposition Of the fund "
90 effected in FIVE different statutes. l
NJ first was the act to transfer temPorar
90 $500. 900 to the sinking fund, and p
90 y,ided that the same should "be rel
9S ~ bursed TO said relief fund from the si1
% ing fund in the years 1867 and 1903,
90 90 adequate levies provided by law for t
% purpose.
NJ cure the distribution of 81, Ioo, 600 Of
-. relief fund among the several count
...... and provided chat it shall be the d
,1o1ysi of the Auditor of State, after hav
transferred to the sinking fund from
soldiers relief fund the sum Of s8oo,c
On, and also reserving a further sum Of 81
600. in view Of an appropriation for
So 90 soldiers home, to distribute the bala
2 90 Of said fund to the several counties
5 90 the State in the proportion in whicl
was collected. 1t further provided
..... the county commissioners shoaiu
.~... apart a sufficient portion Of the tuno
relief purposes, and authorized then en-
90 apply the balance to any OF the @ @oran
county expenditures, OF ~ LIZ sIsS Ps,y 5', :,