Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1870-02-17

| urcu-. Ana considering W nAt Hiulltci-
pal officers had TO do to get such names
allowed upon their quotas after pur-
chasing them. il may well be supposed
that only portion so obtained have
been claimed for reimbursement. espe-
ciallv in cases were the same men were
in Office then and now.
| The next class of names which the
| Commissioners notice is that known rs
"paper Credits In the latter summer
and autumn of 1864. an individual APP
pearcd at the State Capital. claiming to
have come from Washington. aud bring
! ing long list of names of men who he
asserted had cnlis tcd in the army and
were no, credited TO any State or mu-
ncipaliiv. These men he offered 10
sell to those who were seeking 10 fill
their quotas. but could not get the APP
prevail of the A. 4. Provost Marshal
General of Maine. which was necessary
TO be secured. Subsequently this Off
Ger was ordered to another field of duty
and another person from Western
State supplied his place at the State
Capital. In relation to what followed
the Commissioners say:
Then again appeared at the State
| CAPITAL the men with the one rejected
list of names. And henceforth il seems
there was no official veto upon the filling
| of quotas of cities and towns with these
names. Thus far our statements in re-
lafion 10 these paper credits" j. found
ed upon the best Information we have
been able to obtain from inquiries and
the collation. of many statements veluu-
tarily made IL. us bv persons having
more or less means of knowing the facts
n they o currcd. For the absolute cor
rcctncss OF the statement we do not
vouch. That the names were sold hv
various individuals and firm, nj an
average price of about tour hundred and
fifty dollars each. we can very safely
| state, for they have been claimed for
rcimbursemcnts. and official certificates
! showing that they were allowed aud
receipts for the money paid for them
have been presented To substantiate the
claims. How the individuals or firms
| (for il seems la have been "A business 50
extensive aud important n 10 call tor
the formation OF business partnership>)
| who sold these became possessed OF them.
we are wholly unable 10 say. How much
they paid for them is a question of very
much more interest To themselves than
to the people of Maine That they had
to divide the money received with some
other persons OF parties j. a very sale
presumption. That the men whose
names were sold and boughi-if the
names Represented mcn--did not receive
any Of the money 50 paid j. quite y safe
a presumption.
A. has been ALREADY said all claims for
reimbursement for this class OF names
have been li,allowcd by the Commi,-
sion. IL has been argued Ia u> repeatedly
pcrsistcntlv. and in some cases with con-
siderable feeling. that such names >Lould
| be- allowed becau,c they were purchased.
| in good faith hv municipal officers. and.
generally, were not paid Tor until the
certificate of a | niiel States off ial wa
| presented. showing that they were
allowed on the quota Of the municipality
tor which they Were purchased: and
that. ina,much a. TIN name, were thu,
once accepted hv the Government
through lis OH -lal- instead OF the men
that had been called for. the Commi>-
>ioncr> should not make questions a. L.
! the regularity az that i..-.ssoIina- hnf
! should act upon the presumption that
/ whatever had the sanction OF a Govern
mcnt official must have been right and
regular. TO this argument our reply
| has been. and j.:
/ !. IL j. by no means a matter OF
course that municipal officers acted in
| good faith in all cases in the purchase
Of these names To fill their quota. On
HI. T.. n
| }, against the good faith OF such transac-
| iiunS. They saw no men mustered in.
saw none TO be mustered in. in answer
to the names. and no pretense was
made that there were any men here, or
coming here 10 be mustered. Municipal
officers knew very well that the recruit
ing OF the army bY adding efficient men
10 it, ranks wa the object. and the ONLY
object oi the call for men. and the a.
,iyuinent for quotas. And they knew
! very well that when they used the mon
es or credit o. their own city or town
('Srcady staggering under a load Of
debt incurred since the beginning OF the
war; to ill it, assignee quota. every
bounty paid should have added "A strong.
brave man 10 the countrv's defenders.
II IneN did moi look al the matter in this
1 =
own. and To their country. was Dis
charged bv simply filling their quota
with names, and thrs saving their en-
rolled men from IA draft. then We say
=. These paper cie,iits' answered
the object Tor whIch they were purchs.-
et-they nOminally filled the quota and
saved the city Or town from Il draft. and
having been bought ior iii. purpose
III. Inn
argument WHY the STATE should not DAY
out money tor them under law that
| lid not then exist and could not have
been contemplated
). Weremark again that we are only
authorized BY the law to award REIN
bursement for men furnished under the
call OF July ,, 1902, aud subsequent calls.
II we grant that each of these names or
paper credits" represents man actu-
ally in the service OF the United States
at some time during the war prior TO
the date when they were bought "a
above, still We have no legal authority
to award II inbursems mt for them unless
it were first proved to us that they en-
listed on or alter July 2, 1862.
We may further remark in passing,
that in many if not most cases. these
names were obtained by municipal Off
GERS at a price nearly or about as much
below the bounty for which living men
could be obtained as the reimbursement
would amount 10. So that as a mere
money transaction, aside from all ques-
tons OF duty 10 the Government, the
towns that filled their quota with these
names are about as well off as those
towns that filed their quota with their
own valuable men and citizens. and
receive reimbursement therefore under
the present act.
The conclusion to be drawn from this
report is that the locating of the parties