The Republican journal., 1870-02-10
PAPER CREDITS.
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE.
The Cat that is Under the Meal.

The pith of the Report to which we last
week alluded, will be found below The
history thereof is briefly this: The act O
March z, 1868, provided, together with the
late amendment to the Constitution fol
reimbursing the several towns of the State
for men furnished during the war, subsequen
to July 5, 1862, at the rate of 800 for every
three years man. 1t was expressly provided
in the act that no reimbursement should be
made to municipalities ''for men, when it is
in evidence that credit was granted by the
State as 4 gratuity.'' Under this authority,
commissioners were appointed to make the
awards, being James A. Milliken, of Cherry
field, D. L. Milliken, Of Waterville, and
Nathan Dane, of Alfred. Their report has
just been make to the Legislature. and print
ed. We extract what follows
A very considerable proportion of the claims
presented have had upon them a greater or less
number of names that may be best cassed as ''nava
commission men, From the commencement OF
the war in April, 1861, many men enlisted in the
naval service from the marine States, who were
enrolled or liable to be enrolled in the city or town
Of their residence These men had enlisted with
OuL DouHly OI expectation OI DOuntys 1ney ha(
not been furnished by any municipality, nor credit
ed upon any quota. Early in 1864, with view to
the equalization of quotas between the East and the
West, in accordance with an act of Congress, APP
proved February "a, 1864, the Government "direct-
ed, in effect the credit to municipalities of their
citizens, liable to enrolment who were serving in
the navy OF marine corps, or had been by due en-
listment, at any time since the commencement of
the war, though deceased or discharged therefrom
prior to the passage of said act.'
To the State of Maine the General Government
assigned certain number of these men, generally
understood to be two thousand five hundreds but
whether just this number or considerably larger
number, we are not able to state, for which
will appear hereafter. To make proper disribll-
tiOn of these men or names to the municipalities
the War Department appointed Commission con-
sisting of the then Governor of Maine, and Major
W. 7. Gardiner U. S. Army, then Acting Assist
ant Provost Marshal General of Maine. This Com
mission sent properly prepared blanks to the
municipal officers of all cities, towns and plantt-
tions in the State requesting and directing tie Te-
turn thereon of the name of every man known to
be serving in the navy or marine corps, who had
so served at any time during the war; with the date
and place Of his enlistment, and the name of the
vessel on which ne was or had been serving, so far
as such data could be given. And the quota of
each municipality under the then existing call was
to be reduced to the extent of the number of names
so returned and found to be correct. 1t will be
seen at once that men so returned by municipal Of
cers had not enlisted on or for any quota, of any
city or town-had not been paid any bounty, and, if
alive, were not expecting any bounty In section
six of the act under which reimbursement is made,
it is expressly provided that ''no money or bonds
shall be paid to any city, town or plantation. for
men, when it is in evidence that said credit was
granted by the State gratuity for which they
have paid no considerations We could not see
that any discretion was LETT with us whether to al
low or disallow these men or names. 1t seemed to
us that both the letter and spirit of the law eXclld-
ed them.
The foregoing remarks in relation to ''naval COM
mission men, are intended to alude only to those
who seem to have been regularly and properly re-
turned to the Naval Commissioners by municipal
officers. On many claims presented for consid-
Grafton and allowance, we have found names
could flnd no where in the records until we turned
as last resort, to the list of men allowed by the
Naval Commissioners. Municipal officers on being
informed by us that such names upon their claims
could not be allowed because included in the class
of naval commission men, have, in frequent i'll
stances, produced receipts from men who were en-
gagged IN the filling of quotas. giving the names SO
claimed a. of men furnished for that city or town
and acknowledging the receipt of the same amount
OF money therefor AS set against the names on the
clam. toF some time we were wholly unable to
even imagine the explanation of the matter. The
names so claimed we found in the list OF those o-
lowed by the Naval Commissioners, and found them
no where else. If allowed by the Naval Commits
sioners then it would follow, or ought to follow
that the men were residents Of the city, town or
plantation to which they were so allowed and
municipal officers for the time being. Why then
should they have been purchased by the same
municipal officers, at high price, of some "subSt-
tute broker? Further investigation, however
brought out the fact that these purchased naval
commission mem were not residents of the towns
to which they had been so sold, that the names are
strange and not recognized by the present officers
of the towns us names of men ever residing in those
places. In all such eases we struck the names
from the claims dsallowed, and waited for
further developments. And now in closing our
labors we are only prepared to explain the mat
ter in part.
1t seems that of the twenty-five hundred or more
names of naval men allowed by the War Depart
ment to the State of Maine as before stated por-
ton-hoW large portion we know not-were left
unclaimed by any municipality, after the blanks
sent out by the Naval Commissioners for that pur-
pose had been returned, or after Il sufficient time
had elapsed for them to have been returned. OF
these unclaimed men, it is said that part as
signed to some small towns and plantations upon
whose people the draft, from a peculiar train of
circumstances, was bearing with more than COM
mon hardship. But even yet considerable num-
Der seem to have been left. How these men or
names should have been disposed of, it is no part
of our duty to say. One gentleman of some note
and prominence in the State has publicly stated
that he was permitted by the officials having con-
troll OF the matter, to sell some eighty or more of
these names to various municipalities in order to
get reimbursement for money he had paid out in
Washington and in Virginia in bountes to men
whom he had induced to enlist or re-enlist and
whose names he had forwarded to the Adutant
General here, expecting them to be quot;td 10 GER
tain towns whose quotas he had contracted to fill
but who, on his return home, he found had been
credited to the places of their residence He fur
ther states, If we have understood him correctly,
that in every instance where he sold these naval
commission men to towns or cities, he wrote the
names, so sod or caused them to be written, upon
one Of the printed blanks such as had been sent
out by the Naval Commissioners, and had the mu-
nicipa officers execute it as a return to the Naval
Commissioners, thus certifying in their official ca
pacity that the men so bought were residents of
their town or city. So far we have examined
the files, we have seen no reason for doubling the
substantial correctness of his statement in this re-
gentleman acknowledges to have been sold, by no
means account for the many that we have found
claimed and bought, as we have before stated, and
allowed by Naval Commissioners in much the
same manner. That any of the men whose names
were thus sold out in Maine as serving or having
served i'll the navy, received any of the money paid
to the men who assumed to sell their names is not
at all probable. How many of this class were sold
in the way above named, it is not possible for us
to state. We can only say that the books show
about three thousand names were allowed by Ma
val Commissioners. The number for which reinl-
bursement has been claimed may be spoken of as
hundreds. And considering what municipal Off
GERS had to do to get such names allowed upon
their quotas after purchasing them, it may be well
supposed that only portion so obtained have been
claimed for reimbursement, especially in eases
where the same men were in office then and now
The commissioners do not take upon themselVes
to characterize the proceedings herein described
They assume only to give statement of the facts
legations, and leave it for the people of the State to
annrOVp condemn fhp facts NAV seem tO war;