The Republican journal., 1870-02-10

" ~ OAs
whom we had sent there were writing and callin
to us in the brief intervals of almost constant tigh
ing to send help and succor, and when in respons
TO the condition Of things this call of the Govern
ment and this appeal of the long enduring soldiers
the whole people of the State were active and anx
lous to obtain and send forward men, strong, able
DfaVe men, to help i'll that one grand and final et
Tort that all felt was to be made to crush th
head OF the rebel serpent-lust then, in that crisis
OF the war and of the national life when the re
plenlshlng of the army was a simple question O.
me and death with the Government, an individual
maze his appearance at the State Capitol claiming
| TO have come from Washington and bringing IN
his pocket long list of names. many Of them
quaint and nnpronounceable by an American
.oliSte. ana otners SO very common as to be re.
markable all of which he asserted to be the names
OF men who had enlisted in the service Of the Uni.
tel States at some time since the commencement OF
the war, and who had not been credited to the quo.
I'd I'd vi any otate or municipality. And these names
were offered to the officers and recruiting agents of
municipalities who We're looking for MEN to fill
lhelr quotas and re-enforce the depleted army and
Offering large bounties for such men. Before quo
th las coulu De cancelled by the use of these names
the approval OF the proper United States officials
must De secured The Office of A. A. Provost
Marshal General of Maine was then filled by an
honorable gentleman of Maine and an officer of the
regular army, 10 him this remarkable roll was
SHOWN and his approval of it solicited That APP
proVal was denied and probably with some ex-
presslons of honest indignation. Not very long af-
terward THIS officer was ordered to another field of
duty and his place supplied by an officer from a
estern State. Then again appeared at the State
Capitol the once rejected list of names. And
henceforWard it seems there was no official veto
upon the filling of quotas of cities and towns with
these names.
Thus far our statement in relation to these ena.
per credits Is founded upon the best information
we have been able to obtain from INQUIRIES and the
collallon OF many statements voluntarily made to
US by persons having more or less means of know
ing the facts as they occurred. For the absolute
correctness of the statement we do not vouch That
the names We're sold by various individuals and
frms at an average price Of about $3.50 each, we
can very saieiy state, tor they have been claimed
for reimbursement, and official Gel eltiticates Showing
That they were allowed and the receipts for the
money paid for them have been presented to sub-
stantlate the claims. How the individuals or firms
@ SoI u seems TO nave been business so extensive
and important as to call for the formation of bust
ness partnerShlps) who sold these names became
possessed OF them, we are wholly unable to saw.
How low much they paid for them is question of very
much more interest to themselves than to the peo-
pie of Maine. That they had to divide the money
received with some other persons or parties is \
very safe presumption. That the men whose names
We're sold and bought-if the names represented
men-dld not receive any of the money so poid is
quite as safe presumption.
AS has been already Sad all claims for reimburse
mcnt for this class of names have been disalIoWed
bv the Commission. 1t has been argued to us that
sucn names should be allowed because they were
purchased in good faith by municipal officers, and
that lnasmuch as the names We're thus accepted bv
i,d ~ - l isttil. VI tfie men that mad been
,nrns1n,t; @ oAis.oiielS siould act upon the
Goy"rmp,nmt Il.ti' M.eNtT hitu lhe sanction OF a
gular.
10 this argument our reply has BEEN and is:
i: II Is ~ no ileais matter OF course that mll-
nlclpa o1llcerS acted III good faith in all cases in
the purchase Of these names to fill their quotas.
lhey knew very we'll that when they used the
money or cfeult OF their city or town (alreadv
iSltgseiinS unaer load OF debt incurred since the
o9, h3,,t VI 'me TaiJ 10 l It's assigned quota
Ineil il pout's p1lu snouid nave addeG strong,
t , ~ ~ 'iio country dGlehdefs II they did
t Iut 'tbh a' 1le mater IN tnls Sht-l they deemed
cn|nt u't' ~ 1iel ci'3 VI Town, amo 10 the!r
ouaa ,';, H',s nls'ntlSeu by simply hhg their
@ Ino'1 Nl'n i'nles; iu mus saw ing lhelr enrolled
III, M j" Ir' II plll " uI'tlt' thel we say
ihcSe paper cfellts' answered the object
en t9l " Ii 1ph .iltE were purchascd-thcy nominay
hlitu tHe pnola anu saved the city or town from
u ulti,' anu hNlhG peeh bought for that purpose
npnc l ICY cAlSta no $ood reason or argument
i % 49, 49, ,. ,iiouiu ~, NOV NOV pay o' money 1or them
have been contnmnlntaI '"'''' ">''' ""' could not
%. we remark again that we are only authorized
by the law to award reimbursement for men fur
nlshed under the call of July-2, 1862, and suisse
qucnt calls. If we grant that each of these names
OF paper credits represents man actually in the
service OF the ntcd States at some time during
the war prior to the date when they We're brought
as aloVe, stlli we had no legal authority to award
fembuIsehnnt for them unless it We're first proved
10 lis t'ilt lhcy enlisted on or after July = 1862
IN no single instance where claim was made for
theSc paper rredlt men, was one item of evi-
ueice presented to Us going to show the date Of
their enlistment. For aught that has ever anneor-
ed to us they might all have enlisted in 1861 And
tltef refusing 10 allow reimbursement for the
Grave men ul Name VINO enlisted in that wear as
we were obIgedto do by the terms Of the law, we
snolla not pe very hkely TO give the law a strain
Gu htSlpitla.ioh lof lne sake OF allowing for these
very doubtful names.
Nhl 1illilI!' NeW;ng the Whole matter of these
so caiieb paper credits IN the best light of all the
facts that have been able to obtain. and the best
reasoning we have been able to apply to it. it is the
honest conviction of the Commissioners that the
whole transaction was wrong and nQutous-a
wrong to the Government then STRUGGLING for its
very eNistence-a wrong to the people of the mu-
inequalities whose money was paid away-and n
double and cruel wrong to the brave men of the
army then lying in the trenches of the Appomattoy
and the james; and that all who actively particj-
pated in it, or passively consented to it have an nm
pleasant account to settle with their own conscicn
ces and selt-rcspcct at least, if never with the
wronged people and Institutions And the com
missioners think of no valid reasoning by
which they could justify themselves to the people
of the State, if they had re-enacted and perpetuatcd
the wrong by awarding many thousands of the
peoples money as reimbursement for the class of
names i'll question.
There Is another and smaller class of men that
were claimed and disalowed. In the fall of 1862 n
considerable number of men were enlisted as re-
cruits for the old regiment in the field. Some of
these recruits, on arriving at Augusta instead of
fnryx TO tI,A,