The Portland daily press., 1871-01-20

overcome Dy tne ingenious explanation
that, as the men were in the service |
Of the United States, they ought |
to have a residence somewhere. and
as no residence could be shown else
where in the United States, they might. by
n fiction of law, be considered as residents
of the towns to which they were assigned
it not being explained that the very GER
tificate sought was the prerequisite of
such assignment.
Delany asserts that the assignment of
these men to the credit OF towns was re-
fused by the Adjutant General, without
authority from Washington, and that he
procured such authority in the form of an
order from Provost Marshal General FRY
to credit the names enumerated in the list
to districts and sub-distiicis in the State:
and that after the receipt of that order
credits were made TO such towns as he
had negotiated with for the men.
THE FARWELL LOT.
The assignment Of some sixty or more
men, whose names were originally borne
on the Heath lists but who not having been
taken up by the certificates OF towns as
residents thereof were for a while classed
as General Naval Credits" to the towns
OF Sidney. Norrdgewock, Mercer, Starks
and others, in performance of contracts
made with those towns by A. B. Farwell,
and for which men Farwell was paid, was
perhaps the transaction which has excited
more comment and suspicion than any
other connected with these credits.
Mr.. Farwell's own explanation of his
connection with this distribution has been
put before the public in various forms. 1t
will be found succinctly stated in his COM
.munication to the Portland Advertiser dated
Oct. 5, 1869; and at more length in his
answer to Undergraduates in his deposition
taken by us. He says that he went to
Washington. D. c., taking with him only
private letter from Governor Cony, intro
ducing him and his business, and while in
that vicinity procured and caused to be
mustered into the army, number of men
not varying ten from seventy-five, part Of
which he enlisted himself, part of which
he bought of other recruiting agents and
part of which were transferred to hins by
a man whose name he suppresses, be adj
yancing their bOunties and taking their
receipts therefor.
He says the muster rolls of all these
men were either sent by mail or brought
by himself to the Adjutant Generals office
in Augusta, and that in case of all the
men whose receipts and enlistment papers
he did not himself bring, they were assign
ed by the State authorities to the State at
large or 70 the towns of their residences
respectively. He says he had advanced as
State bounties and premiums for these
men $50, 900, and over $4,000 more than
was reimbursed to him in the sale and as
| signment of such as he was allowed TO
control. Complaining to the State au hori-
| ties of this considerable loss, they finally
| arranged to reimburse him by allowing
| him to take some sixty or more men from
| the ''general credit" list and sell them to
| towns, by which he was enabled to in
| demnify himself for his said loss. After
| this arrangement was agreed upon, he
asserts that the Governor burnt the origi-
nal receipts in his private room in the State
| House, of all the men who had been as.
signed, as he says to the general credit Of
the State or of the towns of their resi-
dences. to none of which had a bounty
been paid by the State.
| This statement, although asseverated
| and repeatedly man who has largely
| enjoyed the friendship of eminent public
men and the confidence of his fellow citi
zens, is contraaicted by so many facts anc
circumstances. that we find ourselves com
PEELED. in determining what our testimony
| proves. to state in order the reasons fol
| distrusting it.
| With the most strenuous purpose tC
credit Mr.. Farwell, we should be perplexeG
| to determine which Mr.. Farwell, the one
| who fresh from the event, in February
1865, made a statement before the iegisla'
| tive Investigating committee. which was
taken down in writing by Hon. Nathan
Webb, or the one who more than six years
after the event subscribes and swears to
| the testimony taken before us. In the
| former he stated thai he had commission
from the Adjutant General and procured
a.. mo 'nen o"e .nr. au s..'S t"s
.a,so. nc GU s ."'r nv iou ~ 'aNo
III 20 a:ul .: ao IN. :"
anS " We oJ"siu ,e.." iee,u l'nlS one'
Hn" OnJ nau .o'e NJ, .no Nv:
~ .ne eecnn nc saiu 'iiat ne pau max,
mum VI @ooo loi men anu S4oo !ol aPersona
s"os' :s ~ TUG ia1o n-on ne .esunrs ma;
nc palu "aAl'nuui Vi %Ioo iol ineu anu
%ooo wi PeIso"". suos."n on ~ lu Tue
,u,i 'i' nc e.a.es .naI VI MS oo VI oV Me,i,
a: az LUZ ."eo VI a"en'y "eie ~. n,eh a!reauy
. ~ .nI ""vy VI oua,u wv unne'ene wa,
h osaels "nos SO, Innsa.ns papers ne Msu
~ ~ .nI ia''oa no lnnAee ~ Oa.u ',a'
.no VIZ .Iunio' nv. va yns ~ iroul -
e, ,h ,,;a;;, anu fiiuSerea i.i'o Inc srmy
tnrn ,nv W. ' 'Ia,, ~ Las ~ .ns
,t,an,i,. nv p."y onnptes .nas nc ouus ~
E,no.,,,, nnd n papISo noT s,IaIa :,
ha aa;n;,s a ,har ha bnh. i. n ne W ,a'.sl
nnd W.n,an.s NJ a 'o oaS :. onN mo
proved that he did not buv Stimson,s.
In the former he makes no complaint of
misassiynment or loss of men. lie was so
successful that he had men to spare. and
after generously dopatiny ten or fifteen
men which the Adjutant General assigned
for DO itical purposes at his written re-
quest, he suld what he had left so as to
get back what he had paid out and little
more. In the latter he complains under
oath that he lost some so or 60 men by the
misassignment of the State authorities,
and more than $50, 900 which he had dis
bursed for them more than what he got
back by sale and payment, and that the
State authorities repaid this loss by turn
ing over to him 60 or more men from the
general naval credits.
Ii is difficult to reconcile these two state
ments or to make them appear like verira-
BILE rectals of the same transaction. We
conclude that the men sold by Farwel to
the towns of Sidney, Mercer, Winthrop.
Starks, Norridgewock and Greene. were
taken out of the category of general naval
credits, where they first stood, and put to
the credit of these towns, either in the
manner that Delany effected his assign
ment OF the same class of men. or in the
manner the PSI list was assigned of which
we speak next.
THE TWO ,,,7snpvn ANN ,,,,r own
,rha na,nos aont.;naa "a, t,a nt AZ ~, Osh.
o,o;n,od - 10 ~ n., =" t"o 1oh ns., anu
nouu a,.ba" o so;maa5 ~ I'll ~ us Ss ~ Tue
, nasS, a' -, o. nvu Wy lne ola'e au-
hao, u u ~ 5ua'o % .o"ns, seeni W haue
W Nh sa, d 80 as .,aG PloPerty % ~ n.
~ Ha anoS anu meie p,ouao,y 1ouSn1 Wy nlln
So.s SUI, pet s sono t uonee'eW VIII anu re-
n lI. ~. W 't toa,;,o .1 We ues.rea W
oe.n tne 49,. ;eS ,;a VI MI Manley nl-