The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1872-10-28
Southern claims Commission.


planned of, and charged, that the Board is
hard on claimants that q very inconsidcr-
BILE proportion of the claims presented is
allowed; that where claims are admitted,
there is 'merciless cutting down" of the
amount Of allowance /; that entire classes
of claims arc wholly ignored, without even
examination /; that q system of extraordi-
nary interrogation is applied both to claim
ants and witnesses /; that an impossible Or
deal of proof is prescribed (; that there is
much delay in the action of the Board, and,
lastly, that "the Board is a powerful in
strument, in the hands of the Administra-
tion."
For not one of these imputations is there
the slightest foundation.
The Board has confined itself strictly to
the limits of its authority, and has adopted
no rule or regulation that was not neces-
sary to execute, fairly and faithfully, the
requirements of the act of Congress Great
ing it, and prescribing its duties.
That act limits the allowances to be made
by the Board to stores and supplies and
vessels and boats furnished to, and used by,
the Federal armies during the rebellion.
For supplies to the navy, and rents of
houses and lands, and damages of every
kind, are excluded from the jurisdiction Of
the Board and can be paid for only by
special acts Of Congress.
Now it is manifest that the Board has
no authority to enlarge the area of allow
ance. Were it to do so it would be exer-
cising legislative power and usurping the
functions of Congress. Hence, all claims
for use and occupation Of houses and lands,
for supplies furnished the navy, for destruc-
ton of buildings and damages of whatever
kind, have been in all cases rejected, not
even considered, because not provided for
by the act of Congress. BY a recent act,
navy supplies have been included. Never
theless, the Board has been as liberal as the
spirit of the law would allow. For exam
Pile: Damages are not within the express
provisions of the law. Yet if buildings
were demolished, the timber torn down is
paid for, if used in the erection OF other
buildings for the use of the army; and so
of fences, the rails of which are not usu-
ally regarded as stores or supplies. Yet
as rails were generally used by the army
as fuel, the Board very literally, as ]
think. allows for them as wood, at So per
cord.
And the operation Of the act is limited
10 loyal persons erclusirely, its words being
"those citizens who remained loyal adhe-
rents to the cause and government Of the
United States" Disloyal claimants have
no status before the Board.
Now, as people differ widely as to what
constitutes loyalty, and disloyal persons
might attempt to work in their claims, the
Board was compelled to adopt set of strin-
gent rules and regulations to prevent fraud
and imposition. And hence the complain
ed of multiplicity of interrogatories pro-
pounded to claimants and witnesses. But
they are all within the scope of legitimate
inquiry and investigation, and are necessary
to develop the truth as to the loyalty ofthe
claimant, and as to the property taken and
its value. The interrogation is Searching,
it is true, as it ought to be; but no honest
claimant or truthful witness has objected,
or can object. 1t has already defeated
many unlawful claims, and will, doubtless,
defeat many more. The author of this
yindication Of an abused Commission has
known more than one claimant to abandon
the claim made, Immediately on reading
over the list of i~nterrogatories. The ordeal
could not be honestly passed.
And as to the "%cutting down Of allow
ance," that is not the fault of the Board,
but is owing to the defect in the evidence
adduced by the claimants. The judges of
the Board are sound lawyers, and gentle
men of admitted integrity |; and the pre-
sumption of common reason and of com-
mon charity ought to be, that they allow
all that the evidence permits. Besides, it
is well known to those who have seen the
accounts rendered, that they are ~exorbitant
in amount by reason of exorbitant prices,
and so the Board very properly adopted,
as q general rule, the standard of prices
fixed by the quartermaster's and commits
sary departments.
And SO as to the large number of claims
rejected. Many p~ersons-it is their mis-
fortune-cannot make out their claims by
adequate proofs, and the Board is bound
either to reject or allow on insufficient
testimony. Many, too, fail to establish
their loyalty satisfactorily, and SO 90 to the
disallowed list. But as evidence of their
fairness and liberality of the Board, it may
be stated, that where evidence of loyalty is
imperfect the case is suspended for a fur
Their hearing.
And thus is accounted for the smallness
of the number and amount of allowances in
North Carolina, which is so pressed as an
example of hardship by the Patriot cor
respondent. One Of these North Carolina
claims. that of Jonas P, Levy, amounting
An am - ~ n