Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1875-07-30
7pEyzFTTER TOEBKNF. PILzsBURY
AUGUSTA, Maine, July 90, 1915.

AUGUSTA, Maine, July - 1870.
To Eben +. PiAs5ury, Editor Of the STANDARD:
SIR-As open letters seem to be in fashion now,
you will not be surprised to have one from me in re
spouse to your gratuitous, malicious and ground
less assault upon me in your paper Of this week.
Stung to madness by serious charges against your
self, which you cannot answer, you thrash around
wildly to accuse some one else, and even so quiet
a citizen as myself is not permitted to escape l
desire to reply briefly, not with the hope of stop
ping such sanderers and falsifers as you have
proved yourself to be, but to post such personal
friends as desire to know the real truth.
First, then, never insmy life had anything
whatever to do, directly or indirectly, with the
class of enlistments technically known as paper
credits. did aid IN the distribution to certain
towns of two hundred and fifty one men who were
actually enlisted and serving in the navy, and who
had not been credited to any town, but who un-
der the general law of Congress were EMIT ed to
be credited. If they had not been credited to
Maine they would have been credited to Massa-
chusetts, and then the quota Of Maine would have
been just two hundred and fifty one men more
than it was. These men were not fictitious paper
men, but real actual, live men, doing duty in the
navy and Just as much entitled to credit from
that source as any soldier that enlisted from the
State.
Second, no influence with the War Department
and no interview with the Provost Marshal Gen
eral was necessary to have these men credited.
The only question was rs to where they should be
credited. | never saw Provost Marshal General
Frye in my life, and never asked any man in of
IL tn ito
for me. The question which he was to decide
about these two hundred and fifty one men, re-
peat, not whether they should be credited, but
whether Massachusetts or Maine should have them
| succeeded in securing them to Maine, and there
by saveI two hundred and fifty one men in Maine
from being drafted. And SO far as the city of Au-
gusta was concerned used my influence in Sc
curing to her number of these men without a
penny Of profit to myself, and have observed that
great many men who have been noisy in regard
to this subject were very glad at that time to be
relieved from the CONSUMPTION by having these
men credited to the city.
If you are after the truth in this
matter, Mr.. Pillsbury, why limit either
your assaults or your inquiries to your
political opponents No fact is better known than
that several prominent democrats of this city and
elsewhere in the State, were largely engaged in
what is known as the Paper Credit business. /
not assaulting those gentlemen, and have no
accusation to make against them, but it becomes a
pertinent inquiry for the public to know if GER
tain act done by a republican is crime, and a
much more intense act in the same direction by
democrat is virtue.
Finally, as to my failure to appear before the In
vcstigating Committee of 1870, have to say that
never received summons TO appear, nor was it
difficult to have summoned me. Not only was my
location for the entire year well known, but from
the 9TH of September TO the l4th of October was
in this city under circumstances that forbade my
leaving. The Commission was then in session,
and | saw Mr.. Talbot and Gen. Conner repeated
ly, ana never once received f,om either ofthem an
intmation that they desired my testimony. had
been before two different Legislative Committees,
Hon. Gee. F. Sbepley being Chairman of one, and