Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-10-11
the sense of power that they proceeded

| W tuGS0 oAbE0Iu0S.
| PAYMENT OF REBEL CLAIMS.
Now have something to say of Mr.
Tilden regarding his position on specie
payments. After seeking to place {
Democratic character in your own view
he Immediately begins to call you &
liar and other complimentary names
The Democrats say that tie Constitu
tion forbids the payment of rebe
claims. Now the Constitution does
forbid the payment of two classes OF
claims. You shall not make any appro
priation to pay the rebel debt, nor fol
the slaves that were emancipated. The
constitution, In one clause of the Four
teenth amendment, undoubtedly says
that. will not stop to argue that,
though l think even this may be got
round, but [ will acknowledge that
| those gateways are closed. / will ed
NIT there is no danger of money being
paid for the Rebel debt, orfor the slaves
that were emancipated. But, inside of that
gentlemen there is nothing in the Consti-
tuition that forbids the payment for all
the articles that were destroyed down
South during the war, all the wild des-
truction that followed the war, all the
houses, the fences, the scnool-houses,
churches, town, and the wheat and the
corn and the bacon, ssand the mules and
horses, the railroads, bridges, culverts,
and thousand and one nameless sources
OF loss, and ali payable to-day, if you
can get Majority in Congress to vote
the money. There is nothing in the
world to prevent it. How do you know
that any of them are going to be pad
They have very nearly 200 bills now
piled up. I have seen it stated at 40,
but it is very nearly 200 aud of every
imaginable thing
For the number of these bills you
have the testimony of the Hon. William
Lawrence, careful, painstaking, in
dustrious man. Fe is moderate in his
statements, and has carefully examined,
and from his experience, for he is more
competent than any other man in the
House, he said that those already filed
would involve the payment of from
$4O0, 10000 to S700,0O0,0G0 from the
National Treasury, In the event of a
majority of the House voting them.
Well, the War-Claims Committee of
the House sat, and as / said, Judge
Lawrence, of Bellefoutaine, was Chair
man, and they had it as rule til at
a man must first establish his
loyalty before establishing his claims.
The first thing that committee did when
the Democrats got control of it was to
strike out that requirement, and let any
man pat in his claim for losses without
regard to the question of loyalty at all.
And then another rule, which certainly
the lawyers, if there be any doing me
the honor to listen to me, now will look
upon as remarkable, that any person
putting IN claim for damages should
have his own evidence, should sustain
that claim by his own aft
davit, and that of some other
person knowing the fact. Here
comes John Smith, of Alabama,
who has lost $4,000 by the Union
army, and then John Jones swears that
is SO. This would bankrupt the Roth
childs And these are the men that made
MIR. Tilden back out from the doctrine
of specie payments in 1879, and there is
not Southern rebel with claim to-day
that does not know instinctively and alb
solutely that when this country comes
down to the hard-pan-to the gold and
silver dollar-you are never going to
pay the taxes with portion of the rebel
claims, for you cannot keep the curren-
CT open at both ends,-the paper money
at one end and the rebel claims
at the other. No, we will never
pay taxes to pay Southern
claims. They cannot create a
Southern revulsion, but by quietly
working what is known as the great in
fation sentiment, they hope to pay for
the vast number of mules and Southern
claims through the manipulation of
some form of paper money. Take one
single claim. When we we're taxing
everything during the war, from the
solitary hair that was left on the bald
mans pate to his shoe, we taxed cot
ton, and under the cotton tax collected
100000 900. Now they come forward
and ask that the taxes be paid back, not
to the men who paid the taxes, but that
this $70,000,000 shall be paid to the
cotton producing States in the proper
ton of their bales of cotton. There are
fifteen bills now pending for the pay
ment of that one claim.
HOW THE REBEL CLAIMS NAY BE PAID.
And now, gentlemen, more startling
than anything else, on Thursday of last
week there was decision rendered in
the city of Portland, state of Maine, in
the United States Circuit Court, Judge
Nathan Clifford presiding, with Daniel
Clark, District Judge of New Hamp-
shire, sitting with him, and I want the
attention of the lawyers again-con-
firming the judgment obtained against
Neal Dow, of tire Thirteenth Maine
Regiment, in Louisiana, giving judg
ment to the rebel against Dow personal
~ for the sugar seized on his plantation
by foraging party from his regiment.
They were out foraging and seiz-
ed some of his sugar, and the man
sued for it, and Dow said, eff you are
loyal man we will give you a receipt,
and you will easily get your pay for it. y
Now, the sugar was used, and large
part of it was sent to the hospitals.
Dow says, elf you will show me your
loyalty, / will give you receipt" and
he declined to do it, and got judgment
in q Louisiana Court. The United
States Circuit Court at Portland con
frmed that Judgment, and ordered exc
cution to issue for $1,750. That being