Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-10-19


commence at once and the RESPONSE
bility of it rest upon the authorities
at Richmond, who have acknowledg-
ed the legitimacy of guerilla bands"
These two bills added to the above
amount swell the appropriations TO
be made on special account alone to
S2,l81 ,497.
BIG BONANZA.
But this skirmishing about the
Treasury, whereby only q few thous-
ands or millions are carried off at a
time, is found 10 DO too slow and ag-
gravating to satisfy the demand, and
while it feeds a few 10 tue front
leaves the great army of claimants
starving in the rear. 1t is but the
scent of blood to the hungry lion,
and something must be done to APP
pease his devouring appetite. In
this desperate emergency the intrep-
id Confederate Riddle, of the 4th
| district of Tennessee, shows himself
equal to the demand and leads the
clsmoring army in the charge. The
plan he proposes is not piecemeal or
| cowardly in any sense, but a bold,
comprehensive scheme, the very dar-
ing and magnitude of which chal-
lenges admiration. 1t means plum.
der by the wholesale under the cover
of legalizing statutes.
The bill IN question (H. z. 2364)
| is entitled "a bill directing compen-
sation to be made for the use and oc-
Gu patton of all property by the Unit
ed States during the late war;" and
specifically sets forth it's objects in
the first section, as follows:
s'Be it enacted, &c, That the Sec
rotary of War be, and he is hereby,
authorized to allow compensation &c
all citizens of the United States toI
the use and occupation of their prop
erty by the United States army, OF
any part thereof, during the late civ
il war IN the same manner and no.
der tho same regulations as compen-
sation is now allowed for quarter.
masters stores used by said army
| Provided, ho,oeuer, That tho affida.
Wit of the claimant, supported by the
competent testimony OF any reputa-
BILE citizen, shall be sufficient proc
to establish the fact of use and occu.
patton of such property by said army
But it is not the intention of this act
to limit the parties to the amount o
lproof herein specified, but other ad
ditional testimony may be taken t.
establish the fact of the use and oc'
cupation and the rental value of tht
property occupied"
During four long years the i'm
mense army of the Union was march
ed and encamped exclusively or
Southern territory and the property
it occupied in that time may be sale
to be co-extensive with the area o
the Confederate States. From
Washington, Cincinnati, and Cairo
south to the Gulf of Mexico, scarcely
landlord or planter could be founc
who had not at some time during
the war been quartered on by the
Union troops and sustained damages
which, when aggregated would be
simply fabulous.
THE HIGH CARNIVAL COMPLETED.
But bold, aggressive, and ruinous
as is this scheme Of plumber, it still
remains for the concluding bill tc
open full wide the Southern food
gates and complete the carnival o
| jobbery and robbery in the Treasury
| fNLa hill or
by Mr.. Riddle covers tho fuse anC
occupation" of rebel property By
TBS f bqa5p5sss 20 adjust ji1 and setil
the claims of citizens of the United
States for stores and supplies take,
or furnished during the rebellion TO
the use Of the army of the United
| States and tor other purposes"
| 1t will be noticed that nothing vii
be said about loyal citizens as bein!
the only proper claimants, but al
citizens, whether they were loyal o
disloyal, are to appear on common
footing and be paid without distinc
ton. Nor is there any limit fxe,
to the "stsres and supplies taken Of
furnished " short of the entire
amount, whatever that may be. |
means in effect that the Governmen
shall pay for every head of cattle
every bushel of corn or other grain
every pound of meat, -four, meal, ant
com missary stores and quarterma,
ter's supplies of every kind whateve
foraged, used, or destroyed by ou
soldiers during the warl
THF GRAND TOTAL.
| And what would be the grand ag
gregate of claims accruing under
these wholesale raids upon th'
Treasury A reasonable estimate
may perhaps be reached by taking
the %, 298 sworn loyal claimants as
basis. The total amount claimed
by this class, as appears in the pre-
ceeding pages, is 500, 258, 150, making
the average value of each claim So,
702,40. 1t will not be regarded al
extrayagant to say that the number
of disloyal claimants South, stand a,
forty to one loyal, and using ths
same average value of $2,702 40 pei
claim, as above, the total to be ap
propriated on account OF these two
bills alone would swell to the sum O.
| $2,410,326,00
REHABILITATION.
Direct tax ........... s2,s6l, az
Specia! relief bill .......... 2,1sl.4
Cotton tax ................ 6S,072, 0SS
| Use and destruction of prop
erty -. ..... =. -. I,20b, lea, o0C
Supplies used or destroyed. 1905, l63,00C
Total -. :. ....... 2,4s3, 24l ,S6l
Is round numbers, an amount equal
to the national debt at the close of the
tCdr.
THE WRECK OF GOVERNMENT.
When the national resources and
credit have thus been exhausted, ar d
bankruptcy and dishonor have fol-
lowed these multiplied bounties to
traitors, then, and n until then,
will the nation have paid the debt of
Southern restoration and content
| ment demanded by that section and