Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1876-11-02
READ AND REFLECT.

| The following bill was introduced by
FL. 7. Riddle, Representative from the
Fourth District of Tennessee, in the
House of Representatives,IF February %,
1876. 1t was read twice, referred to the
Committee Oh the Judiciary, ordered
TO be printed, and can be taken up and
passed whenever the Democracy get
full control of the several branches of
the Government:
Directing compensation to be allowed
for the use and occupation of prop
erty by the United States armyrdur-
ing the late War.
BE it enncted By the Senate and House
of Representatives of the United States of
america in Congress assembled, That
the Secretary Of War be, and he is here
by authorized to GiLOl0 reasonable COM
pensdtiOn to ALL CITIZENS of the
United States FOR THE USE AND OCCU-
PATTON OF THEIR PROPERTY BY THE
UNITED STATES ARMY, or any part
thereof, during the late Civil War, in
the same manner and under the same
regulations as compensation is now al
lowed for QuartermasterS' stores used
by said army; Provided hoUeUer, That
affidavit of the claimant, supported by
the competent testimony of any repu-
table citizen, SHALL BE SUFFI-
GENT PROOF TO ESTABLISH
THE FACT OF THE USE AND OCCUPA-
TION OF SUCH PROPERTY BY SAID
ARMY. But it is not the intention of
this act to limit the parties to the
amount of proof herein specified; but
other and additional testimony may
be taken to establish the fact of the use
and occupation, and the rental value
of the property occupied.
REMARKS.
The foregoing bill and another intro
duced by Mr.. Wiltshire, of Arkansas,
and equally sweeping in its provisions,
are intended to embrace all claims for
property or supplies of every character
used or destroyed by the immense
army of the Union, which during four
years marched and encamped upon
Southern soil. Their estimated aggre-
gates are immense, $2,4l0, 81, 600! But
the vast and ruinous schemes Of plum
der proposed under these bills are
greatly increased by the aggregates of
other schemes OF like character all
proposed by the Confederate Democra-
Cy al tu0 laSt SccolOuy auQ dll IOf LQ0
benefit of disloyal persons debarred un-
der our present laws from relief before
the Southern Claims Commission
such as the bill.of Mr.. Scales, of North
Carolina, II. r. 3145, to refund to the
disloyal States the direct tax collected
under the act of August 5, 1861, amount
ing to g., 49,, 100; such II. r. 232, pro-
posing to the cotton planter the tax
levied on raw cotton during the years
1865, 1866 and 1867, amounting to S6S,.
on, ,0S9; such as the relief bills in special
cases one hundred and forty-one in
introduced in the House as
the last session, as the proposition Of
Mr.. Johnston, of Virginia, covering
the claims of two hundred and six cit
izens of Loudon county, Virginia, and
that of Mr.. Merrimon, of North Caro-
lima, in the Senate, for the repeal Of
section $3.50 of the Revised Statutes for
tho benefit of claimants to sums accru-
ing prior to April Is, 1861, but who
forfeited their claims by their acts Of
and all amounting to e, 49,
497. Such as the bills to the extent Of
s200,OO0 introduced by the present
West Virginia delegation in the House
for payment for damage done TO GER
tain pixies, roads, churches, &C., in
West Virginia. To recapitulate:
direct tax under law of