Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-10-25

acts, you Will consume and destroy all
forage and subsistence, burn all barns
and mills and their contents, and drive
off all stock. This order must be liter
ally executed, bearing in mind, how
ever, that no dwellings are to be burned,
and that no personal violence be offer
ed the citizens. The ultimate result of
the guerrilla system of warfare is the
total destruction of all private rights in
the country occupied by such parties.
This destruction may as we'll commence
at once and the responsibility of it
must rest upon the Authorities of Rich
mond, who have acknowledged the
legitimacy of guerilla bands"
These two bills added to the above
amount swell the appropriations to be
made on special accounts alone to 49,.
181, 497.
BIG BONANZA.
But this skirmishing about the Treas
ury whereby only few thousands or
millions are carried off at time,
is found to be too slow and
aggravating to satisfy the de-
mand, and while it feeds a few in the
front, leaves the great army of claim
ants starving in the rear. It is but the
scent of blood to the hungry lion, and
something must be done to appease his
devouring appetite. In this desperate
emergency the intrepid Confederate
Riddle, of the 4th district of Tennessee,
shows himself equal to the demand and
leads the clamoring army in the charge.
The plan he proposes is not peacemeal
or cowardly il any sense, but bold,
comprehensive scheme, the very dar-
ing magnitude of which challenges ad-
niration. It means plumber by the
wholesale under the cover of legalizinq
statutes.
The bill in question ( H. r. 1864 en-
titled bill directing compensation to
be made for the use and occupation of
all property by the United States dur
ing the late war;" and specifically sets
forth it's objects in the first section as
follows:
Be 1t enacted, &c., That the Secre-
tary of War be, and he is hereby,
authorized to allow compensation to all
citizens of the United States for the use
and occupation 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 regu-
Lotions as compensation is now allowed
under quarter-masters stores used by
said army: Provided, however, That the
affidavit of the claimant supported by
the competent testimony of any reput-
able citizen, shall be sufficient proof to
establish the fact of use and occupa-
ton of such property by said army.
But 1t Is not the intention Of this act to
limit the parties to the amount of proof
herein specified, but other additional
testimony may be taken to establish
the fact of the use and occupation and
the rental value of the property occu-
pied"
During four long years the immense
army of the Union was marched and
encamped exclusively on Southern Ter
ritory, and the property it occupied in
that time may be said to be cock
tensive with the area of the Southern
States. From Washington, Cincinnati,
and Cairo, south to the Gulf of Mexico,
scarcely landlord or planter could be
found who had not at some time dur
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 re-
mains for the concluding bill to open
full wide the Southern food-gates and
complete the carnival of jobbery and
robbery in the Treasury of the Nation.
The bill presented by Mr.. Riddle covers
the "use and occupation" of rebel
property by the Government. This
bill (H. R. 558) proposes to adjust
and settle the claims of citizens of
the United States for stores and sup-
plies taken or furnished during the rebellion
for the use of the army of the United
States and for other purposes"
1t will be noticed that nothing is said
about loyal citizens rs being the only
proper claimants, but all citizens,
whether they were loyal or disloyal, are
to appear on common footing and be
paid without distinction. Nor is
there any limit fixed to the stores
aud supplies taken or furnished" short
Of the entire amount, whatever that
may be. 1t means in effect that the
government shall pay for every head
of cattle; every bushel of corn or other
grain; every pound of meat, -four,
meal, and commissary stores and quar-
termaster's supplies of every kind
whatever, foraged, used, or destroyed
by our soldiers during the war!
THE GRAND TOTAL.
And what would be the grand aggre-
gate of claims accruing under these
wholesale raids upon the Treasury? A
reasonable estimate may probably be
reached by taking the %, 208 sworn 10y
| al claimants as a basis. The total
amount claimed by this class, as ap-
pears in the preceding apages, SIS $780,
258, $50, making the average value Of
each claim So, 7O2.40. It will not be re-
garded as extravagant to say that the
number of disloyal claimants South
stand as forty to one loyal, and using
the same average value of $2,702. 40 per
claim, as above, the total to be appro-
prlated on account of these two bills
alone would swell to the sum of s., 410, :
| $4,000.
NATURALIZATION.