The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1878-10-17

pIOCIdlldGIOu Oh 3ToS1QenG y Johnson. Is
sued Dec. %, 1868, any action of Con-
gress which should give any court juris-
diction of Southern war claims would
open the doors at once for the payment
to late rebels of full damages for all
the losses they had sustained in conse-
quence of their acts of treason. The
Supreme Court has decided that no
power exists in Congress to Limit the
operations of the Presidents pardoning
power. Avery large number of South
ern war claims are now pending before
the treasury, the Quartermaster Gen.
erals and the Commissary Generals
i departments, and the Southern Claims
Commission, and the majority of them
have been thus pending for years
These claims amount to perhaps $780,
100000. AS the tribunals referred to
| are not courts within the constitutional
meaning of the term, the limitations
contained in the acts of Congress CIV
ing them jurisdiction are still operative,
| notwithstanding the amnesty. Every
| one of these acts provided that, as
| first requisite in each case presented, the
| claimant should prove that he had never
given aid or comfort to the enemies of
the Government, and nearly all of these
claims are invalid on account of the
known disloyalty of claimants. Should
this bill become law, these claims will
be removed from the tribunals where
they are, and transferred to the Court
| OF Claims, where no question as to 10y
atty or disloyalty can be raised; and
hence they will, in so far as that point
is concerned, at once be validated. This
would not prepare the way for drawing
from the treasury the amount of the
claims. now pending, but the precedent
for which the claim-agent so fervently
yearns would be established, under
which the two or three hundred million
dollars worth of claims already pre-
pared could be brought forward, while
the possibilities in the way of new
claims from the South could only be
measured by the extent Of damage done
by our armies to the property of the
enemies of the Government.
Another provision of this bill gives
the Court of Claims jurisdiction of all
claims arising from contracts, express
or implied, against the United States,
now pending or hereafter to accrue.
During the war, our officers, following
the universal practice of armies operat
ing in an enemy's country, seized upon
and appropriated for the subsistence of
the troops all kinds of stores and sup
plies which they came across. It was
customary to give to the owners of such
| property receipt pledging the Govern
ment to pay it's value upon proof that
the holder had not given aid or COM
fort to the enemy The wealthy people
of the South, those who had supplies to
be seized were nearly all rebels, and,
of course, no one supposed that the
Government would ever pay for sup
plies taken from them. The Presidents
amnesty, however, having cancelled
the requirements of loyalty, all these
transactions become by this accident
valid contracts, and will be payable
whenever a court shall be opened for
their adjudication. Moreover, the
seizure of property without the formal
ity of giving receipt may be consid-
cred an implied" contract, and thus
this new field of enterprise be greatly
enlarged
Not content with these liberal pro-
visions, the trainers of the bill have de-
vised still another method of approach
upon the treasury. This is found in the
provision that any bill or petition may,
by vote of either House, be referred
to the Court of Claims for examination,
and then returned to Congress, with its
| findings and recommendations Every
one familiar with Congressional pro-
ceedings knows the ease with which
bills and petitions may be introduced
"for reference only" often even without
being read. Neither political party has
yet avowed a willingness to pay war
claims, the owners of which were dis
loyal, and none such have received ia
vorable consideration from the COM
mittees of either house; but, if the
principle should be established of
referring them to court which
was especially debarred from con-
sidering the question of loyalty and
disloyalty, and before which the late
4COC45 AAfAy uCu11AlO UIlC Od111C CO11O1nCI n
ton as if he had fought or sufferer. n
the Union cause, these claims must be
returned to Congress bearing the pres
tige of favorable decision by one of
the highest courts in the land, with their
prima-facie validity established, and the
burdens of contention removed from the
claimants to the Government. 3'f"s
AS thousands of the constituents of
every Southern Congressman are inter-
ested in one Or more of these claims,
who can doubt the result Gf the Dem
oeracy should ever gain the ascendency)
Of the pressure which would thus be
brought to bear? gaa a..t s ~
On the whole, this measure seems to
be device to make unsuccessful re-
bellion profitable. If it should become
law, it would take. hundreds of mill
ions from the treasury certainly, while
its possibilities will only be limited by
the ability of the Government to. pay.