The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1878-02-12

the loss. Undcr this bill he would be con.
sidered loyal, and the Government ni IN ~
hunt up proof OF his disioyalty; wouiu o9
com pslled, If payment be resisted, 70 sena y
! thousands OF agents throughout hne
south to hunt up pIoof OF the disloyalty
| of the clai ruant proof that could oniy De
| obtained, IL at all, from an element VI
class of persons bitterly opposed 10 Tue
| government or in favor OF the Govern
ment paying them. Ii would cost any
| witness who resides in the South MS iiie
| 10 testify against such claimant; II
! would be impossible. ,,.o
| passed a resolution taking large mum
| Der of c !aims from the Quartermaster IN u
| Commissary Departments, where tney
| lacK.su flicient proof OF loyalty 10 estapilsh
them az proper claims against tue uor
| eminent, and TO refer tue Ill 10 Select
committee of the House, with authority 10
| report a bill that will remove them from
| the depa! tmeGts where they are now Sus-
pended and send them To some other
! tribunal TOR adjudiction. We repeat, the
| purpose of these measures can only be 10
| OpeE the Treasury 10 thousands OF claliils
! ofdlsloyal persons in the south, claims IN
which there is no merit, and, II there was,
| for which the Government, undeT amp
| law OF principl, or right, is not and shoul9
| not be made responsible. II IS estimated
! that the amount OF such claims won
J reach 81, 2OU 900 OO)-two-thirus as much as
| our national debt. Those measures shouiu
read. "a bill (or resolution TO require tue
| United States 10 pay all the damages sus-
tained by any southern person during
the rebellion" =,
would not say, Mr.. Chairman, that
the man who penned that article Is an
| ignoramus or calumnistor. put upon
| il the more charitable construction that
be did not understand the subject upon
which he was writing; thst ne had been
misinformed as to the existing law and
the changes proposed by me.
Now, first, as to the bill to define the
terms "loysl citizen" and 'disloyal citi-
zen." Happily for the country the day
has passed when men are TO be presumed
guilty of any crime, much less guilty OF
treason. In the various courts Of the
country every man, immsterisi who he is
or with what he is charged, is pre-
sumei innocent, and is not to be con-
victed' until his guilt is fully proven.
| The DAYS of test osths has
passed away; men are no longer presum-
ABLY guilty of treason to the Govern
ment. This principle has been again
and again affirmed and reatfirmed in the
highest courts of the country. | have
not now the time to point out those cases
and show their application, but, If rece5-
ssry, | will do so il the future.
Then why, let me ask, Is any man,
when he flies claim in the Quarter
masters Department or Commissary De
psrtment, to be presumed dis!oyal, guilty
of treason, and required to overcome
that presumption? And yet such is the
practical working of the present system
And now, sir, as to the other point
made by this editor, that the removal OF
these two decisions from these two depart.
ments is to open the door TO dlsloyal
claimants in the Southern States and take
from the Government Treasury Isl ,2OO,-
100000" II tho editor hsd read the re-
port of the Quartermsster Genera, he
would have learned that there arc less
than $S,000,0O0 claimed in that depart.
ment, and the amount claimed in the
Commi:sary Department is very materl-
ally less than that.
Whatever the amount may be, in the
proposition to so remove these claims
from those departments l am sustained
by the recommendations of the heads OF
both those departments and BY the rec
concentrations OF the Secretary OF War
aud President Hayes.
l am only seeking to accomplish what
| they both believe to be right and have
urged upon Congress. The following ex-
tracts from the report of The Secretary
of War fully explains itself and vindl-
Gates the position:
CLAIMS.
Under the act OF July 4, 1854, great num-
bers of claims Tor quartermaster'S stores
| furnished TO the Army Ill states not IN
| rebellion have been filed. Eleven hum
dred and two such claims, amounting as
| presented, t. Si.SJS, 2.S.Si, were acted on by
the QuartermaSter-G neral during the
| year. OfthCse, he reported lavOraby to
the Third Auditor, under the law, 49,; bis
| recommendation Tor allowance amOun-
ing TO Sl55,Z72, about one.third the amount
| claimed: Gi2 were rejected, amounting TO
| 81 80 Ijg.SS. There remained on ME for
action, at the close OF the year, l2,5SJ
claims, aggregatipg 1881, 30 81.
| | concur with the OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
eral in the opinion that sine method OF
settling this great mass ofciaims should
be provided. | recommend that these
claims be transferred 10 the commission
ers OF southern claims, or some other trlu-
unal having more time and better ft-
cIlities for their consideration than are
possessed by these officers.
In this recommendation the President
fully concurs.
Whatever else may be said OF this sd
mlnistration, to its honor be it said that
both the President and his Secretary OF
War have eynced a Commcnda5le desire
to have this class of claims adjusted, have
them speedily tried, and Whatever the
,oya-nmnnt pwcS IN he maid
1t will be observed, Mr.. Chairman,
that | do not, by the bill and resolution
offered by me, propose TO enlarge the
jurisdiction of any tribunal to which
these claims may be sent for adjudica-
ton. Ifthey shall be sent to the Court
of Claims or the District Courts OF the
I United States in various States, or if a
special commission may be raised to
try them, no claim can be paid except Ia
"loyal citizens in States not in rebellion"
in the late war.
The district have the honor to repre-
sent on this floor is perhaps as largely in.
tcrested in this question as any o:hev dis
trict IN the United States. Within my
knowledge many poor, loyal, honest men
are suffering from the want of money
tina. this Government owes 10 them. 1t
is cruel and wrong 10 deny them r just
compensation for their private property
that has been taken for public use. l. is
NANTES. that the present system Is a
wholly inefficient one. 1t smo ants 10 s
denial OF Justice, ard the honor Of the
Government requires that the abuse
should be corrected.
Upon this subject read letter from
Hon. Waitmsn L. Wiley, formerly 9
distinguished United States Senstor from
West Virginia, to Mr.. z. Shock, " be
WAS then, AS be is now, pressing hi.
claims against the government. Senator
Wiley was thoroughly impressed with
the honesty and justice of the claim
Republican as he was and Is, l fully en-.
doEsc his letter.
MoRG A>rnrS, ". Va, iUgtSt l., $50
IDEAS SIr: have received yours OF the
18th instant, and regret TO have TO say
that the bill To y Il ca you refer has not
vet passed Congress, tits, however, still
on the calendar OF bills and have some