Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-10-28

There are other classes of claims
which have been created and recog-
nized by general legislation passed by
Republican Congresses in 1868, 1864
and 1872. The act of March 13,
1868, as amended by the act of July
2, 1864, authorized the appointment
Of agents by the secretary of the
treasury, to collect and forward to the
loyal states all personal property (ex-
cept ships, boats, arms and munitions
of war; captured by the United States
forces in insurrectionary states, and
also to collect and transfer as such
property found abandoned, either in
fact or in law, by the absence of the
owner engaged in aiding the rebellion !;
the property to be sold, and the pro-
ceeds, less all expenses, to be paid inte
the treasury. 1t was further provided
that the owners of such property
might by petition in the court of
claims, to be filed within two years of
the end of the rebellion, receive the
proceeds of such property in the treas
ury upon satisfactory proof of owner
ship, their right to the proceeds there
of, and that they never had given aid
or comfort to the rebellion. The SUI
preme court decided that August 20,
1866, was the date marking the end
of the rebellion hence the limitation
to the filling of the above class of
claims was August 20, 1868. Under
the act cf 1864, 2S,S1S,03S, the pro-
ceeds of captured and abandoned
property, were covered into the treas
ury. OF that amount the court of
claims has returned by award over
S11 100000. Claims to the amount of
about S10,000,000 filed before August
20, 1868, are still pending. Most of
them, without doubt, will be disal-
lowed.
The act of July 4, 1864, enlarged
the jurisdiction of the accounting of
ficers, and included cases where the
stores and subsistence in question had
heen furnished to or taken by the
army without the strict legal form as
prescribed by the rules of the depart
ments. The time within which these
claims could be filed expired January
|, 1880, the work of adjusting and
allowing which has been going on
quietly for Is years. Recent inquiry
discloses the fact that the quartermas-
ter general and commissary general
allowed over s4,700,000 under the act
of July 1, 1864, and have disallowed
about s25,000000. There are some
25,000 of these claims yet to be dis
posed Of the amount claimed aggre-
eating about sl0,000,000. All this
work has been done under law pass
ed by Republican Congress sixteen
years ago. Most of the claims of this
class come from Missouri, Kentucky,
Ohio, Maryland, Tennessee, and West
Virginia, and cannot be accurately
called Southern war claims in the
sense used when speaking of the
claims allowed by the Southern claims
commission.
=. As to the amount of Southern
war claims Cor claims coming from
states which seceded) pending unset
tied, it is impossible to speak definite
ly. On this point there is Just now Il
great deal of loose talk. The loyal
claimants of the seeded states have
had their day in court" They were
given nine years before the Southern
claims commission. There were pre-
sented to that tribunal 22,29S claims,
the amount claimed (of course exag-
gerated) being $50, 100000. The com
mission disposed of II 900 cases, allow
ing 81 100000, and disallowing about
s40,000,000 At the same time the
commission expired March 10, 1SS0)
there were pending $3.50 cases, claim
ing S15,009,000. But no evidence
had been filed in these cases, and they
were under the law forever barred"
So far as the sO-called rebel claims
are concerned, it ought TO be under
stood that Congress has never passed
either a general or q special act pay
ing any person who was disloyal dur
ing the war for the use or destruction
of property by the government during
the war, and no senator or representa-
tive from the North or the South, Re
publican or Democrat, has ever pro-
posed in Congress, by bill or otherwise,
to pay disloyal persons or classes of
disloyal persons for the loss or use of
property by the army or the govern
ment in the seeded States during the
rebellion. A New York journal a
few days ago printed list of seventy
Democratic senators and representa-
tives each of whom, it was asserted,
had introduced some measure to "facil-
itate the passage of rebel claims" If
this declaration is intended to convey
the idea that these senator's and repre-
sentatives have introduced bills to pay
'rebels" or disloyal persons for the use
or destruction of property during the