The silver state. [volume] (Unionville, Nev.) 1870-1903, 1880-09-27
THE REBEL WAR LOSSES.

Responsiveness, uOt HHulnS any tniHS III
his letters On any subject of public
importance that was not patriotic and
statesmanlike, accused him of being in
favor of paying the rebels for the losses
sustained by them in the war. His
declaration in his letter Of acceptance,
that the amendments to the Constitu-
ton, one of which prohibited the pay
ment of the whole or part of the rebel
debt by the United States or any of
the. States, was inviolable, did not
prevent them from setting up the
.'bugbear" that, if elected, he would
advocate the payment of those claims.
Of course, the speakers and editors,
who gave circulation to these reports,
knew they were unfounded, as General
Hancock, as President of the United
States. even if So disposed, could not
sIlow those claims until the Constitu
tien was amended, and that could not
he done without the concurrence of
two thirds of the members of the Sem.
ate and House of Representatives and
&c the Legislatures of three-fourths Of,
the thirty eight States of the Union;
hat they imagined that some Of their
hearers or readers, who might be in
clined to vote for Hancock, and are too
ignorant to understand that the pay
ment of such claims is prohibited by
the Constitution, might be frightened
by the. bugaboo and induced to, vote
against him.. They told the people that
Hancock did not dare to come out
openly and commit himself against the
payment of those claims, as it would
cost him. thousands of votes in the
Southern States. Now, General Han
cock, in reply to. a letter from. Thee
dore Cook, of Cincinnati, asking for an
authoritative declaration, whether, if
elected, he would consent to the pay
ment of the claims of the rebels for
losses during the war, in a letter
dated Governors Island, September
23d, 1850, says:
81 regret that you are disturbed
about that bugbear, Southern War
Claims. The people can not be mislead
by it. To suppose that rebel claims,
or claims in the interest of persons who
were in rebellion, can in any way or in
any degree he countenanced, is an i'm
putation Of disloyalty such as used to
be made against Democrats, even when
they were in arms defending the coun-
try. so far as it touches me, / de-
neunce it. The Government can never
pay debt, or grant pension or re-
ward of any sort, for waging war.upon
it's own existence, nor could | be inr
duced to approve or encourage the pay
ment of such debt, pension or reward.
Nobody expects or wants such unnat-
ural action. To propose it, would
insult the Intelligence and honor of our
people. When the rebellion was
crushed the heresy Of secession went
out forever 1t is thing of the dead
past. We move forward, not back
ward. IF L were President, I would
veto all legislation which might come
before me. providing for the considera-
tion orpayment Of claims Of any kind
for losses or damages by persons who
were in rebellion, whether pardoned or
not. In relation to the Union war
claims, the Governments obligations
to its defenders come first. They are
lasting and sacred. The public laws of
civilized nations. do not, in general,
recognize claims for injaries to.property
resulting from the operations Of war;
nevertheless, our Government has treat
ed with great Indulgence claims for
losses and damages suffered by Union
men from the military operations of the
war Of the. Union, bnt, as hostilities
were closed more than fifteen years ago,
claims of that nature, now mostly in
the hands Of brokers or persons other
than the original sufferers, are becom-
ing stale, and, in my judgment, might
fairly be considered as barred by the
lapse of time. and if hereafter enter
tanned at all, should be subjected to