The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1880-10-03
SOUTHERN CLAIMS.

Every paper tnat we receive from tne
South heartily commends General llancock's
letter in regard to the Southern claims, SO
called. They prove conclusively that all the
talk about these claims was simply a radical
scarccrow. Nothing more and nothing less,
NoRcpullican editor Of intelligence believed
for n moment that the Southern people ever
entertained the ilea of having their soldiers
pensioncd or of being paid for their slaves or
for property destroyed during the war.
They were insinccre when they pcnned thcit
articles and intended only TO deceive thu
people. Senator Hill was right when he
said the other day that all the claims that
had been paid wcrr paid by Republican Con-
grcEscs; and he was right also when he said |
| that the so-callcd claims were worked up hy |
| agents who hoped in some way or othcrtoprcit |
| by them. The Committees on War Claims
in the last three Congresses have been dis |
| tinguished for their rejection of Southern |
claims. They reported adversely on ninety |
nine out of every hundred, aud in nearly
every case, stated among their reasons FOR
the rejection, that the loyalty of the
" claimant had not been established. The
only claims allowed were to claimants who
established their loyalty beyond dispute,
| and who presented vouchers to show that
the property taken was for the use of the
United States Army. If the claim was for
property destroyed in fragrant war, 1T was re-
icctcd, no matter how indisputably the 10y
atty of the claimant was established. The
only great frauds that have been attempted
were engineered Ivy Republican Congress
men, when the Republican party was in
power in both houses of Congress. Witness
) the notorious Sugg Fort case, which gigantic
; swindlc was managed by Rcdcrick r. Butler,
a Republican Congressman from Tennessee,
aided and abcttcd hy some of his Republican
colleagues. No Democrat had n hand in
it. II is unqucstionably true that Southern
men and Northern men have introduced bills
into Congress for the payment of war claims,
and this fact leads the Brooklyn Times to in
quirc In the tone of one who presents an I'M
answcrahle argument:
Wewuuld candidy ASK, do the ex- Brigadiers w,o
have introduced In Congress measures To recognize
the justice Of such claims. mean nothing by their
course Have they been playing ut mild aud chilli
ish game of sport In order to Hud something with
which 10 themselves In the idle hours OF their
Congressional work?
We answer that after an examination ol
$ the record we cannot find measure that has
q been introduced TO recognize the Justice of
= " rebel claims" Individual bills have been
. introduced and referred. The fact of their
. introduction did not by any means commit
i the member introducing them TO the sup
port of the claim. When n member receives
from a constituent a respectful bill or pe,i.
e tion, with a request TO present it,, ii is his
) duty to do So Every one at all familiar with
Congressional proceedings knows that more
than half of the bills introduced were "by
request" The Representative performed
:. his duty in the introduction, and with DC
= expectation of ever hearing of the case again
The Southern men have themselves been
IN the loudest in denouncing these Southern
- claims. AS an illustration of the sentiment
i, of the South on this question, we cannot dc
.r better than TO quote from recent article il
=, the Richmond (Va.) .Stuto. Referring tt
,t General llancock's recent letter, the editor
:. says:
re- II the politicians thought they had ii
| General Hancock, one who would have mind o
his own, hut could be easily led swayed by them
III then have the politicians been wofuily dupcd
Is What could he better, more outspcken, and more ii
.p accord. too, with views In this section, eN
-, ample than the Gcneral's last emphatic utterancr
respecting the payment of southern claims, pen
all ,,,, , ~, ,n, ~ .'' 1 r'' ''s". ''' ~ 9'''e'' ''"
L. -, Will, ,, r,,,, $50, '' . y"
n,rc, ,,,,,,I T., ,n x,,s 49, '. , W. ''.'"' .
a, suit anybody to consult the dictionary IL
choice terms, but strikes right out IRON the sloulde
like the honest man he Is, aud says No: he viii pa
s,,,,,,,, - ,,' '' ~ ~ my v
II m
id lieii, after quoting that clause OF the let
in ter in whicn Hancock saws the country i
,nov;u, 8. frur,, ,. ,,., >, A., g, X,
Its says
AN You right General IIancuck we move forward
We not backward aud that's exactly tire direction
YER would have you In all the i,nc no matter VIII
Of may lie swept away by the wave Of yonr advance
~. ,,,a" t,, :, ,.' '"e ,'''n,., '"r a'm''S ~
of of leader who had the p,uck and the ndepencucc
carry II into practice. In this section no senslb
''' ','S ever dreamed mat he would recover sing
e which ,yas ,s, w.. w ,"t's ,',, ~ '"o '""
ed was proud of the sacrifice that he had made, II
III was wrong In what he had DONE then was he w,lr
"P'y VI" l'in,,si II r'sh' ~ he believed then wi
us since nnyc ,,oso nss.s '',a, ,", v a, '
Vs. ten. The soldier who lost his limbs or was broken
lie health, or whose younr years were wasted in IN. fl,
Iot wh.n he might have been preparing himself for Il
~ never even dreamed That the oyernmen, he iour,
az heroicaily and toed so unremittingIy to desn
mon'n 'urh round ana reward him. II matters NJ
sc.I f,o' n "," s,s i'."'"a .", o."s' 20
war aud he mus, suffer IL in silence and without con
',o ;, plant, Germany esaced Of France mllla,
Df Fran,
- and lost md no ,s m ho,ora, "' o",,I,,,' musu,