Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-11-26
E0UALIzING BoUNTIES.

Besides the discussion of new legislation
upon the tariff, and national bankrupt
law, and Mormonism, and other stock sub
jects of similar kind, variety of new
matters are popularity understood to be in
course of preparation for projection upon
the forty eighth congress. Not the least sig
nificant of these, though perhaps among
the least generally understood, is the
scheme for the equalization of bounties
paid during the war of the rebellion.
The name of the project, at least, has
fair sound, and it will undoubtedly be at
tempted to secure its passage on the
ground of paying just, though long de-
layed, obligation to the nations preservers,
and thereby performing duty demanded
by considerations of national honesty as
we'll as gratitude. 1t is safe to say, how
ever, that the majority of the presumptive
recipients of this forthcoming gratuity are
to day utterly unconscious of being the
nations creditors in any manner.
As it is very near quarter of a century
since the war ended, it is probable that a
full half of the adult population of the
United States do not know what the
phrase Equalization of boanties" means
Its meaning is simply this:
When the war broke out there were proper
iy speaking no bounties whatever paid to
| recruits. As the contest proceeded and
the recruits secured during the season of
early enthusiasm proved insufficient for
the task of ending it, the government en-
| deavored to obtain more men by Offering
an advance payment of twenty five dol
lars. Later on this was increased to a
hundred dollars, and still later to three
hundred dollars. These were the govern
ment bounties, wholly separate and dis
tinct from the state and county and other
local bounties which were lavished upon
recruits during the third and fourth years
of the war to such an extent that in many
cases upwards of fifteen hundred dollars
were received by recruit before he had
received his primary initiation into the
mysteries of the goose STEP"
1t will be seen at q glance that under
the above system of increasing bounties
the soldiers received unequal gratuities &C
cording to the period they entered the SER
vice, the most tardy being the best recon-
pensed. This distribution, it is set up, was
unfair to those who received the lesser
sums, and the scheme under discussion has
for its ostensible purpose the placing of
all on an equal pecuniary footing Bu,
| this We belisye is only specious pretext
for extracting a vast sum of money from
the pockets of the taxpayers, not SO
much for the benefit of the
nations esrly defenders as for the EASY
enrichment of horde of claim agents
and go-betweens of various sorts who will
swarm to the front if any such law should
be passed. The contracts between the
government and The soldiers were volun-
tarily and cheerfully accepted at the time,
aud it savors strongly of fictitious sympa-
thy to endeavor at this late DAY to set
| right that which never has been wrong.
The scheme has been mooted before, and
Its strongest opponents in congress have
uniformly been those who were soldiers
during the war, and who, better than the
others, could realize the real vsluelessness
of the proposition.
Ths magnitude of the appropriation
which will be necessary to effect such a
financial adjustment can be reasonably
stated st not less than four hundred nil
lion dollars. Dat OF nesrly three million
nsn, whom the statistics shcv 10 have been
engaged in the war on the federal side, not