The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-04-09

| CHATTANOOGA NATIONAL CEMETERY.
An interruptions correspondent Of West
ern paper, travelling through the South
hunting materials for sensation, has horriied
the loyal people amang his readers by the q.
sertion that in making the National Cemetery
at Chattanooga the Government contracted
to have the remains Of soldiers taken up and
removed from contiguous battle6elds to the
Cemetery, and that the contractors, whe were
paid 50 much an interment, offered a reward
Of IS for each skeleton brought them. This
stimulated the people Of the surrounding
country to bring in skeletons Of animals,
rebel soldiers, and anything that would pass
for the skeleton of defender of the Union
that these were regularly buried and a tomb
stone put above each, inscribed with some
name found upon the list Of the dead and
missing.
At its recent meeting the Department of
Tennessee and Georgia took proper action to
refute this miserable SANDER. After num-
Der of energetic speeches by delegates present,
the following preamble and resolutions were
unanimously adopted:
Whereas the Government did not contract 70 have
remains of soldiers taken up and removed from
batlefelds to said cemetery. but such remains were
all removed by fatigue details from the army; and
Whereas the allegations that bones of animals
were buried instead of soldiers remains, and that
false identifcations of spurious skeletons were
palmed upon the army officers in charge, through
neglect and dishonest collision with contractors,
without foundation in fact; and
Whereas the further allegation that rebel instead
of Federal, remains We're buried in said cemetery is
equally untrue; and
Whereas the system of Identification adopted
and enforced by Gen. George H. Thomas, who
established the cemetery being the very perfection
of care, discrimination and the application of evil
dence in each case makes it impossible that false
remains could be substituted for true. Therefore
be it
Reso!red By the Department of Tennessee and
Georgia, Grand Army of the Republic, in camp as
sembled that the publication above quoted merits
the denuncation of every honorable soldier and
citizen of this Republic regardless of his political
creed or the cause he served or sympathized with
during the civil war;
al
upon the memory of that grand hero and noble
patriot, the late Maj Gen. George II. Thomas;
Resolred. That said publication is slur and an
offensive SANDER upon the late Gems. James B.
Steedman and Alvin c. Gillem, under whose imme-
date supervision, as commandments of the District
of Etowah nearly or quite one-half Of the inter-
ments in said cemetery made;
Resolred, That we denounee the said publication
in whole and in all its parts false, slanderous,
the work of lying ghoul whose sole business, in
late tour of the South seems to have been the
invasion of graves the dragging forth of buried
scandals and the invention of CHASTITY falsehoods
about every relation class and condition of society
Resolved, That in the publication of such villain
Gus falsehoods as the fellow signing Sherwood"
ndites, the Cincinnati Enquirer violates ali rules OF
morality, honor and respectable journalism, and
deserves therefor the execration of ex-solders
especially, and of ali good people.
J. E. MACEDONIAN,
NEWTON T. BEAL,
j. j. HEUsER,
Committee.