Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1886-03-27
GEN. GoFF's BILL.


and neighboring States. There are,
perhaps, covered by this bill in West
Virginia alone six or eight thousand
just and honest war claims, which, if
paid, will place in the hands OF these
an aggregate sum OF several hundred
thousand dollars.
A brief history OF the Circumstance
es which have conspired to make
General COTS proposed law neces-
sary, may prove interesting to many
readers of the HERALD who are in
terested, or who may be directly ben
Gifted by its passage.
HISTORY OF THE CASE.
In 1864 Congress passed an act
recognizing the fact that a great deal
of property for the purpose of sub
sisting the army had been taken
from the farmers of the States along
the border during the war, for which
no compensation had been made, and
gave to all such parties an opportuu-
ity to present their claims to the
Quartermaster General and Commits.
sary General for payment, if found
to be just. The ACT was crude and
left the mode of adjudlcating the
cases solely to these officers. They
were not lawyers, but mere military
men, and by reason of their educa-
ton and training, as might be ex-
pected from them, they adopted an
arbitrary set of rules by which these
cases were to be settled. From 1864
to 1880, when a man filed his claim
before the Quartermaster and Com
nissary Generals, the claim was
placed i'll the hands of an agent of
the department. for investigation and
report. That agent would usually
visit the locality where the claim
originated and make an &c parte in
quiry about the justice of it, some.
times without even permitting the
claimant to know that such investi-
cation was going on.
KNOCKED OUT BY IRRESPONSIBLE
AGENTS.
Statements were accepted and
used against the claimant without
swearing the parties who made them.
Reports OF all sorts of irresponsible
parties, however, f1imsey in their
character, were accepted as legal
evidence for the purpose of destroy
ing the claim. In fact, it is matter
of common notoriety that many of
these agents were totally irresponsi-
BILE and had but one object in view
when they investigated the claim
namely, that of taking care that the
claimant never should be paid, how
ever just and honest his claim. The
whole system was that of star
chamber proceeding. These agents
would make their report to the de-
partments, and in large number of
cases, base them upon mere rumor,
without taking the trouble to get the
facts. The report, when made to the
department, could never be seen by
the claimant or his attorneys. He
was not allowed to refute any charges
that might have been trumped up
against him-nOt even allowed to
combat rumor. In fact, from the
time the claim was filed until the
claimant received a stereotyped let
ter notifying him Of the rejection of
his claim the whole proceedings were
enshrouded in darkness.
BAD WAY TO DO JUSTICE.
1t must be seen at u glance that
such a mode of procedure to enforce
remedy to right which the Unit
ed States had recognized, was not
only shocking to every sense fright
and fairness, but contrary to the
recognized institutions of our coun.
try. If these people had any rights
in the premises, and Congress said
they had, then there should have
been adopted system of open, hon.
est mode Of procedure to determine
those rights, in absence of which
whatever may have been done in the
direction of "a seeming adjudication
of these claims from 1864 to 1880 was
so palpably unjust as to demand at
the hands of fair and intelligent
Congress further and additional re-
lief IN the settlement of these mat
tiers.
WHAT CONGRESS- DID LATER.
As an evidence of the correctness
of this proposition, in 1879 Congress
passed an act giving to this very
class OF claimants the right to be
fully and fairly heard, according to
the rules of the common law, which
was all they could ask or expect.
Under the act of 1879, these claims
are adjudicated precisely as disputed
questions of fact are determined be-
fore our Commissioners of Chancery
IN the courts of our State. The
whole case, with the evidence pro
and con, is submitted with report
OF the agent to the department, and
is open to the inspection of the claim
ant or his attorney. In fact, the de-
partment takes no action, after the
case is returned by the agent until it
first notifies the claimant to come
forward and inspect the proceedings.
SO that, under this system, since
1879, there can be no cause or com.
plant as to the fairness with which
the claims are adjudicated.
WHERE THE LAW Is LAME.
But, unfortunately, this act of 1879
was of no benefit to the claimant,
whose claim had been passed upon
under the act of 1864.
Gen. Golf holds that if it was fair
and proper for Congress in 1879 to
recognize by law the right of these
claimants to have fair and legal
mode of procedure, then it is equally
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