The Portland daily press., 1890-07-16
SIanders Ref,,tod

Sianders Refuted.
Mat 19Nernor, his whole military staff and the
and 10 dinLtia IN general are in peck of trouble
snI lhaignation over the treatment which they
yvbn a = Sn.ey received from the men in Portland
EnEr afSS'e9 as tne committee of arrangement at
- ~ W VI July celebratiOn.-L Augusta despatch
10 the Boston Globe.
Ever since the meeting of the Army of the
fotomac in this city. paragraphs similar to
the above, and all apparently emanating
from Augusta, have been going the rounds
OF the newspapers of this State The PRESS
mas hitherto paid no attention to them be-
| cause 1t considered them the outgivings of
some understrapper with an exaggerated
sense of his own Importance, who had been
piQued because he had not had all the hon.
o lowered upon him that he believed his
due, and was ventilating his own spleen by
alleging that the Governor, and his staff and
the militia aud its commanding officers had
been shabbily treated by the city of Portland.
But the thing has gone on so long now
without any denial from the gentlemen in
whose behalf the charges are alleged to be
made as to seem to receive their tacit assent.
Therefore the PRESS feels it to be its duty to
state the facts of the case.
The first allegation is in effect that the
Governor and his staff were snuDDed by the
city. The Governor and staff were invited
to take part in the reception of the Army of
the Potomac and consented. On their ar
rival In this city at about o'clock on the
afternoon of the third of July they were met
at the depot by the reception commit
tee and taken in carriages provided for the
purpose to the Falmouth Hotel where rooms
mad been engaged for them. The Governor
and every member of his staff who was pres
emit was furnished at the expense of the city
with ticket to the banquet of the Society of
the Army of the Potomac, which was to
take place in the evening. At about
O'Clock tie committee called upon the Gov
ernor to escort him to the banquet, and were
informed that he had been taken suddenly
Ill and would not be able to attend.
Surely the city of Portland was not re-
sponsible for the Governors Illness. His
staff attended the banquet. Up to this
point certainly every attention had been paid
to the Governor and staff that was possible.
The indignities are alleged to have set in
when the POSTMASTER of the banquet ignored
Colonel Robinson of Bangor, who is said to
have been designated by Governor Burleigh
to respond for the state, and called upon ex-
Governor Selden Conner. If this was an
indignity it was one for which the city of
Portland was in no way responsible, for the
banquet was entirely the affair of the Army
OF the Potomac, and the city had nothing to
do with 1t. The tickets which it furnished
Governor Burleigh and staff it purchased on
the same terms that private individual
would have purchased them. The next morn
ing the Governor, not having entirely re-
covered from his illness, returned to Angus
ia. AS for his staff, If elaborate entertain
ment of the members and their wives by
citizens of Portland, sails down the harbor
and trip to the mountains the next day
free of all expense, be shabby treatment, then
they were shabbily treated, otherwise not
Now as to the militia. 1t had been ar
ranged for weeks that the militia should
come to Portland on the last day of the mus
ter to take part in the ceremonies in honor
OF the Army of the Potomac. 1t was ar.
ranged with the Commander-in-chief just
what their entertainment should be. They
were to come here, take part in the parade,
and then to 60 to the islands to clam bake.
The programme had received the hearty ap-
proval of the State authorities With their
transportation hither the city had nothing to
do. Ii its character was unsatisfactory,
the blame does not rest with the city
On the arrival of the troops four bag
gage wagons were placed at their disposal to
transport their baggage to the armories.
Instead, however, of using these wagons to
dispose of the soldiers personal baggage,
such, for instance, as their knapsacks, the
officers had them filed with hospital stores
and general camp equipage, which should
have been left at the depot. The result was
the soldiers had to dispose of their KNAPP
sacks as best they could. Some were carried
through the parade and others were piled
up on the sidewalk. The latter were subse-
quently taken to the armories by wagons
furnished by the city.-Tfckets for the clam
G furnished to the proper officer to
distribute among the men, but he very i'm
perfectly performed his duty. After the
parade was over, instead of marching his
troops to the boat as it was arranged that
he should, the brigade commander dismissed
them in the street without any direc-
tions whatever. The result was that
many of them did not get to the wharf until
late, and some not at all. The city was to
blame for none of these things. 1t had
plenty of boats ready to transport the
troops, according to promise. it had a
magnificent clam bake prepared, and it
had furnished the tickets for distribu-
ton among the troops. Had the militia
officers performed their duty there would
have been no delay, and nobody would have
been left. AS for General Mitchell's buying
his dinner at saloon, he must have done it
entirely from choice, and simply because he
did not care to acc mpany his troops to Long
Island Furthermore, not only did the city
provide clambake at Long Island for the
troops according to agreement, but it sent
special boat to the island with an invitation
to such officers as wished to go over to Little
Chebeague to meet the members of the
Society of the Army of the Potomac who
were having clambake there.
These are the simple facts in the case.
The city kept every promise, carried out
every arrangement it agreed to make for the
militia. 1t received the Governor and his
staff with every mark of respect and pro-
vided lavishly for their comfort and pleasure.
Every assertion to the contrary is ground