The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1890-02-04

| hecelpts. s............,........S6,SS ,SS43l
Cash on hand Dec 81, 1888 S........... 2,oeS. 10
Supplies on hand Dec 81, 1889 ...... 53s.7S
se,9s4al
Military Records.
Comrades Charles E. Nash, Geo. L. Beal
and M. b. Lapham, committee on the pres
erYation OF the military records of Maine,
In their report recommend that this encamp-
ment and al! of the comrades of the depart
ment, unite in calling the attention of the
legislature legs at to the subject. and ask of the
of the soldier and sailor who fought for the
suppression of the Rebellion. be begun and
carried forward to completion as soon as
practicable.
Speaking of the reports prepared during
and just after the war, the committee says:
AT the time when the last of this series
OF reports was prepared it was impossible to
obtain final muster-out rolls of hundreds of
good soldiers. The 7th Regiment has no pub
lished final record Many men of the 9th
Regiment stand on the printed record in the
painfully equivocal position of not being ac-
counted for; {; also large number of the 4th
Regiment Some OF these records have been
completed in manuscript since. Co. ID, of
dex TO the report for 1S64.5. There are sew
eral cases Of companies being mixed by hav-
ing been given the wrong letters. Some of
the regiments are not given on their regular
1
Second Cavalry in the report for 1868 But
one of the most serious of the Irregularities
Is the absence OF soldiers name from the
alphabetical index. Of which there are many
ers while recently searching for particular
record of service found the soldiers
name with a. different initial
In each OF the five different places
are some cases where men who are still liv-
ing are reported deceased" but such an
error is slight in comparison with that which
brands the brave soldier with the infamy of
''desertion." 1t is believed that at least one
half of the recorded desertions were in
advertantly and unjustly reported. The
change in at least 1000 cases has already.
been removed on the manuscript record in
the office of the adjutant general. Unfor-
tunately there were officers who sometimes
through carelessness or spite accounted for
their abseItees in this summary way. There
are many men OF the year 1862 who were re-
| ported worthless" but who really were
good soldiers and who after re-enlistment
under good officers proved themselves such,
put the printed reports perpetuate these
basest OF charges against multitude of
worthy and deserving men and will continue
SO to do for all time unless as publicly cor
rected. There are acts of Congress under
which many officers have been remustered
with higher ranks at earlier dates than they
are credited with in the annual reports.
There are also many cases of non-commis
stoned officers who received deserved pro-
motions and commissions, but who were
| never mustered while in the service and who
BY the hberality of later legislation have
been mustered and taken rank in accordance
with right and justice. A new and complete
report would show there facts to the public"
The committee on pensions, of which Gen.
eral George l.. Beal is chairman, confine
their report to state pension matters. They
| express their satisfaction with the appropria-
tion made by the last legislature and hope
that it will be continued.
When the department convened tor the
first business meeting at o'clock this after
noon, Commander Drew delivered his an
nual address, from which the following is
taken:
Commander Drew's Address.
During the past year there have been mus
tered four new posts, namely at Limestone,
Washburn, Dedham and at Boothbay. One
post has surrendered its charter Andrews
Post in Harmony, on account of small mem
bership, leaving on the 1st day of January
1890, l55 in good standing The number of
comrades in good standing, Jan. /, 1889, was
| 9,303; Jan. l, $780, the number was 1854.
| net increase of sixty-one.
| During the same period there were added by
muster in Sal; by re-instatements SlS; by
transfer, l63, making grand total of lO,320
comrades. But this number was reduced by
two losses sadly to be regretted. First and the
largest by suspension. amounting to 5S3, five
more than in 1888. These suspensions are for
non payment of dues. This loss is not ex-
| ceptional in this department, but all depart
ments suffer likewise, the whole number of
suspensions being 34,839 reported to the Ma
| tional Headquarters the past year.
But / believe that this number can and ought
| to be greatly reduced.
| l. By greater promptness on the part of the
| past quartermasters in the collection of the
| quarterly dues.
| 2. When worthy comrades are unable to
| pay their dues, the post should cheerfully re-
| nit them. We have promised to "aid the
needy and distressed soldiers and sailors" and
submit that we violate this obligation when
| we suspend a worthy comrade because he can
not pay his dues.
The second loss was by death, l27 comrades,
the largest loss ever suffered by us in one year.
am very glad to be able to report the fnan-
ces OF the departments in good condition.
On the first day of January, 1889, there was
cash on hand, $2,l6l.27; there has since been
received from per capita tax, $2,242.9S char
tiers, $40; interest, 5000; sales of supplies,
$l,99l making total of $6,446.55. The
expenditures during the same period were for
department expenses, $2,8l4.l9 and for pur-
chases of supplies 81, l,562.66, leaving cash on
| nv
d;.,'. l.and S".,ay ;r.,, ,aSo $I,oooo. Inc ex-
J ,nSaue .he saialies. En-: .ne expenses Oh
s r. ah "ao -. o.ns- anp".u oiis VI 1000 Ous
.nJ "Io~o ot -auu s;.ste En-, inus' oe paio
'AI ea .ha sa,ar;o, Az ~ anpalu 1Nts VI ioc9
-. ~ w ~ nv, ny 1891 ..'Se .nose VI 1000,
III 80 y. "i o..s .a sneie VIII oe
49, o.au 80 - a, VI .no 'nen' WIN
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namr sa,;ss Uuoitlon Gaa u .ne pos's appea,
"a ~ ooIia,a~als f.n,o Zoo ol eoz malu
1aI 90 Ianns,u 1oon 90, zoe os %a' Sa,:,1e SS,
s,nds Ionrarr 1000 o. 900 10 G 1i
,ooo ne eoooa %' %as;.;o o"nay ~.
~ -, osS :, H. .a,;os s..sSa sne oasn
-. 49, - as - L.s, Va: pos.s
po. 'AI I.,,,as ,ooo e1ooa ongihs W Tue
aa aaoos o.o S1ooe 49,; %o,Vao, iulhleule,
r. 49, s,s 81 ooe oo une 'o,ai property
"a sae pos.S' %.',Noo.1o' Wnle .nese state
n..;o menus eoT ~. poss' ~ Piospelous nhanciai
conolt.on : ussile 70 can your attention TO the
iact wnlcn - uue 70 tnem ana VIII De gratify-
ing u you, lna. tney nase expended III cash
alone ior cnarlty, $o'Soo.4', the largest amount
ever expended IN 'ne department IN one year.
win great satsiacIion can your attenuon
10 the TACT that the otate ieeisiatloh recon-
mended by our last annual encampment' was