The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-05-17
DENIAL OF THE POST.
an.Y,rrTsR TO y. a. WATERMAN
,,co,sgN DEPT. coMnANDEK,
,,.n M. Charges of Misappropriation
Of Funds on the Part OF Phil he"rns
Post are Warmly Eefutcd.

49,, an omen Aetter to J. A. Waterman
mont commander, c. \. r., Of Wis
q, ronlv to the charges made
~, him aeatns, the post. to the effect
..... funds for decorating graves OF Federal
.,,s,.rs had been Incorporated The
.~.,,s referred 10 were briefly but eN-
..,s,yo,v IN The Times on the morning OF
Nay 9Th.
,f,or an explanation as to how the
.,orccs became public the letter says;
Milwaukee special 10 the Chicago
-,-.t,,,o Gives !. A. Waterman, instead
,,,,royse. as the name OF the depart
.,-t commander who issued the state
...t rejecting upon Phil kearney POST
- statement which the Tribune CORE
s.~t saws was given to warn the Wo-
.s Relief Corps throughout Wisconsin,
..s follows;
,osts Of the order at the South
, called upon all Of the northern
s FOR contributions OF money TO be
r in decorating the graves OF soldiers
3 on battle-helds in national GENE
. Tens Of thousands OF dollars have
.ent TO the officers Of these posts.
... most OF f. going TO one located at
slctmoni.
puring the administration Of Com
.,--fer-in-C Chief Weissert an investigation
Showed that with two exceptions the
r-4.t.cc OF decorating graves at the South
la3 uo. prevailed.
II showed that very little was done
.~ Tho way Of decorating graves in the
vicinity OF Richmond by the post which
~...aft~oH amount of money
r-am northern comrades.
@ II showed that Of all the work done
DIX che virginia posts. even to the payment
~ transportation FOR flowers and flags.
and the placing OF flowers and flags on
.he graves. was paid for. and that not
much i'm the way of decorating was done.
4 What became Of all the money?
No one pretends to know. but It is be-
ueved that some Of it has been diverted
10 the building OF a memorial hall in
Richmond.
E.. Nothing has been said in the calls
srr contributions about a memorial hall
the money was 10 have been used in the
purchase Of flags for decorating graves
not I'm erecting expensive buildings in
Richmond.
&. Nothing would have been said in
mis- public way had not the Virginia
post and some Of its friends in other
posts disregarded the action Of national
.rcampment. whereby an Of the posts IN
the country were called upon to send
funds to Quartcrmastcr Wagner, fhld-
delphia. for use in purchasing flags ana
decorating graves I'm all Of the national
cemeteries at the South. This. 1t was
supposed. would put stop 20 the annual
calls from the Richmond post but II
has not done so. While the Richmond
circulars have not been sent TO the
Grand Army posts this year. they nave
been sent to the thousands Of women
relief CORPS throughout the North. and
II is safe 20 say that unless they and
the posts with which they are connected
are warned other thousands Of money
will be showered into the lap of the Nir-
cinia post. a very small proportion Of
which will be rscd I'm decorating the
many thousands of graves In the vicinity
Of that city.
Z. Under III. .~w arrangement where
by the money IS sent 10 the Quartermas-
ter-Gencral. q . custom Of decorating the
graves in all Ca the national cemeteries
has been ests bills he'd. and our comrades
Of the South VIII have only TO make
requstion for the number of flags they
desire. are doing their work pa
trioucaly and as tenderly as it Is done al
do not pay themselves with money col
lected from their northern comrades for
their service.
THE CHARGES CATEGoRICALLY CONSIDERED.
The foregoing is sweeping enough. II
the charges were true. We would be COM
PEELED to hang our heads in shame. dis
band our post. and carry with us indi-
vidually and collectively. a scorching
brand Of infamy for the balance Of our
lives. Thank God and we say il reveTent-
ly and thouChtfully. they are not true.
They are false all false and we leave
u for You TO bear the unenviable respor-
sibility of being their author
j. We know nothing about such inVes-
LEGATION. its extent or character We be-
leve our practice here furnished one
~ the exceptions" mentioned. II so.
considering the extent and the nature of
g. and its important effects. a little
more notice would be given it by a candid
and impartial investigator. 1t ought TO
be- stated that the practice Of decorating
graves with flags and flowers was inaugu- |
rated here by the Richmond post in 1865. |
and has been kept up in this way ever |
since
% Reference and reply to this will be I
found in extracts from annual reports. I
u needs no other notice here than to !
proclaim its utter falsity, and the mex |
c4-ab!e ignorance of the true facts on |
the part OF the sham investigator. or |
else an unworthy attempt on your part
fo hide or misrcpresent them
@. The ambiguity Of this accusation is |
apparent. OF course everything has been |
paid Tor. There has been no need Of our
allowing bills 10 stand against us But
Implication is here as stated elsewhere
t.o d. that we pa ourselves for our
e.vices as well as for contingent neces-
aaries. This viii find it's reply further on.
lirrr We viii only declare it's absolute
i-' .ty and point out the ridiculous abb
.lidiy Of the closing sentence. "and
+- not much in the way Of decoration
was done"
T. This viii also receive full answer
further on. In view Of all these we'll
known, because widely disseminated facts
), is striking commentary upon your
f.orable ignorance. II seems hard 20
believe that any honorable minded man,
'ldirf the dignifed position you do.
ao9ld be willing 70 assume responsibility
'or the utterance Of such groundless ac-
i.atons They bear the clear mark OF
-tenuOnal Misrepresentation. Sneaking
s.nuations never have any other i'm
port
b How contemptibly false is this in all
81 r N... rHs.r fn rnr- arHar che.