The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-12-13

posed compilation BY the Federal, Gov
.einnlent Of TIC Confederate rolls IT now
has supplemented By such orginal
rolls" as may be furnished them by the
people of the several States:
Tho war Department pnn has ':s net
the general approval Of the state olllcl y IS
some Of WHOM, however, have suggested
that to make Tie Confederate part Of the
register approximately complete the data
10 be obtained from the existing oflic a.
records be supplemented by unofficial
lists. and by Information furnished from
memory By surviving officers and men men
IN considering the suggestion the Score
ta,.y IL war ~hAt concluded that, under
the law auth orizing the compilation, the
department cnn uso as a basis for tlle
compilation OILY original records MAGE
during the war period. 1t being the mani
fest intention OF Congress- That the roster;
likc the official records Of the Union niid
Confederate almies. shall be a conlpila-
ton OF official data. and that Its accura.
cy shalt not be subjected to question "
reason OF It's Including data from uhoi1lt
cial sources, II from the fallble and IN.
certain memories OF q long-past perioa.
While this adherence to contempornneous
ofricYal records Of the war period as a
basis for the roster may result N rs Deii
ing somewhat incomplete, It Is believed
that the loss thus occasioned VIII DO far
more than compensated for BY the retnoV-
al Of Oil DOUBT at to the absolute accnrn-
oy OF all til It the roster does show. The
"a at that tho Cont ederate part Of roster,
compiled as the law requires this one to
be, may not contain the name Of some
particular person will not be conclusive
evidence that that person did not serve
in the Confederat tie army, while the TACT
that the name OF any person Is borne on
thc roster. will be ndlsputable evidence
that that person was In the military SER
vice.
THE ROSTER.
The publication known as the Official
Record Of the Union and Confederate
Armies might have been made more
nearly complete. and perhaps more in
terestrng, If it had incuded unofficial doc
uments or reports made from memory.
after the close Of the war, by partici-
pants in the great struggle i Is uni.
versally concealed. however, that the chlet
value of that publication is due to the
fact that it is an unbiased presentation
Of the showing of contemporaneous rec
ords made during the war period. and
that It contains nothing against which
can be urged the well known falliblity OF
the human memory. the natural desire
to extenuute or explain past actions III
the light of subsequent events. and the
general disposition to make the records
show what one thinks they ought to.
show In Justice to himself his friends or
his acoualntnnces. The application Of
the same rue 10 the recently authorized
roster is behaved to be necessary IN order
that effect shah be given TO the manifest
Intention OF Congress that the comp!la-
ton shall be one upon which future gene.
rations can rely rs q source of historical
information Of undoubted accuracy.
USE STATE OFFICIALS.
question has arisen as to the pay
by the governors to cooperate with the
department in tile collection Of the mis-
sing Confederate records. but 1t has been.
pointed out that there ls no authority
Of law for the employment In the COM
pllation or in the necessary preliminary
ular employees Of the Record and Pension
Office; that .e!c is no fund from which
her persons can be paid for their sel-
vices, even II they were appointed or en-
ployed on the work; and It was for these
reasons that 1t was suggested by the Sec
rotary of War to the Governors addressed
on the subject that they should Designate
to confer and cooperate with the Chief
Of the Record and Pension Office persons
who are in the service of their States
and already in the receipt of salaries. 1t
was assumed that by thus utilizing the
services or the State officials the neces-
sity for paying salaries for work done
In connection with the roster would be
obvated, and that it would not be neces-
sary for the States to incur any material
expense In gathering up such original
Confederate records rs can be found
within their borders because the War
Department can. and does, pay oil the eX-
penses OF transporting the records to
! Washington. and returning them to the
persons from whom they were received.
THE WORK DONE
So far as tho War Department Is ad-
| vised the proposition to publish roster
of the Union and Confederate armies has
been we'll re ,eived in all sections Of the
country. Tho department has not been
advised of any expression on the subject
by any organized body OF Union veterans,
but at a meeting OF the Confederate vete-
rams at New Orleans In May last. Il reso-
hilton was unanimously adopted com.
| mend!ng the work, and urging upon all
Confederate auldiers and their descend
ants who have In their possession any
| original records containing the names OF
Confederate soldiers, to send them to the
| Governors Of their respective States for
| transmission TO the Secretary of War.
| 1t Is early yet TO look for any extended
results from the nitiatory steps taken
| for tho collection OF missing records, but
| the work done is already bearing fruit, n
| considerable number OF original records
| having been lICtived from State officials.
historical associations and private IN
dividuals. These records have boon cop
! led and retained to the persons from
| whom they WEI received. t3
The actual work Of compiling names for
the roster cannot be undertaken until tho
| preliminary work OF copying and index
! Ing the records now IN progress. shall
4 have been completed. or until It shall
have been so tar advanced as to justify
the diversion Of al orton Of the clerical
| force for that purpose. Relatively little
work In preparation for the compila ton
OF the names II the officers and enlisted
| men OF the volunteer forces of the Union
| army Will be necessary, that work having
been accomplished In the completion OF
the much greater work OF reproducing
their individual military records by the
lndcx-record card system.
+. c, AINSWORTH,
Brig. Cen. U. S. A.,
Chief, Record and Pension Office,