The. Democratic Watchman.
BY P. GRAY MEEK
JOE W. FURRY, ANISOCIATE EPITOR
Terms, $2 per Annum, in Advance
BELLEFON PA
Friday Morning, May 5, 1871
Democracy to Win
We have not the least doubt but
that the Democracy will will the next
Presidential contest, In spite of the
Force Bill and all the legislation which
the Radical majority in Congress have
enacted for the benefit of their party
and to secure themselves another lease
of power, we believe the day of their
overthrow is near at hand. We see it
foreshadowed in the changed sentiment
of the people; we hen.s4.propliesied
the everyday talk of the laboring mas
ses. The people are tired of the way
things have been going on for so long,
and are willing, nay, even anxious lor
a change. They are doignsted nuh
niggerism and burdened to death with
taxes. They begin now to feel that
even their personal liberty 14 not se
cnre, and view with alarm the signiti
Cant encroachments of executive pow
sr upon their right•. They have at
last awakened from their lon , apathy
to see their liberties slipping away
from them. They were warned tone
after tune, earnestly and solemnly, to
beware how they gave up their consti
tutional privileges into the keeping of
the men who have betrayed them , but,
crazed by the roar of cannon and da7
sled by the glitter of epaulet•, they
gave no heed to the warning. Reek
kasly, heedlessly and crimitial'%, they
disregarded the solemn admonitions of
the "Fattier of his Country" who,
his farewell address, had ears and
years before cautioned them to beware
Of the very dangers into which the)
were then stum4ling' At lest they
have fallen into the pit, and, ni their
desperate struggles to extricate them
selves, base awakened from their
criminal sleep to the full mea.i.re of
distress which is 'llion them
And n'ose - they begin to talk Biller
tently from %flint the) did five, six, ten
years ago. They hint about the con.
atitution and intimate that too much
power is centralizing at Washin l :4ton.
They don't like the looks of thing...
They have an ugly mpeei. It nasn't
to 1n old times, sin they Then ae
had more liberty, more money, h , e+
taxes. Nigger., then, couldn't be Con
gressmen and senators and judges and
jurymen, as they can now. Whoe
nen held the reins then, and the 14tv
erautet.t Wan adwint.tereti for their
benefit. All this is changed now 'Hie
reverse .s the ens: nt prrt , ent 1.11.1.1
ly the people, although at lint ,I.rtt to
comprehend, Lane St last seen tL
Bence their feverish desire to tes ,,, re
things to their toriner statuv hi l t
callow has lost its nitoo•tion- lor [Lem.
and that rim% see it tor an its natural
holeolo , neso Denim-no - , is now the
bright star rn the east, ri,ol they will
hereafter follow it to the spot and hour
where and which will Waal he re b orn
and rebaptized tire blessed and glorious
prtvilegee and principles of vonelltio
tional liberty.
—lt to wino. If not roairaclothh adrlre the
New lurk 1t,,, 14 wivelLA. Southern hrethren
when it 10111 111..1n (hey 1•1143111.1rston 111. 1r
outrawee brevolas it hurt* the party The
Strentinrol and Ira/ram/in should heel the at
'rtee and trim t 11.1.1 1. 1.11. V ,111. Id, 11" ,,, b1
Masi. lint "every church torn ildan, es. ry
F. Boot house burnt and I•Vil,ry an.• of whip
ping. Idituding, and political murder is 111
nail dirtven Into the Isuroc.railr colliti These
thing. alo old co toe, the World thinks—at
leant f o r the present- not lei mow Ill..) 1,11
rhed,,,,, tret OW ``.art.. .., t Idan4l 1l
A few , local harper , . would do well to heed the
florid-1y •dvlcrh-710 ilrrrl,i
The World, like the ilerabl, is en
tirely a ladle) paper; and, also like
the latter, priiiis for the side that it
am make the moat money ant of. It
to not a representative of Democratic
prineipk., nor do the Southern people
care an) thing Rllollt its adstre. They
know and we know, 81111 so does ever)
bode else know, who knows anything
at all, that etery church torn dou r,
every school house burnt and "every
t)sse or whtyping, branding and polio.
eel tnurjer * is the act of Yankee carpet
baggers, scalawags, or demoralized n ig
germ, whom Radicalism has prostituted
to its base purposes. Don't be alarmed,
Mr. Ihrald, about the nails that are
beidg driven iutothe Democratic coffin.
That dread receptacal for load parties
Las not yet been prepared for the De
mocracy. In fact the timber out of
which it is to be made is as yet but a
eery entail sapling in the woods, with
but little prospect of its ever being
Used for such a 'total purpose. But
let us advise you to be careful of yaw
darn diseased and rotten party. Death
Lan alrenby seized upon its vitale,and it
will require the best skill of your trioei
irmtinguished political quacks to keep
tt alive until the nekt presidential earn•
Feign.
Shall the Foot of the Tyrant Trample
our Free-Born Necks?
If any attempt is ever made to exe
cute the Force Bill,the text of which we
published in last weekle WATCIIIIIN
it will be met with serious, indeed with
very grave opposition. The people
thus far have submited to every indig
ntty that the radical party basso vilely,
so basely heaped upon them, but their
patience !9 at la 4 exhausted. They
will not quietly or tamely submit to
further imposition, and we warn the
powers that he, that they,. have pro
ceeded too far already.
The right to choose their own rulers,
untrammeled, te the inherent right of
the citizens 'of this country. It ts
guaranteed to them in their great Mag
na rharta, and they will n9l. allow it
to be taken natty from them. Neith
er Congress nor the President have
any business to meddle with this right,
and they aill doso only at their peril.
We wunt free elections, 114 they used
to he, Rod we will have them. No
man nor set of men, not even an army
t%itli harmers, shall prevent this. We
may Just as well tight for liberty now
as Jean+ hence, and if it must come to
-anil the beak scene deter
mined to tierce it on 114 then,
the 1.1.11er it 14 Over the better.
It lien tilt cci 7 walik to he Preto
dent for a second term, let bun conic
belore the people in the usual way and
ash it renomination nt the hands of
his party II• lie get it and is elected
fairly, well and good. No one will
lime any right to gainsay it. Itut
when he attempts to force himself, and
his party attempts to fOrce him, upon
the country by the aid of the military
and by the exercise of infamous and
u nuunst itut 'omit powers, it then be
comes another matter entirely. The
liberties of ibis country and the Twine'
pies of Republican tiovernment shall
not be overturned and lost forever, for
the sole and ignoble purpose of grata
f. mg the inordinate and grasping am
lution of one man. This the people
have in their hearts determined, and
they will abide by it.
The force bill is an outrage upon in
telligence. and a dastardly attempt to
usurp to the administration the God
green rights of a free people. Any at
tempt to execute it, therefore, as we
ha% e said atm% e, should he met by de
termined and orgatored resistance, and
if trill be. This is as certain as that
the nun shines Let lia‘Nr and pus
Washington lick spittlesi take notioe.
—The bill repealing the act es
tablishing a law library at the f'ourt
11.iume, for the benefit of the lawyers
of Itrllclouu•, passed the Senate on
\Veudesdai last. The fines and for
fitted recognizances will, hereafler, be
paid into the treasury of the county,
fir the benefit of the tax payers, in
place of being iced lor the purpose of
purchasing law buol,i for our law ‘ers
thi the mime ila) the Senate pa-i•ed the
bill repealing the act which
r arequire.
the county coniniihrioners
the local laws, in the dill-rent county
papers These two bill., 11 signed by
Governor, will nave to the tax payers
,4 - r the county between twelve and fif
teen hundred dollars per year.
We see It stated that the mer
chants of New York and Philadelphia
are about to lesson the number of
"drummers" who are now swarming
through the country and llocsling us
all with samples. We are certain that
country merchants will hear this news
with great pleasure, for if ever a set of
inortals were plagued to death by so
'ICIIIIIIOIO' 10 "give our house a call,"
country dealers are. The "drummers"
come in dIVIIIIIOTIS, put up at the hotels
Int-1,1111+1111e., and canvas the town by
P hllolll, A !Min!: up on this Lust
IleSr. %Old , ' he a good thing
--Two or three °l our politicians,
who have teen so long in a Radical
senatorial district that they have got
used to it, are growling now because
the new apportionment bill places us
in a Democratic district. It is the first
time in twenty one years and perhaps
longer, that the Democracy of Centre
county have had it to say that they
are in a Democratic district ; and it
this is a reason for complaint, perhaps
those who are troubled in that way
had better move into a district where
they can have Radical, rule to their
heart's content.
—lt is intimated that Gov. Ossav
will veto the apportionment bill which
the Legislature, alter scrnidth trouble,
has agreed upon. We hardly believe
he will, fur his sense of justice is cer
tainly to acute to allow him to remand
the people back to the infamous ap
portionment of 1864. If he should v..
to it, he will be taking a responsibility
that will crush Lim.
.-. The 'Freudlt Reds ere getting
`4111 1 .14d hy the troops of the Govern-
Milli, "Inners now look an though
the 'nil of the bloody work were ep.
proseb lug.
Simon says Wiggle-Waggle
The Republican of this week has a
long article landattm of that old po
litical villian, SutoNTtmettoic. in the
face of the fact that a finger old prosti
tute never lived„ Itteon N goes 011'11)10 a
perfect ecstacy of deright-oveli his in
comparable character. "Chic isn't an
hallucination" of BROWN•kI, however.
There is method in his madness. Just
now old StmoN Cturittoix
has it vast influence with the adminis
tration of GRANT, who likes l'‘neftwv
because the latter is so much like him
self. BRUN N has the remembrance of
former favors conferred upon the old
Centre Democrat office by CAMERON,
alter that paper had deserted its prin
ciples for pelf, the recipient of which
favors was (jell. JANES S. Muslim, at
that time connected with that estab
lishment. BRI9RIN was in the habit
of miffing CAllErlosf to the skiesabout
every other issue, and, in return for
this, the hoary beaded old sinner pa
tronived him to the extent of getting
him a commission as lieutenant in the
regular army, anti allerwaitis lent his
aid in pushing bun forward. !WON N
Aliks now that lie can idn, istine
game with the Sallie snrrces We
doubt it, however. We think he is
wasting his powder. Lightning hard
ly ever strikes twice in the same place,
and ItRON s will find that etaratix,
alter bluing been so badly humbugged
by !Seism's, will not be particularly
desirous or having the operation re
pealed. So there is pretty nearly two
columns of wind and ink wasted,which,
in these deStltiff high pricer; for gas anti
printing materials, is considerable of
lilt !teal. If our contemporary can in
duce OM SI 1111 V to refund him in cash
the cost of preparing that weak solm
lion of brains and dyspepsia, he may
consider himself well off
—There us , n• prospect of another
lead loch in the Legislature in refer
erence to the Registry law. The Demo
crlits demand that it dial! be amended,
and some of the Republican members
are willing that it should be, and re
fuse to be hound by 'heir party caucus
in the matter The Radical majority
in the (louse also refuse to pass the
Senate's until the Senate passes
the !louse bills, and the Senate don't
care about legislatiug any more until
the governor signs the apportionment
hill. So it goes.
Friday or !net week, it took
but five minutes (or a Republican
niemlier to induce a Republican
House to pa ha a resolution, allowing
ten dollars per day, oier
and above their regular salary, for
eiery day the) are In session after the
illy of Apr I . When the renoltition
went to the Democratic Senate,
relerred 1.. Itr appropriate committee,
re It I. likely I.) 'taker. the sleep
!hat 6110W4 no- %Yak inz
Unjust, ungenerous, unkind and
untrue -the charges of the Iluntmg•
.log Montb,r, agitinat one of the Demo
eni t ic a.pirante for Audilur General
6 4 1. n me, Brother eoas anNr
Senatorial Conference
The conferees of the 2lst senatorial
&strict, composed oldie Counties of
Centre, Blair, Huntingdon. Mifflin,
.Juniata and Perry, met at the Ex.
change Hotel, in Huntingdon, Pa.,
pursuant to a call for that puJpose, ou
Tuesday, the 241 day of May; inst., and
organized by electing John S. Miller,
or Huntingdon county, President, and
Wm. A. McOonigle, of Blair county,
and It. E. Parker of Juniata county,
Secretaries.
The following conferees were then
announced by the rending of their cre
dentials, to wit: Win. A. McGonigle,
Henry Mclntosh and Samuel McFad
den, of Blair county; Wm. Furey,
George ?defier,' and D. F. Fortney, of
Centre; Robert Mcßurney, W. P.
McNite and John S. Miller, of Hunt
ingdon county; James North, Joseph
flibson and R. E. Parker, of Juniata
county ; Win. Wilson, - C. R. Dull and
J. P. &Meitner, of Mifflin county;
find Dr. Swartz, B. P. Miller and
Thomas Shiselry, of Perry &minty.
After which the convention, t being
duly organized, proceeded to elect dele•
gates to represent said district in the
next State convention. Whereupon,
John H. Orris, Esq., of Centre, and
Dr. I). P. Hook, of Perry county, were
selected as delegalse to represent this,
the 21st district in the State Conven
tion called to meet at Harrisburg, on
Wednesday, the 114th inst„ for the pus
pose of nominating candidates for 4w
ditor General end Surveyor ()opera)
and for other purposes.
After which tbe following redilleitous
were adopted, ho wit t
Rusoired, That th e delegates ehls
day elected by this convention be and
they are hereby Instructed to use all
legitimate end honorable means to sr
cure the nomination of she Hon.Stun'h
T. Shugart, 9f Centre county, for Au.
ditor General; and if—after having ex
hausted all legitimate means available
for that liarpose—ittbould become im•
possible to secure r. Shugert's nom
ination—then and in that event, we
deem it our duty to name Dr. A. 1).
Markley, of Bucks county, as the eec
ond choice of this district for that im
portant office.
Resolved, That the delegates this
day elected he and they are hereby in
structed to use all honorable means to
secure the nomination of 11. Stewart
E4q., of Dauphin county, for
Surveyor General.
W. A. MeGoatm.a,
R. E. PARKER,
Secretaries.
Swinging Round the Circle
W hen President Johnson, during his
official term Qs the tenant of the 'White
!louse' at Washington, made a trip to
the West on some really nationally in
tereeting occasion, all the Radical Re
publican press—Tray, Blanche and
Sweetheart—mnde a great out cry
against hint. They say hp was rang
ing the country like a foot-pad to rob
it of its political cash—or votes. Well,
how now? Here is the beggar, the un
qualified and unlimited acceptor of
presents, and the unmitigated manikin
and dumb figure bend of a political
party, li. S. Grant, "swinging round
the circle," in as conspieious and de
' niiiii.tratile a manner as ever Andrew
Jiihnbon did, But instead of sneers
and jeers and all that sort of thing, the
ler) , same press that ridiculed and slim
tiered Johnson, now lauds, magnifies,
and advertises the great military and
()laical fraud and quack, 'Big Smoke'
Grant. Well, it is truly wonderful
how poor human nature can be misled
by self motives and blinded by partisan
bigotry, in politics, as well even as In
morals and re" - ;:on. Nobody of corn
mon sense, or whose eyes are not closed
against light by the merest partisan
prejudice, can fail to see that Grant, in
company with Vice President Colfax
and Senator Morton, a number of oth.
er prominent demagogues, are on a ho
!meal tour with a view to the next
Presidential election. We have and
make no objection to this. We really
and sincerely wish that the Repulill
can party will nominate Grant for the
succession. Tney, of course, think he
is the only roan they can elect. This
is only a proof of their conscious pover
ty of good and great statesman, or
an acknowledgment that, in their
judgment, the people of this coun
try don't want a statesman at the
helm, but a third rate soldier, an igno
rant statesman, a reclaimed drunkard,
and a selfish man. We think that the
weakest, corruptest, vainest, meanest,
ar d foolitibest man that ever sat in the
Presidential chair is the present incum
bent, and that a large majority Of the
people of this country are fast com
ing to that conviction.—Sanday Mer
cury.
A TTEIII9 - AT WHOLE/84.1.K TIIIKVING.
—As Major fluff was surveying a piece
of land on the mountain, in the neigh
borhood of Sandy Ridge, n few days
h e di4covcred indications of a con_
odertilde large sized attempt at stealing
shingle timber, upon land for which Mr
Richard A therton,of this place, is agent.
Reporting it, a warrant was issued sod
placed in the hands of Constable J. C
Noun who deputized Mr. Charles
Cop. lin, and together they made a de
cent upon the suspicious parties, cap
turing-.lorry Sharrow and four others,
whose name we did not learn They
had cos nearly seventy trees ;Marrow
at 'first refused to be gobbled, but its
c ol ,elit s ra r ......r.eised of a 'winning way,'
which lie rend, r, d [nore effective by the
exhibstion of an nr,oliiient la the shape
of a Fla slnader, lie a tlr persuaded to
submit. • The peas a. re brought to
town crud taken b. fore a justice of the
peace, where Sharr.,w and two others
pleaded guilty, the r. reaming two &dim
ing their innoceine Alter a hearing
the matter was conitironowd, the guilty
parties agreeing to pay the costs, $lOO,
and appear before n ju•lice on Monday
next, Our opinion re that these fellows
were left off too easy They should
have been punished to the full extent of
the law, for, Hour information be cor
rect, this is not the only time they have
been engaged in this business, and an
example cannot be made too soon.
l'hilipsburg Journal
WM
--The Hon. James tl Blair of
Missouri, who left the Itepublieun cau
cus, replies to a note addressed him on
the subject at some length and con•
eludes:
14: the Republican party has no high.
er, thtkler, nor:more exalted mission,
atm, anii purpose, than the taxing of
the people of the West for the benefit
of the aristocrats and monopolists of
the Kart, and the continued degrada
tion rind humiliation of th• white peo
pie of the South, then I must confess
that I am at a lose to see how myself
and toy liberal Republican friend in
my district, who agree with me in sen
timent, can consistently longer affiliate
or net witil it.
Aid BUCII is New If stWpelgire
Ku KLur.—Two thousand active,
unprincipled, Northern ecoundrols
(State prison Convict. prefered), are
wanted to travel through the South,
scaring, robbing murdering people
here and then, burning houses a n d
other property. Pay prompt, and 'Co
particular dauger: These crimes to
be charged to the to Klus, and p l id
for by the Rapublicase, who will tiro
have sotnething to talk about s
they are passiug brie ICP r9t , thr ptol
of million, of dollars aud oalliutt.•
acres of land belcuicing to the public.
Por situations and information, ad.
dress U. B. Grant, President and breed
er of doge, or B. F. Butler, thief and
coward, Washington, D. C.—Es.
—A ministar aot long ago preach.
ad from the text 'Boys theretbre stead
fast,' but the printer made bint , ,
pound how 'Re yo {here f%r break.
hist l'
THE BOARDER CLAMS.
Mr. Dill, from the special committee
on the borger war claims, made the
following report:
The select committee to whom was re
ferred the petition of 500 citizens of
Chambersburg, praying for some legisla,
lion to make compensation for the
traordinary losses of property sustained
by them (luring the late war, make the
following report:
That they have considered the subject
matter of the petition referred to them
and generally the question of losses by
our citizens of the southern - border
during the war, by, reason of depreda
tions upon their property by the confed
erate and federal forces, and particularly
by raids of the former, and will proceed
to state their conclusions upon the several
points Involved In the question of public
responsibility for those losses, with the
grounds upon, which thetr conclusions
rest. Their report is made thus broad,
because they understand that their
investigation was not intended to he
confined to the Chambersburg losses
alone, but to extend to all the losses
which occurred upon the border which
heretofore have been subjected to ex
amination under the authority of the
state.
The first question to he considered is,
whether the United States are liable for
the losses upon the border,eit her by rea
son of a direct constitutional obligation
or by reason of particular facts connect
ed with the several invasions of the state
to by both
By the fourth section of the fourth
article of the Constitution of the United
States it Is provided that the United
States shall protect each of the States of
the Union against invasion. This guar
antee Is coupled with two others—the
one for protection of the several States
against domestic violence upon demand
of state authorities, and the other secure
to them republican forms of govern
ment.litigninst every form of external
and inte al danger, accompanied by vi
olence, this comprehensive section of
duarantees was intended to protect the
ates, and the obligation assumed by
the Veiled Stares under it has been one
expressed limitation, which is, that the
interposition of the federal government
against domestic violence must be invok
ed by the legislature of a State or by the
executive thereof when the legislature
cannot be convened. No one can doubt,
upon reading these guarantees of the
constitution, and duly considering the
general objects for which the constitu
tion was made, as announeed in its pre
amble, that complete defense to the
states was promised and intended there
by, and that an obligation of self-defense
Which, in the absence of the constitu
tional compact, would have rested ex
clusively upon the several States was
thereby charged upon the federal gov
ernment. It is not necessary to insist
that the States respectively parted
with the right of defending themselves
against external danger, when imminent,
or against actual Invasion, hut unques
tionably the whole duty of defending
them imposed upon the United States.
Nor can it be doubted that this obliga
tion and duty of the United States to
protect each State against invasion Is not
confined to cases of invasion by a for
eign enemy. The guarantee is express
ed in general language and is without
limitation. An invasion of a State from
another State or association of States is
as much provided against as an invasion
from abroad This is the clear conclu
sion to he drawn from the language of
the guarantee and from considering the
known reasons which dictated its Inser
tion In the constitution. Hence Judge
Story, in his work upon the constitution,
section 1,818, In speaking of this' guar
antee, declares "that the latitude of the
expression here used seems to secure
each State not only against foreign hos
tility, but against ambitious or vindic
tive enterprises of its more powerful
neighbors."
It is beyond dispute that the United
States did not keep this guarantee of de
fense upon the several occasions when
our border was struck by the enemy dur
ing the recent war of the rebellion.
The guarantee was hot kept and duties
under it performed by the United States,
and by reason of their default, our citi
zens were assailed in their peaceful
homes and their property aPpropriated,
or wasted and consumed. They were
completely innocent of all blame. They
had performed all their duties both to
the slate and federal governments by
contribution of taxes, by voluntary as
seasments upon them:wlyes in aid of the
common defense, by the raising of
troops, and by complete obedience to
all the laws of the land. Hut their just
claim—their absolute right to protection
and defense against external violence--
was riot maintained. by either of the
governments to which they owed allegi
ance
It i• true. Al a general orloco 'bat
"protection against In ~,n le due pr o
(every society In th- ~ A rts ennipoßing•
IL' (Story s?,l •we. 1,818) This
correlative of all ;lance rests oval every
state, and in ?to absence of compact or
treaty betvet co states is exclusively a
state obligation. Rut under our system
of dual government the case Is widely
different,to already shown. Primarily,
• I,' '• oloit unquestionably rests upon
the United`states, and was assumed by
them in the federal rompeti for full
and valuable consideration The con
tribution of 'awe strength to the Union,
and the I.ssittnidirm of numerous and
onerous duties to the federal govern
ment by the people and government of
each state constitutes the solid townie
lion upon which this federal obligation
rests. It follows that a state may de
mand this protection for its citizens
from the federal government In every
possible case, and hence, in no ease.can
the answer he made b or In behalf of
that government that t h e state Is bound
to defend Itself,
If, then. an.) obligation or linty refits
tipiii) :t t.. rowel Ile own people
11 lon, It must be considered
as o: • , .be di..cossed only between the
t wo. ...) 1.4 we OP/cash) clew of the
peee last halms Which subsist between
them. The United States cannot assert
any such state obligation or duty In the
hum of their own cleat e 4aerantee eon
hinted
ti In the fourth of the eon.
siVao.
In the . default of the gonstitutional
proteetion of the state by the United
Bte'es against Invasion, and of an actu
al defoose of the slate by herself On
sottwuuwuw ut 11A, it ftllllo, can any
we detilit al.at the oath," lecisrred by
the state for defensive purposes w ou ld
constitute a just demand against the
United Statte ? In such case,ougnt not
the guaranteeing party to Ake good
the outlay incurred by reason of his de
fault, and when the state makes her de
mand for reimbursement would it not
be most unreasonable and unjust to re
pudiate or reject it? But can losses in
curred by the state or by her citizens in
consequence of a breach of the guaran
tee to put upon a different footing from
the outlays incurred by the state in self
defense? In each case the default of
the guaranteeing and protecting party
is the cause and foundation of the de
mand.• The committee can discover no
limitation in Such case upon the respon
sibility of the United States excepnheir
inability to respond to the demand- It
is admitted that war ravages may he so
extensive as to render indemnity to in
nocent Sufferers Impossible. The bur.
den may be too great to he horns, and
cannot, therefore, be accepted or
stinted. But in the present case the
plea of bankruptcy or inability ca nnot
be interposed.
It is to be observed that the guarantee
in the constitution is One in favor of
the several states In their capacities as
parties to the compact, anti Is therefore
to be asserted by the states and not by
individual citizens in all cites of its rio
lation. Hence ills proper and becomes
necessary, in the present instance, to
cxamint• the relation and intercourse be
tween the state and the federal govern.
mootduring the war, and the conduit
of each in relation to the defense of Ihe
state. Did the state perform all her do
ries to the federal government, and is
she in a position to claim that the guar
mitce in question should have been
kept? The 7111SVI er to this question is
furnished by the statutes f' the ',mu
monwealth, and by the public recordsof
the war.
The slate furnished her due iihnrc of
militia and vo:unteers under the He v , ral
calls made by the President of the l M.
ted States mid she submitted without
complaint to the vigorous execution
within her limits of the conscription act
of March, 10;3, and Its several supple
ments. Iler due share of troops for
the public service was furnished by her
or drawn from her under United States
laws and 'presidential proclamations
throughout the war, and in addiniat
thereto, in several cases of emergency,
she furnished to the United Slates her
own desensive force At the urgent
demand of the war department she al.
lowed her border to be uncovered to the
stroke of the enemy, when, by a more
selfish policy, she could have secured
her own protection at the peril of the
conunon Interests involved in the strug
gle.
_
But it is a material consideration in
passing upon her conduct as a member
of the federal Union in a time of unex
ampled diftidtty and danger that she
did not rely wholly upon the Pulled
Staten for her protection from externs/
danger. In addition to F 1 prompt, real.
cam and complete performance of all
her duties to the common cony she
made adequate provision for defending
i t
herself, and would have whol relieved
the federal government fro the per.
fornnuice of practical duties her un.
der the constitutional guaran e if that
government had not interfered ith her
de fensile arrangements and taken Cr) MI
her defensive force.
The report then proceeds to review
the measures taken by the state for the
defense of her eitizAms. The reserve
Corps was organized at a cost to the
state of $3,000,000, and transferred to
the federal army immediately after the
Bull Run defeat, thereby exposing our
borders to the enemy In Imo:I the m,
Iltia were called out to defend the ex
posed portions of the state, and the
money advanced to pay them. The leg.
islature subsequently legalized the pay
ment and authorized a loan to meet iL
In 1864 six regiments were organized
for border defense, but were called to
the Potomac to reinforce Hunter, after
his defeat, 'and the destruction of Chain,
bertiburg was the result. An extraordi
nary session of the legislature was
called, and V 1,000,000 more appropriat
ed for defense , but the war soon after
closed, and no part of it WAS expended
and the money paid for the reserve
corps, and for the militia in 1863, was
repaid to the state by the general gov
ernment. The state, in the opinion of
the committee, discharged her duty
faithfully, but her borders acre Fn
el, and her citizens suffered spoilation,
because her defensive troops acre trans.
ferret.' to save the Union armies.
The report then reviews the various
acts of assembly from 1861 to teats, in
all eight different enactments providing
for the adjudication of the claims and
filethe payment of a portion of then
They show that lb* ultithate payment
of the claims by the general government
was steadily kept in view by the state,
and lbw the state has recognized hut
duly to procure an adjuntmerbo of them
for her chizemi.
fliv ii•port vonclislcs its follows
ruder the several acts above men
tioned the border elitinis have heel' ex
amined and ascertained under the sanc
tion of state authority, and the evidence
of their amount and character is upon
file in the office of the attorney generaL
Some of those ascertained under the
earlier assessments have hero thallhy
the United State , ' and upon those lo
cated in Chatnbermburg half 4L 1111111011 of
dollars lute been paid out of the slam
treasory wider the act of nth of Feb
ruary. 1866. Speaking generally, the
vaihTity mud 'justice of the border claims
have been asserted in the strongest po9
ntanner by the state government,
and the whole scope of state action
enneorning them pOinla to the ultimate
adjustment and payment.
'The losses.which arc the subject di
the present inquiry were canned by sue.
ceselve raids In 11389, 1868 and 1864, b'
the advance and operation.' of 'Lees
army in 1863, and by depredations and
appropriatiens of property at severe!"
times by federal troops. As to the lait.
ter, It is to be noted that the militia, by
whom WHIM of the damages were (wok
slotted, were tuusturt.ti into the UnlteLP
Staten service -before their advance
the border, nod constituted a part ur;
the federal forces. The aggreg . ... l 4 l
amount of the claims cannot, with me_._
Mena of information at band be ex-auw
ly Meted. In the official repirts en filit
in the auditor genera.. office some "
the claim. are duplicated; some of the.
reported upon under the act of 18 68 14
ing contained in prior report&• lint the
sum total, of the claims will not exceed ,
two Million tight hundred,thousaud do),
tars, and they will be suliject to such