Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1865-02-03

THE SOLDIERS PAY.


Letter From Col. NJ. M. Trumbull.
BRowssvILLx, ARKANSAS,
c January lltn, 1865. (
To the Hon. fumes Harian, q. S. Senate, aud "a
, Io,ou Delegation In Congress.
GENTLEMEN Having been politically asso
, ciated with most Of you for number o
, years, and having the honor Of persona
= scquaintaneeship with nearly all of you
! knowing your devotion to the national csus
and the generous interest you take in tn
welfare of those who have left their homes |.
defend the honor and existence Of the Ma
- ton, take the liberty as ain old soldier an'
Iowa officer of some experience. to appeal t
you in behalf Of that patriotic class of men
tho enlisted soldiers of our volunteer army
ana sufficiently acquainted with you a.
to know that the interests Of the soldier vii
be zeslously guarded by you, and his wants
when you know them, literally supplied.
am sure you would not sanction by yeul
votes any act Of legislation which would OPP
crate to his disadvantage, or which woulc
not in your estimation be positively bencf
ca TO him and these sentiments I believe
are entertained by every loyal member oil
Congress. But you may sometimes be mis-.
taken, and do him injury at the very time
you think ysu are improving his condition.
This believe you innocenty did by the leg
islation Of last session, which increased the
soldiers pay and diminished his ration
Thinking that the advice Of one who has
been on active duty in the field ever since
the passage Of the Bill, and who has had an
opportunity to tell it's working, may not be
deemed intrusive, permit me to show where.
in the passage of the act referred to, was, in
my opinion, grave mistake.
! In the first place, the soldier does not feel
the increase Of pay ofiener than twice year
or perhaps three times, should no be lucky
enough to be paid SO often; but he does feel
the decrease in his ration three times a day
all the year round. In this Department, his
additional three dollars per month, econom.
icslly expended, will buy him Just Eve
pounds and half Of crackers, and pound
of cheese, or it will buy two caus of oysters,
and pound Of crackers, and dime left for
bad cigar. So you see, that for two luxu-
rious meals Of oysters per month, he must
so hungry all the year.
1t would be much better to increase the
ration to what it was year ago, even if the
psy should be rsduced to the old standard.
Better Sl3 per month and enough to eat than
SIG 90 and hungry bellies. Besides, the
Government can lay out TIE So to much bet
ter advantage than the soldier can, for two
reasons: 1st, the government will spend it
Tor what the soldier needs, which he himself
will not always DO It.; End, the government can
always purchase and purchase chcaply.-
The soldier can never purchase cheap, and
often not at all, such thngs as he really
ought to buy.
Our army is composed mainly Of hungry
young fellows from IS to %. They live
mostly in the open air, are exposed to all
kinds Of weather, are often cut all night stand
ing guard, and necessarily require large
amount Of food. know not what may be
Tho experience of officers in the Army Of
the Potomac, but know well the Army Of
the West, and l believe every officer in it
will express the same opinions which have
uttered in this letter.
Let me call your attention to another very
important item Of expense to which the sol
der is nowadays subjected. mean the ar
ticlc of clothing.
The American soldier is allowed for cloth.
ing nearly twelve cents day. For this
amount he must buy every article of clothing
he wears, and his bedding besides. This is
maniiestly insufficient, for he wears out more
clothing than the average ofcitizens engaged
in the ordinary ayocaiions Of civil life. He
has no place to take care Of it, and he sacri
fees a great deal Of it from the sheer neces-
sites of the service in which he is engaged.
The artisan, the trader, and the member of
Congress, are at liberty to dress as shabbily
as they please; but the soldier ia not. If his
clothss.sre shabby or torn, he is very apt to
be bucked by his Captain, and when the Co
/ lionel comes round on inspection day, no gets
another blue cursng from him. lie must
! therefore draw clothing over and above the
government allowance, and the price of this
is deducted from his pay. This better plan
would be for the government to allow the
soldier certain quantity per year Of specific
articles Of clothing Instead Of a certain
amount of clothing money. In the former
case he would seldom be in rags, he would
know that in whatever condition the money
market or shoddy market might be, there
would DO certain quantity Of clothing com.
ing to him anyhow. By tho latter system
all the fluctuations of the market must be
borne by him. For example: the clothing
, allowance in 1861 was S42 per year, it is the
same now. Yet the price Of clothing has
been steadily increasing since 1861. 1t
should not bs forgotten, Also that tho cloth,
ing issued now is much inferior in quality to
that issued then. The manufacturers OF
shoddy have become more skilIful.
Because am sure that information Of the
soldiers wants is all that is necessary to en-
list your sympathies and exertions in his be-.
half, have addressed you this letter. |
knew his virtues sntitle him to a worthier
advocate. He hss proved his claims upon
the country wherever he has been tried, du,
ring the pas. four years. lie has endured
most wonderful hardships without complain
ing, and has faced, without finching, dan.
gers Of pestilence and battle, which, merely
to read Of few short years ago, would have
made his lips turn pale. He has smothered
his lonsings for home. lest he should fa:cr
in devotion to his country. And how mag
nifccntly and with wha. lofty scorn he re,
jected the towards bride CT peace, on the sth
Of November last. That peace which was to