New-York daily tribune., 1865-09-27
.NoTuER sOLDIERs' FAIR.

PHILADELPHIA is to have another great Falr'
Az usual il is TO be for a benevolent purpose,
and. we are glad to add, one in which the whoie
country Is interested. 1t Is to be a FAR LOT
the Soldiers-a Fair for the benefit OF the brave
men who have been brought home from the
battlefield manned, sick, helpless; who now
find themselves friendless and homeless III tho
country they have saved There are thousands
OF such men; We meet them occasionally Deg
ging on the street, shameful spectacle, but
FAR more shameful to the nation than to the
soldier There are more of them in the aims
houses, but many more living upon the charity
Of their friends. unable to work, and a burden
to Others who are also poor.
To Pennsylvania, we think, must be given
the honor Of first attempting to make suitable
the United States. Two years ago, number
Of prominent citizens established in Philadelphia
Soldiers aud Sailors Home" obtained a
charter from the Legislature and sustained it
by private contributions. During the war, the
operations of the institution We're limited; the
attention OF the country was fixed upon the
field, and the vast resources Of the Sanitary and
Christian Commissions largely provided for the
welfare OF the soldiers But now that
the Commissions are about to be discOn.
tnued that thousands of soldiers have been
dismissed from Government hospitals, nominally
cured, but actually unable to work, new
responsibility Is forced upon the Nation. We
can only provide for these soldiers by the es-
tablishment OF homes, such as that for which
Pennsylvania now appeals, and these we must
establish or be false to national obligation.
The number of soldiers and sailors unable to
take care of themselves, and deserving Of aid.
bears small proportion to the wealth and liber-
ality of the country, and there is no reason why
they should not all be speedily rescued from
bcggary the almshouse, or the pain of private
charity, and placed by the gratitude Of the
whole people in honorable and comfortable
homes
Ths Philadelphia Home, since the close of
the war, has been utterly unable to meet the
demands upon it. 1t is already overcrowded, !
and on an average twenty deserving applica-
tions for admission are refused daily. The great
Fair to be held at the Academy of Music, Octo.
Der 80 il intended to raise fund to purchase
larger building so that Home may be estab-
lshed which will be national institution. II
is not, and will not he an almshouse. An in
dustral department will be one Of its
leading features, 50 that in few years
it will be largely selfsustaining. Nor
is the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Philadel-
phia merely local institution. On the con-
trary, it receives deserving applicants from any
State, and has already opened its doors TO the
veterans of Ncw-York, the West and New.En
gland. 1t has another claim upon the liberality
Of the Eastern States. In it is merged the
Cooper-Shop Soldiers Home, and when We re.
member that the Cooper-Shop and Union Vol
untcer Reireshment Saloons furnished with
meals nearly one million of soldiers passing
through Philadelphia, it is plain that this Home,
equally liberal in its benevolcnce, deserves the
hearty assistance of New.York and New.
England. We are glad to know that
the Fair is expected to be grand success,
and that every Eastern State, at least, will bc
finely represented. We commend il TO the
good will of our citizens. and trust that the
New-York department will not be unworthy of
our State and city. The success of the Soldiers
and Sailors Home in Philadelphia. it is to be
Iervently hoped, will lead to the establishment !