Bellows Falls times. [volume] (Bellows Falls, Vt.) 1856-1965, 1866-09-21

A SOLDIERS WIpow's LETTER TO
THE PRrsipENT..-The Philadelphia Press
of Friday publishes u letter from SOL
dier,s widow of that. city to President
johnson, in answer to that portion OF his
Cleveland speech in which he asked his
audience" Who made greater sacrifices
in the war than T?' "Who suffered more
than II" &C., and submits to the just
Judgment of the world whether on the
score of sufferings and sacrifices his claims
to popular sympathy and support bear any
comparison to hers. She says;
Before the rebellion. sir, | had a hus-
band, kind, loving, industrious, economical,
who for myself and our four little ones
made comfortable provision. Our home
was the abode of peace and plenty What
has become of him? He soas starred to
death at Unreasonable. and that by the
chivalric men whom your policy
would fain restore, without repentance, to
the head of our government. Since then
have been trying my best to earn bread
for my little ones by plying the needle.
At times when that kind of employment
has failed me, l have been obliged to
stand from early morn till night over the
scash-tab | had two brothers, steady
men, kind and generous. Had the rebel
lion left them as it found them, pinching
poverty / should never have known.
Alas alas one of them persisted from
exposure and want on Belle Island, and
the other had his right arm taken off by
rebel shell at Antetam. He cannot as
sist me. The privalions and haTdships |
have had TO endure have SO shattered my
own health and strength that l feel at
times unable even to endure the fatigue OF
plying the needle. So that, except my
trust in merciful God, have sacrificed
for my country my ALL-husband, bro
Tiers, house, home, living--and | am cast,
beggar, on the cold charity of the world.
And all this owe TO the Southern slave
holders, and TO their iniquitous attempt TO
murder my beloved country, as they did
murder my husband and my brothers.
Now, Mr.. johnson, since you invite a
comparison, what have you suffered P
Exhibit your scars and wounds and
bruises Did yoa lose leg or an arm,
or were you even so much as scratched or
bruised? Where is the blood you shed
would il stain white cambria pocket
handkerchief? How much property did
you lose? Why, if report speaks true
during most of the time of the war you
were living on the fat of the land ir
Nashville, out of harms way, protected
as you were, by Union bayonets. Out o
Uncle Sans overlooking commissary
stores you drew plenty to eat and to drial
the best of meats. and what was of still
more consequence TO you, the choicest o
liquors. Add to this your handsome sal
, airy as Military Governor. Then tn
great Union party, whom you have sine
so foully betrayed, made you Vice Presi
dent, with salary of $4,000 per annum
Then, TO crown it all, John Wilkes Boot
made you President, and there you ar
) yet, to the tune of $4,000 a year, will
: feins.' The rebellion found you,
lear u, comparatively a poor man. Now
you are rich, with sound body, not tC
speak of your mind, whose soundness ii
not so certain.
You, Andrew johnson, talk of your sac
rifces and your sufferings, and challenge 6
comparison. FIe fe upon you Why
sir, on that score, | ought to be America:
Queen, and you ought to be sweating ovel
the wash-tubl And now, sir, are your
questions as to who suffered more thai
you, who sacrificed more than you by rea
son of the war, answered? Ibid, sir, and
l know hundreds of poor women, tossed
from the nights Of affluence into the vale
of penury and want, who have suffered
and sacrificed ten thousand times more
than yOn, and are making no ostentatiou,
; parade of it either.
Yours respectfully,
MARY JANE CATHERwAITE,
A soldiers wide W, and the mother Of foul
fatherless children.