The sun., 1872-10-09

ulVlhlOn, was WOunuCu. A1ter tnc war WIS
over he was retired "a u major-genelal,
with u salary of &G25 year for doing no.
thing, and ia now running as % candidate
for Northumberland I'm this state on
the GRANT ticket, while volunteer briga-
dier-gcn, rails, not having the influence tn
get on the retired list, who were just az
severely wounded, receive oIly $50
month. Gen. SIcKLEs, whose last rank
while IN active service was that of colonel,
IL retired as Il maior-gCncral, and receives
salary of s5,G25, besides which he IL
Minister to Spain, with leave of abrcnce
to attend to legal jobs when they
can be made sufficiently profitable.
JOSEPH II. KIDDoo was a lieutenant
colonel before he was retired a.
brigadier-gcneral, With a salary Of
81 12b aud no duties to perform. Al
though disability from wounds IL given ~
the excuse for his retirement, il would be
difficult tO discover any signs Of disability
i'm his appearance at this time. Capt.
ADAM BADEAU, who was a fuvorite Of
GRANT and has written his biography,
while ut Port Hudson received u shot in
one of his feet The wound caused him to
limp for while, but he long ago ceased to
exhibit any such debility. Tho President
had hardly taken possession of the White
House before BADEAU was provided for
for life ON the retired list to the exclusion
of officers who were really iucupacitatcd
from earning a livelihood; and tlic same
day on which ho was retired, namely May
Is, 1860, hc was promoted from first lieut.
tenant to captain-promotod in order that
he miCht he retired ON lnrTrr pnv. Capt
BNDEAU is now Consul-GCucr1l in London,
n most lucrative position lie Is under
stood 10 be at work there on continual
ton of his biography of President GRNNr
in which hc will doubtless do justice to the
generosity # his patron,
These caso- are only a few ont # many.
but they fully illustrate the Injustice ot
the Government in its treatment of the
defenders Of the Union. In active ser
vice an officer receives higher pay than
private because it IS supposed to re-
quire higher grile of intelligence
and education To fll the position. But
under n democratic form of government
il is ineXcusable that in the award of
pensions partially disabled officers should
be provided with splendid salaries FOR life,
| while wholly disabled private soldiers, who
in war had the hardest lot in all respects,
arr put of with II miserable pittance which
will scarcely keep them from starvation.
And when by the favoritism of the
authorities the pension laws are So per
verted as To support in idlrucss under the
prrtcucc of disability, men who are not in
| any manner incapacita'cl for earning II
livelihood in almost any civil occupation.
81 &
| quiet endurance. Vet when a bin for the
repeal Of the odious law which tolclntes
| this injustice was brought forward iu Con-
| gre~s it was defeated, mainly through the
efforts of HENRY WILSON, the GRANT can
didute for NiCe-lresideut, who eNcrtcd
himself to the utmost to continue the un-
just distinction made between the ptttpd
favortes of the Administration and the
poor soldiers who have nothing hut their
wounds and their records of honorable
service TO plead IN their behalf.
For ten years senator WILSON, n Chair
man of the Military Committee. has con-
| trollcd the legislation of the Scnntr oli
military matters. ana in all that time hr
has been the ohscquiouS tool of the arsto-
! cratic stan element Of the regular army.
| To his oficious zeal and perlinacious
| efforts aided in some instances 10y resort
to interruptions tri,kerN, il Is owing that
| the officers and soldiers of the volunteer
forces who participated in the late war
have been subjected go the most insulting
and unjust determinations against HON IN
the laws which were passed profc>sodly for
their benefit, Every effort made 10y fairer
men to remedy the inequalities existing in
| the pension laws have been strenuously re-
sisted by WILSON, who Is Individually re-
| sponsible for all the most Objectionable of
these unjust distinctions. And yet this
same WILSON now has the brazcn IN Iron
terry to ask for votes on the ground that Ia,
has been the poor soldiers friend