The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1878-08-29
REORGANIZATION
OF THE
Soldiers and Sailors Or
phans' Home.
Letter from a Democratic Senator,
Who was a Gallant Union Sol
der in the Late War.
HEADQUARTERS SOLDIERS AND J
SAILORS MEMORIAL ASSOCIATION, )

Ohio:'
Under the above caption a circular
is being distributed throughout the
State, calling for a meeting to be
held at Dayton, August 18th.
In that circular it is stated to be
eminently proper that the surviving
soldiers and sailors of Ohio should
meet and consider calmly and seri-
ously, the law recognizing the Sol
diers' and Sailors Orphans Home,
at Xenia. If the above be the, real
object of that meeting, it is pre-emi-
nently proper; and having the honor
and it is indeed an honort to be one
of the surviving soldiers of the wal
for the Union; and being also one of
the members of the Sixty-third Cen
eral Assembly who voted for that
law, I trust you will not take it un-
kindly if try to aid you in your
work of "calmly and seriously con-
sideripg that subject. You will find
the original law creating that Home
on page SIS, of volume 81, OhfoLa~s.
1t provides that children, not or
phars, of the soldiers shall be reeeiv-
ed into the Home, but it also pro-
vides that other INDECENT orphan
children, resident of the State, and
under the age of fifteen years, may,
at the discretion of the Board Of
Managers, be received in said Home,
etc. That has been the law of the
Republican party, as to that Home,
from its creation untilthe year1S76,
when it was reorganized to put out a
Democratic superintendent and put
in a Republican. The Republican
party named that Home the "Sol-
diers' and Sailors Orphans Home"
but no where in any Republicanlaw,
save in the title, can you find the
name soldiers orphan. You say
when referring to the law oflast win.
ter, "These are some of the outrages
which this wicked and cruel Law
would perpetrate upon the children
of our dead heroes" Now, in say
ing this you are ignorant of the pro.
visions of the Republican laws on the
subject, or else you are INDUCING in
fraud and Misrepresentation, for the
fact is, that the law Of last winter is
the first and only law that has Sc
cured that Home to the "children o
our dead heroes"
Now, let us look at the facts an(
see: Take the last report of th,
Home, by MI. Shaw, the Republican
Superintendent, and we find for,las
year there were at said Home co.
children, which is stated to fill tn,
Home "to its utmost capacity
Three hundred and thirty-ive o
those children were from fifteeI
counties. Of this number, Green
county had last year ffty-six chill
dren, the previous year si~xty-eight
and had on file applications to admi
thirty-two more; while her just pro
portion is stated to be but six child
rem. Among the other serenty,thre5
counties are the populous countie
of Hamilton, C~uyahoga, Lucas, ant
Franklin. Twenty-one counties hat
not a single child at the Home. ST.
counties have 1876 children at tn
Home, and the same six counties ar
asking admission for178 more. Thu
has the Republican party filled tn
Home, while forty counties in TIL
State have but thirty-four childrei
there.
Let us look at it's financial man
agement: Take the same report an,
you find last years current expense
$4,000, and how used? Twenty
eight thousand dollars paid to off
GERS, teachers, and employees, beside
boarding them. On the pay-rollsar
the names Of one hundred and atat
teen able-bodied friends of the Re
publican party. One hundred an
nineteen officers, teachers, and en-
ployes boarded at the publicexpenst
and-paid1$2e, 600 to take care Of &c
children. The Home under Reput
lican rule has become famous for gi,
ing fine parties to members of tn
Legislature, and during the month
of February, March, and April, 1877
while the Republican Legislature wa
in session, and parties there wei
plenty, We find these items of e1
penditures in that report:
For music for dances, $62 @
For omnibus hire, 55 Q
For lemon and vanilla. 81 @
Now, ifthe music, omnibus hir
lemon and vanilla cost that mucl
how many hundreds of dollars of I'll
money gathered from the people {
, taxes were expended in these .feast
and frolics" of Republican legisl.
tors?
When that Home will accomm,
date but about six hundred children
| when we further knew there were
the State more than six hundred
, the needy orphans of soldiers WI
had lost their lives by reason of the
service in the army; when we foun
one hundred and n~inety-fiye childre
I. there from six small counties-fft,
, six children from the small connt
!, of Greene; when the poor orphan
of the men who had lost their live
by reason of service in the war If
the Union from twenty-one countie
of the State could not be admitted
not a single child-we thought SON
change in the law was needed; "
thought it kind and right to so fran
the law that the orphans of thes
dead heroes should be first cared TO
To any intelligent man, the fact
1 have taken from the report, an
stated to you, ought to be convinc
ing, that under Republican law an
practice the orphans of the dead so.
diers throughout the State have bee
crowded out, and the "Soldiers' an
Sailors Orphans Home" has bee
turned into an elegant orphans asy
lum for Greene and a few othef eour