The National tribune., 1882-06-03
Our Living Heroes.

while the most distinguished honors are |
paid to the memory of the dead heroes Of |
the var, the claims of our living heroes are
often neglected or forgotten. There is a
measure of justice in the charge, and al
though we would not abate one jot or title
Of the praise that is the need OF those who
died in defense of the country, We cannot
help thinking that the public are too much
inclined to regard these dead heroes rs the
representatives of all the devotion, the gal
lantry, and the prowess that marked the
conduct of that glorious struggle. Dreadful
as was the slaughter which attended it, the
survivors far outnuhber the dead, and their
services are equally worthy of remembrance.
Indeed it seems to us that in many respects
the lot of those who are quietly sleeping
their last sleep beneath the green sod OF our
soldiers cemeteries is much the more
enviable of the two. For them the bitter
struggle for existence is forever over. Can
kerous care vexes them 10 longer. Neither
poverty nor hunger disturbs their repo5e
They are insensible to all human pain and
suffering. and it is one to them whether their
country remembers them with gratitde or
commits them to oblivion. They fought the
good fight and have entered into the enjoy
ment of their eternal reward.
But how fares it with those who shared
with thera all the privations of the camp
| and the dangers of the field? What is the
lot of those who equalled them in fortitude
and valor, facing death with the same
dauntless courage, yet bearing a charmed
life? Alas4 their history is tinged with sad
ness. They came back from the South
! covered with glory, and were received with
! tumultuous rejoicings. 1t seemed to the
| brave fellows as if they were almost at the
| gates of paradise, and they thought they
had done forever with pain and toll. Their
hopes were all bound up in that sweet
wOrd-h0me! 1t was the ultima thule OF
their desires, and they looked forward tondly
to spending the rest Of their days in peace
and comfort. And well they deserved to
realize that bright expectation. If ever
patriots earned the undying gratitude OF a
Nation they had earned it, and having, as
they did, the sacred promise Of the Govern
ment to care for those whom the fortunes OF
war had deprived of the means of earning
a living, it is little wonder that they felt Sc
secure of the future Would that nothing
had ever occurred to undcceive them!
But the hard, cruel fact is that as
time went by, these living heroes of our
discovered that they had but survived
one struggle to enter upon another-tb.
struggle for existence. Some were fain tt
beg at the street corners, and for a while
public sympathy being still easy to arouse
the pennies fell rapidly into the oUtstrctcbet
cap. For a while, too, employers were dis
posed to show q preference to The soldier IL
filing vacant positions and many minor Of
fees under the eGoyeEnmentwere thrown cpel
to them. It was even possible to secure ac
ton upon pension claim without much dc
/ lay. But to this period succeeded one il
which the country seemed to have grown IN
, different to the needs Of the Boys in BIN
= and when in neither Congress nor the Pen
} sion Bureau was it possible TO secure the a.r
} which they so sadly needed. No Iapeuag.
l however eloquent, eau adequately descr5
S the sullerings to which these living heroe
/ of ours have been subjected by the warto,
q and cruel delay which has attended the scr
: tlement of their claims for pensions. Jus
! think of it! There are at this moment tvs
: hundred and seventy thousand claims-th
o accumulation of years-pe.ding before tn
= Pension Bureau, and behind every one c
: them is some crippled soldier, or helples
t widow, or fatherIess family! IF our dea
= heroes are worthy Of admiration, wha
e praise can be too lavish for our living her0e
q who have had the Affections of poverty, {
c well as the perils of war, to encounter? Is
G us do what we can, az this late day, to nit
Il gate their sulferings. Increase the force
Il the Pension Bureau and hasten the passag
y of the pension bills now waiting your acti0l
/ gentlemen of the Forty-seventh Congress!
: is the least you can do to atone for the cru
n neglect which has been shown for those WI
It are now doubly heroes in the eyes Of q
Il true patriots.
y IT IS very pleasant to learn, from IL
II letters which we are daily receiving fro
Il every section of the country, that our e
1t soldiers appreciate the value of such
q fearless champion Of their interests as II
+, n ,rrTO.r, VpTpT-N-F We have eDGa9