The National tribune., 1882-08-05
The Need of Cooperate

The old adage united we stan
we fall is true of other things ag the
Union of States. Indeed the lie. aa.a
confronts us ut every stage Of ito 81 .a
helplessness Of the individual and the bon
of collective action. Cooperation, "a ono ssrn
or another. is the basis of succes alike }n
business and politics, and the wa 81 il has
wrecked more promising enterpri IS sas a.l
other causes combined. We see fe Cir
manifested daily in the struggl Of ! 4oE
with capital, in the evolutions H5 .eal.
parties, and the operation Of NJ 1lfs
other kindred societies It is "a .eze' Of
which our ex-soldiers and sailors iapg
ago TO have awaited themselves a1 5a}sh
even now they would do well aqaay
1t is q deplorable truth that, alt - -h fley
possess the advantage of numbers hc. f.
acted as individuals only, and ST aated f.
Sights and insults and wrongs t.. aa.
this fact would never have been put upon
them. To speak more plainly, our ex-sol-
diers and sailors, instead of taking united
action to protect their interests, have con-
tented themselves with complaining in a
general way about the negligence and in
difference of Congress, and then voting for
things to right themselves of heir own
accord The trouble is that things seldom
do right themselves of their own accord.
The only way to convince the average con-
gresham that he cannot afford to ignore the
demands of our ex-soldiers is to show him
that they will as certainly ignore him. He
may care nothing for individual protests
he may even toss the letters aside unread
but he knows that as body our ex-soldiers
are too powerfult to be treated with contempt,
and the moment they take concerted
action to enforce the recognition of their
claims he will be sure to respect their
wishes. But what form should that con-
certed action take? The Grand Army is
nOn-political organization, and the most
that it can do is to approve or denounce the
course of Congress in a general way, with
out drawing personal comparisons, so that
clearly some other agency must be invoked.
And where could one be found better
fitted for the purpose or containing greater
elements of power than the Press? But
it may be said, "our ex-soIdiers already have
press of their own, and yet, notwitb-
standing, they are not always able to get q
hearing in Congress" That is true, but it
ought to be added that the support which
they give the press is rendered Intellectual
because it is so widely dilfu5ed. TIE Ma
TIoNAL TRIBUNE has, indeed, acquired q
large circulation, and is to-day the only
avOwed soldiers paper that has positive
influence in the halls of Congress, but it
has won its position rather by its own
merits as newspaper than through any
disposition On the part of our veterans to
unite in the support Of some thoroughly
representative paper. We regret that such
is the case, for it is any thing but conganial
task TO point out the errors Of policy which
they have committed, but it is essential
to the completion of the work which
we have in hand that they should
be brought to realize the, source of
their weakness. We ia fae
that our ex-soldiers are
Congress should pass hi
ton Of bounties, yet they
bitter fight is sure to be
measure. How are the -u--.a
vindictiye journals as the >N york s'"
and SIN to be effectively aele ay-
lie sentiment brought Owe ID
measure? Such Il result RS Only eeaaE-
plished with the aid OF Ee1p asel.