The National tribune., 1883-01-11
FORGOTTEN.

"Are we so soon forgotten when we are
gone" sighed poor Rip Van Winkle, re-
/ turning after his twenty years sleep III the
| heart of the Kaatskills to find that no one in
! all the village of Falling Water still remem-
bered him, and that, we fancy, is the
cry Of despair that would so up from the Ma
TONS heroes, who these twenty years have
been sleeping beneath the sod, could they
revisit at this late day the scene of their sac
rifces
What would they find? Their comrades
in arms who survived the struggle enjoying
the just reward of valor and revelling in the
bounty OF a grateful Government? That is
what they would naturally expect TO find.
WhatwOuId they find? Thepublic Offices
filed by men whose fidelity to the Govern
ment had been tested on the field of battle?
That is what they would naturally expect
TO find
Whatwould they find? The widow and the
orphan of the soldier tenderly cared for and
protected as the wards of the Nation? That
is what they would naturally expect to find.
What would they find? The patriotism
and scIfsacrifce Of the Union soldier held
up to the rising generation as a bright and
imperishable example for it to emulate?
That is what they would naturally expect
to find.
What would they find? The press of the
country, once so eloquent in its eulogy of
/ the soldier, still invoking the gratitude of
/ the country in behalf OF its defenders?
That is what they would naturally expect
/ to find.
What would they find? The bondholder,
whose claim upon the Government was
made good at such an awful sacrifice
OF human life, demanding equal recognition
of the soldiers claim? That is what they
would naturally expect to find.
Alas, no! They would find none of these
! things; but, instead, such state of affairs
as might well make them cry out with poor
Rip Van Wrinkle, " Are we SO soon forgotten
when we are gomez"
What would they find? Thousands of
their old comrades in arms struggling with
/ poverty and disease and the files of the
Pension Office still loaded down with unad-
/ Indicated applications. That is what they
would find.
What would they find? The public Offices
filed with political fayorites to the exclusion
of needy and deserving veterans. That is
what they would find.
What would they find? The widow
wearing out soul and body in the brave en-
| deavor to earn livelihood for her fatherless
family. That is what they would find
What would they find? The patriotism
and self-sacrifce of the Union soldier held
up to the rising generation as a mere cover
for pension raids on the Treasury. That is
what they would find.
What would they find? The press of the
! country carcaturlng The Soldier as an IN
| satiable glutton and demanding the repu-
diation by the Government of his claims
upon it. That is what they would find.
What would they find The bondholders,
no longer concerned about the solvency Of
/ the Government, intent on securing the repeal
/ of the taxes necessary to produce the revenue
required for the payment of pensions. That
/ is what they would find.
Three hundred and four thousand three
/ hundred and sixty-nine men laid down their
lives to preserve this Republic. Is it pos
sible that twenty years have sulficed to blot
out all remembrance of their sublime devo-
ton? We cannot believe it; yet, if they
could speak, would not their curse fall upon
the monsters of press and politics who, in
desaming the living, have defled the memory
of The dead?