The National tribune., 1883-11-15
The Real upbuilders OF the Country.

1870 fNASAt2sl sO4AC ~ NG1 N-A-SVtdtSlS II
TO a great extent, their own fault that
twenty years after the war they find them
selves without the influence in public affairs
10 which they are justly entitled, and N
some degree the objects of yitnperation and
Islander
OF those who participated in the war for
she salvation of the Union, there are more
than million stili living, and, so far as
their material interests are concerned, they
do not differ from any other class of citizens.
When the war was at an ead, the men
who composed cur armies separated from
each other forever, and ceased to be a dis
tinctiVe class Of citizens. They returned
quietly TO their former avocations and Ie-
sumed the peaceful pursuits to which they
had been trained. Il happened. however,
that many found their old places occupied
by Others and encountered unexpected diff
culties in earning a livelihood. During the
time that they had been fighting the battles
Of the Republic those Of their fellow
citizens who-too timid, or toe disloyal, to
take a part themselves In the CREST conflict
had remained at home, had become masters
Of the business and trade of the country,
and so If came about that cur veterans were
forced 70 leave their old homes, and seek
their fortunes in a new and untrodden coun-
try.
Now, every man of middle age viii re-
member that on the maps Of the United
States, as they existed IN his school days, a
blank space, with undefned boundaries. was
marked off and labelled The great HAmeri-
can Desert" 1t stretched from The Missouri
TO the Sierra NeEadas and froza the Canada
line 10 the Gulf but, except that ii was the
hunting ground of the Indian and the resort
OF the tTaPper, the Biographies told us moth
ing abOut it. IL was towards Ills great
American Desert that cur ex-soldiers,
when they found the avenues 70 wealth and
distinction closed to them IN the East, turned
their sturdy steps They were mostly young
men, or men at leas. who had not reached
their prime, and having, by their intrepid
lily and valor, put down the most gigantic
rebellion the world had ever seen, they felt
equal to the task of subduing the wilderness.
They have subdued it. They have over
run and occupied the land. The census
shows that there are in the State of Kansas
alone 100000 of these defenders of the Re
public But they have gone far beyond the
boundaries of the cid free-soil State Their
houses Ehiten the plains Of Nebraska and
nestle in the guieales Of Colorado, and deck
the great wheat belt Of Dakota The min
ing camps OF New Mexico teen with these
hardy explorers. They hare established
great ranches IN California and formed great
communities in Washington Territory and
Oregon. And the FIRST man the traveller
meets at The STATEN, Cd his journey over
-AAA~A-- - 40 LA-cI4A-GA 4 lsssE
since the war. hare done for The country al
most as much as they did Tor it during the war.
They hzTe converted its arid and waste plains
into blooming gardens; they haze delred
deep Into Its mountain fastnesaes and
brought forth unt0ld millions Of precious
ores; they have turned the hunting ground
of the Indian into anccuiert pasture for
myriad herds Of cattle; they have been, IN
deed, the pioneers Of the railroads, the fore
runners Of civilization. riding on the very
eow-catcher Of the locomotive! As General
Sherman SAID in his speech before Keltes
Post, an New York last week, the soldier
element has paid 10 the United States, in
alpaaciag ciciiisuiion, fun compensation for
she SlS a month which it drew for lis
service in the army"
We know this TO be true, for upon our list
Of subscribers in the far West are the names
Of thousands Of men who have left behind
them in the achievements Of the companies
and regiments TO which they belonged, re-
cord Of yalor that time can never effaee.
II. then, the country is insensible to this
faet-if it pretends to regard The soldiers as
played OUTS it not partially their fault?
What have they been doing these many
years TO maintain the influence which it is
their right, as the sayiors of the Nation,
TO exert upon Its affairs? They have
allowed themselves to be used by polit-
ical denaagegaes without protest; they
have suffered the Insults which have been
heaped upon them by an INSCRIPTIONS and
malicious press 70 20 upresented; they have
Submitted silently and without effective
protest TO the persistent refusal of Congress
to recognize their rights. II is time that
this came 10 an end. The men who saved
the Nation are not yet 50 few IN numbers, nor
sopoorin resources, nor 10 lacking in patriotic
spirit, that they can be irodaea down with
impunity. It is within their power to re-es-
tablish themselves IN tie favor and regard Of
The people, 70 awaken once more that senti-
lnent Of gratitude which filed The land in