The National tribune., 1883-03-15
Opening the Campaign.

/ meeIlnS OF Jle L tOTIy-elgnln congress- unaU
nothing can be done in the meantime to
! advance the interests of our eX-soldiers.
| Quite the reverse of this is the case. The
fact is that their work only fairly begins
when that Of Congress ends; for the theatre
of action is then transferred from the Capital
to the country at large. If they would Sc
cure from the next Congress the considera-
tion which their claims deserve now is the
time to set the springs Of Congressional
action in motion. When the next House of
Representatives assemblies its members will
be fresh from the people, and nothing is
more certain than that they will be con-
trolled by what they may at that time be-
lieve to be the real sentiment of the country
concerning the pending questions Of legisla-
ton. If they take with them to Washing
ton the impression that their constituents
are opposed to the granting of pensions and
the equalization of bounties, it is not likely
that anything that may thereafter occur
will shake their convictions. If, on the con-
trary, they should be fully convinced of the
fact that the hue and cry which has been
raised against our ex-soldiers is not approved
by the dispassionate judgment of the people,
and that the sentiment of the country is still
strongly in favor of paying the claims Of our
veterans it is not likely they will ignore or
iiregard it. 1t is evident, therefore, that the
work to which our ex-soldiers and their
friends should now address themselves is
that of building up powerful and active
public sentiment in their favor.
How shall that be done? First and fore
most it is necessary that they should have
spokesman, and they have one at hand in
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE, whose courage,
sincerity, and ability have already been
thoroughly tested. In the second place,
they should endeavor to secure as large an
audience as possible for this spokesman, so
that the ignorance and apathy of the general
public concerning matters affecting their in
terests may be the more efectually dispelled.
In the third place, they should withdraw
absolutely their support from every public
journal which ISLANDERS or misrepresents
them. In the fourth place, they should en-
deavor to counteract the injurious effect of
newspaper ISLANDERS, by circulating truthful
statements in their stead as to the workings
of our present pension and bounty laws. If
such a source of reliable information as THE
NATIONAL TRIBUNE were always accessible,
instead of such a reservoir Of untruth as the
New York Sun, for instance, the thinking
people of the country would be better able
In the fifth place, they should exert them
selves to the uttermost to build up the ranks
of the Grand Army, and enlist the sympa-
thy and pride of the public in its work.
Wherever there is Grand Army Post, it is
possible, by inviting public attention to the
character of its mission and the personal in
tegrity of its members, to reawaken a spirit
of patriotism in the community, and thor
oughly remove any suspicion or prejudice
which the Misrepresentation of hostile
newspapers may have aroused. In the sixth
place, they should exercise all the influence
which they may individually possess with
their neighbors, friends and acquaintance,
to set them right on all questions affecting
the welfare of the soldier. They should
welcome, rather than avoid, discussion of
these questions, and whenever they find that
false impression exists, they should be at
pains to remove it. Too much stress, in
deed, cannot be laid upon the value Of indi-
vidual effort in this connection. Every COM
rade can do something, if he will, towards
Corning" public sentiment, and he who
contents himself with simply reading what
the newspapers have to say, and applauding
THE TRIBUNE because it does not hesitate
to advocate what it believes to be just and
right and denounce what it knows to be
unfair and wrong, is not doing his full duty,
either by himself or his fellow soldiers.
Such, in brief is the manner in which, as
it seems to us, this new campaign for the
recognition of the soldiers rights should be
conducted. Whether it shall prove a great
and glorious campaign, depends solely upon
the spirit and energy with which our vete-
rams prosecute it. They have right and JUS
tice on their side; opposed to them, are ig-
norance and ingratitude. To dispel the one
and put to shame the other, should be the
| object of their ambition. Comrades, let us
90 forward in the work that has been given
us to do and adhere to our purpose until it
is accomplished!
An Expensive Publication.
! So far no enterprising publisher of fiction has
brought out the pension philadelphia Times
| The above is intended, we suppose, to be
"tooll sarcastic" as the late Artemus Ward
would say. The pension list, according to
the calculations of the Government printers
! will make ei1bt volumes of six hundred