The National tribune., 1883-11-08
more than ever favor the payment to the
soldier to the last penny of the debt which
the Government justly owes him.
Another Pension Raid.
The Washington correspondent of the

YORK Tunes telegraphS his paper as IolloWs:
The Pension Office has ascertained that agents in
this city preparing for raid on Congress for
new legislation by mailing the following circular
and petition TO all parts of the country:
SOLDIERS, ATTENTION, Congress has had be-
fore it for several years two of great i'm
portance to officers and men, namely. the bill to
pay officers from date of commission, and the equa
Hzation Of bounty bill. Both these measures
just and honest, and can be gotten through by fhe
earnest and united efforts of the soldiers We have
prepared printed petition TO Congress, which we
wish every officer and soldier to sign.'
The above is being sent 10 the namcsof the lately
published list.
We have no means of knowing whether
such a circular as the one quoted above has
been sent out by the claim agents, or
whether they have resorted to the printed
pension list for the names of persons to
whom to send the circuIar. The equaliza-
tion of bounties bill and that TO pay officers
from date of commission are unquestionably,
as the circular states, honest and just meas
ures, and, as the printed pension list is now
public property, there is nothing in the law
to hinder any one from resorting to it who
chooses 70 do SO. Doubtless the lottery COM
panies win make liberal use of it, and our
readers viii remember that one of the OBJ
jections we made to its publication was that
it would be employed by inscriptions per-
into all sorts of confidence schemes; but
whether this circular has been sent out in
consequence. The point is simply whether
or not the legislation advocated therein is
right and desirable It is quite in keeping
with the character of such papers as the New
York Times to denounce any attempt which
may be made by our ex-soldiers to secure
the fulfiliment of The Governments contract
with them as "a pension raid" That journal
affects TO believe that our ex-soldiers them
selves are not at all concerned as to the rec
ognition by Congress of their rights, and
that all the petitions from time to time adj
dressed to the Senate and House of Repre-
sentatives in favor of pension legislation are
cooked up" by interested parties in this
city. Nothing could be more at variance
with the facts. The truth is that our ex-
soldiers need no promptings of this sort.
They are perfectly well acquainted with
their rights under the contract entered into
with the Government, and it is not because
of any failure on their part TO insist upon
the execution Of this contract that Congress
has so long neglected their claims. They
have borne, it must be confessed, very pa
tiently with the inaction Of Congress in the
past, but those journals which assume that it
is because they are Indifferent on the sub
ject, or are disposed TO let things go on as
they have been going, are sadly ignorant OF
the true character of our soldiers. The
| truth is that they have submitted to the
neglect of which they have so long been the
victims, because they were unwilling to be-
lieve that the Government which they risked
SO much to save would deny them justice
when the condition Of the Nations finances
should no longer be an obstacle in the way
With patriotic resignation they have waited
for the hour. when, the payment of the debt
to the bondholder having been secured be-
yond chance of reputation, they could de
mand payment in full of their claims with
out, in the slightest degree, jeopardizing the
financial standing of the Government; but
| they have never, for one moment, re1in-
| quished their right to payment in full from
the Government Of all that it promised
| them in return for the services which they
rendered when IFS life was imperilled, and
he must be dull and careless observer O
the drift Of public sentiment, who fails II
see in the wonderful revival of interest il
all matters relating to the soldier through
out the country, the evidences of a determi
nation on the part Of eur veterans to enforcI
their rights at the hands of Congress ant
inc ptopACF- lAic AdCp Ass tilc EehspSESlS
the great cities do not correctly represen
public opinion as it exists to-day in thi
country in regard to pension legislation
These newspapers are mostly owned by cap
itaiists or controlled by financial influence
which are hostile to the soldier, becaus
they imagine the disbursement of larg
sums by the Government on account of pen
sions viii prevent the repeal of the reyenu
taxes. They care nothing for the good 0
the whole country, and are concerned onl,
about their own personal business interests
So wanting, indeed, are they in gratitude t
the men who made their present prosperit,
possible, that, If they could, they would eve
now repeal every pension law in existenc
and strike from the rolls the name of ever
pensioner. But these newspapers as W
, have said, do not reflect the real sentimen
of the country. For that we must look t
| the rural press as a rule-to the newspaper
which, by the smallness of their field, ar
, brought into personal contact with thei
f constituents, and are, therefore, directly cor
, trolled by their opinions and sentiment
Ina. r.. ~.