The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1886-07-08
One OfthOsc vetOes.

EDITOR NoRTuERNER,
DEAR SIR:-l have read with no little in
dignation the presidents veto messages OF
the private pension bills. | find them in
the democratic papers with accompanying
editorials expressive of great satisfaction;
they make a mistake; so has the president
There are a number of cases-deserving
ones,-that can only be reached in this way
and the people recognize it and will resent
the injustice with which the president has
treated estimable, deserving veterans.
The case of Joel ID. Monroe is causing a
great deal of stir here and the more people
think about it the madden they get The
president in his veto message, goes out f
his way to belittle Joel, to underrate his
service, and SO puts the matter as to leave
the impression in the mind of the reader
that Monroe is worthless scamp who only
performed about eleven months service,
and for this brief term of enlistment he now
asks the government to compensate him for
injuries which, so far as the records show,
he never received; thus implicitly placing
Monroe in the category of frauds"
NOW. in pointof fact, Mr.. Monroe is a So
Der, upright, industrious man; person
whom everyone respects, and whose physical
disabilities, occasoned by his services in the
army, are well known to all his acquaintances.
| Instead of being a fraudulent claimant for
reward for services which he never rendered.
and in compensation for injuries which he
never received. Monroe proved his patriot
ism and fidelity to his country in the most
critical period of her history by four years
of faithful service III the army. Previous
TO his connection with the 1llth n. Y. Regt.
he had already served three years and thus
was at the time re-enlisted veteran who
participated in the bloody struggle at Chan
cellorsyille and with his regiment was AT the
very front in those momentous July days on
the plain of Gettysburg. l resided in Au-
burn daring and before the war, where the
l1lth was raised | was personally ac-
quainted with nearly every officer and many
OF the men; ! saw 1t depart for the front and
was among those citizens who watched its
career with anxiety and interest and partici-
pated in the common pride which everyone
felt in the honorable record that the regi
ment achieved.
The anxiety felt in those terrible days
when Nc Clellan and Pope had been driven
out of Virginia: when our scattered troops
were hastily combined to resist the confident
and seemingly triumphant invasion of Lee
into Pennsylvania; when the friends of
Gov Seymour and President Cleveland were
the rear which they had all along so conf
IDENTIFY predcted-comes back to my mind
in full force when L hear any slight or cen
sure east upon one of these noble fellows who
helped TO save the nation from the calamitits
which then SO imminently imperiled it. In.
stead Of sneering at and belttling such ser
vices. ii Is rather for us and for succeeding
generations, in recalling the deeds of our
citizen soldiers, To revive, in the light of such
examples, our own dormant patriotism and
to renew our pledges of fidelity to our country.
1t certainly behooves the president of the
United States, following the example of
Abraham Lincoln when addressing the ma
ton from this same battlefield, to acknow-
ledge as occasion offers, our obligation to the
men through whose efforts this nation has
continued 10 exist.
The Chicago Meas, in commenting on
this veto message of the president and APP
parently voicing the sentiments of the dem
ocratic party in this matter, says; How
innocently he details the injuries Joel ID.
Monroe received by falling from a tree as
hardly due to patriotic services. Joel should
not Lave clum' that tree" Isn't that pretty
language to use regarding reputable citi
zen? Toward a man who had the courage
and patriotism TO sacrifice his own personal
interests, and for four years to serve his
country as a volunteer amid the dangers and
shock CT battle in the Army of the Potomac!
Toward a man who from the beginning to
the end Of the war, from the first sound of
the tocsip of alarm to the final surrender at
Appomat5Gx marched to the music of battle.
Toward a man who endured at Chancellors- |
Vile who charged at Gettysburg and lay in |
the trenches in front of Petersburg. And |
than 10 xrnpIar that ha chnnIl orffa
rheumatism or other physical disability!
The president states that "there was no |
record or proof of the disabilities claimed
On the contrary, as reported by Congress |
man Winans, chairman of the House COM
mittee on pensions, the records showed that |
Joel ID. Monroe and several comrades were |
injured while lying In the trenches at Stony |
Creek, Va. by the heavy portion of tree, |
which had been severed from the trunk by a |
rebel shell, falling upon them; that subse |
quently Monroe, while in the field hospital, |
suffering from this injury, was exposed to a |
severe and protracted storm of rain and sleet, |
by which his body was wet, and chilled and |
from which he contracted the rheumatism |
from which he has ever since suffered. The |
captain of his company, other officers and |
men, DIR. Mckinney and other physicians. |
testify fully and emphatically to these facts. |
DIR. rockingham of the State University, |
when examining Monroe, discovered the |
peculiar disease of his eyes and traced it |
readily TO the conclusion received from the |
falling limb and SO stated the matter. Mon |
roe had never experienced any difficulty |
with his eyes previous to this injury, and |
since that time they have been q source of |
constant trouble. These facts are all dwelt |
upon by the committee in its report to the |
House, and the president of the United |
States has no right to ignore them and to |
cast unfavorable reflections on a citizen who, |
though humble, has deserved well of his |
country.
The democrats seem to find special pleas |
ure in these veto messages of the pension |
bills. think they mistake the feeling of |
the people. / have written regarding Mon |
roe because he is a resident of this commu. |
nifty aud because happen to know the regi- |
ment in which he served and to be familiar |
with the valuable record which il attained. |
L have no doubt that there are other of the |
respective applications just as deserving.
leading democratic paper, in closing IFS |
editorial on these veto messages of the pres
ident. remarks;
1.-The task of dafeatino tha fnoenuiiv of /