The Londonderry sifter. (South Londonderry, Vt.) 1883-19??, 1886-04-22
An old Soldier on our $50"
From the ropnix.


of the speakers at the special town meet
ING last Saturday, ought not to be pass
ed over in silence. In cndeavoring t
secure the passage of one Of Col
Hookcr's, amendments the speaker re
fered to said, in substance, that Brattle
boro was scking to crowd her old sol
dicrs to the wall, and was "trying t.
put her foot on the necks of the BRAY
men who fought their country'S bat
Ties" with other similar uncalled-fo
expressions. The old soldiers are no
willing to accept this as a statement o
their feelings about the attitude of tin
people of BrattlebOro towards them
We have never suspected any purpos,
on the part of our fellow-citizens to pu
their feet on our necks. and the las
time of all when such a charge SHOULD
have been thrown out was when tn,
town was voting $4,000 to build mon
umcnt to the memory of our dead com
rades and at the sane time putting $1,000
in our charity fund. | have been ,
member of the Grand Army Post il
this village for many years, and | have
never heard any soldier, inside or out
side the post, complain that either the
town or the citizens of Brattleboro haC
ever shown him i'll or unappreciativt
treatment. On thccontrary, it has been
universally said, so far as know, that
the citizens of Brattleboro have ALWAYS
been appreciatiyc, sympathetic and help
full toward old soldiers. And this is
true to-day, as it has been every day
since the war closed and the citizens
and soldiers have mingled familiarly
together all these years in all the bust
ness and social relations of life, in mu-
tual respect and harmony, which no
one hitherto, soldier or citizen, has
sought to disturb
1t is fairly to be presumed that the
speaker in question made another and
even greater mistake in regard to the
very foundation on which the Grand
Army stands. He seems to regard it
as an organization to which partisan
and political appeal may properly be
be addressed, and one that, by manage
mcnt and flattery and appeals TO passion
and prejudice, can be marshaled in SOL
id array into town and frceman's meet
"i '''ou as II unit for this or that
mcasurs, or this OF that candidate, iiil-
der the dictation of leaders. In this he
makes a great mistake: and, as others
have done the same, | desire, now as
my hand is in, briefly to defend the Or
ganization on this point.
The Grand Army is primarily and
mainly grand organized benevolence,
and its doors are expressly closed by its
very constitution against all manner of
political partisanship.. 1t is doubtless
true that there are unprincipled and
ambitious men in its membership who
seek to pevcrt and misuse it for selfish
ends, as there are in all good associa-
tions. Inscriptions men join the
churches, even, to promote their dis
honest and unworthy schemes. But
this does not condemn the church itself
and neither should membership in the
Grand Army of scheming political adj
vcntnrcrs discredit it, unless it permits
itself to be prostitutcd by them, when
is not likely to happen. The men COM
posing the Grand Army posts will,
doubtless, compare favorably in intclli-
gence and honesty with their fellow
citizens outside. The true soldier,
calmly conscious of having performed
his duty in great crisis in the national
life, is not easily thrown from his bal
lance or deceived in his judgement; and
having self-reliancc and self-respect, is
not looking suspiciously for injuries or
personal Sights from anybody. With
wits somewhat sharpened and mental
powers somewhat enlarged by his
military experience, he is as little likely
to err in his estimate of men and things
as other men, or TO be led astray by
dcmago9ucs, either inside or ontsde
his post. | think it may therefore be
safely assumed that the Grand Army
will not be moved, as an organization,
from its solid moorings, and that polit-
ical schemers who undertake to use it
improperly and selfishly will encounter
disappointment. 1t will be fatal and
ever-to-be-lamented day for The Grand
Army of the Republic when the con-
trary can truthfully be said of it.
In closing, | want to say for myself,
and ! know speak for many Others, that
the old soldiers owe no thanks to the.mcn
who are responsible for placing them
i'll the embarrassing and humiliating at
titude in which they found themselves
last Saturday, in seeming, (for it was
only in sceming) TO desire to coerce the
citizens of Brattleboro into yielding to
them undue and unscemly control in
the erection of monument in honor
of themselves and their dead comrades.
Very few old soldiers, | am confident,
have any sympathy with such desire,
and there are quite as few of them who
do not, with melting hearts, accept the
generous and unanimous result of Sat
urday's meeting as the iittcst possible
expression by the whole people of
Brattleboro of their respect and tender
regard for the memory of their citizen
soldiers. An OLD SOLDIER.
Brattlcboro, April 18th 1886.
Prof. Stockbridge's Lecture before the Stu
dents OF Leland 6 Gray Seminary.
Reported for the SITTER by Miss Halle A.
Thompson.
The students of Leland & Gray Seminary