The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1888-06-09
Decoration Day in Weatherly.

Among many other things that Hon. w.
M. Rapsher said in his Decoration Day
grafton at Weatherly, is the following:
81 am generally opposed to fayoritism
and class legislation, because 1t is not in
harmony with the genius and spirit of true
democracy, nor with the principles so elo.
quently set forth in the Declaration of In
the United States. Therefore Congress
has made an unjust discrimination between
our sol ol1iers; every time it has given PEN
sion to an army or navy officer, or TO his
widow. not for disability, but as a mere
gratulty, when under similar circumstances
private soldier or his widow were ruled out.
There are thousands of pensioners upon
the books, to army and navy officers, and
their widows, ranging from one thousand
to five thousand dollars per annum, accord
ing to sthe rank of the officer. / should
very much like to have some able opponent
| to pensions for aged and disabled private
soldiers, or their widows, explain the JUS
tice of this unfair discrimination, and why
it is that the widows of the private soldiers,
| (who carried the muskets, and did the ac-
tual shooting and endured the severest
hardships of the war;, are not equally as
well entitled to proportionate pension
when they die, as the widows of the Major
Generals, who drew hig pay and held high
Office all their lives. l never herad any one
attempt to explain this. And do you re-
member the trying times when the very
life of the Republic hung trem blingly in the
balance, how the people of all classes urged
us to enlist for the war-promises were
Il lat IL, H.
and that all soldiers, their widows and or
phans should be generously taken care OF
by grateful people and nation. But look
at the contrast now, when a small pension
OF eight dollars per month is proposed fol
old worn-Out soldiers, that cannet work
J any longer, the loudest howl is raised by
the newspapers from one end of the coun
try to the other, with all sorts of unkind
and unpatriotic insinuations to make the
. measure odious, by calling it pauper pen
sion bill, that 1t costs too much and all sucl
stuff. Now that they feel safe, they meas
, ure patriotism with paltry dollars. This Il
not the same tune that they used to whistl,
when they were looking for substitutes
end yet it deceives some people, but not tn,
4 soldier nor his friends. Why don't tn,
newspapers call the generals and their wild
, ows, who draw big pensions, paupers?
In all fairness / am unable TO see why tn
widow of a common soldier who faithful!
served his country in her hour of need, i
not just as good. and is not in equity ant
law just as much entitled to a proportion
8 ate pension as the widow of Major Gen
, eral or an Admiral. But our Statesmen
, have been giving the pensions to one elias
: and not the other. This is undemocrati
D and un-Americap Let us treat our pri
vate soldiers and our officers of the arm
b proportionately alike, and apply the sam
principles TO their widows. This is onl
the old rule of fair play.
And besides all this-this pittance of
/. pension for the common soldier is refuse
him at times, when the Treasury of th
United States is oYerfowing with money
and the talents of our statesmen are straine
to devise a scheme TO get the surplus none
q out of the Treasury into circulation.
e The President urges with great earnest
e ness that unless some speedy plan is deyise
!, to get the surplus out, and into circulation
Il that ii will bankrupt and ruin the whol
'e country. You may draw your own cor
clusions. These are few practical an
=, appropriate points TO consider when "
!, annually strew the graves OF our fellO
a comrades with flowers.