The National tribune., 1888-02-16
STATE SOLDIERS HOMES.

comfortable, well-proyided buildings and
frequently they are very costly and of great
architectural merit. The inmates are fed
on abundance of the best food, are lodged
in clean, warm, pleasant rooms, and given
the best Of nursing and medical attendance
when i'll Most of the States have also in
stitutions for the support and education of
the orphans Of soldiers, and one State-Ne-
braska-has gone so far as to build cottages
on its Soldiers Home grounds for the accom-
mediation of veterans families, so that the
hard necessity of having to accept public
support may not separate them from their
loved ones. With broad generosity char
acteristic of the West, the Nebraska law
makers have said that because a man has
been soldier is no reason why he should
not love his family, and that it would be
niggardly, unworthy charity indeed which
pat him in comfort and left them out in
the cold.
The expense of building and maintaining
these institutions has, naturally, been very
great, but we do not know of any burden
that is more cheerfuIly borne by the tax
payers. There is not another class of ex-
penditures by the respective States that is
50 entirely unquestioned as this. The press
and people may grumble about the salaries
paid the Governor and other State officials,
they may thunder about 'Tetrenchment" in
the expenses of the Legislature and the
Administrative Boards, but there is no
.grudging of the amount appropriated to pay
4 for the proper maintenance of The disabled
veterans. Public indignation is, rather,
most surely aroused by any report of stint
! ing or pinching them in the comforts of
life.
It must be kept in mind, too, that the
money to maintain these institutions comes
/ directly from the pockets of the taxpayers.
1t is not. Ike the revenue of the Govern
ment, contribution so light and impercep-
! tible that no man is conscious of being taxed /;
but the Assessor is a very positive, aggressive
quantity, who reaches his hand down into
every property holders pocket and takes by
force the tithes the State requires Every
dollar required to erect and carry on Sol
diers' Home is a downright levy on the
property of the peopIe-upon the little
farms, homes, shops, mills, stores, etc of the
\ great body Of the taxpayers. Yet there
never comes murmur from them that the
amount Is too great-that they are being OPP
4 pressed for the maintenance of coffee
coolers" bounty Jumpers" "shirks and
deadbeats" That kind of ungrateful mean
ness Is left TO the organs and representatives
Of the sordid, soldier-hating, free trade class
in the great cities of the seaboard. The
great mass of the people hold in afTectionate
remembrance the services and sacrifices OF
the veterans, and they know that the best
support that the State can give them in a
Home is very scanty return for what
they gave the Nation.
But while these Homes are proud monu-
ments TO the gratitude and sense of justice
of the people of the States. they are equally
monuments of reproach to the Nation. Had
the Nation done It's duty by the veterans
who saved its life, none of these burdens
would have been placed on the States. 1t j;
antagonistic TO the theory Of our Govern
meut, aud to the principles upon which the
war was conducted, that the States should
assume this burden. The men who are
sheltered in these Homes did not 90 out Il
fight for any particular State-they wer,
not broken down by arduous service il
maintaining the banner Of any Common
wealth. No matter where they went from
they fought for the whole country. TIL
, volunteer from Massachusetts, fought just a
2 hard for South Carolina and Georgia as b
did for New England, and the service of tn
soldier from Illinois was just as valuable 70
Texas as it was for the Sucker State It
fragrant imposition TO now shoulder tn
cost of caring for him upon the Stat
which cent him to the field, and make hi
neighbors do that which the whole countr
should do. Besides, it is countenancing tn
: the States Rights heresy. Every State So
S diers' Home is, to certain extent, an ad
mission that the rebellion was war BIZ
: tween the States" and that each State
under obligations to provide for its ow
broken-down soldiers.
These Homes are now conclusive argr
ments in favor of the Disability Pensio
Bill They are incontestible evidence tn;
everywhere the people, without distinctio
of party, are of one mind as to the decenc
and justice Of supporting the veterans WI
= are disabled. They show the strength an
d sincerity of their belief by freely taxir
4 themselves for this purpose.
y There can be no stronger argument
N favor of the immediate passage of the ID
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