The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-10-24
me Pension Question.

and honor shall be exalted above the fame
OF those who fought against the FAC, wheih-
or the rewards Of your services shall be just
and liberal. and the care Of your disabled
comrades gngrndging aud ample. depends
upon the election of Republican President
in 1855. lGreai ~applause.l
FeF the Grst time in the history OF the
American Nation We have had a President
who. in dealing with veto power, las used it
not only to deny relief, but 10 impeach the
regulations Of the men who made If posi-
bic for him to be a President of the United
States. lApplausel The veto messages Of
Mr.. Cleveland sent in during the last Con-
gress were. many of them, tipped with poi
soned arrows. He vetoed what is called the
Dependent Pension Bill. What is the prin-
ciple oft?
Il believe that the first bin introduced in
Congress embodying the principle Of that
bill was introduced by me. [Great applause
and load cheering.l II was prepared in view
Of the fact that Congress was being over
wbelmed with private pension bills for men
now disabled and unable to maintain them
selves, who could not, by proof. connect
their disability with their army service, ]
said: Let Us make the limitations 0 ftthe
pension law wider. and, instead Of taking in
these men one at a time. let US take the
whole class IN at once, and hence this bin.
Some men sneered at it said ! was simply
trying a bgncombe game with the soldiers.
But, gentleman, the general principles Of
that bill have come TO stay. Il has with
notifications. received now the vote. almost
unanimous, of the Grand. Army Of the Re
public.
What is the principle OF il? Why, it is
something Ike the old rule we had in the
army as long as a mar was able, he march
cd and carried his own gun and knapsack
bat when he got hurt or sick, aud fell out
we had an ambulance to put him in. Aud
thar IS the principle embodied in this bill
that We, the survivors OF the late .yar, as
long as Cod gives US strength aud health,
viii march in this column OF civil life,
making oar own living, and carrying cur
own burden. But here is acomrade falling
by the a sickness. casualty-not his own
falkland he has 70 fall ont; We want The
great national ambulance to take him up.
LGreat applausel
That was the idea OF this bill. Isis not
just? Why, by countrymen, somebody
must care for these veterans who stood up
amid shot and shell and sabre stroke. but
cannot now trace their infirniiues to their
army service by any satisfactory proof They
have fought manfully since. They are de-
pendent on their work for a living and they
cannot work. Somebody must take care Of
them the expense cianot be avoided unless
you kick the old veterans out aud let them
die on the roadside.
somebody must care for them and the
simple question is. Shall they be cared for
as paupers in the county poo~r-houses, or
shall the great Nation they served and saved
care for them as soldiers? Enthusiastic
applarse.l ! prefer the latter, want to
maintain that mans memory Of the fact
that be was a soldier; I want the generations
coming on to know that il is safe to abandon
civil pursuits, throw wealth behind you aud
yourselfinto the bloody conflict OF the Ma
tons life %lapplausel that republics are
grateful, and that its soldiers shall be taken
care of.
oh. they say we are 50 greedy, Why,
gentleman, This was not a greedy arnly THAI
went out to maintain the supremacy Of the
law and the Constitution and the glory Of
the flag. They were not ~mercenary-no a
bit of it. The men who were mercenary
stayed at home. There was the place 10
make money.
Il shall never forget that transcendent day
when sherman's army, that had entered the
Confederacy at the gate OF Louisville, and
marked its bloody pathway by Vieksbarg,
and Chattanooga, and Missionary Ridge, and
Atlanta, and B~entonville, and Rileigh, 10
the national capital, marched ia parade up
that magnificent avenue. IL was lined on
either hand with a great mass OF men and
women that had come 10 LOOK upon these
boys who had suffered and achieved 50
much.
All. il was a proud day. There was not
a soldier that marched thai street that glad,
bright morning who was not paid over and
over again for all his toll and suffering by
the glad acclaim that welcomed him. The
left Of the column was in the shadow of those
magnificent columns that support the porti-
Gus Of the national Treasury and yet in al
that moving mass there was not one hungry
eye turned toward the Golfers of the Repub-
lie; not zone. Ii We had been hungry for
gold, I do not know any power III the uni-
verse that could have prevented us that day
from e%mptying those vaults into our own
pockets.
Not so. Those men were not thinking
ofmoney. Their hearts ran forward faster
than the quick time of their march to the
homes here in Hendricks County. aud
throughout these Northern States, where
loved ones waited to welcome theln. For,
thank God it was the glory and strength
of0ur American army that there was not I
soldier in Il Who did not have some humble
place that he called home, vino did not have
chair by some ireside waiting for him, and
ONE arms OF love to em5rlee him when he
came. That is what saved Ike country. That
is what made it possible to disband such a
great army without any disturbance in any
part Of The land