Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1888-04-05
INGALLS, TRADE.

The Unutterable PusiIlanimous DISPOSE
ton of the Kansas Man.
The speech which Mr.. Ingalls, of
Kansas recently delivered in the United
States Senate on the pensions bill was
extremely malignant Its author dem
onstrated, although the demonstra-
ton was unnecessary. that he is keenly
sarcastic and a master of invective,
and that there is perhaps no other man
IN the American public life so skillful
in the art Of saying trenchant things
in parliamentary way. He insulted
President Cleveland. and also the
memories of Generals Hancock and
Mcclellan; and perverted fact to the
extent of declaring that no Democratic
constituency in the South had ever
elected Union soldier to either branch
of Congress. The speech was bitterly
partisan. Its purpose was to revile
the Democratic leaders and to revive
sectional animosities. and Mr.. Black
burn fifty characterized it when. in the
course of his calm and courteous but
vigorous reply, he pronounced it an
insult to the dignity of the Senate
The bill before the Senate was framed
by the Grand Army of the Republic.
and provided for the extension of PEN
sions to disabled veterans. Whether
the proposed beneficiaries, who imper-
lied their lives in defense of the Union
at the most critical period in its his
tory. should now. in their old age and
5helplessness. be protected and sup
ported by the Government they helped
to save or be left dependent on the
charity of their neighbors. is problem
for reason and gratitude and not for
passion to solve. There is nothing in
the proposition that calls for an APP
peal to the hatreds born of the war;
Those who fought against the Union
now realize as fully as those who
fought for it that it was fortunat for
all the struggle resulted as it did. They
are thankful, Notwithstanding that the
war cost the loss of thousands upon
thousands of lives they held dearer
than their own and the sacrifice of
their fortunes. that the Union arms
triumphed. Had it been otherwise the
condition of the country would now be
deplorable and its future threatening
In these circumstances. if it was Senator
the bill and thus assist the old soldiers,
he should have appealed to the judg-
ment and sense of fairness of the South
-ern representatives Such an appeal
would not have been in vain. But this
was not his desire He did not discuss
&he question from the standpoint of the
patriot and statesman, but from that
of the partisan and demagogue. He
knew his speech would be offensive to
Northern and Southern Democrats in |
Senate and House. and that it would |
perhaps embitter them against the bill |
to such an extent as to jeopardize or |
defeat its enactment. Yet. conscious of |
fhis-and he must have been conscious
of it, inasmuch as he is not a fool-he |
deliberately pursued course calcu-
lated to accomplish the very thing he |
protested to desire to avoid. Why did |
Mr.. ingalls, do thisP Simply because
he wished to create an issue which he |
hoped would be helpful to the Repub-
lican party. He fancied that if
by insulting and angering them
he could only goad the Dem
-ocrats into defeating the bill, |
the Republicans would then have a
basis on which to ground an appeal
for the support of all those who fought |
in the Union army He would subject
the helpless veterans to indefinite i'm
poverishmeat and suffering for the i
sake of an advantage to the political
organization to which he owes his |
present official position and upon
which he depends for still higher hon.
ors. Is it any exaggeration to say
thar this man is the enemy and not the |
friend of the soldier? He pretends to |
favor the bill. yet hopes for its defeat. |
He pleads for the veteran, yet adopts i
policy which he must know will in
sure a denial of the Veterans demand. |
He hypocritically asks Congress to do
the very thing which he doesn't
want it to do Professions of |
love for the veterans are on his |
lips, but sympathy with the crippled |
old heroes is not in his heart ingalls, |
is brilliant, but his brilliancy doesn't |
blind the public to the fact that he is
deficient in craftsmanship and sim |