Telegram-herald., 1890-07-14

a Protest Aaa q Pisa Ter the old
soldiers.

Several items ~ regssd l. matters
connected with the soldiers Home
have lately appeared u our city papers,
aud had hoped somebody would reply
10 them. but / have hoped Ia VAN.
trust that the numerous times ny
name Il attached 10 articles relating 70
the soldiers Home may be excused
when / repeat was "acting chaplain
there over three years, and thus had an
intimate knowledge OF all tbe public
aud private workings Of the institution,
and especially Of the needs az the VET
eFans themselves. Besides TINS. 10 one
except myself seems at al inclined 10
take Ine part Of the veterans. | nod
that ia 10 way does power ~ nobly
manifest itself Is when i dea.s gently
with those IL could crush II would.
These men ia the Home are helpless.
They are entirely AT tue ncTcy 0t 'the
powers that be, represented IN the
management, and u should exercise it
power with all tenderness. III { eIrs AT
all. il should be on the side of mercy.
Now, a hundred or more veterans
have been turned out homeless, friend
less, and penDlless, and the issue be-
tween the management and myself Is
this:-Is there a go0i and sufficient
reason for this wholesale expulsion
They say yes, but | cay no, with empha-
sis. 1t Is easy % see, however, that II
am right, the managers cannot be too
prompt IN correcting their great wrong.
For instance, Maj. Long attempts 10
excuse this wholesale expulsion OF the
poor veterans by saying they are fur
nished transportation 10 any point OF
the State, and be lays especial cmpha-
sis on the fact that Kent county does
not have To bear the burden Of their
support But how does IL help a
soldier TO send him 10 "the uttermost
parts Of the sea" if he has no money or
friends when he gets there? How Is
the State benefited If the men are sent
hack upon their respective countesl
DO not the counties constitute part
of the State? We have this ugly Tact
confronting US. These men must be
supported by somebody II you send
them 10 the county jails or the States
prison, the cost of their support Is not
lessened. ] am not begging the ques-
ton when | say these men
must be supported. All Of them are
more or less disabled. Most OF
them are prematurely old. Scarcely
one of them could earn ms board for
any great length of time even II he
could get anything 10 do 10y which be
could earn 1t. ! repeat what | have
! said before, not one in twenty can get
anything to do were he ever SO wiling
because very few people will hire these
men. Thousands of able bodied men
are out Of work, and few employers
want to hire men who are mentally or
physically disabled: and the result is
| the veteran Is soon driven TO the county
| house, and then sent back TO the home
| again. Exactly this result has happened
over and over again, and the manage
| mcnt know it only too we'll.
! am waving the right which the vet
eran possesses by virtue OF magnificent
service rendered in the past. VIII ch SER
| vice ought TO entitle him to be our hon
ored guest and not pauper; and |
want to argue the matter on the ground
of strict policy. In all the excuses
have yet heard for refusing veteran a
| home, his vested right to n home is
shamefully and persistently ignored.
DR.. Griswold also attempts to justify
| the action of the medical board upon
whose recommendation these soldiers
were discharged, by saying that if a
soldier is drawing pension which will
nearly support him, he ought TO be able
to earn the BALANCED Does not Or. Girls
void know that, as rule, man who
is drawing S12a month. for instance, IA
so disabled he can not do much toward
his support? Is the simple matter of
board all it costs to live? Where are
the mans clothes, and especially the
money to pay DR.. Griswold for treating
him, to come from, even If he were
drawing $40 month? DR.. Griswold
would not need to make him many Wis
its to use up all this amount of pension
and then what would become of him?
This miserable attempt to figure just
how little q man can possibly subsist
upon is the cause Of the great conflict
now being waged between the rich and
the poor; and this contemplate fgur
ino upon the sum which will keen an
aged, disabled veteran of the late war
from claiming what is due him from
the State he saved from anarchy and
dissolution, is enough to make every
despise the land he lives in.
Oliiy bdl btiOit 1tctttltN one OIL the
veterans came 10 me for advice and
help. He was nearly 63 wears old.
much disabled with rheumatism, heart
disease, and varicOse veins on both legs.
He had been turned out because. for
sooth. he had lately been granted the
munifcent sum of $40 a month. and
Or. GriswOld thought he could. by the
aid of this princely amount, 60 out in
the world and take care of himselrl
How many men are there 63 wears old.
aud disabled with rheumatism. heart
disease and varicose veins, without
home or friends, that can do thiso But
ought any United States soldier TO be
asked to do this? ! say no. This sol
dier's affidavit appeared IN one of our
morning dallies, and ought to make
every one OF Us blush for shame.
But this man is only one OF a hun
dred or more who wandering about
tho State today, kslf-starved, dazed,
despsiring, all because sOmeonc-we
DO not yet know who-has de-
creed that the State of Michigan is 80
niggardly, SO contemplate. 50 false TO
her promise and so heartless. that she
/ denies food and shelter to the very men
/ 10 whom she owes her present magnifi-
cent growth and prosperity
Instead of searching with n magnify
/ ing glass, rs II were. TO see how little
/ she can do for hei soldiers: instead Of
! legrudging them comfort and ease for
I the few troubled davs they have vet TO
star- ou,ov,v rts and instead of ,~..