Wichita eagle., 1890-01-01
GARFIELD POST ON PENSIONS.
An Appeal to Congressional Delegation ca
the Very important Question Now
Being Considered.

the Very Important Question No"
Being Considered.
The Garfield Post, at its meeting last
evening, considered the report of the COM
mittee appointed to report on what action
and stand the Post should take IN the pres
emf contest on the pension question, now
going on in congress. The committee mao
been at work faithfully on the question
and after due deliberation submitted the
following which was adopted:
To Senators and Representatives in Congress TOT
the State Of Kansas:
In view of proposed pension legislation
and the recommendation Of the last two
annual encampnlents Of the Grand Army
of the Republic for a service pension, we
deem it proper to make you acquainted
with the feeling among the old soldiers OF
Kansas-the soldier state-and to that
end we respectfully but earnestly call
your attention to the following consider
tons:
When in 1S61-5 the Grand Army Of the
Republic was called into being those who
composed it went from among the mass or
the people-giving up Of necessity all their
own opportunities in life-ro protect the
national life. to protect and guarantee the
validity of its bonds. to protect and insure
the safety of capital employed in its de-
tense, to protect and defend the we'll being
of society. Then. ut least, all through
those dark and bloody years the Grand
Army of the Republic was, and was felt to
be, the very blood and bone and morrow
of the national life, tried and tempered
and proved in the fiery furnace OF war-a
grand, heroic entity without which moth
| ing we now have could possibly have been
When war ceased and the Grand Army
was disbanded many thousands found that
during their absence Sat the 'front.' their
places at home had been filled by others.
They were compelled to uniearn all the
| life anew They joined the army OF emf
| grafton into the far west, and there, with
| their sterling and enduring qualities. we
maintain that they have rendered TO their
| country in subduing to CIVILIZATION ana
| good government our barbarous frontiers,
services no less signal and honorable than
was their service IN war.
| ing society and upbuilding states and ter
ritories upon the borderland between CIV
| ilization and barDarism in the wild west.
From being the crusaders they became
the argonauts of the republic. The rosters
| of the old regiments and army corps
bear many names familiar In Ine
| muster rolls of these new states And II
/ is of and for these men that here and now
we propose more especially to speak.
| In ali these years, from the beginning
| until the present time-ln war and peace
these silent heroes, these men of iron with
strong hearts and nerves of steel, have
| found that upon them lay the burthen OF
protection" OF all other persons ana
| things and interests whatsoever, them
| selves being unprotected save by their own
stout hearts and stalwart arms. 1t has
been their destiny and they have met II
| like true men.
But years have passed. Death has
taken nearly all our great commanders
and has been no less busy among the
ranks.
A majority of those who entered the
army in t6l and went through to the end
are either dead or with failing sight.
| bowed forms, grizzied boards and hating
steps in the weary march of life. are APP
preaching the border line of sixty years,
] lust beyond which lies 'the blyouac OF the
| dead"
None of them are what they once were
Many who keep brave port and bold
! front are broken; not a few need assist-
ance. and some are dependent on the un.
! failing help-not charity-of those who 10
| other days were wont to share with COM
rades the contents of ht.versacks and can
teens.
These men. now in the late autumn o.
their lives view the unbroken columns o.
eastern mortgages upon their homes witt
even greater dread than they ever did the
batteries and battallions of rebel hosts IN
other days. But they are not cravens
Their hearts may fail when they face th'
future, but they set their teeth and are
silent. They will not beg. not even OF tint
government they have helped to save
They never learned in all their lives IL
crook the pregnant hinges Of their knee:
that thrift might follow fawnllg."
They have nothing to ask as aims, moth
ing as gratuity, only and simply justice
Less would not become them, more they
do not require Nor do they propose tC
plead their cause-but we have something
to suggest on behalf of the men who ii
the war and since the war have still beer
fouud "at the 'front.'" and we think it be-
hooves all whom it may concern TO give
heed.
These men, though silent, are not insen
sible, and when they see the nation, who's
very life they defended and saved. grown
rich and great beyond precedent. its treas
ury gorged with revenue, its alleged states
men vainly devising ways and means u
get rid of the surplus by subsidies-"pro
tection," the political slogan, protection
and subsidies-but ever and always Z
vested interests where capital is involved
but when it comes TO any form OF pension
TO the old soldiers, this government, thes,
statesmen. Immediately are stricken with
a paralysis of the most rigid economy
the meanest most niggariy parsimony
haggling and splitting hairs over miserable
stipends that would starve dog
Seeing these things, what wonder II
sometimes, to some of these men Their
comes thought that the former days o
the republic, when its life and theirs hum
in the balance. were better ana noble
than these upon which we have fallen
when men are weighed against money
the millions against the millionaires-ant
count as nothing 1t were not strange il
at times. with the feeling of profound con
tempt for these manifestations of a meal
and mercenary spirit, the old soldier
should wonder how 1t was that they eve
felt that thrill of patriotism which move
men to deeds of daring apd makes then
heroes.
Speaking for these men, who will no
speak for themselves, we say that the gos
eminent owes them, as a plain, bushes
proposition in equity and justice, the Oil
: ference between the value OF the paper
| paid them and the gold II promised Their
by every inpendiment,and which II pays II
: bondholders. The sooner this debt Is pal
either in form of a service pension or
: some other maDner-the better IL viii
/ for the credit of this government when
. seeks to raise armies IN future WAITS
Further, it is said the east-the monte
casts conservative, and resists the pay
uent of these pensions We think tn
conservatism Is, 10 the last cegre
:. mercenary.
/ II. after the surrender of the armies {
. the rebellion, after the grand review q
$ Washington, those war worn veteran
| with their tattered and service stained un
| for,,s ard bulEs, yiven hattie flags ha