The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936, 1891-02-13

ions during the winter and spring, anG
nine thousand nine hundred and thirty.
eight families will need grain and food.
The number of families needing pro.
visions and fuel in twenty-five counties
is Coll, and the number of families
needing grain and seed in the same
counties is s, 1888.
| most earnestly recommend an APP
preparation with an emergency clause
of two hundred thousand dollars for
their relief. Further appropriations
will be necessary, the necessities OF
those people require it; in the highest
sense, Christian duty sanctions it; hui
mainly dictates it; and God Almighty
commands it. The injunction RE
member the poor and the needy" is as
binding TO- as when uttered by the
Holy One two thousand years ago.
/ recommend the creation of a board
of relief to be composed of citizens well
known for their integrity and upright
ness, whose duty it shall be to make "a
just and impartial distribution of the
funds for the relief of all who are in
need of aid.
They must be held to a rigid ac-
countability, and their disbursements
must be guarded with scrupulous ex-
n~ctness, and the most complete impair
TALLY.
L cannot too strongly urge upon you
the necessity for immediate action, for
while you linger and hesitate, some.
may perish.
With the exception of the counties
named, Nebraska is enjoying a high
degree of prosperity. From the time
of its admission into the union of states
it has been greatly blessed. It has
advanced steadily and rapidly in in
dustrial development, and in the &C.
QUESTION of wealth and power, No
state has been highly favored, or
more prosperous. and this calamity
which has come upon a portion of our
people is but "a small affair In compar-
ison with the wonderful progress the
state has made in all material, cduca-
tlonal and agricultural interests. No
need apprehend any serious injury
to Nebraska from this temporary mis-
fortune. Withholding the facts will
not help us. Make them known, and
apply the remedy.
But there is another need which pre-
sents itself. The farmers are without
feed for their teams; the corn must be
furnished to their horses, Or they will
have no teams for spring work.
A large amount of seed must be fur
nished to enable them to put in crops
this year.
Gentlemen cannot present this SUBJ
ject to you in too strong terms. The
demand for aid is of the most impress
i've kind. The distress does exist; fuel,
provisions and clothing must be pro-
vided for the destitute in the counties
named, and it may be in others. Those
people in the portions Of the state in
which crops have been blasted by hot
winds and the drouth have become vic
tins of misfortune from no fault of
their own. They are as worthy, honest
and industrious as any people in Ne
braska OF any other state oil the union.
They are our own kith and kin-they
are Il own fellow citizens.
This question of relief is of such a
magnitude that it has become a state
affair. Nebraska cannot afford to per-
nit tho report to go abroad that any
one within it's borders has died of cold
and hunger. 1t is rich enough, is able
enough to take care of its own people,
and will do it too.
Let me indulge the hope that your
action will be prompt and decisive.
SOLDIERS AND SAILORS HOME AT GRAND
ISLAND.
The report of the commandant of
the Soldiers and Sailors Home shows
there have been 23S members admitted
to the home during it's existence. OF
this number there are at present 100
members on the rolls of the home ros-
ter. Of these forty-eight have been
h%onorably discharged, twenty sum-
marily, and four dishonorably dis
charged. Sixteen have died at the
home.
!! There has been an average attend
ance for twenty-eight months, or since
the home was opened, of sixty-eight.
To the credit OF the commonwealth
be it said, the. legislature four years
ago made provision for the establish
ment of a home for the unfortunate,
but true men who defend the honor of
the flag and the integrity of the union
in the late civil struggle.
Approaching the hardship of separa-
ton of husband and wife and actuated
by a humane instinct, a provision vas
inserted in the law for the admission
of the wives, and children under fifteen
years of age, of the soldiers who were
compelled by their slaughtered circum-
stances to seek homes within its walls.
Seven double cottages were erected,
accommodating fourteen families.
There are in those families twenty
eight children. On this basis there are
two children to every soldier admitted
to the home with his family. Two
children have been born TO soldiers in
the home in the last six months. This
institution was never intended to be a
nursery for children. recommend an
amendment to the present law declar-
ing that the wife of the soldier must
not enter the home as beneficiary till
she has arrived at. the age of fifty
years.
+rr,e+ tbjc institution docirnod ~