Los Angeles herald., 1891-08-23
pARTrsANsHIP WHERE 1T SHOULD NOT
BIB.

Soon after the late war, some twenty
five years ago, congress provided for the
establishment of the National Home, for
disabled volunteer soldiers, the care OF
which was entrusted to board of man.
ayers created by joint resolution OF con-
gress.
With the growing necessity OF pro-
viding branch homes the board was in
creased in membership, and at present
the board OF managers consists OF eleven
members-seven Republican, three
Democrats and one Mugwump-besides
the president of the United States, the
secretary of war and the chief justice of
the United States being members ex-
officio.
OF late the appointment OF managers
of the National Home has been looked
upon as a political prize; and the man
agement of the home, as we'll as the
composition of the board, has led to
acrimonious debates in congress- Dur
ing it's twenty-five years OF existence,
none but generals, colonels and majors,
whether by choice or accident, were Sc
lected for the honorary position OF men,
Der OF that board, to the exclusion Of
officers of the line and the rank and file.
This condition of affairs seems to have
surrounded the board with an air of
aristocratic and autocratic indifference
to the rights of its subordinates, for
| eign to democratic instincts.
The vast numbers OF the great an
! kno.cn" of our soldier element are
keenly alive to the unjust discrimina-
ton against the rank and file in the
selection of members of that board, and
they now show a disposition to demand
recognition. 1t would, indeed, be a
graceful act on the part of congress to
! popularize, so to speak, the board by
recognizing the just claims of the rank
and file for membership of the board.
We warrant the assertion that many
OF our high privates, also line officers,
for that matter, would prove equal to
the arduous task of being dined and
wined and travelling in luxurious style
throughout the country. They would
not be outdone in zeal by their titled
companions to take care of the wards of
the nation. .s,.
As its name implies, the home is Gre
ated for disabled volunteer soldiers" !"
and in reason and justice. the rank and
file should be represented in the board
of managers of the national home.
hot fha mi, .na
of the majority in the last congress will
lead to beneficial revolution in the
material constituting the board. The
majority party, in filling vacancies in
the board, violated the rule of non-par-
tisanship that had before prevailed,
and appointed none but Republicans, SO
that the board now stands seven Repub-
licans to three Democrats. The effect
of this unjust partisanship was to extend
criticism in directions that had not been
brought under the test OF public scru-
tiny before. Mr.. Outhwaite, an ardent
friend of the soldier, met the defeat of
Lieutenant Yoder because he was a
Democrat and only petty officer, with
ecatuluS Ttpuke. ANU ueClareu IHdt d
congress would soon be found that would
not only look kvery closely into the econ
oinic management of the homes, but
would see that the board was brought
nearer to the soldiers by the appoint
ment of members occasionally whose
chief merit was not in their exalted mil
itary rank and the distance that separat-
ed them from the rank and file, but in
the fact that they had feeling and SYM
pathy for the men because they were of
themselves. Fuss and feathers are as
unpopular with the common soldier as
they are with the common civilian.