Red Lodge picket. [volume] (Red Lodge, Mont.) 1889-1907, 1892-10-08
GID SOLDIERS:;
THE G. A. r. GATHERING At WASHs~
iNGTON AND. IT'S INCIDENTS.

THE G: A. R. GATHERING AT WASTE.
iRGTON AND, ITS INCIDENTS,
The Veterans Talking, Politics anda
Studying the Situation--They Want to
Know About Tariff. Reciprocity. and,
State Banks.
Especial 1orrespondencsl
WAsH1NGToN, Sept. 10 The gathering
ofathe old soldiers here brings together
all elements-poitical and social Es-
! officers and ea privates. soldiers aj,l
Sailors. veterans from the New England ;
, states and others from the Pacific coast.
/ Republicans and Democrats, representa-
tives OF tie t1ird party. and men who
have little care fol politics Of any sort.
tree silver men an.i SolufsNgs all min.le
III one indiscrin1in;i1e mass Of hand shak-
ing ansl cordial good fellowship
Anxious About the Political Situation.
1t IL easy to see, however that there
ID among them 1nuch anxiety il resar i
to the political 81 .uation There is l,s4 ,
of eEtil15;ii$ic~ talk. fi,st or,.sajust IL
candidates of the parties. but there l.; d.
quiet and earnest uudercurrent Of in cr-
est felt i'll the approaching electio:t.
the cordial ;.,lti atfectionate remarks ,f
President Harrison in his recent lett r.
OF acceptance, in which he. spc;se i,
terms of such u:lioubetl affection for,
the Old sold!er5, his comrades in a:.1us,
las touched many heart. There Is al
Inclination on the part OF those wa,,,
take little interest in politics to cuntr;..t
els course toward the old soldier wi II
thatof the 14lail who preceded him in the,
W hlte Horse and y,Iio Ii now candi =
date against him
Unfortunate forsClevelas.el.
Politics IL barred i'll the Grand Army,
organization, but the bringing OF the q. l.
soldiers here to Washington3 and tle-
nearer view which it seems to give tian.:
Of the various men who have occupied
the White House, is q little unfortunate
for Mr.. Cleveland. The most unproju-
diced observer cannot help recognizing
the fact that the sight of the White-
House and the recollection of the vatoe.
which elnan;lted from it while Mr.. Cleve-.
land formerly occupied it can but have
an unf;lvorable influence upon the minds
OF the Old soldiers gathered here.
Studying the issues.
Another thing is observable in this
grand aggregation of men Of advanced.
years from all parts of the country
and that is their inclination to inquire
into and make q study of the isSres:
which enter into the calnpaigns There
Old soldiers who are wont to discuss,
wars and r;l,uors Of wars, and who in
duls5e in "reminiscences and personal es,
Derlencas of his :nrt. now ,,r-a,..ls
Peck report. showing II nal'1ed 1ncrea:e
in the earnings Of the working people,
and the reports OF government o1ncl;ls
showing /. similar increase III the s;iE
inrs of the wage easlers. 1t has becOmef
very evident that the prosperity OF tho
masses has greatly increased under Sne
present tarlli.
The Record of n Quarter of Century
One thing which impresses them as
thew come here to Washington ls tite-'
wonderful record which has been made
by the business Of this country durln,55
the wear under the new tariff law. They
are talking freely of the remarkable
record of an export trade Of over, bsl-
lion of dollars and Of d foreign com
MERGE with more than /. hundred million
on the right side Of the ledger II taVol>
Of the manufacturers and producers Oh
this country
Aptebe!lum Money Discussed
Another subject which interests the1n3
and about which they are making III
oriries is the question Of state banSs
and the proposed return to the old bank
:,,.y currency which proved SO 1lnsatls-
factory even in It's palmiest days. Iheso4
men who fought in the war are olu@
enough to remember the dlscomforts.
;nconyeniences and frequent losses en- :
tailed unon humble citizens by the oids
system of state bank currency. Ant.
Won do not find one among them willing
TO express a desire to return to that u1az
satisfactory system. The losses in those
d;&.s, especially to the ''plaln people.
they remember clearly and painfully,
It Is SO Plain This Time.
AS to the tariff, your average Old SOL
dier is not much of tariff iend, yet the
c,,estjon this ,.l.s seems SO plain and go
forciblv illustrared by the prosperity OF
the country under the Mckinley law,
and the .,tsv:intases that law has given,
rs over fore; !, countries iii tAe matter
of Cur foreieo commerce, that even these
,,,f,, who ar. ~: ;.>,...::,toncd to discus
sion of the tcr:!E 81: taking to it this
time with 81 ...s.. " hen they discover
that uuder he i:rst full year of the Nc
Kipley tariff t.s.ei,. was Il Wonderful m
crease in our e=sorts, a great reductions
in the prices Of articles in every day use
in families, and that we are daily ges-
ting the advantage Of European mani
fact,1rers in tie markets Of Central anl
South America through the seclproc1ty
feature of the law. they express them
selves as highly gratiiied ana dis1ncilne<'
to change the present satisfactory con-
U tlon.
I Perhaps the feature which snost inter
4 ests the cid soldiers who are gathered
4 here is the pension Office and It's wonder
full system They look with astonnsn
ment upon the great machine run oy
q thousands of men and handling hun
l. dreds of thousands of applications fo'
l, pensious. The most remarkable feature
] Of this is the fact that the capacity fo'
=, prompt action on cases has more thal
: 1ouhled under this administration.
~ A circular has been issued calling