Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-02-22
OUR MAIL POUCH.
Private Da,z.l1 on tn. Soldier Vote.

| To the Editor of The Dispatch:
Why II the world is it-can any one tell
me, wonder-that in all the newspapers
and politicians are saying about Presidential
| candidates. party platforms and prospects,
| the soldier vote is ignored entirely? l see
| all the papers, and read lots of them. but in
| no one single word as to- what the soldiers
say about the coming campaign! Is this an
unimportant factor? Is it worth enumerat-
ing in the audit of political affairs? Elm in
ate the soldier vote from Harrison in 1855
| and Grover Cleveland was elected by cool
million majority. Withhold it from Harri-
son in 1892 and he will fail of reelection by a
million votes. Yet nobody takes it into any
calculation of the possibilities of the COM
| ing campaign. If this is not leaving Hamlet
out of the play with a vengeance l should
like for some one to say why not!
l. If the soldiers were all dead this might
| nave some show of reason or common sense,
though even then their sons would cast a
million votes almost exactly as their fathers
voted before them. But we are not all dead
by million voters yet. OF these $50 900 are
Democrats, who cancel and set off 250, 900
Republican votes, leaving half million
majority among the soldiers yet, who can
generally (not always by long shot) be
counted for the Republicans, and thev more
than furnish all the majorites of the Repub-
licans in all the Northern States-gave Har-
rison every elector he had. Then there are
half a million of their sons voting with this
half million this year, and how many
fathers, brothers and other male relatives of
voting age? Yet this force is not worth
mentioning in any papers or by any poll
tlclan. Are these men mere machines to be
voted by the leaders always at their sweet
will, or are they free and independent men
who will be actuated by ordinary human
motives, interests and prejudices as other
voters are?
Leaving us out, what do the politicians
take us for anyhow? Have they forgotten
history so soon? Have they forgotten how
Srandly the party won with the boys in bluc
all in line in 1864, 1858, 1872 $780, 1885, and how
we nearly lost the election of 1876 and quite
lost that of 1854 by the coldness and indiffer-.
ence of the Republican soldiers, be-
cause of the Sights put upon them by our
leaders in ostraciZing MS from all offices and
doing out 50 pensions or none? Who has
forgotten how the veto of the bounty bill of
1873 split the soldier vote in the next cleo
tion, gave half of it to the Democrats and
lett large portion of it home? Who has
forgotten how the refusal to repeal the raS-
cally limitation on arrears of pensions
produced the like result in 1884? What idiot
does not recall the promises and pledges of
large pensions and lucrative offices for the
private soldiers which brought the Indiana
soldiers and all the rest into line again and
elected Harrison in 1888?
Talk of tariff reform, silver, reciprocity
or other eternal principles" or OF your
candidates Hill, Flower Harrison, Alger or
Sherman, anything or anybody-it is all idle
speculation unless you include in your cal
culatlons the factor paramount in import
ance, the soldier vote! 1t is the be-all and
the end-all. would rather have the soldier
vote sure on q platform written in Chinese,
which no man could read, than the best plat
form conceivable without that vote. That
vote will beat eternal and everlasting
principles" every day in the week, but with
out it the Democrats can take the Lords
Prayer OF the multiplication table for
q tfDIr a sr,H hpa ,nlis nir1an
out of his boots.
So have a care, gentlemen, of the conven-
ton! Be sure that you have this maj jority of
all ma1orltles on your side or your labors
will all be in vain. With it you can take any
old farmer, railsplitter or boatman and make
him President as easy as rolling off q log;
without it you cannot elect the best and
biggest statesman in the whole pack.
on the soldier vote for any body or anything
every day in the year!'' Thanks for your
confidence though it SAVIOR of contempt.
We don't vote in the lump Each one de-
that? we have no proxies. The soldiers
are not in good humor. To be frank they
don't like the way things are going. They
care more for pensions than they do for
promises or parties either. Did you never
find that out yet? They have more concern
in a fair share of the offices than they have
in eternal and immortal principles" A
bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
They have been fooled with too many lies.
Y ou can't palm off tariff for pension. They
begin to grow tired of all this rot of prom
iSeS. They see no privateS need apply, yet
you expect them to vote for you. Is this not
cheeky? Is it not cooler than the weather.
Do you know the boys don't take kindly to
those So and 81 pensions? Have you thought
of that? Do you know that if moved by the
same impulse they can unite in the G. A. r.
in one night lor or against any candidate?
PRIVATE DALzELL.
CALDWELL, O., February 81.