Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-03-02
YErERANs PRorEsT.

tom IOT the next lOuT years 81 itdSl.
VETERANS PROTEST.
The Grand army Gazette, the official
organ Of the G.. A. r., sounds note of
warning on behalf of the veterans,
that should be read and studied by
every honest survivor OF the war. 1t
lays bare the vast pension frauds and
proves its assertions by incontrovert-
ible facts and figures.
The Gazette recognizes that the re-
vision Of the pension lists has become a
necessity; that "the frightening OF the
roll beyond all reasonable, or even cred
ible, dimensions, even at the present
time, with hundreds of thousands OF
cases still pending, makes it subject
for investigation and sitting that shall
place the blame where 1t resides, on the
claim sharks who were the prOgenitors
Of obnoxious laws aud the coffee cool
ers, deSerters and dead-beats who have
made our roll of honor the subject Of
sneers, ridicule and contempt"
Bear in mind it is not soldier hat
ing" newspaper that uttels these words,
but the official organ or the &. A. r. 1t
continues:
Again and again have we cried out and
cautioned the real soldier element that the
incapables and gOod-for-nothing attach
ments Of the brave fighting boys would
bring disgrace and coRtumely upon them
by demanding the passage Of laws that
would inure 10 their benefit TO the detri-
ment of justice and honesty, and it seems
that time has arrived at last. We believe
in an honest, square pension roll, granting
what is properly due to those who won it
by service. Nothing, in our estimation, is
too good for the gallant boys who met the
shocks OF battle and campaign, and If the
roll were simply TO comprise these then
what that intrepid officer General Garfield,
said twenty-five years ago would prove
true, the pension amount would not exceed
81, 0OO, 600 per year. 1t was an assertion
based upon what he knew was equity,
right. Justice. IL was based upon knowl-
edge of the soldier, the true soldier. with
wall Of iron against the buns and PERM
cious laws. The lines were to be restricted
under even broad laws, and this was imme-
diately after the conclusion Of the war.
Since then a hundred thousand of those
who have been entitled to benefits have
been carried to their graves, the lines have
narrowed, and yet the pension list has
been growing and growing in volume, IN
until now it seems like cyclone darkening
the sky, terrifying the inhabitants of a
peaceful country.
at is claimed" says the Gazette,
that ?, ZOO, 900 soldiers enlisted during
the war, or from 1861 to 1865. In this
enlistment, each one stands out as
distinct personality, when in truth the
same man may have represented sever
al, a thirty day, three months, six
months, nine months, one year, two
years, and even three years man, serv-
ing full or partial time, and again re-
enlisting, thousands and thousands,
several times over. 1t includes cases
OF men answering short and emergency
calls o! few days as we'll as those who
served for heightened periods, and is in
no degree to be considered as the abso-
Lutte army.
"Old soldiers Of the front know that
not much more than 700, 600 men pulled
triggers from the commencement to the
end of the war, or were ever actively
engaged in fighting. Deducting the re-
enlistments, including the bounty
Jumpers all over the country, many Of
whom enlisted from five to fifty times,
and each counted as lone" enlistment,
the short terni calls, the deserterS, the
lingerers to the rear, whom neither
persuasion nor bayonets could get on
the fighting line, the hospital dead
beats who lived on the best of the land
and never returned to their regiments
or commands, and hundreds of thous-
ands Of the grand total come tumbling
to the ground.
''Oi the balance, large bodies, num-
bering thousands Of officers and men,
simply guarded the borders aud per-
formed light services. When we say
zoo, 600 fighting men it seems excessive
to the old soldier. And from 100000
are to be deducted the 11O,075 killed or
mortally wounded and died; and those
who died from any and every cause
during the war, aggregating $50, 5SS.
1t would leave about $4,000 soldiers,
record survivors, and in this may be In
cluded re-enlistments, expired regi-
ments who went home"
These figures are compiled by the
Grand Army's own organ. and they
show cOnclusively, with the certainty
of q mathematical demonstration, that
nearly one-half Of our present million
of pensioners must be men who were
not soldiers in any honest sense.
When President CLEVELAND vetoed
the dependent pension bill he was pub
licly upheld by many Grand Army posts
and by the press gsnerally, excepting
the Republican portion of it which
sought to make party capital out of the
veto; and to-day the wisdom OF Mr..
CLEvELAND'S action is more than vindi-
Gated.