The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-08
G. A. n. SETTLERS.
They Are Already Tricky Scattered
through the Southern states.

.,r1sIs of twenty, fifty, one hundred, five
t-,ndred. etc, representing the state de-
,srtments and local posts of this great
der For the first time in the history
n the organization, now about to hold its
-,4nty-hfth annual encampment, the
s,,ss of the comrades are turned to the
.,urb. to which they have been most cor
5iafIv invited by the people of Louisville.
SINE ten years ago. the people Of Nash
,-1Ie Tenn, extended a similar invitation
and made every effort possible to have
--a twentieth annual encampment held in
mar city, but san Francisco offered more
,srnting inducements and won the prize.
II is safe to assert that ten years have
done much to enable Louisville to give
-bs fifty thousand union veterans a
bsartier and more generous welcome than
tbev could have received here in 1856
Until this year, when the Christian En-
5eavorers swooped down upon Boston and
Is suburbs over a hundred thousand
strong. the Grand Army of the Republic
ras the biggest gathering in the United
states when it met in its national en-
camDment. The year 1t was invited to
Nashville, 1t is said that San Francisco,
awav off on the Pacific coast expended
over S135000 in the entertainment of the
veterans, all of whom paid their own hotel
hills 1t is safe to average the annual out
Law for Incidental expenses at 100000, and
vet no city has yet entertained this mighty
host without a rich pecuniary reward.
In the case of Louisville, the beneficial
results are sure to be widespread and of
a lasting character. The time for holding
the encampment is most opportune. The
rational encampment of the Sons of Vet
Grams will convene at Knoxville, Tenn,
Immediately after the close of the Grand
army Of the Republic encampment,
ha dedication
National Military park at Chickamagua,
where the societies of the Army of Cum
berland and of the Tennessee will gath
or in full numbers. All these, not to
speak of the military reception to be
rendered the veterans by the Cotton
states and International Exposition in
Atlanta, will draw the old Union again
into the very heart of the once Confeder-
ate states, but on a mission of peace and
good fellowship.
And what will they find here to remind
them of their visit in time of war? Very
little; for everywhere the wheels of prog
ress and the spirit of development have
been moving, and the latest Industries
and hidden resources of the south have
"blossomed as the rose" And in all
this prosperity they will find that the
hand also of the union soldiers has had
a part Thousands of them remained
here at the close of the war or came back
here soon after and cast their fortunes
with the people with whom they had
waged war. While some of them were
not actuated in this step by the purest and
best motives, the great mass of Union
veterans have been good citizens and
won the abiding confidence and respect
of the communities in which they re-
side. The Adventures and idlers have
long since departed and their places have
been filled by new corners of Industrious
~ 90 hn
encampment roll Is called at Louisville,
on Wednesday morning next, it will
be found that every southern state Is
represented in that national organiza-
ton. 1t is true in point of numbers they
will not make a great display, for the
membership of the various posts is scat
tered and composed, to a large extent,
of men of limited means. But while few
in numbers they are none the less zeal
Gus and faithful in the discharge of their
duties. As compared to Theodore Win
throp Post No. 30, of Chelsea, Mass, that
is coming nearly 500 strong, on special
train, with a splendid band of music, and
viii occupy an entire building at Louis
vile. the entire southern representation
sinks into insignficance. However, each
state department has its accredited num-
her of votes and when the comrades en-
titled to cast these votes are present it
matters little about special trains, splen-
did bands or a big outside show in the pa
rade. The southern departments have
steadily grown in number. influence and
power.
Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky,
Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and
West Virginia have departments covering
their own states, while Georgia embraces
South Carolina, Louisiana takes in Missis-
sippi and Virginia gathers up North Caro-
lima. The south has had one commander
-, Ia w. r,fA
souri,, who had previously been senior
vice commander; w. E. w. Ross of Mary
land and Nelson Cole of Missouri have
been senior vice commanders. John r.
Lewis of Georgia and Edgar Allen of Vir-
ginia have been junior vice command
ers. The present chaplain-in-chief is from
Missouri, and both Florida and Tennessee
have filled that high office. The present
junior vice commander, Charles Shute,
is from Louisiana. other offices have
been filed from southern states, each
department of which has one member in
the National Council of Administration
According to the usual custom of electing
senior vice commander from the de-
partment where the encampnlent is held,
the next officer of this rank will be from
Kentucky. Neither the smallness in num-
bers nor limited financial resources Of the
departments in the southern states has
kept from having a good share of the
honors of national officers.
The Grand Army of the Republic is,
in the truest sense, a charitable organiza>
ton. Its doors are open to any old union
soldier having an honorable discharge
from the service and bearing a good
character. Once a member of q post, in
Maine or California, if he finds himself
In Georgia or Florida without means, or
In misfortune, he has simply to apply for
relief to the nearest Grand Army post.
Nor is any old soldier, not member of
the order, allowed to suffer. He and his
family are properly looked after and as
sisted. 1t is this fact that has given
a steady increase to the number of old
veterans who have made their homes
IN the south since the war; There Is
now not a southern state in which they
cannot find comrades of the Grand Army,
ana post and department organization. In
FLORIDA they form a line from Pensacola
10 Key West, while in Georgia they ex-
tend, as Gen. Toombs used to say,
From Tybee light
To Rabun hight"
Ihese comrades and posts are constantly
IN receipt of letters from old soldiers in
the north and west seeking homes in the
south, and through their influence and
oy their assistance a continuous tide of
immigration is kept up. Many of the new
corners are of the invalid class, who draw
pensions a nd rrI1 Cd to