The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1895-05-02

Rebellion; that Congress does not really
mean that the laws which it puts on the
statute books shall be executed in their
entirety, and in exact accordance with
their letter and spirit. Yet is not this
practically the case when tens of thou
sands Of veterans go to their graves
every year denied that which the laws
give them, and which the people say that
they should have?
Is it possible that the people will allow
the exhibition of few pitiful frauds to
divert their minds from the contem-
plation of the restitution, misery and
National faithlessness which they are
daily compelled to behold in each OF
their communities, on account of delays
in granting pensions? They say to
you-everybody says to you" Go on,
by all means, and detect all the frauds,
expose all the imposters there may be,
but do not let this interfere for an in
slant with your real work Of granting
the worthy men their legal rights. Do
not let the unworthy man, if he really
exists, bar the way of thousand I'M
deniably worthy men to that which is
lawfully theirs, and which has been
withheld much too long already. 1t is
much better, even, to let the imposter
have the few dollars he will get than to
deprive a thousand Of their just dues,
and send them to their graves robbed Of
their rights"
Mr.. Commissioner, this is a matter Of
awful solemnity. The hundreds of thou
sands of veterans who turn their sad,
worn faces toward you as the minister of
the country's justice and gratitude are
old men, aged far beyond their years
by the sereing hand of war. The faded
eyes they fix on you in anxious expect
aney once burned with the stern light
of courage and of uncomfortable de-
fiance to their eountry's enemies. They
are the same eyes which met with un-
glance Pickett's mighty charge,
the terrors of Chickamauga, and the
reeking slaughter of the Wilderness.
Those eyes are full of wearing anxiety
now, for the hearts beneath them are
assaulted by enemies sure to conquer,
and who give no quarter.
Wrecked in body by the strains of
battle and the bivouac's hardships, past
the age when men can successfully
struggle for livelihood, all that life has
left for them are the precious memories
of faithful service to the country, the
honor and appreciation of the genera
ton which is reaping the rich fruit of
their heroic sacrifices, and the meager
allowance the Government stipulated to
them when it called upon them for aid.
The memory of the past is secure; its
history is indelible; the loving honor
of the people grows stronger year by
year. Only the payment of the Ma
tons debt to them is uncertain, and
this sickens their hearts, for it means all
that can be done to make less painful
their passage down the slope that leads
to the tomb.
Every passing week now is of mortal
gravity to them. Before you shall retire
from Office, about $4,000 of the veterans
will have have died. Think of that,
Mr.. Commissioner. Think of how many
thousands of these viii die deprived of
their sacred rights, their pains sharpened
by thousand unrelieved needs. their
days embittered by Nations cruel
We urge you to make this number as
small as possible, by Fastening the al
lowance of the claims before you. The
greatest haste viii be far too slow to reach
those who are passing away even as we
write this, or to reach those who will
never see the ripe grain wave in Mid
summers rich promise.
There is nothing-there can be moth
ing-before you so important as this.
To do justice overtops every other
earthly consideration to redeem the
Nations solemn pledges is sacred duty;
to alleviate suffering, comfort the aged
II aoa.La AL i =.