The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1896-09-04
OUR VETERAN SOLDIERS.

The vetera1ls of the Union armies deserve
and should recesve fair treatment and gener-
Gus recognition. Whenever practicable they
should be given the preference IN the matter of
employment, and they are entitled to the en-
octnleat Of such lars as are best calculated to
secure the fulfllment of the pledges made to
them IN the dark days of the country'S peril.
We denou'ce the practice Of the Pension
Bureau, so reckteSSly and unjatStly carried on
by the present administration, of reducing
pensions and drbitrdrilg dropping names
from the rolls, as deserving the Severest con-
denndtioa Of The american people.-Reptb-
tican National Platform.
1t is not altogether sentiment that makes
the people OF the United States solicitous
about the welfare of the veterans OF the
War of the Rebellion. To be sure there is
always feeling of admiration for the
sublime heroism of our veteran soldiers,
and We like to hear them tell of battles,
sieges and chair breadth 'scapes," but
underlying it all there is a duty which
confronts the Nation-a duty that should
be measured by the worth of the Nations
life, which the soldiers of the war of
lS61-65 saved.
1t is not expected that the veterans Of
our armies should have more than fair
| treatment at the hands of the Govern
ment, nor do they ask for more, but that
much they should have given to them,
and cheerfully given. They are not
| paupers nor are they mendicants that
the Government should extend ma te-
rial assistance, but they served their coun-
try faithfully and well at time when
they were needed to save the Nation from
| destruction, and they answered the call to
arms with no thought of compensation for
the present nor of reward in the future.
The Nation had to be saved from de-
struction, and to save it was enough.
! That was years ago, when they were in
the Yigor and prime of early manhood,
| but now the exposure and the hardship
OF camp life is telling upon them, and
| they have not that physical strength they
would have had their early years all been
spent in the pursuits of peace, and hence
the Marion owes them debt that cannot
be paid in sentiment and gratitude alone.
There should, there must be, assured to
| them substantial recognition of their i'm
! portance to the country at time when
the whole weight of the peoples civil lib
critics and business enterprises was put
upon their shoulders to be carried through
the storm that ragged SO long and SO fu-
riously. 1t is their right, and it is the
Nations duty. 1t is debt of honor that
the Nation owes, and the Nation is in
honor bound to pay it in full.
The pension question is not one of poll
tics. 1t is question of right The Demo-
cratic party does not appreciate as highly
as it should the relation the veterans of
the Union armies sustain to the life
of the Nation, and hence it is not
disposed to accord them all the rights
which are theirs under the ulwritten laws
of gratitude. The Democratic party does
not take that lofty view of the Nations
duty to its saviors it should nor is it
the business of veteran soldiers to ask why
1t does not. On the other hand, the Re-
publican party is free to admit that the
Nation owes debt TO the preservers of its
life, and that it would be dishonorable to
shave it or discount it farthing. 1t should
follow therefore, it would seem, that the
veterans of the war of the Union armies
would not have 10 be asked to give their
moral support and vote to one who is not
| only an old comrade, but to one who is
pledged to see that the Government gives
them all that is their due, which is all
! they ask.