The National tribune., 1896-02-20
The NATIONAL TRIBUNE.
BUILDING UP THE SONS OF VETERAN.

BUILDING UP THE SONS OF VETERANS
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: The meul
bers of the Grand Army of the Republic
especially those residing in our larger cities
viii by apathy kill Off or by interest helI
into substantial standing the Sons OF Vel
Grams. Ii is hard at this time 10 organ. re
and still harder TO keep III existence pros
porous Camp in any city Of half million OF
population, owing to many outside
attraVelons- fact that il is over 30 years
| since the war closed; that ritual work may
be found in the larger, as TO membership,
associations of men (the Freemasons, Odd
Fellows, etc. J, and that military drill under
better conditions may be had by member
ship in the National Guard.
As member of the most successful at
one time Sons of Veterans Camp in the city
of Brooklyn, that [ saw 90 down until less
than a quorum, then five, three, and finally
but one member was present at meeting
place at meeting time; as, later, charter
member of Camp whose command / re-
fused, that office honestly belonging to
another-intended 10 be of representative
character, and still later as n charter mem
Der Of my present Camp, which enjoys fair
degree OF prosperity with promises of a
bright future under It's present Commander,
| If the efforts of himself and subordinate
officers are continued, / believe / may say
authoritatively that Ill Il gr, at measure the
| future existence of the assoc!at on, known
as the Sons Of Veie. aus, Is aud will be- in
the large cities at least, depelient upon the
future attitude of the mem Lers of the Grand
Army, separately and collectively.
A father, having the means to do so, who
would not cherish, iced, ciolhe, aud project
his child would be considered unnatural.
| The Order, Society, or Association known as
the Sons of Veterans is the child OF, and
was organized through the efforts Of a men,
ber of the said Grand Army. / have re-
| peated the names of the two societies, so
| that no one can claim ambiguity. Whether
the Sons OF Veterans wonId prosper more if
conducted upon he lines of the Society of
- -, with but one body, one set of
officers, one meeiing-place in each city, and
with secret and military features elimi-
mated, or not, / leave others to decide.
Man is gregarious animal, and any reason
common to several will cause those several
to gather together. the Sons above men
toned have good reason, as, in fact, have
| all the Sons Of this, that, or the other thing,
but The men who fought the last war should,
as far as their health, strength, and other
engagements permit, visit and, in IL kindly
spirit, criticize Camps and Camp work, s.e
that their own sons join, and do what they
can TO secure for the Order large member
ship of respectable. eligible, patriotic men,
vino, should the time ever come would do
for their country as their fathers before them
did in The G0's.-WIIsoN B. STRONG, ex-
member Post 81 aud Camp 40, Brooklyn,
n. Y; member Camp 60, Brooklyn, n. Y.
7. SIN justice 20 The Sons Of Veterans
Post mentioned above, would say that it
is now Camp, with another number, be-
lieve, and that it has taken on new life.
We are very glad to get such a letter
as this, for it is evident that the writer
has given the subject much thought, and
is deeply in earnest in regard to the up
building of the Order. Such as he are
the ones in whose hands the future of
the Sons of Veterans lies. What he
says is worthy of the closest attention,
whether his conclusions are accepted or
not
In our opinion, while cordially agree
ing that the Sons of Veterans deserve
and should have the strongest sympathy
and interest of the GAR, we think he
goes too far in assuming that the future
of the Order depends wholly upon tie
measure of these which it receives. The
sons of the ex-soldiers and sailors have
a strong and sufficient basis upon which
to build up the largest and most powerful
society in the whole country without aid
from any outsiders. They have nat
urai bond of union as strong as that of
any church, and much stronger than
those which have been used effectively
to build up other associations The
whole question resolves itself merely into
one of whether they will set themselves
to work earnestly TO make the most of
this. There is absolutely no question of
their having the ability among them
selves to do this if they want to. In
fact, they have substantially all the
ability in the country. Sons of Vet
erans are rapidly coming to the front of
every department of human effort.
Many of them have long been at the
front. One at least of the Senators is
son of a veteran, and large proportion
Of the bright young men who fill the
present House Of Representatives are
sons of ex-soldiers and ex-sailors. 1t is
the same everywhere else. Sons of
Veterans are found either at the head, or
rapidly nearing it, of railroads, banks,
churches, factories, mercantile houses,
mines, and agricultural enterprises.
They should be brought together into
one organization, and if this were done
it would be the mightiest-not merely in
numbers. but in brain power-of any
that this world has ever seen. As their