The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1896-08-27

iCorrespondents should write each question on
dress and mark it Correspondents Column" No
ton will he paid to communications not
eonipanied with and address Of writer. It is
requested that stamp be inclOsed for reply by
letter Postal cards will be replied to by mail
only. Replies by mail will ordinarily be made
wthina week. and II Ill this column within three
weeksl
j. ". s., Mantle M.-A soldier enlisted in
cavalry regiment served six months, was sent to
hospital and deserted therefr0m, aud then,
after five months, enlisted in another regiment
and served TO the end of the war and was hon.
orably discharged, having served two years and
eight months in tho last enlistment. Is he ell
titled to pension under any law? Ansrrer No.
not under existing laws and rulings as the
War Department (n0w recognized the sole
Judge of Is soldiers service) regards the entire
second service as void, as it was in violation Of
the ODD Article of War, which provides that
deserter from ono service cannot lawfully
list so long as the charge of desertion remains
uncancelcd, and that, therefore, the second EN-
listment amounted to nothing, and that the
final record of this soldier is that of a deserter
at large This charge Of desertion cannot be
removed, as there were more than four months
between the desertion and the re-enlistment.
e. w. p. National Military Home O.-In
1863 was awarded medal of honor. since de-
stroyed by fire. Is there auy law under which
can secure duplicate? Answer. No. But
of duplicate III such u case, passed the Senate
| and is now in the House. of Representatives,
| and is likely to be favorably considered this
| Winter.
| j. H. b.. Ba;setown. KY. Did we have
| gold standard from 1868 to 1873? 2. Did we
| have protective tariff or free trade during
| that period? 3 IF we had free coinage Of sill
| yer, world il be to the advantage Of tire poor
| man? a. What is meant by tire free coinage of
| silver? ). Is one dollar in silver only worth
| SO cents now? 4nswer. ]. Practically we have
| always had gold standard, for while the silver
| dollar Up to 1873 figured as one of the units Of
| value in our monetary system, 1t WAS really
| never used as such, the coin of ultimate re-
demption being gold. Ths was particularly so
| for decades before and after the war; when
| everything was measured by the gold standard
| and it will be remembered that from 1861 to
| 1879 we constantly compared our greenbacks
| with gold, never mentioning silver. g We
| had protective tariff. 3. It has been impos-
| sble for US to see what possible profit il would
| he to the poor man, while it seems certain that
| it would be greatly to his damage. Ii the sill
| yer dollar were made just rs valuable as it is
| now it would be just as difficult for him to get
| it as it is at present; If it were not made az
| valuable he would be cheated out of Just the
| difference between it and the present dollar he
| now receives for his labor. 4 Free coinage Of
silver means that man may take his silver tn
| IA United States mint aud have every 9Th
grains of it (pure silverl coined into dollar.
| 5. The 37l4 grains Of pure silver in our stsu-
dard silver dollars is worth in the markets Of
| the world only about So or So cents, the pres
ent price of silver bullion being about SO cents
per ounce fbr 49, grsina