The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1902-10-09

deserved to be eaTicatured, and we new
er VIII nave one that self-resDecting /
press or people can afford to hold up to
public ridicule- More respect for right
full speech, with less appetite for sensa-
tionalism, will do much to wither the
evil passions Of men, and to promote I
the safety and security of both life and |
property in this republic"
Taking up the question of PENSIONS
General Torrance related the cireuTIl- !
stances connected with the inVestiga- /
ton of the charges against former Pen
sion Commissioner Evans Speaking of /
the report made by the Grand ArTny's |
committee on pensions, General Tor |
rance said that the acceptance of the |
resignation CT Commissioner Evans by |
the president Immediately followed the I
presentation of tbs committees report /
to him Referring further to the effect |
produced by this inquiry, he said:
'One most gratifying result of our /
investigation was to find that no ground |
existed for the wholesale charges of /
fraud so often made against the pen /
s1oners- A large part of the last report |
or Commissioner Evans was taken up |
with a recital CT cases of fraud COM
mitted or attempted to be committed |
against the government during the pre-
ceoing thirty years, but when analysed |
IT appeared that very few who had seen /
any military service were parties to /
such frauds. The violators of the law
We're simply impostors, not soldiers. The
number of union soldiers convicted of
crime during the year was but one
thousandth part of one per cent of the |
total number on the pension roll We
government to make as favorable 4
showing
DEFENDS THE PENSIONERS.
The commander in chief also took cog
nizance of the charge that the pension
roll contains the names of more union
soldiers than there are survivors of the
civil war, and pointed out that there are
more than 200, 600 survivors of that war
whose names do not appear on the roll
at all He advocated legislation in their
behalf, saying:
Few of these old veterans have a
hospital record, and to a large extent
they comprise the men that marched
with Sherman to the sea and fought
with Grant at Appamattox. They took
part in the grand review in 1865 and
formed part of these splendid armies
OF pronzed ana We'll seasoned veterans
that thiived on the very hardships Of
war. Trey were the last to leave the
field, and among the last to apply for
relief at the hands of the government
For more than a It'd of a century
they have borne an honorable part III
advancing the interests of the country
and at this late day, when in their old
age they apply for help, they should not
be regarded with disfavor because they
did not apply earlier"
General Torrance declared that no
pecunlary compensation ever could be
made to those who preserved the union,
could not be paid with dollars and
cart--
The patriotic impulse that moved us
to lay all on the altar of our country,
had" he said, no fellowship with mer-
cenary motives We did not belittIe the
grandeur of the cause in which we en-
gaged by calculating on personal gain.
The lnadeCuacy of our pay but added
to the dignity OF the penalties we SUI
fcred- Under the pitiless skies thou
sands CT our comrades suffered as pris-
oners Of war. but no complaint escaped
their lips Release on terms of renun-
citation of their fealty to the flag was
rejected with their expiring breath. On
the field of battle fruitless assaults were
often made in t-e face of certain DEATH
but no one faltered in response to the
unw1se command. Those were days of
unquestioned heroism supreme devo-
ton and unparalleled sacrifice; and in
immortal army should exhibit spirit
no less heroic than that manifested by
those who fell in the foreground of the
conflict so many years ago.
TRIBUTE TO WOMEN
General Torrance paid high tribute to
the work OF the women's auxiliary or
ganiza tions, including the Relief Corps
and the Ladies Of the Grand Army of
the Republic, and also made an appeal
Tor the proper recognition of the Sons
of Veterans, saying on the latter point
'Posterity for which we fought has
not only arrived, but will soon become
the exclusive custodians of our coun-
try's destiny, and who more worthily
than our sons can take up and carry
forward the unfinished work of the
! Grand Army of the Republic"
He devoted considerable space to con-
sideration of the statues of the ex-Con-
Lfederate soldier, repeating in spirit his
plea of a month ago for the manifesto
ton of good will and brotherly kindness
f.,xxrs 1af <,ff
bers of the Grand Army. He said ha
had been prompted in making that ap-
peal by the belief that such actions
would tend to bring still closer together
all parts of the country in the bonds of
a common citizenship, and there were
already, he added. evidences in the re-
spOnseS received from the southern
states that he had not miscalculated
Indeed he said, with but two excep-
lions the entire press of the country had
commended the spirit of the letter
Continuing on this point, he said:
PLEA FOR THE GRAY
ut is not expected that the Grand
Army of the Republic as an organiza-
homes for soldiers north or south, but
in no possible way can the greatest fra
ternal organization in the world more
becOmingly crown its labOrs of love in
behalf of its own membership than by
extending the hand of helpfulness to
their fellow countryInen against whom
they were once arrayed IN deadly STRIFE
The most disastrous results of a civil
war are the animosity and bitter feeling
engendered thereby, and l am con-
WINGED that one of the most patriotic
services we can render our country is
to earnestly aid in removing every bar
rier that separates US or estrangeS the
people. The victory at Appomattox win
yield imperfect fruit if we do not win
the hearts as we'll the flags of the
men who wore the gray. a union of
| hearts as well as of hands is indies pen
sible to an indissOluble union OF inde>
structble states.
THE Grand Army of the Republic has
nothing to fear It is not trammeled by
| political creeds. nor embarraS-e6 by
sectarian controversies. and in the dis