Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1902-09-02
AID FOR FORMER FOES.
Commander in Chief Ell Torrance Is
sues an Appeal to the Veterans
of the G. A. r.
Members Of the Army Asked to Com
tribute to Home for Disabled
+ Ex-confederates.
Believes the Proposed Way is Surest
for the Complete Unidcation of
the Country.

Minneapolis, Sept. 2.-Judge Ell Tor
rance of this city, commander-in-chief
of the Grand Army of the Republic.
has issued an appeal to the veterans of
the North to contribute to a fund for
building home for the disabled South
ern veterans. He calls attention to the
fact that no provision has been made
for the care of the aged Confederates,
except such as has been made by pub
lie spirited citizens in the South. He
believes that his comrades hold as
next to the men that fought by their
sides the brave soldiers that faced
them.
A home for Confederate veterans is /
being built at Mountain Creek, Ala.
He appeals to the members of the G.
A. r. to aid in the erection of the home
as one of the surest ways of complet-
ing the unifcation of the country His
address to the veterans of the North
is:
In April last I visited the depart
ments of Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana
and Mississippi and Texas.
"My visit was in every respect a de-
lightful one, but most gratifying of all
was the cordial good feeling l found
existing between the Union and Con-
federate soldiers. affirm without
hesitation that among the
Best Friends Of Our Comrades
in the South are the surviving ex-Con-
federates. This friendship is based
| upon the mutual respect which one
good soldier has for another, and had
| it not been for the bronze button l
| would have often been unable to dis
| tinguish between the blue and the
| gray, for the cordial welcome extend
| ed by the one was equaled by the gen.
| erous hospitality proffered by the 9TH
| er. In all my journey l found no Sec
t1onal lines, sullen faces or closed
doors. One marked contrast however,
| distinguishes the surviving soldiers of
| the two armies. The national govern
ment has properly made generous pro-
vision for her defenders, but whatever
aid the ex-Confederates receive must
come from their more fortunate COM
rades, or from the municipalities in
which they reside; and while the peo-
pie OF the South have in a spirit
worthy of the highest praise done
much to relieve their necessities, the
nations wounds" have not yet been
fully bound.
''At the close of the war the South
ern people were too impoverished to
make adequate provision for those who
suffered from disease and wounds, and
the result was that many a Confeder-
ate soldier
Ended His Days in the AImshouse,
and was buried in a pauper's grave.
When at Montgomery it was my
pleasure to meet Colonel J. NJ. Falk-
ner. district attorney for Alabama, for
merly an officer in the Eighth Confed-
crate cavalry, who for some time past
has been earnestly directing his efforts
toward the erection of a Confederate
home at Mountain Creek, Chiffon
county, Ala. The erection of the first
cottage was commenced April Z last
on forty acres of land donated by Colo
mel Falkner, and today two comforta-
BILE cottages have been completed
which shelter seventeen old Confed-
rate soldiers, not one of whom could
earn a living in a land of plenty
against the competition of a child.
THE plan is to build forty of these
cottages, that many or more being re-
quired to accommodate these whose
disabilities are total. My purpose in
writing this letter, and it is the last
one l shall address to you as command
er-in-chief is to afford the members of
the Grand Army of the Republic, in
dlvidually or as posts, an opportunity
to contribute to the shelter of these
needy veterans. The dignity of their
demeanor and the accomplishing SOL
dierly way in which they
Bear Suffering and Prvation,
render them worthy of our respect and
sympathy, and it becomes privilege
to assist in making their last days com
Portable.
81 know of no surer or shorter way
to a complete unifcation of this coun-
try in purpose and feeling than the
highway of kindness, and believe it's
extreme outposts should be Jointly
held by the surviving soldiers of the
armies of Grant and Lee
"The old order to kill has given
place to the gentler command to
make alive and for the bitter contest
forever ended at Appomattox has been
substituted perpetual contest of good
will and patriotic devotion to COM
mon country. believe is is within the
power of the surviving soldiers Of the
great war to make fraternity nation
al anthem, loyalty a national creed and
charity national virtue.
My comrades, as we grow older our
hearts become more gentle and tender,
and next to the comrade who stood by
our side is the brave soldier who faced
us. ,ss gs Il
Contributions should be forwarded
to Colonel ]. NJ. Falkner, Montgomery.
Ala, who will acknowledge receipt and
gladly furnish such. additional informa-
ron as may be desired.