The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1908-08-20
PENSIONS AND THE REGULAR ARMY

Editor National Tribune: In youl
| issue of July 16, 1908, you have this tt
| say with reference to the pension plank
| of the Democratic Convention at Den
yer:
1--WE are really much Obliged to the
| Denver Convention for the pension
plank. 1t is the best written and mos
logical plank in the platform. 1t reads
1--WE favor a generous pension pol
| icy. both as a matter of justice to the
surviving veterans and their families
and because it relieves the country OF
| the necessity of maintaining a large
standing army
This is the first knowledge we have
| had that Mr.. Bryan is a constant read
| err and student of The National Trib-
une. Our readers will at once recognizi
| where he got the idea and the lam
guage."
1 have been a constant reader of The
National Tribune for a great many
years, and I cannot fully understand
the meaning of this pension plank in
the Democratic platform. Of course. l
can understand the first part of it, but
the latter part, where it says. because
it relieves the country of the necessity
of maintaining a large standing army
You seem to seize the idea readily that
Mr.. Bryan and the Democracy got this
idea from The National Tribune. l
would like very much to have you give
a more extended explanation or analy-
sis of the true application or meaning of
this plank in the Democratic platform.
L want to add in this connection that
1 do not find much to praise in the PEN
sion plank of the Republican platform
adopted at Chicago, especially that
part of it where they say I'VE COM
mend the increase in the widows PEN
sions made by the present Congress"
When we come to consider that the in
crease was from IS to S12 per month,
and could only be paid to soldiers wild
ows who had married the soldier prior
to June 81. 1890; if soldier had mar
ried on the 9th of June, 1890, and had
become an invalid at any time there
after during all the IS years that have
elapsed, and had been a constant care
to his wife for the whole period subse-
quent to the 9th of June, 1890, and
then died and left her widow, she
would not besentitled to pension by the
terms of this boosted pension law which
the Republican Party were so proud of
that they specifically referred to It in
their National platform. 1t is very sin
guiar, indeed, that this enormous in
crease of pension of "a per month to
the soldiers widows should relate back
the time of its commencement to the
18th of June, 1890, when the increase
of the salary of the members of Con-
gress of $4,000 per annum was made
applicable to the present members, and,
strange to say, that one of the reasons
given by the members of Congress why
the widows pension should not begin
from the date of application or death
of the soldier, was that it would be too
much of drain on the public Treas
ury-
1 have extended this letter longer
than / thought I would at the time l
commenced so you need not publish it
in The National Tribune unless you
want to; but my real object in writing
you was to get an explanation of what
you meant when you stated that the
Denver Convention got their idea of
Tribune. 1 would be glad to hear from
you by letter or thru the columns of The
National Tribune.-George W. Young,
Marion, ILL.,
The National Tribune has constantly
used the argument that the Nation must
and should depend upon volunteers for
its defense, and not upon big Regular
Army. This argument was not original
with us by any means, but was the firm
the Republic. We claim the credit.
however, of being the only paper for
many years that has steadfastly taught
that doctrine. Substantially all the 9TH
er papers have either become infected
with the Regular Army's idea of magni-
or have gone to the other extreme of
wanting no Regular Army at ALL A
large portion of Mr.. Bryan's present
friends have been of the latter class.
Among the other misfit ideas they have
borrowed from Europe has been "anti-
Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton,
Madison, Monroe. Jackson and
all others whose names we hold in high
est honor to-day constantly held and
taught that the Regular Army should
be kept at the minimum of safety, and
the Nation rely upon its own citizens
for defense. They therefore favored a
very liberal pension policy to the volun-
teers. In addition to this being the
best policy for a free Government. it
NdS Dy ldF TIC ihoSl cSoioHiitdi- lue
volunteers made far better citizens from
having served in the army, and the ex-
pense of liberal pension policy toward
them was far less than that of main
tanning a great standing army.
The Democratic plank is so in line
with The National Tribunc's utterances
that it seems borrowed from them, espe-
cfaily since no other paper has been
talking that way.
JAPANESE REFORMS.