The Idaho scimitar. [volume] (Boise, Idaho) 1907-1908, 1908-05-02
The Widows of Soldiers.

The Widows OF Soldiers.
While the widows pension bill pending in
the conference committee of the two houses of con-
gress Git was afterwards agreed upon and passed.
the National Tribune of Washington, voiced this
eloquent plea for the widows of the civil war
veterans
To the Senators and Representatives, Gentlemen
A fortnight ago the country was delighted at the
speedy prospect of the passage OF the widows pen
sion bill by both houses of congress. Certainly
the reception which the country gave this intelli
gence is sufficient demonstration to you Of the wis
dom and justice of that act and the immensely of
the good that it would accomplish
Undoubtedly each of you has heard extensively
from his state and district to the number of most
worthy women, who are held in esteem by the people
of their respective localities who will be benefited by
this act 1t was received everywhere with much
general approval the passage of the McCumber
act year ago. and is regarded as a legitimate
and proper extension of the benefits of that act to
the widows of the vetreans. In every community
in the country the widows of veterans
the heart of the people the veterans themselves.
AS much honor and credit as was due the veterans
for going to the front in the nations days of peril
felt to be also due to the noble who
shared their lives with them and gave wfe's I'M
purchasable devotion and care to the veterans in
their mournful passage toward the tomb The peo-
pei lnS1stent that these women be properly
treated by the government they that the vet
themselves shall be so treated In all its his
tory the National Tribune has never seen a more
pension bill
Now there is understood to be an inexpcab1e
hitch which threatens the final enactment of that
law, and the people of the country nervous lest
it should not be approved at this session. Like the
McCumber bill, the widows pension bill is impera-
tive in its demand for speedy action The beneh-
Charles are generally aged women, who incap-
acitated by their many years and attendant disa-
biltes from earning a livelihood; they are nearly
all in dire need of such assistance as the bill pro-
poses, and it will give them which will Sc
cure their old age and decrepitude from the cruel
cravings of want. While broken-down veteran,
unable to his livelihood, is object that "a
most sincere compassion, his feeble widow
IS equally deserving of our pity and help She has
given all her life to him, he gave his to the
country and the debt of the nation is as great to
her as to him.
Whatver is to be given should be given at once
The years of all these widows numbered, and
most of them will not enjoy their pensions long
They can not in the very nature of things, and it
is nothing short of cruelty to withhold from them
for even a short time, that which both houses have
unanimously agreed should be given
The cost of the bill is but a trihe in comparison
with the services which the husbands of these wild
ows rendered the country, and the disbursement
of the money under it will be of the highest benefit to
the country at this time The greatest public need
at present is for additional currency in circulation
and there is speedier or more equitable wav of
securing this than through the payment of pensions
Money given in pensions goes to every crossroads
and hamlet in the country and at once becomes part
of the l1fcblood of business in the remotest sec
tons This has been thoroughly demonstrated
that it is useless for to argue further upon the
subject
Gentlemen, appeal to you by considerations
which should be the most powerful in moving men,
We ask you in the name of the tens of thousands