The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1908-02-06
An Appeal for the Boys.

comrades should unseihshlyD object to
any and to every pension bill that does
not treat all comrades alike, impair
tally, whether for disability or for SER
vice pension. OF course, these are dis
tinct from each other, but an age PEN
sion is a preference pension, and should
not masquerade as a service pension;
nor should a pension that is restricted
to narrow time limits in date of enlist
ment. In the Spring of ga, for instance,
thousands of men of 81 and over enlist
ed, but even more thousands of boys
under II years of age enlisted. These
boys were subjected to the shot, shell
and bullets of the rebels as much as
the men were; they We're engaged as
much in march, skirmish, guard, picket
and battle as the men were: they suf-
fered the same fatigues, deprivations
and hardships as did the men, and upon
the boys these were more severe than
upon the men, who were harder and
stronger because older. Many of us
are feebler and look older TO day than
the men with whom we served and
suffered. I regard the Sherwood bill az
very one-sided. He asserts that these
who enlisted in 1861 showed more pa
triotism than did we who enlisted in
'63. ga and 60 I don't believe it! Gen.
Grant said that he did not realize what
was before us until after i'ittsbure
Landing. Now, in '64, after three years
of war, after many terrible battles
every boy knew what war was and
what going to the front to battle meant,
which the men and boys of 81 did not
They of April to August, '61, expected
| to end the war and dance ut home be-
fore Christmas. To them war presented
no terrors, for they knew nothing about
it. Now, by "a every boy was familiar
with those terrors. Our brothers, Our
neighbors, our intimate friends of Z
year or two older came home in collins
or returned wounded, or we saw their
homes desolated by grief because they
were buried in the South. From those
discharged or furloughed and from the
letters of those at the. front, from news
papers, from public speeches and tile
war stories and gossip heard every.
| where, day and night-all the time we
learned how fearful war is-and then
thus fully instructed as to what wa:
before us, we, boys of '63, '6f, 'G5. be-
cause we We're patriots, went to the
front to war for our Government. His.
tory shows that there was as much ant
as deadly fighting in those years as III
the previous years; and we did 'goo6
deal of it, us boys. The war for the
| Union would have been failure u
none under 81 years of age had gone
into the army of the United States II
ga or '65. These boys of "a and 6;
could not have gone in 81 or 62. They
were too young and too small. In m!
company were IL or II boys under l.
years of age in "a, the year I enlisted
From my neighborhood were four boys
one II, one II, my trin brother ant
myself, 16. We were the smallest boy.
in the regiment-my brother and l
He weighed at enlistment in February
t114k and weighed 1151s. In October
following he weighed 80 and I 81
pounds, and we were both at the front
| in the field with troops doing exactly
| what every soldier of the company die
| in our turn. The boy OF IA was wound
| ed at the Wilderness; the boy of II wa!
sent back sick-broken down by doine
| his duty, which he had undertaken be
| cause he was a patriot. and knowing
| the dangers, dared them. Now. ] fnsis
| that all ought to be pensioned alike
and the widows of all ought to be pen.
stoned alike; not less than $12 a month
| for any; not more for any than TO
| others.-John T. Murray, Co. G, 100tf
| Pa. (Roundheads), Titusville, Pa.
Why O.tracixe the Boys:
Comrade John Shanly, Private, Co
A, I'd N Y. M'td Rifles, and Sergeant
CO. d, Sd u. S. Art, writes from Tidi
| QUITE, "a. why uOeS SoHSTeSS pass
laws against one class of soldiers whicl
I thing ought to be honored? I hav
reference to the young soldiers VIII
enlisted at from IL to IS, with thei
parents consent, and the records will
show that they have to wait for year
before they are entitled to pension OIL
age; that is, 81 years. They didn't en-
list to escape the draft. They wer
taken out of school. and lost the chanc
of an education. They were not devel
oped for such a hard life. and brok
down sooner than a full-grown mar
1t seems to me that they ought to b
lrecompensed rather than be legislate
against. Now, If any comrade cares {
or any NJ. C. can show a just reason 70
discrimination against these boys
would be glad to see it. So far I hav
not seen even an attempt in that way
!; They just frame their bills in Congress
so that these boys are excluded fror
benefits allowed others. See that other
wise excellent Sherwood bill. Becaus
boy broke down in less than /
!. months he is excluded"