The National tribune., 1910-11-24
"HsRPING ON PENSIONS"
\ Comradc Who Is Distinctly Opposed
to IL,

Editor National Tribune: / have read
with extreme appreciation the letter OF
Comrade George S. Myers in your issue
of Oct. 81 last. Ii is truly refreshing 4
hear occasionally the sentiments ex-
pressed in the letter of Comrade Myers
A comrade assured me this morning
that he had discontinued your paper
for the reason that it was filled with
plants of comrades against the Gov
ernment for its niggardly policy to-
wards its soldiers. And this comrade
was a member of the 4th Mich, who
went out as n boy, served faithfully and
with distinction from 1876. and is
now a reputable and successful physi-
clan. l think ii true that the comrades
who make the most complaint are not
the men who went out early and came
back late, but those. rather. whose SER
vice was short. who never became hard
ened to campaign work and who look
back upon that service as a burden
some rather than a patriotic one.
would not do single comrade injus-
tice, but i think such is the case. Many
letters state: why. we can't live or
the pension granted" Is the comrade
TO do nothing? Has he lived all the
years since the war without laying by
anything? Has he been so improvi-
dent that he reaches old age penniless
In such cases Homes are provided. Sup
pose that the comradc had not entered
the service at all. From his history
after the war is it probable that he
would have laid by a sum that at six
per cent would have yielded him an
income Of S144?
This constant harping upon the sub
ject OF pensions has done much to take
from the comrades that public regard
that is their due. People to-day are
beginning to think that pelf, not pa
triotism, was the object of their ser
vice. And this constant clamoring for
increased pensions tends to cloud and
obscure that glorious spirit of patriotic
fervor that led our boys to forsake
home, friends and all the comforts ci
life. to meet the hardships of the camr
and march, the periis of the battlefield
the very hell of war. Let the old sol
diers of the Republic beware how they
helittle that spirit, and turn that ser
vice into the sordid consideration oi
dollars and cents. l wish to figurative.
ly shake hands with Comrade Myers
and congratulate him. Our Govern
who saved II, and comrades should bless
rather than abuse the Nation for il.
Lest II might be said that i speak
without knowledge, permit me to say
that 1 served from April. 1861, to April
1866; that / was member and presen,
at the first battle of the war, the first
Bull Run, where the dead of my regi-
ment, the 1st Mich. lay nearest the
enemy's line of any other In our army
who afterwards served in the Armies
of the Ohio and the Cumberland thru
all their distinguished service, who
went out, not for pay or pension, but
from the same spirit that actuated my
comrades in those days. love of coun-
try. Let us teach that to our children,
and in the name of patriotism bid them
stand for the country and the Flag.
i presume that you will not consider
the above worthy Of a place in your
columns, but that does not matter. You
have the expressions of my sentiments
nevertheless.-GeO. w. Farr, First Ser
geant, Battery NJ, Attn u. s. Art.