The National tribune., 1911-01-19

comes around will have expended every
dollar of it for the necessities of life;
l so that SO far as the business OF the
| country Is concerned. it is as il a man
! took money from one pocket and put
! it into the other. so quickly does 1t re-
! enter the channels of trade. But there
| is another reason why the plea that this
measure will lay n heavy burden upon
f the Treasury fails utterly to appeal to
me. And that is because i cannot for
! GET hope / shall never forget-that IL
| 1t had not been for the men to whom
this money goes. there would not have
been any Treasury of the United States"
| In closing Mr.. Scott said:
81 shall cast my vote for this meas
IRE. therefore, not only without COM
| Function, but with the utmost satisfac-
| ton, rejoicing that / am to have an OPP
| portunity as one of the last acts of my
Congressional life to again put on rec
ord the gratitude / feel as an American
| citizen toward the men to whom this
Nation owes a debt it can never repay,
but which il cannot too often acknowl-
! edge"
Cameron, of Arizona.
Mr. Cameron, of Arizona, earnestly
! confessed: Il am one of that great
horde of men in this country who wor-
ship at the shrine of the hero of many
battles; the man who has worn the
uniform, who has responded in the
Nations hour OF need and Staked his
all in her behalf. The old soldier is to
me, as he is to many another man who
looks upon him, an object to be most
honored of them all You and I rlay
contribute a bit of money here, given
amount of service there, for the good of
our country, but here are the men who
have staked their all, even unto life
itself, in the faithfulnesS of the soldier,
x1z.c. 4 Il =
Cameron then declared that when he
went to Arizona it was then a border
land of civilization which gave little
promise of wealth. Among the men
he found in the early West, he declared,
| were great numbers of old soldiers.
They were the venturesome spirits; they
We're the stout hearts; they were the
men who dared. The spirit that made
the good soldier made the good pioneer.
These men have performed no small
part in the development of the West.
Their services did not cease when the
war ended; they are serving still The
same may be said of the veteran wher-
ever he may be found. He has fought
good fight until the frosts of age whit
ened his locks and stiffened his limbs
In closing Mr.. Cameron effectively said:
He may be in want. He may suffer
hunger and cold. 1t may be that these
old men who fought III the ranks from
WHICH cODlraueS itll ana VINO SrldICneu
the Stars and Stripes from the stiffened
fingers of fallen comrade and bore it
on, are even now suffering. They are
the founders of a great prosperity. The
Nation has grown strong and rich as
the years have passed since her great
emergency. In the face of this pros
perity there seems little reason why she
should deny these few small cents fcc
the few short years for-the ease anu
comfort of the men who have made
this prosperity possible for her"
Mr.. Hanna, of North Dakota, favored
the passage of the bill. He said:
1T would seem that 1t is no more
than right and just that now, in their
old age, we should do for the old SOL
diers as this great Nation can well af-
ford to do, and make the few years
that remain to them little easier, lit
tie brighter"
Mr.. Graham. of Illinois, said that
there were undoubtedly some defects
in the bill, but that there were few
measures offered or adopted in any
legislative body that are free from de-
fects. He thought that the bill would
no doubt give pensions to some who did
not need them, but that the fact that
they did not need them does not prove
that they are not entitled to them. He
declared that granting liberal pensions
to our soldiers is not matter of char
ity. but q matter of right and, being of
right, the fact that an old soldier hap
pens to be wealthy does not interfere
with his right to pension. Mr.. Graham
then made the pathetic statement that
during the present session he got pri-
vate bills thru for two of his "old boys"
and fastened 20 notify them of the fine
prospects ahead only TO learn that they
had been mustered out, and that they
had spent their last days dependent on
the charity of neighbors, and he said
earnestly: I'VE are too much in their
debt to suffer these conditions TO con-
tinue." He then quoted President Lin
coins last public official utterance, when
he urged on the people ito bind up the
Nations wounds and to care for him
who shall have borne the battle and for
his wife and orphan" He thought the
bill not as liberal as it ought to be, but
it ought to be passed.