The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-02-29

able to redeem currency issued to
 prosecute the war and without ap-
 prehension of ''pauperiZing'' the re-
 cipients but simply as a just due for
 services rendered. And so far as sol
 dierS of the civil war are concerned,
 as an inducement to enlist, a pension
 was promised and regarded as an as
 sured and unquestionable future com
 pensa tiOn, equally with monthly pay,
 as an immediate compensation. It
 can be disputed with no more con
 sistency than the promise of a future
 heavenly home, as an 1nducement to
 accept the practice the teachings of
 Christ is promised as a future com
 pensatiOn for enliSting in his service.
 However numerous his followers may
 become and however it may tax heav-
 ems resources to accommodate them
 ing the promise or refusing admit
 tance, (certainly not, while boasting
 of its great eXpanse and unlimited re-
 sources,) or telling them as humble
 and loyal followers they should be
 content with having given service in
 behalf of a righteous cause and no more consistently can the govern ment refuse the pensions promised fairly due to those whose service made the nation what it is today, viz. est Nation on Earth" etc. haggle over pensions to those who made those pensions a possibility.
 Let us examine the goods Rough ly, twenty million people raised one million soldiers and had them in the field at one time. They fought more or less for four years in some three thousand engagements. and some three hundred thousand of them were killed and they incidentally incurred a debt of some three billion dollars soldiers were taxed to pay, not ac- cording to their property but accord ing to the number they were trying to support and their success in pro- fTV- fhafv fe d, all those who were dependent on their labor for their income have been com pelled to compete with the so-called ''pauper labor of Europe" till there is scarcely a factory throughout the Eastern or New England states where foreigners are not the predomlnatlng element by a large majority, as the strike in Lawrence. Mass, bears wit ness, where more than fifty languages, either give evidence of the SXtra ord di- nary versatility and attachments of American laboring men or a diverse and iucongruous nationality.
 It is extremely doubtful if the two combined armies that fought in the civil war could speak so many differ mill hands of Lawrence, Mass. The universal language in the United States at the time of the civil war, was ordinarily, plain English, all though at times profane English pre- vailed.
 As an antiquated atom of the civil war, SnOulu IIke present some views regarding the Sherwood pen son bill, in behalf of other antiquated atoms who have nothing on which to base their claim to pensions except the fact of service faithfully perform ed, which is attested by an honorable discharge unaccompanied by hospital or prison record, medal of honor or officers commission
 The Sherwood pension bill includes all who served in the civil war re- gardless of age and is based on ser vice. This is the only fair method, since length of term of service may be quite as misleading as to danger and hardship endured as medals oI honor or Carnegie hero medals in de- tion, one man might have served two years with Mcclellan organizing vic tory on the Potomac and incidentally performed masterly retreat without which four months service with Grant, from the Wilderness to Petersburg would have afforded. Regarding spe- cial claims of commissioned officers, I would say, there was never a lack of them or any bounty offered to ob- tain their service. nor any difficulty in filling their places, while, regarding the atoms, who provided the founda- tion of the army, there was a time when one was offered from $1,00O to $1,500, or even more to join the other atoms in shat whirlwind where life was cheap and uncertain and hard ship was certain and unremitting- So far as age is concerned my impression has a'ways been that a boy who was not of age to be subject to military service and voluntarily performed such service, ought not to be penalized for not being born sooner and his service and not his birth should cons flute his claim to a pension. The only in the provisions of the bill that can be fairly in would be the exclusion of those superior patriots who exp 'o:t 4E,, E1xrd donnI1yo oiY, sions as a graft on the government and demanded only by a, selfish and reckless portion of the army who are devoid of those lofty sentiments of pa- triotic se'f-sacrifice which exudes from them with such dazzling radiance and envelores them with such a resplen- dent halo. They should be left with ra diance and haloS undimmed and un- sI1I jed by contact with pecuniary rec ognIt on. An amendment conveying gratitude and profound ad- cept and example of what constitutes an unselfish and lofty patriot should be accorded them and would urdoubt- edly be acceptable to them Having thus provided for those tranScendent beings, it is to be hoped that the JJ S Senate will enact the Sherwood bill with as little delay as possible in be- half of those unfortunates still inf1u- enced by normal desires for food and clothing which the proposed bill might alleviate.
 And in so doing II might De worthy of consideration that the soldiers of the "Lost Cause,' although defeated, have been esteemed as patriots who were entitled to all the compensa tion their states were able to give and although excluded from the pension roll under the government of which they are recognized as native born cit .zens; their states still suffering from the ravages of war, bankrupt with i currency and bonds rendered worth less exerted themselves S provide lenders, even though defeated, and the cause for which they fought ren- dered hopeless, thus displaying the same regard for those who fought in l heir behalf as was display yed by those