The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1912-11-06
A LETTER ON PENSIONS.
This Man Says He Was Little Cor
poral on Fools Bridge.

In the November American Magazine
contributor writes the following inter
esting letter ON the subject of pensions;
II am glad to see that you print a
communication from The Son of Vet
eran Taxpayer, who mildly protests
against the government paying out four
billion dollars in pensions. cat the
present rate OF Sl60000000 year to
03l,000 pensioners.l
"Since reading that letter, | see that
a bill is up in Congress proposing to
increase the pay TO pensioners about
S25 100000 a year | also notice that
General Siclyles in New York is reported
to have said recently, in talk to vet
Grams:
Damn the taxpayer and glory to
the soldier Then he said something
about standing up and being shot at for
Sll month.
"It is that remark about glory to
the soldier that arrests my attention.
am afraid that there isn't going to
be any glory left for the soldier unless
somebody gets to work and shuts off
the counter-rritant TO glory, which ia
money reward in all cases for doing the
fine thing.
IL have Just had out my multiplied
ton table and figured up that since the
Civil war one of those Sll month men,
if he has had any sort of hustle in him,
has received in a pension from our gov
eminent at least $4,000 tsl2 a month
for 30 years only amounts to $4,320--a
very conservative estimate. one that ac-
tually covers multitude OF cases. A
million times $4,000 has actually been
paid out by the government in pensions
since the war;.
This seems something like compen-
sation for spending year or two in
your early twenties fighting for princi-
Pile. 1t robs the splendid soldier of a
little of the glory that General Sickles
rightly SAYS should be his. am speak
ing. remember. not about those who died
a valiant death on the battlefield, but |
to those whose liyers and legs Tor rela-
tivesl have held out until 1912, enabling |
them to cash checks.
''The soldier who goes through a war, |
escapes death, and lives to three score
md ten, has probably had abont an even |
break with the average human being. /
When was twenty did not 20 to war, I
although I think that my mother might |
perhaps have enjoyed herself as much if
had been in an army as she did with |
ne where ! was. For was little cor
,oral on fools bridge-in danger every
moment And my what crowd there
yas All the boys were there. We
lid not receive sll month: indeed we
ost more than that And after the
rouble was over We never had any re-
Inions, never uniform. All that time
gas dead loss. Our fathers and moth
rs never got anything out Of it not
ven a chance to see us parade. We are
Insung, unadmired. and unpaid
II rather think that a boy who sue
eeds in missing bullets between the age
t twenty and twenty-five has come off
bout as well as one with a high collar
nd creases in his pants. | know sew
raj OF the latter who We're killed and
But won't tell YOU their
ames There is nothing in their story
, cause anybody to set up monument
n them.
mo. the soldier of the Civil war who
i'm lives (and we are talking about no
thersl got through youth pretty well.
lore people are proud TO talk about
is youth than care to refer TO mine II
too bad for him to spoil any part of
IS glory