Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1912-02-23

These men with broken constitutions
are standing In the twilight hour wait
| shall have passed away no more will
the old soldier be seen upon our streets
! and. except in rare instances, he will
be memory. 1t is commendable Ia
are gone and to place flowers upon
their graves: but food upon their
tables in life is far preferable to flowers
upon their graves in death. 1t Is far
better to give them the necessities of
life, to make easy their few remain
ing years, than later to erect great
monuments to their memory. May the
time never be that upon those monu-
ments should be inscribed, "They were
neglected by the republic they saved"
The commissioner of pensions. l un-
ierstand. estimates the cost Of the
Sherwood bill at $75,000,0o0 year
above the present payments. This esti-
mate has been annlyzed by that gall
liant old soldier, General Sherwood.
This analysis appears III one OF his
speeches in the house. in which he
shows the cost to be about s43, 900. 600
more than expenditures under existing
laws. I prefer to accept his estimate.
The cost of this bill, then, would be
about S43,000,000 in addition to present
pension expenditures. Suppose 1t does
cost as much as is estimated by the
commissioner Of pensions. Even then
we should not hesitate While there
may be men who will receive pensions
which, possibly. they do not need, 1t Is
may be men who will receive pensions
to which they may not be entitled than
that deserving soldiers fail to receive
that to which they are entitled. The
pension roll is not one of charity but
one Of honor. Pensions are given in
part payment of that debt of endless
gratitude-still paying, still to owe.
No liberality of the nation could ever
pay that obligation.
In my humble Judgment the Sher-
wood bill! does not go far enough. in
that it makes no provision for the
widows of soldiers They had the
harder life. How tender and gentle
they were. With smiling face that hid
breaking heart she urged him on.
and when he was gone-after he had
proudly marched down the street to
the music of fife and drum, with the
old flag floating over him, supported
by the henediction of her smile-back
10 the little home she ran. broke down.
and wept the tears of bitter anguish.
Then came the struggle with poverty.
She could only work and hope and
pray GREATNESS she awaits the news
of every battle, sending up her suppl
cation for her soldiers safety; and yet
she hopes he was at the front. Spar
tan-like she widows herself for her
country's salvation. 1T is the type OF
an eternal truth that the souls armor
is never we'll set unless a womans
hand has braced it, and it is only when
she braces it loosely that the honor
of our manhood fails How full OF
struggle, hardship, sacrifice, and sor-
row the fateful years Of the war were
for her only her own heart knows.
Every advance toward human lib
erty, every great movement which mas
marked an epoch in the history OF the
world has been made possible by the
courage and sympathy of woman. That
courage and sympathy put Inspiration
and iron into the men at the front and
was not the least of all the factors
contributing to the success OF the
union arms.
Why do we not pass the Sherwood
bill? But one answer. we must
actice economy" We have in
creased in material wealth in TINS
country until our national resources
staeger mankind-an industrial pros
perity the like of which the world mas
never know. If we must practice econ
o11y let US practice it in some other
direction Let us not raise the cry OF
Economy" only when the soldier is IN
vo!ved. It must be remembered that
the purcha sing power OF the soioler
pension under the Sherwood bill would
probably not be greater than the pur-
chasing power Of the present pension
at the time when the various laws were
enacted Expense Of living has grown
as much for the soldier as 1t has 1or
anyone else Congress has raised the
salary OF its members. 1t has raisea
the salary of the president. 1t has en-
tered into an expense running into the
hundreds of millions for constructing
the Panama canal. 1t has even retired
Admiral Peary on rear admirafs pa!
for discovering something known as
the north pole, which no one cares
anything about.
We might economic in the house
and senate in the matter OF mileage.
There could be saving in this item o.
s125,o0O a year and yet leave 10 cents
per mile for travelling expenses. we
could economic by getting rid Of some
of the commissions that surround US
on every hand with enormous expense.
Possibly a few expeditions like that to
Lake Champlain, recently exposed IN
the house. might be dispensed with IN
the interest of economy. We have river
and harbor bills running into the mil
lions for the purpose of creating har-
bors where the Almighty forbade them
and rivers where nature PROMPTED
them. Perhaps these might be as
pensed with on the same ground. Pub
lie buildings might wait few years.
even tho it might injure the chances OF
a few men to go back to congress be-
cause they could not secure public
building at an enormous expense where