Daily Kennebec journal., 1912-02-05

breathes a spirit worthy of the great
STATE that sent SO many splendid sol
diers to the front.
."rhe Capital is in favor oi ~ ,ie ,he late
nensions for all the soldiers oA
civit wv do not care what the bill rs eaniSo emo
xVo do not care whether it Is ,le aoiar-
,vay bill the Sherwood plli ;r ~ hilI IL
dov hill or the SerYice-peilSioi o
.!rhis great country can aioru ~ P%s Pthe
for snuporting the men VINO iousif the
battles which saved the had not saved
Noun33r Ni, 33rninn' life would not now be worth
living i'll America. who re-eulisted
ssThe three-year men WY .is,,,av and
I'm 1Ss@ and 1864 in the face OF alsIilas ano so
- i,,iilr>Stat. ought TO receive $50 II Hloilll -
Inng as they shall live. Ihe Cnioii -, wo''N
nave been dissolved except ior itl,. tileia, :,
"a country that can burn up money ~, n
i,,.;a,tion projects, Panama Canais anu
rnciamation schemes is certaihy iI Va
cnoueh TO feed and care LOT hei oi'
soldiers. =, ,ra willing to vote
CO.. a,,,. old scheme without stopping 10
figure, but when it comes 10 pehSio'''
they must begin to count tue Soes, .ha.a
.Jf the Union had been dissolved, ,tI me-
,,,Ia NOT now be a Panama canal
theTe would be no irrigation schemes, ~"
rnciamatfon service. Neither would any
body be worrying now IN, IN reia'ioii ~ '''e
pr9Pietii p.:,pi, conntTv is rich. The tight wads
who did not serve their country should
come across. a., .., +be mon
who saved the Union should stop rms
great country should stand by the men
who stood behind their guns. an.
This free land should remember the
mon who slept on the ground.
"a great people should forever remem-
her those who suffered with disease in
rebel prisons -. ..,....
matter 1t is simply justice and patriot
ism.
I'VE do not care whether the Sher-
wood bill would cause the expenditure Of
s75 600 or Sl0OW W0,oue. 1t ought to pass
by unanimous vote.
In this connection James Kepliart.
18th L. s., Webster City, Iowa, sends
US the following editorial from the
Freeman Tribune. which he says
voices in a large measure the feeling
of the press in Iowa, which IS always
loyal to the core and represents the
nearly $4,000 loyal soldiers sent from
the state. many of whom are sleeping
in unknown graves in the Southland;
Let her pass and ngure up the cost
later on. We have reference 10 the pei
sion bill that Will give every oesefNliIS
old Union soldier of the civil war pen
sion of at least a dollar Il day. Nhat
would this country be but for the sacri-
fees and heroism of the men VINO iaceu
shot and shell. disease and pestllence III
'6l 80 when the life OF the Nalloh was
trembling in the balance? Yet %hen " is
proposed to give these men pensions that
shall care for them in their old age every
old skin-flint in the country, whether IN
Congress or out, takes out his lead pencll
and begins to figure. W no cares 1t ,it
does cost S15,0CO.COo a year or S2N,0o0Uv
year? This United States is richer than
mud. and can afford to pay whatever rs
necessary to make the evening of life as
happy to the old soldiers as money can
make 1t. When ii was proposed feW
years ago to increase the salaries of
Senators and members of the Lower
House by $500 per year. the old tight
wads did not get out their dirty old pen
ellis to figure up the cost What does the
20 cents mileage allowance cost the peo-
of the mails cost? Nobody in Congress
knows or cares. But when it is proposed
to be liberal with the men who saved
this Nation from disruption it is charged
that such extravaganza will bankrupt
the Treasury Let her bankrupt. then in
crease the tax on whtskey and tobacco
a little, cut out the abused franking priv
ileGes, practice real economy for a few
months, and the old Treasury will again
be overlooking. Men who didn't hesitate
minute to face all the terrors of war
at S13 a month when the Nation was
poor. and that, too. III a deprecated cur
rency. are entitled to generous remem-
brance when the Nation becomes 50 rich
that it can hardly find ways to spend its
surplus coin.''