The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-06-06
PUBLIC OPINION
. . o . o o . . o o Q o 8 o o
An Old veteran's Reply.


To the Editor Of The Gate City:
1t is with great reluctance that
send this communication, but an art
lcle appearing in your paper of last
Monday evening, demands that some
notice be taken of the reasonable ut
| terances of one Of the ministers Jf
this city, if same is correctly reported.
| l was not present, nor did hear the
address of Mr.. McAllister of the First
Baptist church, on last Sunday, when
he held Memorial services for the
old soldiers of the civil war, who were
especially invited to attend service
for their special benefit.
During the course of his remarks he
referred to some Of the veterans OF
the civil war as drunken sots" AMI
as "parasites' and that "the quicker
they were dead and out of the way, the
better" and other utterances of sim
liar nature, character and meaning,
which were a direct and objectionable
insult to the old soldiers who sat and
listened to 1t and to the veterans OF
the civil war in general. Such utter
ances are not only objectionable, but
unpatriotic. The old soldiers, whom
ne SO bitterly condemned, are the ones
that made it possible for him to oc.
Supy uIo diiu SASIClSS Tie TlSut
of free speech. However, it seems that
this minister of the gospel has no
conception of the lines Of gentlemanIy
conduct or decency After inviting
the cid worn out, decrepid soldiers TO
come into his place Of worship, ne
then turned and in a ruthless and liz
sulting manner heaped abuse and OUT
rage uron their gray heads and feeble
bodies. 1t would seem that he hal
entirely forgotten the period of 1860
to 1865, and that he never heard of a
Gettysburg, Appomattox, Malvern Hiil
or Lookout mountain, and that if he
ever heard of the Libby prison it
has entirely escaped his feeble intel
.lect. Men who fought for the mere
ptttance of $500 per month and who
underwent the hardships OF the sol
diers of both the north and south,
ought not be condemned by religious
enthusiasts who so far forget all rules
of hospitality, as to invite the ged
and gray into their enclosure and
! then turn and hurl insults at them
The soldiers who fought for his coun-
try over half century ago, at $500
per month, ought certainly at this
time, to be free to spend his small pen
sion, as to him seems best, without be-
, Ing subjected 70 the severe and I'M
warranted criticism which animated
from the lips of this so-called man OF
| God. It may be that some OF the old
guard drink, and at times may drink
| to excess, but that is not sufficient to
condemn them in the manner that was
done by the preacher. call to mind,
the utterances of the immortal Lincoln
when he said to the traducers of Gen
eral Grant who charged the general
j with drunkenness: please tell me
what brand of whisky Grant drinks, as
| l want the same brand for all my gen
erals" The statements of this late
importation to Keokuls, nor his uncall-
led for, malicious and reasonable
actions will ever impair the high
standing which every patriotic Amer
lean citizen has placed upon the sol
dlers Of America, and though the SOL
der may have his faults, yet he serv-
eu his country and served it well.
upheld and furthered the interests of
humanity and In SO doing, served his
God.
| L. A. BERRYHIIL.