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TI-tB NATiOMAL TRIBUNE: WASHING-TON. D. 0., MAECH 25, 1882.
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(ESTABLISHCD 1877.)
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The validity cf the public debt of the United
States, authorized by law, including dedts incurred for
payment cf pensions and dounties ior services in oup
tressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not de ques
tioned." Sec. 4, Art. XIV, Constitution of the Uniteo
States.
tsrEJtea at the hiigtcn rcsT-omcc as sccohd-ciass matttr.
WASHINGTON, D. C, iLAKCH 25, 1SS2.
If you -want, io know at all times the
status of pension legislation, subscribe for
The National, Tribune.
A little stream of water perpetually fall
ing "will wear away in. time the hardest gran
ite. It is only necessary for the soldier to
keep hammering away at the doors of Con
giess to compel its reluctant members to
accede to his just demands.
No ex-soldier who still cherishes the mem
ory of his experiences in the army can afford
te do without The National Tribune. Its
contents are especially arranged with a view
io his instruction and entertainment.
, i" i
Nov that Congress has disposed of the
' rraim qui stioa in a brave and straight-
hid manner, it ought to take up the
. t ;::iikn .f Bounties Bill, and make it
jttt of special consideration. This
. . . justice has been already too long
. . j';tiimi is now brought squarely
' C"Ujii-eas whether it will authorize
. ji-Aiusicr Dudley to employ additional
.txaamt insuse thereby the settlement of
nil ihetrwo hundred and sixty-odd thousand
-penbiou claims within the next three years,
or whether it will refuse the appropriation
and remand our invalid heroes to the sus
pense and suffering which ten years more
of waiting will entail. Jt is a question of
patriotism versus parsimony.
The New York Herald now concedes that
there is no possibility of the repeal of the
Arrears of Pensions Act, but it hopes to pre
vent any further concession to our ex-sol
diers. It will fail again, however, if the
veterans rally to the support of their stead
last champion, The National Tribune.
The preparations for the Grand Army
.Encampment in Baltimore, next June, arc
going forward finely. The Chemical and
Fertilizer Exchange of that city has de
cided to take part in the formal reception
io the -visitors, and it seems probable that
many other influential civic organizations
-will unite in making the welcome :is hospit
able as possible. General Ross has dis
played the most commendable zeal and
activity in perfecting the arrangements for
the entertainment of the Grand Army.
"When the public press voices the real
sentiment of the people it is omnipotent;
vriih :t hundred thousand subscribers at its
'back The National Tribune will compel
Congress to recognize the rights of our dis
abled soldiers and sailors. Send in your
names.
According to Commissioner Dudley's
figures, it "will require between fifteen and
uxtoen hundred clerks to dispose of the
claims before the Pension Bureau Anth
ill the next three years, and the question for
Congress to decide ib whether it will vole
the money necessary to. pay for this increase
of force, or permit our ex-soldiers to wait ten
years longer for tho money that is due them.
Axe jiol tho men who sacrificed their health
and strength in defense of their country as
much entitled to its consideration as the
people of the States lately in rebellion for
whose support' during the continuance of the
Mtafcissippi overflow Congress has voted sev
tiral hundred thousand dolhtx?
At THE close of the war there were thou
sands of &oldy:ra whose injuries entitled them
a. pension, that declined to take, advantage
. f Ibe fact, preferring to support themselves
y their own labor, rather than apply to the
fovernment for the debt JL owed. them.
1 lad they filed their claim immediately after
leaving the service, & &-"would have been
granted -without aUlHy1,bufc,now the files of
the Bureau are encumbered by thousands of
3ck claims. How long will Congress keep
them waiting? It is a question which
demands an ausv. r.
Subscribe to The National Tribune.
Cntil June 3i), $1 per year.
The Issue I'airly Joined.
In answer to a Congre-sional inquiry
Commissioner Dudley fixes the number of
clerks that will be required to dispose of
the accumulated claims before the Pension
Bureau within the next three years at be-
"Pftn 1 finO ml 1 CC.ft otirl 41ir icciin llpfvPiMI
Couurcss and the uension annlicants as to
the time in which their claims should be
settled may now be said to have been fairly
joined. The only questions which remain
for Congress to consider are clearly: first,
Should the settlement of these pending claims
be expedited ? and, second, Cau the Treasury
afford the expense? As to the first point it
seems to us that there is little room for
debate. The number of claims that are now
on file in the Pension Bureau is something
over 2G0,U00. Upon the adjudication of
these claims depends probably the support
of an equal number of families, and, in all,
doubtless somewhere between half a million
and a million persons. The majority of the
applicants, as has been ascertained, are per
sons in poor circumstances who would never
have applied for Government aid but for
the fact that their own exertions are no
longer sufficieut to provide the means of
support Many of the claims have been on
file for very long periods, and the failure of
the Government to settle them has unques
tionably entailed widespread suffering upon
a class which it was the intention of the
pension Iuavs p spare. It is not claimed by
anybody that these unadjusted claims are
'aught but just and equitable, and there is
no reason for supposing that the percentage
of fraudulent or incomplete claims is any
greater among them than among those which
have already been settled. That, percentage,
in spite of the clamor of ignorant dema
gogues, like Senator Beck, and sensational
newspapers, like the New York Jlcmhh
has never reached serious proportions. In
deed, it is insignificant compared with
the percentage of fraud iu other Departments
of the Government. It could not well be
otherwise, in fact, considering the safeguards
which the law provides. The stipulations
concerning the character of evidence by
which pension claims must be supported
are such as to make it much more likely
that a deserving claim will be rejected than
that an unworthy one will be passed. Doubt
less had the framera of the law under which
the operations of the Pension Bureau arc at
present conducted anticipated such a rapid
accumulation of business as has taken place,
they would have provided better machinery
for its execution, and all that Congicss is
now asked to do is to make good that
omission". The claimants who-iie-jiow
waiting to have their pensions granted are
fully as much entitled to prompt action by.
the Pension Bureau as those whose peti
tions were acted on ten years ao. That
they did not sooner take advantage of the
pension law if; rather to their credit than i
otherwise. That they endeavored to sup
port themselves without recourse to the
Government at a time when they were
entitled to its aid is an evidence of their
courageous, manly, character, and it ought
not to dtbar them now from its support,
when they are no longer able to earn their
bread with their own hands. If justice ten
years ago required that the claim of the
disabled soldier, and sailor should be settled
promptly, Still more does it demand that no
unnecessary delay at the present time
should take place in hearing the petitions
of those who have only applied for pensions
as a last resource against poverty and
disease. Indeed, every day that passes
increases the obligation on the part of the
Government to lend an attentive ear to
these claimants, for the reason that as time
advances their helplessness must necessarily
increase. The men who were in the prime
of life at the close of the war are almost in
their dotage now, and the avenues of
employment which were open then have
been closed to them forever. At sixty it is
impossible for anyone, even the bravest and
most self-reliant, to begin life anew, and the
veterans who managed to struggle along
unaided immediately after the close of hos
tilities find it no longer possible to secure
profitable employment. Congressmen, bus
ied with private affairs and personal inter
ests, are much too apt to think of ex-soldiers"
ns if they were still as young as in the days
when they came marching homo to the
music of the bands. Some of them, too, we
regret to say, aro too much disposed to
regard them in the light of beggars for.
getfnl, apparently, of the services which
they have rendered to their country and
which must make the nation eternally their
debtor.
Ought the settlement of these claims to bo
expedited ? In the light of the facts which I
we have presented there can be but one
answer, and when it is further considered
that if these claims are not expedited it is
certain that many Of the claimants will be
deprived, by death, of the possibility of ever
receiving that aid to which they are entitled,
it seems to us that Pity must fight their
cause with even greater eloquence than
Equity.
As to the second point there can be but
one answer. The country ctn afford the
expense which the employment of these
additional clerks will entail upon the
Treasury. The annual revenues of the
Government at present -.exceed its ordinary
expenditures by the vast sum 019150,(300,000,
and this surplus is steadily growing. Of all
the public improvements that have been
proposed there is not one that could not
better be postponed than the settlement, of
these pending pension claims. The amount
required for additional clerical service ia
pitifully small in comparison with thatwhich
Congress is asked to vote for such projects as
that of the Eads Ship Canal, or the improve
ment of the Mississippi River. There is not
a Member of Congiv-M who dare affirm on
the floor of either Senate or House, that any '
.1
of the public enterprises which arc now
under consideration is immediately essential
to the welfare either of the Government or
the people. Even the reconstruction of the
Navy, which we regard as one of the most
important propositions before Congress,
could bo delayed without, in any way,
endangering the safety of the Republic, and
indeed, we cannot imagine any measure
involving the expenditure of money over
and above the ordinary demands of the
Departments that could not bo safely set
aside, were that necessary in order to pro
vide tho means for the payment of the
increased clerical force w?iich Commissioner
Dudley says -will be necessary in order to
dispose of the pending pension claims within
the next three years. As a matter of fact,
however, the appropriation required is so
small that it will not interfere, in any way,
with the measures we have enumerated.
Congress will lie false to itself, unfaithful to
the people, and unjust to the ex-soldier, if
it shall fail to vote the money which is
needed to carry out effectually its own
pension laws.
Tho Soldier In Politics.
It was one of the inevitable results of the
war that the soldier, upon its close, should
become a prominent figure in the politics of
the country. The heart of tho Nation went
out to the returning veterans in the day of
their final triumph and no distinction or
honor was deemed too exalted for its heroes.
It was ibis universal sentiment which in
IPOS called General Grant from the com
mand of our armies to the Presidency of
the Republic, and that continued him in
office during a second term. For the time,
perhaps, voters did not always discriminate
wisely between officers of military ability
only and those of general capacity, and ele
vated some who lacked tbo necessary quali
fications to places of trust and profit. But
the record of the soldier in politics, despite
these chance exceptions, is one that sheds
fresh lustre upon his fame. It is true that
pariisan malico sought to deface his rep
utation and prejudice the public mind
with the insinuation that the Federal offices
were being parcelled out among his com
panions in arms as the spoils of war, but
the calm judgment of history will always
be that the civic services of those who
entered the arena of politics fresh from the
army are not less worthy of the esteem
of their fellow-citizens than the skill and
courage they displayed upon the field of
battle. Nor could it well be otherwise. The
defense of the Union claimed not only the
muscle but the brains of the count-.. , . .
nothing is more remarkable in r. Y
history than" tho rapidity with wlii Vn '
inexperienced volunteer ofikrrs m
the. science of war. The army col.uuh.u, .
indeed, the flower of our manhood and the
ripest fruit of our culture, .while op'norlu
nity drew from unexpected sources ,rare
talent and genius. It was a fortunate thing
for the Nation that when the army disbanded
its brilliant leaders did'uot all retire from
active participation in its a flairs, else ome
of the most precious fruits of the rebellion
would still remain ungatbercd. Since the
war, four soldiers have successively occupied
the Presidential chair, and during tho period
of their service, covering nearly fourteen
years, the Kepublic has prospered to a de
gree unprecedented in its history. At the
present moment a gallant soldier is Speaker
of the House of iveprescntatives, and in the
Seuate the voices that once rang above the
roar of battle aro heard leading in debate.
No orator ever more eloquently upheld tho
supremacy of the civil law of the land than
the beloved soldier whom the Nation mourns
as its late Chief Magistrate, and no states
man ever displayed sublimer respect for the
will of the people ihan that other soldier
who was the dead soldier's rival for the
office Tho soldier in politics, as in war,
wears his fame unsullied.
Tho Chattanooga Campaign
General Ivosccrans tells the story of his
closing campaign with the Army of the Cum
berland with the straightforward simplicity
of an honest man and the modesty of a true
soldier. "We follow him, step by step, aB he
perfects his mighty plans to move an army
of sixty thousand men across sixty miles of
a mountainous country and over a navigable
river, every mile of which was patrolled by
a vigilant enemy on tho alert to discover
the point of crossing. A less enterprising
commander would have shrunk from the
perilous march over Sand Mountain to the
south of Chattanooga, and, with an eye to
tho safely of his army, would have marched
into East Tennessee by way of Pikoville,
Dunlap, am points north to Cleveland, on
the right flank of General Burnsidc By
this movement the darling project of Presi
dent Lincoln, to liberate East Tennessee,
would have been achieved and the people
satisfied, but the confederate army, un
touched by the movement, would have held
possession of Chattanooga and the shortest
route to his rear, which latter should have
been covered by the Army of the Tennessee.
Tho East Teuuesseo campaign by General
Burnsidc with the Army of the Ohio, and
the Chattanooga campaign by General Eose
crans with the Army of the Cumberland,
wcic independent of each other as relates
to the commanders, but wero one in tho
estimation and under tho management of
the War Department. From the -first the
movements were intended to be as nearly as
possible simultaneous. Burnsido moved on
ibe 20th of August with 22,000 men in two
columns over the mountains and concen
trated his army at Montgomery, in East
Tennessee, below Knoxville, on the 1st of
September. At this time Rosecrans wa3
crossing the Tennessee Eiver ai ! ' .'.
den wr.s moving upon Chattam .
positive orders gncu to Burn.'
leaving Kentucky, and reiteratcc iw. r
i again after he reached East Tennessee,
were to connect with Roaecrans's left.
The allusion to General Burnside's move
ment up the valley towards Virginia is
tersely put by General Rosccraus: "Burn
sido was hunting, with 22 000 men, for
i General Sam .Tones, who, with less than
! 0,000 men, was toling him off up into
Virginia." The fact is, that this confederate
general, in response to,ji request from Gen
eral Bilckner, to look after his department,
had come down the road from Dublin, Vir
ginia, and arrived at Abingdon in time to
hear of Burnside's invasion of East Tennes
see. General Jones at once dispatched a
messenger to Cumberland Gap, with orders
to General Frazier to hold out as long as
possible. Tho messago reached Frazier on
the day of his surrender, on the 9th of Sep
tember. Henceforth there was nothing for
Jones to do but to keep up a show of force
in Burnside's front, and, if possible, prevent
him from detaching any considerable portion
of his force to the aid of General Eosecrans.
He performed that service with a force of
little over 5,000 men, about one half of
which were fractional parts of companies
and regiments, bridge guards, and such odds
and ends as Buckncr had not thought it
worth his while to gather up previous to
marching to the relief of Bragg. In spite of
the daily orders of General Ilalleck to close
down on Gereral Rosecrans's left, tho 19th of
September found Burnsidc, with his army,
at Jonesboro, one hundred miles above
Knoxville, and more than two hundred
miles from Chickamauga battle ground, to
which point obedience to' the constantly
reiterated orders of General Hajlcck would
have led l.im, in ample time, to reinforce
Ivosccrans with 10,000 infantry before the
battle. For this service General Jones
received the thanks of the president of the
confederacy; and the absence from tho field
by Burnside's veteran infantry, afforded
Secretary Stanton a pretext for removing
General Eosecnuis from the command of tho
army that he had three times within a year
led in campaigns which resulted in wresting
Middle and East Tennessee from the grasp
of the "Southern Confederacy."
General Meigs, who visited Chattanooga
shortly after the battle, pronounced the
work of transporting supplies to subsist
Itosecrans's array twenty days, and ammuni
tion for two great battles from Stevenson
over the mountains and down to Chatta
nooga in the presence of the enemy, to be
"not only the greatest thing in this war, but
a great thing in any war." While at Steven
son, "and pending the execution of his plans
crossing the Tennessee, General Rose
ns sent for Messrs. Fletcher & Co., of Chi
i i- o, and Messrs. Boomer & Co , of St. Louis,
h whom he contracted for railroad bridges
over the Tennessee and the Punning Water,
the former 2,700 fret long, and the latter re
quiring piers 110 feet high, with a span 175
feet in length.. He also contracted for the
construction of six flat-bottomed steamboats,
to be used in transportation of supplies on
the upper Tennessee. All his plans for hold
ing possession of Chattanooga were literally
carried out by General Thomas, who, with
tho manliness which characterized that noble
man and true soldier, gave his predecessor
full credit in his official reports fbr having
originated them.
The rtltisoii Gaio.
The sentenco passed upon Sergeant Mason,
of eight years' confinement in the peniten
tiary for his assault on Guitcau, has natur
ally awakened a great deal of sympathy for
the prisoner in. all parts of the country, and
subscriptions have been opened in all the
leading cities for the relief of his family,
which, by the action of the court martial, is
practically deprived of its natural means of
support. We aro not among those who,
from considerations of sentiment, take issue
with tho verdict of tho court martial.
Mason was tried according to tho forms of
military law, aud was convicted solely on
tho evidence submitted during the trial.
That evidence showed conclusively that the
accused had fired into the cell occupied by
Guiteau with the deliberate intention of
putting an end to his life, and had his aim
been better, or Guiteau at tho moment been
in tho position in which Mason supposed
him to be, the assassin of President Garfield
would doubtless, then and there havo ex
piated his crime. Mason himself has never
denied that he intended to kill Guiteau, nor
was there anything in the evidence before
the court martial to show that he was not
in his right mind when he attempted the
deed. No more than Guitcau was ho "in
spired" to commit it. He may, indeed,
have deluded himself with the idea that he
was rendering a scrvieo to the country by
taking the law into his own hands, and that
public sentiment would justify his action;
but while tho knowledge that he was influ
enced by that belief may incline us to pity
him, it cannot justify us in excusing him.
Tho vindication of the law must always he
a matter of greater cousequenco than tho
welfaro of the individual, and tho same
reasons -which made it of tho highest im
portance that Guitcau should be given a full
and fair trial before a jury of his peers
rendered it essential that Mason should be
subjected to tho same ordeal. Both were
offenders against the law; and it would have
been a direct encouragement of lawlessness
had cither been permitted to escape tho
natural consequences of their acts. Wc
should have considered it a great calamity
had Mason's shot removed Guiteau b'eyond
tho jurisdiction of earthly courts. It must
inevitably havo degraded tho Nation in the
eyes of tho world and placed it on a level
with Mexico or the South American Republics,
where one assassination is quickly followed
jy another, and the sword is tho only
minority which tho people recognize and
respect.
When Mason fired his futile shot, he not
only struck at the right of the prisoner to be
tried for his crime according to the forms of
law, but the right'of his fellow citizens to
be consulted as to tho punishment of his
crime; for the law, it should bo remembered,
is tho registered will of tho whole Nation,
while tho act of Mason was but a form of
personal revenge. Mason's offense, therefore,
against his country was greater even than
that against Guiteau, ancljt well deserved
the punishment which has been meted out
to it by the military court. It was neces
sary to the vindication of justice that he
should be adjudged guilty or not, according
as the evidence warranted.
When we have said this, however, wo
have said all that is demanded by that re
spect for the law, which, with every good
citizen, should be more potent than any
feeling of personal pity. Mason has been
committed and sentenced, and we believe
that that sentence, in its purely legal aspect,
is approved by the judgment of the country
at large. It does 'not follow, however, now
that the law has been vindicated, that he
should be exempted from tho operation of
Executive clemency. Tho lesson which his
trial and conviction were intended to im
press upon the country has already been
sufficiently enforced, and the President may
now safely incline his ear o the petitions
for mercy which are pouring in from all
parts of tho country. Stoutly as public
opinion supported the action of the court
martial, it does not desire to see the prisoner
put to any great personal hardship. In the
city of Chicago alone, more than one hun
dred thousand people have signed a petition
for his pardon, and undoubtedly it is the
sentiment of the Nation generally that the
Executive might now, with propriety, miti
gate the severity of the sentence. It would
be unwise, perhaps, to extend a full pardon,
but at least the term of his imprisonment
might be shortened. Meanwhile we trust
that the subscriptions which have been
started for the benefit of his impoverished
family will realize a goodly sum. Its mem
bers are fit objects of public charity, and
ought not to be forced to share the conse
quences of a crime for which they are in no
degree responsible.
m
The Death-Knell of Polj-gamy.
It is impossible to foresee at this early
day what the practical outcome of the Ed
munds anti-polygamy bill that finally passed
the House, last week, will be, but it is a long
step iu the right direction. Wo may be
sure that the Mormons will impede its exe
cution iu every way that lies within their
power, and it will .not do to under estimate
either their cunning or their' power. The
practice of polygamy is nob by any means
universal in the Mormon communities, bnt
belief in its divine origin is a cardinal prin
ciple of the Church of Latter Day Saints as it
exists in Utah it is hot among the. Mormons
of Illinois-and other sections of the East
and even those who secretly detest it dare
not revoke their allegiance. As in the days
of the Mountain Meadow Massacre, there
will be enthusiasts always at hand to exe
cute the decree of the Elders, however cruel
they may be, but the day when armed re
sistance was practicable has gone by forever.
Even the methods of business persecution
which the Mormons have employed against
offending Gentiles are no longer effectual,
as tho prosperity of the anti-polygamy mer
chants of Salt Lake City conclusively proves.
The rulers of the Mormon church are too
astute not to perceive that in the present
state of public sentiment in the East it
would be madness to commit any overt act.
The trackless wilderness no longer interposes
a barrier to the assertion of Federal suprem
acy. A railroad spans the continent now,
and from either side, if the necessity should
arise, the Government could stretch out its
arm and throttle rebellion in its cradle. The
first drop of Gentile blood shed by Mormon
hands -would arouse the wrath of the whole
Nation, and nothing would remain to tho
leaders of the church but a choice between
abject submission and absolute extermina
tion. The governing spirits of the Estab
lishment are too wise to provoke a trial of
brute strength with fifty millions of people.
It would bo more in keeping with their
character to make a show of acquiescence,
under compulsion, in the will of Congress,
and fall back upon political chicanery to de
feat the intent of the law. Whother they
will be able to do so or not, depends chiefly
upon the prudence, sagacity, and courage of
the Territorial Commission created by the
Edmunds bill. The members of that body
will be virtually charged with the filling of
all the territorial offices as well as the es
tablishment of a new election system, and
it will require the most searching vigilanco
to'makc sure that their appointees aro not
Mormon ageuts in disguise. With the admin
istration of justice in Gentilehands it will be
possible to secure juries of law-respecting citi
zens, and when once it has been demonstrated
that convictions can be had and sentences
enforced for polygamy in Utah as well as
Now York tho evil can speedily be sup
pressed. It is the assertion of tho majesty
of tho law that is the sole and supreme aim
of tho Edmunds bill, and now that the issue
has at last been squarely joined with the
law-breakers, public opinion will press it to
a final settlement Whether the present
measure prevails "or fails, the death-knell of
polygamy has sounded for tho Mormons.
The United States has no vast standing
army to maintain, no extensive system of
frontier;fortifications to keep up, no immense
royal establishment to support, and no war
indemnity to pay, and yet there are those
who would have it repudiate its debt to the
soldier.
As a home journal, The National Tei
bune has few equals. Its literary pages
sparkle with gems of poesy and prose, and
the agricultural department is one of the
most interesting in the country.
"Woman in tho "War.
From time immemorial woman luis shared
with man the sorrow, the pain, the priva
tions, and sometimes even the perils of war.
Her loving hands have ministered to the
sick and wounded and closed with gentle
touch the eyelids of the dying. In the camp,
in the hospital, on tho field, in prison, her
sweet presence has been felt and the inspira
tion of her example buoyed up the hopes of
the despondent. The hamo of Florence
Nightingale will live as long in the memory
of the British soldier as that of the Duke of
Wellington.
Nowhere in classic or modern history,
however, can there be found! ft 'parallel for the
heroism of American womeVi in the war of
the rebellion. It is true that no monument
in bronze or granite or marble has ever been
raised to commemorate their devotion to tho
Union, but the fame of their services will
not on that account be the less enduring.
Their gentle fingers picked the lint and
fashioned the bandages for the wounded and
prepared the great boxes of clothing and
delicacies for the camp. Their gentle voices,
heard above the roar of the battle, spoke
sweet wor,ds of sympathy and insolation to
the sick and-dying; their gentle eyes shed
the consecrating tear of pity over the un
known dead and the nameless grave. Some
there were who were not content with these
loving ministrations, and disguising their sex
in the garb of the soldier performed such
feats of courage and daring as to excite the
wonder of their comrades. Their names, in
everybody's mouth at the close of the war,
have already been forgotten, but their
achievements are still recalled as consti
tuting the most romantic phase of that
sanguinary struggle.
But it was not at the front only that the
women of the war won for themselves a
fame immortal. Upon them fell the burden,
in too many cases, of supporting the family
which the country's necessities had deprived
of a natural head and protector. While our
armies were contending with treason in the
field the women of the country were strug
gling with poverty at home, yet in spite of
the trials of that memorable period no word
of complaint escaped their lips. It is to
their eternal honor that while disaffection
sometimes manifested itself in the ranks and
even the most intrepid 'leaders had their
moments of despair, the women of the Re
public never faltered in their faith nor
wavered 'in their courage. No words can
adequately describe that long martyrdom
when they knew nob at what moment tho
news might come of the loss of husband, or
son, or lovqr, or brother. At this distance
I it seems impossible that they should, have
survived it; yet nothing is more certain
than that it was their devotion which in
spired the valor of the soldier and their
calm, unquestioning faith which sustained hi3
courage. But for the women of the country
the war might have had a different outcome.
It was their bravery and self-sacrifice which
constituted, after all, the real bulwark of
the Republic's safety, and the historian will
be false to his trust who shall fail to so
record it. Let us cherish, thentheir ex
ample as one that when fresh dangers
threaten the existence of the Government
will be not less inspiring than that which
.the soldier himself has bequeathed to the
Nation. As the poet says, " The bravest aro
the tenderest, the loving are the daring."
A Flank Movement.
Made desperate by their recent reverses,
the enemies of pension legislation have at
temped a flank movement. They are now
bending all their energies to the task of se
curing a reduction if not the complete abol
ishment of the internal revenue taxes. If
they succeed the income of the Government
swill, of course, be seriously impaired, and
tho present annual surplus of 150,000,000
may possibly be wiped out altogether, in
which event they would have, of course, an
apparently reasonable excuse for antagoniz
ing all pension measures.
No opportunity has arisen as yet for test
ing the sense of Congress on thjs question,,
but it is to be feared that its backbone will
need strengthening, as in the case of the
Arrears bill. The prospect of a reduction in
taxation will, upon first thought, undoubt
edly impress the public favorably, but upon
further reflection it will be seen that it is a
delusion and a snare. The beneficiaries
would not be the consumers but the manu
facturers, aud the former would soon dis
cover that the saving in taxation had gone
to swell the latter's profits. But aside from
this, what possible necessity exists for the
proposed reduction ? Tho business of tho
whole covmtry has adjusted itself to the
I present system of taxation, and that it is
abundantly able to bear it is sufficiently at
tested by the unexampled prosperity at the
present moment. Now, if ever, it seems to
us, is the time for the Government to pay
its debt to the soldier instead of seeking a
pretext to repudiate that obligation, and our
veterans should see to it that their Repre
sentatives are not permitted to remain in
ignorance of their sentiments on-this sub
ject. They are certainly entitled to as much
consideration as the rumsellers who daily
besiege the Capitol and clamor for a reduc
tion of the tax on their soul-destroying
traffic!
In this case, as in all others that affect
the ex-soldier and sailors, The Tribuxe
sounds the note of warning to its readers
and urges them to watch the course of their
Representatives in Congress.
When the demagogue sounds the slogan of
repeal of Internal Revenue laws, let them
remember fiat this revenue arises mostly
from tho importation of seal skin sacques
and brandy and the manufacture of whisky
and cigars and taxes of national banks.
The National Tribune has a larger cir
dilation than all other journals which affect
to look after the interests of the soldier combined.
