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THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE: WiSilNGTON D. 0., THURSDAY, MARCH 15, 1883.
The National Tribune.
(Established 1877.)
JI TO CRr FOR HIM WHO HAS BORNE THE DATTLE, AND FOR
His vnoow and orpmaks." Abraham Lh.coln.
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tkco." Sec. , Art. XIV, Constitution of the Umtcd
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Paul VanDervoort,
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The National Tribune.
WASHINGTON, D. C, MARCH 15, 1SS3.
TJie number of subscriptions to TnE NA
TIONAL Tbibune received during the week,
ending Tuesday, March IZih, tvas 1,036.
The number of pension certificates issued
and signed during the week ending March
13th, was as follows: Original, 975 ; increase,
183; re-issue, 45; restoration, 17; duplicate,
19; arrears, 5; accrued pensions, 53; total,
1,297.
i i -
A subscbibeb to TnE Tribune send3 us
a copy of the Meriden, Conn., Ecjmulican, in
which appears an editorial filled with abuse
of and misrepresentation of the ex-soldier
and pensioner, and suggests that we repub
lish it under the head of the "Hue and Cry."
The fact is, however, that the article is not
original with the Rcjjuulican, that paper
having appropriated it bodily from the col
umns of the New York Sun. A journal that
does not hesitate to steal will lie as a mat
ter of course.
The number of pensioners on the rolls of
the pension agency at Philadelphia is about
eighteen thousand. Pension Agent Sickles,
when asked, the other day, whether there
were any suspicious cases on the list, re
plied: "No; I don't think there is a single
fictitious case on the rolls in this office. I
have been in this business thirteen or four
teen years, so I ought to have some ex
perience." And yet the Philadelphia Times
thinks the Government ought to be put to
the expense of advertising these eighteen
thousand pensioners in its columns at the
rate of thirty or forty cents per line! The
modesty of the Times is certainly very
touching.
The growth of the Grand Army since the
?ginning of Commander-in-Chief Van Der
voort's administration has been scarcely
short of miraculous. The increase of mem
bership on December 31st last, with eight
Departments still to hear from, had reached
a total of 4G.G49, and the work of recruiting
is still actively progressing. Up to the
present time four new Departments Oregon,
"West Virginia, Kentucky and Dakota have
"been permanently organized, with the pos
sibility that the number will be further
augmented before the meeting of the annual
Encampment Commander - in - Chief Van
Dervoort writes us that he will be present
at the Iowa, Mi-souri and Indiana Encamp
ments, and afterwards make a flying visit
to Louisville, Ky. This is what it means to
have a leader with "headquarters in the
saddle!"
The address delivered by General Alvin
P. Hovey before Farragut Post, Evansville,
Indiana, on the 251h of January last, and
printed in The National Tribune of Feb
ruary 1, has culled out a vast amount of
criticism from members of the Army of the
Tennessee present on the memorable 6th of
April, lfrC-2. General James C. Vealch,
whose reply we print in full on our first
page, was, like General Hovey, a brigade
commander, and is well qualified to express
an opinion upon the subject of the "sur
prise." Although his brigade was not in
the first line, it was called upon to Te-enforce
it immediately after the opening of the at
tack, and it was well handled. Its conduct
during the entire engagement, indeed, was
equal to that of the best disciplined troops
on the field. We commend General Veatch's
address to the careful perusal of our military
readers as a valuable contribution to the
literature of ShiJoh.
. Ouit roll of subbcribers continues to grow
at the rate of about a thousand per week,
but the number ought to be largely increased
now that The Tbibitkz has been enlarged,
and the return of mild weather renders the
work of canvassing legg difficult It is a
matter simply of a little individual effort.
Every eulcriber can do something towards
oxieudingTiiE Tribune's circulation if he
is so difjiosed. and there is not n Grand
Army Pest in the canntry where a club can
not lie raised if only some comrade will un
dertake the work. With our million ex-soldiers
still living and one hundred and fifty
thousand veterans enrolled in the Grand
Asmy, it rarely ought not to require much
labor to obtun one hundred thousand sub-
scribers for such a vigorous chapnpion of sol
dier's rights as The Tribune. Come, com
rades, open recruiting offices at every Post
and every post-office, and let us see how many
new recruits you can muster for The Trib
une's army before the campaign closes.
Openlng tho Campaign.
The readers of The Tribune should not
take it for granted because the Forty-seventh
Congress has adjourned sine die and a xeriod
of several months must elapse before the
meeting of the Forty-eighth Congress, that
nothing can bo done in tho meantime to
advance the interests of our ex-soldiers.
Quite the reverse of this is the case. The
fact is that their work only fairly begins
when that of Congress ends ; for the theatre
of action is then transferred from the Capital
to the country at large. If they would se
cure from the next Congress the considera
tion which their claims deserve, now is the
time to set the springs of Congressional
action in motion. When the next House of
Representatives assembles its members will
be fresh from the people, and nothing is
more certain than that they will be con
trolled by what they may at that time be
lieve to be the real sentiment of the country
concerning the ponding questions of legisla
tion. If they take with them to Washing
ton the impression that their constituents
are opposed to the granting of pensions and
the equalization of bounties, it is not likely
that anything that may thereafter occur
will shake their convictions. If, on the con
trary, they should be fully convinced of the
fact that the hue aud cry which has been
raised against our ex-soldiers is not approved
by the dispassionate judgment of the poople,
and that the sentiment of the country is still
strongly in favor of paying the claims of our
veterans, it is not likely they will ignore or
dircgard it It is evident, therefore, that the
work to which our ex-soldiers and their
friends should now address themselves is
that of building up a powerful and active
public sentiment in their favor.
How shall that be done? First and fore
most it is necessary that they should have a
spokesman, and they have one at hand in
The National Tribune, whose courage,
sincerity, and ability have already been
thoroughly tested. In the second place,
they should endeavor to secure as large an
audience as possible for this spokesman, so
that the ignorance and apathy of the general
public concerning matters affecting their in
terests maybe the more effectually dispelled.
In the third place, they should withdraw
absolutely their support from every public
journal which slanders or misrepresents
them. In the fourth place, they should en
deavor to counteract the injurious effect of
newspaper slanders, by circulating truthful
statements in their stead as to the workings
of our present pension and bounty laws. If
such a source of reliable information as The
National Tribune were always accessible,
instead of such a reservoir of untruth as tho
New York Sun, for instance, the thinking
people of the country would be better able
to distinguish between fact and falsehood.
In the fifth place, they should exert them
selves to the uttermost to build up the ranks
of the Grand Army, and enlist the sympa
thy and pride of tho public in its work.
Wherever there is Grand Army Post, it is
possible, by inviting public attention to the
character of its mission and the personal in
tegrity of its members, to reawaken a spirit
of patriotism in the community, and thor
oughly remove any suspicion or prejudice
which the misrepresentations of hostile
newspapers may have aroused. In the sixth
place, they should exercise all the influence
which they may individually possess with
their neighbors, friends and acquaintances,
to set them right on all questions affecting
the welfare of the soldier. They should
welcome, rather than avoid, discussion of
these questions, and whenever they find that
a false impression exists, they should be at
pains to remove it. Too much stress, in
deed, cannot be laid upon the value of indi
vidual effort in this connection. Every com
rade can do something, if ho will, towards
"forming" public sentiment, and ho who
contents himself with simply reading what
the newspapers have to say, and applauding
The Tribune because it does not hesitate
to advocate what it believes to be just and
right and denounce what it knows to be
unfair and wrong, is not doing his full duty,
either by himself or his fellow soldiers.
Such, in brief, is the manner in which, as
it seems to us, this new campaign for the
recognition of the soldier's rights should bo
conducted. Whether it shall prove a great
aud glorious campaign, depends solely upon
the spirit aud energy with which our vete
rans prosecute it They have right and jus
tice on their side; opposed to them, are ig
norance and ingratitude. To dispel the one
and put to shame the other, should be the
object of their ambition. Comrades, let us
go forward in the work that has been given
us to do, and adhere to our purpose until it
is accomplished !
An Kxpenslvo Publication. .
So far no enterprhinjj publisher of fiction has
brought out the petition Iut. Philadelphia Times.
The above is iutenfled, wo suppose, to be
"took sarcastic," as the lato Artemus Ward
would say. The pension list, according to
the calculations of the Government printers,
will make eight volumes of six hundred
pages each, aud in that shape will cost about
$GO,000 to print Tho Government is the
only "enterprising publisher" that can
afford the expense, which is, perhaps, one
reason why it haa not been brought out in
the way the Times suggests. Another reason
is that the pension list, unliko the Times1
editorials, cannot ho classed under the head
of fiction. It is an old saying that truth is
sometimes stranger than fiction, and that is
the case with the pension list. If the ex
perience of every soldier whose name is
on that list could bo related in detail, it
would surpass in tragic interest anything
that has ever come from the pen of the
novelist. The works of the most imagin
ative writer would seem tame and uninter
esting compared with a matter-of-fact nar
rative of the sufferings, the hardships, and
the perils which the men whose names arc
inscribed on this roll of honor passed through
for the sake of their country. If the pen
sion list is ever rmblished for general circu
lation, such a narrative ought to be appended
to it It should contain, in addition to the
name and address of each pensioner and
tho amount of pension paid, a full statement
of the circumstances under which the disa
bility was incurred, the character of the
services rendered, the battles fought, the
forced marches undergone, the hunger and
thirst endured, tho dangers encountered, and
all tho losses sustained in person and prop
erty. To print such a statement in connection
with every pension case on the list would
involve, it is true, tho publication of several
thousand large-sized volumes, and put the
Government to huge expense, but if the list
is to be submitted to the criticism and judg
ment of every man, woman, and child in the
country, it ought to be accompanied with at
least as full a statement of tho attend
ing circumstances as that upon which the
action of tho Pension Offico in granting tho
pension was originally based.
a .
"Woman's Auxiliaries.
In another column, this week, we print
the first of a series of articles on Woman's
Auxiliaries, prepared especially for The
Tribune by Mrs. Kate B. Sherwood, presi
dent of Forsyth Post Woman's Auxiliary,
of Toledo, Ohio. The object of these arti
cles is to supply, in detail such instructions
and suggestions concerning tho organization
and conduct of Post Auxiliaries as will
enable our readers to undertake the work
with a thorough understanding alike of its
requirements and possibilities, and Mrs.
Sherwood's intimate acquaintance with the
management of these Auxiliaries warrants
us in believing that our expectations will
not be disappointed. It has always been
the opinion of The Tribune that to have
the co-operation of the loyal women of tho
land, if not absolutely essential, was at least
highly important to the permanent pros
perity of tho Grand Army, and the time has
come, in its judgment, when every Post in
the country should take the necessary steps
to secure it. Many sound reasons might be
urged therefor. In the first place, it is due
to the ladies themselves that an opportunity
should be afforded them to participate in
the work and pleasures of tho Order. The
suppression of the rebellion was not due
solely to the valor of our soldiers, but to
the constancy, devotion and self-sacrifice of
their wives and mothers and sweethearts
to the patriotism, indeed, of the women who
remained behind to wage a not less bitter
contest with poverty and want, and who,
in spite of the desolation in which they
dwelt and the trials with which they
were surrounded, did not falter in their
duty to their country and its defenders.
But for their steadfastness the war might
have had a different ending, and it is due to
them now, we repeat, that they should not
be shut out from all association with our
veterans in the work and pleasures of tho
Grand Army.
In the second place, their aid ought to
be solicited for its own sake. In devising
means for the raising of relief funds, a
woman's forethought is invaluable, and no
judgment is finer than hers in the distribu
tion of charity. The fairs, concerts, lectures,
picnics, theatricals in fact all the expedi
ents to which our comrades are in the habit
of resorting when it becomes necessary to
replenish Post treasuries would fail of
their object without her help and direction,
and ihe better organized her efforts are the
more efficient they are likely to be. "When
a Woman's Auxiliary has onco been estab
lished in connection with a Po3t, there is an
end of all uncertainty as to tho maintenance
of relief funds.
Bnt surely there is no occasion to argue
tho question. The work that has been ac
complished by Woman's Auxiliaries in
nearly every Department of the Grand Army,
during the last five or six years, is a matter
of record, and it is not too much to say that
but for their sustaining influence many a
now thriving Post would long since have
gone to tho wall. So well convinced, in
deed, are wo of their importance to tho
Order, that wo believe their organization
ought to proceed hand in hand with tho
mustering of new Posts, so that from tho
very first our comrades may enjoy their aid
and co-operation. "Were that dono, tho
work of building up now and feeble Posts
would bo far less difficult and uncertain.
.
Honored In tho ISreacli.
Section 1754 of the Revised Statutes runs
as follows :
" Persons honorably discharged from the military
or naval bcrvice by reason of disability resulting
from M'ounds or sickness incurred in tho lino of
duty, shall bo preferred for appointments to civil
offices, provided they are found to possess tho
business capacity necessary for tho proper dis
charge of the duties of eueh offices."
There is nothing obscure or indefinite in
the language of this section, and one would
suppose it to be quite easy of execution.
Tho fact is, however, as wo have repeatedly
pointed out, that it is more honored in the
breach than in the observance. By way of
illustration, wc print in another column this
week two cases that have recently come to
our knowledge of a flagrant violation of the
letter and spirit of tho statute and ask for
them the most careful consideration. In
neither does there seem to havo been tho
slightest excuse for tho outrage. Indeed, in
one instance, the offender practically admits
that his action is without justification, and
treats the matter as if tho statute were a dead
letter. And such it will shortly become,
unless our veterans make it their business
to secure its enforcement. Their silence
will bo taken for indifference and tha poli
ticians will he emboldened to disregard their
rights altogether. What is needed is that
every willful Violation of the statute should
be made the subject of a formal protest, not
simply on the part of those immediately
concerned, but our ex-soldiers generally, and
the question of its enforcement should, if
necessary, be made an issue at the polls.
An organization, known as the "Veterans'
liights Union," was formed in the State of
New York last autumn for this purpose, and
efforts are now being made to establish siin
lar associations elsewhere. The movement
should have the hearty co-operation of our
veterans everywhere. Their aggregate in
fluence, properly exerted, is quite sufficient
to compel a full recognition of their rights
under the statute, and it is only a question
of united action.
Tho Hight of Trackball.
"We published not long ago a letter from
a member of a Grand Army Post in New
York city, suggesting that greater care
should bo exercised in the use of the black
ball, lest worthy ex-soldiers should be
unjustly denied admission to the Order.
"We have now before us a letter from a Maine
comrade to tho same effect Tho writer
mentions several cases which have -come
to his notice, where honorably discharged
soldiers of unblemished reputation have
been refused admission by local Posts, and
expresses tho opinion that personal preju
dice must havo influenced the action of tho
members who cast the blackballs. Of course
we havo no means of knowing whether our
correspondent is correctly informed or not,
but his intentions are evidently honest.
The blackball, however, is an essential
institution of every secret organization, and
in its secrecy lies the chief protection of the
Order against the admission of unworthy
candidates, while tho fact that the Order is
everywhere rapidly growing would seem to
indicate that if personal feeling is ever al
lowed to enter into the question of admit
ting or rejecting candidates for membership,
it is the exception rather than the rule.
The Rules and Regulations of the Order,
in regard to the election of members, pro
vide that the application shall be presented
at a stated meeting of the Post; that some
member shall vouch for the applicant's
eligibility; that tho application shall be
referred 'to a committee of three, of which
tho member recommending the candidate
shall not bo one, for investigation and
report; that this committee shall examine
into all the facts set forth in the application,
calling upon the applicant personally, and
that after the reception of its report, the Com
mander of the Post shall give opportunity
to auy comrade to state such objections as
he may have to the election of the applicant.
On a ballot being taken, should not more
than twenty balls be deposited, two black
balls shall be required to defeat, and for
every additional twenty balls that may
be cast, ono additional blackball shall be
necessary to defeat. In tho event of ilia
applicant's rejection, his name is required
to be forwarded to headquarters, and he is
rendered ineligible for admission to the
Order for a period of six months thereafter,
and at the end of that time is still ineligible
for admission to any other Post than the
ono for which he was originally proposed
except with the consent, by a two-thirds vote,
of the Post
The safeguards thus thrown about the
election of new members are, in their gen
eral nature, as wo have said, essential to tho
preservation of the high character of the
Order, and if the power which they confer
upon a few individuals to prevent the
admission of applicants is sometimes
unwisely exercised, it must, nevertheless, bo
admitted that the general effect is whole
some. It seems to us, however, that when
it comes to the knowledge of the Com
mander of a Post that this right of black
ball has been deliberately abused that is
to say, whero no specific charges are made
against an applicant, and the committee of
investigation reports, on the contrary, that
his military record and personal character
are absolutely stainless, that some provision
ought to ho made for righting tho wrong
thus done to the candidate and, indirectly,
the loss sustained by the Post itself. One
of tho chief obstacles with which the Order
has had to contend in the past is tho idea,
more or less prevalent, that it is in some
sense exclusive. In many places, and es
pecially where Posts have been long in
existence, our ex-soldiers have got tho im
pression that the Post government is in the
hands of a clique, and that unless they are
persons of means and social standing it is
useless for them to apply for admission
That any such impression should exist is, to
say tho least, unfortunate, yet it is very easy
to see from what cause it arises. Tho fact
that Mr. So-and-so, who served with dis
tinction in tho army and has conducted
himself since then as an industrious and
law-abiding citizen, is known to have been
rejected as a candidate for admission to tho
Grand Army, naturally deters others from
applying for membership, and thoso who
have no actual acquaintance with the rules
and regulations governing tho Order are
apt to attribute his rejection to unworthy
influences and come to look upon the Order
with suspicion, if not positive hostility.
Tho case of our Maine correspondent, al
ready mentioned, is one in point. Ho evi
dently feels that the Post to which ho refers
has been guilty of great injustice in refusing
admission to his fellow-soldiers, and we
daro say his opinion is shared by many
others in tho Bamo vicinity, much to the
injury of tho Order itself. For these reasons,
it seems to us that our comrades of the
Order cannot bo loo careful how they exer
cise the rignt of blackball. No comrade
should permit anything verging upon per
sonal prejudice to influence his action. He
should always bear in mind that the ques
tion is ono of tho applicant's actual worth
iness to undertake tho obligations of the
Order, and not of his acceptability to the
individual. Human nature, we know, is
pretty much the same everywhere, but petty
likes and dislikes should have no place in
an organization whose principles are Fra
ternity, Charity, and Loyalty.
m
A Story "Willi a Large-Sized Moral.
The narrative entitled "The Man Without
a Country," which we print on our second
page this week, first appeared nearly twenty
years ago when the rebellion was at its
height in The Atlantic Monthly, and its dis
tinguished author, the Rev. Edward Everett
Hale, intended it as a sort of invocation to
patriotism, for which purpose it was indeed
admirably contrived. Tho incidents are, of
course, fictitious, but they are related with
such apparent concern for the truth of his
tory, and they wear, moreover, such an air
of probability that the reader can scarcely
divest himself of the feeling that they are
taken from life. The experience of poor
Philip Nolan might so easily have been the
experience of a real personage, and his suf
ferings would so surely have been those of
any man under the same circumstances, that
the appeal to one's sympathies is altogether
irresistible. We venture to say that no sub
scriber to The Tribune can read this story
of "Tho Man Without a Country" without
experiencing a sensation of moisture about
the eyes and a burning in the region of the
heart.
The object, as we have said, which Mr.
Halo had in view when he wrote this fasci
nating narrative, was to stir the patriotic
impulses of the Nation and deepen the love
.of country. Our own object in reprinting
it is very much the same. It is true that
the dangers which threatened the life of the
Republic at the time when this story first
appeared have long since passed away, but
others not less formidable because they
have not taken the shape of an armed con
flict; have risen in their place. It is not in
behalf of tho Republic itself, but of those
who preserved it, that we would awaken
anew that love of country that is so touch
ingly portrayed in Mr. Hale's story. To
know and value and hold at their true
worth the blessings which the citizens of
this Republic enjoy, it is accessary some
times to consider what a calamity it would
be to be suddenly deprived of them.
In a moment of boyish thoughtlessness
poor Philip Nolan damned the United
States, and wished he might never hear of
it again. He lived to realize that all that
was precious in life, or that made life worth
the living, existed for him in that land upon
which he had turned his back with a curse.
There are those to-day who are as thought
less as he. " Pensions be' damned," say they,
and wish they may never hear of them
again. They are ready to draw the veil of
oblivion over the services of our ex-soldiers
and blot out the record of their achieve
ments. Now that they no longer have need
of the soldier's valor, they would turn a deaf
ear to his cry for help. The spirit which
prompted Philip Nolan to damn the United
States finds- its exact counterpart in the
spirit which animates the editors of the
daily press to impugn the character of our
veterans, taunt them with their poverty and
helplessness, and scoff at their demand for
aid. "The United States be damned," cried
Nolan. "The soldier be damned," say they.
The soldier is played out in their opinion;
the United States was played out in Nolan's.
It is one and the same thing. But what
would Nolan not have given to have been able
to recall those foolish words, and the time
may come when those who now sneer at the
soldier will be forced to seek once more his
protection. To be a "man without a coun
try" is, indeed, a sad and melancholy fate ;
but a country without defenders that is
a calamity which no government could
survive.
A Problem in Evolution.
The vigorous discussion which is now
going forward in the newspapers and on the
rostrum as to the limitations placed upon
female education and employment is a
hopeful indication of. an increasing interest
in woman's welfare. Out of such an agita
tion something good is sure to come. Even
though the majority should still agree with
the Rev. Dr. Dix, of New York, that a
woman's true place is at her own fireside
and that she onght to be trained simply in
those domestic duties which are supposed
to fit a girl for matrimony, tho controversy
cannot fail to set people to thinking for
themselves, and that is always the condi
tion precedent to the development of a
liberal and enlightened public sentiment
When a people has so far emerged from the
bondage of custom and habit as to wish to
look at facts from its own standpoint, in
stead of through the spectacles of others, it
is not difficult to foresee what the ultimate
result will bo. The learned opponents of
the co-education of the sexes may still pro
test that measureless evil will result fxom
admitting young women to universities on
equal terms with young men, but when the
public wake up to tho fact that the so-called
experiment has been actually tried and that
no such diro consequences havo ensued,
they will protest in vain. It is not so very
long ago that as malignant and stupid an
opposition was manifested against the intro
duction of improved machinery. These
wiseacres predicted with equal assurance
that it would rob the laboring classes of tho
means of earning a livelihood, yet their
opposition disappeared entirely tho moment
ic became apparent that the offect was really
to enlarge the field and increase tho earnings
of labor.
If any ono is inclined to tako a gloomy
view of tho future of woman, lot him. turn
to Miss Florence Kolley's paper in tho De
cember number of the International Beview,
entitled "Need Our Working Women De
spair," in which she sketches with a firm
and steady hand the uroscresa which
her Bex has niad sinoa the day when I
woman merely "helped on the farmer's
work." That this progress has not been
more rapid is due simply to the discrimina
tion of which she has been the victim
discrimination, not only in respect to the
opportunities offorded for acquiring a pro
fession or occupation, but in respect to the
price paid for her labor. It is not in keeping
with the pretentions of the sterner sex to a
chivalric regard for tho weaker, that a
woman should be paid less than a man for
doing precisely the same work, yet it is
notorious that thousands of our school
teachers are victims of this odious discrimi
nation. Yet, in spite of all drawbacks, and by
the virtue that there is in self-help, woman
has Bteadily improved her position, not
simply in respect to self-maintenance, but
in all the relations of life. She has applied
tho resources of art to tho beautifying of
home ; she has brought to cookery the aid
of science; she has made fashion seire her
purpose by popularizing sensible styles of
dressing. We owe to her the establishment
of the kindergarten, which is gradually
revolutionizing the ancient system of edu
cation, under which the perceptive faculties
of the child were so strangely neglected,
and one needs but to glance at the title-page
of St. fficJwlas or Wide Awake to ascertain
whose gentle fancy it is that is leading our
young people away from the snares of tho
dime novel to the realms of pure and whole
some literature.
The pity of it is that the world should he
so slow to realize how sure the lifting up of
woman is to lift up the whole human race
how certain the enlargement of her mental
and moral vision is to widen the horizon of
human happiness !
Sample Cases of Princely Generosity.
The "princely generosity" of the Govern
ment towards its ex-soldiers is a favorite
theme with the anti-pension press, and it is
often brought forward as an argument
against any further increase of pensions.
"No other government on earth," we are
frequently told, "has so liberally rewarded
its defenders, and to ask anything more at
its hands would be to impose on its gener
osity." If tho payment of pensions to those who
I sacrificed everything except life to preserve
the Republic from destruction, and the
widows and orphans of those who sacrificed
life itself, is a mere act of charity on the
part of the Government, it must be conceded
that its generosity has indeed been of a
princely character; but if, as is actually the
case, the payment of pensions is simply the
execution of a legal contract entered into by
the Government in consideration of services
rendered, it seems to us that "generosity"
is scarcely a proper word to employ in this
connection. If it was not an act of gener
osity in the editor of the Bungtown Bugle,
when he was drafted, nearly twenty years
aro. to nay poor Smith a thousand dollars to
run the risk of being shot in his place, it is
not an act of generosity in the Government
to support the widow and orphans of poor
Jones, as it promised to do, in case he should
lose his life in its service. The only differ
ence is that the editor of the Bungtown
Bugle had. to "plank down" his money in
advance, without any conditions whatever,
while the Government was only obligated
to pay in the event that the soldier was
actually killed or disabled.
But, supposing that no contract whatever
existed between the Government and the
soldier, as these newspapers would have the
public believe, isn't it rather a lively
stretch of the imagination to characterize
the payment of eight dollars a month to
the widow and two dollars a month
to the orphans of the soldier as an
exhibition of "princely generosity" on
the part of the Government? Eight dol
lars a month is a little less than two dollars
a week; how far will two 'dollars a week
go towards making good the pecuniary loss,
to say nothing of any other, sustained by a
woman in the death of her husband ? What
sort of support will two dollars a week af
ford in place of that of which she has been
deprived? How far will it go towards pay
ing for the absolute necessaries of life food,
clothing, fuel and lodging? Two dollars
per week is les3 than thirty cents a day ;
the editor of the Bungtown Bugle would find
it difficult to keep from starving on such
"princely generosity" as that!
And what of the pension allowed to the
soldier's orphan? Two dollars per month
is something less than fifty cents per week
seven cents per day! How far will seven
cents per day go towards feeding, clothing,
lodging and educating tho son or daughter
of a soldier until the age of sixteen, when
the Government's "princely generosity"
is withdrawn entirely? We fancy the
cruel ingenuity even of Old Squeers him
self, as described by Dickens, would have
proved unequal to the solution of such a
problem in household economy. Thirty
cents a day for widows and seven cents a
day for orphans! WTill any ono venture to
call this generous ? "Will any one deny that
it is unjust? The Government has under
taken to " care for him who has borne the
battle and for his widow and orphans." It
is but a pretense. Measured by any stand
ard of human necessity, the pensions which
it allows them are pitifully and shamefully
inadequate, and instead of prating about its
"princely generosity," the press of the coun
try would do well to call attention to the
Government's parsimony and neglect
Now that spring is at hand, ws hope our
Western comrades will turn to with a will
and pull The Tribune's supply trains out
of tho mud. Send in the subscriptions I
An anonymous novel will be begun in The
Century Magazine sometime during the next vol
ume. It is-ontitled "The Bread-winners," and
is described as a story unusual in scene and
subject, and powerful in treatment. The lo
cality it Oil ft of fcha Amoshsan JaIca alfcUaAua
the plot includes a charming love-story with a
tragic undercurrent, in which are described
the doings of a secret society of "Bread-win
ners."
BEGONE, DULL CARE.
What the Funnj Fellows are Saying In the KeiTS
papers. Prohibition item : " Wake me up, darling,
to-night and give me a toddy," said an An:tm
inebriate to his wife, as they were about to re
tire for tho night. "But now will I kno
when you want ono?" "You cau't make a
mistake. I am always thirty when I am woke
up." Texas Sif tings.
A bnrglar-alarm in his soul : Lord Reginald
Sansdcuier, in answer to confidential remark
of his host "Twenty thousand pounds" worth
oi plate on the table, Sir. Gorgnis? I wond
you ain't afraid of being robbed I " Sir Gor
gius Midas " Bobbed, my Lord ! Good 'evens!
x'm sure yer lordship's too honorable Iteven to
think of such a thing! " London Flinch.
Mitigating cirenmstances : An Austin Jutl"3
of the Peace, who is constantly trying criri. .1
cases, was called on to marry a couple. After
he had. asked the usual qnestion, if they de
sired to be united in the bonds of matrimony,
and they had replied in the affirmative, t3
justice asked them solemnly: "Having pal
guilty to the charge, if there are in your cj, n
ion any mitigating circumstances, now is the
time to state what they are." Texas Sif!ing3.
No protest: A stylishly-dressed woman en
tered a restaurant. Tkc'waiter handed h?r a
bill of fare and said: "Please mark off t'.a
dishes you wish to order." Could a woman in
a sealskin confess that she could not rcl?
Taking tho pencil she made a few dashes, a CI
her order read : "Dinner 50 cents," "Teh. 2
'83," "vegetables," "please pay at tho desk."
"celery." The waiter brought her beefsteak
and onions and prune sauce, acd she did n-t
dare to raise a word in protest. Clevcli .d
Voice.
Put out by water: There was an alarm of
fire turned in from an Atlanta artist's studio
ednesday morning, but by the time tho d;
partment got there the conflagration had been
subdued. "What was it a-fire?" asked Chief
Ryan. "Colonel Bumgardner's portrait."
"How did it catch?" "I had it nearly all
finished all except the nose and when I lail
the proper color on it she blazed up like a
political bonfire." "And what put him oat ? "
" Water I u ater will put the colonel out any
time." Atlanta Major.
Courtship in Georgia: He rnshed In the par
lor without ringing the door-bell, and discovl
ereu a light ngure sitting on tho sofa in tta
corner. He certamlv exclaimed: By Jove
dear Nell, I thought I would never find yov,
alone again. Your mother has gone a visiting.
hasn't she ? " " Yes," respouded the light fig
ure, "Nellie goe3 visiting so much I am often
alone." The young man remarked the next
day that he left hi3 hat on the piano and his
umbrella in the hall, and needed nothing bat
thirty acres of open air." Oglethorpe Echo.
Partly true: One sultry Snnday a minister
wa3 thundering away at his drowsy congrega
tion, the majority of which would go to slerp
in spite of all his efforts. At last he shouted:
" Wako up, here ! There is a man preaching to
you who has only half a shirt on his back ! " It
woke them tremendously. Tho noxt day a
delegation of ladies visited the parsonage
and presented the preacher with a pack
age containing some very nice shirts, say
ing that "it was a shame that he should bo
reduced to half a shirt to his back." He re
plied, after accepting the shirts with thanks,
that "he was not literally reduced to a half
shirt, although he wore only a half shirt on hi3
back ; he wore the other half in front of him."
Home Sentinel.
Civil service reform : If thero is ono thing
the Austin darkey knows more about than an
other, that thing i3 politics. During the re
cent municipal election in Austin Uncle Mosa
was halted one night as ho was returning to
his humble cottage by a burly negro, with au
army-sized bludgeon and a demand for his
money or his life. Splain de objetf ob a.4
meeting," said the old man. " Hit jess means
dat money has got ter be raised," responded
the interviewer, spitting on his hands and tak
ing a firmer hold of his mace, so to speak. Tha
old man sighed, and as he tendered three car
tickets, an old pipe, and several other articles
of bric-a-brac, he said : " If I had been notified
you was our collecting voluntary contributions
for de legitimate campaign 'spenses, I would
hab hunted yer up to pay my 'sessments."
Texas Sif tings.
m
FOR SUNDAY AFTERNOON.
A Little Something About What is Goinsr On in tha
Keligions World.
A Protestant Snanish naner is to bo Trablisried
in Spain. f
The temperance movement is making gigan
tic strides in the Church of England.
A colony of Franciscan monks and nuns is
about to settle in Clevedon, England.
Several prominent Philadelphia prea?hera
read their prayers from manuscripts.
The latest novelty in tho way of raising
money for religious purposes in England is j:e
suppers.
Signor Barili, leader of the choir in St.
John's Catholic Church, Philadelphia, is Patti's
half-brother.
The number of free and open churclies in
London increased from 651 to 003 from lsTl to
the present time.
There are 1,000,000 persons in London for
whom no religious provision has been made by
any of the churches.
A bed of shamrock is growing in the Cathrlio
churchyard at Athens, Ga., that was set out by
Father Kyau.
There are now in the United States 110 the
ological seminaries, representing fifteen Prot
estant denominations.
The Eev. Dr. Marquis, a Presbyterian
preacher of St. Louis, who appeared in hu
pulpit several Sundays in a Geneva gown, has
had to give it up.
The use of instrumental music in church
service is increasing to that extent in England!
that a few of the advanced congregations think
of introducing the bass drum and cymbals.
Things are coming to a pretty pass in Ken
tucky, says the Christian at Work, when a
preacher has his salary docked for time lost on
a trip to fight a duel in a distant part of th
State.
A small boy in South Carlina raises canary
birds, and gives tho proceeds of their salo to tha
Board of Foreign Missions. In three years thia
enterprising and benevolent young person has
thus gathered and given about $100.
The Rev. Isaac L. Nicholson, who has jtt
been elected Bishop of Indiana, is rector of St
Mark's Church, Philadelphia, whore he recclvei
a salary of $15,000. The salary of tho nofl
offico to which he is elected is but $3,000, with 3
residence.
The Holiness JJand, a fanatical religous or
ganization, are raisiug a general excitement at
Corsicana, Tex., and it is expected they will
prove themselves as obnoxious as Ihey did two
years ago, when the leader was ridden on a rail
and the Band dispersed as a nuisance.
Some time last summer the ladies of Cleve
land, Oswego county, N. Y., made an autograph.
quilt, ana succeeded, m obtaining the signa
tures of President Arthur and Governor Cleve
land. At an auction held in the church tha
other night it waa knocked down to z. Philis
tine at the low price of $7.-
Ths State of Texas is to buy, for $-2DO,C0Os tha
old Alma Church at San Antonio, in wiach,
during the Texas war for independence, a Lud
of Texaus, opposing the advance of tho Mexi
can army under Santa Ana, intrenched them
selves and fought to the death and dLd to tha
last man. Tho building has been used a3 a
warehouse.
"Yes, brethren," said a preacher from hi
pulpit, "you are tho passengers on a train
speeding its straight and narrow way to r'cry,
and I am tho conductor of that train, tliunk
the Lord." " You run her first-clas. I tV i!d
say," remarked a stranger, looking ever th
congregation, "from tho number of sle.M
you're hauling."
The members and friends of the ?L V - Est
Episcopal Church at East Now Market, Md.,
presented their pastor recently a " Lfcrvhcstox .
pie." It wa3 a very peculiar sort of a j!e.
The bottom crust was a sack of corn ; the top
cru3t wa3 a purse of gold; the filling was maio
up of sausage, hams, coffee, sugar, cake, Jsri,
fruit, honey, crackers, egg3, jelly, buiter, hom
iny, potatoes, hosiery yea, a pie with a stock
ing in it handkerchief, chocolate, catsun.
lututL. UJ .Ck f.V .-! J J "
