Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 7, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1888 — DEPENDENT PENSION BILL. [ARTICLE]

DEPENDENT PENSION BILL.

The following masterly speech was delivered in. the United States Senate, on Friday, February 24th> by Hon. David Turpie, of this State, in support of Senate Bill 181 granting pensions to ex-soldi rs and sailors who are incapacitated from the performance of manual labor, and providing for pensions to dependent relatives of deceased soldiers and sailors:

“I do not give my support to this bill,” said Senator Turpie, “upen grounds of compactor agreement. v v hen the s«. ldier signed the last pay-roll and received his final discharge ttere was on fco‘h Bides an end of the contract Neither p arty could, under its terms, denund any thing more of the other. But nation*, as well as individuals, have acted upon and recognized other obligations beside of contract. Nobleness obliges. Let us rather rejoice that we are bound by no covenant it is only the nobility of the national character which moves us to make provision for the needy who, by their service in a perilous time, have deserved well of the Republic. We, who were successful in that stupendous conflict which closed iu 1865, gain nothing by any disparagement of the genius, the ciurage, or the .esources of those we met and overcame; even this can not lessen the magnificent results of that achievement. The war for the Union was the greatest tournament of arms fought in modern times, when we consider the numbers engaged on either side, the extent of country covered by its operations, or th 3 momentous questions submitted to the arbiti ament of the sword dependent upon the issue. That issue is the principal feet in our history as it is m that of the age. This age has witnessed the siege and fall of Sebastopol, the stricken fields of Sedan and Sadowa, but those were not so fraught with meaning to mankind as Gettysburg and Appomattox.

We are yet too near the event to take the true measure of its magnitude. Accounts of it we have, numerous, variant. We have even an autopraph Oflyssey by ihe Ulysses of this storied epic; but these are merely the materials for a history yet to be written. The writer has not yet appeare j. He is waited for. Suoh a theme will not lack a celebrant. He will come — an Amerioan of no section, native to the wide manor of the nation born, a man of exhaustless patience and tireless indnstry, of large understanding, of calm, impassive, judicial spirit, zealous omy for truth, skilled to portray men and events in just proportion, in true perspective,with eloquence to make the militant past live and move again forthose who are to follow us. The historian of the war will be

as remarkable a personage as any of the actors theyoin. In the pag< > of this future Thucydides one character, as the armed champion of the Union, wil 1 appear proudly eminent upon tne march, in the bivouac, in assault, m the imj minent deadly breach, in captivity to the insolent foe, hoping all things, enduring all things—the with the musk-t, the private in the ranks, the chief beneficiary of this measure. Not only during the war, but in the peace that followed it, • oes the conduct of the oitizen-soldier and his comrades entitle them to grateful recognition. When before did a great civil war end like this of ours? The cessation of hostilities was marked by an event in every way as notable, as important, « the surrender of the e emy, the disbanding of the armies of the Union. The legions of the first Crnsar w<;n at Pharsalia only for the leader; they forgot liberty ;they did not restore the republic. The Ironsides who conquered at Naseby and Worcester never discharged; they remained not members of the commonwealth they dreamed of, but subjects of the lord protector, under a rule as absolute as that of any English monarch of the time. The forces of the French directorate, after the complete s bjugation of the royalists of La Vendee, became in rapid succession the r. *al support of the consulate and th*. empire. In many like instances, as seen in historic snnals, the victorious army in a civil war was retained to support and prolong the ascendancy of the political section to which it owed its organization and eonipment. Emancipation as the result of the var was not more beneficent than disormament. It may be said that these men only obeyed the order of those in authority. What is authority without power?— Whre was the actual pawer at this moment of military dissolution? With the bayonets; with those who obeyed not with those who gave the order for retirement.

Thus, then, we may conceive the motive which swayed this myriad mass with arms in their hands—a devoted, unquestioning loyalty to the free institutions o- thei* country. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, their purpose accomplished,thes;* veteran cohorts of a dauntless chivalry, these warrior- of the people disappeared .Regiments, brigades, divisions vaished away, to be known thence forth only as Jegends of a glorious passage through the Red Bea of revolution. They founded no dynasty; they disturbed not the regular order of constitutional government. Under these auspices the great Repul lie in the mllness of time returned to and resumed in every portion of its domain the ancient form a d usages' of freedom. Emancipation gave liberty to another race; disarmament press :ved it for our own. It were

well to consider, to look at this time with somewhat of fixed inspection upon the m untain height of temptation and oj portumtv, whereon these men stood that day, that day the enemy yielded. They had the swoud. Why was it sheathed? They had the purse. Why was it closed? The sumless treasure of the nation’s wealth was theirs by light of salvage. What moiety of it have they* received or taken? Shall those who st( od once at the front, but have since in the march of life fallen behind, be abandoned to want and destitution ? The beneficence of the Govern ment should suuplant either public or private charity in gr inting this stipend xor the support and maintenance of the necessitous amonr, its defenders.

o - - —- Not as compensation and not as alms should this stipend De given. It is neither. But it should be given as a token of distinction, like the cross of the Legion of Honor, like the chaplet of myrtle or of rose 1 worn b, r victors of old —roses which, reversing the beautiful legend of St. Elizabeth, may turn to bread to those who need it. As representatives of the States and the people we have lawful warrant to levy and colleci taxes for the purpose of providing for the common defense, to raise armies, to declare war, and to use all necessary msans to make such declaration effective. We have the advice and example of she first of patriots andPresi ents. toprepa e for war in iime of peace. This measure is a part of that prep ration.

Moreover, this measure is a provision for the p yment of a portion of the war deb + , a part thereof, let us hope, heretofore casually overlooked; omitted in casting up the accounts. Yet it is a debt in faith and honor, as incapable of repudiation as that secured by constitutional enactment. It is as worthy of settlement and liquidation as any of the vast sum which has been transmitted into bonds the officer of the Treasury. ihe people of the State which I have in part the honor to represent would just as cheerfully pay the needy soldier as th< bonded creditor. Willing to pay both, the unfunded debt of gratitude preferred. i

This is legislative encouragement for enlistment in tbs armies of the future; an act to promote and foster the love of country; a sentiment 11 ore powerful than fleets or armies- the most perfect armament of nations. It may be that invasion eh; I threaten us: that insurrection shall lift its linnd against lawful authority, or, ts all great peoples of mnitiul spirit 'have prosecuted expedtions in distant fields the G. diless of Liberty, some evening ot Ibis late in the next century, may thnew the lLht of her flaming torch upon the tiagß and. pennants of t e Atlantic fleet, bearing the army of Europe to do battle in some just quarrel for human rights beyonds the sea.

In whatever age, ; nto whatever clime the American soldier mav go, let us see to it that he carry with him the remembrance of his country’s constant solicitude and regard. How often have we listened, in this high presence, to the most splendid predict! ns of national prosperity—prop ecies which will cot fail if we be true to the obligations of conscience and duty.— Can any man now estimate bow * *Q a eh»re of our own future good fortune, fame and thrif shall be due to the soldi*. rs of tha Union, the returned and the unreturninc brave ? We have hardly yet since the convulsion of a so recent past gathered together the sum of our resources, nor felt the impetus, the increased momentum of the new conditions and elements surrounding us. ’W e behold in every section the advancing steps of social and material reconstiuution. We catch yet but faintly the hum of those mighty populations approach™ to plant their homes in the rich Territories of the new

Northwest There shall be the colonies of the nation, rebuilt, reestablished, retarded in their growth by no civil commotions or the fear of them—offspring of :he family of States, highly favored. The boundaries of this republic are advanced far toward the contines of Asia. There most needs be another statue gazing toward the farther Orient, the shinirg sandals of whose feet shall be laved in the waters of the Paeific. We have entered upon a period of graDd national renaissanee. Is this a time to hesitate about granting the means of subsistence to those needing them, of the number of that host which bore cur flag to victory? Should we not rather hasten to do this act of justice, to place these, our fellowcitizens, in a condition to enjoy with us the calm which has followed the storm and stress, the pease which has succeeded to hostilities so dreaded—the Union of the States at last attained, disinthraled, regenerated—the Union —not as it was, but as it is‘, and shall be —forever one, free and indivisible?

Our old friend and former employe,- Jacob Clay Smith, of the Monticello Nat.onal, has, been placed on the State ticket of the Union Labor Party of Indiana for the office of Clerk of tke Supreme Court.

Don’t fail to hear Miss Miller, the celebrated Lady Violinist, for the benefit of the high school library, at the Opera House, next Wednesday evening, March 14th.

The Union Labor Party of Indiana met at Indianapolis, Wednesday, and placed in nomination the following ticket: For Governor—John B. Milroy, of Delphi. For Lieutenant Goveri.or—J. F. White, of Marion county. For Secretary of State—A. C. Geyer, of St. Joseph countv. For Auditor of State —John P. Hannegan, of Lafayette. For Treasurer of State—D. F. Doll, of Bartholomew county. Candidate for Attorney General to bo supplied by the State Central Committee. For Clerk of the Supreme Court —J. C. Smith, of White county. For Sup’t of Public Instruction -A. J. Johnson, of Vermillion. Not long sinee the Republican evidently favored Bob Lincoln — the son of his Daddy—for the Presidency. It now inclines toward Gresham.

The renowned lady violinist, Miss Anna Miller and her sister Mrs. Miller Schiltz, assisted by some of our home talent, will give an entertainment at the Opera House on next Wednesday evening, March 14, for the benefit of the high school library. Miss Miller is said to be superior to all other lady violinists, while Mrs. Schiltz as a pianist, has few equals. This will undoubtedly be a rare musical treat, which none should fail to hear. The general admission will be twenty-five cents, reserved seats thirty-five cents, children fifteen cents. Reserved seat tickets will be on sale next Monday* at Hardman’s.

And now ex-Senator Oonkling declines to accept the • Be publican nomination for the Presidency.— If this thing keeps on a draft will be in order. An inventor has patented an electric cortribution box for church use. Whenever a button or piece of tin is deposited in the bo a:i elertric bell rings and 'informs the congregation of the fact.