Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 October 1888 — A WORD TO SOLDIERS. [ARTICLE]

A WORD TO SOLDIERS.

[ xtraccs from an address delivered at the Qreeosburg Be <llOlOO by - D. L. Thomas, of R shvtlle. Again and again the oall was re* peated. Soon a million of men—the flower of youth and the vigor of ra anhood were in the field. They were called from productive industry to a work of destruction. This.cou pled with the demands for the maintenance of d vast army, caused re* action in business affairs Pt home.— Civilians enjoyed a cha gefrom gre-1 depression to the full eur.lignt of un* equaled fina cial irosnerity. Itsud* denly became the greatest moneymaking period in our country’s history. I know naanv at home spent their money freely to aid in the prosecu ion of the war aud to alleviate the sufferings of the soldiers; but I am speaking of the peopl*. collectively, and coutrastiw pecuniary surroundings of the two gieat olassescitizens end soldie s. While the former were reaping the rich harvest of war prices, oldiers were standing be’ween them and the desolation of war. At this junoture there was great accumulation of wealth, and foundations laid for collossal fortunes, while the soldiers were receiving mere nominal wages, paid in depreciated currency. Ai last the Angel of Peace blooded o’er the smitten country.— Soldiers, laying aside the habiliments of war, returned to begin life anew, aud it was a beginning. A now outfit Jaa 1 to be purchased, at inflated prices, to enter upon any avocation.— Whatever of their meagei wages they may have saved, together with their patrimony, tney invested at the war figures whioh then prevailed, only to start down tho flnanolal rade which the times prepared. The shrinkage in values culchfnated in the panic of 1873. So the survivors of the war have passed through three financial crises—before, during, and sinoe th*j War—without a single period of prosperity. And they have endured it the least complaicingly of any body of m?u. They had bean thoroughly trained iu the sehool of adversity, and with health impaired as a result of their services, they were the more ii!y prepared to grapple with contin ued adverse circumstances, Yet, in the face of this appalling picture, civilians have reflected upon soldiers for not having accumulated wealth sinco the war, thus inflicting the most cruel aud painful wound that the soldier eyer roceived. And very often, too, such reflections come from men who professed the greatest friendship for the soldier during the war. Now, while the Nation’s defenders have been making su h great per sonal sacrifices, has the Na’ion been true to them ? Let us see. Ib the dark hours of 1864. when the Nation’s existence was quivering, in uncertainty; when Its life depended upon the heroism of its soldiers, Con gress passed that infamous measure known as the contract labor law.— Tne immortal Lincoln, weighted down with care, and looking at the necessities of the hoar, approved the bilL That law authorized contractors to import foreign laborers oy “methods whereby the emigrants should pledge the wages of their labor, for a term not exceeding twelve months, to repay the expenses of their immigration." The advanoe payment gave the contractor a lease w lch he co’d enforce in ihe United States Cour s. This most iniquitous law introduced and encouraged the importatio j of pauper labor, which is proving to be as damnable a curse to this country as African slavery ever was, for It lies at the root of all the discontent which prevails among the producing classes. And the evils, in my judgment are only just beginning to|be felt. Think.of its baneful effect upon the soldiers. While were facing the storms of shot and s'ell, this in* sfdious measure was concocted; and while public atten ion was attracted to the war thousands of pauper laborers were imported and putin the pls» ces of soldiers temporarily absent' Vo when the survivors returned many of them hi 1 no certain means of support. That was the inception es the hith< erto unknown quantity—the American tramp. Not only paupers were imported, but under that law outcasts and eriminalß of Europe blighted the country that the soldiers had saved. That law'was not repealed until 1885. But the Importation still gees on. and to-day foreign governments are detraying the excenses or exporting their pnnpers te eur country. During the past ten ye is a quarter of a million of paupers have been im< p-rted, and new compete with soldiers who earn their bread by the west of their brows.

During the war, instead of the government paying its soldiers full wages, it paid them with a deprecia' ed currency, which, upon a specie basis, made the soldiers’ wages reach the low ebb of twenty cents a day! Viewpd as a business transaction, like tho government creditors viewed everything, did it not Dresent a sublime spectacle! Men making targets of the selves at twenty cei ts a day! According to business and equity, were soldiers morally, and legally bound to remain in the army under such circumstances? Would Wall street speculators let such a good opportunity pass without taking advantage of it? Soldiers had the alternative of leaving the army and being hunted down and branded as deserters—forever disgraced- or remain ani carry out their part of a contract with the roverument that was not keeping fa<th with them. The latter course was pursued by the patriotic soldiers, until final victory was achieved. In the meantime the government was having business uitU another class of men— namely: home aud foreign creditors. They purchased government bonds, which were not payable in specie, at as low a figure as thirty-five cents on the dollar. The present and future value of the bonds depended mainly oh the success of the soldiers. The privations and heroism of the Union army gave va ue to those bonds. But how differently lias public sentiment regarded tho reimbursement of those who gave property to those who gave health or life to flu promotion of the Union cause!, Not a moment have we been allowed to allowed to lose sigliff of the fact that the man who gave his dollars to the Nation in its hour of need is entitled to the country’s lasting gratitude,- and to the punctilious repayment of dve*y farthing of his claims. Tt did not matter that lie made his Joans at rates of interest that v/oYI have made Shylock blimh f • •••;../of no consequence that he demanded jack gold dollars worth 100 cents, where he had given paper ones worth thirty-five cents. 11 was of ;he least importance that the debt was incurred for shoddy blankets or spavined mules, upon whicn he had grown rich. No matter by what means he had come into posses don of a bond, no eor due-bill of the United States, it was treated as a sacred debt of honor, that must be paid promptly and fully, no matter what the burdens laid upon the people to raise the monr jf

The class of men who have j| i-| minated Congress for the ,3 it twenty-five years have always Ig-I nored politics, and stood as a twui when their interests were invoked. In that manner they have always had a majority in that body, who would forward their schemes.— Hence, they have got everything they desired. Upon the other hand soldiers, as a general thing, have been r> political foot ball, and have accomplished but little. The above is a terrible arraign, mt nt of the g. o. p. in the difference it made between the moneyshark and the soldi Henry Clay—“No one, in the commencement of the protective policy, ever supposed that it was to be perpetual.” We would like to have tome of our high protectionist friends inform us why, if protection is such a good thing for the workingmen, that there are so many immigrants Coming into this country from highly protected Italy and Gei many, and so few from free trade England? This is something the American laborer ca ’t “catch” onto.—The Woikman. The record of the Republican candidate for Governor as a speculator in tax titles will not help his candidacy. Besides General Sherman knocks out his military record.