Evening Republican, Volume 17, Number 127, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 May 1913 — AMERICA’S TRIBUTE TO HER SOLDIER DEAD [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

AMERICA’S TRIBUTE TO HER SOLDIER DEAD

DAY this year will wit V lk M I ness the perfecting of the I IVI I plans for honoring her military dead. It will see the final fruiting of a national, official sympathy with |W?isgaqj| the bereaved who have lost sons, brothers and sweethearts in their country’s service. It will -witness the final results of the nation’s attempts to do all things possible for those bereaved and for the memory of the dead. It is a big task, and the manner of its accomplishment is the story of a tribute paid to one of the noblest sentiments that has ever been lodged in the breasts of a people. In that attempt, since 1900, tor instance, the United States government has supplied free of charge 150,000 headstones to mark the graves of soldiers and sailors who have done her. service. To the cemeteries of the great cities, to those of the quiet hamlet, to those on the borderlands of civilization, these headstones have gone. This Memorial day they offer themselves to a scattered multitude as fitting places for the be* stowal of floral wreaths. The unmarked graves, through the efforts of the government, are growing fewer. In the national cemeteries alone there are the remains of 154,000 unknown heroes who have met death in the defense of their country, and who must, because of the loss of their identity, be denied individual recognition. Yet the nation has exhausted every resource in attempting to find the names of these heroic dead. The very futility of these deaths, from the standpoint of the credit received by the men as Individuals, calls forth a sentimental appreciation of their servile that overshadows the men with the handsomest monuments. The unknown are being reinterred in sacred ground, their graves are being kept green and great monuments are being erected to them, collectively. Every effort is being made to prevent the recurrence in the future of the tragedy of the “unknown" grave. At the war department army regulations have been drafted and putJnto execution that are so rigid that in the future it will be Impossible for the soldier who fights for his country to fall of identification wherever he may fall. Above all this, the government has developed a system of careful and generous disposition of the remains of the dead soldier or sailor-that offers the greatest possible recompense to the aggrieved and the beßt possible chance for the perpetuation of the. memory of {he gloriously dead, for the remains of any man who dies in the service, wherever his end may come, are transported to any other spot on the globe that be designated by his family and there given burial with military honors. All this is at the expense of the government, for" the glory of the dead and the consolation of his family. Finally, the government is marking the graves and placing monuments over the remains of the Confederate soldiers who died in the northern prisons and hospitals during the Civil war. Wherever any man dies for whom it can be shown that he ever served in the United States army or navy, the Federal government stands ready to furnish for his grave a headstone of marble neatly inscribed with bis name and indicating his military service. The government has a large contract with a firm in Massachusetts to furnish these headstones. Under the contract 20,000 such headstones were delivered last year. An average of 15,000 a year have been so delivered for the last score of years. Since this policy of marking the graves of the military dead was Inaugurated in 1873 there have probably been 500,000 stones that have gone forth and which are today standing over the graves of men who once fought for their country. The nation is willing and anxious to continue their distribution of monuments free of charge, with freight paid to any point. It is hoped that eventually every grave of every soldier will be marked with a stone that will survive forever. The graves of all soldiers and sailors who are buried in national cemeteries are so marked when the identity of the individual is known. There are some 80 such cemeteries with a total of 300,000 men buried in them. But of this great aggregate of assembled dead of the military there are 164,000 buried beneath the slab of the “unknown.” There are acres and acres of these white headstones that mark the graves of soldiers whose identity was never established. At Fredericksburg, Va., there is another 12,000 graves of men whose mothers never knew where they rested. There are 9,000 of them at Memphis; 12.000 at Salisbury, N. C.; 6,000 at Richmond; 4,000 at Nashville, and similar and smaller numbers scattered over the country as a whole. At the greatest of the national cemeteries, that at Arlington, opposite Washington. D. C., there is a single great monument that marks the burying place of 2,111 unknown soldiers whose remains were gathered from tfie battlefields of Virginia. But the unknown population of the natlonaT cemeteries is to be prevented from largely increasing. Today when a man is inspected for active duty • metal tag of identification is a part of his

equipment. When men go into the field of active service each wears about his neck a piece of tape, and hung upon that tape there is a metal tag which contains his name, the branch of the service to which he belongs and his particular regiment and company. This tag is. made of aluminum and the lettering is stamped into it. It is practically indestructible. If a man is killed in battle he may always be identified. When the identity of the individual has been established the department will communicate with his relatives. If they desire his remains, these will be prepared for transportation to the old home. They will be brought back to his own people to be buried as they wish. All expenses will be borne by the federal government. If the relatives of the dead soldier or sailor prefer that he be buried in a national cemetery they may so order, and the orders will be carried out to the letter. There are the men who have died in the Philippines, for instance. None of these are left to restin this foreign, tropic land. All are eventually sent back to the states. Relatives are informed of their coming. They order the disposition of the remains as they see fit. In case there is no call for the remains of the Philippine veteran, his body is interred in- the national cemetery at San Francisco and duly marked. During the Civil war there were great numbers of Confederate soldiers taken prisoners and held in northern prisons. Many of these died In these prisons, and many others, suffering from wounds and disease, died in the hospitals of the Union forces Two years ago the federal government appropriated 3200,000 to mark the graves of these Confederate soldiers. That money is now being expended. The task is practically completed. The Confederate dead are thus being honored in the land from which came their enemies in the monßter conflict. At many of the prisons the dead Confederates were hurled separately, and their graves were marked with their names. In these cases the graves are being permanently marked with headstones of a design different from those used for the Union troops, but in no way less imposing. There is the cemetery at Elmira, N. Y., for instance. The resting place of the Confederate dead at that point is no less beautiful nor well cared for than are any of the national cemeteries. But in most instances It was found that the dead had been buried in trenches, as were most of the dead on both sides in that war. Here It is impossible to identify the individual remains, but the names of all the men buried in given trenches are to be found in the records of. the prison. In such cases one imposing monument »h erected over the spot and the names of all the dead resting there are inscribed upon it. Such a monument has been erected at Camp Douglas, Chicago, and upon it are names of 4,275 Confederates. At Point Lookout are the remains of 3,300 prisoners who died, and their resting place has been marked by a similar monument. Tbe same course is being followed at Finns Point, N. J.; at. Alton, Ill.; at Camp Morton, Ind., and at Camp Chkse, Columbus, O. All such burying grounds were marked by Jan. 1, 1913. and the commission appointed for that purpose disbanded. The federal government has taken no action toward marking the graves of Confederate soldiers other than those who died in northern prisons and hospitals. But throughout the south the various organizations., such aa the United Confederate Veterans and the Daughters of the Confederacy, have given ample recognition to the men who died for the southern cause. Their bodies have been gathered in special cemeteries, monuments have been built In their honor and their graves have been appropriately marked. In the sonth on Memorial day there are often enacted scenes that are even more touching than those in other sections, for there the veterans of both causes, those who wore the blue and those who wore the gray, join hands in honoring the military dead. Oftentimes the uniforms of the two causes, worn by men In the very eventide of life, are in evidence and old animosities are buried in a realization of tbe valor of both combatants and the fact that each fought for a cause he deemed the right.

But everywhere under the Stars and Stripes on Memorial day there is an outpouring of those who pay homage to the soldier dead. Everywhere is evidenced the thoroughness and efficiency of the nation's attempt to take care of its dead and assure the perpetuation of the name and the credit of the martial hero. Twelve freight trains of 25 ears each would be required to haul the money in 20-dollar gold pieces that this nation has paid out in pensions to the veterans of the Civil war. Ten freight cars would be required to haul the money in gold that the nation pays to its veterans in a single year. These amounts promise to be greatly augmented by legislation now pending before congress. The pension office in Washington is the primary monument in’honor of the old soldier. It was built with the particular idea in mind of furnishing a clearing house for the gratuities which the government extends to him. It is the largest building ever erected by the federal government. The maintenance of the pension service alone in its handling of the sums that go to the pensioners cost the government $2,650,000 last year. The net sums paid ouf in pensions has during the last few years amounted around $160,000,000 annually. This appropriation would mean a couple of dollars to every man, woman and child in the nation. Indirectly every man, woman and child contributes a couple of dollars to It. The government has expended in pensions to date for all the wars of the past a little over $4,000,000,000. Of this $3,000,000,000 was received hy Civil war veterans. Four billion dollars is an enormous amount of money. There is at present in the United States, including all the gold, silver and paper money in all the treasuries, banks, wallets and old socks, but $3,556,000,000. This is to say, there is not enough money in the United States today to pay, at a single time, the pensions that the Civil wat veterans have received. So, in the course of drawing their stipends it is evident that the pensions have at one time or another had all the money there is. There is but $1,750,000,000 in gold coin in the United States. There is not half enough gold coin In existence to have paid these pensions had the call come all at once. The government has paid out altogether 250 carloads of gold coin in pensions. All its gold might have been used' two and one-half times over in the process. If this twelve trainloads of gold were loaded at once it would require but nine additional trainloads to haul the balance of the gold coin of the world. These pensions are paid quite cheerfully. There Is hardly a dissenting voice in congress when a proposal to increase pensions is introduced. The people approve of the action. They worship at the shrine of the martial hero and are willing at all times to be taxed that he may be given further pittances. Tbe pension appropriation is the largest individual item when, each year, congress makes up the list of governmental expenditures. Yet scarcely a voice is raised in disclaimer. Administrations may lay heavy stress upon the piv gram of economy, but no suggestion is ever made that the pension^roll be cut. When measures of pension increases are brought before congress not even the Democrats vote against them. When investigating committees go roaming through government departments in sehrch of financial leaks the pension. office is clear-listed and no questions are asked. The veteran and his pension are held sacred. When the question is raised as to who shall secure position under Uncle Sam, the veteran is again given the advantage. In the civil service. In the first place, the age limit is removed from the old soldier. Be his age what it may. the positions are all open to him. In the examinations that must be taken under civil service rules the veteran need secure an average of but 66, while the civilian must rate at least 70.