Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 45, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 July 1886 — LOGAN TO THE SOLDIERS. [ARTICLE]

LOGAN TO THE SOLDIERS.

He Denounces the Policy of the Government in Neglecting the ‘ State’s Defenders. -—i, The Patriot Is Treated with Ingratitude, While an Arch-Traitor Is Rewarded. At Ottawa, Kas., on the 3d of July the Western Chautauqua Assembly celebrated Grand Army day. Gen. John A. Logan was the orator of the occasion, and in the course of his address he took occasion to criticise Clevd:ind!s vetoes of pension bills. On this subject he said: So, then, my comrades and fiiends, the war is at last ended, peace has spread her. white wings over this great country, and it is now for us, as patriots, as soldiers, and citizens, to live and develop with the growth of the United States of Anierica in intelligence and morals and in everything that makes a people great and goodL And to you, my old comrades, let me say one word. I dislike very much to have to say it, but after what the government has done necesrftyhas been laid upon me to say it. You have in your ranks men who are unfortunate. They are cripples, blind, and poor, and totter on the streets objects of charity; you, my comrades, know the wants of these once stalwart fellows, who gave the best days of their lives to save the Union. You must see that posts are organized all over this great country so that every disabled soldier, every poor comrade, may be taken care of; and if, perchance, he may not be able to show the exact spot where he got his wound, he could show whether it was from a friend or from an enemy. You know that his government owes him care, being unfortunate, poor, and unable to help himself. But with such Organizations as I have referred to you will yourselves be prepared to take cere of your comrade when some misguided President shall veto his bill. It has been said of me all over this country: -“Logan’s business is to look after the soldier.” Ido pay attentionJto other matters of national importance, but, so help me God, if I can only say that I have been faithful and true enough to watch over the interests of the patriot who saved this country, so that it became my house and your house —if I have taken care of that poor man and helped him in his suffering and distress—l am satisfied God will take care of me. There is a great deal said, my comrades., about the frauds perpetrated by unjustifiable claims made in order to secure pensions. One word in reference to them. I do not make the Sweeping assertion 'that all pensions that have been granted have been right, for I do not know; but I do know, for a certainty, that there is not a man who served through the war, who had slept amid snow and ice, wind and rain, by sunlight and starlight, in dampness and darkness, that came out of that service with his life prolonged. Ido not believe that there is a man who went through the sendee, no matter what some people say, who was. after it, as physically competent as he would have Deen had he not seen the service.

I know hundreds of men who ought to have pensions who have not got them because of their pride, and who now cry out fraud against the Government;but.fny country men, I would rather have a few frauds so-called—although they, amount to little—than to have hundreds denied pensions who are justly entitled to them. I would take the chances of making a slight mistake in that respect. I would a thousand times rather that any soldier who had a bill for a pension of s9(fa year, who had served his country, whether he could prove it exactly or not, should have it signed by the President than that an arrant knave and arch traitor should have $4,000 a year. My fellow-citizens when I get to talking to my old comrades, and there are' many of you here who served under me and under- my’ command while we were in that service—and I claim nothing for myself—the men who earned the muskets were the men who fought the battles; but while you were tramping day and night around Vicksburg and Shilo, and freezing in the storms around Donelson, and marching at the word of command from one end of the country to the other, young and strong, you did not believe then that the time would ever come that any man, no matter what his political affilations were," would ever com-plain of a little pension granted to a soldier; and there is not a man within sound of my voice in this vast audience -who was in the army himself but who knows and must confess that during the war, when it was doubtful as to which would be successful, when these boys returned home they would not want for gratitude. Why should rich men who fattened on the blood of 300,000 men now complain if men are pensioned because of their services? May God forgive me if I ever forget there is one thing we can say to the Government—practice what injustice toward the old Soldiers, faithful servants of the Union, you may—the time will not be long until they are past your reach. A few more years and there will be no Grand Army of the Republic. In a few more years we will have to go to the cemeteries, the hillsides, the brooks, the marshes, and rivers, to ascertain the history or wants of the soldier. The evidence of decay is upon us to-day. If I have shown weakness in your presence to-day I .hope that, in the light of our past straggles, you will forgive me. While I may have other state matters that require a share of my attention, your cause and just rights will never be forgotten. The battle for justice may be a hard one, but it cannot now be a long one, ’ft'nd after we have finished our labors here we shall joint the great silent army who shall not muster again until the last roll-call shall have been sounded.