PULSIONS FOB ALL. 729 



measure of a conquest, the ransom of an empire. It would far ex- 

 ceed the fine imposed by Germany on France in 1871. 



It is time that the soldiers themselves repudiate the dema- 

 gogues and vindicate their own patriotism. The glory of the 

 Union army is tarnished by the mercenary clamor for pensions. 

 If the soldier is to be a chronic menace to industry, he will forfeit 

 his claim to honor, and cancel the obligation due him for service 

 in the war. As it stands now, every Union soldier is " a suspect " 

 in the eyes of his countrymen. He is regarded as a pension-grab- 

 ber, and as a patriot who desires to commute his military glory 

 for a stipulated sum in cash. The suspicion is unjust. There are 

 thousands of Union soldiers who, having served the country in 

 war, refuse to forage on it now. 



It may be said, Why do they not protest against the pension 

 scheme ? Why do they remain silent while the forays are being 

 organized ? The answer is easy. In the first place it is not a 

 pleasant thing for any old soldier to criticise the plans and pur- 

 poses of his comrades. It is an unthankful duty, even if it is a 

 duty at all. It can only make him unpopular among those whose 

 approbation he would like to have. Secondly, he thinks that a 

 general pension law is the only plan by which the worthy soldiers 

 can be placed on a level of reward with the unworthy claimants 

 who never did any good service, but who have no delicacy and no 

 scruples about getting on the pension-rolls. He says : " There are 

 many brave, needy, and deserving soldiers who will never make 

 application for a pension, therefore let the Government offer it." 

 And, thirdly, whatever his own opinions may be as to the morality 

 or policy of pensions, he does not care to be officious in opposition 

 to the general sentiment on that subject, nor does he wish to stand 

 as an obstacle in the pension path of others. 



During the latter part of the war there may have been some 

 Union soldiers who were tempted into the army by large bounties, 

 but they were a very small proportion of the whole. Excepting 

 these, it may be truly said that the men who saved the Union 

 neither knew nor cared when they enlisted what were the rates of 

 pay, or the measure of allowances for service. They were moved 

 by patriotism and not by promises of pay. The charge that they 

 were a " mercenary soldiery " was false in the days of Abraham 

 Lincoln, although it was freely made by the envious and dis- 

 loyal. Let it not become true now. Let not the " pension temp- 

 tation " change the character or diminish the fame of the Grand 

 Army. 



