Vermont Phœnix

The Old Soldiers and the Pensions.

Editor of The Phoenix:---As the periodical attack on the old soldiers and the pension system is being made through the press I consider it in order for the old veteran to put in a few words. In the first place we are the same men that stood shoulder to shoulder from '61 to '65 in the defence of our country and we only know what we endured and suffered that human bondage might be wiped out and the old flag wave over the grandest nation on the earth. After many years the feeling that the pensioner is a burden seems to be gaining strength in the public mind, and possibly there are good reasons for some complaint. If our pension laws are too liberal then every true citizen soldier would be willing to get along with less aid in dollars and cents, for we know how to endure poverty and suffer for our glorious country, but we want the honor that was paid for with a terrible price, we know what it cost to follow the stars and stripes in those bloody days of strife, and we feel that we own a share in the dear old banner that floats over the free and the brave, which represents principles that are dear to every true American.

P. S. Will every old soldier not drawing a pension kindly forward his name to be placed on the list for publication.

E. B. Bissell
S. Washington St., Brattleboro,