"They Were Wrong"

Through the thinning blue ranks of the Grand Army of the Republic, gathered last week in Portland, Me., for its 63rd encampment, throbbed a momentous, oft-recurring question. President Hoover, who loves the South, and 31 State Governors, had recommended a grand joint reunion of the G. A. R. and the United Veterans of the Confederacy. Richard A. Sneed, Commander-in-Chief of the U. V. C., in the first official communication ever sent by his organization to the G. A. R., had warmly acquiesced. Octogenarian John Reese of Broken Bow, Neb., Commander-in-Chief of the G. A. R., exclaimed to his comrades: "It would provide a noble lesson for our children, who after all, will soon govern our nation."

But the Grand Army would not be soft-soaped. Rheumy old eyes glowered as the proposition was voted down. Piped one stern-principled New Jersey veteran: "They were WRONG back in 1861. . . .When they admit it, and not until l then, will we join them. . . . Let them fold up their battle flags. . When they put those flags in museums, then we will believe they want reunion."

To bring in young blood the G. A. R. elected as next year's Commander-in-Chief Edward J. Foster of Worcester, Mass., who, 15 at the end of the war, is now a mere 79. Cincinnati was selected for next year's encampment. Bustling with plans for the future, the Grand Army steadfastly ignored the fact that more than 1,000 of their number are dying every month.

Prime, lusty veterans of the Spanish-American war also encamped last week. They convened in Denver, Col., went on record as favoring greater pensions, elected for Commander-in-Chief Fred Warren Green, the Governor of Michigan who does not cash his pay checks (TIME, Sept. 16).