Democratic Sentinel, Volume 12, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 July 1888 — STORY OF THE PENSIONS. [ARTICLE]

STORY OF THE PENSIONS.

upon the statute books taxing laws that raised a revenue from the people of over $100,000,000 j more than the necessities of the govern- ; ment required. That is the legacy they j left the democratic party and j the people of this country. It j stands confessed on all hands that this ought to be reduced. There can be no Question but i what money taken from the pockets of the ; people in the form of taxation that is not l needed for the honest and economical administration of the government is robbery, under | whatever name it may be called. [Cheers.] ' And when I tell you that the people of this i country paid into the treasury last year—in | the fiscal year closing the 30th day of June , 1a5t—5379,000,000 you can hardly credit it. j And when I tell you that all the expenses j of the government, including the reduction of ] the national debt by the purchase of bonds not yet due to the amount of $109,000,000 amounted to $269,000,000, leaving a balance still uncalled for, and for which there was no use, of $110,000,000, you will understand the magnitude of the outrage that the republican party committed upon the people of this country by those revenue laws [applause and cries of “That’s the talk.”] It is admitted now on all hands that this revenue ought to be cut down. The republican party admits it. The j democratic party has been laboring for it ever I since they got possession of the house of retire sentatives and an executive in the chair, but there are two ways by which that can be done. Our revenues are drawn mainly from two sources, customs duties, as they are termed, by which, according to last year’s revenue, there was received into the treasury of the people’s money $219,000,000. The other is the internal revenue system, levied mainly upon whisky, malt liquor and tobacco, by which there was raised last year $124,000,000. Now, fellow citizens, you would suppose that persons who admitted that there should be a reduction of .revenue would propose to reduce the burdens of the people, reducing taxation as well. That is the proposition which the democratic party are endeavoring to make out and which they have embraced in their platform.. Following the wise recommendations of President Cleveland, made to the present congress, the democratic party proposes to make this reduction chiefly by eutting down customs duties, by first placing upon the free list the prime articles of necessity and raw material; such articles as wood, iron ore,wool and other articles of that kind, and then to reduce the different schedules by bringing down the tariff on woolen fabrics, 40 percent.; on cotton fab- ' rics, from 25 to 30 per cent.; on iron and steel and their manufactures, from 25 to 35 per cent.; on sugar, 20 per cent., and so ou; and then in order to aid still further the reduction the democratic party proposes to take off the tax upon unmanufactured tobacco and to leave it upon cigars and cigarettes. The purpose, therefore, you see, of this reform is to lighten the burden of taxation while you at the same lime reduce the revenue. On the other hand, what is the republican plan? I will state it fairly and candidly as it is drawn from their own platform. They propose in the first place to repeal not only the tax on tobacco, including cigars and cigarettes—these young men that belong to the republican party want to get cheap cigarettes to smoke around the corners of our streets, [Laughter and applause.]—but to put whisky, used as they say for mechanical purposes aud in the arts, on the free list also; and then they propose to increase the taritf upon articles produced in this country for the avowed purpose as stated in their platform of cutting off importations and consequently raising the price of the article by excluding foreign competition. [Applause aud cries of “That’s their old doctrine.’’] And they say if the revenue is still not sufficiently reduced they prof lose to repeal the tax upon whisky and malt iquor and give us free whisky, and ns Gov. Gray said, dear blankets and dear clothing. That is their proposition. Now, fellow-citizens, do you suppose that any party in a country of intelligent people can hope to succeed on such a platform as that? [Cries of “never.” “They can not do i,t.”l They say it is protecting American labor. I say to you that it protects American capital at the expense of American labor. [Great applause] The system that we propose is to bring into this country any articles and all articles to which labor cun add value free of any tax or burden whatever, and thereby give labor something to do. Increase the sphere of labor. Increase the fields into which its product will go. Get it outside of this power of monopoly. They propose, they say, to look to the home market. I want to cover the foreign market as well as the home market. [Cries of “Hear, Hear.”] They propose to manufacture for 60,000,000 of people. We propose to manufacture for 600,000.000 of people. [.Applause.J But they say that it gives protection to labor. Fellow-citizens, I will tell you when labor in this country is protected under what we call a protective system; when they have glutted the market and cannot send their products abroad because they cost too much under their system to be sent into other markets and they have to shut down aud turn their laborers out, and then they are protected by Pinkerton’s detectives. [Great applause.J But, fellow-citizens, I shall not talk longer upon those questions to-night. I want to say a few words to you about our candidates—first our candidates, and afterwards theirs. Four years ago Grover Cleveland was nominated at Chicago as an experiment, and he has turned out to be one of the best experiments we have ever made. [Cheers.] He went into the presidential office an unmarried man, but he felt the responsibilities of that high trust, and when he stood up before the American people on the east steps of the capitol and said “I take this office as a sacred trust,” I felt that there was confidence to be reposed in him. He has devoted himself to that office in a manner that has established the fact that no wiser, no abler, no stronger executive has been in that chair within the present generatian [Applause]. He has some of the qualities of Jackson [Tumultuous applause]. He is able to say “No,” and he has a profound respect for the people because he knows that he is expressing their sentiments; and when republican leaders have tried to hound him down because he has stood between them and the treasury, for the people, and protected it against robbery [A voice—“ Great God, wasn’t that right”] he has felt all the time that he could rely with confidence on the people. W T hen they bring to him pension acts passed that were based on no proper service, where the evidence shows that there has been fraud and all that sort of thing and he was constrained to veto it, he said what ought to be remembered by every soldier in this country and cherished by him, that the pension roll ought to be regarded as a roll of honor [Great applause and cries of “That is true.”] and ought to be protected against dishonest claims; that upon it should be inscribed every honest one that any one was fairly and honestly entitled to. Fellow citizens, there was nominated with him Allen G. Thurman of Ohio, and these two men combine the strength and wisdom of the democratic party. [Great cheering.] Cleveland personifies its strength; Allen G. Thurman its wisdom. In President Cleveland’s earnest discharge of his duty he has reminded me often of one of those grand propellers that may be seen upon the lakes of your country, taking in their train immense convoys of other vessels that possess no power except that which the propeller gives, and takes them safe into port;’ [Applause] while Allen G. Thurman is the best living illustration of the true Jeffersonian doctrine that is near to every democratic heart, [Applause and cries of “amen]. Now, fellow-citizens, with such a ticket as that is there any doubt about our success? [Cries of “No, none.”] Does not every democratic heart throb at the mention of these names? Aud is not every democratic hand ready to be uplifted in defense of that ticket with, the determination of depositing in the ballotbox next November a ticket in favor of the electors who represent it? [Applause and cries of “They are all ready.] On the other hand, what* have the republicans presented? They have nominated Gen. Benjamin Harrison of Indiana and Levi P. Morton of New York. The tail of that ticket will only be known to posterity by the amount of the expenditure that he is, expected to make to secure his election. [Applause and laughter.] As to Gen. Harrison, I have no hard words tb say of him. Personally, I respect him; he is my neighbor. But, feilow citizens, he is a republican with all that that term implies [applause]; he is neither better nor worse than his party [laughter] ; he believes in all its dogmas, religiously believes them ;he believes in that platform framed at Chicago because he was careful to say when the announcement was made to him of his nomination in his personal response that he had carefully read it and approved it. He began his political career with the republican party. His first canvass was made in 1806 tor the first republican candidate for the presidency, Col. John C. Fremont, and he will end his political career in November with his own defeat [great applause], and will thereby prove to be the Alpha and Omega of the republican party. If you want to know what his record is simply look to the record of his party and there you will find it. On the Chinese question, when his party was opposed to the restriction of Chinese immigration he voted with his party on that subject. When they proposed to extend to the Chi-

nese the right of natural Ration, and consequently the elective fran'i -me, he voted with them upon that; and their again when his party took the other tack—thinking they had gone a little too far and it might be unpopular and unprofitable, —he voted with them there. [Applause.] As to the labor question, on that he has no record at all. Laughter.] He is not even as well off as poor Bridget, who started to this country with * good character, but lost it ou the way [applause and laughter;] and the reason that lie baa no record on that subject is that he ha- simply stood with his partv. The republican ;mrty Have do record on it. It has been the policy of the republican party since its organization to legislate on the principle that if you tase care of the rich, the rich will take care of the poor [a voice, “they won’t do it]; and they have continued to legislate on that principle until they have built up the most collossal fortunes alongside of the most abject poverty to be found anywhere. [Applause.J And, my fellow-citizens, it is just as difficult now for them to make a character for Gen. Harmon on the subject of the labor question as it is to make for some of us a character on the war question Haughter] after the war is over. For instance, there is Gov. I’orter and myself. [Laughter.] We were both able bodied men when the war was ou, but neither of us went to it. [Continued laughter.] In fact, so far as I am able to know, i do not think either of ns was ever within range o! the longest range gun that the rebels tired during the war; and as for my friend, Gen. Harrison, he ought to be a little modest on this subject also, for be suffered sixty-five regiments from Indiana to march by his door before he put on the uniform. [Cheers and a voice “He ought to be modest.”] He was colonel of the .Seventieth Indiana. Therefore, he ought to be a little tender and not step on Gov. Porter’s; toes or on mine any too hard. I have no doubt he made a very good soldier, but became very near missing his opportunity. [Laughter and applause.] Aud the reason why Porter ana I did not go has never been made known to the world. [A voice; What was it?] If I were to undertake to give y6u the reason for it I would say that we had perhaps some regard for the rebels and did not want to destroy them all. [Great applause and laughter.] And yet, fellow-citizens, they expect to nominate Porter because they claim that he has a record on the -object of the labor question, and that he can help Harrison out there [laughter], and that|H»rrison is to help him out on the war question. They will be very much like Jack Spratt and his wife. “Jack Spratt could cat no fat, His wife could eat no loan; So betwixt them both They swept the cloth And licked the platter clean.” And if they do nominate Porter I have very little doubt before the election that they will prove that he, and not McPherson was killed at Atlanta, and they will have his life-sized likeness down here in the cyclqrama. [Great applause and merriment.] We don’t know what a republican can do. But, fellow-citizens, one word more in reference to the candidates themselves and the campaign. In their platform at Chicago they have a number of “resolves” that are very curious when we come to consider them. One is they resolve in favor of silver currency anil denounce the administration of the democratic party for trying to destroy it when they themselves in 1873 demonetized silver, and when it had to be restored in 1878 over the veto of their president. I was there in the senate myself and know about it. [Applause.] They talkaboutthe public lands. After they have voted away to the mammoth corporations of this country all of the public lands that were of any value, leaving nothing but the mountain side and the sage brush, they now talk about reserving the balance of them for the settlers. [Laughter.] And then they resolve in favor of an honest election and a fair count, and then go right away and elect Dorsey—No, lam mistaken about that, worse than that—Dudley as chairman of their executive committee. “Straw Bail” Dudley! [Great applause.] There are on the records of the federal court to-day five indictments against republican repeaters who were here anil repeated in 1880, and were arrested and bound over for whom Dudley’s deputies—he being too cowardly to be there himself in person—took straw bail, and the men have gone away. [Laughter.] Now do you suppose they intend an honest election with that kind of an organization? [Cries of “no, they don’t,”] The next thing you will see, they will have Dorsey in there some way. But, fellow citizens, I want to say this to yon, it matters very little what they do. The man that is now at the helm of public affairs will be continued there four years longer. [Wild applause and cries of “He will!”] He has demonstrated to the people of this country that he is possessed of the Jeffersonian qualities of honesty and capacity [Cheers], and that he is administering the government for the people at the least possible expense. Let me say to you, fellow citizens, that the last public report of the treasury, published on the 2nd day of this month shows that the ordinary expenses of the government have been brought down to $145,000,00(1,810.000,000 less than last year, or more than forty millions less than the average of the last republican administration. [Enthusiastic cheering.] Do you want any better illustration of the wisdom of his administration than that? [Cries of “No, no.”] You do not find now any federal officer or office holder with a commission in his pocket with Grover Cleveland's name on it who has not something to do. [Applause]. He is not standing around idle, nor is he engaged cither in the tricks and trades of electioneering purposes. [Applause]. He must first discharge his duty as an officer, and mere political service counts for nothing on that roll, and it ought not to. [Applause and cries of “Right you are”]. Therefore, fellow-citizens, I feel a perfect and absolute assurance that next November will see Grover Cleveland and Allen G. Thurman placed as the representatives of the democratic party in the first and second places that are to be filled for the next four years. [Applause.] I join with Gov. Gray in saying that while this fight is on I shall do my part of it. I began the battles of the democratic party in 1844 for that Eatriot and statesman, James K. Polk, and I ave been fighting along that line ever since [applause;] and I shall continue to do so whilst strength is left to me. I know that in upholding the banner of the democratic party in Indiana I am standing for the noblest democracy that there is to be found in any part of our great country. [Great applause.] ME. brown’s VIGOROUS SPEECH. The Hon. Jason Brown of Seymour, candidate for congress from the Third district, was the next speaker, and he is always a vigorous one. Mr. Brown is a firm advocate of democratic tariff principles to say the least, and administered some sledge-hammer blows to the sophistical arguments of the high protectionists. He said in his introductory remarks that the democrats of Indianapolis had met not only to ratify the nominations made at St. Louis for president and vice president, but also for the purpose of rejoicing in the well founded hopes of democratic success in November. The democratic party ■would then triumph as it deserved to triumph. The party laid it down four years ago as the law of the party, that it would reduce taxation and not in a manner to interfere with the manufacturing interests, but rather to promote them. It promised them to reduce the expenses and also the revenue of the government. It said the same thing in St. Louis a few days ago. The republican party was in the habit of making a new platform every four years, but they had now changed. They now only swapped skirts every time they crossed a stream. The republican party said four years ago that it desired to correct the inequalities of the tariff. It confessed that there were inequalities. Who built the tariff that way ? Why the architects of the republican party. This party now says that the tariff needs no correction. After the next election, however, there would not be enough republicans left to make trouble for the democratic party. [Laughter.’] The republican party said it had reduced the tariff. But how ? After the war there was from 73 to 104 per cent, duty on clothing, and on banks, railroads and insurance companies about 3 per cent. They have taken off’ the tax on the banks and corporations and left it on the clothing. That is the way they had reduced the tariff. The democratic party is not in favdr of destroying the American manufacturers, but rather in enlarging the field for them Instead of limiting the scope to the boundaries of this country it wished to give them the entire world for a market.

DEMOCRACY’S CARE OF SOLDIERS. Indiana’* Veteran* Now Drawing Store Pendon Money Than Ever Before and Thirteen Thousand Bare the Justice Done Them Denied by Bepubiicans. [lndianapolis Sentinal, July 18.] Col. Charles A. Zollinger, the U. S. pension agent for the state of Indiana, yesterday completed his yearly and quarterly reports for the year and quarter respectively ended June 30. Col. Zollinger was asked as to what facts of general interest

the report contained, and said with a laugh: “Well, it shows pretty conclusively that republican orators and organs lie most shamefully when they declare that President Cleveland and the democratic party are hostile to the old soldiers who have been disabled, or to their widows and orphans. “Since the inauguration of Grover Cleveland the number of Indiana pensioners has been increased one-half. In the three years from June, 1885, to June, 1888, the number of names on the roll of the Indianapolis pension office increased from 26,434 to 39,521, or 13,087. Just look at this table which tells its own story in plain, unequivocal and indisputable figures:

REPUBLICAN RI LE. DEMOCRATIC RULE. j No. of i Net j Amount Paid, j No. of I Net j Amount Paid Year. Pens’ners; Increase.: Pensioners, j Year. jPens’ners! Increase.: Pensioners. 1883 20,921 2,116 I 85,117,987 48 !| 1.586 1 29,590 ! 8,156 J 0,632,824 36 1884 23,352 2,431 j 4,570,228 44 1887. 34,345 4,755 6,402,489 35 1885 26,434 3,082 ; 5,440,934 71 i: 1888 | 39,521 5,176 7,037,132 84 | j 7,629 1815,129,150 63 |j i | 13,087 819,072,446 55 RATES INCREASED—REPUBLICAN RULE. RATES INCREASED—DEMOCRATIC RULE. Year] No. jj Year! Noi 1883 1,785 1886..„ 4,353 1884 2,289 j 1887 5,950 1885 : 3,753 j] 1888 6,584

“What do you think of that?” continued Col. Zollinger. “Does that look as if the democratic party takes pretty good care of the soldiers? “Now, when you come to analyze that tabulated statement it makes a pretty good showing for the republican party, which has always claimed to be the staunch friend and particular guardian angel of the aged and infirm veterans. “In this table I have merely made comparisons for three years, but how much stronger is the contrast when you come to think that from the close of the war until the republican party went out of power—a period of twenty years—only 26,434 original pensions were granted to citizens of Indiana, while the democratic party in only three years has granted 13,087, or 50 per cent, of the number in the previous twenty years. It must be remembered, too, that these 13,087 had all along been entitled to their pensions, but for twenty years had been deprived of them by the republican administration.” Warming up to his subject the colonel continued to pour forth facts decidedly unpalatable to the republicans, thus: “When this table is examined it will be seen at a glance that in the last three years of republican rule the net increase in the pension roll of Indiana was 7,629, while, under democratic rule for the same length of time, the net increase was 13,087, showing 5,449 more pensions granted in three years by a democratic than bv a republican administration during a like period. “Another decidedly interesting fact will also be observed. In the last three years of republican rule only 7,827 pensioners had the rates of their pensions increased, while under three years of democratic administration 16,887 Indiana pensioners have had their rates raised—a difference in favor of the democratic party of 9,060. How does that fact correspond with the assertion of the republicans, that the democrats are opposed to doing justice to the country’s defenders? “Now, if you’ll just listen a little longer I’ll show you another thing which the democratic party has done for the pensioners of Indiana. In 1886 a democratic congress passed and a democratic president signed a bill increasing the rates of pensions for widows from $8 to sl2 per month, and under this law 5,611 increases were paid, which are not included in the number heretofore mentioned. Also in August, 1886, the rates of four or live hundred pensioners were increased from $24 to S3O, S3O to $36, and $36 to $45 by reason of the loss of a leg, arm, or hand, and this number is not included in the number of increases. Congress has recently passed a law giving to widows who have filed their applications since 1880 arrears of pensions from date of their husband’s death. This will give to this class of pensioners in Indiana many thousands of dollars.” Summing up the results of his comparisons, Col. Zollinger said: “We can see from just two sets of figures how the two freat parties have treated the soldiers of ndiana; “In the three years of republican rule, ’B3-4-5, they were paid a total of $15,129,150.63. . “In three years of democratic administration they received 519,072,448.55, which shows that the pensioners are $3.943,295.92 better off J'or having the democrats in power." From Col. Zollinger it was also learned that the number of employes in his office is now fifteen; in 1885 there were eleven when he took charge; in 1886 it was the same and in 1887 and part of 1888 thirteen. In other words in 1885 there was one clerk for every 2,403 pensioners, and now there is one clerk for every 2,635, showing that the democratic clerks do much more work than the republicans. This is now the second office in the country as to number of pensions, Columbus, 0., being first. The following table shows the amount of pensions paid quarterly in each county of the state: No. 'of Pen - Qt/arlerly tinners. Payment. Adams 216 $ 5,511 75 Allen 500 15,884 75 Bartholomew 685 20,599 50 Benton. 238 3,696 00 Blackford 163 3,837 50 Boone 542 13,351 75 Brown 286 9,787 75 Carroll 277 7,539 00 Cass 480 13,792 25 Clark 342 11,316 75 Clay 578 17,346 75 Clinton Crawford... 547 14,150 25 Daviesss * * 436 11,729 25 Dearborn 244 14,034 00 Decatur 293 16,634 25 DeKalb 394 11,952 25 Delaware 369 9,225 00 Dubois 330 8,907 25 Elkhart 422 12,215 25 Fayette 211 5,334 50 Floyd 338 9,290 75 Fountain 161 10,322 75 Franklin 331 9,375 75 Fulton 329 6,176 50 Gibson 383 10,352 00 Grant 453 12,017 00 Greene 077 20,277 75 Hamilton 412 11,844 50 Hancock 326 9,218 33 Harrison 378 19,907 75 Hendricks 434 13,062 25 Henry 381 10,672 50 Howard 383 11,350 75 Huntington 309 7,615 00 Jackson 645 20,529 50 Jasper 194 5,841 00 Jay 418 9,777 50 Jefterson 496 10,249 25 Jennings * 435 13,926 00 Johnson 350 10,921 75 Knox 427 10,782 50 Kosciusko 383 10,524 75 Lagrange * 228 7,173 00 Lake 183 4,600 75 Laporte 237 6,160 25 Lawrence 563 16,712 25 Madison 398 10,073 00 Marion ». 1,012 55,049 25 Marshall 360 9,346 00 Martin..... 370 11,807 75 Miami 357 8,855 75 Monro© 462 15,343 75 Montgomery 1... 534 14,863 25 Morgan 535 17,163 00 Newton 123 4,388 25 Noble : 362 11,056 75 Ohio 119 3,313 00 Orange 422 12,484 00 Owen... .'rrrr. 552 17,609 25 Parke 273 7,739 50 Perry 373 10,006 50 Pike 467 13,174 50 Porter 280 6,031 50 Posey . 288 8,048 00 Pulaski 247 6,112 00 Putnam 393 11,716 75 Randolph 445 31,987 50 Ripley 476 16,085 75 Rush 240 6,628 00 Scott 185 5,211 00 Shelby . - 432 12,8.53 25 Spencer 517 13,090 00 Starke 207 2,833 00 Steuben 369 10,612 25 tit. J05eph....................... 314 8,474 75

Sullivan 554 15,979 2.5 Switzerland 295 8,419 00 Tippecanoe 670 20,258 89 Tipton 366 8,561 75 Union 79 2,420 00 Vanderburgh 398 11,109 75 Vermillion 231 7,031 75 Vigo 698 23,664 50 Wabash 341 9,149 75 Warren 181 4,753 50 Warrick 318 7,903 00 Washington 421 12,862 00 Wayne 458 13,386 00 Wells 225 5,355 50 White 306 8,406 00 Whitley 284 4,754 25