People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 March 1894 — THE PENSION BILL. [ARTICLE]

THE PENSION BILL.

DUcaaalon Over the Appropriation Meat* nre in the House. On the 2d the house took up the pension bill. The aggregate of this bill Is nearly *152,000,003. which Is over »11,000,003 below the estimates and (15,000,000 less than the amount appropriated for the current year. Meredith (dem., Va.) charged that thousands of men are on the pension rolls who have no claim to be there, and when this statement was challenged he described a case that came under his personal knowledge, without mentioning any names. On the 3d Mr. Pickier (rep. S. D ) made a vigorous speech in behalf of a liberal pension policy. The old soldier, his widow, his children and his grandchildren should have justice, he said. Gen. Black (dem.. Ill.) ex-commissioner of pensions, followed Mr. Pickier, whose kindly speech, he said, might almost be adopted as a declaration of principles by the house. While it was true that there was no praise of the union soldier that would not find an echo on the democratic side, the assault of Mr. Grout (rep. Vt.) speaking for the republican minority, could not be overlooked. Mr. Grout, Mr. Black said, had laid down three propositions—(l) that the pension office was unfriendly to the soldiers: (2) that it was inimical to their rights, and (3) that the democratic party was hostile to the union soldier. In 1891-’9l 311,000 claims were allowed, an average of 100 pension certificates issued a day. In the final adjudication one clerk passed on 2,403 cases in a month, or one every four minutes After he had made this record he was promoted. Thousands of cases were adjudicated on three papers: (1) The pensioner's application: (2) the date of entering and leaving the arm-.-, without stating whether ho was honorably or dishonorably discharged: (3) the medical examination. Ohere was an entire neglect of the great requisite of the law—that the condition of the applicant should be shovrn not to bavo been the result of his own vicious habits Mr. Black went on to cite the case of a northwestern regiment which went south for 10) days and never saw the smoko of battle nor heard a musket crack Six hundred and fourteen men in that regiment were on the pens’lon roll under the act of 1890, with two companies unaccounted for. Was that making the pension roll a roll of honor? With reference to the charge that the democratic party was hostile to the soldiers he pointed out that since 1861 the house, which originated all pension appropriation bills, had : teen eighteen ytSirs under the control of the republican party, and during that lime it had appropriated 1676,030,030: while during the sixteen years of democratic rule the house had sent to the senate bills appropriating 5251,00 - * 000.

Mr. W augh (rep., Ini.) declared that no pension bill, general or private, had ever been rejected by a republican vote. On the sth Mr. Ilepburn (rep., la.) in his argument declared that the late confederate states contributed not one dollar to the payment of tensions. Of the 8153,000,000 internal revenue taxes the south pays less than? 9,003,000: of the 8177.0(0,000 customs receipts the south pays 000,000; of the miscellaneous receipts less than 82,030,000. “So that,” said he, addressing the southern members, “you contribute less than 815000,000 to the revenue of the government How do you get that back? Niue millions return as sugar bouhty, $5,030,003 in pensions and $5 000,000 as a deficit of postal receipts. You, thcrefoie, receive back 53.000 000 more than you contribute. You contribute not a cent to northern pensions. What difference does it make to you what we do with our own money?" lie denied that there was any great number of fraudulent pensions. Mr. Enloe (dem., Tenn.) said there is always or.e great difficulty in discussing the pension question. A largo amount of money is involved, a large number of votes are involved, consequently there is strong temptation for the demagogue to exercise his calling. Because the democratic administration sought to strike from the pension rolls those who are entitled neither to the government’s gratitude nor its bounty the republicans assail the president, secretary of the interior and Commissioner Lochron. As an evidence of the existence of fraud Mr. Enloe said thero have been 170 convictions of pension claim agents for manufacturing testimony in pension cases. Mr. Enloe had read a letter from Commissioner I.ochren under date of March 5, 1894, saying that there were between 8,033 and 10,00) pension cases at present under investigation where there was a strong presumptive evidence of fraud.