Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 24, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 February 1887 — SERVICE PENSIONS. [ARTICLE]

SERVICE PENSIONS.

The Dependent Parent and Indigent Soldier Bill Vetoed by the President. Full Text of the Executive's Message Objecting to the Measure. In the National Home of Representatives, 11th Inst , a meMige was received from , the President transmitting without hi* approval the dependent pension bill. The text of the message is tut follows: ‘To the Hoo w of Rspresentntires: I herewith return without my approval House bill No. 10*57, entitled ‘An ait for the reli< f of dependant parents and honorablv discharged soldier* and tailors aho are now disabled and dependent ujxni their own labor for support.' •This is the first general bill that has been sanctioned by Congress tiuco the close of the late civil war permitting a jienMon to the soldiers and sailois who served in that war u)k«i the ground of service and present disabi ity, alone, and the entire absence of any in juries received by the casualties or incidents of such •ervice. “Whilo by almost constant legislation since the close of this war there has been comnenisation awarded for every possible injury received as a result of military service 'in the Union army, and whilo a great number of Isws passed for th t purpose have been admin stereo with neat lilwralitv and have been supplemented by uuineious private acts to reach so cia’ case*, there has not, until ow, been ail avowed departure from the principle thus far adhered to resiws ting Union soldieis. that the bouuty of the Uovi r.iment in the way of pensions is generously Ivestowed when grant d to - those who, in this military service and in ine of milit rv duty, have to a greater or loss extent beendisHliled. ......- ■ “But it is a mistake to suppose that service pensions, aueli as arc permitted by the second oeetion of the bill under consideration, are new to our legtslnt on. In I*lß, thirty-five years after the close of thO Revolutionary war. t hoy were granted to tire soldiers engaged in that struggle, conditional upon service to the end of the war. dr for a term not less than nine months, and requiring ffury beneficiary under the act to be one ‘w ho is, or b realter hv reason of his rodtacel Circumstances in life shall be, in need of assistance from his country for su. iiort.' Another law of like chtirat t, r was passed in 1828, requiring service *to the close of the l(evOhrtimmry war,' and still anotlier, } asstd in 188 J. provided for those persons not included in the previous statute, but who Served two years at some time during the war, and giving a pioportionate sum to those who had served not lass than six months. "A service pens on law was passed for the benefit of the soldiers of 1812 in the year 1871— fifty-six years after the close of the war- which required only sixty days' service, and another vas'ma«B<d'in 1878—sixty-three years after the xrar-*quiring only fourteen .days’ service. “ThSaerviee pension bill passed at this sesSion of Congress, thirty-nine yoargoafter the close of the Mexican war, for the benefit of the soldiers of that war, requires eit .er some degree of disability or dependency or that the claimant under its provisions Should be 62 years of age ; and ir either case that ho should have served sixty davs or been actually engaged in a battle. “It will be seen that the bill of 1818 and the Mexican pension billy being thus pass I nearer the close of the wars in which its beneficiaries were engaged than the others-one thirty-five years and ti.e < tat)X..Uurty-i)ine years after the terminatien of’ such wars—embraced persons who were quite advanced in ago, assumed <o be comparatively few* in. number, and whoso circumstances. dependence, and disabilities were clearly defined and could l>c quite easily fixed. “The other laws referred to appear to have been passed at a time so remote from the military service of the persons which they embraced that their extreme age alone was deemed to supply a presumption of dei>eudence and need.

“Tho number of enlistments In the revolutionary war is stated to l>e 369,Ti11, and sh the war of 1812, 676,622; but it is estimated that on account of repeated re-enlistments the number of individuals engaged in these wars did not exceed one-half of the numln-r represented, by these figures: In the war with Mexico the’ number of enlistments 'S reported to be 112,230, which represents a greater proportion or individual* engaged than the reported enlistments hi the two previous wars. “The number of pensions granted under all laws to soldiers ot the revolution is given at 6'.’, *!>; to soldiers of the war of 1812 and their widows. <10,176, and tb soldiers of the Mexican war and their widow*. up to June 3U. .1885,, 7,t,1>. 1 his number of pensions was granted to the soldiers ot a war involving much hard-nip for disabilities incurre<l as a result of such service, and it was not till within the last mouth that the few remaining survivors were awarded a vervlce i eusion. “Tbewarofthe rebellion terminated nearly twentv-two years ago: the number of men furnished for its prosecution is said to be ‘->,772,106. Under these stalutes 521.678 pensions have been granted trom the year 1361 to June 30, 1866, and more than -2,600 peusioru rs have been added to the rolls by private acts passt dto meet cases, many of them of questionable merit, which the general laws did not cover. On July 1,1636, 365,673 pensioners of all classes were upon the pension rolls, of whom $85,6 5 were survivors of the war of the rebellion and their widows and dependents : for the year eudiug June :W, 168/, $.5,0.0,000 have been appropriated for the payment of ]<ensions, and the amount expended for that purpose from 1861 to Jttlv 1,1886 J is taaa.624.8n.6f. ' “While annually paying out such a vast, sum for pensions already, granted, it is now proposed by the bid. under consideration to award a eervlc. pension to sohifers < f~aJl wars in which the United Mates has been engaged, including, of course, ti e war of the rebellion. and to pay those entitled to the benefit of the act Sl per month. 80 lav a- it relates to the soldiers of the late civil w„r. the bounty it affords them is given thirteen years earlier than it has been furnished to the soldiers of any other war, and before a large majority of its beneficiaries have advanced in age beyond the str<ngth and vigor ‘ of the prime .of life. It exacts only a military or naval service of three months, without any requirements of actual engagement with an . enemy in battle, and without a subjection ~to ■ny of tbe actual dancers of war. “The pension it awardsds allowed to enlisted men who have not suffered the least‘injury, disability, loss, or damage of any kind incurred in or in a: y degree referable to’their military service, including those who never reached tire front at all and those discharged from rendezvous at the close of tbe war if discharged three months after enlistment. Under the last call of the President for troops’, in December, ISG-t, U,3u3 men werefuniishtd who were thus discharged. • “The section allowing this pension does, however, require, beside.- a service of thr< e months and an honorable discharge, that those seeking the benefit of the act shall be such as are now or may hereafter be suffering from mental cr physical disability not the result of their own • vicious habit- or gross carelessness, which in- • capacitates them for the per.ormance of labor in such a decree as to render them unable to earn a support, and who are dependent upon their daily labor for support “It provides further that such persons shall, upon making proof of the fact, ‘be placed on the list of invalid pensioners of the United States, arid be entitled to receive fog.such total inability to procure their subsistence bv dailv labor 812 per month, and 6uch pension shall commence from the filing of the application in the Pension Office, upon proof that the disability then exist .d, and continue during the existence of the same in the degree herein provided, that persons who are now receiving pensions under

existin'-'laws, or whose claims ate pendmg in the Piusion Office, may, by application to the Commissioner of Pensions in such form as lie may prescribe. receive the benefit of this act.’ 1 "It is manifestly of the utmost importance that -tatitts, which, like pens.on laws, should be liberally administered as measures of benevoi< nee in behalf of worthy beneficiaries, should admit of no uncertainty as to their general ob ©cts and consequences.' “Upon a cart ful consideration of the language of the section of this bill above gi'.e.'i. it s euia to me to be so uncertain, aud t able o such con- 1 flietißg constructions, and to besnbjrtSt tarncir nujpst and mischievous application, as to alone furnish snfheient ground for disapproving the proposed legislation. Persons seeking to obtain the pension provided by this section must be now or hfereafteh— « “L 'Suffering from mental or physical disability.’ “2. Such disability must not be the result of their own Vioious tiabita or gross carelessness .' *3. Such disability must be such as incapacitates 'them for the performance of labor earn a support. ’ “4. They must be ‘dependent upon their d aily labor for support.' *5. Upon proof of these condition they shall be ’placed on the list of invalid pensioners of the United States and be entitled to receive for each total inability to procure their subsistence by daily labor 812 per month.’ ~fr. —— ; “It itfnot probable that the words last quoted, *such total inability to procure their subsistence by daily labor,’ at all qualify the conditions prescribed in the preceding language of the section. The total inability’ spoken of must be 'such’ inability; that is, the inability already described and constituted by the conditions

already detailed In the previous part* of the section. It thus becomes important to consider the meaning and the scope of these last-men-tioned conditions. “The mental and physical disability spoken of has a distinct meaning in the prafticn of the j‘enilou Bureau, and inoludes eiujy impairment of. bodily or mental suvugtti and For s-ich disabilities there are n&m paid - I ISI I different rate* of pensions, ran quit from St to f'liW i*«r month. This disability must fint be the result of the applicant's ‘vicious Nabhs or I gross careies-noss. Practically this provision is not important. The attempt df the Government to escape the payment 6f a pension on such a plea would, of course, in a very large] maority of instunoes, and regardless of the i merit* «f the Case, prove a failure. There woulu be thut strange but nearly uuiversal willlngn- sa to iielp the Individual, as between hltii and the fiub.ic treasury, which goos very far to insure a state nf proof in favor of the claimant. ~'l he dlsaldlity nf applicants must be such as

to ‘incapacitate them for the performance of labor in such a di gree as to render them unable -to earn a support.' It will bo observed that there is no limitation or definition of the incapacitating injury or a im- nt itself. It need only be such a dogree of disability from any cause as renders the claimant unable to e&ru a support by labor. It seems to me that the 'support' 1 here lhent-oned as one which cannot be enmod I is.a oamplete and entire support, with no diminution on account of the least impairment of physical or mental condition. Wit hat been intended to embrace only those who by disease or injury were totally unahhi to labor, it would have be. n very easy to express thut idea instead of recognizing, all it has done, a 'degree' of such inability. "What is a support? Who is to determine whether a man earnß it. or lias or has it not ? “‘ft the Government to enter the homes of claimants for pensions and nfter an examination of their surroundings and circumstances settle those questions ! Shall the Government say to one man that his manner of subsistence by his earn digs Is a support, and to another that the things his, warnings furnish is not a support? Any attempt, however honest, to administer this law in such manner world necessarily produce more unfairness and unjust discrimination, and give more scope for partisan partiality, and would result in more perversion of tho Government's benevolent intent.bus than tho

execution of any statute ought to permit. “If, in the effort to carry out the promised law, the degree Of disability as related t-> earnings be considered for the purpose- of discovering if, In any w av, item-tails the support which the applicant, if entirely sound, would earn, and to which he is entitled, v. e enter the broad field long occupied by tlio Pension Bureau, and wo recognize as the only difference between the proposed legislation and previous laws passed lor the benefit of the surviving soldiers of tho civil war the incurrence in one case of disabilities in military service, and in the other disabilities existing but in no way connected with or resulting from such service'. “It must he home in mind that in no case is there any grading of this proposed pension. Under the operation of the rule first sugge te 1, if there is a lack in any degree, great or small, of the ability to earn such a support as the government determines the claimant should have, and bV the application of the rule secondly suggested, if there is a reduction in any degree of the support which he might earn if sound,, he is entitled to a pension of sl-2. “In the latter case, and under the provision of the proposed bill permitting persons now receiving pensions to lie admitted to tL>e benefits of the act, Ido not see how those now on the pension roll for disabilities incurred in the service, and which diminish their earning capacity, can be deniod the ponsion provided in this bill. “Of course noue will apply who are now receiving 41-2 or more per month. But on June SO, 1886, there were on the pension rolls 202,621 persons who were receiving fifty-eight different rates of pension, from ?1 to 411.75 per month. Of these 28,1*2 were receiving 42 per month.

6'*,116 $i per month'. 37,251 .46 per month, und 50,27* whose disabilities were rated at 48 per month. ‘ , i - ■ i “A Bto tbe meaning of the section of the bill under consideration there appears to have been quite a difference of opinion among its advocates in thu Congress. The Chairman of the Committee on Pensions in the House of Representatives, who r. jxjrted the bill, declared that there was in it no provision for pensioning any one -who has a leas disability than a total disability to labor, aud that it was a charity measure. Tho Cbaiiman of the Committee on Pensions in the Scn -.te, having charge of tho lull in that J* dy, dissented from the construction of the bill announced in the House of Representatives, and declared that it not only.embraced all soldiers totally di; abled, but in, his judgment all who ard disabled to any considerable extent, and such a construction was substantially given to the bill by anotli- r distinguished K-nator,. who, us" a former Secretary of the Interior, had imposed upon him the duty of executing pension laws and determining their intent and meaning. "Another condition required of claimants under this act is that they shall be dependent upon-their daily labor for support. This bi.n-_, guage, which may be said to assume that there exists within the reach of the persons mentioned ‘ latKir' or the ability in some degree to work, is more aptly use 1 in a statute describing those not wholly deprived of this ability tnan in one which deals with those utterly unable to work.

“I am of t:io opinion that it may fairly be contended that under the provisions of this section any soldier whose-faculties of mind or body have become impaired by accident, disease, or age. irrespective of his service in tho army as a cause, and who by his labor only is left incapable of gaining the ia‘r support he might with unimpaired powers have provided for himself, andwco is not sow.*ll endowed with this world’s goods as to live without work, may claim to participate iu its bounty: that it is not required that ho should be w ithout property, but only that labor should be necessary to his support in some degree, nor is it required that he should be now receiving supjiort from others. •Believing th s to be the proper interpretation of th < bill, 1 cannot but remember that tbe soldiers of our civil war in their pay and bountv-reeeived such compensation for military so vice asTiiis never in ori reCeiveT By soldiers before since mankind went to war; that never before, ou behalf of any soldiers, have so many and such geuerom laws been passed to relieve against the incidents of war; that statutes have hem passed giving them a prefer? euce in all public employments; that the really needy and homeless Union soldiers <jf the rebellion have been, to a large extent provided for at soldiers’ homes, instituted autj supported by the Government,, where they are maintained together, free from tho sense of degradation which attaches to the usual support of charity, and that never before in tl?e history of the country has it been proposed to render Government aid toward the support of any of its soldiers based alone upon a milit rv service so recent, and where age and circumstances appeared so little to demand such aid. “Hitherto such relief has been granted to surviving soldiers, few in number, venerable in age, after a long lapse of tiyne since their military service, and as a parting benefaction tendered by a grateful people. I cannot believe that the vast peaceful army of Union sold ers who, having contentedly resumed their place in the ordinary avocations of life, cherish as sacred the me mory of patriotic service, or ‘who. having been disabled bv tne casualties of war, justly regard the present pension roll, on whien appear their names, ns a roll of honor, desire at this time and iu the pres mt exigency to be confounded with those who, through such a bill as this, are willing, to be objects of simply charity and to gain a place upon the pension roll through alleged dependence. “.Recent personal observation and experience constrain me to refer to another result w hich will inevitably follow-the passage of this bill. It is sad, but nevertheless true, tuat already in the matter of procuring pensions there exists a widespread disregard of truth and good faith, stimulated by these w ho as a.euts undertake to establish claims for pensions, heedlessly entered upon by tho exj ectaut beneficiary, and encouraged, or at least not condemned, by those unwilling to obstruct a neighbor s plans. *

"In the execution of this proposed law, under any interpretation, a wkle field of inquiry would be opened for the establishment of facts largely within the knowledge of the claimants alone, and there can be no doubt that the race after the pensions offered by this bill would not only stimulate'weaknesiand pretended incapacity for labor, but nut a further' premium on dishonesty and mendacity. "The efifect of invitations to apply for pensions, or of new advantages added to, causes for pensions already etfsting, is sometimes startling. Thus in March, lsi*. large arrearages of pensions were allowed to be added to allclaims filed prior to duly 1, 1880. For the year frdmJulvl, 1879, to July I.'ISOO, there were-filed 1113,073 claims, though in the year immediately previous there were but 36,&r2 filed, and in the year following but 1-.455. "While cost should not be set against a patriotic duty or the recognition of a right, still, When a measure proposed is based upon- generosity or motives of charity, it is not amiss to meditate somewnat upon-the example, which it involves. Experience has demon-*™*--*-*, i ligve. that’ ufr estimates concerning the probable future cost of a pension list are uncertain and unreliable, and always fall far below actual realization. "The Chairman of the House Committee on Pensions calculates that the number of pensioners under thiß bill would be 3 .LJb. and the increased annual cost 54.767,410. This is upon the theory that only t: ose who are entirely unable to work would be its beneficiaries. Such was the principle of the revolutionary pension law of ISIS, much more cjesxlv stated, iVaeerai to me. than in this hill. 'When the law of 181 s was upon its passage in Congress, the number of pensioners to be benefited thereby was thought to be 374, but the number of applicants under

I the act was 22,23?, and the number of pensions ! aotnaHv allowed—2o,4Bs-coating, it it reportj ®d. for the first year, $1,8*7,900, Instead of f*o,(XX), the estimated expense for that period. “A law vjvas passed in 1858 for the benefit of the surviving widows of revolutionary ao diers who were married after Jan 1, 1800. It was es tlimited that they numbered 300 at the time of 1 tno passage of the act, bat tbe number of penslohs allowed was 3,*72, and tho amount paid for such pensions during tho first year of tiie operation of the act was SIBO.OJU, instead of \ $24,000, as had boen estimated. I have made ) no search for other illustrations, and tho above, ] being at hand, are given as intending to show ] that estimates cannot be relied upon tn such' i cases. "If none should be pensioned under this bill except those utterly unable to work. I am t -t----isfii <1 that the cost stated in thk estimate referred to would he many times multiplied, and with a constant increase from year to year; an i if those partially unable to earn Ihefrjlißpport should be admitted to the privileges of this bill, the palpabie i- urease of expense w ould be almost appalling. "I think it may be said that at the close of the war of the rebellion every Northern State and a great majority of Northern counties and cities were liurdoned with tixation on account of the large b mnties paid our soldiers; and tbe bended debt therouy cro.xted still constitutes a large item in tne account of the tax-gatherer against the people. Fcd.ral taxation, no less borne ..by the pooiile than that directly' j&Hed upon their property is, st 11 maintained at the rate made necessary l.y the exigencies of war. If this bill should becomn a law, with Its tremendous addition to our previous obligations, I. am thoroughly convinced that further efforts to reduce the Federal re\enuo and restore some port of it to our people will aud jiorhaps should be seriously questioned. "It lias'i.-oiibiauily been a cause of pride and congratulation to the American citizen that his country it not put to tho ch-irge of 'maintaining a lar.'e standing army TfiTHim "Of peace. Yet we nr - now living under a war tax which has been to.crated in peaceful times to meet the obligations incurred in w;.r. But for ypurs past, in all parts of the country, the demand for the reduction of the burdens of taxation upon our labor aud production has jucrensoil in volume and urgency. "l am not willing to approve a measure presenting the objections to which this bill is subject, and which, moreover, will have tho effect of disappointing the ex] notation of tbe people aud tueir desire and hope for relief from war taxation in time of peace.- In my last annual me.-sa ,o the follow ing language was used : “ ‘Every patriotic heart responds to a tender consideration for those who, having served their country lohg and well, are reduced to destitution anil dependence, not as an incident of their sor ice, hut with advancing ago or tiiTough sickness or misfortune. We ore till tempted by the contemplation of such a condition to supply relief, amt are often impatient of the limitations of public duty. Yielding to no one in tliedesire to indul-e this feeling of consideration, Icanuot rid myself of tho conviction that if these exsoldiers are to bo relieved, they and their cause are entitled to tbe benefit of an enactment under which relief may be claimed as a right, and that such relief"should be granted under tbe sanction of luw, not ir. evasion of it; nor should such worthy objects of care, all equally entitled, he remitted to the unequal operation of sympathy or of the tender mercies of social and political inlluence, with their unjust discriminations.’

“I do not think that the objects, tbe conditions, and the limitations thus suggested are contained in the bill under coi s.deration. X adlure to tho sentiments thus heretofore expressed. But the ev.T threatened by this bill is in my opinion such that, charged with a creat responsibility in behalf of the people, I can not do otherwise than to briffg to the consideration of this measure my best efforts of thought and judgment, and perform my con -titutioual duty in relation thereto regardless of all consequences, except such as appear to me to lie related to the best aud highest interests of the country. "Ghover Cleveland. “Executive Mansion, Washington, Feb. 11, 1887.”