Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1859-04-26
SPEECH OF HON. JOHN LETCHER.
PIIOENTN HAII', TT F.I'NHEN' ~
nN Tile lSTI INSTANT.
IN TIE INTH INNIN
iroSCLrpEp.

.roSCLrpEp.
Under the Pension laws, provision was made
for the soldiers who had fought III the war al
the Revolution, and, i'll cast OF their death, l'r
| their widows and orphans.
That is the only bill that covers the wants "t
| the class Of soldiers engaged III tins particular
war The reason assigned for the passage oi
the bill at that time was, that the soldiers If
| the Revolution havin. rendered service tn the
| country. without adequate compensation, some
| COMPENSATION was du, from tho ''~ovcrnmrnt,
both in consideration OF these services. and ot
the fact that the soldiers ri the Revolution had
been paid in Continental script, which had
greatly deprecated by the r>isrn'irS "t the
times.
Then. there was another class the in,alldcd
| soldicrS-thoSc wounded in battle, "r disabled
by disease contracted in actual srr'I'r. For
this class OF pensioners, II WAS the obvious du-
Is of the government {" provide. and th'n
. claims have been fully recognized. without re-
! card tn the particular war ont 1T which their
! disability grew.
The whole amoun, ot money. 40. applied
! Ia the uav If pensions from the foundation al
the Government to the present time. j.
, ssh uln. 500. The system to which the gen
tlcman refers WAS proposed irr the soldiers If
: the war oi l>la alone. first, f"r those who had
! served twelve months and upwards. II Prov
/ Jed $40 4 wear. Tor those whr had served Si>
; months, So per year, t"r those who had
served only sin days. sdi, and all others WIN"
| had served at all were Ia receive the highest
I amoln; mentioned. so.
THIS hill was ~ ~ back in the Isl Scptcm-
, Der. lS5-. and would have required M arprr
~pria,icn Of $2,.97d.oon for this year, and III
the course Of ten wears would have absorbed
the >uan Of sos. coo. GOO.
Wa | RICH, for refusing {" put such y lmr
| den upon the conn;ryy Is il right that the
strong arms ot Toll should have t" pay such
an amount 10 the soldiers. ninctcnths "
whom arr more able ,o io without II than
many vi those who would have ~ pay II nj
last Ru; how many Of th"m d' y"u sup
pose have derived hrnc.i, from III" acts "i
$50 and 1867 Nearly five hundred thou
sand. II the pension Is proper i"r them. Is 1t
, no, a. proper for The soldiers cf the Mexican
war: They stand upon exactly the same
platform. except that one rendered service
in = foreign land. while III" other rendered
il on the sol! Of their country. Roth have re-
ceived their pay. including raticnS. clothing and
everything the law allows. and in addition 10
that, each was given ldo acres Of land. Now,
| ASK why not pension The soldiers Of the Next
can as well a the soldiers of the war Of lsl2f
If the pension he paid at all, it is for mcritori-
Gus service. VIII you. therefore. discriminate
in favor Of one and against another: Why not
pension the soldiers in the Florida war. in the
Creek and the Black Hawk wars. and all other
wars in which the country has been engaged
in the defence OF its rights: If all these are 10
l.. ..:,.l ,to. t.nrornu,nn. ~ rho tl,1 nf
the earth could bear the burden? And il is n
little remarkable. in this connection. that my
competitor should ~arrai-n ne for extravaganza
in the expenditure Of the public moneys. and
then, in the next breath. condemn me because
| would not burden the Government with an
immense debt, Applause
pass on 10 the next branch Of the discus
sion: and here is an issue between my compe-
titor and myself. He is for the distribution of
the proceeds OF the public lands, or for ceiling
certain portions to the States that have no
lands. II is perfectly fair that he should be
held to his course in Congress in regard to the
distribution bill. Now, what is the state Of
things between the Federal Government and
the landed States:
When they apply for a division they receive
five per cent. out Of the net proceeds Of the
Sllt~ u lIlC DAbliI Isilll lIiHNiI Iliisii VIVA ~
mits.
Under the first provision Of the Distribution
Act of 1871. each new State is allowed ten per
cent. additional. There is fifteen per cent.
zone. Then. in this act, it is further provided
that 800. 0oo acres shall 90 to each new State
for educational purposes. Here. then. i TWEEN.
~ pcr cent. gone, or onc-lifth of the whole, be-
fore the benefits of distribution begin TO 20 10
II Ca. ,ln,.n1yn- Th.n ynit bn cat IN l,ulyyt
the cost and charges attending their sale.
Now. let u see how il works: | have it from
the estimate of a Wing Secretary Of the Int
rior. The sales were $50, 2iG, from which
s2a0.21U must be deducted for expense, Of
surveying. &c. leaving $Gli.91n. Then take
off fifteen per cent. 81 which have spoken
in order to ascertain the ratio of distribu-
ton. When YOU come to take of that ff.
teen pcr cent, you have within 4 fraction Of
1850. 900 To DC divided amongst the States.
You set out with 4 capital Of $500. 26d, and I'M
der the workings Of the distribution act you re.
duce il TO $50. 400. You distribute this &C.
cording to the average distribution amongst all
the States, and yet my competitor tells You IT.
pinia is the State that has been denied this
bv the Federal Government. Mr.. Lctcher
here referred ut length to facts, showing the
mcagrc amount Virginia would receive in pro-
portion to what she had done; much of which
the reporter could not catch, owing 10 an in.
terruption Of 4 diSagrccable character
But after all. when YOU have received your
share Of tine distribution. you have to return it
to the Treasury again, aud the consequence Is,
that YOU arc paving one set oil men to dlStri-
butte the money according to the average mode
Of distribution. and paying another set Of men
to return it to the Treasury. Applause
want YOU to tell me how any people will thrive,
or their interest be promoted, when one set Of
sharks are at one end Of the Treasury, and an
other at the other end: And, besides. while
Won are distributing the proceeds OF the public
lands according TO the average numbers, how
are you replenishing the Treasury: Ont of
the 5000, 600, 900 paid into the Treasury from
the foundation of the Government up to the lSt
of July last, you will find that the South has
contributed something like S72o, 900, 900. Are
YOU willing. then. 10 pay money to distribute.
when you are paving back in the ratio Of three
to one, while the South has received, and could
only by possibility receive less than one half OF
the distribution fund:
But my competitor tells you have received
nv salary of 81, 900 for ny term in Congress
that when | went back | said, like the old
preacher who objected to receiving money on
Sunday, lust put it right here Now, sup,
pose il | did pocket $4,000 of the public money,
he played the same game with that 1924 that
he got for doing nothing. And what is the
| difference between us in this respect: Why.
the difference is this: Twas there in Congress
executing work for the Government, and repre-
scnting my constituency, while he only repre-
scnted himself Q.aughter.J II | was entitled
IN II certainly was for services, and because
it was allowed me By law: if he was entitled to
it, it was for services rendered to Vim. l.. Cog
gin for contesting the seat of John W. Gilmer.
So, my friend, rs far as that matter is concerned.
as they say in whist, honorS are easy. (Great
laughter and applause
He tells you, in justification Of his appeal to
all parties to come mp TO his support, that the
Democracy in the Presidential contest OF 1876