The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1859-01-03

rsnxtOry OF tho nill Passed by the House or
Observation-Disclosures OF the Debate
The Arguments, Pro and Con-What the
Bin Would Take Gut Of the Treasury
Motives OF Some 81 Its Supporters.
The I'LL passed by the House Of Representatives last
week. granting pensions 70 the surviving ocers and SOL
ders othe war of 1872 with Great Britain and 10 those
engsgsa in Indian during preceding the same
perisd the Inauguration Of system which, sue IS
xaiE established and carried out 70 It's legitimate
consequences, would in q short time make the
ssE OF maintaining pensioners greater than that OF
nsatainng the army and navy Of the United States.
u our epitone of the last weeks proceedings in
congress, VIC gave a brief sketch OF the mode IN
witch tho bill passed in tho House, and an estimate
Of Mo expenditure which the bill, IL sholid be-
cone law would Of itself entail upon the government
~ this appears that far ss The soldiers Of the war OF
NE concerned the number who would be entitled 10
s,sye pensions under the blestmating the survivors
thrcceights OF tho who'c-would be 1921, and
ne aggregate amount Of pensnn payable 70 tacm would
DC o. o2sees This calculation carefully made, ON
he basrs the 10 Congress by the Pension
Department and their estimate of the nuueer OF snrv
vors q she war founded upon the number 81 appboa
lions made by them for bounty land warrants under ue
act Of 1853; that there b. miis effpf a slhr
down The aggregate annual amount a. ss~s ~ b. IAa
undcr the bin to the soldiers Of the e. - eshs
millions Of dollars. THIS, however, se~ m ~te tne
pensions payable under Il IN as~u ~ae served m
indian wars during preceding that resiod mere NO
possibility Of making correct estxsse a The number Of
claimants there will be under this head Theterm proceed
~ will ofcourse be construed N cxscud back indefinitely
md from the history Of Indian Oregon and
washington, and Of the Seminole war, II may fairly DO
assumed that loaet another million OF dollars will be
required pay the Indian pensioners. curious IL
kstration Of the mode in which Che number Of those
ragged Indian is multiplied was furnished in the
course of debate the House the week before last on
bin 70 compensate citizens Of Georgia and Alabama for
Aepredatons committed upon them by the Creek Indians.
According theory Of the presented for Che
claimants, there en- that occasion-the rule
being not bound to pay for losses
sustained by tic citizens in w-but band Of for
~ thieving Greeks plaged and pundered the ncghbcr
hood for days; and yet there have been actually
land warrants issued, to the number OF 1000 TO
those who served in that Creek 'war." Frem this
may be Termed Of the myrads of ap
pcans there will be for pensions under the clause pro-
viding for these who served in Indian
The attention Of the press and Of the country ought to
be awakened the danger Of having this Old Soldiers
Pension bill engrafed upon the statute books Of the ma
ton 50 far the patriotism which they dig
payed their readiness in time Of peril TO defend their
homes tnelr lDeruesy NO boou CuZeu Iciueo w
recognise their claim respect and gratitude But what
hey did then without the sordd motive Of pension or
reward millions Of their countrymen still ready to do
from the eame pure principle 1t s the duty Of all men in
republic to be ready TO take up 10 defend It, That
n what the soldiers of the of 1872 did That is what
American citizens all past necessities have done, and
what is 10 be hoped they WILL in all future emergencies
be ready do. But the motive, instead Of being Of
pure patriotism and Of duty becomes degraded to
that Of hirelng soldier who fights for his pay and his
hope Of pension them instead Of citizen sodsery, we
win have notbans but icsions of mercenar'es'
ORIGIN OF THE MOVEMENT
For some years past movement has been on foot TO
rive 70 all who were enrolled for service in the var Of
lsl2 pensions equal to their pay while in service All
Who bad been wounded in battle, or disabled in any way
em exposure accident had been provided for under
The general invalid pension acts had been also the
widows Of those who had fallen in battle or subsequently
ed from any of the incidents Of Some four FIVE
years ago the also recognized the patriotism
OF those who had met mschAnce in the SERVICE who
had never met the enemy burned gunpowder in war;
but who had been enrolled for service in the militia Of
their respective States granting TO every person whoae
name was on the rolls during the of 18l2a military
bounty emitting him or bis heirs 70 100 acres OF
land in any Of the Territories Of the United States
This to be sure was very valuable prize, for such
warrants can bought In the market at $50; but It was
chained at the time that this would be complimentary
recoanon of the patriotism Of the of 1872 and that
they asked for not much on account OF the market
value Of 100 acres account Of the honor 30 dear
10 soldiers heart, and Of the pride cfbeng gratefully
remembered by the country which they bad stood ready
% defend Congress- yielding TO such arguments passed
the bill granting bounty land warrants 70 the soldiers Of
the war of1sl2 Under this and preceding bounty Land
bills passed under various pretcnccs less than 81 $780,
8s2 scres of the public lands have been obtained from the
government large proportion Of this land has passed
into the hands of spectators and pension agents, who
usually buy up the claims of the persons that might be
entitled and take upon themselves the risk of getting the
measures passed through Congress
Not satisfied with these liberal recogntons by
Congress Of the claims of the soldiers Of 1912, they
came AGAIN last session, or allowed the vutures Of
the lobby to do so, asking for pensions. All who
had suffered in the slightest degree from the service and
who could show any claim whatever to the department had
as we have sa received their pensions under the invalid
pension laws and the bounty land laws had extended to
every man whose name was enrolled; but this new de-
mand was that every surviving officer and soldier of the
half million Of who enrolled at any time during
the war of 1872 and had for three months over
should receive pension for life equal the full pay
of the rank which he held. Nothing done the
subject last session. except the delivery of few speeches
in the House, and the making the bin Especial order for
early day of the present session. While the bill
pending in the Committee of the whole House during
the past two weeks, various amendments were en-
grated upon it, or sought TO be engraied upon it,
extending the benefits Of the act to all who had served in
the Creek the Florida the Black Hawk, and the Mexican
wars reducing the period of service to ten days.
II was shown by calculations made in the Pension Office
that the original bill would entail upon the government
an annual expenditure Of not less than eleven millions of
dollars, while the various amendments made to it would
probably have increased that amount to twenty millions
When this bill was introduced at the last
rious attention paid to in any quarter. II
garded Of those pet hobbies Of its author Mr. Sa
vage of Tennessee, which members are in the habit of
getting acquire popularity in their districts 1t was
thought that this gentleman melted by the success of Mr.
Johnson OF Tennessee who through his pet hobby
Of the Homestead bill managed to gethmsef elected the
overnorsp of the State and subsequently TO the