Ottumwa weekly courier. (Ottumwa, Wapello County, Iowa) 1872-1899, 1875-03-10

q year more and but FEW Will acknoWl'
edge they ever belonged to ii.
THE DEFEATED BOUNTY BILL.
An equalization bounty bill came mp
rather late in the session, and passed
the House by strong vote. 1t was
opposed, as every body expected, by the
Democracy of the House,
This bill, as it passed the House, gave
eight and one.third dollars per month
to each soldier for the time he actually
served, and provided, of course, that
he received an honorable discharge.
From this allowance of eight and one
third dollars was to be deducted sill
bounties that had been received by the
soldier, including those given by the
General Government, or by States,
counties, cities, and all other sources.
The friends of the bill estimated that
the amount to be paid under the pro-
visions of this bill, would not exceed
over about thirty millions of dollars.
Some of its opponents claimed, how
ever, that it would take three or four
times thirty millions of dollars to pay
these bounties. A few Republican
members of Congress were its strong
est opponents. Among them was Sem
ators Edmunds, of Vermontand Ferry.
After the bill got into the Senate
Ferry moved to amend the bill by in
sorting provision that only such
bounties as had been heretofore given
the soldier by the General Government
should be deducted from the allowance
of eight and one.third dollars per
month. This amendment succeeded
by receiving tho votes of those who
really intended to vote finally against
the bill. Edmunds also offered an
amendmentto make the bill obnoxious
which provided that the Government
should borrow the money to pay the
bounties if the treasury should prove
inadequate. This amendment sue.
ceeded too. In this shape the bill
passed the Senate and went back to
the House. The House refused to &C.
cede to the Senate amendments, and
conference committee was appointed.
This conference committee reported in
the closing hours Of Congress, and
while the House acted upon it, it seems
the Senate failed to do SO in such force
as to make its passage legal.
Notwithstanding this, however, in
the confusion the bill was signed by
the Speaker and the Vice. President,
and was sent to the President He
did not sign, but ia reported to have
refused to do 90. Whether this action
Of his was on account OF the defeat in
its passage, or rather, want of passage
by Congress, or on account of his de-
termination to kill the bill, in any
event, 10 not clear.
Newspaper reports have it that the
President stated that he would not |
sign it in any eyent--that he objected
to it because it was adding an i'm
mense expenditure without any way
of paying it, and that he would not
approve any such course. 1t 10 evil
dent that the enemies Of the bill fatal
ly damaged it when they succeeded
(under the specious plea Of being
more liberal to the soldiers) in, per.
haps, thribbliDg the amount contem-
plated being given, under the original
bill. There are many soldiers who
served say from six to twenty-three
months under tho old flag, and who,
by reason of their army experiences,
broke down in health and were |
obliged to be discharged. They
have thus far, received little or
no bounty. 1t was to do justice |
to such soldiers in the main that tho
bill was pushed by its friends. Its
opponents, however, succeeded in |
loading it down SO that it would incur |
an expenditure which we roughly es.
innate at from one to two hundred
million dollars, and under such load
it was bound to fail. In the present
financial condition of the country it
could not afford to carry go great q
burden at this time. In the House
where the Republican majority was
large, the original bill passed without
difficulty, but it was in the Senate |
where the division between parties is
more equal that the bill got its fatal |