Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-05-04
Proposed Pensions for Rebsls.

nation upon this su1Jec' we copy
the following from the Washington
Republic.
Few nations have been called upon
to place upon their pensions.rolls so
large q number ef pensioners as we
have. The rebellion caused fear
fuI loss of life and distress among
those persons who responded to the
call of the country to save the Union
| Men who suffered the loss of limbs or
of eyesight or Of health in the direct
line OF duty, and the widows and or
phaus of soldiers and sailors who
fell in the service, were properly
provided with. pensions. A pension,
however, was not given so much az
reward for l,yaltv. II was granted
more out of The gratitude OF the
people for the devotion and sacrifice
of those who stood forth in the hour
of the nations peril and aided in its
preservation.
Bat the men WHO took part in the
rebellion, and fought against the
Union and the cause it represe Dted,
have no such claim. To reward such
men if they suffered would be dis
elimination in favor of trease Gus
disloy atty, and place the rebel and
his dependents on the same footing
with the soldiers who fought and
saved tn Union. In order, there.
fore, to guard against the commits
sion of such gross injustice a law
was enacted which has been repro
duced in section 4 ZIG in the Revised
Statues. That section reads as fol-
lows, viz:
mo money on account of pension
shall be paid TO any person, or to the
widow, children, or beirs of any de-
ceased person, who in any manner
voluntarily engaged in or aided or
abetted the late reb lion against the
authority of the United States"
Now, the Contedraey, which was
the product Of the rebellion against
the authority of tho United States,
having been destroyed by the Union
forces in tho field, has gathered its
scattered elements in the National
Congress; and the assembled Confed-
crates in the House and Senate ap-
pearing in the guise of representa-
tives of the people seem to be &C.
tuated by the same spirit as when
the war prevailed, ard to be resolved
to do all they can on behalf of their
comrades and their families and
against the interests of the Union.
Accordingly. wherever Republican
legislation protected the Federal
Treasury, or confined payments
therefrom to persons of known loyal
ty, the Confederates IN Congress
have set themselves to reverse that
Legislation, and open the way for the
entrance of disloyalty TO seize upon
the public money.
The recent efforts to extend the
pension rolls by quartering reb 81
sympathizers and their families upon
them is explained in House bill No.
991, introduced by Mr.. Mcfarland,
to repeat the above section of the
Revised Statues. This bill has not
attracted much attention, but its
principles so mpudently ard mon
strously wrong that it deserves o
close examination and should be re-
membered The text of the bill is
as follows:
abe it enactsd, dc. That section
fertv-seven hundred and sixteen OF
the Revised Statutes of the United
States be. and the same is hereby.
repealed; and the Secretary of The
Interior is hereby authorized and
J directed to place on the pension-roll
, the names of all persons who may be
entitled TO a pension under existing
laws. Notwithstanding they may
have served in tho rebel army prior
to such service. and paw to such per.
sons, their widows or children. pen
sion as provided nv law in other
cases. from and after tho passage OF
this act.'
II is almost always safe to assume
that when a Southern Democratic
member of the House or Senate de-
sires TO repeal a section of the Re-
vised Statutes he either aims at pro-
tecting the Democratic South in its
disloyalty or to reward his disloyal
comrades for their treason out of the
Treasury of the United States. This
is not a condition of affairs that the
people are likely to approve ana
Representatives especially will re-
solve that their votes shall be cast to
defeat forever the hope of treason in
that direction. The bill above cit ed
has in substance been passed by the
House majority. as q report from the
Committee on Revolutionary Pen
sions, which committee is presided
over by an ex-rebel brigadier-Hun-
ton, of Virginia.
THE defeat of Mr.. Carter, Re-
publican candidate for Judge of the
| SE.h n;rnnit l. nxn;tinrr Sn,no nn,,,