Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-08-28
THEARREARS ofPENSION ACT
HON L " RICE.


The following facts mainly taken from
the Congressional Record will show
that while he was chairman of the Com
mittee OF Invalid Pensions in the House
during the 45th Congress he opposed il
various ways the passage of the bill now
law, and favored bill which gave tC
limited number of the old pensioners
arrears of pensions, and also provided
for the restoration to the pension rolls
of persons who had been stricken there
from on account of disloydLty.
On the 18th of February, 1878, Mr.
Rice from the Committee on Invalid
| Pensions of the House (45th Congress
reported House Bill No. 325S, with the
title following:
"A BILL
''To regulate the Granting of Pensions on ac
count of deaths, wounds or injuries received
or disease contracted in the service of the
United States, since the 4th day of Marct
1861; and for the payment of arrears of pen
sions; also to authorize the Secretary Of tie In
terror TO restore TO tie roll the names of invaliC
pensioners stricken heretrom on account o.
diSL0s sGhy," etc.
The following is a synopsis of this
| Rice bill:
The first section provides
That, all pensions that have been, or may
hereafter be granted in consequence of death
from cause originating in the United States
service, since March 4, 1861, shall commence
from the death of the person on whose ac
count the claim has been or may be granted
The second section provides
If applications for pensions, on account OF
wounds or injuries, were or are not filed
within five years after the right accrued they
shall commence at the development of the
disability; but if filed within five years, ther
| from the date of discharge.
The third section provides that pen.
sions granted in consequence of disease
contracted in the United States service
shall commence at the date of discharge
provided the application for such pension
has been, or shall hereafter be filed within five
years after the right thereto has accrued; 9th.
erwise, the pension shall commence from the
date of the application"
The fourth section provides arrear.
ages shall be at the rate fixed in the pen.
siOnerS original certificate; also pro-
I lvides that
mo arrearages shall be paid to any widow
who has remarked, or child who has attained
the age of sixteen. And if the pensioner
shall have died, no arrearages of pensions, ac
crued prior to his death, granted by this act
shall be allowed" etc.
The fifth section directs the Commits.
sioner to establish rules regulating the
payment of arrears.
The sixth section declares the bill
shall not be construed to amend or
change Section 471O of the Revised
Statutes. This section provides when
pension to dependent relatives, mar
shalS, teamsters, etc, shall begin
The seventh section begins in this
way:
''That the Secretary Of the Interior be, ana
is hereby, authorized and required to restore ID
the pension roll the names Of all in0dlid pen
SiO7eerS 1lOto EDtng aohO acre stricken Meretr0na
on account Of disI0yalty." excluding only per-
sons who had not had their political dlsabili-
ties removed until after such removal; the
pension to commence ''from December %,
1868, at the rate aotich they acould haze been
entitled TO had they not been dropped from, tie
DeTSjOH-rOH."
The eighth and last section repeals the
following section of the Revised Stat
utes: 400, 4716 and All. Section 4716,
proposed to be repealed, reads as fol
lows:
''No money on account of pension shall be
paid to any person, or TO tile aoidO,o, children on
heirs Of any deceased person, soA0 in ana man
naer 00tuntG'Ity engaged in or aided or a6etted
the late rebellion against the authority of the
United States"
This synopsis shows that Mr.. Rice and
the members of the Democratic Com
mittee, of which he was Chairman, de-
cided to make the granting of arrears of
pension depend upon Congress agreeing
to restore diSlOyGl persons to the pen
sion-roll who had been stricken there
from, and also to depend on its consent
to repeal the only section of the United
States Statutes which prohibits pensions
being made to persons who U0latnta2ilY
engaged in rebellion.
This, Mr.. Rice well knew, the Repub-
licans of the House and the Senate (then
Republican, would not agree to. He
knew his bill never could become a law,
and 1t 7leUer did. He never tried even
to bring his bill to vote in the House.
On April 1st, 1878, Hon. H. J. B. Cum
minis, of Iowa, "a Republican, moved to
suspend the rules (Which required a
two-thirds vote) and to pass bill drawn
by him, which provided that all pen
Sions then granted or thereafter to be
granted, should commence from the
date of the death or discharge of the
person on whose account the same had
been or should thereafter be granted, or
from the termination of the right of the
party having prior title to such pension;
and which also provided for the repeal
of limitations in granting pensions fixed
by Section All of the Revised Statutes.
This bill became House Bill No. 1924,
and is the one which became a law, with
the single amendment, forbidding pay
ment of fees to claim agents for procur-
ing arrears of pensions.
This bill contained no provisions fa-
vOring pensions to rebels in the late
war, and it did not provide for the re-
peal of existing laws prohibiting them
from receiving pensions, and Mr.. Rice,
on account of these omissions, at once
joined with the Democrats to prevent
vote on the bill.
The following extract from the Con-
gressional Record, of April 1st, 1878,
shows the efforts made by Mr.. Rice and
other Democrats to prevent vote
on the bill brought forward by Mr.. Cum
Minis:
'Mr. Beebe, Oem)--I would ask the
gentleman from Iowa if he is prepared
to state how many hundreds of millions
of dollars this bill will take out of the
treasury.
"Mr. Cummins-Is debate in order?
"Mr. Beebe-I simply rise to make an
inquiry.
"Mr. Cummins-I object to any in
quiry unless it is a parliamentary one,
and that of course should not be ad-
dressed to me.
"Mr. Rice, (Dem.) of Ohio-I ask that
the bill be referred to the Committee on
In valid Pensions.
1.-The Speaker-The motion is not in
order. The motion of the gentleman
rom Iowa is to suspend the rules and
DaSs the bill.
"Mr. Rice, Of Ohio-I wish to state to
he House
"Mr. Cummins-I object to any de-
bate whatever.
"Mr. Beebe-I desire to make an in
uuirV Of tha Chair