The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-02-13
ONE HUNDRED MILLIONS!
The True Inwarti1ess OF the Pension Ar
rears Bill.
WAsHrNGroN, D. C., Feb. 8, 1879


/ Tb the Editors of the NesOs and Courier :
On the 25th of January, Mr.. Hayes ap.
proved the "Arrears of Pension Bill" ="
thus making it The law. Every mail
since has brought me one or more letters
from friends in South Carolina express
ing qualification at this fact, and inquir-
ing how the writer should proceed to
secure his Tor her) back pay, for he Tor
she) pensioner, had been in the Seminole,
Black Hawk, Mexican or some other war,
with which the "Arrear bill' had moth
! ing to do. Before this reaches you their
hopes will have been blasted, but it may
not be araiss to publish a few thoughts
upon the subject of pensions, as our peo-
pie at the South are morbidly sanguine
that the present Congress will give many
of them material relief by passing PEN
sion laws, which will apply to Southern
as we'll as Northern soldiers who were in
wars anterior to 1861.
In 1871 II think) a pension law was
enacted granting pension to every SOL
dier who had been disabled, or his rep
4. resentative if he had been killed) in the
"war waged for the suppression of the
rebellion" Of course this meant only
Federal soldiers. The day of payment
of the pension was to dste from the pas
sage Of the law, and all soldiers who did
not within FIVE years from that date apply
for pension were to be debarred.
The "!Arrears of Pension Bill" amends
that law 80 as to date the day of payment
back to tbe day of the death or wounding
of the soldier, and removes the FIVE years
| restriction. So, if soldier was wounded
at the first battle of Manassas and is
drawing but IS a month, this bill gives
him additional pay of nearly $1,000 in
the aggregate. There are over 100000
of these penoioners, and their number
will now be greatly increased by the re.
moyal of the five years restriction and
this Jumping off to them of ten years
pay at one payment.
No one estimates that it will require
Eless than $50, 600, 900 to pay these arrear-
ages, and some say It will require all of
$lo0,000,0O0. The only obstruction now
in the way is the passage of bill to ap-
propriate money to meet the demands of
this arrears bill. Whether this will be
an impediment of any consequence, you
| may Judge when / tell you wooden
legged Federal general framed and in
troduced the bill in Democratic House
which passed it; it then passed Repub-
lican Senate, and was approved by Re-
publican President, who, convinced at
least of its impropriety, hesitated several
days before he would sign it, but had not
the nerve, to veto it, an
The appropriation committee will
doubtless recommend the necessary ap-
preparation, the Southern members will
not oppose it from that delicate sense Of
honor peculiar to them, the two parties,
North and South, will vie with each
other in approving the appropriation, the
money will be required to come forth,
and the man who chews tobacco or takes
an occasional glass of grog will have to
pay that much more for his quid and his
toddy. 'e
The surviving volunteer soldiers of the
war are really a power in the land, and
the two parties North are vieing with
each other to secure their votes, 80 that
this arrears pension matter is not, and
cannot be considered, just claim upon
the treasury of the United States, but is
virtually, if not really, political meas
ure advocated by either party to defeat
the other. Neither will gain or deserve
special credit, and 40 "honors will be
easy"
4 few more words upon the general
questions of pensions. On the 9th March
law was enacted to pension the surviY-
ing soldiers, or the widows of soldiers, of
the war of 1872. Would you believe it,
there are on file now in the pension Office
more than $4,000 applications for pen
sions under that bill? did not think
this could possibly be the case, but so it
is. Human longevity has been admira-
bly, illustrated since the passage of that
bill. As I have received what appeared
to me to be fair proportion of these
pension claims from the veterans of the
war of 1872, have multiplied that num-
Der by 292, the number of representatives
upon the floor of the House, and find
that the product is little more than one
third the reported number of applicants.
have wondered where these $4,000 vet
erans or surviving widows came from.
The effect of this unanticipated num-
ber, fear, has killed the possibility of
the passage of law pensioniug the sur
viving soldiers of the Seminole or Me1i-
can wars. These wars were fought prin-
cipally by Southern soldiers, and this will
be another reason why pensions will
never be paid to their veterans. When
the pension bill relating to these wars
was recently under consideration in the
House, some one moved to amend by
adding q clause granting pension to
every volunteer soldier who was in the
Federal army from 1861 to 1864, inclu-
sive. Would you believe it, it passed by
reclamation, which really killed the PEN
sion bill; and therefore I can but say to
the Southern survivors of the Florida,
Black Hawk or Mexican wars, possess
your souls in patience, for I do not be-
lieve the Forty-ifth Congress will award
you one dollar for the duty you performed
or the exposure and risk you suffered for
"our common country"
| There is anothef pension bill yet to be
reported to the House, which restores to
the pension roll those men and their
widows of the South who were once on
the roll, but were stricken from it by an
act passed in February, 1862. Whether
it will be reported this Congress I am
unable to say. And if reported, whether
it will become law, no one now cen tell.
You have heard of the man who said no
one but Creator could anticipate what
would be the verdict of jury. You or
l could diagnose the hidden verdict of a
half dozen juries, even South Carolina
post bellum juries, easier than we could
anticipate the fate of bill in the Forty
fifth Congress, unless it were bill known
to be for the benefit of the entire North.
do not believe the bill restoring the
Southerners to their rights will pass ;
first, because the Republican party do
not think we have any rights that they
are bound to respect; and secondly, be-
Cause the Northern Democracy are SO
nearly of the same opinion that they will
not oppose the Republicans in order to
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