Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1879-08-28

ported.
"The Speaker-That is in the nature
of debate.
Mr. Cummins-I ask for the yeas
and nays on my motion.
THE yeas and nays were ordered.
''AIr Rice, of Ohio-I move that the
House now adjourn, and ON that motion
call the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays being ordered, Mr.,
Rice's motion to adjourn failed, seventy
four Democrats having voted therefor.
Gen. Ewing, of Ohio, though present
did not vote on this motion either way.
The question then recuTred on Mr.
CumminS' motion to suspend the rules
and pass his bill; and Mr.. Rice further
continued his opposition to vote on
the bill, and in answer to question OF
Mr.. Springer, said it was not the Com
mittee'S bill.
Mr.. Cummins' bill then received LAG
votes for and 20 votes against it, and for
want of two-thirds vote failed.
An analysis of this vote shows 121
Republicans and % Democrats (only)
voted for the bill, and 75 Democrats and
one Republican voted against it.
On April ?, 1878, Mr.. c. had his bill re-
1Ol1Ou W MI 1A1NC . SOlIl1IllGbCCs
1t was permitted to sleep by Nh Rice
; and his Democratic colleagues of the
| Committee. until awakened therefrom
by Hon. d. c. Haskell "a Republican, of
Kansas, on June 10, 1878, by another
motion to suspend the rules, to discharge
Mr.. Rice's Committee from further con-
SideratiOn of the bill, and to pass the
same with an amendment prohibiting
payment to agents for services in procu-
ring arrears of pensions.
On this motion being made, Mr.. Rice,
Mr.. Banning and other Democrats i'm
mediately commenced fllibustering
against the bill.
In reply to questions, Mr.. Rice said:
"7His bill toGs not reported from the Com
''nlittee at all. l will state that
sit is not the (Com mittee's) bill. IhaUe been
'.t1ytng to get the bill reported By the Commit
''tee acted upon, but haze JaiIed to do So"
Now it must be remembered that Mr..
Rice's bill had been made on Feb. 18th,
1878, special order for Feb. 27, 1878,
in the House, and almost four months
thereafter he had not called it up as he
had right to do under the rules; and
it is further to be remembered that the
bill he said he been trying to get acted
upon was one providing for penSiOning
cOnfederateS, and also that he did not
even profess to have been trying to gel
the Cummins bill acted upon.
The vote on Mr.. HaSkelPS motion was
1854 yeas and 81 nays. OF the yeas, 119
were Republicans and 25 were Demo
Gratis the61 nays acre alt Democrats
No Republican voted against the bill. 1t
is but fair to say that Mr.. Rice voted for
the Haskell bill on its final
passage. This bill having received a
two-thirds vote passed the House and
subsequently passed Republican Sen
ate without further amendment, and it
was approved by President Hayes, and
became law January 25th, 1879. The
false credit Mr.. Rice has assumed to
himself and his party does not speak
well for his candOr and honesty.
A comparison of the benefits granted
under Mr.. Rice'S Confederate Bill and
the one which became law, will show
still further the comparatively little re-
gard he had for deceased, wounded and
diseased soldiers and their families.
The present law grants arrears of pen
SionS to the date of death or discharge of
the soldier, without restriction or limi-
tation, and gave to the pensioners, as es-
timated by the Commissioner of Pen
sion, the sum of $34,OO0,OOO, in claims
settled before the date of the act, while
the bill which Mr.. Rice brought before
the House four months previously, and
which he said: Il have been trying to
get acted upon, uthGUe failed
do So" was a qualified bill in the fol-
lowing respects:
Firstly, 1t was limited by the fourth section
to the pensioners on the roll; any pensioner
having deceased, his widow, or child or other
relatives, could not get dollar under its pro-
visions; any widow having remarked or any
minor child having become sixteen years of
age could not get dollar.
iSecOndly 1t divided the pensioners on the
roll into three classes, and bestowed arrears
upon them unequaly.
To widows, minors, mothers, fathers,
brothers and sisters, receiving pensions,
only did it give the same benefits as they
derive from the present law. To the SOL
diers themselves it was less liberal.
| Those disabled by wounds and injuries
were to be paid from date of discharge !;
provided they filed their original claims
| within five years, otherwise the pension
"sion shall commence from the develop
"ment of the disability resulting from
"such wounds or injuries, sc"
To those soldiers who are pensioned
for the effects of disease, the sick, the
bed-ridden-who, while gradually inca
pacitated for labor with the wounded
as a class-are the greater sufferers, their
pensions were to be made to commence,
NOT from discharge but from the date
"of the application" In other words
they were to get no arrears except for
the period between the filing of their
claims in the Pension Office and the date
of their allowance; an average time of
about three years.
Compare this, the Rice bill, which did
not pass, in the amount of money it be-
slowed and the numbers benefited.
According to the estimate of the Com
missioner of Pensions the Rice bill
granted arrears as follows:
To 5,645 widows, minors, moth
ers, &c. $4,S41 ,152 90
To 1869 wounded and in
jured soldiers ...... 10,313,5S6 80
To 1904 diseased soldiers. 606,S00 90
Total to 25,3SS persons 15,761 ,53S 80
L HO SllllllHluS Dlll SlduIou
arrears in claims allowed before Janua-
ry 1, 1879
To 9,O49 widows, minors,
mothers, &c ...... $S,75S, ,066 so
To 3G,106 SOLDIERS. ...... 25,114, ,434- 40
Total to As, ,155 persons. $33,S72,502 20
An excess in the Cummins-Haskell
bill over the Rice bill Of
To 3,404 widows, miners,
mothers, &c. S3.91G,914 so
To 1G,4 Alb SOLDIERS 49,. 14,194,047 80
Total to 1887 persons $1S,11O,962 80
Moreover. the Rice bill, as already
shown, provided for the repeal of Sec
ton 4716, of the Revised Statutes, in
hibiting the payment of pensions to
rebels, and the 7th section of his bill
authorized andrequired the Secretary of
the interior, to restore to the pension roll |