The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-10-02

iiIecohciiaDle fanatics to whom The
South sees fit to trust the training of
the young.-N. Y. Tribune.
Mr.. Burchard's bill, approp priating
$40. 100000 for the payment of arrears
Oh penslons,Was introduced February
3, 1879. 1t received the votes of 10S
Republicans and 81 Democrats. and
of the Democrats only three were
from the States of the Confed ederacy.
Against it were 7S Democrats and 8
Republicans. A two-thirds vote be.
ing required under the rules, the bill
was lost. Mr.. Sparks INTRODUCED
tive weeks later the bill which was
finally passed. 1t appropriated $685.
100000. Only three Democrats from
the Confederaey voted for it lin the
House, and they were joined by 81
Northern Democrats and 1I8 Repub-
llcans. Against it stood one Repub-
lican, and the phalanx of &C Demo.
Gratis, including almost the entire
rebel representation. The most sig.
nificant votes, however. were in the
Senate. Here it was Dropos ed by
Mr.. Shields, of Missouri, to extend
the benefits OF the bill to veterans of
the Mexican war, with the obvious
purpose of taking in Confederates
who had forfeited their claims by
participation in the rebellion. %
Democrats voted for this amen dment
and only 2 against it; ;s Republicans
voted for it, and 10 against it and of
the % Democrats. 81 were from the
rebel or border States, and only 7
from the North. Senator Mitchell
then proposed to add to the amend
ment proviso excluding Confeder-
ate soldiers from its benefits: "a vo.
ted yea, all Republicans 26 voted
nay, of whom "a were Democrats.
Next, Senator Hoar moved a proviso
that no pension should be paid under
this act to Jefferson Davis-who
would clearly be entitled to pension
by Shields amendment-and against
this proUiso the Democrats Uoted in o.
solid body. One Republican voted
against it, and % for it, and it was
carried by majority of one. When
the question now recurrred on the
Shields amendment with the Jeffcr.
son Davis proyiso attached to it, ten
of the Democrats who had sustained
the amendment without that in>
cumberance appear to have so far
lost interest in it with it's new re.
stl fiction that they abstained from
voting, and so the amendment was
lost. On the passing of the bill in
the Senate there were only three
negative vOtes-all Democratic, and
when it went back to the House for
final action, after certain amend
ments of detail by the Senate, all the
negative votes (61 in number) were
Democratic; 45 being from the rebel
States, 13 from the border States, and
3 from the North.
We are not arguing now either for
or against the policy of the back
pension bill but the Democrats have
called attention to their votes upon
it as a contradiction of Mr.. Beltz-
hooyer's complaint, and we have
shown by the record that those votes
corroborate his complaint in every
particular. It. is quite true, rs he
states, that the Confederate influence
which rules in the caucus and the
committees is averse to pensioning
the soldiers of the Union. 1t is also
true that the Confederate influence is
in favor of pensioning rebels, not
even excepting Jefferson Davis. And
yet the Democratic party-which has
become to-day exactly what it was
in the time of James Buchanan, a
Southern party with Northern APP
pendage-has the effrontery in the
face of these facts to appeal to the
soldier vote. 1t has set up as its can.
didate one of the most distinguished
OF the heroes of Gettysburg, and be-
cause he has unwisely accepted che
nomination, it asks the wounded yet
Grams OF that historic feld to keep in
power the Confederate Brigadiers
who shot them in the battle. and are
now voting at Washington not to
pay them pensions.