The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1882-07-08
Thn IEnraIh's Tantrulms.

the present session 10 eN pre- Nl,houI ANtt'i
inc the Pension Arrears act" and make
an initiatory appropriation Of one hundred
millions to carry it into effect" 1t declares
that there is not respectable Senator or
Representative of either party who does not
deplore the Pension Arrears act as an i'll
considered and wasteful piece of legislation;
that the soldiers Of the Union" the best of
them are its severest critics and the most
urgent petitioners for its repeal; and, on the
authority of eX-Commissoner Bentley, that
at least ne-tenth of all the disbursements of
the United States on account of pensioners are
fraudulent and the Pension and Arrears act
must have doubled the proportion. Finally,
ii resorts to a comparison of the cost Of pen
sions and the cost Of sustaining the standing
armies OF Europe to show that the Govern
ment ought not 10 pay its just debt to the
/ soldiers because, forsootb, it is a very big
! one. More willful perversiOns of the truth, or
more malicious Misrepresentation of human
motives. we have seldom, if ever, met with
/ in the columns even of the Herald, and it
seems almost like waste of space to notice
them. However, we shall give our reckless
cotemporary chance of printing the facts
! if it has the manliness to do so.
In the first place, then, so far from it being
true that every respectable Senator and Rep
rcsentative deplores the passage of the Ar
rears act, the Congressional Record shows that
/ during the debate last spring over Senator
/ Ingalls's resolution affirming the justice of
that measure, every Senator, with the excep-
ton of Senator Beck and perhaps two or
three Others, pronounced themselves in its
favor, and Senator Voorhees, made one of the
greatest speeches of his life in its support.
An examination Of the Record shows that
an equal unanimity Of sentiment existed in
the House. Not a vote was cast against the
/ passage of the Pension appropriation bill to
carry out the provisions Of the Arrears act!
Secondly, we deny in toto the assertion OF
the Herald, that the soldiers themselves
either the best or worst Of them-are the
soverest critics" of the act, or indeed that
they have ever criticised it all, much less
urged its repeal as our contemporary claims.
We challenge il to produce the slightest evil
dence Of the fact; we defy it to give the
names of one hundred reputable soldiers in
the whole country-wc doubt even whether
it can furnish the names Of ten-who either
depIore the passage of the Arrears act or
want it repealed. The claim is preposterous
in the face of the official action Of the Grand
Army-the representative soldier body Of
: the UnioD-on the subject, and the feet that
the Herald ventures to put it forth shows
how hard it is pushed to find a justification
for its extraordinary conduct
We also take issue squareIy with the
Herald on the accuracy of ex- Commissioner
Benneys statement, that one-tenth of the
existing pension claims are fraudulent. That
statement, to begin with was direct insult
TO the whole body Of cur pensioners, among
whom, we suppose even the Herald viii al.
nit, there are some brave and deserving
men; and we feel sure there is not q soldier
in the Union who does not rejoice that tn,
author Of this contemplate slanderno Longer
occupies The responsible place of Commits
sioner of Pensions. The NATIONAL TRIB
UNE fastened that gentlemans retirement
and has never had occasion to repent it
action. We repeat that Mr. Bentley's state
ment is false, and we challenge both it
maker and it's endorser-the Hcrayd-tO pro
duce any figures to substantiate it. The,
5 cannot do it, and they are perfectly consciou
e of the fact, but all slanderers are withOu
e conscience, and they will doubtless go Oh
D repeating the lie as long as they have listen
ers. But supposiDg the statement were true
we should like the Herald to tell us how tn
passage of the Arrears bill could increas
Z the number of fraudulent claims! Does tn
= Herald not know that only those who ar
entitled to pension under previous stat
utes could benefit by it? As well might
$ claim that the passage of the census &C
Z increased the population of the country!
We must confess to having little patienc
for the discussion of pension legislation wit
D such mendacious journals as the Herald ha
I shown itsclS to be, but we have exposed tn
> untruthfulness OF its statements, and if
. persists in making them it cannot say, b
way of excuse, that it is because it doesn
- know any better.
b Good Legislation.