The National tribune., 1884-09-11
SHAMEFUL AND CRUEL.

1
The unutterably long and dreary waiting
which every pension applicant is compelled to
endure is unnecessary and senseless.
1t is rare good luck for any old soldier-nc
matter how well made up his record and clear
his claim-to secure an allowance of pension
under two years, and frequently the cases are
pending for eight, nine, and even IL years.
There can be few more painful spectacles
than that Of an old soldier, whose lusty young
manhood has been sapped by the hardships and
strains Of field and battle OF the starvation Of
prison pens, awaiting month after month and
year after year for the well-earned allowance
which is TO provide himself and dependent
family with the commonest needs of life.
As a rule he has refrained from asking for a
pension as long as he was able to make fair
show Of bodily activity. So long as the nat
ural forces Of life and youth have been able to
dominate the debilitation of wounds received
in battle or the weakening of diseases con-
/ tracted in the lowlands of Virginia or the
swamps of the Mississippi, he has struggled on
without a thought of asking anything from
/ the Government he saved. 1t is only when
advancing years give these old shocks and
strains Of the body the upper hand of his vigor
that he turns TO the country for an ally in the
unequal struggle for bread for himself and
/ those dependent upon him.
1t is this which makes these unconscionable
delays SO cruel. 1t would not be SO bad were
he yet q young man with an indefinite lease of
life, and with vigor that may temporarily
conquer bis bodily Affections and ailments.
Twenty or even 10 years ago pension appli-
cant might afford to wait two or three years
Cor the allowance of his claim. BE cannot do
/ so now. when as a rule he is nearer 50 than 40
years Of age, and can reasonably expect to live
but few years at best.
The men who fought the war through are dy-
ing at the rate of 5000 month or 81, 600 year.
! Every year sees 2 good, strong army of them
swept OF by the Grim Reaper, and among these
are many thousands whose applications have
been pending for years for relief which never
came, to comfort and alleviate their last pain
stricken days. Every month hundreds die
who have wei earned q pension, and who
needed it sorely, but could not get it because
of the iRterminable obstacles thrown in the
way Of obtaining their just dues.
It IS absurd on the very face Of it to take as
long as it did to put down the rebellion to as
certain whether a man is entitled to pension.
There snosuch obscurfty or dificulty connected
with any claim that VIII for a moment justify
such delay. II ought not to take as many
months as it now does years to find out whether
man has just claim upon the Government.
That three or four years are Oh the average
consumed in ascertaining the rightfulness of a
claim Is proof Of either ridieuously incom-
petent methods or willful attempts to obstruct
the doing ofjustice to the most deserving class
Of men who live beneath the shadow of the
| fag
This sort Of thing should made to end, and
that at once.
The inhumanity of quibbling and paltcring
with men tOttering on the verge Of the grave
and dezying them their blood-bought dues
until the coffin closes over them is unendura-
bic, and becoming more so as each year makes
the prompt relief Of these men more impera-
tive.
The most pressing duty before Congress at
the coming session is such an amendment Of
the pension laws and the methods Of procedure
in pension cases as VIII combine the recon-
mendations Of the Pension Committee of the
GAR Those recommendations are right and
just and the first requirements of honor and
gratitude require their immediate adoption.