The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1884-01-17
PENSIONS WANTED.
It Would Take $500, 600, 900 to Meet
the Demands Before Congress.

Washington Telegram to Chicago Tribune.l
The most dangerous attacks on the Treas
ury are the bills proposing additions to the
pension rolls. Each bill Is backed up by pc
titions which apparently come from cxr
soldiers. Tho large part of them are col
lected BY claim agents. one of whom has
gathered 80 0o0 signatures of alleged soldiers
asking for additional pension legislation.
Aside from the general bills which involve by
official calculation over Sau0,0U00J0 there
have already been introduced nearly
LOCO private pension bills. Many originate
with attorneys, who SEND bundles OF them TO
members, with request to present them.
They then charge those interested S25. Not
one In ten of this class can ever pass. Many
have no merit. Few sent In by CAIN agents
are ever followed further than the fee. The
proposition to equalikc lonntes has been in
troduced by dozen members. There have
been ses0rAl official calculations made OF the
amount atch the passage Of such bill
would require The Pasmastcr General es-
timated tiat ii would take rs minimum sl5.,-
600, 900, and that the amount might run
up to Slf3,600,c00. No official calculation
places the sum ut less than Sl250u0.0o0. At
least 80 additional clerks will be needed to
make the settlement. The neat scheme in
the order OF magnitude il the one for icmOy-
ing all limit upon granting arrears OF PEN
siOns. This also is str0a~ly supported by
petitions which pension agents have procured
A bill which is being urged with great per-
sistence Is tho bin TO- pensioning all who
were prisoners of war for two months; with
out regard to the question whether or not
they suffered thereby i'm health, this is an in
sidious measure, since few politicians have
the courage to take even an apparent stand
against rensioning those who suffered ms
prisoners, and there are very many deserving
cases. Added to these are the bills TO pension
all who served fourteen days in the Mexican
war, all who served in the various Indian
wars and the two extraordinary bills OF
Price, of Wisconsin. and Peters of Kansas.
one providing for pensionng all who served
in the Union army upon their reaching the
age Of ID years. and the other providing for
pensioning all who served sixty days for the
terms of their natural lives. For all except
these last schemes there Is a great pressure
here.
Telegram to New York Heradl
Although the Forty-eighth Congress has
been I'm actual session only three weeks, the
bills already introduced would, III enacted,
absorb all the surplus revenues of the Gov
crnment for several years to come. No reg
ular appropriation bill has yet been reported,
but nearly every measure presented contains
an appropriation direct indefinite, implied,
or obique. An attempt has been made to
classify the most important bills and estimate
the probable amount involved, so that. the
pubic may sec how their representa-
tiycs In Congress would like to dis
pose Of the public moneys. 4 rccapitnla-
tion OF the amounts proposed to lie aprro-
priated by the bills shows this startling re-
sult.