The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1884-12-18
LOOK AT 1T IN THIS WAY.

will be astonished at their success
LOOK AT 1T IN THIS WAY.
In every community we find men who,
once stalwart and industrious, are now dis
abled and dependent. Once they earned a
good living for themselves and families,
now they must look the County or their rel
atives for that which will barely keep body
and soul together. Whether they get this
subsistence in the poorhouse or from the
hands of friends, it is meager in amount and
humiliating to receive The bread of de-
pendence is always bitter, and the meat of
charity seasoned with gall and wormwood
And meager as this support is, it is still a
heavy burden upon the taxpayers of the
County, or upon the kindred who furnish
it. 1t is burden that continually chafes
and frets those who bear it. They all feel,
with more or less Impotence, how many
other pressing needs they have for the
money SO expended.
The Mexican Pension Bill is a happy So
luton of these difficulties and annoyances,
SO far as they relate to men who served the
Government honOrably in the late war. 1t
assumes with entire truth and justice these
propositions:
1. That any man who passed the exami-
nation of the Surgeon, and served three
months during the rebellion, must have
been able and sound at his entry into serv-
ice.
2. That if he has become disabled from
earning his own living, and such disability
has not been caused by his own viciousness,
it must have originated in the hardships
and strains incident to his military service.
8. That it is but common justice that the
Government which had the benefit Of his
services in his vigorous and lusty prime,
and which, by the enormous drains it made
upon his strength, FASTENED if it did not
actually cause his breaking down, should
assume care Of him now.
There are abundant and conclusive rea-
sons supporting this plan. The payment of
pension by the Government is free from
the humiliation of alms-taking which &C.
companies the receipt of support from the
County or ones relatives.
In his youth the pensioner gave unstint-
eddy of health and strength to the service of
the Government. Had he devoted all the
energy and effort he gave to its service to
his own worldly advancement he would not
be in want now. Therefore, in paying him
pension the Government is not bestowing
a charity; it is only taking step toward
making good its promise to him when he
enlisted that it would recompense him and
those dependent on him for any harm that
came to him while in its service.
In this view-which is the only rational
one-it is rank injustice to the taxpayers
of any community to burden them with the
support of men who have been broken down
in the service of the Nation. The National,
not the County Treasures should bear the
expense of maintaining these brave rlen.
Again, the Treasury of the United States
is full to overlooking with money for which
the Government has no use. 1t has heaped
this great sum up by an impost system,
which no one has felt, and few desire to see
abated. There is strong wish that a portion
of the surplus may be returned to the
people.
On the other hand the County Treasures
everywhere are hard pressed to meet the
demands upon them. Local taxation is
everywhere oppressive, and every dollar
taken from the property owners is griev-
ously felt
The Mexican Pension Bill will accomplish
these desirable results. 1t will give back to
thepeople part of the surplus in the Treasury;
it will take from the poorhouses everywhere
the worn-out veterans whom want has
forced there; it Will Tighten the taxes in
every Township and County by taking the
burden of support off the local authorities and
placing iton the General Government. Above
all, it will be an honest payment of the Gov
ernment's sacred obligations to the bravemen
who gave it the very flower of their strong
young lives.
GEN. GRANTS PENSION.
L., 30 Ia l.