The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1885-08-13
SERVICE PENSIONS.

- a-E a-E--N -
A Splendid Presentaiien! OF the Reasons which
Make Any Schemefdos secure them lmpracti-
Speech of comraae g eaisHH.G f. Gropeaor of Ohio, npon
the motion of CoWidFs' Loring. of Massachusetts,
to substitute the msabfity report of the Committee
on Resolutions to, That 9 the majority.
SENIOR VICE sCoMMASpER-IN-CH1EF:
don't yield the palh to the comrade from Mas
sachusetts who has just taken his seat, or to
where else, in the matter of the strength of the
the desire which 1 have, to forward by every
practicable and possible method the interests of
all the soldiers who served in the army; but,
having had two or three years experience upon
the Pension Committee of the National En-
campment, 1 oppose the proposition of the COM
rade from Massachusetts,.
/ do not address myself to answer, to mega
tive, or to combat the eloquent arguments of the
comrade in behalf of the merits of the soldiers
of the army. On the contrary, i want it to be
understood that, for the purpose of the argu
ment, and for the purpose which have in view
here now, cordially indorse all that he has
said as to the merits of the claims of the SOL
diers which he aims to represent. But advo-
cate the adoption of the report of the majority
of the committee because, in my judgment, it
is the only practical method of doing anything
in the direction in which we are all trying to
travel.
We went to Congress two years ago with
propositions agreed upon by our committee.
They came, all brilliant with eloquence and
patriotism, from the pen of the distinguished
member of the Committee of Pensions from the
State of New York-Comrade Tanner-and
they were adopted by the entire committee.
They were submitted to Congress and embodied
the nearest approach that we have ever con-
sented to make to the doctrine or idea of giving
all pension for service. One is the Section
No s of the bill which the comrade from Mas
sachusetts has so severely criticised. The COM
mittees of both Houses Of Congress met US, and
said at the very threshold that Congress had
never yet legislated in favor of a service pen
sion THAT is for all soldiers of the Union army
1t was the great objection that was made by
many prominent members of Congress to the
original Mexican Pension Bill before the Grand
Army sections were attached to it.
But we said, and l say it now without heSi-
tation, that this Section is not a service pen
sion; and we point out that which, it seems to
me, no intelligent man will lose sight of, or has
failed to have gotten sight OF, long before this.
Section is simply this: We provide that
where certain set of conditions cxist,-tO wit,
service in the army, honorable discharge,-all
of these conditions combined shall take the
place of evidence that the disability was con-
tracted in the line of service. That is all there
is of it, 1t is merely establishing in the law a
rule Of evidence, and is by no means service
pension. And we had in this amendment GER
tain other propositions with which you are
familiar-one giving to the widow S12 month
instead of So; doing away with the necessity
of proving the sOundnesS of soldier when he
went into the service. Then came the propo-
sition that dependent mother of dead Union
soldier should not be compelled to say and
prove at this late day that % years ago she was
dependent upon this son; getting rid of the
presumpton-the terribly disgraceful presump-
ton-that the Government of the United States
raises against the dependent mother. 1t says
to her: " If your son had lived he would not
have been your support now.' We ask them
to say that the presumptions are to be IN favor
of the mother of the dead Union soldier; that
if he had lived he would have kept her out of
the poorhouse. Great applause. And westood
there and protested that no matter whether
the mother of this soldier. in 1861 had money
or not; no matter whether she was then in at
fluent circumstances, or not, if the fact remains
to-day that she was . mother who had borne
upon her breast baby boy who, afterwards in
the pride and glory Of his manhood, under the
shining folds of the flag of his country, had
fallen in its defense-and in that case, that
mother, the mother Of that dead soldier, should
never go to a poorhouse in this great country
of ours! [Applause,l
we advocated. and we submitted them with all
them. We utterly failed to secure the aflirma.
tive action of Congress upon these simple and
just reforms.
Now, my comrades if it be true that Congress
stands to day hesitating about these PROPOSE
tions, what is the use of offering to it another,
and that other to pension all OF the soldiers OF
the Union army?
My personal record upon this question is not
unknown to you. j have always favored an
abrogation of all distinction of pensions based
upon rank in the seryice-that has been a
fayorite idea of mine. l have advocated it long
and persistenty. But l want to have some
thing done, and that something done nOT, dur
ing the lifetime of the members Of the G.A.R :.
[Applause. l stated to the Honorable Com
mittee of the Senate that we wanted something
done while the soldiers were on this side Oi
Jordan, and we would look out, without their
aid or assistance, for the result upon the other
side. Applause and laughter
| undertake to say, and l say it with all
| kindness and with all respect and in the hear
| ing of my comrades of the Pension Committee,
| that there was no obstacle that so completely
and fatally hedged up the way to our success
in our effort to secure this reform Tor which We
petitoned as did the presence in Congress oi
| the advocates before the committees of this
| $s-a-month proposition.
| don't say this to disparage the patriotism
| of the men who brought that bill there. only
say it to explain the reason why cannot In
| dorse and will not vote to press upon Congress:
q measure that goes so far in advance of all that
we have been able to secure friendly action
upon at the hands of Congress as to render ii
absolutely certain that it will be stumbling.
| block, rock of offense, ald not helper, to the
| action of Your Pension Committee.
/ hope / am at least understood. l shall no!
refer to this subject again. / shall participate
/ no further in this debate. l have presented
/ simply that which has been pressed upon me as
member of the Committee on Pensions. !
| have stated to you facts which have come tC
me as a member of the Committee on Resolu
tions. and the sum and substance of it all is
that / am not willing to lose the substance OF
things that are possible while reaching forward
| into the domain of that which seems wholly
improbable and grasping at the shadows float
| ing in that faraway region.
In making the statement that Congress never
passed service pension law | only referred tC
! the soldiers of the Union army, and not to the
soldiers Of other wars. [Great applause.