Daily Republican., 1886-07-15
WASHINGTON LErrER.
From our Regular Correspondent.

FROM our regular correspondent.
WASHINGTON, July 14.-There hay
been some stormy scenes In Congress
during the past few days over the Pres
dents vetoed pension bills. He has mo-
welded bis pen against one huudre
| soldier claimants and still the reck le.
work goes on. Senator Plumb remarl
ed to the Senate few days since that
the President would read the bills b
vetoes instead OF deps pding upon ths
jCircumlocution Shop, the Pensio
Office, for his basis of action, he voul
not be so silly.
But Cleveland's course In this matte
has not failed to draw yolleys OF crit
icism from the Repu blicans in BOZ,
Houses OF Congress-. Gen. Grosvenor
1 of Ohio, msde a notable speech upol
his veto OF bill granting pension l,
the widow of q certain veteran, durip,
the delivery of which there were few
dry eyes upon the Republican eide o
the Hall. He began by saying he de
sired to stand upon better and stronger
ground than an assault upon the mo
tives Of the Executive in this veto. I'll,
thought the President laoored under q
total misrepresentation OF his relation
to the administration of the government
Of this country.
He had read with great deal of care
all the vetoes that had emanated from
this prolific source, and he thought thai
the trouble lay In the fact that the pre-
sent President of the United States un.
derstands 1t TO be his duty to examine
every act of Congress. II he himaelf
a. memb Der of Congress, would moi
vote for bill he gives no sort of weigh,
or consideration TO the fact that both
branches Of the legislative department
OF the government have acted affirma-
lively on the measure.
He mentioned that we hear much
about consolidation OF power and cen.
tralization Of government, but he knew
OF no such exhibition, heretofore, OF q
tendency toward consolidation, as the
spectacle of the President refusing to
permit Congress to pension the starvin Q
soldiers OF the Union. Iu other words
Mr.. Cleveland adopts and carries in to
force the idea that in this country OF
ours the Executive has the right and
duty to decide absolutely upon every
question of legislation.
The next feature noticed by General
Grosvenor was an assumption which
seems TO have lodged in the mind of the
President, that no private pension bill
ought to be approved by him unless the
applicant is entitled by law to q pen
sion. He mentioned that there was no
prior law authorizing the granting of q
pension of E,900 y sar to Mrs Grant:
yet the Executive saw I'll to approve the
bill. There was no law authorizing a
pension of 81. 900 year to the widow OF
General Hancock; yet the President ap-
proved the bill.
Lack Of space forbids me to give the
pathetic side Of the Onioan's remarks,
but he said, among other things, that
there could be no general law which
would cover the case of the widow for
whom he was pleading. She had a
husband and four sons who entered the
army in 1861 Two of the Sons were
shot dead; another came home with an
arm shot Oft. and the fourth with an
eye shot out, while the father received
a wound at the battle of Nashville,
from which he suffered more or less
thfrugh the remainder OF his life, which
terminated In 1882.
The penniless widow, now past the
age OF seventy, comes to Congress aud
asks that she receive the pittance of q
widows pension. Phe President gets
behind his big desks, and calling to his
assistance the pension depar; ment OF
the Government, rejects the claim for
want of strict legal authority to give
her pension under the general law.
On the same day that he vetoed this
bill," said Mr.. Grosvenor, with the
same pen, he approved bill which put
Fitz-John Porter on the pension list OF
the government at nearly 50, 900 q year,
while Sarah B. Bradley, the mother oil
those four gallant patriotic soldiers,
goes to the poor house. And this IL the
government, continued he, (which
says it is generous and liberal to Its
soldiers"
Representative Boutelle, of Maine,
while arraigniug the President for his
crusade against the veterans, said some
thing about the way in which the Muse
of History was looking at him, and the
expression of ineffable disgust which
passed over the features of the Goddess
of Liberty at the picture Of the Chief
Magistrate sitting in his shirt sleeves,
his collar unbuttoned, perspiripe over
the vetoes OF paltry pension bills of
heroes of the war.
Representative Brum, of Pennsyl-
vania, characterized the President as
the great cbliterator of segregated
ribs, the great representative of abso-
lutte power, by WHOM the Democrats of
the House stood and said, "Not my
will, hut thine be DONE" He beraJed
tho Democrats in such an energetic
manner as to call forth applause and
laughter from both sides of the House
He denounced them as poliroons and
who exouerated their Presi-
dent whenever he chose to slap them in
the face or spit upon them. r
told In Its Different Forms.
Peculiarities in the form of gold
taken from mining districts often gave