Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-07-09


A very lively time is expected in the
/ House to-day. An effort is to be made 10
pass several of the vetoed pension bills
over the yetoes. The prospect is that the
effort viii not succeed. The firm stand
which the President has taken in this
private pension bill business has stitfened
The hackbones OF a good many Congress
men who have been weakly Welding to
the threats OF pension agents. and political
demagogues who seek u increase their
influence with the eX-soldier element by
championing all sorts Of claims for pen
sions.
The country owes the President a debt
Of gratitude for the manner in which he
has exposed the foundation of fraud and
falsehOOd upon which many Of these pri-
vate pension claims rests. The charge
made in petition read in the Senate on
Wednesday, that he depended upon
clerks to prepare his pension vetoes, is
undoubtedly false. There is no reason TO
doubt that he has examined carefully
every pension bill that has been presented
to him for his signature. and that he has
signed those which he believed ought to
be signed, and vetoed those which were
without merit
The veto messages show that the Presi-
dent has acted conscientiously in this pri-
! vate pension business. and with the full
| knowledge that his course would subject
HIN to a great deal ofcritcism.and expose
| him totne attacks ofall the demagOgues in
I Congress. A less courageous aud cOnsci-
entious President would have signed all
the private pension bills presented to him.
! He would have assumed that the people,
/ if they objected to the wasting Of the pub
] lie money in paying pension claims OF
doubtful VALIDITY. would hold Congress re-
sponsible That is not President Cleve-
lands way, however, OF doing things.
He believes that the veto
power is given to the President
to be used in protecting the
interests Of the people, and he does not
propose to shirk his duty. Republican
Senators may read in the Senate petitions
whose purpose is to belittle him, and
Democratic and Republican Representa-
tlves may speak of his veto messages
cOntemptuOusly, but they will not succeed
in driving him from the path OF duty. 1t
| ought to be a matter of little consequence
to him, and perhaps il is, that he is in
curing the enmIty of the pension sharks
who have been fattenlng for years on the
money they succeed in getting from the
Treasury on fraudulent pension claims,
and of the political demagogues whose
only hope for keeping themselves IN pub
] ~
soldiers into believing that they are their
best friends. The people, however, are
not blind. They know an honest man
from demagogue and a fraud, and they
trust President Cleveland.
The Senators and Representatives who
are so ready to crticse and condemn the
President for vetOng pension bills pre-
sent very remarkable specl acle to the
country as they talk in sympathetic tones
OF the poor soldiers, the soldiers widows
and orphans. Who of them ever exam.
ined one of these vetoed pension bills be-
fore it was sent to the President? Who
Of them ever attended the Friday night
sessions at which these bills were alleged
to have been passed by the House? Even
members Of the Pension Committees Of
! the two houses saw the vetoed pension
| bills for the first time when they
came back with the veto messages.
What hypocrisy is it. then, for Congress-
men who have so shamefully neglected
their duty to condemn the President for
! conscientiously doing his duty! If they
had done therduty faithfully, there would
nave been no occasion for the vetoes. The
| fraudulent bills would not have been
| passed.