Arizona silver belt., 1886-01-16
MRS, GRANTS PENSION.
An Explanation from the Solitary Congress
 I,lan Who Voted Against 1t.


 The bill to pension Mrs. Grant pas sed the senate without opposition, and in the House received a vote of every member except Wm. T. Price (Repub- lican), of the Eighth Wisconsin Dls- trict. MT. Price has written the fol- lowing letter in answer to some ad- verse comments in the Chicago Inter Ocean:
 Mrs. Grant never has rendered any service to the Government, does not propose to do so, and is not an object of charity, as it is generally under stood that she has property and in- come of from S5O0,000 to $1,0O0,OOO. As the widow of our greatest General, she should, in my judgment, be cared for by the Government, and if needy, she should be relieved, side by side, and equally, with every other widow of every other soldier who served in the Union army. AS the widow of an ex-Presldent of the United States who received $4OO,OO0 for eight years service as President, and who, while acting as such officer, vetoed bill to equalize the bounty of soldiers, and signed bill winch increased his own salary from $25,OO0 to $50,000, per annum, we owe her nothing. She is, no doubt, in all respects most excellent lady, and there is just as little doubt that there are in every school district in every Northern State many women who are suffering in poverty, who were and are as loyal, loving and lovahle, who parted with husbands to whom they were as much attached, and made other sacrifices for the com mon good as great as she. 1 not only believe that these distinctions in favor of class are unjust, but that they are dangerous. The tendency of the times, as shown by the acts pension ing Presidents widows, retired army officers and officers of their heirs, at a higher rate than those who rendered equally good services in a more hum- ble capacity, is one of the most fruit ful causes that lead to that feeling of unrest and conviction of unjust treat ment that develops in communistic mobs, destruction of property and in- terruption of productive business en- terprises, and in too many instances of loss of life. Are mSl,ea50ns for that 'disgraceful" vote sui 6cient? or must content myself wlt standing convicted of "disgraceful" conduct by the self-constituted tribunal-the edi- tor of the Inter Ocean? I think 1t very probable that you and I could not be brought to reason alike. 1 think it very probably that had you lived 1900 years ago you would have joined the murderous mob that shouted "Crucify Himr' "Crucify Himr' and I should have inquired, Why Cruelty Him?' You say that this vote fought to terminate my public career" Pos sibly 1t will. To me, personally, that IS a matter of no very great solicitude, but 1 think your prediction is no more profound than your judgment was just. In the second session of the Forty-eighth Congress voted nearly alone against retiring Gen. Grant, be- cause to pass the bill we were conn pelled to pay another man S11 ,O0O for less than eleven minutes service as a member of Congress, and it conferred no additional honor upon Grant, nor contributed to his comfort, as he had abundant means of respectable sup port without it, and because so many other equally deserving were starving. And yet, in the light of these facts, l was returned to the Forty-ninth Con gress by a trebled majority. You, sir, may speak of a class who bow and cringe and crawl to men in place and power, but l deny your right to say that the people of the Eighth Congress sional District of Wisconsin are desti- tu.e of that rugged sense of honesty possessed of so slight a sense ofjustice that they would enthrone on the necks of the people an arlstOcracy based on either wealth or official station which has caused the multitude to groan for the aggTaudizement ofthe few in other forms of government, but should find no place in a republic.
 w. T. PRICE,
 Black River Falls, Wis, Dec. 30. 1885.
 The death rate in Dakota for years past has been only five in one thous- and. Even this moderate average for Our Territory might have been ma