Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-07-04
TIE rnE.1nrN,,s yEroEs.
Ehc Senate Committees Report Re
commencing THeY be Voted Down.
by telegrapn 70 the DlApatch.l


(By telegraph TO the Dispstch.l
WASHINGTON, July 3.--Tho Senate
Committee on Pensions. in its report
recommending TIE passage over the
Presidents veto Of the bill granting a
pension 10 Mary j. Nottoge, says " 50
great mas become the number Of such
vetoes inter2ose- by the present tx
ecutive, all within a few weeks past,
ands extraordinary is the censure, some
times rudely expressed and in nearly
every instance severely implied. Of the
action of the two houses of Congress
and Of their committees, upon which
has devolyed the weaTlSome and gen
orally unappreciated labor of inves;l-
eating these claims. accompanied in
many cases by such Iidicule OF and
evident disgust with the claims them
selves, that your committee feel they
are justified in brief review OF
the circumstances involved. In do
ing this strong effort will be made
70 restrain the not unnatural feeling OF
indignation. which, # permitted to AS
sumo the proportions which the prodlc-
ton justified, would wholly destroy
those respectful forms Of expression
which must be maintained in official
intercourse between different officers
and the departments OF the Govern
ment. This becomes more necessary
in proportion as it is rendered moro dh-
hcult by reason of the unjust and un-
examplod style in which some OF the
messages of the President arc express
ed. 1t shall be the effort Of the coin-
miitee to get on il this difficult matter
without violating the cOurtesies OF OIL
cial intercourse by initiating an exam
pie which, so FAR as We are aware, IL
without precedent, and which, so far
as We are concerned, shall remain so
The committee proceeds TO show that
% per cent. of the Senate bills and only
81 per cent. of the House billSsubmitied
10 the President have been vetoed, and
says il is not insensible TO the special
condemnation which this dIsparaging
contrast inilicts. "Much criticism,
the report continues, "has been in
dulged in by the President of the me
thods of legislation pursued by the two
houses Of Congress, and however unin-
formed he may be upon the subject, and
however unintentonally, by reason Of
want of knowledge, he may have mis-
REPRESENTED 10 the country the methods
Of legislation which have been pursued
in like cases ever since Congress
and Parliament have existed, and
which have, since Parliaments
became free, been safe from kingly and
presidential interference, all the same
the people are misled by unwarranted
statements OF the President as to the
manner in which the legislation upon
pensions claims and the like is and Of
necessity must be conducted. The
pension business of the Senate has
never been better done than during this
session. Those members Of tho com-
mittee who have performed the most
have been as careful as any, and the
derisiOn Of their patient considerations
and exhausting labors to help
along these noblest and best por-
tons of Gods poor and the country's
benefactors can originate only in a wise
and noble nature which is misled, or in
one that, if informed, sadly needs re-
construction or recreation" The re-
port embodies copy of the instruc-
tons by the Assistant Secretary Of the
Interior TO the Commissioner Of PEN
sions-as follows "Please cause the
same TO be critically examined and re-
port to this Department whether, in
your opinion, any objections to their
approval are known to exist. In cases
whsrs objections exist they should be
specifically set FORTH" This indicates,
the committee says, Enthusiastically that
the President relies upon the Commis-
sionsr for his facts. The report con-
tinues: "Why the President should
initiate this game Of shuttlecock aud
pelt a coordinate Department Of the
Government with yetots based upon q
review Of the action Of Congress by
some subordinate Of the Commissioners
Of Pensions is topic which will bear
thought but perhaps may be leit
without discussion. Why the ind
ing Of the two houses Of Congress
shn,,,a ba discredited and attributed to