The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-12-30
THE PRESIDENTS PENSIONS.

The Liberalfty of the Administration,
Coupled with Justice, to the Veterans
of the War.
The sound, practical views advanced
by President Cleveland in his message
on the subject of pensions disposes of
the misstatements and misrepresenta-
tions so literally indulged in last sum-
mer by Republican Senators and MEM
bers of Congress and their home Or
gans. He appeals for an open
system of pensioning, which will do
away with the pernicious political in
fuences that now taint the noble ex-
preston Of the Nations gratitude to-
wards its defenders. The custom of
resorting to Congress for a special
pension act to override the decision OF
the well-organized bureau designed for
the examination and consideration of
all pension cases opens the door. as
the President states, to the allowance
of questionable claims and presents
fraudui lent claims in such guise and so
surrounded by sentiment and patriotic
feeling tnat tney are hard to resist In
his vetoes of some of those claims,
last summer, the President pointed out
in each instance tle baseless character
of the claim. 1t is idle to speak OF the
Nations ingratitude towards the vet
Grams in view of the fact that il has
paid out more in pen -ions for disability
sustained in service than all the rest of
the world has paid in centuries.
The law protecting the pensioner has
been so carefully drawn that there can
>f ;,,s, tl,o1 1ox 10
fully carried out
the Pension B reau. especially in 1884,
shameless M suse of power and gross
parliSansnip perverted the patriotic in
tentions of the people. 10 save votes
for Mr.. Blaine the law was violate
aud deserving pensi ners were injured.
BY the political use of pensions SOL
dier's right to a pension was made to
depend upon his service 10 the Repub-
lican party after the war and not
upon his services in the field for his
country. The boards of examining
surgeons and the special examiners
were all Republicans, selected with a
view to their willingness to misuse
their power for p rtiSan purposes. The
Democratic Commisso o Ter of Pensions
has prov ded a .ainst this abuse by Sc.
Letting i'm partially from both parties.
The b story of the Pension Bureau. un
der Republican management, especial
ly in 1884, is an unbroken record o1
partisan prostitution of the noblest o.
our public agencies, of danger to oul
free inst tut ons, of robbery of the tax
PAYERS, degradation of the pens oner
insult to the Union veterans and DIS
grace to the responsible party.
The relief of the disabled veteran i:
not an act of charity. but of justice
and duty on the part of the Govern
ment. The President advances the
sound argument that when the veter
ans who, having served their country
long and well, are reduced to destitu
ton, not as an inc dent of their serv-
ice, but with advancing age, OF
through sickness or misfortune, they
and their caus are EMIT ed to the bene
fit of special act in each case. Under
such an act relief NAV be claimed al
a right and according to law
not, as sometimes happens now, il
evasion of it. The veterans are ou
fellow citizens, and are equally inter
ested in the passage and faithful execu
ton of wholesome laws. The charg
that the Democratic Administration
has been in any sense hostile to tn
cause Of pensioners is easily disprove,
by the fact that more work has bael
: done during the past year by the Pen
sion Bureau, at less cost to the Govern
ment, than during any pre- iious yea
since the bureau was organized. =
| ALbnnU Ar0uS