The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-07-21
PRESIDENTIAL vEToEs.

:
PRESIDENTIAL vETOES.
The Foolish, Careless and Injurious Log
islation Which the Sturdy Chief Execu-
tive Is stopping Before 1t Eats Into ths
y. 8. Treasury.
The President has sent another batch
of vetoes to the Senate. One of them
stopped bill which was almost gro
tesque illustration of the carelessness
with which Congress passes these
measures. 1t directed the name of
soldiers widow to be placed on the
pension roll, subject to the pension
laws. 1t turns out now that her name
is on the pension roll under the law
already, and has been there since Feb
ruary of this year, her pension dating
from November of last year; SO that
the bill seems to have been drafted and
passed in sheer ignorance of the facts
of the widows case. To send up such
bill for the Presidents signature is,
of course, to say the least, disrespect.
full.
Another of these bills puts on the
pension roll the widow of Commo-
dore in the navy who died of heart
disease ten years after the war, and
her application had already been re-
jected by the Pension Bureau because
of her failure to show that the disease
of which her husband died had any
connection with the war. Another
gives soldier already in receipt of
pension, $4,000 of back pension, for a
period of fifteen years, during which
he had made nc claim on account Of
incapacity on account of disease, and
removes the limit of time fixed by the
law of 1879, or in other words repeats
it for the benefit Of this one man. An
other gives widow a pension on ac-
count of the death of her husband from
Inflammation of the stomach ten wears
after the war, and disregards the fact
that her application is pending before
the bureau. Another provides for the
erection of United States buildings at a
cost Of 500, 900, at Sioux City, Ia, not
because the business of the Govern
ment at that point calls for them, but
because the population is growing rap
idly, and there is already consider
able number of other buildings in the
town. Another orders substantial
and commodious public building, with
fire-proof vaults" at cost of $780,
600, with an open space around it to
protect it from adjacent fires, which
is to provide accommodation for the
post-office, and internal revenue office
and pension Office, at GAINESVILLE, O.,
though the only Federal office in the
place is the post-office.
What gives these bills Importance is
not so much the amount of money
they vote away, as the careless. reck-
less spirit in which they are concocted
and passed. On this point the Presi
dent, in vetoing one of them. observes
very forcibly:
I'm speaking Of the promiscrous and Ill
advised grants of pensions which have latel.
been presented to me for approval, I have
spoken Of their apparent Congressional sane.
proportion of these bills have never been
submitted to majority of either branch
of Congress. but are the results Of
purpose Of their consideration and attended
by small! minority of the members of the re.
spective houses Of tho legislative branch Of
Government
"Thus, in considering these bills, 1 have moi
felt that was aided by the deliberate judg.
mont of the Congress-; and when ! hRYs
deemed it my duty to disapprove many of the
| bills presented. have hardly regarded my
action as dissent from the conclusions Of
the peoples representatives"
In other words, a large body of men,
who are paid high salaries for attend.
ing to the public business at Washing.
ton, but who have not during the past
session furnished the country with
single piece of useful legislation, or one
instructive debate, allow schemers Of
all sorts to get their formal sanctio1
for appropriations of the public money
| without their knowing it The mos
| charitable conclusion one can reach
about these bills is that considerable
proportion of the members of both
houses are too idle and lazy to watch
the business which passes through
| their hands under their own rules o,
procedure.
This, considered as state of mind,
is bad enough; but there is another as
pect of the case, equally serious, which
the President also touches on when he
says in vetoing the widow De Kraft
pension bill:
every relaxation Of principle in the grant
ing of pensions invites applications without,
! merit and encourages those who for gain
| urge honest men to become dishonest This
is the demoralizinE lesson taught the people,
that rs against the public treasury the most
questionable expedients are allowable"
That is TO say, not one such pension
can be granted without dihusing
through considerable portion of the
community the feeling that there ID
plenty of money in the treasury for al
most any purpose, and that almost any
mode of getting it out is allowable.
What Congressman think SO lightly of,
their constituents do not long continue
to regard as very serious, and from
getting money to which you have no
claim, out of the treasury, under the
forms of law, to downright fraud on
the treasury is very short step. In
fact, the poison of corruption turks in
the whole business, and President
Cleveland. has done the country nc
greater service than reprobating it in
hard words.-M 7. Post.
The Committee on Privileges
and Elections in the United States SEN
ate have passed upon the effort of the
Republican ringsters of Ohio to be.
smirch the fair fame Of Henry b,
Payne, member of that body. There
were upon that committee five Repub
licans and four Democrats. Upon
both sides they were the men Of high.
est repute in their respective parties,