Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-06-07
MILLIONS FOR PENSIONS.
GOOD REASON FOH THE DEMO
CRATIC CRY FOR A HALT.


I WASHINGTON, June 5.-When one
comes face TO face with the fact that the
/ pension payments cost every family in
the country So a year it Is not to be won
4 dered that the Southern Congressman de-
mand halt. The pension business has
been running wild for several years, and
! Its pace is growing wilder with every
/ passing day. Six dollars is not a very
4 large sum in itself, but there are thou
sands of poor families in the country to
whom it is a small fortune. AS the money
! is raised by Indirect taxation every fam
| lily in the country is bound to contribute
its share in one way or another. Bills for
pensiOnng different classes of soldiers
not now on the rolls are passed with little
discussion, aud during the last Congress
the country came within an ace of the eX-
tension of the arrears act, which would
have involved an additional expenditure
! of $3.50, ,000, 900. SuDposing The population
OF the United States to be 50,00e000, this
would have been an additional tax Of So
upon every man, woman and child in the
/ country. No country in the world COM
pares with the United States in her lib
| erality to her wounded soldiers. For
years past her pensions have averaged
between $4,000, 600 and SG6, 100000 year.
and in 1885 the total amount paid out
from the beginning of the government
was more than $724, 100000. At the same
rate it must be mQEe than $500, 900 at
the present time. #This makes the pen
sion expenditures q the government more
than one-twelfth ok all its expenses, not
including interest, since It's organization.
There has been paid out in pensions about
one-siXth as much as has been paid for
Nhrn Vluay l,,
ing each year. In 1890 the pension tax
was, on rough estimate, less than 25
cents family, and In 1898, when a larger
amount was paid forpensiOns than in any
one year up to 1853, the average was less
tban 81 50A family. The great bulk of the
pension expenditure has been to the sol
diers OF the late war. In the first ten
years OF our government there we're only
! four in which the pension expenses ran
| over $1,000 a year, and for the next tif-
teen years-Or until the pensions of the
| war OF 1912 began to come in-they were
less than this yearly. They never amount
| ed to more than $5,000,000 year until
1868, when they jumped to $lG,000,000.
| Since then they have been so increasing
that they now make about one-third of
the yearly expenses, and 1t costs each
family in the United States from So TO So
a year to pay the bills. The civil pension
list has increased considerably within
! the last three years, and the widows of
the Presidents now receive S5, 900 year
each. Mrs. Polk is yet alive, and is living
at Nashville. Jonn Tyler's second wife
has So, 900 sent yearly TO her home in Rich
mOnd, and Mrs. Garfield has the same
amount sent to her at Cleveland. Zach
Taylor's daughter gets $50 a mouth on ac-
count OF her fathers services in the Mex
lean war; and the widow of Admiral
Farragut receives s., 900 a year by a spe-
cial act of Congress. There are also
about eighty revolutionary widows still
on the pension rolls, and the majority OF
these come from the Southern States
There were about 100000 soldiers in the
late war. OF these 100000 lett no per-
sonal relatives, and about 100000 have
not asked for pensions. From 1861 TO 1884
100000 claims We're filed for pensions, and
at that time 4S7, 900 of these had been al
lowed. These pensions RANGED from 81 to
$12 a month, and the average pension re-
ceived by the soldiers at present is about
SI07 year. There are now between 300,-
600 and 100000 pensioners, and the ma
iOritv of these are the soldiers themselves,
while the remainder is made up of wild
ows, minor children and dependent pa
rents.
THE SOLDIERS HOME.
Nearly everybody in the country is IA
miliar with the National Soldiers Home
by name, but only a small traction of the
| people know much more about it than
that it is situated somewhere near Wash
ington. 1t consists OF n large estate on
the range OF hills north OF Washington,
embracing 502 acres, the cost Of which
has been S325,327 80. This Is exclusive of
the buildings, which nave cost as much
more. The nucleus of the nnd from
which payments have been made was
contribution of 100000 levied upon the
City OF Mexico by Gen. Acott as pun
ishment for having permitted guerillas
to fire upon the American troops. Be-
sides, a tax of l22 cents per month IL
levied upon all soldiers in the army, and
whatever is due deserters and collected in
fines. the whole, vita the interest on the
fund, amounts to nearly 100000 a year
( There are now about 800 inmates OF the
home, with lj0 outpensiOuers. who re-
ceiye So a month. President buchanan
passed "a summer IN one OF the cottages at
the Soldiers Home, and President Lincoln
also resided there during the summer
months, coming in 10 the White House
every week day escorted by a company Of
cavalry. Geu. Grant preferred Long
Branch. but President Hayes passed his
summers at the Soldiers Home. Presi-
dent Arthur also went there, but Presi-
dent Cleveland did not occupy the cottage
/ fitted up for bis reception last year. pre-
ierring 70 spend his vacation among the
White Mountains.
TYLER's INDEPENDENCE.
Gen. John Tyler, Jr., tho son OF Presi.
dent Tyler. has good deal Of the inde-
peLdeBce OF his father. Not long ago the
ed tor Of the Century MagaZ Inc wrote him
asking him 1t he would not prepare for
them an article descriptive Of certain Of
the battles m wnicn be had been engaged
IN the Confederate service. AZ tue close
Of one Of these battles Gen. Tyler, hred
with tue feeling OF the hour, penned de-
scriptiOn Of II. lie had never allowed IL
10 be published before, hut when he re-
ceiyed this letter he sent IL On TO the Cen
tuTy just as IL had been written az the
tma. A few days arer this he received
a letter from the editor 0f the magazine,
saying tnat they found tue article in every
way acceptable save that Its sentiments
were mere aud there a little too radically
expressed 10 suit some Of the Northern
readers. TDey intended TO send him a
handsome "d0ueeur" tor the article, and
they thought he ought TO allow them 20
change one or two Of the sentences as, for
instance, where he said: "At tnis point a
thousand brave and patriotic hearts fell,w
the editors would like 10 make n, sat this
moment a thousand brave men fell"
Gen. Tyler read the letter, and the same
day replied as follows;
Editor II me Century;
SIR-ilang your dOueeurl oliver Crom-
we'll, when sitting Tor his portrait, was
asked by the artist ae 10 whether be would
4fssf4 a.