Springfield globe-republic. (Springfield, Ohio) 1884-1887, 1886-10-04
INSULTING PATRIOTS.
PRESIDENT CLEVELANo'S PENSION
VETOES.

cons Eloquent speech ON the Presi
dents Treatment of Veteran soldiers.
The Leartless course of President Cleveland
( In the vetoing of pension bills. and penning
/ taunting and insulting messages on the diss-
bllities Of crippled soldiers, may well rouss
the indignation Of every patriotic citizen. In
a speech in one of these cases, that Of Jacob
/ Romiser. Hon. Byron NJ Cutcheon, of Michi-
gan. called bis fellow congreSsnen's attention.
to the following points:
Lincoln vetoed one bill in four years;
Cleveland has vetoed one hun ired bills within
three months. But that is a matter Of taste,
and it measures the distance between the two
men in their Judgment Of their relations TO
the law-making power OF the government
"By those presidents who lived in the era
of the formation of the constitution, and who
may be presumed TO be most familiar with
its spirit, the veto power was very sparingly
used. The whole number of vetoes from the
foundation of our government to the present
administration was 100, an average of one
and oue-seventh per year.
at has been the practice for several con-
crosses past to pass hundreds of private pen
sion bills for the very reason that the claim
ants have not been able 10 make the required
proof at the pension Office that their disabili-
ties were incurred in the line of military
duty.
The last congress passed more than five
hundred Of such bills and not one of them
WAS vetoed by President Arthur, because he
looked upon congress the high court of
chancery Of the nation, 10 adjudge the equity
OF each particular case.
Il therefore utterly and absolutely deny
the truth of the presidents premises that a
man is not pensionable unless he can prove
that he was disabled in the military service
and in the line of duty. 1t Is not true. Ii
never was true But suppose that were not
SO, and that up to this time there were no
law, general or special, allowing pensions ex-
cept for a disability traced directly to mill
tAry service in the line of duty.
In the name Of humanity and national
honor shall we be precluded as the supreme
law-nIaking power from making law that
shall meet the exigency Of individual cases
that appeal TO our sense of right and equity
Because, fOrsooth, a surgeon Is dead, or a
fellow prisoner at Andersouville has an
swered the last tattoo, or a record is lost, or
comrades have been swept away, are our
hands bound from doing such meager Jus
tice as we Ir7vi Shall we be compelled to
stand by j. rhecility and hslplessness, and
see our old veterans in their age and feeble
ness and poverty, go TO the poorhouse, and
this great congress Of the peoples representa-
tive forbidden by the iron grip of the veto
power from reaching out to them a support
ing hand TO steady their faltering steps and
smooth their pathway to the gravel God |
forbid! 1t is not SO. II cannot be So II We
be true men, true TO our country, to our man
hood, and TO humanity, it shall not he sol |
Our appeal is to the people, who make and |
presidents!
The incumbent Of the presidency has very |
much to learn about soldiers
And lastly, unless / greatly err, he has |
has much to learn Of the feeling 'of LOYALTY |
md the spirit of patriotism which inspired |
our soldiery, and which is worth more 70 this |
nation than all its millions of gold and silver |
piled IN the vaults Of the treasury.
Take the case of that old man, Nathaniel |
Beezeley, the old farrier, whose widows bill |
ts among these vetoes. At the age of sixty |
years he heari the call of his country He |
wanted to have some share in the grand and |
patriotic work Of upholding its flag and saw
ing the union OF the states TO posterity. So. |
while the young and strong and the prosper
nus hsSitatei, the old man said TO his wife:
Louisa, believe l must go I've got a good |
deal of strength left vet, and If the old flag
must go down want to go down with it. II
anything should happen TO me, this govern
ment will see that you don't come to want
So he shouldered his muSket and marched in
The grim ranks of war. He thought he could
endure the hardship and for a year he stool
at the post of duty like man. as best ne
could. But he accumulated a good deal of
and at the end of a year he was
out, as the report of Col Matson,
the chairman of the committee, says, "a
wreck OF his former self
"The old man died at length, and now his
aged widow, past seventy, dependent upon
;harity, recommended by the governor of her
,tats and ex-senator Joseph Z. Mcdonald,
comes with her trembling hands and totter-
ng steps-comes here to ask of the great,
-ich government TO which her husband gave
he remnant Of health and life to assist her in
king out her few remaining days with a
)altry pension of Sl2 per month, and the pres
dent Ct that country says to congress, for
bid'
Il would TO God that some younger and
tronger men had possessed that same spirit
# patriotism which the old man Bsezeley
lad, and which led him to the perilous edge
4 battle. Such patriotism is not so super
Lbundant in these days that we can afford to
neer at 1t or refuse to recognize it or reward
Is loyal sacrifices 1t was not so We prom
Sed these brave men when they went out to
'attle. 1t was not so we promis ID them
when they turned their backs upon home and
wife and child whom they might never see
gain; turned away from all the brightnes,
md sweetness and hope Of life, to do to suf-
er, and, if need be- TO die in untold ami un-
peskable anguish for the flag OF their al
egiance and the country Of their love We
old them then 70 go without fear and with
'ut faltering for those they left behind We
,romised them that the nation would be hus-
and to the widow and father to their orphan
that the nation would raiss their
elpless ones in its great, strong arms and
ear them ever in its heart of hearts
"Under that promise they went out. Under
hat promise they troi the red and slippery
elds of carnage down TO the blood be
prinkled doors Of death.
Their work is done; their duty is fulfilled
Sut the wrecked and maimei, the widows
nd orphans are with Us still and claim our
elping hand. Our promise remains.
May God help US to be true 10 the prom
ses We pledged when patriotism was more than
old, when loyal sacrifice was more than
lace or power, and manhood was worth
IL that nation had to givs"
A vote for the Democratic ticket this fall
a vote of endorsement Of Clevelands treat.
nent of the soldiers.
I
MBRIOE'S CANDIDACY. {
Considered By Hon. Andrew Roy, who I
Has Always Been Identified With the