The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1888-03-08
REBEL ESTIMATE OF UNION vETER-
ANS

REBEL ESTIMATE OF UNION VETER-
ANS.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 29.-The Senate
today resumed consideration of the bill
granting pensions to ex-soldiers and
sailors who are incapacitated for the
performance of manual labor and pro-
viding for pensions to dependent rela-
tives of deceased soldiers and sailors
Mr., Wilson of Iowa moved an amend
ment to insert the words from the in
firmities of age so as to pension all ex
soldiers suffering from the ;nfirmIties of
age or from mental or physical disa-
bility,
In the debate which took place on the
amendment Mr., Plumb delivered an elo-
quent eulogy on the army referring par,
ticularly to the fact that, when the war
closed, the army could have placed one
of its leaders at the head of the Govern
ment and could have dictated to tits own
terms, but had asked nothing except to
be permitted to disband and return TO
peaceful avocations. He did not believe
that any patriotic man. any man who
looked with patriotic fervor on that por
ton of the country's history when two
millions of men sprung TO arms to main
tain the Government, would ever be
willing to oppose the enactment of any
law whereby any of these men should be
drawn from the ban of poverty and CIV
en- at least decent livelihood. The bill
as it came frCm the committee, was per
haps step in the right direction. 1t
was not what it ought to be, and he had
sought to make it better. There was to
be. he said, no insinuation in the Senate
or elsew here that the Union soldiers
were to be the beneficiaries under the
bill in the sense of being suppliants or
unworthy persons. He did not think
that partisanship would go that far, and
if it did he believed that the American
people would rebuke it. Congress was
not now dealing with slender resources,
but was dealing with abundance. Less
than the pending bill proposed would
not be just, more was not asked for
Mr.. Vest said that he had not the
slightest idea when he spoke to NJ
Wilson's amendment) of producing that
burst of patriotic, fervid eloquence
which the Senate had just listened to-
They had heard good deal about aims
houses and veteran soldiers. In the
State of Missouri there were no Federal
soldiers in almshouses; and he was proud
to say there were no Confederate SOL
diers in almshouses either, When Gen.
Lee surrendered at Appomattox there
were but $4,000 muskets left of that
splendid 'army which had faced the
world in arms, and which had been bat.
tered and beaten back by overwhelming
numbers. Out of companies which had
gone into that terrible struggle from 125
to 1870 strong, only ten had gone back to
their kindred and their homes. The
South today was covere with crippled
and manned soldiers, who had been shot
and sheled and sabre-struck for their
honest convictions, and they asked no
pension, and would not take it God be
blessed). They were not in almshouses
and none of them had ever been seen
begging for bread. Whence, then came
the talk of Federal soldiers in aims
houses? They were not there. He was
tired and sick of the insnuations of rob-
berry and pretence and hypocrisy in the
true and gallant soldiers of the Union.
He had personal friends among them,
and, as he had said before. he would
give to every disabled or dependent SOL
der of the Federal army, and the wild
ows and orphans of those who had lost
their lives in the service, the last acre
of land and the last dollar. He would
have done the same for the Confederate
soldier If God had blessed our cause.'--
Why the talk that Congress had not
done enough for the Union s. ldiers
when the country had paid out since
1865 1888, 900, 900 for pensions-a liberal
ty unparalleled in the history of the
world? The Senate had been told today
that the country owed the soldiers a
debt of eternal gratitude because they
had not, with mailed hand, seized the
Government. A great military and pc
ltical organization, the G. A. r., had
thrown its lance into the debates of
Congress, and had sent the bills to their
accredited Senators for the purpose of
being enacted. When the President of
the United States had honestly and
bravely discharged his executive duty
and vetoed an enactment which he con-
sidered improper, he had been threaten
ed by the officers of that organization
with personal insult if he dared make
his presence known in the city where it
held its annual meeting. There was a
limit to human endurance. He had
voted for pension bills, coerced by his
position, because he had been Confed-
crate and because he was honestly anx-
ious for the hour and glory of the coun-
try. He had voted for them because he
wanted to evidence to the world that
the men with whom he had acted in the
unfortunate strife respected the fair and
gallant soldiers of the Union and were
willing to give them even more than
they demande But he repeated with
strong emphasis, there is limit, and
have reached il, will be drawn no fur.
Their by claim agents and plunderers in
the garb of soldiers. For the honest and
brave and real soldiers of the Union
am willing to vote any amount of pen
sions.' In this city is corps of men en-
gagged in inyenting legislation to take
more money out of the Federal Treas
ury. The report of the Commissioner oil
a Pensions shows that when the Arrears
of.pension act of 1879 was passed there
wqnisone 90 Qto lipstionsssfor pen
sions pending. The very next year The
: upmbef q applicsiiotq jg9,gI IA s1O,
O10. The claims GENT ln{ sslbd that Law
and put a ilAnliatiop Oh i and !he bum
Der of applicants FOR pensiohs ssnped ii
one year from 80, 900 to 100 900, and thu
amount of disbursements from $50, 000,
900 to $57 100000
Mr.. Vest went on to say that of thu
$4,000 enrolled as soldiers during thu
four wears of war there were applica.