The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-07-25
The Presidents Attack on Wo-
men.

With the Presidents private life the
public has nothing to do, but his Official
manners are sgbiect Of legitimate crit
cisn. ike any other detail OF his olzei4l
conduct The debate in the senate the
other day upon the pension et0es ueyeal-
ed him as a President who does not hes
itsie IN the eager pursuit Of cheap Popu-
larity to indulge in mean attacks upon
the characters Of poor and friendles wo-
men. This Is not large business for the
President Of the United States to be en-
gagged in.
The latest instance Is that OF Ms.
Dougherty. This woman, while working
in al arsenal making cartridges, suffered
3 severe accident: she Ios; her son she
became partially insane. if not wholly 50.
The Pension Bureau rejected her claim.
a It often mus; DO in really deserving e.
81, but the pension committee Il both
houses Of Congress, one Democratic and
the other Republican. decided that, to
use Senator Hawley's words, il would be
wise and generous " to give her = pen
sion. The President vetoed the bin, al
leging that the woman was - Of very bad
character, and had been under arrest
nine times for drunkenness, IarceHy. ere
aiing disturbance. and nlisdemeanors Of
that sort" The language leaves the ia
preston that the woman i now a G0t0-
riously bad character. The fact l., as
Senator Davis. Of Minnesota, showed.
that all these accusations relate 10 a peri
Cd prior to 1872. She was arrested before
that date seven times, the ether two cases
being Of another person entirely. From
1872 to lSSS her conduct has bceu proper.
Yet, as the Senator says, the President
Of the United States has gone 0ack fifteen
years to investigate the character Of this
poor, old, decrepit, half-er2zed woman
for the purpose Of putting an imputati0n
upon her. and thereby justifying the
veto
Senator Davis als0 stated that on the
day Of the veto a report a. 10 this woman
had been Withdrawn from the Pension
Bureaus files, and delivered 10 the chies
Of the Washington police. which had not
been retusoed. Here, then We haveJhe
President Of the United States, after two
Congressional committees and the two
houses Of Congress have decided that this
woman shall have a pension OF a few dol
lars q month, hunting through :he police
court archives Of Washington 10 discover
whether at time when she was proba-
bly, halfcrazei By disease and grief she
had been locked up a few times. What
if she had been Mol Pitcher was not
a person Of rigid morals, but her patriotic
services are gratefully remembered. We
quite agree with Senator Blair. who Is
certainly not accustomed % condoning
immortality. that the Presidents notion
that all lie has 10 90 to make 4 pension
seem improper Is TO afiix a personal stig-
ma upon the applicant Is entirely erro-
neoGs.
Another ease Ct the same kind. which
was Indignantly recalled IN this debate,
was that Of Harriet Welch. Her hus-
band had been pensioned for a ggnshot
wognd in the Lee. and applying Cor in
creased pension. was directed 10 appear
at Green Bay, Wis. for examination. lie
forming home on the cars he fell between
them. owing as 1t was believed, to the
weakness ofhjs ie2 aud was killed Con
gress awarded her pension. which the
President vetoed. embody.ng this con
tenpiible sur in the message:
Though this widow admits that prior
% he- mai III q 20 the dceelsed sold ier
si'e bad married another mau whom she
could only say she believed 20 ue dead.
l believe her case TO be q pi-iabie one
Seven children had been the }ruit Of
tie marfilge with the soldier, upon
when the President chose to cast this
utterly needless reflection. The Senate
Committee say there Is nothing in the
evidence TO justify it" But he seems TO
be given to sweeping reflections Of this
nature. After enumeratiug the alleged
dark spots in Mrs. Dougherty's re5ori,
be could not stay his hand from saying
But there i mach reason 20 fear that
this case viii find It's parallel IN MANY
that have reached a successful conclusion.
This Is pleasant reading for soldiers
widows and their friends Really, we
think. with Senator Blair, that If Nr.
Cleveland HJsT write these veto Mesa
ges, he could 10 it d" as a gentlemen. not
to say Ike 4 President ~ J. Tribune.