Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1888-04-01

upon Social ana POLITICAL questions, or
offer to pay for this or subsequent con-
tributions or notice me editorially as an
able and effective or humorous writer, |
am, if this is accepted,
Yours very truly, BoRAx.
~. Pensions.
To the Editor of the Dispatch:
There is perhaps no subject that de-
mands more careful and dispassionste
consideration than this matter of PEN
sions to Union soldiers, nor is there one
that can be discussed by a southerner
under greater risk of misconstruction.
II is, then, with feelings of great delica-
cy that | offer the subjoined observa-
tons, though | feel assured that they
will receive an emphatic and hearty en-
dorsement among northern taxpayers.
1t is far from my intention TO find
fault with the custom OF pensioning the
widows and orphans of those who died
in the military or naval service OF the
country, or those whose disabilities in
Cured in such service render them de-
serving of governmental aid. This GUS
tom is Of immemorial usage and COM
mends itself to the favor of the patriot
philanthropist. By all means let those
who really are entitled to such aid re-
ceive it, but any greater expenditure in
this direction becomes criminal prodi-
gality. 1t is burning shame that mil
lions Of the peoples money should be
annually expended upon the sneak
thieves and bummers whose names are
found on the national pension-roll. 1t
is gross injustice to place these shame
less beggars on the same platform with
battle-scarred veterans, or the helpless
orphans OF those who met soldiers
death in the ranks Of war.
The unblushing advocates OF the in
discriminate and unlimited pensioning
of all who wor5 the blue contend that it
is not charity but debt not of graft
tude only, but OF obligation. Now. this
is the very acme Of senseless twaddle
and frothy gush. No service, however
arduous, nor any disability incurred in
such service, gives to any one dejpe
claim for damages. The granting of
pensions is an act of grace, not of obi
cation. And as to gratitude, if all the
patronage and all the revenues of the
country are to be dispensed to ex-Union
soldiers, ask, in the name of common
sense, what have the rest of us, either
North or South, to be grateful for?
There is something rotten in Den
mark" Can any one believe that out
of l,500, 900 Federal soldiers 100000
we're killed, or are alive to-day the
lingering victims OF wounds, bruises,
and putrefying sores? Was ever such
havoc heard of before? Had the fire Of
the Federals been half as effective there
would not be q well man to-day in the
South forty years OF age !! VIII any one,
in view of this appalling statement, con-
tend that drastic purging of the pres
ent pension-roll is not necessary? Do
not meritorious claimants owe it to
themselves to see that only bona.fde
sufferers receive Government aid
The dependent pension bill now be-
fore Congress, il it become q law, will
be an outrage pure and simple. We will
say that two neighboring farmers in
Ohio, A and Is, are the victims of rail-
road disaster. Both receive injuries that
result in permanent disability. A, who
rendered nominal military service for
three months, receives from the Govern
ment pension of S12 per month, while
b. who did no service, gets nothing.
Could the veil which mercifully hides
the future have been lifted for a brief
season in the spring of 1865, what a
frantic scramble there would have been
at the North to take a policy in the
United States accident insurance com
pany.
The most detestable feature, however,
OF this whole matter is that it has been
transferred from the domains OF philan-
thropy and public charity, where it
properly belongs. to that of politics.
Demagogues by wild and reckless pro-
misses have excited the greed of claim
ants till the whole revenue of the coun-
try would not satisfy them. They no
longer condescend to petition. With
the brayado of brigands they demand
pensions. Democrats and Republicans
alike truckle to this insatiate monster
Miserable bounty-jumpers who sold their
valueless services in time OF war now
make subserviency to their demands the
price of their votes. Each party has
tried to outbid the other for their sup
port. and even the "Solid South" has
found it convenient "to crook the preg-
nant hinges Of the knee that thrift might
follow fawning."
Now the important question is, Where
is this exhausting drain upon the public
patience and public purse to end |? Let
the people demand that Congress pass no
more general pension bills, for it is safe
to assert that all, and more than all, who
honestly deserve aid are already drawing
pensions. Hereafter let every claimant
make special application; let every al
legged disability be rigidly inquired into,
and if not directly traceable to military
service, be peremptorily disallowed. Let
every able-bodied ex-soldier DO made to
understand, once for all, that mere SER
vice, long or short, does not exempt
man from providing for himself and those
dependent upon him.
Ii would be a decided improvement
upon the present system if each State
wouLd pay the pensioners Dithin her
otcn borders. The southern States will
cheerfully put ex-Union soldiers on the
same platform with their own veterans,
and make no discrimination on account
of Grace, color, or even previous condi-
ton of servitude." Kansas, Nebraska,
and Iowa would no doubt do more than
provide for their own, judging from the
enthusiasm of their senator's. An enact
ment by Congress to this effect would
get up q generous rivalry among the
States, and the old veterans would
"fare sumptuously every day"
McGREGoR.