The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-02-29
RA[DOF THE
A LIVELY POLITICAL CHIN OVER
THE PENSION BILL.

Derocrats Charge the Grand Army
the Republic With Attempting to
Make the Senate Its Slave-Repub-
,icans Charge the Democrats With
crawling Before the Veto Power.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2S The Senate to-
dov resumed consideration of the bill grant
inc PENSIONS to ex-soldiers and sailors who
are ipcapacitated from the performance of
manual labor, and providing for pensions to
"A danendent relatives of deceased soldiers and
soilors-the question being on the adoption
Of Mr.. Calls amendment making the bill
onnv also to those who served in the war
With Mexico or for thirty days in any of
the Indian wars. The amendment was
agreed to-
TOO FAR-REACHING.
Mr. Blair offered a resolution changing
the phraseology of the second section, and,
in explaining it, he said that the construc-
lion gwen ia the debate yesterday to the
void "incapacitated" would make the bill
one of the most far-reaching of any pen
Jon bill yet passed, inasnuch as the mini
mum pension for the slightest incapacity
would be S12 a month. He did not
believe that with that construction
riven to it the bill would ever cross success
fqlly the wide waste lying between the
Senatefand the statute book. He thought
hat the Senate had to hesitate before In
Yarting in the bill provisions for the Indian
and other wars, and should provide in it
exclusively for ex-soldiers of the war be-
tween the States.
WANTED IT PASSED UNAMENDED.
Mr.. Manderson appealed to the Senate to
pass the bill as it had been formulated by
ibe Pension Committee of the Grand Army
Of the Republic. He would be glad to see
The bill passed in the nature of a service
pension bill, but he did not think it we'll to
cucumber the pending bill with that idea.
Mr.. Davis, who has charge of the bill,
oincided with Mr.. Manderson in the opin-
lon that ali of the anne ndments adopted
Yesterday should be struck out and the bill
left as reported unanimously from the
Committee on Pensions. 1t had been pre-
pared he said, by a committee representing
4O0 600 members of the Grand Army of the
Republic who knew the wants to be RENE
died and the needs to be supplied. They
had said: I'VE will be content with this.
We ask no more for the present. We trust
to the future for the further relief to which
we are entitled"
JUGGLE IN THE BILL.
Mr.. Plumb intiInated that there was
something of a "jugglen concealed in the
bill The effort seemed to be to get up a
bill not to meet the wishes of Congress, but
to meet the wishes of somebody else. He re-
peated his belief that the Grand Army of
the Republic did not indorse the bill as it
stood. But, whether it did or not, he was
in the Senate to legislate, and to consider
what was due to the ex-soldierS of the
Union and to an enlightened public opinion.
In conclusion he called on the Democratic
members of the Committee on Pensions to
express their views as to the bill.
MR.. FAULKNER SUPPORTS IT.
Mr. Faulkner, member of that commit
tee, said that after a careful analysis and
examination of the bill, he had given it his
support i'll committee, and would give it
bis support in the Senate unless the amend
mentS now in it were retained. If those
amendments were retained he would vote
against the passage of the bill. He declared
that if the bill passed with the amendment
Of the Senator from Kansas striking out the
word totally" before the word ''incapaci-
lated" the annual pension list would exceed
$50 900, 900
FIXING THE RESPONSIBILITY.
If the bill was defeated the responsibility
would not rest on the Democratic side of
the chamber 1t would rest on those Sena-
tors who had put the amendments into the
bill, with the certain knowledge of its
being vetoed; who had done it with their
eyes open, and with the understanding that
not only consistency but conscientious SEN
ument of duty, even although an election
was coming off this year, would require the
same to be done now as was done at the
asst session with a like bill
Mr.. Plumb asked Mr.. Faulkner whether,
under the bill as reported by the committee,
person who could perform any manual Ia
Dor would be entitled to its benefits,
Mr., Faulkner replied in the negative.
4. 1I,,,.t
De any grading of pensions under the bill.
MIR. Faulkner again replied in the mega
tive.
A BREACH OF ORDER.
Mr.. Plumb asked whether he believed the
PRESIDENT would veto the bill
The presiding officer, Mr.. ingalls,, here
lntertered and said that it had been always
Ied to be breach of order to refer in de
pate to the action of the executive.
Mr. Plumb expressed his regret that the
ehalr had not thought so when the Senator
rom Vest Virginia was speaking.
The Presiding Officer-The Chair had i'll
'ended, before this, to say, and does take
ccaslon now to say, that it has never been
held to be in order in debate in the Senate
70 refer to the opinion Of the executive, or
70 the action of the executive, as an argu-
llent Tor or against pending legislation.
Mr.. Faulkner said that he had no opinion
Whatever on the subject, and had expressed
none
TRYING TO DODGE A VETO.
MI. Plumb said that he had understood
.ne Senator from West Virginia to say
.laI consistency, if not principle, "eyen If
mere % was, perhaps, an election pending,
whatever he might have meant by that
%ouu require the bill to be vetoed, and
ylat there had been an effort to get bill
wllch the President would sign. Other
wise the bill never would have got a vote on
ue other side of the chamber. "And 70
mat complexion had it come at
& ast The Republican side of the
tnalhoer had been told that it was to take
,l4 le responsibility of legislation that might
oV meet the views of the President II
i .i't was not complete subordination of leg
'iaCiVe to Executive authority he did not
t e now 1t could be made any more So II
ott; te senate was willing to put itself in that
multitude he had no objection.
MUST STAND ON IT'S MERITS.
NE ne proposed TO diplss the question on its
,gglUS, not considering what the President
n'shJ thlnk about it. The President was
gard to the bill in its present stage a
''"te cltlzen-no more no less--and his
aDl'h might be good, on might be bad
W ne could only express IL in the way pro
'su NY the constitution and laws. Al al
."Nlh senators were not 30 put themselves
ING on their fronts. and ask the President
a., 'lFHhce whether~he was going 10 sign an