The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-10-03
Pension Legislation.

/ IN HE SENTINEL Wnetner COb RTLAND =. MAT
! SON originated a pension bill giving every
totally disabled soldier a pension of one cent
day" r. NJ. {.
Eaton, Ind, Sept. %.
The national encampment Of the G. A.
r. which met at st. Louis year ago
drafted bill to obviate the objections of
the president to the dependent or pauper
bill vetoed in February, 1887. The sec
ond section of the G. A. R. bill, which
was intended to rectiiy the defects OF the
vetoed bill, reads as follows:
Sec. ?. That all persons who served three
months or more in the military or naval
| service of the United States during
| the late of the rebellion, and who
| have been honorably discharged therefrom,
and who are may hereafter
| be suffering from mental or physical disability,
not the result of their own vicious habits
which totally incapaciates them for
the performance of manual labor shall,
| upon making due proof of the fact
! according to such rules and regulations as the
secretary of the interior may provide, be
placed upon the list of invalid pensioners OF
the United States, and be entitled to receive
1 So per month; and such pension shall COM
mence from the date of the filing of the appli-
cation in the pension Office, after the passage
of this act, upon proof that the disability then
| existed and shall continue during the existence
! of the same in the degree herein specified:
| Provided, That persons who now receiving
! pensions under existing laws, or whose claims
are pending In the pension office, may, by APP
| plcation TO the commissioner of pensions, in
/ such form he may prescribe, receive the
| benefits OF this act and nothing herein con-
| tanned shall be so construed as TO prevent any
pensioner hereunder from prosecuting his
claim and receiving his pension under any
other general or special act: Provided, how
! ever, That no person shall receive more than
one pension for the same period: And pro-
| vided further That rank in the service shall
not be considered IN applications filed there
under.
This grand army bill passed the senate
March s, 1888, amended by inserting after
the words, (which totally incapacitates
them from performance of manual labor"
the following: "And lCho are Witho,a ade-
quate means Of self-support." This restored
the pauper feature to the bill, on which
the president based his objections to the
vetoed bill. If enacted, the bill would re-
quire every unfortunate soldier to prove
himself a pauper before receiving its bene-
| fits Immediately after its passage letters
and petitions from old soldiers showered
upon congressman demanding its defeat
! by the house, and the substitution of a
per diem service measure. Col. MATsoN,
chairman of the pension committee, sup
ported by all the democrats of the COM
mittee, promptly responded to the de-
mand of the soldiers by reporting to the
house the following substitute for the SEN
ate pauper bill:
That all persons who have served in the mil
itary or naval service in any war in which the
United States has been engaged, and who have
been honorably discharged therefrom, and who
| are now or may hereafter be suffering from
mental or physical disability, not the result of
| their own vicious habits which totally incapac-
| itates them for the performance of manual
| labor shall, upon making due proof of these
| facts, according TO such rules and regulations
as the secretary OF the interior may provide. be
placed upon the list of invalid pensioners of
| the United States and be entitled TO receive a
| pension at the rate per month of one cent for
! each days service in the military or naval SER
| vice of the United States during any of the wars
| in which the United States had been engaged,
! and all persons who have served as aforesaid
! and have been hOnOrably discharged as aiore-
| said, and are now Sixty-two years of age, shall
| also be entitled TO be placed upon the list of
| Invalid pensioners Tor and during their natural
lives at the rate aforesaid; and all other per-
sons who have served as aforesaid and been
discharged as aforesaid and who are not of the
age of sixty-twO years, shall, upon becoming of
! the age of sixty-two years be entitled to be
aforesaid, and paid pension from and after that
period, for and during their natural lives at the
rate aforesaid; and such pensions shall COM
mence from the date OF the filing of the applica-
ton in the. pension office after
| the passage of this act; and in
cases where allowed for disability, upon proof
that the disability then existed and continues
| during the existence of the same in the degree
| provided: Prorided, That persons who are now
| drawing pensions under existing laws, or whose
| oil arp m the ma
| by application to the commissioner of pensions
| in such forms as he may prescribe, receive the
benefits of this act but nothing herein con-
tanned shall be so construed as to allow more
| than one pension at the same time to one per
son: 1Rd prOUiaed further, That this act shall
| not be so construed as TO repeal, modify,
or in any way change the law relating TO invalid
| or service pensions, nor shall rank in the
| vice be considered In applications filed under
this act.
Col. MATsoN, in explaining the features
of his substitute to the house on July 2S,
said:
The scope of this substitute, it will be seen
at glance, is broader than either referred to
| before Ii gives pension not only to those
who disabled from earning a subsistence
| by manual labor, but also TO all those surviv-
ors of the late civil war who fought for the
union and honorably discharged, who
| are now sixty-two years of age or over, and to
| all DllltIe dS lutg ciAAg-tNO gtdio Oih'
1t is unlike the vetoed bill and the senate bill in
that no proof of a condition of dependence is
required audit is unlike the grand army bill only
in the rate of pension fixed. Ii recognizes the
per diem rate, that is 1 cent per month for
| each DAYS service of the soldier. The gist and
| pi;h of all this class of bills was to relieve
| against present disability without reference
to the time and place of recurrence, provided
only it is not the result of vicious habits Ii
was to be given wholly on account of the serv-
ice of the soldier, and therefore it was believed
| TO be Just and equitable TO make that pension
rate according TO his service. So that he who
| served one year would get rate of $500 per
month, and he who served four years four
times that sum, or $l4.60 per month. A uni
/ form rate of Sl2 per month was fixed by all the
| other bills referred TO without any regard to
the length of service of the soldier.
The republican members of the pension
committee, supported by all the republic
an members OF the house, obstructed the
passage of this substitute with the senate
pauper bill, whenever the democrats made
an attempt to pass it through the house.
The Higher the Tariff the Lower the
Wages.
A writer IN the Springfield Republican
presents some figures which prove to a
demonstration that wage workers derive
no benefits from high tariff. The figures
are taken from the annual report of the
Massachusetts, bureau of labor statistics