Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-07-30
The President and the soldiers

any public official has been that which
has been made upon President Cleveland
by such frantic mouthers as Gov. John
Benson Foraker and others of his ilk.
The President has had the heroism to do
right in a line in which he might have
played the demagogue by insisting on
distinguishing between the claims of the
true and false soldier-in discriminating
between the gilt and the gold. A short
time ago the Chicago Times published
three hundred interviews had by its rep
resentatives with leading citizens Of diff
ferent States, and Of the three hundred
only one objected to the Presidents at
titude.
A Democrat, who desires that Mr..
Cleveland's attitude on this question shall
be placed in its true light in this section,
has asked us to give the facts. In doing
so we simply employ the following mas
terly article from the San Francisco Aha
of recent date:
Governor Alger has said recently that
the Grand Army men don't like the
Presidents pension policy, and Senator
Hawley is quoted at great length in the
same strain. An examination of the Of
fetal records leaves one at loss to ac-
count for this persistent misrepresenta-
ton of the President and his party and
their policy and conduct in regard to
pensions and pensioners. The Pension
Commissioner, General Black, has
greater financial and administrative res
1nIh h fhan $ho holo
Government carried thirty years ago,
and his genius has inspired the
whole pension establishment, urg-
and to volume of work that his
predecessors would have declared i'm. i'm
possible. To illustrate: During the
three last years of Republican control Of
the Pension Bureau there were issued of
original, increase and miscellaneous GER
| ti6cates to pensioners 191, ,221, while
during the first three years of Democratic
control by General Black there were is
sued $780, ,452 of original, increase and
miscellaneous certificates, or an excess
by Democratic Commissioner ef 16S,.
231. The enormous amount of work
done is shown in the net increase of
pensioners on the rolls, which, during
the last three Republican years, was
59, ,428, but under the three Democratic
years has been 104,875, an excess under
the Democrats of AZ, ,447. Increased dis
bursement is another test of the working
ability of the Pension Bureau. The
last three Republican years show
disbursement to pensioners of $1s3,-
1899, ,216 81, while the next three
years, with Mr.. Cleveland President and a
| 70 o1x kIa
appropriation, the disbursement has
been $217 1893, 757 80, an excess of $34,-
600, ,541.O1. During these three years Of
Democratic management the new names
added to the pension rolls exceed by 49,
three Republican years. Every appli-
cant for a pension knows what that
means. Its proves prompter attention
to his case, better assistance by special
examiners in making his proofs, and a
termination of his suspense. But it may
be said that much of this is the work Of
the Commissioner. True; but the Com
missioner is the Presidents appointee
and his confidential adviser in pension
matters.
Let us 60 to that part of the pension
policy in which the President is directly
concerned. President Cleveland approved
the Act Of March, 1886, increasing to $12
per month the pension of 1O2 ,56S widows,
minors and dependent relatives of Union
soldiers. He approved the Act of Au-
gust, 1886, increasing the pensions of
l0,O92 MANNED soldiers OF the war by an
average OF SO per month, or $1O8 per year.
He approved the Act of January, 1887.
placing on the pension rolls 81 ,7O4 survi-
vors and widows of the Mexican. war.
He approved the act of June, 1855, grant.
ing arrears of pensions to widows from
the date of their husbands death, in all
cases fled since. June 80, 1880. Gases
prior to that were provided for already
| by the law of 1879. By this Act Of
June, 1888, 10000 widows get an
average of $l08 more than they would
have had before. To recapitulate, then,
since he was inaugurated, President
Cleveland has approved general pension
legislation beneficially affecting IA 1854
Union and Mexican war soldiers, their
widows and dependents, to the total
amount of 100000 annually. The
point at which the President has been
most criticised is his close scrutiny of
private pension bills passed by Congress
The history of such bills confirms their
analogy with all other private claims
which are urged by that body. If Execu-
tive watchfulness is relaxed, legislative
carelessness. or worse, soon gnaws a
hole in the Treasury.
President Cleveland has made free use
OF the veto on these private bills, but the
records fail to show case in which he is
not justified by the law and the facts.
He has kept frauds and the unworthy
from getting upon the pension roll, and
every such one kept off has been for the
protection OF the deserving old soldier
and the honest pensioner. But while we
have heard all the noise over the private
pension bills he has vetoed, the still,
small voice of gratitude for those he has
signed does not reach the public ear.
Now, look at the record: Republican
Presidents were in power from March 4
1861, to March 4, 1885, twenty-four
years, and during all that time those
Presidents, elected by the party which
insists that no other can be trusted to