St. Paul daily globe., 1888-07-16
A Hard Duty, But Done With
Stern Regard for JUS
tice.
The Senate and House Grim
inally Neglect to Be
Honest
In Their Passage Of Pension
Bills Without Due In
vestigation.
Washington Letter.

SmltnS mas not appalled, the executive
branch of the government, and the PEN
sion bills passed through the industry
of personal solicitations, backed up by
perjury and fraud, are as Systematically
exposed in the vetoes that come from
the White house as before the bowling
commenced. The veto of private bill
always makes an enemy-generally doz-
ems of them-and of the most bitter and
relentless kind. but the president goes
ahead and tramples on every bit of fraud
in sight as though there was no such
thing as presidential election on hand.
But is it fair for the pension committees
of congress to thrust upon the president
the unpleasant duty of thus disposing of
these improper claims?
1t may be policy for the senate COM
mittee, with its Republican majority, to
thus force upon the president dis
agreeable duty, and which they can dis
tort into the appearance of unfriendli-
ness toward the veterans of the war, but
the house committee, on the other hand,
should from this fact be all the more
careful to send nothing of this character
to the White house. In short, the presi-
dent has to stand
AS A BULWARK
between the treasury and the inroadS
that would be made by very bad sys-
TEN of considering pension bills in con-
greSS.
The bills for pensions are S. per cent
of all the bills presented to congress.
The majority of these go to the commit
tee on invalid pensions, and there is
always two or three thousand on hand
to be reported upon by fifteen members.
There are always about four ShirkerS on
any committee, but we will give the
committee on invalid pensions the bene
fit of the doubt, and assume that it has
fifteen working members. Now, each
member is assigned certain state, or
part of state, or perhaps two or three
states, from which ordinarily but few
applications are made.
Thus each member has a couple of
hundred bills to look after and report
upon to the full committee. The mem
berS of the committee are Waylaid, i'm
portuned and harassed by the applicants
themselves or by some friend who is in
Washington. The unfavorable side of
the case rarely gets to the member con-
sidering particular bill, while all sorts
pearance of worthy case. Nine times
out of ten the private clerk of the MEM
Der is the party
WHO ACTUALLY PASSES
upon the merits of the case. He light
ems his labors considerably by simply
taking the evidence submitted and COM
piling it into favorable report on the
case. This is adopted by the committee
without question. and the bill goes on
the calendar with favorable recon-
mendatioD.
The responsibility then goes to the
house. How is it accepted? With a
calm Indifference for responsibility that
hardly consists with the buncOmbe of
the stump. Friday evenings are de-
voted to the consideration of these bills,
and the doorkeepers would probably
fall dead from surprise if forty members
out of the 325 came to the capitol.
Twenty-Five is about the average. The
reports are read sometimes for the in
formation of the house, but as rule
unobjected cases are railrOaded through
without anybody knowing one fact in
connection with the claimants eligi-
bility for place on the pension rolls.
Every Friday night big grist is thus
ground out as though the toll was
picked up and did not come out of the
pockets of the people. Legislation
without quorum is bad enough, but
when it comes to passing bills involving
the payment of mOney-Small in each
case, but appalling in the aggregate-it
is RIDICULOUS
to have it in the hands of the two dozen
members who prefer to loaf in the hall
of the house than somewhere else.
Where are the soldiers friends" the
bowling stump orators who make the
welkin ring during the campaign,
for the disabled veteran and their own
reelection?
You will not find him on deck at these
special sessions for considering pen
sions. 1t is little surprising how a
man loses his enthusiasm in behalf of a
nations defenders the farther he gets
from home and the more he becomes in
volved in the diversions of Washington
by gaslight.
In the senate the Indifference to the
merits of pension claimants in even
worse than in the house. In single
afternoon from 100 to $50 pension bills
have been passed. and in the majority
of cases it is probable not two senators
in the chambers even listened to the
name of the claimant. To Illustrate,
the secretary will take up the private
calendar on the day given to considera-
tion of invalid pensions and he will
read:
"Order of business No. 1.OO1. A bill
granting pension to John Smith, late
of the Second Pennsylvania calvary.
Favorably reported"
The Chair-If there be no objection
the bill will be put upon its their read
ing and passage.
The Secretary-Order of business No.
1.00l, granting pension to John Smith.
The Chair-The question is now on
its final passage. The ayes have it and
the bill is passed.
Not senator has voted one way or
the other, and the result is announced
without giving anybody
A CHANCE
to vote, so smoothly and uninterrupted
Iy does the pension machine work.
This is very short dialogue, but the
prospect is that the country will on its
account pay John Smith from S12 to s25
per month as long as he continues to
favor the earth with his living presence.
''The secretary will proceed" me-
chanically calls out the president of the
senate.
The Secretary-s'Order of business
No. LOOP. A bill granting pension to
John JONES'" etc.
So it goes. Not an affirmative or
negative vote will be cast during three
or four hours of this kind of procedure.
''FavOrably reported" the business.
1t is rare that private pension bill
favorably reported and passed by one
house is questioned by the other. Each
has tremendous number to act upon,
and they do not attempt to review,
amend or reverse the work of the other
body. 1t would be all easy matter for
the president to expedite matters and
put on the finishing touch to this incon-
siderate legislation by spending an hour
or so week in attaching his signature
to these bills without looking at them,
but he is not that kind of president.
The facilities of the pension Office and