Morning journal and courier., 1889-01-16
POLICE PENSION BILL.
The Various Views Taken by Those Interested - The Veteran Reserve Force Forlorn Luxury-Commis-
 

| The Various Views Taken by Those
 Interested - The Veteran Reserve
 Force a FOrlorn Luxury-CommIs- | siOners' Meeting Tonight.
 The police commissioners will hear the re- | port of their committee, Messrs. Benton, Hart and Andrews, upon the police pension | bill at their meeting this evening. The com mittee, as has before been stated in the COURIER, were appointed to draw up bill more after the views of the commissioners who do not fully agree with all points in the ! bill presented by City Attorney Daily for their consideration as an amendment to the city charter.
 The commissioners seem greatly to favor a veteran reserve force instead of the twenty years clause, as set forth in MT. Daileys paper. They think that such disposal of those who have grown old and helpless in the service would better meet the needs of the force and at the same time be more just to the taxpayers of the city. They fully admit that an officer injured in the discharge of duty should not be left in a helpless position until he is able to do for himself again. The committee's bill is expected to cover all points in the manner most satisfactory to all concerned.
 The opinions of the various officers of the
 force who will be directly interested and af-
 fected by the bill all seem to be in the same
 strain. Said one last night to reporter: ''I
 
 If young man enters the force when he is
 of age, say from twenty to twenty-five years old; in twenty years more he is just in the prime of life, and don't want pension. Of course if man is taken on when he is 8 good deal older, twenty years makes more difference with him; but the best way to remedy this is to take none but young, ac- tive, able bodied men on the force. Then you won't need twenty-year pension meas. ure any more than dog needs two tails"
 Another officer when questioned said: "I don't care whether we have twenty year pension law or not. That won't affect most of us so much as some might think. I do favor though, and very strongly, too, the formation of some measure by which we may be csrtain of good care, or at least certain ! not to be left in destitute condition if we should be injured in the discharge of duty. I suppose you've heard of the illustration of | a burglar in a store, haven't youa It's being told by about every one that talks on the ! subject. Of course if we should see bur- glar in store, knowing him to be 8 tough 1 customer, we would feel more able to brave ! ly carry out our duty if we knew that we would be provided for in case of accident. This is one great point that ought to be l looked after and is much more important | than general twenty year pension meas | ure."
 As to the veteran reserve force, there is @ ! difference of opinion among the officers of | LQ6 IOEC0. ndOSC OL uOW0V0I, GQlQk It | luxury that is not at all necessary for the | ssfety and protection of the city. s'No," said an officer last night, "I am not particu- larly struck with our veteran reserve force, and if such thing as that is going to be in- creased don't think it will be much credit to the city. It would be of great deal more honor to the two men on it now if they were at home on a pension than to be walking around the streets. In such cases a l pension would undoubtedly be better than veteran force in my opinion. But, on the other hand, there are many ways in which veteran reserve would be more satisfactory. | When a man can't see across the street, or can't walk block without stopping to rest, it is better to have him off the street entire- ly, it seems to me-"
 Many others expressed similar views, but the greater part of the force, especially the young, able-bodied and most valuable por- sion, have no preference in the matter of establishing a regular veteran reserve or in putting all of over twenty years service on pension.