The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1889-10-12
THE MAGAZINE rs.
Pensions for All.

Pensions for All.
The Popildr Science Monthly, for Octc
Der, continues Its usual complement o
bright and thoughtful contributions from
able pens, and on pleasing variety of top
les.
"Pensions for all" by NJ. NJ. Trumbull
exposes the enormous greed OF the unde
serving element of the army. Those WHIT
are mos. clamorous for big pensions ant
back pay, says Gov, Trumbull, are thu
bounty jumpers, the camp followers, thu
silent partners of the suttler and the army
contractor, the stealer OF cotton and appro
pria.or OF "contraband goods" the proceeds
Of the sale of which should have gone Il
the government to help defray the ex
penses of the war. None of the alleged
" old soldiers are so greedy for grip on
the public treasury as the fellows who
fought, bled and died under the ambu.
lance wagon, and those who loafed around
the commissary department, or shirked all
duty In the hospitals, by the kind CONN.,
vance OF the army surgeon, or his Outlines
exceedingly tender hearted assistant whose
sigh. like that of his principal was liable
to be color-blind by qreea'bsck. Accord
ingIto the report of the commissioner OF
pensions, the total amount paid out to the
soldiers, for the year ending June 30, 1888,
was In round numbers, over Eighty-t,oO
million Of dollars, nearly one third of the
the entire outlay of the Government.
A few days ago the Governor of ILL.,
nois, In addressing the Grand Army, said,
" If the Government paid one million Of
dollars daily, for pensions, the nation
would be just as rich at the end of the year,
az II was before, as the money would still
be In the hands Of the people" "To
take million of dollars day. says the
essayist whose article we are tracing,
" from industry, and bestow 1t upon idle
ness, is a patriotic form of dragoonade,
much recommended by politicians, like
the governor of Illinos. II is money, mere
ly taken out OF the hands that earned II and
put into the hands that did not earn II, but
will merely spend 1t. The cry is on to
Washington and the new foray Is to cap
ture the treasury. A case composed Of
pensioners Is always the defenders Of such
raids and believes that all reforms are as
saults upon Its own privileges and that
public honesty Is dangerous to private pen
sion grabbers The history of England
shows how worthless ministries have re-
tanned office Tor years, by a judiclous dis
trlbution of pensions. National aims Civ
Ing weakens public spirit as 1t conquers
private virtue Public offices are legal
tender In payment for party services and
pensions will become SO too. BY skill
full use Of pensions, the party In power can
bride one portion of the people with the
money OF the other. at Is strange" says
Gov. Trumbull land II has never been
that the soldiers who marched
and counter marched over half continent
and fought thousand battles, were puny,
sickly men, yet one million one hundred
and sixty-six thousand nine hundred and
twenty six pension claims, have been filed
at Washington, since 1861, and $4,000 Of
them have been allowed This includes
widows, and dependent relatives. There
are actually 1884, 20 soldiers on the pension
list, about one.sixth OF the members of the
Grand Army. Last year, the English PEN
sion list contained 15G,492 pensions alto
gether, as the result of over 800 years Ia
Dor In making pension list. They drew
about 80 million of dollars, or less than
half the sum that our deceased and MAIN
ed soldiers have been able to secure In less
than 100 years time. The writer shows
by significant facts how liberal pension
laws develop diseases The Arrears Of
Pensions law was In existence about two
years and added over one hundred thous,
and new names to the pension list, or de-
veloped that number OF new Chronic dis
cases." When the bill passed In 1878
there were 1882 names In the list and
when 1t expired In 1880 there were 110,679
OF them! This act invited the Grand Ar
my to loo. the treasury and 1858 "dis-
abled veterans, men who hadn't discov'
cred any special ailment about themselves
during the previous fifteen years since the
war, were invited by that act and urged by
the opportunities of claim agents, to search
themselves for some disease to hang a pen
sion on and they succeeded. The Others
whose consciences guarded them, or who
were too honest TO become mere vendors
upon the treasury because INSCRIPTIONS
politicians had given them chance to sell
their votes for pensions, are now to be
swept into the invading army of "pension
grabbers" with froth and scum of the ar.
my, the" bounty jumper, hospital shlrk
camp follower, To-day veteran who never
saw battle" all are to be classed as vete-
rams on one equal footing, and be pension
ed alike. This Is political scheme. The
office seeker throws his bait to the soldiers
who, In return, are to stand by the politi-
ticians. The soldiers as body, to theiI
1.oJts L. q. .. IL ItJ nat nri uIuufo thta a.. 4