The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1890-04-16
Not a Dependent Pension slll.

The opponents of the bill which
the Senate passed few days since,
designed to afford relief to disabled
veterans. are making haste to de-
nounce 1t as ~ pauper BILL" and to
assert that the soldier who secures
benefit under It "will be compelled
to confess himself pauper and AS
sumo the role of beggar." II the |
bill as passed was the same as re-
ported in the papers 1t would not be
open to the stigma Of being design
ed to help paupers. And, further,
whatever its provisions and quail
ficatiOns, it was the bill which near
ly every State encampment of the
Grand Army Endorsed three years
ago, and also received the approval
of the national encampment as its
measure. But reference to the
Congressional Record of April lst,
disclOses the fact that the bill which
was telegraphed to he press as the
Senate bill was materially different
from that which the Senate passed.
The bill thSt was telegraphed was
that Of the committee on pensions,
from which, before it's passage, the
following words were stricken out:
Which incapacitates them for the
performance Of labor in such de.
gree as to render them unable to
earn a support, and who are de-
pendent upon their daily labor, or
in the contributions of others not
legally bound thereto for their sup
port.
With this clause stricken out the
section reads rs follows:
| Saction 2, That all persons who
served three months or more in the
military or naval service of the I'm
tied STAKES during the late war Of
the rebellion, and who have been
honorably discharged therefrom,
and who are now or who may here
after be suffering from mental OF
physical disability not the result Of
their own vicious habits, shall
upon making due proof of the fact
according to such rules and regula'
tions as the Secretary of the Int
rior may provide, Replaced upor
the list of invalid pensioners Of thu
United States, and be entitled to re
ceive 81 per month.
When the lines referred to, which
in the committees bill, came in at
ter the word "habits," were stricken
out the dependency feature of tn,
measure was obliterated, ard VIVA
has been known as the "dependen
pension bill" became q disability
pension bill, and the act of the Sen
ate. The Senate bill extends thu
benefits of pension to thousands o
men who could not have received
i. them under the bill reported by tn
. committee, which Is nearly tn,
: same as that vetoed by ex-Presi
dent Cleveland. Moreover, tn
, Senate bill, when it becomes a law
does away with that requirement
by which an applicant was compel
> ed to show that the disability from
which he suffers Is due to injur.
sustained In the service. Shout,
: this bill become a law, and 1t 1
sure to do so, all that the applican
will be required to do Is to sho>
his present disability. In othe
words, it will revolutionixe tn
: rules Of the Pension Bureau unde
the present laws, and enable thous
!. ands to enjoy the benefits Of q pen
. sion at once who have been tryin
a long time to establish disabilit,
incurred by injury in the servic,
Thus the Republican Senate ha
more than made good the pledge o
the Republican national conven
tiOn.-IndianapOlis Journal.