The Meeker herald., 1890-08-02
Halt!


Under the above heading the Lead
willie Herald Democrat, one of the lead
ing Republican papers III the State, says;
"On general principles, it would ap-
pear that tho pension business has
about reached limit. AS thorough
Americans who believe conscientiously
that the patriots who served the nation
in its time of direst peril should never
he allowed to suffer or become objects
OF charity; rs beneiiciaries, 10 great
extent OF their trials and dangers; as
legatees of the nation which. without
| their sacrifices, would not have n place
among those OF the earth, as paftici-
pants who never asked more than the
law allowed, and AS the descendants OF
| these who laid down their lives IN the
heroic struggle, 1t is time Ia call a halt
Gen. Grant thought, in 1870, that the
amount applied 10 pensions should mol
be more than s25,0p,0Io per annun.
Gen. Garfield. at that time in Congress,
fixed upon s37 cocoon as An extremely
liberal provision. The appropriations
| for the present yosr have Ussu 1asd at
si67 ,s3i .7a5-six times as much as
Grant thought needed, and four times
as much us Garfield deemed sufficient.
The figures are startling. II the entire
population is ~ ,uJ,Orp. about one Per
son In eighty-cight receives pension,
and the amount SO appropriated Is sci
for every person on the rolls this year.
Dat OF all the money raised by customs,
Internal taxes and miscellaneous re-
ceipts FOR the bencii. ni the people,
nearly half Is thus paid over 10 one
eighty-eighth OF the people, and little
more than one half is expended for all
other national purposes. Yet there are
further bills proposed, and clamorouslt
urged by pension agents. which take out
of the treasury abou,s., osi."c.O"rmorr.
As stated before. no one csn drpfccato
jus, compensation extended Ia drserv-
Ing heroes OF the civil war who are IN
want. II is that the dependent pension
bill makes no discrimination between
three months and three years men,
between those who served honoTably
and those who were dismissed from tile
service. but the moral sense Is offended
by the passage ot such swccpin:
measure. Undoubtedly the limit oi
proper cSpcnditur. for this purpose ha,
been reached. II n halt il not called
the service hill Is right behind, and
every man who was mustered out,
whether he served four minutes OF four
years. will lie placed on the list.
II were better that scores OF fraud
ulcnt names should be upon the pension
rolls than onc needy soldier, or those
who naturally nigh, have been DEEPEN
dent upon him. should suffer. but Tie
true friend OF tile soldier. In view Of all
that has bccn granted, should not nsk
for more. The youngest OF those who
served In the union army must to-day
bc about ~ yeats Of ugc. Only one
eighth Of those living nj any time cS-
cced tia, age, 80 that. Of the '.1o."p
male adults who We're living when the
war closed. not mora than iNo,"p are
living now. and over n third of these arr
sou,hcrrcrs. a voting population OF
T., 10000 will not long consent Ia pay
more than half the entire revenues OF
the government Ia n twentieth OF their
number. Further appropriations for
pensions cannot he asked without I'm
pcriling the continuance OF NIL grants
for that object. Neither the soldier nor
his descendants should degenerate into