The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1890-12-11
Revise the Pension List.
Philadelphia Tlmes.l

must be appropriated at the coming
session Of Congress to pay the deh-
ciency in the pension appropr ION OF
the present year. In other words, the
party leaders VINO passed the new pen
sion bill that was clamored for only by
pension sharks and camp followers de-
liberately concealed their own profl-
gacy from the people to deceive voters
at the late election. Now there must
be $35, 100000 or more appropriated s
a deficit in the pension fund for the
current year, and not less than $40,
0000U0 iur the hew gear, making iuIly
$175, 100000 that must be appropriated
for pensions at the coming session OF
Congress, with a reasonable certainty
that there will be another deficit for
the new Congress to face.
II is now confessed that when the
new disability bill shall get into full
operation, with the hundreds of thou
sands OF applications pending under
former laws, our pension roll will re
quire fully 100000 900 annually. and
under the Mckinley tariff the yearly
deficit could not be less than $780,
000,000, or double the entire expendi-
lures OF the government when Lincoln
was elected President, The people
won't pay $100000000 additional taxes
annually to pay pensions which are
universally believed to be mingle,
waste and fraud to the extent OF one
half the whole sum paid, and what
will be done?
There is not an intelligent citizen or
soldier of the country who doesn't
know that $l0O,0000O0 judic'ously
paid annually in pensions would lib
orally pay every pension that could be
reasonably claimed by our soldiers
and their surviving families. When
Gen Garfield, nearly ten years after
the war reported pension appropria-
ton OF $3S,000,000. he confessed that
the sum was startling to himself and
to the country, but he urged its pass
age on the ground, as he pointedly
stated il, that the sum would steadily
diminish thereafter. Now we have
pension laws which will surely swell
our pensions to $200000,000- more
than the entire cost of the armies and
pensions OF Germany and England
combined-and there must be at least
$l00,00O000 OF annual taxes levied on
the pfople, in addition to the present
oppressive taxes of the uew monopoly
tariff, to save the treasury from bank
rnptcy.
The pension evil, vi h its flocd tide
Of decentralization and fraud, calls for
prompt and heroic remedy, and the
only melhnd that promises To elimi.
n, te fraud mud waste from the pension
system is t. revise our pension list
from beginning tn . d by tribunals
free from partisanshp and entirely
beyond the reach OF pension sharks
who have brought such shame upon
the honest soldiers OF the land
1t would be literally just to appro-
priate 300 100000 as the maximum oi
pensiou payments and create compe
teut tribunals to revise the pension
roll and appnrtion the appropriation
among the truly deserving Such Il
policy wodt make il the interest oI
every peusioner TO expose and put tc
shame every fraudulent pensioner-a
duty which has never yet been per
formed by any soldier organization in
the country,
The time il near at band when there
must be revision of our pension roll
and the sooner the true soldiers OF the
Republic move in their own vindica
ton, the more they will be honored BY
the country Tor whose safety they per
lied their lives. The people can't ant
won't pay $200,0OOOOO annually fol
pensions; they can't and won't pay
$175O00,0000, for neither sum could b'
paid wi hout largely incresed taAes
and unless he soldiers Of the country
want to invite the contempt OF th'
whole people Of all parties, they viii
heartily aid the government to un
earth the pension frauds Of the Las
twenty FIVE years, and bring our pen
sion system down To IL roll OF honor :
to lust pensions to those who clearl,
merit them.
II the soldiers won't aid in pension
reform, they must not complain II rev
olution comes and sweeps fur beyon'
the lines Of justice to the soldiers VIII
have so long been silent in the pres
ence OF known fraud. Let our pension
list be revised thoroughly, severel
revised, and our pension system wi
then he accepted as a just tribute I
the most heroic soldiery OF ,e worlC
No Place to Move to.
Washington Mirror.l
There lives out in Joe Cannon's dil
trict in Illinois an old farmer who Is
Jealous Republican, one of the red ht
partisan stripe. When he heard {
Cannnn's defe t he said to his wifi
who is one Of those who obey the
lord aud master blindly
"Mary, pack up everything. II