The National tribune., 1892-05-19
REHAsBtSG FaLsFHoops.


has prepared statement of startling fig
ures" They then 60 on to hash up again
the same dreary old lot Of falsehoods, half
truths, and perverted figures:
According 10 the report of the Pension Commits
sioner there June Sd 1891 &c. l6o pension
The roll. According TO tile same report
there were that date 6ss,5i9 survivors OF the
army and S79,e0s dead soldiers not yet represented
by widows or dependent rela;ves-tnaking total
Of los 49, persons entitled to be placed on tie roll
under existing laws. OF this number eaS,473 had
placed their applications or file in the Pension
Office before June 60 1891. In the last fiscal
The of 676 600 pensions required the
expenditure of Sis 100000, and Nr. Tucker caicu-
lstes, the most conservative basis, that 1t VIII
require 10 pension those whose applications are
now before the Pension Office, and whose claims
according TO the Commissioners estimate, Will be
allowed within period of three years, the enor-
nous sum of Si627OO,ooO more, which, added to
The present annual expenditure, gives grano
Total of S2Sl 600 600 for pensions alone.
One very simple operation in elementary
arithmetic will knock all the false stufiing
out of the above statement. The Pension
Commissioner reported that the average
annual value Of the pensions for 1891 was
S13l99 Assuming therefore that the whole
Of the ] ,569, 457 which it is claimed are en-
titled 10 pensions-a number grossly exag-
geTaied by the way-and that they viii be
allowed at the same rate as those already on
the roll, the grand total would only be
s207, 02O. 639.43, or over S70,000,0 600 less than
Representative Tucker's startling figures"
As this is process in simple multiplication,
which any school-boy can figure out for him
self, we will not comment further upon, ex-
cept to say that of the SIS, 90S deceased
soldiers not represented on the pension
rolls" hundreds of thousands never will be
represented there, for the reason that they
were young unmarried men, who left neither
widows, orphans nor dependent parents.
The soldier-hating chorus goes on TO say !:
These figures are made more graphic by
comparison with the money spent annually by the
great foreign countries to maintain their pension
lists. Mr.. Tucker finds that Great Britain has
sthnulilE army Oh men, the
of which she pays S9l ,oe0000 annually France has
q standing army of $4,000 men, for which she ex-
ponds Si2l 000C00 Austria with an army of 25i 600
men. pays out SIS COO co., Russia maintains an
army of $50 0c0 men, for which she pays SIPS ooooa
and the United States with IFS little army OF &c, eco
men, spends nearly $40. 000, 900 every year.
Great Britain paid for pensions in 1891 about
ST coo Geo; France paid $50 $50 coo and will this
year pay but S23 coo 600; the German Empire pays
only sI3 oG0 990 annually Austria si2, 900 G00 and
Russia. SIS 0o0o0, while the United States paid
last year Sis 500 go amount nearly $50 900 coo
in ofthe grand total paid FOR pensions by all
The countries enumerated above The total cost
of pensions in Great Britain is about per cent of
the total expenditures for governmental purposes;
ia France i! is less than 4 per cent; in Germany
about per cent; in Russia about per cent, while
ia The United States it is fully 50 per cent. and
promises soon 10 be more than 80 per cent. of our
total expenditures.
The first reply 10 This we have often made
1t is that the pensioners on our rolls repre-
sent more bloody, destructive fighting than
all the pensioners now on the rolls of Great
Britain, France, Germany, Austria, and
Russia, which raid in the last year an ag-
gregate of s128 100000 for pensions The
Union army lost more by deaths on the
battlefield, received more disabling wounds,
and left more widows and orphans than the
total losses of all the armies enumerated
above il the past tbree-quatters of CEN
fury.
Ne hare Frequently asserted, and challenged
successful contradiction that the Union army
lost more men actually killed on the fcId of
battle than EagJaad has lost an tie whole of
The eight ceaturies Of her national history, and
more han all tie armies Of Europe hare an the
&c gears 1chich hare elapsed since the batae Of
UIa'erloo. No one has attempted to dispute
this statement
Oar second reply is that the sums given
above Go not represent the totality of the
pension payments of those nations. Every
one Of those countries makes provisions for
| its veterans and their widows which far
exceed the money directly expended. They
are given employment in The offices, on the
railroads-in all manner Of positions suited Ia
their ability CT disabili!y-from watching al
crossings toselling tickets; they are the Gov
ernment's agents in selling tobacco. spirits
matches and other governmental monopolies
aud IL a hundred other ways provision is
made Tor them in lieu of pensions.
The next Of Representative Tucker
startling statements is:
1Ir Tucker also calls attention to the fact tina
Commissioner Raum's report shows that we arr
| now paying $4,000 yearly in pensions TO for
eigners or those living in foreign countries, who d.
not contribute cent to the support of the Govern
ment whose bounty they share.
Well, what of it? These men have re
ceiyed their pensions as a matter Of contrac
and ri ght, and it is simply none of the Govern
mcnts business where they choose to spent
the money. They did their duty by the Gov
eminent, fulfilled their part of the contrac;
and now the Government is fulfilling it
part by paying them the pensions the,
earned. 1t is no more of the Government
business where they choose to live andspen,
their money than it is where the bond
holders choose TO live and spend the interes