The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-11-30
Trying to Make a Good showing.

Trying TO MAKE 3 GOO0 ODOWlug.
In our dispatches yesterday it was stated
that Mr.. Noble. the Secretary Of the In-
terror, had astonished the commissioner of
pensions by figuring out that only Sl65. 0O0,-
600, instead of lSO.OOO,OO0, at which the
commissioner puts it, or $200.000,0 900, at
which the Secretary of the Treasury esti-
mates it. would be needed for pensions next
year. The only reasonable conclusion is
that Secretary Noble is trying to make a
good showing for his department. This
year the appropriation for pensions is alto
gether too small aud there is consequently
a deficit of about S35, 900 which will
have to be provided for.
1t would not be at all surprising If Sec
rotary Fosters estimate of $500, 600 900 IS
about correct. The amount of the pension
charge has been increasing steadily year
after year until it threatens TO bankrupt the
government.
There is n growing feeling that the next
congress will do something toward reducing
the pension charge. There are thousands
of persons, no doubt, drawing pensions VINO
have no right whatever to them, but IL
would be a most difficult matter to discover
them and get evidence sufficient to justify
striking their names from the pension rolls.
Some day the story of how congress was
bulldozed into passing some OF the Ia"s'
under tine cover Of which the treasury has
been so successfully rGided, will be pub
lished, and ir will make most interesting
reading. The pension sharks in Washing
ton have grown rich in the pension husi-
ness, one of them being worth millions OF
dollars, all f which he has accumulated as
a pension attorney. These pension sharks
have suggested about all the important
laws that have been passed during the last
ten or fifteen years. The beneficiaries of
these laws would not have thought Of them,.
or if they had they would not have had
the necessary skill in lobbying to get them
through congress.
These pension sharks. have a paper in
Washington which has a circulation Of
clusively among grand army men. This
paper has been used with great success in
forcing congressman to support pension bills.
The pension sharks have had such pension
bills as they wanted prepared aud intro
duced into congress, and then they have
gone to congressman and told them that if
they failed to support the bills the paper
would be used against them and they would
be defeated for reelection by the soldier
vote. This threat was generally effective, and
congressman continued voting for pen
sion bills until now the country is burdened
with an annual pension charge of $780,
100000
The pension sharks could not bulldoze
Mr. Cleveland. He could not be driven
from his purpose to do what he believed to
be right by their threats or by the attacks
of the papers, and the attacks were OF the
most vIrulent kind. His veto of the de-
pendent pension bill was heavy blow to
them. Out of that bill they expected to
make fortunes.
M Cleveland got the votes of thousands
Of tho ex-soldiers in the recent election who
believe in making the pension roll a roll of
honor. Among grand army men who be-
lieve in doing what is right be is highly
esteemed, because they know that he favors
peasioning deserving veterans, but that he is
opposed to taxing the people to pay pen
sions to those who do not deserve them.
1t is impossible to predict what the next
congress will do with respect 20 the pension
burden, but the condition of the treasury
indicates that something will have to be
done to prevent an increase in the burden.