The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1892-06-01

l
q speech on May 9th in the House OF Repre-
scntatives on the subject Of Pensions. which
| groups together a great deal of very valuable
| and interesting material. lie showeo 'na' u"
| June 30. 1891. there we're 6I6,loo pensioners
| on the rolls actually drawing pensions ana
| that we maid out for pensions during the year
| then ending slls.OOO.0O0 He also showed
! that under the law as 1t now STANDS 'hefe
were on June 20. 1891. 1854 persons e''he'
! living or entitled by representation 70 De on
the pension rolls. and of these l.16S'i5' a.
many A. e2s 473 had at that time filed their
applications to be placed on the rolls. lie
| stated that he had made the cal
culatons and that it would take
s162. III. 800 annually to pay these
| g2s. 473 when they should ell be admitted 70
the rolls. which. added 20 the slis.OOO.OoO
already being annually paid out makes the
annual aggregate s2sl 900 that we Will
have TO pay when these 92s, 473 arc admitted
and. if all the rest OF the 1864 are admit
ted. the annual additions will DO Sll0.ooo'ooo'
which will make the annual pension list S3sl'-
| COG. 900. This is what the people OF the Jnlteu
| Stotas have 10 look forward to if the pension
legislation now on ths Statute Book IS carried
ont 10 its logical result There may be dimi-
np,;ons from one cause and another.
but if there is any justice IN the
system Of pensioning 1t must 10
made TO operate equally upon aA' anu
"a there is this enormous body of persons 10
be pensioned. according 20 the theory that
prevails when the thing is equallzed we are
bound TO be in for sum very much IKE tha'
named. viz. 1891 600. 900 per annum. Tor sosiE
period Of time. What the period is no man
has vet ventured to suggest. II Is useless To
sav that many have died who were entitled
to be on the lists, and that many Will yet aie
before they are put there. Death has nothing
whatever to do with the matter. Il the rights
of the parties vested the money must De palu
TO their representative even If they were IN
luckv enough 10 die before their applications
were filed if Justice is 10 be the rule. Mr. Tucker
also showed that our revenues for a year or
two AT any rate. are estimated by the Treasury
Department at sum not much exceeding
s45O 900 OOO Since Pensions are gong 10 eat
I'D almost all Of this. whence Is the enormous
deficiency 10 be raised? Since we are con
fronted with this most disastrous situation. IS
II not about time that the American people
should call halt while they make brief ex-
animation into the questions whether there IS
anv sense or reason in the system under
which the Union soldiers of the war are pen
stoned?
The principle, and the only principle, upon
which a nension from the Government 70 an
individual can be defended is this First either
that the individual embarked early ifein the
exclusive service of the Government. cutting
himself of from all avenues of fortune. and CON
tinued creditably in the Governments service
throughout theactiv period ofhi life.whereoy
he acquired right 10 be taken care OF blythe
Government when he became incapable Oh
taking care of himself. OF second, that while
temporarily in the service OF the
Government he received an injury
which rendered him incapable Of taking
care of himself thereafter. IN either OF these
cases the Government is justified in taking
care Of the individual thereafter. and 1t is III
moral duty bound TO do SO. But 1t Is total
perversion and abuse of the people to say
that because a man has once been in the tenn
porary service Of the Government. whether
in the military or other service, and comes
ont of the service perfectly sound man he
has thereby established claim upon the
Government that it should thereafter p.o-
vide for and take care of him. Yet precisely
this is the theory of the pension legislation Of
the day. The absurdty OF the idea Is shown
by some other figures adduced by Mr.
Tucker
He shows that of the whole mass Of men en-
listed in the United States army only about
GOO 900 were real volunteers. All the others.
certainly not less than 1900, 900. and. from
best authorities. O. 100000, were bounty men
and substitutes. who we're paid $500 500
as bounties by the Government and $3.50
94l O30 additional bounties by local authori-
ties in addition TO their regular wages as
soldiers. and that 800, 900 were enlisted Just
before the close of the war who saw no ser
vice, all of whom we're paid large bounties.
All his statements Mr.. Tucker sustains by
vouching authentic records. The great bulk
of the Federal soldiery enlisted. therefore,
not from patriotism, but for money. They
cot their money, and it seems preposterous
that they should now ask for more money
upon the plea of patriotic sacrifice.
There is no use talking about 1t. The more
tho facts are studied the more clearly it will
appear that this whole pension business is
piece of buncombe and humbuggery. II is
case in which politicians have been bidding
for votes that will send them TO Congress by
Offering to fasten the voters on the Treasury
in the name of pensions for patriotism. The
whole business should be revised. All those
who received in the war injuries that disabled
them for supporting themselves should DO
pensioned, and literally pensioned. and every
man who is physically sound and capable of
taking care of himself should be stricken
from the rolls.
Mr. Tucker also gave some interesting facts
regarding the pension lists of European gov
ernments. The pension list of France for
1891 WAS 500. S57 600 and France had probably
nearly as many men disabled by the Franco
German war as the United States Government
had in our war. The difference is accounted
for difference in pay being passed by-by the
the fact that the French pension with die
elimination. They pension those who were