The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-12-21
The Million of Pensioners.

lhere are now palu more pensions, ny
hundreds Of thousands on account or al
legged services in the war, than there were
soldiers present for dutyin all OF the armies
Of the Union at any time between the i!rst
shot ON Sumter and the surrender uI Gen.
LEE to Gen. GRANT.
Nothing illustrates better than this strik-
ing fact the magnitude Of the abuse that
has grown up in the name OF gratitude
to the nations defenders. The present
army Of pension drawers. riEhtful and
fraudulent. exceeds by hundreds Of thou
sands tho whole fighting strength OF the
Union armies actually engaged in military
operations at any given time during tho
four years willie TIE lighting was on.
No wonder THE suns assertion OF this
stu,endot.s fact has set the country n-think-
ing. No wonder. either. that tho sup
purters and apoiogi5ts Of the outrageously
extended system should deny it: or that
when it is demonstrated and they can no
longer deny ii. they should try to break
its force and to obscure its significance.
Now they are saying that the comparison
between the lighting army and the pension
army signifies nothing, after all: for, al
though there may have been not more than
seNcl HtINuttu tilouSduu Hl'u DttSeNI lol
duty at any time during the fighting. the
total Of enlistments from first to last was
more than twenty-seven hundred thousand.
They try to create in the minds OF the pub
lie the impression that the total number Of
men who at one time or another during tho
wac were actual soldiers and possible pen.
sioners. WAS about 2,S00.0o0. The pension
list Is large. said the Press recently. be-
cause in the course Of that tremendous con-
test the loyal States put. first and last.
something like $500, 600 men into the field"
This. OF course. is sheer misreprescnta-
ton, deliberately intended 10 deceive. Ev-
crybody at all familiar with the statistics
Of the civil war knows that the record OF
eniStments Is ono thing, and the number
Of individuals enlisted quite Il different
thing. A man enlisted for sixty days, re-
enlisted for three months. retnlisted for q
year. reGuiisted for three years; and in the
record Of enlist he figures as four
men. and therefore as four possible PEN
sioners. The aggregate OF eniistments dur
ing the war was 2,7SC,4I5.
But the aggregate of individuals who en-
listed for service. whether they actually
saw service or not. is very much smaller
| were kept. it can only be estimated. The
most careful and generally accepted est-
| mate IS that which Mr.. BLAINE presents in
| an appendix TO his Twenty Years Of Con-
gress":
Number who died during war.............. 800 $50
Number discharged Tor dsab!.ity.......... 2S5.5&5
| Deserters. less those arrested and 70 per cent.
additional. I2s352
| nethird OF those serving terms Of less than
| one year ESTIMATED that two.thirIs thereof
re-ns,ed> o4ls4
One half of those serving more than one year
| and less than two years ESTIMATED that one.
half 224o5s
Number in the service May /, 1870 1000
Total GAG 9Gy
| Add number In regular army At beginning OF
1922
| Aggregate number of different individuals
who served during The ZOOS. 30l
| More than one million pensioners are
already either upon the liss. or their claims
have been completed. and the Pension Com
missioner is only waiting for the replen-
ishment OF the impoverished Treasury to
make the first payment to them.
In other words. the number OF pensions
on account OF the war. twenty-seyen years
after the end Of the war. Is about one-hali
of the total number of NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.,
Mnlingcrers. bounty Jumpers. deserters
and all-whose names at any time during
the four years figured on paper as belong.
ing to the Union army.
This way Of looking at the pension list OF
1892 is quite rs impressive as the othcr way