The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1892-07-12
THE PENSION ROBBERY.
A Million Pensioners to Whom
the People Must Pay $780,
OOO,OOO q Year.

The discussion of the pension ap-
preparation bill in the senate the other
day was remarkable in many ways,
says the New York Sun. The bill
had come from the house carrying
sl33, O4S 500 for army and navy pen.
sions, aud had been increased by the
senate committee to s144, $50. 900, or
by nearly s12,000,00O. With the
cost Of administration added it called
for sli6, 7337 $50. Mr.. Stewart. in
explaining it. admitted that at the
present rate of turning out new pen.
sions there would be deficiency Of
$40, 900, 900 OF sl5, 900, 900. even with
this enormous appropriation. In
other words, our pension expenditures
must already have reached about
s16O. 900 900 a year.
Mr.. German pointed out that Com
missioner Raum had some time ago
acknowledged before the senate COM
mittee that he had no data for an ex.
act estimate of the expenses Of the
fiscal year just begun, and in fact had
already discovered that bis previous
calculations weres .0O0, 900 too small.
Aud now, added Mr.. German. even
with en- addition of nearly sl2 ,000,-
600 to the hou:e bill. there is a pros
pect of a heavy deficiency. Accord
ingly be renewed a prediction Of two
years ago, which at the time was
secuted as preposterous, that the PEN
sion expenses by 1895 would reach
5000, 900, 900 per annum.
On the l4th of May lasts appears
by the commissioners testimony be-
fore the senate committee, there were
S3S, 525 claims pending in the pension
bureau, and 350,077 Of these were
original invalid cases Of the soldiers
themselves. There we're al-o clsims
of widows and claims for Increase, and
altogether the Office had then in hand
of original work 525, ia claims. The
commissioner expected that "2l5, 900
new people would 60 on the rolls this
isca! year." He further estimated
that ION the 1ss Of July. 1892. vel
will have on the roll $50, 900 pension.
ers," while as to the claims still pend.
ing he made this calculation
"You understand that in the a1ju.
dication Of thes. csses there is about
25 per cent-23 is the exact percent.
age, l believe-of claims that are re-
jec'ed because the clsimants are not |
entitled to pensions so that having
525, 900 claims if Is per cent of them |
were rejected, it would take of about
LOG, 900. and that would leave about
$4,000. That is the work that is in
the Office to-day"
1t further appeared that these new
names could, at the present rate Of
work, be put on the roll in about two
years. Accordingly, If to the $780,
900 pensioners otto day We add the
other hundreds Of thousands that are
We may assert positively
that IN spite of deaths there will be
over u million pensioners on the roll
before the end Of the year 1898.
What q record A million pen.
sioners, more than Q quarter of a GEN.
fury after the close OF the civil war,
besides the hundreds and thousands
that were pensioned until death re-
moved them from the rolls! Expendi-
lures. 100, aggregating more than one
thousand millions since the end Of the
war, and now amounting to the mon
,trous figure of $3.50, 900 900 q year,
With sl75, 0O0.0O or $500, 900, 900 a
1ear in near prospect.