Omaha daily bee., 1892-08-13

UNFRiENDLY TO THE OLD SOLDIER
The democratic party in its national
platform processes to favor ''just and
liberal pensions for all disabled union
soldiers, their widows and dependents.
To understand how much value is to be
given TO this profession it is necessary
to examine the record of the democracy
in congress regarding pensions. That
record conclusively shows that the dem
ocratic party has been uniformly un-
friendly to legislation for the benefit OF
the men who preserved the union.
There are sixty-one general pension
acts which constitute the body OF our
present pension system, and every one
Of these became law by republican
votes. 1t has been claimed that the
arrears act was democratic measure,
but the only ground for the claim is
that the house of representatives was
then democratic. The truth of history
is that that act was introduced by re-
publican and received on its passage 1l6
republican votes, forty eight democrats
voting for it and sixty-one against
it, The only votes in opposition to this
measure in either branch OF congress
were cast by democrats The most i'm
portant of all the pension laws is the
dependent and disability act which be-
came law in 1890. A substantially
similar measure was vetoed by L esi-
dent Cleveland. In order to pass it In
the Fifty-first congress n special order
became necessary, fixing time certain
when vote should be taken. When
the bill was voted on not a single re-
publican vote was recorded in the neg
ative while there were seventy-one
democratic votes against it. On that
occasion republican member OF the
house from Iowa declared that when
ever the old soldiers of the country
asked for pension legislation it was to
the republican party they confidently
looked for It," 1t is an interesting fact
that OF the twenty-eight pension acts
passed from1S6l to 1875, while the re-
publicans had control of both houses of
congress, only upon one was there
call for the yeas and nays, and that was
in the senate. The democratic party
came into control of the house Of repre-
sentatives in 1875, and thereafter yea
and-nay calls were frequent. But upon
all these bills, except upon the one re-
storing those who had been in the re-
bellion to tho 1912 roll, which was a
democratic measure, there was but one
republican vote in the negative.
In the case of private pension acts the
unfriendliness of the democratic party
to the union soldiers has been still more
conspicuous. The numerous vetoes of
such bills by President Cleveland was
one OF the remarkable features of his
administration that the veterans will
never forget Two hundred and ninety
seven private pension bills were killed
by Mr.. Cleveland's veto and nearly as
many more were withheld by him more
than ten days and thus became laws
without his approval. One thousand
three hundred and sixty-seven pension
bills were sent to President Harrison by
the republican Fifty-first congress, and
not one failed to become law for want
of his signature. Another interesting
fact for the veterans is, that while tho
Fifty-frst congress at It's first session
passed $40 private pension bills the
present congress pissed less than one
fourth of that number, and most OF
these were rushed through in one even
ing at the close of the session, evidently
for the purpose of trying to make
decent pension record
This tardy manifestation OF zeal on
the part of the democrats in congress
will not, however, fool the old soldiers
They will judge the democracy by its
whole record in relation to their inter
es is, and this shows the party, in spite
of its professions, to have been uni
formly unfriendly to the men whose
patriotism and courage preserved the
union.