St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-04-11
THE PENSION PROBLEM.

The current North American REVIEW
has what it was once the fad to call a
symposium" of opinions on the present
and very urgent question "How Shall
the Pension List Be ReviSed% 1t has
chosen for what might be called Its
sympoSiasts. Mr.. WILSON, chairman of
the house committee on pensions; Mr..
BURDETT, accommodated OF the
Grand Army, and Col. CHURCH, editor
of the Army and Navy Journal. 1t is
fact not without signiicance,a showing
the trend of opinion. that this review
regards it as conceded that the pension
list must be revised.
The term revised" has had dubious
Specification ever since our Republican
compatriotS clouded its meaning by de-
claring that they were going to revise
the tariff and then increasing it, but the
articles in question show that their
writers accept the word in the sense of
decrease or eXcisiOn.
Mr.. WILSON finds the necessity for
revision in the vast and sudden increase
under the dependent pension act of 1890.
which made the Inability to perform
manual labor the test of admission to
the lists. Thousands are on the rolls
rated at the highest limit, Sl2 month,
who are liable to, and do, continue in the
regular pursuit of their chosen avOca-
tons (sic), and earn for themselves and
families an adequate and comfortable
support" He would eliminate these
from the list. He would also return to
the plan of biennial medical examina-
tons. and hold the reports of the ply
sicianS confidential. He is inclined to
the proposal to transfer the pension
bureau to the war department.
Mr.. BURDETT does not touch the topic
assigned him, but gives us history of
the growth Of pension legislation, and
the important and influential part which
the Grand Army has borne in it, espe-
cially in the case of the disability act
of 1890. 1t was the work OF this organi-
cation which prevented che provisions
of that act from being limited to
the actually needy. because they OBJ
jected to "a declaration of poverty as a
CONDITION precedent to the grant of a
pension" This view depends on that
other view of the pension as debt con-
tracted at the same time as the enlist
ment, and rejects the view that it is a
charity. The claim of debt. it may be
observed, is also one of the growths
coincident with the enlargement of
grounds for pensions. Evidently he
does not regard revision as either neces-
sary or possible, terrifying the latter
fI,oF ssla
make note of the fact that there are
a million old-Soldier voters interested
in the question. He fOrgets that each
year adds fully as many new voters to
the list, to whom the war is but a
legend and who will conclude that a
cause must be of little merit which is
supported by a threat of the loss of
a million financially interested voters.
The natural revision by deaths is
enough, he thinks. "Relief to the tax
payer is to come from the scythe of the
Great Reaper"
Col. CHURCH'S article may be summed
UP in his criticism that there is no dis
tinction made between the faithful SOL
der and the malingerer; the ''coffee
cooler'' gets onto the pension list with
the same ease as the SCARED veteran.
Any person who has served in the army
or navy for sixty days is eligible. how
ever unworthy that service may have
been.
The GLOBE is still of the opinion that
the only just and proper basis of revis-
ion is making actual dependence the
ground of all pensions. All pensioners
capable of earning livelihood should
be stricken from the list. Such should
be ashamed to burden their fellows with
what they do not need and thus dimin-
iSh the amount that should be given to
their actually dependent brothers.