The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-10-19
WHEN 9-AH. WHEN?


Hamlet remarks. Looking over the Com
missioner of Pensions report for this year,
we find that of the 10, O29 pensioners allowed
last year under the general laws, one man
had to wait 81 years.
We must assume that he was "desery-
ing veteran" else he would not have gotten
his pension. But why was he made to wait
81 years for it? What was the matter with
his deserving" that this great Government
took three whole decades to ponder over it,
and weigh it against the few dollars month
which it finally allowed him? Then, too,
his claim was filed in 1862 when his officers
accessible.
Then there were 60 I" deserving veterans"
who had filed their claims in 1868, and only
got them allowed last year!
Think of all that has happened since the
Pension Bureau first began trying TO decide
whether those so deserving veterans were
entitled to an average of S13.11 apiece or
not!
After they were filed there were nearly
two years more of bloody war; Sherman took
Atlanta, and marched in triumph 10 the
sea; Grant carried on the gigantic Wilder
ness campaign and the great siege of Peters
burg, and conquered lasting peace for the
country. Still the Pension Bureau could
not decide whether those so deserving
veterans" were entitled to pensions or not
Four years more; the Government de-
cided that the French must leave Mexico,
and the French left; the Mexican people
overthrow and shot Maximillisn; the people
of the United States decided on U. s. Grant
for President; the Prussians decided to
whip the Austrians, and did it in a war
which changed the map of Europe
Sabbath of momentous years had pass
ed, anG still the Pension Bureau was %
years from deciding on the claims of those
60 deserving veterans"
The people decided on Grant for the sec
end term; the Geneva Congress decided
against Great Britain and mulcted her for
SIS, 600 600; the Germans and French de-
cided on war and fought out great struggle,
resulting in the aggrandizement of one and
the humiliation of the other. Still the
Pension Bureau pondered over those 60
cases. and could not arrive at decision.
Yet another four years. We had the
great Electoral Commission; Hayes became
President; we passed through the panic of
1873 to specie resumption; the Centennial
Exposition was held; Russia and Turkey
engaged in great war which threatened to
convulse Europe; the famous Congress of
Berlin was held, which again changed the
map Of Europe and decided the peace of the
world. Yet the same uncertainty reigned
in the Pension Bureau as TO The merits of
those so applicants for pensions.
Yet another four years. Garfield became
President and fell a victim to the assas-
sin; Arthur succeeded, and we had the
great campaign of 1884 between Blaine and
Cleveland Everything seemed possible to
happen, except the allowance of the claims
of those go deserving veterans" who had
already waited 81 years.
Still another four years, in which the
whole world rolls rapidly onward, except in
the neighborhood of the pigeon-holes where
repose the cases of those 60 deserving vet
! erans." There are revolutions in foreign
| lands; Kings die, and their sons succeed
them ministries rise and fall earthquakes
and epidemics startIe mankind babes born
after those claims were filed become stall
wart men and lovely women-become lovers
! husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, widowers
and widows Still, year in and year out
while in endless round laughing Spring
succeeded stern Winter, and Summers bill
lowy fields become the garnered gold Of
Autumn's rich content, and Winter again
waved her frosty banner, the Pension Blu
reau brooded over the deservings" of those
| veterans.
How many of those who also filed theil
claims in 1863 have been unable to wait 81
years for the Government to come to con
clusion upon their deserving" and hav.
passed TO land whose serene happiness doe
not depend in the least upon the tardy
motions, of Government Bureau?
Yes, "every deserving veteran should hav,
pension" But, in the name of Time
when?
COST OF EUROPEAN ARMIES.
So much has been said by the soldier
haters about the comparative cost Of on
pension-roll and that Of the great armies 0