The National tribune., 1893-05-11
o,NEu. ON PENSIONS.

sachusetts, is one of the foremost leaders OF
the Northern wing of the pension-haters HIS
utterances, therefore, deserve unusual atten-
ton, because of the likelihood that they
foreshadow the program that has been
marked out by his section of the opponents
of pensions for their course in the coming
session of Congress. Heand they certainly in
tend to do no less than he says, ard the more
radical wing of the pension-haters fiom the
South intend TO do much mere than he maps
out.
Mr.. O'Neil has been speaking and writing
industriously, in order to prepare the public
mind for the raid that he contemplates
under the much-abused name of reform"
In recent article in The North american
Reciew Mr.. O'Neil Gays that the pension
system has debauched the loyal sentiments
of most Of the survivors of our great war for
human liberty. and it has reduced the
Treasury of the country to an almost bank
rupt condition"
Both of these statements are glaringly
untrue The debauching of the loyal
sentiments" has come wholly from those
who, like Mr.. O'Neil, have Systematically
slandered American manhood, and declared
that the bulk of the men on the pension
roll, and those who were seeking pensions,
are the scum of the earth. No man has done
more than he 10 decry American patriotism
and strike down the right arm of the Gov
eminent, by his systematic calumnies upon
those who went to its rescue in 1861-'65. 1t
is small encouragement to the rising gen
Grafton to volunteer in any future emer-
gency, to feel that they will thereby become
the objects of the vituperation of every
cheap demagog who may gain seat in Con-
gress. And if there is one thing that hr.
O'Nei1 should know, it is that it was the
payment of over S25O,OOO,OOo of the Ma
tional debt which emplied the Treasury of
its idle and mischievous surplus, and
brought it to its present condition. -
Mr.. O'Neil says further:
The scramble is not being made by the who
did most OF the fighting. but by The canp-follow-
ers the coffee-eoolers, aud the burners, who re-
hected the good name of the real soldier during
the war, and who now, by their unceasing demands
for more pensions, endangering the pensions
Of the worthy ard deserving
He thought that a very acute sentence
when he wrote it. Let us see how badly a
few facts will damage it. The census of
1890 showed that there were in that year
100000 survivors of the war of the re-
bellion living. In the three years since the
census was taken death has been doing
cruel work among the veterans, and there
are probably not more than 100000 alive
to-day. March 81, 1893, there were s46310
veterans on the pension-roll, and there were
213,354 original applications pending, max
ing a total of / ,O60, 1863, all told AS this
substantially includes the entire number Of
surviving Union veterans, it will at once be
seen that Mr. O'Neil's denunciations apply
to every man living who served in the Union
army. Is it possible that, like Indians, the
only good soldiers are dead ones? that all
the fighting, all the sacrifices, all the heroic
selfdevotion were exhibited by those of our
comrades who have passed away, and we
who live are merely the dregs Of that grand
host? 1t is denying Scriptural truths to
assert that only the righteous perish, while
the wicked are spared TO green old age.
He continues:
1t is conceded by those who have investigated the
matter that If the Pension Bureau is conducted in
the same manner under Mr.. Cieveland's Admins
tration as under DIr. Harrison's with a desire to
give pension TO every possible claimant under
The law. the amount needed will be at least $780,
000090. Unless halt is called il will soon reach
the enormous total of S2J0O0oO0O, or one-haif of
the total expenses of the Government
The abest statistciaH in the United States
Mr.. Edward Atkinson, and man who has
no special affection for the veterans-has,
after giving the pension system more thor
ough examination than Mr.. O'Neil is capable
of, stated that if the Pension Bureau be
conducted as it should be-with view Of
getting rid Of its arrears and bringing its
business up to date-tbat the year ending
Dec. 81, 1894, would probably see the total
expenditure $194,0O0,OO0, and after that it
would rapidly decrease, owing to the death
of the "a, 900 pensioners every year, with a
rapid increase in the death rate as they
grew older The Pension Bureau was
conducted under President Harrison with
the just and businesslike view OF closing
up long-standing claims and bringing
everything up TO date In pursuance of
this policy, the immense number of 230,232
original claims were allowed during the fs-
cal year of 1892, and the total value of first
payments, which included long-standing ar
rears in a vast number of cases, was S45,-
144,16768 Had it not been for the pay
ment of these arrears, the total cost Of the
pension-Ioll would have been only $116,-
S79,8G724 If President Cleveland's ADJ