The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1894-03-08
SATURDAY. MARCH 3.


In the House. in Csmmttee Of the Whole,
Mr.. Picker Is. d., Rlspoke at length in eulogy
of the soldiers of tliebUnion army, and sub
mitted that they wsre. entitled TO generous
treatment, at least just treatment, from this
whole Nation. It. ws2 but Justice that the
Union soldiers should tho as well treated as the
soldiers of the Revolutionary Mexican or In
dian wars. He assorteti that every soldier, as
q matter of justice, in ssecognition Of his serv-
ices, and not as a,chsrity, was entitled to a
pension. For this great Government to treat
the soldier as pauper and his pension IS a
charity was a damnable insult to every man
who followed the flag.
In the course Of his remarks while quoting
John K. Fellows upon the manner in which the
people of New York had received the 1000
SOutherners who had gone to that city since
the war, Mr.. Pickler was interrupted by Mr.
Boatner La, d., who said that many Northern
men had come into his district and been re-
ceived in the same spirit of friendliness and
courtesy.
Representative Black Oll., d. extension
Commissioner, who was the next speaker, said
that If he had, at the beginning of Mr.. Pickler's
speech, entertained any bitterness of feeling, il
would have entirely disappeared under the in
huence of the lofty sentiments expressed by
him, and he congratulated the speaker upon
the excellent temper in which the speech was
conceived and delivered. He intended, how
ever, to address himself to the three points
made in the speech of Mr.. Grout yesterday.
These were ~ that the present Admins
tratiOn of the Pension Bureau was unfriendly
to the soldier; ~ that the policy pursued in
the Bureau was ininicai to the rights of the
soldier; and (3) that the Democratic party was
opposed to pensions. In 1891, '92 there was
tremendous pressure brought to bear upon the
Bureau for the issue of certificates. Under
this pressure in that year, in 305 working days,
l.tU GprtltlcatpQ IcCnaf-pvnr 1 q
day. Under such q practice it would be miracu-
lous If great errors did not occur. illustrating
this point Mr.. Black said the records of the
Pension Bureau showed that a regiment re-
cruited in north western State near the close
of the war, serving 100 days, contributed GA
names to the pension list, with two companies
not accounted for.
In the course of his further detailed reply to
Mr.. CIRCUITS charges. Mr.. Black referred to the
belief that Commissioner Lochren was hostile
to the soldiers because, as it was alleged, he was
dominated by Confederate soldier. The
present Secretary of the Interior, he said, was
not in the war; he was too young to serve in
the Confederate army.
Mr.. Black paid long and eloquent tribute
to Commissioner Lochren's war record, closing
thus: " For three years the tap of the drum
and the voices of command summoned him on
40 battIefelds. To tell me to-day, because he
observes the laws of his country and honors
and regards his oath, that man, paying out
everything that he can and reserving only what
he must, is unfriendly to the Federal soldiery,
stamps the whole vast procession of ISLANDERS
with the character which they deserve"
Mr.. Waugh lind, r. addressed the commit
tee. He asked why it was that the bill carried
Sl5,O00,O00 less than the bill of 1S93I94.
Neither the force nor the expense of the office
had been reduced, SO these were not the reasons.
Gen. Raum had said in his last report that if the
-. =. Al
Quoted, the pension expenditures would reach
high-water mark in 1896. why Mr.Chairman,"
said Mr. Waugh, sit struck high-water mark
immed lately upon the accession to power of
Democratic Administration on March 4, 1893"
lie believed the reduction of the amount APP
propriated by the pending bill was due to the
to the pension policy by the pres
ent Administration. He ridicuIed the assertion
that the pension-roll was honeycombed with
fraud.