The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1894-03-15

different countries at war with each other. Yet
Mr.. Chairman have seen this in Congress after
Congress since have been a member Of this
House. Frauds are charged here; and the ia
preston is spread broadcast before the country
that the pension roll Of the Republic is rotten.
Yet not one scintiIls of evidence to prove thai
charge has been offered in this House-nos
one.
An eloquent tribute has Just been paid by my
distinguished colleague the committee Mr..
ONeill to q gallant soldier. the honorable gen.
tleman from Illinois. Gen. Black, who, regret
to see is not present. Gen. Black deserves
kind memories from this country; and unite
in every generous expression and thought in
respect to him as soldier. But, Mr.. Chair
man, while he stood up here before this Repub-
lie when the pension-roll was discussed, he
held in one hand beautiful bouquet Of rhet-
oric TO tempt and attract the soldiers Of the
Republic, while in his other hand he held
dagger to strike into their souls. Ah, gentle
men, scars are honorable. but they should not
be made cloaks behind which to strike equally
honorable men. For one, this debate shall not
close without my crying "shame" upon the
soldier who stands here leading a column to
discredit pensioners Of this Republic. Zap
plause on the Republican side.l
You say there are frauds. only
KNOW OF ONE CLASS OF FRAUDS
that were perpetrated by the soldiers. hsvs
seen boys too low in stature to be enlisted have
blocks put under their heels to beat the EXAM
lining Surgeons. l have known boys less than
Is to say that they were 10 to get under the
flag
There were lots of that kind Of fraud perpe-
trated know. On the other side of that great
struggle many too old and too young bad to 20
in but as for frauds this pension-roll, they
in your Imagination. And yet you have talked
it so much in this and other debates that you
have got many people in this country To believe
hat g clam TnnVE
we were around in the little villages and in the
big cities standing on stumps and boxes to rally
men to leave their families and their homes to
go and save the flag, we did not stop much upon
the representations made, and they went pour
ing into the ranks by the hundreds and thou
sands from everywhere. And now il is a little
hard, when you know how badly they have suf-
fered and how inadequately the pension-rolt
testifes TO their real suerings and disabilities,
to have such utterances as we have heard in
this debate
My God, have We a Union, and are we not all
in it now? If So let US try and pull together,
and be just In the last Congress. when fraud
was charged, challenged the Commissioner Of
Pensions to investigate and report to me tho
percentage Of frauds on the pensiOn-roll. Hs
put it at less than l per cent, and so did Gen.
Bussey, the Assistant Secretary of the Interior,
to whom pension appeals were taken. With
out proof to the contrary, with positive proof
that there is scarcely any fraud, yet pension
frauds are made the slogan of this debates
Some openly attack the pensiOn-rol, like the,
unfsiling gentleman from Tennessee Mr.. Ems
loe), who, the unremitting champion Of every
sort of war or cotton claims. never charging or
pointing out frand in that direction, is mex
haustible in his efforts to cast some slur upon
the
DEFENDERS OF THIS COUNTRY.
Mr.. Grow PA. R. offered the last amend
ment, providing that no pension on account OF
disability in the service should be less than $12
per month. A point of order was allowed
against this amendment, but Mr.. Grow made 9
brief speech, his first since his return to the
House.
Mr.. Crows remarks
BUBBLED OVER WITH PATRIOTISM
and glowed with the fire of eloquence. He
wanted the benefit received by the veterans
disabled in battle to be of a substantial char
acter during the remainder of their pilgrimage
1t would be but few years before the last Of
the survivors of the mighty conflict would sleep
in the chamber of the dead.
At the conclusion, the bill was passed with
out division, and substantially in the form in
which it was reported by the Committee ON
Appropriations.