The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1896-09-04

ington, where we had a consultation with the
congressional pension committee, and ur-
gently gent requested ston that 1ha action tfsaa be taken al
and 'sandbagging' of pensioners that was
going on all over the country. The con-
gressional committee expressed a willing
ness to aid in the matter, and all bills then
before congress were taken up, carefully
considered, and such measures Of relief as
we believed could be passed, were embodied
in House Bill No. 5.549, known as the "Pick-
Ter bill" Our COMMITTEES made no recon-
mendations as to sections one and fourteen
as to the ACCESSIBILITY of these two sections,
but the other measures of relief embodied
in the bill were Of such vital Importance to
all pensioners, and must prove so beneficial
in the administration of pension laws, that
L deem 1t my duty to urge Its immediate
passage, which l did, both to MEMBERS Of
congress and to the speaker of the house.,
to whom 1 made a personal appeal. AS you
are aware, the measure passed the house
by a large majority, and is now pending in
the senate. When this bill became the law,
as 1 believe it will at the next session of
congress, the unrest and anxiety among de-
serving pensioners will cease, as no pension
can then be discontinued except for fraud,
clerical error or mistake of fact. We are I'M
alterably opposed to all frauds. and of course
want clerical errors and mistakes corrected
whenever found. This law. when enacted,
will guarantee to the pensioner that security
and peace of mind which should come to him
In his declining years.
The payment of all pensions by check
through the mails was also urged upon the
congressional committee. The measure was
introduced by Mr.. Overstreet, of Indiana,
and has become a law. The ~salutary result,
after two pension payments under it, have,
| think, proven the wisdom of It's enactment,
in saving to pensioners and their families
money from pensions heretofore lost through
temptations and weakness.
In discussing this matter, the question
comes forcibly to me, the payment of pen
sions from the several agencies by mail hav-
ing proven a success, why can not all pen
sions be paid and mailed directly from the
interior or pension department at Washing
ton, and by so doing save two-thirdS of the
expense now incurred in keeping up pension
agencies In nearly every important state. 1t
would require but a few hours longer to re-
ceive a check through the mail from Wash
ington than 1t does from the local agency,
and would save a vast sum of money that
could be applied to pension payments, as
an eX-audltor OF the treasury, through whose
office pension payments are made, and who
was one of the most competent men who
ever filled the office, informed me when con-
suited about the matter. that with fifty adj
ditional clerks in his department he could
readily have paid every pensioner on the
rolls. The expense of pension agencies last
year was nearly half a million dollars. You
can readily estimate the saving that would
accrue from such a change, without detri-
ment to the pensioner.
The last encampment directed that a test
case be selected embodying the question
that a pension when once granted became a
vested right, and cannot be discontinued ex-
cept by due process of law"
The council of administration selected the
Long case, as they believed that 1t embodied
the issues which we desired settled. The
attorneys of Judge Long were consulted,
and at their request the Hon. James G. Car
ter was employed to argue the case before
the supreme court of the United States. The
case came UP for hearing in March, and after
considering the matter for some weeks, it
was not decided, but continued for a re-
hearing in October. l recommend that Mr..
Carter be continued in the case until the
same is decided.
Woman,s Relief COrpx.
In all of the duties and labor of the year,
the Woman's Relief Corps, composed of the
loyal women of the land. has been our con-
slant friend and helpmate. | desire to add
my testimony to that which has been fire.
quently given by others in this position, to
the loyal and efficient services of this noble
auxiliary organization. Abundant is their
special work of charity, helpful in every
field of labor, full of patriotic enthusiasm,
and happy to share with US the labor and
glory of our Grand Army life. 1t has been
my pleasure during the past year to meet
the national officers at Boston and at many
conventions. / have heard good of it from all
Quarters-evil from none. l am glad in this
connection. to say a word in explanation of
our attitude towards other organizations of
women. who seek to be useful to the Grand
Army. To those who have or will give at
tention to the record there can be no ques-
ton that the national encampment held in
ans Relief Corps as our auxiliary, and that IL
has remained silent in such action as to other
attended the Woman Relief Corps has
called into existence other women,s organi-
cations, and these, very naturally, have an
tagonized the older organization in the affec-
tions OF veterans. until we have the humil-
Eating spectacle of comrades who fought for
four wears in the same file, and whose COM
r~adesnip has been cemented in fifty battles,
now. at this late day in life, ruthlessly torn
asunder because their wives happen to be-
long TO different wCnlan,s organizations. 1t
10 human nature. and the Good Book declares