Birmingham state herald., 1896-01-15

ment OHefed by the gentleman rom H. linois (Mr. Graff). fApplause.) I shall raise no objection to it nor call a point of order upon it. It is time that some radical step should be taken with the pension office There is not a soldiers widow; there is not a veteran soldier to- day drawing 6 pension who is not stand ing daily and hourly under the appre- hension that something cowardly may strike him from the pension rolls. After years of patient waiting, after examin- ing board upon examining board has sat upon his case and he has received his pension, suddenly and without warning it is withdrawn from him; no charge is made against him and no opportunity offered him to repel any charge if made, and as the resolution of the gentleman from Illinois strikes at the root of the trouble I will take that if I cannot get anything else to ascertain why it is that the union veterans are stabbed in the back in the very quarter in which they should receive encomiunis, encourage ment and justice. Prolonged applause)
 Now. I make no charge against the pension department but I do say this: That repeatedly instances have come to my attention where boards of examiners have steadily declared that the soldier was entitled to a pension and yet it has been rejected in the office here in Wash ington."
 MT. Stewart of New Jersey-Is it not
 
 years the pension bureau has been em- phatically hostile to the pension claims of old soldiers?
 MT. Cummings-I cannot say that, but 1t has been emphatically unjust to them. (Applause.) Now, sir the speech heard from my colleague (Mr BartletO on this floor yesterday is not calculated to re- move the apprehension from the minds of the soldiers and their widows Cold sophistry may be good, but you had bet ter apply it to the Pacific railroads than to the pensioners. Loud applause) I repudiate that speech on behalf of the constituents which I represent. republi- cans as well as democrats. I repudiate the speech on behalf of the veterans of New York. I repudiate the speech on be- half of the Grand Army posts and the widows who are drawing pensions in the city of New York. I repudiate the speech on behalf of the democracy of New York city--on behalf of the Tammany Hall democracy of New York. Q.aughter and applause.)
 sir, I have not forgotten and you will not forget, whichever side of the house ganized. equipped and sent to the front one of the finest regiments that ever ap- peared in the Army of the Potomac. Their bravery and their gallantry at Balls Bluff and at Gettysburg chal- lenged the admiration of the world.
 CT repudiate on behalf of the Tamma- ny society, who equipped and sent that regiment to the front, the speech that was uttered on this floor yesterday by a man claiming to represent that democ- racy. (Applause) Tammany Hall has always been loyal to the union. Tam many Hall has always been loyal to the veterans of the war. challenge any man to point out one flaw"
 MT. W. A. Stone of Pensylvania.-Can you not go little further and repudiate the speech of the gentleman who said that every neighborhood was honey combed with pension frauds throughout the country?
 MT. Cummings-If I was the commis- sioner of pensions I might be able to do so knowingly Applause.)
 Now, MT. Chairman. l speak on be- half of every veteran, on behalf of every draws a pension in the United States They are all included in this work in the pension office up here. One fraud ought not to punish forty innocent people. and I believe that the ratio would reach one to thousand I don't believe that for every fraudulent pensioner who has been stricken from the list or suspended at least 1000 who were receiving their just dues from the government should be punished. e--,.
 II shall vote for the proposition of the gentleman from Illinois with pleasure and if 1t fails 1t will have one good effect. It will call the attention of the eommis- sioner of pensions to the fact that the people of the country are watching him, and that in process of time we shall have tribunal either there or somewhere else that will do justice to the men who fought In the union armies in the great rebellion" (Applause)
 The committee rose at the conclusion of MT. Cummings speech and MT Curtis republican. of New York. presented the military academy appropriation bill which was placed on the calendar.
 At 4:15 D. m. the house, on motion by MT. w. A. Stone, adjourned.