The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1897-12-02
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE, Washington D. C.

weight to that power, whereas by its
use in pensions it is thrown against it,
and thus doubly reduces its grip upon
the people.
Then the process of gathering it in,
distributing it to the pensioners in the
most remote corners Of the country, pass
ing it through the hands of the people
of every community, and bringing it
! back to the Treasury again through en-
tirely different and diverging channels,
gives that life and activity to the body
of business that the circulation of the
blood gives to the human body.
There is not a man in the whole
country who does not get some direct
good out of the money paid for pensions.
This was made painfully apparent dur
ing the last few years, when Cleveland
was doing his sad work of robbing pen
sioners. Everybody felt acntely the
loss of the money paid the pensioners.
The commercial stringency made
the merchants and business men very
sensitive to the withdrawal of any
money from circulation. The bankers
were calling in every dollar that was
due them, and locking it up. In thou.
sands of communities the bulk of
the absolutely freely circulating
money was that which the pensioners OBJ
tanned every three months. Every time
the little stipend of one of these
was cut off it was felt by the en-
tire community. Though the amount
seemed small, yet its effect was large.
Comrade John Smith, for example, liv-
ing in some little neighborhood, had
been receiving S24 every three months.
This was very small, it is true, but as
soon as Comrade Smith received his
check he had it cashed by the country
storekeeper, and Immediately began pay
ing out the proceeds in liquidation Of
his small debts, and the purchase Of
necessaries. Every man to whom he
paid dollar used it in payment to some
other man, and he to another, and before
the next check came that S24 had per-
haps done the work of $1,000 in passing
from hand to hand before it was finally
all gathered up by the country store
keeper, and sent to New York to pay
his debts for goods When, therefore,
Lochren decided that Comrade John
Smith was not entitled to his pension,
and cut him off the LIST, every man in
his neighborhood suffered out of all pro-
portion to the amount of which Com
rade Smith was robbed
| Hard as the times have been for the
past four years, they would have been
incomparably harder had it not been
for the S140,000,000 which the Govern
ment disbursed every year for pensions.
THE Cubans have utterly rejected
SPANS proposal of autonomy, and say
that they will accept nothing less than
complete independence. They are right
in this, for, as we have said before, they
can place absolutely no reliance upon
what any Spanish Administration may
promise. What is promised with the
most solemn assurances to-day may be
utterly repudiated tomorrow. This is
true in Spanish home matters, and much
more true in Colonial affairs. When
Ferdinand VII. came upon the throne
he swore in the most solemn manner to
maintain the Constitution and preserve
the liberties of his subjects. Within q
few months he tore the Constitution to
shreds, and re-established the worst OF
the old tyrannical abuses, including the
Inquisition. When his deceived people
rebelled he called in the aid of 100000
French troops and suppressed them. No
wonder the Cubans have no faith in
promises.
PRESIDENT MCKINLEY finds all the
Senators he has interviewed SO far over.
whelmingly in favor of the annexation
of Hawaii. There will be no trouble