Evening journal., 1897-12-30
CONTEMPORARY OPINION
UNITEp srATEs PENsloNs.

the grave in August, 1868. He was re-
puted TO be Ill years old, but there was
some doubt on that point.
There are now fifteen names on the
| Revolutionary pension rolls, all wild
ows and daughters of soldiers, but
every one of them was born after the
close OF the war. The oldest Is Han
nah Newell Barrett. aged 9S, daughter
/ OF Noah HarrOd, who lives in Boston.
/ IOvey Aldrich, widow OF Caleb Aldrich,
/ a New Hampshire soldier, who for
! long time enjoyed the distinction OF
! being the oldest revolutionary pen
sioner, recently died at Los Angeles,
California, Juliette Belts, daughter of
Hezekiah Belts, aged 81, lives at Nor
walk, Connecticut The remaining
pensioners of the revolutionary rolls
are 76 and over. and their names are:
Susanna Chadwick, OF Emporium Pa
Nancy Cloud, of Chum, Va.
Esther S. Damon, OF Plymouth
Union, VT
Sarah C. Hurlburt, of Little Marsh,
Pa
Nancy Jones, Of Jonesboro, Tenn
Hannah Lyon, OF Marblehead, Mass
Rebecca Mayo OF Newborn, Va.
Mary Snead of Parksley, Va.
Ann NJ Slaughter, Of The Plains, Va
Rhoda Augusta Thompson, of Wood
bury, Conn
Nancy weatherman, Of Elk Mills,
Tenn.
Eliza Sandford, of Bloomfield, N. j..
Augusta Tuller, of Bridgeport, Conn.
1t seems odd that so many women
should still receive the bounty of a
government which their husbands
founded, but the first Congress under
the Constitution provided that they
| should be thus protected from want,
and the Supreme Court of the United
States passed upon all the claims that
were presented for several years 1t
was over this duty that the judiciary
and the legislative branches of the gov
ernment first came into collision. When
Congress passed the law granting PEN
sions to the disabled soldiers of the
revolution and the widows and orphans
OF those who had been killed in battle
Il provided that their applications
should be referred to the Supreme
Court for adjudication This was due,
first, to a desire for exact Justice, and
second to the fact that the court had
little or nothing to do. The justices.
however, declined to obey the law on
the ground that the Constitution which
defined their duties did not include
pensions within their jurisdiction; but
five OF the six Justices agreed to serve
unofficially as a Bureau Of Pensions
for reasons of benevolence but not as
an obligation. The sixth justice was a
strict constructionist from South Caro-
lima, and refused to look at a pension
claim because of the reason above
cited.
In 1892, after the court had COM
pleted its examinations of all the claims
submitted, the pension roll amounted
to $110,0 0,000.To-day iti nearly$14O 900 600
and there are 971,952 names upon the
list. II was in that year that Congress
laid down the pension policy that has
since prevailed in the United States
and has cost the tax payers of this
country S2,034, ,S17, 769 during the last
thirty years. The law was approved
on the Sth day of May, 1892, and it pro
vided that IF any person, whether
officer or soldier, belonging to the mill
tia of any state, and called into the ser
vice of the United States, be wounded
or disabled when in actual duty, he
shall be taken care of and provided foI
at the public expense"
I q
after the Declaration of Independence
was adopted, passed a resolution
pledging the faith Of the colonies in 9
similar manner, and later specified in g
a law that every officer and soldier
who was so disabled as to prevent hin
from earning a living should continu,
to receive half pay for the remainder
of his life In 177S another law wa.
passed. pledging an survivors OF tn,
p war half pay for seven years, and a
the close of the war special pensions
were voted by Congress. Lafayette, fOl
example. received the pay of a major
general for FIVE years after he returned
to France, and while he was confine,
I in an Austrian prison, Congress vote
{ him the sum of 100000 and a TOWNSHIP
OF land in Pennsylvania.
. The first women whose names ap
pear upon our pension rolls were tn
four daughters of the Count de Grasse
j They were voted S400 a year each 70
FIVE years. Anna Maria Young, of Mas
s sachusetts married q veteran of tn
q Revolution in 1916. He died six month
later, but she continued to draw a pen
sion for seventy-seven years. Samue
g Downing was the senior pensioner 70
d many years and even surpassed MR.
+ Young for the long-distance record. II
d was born at Haverhill, Mass, in 176'
served as an artificer or mechanic /
the Revolution, was wounded twic'
= and drew pension from 1856 TO 1867,
a period of more than eighty years
d The Federal courts continued to gran
,- pensions until after the war of 1S1,
!, when the business became so actiy
that it was intrusted to a bureau of th
~ War Department. Then it was yer
Ie much easier to secure the bounty of th
Is government than when every claii
,e was adjudicated by men who were !
70 the habit of weighing evidence withol
preference or prejudice. For years ii
ie use Of political influence in securing
4 pension was scandalous and was II
subject of frequent debates in Congress
Of In 1920 the first list of pensioners Wa
n published by order of John c. Calhou
- then secretary of war, to silence the.
- scandals It shows the names OF II, IN
~ persons. drawing a total OF s., ,20S .376
at year-the highest Sl5 and the lowe
al 81 a month. In 1860 the pension nc
was smaller than for any time sim
1912. and the disbursements for tn