The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-09-05

The hunger OF tho old soldier for PEN
sions Ia scarcely appreciated In the South
We realize In general way that there
must DO considerable force bchlnd a
movement which Will lead tho government,
moro than thirty years after tho clrae OF
the civil war; to spend over $lio,J0oOt0
for pensions. II amounts 70 one third cur
annual appropriations 1t would ply the
running EXPENSES OF all the State govern
ments and leave comfortable balance,
The government OF England with all Its
expensive royalty. could get along en- 1t
very comfortably. II costs more than tho
standing army and armament Of any Eu-
ropean government. II would pay the Ma
tional debt In six years. What ID th1 SEN
timent that successfully demands all tits
money in pensions and strongly hints at
moro?
There are few old soldiers In the South.
but living among ex~Confedcrases who lost
health. limb and property In tie war and
have Drospered nevertheless has made
them rather ashamed to be begging the
government TO pay them for their Patriot
ism. though A In natural and right for
them to take what they ran get and be
thankful for IL in a quiet way. The greed
of the old soldier at the North, wh'cl seems
TO DO encouraged by the Grand irmy,
would be pitiful were 1t not 40 snccrstiul.
A few years ago ! was boxing one day
ut the massive foundation OF he new Cor
man who would be marked IVY DtiEnger
ne being above tho average In intelligence
and prosperity approached rae and asked
what building II was TO be. told Lin
that it WAS the new Corcoran art gallery.
They already have one fulfilling, lave
they not?" he asked.
Yes; but that is not large enough now"
Yes" he mused that IS the way OF
the government these days. Spending
tpouov fnr ri onIIerIaa "a btp uoatafftcp
building. harbor improvements and other
things they could do without, whan they
had better be giving 1t to he poor old
soldier who saved the Union"
! heard a democratic senator from In
diana-he Ia dead now-defend the liberal
scattering OF money TO pensioners, right or
wrong on the ground that 1t distributed
money among the people and gave them q
larger circulation. This is very good, Of
course. for the North, but ireary rros-
pect for the South, which pays it's part OF
the taxes and reaps little Of this benefit.
Whatever may be the opinion OF the phil
osopher ns 10 the wisdom Of the policy OF
taking money from the people and giving II
back to them again as a means Jf ebcour-
aging its circulation. those more directly
concerned in the pension bu3iness do not
look ut II abstracuy. To them every dol
lar obtained from the government " that
much picked IN in the road. ihey can
out
To the poor pensioncr the monthly re-
mittance Is Godsend. And the g-pffr,
the butcher and baker whom he owes are
always glad when he gets It, At tho mer-
est suggestion that 1t might be cut ~ they
all become intensely Interested. and ills
i. Is the kind Of public opinion that directs
legislation In congress.
! do not look for an increase Il. tia PEN
lafr all "a. tn.
| that Ii embarrasses the republican Poltti-
clans. The billing up Of tariff rates has
| got to the point where 1t Is reducing The
| revenues and II more money is n ,sed fol
| the pensioners the favored industries mus
| lose sume OF their protection. A''sady il
has been suggested that no more pensions
should be allowed TO women who are mar.
| rying old soldiers to get their pefsie ns
when they die. Another effort for prre-
| ~ service pension may be ex3ss:,d This
means TO give every soldier q pen.ion who
served three months. whether he WAS in
tured or not. II liz not certain that tbii
would be q bad thing fr,m ali economical
| standpoint. Most OF them get peatit nj
anyway. Some kind OF disability $ fo'.nd
which will entitfe them 0 u pc lEi)n. A
service pension Inv would not inci ease tbs
| number materially. while IL would gave the
| government a vast amount OF work ferret
| ing out frauds. An examiner In the per-
sion officer who was an officer in the Unior
army during the war sold me that M
knew many men who went Int, the VA
with delicate constitutions and AL EeAhf
| generally who came out uf the war stvt nj
aud robust. thanks TO npen-oir exerciss
and plain diet. But" he continued. tie,
are all dead now. Only the wrecked ans
totally disabled are living now. and the'
:" san7r. Jones'.