The record-union., 1898-09-10


imposed by the recent war with Spain,
creating and maintaining SO large an
army under such unfavorable condi-
tons, the deeds of which not only shed
luster on the American soldiers, but
also challenges the admiration of the
world"
The report of the Committee on Pen
s1ons declares that a generous and pa
trlotic construction of the law should
govern the administration of the de-
partment and says:
Resolved, That in view of the re-
peated complaints of the unfair con-
struction of the pension law and of
the making and enforcing of rules
which are in violation of the law and
lnimical to the interest of applicants,
| this encampment is impelled to call
upon Comrade William Mckinley, Pres
ldent of the United States, to exercise
his authority and see that the law is
executed in a spirit of fairness, justice
and liberality
Resolved, That all rules which tend
to hinder and embarrass the allowance
of honest pension claims should be re-
pealed, and we ask the President that
he use his authority to cause those
whose duty it is to execute the laws to
so perform their duty as to do Justice
TO the soldiers and administer the
law so as not to obstruct the prose-
| cution of pensions by technical REQUIRE
ments not within the province of the
| law and which are only calculated TO
hinder and obstruct in the effort to OBJ
tain lawful pensions. Your committee
will call attention to the fact that two
years ago the country was stirred to its
depths by complaints of the Injustice
OF the then Administration of the Pen
sion Bureau. These complaints were
so specific and distinct that they fur
nished the basis of political efforts.
They were the subject of emphatic ut
terances by the National Encampment
Beyond doubt the political campaign of
/ 1870 was largely influenced by the hope
| OF ameliorating the conditions then OBJ
tanning in the Pension Bureau. We
submit that this expected amelioration
! mas not taken place; that in no sub
| stanual instance has one of those harsh
| rules been abrogated but every one of
| them remain in full force and effect
! as under the previous Administration
! The best Illustration of this is the obi
| Gus rule 10, which was substituted for
/ the just rule 164, to the infinite in
! jury OF tens of thousands of much de-
serving men and women. 1t seems I'M
| necessary to enlarge upon the fact that
| the veterans had the right to expect
very different treatment from the pres
ent Commissioner of Pensions than they
did from his predecessor. Another
fact that it seems unnecessary to en-
large upon is that time is highly i'm
portant to the veterans The passing
years have a direful acceleration for
them. Every day brings them nearer
the grave in increasing ratio. Their
needs cry out more vociferous with
every changing of the moon, yet the
number Of weekly allowances steadily
diminishes. while the Pension Commits
sioner officially states that he has
ga, 600 claims pending in his bureau.
of which he says $4,000 have so far re-
ceived nothing at all. Elsewhere he
states that about 300, 600 survivors re-
ceived no pensions, and yet very recent
ly the Commissioner recommended and
carried through a reduction of 100 in
his force of clerks, on the ground that
he had more force than he needed-this
in the face of the fact that hardly a
broad land the pension certificate ar
rives only in time to be laid on the
coffin of the applicant
Resolved That the rule of the Pen
sion Office by which a widow is de-
barred from pension if she has an in
come OF sIoo per year is unjust, and we
ask the President that the order be
aprogated, and the minimum income
debarring from pensions be fixed at not
less than $500 per annum. In this
connection we desire to inform the
President that very early in his admin
istration it was announced by high
official in the Pension Office that the
WIDOWS limit would be raised to $500
but 1t never materialized
Resolved, That we ask for the estab-
hshment of order 164, which was en-
forced under the Harrison regime. This
order, in simple terms. took cognizance
| in rating mans pension of all dis
/ abilities he suffered under. 1t was
| abrogated by the last Administration.
! and 1t was held that to be entitled to
the lowest rate of SO per month a
comrade must have some ore disability
which is rated at that amount. If he
has three disabilities rated at 81 each.
he gets no pension at all. This in
iquitous rule is maintained to this hour
and we submit it is not such treatment
as we had right to expect from Com
rade William Mckinley.
Resolved, That in constituting the
/ phrase Inability to perform manual
| labor it be construed to mean inabil-
ity to perform unprofessional. unskilI-
ed labor, labor requiring muscular eff
| fort alone. Your committee further re-
specially states that it is unwilling to
receive even the official statement of
the Commissioner Of Pensions with
seVefal large grains of allowance. He
states in one place that there are n
| coo comrades who never received
pension. In another place he FIXES the
figures at 100000. We are aware that
from time to time he issues GLOWING
statements as to the great work he Is
doing for the comrades, in cornnarison
| to what was formerly done but most
or his comparisons are with the Adj
ministrations of Presidents Grant and
Hayes. Prior to the Act of 1890
granting pension after ninety days'
service. disability honestly incurred
even after the war, he COMPARES with
the period when the sum total of claims
was only 1904 600, when owing to the
small force in the Adjutant Generals
once, 1t took two years to get a re-
port on the claimants record which il
now only takes five days He COM
pareS work with the work done when
the clerks in the pension office number
ed only 300, while he has 600 He
refralns from giving prominence to the
number of his reflections Orr com,