The National tribune., 1898-01-13
WHAT II MEANS.

Veterans are doubtless sorely puzzled
to account for the present outburst
against pensions, which suddenly and un-
expectedly famed out like a fire in the
night. There has always been some
thing very mysterious about these raids
on the pension system. Every time they
have occurred, in all the years since the
war, they have burst out so suddenly,
and been taken UP so quickly all over
the country, as to indicate to close OBJ
servers that they have been carefully
planned beforehand and the train laid
ready for firing. OF course there has
always been a continuous suffering fire
on pensions kept up by ill-conditioned
papers North and South, representing
the hatreds and animosities Of the re-
bellion. But every little while, there is,
without apparent rhyme or reason,
without any exciting cause whatever, a
tornado Of abuse and defamation of the
pensioners and pensions will start in the
New York papers, and sweep through
the country. Inside Of week certain
papers from Boston to San Francisco
will be teeming with tie same utterly
untrue and misleading figures" their
correspondents at Washington will be
sending them columns of downright false
hoods, and their editorial pages Will be
filled with the veriest rubbish, presented
as solemnly as one Of Wiggins's predic-
tons as to the end of the world. Of
course, all the smaller papers, that take
their cue from these, will hash over their
malignities and mendacities according to
their several abilities.
In the days before Mr.. Cleveland
was elected the last time it seemed that
these periodical raids were organized
and manuvered by the New York i'm
porters, who saw in the payment Of pen
sious a use for the revenues derived from
customs, and their object in breaking
down pensions was to pave theway for
free trade. Then the English-toadying
New York Egeniag Post and Times,
the venal Heraid, which is edited from
Europe, and the " Yellow" World were
usually selected to lead the raid and
furnish copy" for the rest. 1t was
an instance where the extremes meet"
The Eceaing Post, Times, and Herald
represented the wealthy, emasculsted,
un-American snobs who think every
thing in this country is so " beastly low
aud common, you know" while the
World pandered to the undigested alien
element which has never gotten farther
into the United States than Bowery
street, New York.
This time it was the New York Sun
which was selected to lead the raid.
This selection had a deep significance
The SIN is very much ADLER paper
than any Of the others; it has much
more character, and it is prominently
the organ Of the banks, corporations
and capitalists. This latter is what de
terInined its selection. It is Wal
street.-The Money Power-which has
planned and ordered this outburst. i
is the men who make merchandise Of
money, and who see clearly that pension.
distribute money among the people
make it easier for everyone to get money
and so diminish their power 1t is The
same class Of men who are instigatin2
the movement for the retirement of the
greenbacks. 1t is highly Objectionable
TO them that s140,000,O00 of the PEG
pies money should be annually distri
buted among the people, by other agen
cies than their own, by means that they
cannot control, in ways that do not pay
them tribute. Monopolists of money