The herald., 1898-09-10

prosecution of pensions by technical re-
qulrements not within the province Of the
law. and which are only calculated to him
der and obstruct the effort to obtain law
ful pensions.
| Your committee will call attention to
the fact that two yea~s ago the country
was stirred to its depths by complaints Of
the injustice Of the then administration Of
the pension bureau. These complaints
were so specific and distinct that they fur
nished the basis of political efforts. They
were the subject Of emphatic utterances by
| the national encampment. Beyond doubt
the political campaign of 1896 was largely
Influenced by the hope Of ameliorating the
conditions then obtaining in the pension
bureau. We submit that this expected
amelioration has not taken place; that in
no substantial instance has one OF fthose
harsh rules been abrogated, but every one
OF them remains in full force and effect, as
under the previous administration. The
| best Illustration Of this is the odious rule
| 225. which was substituted for the Just
rule 1854. to the infinite injury of tens of
| thousands Of much deserving men and
women. It seems unnecessary to enlarge
upon the fact that the veterans had the
right to expect very different treatment
sions than they did from his predecessor.
Another fact which 1t Is unnecessary to
enlarge upon is that time is highly i'm
portant to the veterans. The passing
years have direful acceleratlon for them.
Every day brings them nearer the grave
In increasing ratio. Their needs cry out
| more vociferously with every changing
moon, yet the number Of weekly allow
| ances steadily diminishes. while the COM
missioner officially states that he has
$4,000 claims pending in hia bureau. Of
| which he says 5000 have so far received
nothing at all Elsewhere he states that
about 100000 survivors have received no
pensions, and yet very recently the COM
missioner recommended and carried
through reduction of 100 in his force Of
clerks on the ground that he had more
force than he needed-this In face Of the
fact that hardly day passes out that
somewhere An this broad land the pension
certificate arrives only in time to be lali
on the coffin of the applicant.
Resolved, That the rule of the pension
office by which a widow Is debarred from
pension II she has an income Of 800 per year
Is unjust, and We ask the president that the
order be abrogated and the minimum in
come debarring from pensions be fxed at
not less than $500 per annum. In this con-
nection we desire to inform the president
that very early in his administra ton 1t was
announced by high official in the pension
Office that the widows limit would be raised
| TO $500, but 1t never materiaiized.
Resolved, That we ask for the establish
ing of Order 164, which was enforced under
the Harrison regime. This order, in simple
terms, took cognzance In rating mans
pension Of all disabilities he suffered under.
It was abrogated during the last admits
tration. and II was held that to be entitled
to the lowest rate Of six dollars per month
a comrade must have some one disability
which is rated at that amount. If he has
three disabilities rated at "A each, he gets no
pension at all. This Ubiquitous rule Is main
taned to this hour, and we submit 1t Is not
such treatment as we had right to expect
from Comrade William Mckinley.
Resolved. That in constituting the phrase
'inability to perform manual labor It be
construed to mean inability to perform un-
professional, unskilled labor, labor requir-
ing muscular effort alone. Your commit
tee further respectfully states that It is
willing to receive even the official state
ment Of the commissioner Of pensions with
several grains Of allowance. He states in
one place that there are 75. 900 comrades who
never received pension. In another
place he fixes the figures at 200,0 900. We are
aware that from time to time ne issues
glowing statements as to the great work
he Is doing for the comrades in comparison
to what was formerly done, but most Of his
comparisons are with the administra tions
Of Presidents Grant and Hayes. Prior to
the act of 1890. granting pension after 90
days service, disability honestly incurred,
even after the war, he compares with the
period when the sum total Of claims was
only 800, 900, when, owing to the small force
in the adjutant generals office, It took two
years to get report on the claimants rec
ord, which II takes now only five days. He
compares his work with the work done
when the clerks in the pension office num-
bered only 800, while he has 1900. Our COM
rades living and tho widows Of the COM
rades dead cry aloud for justice. We voice
their cry, and bring 1t to the ear Of that
comrade in chief authority over all the
land, confident that he will do justice.
The report was adopted without discus
sion.
Moved to Expunge
Some time after the adoption of the re- |
port a fear seemed to have come into the
minds of some of the comrades that some
degree Of blame had been attributed to
President Mckinley, and Judge Torrance
of Minnesota moved to expunge from the
report the sentence. Il
''This iniquitous rule is maintained up to
this hour, and we submit 1t is not such
treatment as we had right to expect from
Comrade VIM. Mckinley"
Corporal Tanner Immediately got the |
floor and stated that his high regard for |
President MCKINLEY was not exceeded by |
any member Of the encampment, and that |
in preparing the report 1t had been far |