The times., 1898-01-21
THE PENSION ROLLS.

| 1t may be taken for granted that
none would welcome pension reform
! more sincerely than the veterans them
| selves, though ii is doubtful if any
! expurgatOry process thus far proposed
| would prove effective Excepting those
who are placed upon the rolls by spe-
/ cial act of Congress, all applicants
must fulfill certain legal requirements.
and submit TO rigid medical examina-
| tions. These conditions have Of late
| years become quite severe 1t IS idle
| TO think of impeaching them TO any
i great extent. Purging has already been
| tr1ed, at great cost to the pension fund.
and with no results worth mentioning.
/ The present newspaper fusillade may
| spur Congress TO some kind OF remedial
action, and while the agitation is prop
! er, it is TO be hoped that the use OF the
| words generosity and bounty" as
\ applied 10 pensioners, viii cease. Pen
sions are not donations. But they are
/ highly proper allowances, and quite as
| sacred as any OtneT governmental OBJ
/ legation Should il be published that
! the generosity of the Government was
| Scandalously abused in a recent bond
/ deal, whereby bonus of ten million
| dollars was exacted for placing the
| bonds, the publisher would be remind
! ed at once that generosity did not en-
/ ter into the tranSa ction, and that il was
| a purely business affair.
| Most writer's who touch upon this
| question have come up since the war.
| They cannot. as matter nf course. feel
| the tremendous issues that were in
volved in that struggle. as do those
who passed through it, They scarcely
realize that government by the pe0-
pie and for the people vas threatened.
not only BY the COnfedeTacy. but that
the hatred of monarchical Europe was
concentrated behind the COnfederacy,
aiding and abetting il in every posi-
bic way, while. at the same time. hired
emissaries were at work belittling.
corrupting. and dividing public senti-
ment in the loyal North and West. lt
| is difficult, also, to comprehend now
| that when the successful rebellion rear
| ed it's bloody front in the great Com
| monwealth of Pennsylvania, threaten
! ing both our political and our commeT-
| ciaI capitals, it was only a thin blue
| line" that stood between republican
government and it's destruction, not on
/ ly for us but for humanity. Let ths
| press therefore, be a little more re-
/ spectfui TO this line The men who
| composed this line-the line that re-
/ ceived the shock of battle upon all
| our fieids-are not very much In eFl-
| dence just now. But this republic can
never be TOO grateful for their services,
| There is another class of veterans,
! Those who squander their pensions in
/ our saloons and slums. and VINO make
bestial exhibitions of themselves in our
| highways and byways. There Is no
| warrant human or divine. for casting
| pearls before swine. This class should
| be placed under guardianship or be cur
| off. There is an opportunity for good
| reform work right here.
/ There is yet another class Of veter-
| ans men who served through whole
/ terms of enlistment without once look
| ing into the teeth of the COnfederaey
from the front line. l refer 70 thos3
! soldiers who sought details as teams
ters. company cooks. hospital attend
/ ants-any position, no matter no"
meniaI. if thereby they could escape
| military duty. Most of this class lived
| fo return home And they displayed
the same ingenuity in getting onto the
Dension rolls that they did in avoiding
exposure while in the field. They SoI
onto the rolls early. when IT was easy
to do so: when our Treasury was fuli,
and when pension laws We're literally
construed. They are no more entitled
TO pensions than were the civilians VINO
were hired as teamsters, cooks, etc,
in our armies.
There is still another class of men
who draw pensions who should not uo
So / mean those thousands VINO "erS
still in our Northern training camps
when Lee surrendered. and most OF
whom swarmed onto the pension rolls
under the law of 1S90-meTe recruits.
II was this last onslaught that COM
pelIed the Pension Office 10 barTicade.
and TO hedge itself with restrictive
rules. and close legal constructions
To such extent were these rules ap-
piled that a damaging reaction was
had against those deserving SOIdleIs
who were late in filing their claims
and a lust cry of indignation goes up
from them and from their friends
And now a counter cry goes up De
cause of the manifest wrongs that nave
beAn nerDetrated. and demand for
purging of the rolls is made rms Is
the dilemma in which the PENSION VI
flee now finds itself. But the lauit
lies not with the Office. So far as hu-
man foresight could determine. it has
beeu lust. The fault lies with the
laws themselves. They should bF
changed. Our Government has been
liberal TO a fault in its construction OF
what constitutes a soldier. Perhaps
the time has at last come when II must
be lust rather than generous IN sucii
construction. when it must insist up
ON some adequate military perform
ance. some duty. risk. or exposure.
other than that which falls to the lot
of a recruit in n training camp A re-
cruit is not a soldier II IS never TOO
late to undo wrong act
If all efforts at purging should prove
TO be impracticable. as is likely to be
the case. then perhaps the only rene
dy would lie in some radical change IN
the existing system. The substituting
for example. of what is known as the
service pension system. for the pres
ent system Upon some such lines
must nansion reform come The prob
lem will tax the wisdom of our ablest
statesmen