The National tribune., 1900-09-06
STRONG AND STRIKING.

The report Of the G. A. r. National
Pension Committee abounds in strong
striking sentences which, like a surgeons
keen knife, go directly to the heart of the
complaint. Among them are:
''If the duly organized administrative
department Of the Government charged
with the execution of the pension laws
cannot be induced to apply the rules of
equity in the adjudication of given case
then the influence of Federal officials high
in authority must be invoked, and unusual
methods be resorted to in order that wor.
thy men and women who cannot comply
with regulations harsh, exacting and
many times utterly unreasonable, may not
suffer for the plainest necessaries of life
.'It is not creditable to either the Gov
ernment or the claimant that the per-
formance Of contract only becomes pos
sible after the passage of a statute framed
to fit the particular case. Special legiS-
lation' is viewed with extreme disfavor
by the courts and, the people alike. A
Republic is best governed under a code
of laws which apply to the whole people,
the plain people. who found their greatest
exemplar In the Commander-in-Ch Chief an-
der whom we served in days when we wore
the blue"
We doh Tue
ment of our comrades and their depend
ent ones. and recognize with unspeak.
able appreciation the generally just atti-
tude of the lawmakers of the several
States and the Nation"
'1t is inconceivable that the men who
periled all that they had, that the Nation
might continue to live as founded by the
fathers and to take her rightful place in
the family of Nations, should by word or
deed seek for aught else than the right"
Congress clearly intended to apply this
same principle in the Act of June 81, 1890,
in cases where a disability affected or re-
stricted the claimants ability to earn a
livelihood by manual labor Order 164
recognized this principle and gave it vi
talic effect; Order 225 disregarded and
nulliied the principle of the aggregation
Of minor disabilities. Decisions of the
Department, ingeniously constructed in
the Bennett and Weike cases, have been
made to play n prominent part in the de-
cisions of this issue so sharply raised.
But decisions are not law, unless they
rest on fact"
'Thinly-veled attempts to obscure and
nullify the acts Of Congress have not been
confined to the administration of pension
legislation"
THE plain intent of the law-makinc
power, If that can be fairly determined,
ought TO control in matters involving the
rights Of the ex-sOldier and sailor and their
dependent ones. This is so obvious as to
render discussion unnecessary in this pres
ence, or any other presence. What, then,
was the true intent of the Congress in
the Act Of June 81, 1890? Did the Presi-
dent of the United States, the Secretary
of the Interior, the Assistant Secretary
of the Interior and the Commissioner of
Pensions at the time the law became cf-
fective and for some years thereafter, give
| true expression as to its terms? Did these
eminent lawyers and statesmen rightly
construe the statute and was their admin
| istrative action approved by the Congress
and the people! Who better than they
| were qualified to interpret this law, es-
pecially framed, as is conceded on every
hand. to correct grave wrongs and to
make possible even-handed justice to a
highly respected class Of citizens, espe.
cially deserving Of fair treatment at the
hands Of rich, prosperous and powerful
NationY'
| Congress has not withheld the means
and the fault does not lie at the door OF
the legislative branch of the Government. u
| ..'The Pension Bureau is invested with
unmeasured power and authority To ap
peal from the head of the Bureau under
the system now in vogue, is practically
the prolonging of an unequal and gener.
ally hopeless contest"