The National tribune., 1901-02-07
SPECIAL PENSION LEGISLATION.

SPECIAL PENSION LEGISLATION.
Senator ]. III. Gallinger, of New Hamp-
shire, the Chairman of the Senate Com
| mittee ON Pensions, on Feb. / introduced
the following:
Resolved by the Senate 6he House of
Representatives. concurring), That a joint
| committee consisting of the Chairman of
| the Committee on Pensions of the Senate
| and the Chairman of the Committees on
Invalid Pensions and Pensions of the
House of Representatives, is hereby
created for the purpose of making careful
| inquiry and investigation into the matter
of special pension legislation, with a view
of submitting recommendations to Con-
greSs on this subject. Said committee shall
have power to sit during the recess of Con-
gress, TO employ a clerk and messenger,
and to send for persons and papers, one
half of the expense of said investigation to
be paid from the contingent fund of the
Senate and One-half from the contingent
fund of the House of Representatives"
In the course of his remarks, Senator
Gallinger said:
But, Mr.. President, Congress has lost
sight of the purpose for which these COM
mttees were created, and we are now es-
tabliShing n Pension Bureau under the
upfHt vi lilc SdItllOi III lluSlldliOil VI IlllS
| let me refer to the number of cases that
are coming to the Senate Committee, and
| to the probable increase that will come in
the next Congress, because of certain
| matters that my attention has been
called to.
In the present Congress we have had
2155 special bills introduced by Senators.
and referred to the committee of which /
am Chairman, and 53 general bills have
also come TO the committee. In addition,
71S special bills and four general bills
have come to the Senate from the House
of Representatives. Thus a total of 290S
bills have been referred to the committee
during the present Congress, and it is safe
to assume that the number will reach $500
at least before this Congress ends.
Mr.. President, this is a burden that
ought not to be imposed on any commit
tee"
Mr.. Gallinger. whose habitual reckless
ness as TO statement, and lack of sincerity
seem to be increasing with age, and are
seriously injuring his influence in New
Hampshire and the Senate, knows very
we'll what the trouble is. No man better
than he. Two years age he called a spe
cial meeting of his committee in Wash
ington, during q recess, to consider the
widespread and bitter complaints against
the Pension Bureau, and learned then, if
he did not know before. the shocking eX
tent of the injustice of the Bureaus treat
ment of the veterans and their widows. In
spite of this he has persistently stood in
the way, ever since Of all efforts TO anne
liorate the hard conditions prevailing there,
and TO this alone IS due the food of private
pension bills from those who have been
denied simple justice by the Bureau. The
veterans have had to turn TO Congress as
the only recourse from the injustice of the
Pension Bureau.
Mr.. Gallinger further said:
in addition to this, Mr.. President, l
have seen letters written by the editor of
Grand Army newspaper, which has
very large circulation, probably 100000,
among the soldiers Of the country, in
which that editor says, in substance: You
cannot get any justice at the Bureau of
Pensions; ignore the Bureau; go to Con
gress; ask your Congressman or your Sen
ator to introduce bill in your behalf.
That is the way to get your pension al
lowed"
Now, the plain facts are these: Senator
Gallinger knows as well as any man that
the Grand Army of the Republic and THE
NATIONAL TRIBUNE have always been
strongly opposed to special pension lesisla-
ton, except iii very exceptional cases.
They have always contended for proper
pension laws, and their proper execution,
which would deal justly to all with all
meritorious claimants, put all on the same
basis, and show special favors to none.
This private bills do not do, and will not
do. In practice it frequently amounts to
each Senator and Representative picking
out the claims Of men and women who will
be Of political benefit to him, and getting
big pensions for them, while thousands of
equally meritorious, or much more meri-
torious, cases in the District or the State
get nothing. a very large proportion of
the inequalities and undeseryed pensions
complained Of are the result of this politi-
cal fayoritism.
Senator Gallinger knows this as well as
any man. His proposed investigation is
sham, gotten up for some Interior purpose
of his own.
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE and the Grand
Army of the Republic do not care fig
about it. They will welcome any real, sin
cere investigation of any department of the
pension system. They challenge Mr.. Gal
linger to make it. He dares not.