Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-03-01
The Marietta Daily Leader.
FRIDAY. MARCH 1. 1901.
NEW PENSION LEGISLATION.

portance in the way of new legislation
at the present session of Congress, ex-
cept a bill relating to widows. In
fact neither the soldiers nor any other
influential body have asked for addi-
tional legislation of a general nature,
All they want is that the laws now in
force might be administered fairly and
in the spirit in which they were en-
acted by Congress.
1t might be said that the effort of the
Grand Army to have the Pension APP
peals Court Bill enacted into law. was
an effort to secure new legislation.
bill was simply an effort to establish
form in which the pension laws could
be fairly construed and precedents and
decisions established that would be just
and carry some weight. The present
system of appeals being a farce, |. @.
appealing from one set of clerks in one
end of the Department Of the Interior
to another set, in another part of the
same Department. "Tweedle dunn and
tweedle dee" about expresses the diff
ference.
The new law relating to widows is
fully explained in the report of the
committee of the House on the subject,
which we take pleasure in giving oul
readers in full, except the last part,
which relates to some minor matters
OF amendments which do not change
the purpose of the bill.
House Report No. 1887, Fiftysixth
Congress, first session.
The Committee on Invalid Pensions,
to whom was referred the bill III. r.
1885, to restore certain widows to the
pension roll, submit the following re-
port:
The bill proposes that the Secretary
of the Interior, in the event of re-
married widow, if she were the wife of
a Union soldier during the rebellion,
shall again become widow. she shall
be restored to the pension rights she
had as the widow of said soldier at the
time of her remarriage and directs the
Secretary of the Interior to place her
name on the pension roll at the rate
she was receiving at the time of her
said remarriage.
Your committee is of the opinion this
would be an act of justice The wife
of the soldier who staid at home, cared
for the family, in many instances on
very meagre support, frequently per-
forming hard manual labor to keep the
family together, and bore all the anx-
ieties incident to the absence of her
soldier husband, performed patriotic
duty and carried great burden. While
her hardships may not have Speen as
great as those of her husband. she bore
them longer. After the battle was
over the soldier knew the result The
wife at home endured the anguish of
suspense for days before the result was
known. Many of these brave and 10y
al women who lost their husbands and
were left without means thought they
would better their condition by remar-
riage.
This bill proposes that if she again
become widow she shall be restored
to the pensionable standing she had by
reason of the anguish and hardship she
endured and the loss of the husband
she gave for our country. Why not?
The institution of marriage is honor
able and entered into by widows all
over the land If second husband re-
lieved the Government of the care of
such widow for a time and she should
again become widow the Government
should willingly restore her to that
honored pension roll and pay her
small pension. Who would see one of
these war widows who had received a
small pension and lost the same by
remarriage go to the almshouse or
suffer for the necessaries of life? Let
us not forget that answering to the
patriotic devotion which led the brave
men to the fields of mortal conflict,
there were these brave and noble wom-
en- in their homes, bereaved of the pres
ence of their natual protectors. For
ever it is true that
The wife who girds her husbands
sword
Mid little ones who weep and won
der;
That bravely speaks the cheering
word,
Although her heartstrings burst
asunder;
Who dares repress the palsying fear,
missiles round him
rattle,
Hath shed as precious blood as e'er
Was spilled upon the field of battle"