Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1901-01-31
CHAMP QARK'S LETTER
A New Burden to Be Piled
on the People.
A PENSION FOR CIVILIANS.
Entering Wedge of This Dam
gerous Innovation.
A PENSION FOR CIVILIANS.
RETIRE REVENUE OFFIoERsO ON PAY

RETIRE REVENUE OFFICERS ON PAY
Republicans Have Introduced q Bill
to Pension a Horde of Civilian Fa-
vorites-why Not Add Farmers, Ar
tisans and Laborers to the List:
Beginning of the English System.
Congressman Underwood Protests.
PIE of Republican Manners In the
Senate--spTo Quiggv New York.
Especial Washington Letter.]
A huge and burdensome pension roll
from the civil walks of life. Do the
people want that? If they don't, they
had better wake up thoroughly and
suddenly, for the first step, and a long
one at that, was taken in that direction
last week when the revenue cutter bill
was passed. 1t is the break in the
dixie which unless closed at once will
let in the sea. Can anybody give any
reason why government employees in
the civil walks of life are any more en-
titled to pensions or to be put on the
retired list at q good comfortable sal
ary than are the farmers, carpenters,
bricklayers, railroad men, doctors,
lawyers, preachers, teachers. editors,
merchants and laborers of the land
Yet that is precisely what's coming
sure as gun is made of iron unless
the Republicans are kicked out of place
and power.
In the matter of pensions for service
in the military or naval arms of the
government the United States has been
and is more generous than any other
nation ON the whole face of the earth
in all the hoary registers Of time. The
people Of this country tax themselves
voluntarily to administer literally to
the wants of soldiers and sailors suffer
ing from wounds or from disease, but
it is perfectly safe to say that if it
were put to Il popular vote the PROPOSE
tion to pension civilians would be snow
ed under too deep for resurrection.
Nevertheless the bill to retire the rev.
enue cutter officers, who are mere civil
ians, is the beginning of the English
system, introduced here, to pay pen
sions to a horde Of civilian favorites Of
the powers that be, and the bad and
burdensonle system viii grow like Jo-
nah's gourd vine. I'h9 patience Of =ahe
american taxpayer Is the most amaz-
ing phenomenon of our times. He will
wake up at last, I guess.
Tnderwood's Speech.
Oscar w. Underwood of Alabama
comes of race of statesmen, and lie is
upholding the traditions of his house in
splendid fashion. He is young man,
looks like mere boy, but he is uniyer-
sally recognized as leader on the
Democratic side. He is handsome, can
did, fair, reasonable and never goes off
at tangent. When the bill was up,
Underwood stated the truth when he
said:
There is no more reason why you should apply a
retirement law to the revenue cutter service than
that you should apply retirement law to the
United States marshals. The United States mar
shals enforce the civil laws upon the land, and
the revenue cutter service enforce the same kind
of laws at sea. There is no distinction This is
merely one of those efforts that have been going
on here year after year. into which we are gradu-
ally being pushed, to create civil pension roll,
civil retirement list. We have law for retir-
ing the officers of the navy and army. 1t was but
few weeks ago that bill was brought in here
practically and virtually to retire member of
congress. l am not criticising that bill, for |
have nothing unkind to say in reference to the
distinguished member 10 whom it applied, but it
was step which you took.
In the last session of congress we had bill be-
fore this house to apply the retirement law to the
signal service corps and to the weather bureau
service, and now you are giving it to the revenue
cutter service, and the next step will be to retire
the clerks in the treasury department and the
other departments of this government and to Gre
ate an oficeholding class in this country. Why,
they receive better pay than your average con.
stituent or mine who is rendering the same scrv-
ice and doing like work in this country. Your
constituent and ny constituent, if they arc PRO
yiding for the day Of their old age and their re-
trement from the active affairs of life must save
their money as they go along. You and l may
serve our country in the halls Of congress fol
years to como, and yet, when by reason of age
and i'll health we must retire, there is no retire
ment salary and should be none held out for u.s.
Why should these civil employees, who arr
merely employed at sea as civilian employees in
stead of being employed on land, be given thi.
right of retirement and also have this large add
tional pay, which amounts to 40 per cent aftel
20 years service? Practically under this bill theJ
will all have % years service pay.
Addieks Is Twins.
That eminent apostle of Republican
purity and sweetness, Hon. J. Edward
Addicks, alias Gas Addicks, appear:
to have the world by the caudal ap
pendage with a down hill pull in the
tiny and ancient commonwealth of Del
aware. He is rushing the senatorial
| growler, so to speak, at a rate which
makes the beholder dizzy. Most any
man of our 100000 people-no
counting the Filipinos, Porto Ricans
Guamese and Indians not taxed would
be satisfied with one seat in the senat,
Of the United States. Not so with Hon
Cas- however. He aspires to twt
seats. He must imagine that he il
| twins. There are two senators to cleo
in Delaware, one for four years, tn,
other for six. Addieks has himsel
voted for regularly for both places
| Whether he will succeed in his vault
ing ambition remains to be seen.
Republican Senatorial Manners.
In fine burst of eloquence Cicer,
exclaimed: 90 tempora! O moresI
cob, the times! Oh, the manners!'D l
he had been in the senate on Monday
the 21st inst, he would have ex
claimed, ooh, the Republican man
nersr On that day that venerabi
New England statesman, Genera
Joseph r. Hawley Of Connecticut, call
ed that other New England statesman
Hon. William Eaton Chandler of Ney
Hampshire, liari Mark you, plain
unvarnished liar, without any ifs o
butts or other qualification whatsoever
Now, these statesmen are senators
mark you, not representatives-mem
hers of the upper house, improperly $
called, and not of the lower, and Ney
I England Republican senators at thai
not senators from the wild and WOOL
west or from the heated regions of th
south. It was awful, awful, awful.
AS usual, Hon. Richard Frankli
Pettigrew was the man who set thes
gray haired senators by the ears. 81
dug up from some literary junkshop
little half forgotten OF totally forgotte
pamphlet written by Chandler yeal
4 400 rivino an sacco1fat of how sstlla vi.