The National tribune., 1902-12-18
A rzNs1ox col1m1ssroN.
The One Proposed BY Senator Scott. Of West
VfrGinfa. and It's Ohfacts

Dec. 3, 1SUZ, Senator N. B. Scott, o
West Virginia, offered the following join
resolution. which was read twice and re
> ferred to the Committee on Pensions:
THAT q Commission consisting of thre
. members Of the House of Representatives
, to be appointed by the Speaker, and tw'
members of the Senate, to be appointed
by the President of the Senate. is hereb.
= created to examine into the present pen
sion laws and report any changes tina
may be desirable therein, and, further, t.
investigate the desirability of pensionin,
all soldiers who served so days during tn,
war of the rebellion. aad Were honorably
discharged, at the rate of S12 per month
Said Commission is authorized to EN-
r ploy clerk and stenographer, and such
lother clerical assistance as may be neces
sary. said stenographer and clerks to be
paid such compensation as the sa d Com
mission may deem just and reasonable.
Said Commission shall. on or before
!. Feb. /, 1901. make report to. Congress
!. which report shall embrace the conclu
sions reached by said Commission on the
subjects and laws examined, and any rec
Concentrations said Commission may see
proper to make by bin or otherwise re-
specting said laws.
Any vacancy occurring in the mem
bership of said Commission, by resignation
or otherwise, shall be filled by the pre-
siding officer of the Senate or House, re
spectively, according as the vacancy oc
ours in the Senate or House representa-
ton on said Commission.
4 "The sum of 5000 or so much there
of as may be necessary, is hereby appro
priated, out Of any money in the Treas
ury not otherwise appropriated, to pay
the necessary expenses of said Commits
sion, such payments to be made on the
certificate of the Chairman of said Com
mission"
j A representative of The National Tri-
bme called upon Senator Scott for an in.
terview with regard to the objects which
he proposed to attain by this resolution
and he said:
81 have long felt the injustice to worthy
veterans and their widows by the present
operation of the pension system, and the
necessity Of some radical reform which
would achieve the end aimed at in the
passage Of pension legislation. For ex-
ample some time ago | received a letter
from man whom l know to be most
worthy one, and. who served four years
without missing day, participating in 81
battles and any number of skirmishes. He
never was in a hospital. and consequently
has no hospital record. He is now 66
years old and in need Of q pension, but
he cannot get one under the present laws.
He said to NE: 1T is true / have rheuma-
tism. but | cannot produce any proof that
/ it originated in the service On the other
hand, l remember man in my company
who while applying TO me for help to get
him pension, reminded me that as Duty
Sergeant | had often taken him to sick
call. l wrote back to him that yes, / re-
called very well times that I had taken
him to sick call, that most Of them felt
that he had no business to be taken, that
he was always a very Indifferent soldier,
and that I would give him no assistance.
Yet he could get q pension on his hospi-
tai record. while my friend, who made
such splendid soldier, and who has all
these years been taking care of himself
and his family without assistance from
the Government, could not. Instances
like these have led me to this action. 1t
| is not in the hope of gaining the slight
est political or personal advantage, but
| in the interests of justice to a class of
men wbe were my comrades, and who de-
serve everything from the country. With
out them and what they did, men would
not be living In million-doi.ar palaces.
with their steam yachts and other ap-
lpliances of unheard2of luxury. The
amount Of money paid out for pensions
has never disturbed me. It is not squan-
dered; it is merely re-distributed. 1t is
| like the benefcent rain which falls Upon
the mountains, is gathered up in innum-
cradle rills into the greater streams. which
| join in rivers to flow to the ocean, and
there by the forces of nature gathered up
again and returned to the mountains in
tender life-giving rain. 1t keeps UP
healthful circulation as possibly no other
device could.
II assume that all Of the. men who
served in the war Of the rebellion are now,
or will be by the time this resolution is
passed, 62 years old.
"If we should enact law paying all SOL
diers who had served 90 days or more and
been honorably discharged a pension of
$12 per month, you could do away with
the large number of clerks now In the
Pension Office, and with all the medical
force, Special Agents, etc., as enumerated
below.
you will notice that the salaries of
Pension Agents amount to $4,000. The
clerk hire for these pension agencies is
S415. 16431. Rents for the different
agencies, $9.4S0; contingent expenses,
such as stationery, fuel and light, S29. .769.
Then, you take the expenses of the Ex-
amining Surgeons, which amount to $780,
600. The salaries and expenses of Special
Examiners, which could be done away
with. amounting to $191, ,123.s5, and their
traveiing expenses, ETC., making a total
OF 500, ,442.11. or grand total which
cOuiu De saved III dispensing Win the
lparaphernalia now necessary to examine
soldiers for pensions, Of $1,S0S. $50. OF
course, this doesn't begin to include the
number of clerks that could be dispensed
with in the Pension Office. Now, as the
Act Of Jan. 20. 1887, 40 years, we will
say, after the Mexican War, pensioned
all the Mexican War soldiers who had
been honorably discharged and were 62
years of age, regardless of sickness or dis
ability from wounds, why should not the
veterans Of the civil war be put upon the
same footing when they arrive at the age
of 622
If we were to take into consideration
all those who are now drawing pension
less than $12 month, and are now on
the pension roll, and bring them up TO
S12, it would require pension roll of
S155, 600 .OG0, or in other words increase
the amount paid for pensions from $140,-
100000 to $155,G00,000. There are now
SCI ,0I6 applications on file, and there have
been 470,S50 allowed, leaving about 4OO,-
600 not acted on.
'The following statement from the re-
port of the Commissioner of Pensions
shows the increased annual expenditures
which would be likely to be necessary to
bring all pensioners on the roll now draw
ing less than S12 per month, up to that
amount:
invalid pensioners, general
widow pensioners, general
law ........ ............ 1853
invalid pensioners, act Of
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