Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1902-10-02

ate1y becomes a charge upon the county
for his burial to the amount of fifty
dollars. He may never have had a
residence In the county; he may even
never have been citizen of the state;
he may not have been wounded, or be-
come diseased or disabled In the pub
lie service; he may die as the result
of his vices or his crimes, by accident
or by his own hand; he may have en-
joyed and wasted the bounty of the
Federal government or the state for
years; he may die in the perpetration
of felony, or be criminal fleeing the
justice of another Jurisdiction; but no
matter who he Is or what he has been,
If he served in the army or navy of the
United States in any war and dies des-
titute in any county, that county must
bury him at an expense of thirty five
dollars, and erect a headstone over his
grave at cost of fifteen dollars.
MEXICAN WAR VETERANS.
"a destitute soldier of the Mexican
war, who enlisted from the state of
New Jersey, and who all his life has
been a resident of that state, may go
from the state of New York may wan
der into and die in any county on our
northern border, and in each case the
county in which the soldier dies be-
comes liable for an expenditure of fifty
dollars for his burial. And so of des-
tub ;nfo
monwealth from any other state, no
matter how they come or what caused
their destitution, so that they get into
our state and die here, this bill operates
to charge the counties which may be so
unfortunate as to be the places of their
death with the cost of their burial
Could any bill be more void of intel
ligent principle Or based upon so little
reason? No guard of any kind Is pro-
vided to protect the counties from i'm
position, and no account whatever is
taken of any of the many circumstances
that in the most liberal pension laws
that were ever enacted are always made
an indispensable condition for the en-
joyment of their bounty.
OUTSIDE SOLDIERS AS OUTCASTS.
"It is impossible to conceive of any
reason why soldier who was never
credited to Pennsylvania; who never
reflected any honor upon her arms;
who never contributed by industry,
citizenship or otherwise to her pros
perity, should by the mere accident of
death within her borders be entitled,
no matter what his character of life
may have been, to the burial this bill
provides at the expense of one of the
counties. The lowly citizen of our
state, who, though not soldier, has
spent all his life within our common
wealth, supporting her institutions and
dignifying her reputation by virtue,
sobriety and industry, and who through
misfortune dies pauper, can claim no
such privilege as this bill gives indis
, criminately to strangers of whatever
character. He must receive a pauper's
burial. 1t is quite possible to conceive,
if this bill should become a law, that
neighboring states might rapidly be
relieved of much of their unproductive
soldier population to the marked in
crease of that class in our own state.
"The machinery provided by the bill
for carrying out its provisions also calls
for notice 1t authorizes and makes
1t the duty of the county commission
ers to appoint an indefinite number of
persons in every ward and township
of the state, who are to be the officers
having in charge the burials in their
respective wards and townships. This
means the creation of many hundreds
possibly thousands-of officials; and
while the bill provides that they shall
serve without compensation, yet ex-
perience shows that official duties in
variably entail official expense, and it
is not probable that these functionaries
would be an exception to the rule.
Apart from this, however, 1t is always
an objection when legislation creates
an undue number of officers, which this
bill undoubtedly does.
ut may well be questioned, also,
whether the provisions of this measure
fall within the scope of the legislative
power. 1t will be observed that it does
not appropriate the money of the state,
but attempts to direct the bounty of
the counties. 1t commands that GER
tain political subdivisions of the state
shall perform certain charitable acts
not generally, as in establishing poor
house or the like which is an exercise
of the general police power of the state,
but specially. in special manner with
reference TO a special class and at a
special definite cost. Without now de-
Gliding the question, the executive
would suggest that the bill requires
considerable stretch of legislative pow
er to Justify its principle.
"ROBT. e. PATTISON."
AS stated above. out of the $50 mem
bers of the house and senate, only 10
of them dared to follow their Demo
cratic governor in upholding his at.
tack on the Civil War veterans,
Hon. Robert E. Pattison is today