The National tribune., 1903-10-01
Tho Pension Roll No. a Burden.

Farmers Tribune, Des Moines. Iowa.)
Capt. Hobson, in his address in Des
Moines recently, in speaking of the bur-
dens upon the people in building and MAIN
tanning navy, said it would not be an
great burden on them as is the pension
burden. Capt. Hobson is a brave man
and popular speaker, and being q navy
man wants great navy. President
Roosevelt also wants a great navy, but he
has never compared the cost of it nor the
burden which it would entail with the pen
sion payments.
Capt. Hobson well knows that there il
no comparison between the burdens of q
great navy and the pension payments In
the case of the navy every dollar put into
it would be non-productive; it would be
idle capital. and in few years the hun
dreds of millions of dollars that 1t would
cost will have rotted down and will disap-
pear: Not so with the pension payments.
or the S139,OOO.OO0 that was paid out for
pensions last year to the old soldiers, not
one dollar of it was lost to the people; not
one dollar of it was idle capital; not one
dollar of it disappeared from circulation.
The money was collected from the people
by the Government and paid out by the
Government to the soldiers. and by them
Immediately put into circulation.
The statement of Capt. Hobson Is mis-
leading, and would lead people to believe
that the pension is burden upon them:
"Oufu itfu tUcIn 10 lniQR IHdt IL ID so
much money taken from them never to
return. If there be any burden upon the
people in connection with the pension pay
ments, it is in collecting the money from
them with which to pay the pensions, not
in paying out the money after it
is. collected. The burden would be in
not paying it out-in boarding it rp in the
United States Treasury and keeping it out
OF circulation. The payment of pensions
is not burden, but relief: it is taking
the money out of the Treasury, where it
is lying idle, and paying it back to the peo-
pie. to be put into circulation among the
people where it is needed. The trouble
is, and the business and commercial
world feels it. that too much money is
tied up and lying idle in the vaults of the
Treasury, and bills have been introduced
in Congress to get it out of there and put
it in circulation among the people. Ono
such measure was that most of the $780,
100000 now lying idle should be deposited
in the National banks throughout the
people and keep it in circulation. The
same thing is accomplished by the pay
ment of pensions. the only difference being
that, instead of letting the banks have it
TO loan out to the people. it is sent out to
100000 soldiers who put it in circulation.
1t is about time that this rot about the
burdens" of the pensions is stopped II
the money was collected from the people
by direct tax then it would be burden,
Init under our present system of tariff tax
ation where the money is piled up in the
Treasury far beyond the needs of the Gov
eminent, it is blessing instead of bur-
len to get it out among the people, and
this is just what the pension payments do.
In this discussion the merit of the old SOL
der IS entirely left out Of rhe question,
md il is considered only as a business
proposition. and that is. that any system
that gets the money out among the people
is not a burden to them.