The Irish standard., 1904-04-23
of the United States.

vi llle Unlteu States.
II want it to be understood at the
outset that l have no disposition to
question the propriety of paving liberal
p2nslons to veterans of the late war.
want to see generous provision made
for their declining years, but 1 do in
slst, and | hope that this house will in
slst, that whatever provision be made
for the veterans of the war shall be
made by the Congress of the United
States and not by any self-constituted
authority.
Il would prefer to see every veteran
of the war enjoying a pension of n
thousand dollars Il day, if it were voted
to him lawfully by the Congress- Of
the United States rather than to see
him draw one dollar in defiance of law
" usurpation of our authority In
behalf of any executive oficer-in be.
iit,. in this instance, not of the chief
executive, but of Il deputy of one of
his deputies.
'"The Secretary of the Interior tells
us that the amount which will be dis
tributcd every year is $5,4OO,OOO, and
that computation is based on the u.s.
sumption that every person added to
the pension list shall be entitled only
TO the minimum amount The gentle
man from Indiana NIr. Miers), the SEN
lor member representing the minority
in the Committee OH Invalid Pension,
after more careful computation,
reaches the conclusion that this order
will entail an additional expense upon
the Government of $15,25OOOO every
year.
"l'ut whether it be the grcatcr or
the lesser sum affects only the amount
of the injury or the result to the treas
ury. 1t does not affect the character
of the invasion of our privileges, of our
rights and of our duties, that has been
ATTEMPTED. The lesser sum, which the
secretary of the interior fixes, is CAPT
talizcd according to the tables of the
nctuarics, which reach the enormous
amount Of between twenty and thirty
million dollars.
Thirty million dollars taken by one
stroke of the pen Of an executive off,
Ger is a substantial fact with which
tile congress of the United States
must deal if it have any regard for
its own powers Or if it be animated
by any shadow of loyalty to the con-
stitution which has created it,
"If this order be tolerated without
protest by this house, ask what pow
er is there left to us that an executive
officer cannot usurp?
'In paragraph three l find these
words: This order shall take effect
March 13, 1854, and shall not be
deemed retroactive.' How can inter-
probation be limited in time? BY what
principles of Interpretation can any
man declare that the meaning of
word shall be limited, not by his own
inherent character, but by his order.
can attempt to decree meaning is
legislation. There is no power on earth
that can decree meaning to word
except the sovereign power that enacts
a law.
Interpretation of statute is not diff
ferent from the Interpretation of a
physical law. Could Newton under
take to claim that he could limit the
law of gravitation for the apple he saw
fail? Can an executive officer throw
open the doors of the treasury and
take out of it millions of dollars and
declare arbitrarily that only a certain
number shall enjoy the privilege, and
still declare that it is an Interpretation
OF a word and not an enactment or o
decree of power?
II appeal to every member OH both
sides Of the house to consider the enor-
mlty of this spectacle of an executive
officer claiming the power to make all
Interpretation and fixing it, taking out
from the treasury money under our
control, stepping in here and declaring
that he can limit the meaning of words
and still profess that it is not an in.
vasion of the functions of this house,