The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1904-09-21
n. WARE TO THE PARKER
CONSTITUTION CLUB.
The Pension Commissioners Defends Order
No. - In His Usual Cheerful Way.

To THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-Sir: All
Democrats are Constitutional lawyers and
occupy the relation to the Republican party
that mosquitoes do TO a fisherman.
1 have recently seen Report No. I, made
by the Parker Constitution Club OF New
York, in which they find that Pension Order
No. rs. known as the Age order, Is an inva-
sion OF the Constitution, and they hold the
President responsible therefor.
Order No. rs was an order making the
proof of certain ages. by old soldiers. evil
dental facts OF certain degrees OF disable
ity: not conclusive only evidential.
Seventy years, being the Biblical age OF
threescore and ten. was fixed as the probable
age OF total disability. which 80 incapaci-
tated them from the performance OF manual
labor as to render them unable to earn
support" The foregoing are the words OF
the statute.
The United States Statutes make the Com
missioner Of Pensions the executive officer
to carry out and enforce the pension laws.
The laws are brief and need much inter-
probation, and the position OF Commissioner
is In many respects analogous to that Of a
Judge, in that he must interpret the law and
weigh the evidence presented and declare
therefrom whether the claimant is entitled
to pension or not Over 100000 claims
are by him rejected annually.
Among other things which the Com
missioner is called upon to decide Is the
meaning Of the sentence above quoted
For instance: What is manual labor?
Notice policeman strolling leisurely along
is he performing manual labor? Is the
night Waterman in hotel, or the cashier
in a bank, or many another whom We might
cite, engaged in manual labor?
The Commissioner must decide what is
manual labor" The statute does not
apply to brain labor nor does 1t define
manual labor" Congress pensions for
physical and not mental decay.
Again, what is "a support? Must an
old soldier live on rice or on cornmeal2
Is the support contemplated by Congress
the cheapest that will keep life in him at
one meal a day? Must he live In cellar
or In bunk, like San Francisco Chiuaman;
must he wear rags, must he wrap himself
upin piece of carpet and hibernate through
the winter?
The present attitude Of thought in the
Pension Bureau is that the word support
means clothes good enough to 60 to church
in and respectable abode, and such medi-
cal attendance as may be necessary, and
three good square meals day, and plenty
of plug cut, and several other things, and
then some more.
Order No. rs finds that an old soldier
who is 90 years Of age is probably able to
earn only one-half OF this kind OF support
and is entitled to SO per month as PEN
sion, and at 8S he is two-thirds disabled
and entitled to So.
This rule is within the strict line OF statu-
tory authority, human experience, and
executive precedent. No Democratic
President or Commissioner will ever abro-
gate Order No. 7s, because 1t is for all time;
yet a Democratic President or Commits
sioner would have that power and Gen.
Black, who had been Pension Commissioner,
knowing of this power. thought it wise to
suggest that Congress put the question be-
yond the reach of his party by making an
act done in pursuance Of Congressional
authority the motive Of a specific act.
There being nothing wrong in principle
with Order No. rs, let us now examine the
particular charge Of unoonstitutionality
which the Parker Constitution Club sets
forth.
The club finds President Roosevelt re-
sponsible for the order and finds that 1t
captravenes Section Of Article l., which
reads as follows: @No money shall be
drawn from the Treasury but in conse-
quence Of appropriations made by law"
History and the public records concerning
Order No. rs show that when 1t was made
Congress was in session; that the order
was made March IS, 1904, but was not to
60 into force until April 49, 1904; that 1t was
Immediately reported to Congress, with a
request that one and half million dollars
be appropriated to carry the order into
effect. The sum estimated was embodied
in the pending Deficiency bill and came up
for quick discussion. As Order No. "a had
been made under and by virtue Of authority
granted by Congress, there was then one
OF three courses to be taken by Congress.
First, it could deny that the authority was
granted, deny that the order was legal and
refuse to pass the appropriation; secondly.
it could repeal the law and abrogate the
order; thirdly. 1t could recognize the order
as legal and valid and vote an appropria-
ton to carry it out.
Congress, after hearing what everybody
had to say, took the third course, and voted
the one and half millions to carry it out.
Congress having approved the order
and voted the money, the pensions began
to issue under the order and to be paid.
How did the Commissioner get the money
to pay those pensions3 How did he get it
out Of the Treasury? Did Mr.. Roosevelt
70 to Mr.. Shaw and treat him as Cesar did
Metellus and take the money away from
him? No. DID the Commissioner open the
Treasury with a crowbar and abstract the
money? No. Well, how was 1t? Let us
ask Mr. Shaw. He will say that not a dol
lar has gone out of the Treasury without an
appropriation bill passed by each branch Of
Congress and signed by the presiding off,
Ger Of each body.
When Order No. IS was issued Democratic
newspapers offered four remedies: the
impeachment OF the Commissioner; the
dismissal of the Commissioner; q man
damus to compel the Commissioner to do
his duty as they understood 1t; and. fourth,
an injunction to restrain action on Order
No. 10.
The passage Of the appropriation bill
recognizing the legality Of the order and
voting the money to carry It out ended the
consideration Of the remedies proposed.
This brings us around to the proposition
stated by the Parker Constitution Club