Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-01-21
THE PROVISIONS OF THE NEW
DoLLIvER PENSION BILL.
A REWARD FOR SERVICE
Increase in Total Amount OF Pensions
viii Amount to Something Over
5000, ,ooooo II Bill Becomes Law.
Means Much for lowa's Soldiers.
[BY H. ]. MAHIN.l
WASHINGTON Rureau Of the COURIER.

IBY H. ]. MAHIN.l
Washington Bureau of the Courier.
Washington, D. G., Jan. 90
Not less than $200,000,000 a year
will be the annual bill of Uncle Sam
for pension payments. If the Grand Ar
my service pension bill introduced IN.
to the senate by Senator Dolliver bea
comes law.
The bill is modelled after a sugges.
tion made and plans formed at the
meeting of the Grand Army in San
Francisco last summer, Senator Dol
| liver was chosen to introduce the bill
because of his we'll known <friendltnesB
| to the old soldiers of the nation and
| through the influence of Colonel y. 3.
Raymond of Hampton, who was the
Iowa member of the special G. A. r.,
committee that met in Washington last
week and drew UP the bill
This bill proposes to give every sur
vivor of the civil war who served
ninety days or more, who has an hon
Eorable discharge, and who has reached
/ the age of 62 years. a pension OF $l2
a month. 1t also proposes to pay ev-
cry widow who was married to the de-
ceased soldier prior to June ~, 1890,
a pension of $12 per month. 1t Is OBJ
4 viously impossible to estimate exact
lily what the increase in pension ex-
|penditures would be If the bill becomes
j a law, for the reason that there are no
exact statistics of the number of sur
yivors and widows who would be en-
titled to place on the pension roll
under the provisions Of the bill,
4 The best data available however, as
groughly figured for the Courier corr
respondent by; a pension bureau ex-
lpert indicates that the. total increase
In the United States pension account
/ Icaused by the bill would be over $62,-
\ 100000 and that it would bring the ag-
gregate pension payments of the gov
ernment up to the enormous total of
$500, 100000 per year, as follows:
q Pension expenditures un- &
i der present laws $13S, 900 900
Proposed service pension
to survivors ......i..s.5.s.. 48,S00,000
Proposed service pension
to widows ............g..s. 8,640,000
Increases of pensions now
now less than $12 100000
4 Total Observation-Disclosures 5000, $4,000
), In his last annual report Commits
oiOiiSif VI SiolOilo w diC PioSSo liho
, estimate of the number Of survivors
not carried on the pension rolls at
I 100000 The commissioner however,
says thai he thinks this estimate is
small, and expresses the belief that
4 the true figures may be as high as
225,000, Accepting the estimate OF
{. 100000 as correct, however, it would
require S,S0O,0O0 per year to pay.
them all $12 per month, as is proposed
by the Dolliver bill
4 There were on the rolls on July /
!. last 9S,65A Civil War pensioners draw
i ing various pensions below the ,sSi2-
. rate Each one of these would have
A a right to surrender his present PEN
sion and apply for new one under the
new law. Making liberal allowance
+ for deaths since July /, it would re-
quire $5,000,0O0 to bring these pen
sions up to the $12 grade. Assuming
that the number Of widows would bear
the same proportion to the number Of
4 survivors not pensioned that the NUM-
: ber of pensioned widows bears to the
total would be slightly in excess of
60,000. This makes the amount re-
quired for widows pensions under this
new bill sS,640,000
Il ApplJlls5 tlC ICJulLS vi luC pdSS9SrO
: of the Dolliver bill to Iowa. it is es-
:, timated that the total sum Of pension
4 money now going to that state would
Z be increased by $1,000, 900. Iowa now
$ has total of 36, 1872 pensioners on the
! rolls, and the Dolliver bill would add
: fully $500 more, making total Of
$ about $4,000. OF this increase about.
I 50 100000 would go to survivors not on
1 the rolls, and S250,000 to widows, the
y rest being used in increases. It is es-
i tima ated that there are about 1000 sol
diers' widows in Iowa who would be
eligible to the pension roll under this
4 new law.
Judge Walter l. Smith, OF Council
Bluffs. has not kept count, but he
thinks that about 4S7 well meaning
colleagues have come up to joke him
{ i on his prowess as a "mob-queller".
4 The jokers, however, have found
Judge Smith ready for them, and he
usually gets back in good shane.
The Courier representative was talk
ing with Judge Smith in the cloak
room the other day when Champ
Clark came up. Grinning broadly Mr..
Clark said.
/. ~, VIGIL Judge. ala you DTlnB lne rope
along as evidence that you surely did
stop the hanging?"
Hardly that" answered Judge
y Smith, Il am simply resting securely
: in the knowledge that the incident
was certain evidence that one of ray
], speeches will disperse any crowd"
AS usual Judge Smith takes all this
most good humoredly and has himself
told with glee in the cloak rooms the