Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-05

pliesnt must take his turn. and 50 eaon
one hangs on hopefully. continues voting.
and keeps his friends in line. BY and By
his turn comes and ms military record is
made straight by Law He gets the honor
I able discharge. or the congressional cerrif-
cate Of meriturious service ana Is ready
I suf the next move.
The Final Move.
That move is a bill 20 grant him q
pension il names the amount at what
ever he thinks he is entitled TO- under
the legal ratings arranged according 10 de-
gree Of diss bility The member knows
that when the bill goes TO the committee.
and lie Selected for passage. the amount il
carries viii be scaled down very sharply
/ But that is In his interest. and be only
makes q blur at protesting In order TO
Rppease the constituent. The real thing
is TO get bill passed granting some pen
sion.
The bill once passed and signed. the
pensioner is securely listed for life among
the members hcnchnen. The amount
granted at first is never enough. and the
benehciary's energy is now bent on get
ting it increased. But the only hope OF
that IL in the continued delivery OF the
votes. BY and by. when the gift box has
made its complete round Of all the Rp-
plicants on the members list. il will come
the turn again Of the first lucky Erabhsr
and he viii get his raise All this ti1ne
the bill granting the increase has been in
troduced in each congress right along but
the member knows. if the pensioner does
not that it is not 10 he passed until the
proper turn IL reached. The increase asked
for iE always the fun limit and the pen
sioner clngs hopefully 10 the belief that
his rights will he recognized at last But
I "a,
committee has cut it down again. and the
increase is only few collars. 81 that the
long agony Of waiting must be endured
once more, and meantime the votes must
be delivered al each election. or all hone
is lost
The PensiOner'. TreadmiII
So much for the method Of work in the
district Now the manner Of getting the
bills through congress. il is q good old
rolling plan: You tickle me, Tom,
and III tickle you, Jerry" II is case
e OF tact consent all around. no questions
= asked and no obstacles raised. 1t has even
gone so far that an understanding is
5 reached soon after congress meets each
E year how many pension bills each member
may have for the session, but in excep-
b tional cases a man may get more than
5 the allowance The number depends to
b some extent. on the strength Of the public
2 clRmor and the presidential demand for
s retrenchment For this session il has been
set al "'about three. a very liberal sp-
; portionment considering the need of keep
G ing down appropris tons and the cheese
= pairing OF department estimates. II is left
q TO the member himself TO choose the three
] from all the lot he has introduced Tn,
e committee sends out printed slips, early in
s the session, asking each member to specify
s the order in which he wants his bills re-
2 ported. and that is all the member has
to 90 10 get them through. OF course tn,
hopeful constituent does not know this
h He thinks it Is only 10y the hard persis
:, tent and continuous work Of .he member
!, that his bin goes through. and each mar
y fondly hopes that the merits OF his owl
:, case will be soonest recognized.
" How the Bill. Go Through.
At frequent intervals day is set asid,
,, for the consideration Of pension bills. TIT
! house goes into committee Of the Who'll.
a house on the state Of the union" and tn,
!, bills are read, with the committee amend
, ments. The clerk goes through them with
!. astonishing rapidIty. Nobody pays atten
= ton except two or three members Of tn,
= | COMMITTEES. The few members scattered
= about the house are busy with their CORE
spondence, newspapers or conversation
II is not even necessary that q man shal
!. look out 10 see his own bin 80 through
y He knows no one VIII object and il is al
= Il matter Of unanimous consent. Very few
= bills could pass on their merits II Their
were careful investigation and considera
" ton, with the debate produced by any 20
- ( Iitical measure. however trivial But eaCl
: man has his pension or private claim bill
TO get through, democrats well as re
:" publicans, and he keeps his hands Of
those Of others so that they VIII keep thsi
. hands Of his.
u The clerk races through the bill and tn
y committee amendment cutting down n
amount originally asked for, and then tn
= chairman says:
without objection the amendments wi
- be considered as agreed to and the bill rec
:, commended for passage The chair hear
= M objection The clerk will read the mex
:, bill"
"A Amazing speed is secured by this method
IS On the first pension day in the house thi
a session 1SS bills were put through the CON
he rnittee Of the whole al the rate Of consiC
D. erBbly less than a minute per bill. o
ne the second pension day 263 bills were har
nv died in committee OF the whole and passe
by the house in just two hours. The con
ho mittet Of the whole merely recommend
n the bills for passage. Then II rises an
D. the house does the rest In the house n
r. process Is even simpler and speedier tina
. in the committee Of the whole. Al the 10
q ginning the clerk reads the bill by tit
ch and the speaker says:
~ without objection the bill will be COT
sioered as having been engrossed, read
third time and passed"
After fifteen or twenty bills have bee
passed IN that manner the process is ST
further cut short. The clerk reads on
"a the number Of the bill and the speak'
VI says; Same order
" BY that method the house has pRsst
VI thirty pension bills in less than one minUt
d When all are passed the speaker says:
." Without objection motion 10 reconsidi
DC the votes on these bills will bs considers
ne 20 have been mace and that motion la
ne on the table"
az That IL the last act, the usual for en-
'Se ployed in clinching the passage Of a bf
~ When the motion TO reconsider has bes
as tabled, the bill cannot be taken Up again.
co The procedure Of the senate Is practical
'A' the same. and the speed attained In passir
eH bills almost as great The only diheren
] - ba~ a1-fna q