The National tribune., 1908-05-07

! take about S1T.500.000 the first year
and by stopping the construction of
two more of the useless battle ships that
are to cost 100000. .000;" by reducing
the large appropriation for n standing
army to maintain government of force
| in the Philippine Islands" by reducing
the enormous appropriations for cor-
| tinuing the work on the Panama Canal,
a project he says) now liable to prove
the most expensive failure in all the
practicable by the most capable engi-
neers of England. France. Germany. and
the United States" None of these state
| ments are warranted by the facts.
He then refers to petitions and letters
tquoting some of them) from veterans,
and perhaps others, favoring the pass
age of the bills as though they were
pension bills. The true character of
| neither bill is stated or explained in the
speeches or in interviews or in the peti-
ton headings. or in any literature sent
to the old soldiers, or to Grand Army
of the Republic Posts, or to the coun-
try: hence the numerous petitions. reso-
lutions, and memorials so much boasted
of here. Looking to letters and petitions
my colleague presents here. we learn
that the old veterans who signed them
were led to believe that the bills pro-
pose Ito give all the old veterans of the
civil war 81 per day The petitions
presented by him generally show this.
This mistaken notion is variously pro-
| mulgated. 1 quote from his recent
speech:
II have before me some of the petit
tions l have received from these old
soldiers in favor of the bill that I had
the honor to introduce, giving to every
veteran who served Is months at the
front 81 per day"
No such bill has been introduced by
him.
There are other things of like tenor
stated in this speech, which concludes
with the now usual threat that the
Democratic party will afflict the country
by electing Bryan President of the
United States this year. My colleague
says this result is to follow because the
Republican members of this Congress
will not pass his bills.
Gen. Sherwood interrupted to deny
that he had used Mr.. Bryan's name in
his speech.
Gen. Keifer read a number Of head
ings to petitions, and said these head
ings say nothing about all veterans be-
ing excluded from the rolls who had
not served with credit or mot less
than Is months in the field with troops"
or had been in the Regular Army. or
commissioned officers. And they rarely
disclose that all soldiers of the Mexi-
can War, the Spanish War. the Philip
pine War, and of all Indian wars and
and of all other wars are excluded. nor
do they advise the old soldiers, sailors,
or marines who signed the petitions that
in ascertaining the required IS months
service lin the field with troops" that
time spent in instruction and reserve
camps, in forts or other defenses. or on
guard duty in the rear, in the Veteran
Reserve Corps, in hospitals or else
where, and on furlough. and so FORTH
must be excluded in calculating the IS
months time limit, and it does not
state that the soldier must serve this
period in the field with troops" and
so forth.
Anything goes for a Sherwood bill
One paper, filed and refiIed as a pc
tition for the passage of his bill. con-
sists of a letter to him. dated Novem-
Der 10. 1907 (before either bill was
Union News, GAINESVILLE, Ga. This let
ter is quite as relevant as the other
petitions. 1t favors giving back to
the South the $50,000.000 which is
known as the cotton tax collected
from the Southern States" Among
the papers so filed and refiled there
are large quantities of such irrelevant
matter.
Some of the most important petitions
named in the Congressional Record as
filed by him can not be found, notably
those from Dayton, Ohio, and Leaven-
worth, Kan. purporting to be signed
by veteran inmates of the National
Home for Volunteer Disabled Soldiers
and its branches located at these
places. Others from other branches of
this Home do not correspond with any
thing on file, namely: Marion. Ind;
Johnson City, Tenn; Bath, Me. and
so forth. How these veterans multiply
on these mysterious petitions, or have
the petitions been padded, if they exist
at all?
The petition from the Home at Day.
ton, with Ais veterans. purports by
the Congressional Record to be signed
by 5000.
Mr.. Sherwood: I never said any
think of the kind. 80 -'-"i
Mr.. Keifer: You said it in the petit
tions you filed stii d.
Mr.. Sherwood: I did not. That is
a mistake. 1 never filed anything of
the kind
Mr.. Keifer: You filed it in your
own words. See the Record of April 3.
The Chairman: The gentleman from
Ohio declines to yield to his colleague.
Mr.. Keifer: Another from Leaven-
worth. where they have 2.3S5 veterans.
he says in his filed petitions was signed
by 10000 of them; from Marion, Ind,
with 1925 veterans, by s,e90; from
Johnson City, Tenn, with 1859 vet
Grams, by 5000; from Hampton, Va,
with 2.275 veterans, by $500. and the
one in Maine, with 1921 veterans, by
1000. There are other such exaggera-
tions and discrepancies-to say nothing
what is shown in the
Record and the pretended petitions
filed here. If any of you doubt this,
turn to the Record of April and you
will see it in his own language.
Mr.. Sherwood: That is not my mis-
take; that is mistake of the printer.
Mr.. Keifer: No. sir; not a mistake
of the printer
Mr. Sherwood: If you will turn to
the corrected report you will see it.
The Chairman: The gentleman has
declined to yield.
Mr.. Sherwood: hope the gentle
man does not want to misrepresent
me.
Mr. Keifer: Oh, no. Many petitions
filed and refiled here were evidently
signed on representations of the au-
thor that he had amended his original
bill SO as to include and pension all
enlisted volunteers in 1861, 1862, 1868
and 1864 and were later transferred
to the Regular Army" and "to include
all soldiers who enlisted as privates
and were afterwards promoted to Off
GERS"
This I quote from an interview sent
out by my colleague, found at the head
Of one of the petitions he fled But no
such amendment was made. and |
neither of his bills contains a provi- |
sion to pension such volunteers. Such |
petitions were filed and refiled by him |
in support of III. r. 1925 as late as
April and 3. And still others were |
then filed and refiled, praying for the |
of that bill, reciting that it |
Of the civil war, the Mexican War, and |
the War of 1Sl2-there Is no napSiopad |