New-York tribune., 1909-05-19
PENSION BILL VETOED
GOVERNOR CONDEMNS
THE ALLEN ACT.
Says State 4id for Military Service
Is Indefensible in Principle and
Will Breed Injustice.
IBy Telegraph to The Trtbune.l

the LEGISLATURE for compelling the Executive 10
make a choice between two referendum ollls
contemplating an issue of state bonds exceeding
S10o0o0O. Governor Hughes to-day Vetoea tne
Allen bill proposing a state pension OF go
month for Civil War veterans resident in this
state who enlisted from TINS state anu S0'N0N
longer than ninety days.
The Governor in his memorandum seIIihs
forth the reasons for his decision, pays fun
trihute To the veterans speaking in eloquent
terms of their great service to the country IN
the Civil War. That indeed, is the point ne
emphasizes-that their service was to the coun-
try. which already provides an elaborate PEN
sion system not to this state alone.
state pensions for military service are mae
fensible in principle and will breed injustice IN
practice" declared the Governor He lnolcd'eu
that II the bill became a law It would set
precedent under which the veterans OF lne
Spanish American War would want pensions
and that if the states once began to take up
the pension scheme the federal government nat
urally would let the burden OF future pensions
rest the states.
In addition to all this the Governor pointed
out elaborate reasons for holding that the Dill
as presented by Senator Allen and passed oy
the Legislature was unconstitutional
THE GOVERNORS VIEWS.
In his memorandum he said:
The legislature passed two bills. each pro
viding for the creation of a state debt IN excess
Of 81 600 600 The one is for the improvement
of the Cayuga and Seneca canals the @ otI!eI -
the present bill for the payment or pensions -
I-etarans Of the Civil War Neither can become
law without being submitted to the peopIe
and approved Of by them at the genera it
10 be held this fall, But under tne CONS a
only one such bill can be submitted at the saIIIo
election Hence, both these bills cannot oecolile
laws 49,. ,o,-;5i,,e for
the canal IMPROVEMENT. Having expressed iIs
Judgment that the canal bill should receive IIIo
sanction of the people, and having by It's passage
provided for the single submission collCeiii i7
plated by the constitution, the Legislature EoIa
not consistently pass any other plI @ i,tS ho
similar submission. The Legislature Cmose' ~" ~
ever 20 pass the conflicting pension Dill ana trs ;iit
TO place upon the Executive the responsibility
Of selection. > - - ..,, t,,
reer OF pensions with a commissioner. deputy
commissioner and necessary clerks; ~ lot tIIe
pavment of pensions, under specihed condlli9ils
70 veterans Of the Civil War honorably dls,
charged who served ninety days or more anu
were enlisted and enrolled in TINS state as w. W.
unteer soldiers in any military bouY VI SaLiiEeu
under the authority of this state, or whose en-
listment or enrolment was created upon IN tIie
states quota in the military naval or marine
se-,-ice 81 The United states. The amount of the
pension is Ss a month where the PeIiSIOneI - -
sixtv-tW'o years of age or over to) o foi on CItS
issue of state bonds for not more than SZ'UUV.Ugo
payable in five years with lhIeiesI @ no' Siot +aS
1 ner cent. (4) For the raising by olrecI YAK
annually of whatever amount may pe ~IeeueH ~ 80
pay the pensions granted ana the eApSitS9
maintaining the pension bureau, atter the -
600 600 raised by the bond issue have oeeh e~-
hausted. ,o,. he
noted: The pension is to be a service pension
il is not based upon disability or de'eiiteiiiS
II makes slight attempt at equity OF dlstrlpu-
ZION Those who are inmates of soldiers homes
or of institutions supported in. n hole OF III par
by the public are excepted from HS ,1 nv tI
otherwise the pension Is payable as wen 10 W Ile
prosperous as to the needy, TO the unfortunate
and TO the well-to-dc alike
Pensioners must have resided In TINS state
three consecutive years before application for
pension and at least one year before each pen
sion paying period. One who went TO tile val
from his home in New York as member ol
New York regiment, but since the war mas nldue
his home in Pennsylvania and remains IhvIe'
ceive one under a Pennsylvania statute II the
policy of this bill We're followed All VINO nave
permanently removed from the state OF tnelr
enlistment would be debarred ulder tIlS poI4SJ
The bonds 70 be issued. of S2.OOO00O, would
provide no more than would probably De re
quired for the first year. II there are thirty
thousand survivors in this state who would be
entitled to such pension. the payment to them
in one year would amount to S2'l6ooOo
STATE PENSIONS INDEFENsIBLE.
So also. in marked contrast TO the present bill,
the Cayuga and Seneca canal bill, passed at TINS
session OF the Legislature. fixes a SPECIFIC an
nual tax rate of four one-thousandths Of a
mill on each dollar of assessed valuation for
each million dollars Of bonds or traction there-
of. in par value issued and outstanding during
each fiscal year
II would seem that the purpose of the con-
stitutional provision was not simply TO require
a general statement in the statute that an
amount necessary TO pay the interest and prin-
cipal Of the debt should be raised by taxation,
but specific provision for the tax, with such
dehniteness as show that the debt. interest
and principal is in fact provided for, and ap-
prise the people in appropriate detail of the
annual burden which they would assume in ap
proving the prOpoSed law.
But further question is presented funda-
mental question of state policy. Is it sound
sions based simply upon service in the armies of
the United States? think not.
This ts not a matter Of patriotic sentiment.
It is q question Of the proper recognition Of the
division of state and national functions Every
lover of his country cherishes the memory of
those who unselhshy gave themselves to the
hardships of and offered their lives that
the Union might be preserved Our youth must
ever be inspired by the example of ardor of that
host of young men who sacrificed the varied
opportunities Of early manhood and thoughtless
Of personal loss, responded TO the call of the
nation. Mankind has never witnessed a finer
exhibition of patriotic devotion. and no one could
desire to detract from the Just obligation inn
posed by that service.
But we should not ignore the true incidence
Of that obligation. In our state administration
we deal with state affairs, and national oblga-
tions must be discharged by tbs nation This
implies shirking on the part of citizens Of
the state for they citizens also of the nation
and in that capacity bear their share of national
outlays
That the payment of military pensions for
service in the United States army is distinctive
" a national concern cannot be doubted A
centralized pension system was OF the early
institutions under the federal government. and
the latter soon assumed the payment of pensions
granted by the states TO those who had served
in the Revolutionary War. The policy thus in
augurated and long maintained should not
be departed from. II is only by this policy that
we can secure an equitable distribution Of pen
sions and make such provision for their payment
as will be fair TO all concerned.