The National tribune., 1910-09-29
THE RE.AI ISSUE.

THE REAI. ISSUE.
il will now be plain to all the COM
rades what has hitherto been kept I'M
der cover that the real issue before .he
+4th National Encampment was wheth-
er we should have any advance in PEN
sion legislation or stop short. satisfied
with what we have already gotten.
There was very strong element in the
C. A R. and especially among the in
who were committed to these, and the
real fight was over this. Everything
else was subordinate and intended to
obscure the real issue. If John McEl-
ROY and The National Tribune could be
effective agitation for further legisla-
ton. The opponents of further pension
legislation even went so far as to make
a determined effort in the National En-
lcampment to defer all consideration OF
the pension question for one year. This
strenuous subjects that engaged the at
itention of the Encampm"nt and brought
| forth the most earnest speeches. The
result was defeat for the standpatters.
They were defeated in trying to stave
off consideration of the pension legisla-
| ton and defeated in their opposition to
The National Tribune pension bill. It
UNr;H
sion bill was not adopted in its entirety
and il was never expected that ii would
he. The policy of The National Tribune
is to ask for what it thinks the veterans
should have. What they should have,
| however, and what can be gotten for
them are two very different things. and
we have always tried to keep the diff
| ference we'll in mind. This was pointed
out to the National Pension Committee
at the time that The National Tribune
pension bill was formulated, and that
measure wars shown to be in exact ac-
cordance with the policy of the paper
thruout its existence. Every year in
The National Tribune's history we have
formulated a pension bill to crystalline
public opinion among the veterans and
afford information for the National
Pension Committee. which is the au-
thorized and only organ of the National
Encampment in these matters. When
the National Pension Committee has
gone over the bill we have formulated
and the expressions that we have re-
ceived from the comrades, II has always
determined what it was expedient to
ask of Congress. and has submitted it's
own bill. We have invariably with
drawn our bill accepted heartily that
of the National Pension Committee. and
given our utmost efforts to secure its
success. We are doing the same to-day.
The Pension Committee was informed.
and the comrades were also. that we
had gathered the fullest information as
to what the comrades desired, and that
the bill was before the National Pension
Committee for its consideration and its
selection of such parts of the bill as it
might deem wise 10 set forth for pre-
sentation to Congress. The National
Pension Committee determined to go no
further than to ask the removal of the
Limitation ON widows pensions apply
ing to those who had lived three years
with their husbands. The National En-
campment has now. decided otherwise.
and that in addition TO this proposition
of the National Pension Committee
there shall be incorporated into the bill
to be presented to Congress some of
the advance in rates urged by The Ma
tional Tribune pension bill This now
becomes the supreme law of the Order
and we cheerfully comply with it. aItho
we think it would have been better to
have made the rates higher for 20 and
rs.