The copper era. (Clifton, Graham County, Ariz.) 1899-1911, 1910-03-10
Pension Bills Affect Numerous Arizona
People.


of Arizona are a goodly number of
pensioners of the federal government
and there are many more who feel
that they are entitled to pensions.
All will be interested in knowing of
the strong influences that are afoot to
bring to the veterans of the Civil or
Mexican wars apd to their widows
and children, the benefits which the
most extreme liberality of a gener
Gus government can be induced to
confer.
Congress is again confronted at
this session with the proposition 10
expand the pension rolls, and three
bills having that as their object are
now under consideration by the house
committee on pesions. The first of
these creates a volunteer retired list,
the second would place on the pen
sion at dollar a day all honorably
discharged soldiers and sailors of the
Civil or the Mexican war, and the
third would make eligible to go on
the rolls at the rate now paid to
soldiers widows, all women who
served as nurses during the Civil war.
Opposition has developed in the
committee to the proposed volunteer
retired list and yet the members are
impressed with the growing demand
for the passage of such a bill, and
members of both houses of congress
are receiving many letters from vet
eraas all over the country. Such a
bill, if passed. would increase the
pension expenditures of the govern
ment $66, 900, 900 or s7,OO0,0OO annual
ly. The bill provides for placing on
the "volunteer retired list" with re-
tired pay, the commissioned officers
who served with the voluntary army
of the north during the Civil war.
If such law should be enacted, the
pensions which these volunteer Off
GERS now draw would of course, be
dropped. The retired pay which an
officer of the regular army now re-
ceiyes would take their place. Ex-
cept in rare instances, the retired
pay would be greatly in excess of the
pension now received. The fact that
the pay in almost every instance
would be greater than the pension
brings to the proposed legislation the
support of practically all the voluu-
teer officers. The legislation also
has the support of many of the Civil
war privates, but some of them are
decidedly opposed to it. The, COM
mittees of the two houses which have
the bill under consideration are
largely made up of men who served
their country as private soldiers, and
this fact no doubt accounts in part
for the opposition the bill meets in
these committees. Elias S. Holiday,
who served in congress from the
Fifth Indiana district for many years
and waAactively identified with PEN
sion legislation during the entire
time he was representative, fought
the proposed legislation from start
to finish. He maintained that there
was no good reason for discrimina-
ting in the way proposed in favor of
them and who held commission dur
that if the government had money
to pay for pensions, it ought to go to
the private soldier who bore the
brunt of the fighting.
The dollar a day pension movement
is gaining headway. There seems to
be small prospect of the legislation
being enacted at this session but the
general trend of opinion about con-
gress is that it is coming and proba-
bly, within the next two or three
years. When the widows pension
bill, provides a payment tor every
woman whose husband saw at least
three months service in the Civil
war, was passed, and a little later
the service pension bill, the general
understanding was that there would
be no additional pesion legislation
for years to come. The widows bill
increased the pension expenses the
first year about S12,OOO,OOO and the
service pension bill added nearly $780,
OOO,OO to the governments fixed
charges. These two laws had not
been in operation many months be-
fore congress began to feel the press
ure for additional legislation. Some
of the democratic members of the
house are among the most aggressive
dollar-a-day advocates.
The I IordSnurr Liberal saws that