The National tribune., 1910-12-15
HYPOCRISY OF THE PENSION
Halter.

and its desire that he should be treated
with the greatest generosity by the Gov
ernment These are as !nsincere as pen
sion haters' statements invariably are
The Worlds Work confutes itself ire
sistibly in its own pages in the issue 70
December. It there brands as leeche!
on the Treasury some of the most con
| spicuously deserving veterans on thu
list. They are all men who rendered
the highest and best service for tn,
Government. were cruelty wounded il
battle. and had all their future filled
with pain and disability and their ca,
reers more or less blighted as a result
of their service for the Union.
| The first of these that it mentions is
Gen. John c. Black, whom it assails
because he is receiving a pension OF
800 a month in addition to his salary
of $4.500 a year as President of the
/ Civil Service Commission. When Gen,
Black entered the service of the United
States in 1861 as an enlisted man he
was a youth of perfect physique, and
noted among his companions for his
feats OF activity and endurance. He
was Intellectually a leader among them,
and had a bright future before him in
his selected profession of the law. His
father was a personal friend of Abra-
ham Lincoln, and the great President
n int. orr in n
and his brother. Gen. Black was a
Captain in the 37th Ill. at the battle of
Pea Ridge, where he was severely
wounded in one arm, but refused to
quit the field until the battle was won.
For his courage, capacity and good SOL
diership he became Colonel of his regi-
ment and was brevetted a Brigadier-
General In the meantime he had re-
ceived a disabling wound in the other
arm, and these have been an hourly af-
Fiction to him ever since. He has hard
ly more strength in his arms than is
sufficient to tie his cravat and the drain
upon his system has been such as to
make him a constant invalid For
months at time he has been kept to
his bed, and thereby denied the position
and income in the legal profession to
which his abilities would entitle him.
For years his life has seemed 10 hang
by a thread, and no man who knows
Gen. Black would take his disabilities,
directly due to his service, for 100 times
the pension that he is receiving.
The next case is that of Gen. VIM RI.
Powell, of Belleville, Ill All the sur
vivors of the Army of West Virginia
will rise up in Indignation at this refec-
ton on their well-beloved cavalry chief.
No man ever served his country better
than this gallant old Welshman He
was one OF the first men TO enter the
service in the I'd W. Va. Cav. of which
regiment he became Colonel, and then
was promoted to Brigadier- General,
commanding a brigade of splendid cav
airy. He commanded one of Sheridan's
splendid divisions in the last operations
He was repeatedly wounded, at one
time left for dead on the. field Of battle,
captured and suffered all the horrors of
imprisonment. What, to a man like
received as arrears of pension? Gen.
Powell was man of unusual ability,
and in spite of his wounds became "A
leading iron manufacturer and man
of supposed great wealth. This, hC w
ever, was swept away by a commercial
crisis that took down great many 9TH
er quite as strong men as he.
The next case was that of Charles D.
Long, Justice of the Supreme Court of
Michigan. His. it win be Remembered,
was one of the famous cases of Cleye-
lands Administration, in which the
courts decided against Cleveland, hut
thc defeat was covered by staving off
the proceedings until after Cleveland
went out of Office. The Commander-in-
Chief of the Grand Army of the Repub-
lie ordered it to be made a test case.
and pushed it as far as possible. 1t
was so good an illustration of the bit
terly unjust methods of Cleveland and
Lochran that il was hoped it could he
taken to the Supreme Court. and an
announcement be received from that
august tribunal. This. as it was said
before, was escaped by Clevcland's post
poning the consideration of the case
Comrade Long was d private in a Michi-
gan regiment, and received a wound
which not only cost him his arm, but
left AN open sore that could not be
closed without fatal results. He was q
man of eminently good attainments. was
an honored member of the Michigan
Supreme bench, but his wound was n
continual handicap to him, requiring to
be dressed at least once a day. His pen
sion of $72 a month was n beggarly re-
turn by the Government for all that he
suffered and for all the injury that his
wound caused him physically and pro-
fessionalIy
If the Nations gratitude and justice
meant anything at all these men whom
the Worlds Work have cited were
stinsily treated by the Pension Bureau
The cases are ones which we can well
afford to have go before the jury of the
American Republic in vindication of the
pension system.
THE UNION VETERAN LEGION.
The National Executive Committee of
the Union Veteran Legion met at the
office of Judge e-Advocate-G Red
heffer, at Philadelphia, to take action