The National tribune., 1910-04-21

are designed so to reduce the cost OF
the measure as to obviate any reason
able financial objection to II, and thus
practically to assure its early enact
ment Elsewhere in this report II will
be seen from the official estimate made
by the Secretary of the Interior tina.
the intended reduction OF cost has been
effected. With three score and ten as
the minimum age limit under the
amended bill, the average present age
of immediate beneficiaries is about Is.
This statement needs no comment.
The average age of ali surviving
officers Is about five years greater than
that of surviving enlisted men-that of
the former being about 73 and that OF
the latter about 6S. About so per cent
of the present surviving officers were
promoted and commissioned from the
ranks for service and merit in the field
Provisions for Disabled Enlisted Men.
The amendment providing for aged
and wholly disabled enlisted men car
ries its own vindication. Not only are
these stricken and rapidly departing
veterans entitled to the relief thus fur
nished in lieu of the insufficient pen
sions which they now receive. but. in
aSmuch as the disability provided for
Is not required to be of service origin,
this legislation will go far to render un-
necessary, and therefore to discontinue.
the present unbusinesslike and costly.
but hitherto apparently unavoidable,
system of passing thru each Congress a
great number of special private PEN
sion bills. which are in many cases so
bciated as to be of little value to the
benehciarfes. 1t Is also due to the gen.
eral body of surviving veterans of the
Union army. who are now fraternaIly
AIDING these old and helpless comrades
mat the latter should be thus system
aflgltlV mr. ado 4.r,-
their closing days directly by the Cow
erhment which they helped to preserve.
Gen. Ne;tieton's Argument.
The report quotes with approval the
following paragraph from the recent
statement presented to the Committee
on Military Affairs. by Gen \ B. Net
Teton, as Chairman of the National As
ISOLATION of Surviving Union Volunteer
officers of the Civil War:
Let us not be misunderstood. We
ask of the Government no gratuity-no
charity We present to the Government
no appeal and make upon il no arbi-
trary demand. We simply point to the
record, and request the Government to
render equity to men who believe they
have earned and thus far failed to re-
ceive equity. The present request for
our proposed legislation is based on this
fivefold sanction: "a The general mer-
its of the case. including the magnitude.
results and value of the service rem .
dered, National expediency and patriot
ic gratitude; t2) the pledges given by
Congress and President Lincoln at the
opening of the civil war to the several
States and to the volunteers furnished
by them; (3) the action and policy of
the Government since the war in ex-
tending to practically all surviving off,
GERS of the Regular Army and NAVY
special rewards exclusively for civil war
service. which, contrary to the pledges
referred to, have thus far been with
held from surviving volunteer officers;
90 the commanding precedent fur
nished by the United States Government
in 1928 and 1882 in granting to the aged
surviving officers OF the Revolutionary
Army full pay, limited to that of Cap
tain, during the remainder of life; (5)
present public sentiment in the Nation,
as shown, among other proofs, by the
unanimous action of the Legislatures OF
10 States. speaking for nearly 80. 0.090,-
900 of our people, recommending the
enactment Of such a measure"
Volunteers and Regulars.
The report continues:
The records indicate that the Gov
ernments wartime pledge of equality of
treatment has been faithfully kept as
between the enlisted men of the Regu-
lars and the enlisted men OF volunteers
who served during the civil war. Equal
provision is made for the disability and
old age of both. But as between the
officers of Regulars and volunteers OF
similar civil war service that pledge has
Seen. and still is. wholly ignored. Dur
ing the civil war the volunteer troops
formed 96 per cent of the armies of the
United States and achieved 90 per cent
of the historic results. On the other
hand. )of the honors and rewards since
extended by the Government to Regular
and volunteer officers as such, eXclu-
siyely in recognition of their civil war
service and its results to the Nation,
Regular officers, thru no fault of their
own. have received all and volunteer
officers nothing.
The Revolutionary Officers.
''The surviving officers of the Revolu-
tionary Army received approximately
full retired pay according to previous
rank and service. at time when money
had much greater purchasing power
than now. All Regular Army officers,
whether serving in peace or war, re-
caive after the age of 81 three-fourths
retired pay. which after five years SER
vice ranges from s1.402 per annum for
a Second Lieutenant to s4.500 for a
Irigadier-General. All Regular Army
officers Of any civil war service also re-
ceive a legislative addition or bonus of
one grade in retired rank and pay as
special recognition and reward for such
civil war service. That special reward
is $500 per year for a Colonel and a
ratable amount for the lower grades.
Former enlisted men OF the Union army
are receiving average age pensions ex-
ceeding their full pay proper during
service. For surviving volunteer civil
war officers as such the
Government has made no provision OF
pension or retired pay. That
the passage of the pending bill at this
time is supported by public approval
and demand is clearly shown in many
ways. The Legislatures of the 10 States
of New York. Illinois. Ohio. Indiana,
Maine. Wisconsin, Kansas
Wyoming and Colorado have. regardless
OF party lines. adopted joint resolutions
approving and requesting the enactment
by Congress of a volunteer retired list
measure. Seldom in the past
has any measure pending before Con-
sress received so strong Endorsement
from disinterested sources, entitled to
the weightiest consideration"
Estimate of Cost
The committees report includes an
estimate from the Secretary OF the In
terror of the first years cost of the
amended measure. including both form
er officers and enlisted men. The net
cost above present pensions is placed at
The Secretary's estimate in
rludes the following facts:
The average annual retired pay ac-
crung to surviving officers of all grades,
according to length of service, is:
10,221 served two wears or more S740