The National tribune., 1910-09-29

dren of deceased soldiers and sailors OF
the civil war, the War with Mexico ana
the various Indian wars. provided the
widow shall have married the soldier
or sailor at least three years prior TO
his death and lived and cohabited with
him continuously from the date of mar
riage. if subsequent to June 27, 1890,
| to the date of his DEATH"
The proViso here noted was agreed TO
by your committee to meet an objection
often urged, but we are constrained II
believe not we'll founded, to wit: That
designing young women wed old veter-
ans in order, to obtain a pensionable
status. There may be such cases, but
they are rare However this may be, it
was thought wise to cOncede the point
in the hope the widows act of 1908
might be amended at the first regular
session of the 61st Congress, and thus
gross injustice be corrected. Senator
McCumber did all In his power to push
his bill to vote, but failed. Your COM
mittee urgently recommends that the
effort be renewed by the National Pen
sion Committee Immediately upon the
lreassembling of the Congress in De-
cember.
Spcechmaling in Congress.
There was no dearth of speechmak-
ing by members of Congress on the gen.
eral topic of liberalizins the pension
code 1t is assumed that these for the
most part soulful and tender deliver
ances found their way into the homes
of the veterans and their friends thru
1.-THE usual channels. Varying emotions
upon reading these patriotic uttcrances
of the never-die sort of devotion must
have resulted. SO far as your commit
| tee is able to report that was all that
did result.
The doilar-a-day proposition of which
we all have heard SO much is now
squarely before the Congress and in
many forms. The G. A. r., if il is to
follow the precedents of the past, can
only indorse that bill which gives to
| each surviving soldier, sailor or marine
| of 90 DAYS service or more the maxi
mum rate. Length of service has never
yet been recognized. Shall We about
| face now?
Feb. /, 1910, the honorable Secretary
of the Interior advised the Hon. c. A.
Sulloway Chairman, Committee on In
valid Pensions. House of Representa-
tives. that the cost OF raising the pen
sions of all soldiers now (then) on the
rolls who served in the civil war. up to
| $50 month"; would amount 20 S107,-
79,755.4S.. This means that with this
added amount the appropriation for the
payment of pensions of all classes for
! the year 1911-12 would be about a
! quarter of a billion of dollars. Does
! any comrade soberly believe the Con-
gress would pass any such measure or
that the people of the United States,
now our friends, would approve of the
enactment of the bill? Why, then, the
extravagant and high-sounding pledges
in the halls of legislation, on the stump
and in the mad race for political or
personal preferment? May we not halt
and give saving, common sense free
range? This great Nation has been
| just; seeks now to be just, and cannot
/ fail to be just. if only we refuse to en-
| ter the devious path which leads to the
mountain peak where stands one who
would have us fall down and worship
him in exchange for the treasure he
glibly pledges, but does not and never
will possess. Is commercialfSm to be
| the slogan here, as in the marts of
| trade? This is vital to the pensioner
and his dependent ones. To the Ma
| a1@Encampment Is to be accredited
the honor of sanely writing the pension
legislation of the past. Let us not fail
! in the duty we owe the living and the
dead by attempting the impossible, but
squsrely meet the issue of a dollar-a-
day pension by declaring against it, as
does your committee in this report. IL
| is unquestionably true that some, many
| it may be, of our aged comrades deserve
a higher rating. If increases be made,
! il should be on the lines of the Nc
| Cunber act of 1907, by classes. To in
crease the rate from SIS to $25 month
at 10 years would cost a little over s12,-
| 100000 the first year To increase the
rate from $40 to $50 at IS would cost
a little less thans$S, ,09e, 900. or in round
numbers for both classes, about $780,
! 600, 600. To increase the rate to $40 a
| month, or a dollar q day, at Is, leaving
the rates at 81 and 10 as they are now,
the cost would be about s7,500.000. To
remove the limitation in the widow act
of 1868, so as to give about $4,000 wild
lows a pensionable status, as they should
have, would cost about sS,000.000 Your
committee doubts the feasibility of rails
ing the rates Of the two classes of 20
and 10, as suggested. at a cost of $780,
100000 for the first year, but it seems
proba BILE that the last two classes. at rs
advanced to $50 a month and s12 to
the widow, low barred, at the total cos'
of about SIC, 100000, might be accom-
plished. s'-~-