The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1911-01-26


gan, said:
Mr.. Speaker: In advocating the pas
sage of the bill now before the House
do not wish to be classed with those
who think the Government has MOI
hitherto been generous in the treatment
of its veteran soldiers; to the contrary
/ recognize that it has been liberal &c
degree unequaled by any other nation
! At the same time, it may be said with
truth that the magnitude of the army
Of volunteers that fought for the pres
ervation of the Union, the circum-
distances under which that army was
brought into existence, the length and
character of service rendered, and the
abiding and beneficent results achieved
have no parallel.
Objection is made to the bill because
under its provisions some will draw
liberal pensions who do not deserve
them. l concede that the allegation is
true, and if it were possible to exclude
the habituai skulller from battle, TO
eliminate those who by studied device
endeavored to escape duty, and deny to
those who, because of short terms or
for other reasons, never rendered any
| appreciate service, every true soldier
would readily assent. That there was
a per cent of the whole in each and
perience will deny, but efforts TO sue
cessfully discriminate against them
have thus far in large part failed, and
each added year of removal from the
war period but makes the task more
difficult. On the other hand, it would
be unjust, if not cruel, to make the
worthy soldier, who did his duty faith
fully, suffer because of the unworthy.
Again, it is alleged as an objection
to the passage of the bill that under
its provisions many will draw relative
ly large pensions who do not need
them. 1t is limited that even million
aires are among the pensioners. Sir,
If by industry and frugality or by for
tunate investments veteran has sue
ceeded since the war in accommodating
a competency, or even large wealth,
that in and of itself should be no bar
to his receiving from the Government
that to which he is justly entitled for
services rendered as soldier Other
wise a premium would be placed on
. fdleness and improvidence. The pension
roll should never be looked upon as a
pauper roll, nor the pensioners as a
roll of paupers, but rather what
it is in fact, roll of honor for services
rendered and certified to by authentic
records in the archives of the Govern
ment. / know a millionaire soldier of
excellent military record who so look
and received a pension, tho he never
used a dollor of ii for his own person.
al benefit i know number of PEN
sioners each of whom lost an arm or
leg in battle, and who would suffer
no want If they never received any PEN
sion money; but who would say that
they are not justly entitled to that which
they receive?
Again, objection to the passage of the
bill is made because there is no dis
elimination on account of length of
service rendered. Under its provisions
the man who served 80 days is put on
an exact equality with the man who
served four or more years. The law
now on the statute books provides that
they who entered the service at the
eleventh hour" receive quite as much
as those who bore the heat and bur-
den of the day" l grant that it does
not seem right nor just to give to the
man who went into the army in 1861
and came out in 1866 no more than
the man who entered in the Spring of
1866 and served to the end of the war,
receiving, as many did, large bounty
as an inducement, and in many cases
never rendering any service of real
value to the Government. On the other
hand, il may be said, with equal truth,
that in the closing year of the war
there were many men who saw more
battle service and who took more risks
of life or limb in six months, or even
in 80 days, than thousands of men who
enlisted earlier and served two years
or even more. Here, again, it is i'm
possible to sift out the men who are
most deserving and recognize and pen
sion them on their real merits, or to
segregate the undeserving and with
hold from them that to which they are
not justly entitled.
1t has been strongly intimated that
this bill provides more liberal pensions
than the needs of the veterans require.
1t would be easy, as the gentleman from
Massachusetts suggested, to get togeth-
er picket post of millionaires from
among the surviving veterans; it would
be easy to assemble from among them
considerable number of rich men and
still larger number who are in no
need OF pension, but when the SUBJ
fractions have all been made 1t will
still remain that the great mass of the
veterans are men of moderate means
and are dependent In their declining
years, in part or wholly, upon the pen
sion allowance. In this respect the civil
war soldiers are not different from the
survivors of any previous war, after
corresponding period The same claim
was made for the Revolutionary SOL
diers with great force and effective
ness. for the soldiers of the War of
1872 and 1914, and of the Mexican war.
Familiarity with actual conditions will
convince any fair-minded man that the
great mass of the soldiers of the re-
bellion period are not getting more than
they actually need
Great es the aggregate now is and
augmented as ii Will be by this bill, |
assert that ii Is not more than the serv-
Ice rendered and the results obtained
Justify. When we put over against the
sum paid for pensions the hardsbips
endured. the battles fought, the wounds
received, the consequent suffering en-
dured, the broken health from priva-
lions gone thru, and the consequent
wrecking of careers that might other
wise have been successful, il is diff
cult to estimate, and still more difficult
TO pay the debt in dollars and cents
While large numbers survived the
perils of battle. the list Of the killed
and wounded tells of the risks taken
by those who passed thru unhurt. So
great is this risk that j say to you, with
an abiding recollection of Shiloh, of
Stone River, of Chickamauga, and Mis-
sionary Ridge, with my wife and chill
dren in mind, with the remnant of life
and its possibilities still before me,
would not for mere hire go into one
great battle and take the chances there
in for a pile of gold as high as the
dome of this Capitol, and ] doubt IL
any other man would who knows by
experience the dangers in so doing to
which he would be subjected. Yet,
for love of country. for the maintenance
of the right, as the soldier is led TO
see the right, for the upholding of some
great principle involved, the true SOL
der counts not his life dear unto him
self, but again and again accepts the
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