The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1912-01-22
$26,OOO,OOO FOR
PENSIONS LIKELY
SENATE COMMITTEE TO PRO.
cEEo WITH GREAT oELleER.
ALTON ON THE BILL.

Washington, Jan 22.-It is appar-
ent that the Senate committee on pen
sions Is to proceed with great deliber-
alton In the matter of reporting bill
IL Is also apparent and has been for
some time. that II will not report the
Sherwood bill, already passed by the
House. but viii report a substitute
drafted, in all probability, along the
lines of the bill introduced in the SEN
ate by Mr.. McCumber of North Dako-
Ia, committee chairman. The commit :
tee. at its meeting this week. decid-
ed that next week IL would invite Rep
resentative Sherwood TO appear and
make any statement he might see fit In
support of the house bill. The legis-
lative committee rof the G.. A. r. will
also be invited TO be present, as will
any other persons who are directly
concerned i'm the pending legislation.
The Sherwood bill. according to fig
ures submitted by the secretary of the
interior. would add $75,651.54s year
to the pension roll. making il aggre-
crate about $235.O00, 900. The sup
porters of the bill deny that the
amount will be that large, and it is for
the purpose of permitting Mr.. Sher-
wood to present his figures that the
Senate committee has invited him to
appear before it.
Bill to Carry About $25,o0o, 900.
The likelihood Is that the Senate
committee will ultimately agree on a
bill carrying not to exceed about $685.
100000. maybe less. Such a bill would
go through the Senate and in confer
ence the house would probably yield,
permitting the Senate bill to become
law.
Some interesting figures have been
compiled for the Senate committee on
pensions. covering the pension opera
tions of the government from the rev.
olutionary war down 10 date. With
reference TO the civil war, these fig
ures show that there were. In round
my aggre"ating 100000 men. Elim-
mating all reinlistments. 1000 900 sep
arate persons wore the union colors
during that four years of stress and
strain. The total sum since paid them
or the dependent members of their
families i'm the way of pensions ag-
gregates about s4,000.00O. or In round
numbers $4,000 has gone out of the
federal treasury i'm the way of PEN
sions. since the close of the civil war
on behalf of every soldier who served
on the union side in that war. The
average length of service of these
100000 men was one year.
Four Billion in Pensions.
The total sum paid out by the gov
ernment on account of pensions, from
revolutionary war days to the present
time. Is s4.2SO, .7sO. or this sum
ss.9s5.7l9.s36 has been paid TO veter-
ans of the civil war or their depen-
dents. Pensions on account of the rev.
war aggregated 10000, 900;
on account Of the war of 1912. s45.-
s5s.024: on account Of the war with
Mexico. s45.27e.6se; on account of the
war with Spain. $34.142,976
The average annual value of pen
sions has Increased from si71 to s22Sl
since 1902. for the civil war. In the
past three years the number of PEN
sioners under special acts OF Congress
has increased from 1890 to 1892. ri
was estirlated that in 1908 there we're
7o5.195 surviving veterans of the civil
war. and in 1910. $4,000. This esti-
mate Is to the effect that there win
be 42s.o0o survivors In 1915. 251.oOo in
1920. 10000 In 1926. $1,000 In 1880. g.
600 In 1895. and 300 In ie4o Accord
Ing 10 these figures, the number of
survivors will decrease 30 per cent in
the next fve years