St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1916-03-25

.
Revolutionary invalid pensioners Il
the several States. Later. We broad
lened our laws by granting pension
lpredicated upon nine month"; ser
vice and impecunious circumstances
We again extended the benefits O.
the pension laws SO as to embrace
1.-The widow OF the deceased soldier
requiring her. however, to show the
soldiers death to be the result Of
his Army and Navy service. A few
years come and go and we grant
q pension to those suffering from
some physical disability, not the re-
suit of their own vicious habits, upon
proving 80 days service. We again
broaden the scope Of our pension
laws by granting pension to the wild
ow without imposing upon her the
necessity of proving the soldiers
death to be the result OF his Army
or Navy service, and then we passed
pure pension laws on account Of the
Revolutionary War, the War of 1917
and the War with Mexico, and the
Civil War
This session we have extended the
scope of our pension laws In order
to embrace and include all those who
participated in the Indian Wars, In
dian disturbances, and Indian cam
paigns.
have done my utmost to give
you summary of the most impor.
tant laws the Congress has enacted
from 1893 down to the present day
From laudaole and commemorate
act adopted in 1903 has sprung this
system that induces rascality, places
premium on perjury, encourage
idleness, stimulates fraud, democrat
ICES our soldiery, makes sycophants
of our public men, holds patriotism
up to contempt, exposes the worth,
soldier to ridicule, and misappropri'
ates the peoples money. Il ann Who'll
| ~ at a loss to conjecture how an,
man, in possession of all his faculties
and believing in even-handed justice
and an impartial administration o.
the affairs of his country, can bring
himself to countenance this system
| Under our magnanimous and UNI
equaled pension laws we provide for
the INDECENT and aff1uent, tha well
and the sick, the decrepit AMI the
robust, the deserving and the unde-
serving.
The peoples faith in the justice
Of our pension legislation has made
them an unconscious instrument In
the furtherance of a system that has
become dangerous to the welfare.
They are noble and generous peo-
pie, and are worthy Of the best a
man has in him, yet every scheme
that can be devised whereby q por-
ton OF the country can live In idle
ness at the expense Of the majority
has been insidiously read into our
pension system. There Is, how
ever, q limit at whcih forbearance
ceases to be virtue"
Do you realize that We have paid
Ito pensioners from 1866 to 1915 the
appalling and gigantic sum OF $4.-
799,030,192? In addition to this
our disbursements on account Of sal
aries in the bureau, salaries Of speci-
al examiners and examining sur
geons, salaries fer pension agents,
clerk hire, and so forth, have reached
the startling sum of $120,71S.334
We are not unlike the cowardly as
sassin who, under the cover Of dark
ness, plunges his deadly weapon into
the back of his unsuspeeting fellow
man and dashes away, leaving the
death-dealing instrument quivering
In the flesh of his victim. We stand
here and sup.nely impose these dele
torious burdens upon the" toiling
masses, and thus clandestinely be-
tray the trust that the people who
we profess to love and revere repose
in us. Then we depart In triumph
leaving the horny-handed sons of toll
to pay the wages of our sins. In
variably, when there is an effort to
expose this species of kleptomanla.
the pension advocates, in order t.
justify their generosity, rise on the
floor Of the House and. with lips
twitching with feigned emotions,
denounce the cold-blooded and re.
Member who dares to ar
ray himself against the system. and
for the millionth time will recount |
the heroic and valorous deeds OF tn
old veterans, which also includes
those who never saw q battle field |
unless It was on a moving-picture |
screen since the beginning Of the |
European war. This Is sort OF |
sedative with which they expect tc |
humanize the victims of their pro-
digality. In the year 1866, after |
the worst conflict we have ever en- I
gagged in. we paid to pensioners TO
the year ending June 80, 1856, SIS.
450,540; SO years subsequent to that
occurrence our dis
bursements Of pensions reached thu
sum of $165.518,266, ir
spite of the fact that we are losing
approximately $4,000 Civil War sol |;
aiers every year.
Do you get the full import Of this
Incubus? Where Is the man who
IAN hear these appalling figures and
.eel no self-reproach? will hazard
The guess in passing that he Ia not
| Member of Congress.
To have an actual pension roll of
b165, 100000, so years after tn
Civil War and II years after the
spanish-American skirmish, shows
ndisputably tn: there is something
wrong in the State Of Denmark. Out
u this sum we send annually
$4,000 to pensioners in our insular
possessions and $945,O0O to foreign +
countries.
These old soldiers are rapidly
PASSING out into the great beyond
IS said, an average of $4,000 each