The Caledonian-record. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1920-current, 1922-08-01
VT. VETERANS
ARE FINALLY
REMEMBERED
Soldiers and Relatives Re-
cOgnized In Omnibus
Pension Bills

\Ou1 w dSHllSIOH correspondent
Pending pension legislation
holds out hopes of aid and COM
fort in their declining days to
nearly score of widows and other
dependents of Vermont veterans,
and to one surviving Civil War
soldier who saw service in a
Green Mountain command.
Although in many instances this
hope has been so long deferred
that the heart has indeed sickened,
yet successive months have gradu-
ally brought its realization nearer
until today each pending case has
run the gauntlet of committee APP
proval and now awaits the formal
O. X. of Congress. For that mat
ter in all save two of the instanc-
es enumerated in this article the
House of Representatives has al
ready taken favorable action and
the entire number of cases are
now on the Senate calendar.
Here, however, it is to be feared
they are likely to Bemain for some
little time, since tariff and bonus
legislation practically have the
right of way IN the upper house
and there is little likelihood that
the pension bills will be taken up
at the presen session. Should
they be carried over to the regu-
lar session, which convenes early
in December, their passage may be
looked for, it is believed, early in
the winter.
Seventeen so-called Omnibus
pension bills" (Which are collec-
tons or groupings of the individ-
ual bills introduced by Senators
and Representatives. carry the
names of the benefciaries listed in
the succeeding paragraphs. A
few of them are resident outside
the State of Vermont, but most of
them may be found therein. Thir-
teen of the fifteen widows named
are relicts of men who fought in
the war between the North and
the South; one survives a husband
who participated in the Mexican
War; one is the widow of Span
ish War trooper. Three daugh-
tiers of Civil War veterans and one
son will come in for Federal finar
cial aid if the bills become laws.
In each and every instance care
full investigation has shown that
this help is a virtual necessity, for
the inflmaties of age and the bur-
den of i'll health are pressing heav-
lily on the already overborne
shoulders of these prospective pen
sioners, and in not few cases un-
less the help comes speedily it will
knock in vain at the unresponsive
portals of the tomb.
Otis c. Mooney, now nearly four
score, is the sole surviving veter-
an to be included in this ensemble
of pension bills. On December 20,
1861, he enlisted in the Eighth
Regiment Vermont Infantry and
remained in the service until May
IS, 1864. At that time, having re-
enlisted at the expiration of his
allotted three years, he was grant
ed a veterans furlough and went
half that, being then under age,
home. 1t is on record in his be-
his father would not permit him
to return to his command. Numer-
Gus efforts have been made to cor
rect his military record by legis-
l2tion, but in each instance the bill
to that effect Just missed of en-
actment. The House Pension COM
mittee took the view that it was
of no use wait longer for a rem
edy in that direction and so re-
commended that he be granted di-
rect a pension of $50 per month,
and in this view the Senate COM
mittedhas now concurred, although
the latter body in most cases does
not favor giving pensions to appll-
cants whose military records are
defective. Mr.. Mooney lives in
Littleton, N. IL.
An increase of pension from $12
per month to $50 per month is
recommended for Charles H.
Scribner, of Burlington, VT, the
only other male whose name APP
pears amongst the favored ones
here slated for assistance. Mr..
Scribner is nov 78 years of age.
He is described as the "helpless
and dependent, son of Oscar A.
Scribner, late a private, Company
|, Sixth ACKNOWLEDGEMENT lnfan-
try from December Is, 1868 to
May 5, 1864, who was not a pen
sioner." The elder Scribner died
of wounds received in the Battle
of the Wilderness.
The names of two daughters of
two Vermont veterans are carried
in consecutive pages of the report
made by the Senate committee on
the only Senate pension bill now
pending, namely, S. 1910. They
are Mary A. Sands. of Burlington,
daughter of Edward d. Sands, late
of Company l, Sixth Vermont In
fantry, who enlisted December 10,
1863 and who gave up his life on
the battlefield Nav 5, 1864; and