Evening star., 1926-05-03
Restore Their Pay to
Veteran Retired Officers
10 the Editor of The Star:

TO the Editor of The Star:
The military committee Of the House
| has favorably reported II. r. 5S40.
| which aims to restore to the older off,
GERS of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps
and Coast Guard, retired before tho
| 1st Of July. 1922, the retired pay prom
ised them by the act of July 15. 1870.
That act of 1870 is the basic law
governing the pay of retired officers
of the services mentioned; 1t is a posi-
| tive assurance that they will receive
| rs per cent of the pay of their rank.
In the act of June 10, 1922, a limit
| ing clause was inserted, the effect OF
! which was to deprive the older officers
| retired prior to July i, 1922, of the
full compensation promised them by
the act Of 1870. The following cases
! illustrate it's effect:
About a year ago there passed away
q retired lieutenant colonel of the
| Army, the last survivor of the Fort
Sumter garrison that bore the brunt
of the first attack on the Union. At
| that time he was an enlisted man, but
| he won a commission during the war.
| At the end of the war he was selected
! to return to Fort Sumter and restore
the Stars and Stripes where they had
flown more than four years before.
During the last three years OF his life
he received SO per cent Of the pay of
| his rank instead Of the 70 per cent
promised him by the law cited.
There is now living IN New York a
captain Of the Coast Guard. whose age
| Is fourscore, an invalid and confined
| to his room. and who as q lad entered
| the Civil War and served from '6S to
| 50. Later he was commissioned In
| the Coast Guard and on that morning
| in May, 1898, he electrified our Nation
| by that heroic action at Cardenas,
Cuba The WinsloW was aground and
helpless, but in the face of a heavy
| fire from the Spanish batteries that
captain of the Coast Guard went In
and passed a line to the Winslow-the
line parted. the captain then backed
| in and passed another line. Lieut..
Bagley was killed, but the Winslow
was towed 10 safety. That Coast
! Guard captain was awarded a gold
| medal for intrepid and heroic gal
| lantry." and is the one and only Off
Ger who received the thanks Of Con
gress during the Spanish-American
War For the past four years his re-
ward has been the receipt Of a retired
pay of 62 per cent of his rank instead
Of the rs per cent promised him by
| law.
The above is q brief portion Of the
captains record. What is the record
of Congress? The Fifty-siXth Con
gress signally honored that captain.
The SiXty-seventh Congress deprived
him of one-sixth Of the pay Of his
| rank. The Senate in the Sixty-eighth
Congress unanimously passed a bill to
| remove that discrimination; the House
| military committee twice favorably re-
ported that bill, but the leaders of the
| House We're too busy with politics to
give few moments to the bill and
permit it to come up for a vote. The
deprivation imposed on the two Off
j GERS above mentioned has enabled our
| Treasury to save about $4,000. VIII the
leaders of the House in the Sixty
| ninth Congress permit this bill ia
| come up for a vote or must the dep
| rivation continue? Let us hope for
early favorable action.
p w THOMPSON.