The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1916. PENSIONS IN AMERICA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXX, Issue 65, 21 June 1916, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 1916. PENSIONS IN AMERICA.

The remarkable experience of the United States of America with regard tu pensions is at this time of more than passing interest, though i t is doubtful if it is nearly as romantic as such history would be regarding the pension.'.' granted by England and still being paid, quite apart from w::at will be icquiied on account of this worst and most terrible of world wars. In a special article appearing in a leading Australian journal it is stated thai war pensions and the methods of public finance in that connect.ou fcrm the subjects upon which several critics cf American methods of public finance have based some Keen comment. I'he records show an enormous growth of the expenditure under this heal, side by side with the obvious fact that to be equitable a pensions grant must be thoroughly systematised and jealously safeguarded. The American system of military pensions had its beginnings in the colonial epoch. It was felt that the need of calling upon the people for armed defence against the Indians and other foes imposed the* obligation of providing at the public expense for those who were disabled and for the families of those who lost their lives in the struggles of the time, in the revolutionary war the troops were promised similar pensions, and officers who remained in the service till the end of the war were guaranteed half pay for life. This was an enticing promise, but it was the cause of many bitter disappointments,, for the Continental Congress found that it was unable to fulfil the obligation. After the constitution had been adopted Conmess took up the matter of pensions and passed in 1702 a general pension 1 law. Successive laws improving tin' | machinery for granting pensions and 'enlarging the number of claimants followed, but it was not until .1816 that jan increase in the rale was granted. In ihat year the amount of full pensions was raised from five dollars to 'eight dollars a month, and the appli- ! cation of the law was extended to thost I who had fought in the war of 1812. The ; principle of service pensions was intiojduced in the Act of March, 1818. B> this means it was provided that al [survivors of ,ho rovoliiiiouarv army in . navy who had served until the close 0 i

the \vm\ or at tiny period of tin- struggle, for no; loss than nine month,*, should lio entitled, it iu need; eircumstances, ;o pensions for lit?, the rate for privates was fixed at eight dollars a month, vvibb proportionately greater pay lor men of higher rank, But, apparently, the law was loosely worded and the door was left wide open for fraud. The grants of pensions' became' a public scandal, and a law of 182!) required all pensioners and applicants lor pensions to file statements of pre- , erfcy in proof of indigence. Many were in consequence struck oil' Jm rolls. I p i to September. 1522, as many as IS,K£O claims bad, been admitted, but at that time the number of actual pensioners was only 12,331, a fact which shows, hem the law of 1820 had operated. A further law was passed in 1832. This) granted full pay lor life to all who had! served not less than two years in the revolutionary war. and proportionate payments to these who had served less than two years, but more than six months. In 1836 began a long series of Acts in favor of the widows of revolutionary soldiers. These were at, first restricted to those who had mar-' ried before the close of the revolution, but gradually grew more liberal, until pensions wen; granted, irrespective of the date of marriage/ A similar development of legislation occurred in regard to pensions growing out of the war of 1812 and the Mexican war.; Some of this legislation conies up to a comparatively recent date, and shows' the effects of the more liberal view of pension legislation which followed the! civil war. It was in 18(32 that the first' law pensioning soldiers of the civil war was passed. This was a disability pension law, providing for the disabled survivor and for the widows, orphans, and dependent mothers of those who died as the result of wounds or disease contracted while on duty in the service of the United States. The Arrears Act of 1879 hugely increased pensions expenditure, and in addition to the pensions granted under the general laws many claims, often rejected by the. Pension Bureau, have been granted by Congress. The provisions of the general pension law were applicable to the war with Spain, and that brief but vigorous struggle was responsible for a considerable number of pension payments. There on the roll in 1906 18,270 Spanish war invalids; and 5172 widows and other dependents. The pension system thus be- j came a vast concern and there were naturally many abuses. Gamaliel! Bradford, an American economist, in one'of his writings, after touching !on tbe rapidly-approaching extinction | of the'national debt and the alarm ofj the national banks lest all Government bonds should be paid off and the basis j 'of their currency issues fie shattered^ says: "There was, however, an ex-, pedien; which seemed to answer all requirements except the trilling one oil public welfare. There was a half-mil-; lion, morn or less, of persons who of: themselves or by their relatives had i taken part in the civil war. If each one of them could he provided with aj pension to include arrears from the, time- of the war, the surplus revenue would be disposed of for a long time to come. More than this, a permanent stock of gratitude would be provided for tile party distributing such beneficence, and particularly furnish a claim to the support of the Grand Army of the Republic, a body which has shown signs of an ambition to add the victories of politics to those ot war. The policy had also the advantage of affording effective instruments for the work in the, shape of pension agents, keenly alive to the chance, of a. handsome commission. So every village in the country, that is to say, the northern part, was deluged with inquiries whether any, and how many j persons there were who could furnish up a war record as the basis of a claim upon a paternal Treasury. Every, person who had scratched Ins finger, or had his digestion impaired by the, imperfect cooking of a military camp; found ardent sympathisers to work up his case and present it to a representative body more than willing to give, it favorable consideration." Quoting; a table showing pensions payments for the year 187-3 to 1898, this commentator savs:-"Jt thus appears tha, m the last 2! wars, besides paying oh so much principal of the public debt we| have raised oxer two thousand millions of dollars to be distributed among less) than a million persons at the expense, of the other sixty-nine millions. HI seems like the irony of fate that while lloi , on- dollar of this golden shower descended on the seceding States they have had to pay their full share o the taxes by which it was maintained.