Our great
nation does not begrudge its generosity, but it abhors peculation and
fraud; and the favorable regard of our people for the great corporations
to which these grants were made can only be revived by a restoration of
confidence, to be secured by their constant, unequivocal, and clearly
manifested integrity. A faithful application of the undiminished
proceeds of the grants to the construction and perfecting of their
roads, an honest discharge of their obligations, and entire justice to
all the people in the enjoyment of their rights on these highways of
travel are all the public asks, and it will be content with no less. To
secure these things should be the common purpose of the officers of the
Government, as well as of the corporations. With this accomplishment
prosperity would be permanently secured to the roads, and national pride
would take the place of national complaint.
It appears from the report of the Commissioner of Pensions that there
were on the 1st day of July, 1885, 345,125 persons borne upon the
pension rolls, who were classified as follows: Army invalids, 241,456;
widows, minor children, and dependent relatives of deceased soldiers,
78,841; navy invalids, 2,745; navy widows, minor children, and
dependents, 1,926; survivors of the War of 1812, 2,945; and widows of
those who served in that war, 17,212. About one man in ten of all those
who enlisted in the late war are reported as receiving pensions,
exclusive of the dependents of deceased soldiers.
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