The latter pensions were granted to the
soldiers of a war involving much hardship for disabilities incurred as a
result of such service; and it was not till within the last month that
the few remaining survivors were awarded a service pension.
The War of the Rebellion terminated nearly twenty-two years ago; the
number of men furnished for its prosecution is stated to be 2,772,408.
No corresponding number of statutes have ever been passed to cover every
kind of injury or disability incurred in the military service of any
war. Under these statutes 561,576 pensions have been granted from the
year 1861 to June 30, 1886, and more than 2,600 pensioners have been
added to the rolls by private acts passed to meet cases, many of them of
questionable merit, which the general laws did not cover.
On the 1st day of July, 1886, 365,763 pensioners of all classes were
upon the pension rolls, of whom 305,605 were survivors of the War of the
Rebellion and their widows and dependents. For the year ending June 30,
1887, $75,000,000 have been appropriated for the payment of pensions,
and the amount expended for that purpose from 1861 to July 1, 1886, is
$808,624,811.51.
While annually paying out such a vast sum for pensions already granted,
it is now proposed by the bill under consideration to award a service
pension to the soldiers of all wars in which the United States has been
engaged, including of course the War of the Rebellion, and to pay those
entitled to the benefits of the act the sum of $12 per month.
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