Excess of certificates issued during first three fiscal years of Commissioner Black's administration of the Pension Bureau over the number issued during the last three years of Commissioner Dudley's administration.....

..168,231

NET INCREASE TO PENSION ROLLS.

The net increase to the rolls during the fiscal years 1883, 1884 and 1885 was 59,428. The net increase to the pension rolls during the fiscal years 1886, 1887 and 1888 was 105,875.

Excess of net increase during first three years of Commissioner Black's administration over that of the last three years of Commissioner Dudley's administra

tion........

.........

46,447

FUNDS DISBURSED ON ACCOUNT OF PENSIONS.

During the fiscal years 1883, 1884 and 1885, $183,399,216.31 were disbursed on account of pensions. During the fiscal years 1886, 1887 and 1888, $217,399,757.30 were disbursed on account of pensions.

Excess of disbursements during first three years of Commissioner Black's administration over the amount disbursed during last three years of Commissioner Dudley's administration..

.$34,000,540 99

NEW NAMES ADDED TO PENSION ROLLS.

The total number of new names (original certificates) added to the rolls during the last three fiscal years of Commissioner Dudley's administration (which include the names of 15,906 new names added to the rolls by General Black from March 17, 1885, to June 30, 1885, the last three and one-half months of the fiscal year 1885) was 108,121.

The total number of new names added to the rolls during the first three fiscal years of General Black's administration as Commissioner of Pensions, from July 1, 1885, to June 30, 1888, was 156,226. If we add to this 156,226, the 15,906 new names put upon the rolls by General Black from March 17th, 1885, the day on which he assumed charge of the Pension Bureau, to June 30, 1885, it makes a total of 172,132 new names added to the rolls since Commissioner Black assumed charge of the Pension Bureau. Giving the Republican administration the benefit of the 15,906 new names added to the rolls during the last three and a half months of the fiscal year 1885, during which time the Pension Bureau was under Democratic control, we find that the excess of new names added to the rolls by the Democratic administration during its first three years exceeds those added to the rolls during the last three years of Republican administration by 48,105.

ANNUAL VALUE OF PENSIONS AND THE INCREASE.

At the close of the last Republican administration the annual value of all pensions was..

$38,090,985 28

At the close of the first fiscal year of the Cleveland administration the annual value was.

At the close of 1887 the annual value was.

44,708,027 44 52,824,641 22

Increase in annual value of pensions between June 30, 1885, and June 30, 1887.$14,733,655 94

General John C. Black, Commissioner of Pensions, said in a recent speech: "The Democracy has held sacred and has far advanced the claims of the pensioner as the common debt of the common people, to be sacredly, honestly and munificently paid. Never since the tender hand of peace first bound up the wounds of rugged war; never since the awful fruit of battle cumbered the red earth; never since men died and women wept. and children sorrowed, has greater munificence or more eager willingness been manifest than has been shown to the pensioners by the triumphant democracy-which, God willing, shall for many years pour the nation's reviving streams by the stricken and desolate."

THE WORK OF THE EXAMINERS.

In the same speech of Representative McKinney, from which quotations have been made, are presented other undeniable figures to show the vastly greater efficiency of the Pension Department now than under any Republican administration:

With no increase of force in the Department, but with a decrease, without superior opportunity for collecting evidence, the administration of General Black has shown almost 100 per cent. of increase of work performed and of certificates issued. The work of the Department has been brought up to date; old claims have been disposed of; and the bureau is now doing current work, and every claim is assured of prompt consideration when the claimant presents the necessary evidence required by law. If we will turn to the workings of the special examiner's division we will find the comparison equally favorable to the present administration.

The comparison is made between the years 1884 and 1885, under Commissioner Dudley, with the years 1886 and 1887, under Commissioner Black. The reason for not comparing with the three full years is because the report of the Commissioner for 1888 is not yet complete.

Expense account for the two years. $514,269.18. Of this sum $343,551 was charged as traveling expenses; average cost of investigating, $52.31 per case.

Total expenses for two years, $127,404. Of which sum $153,180.20 was charged for traveling expenses. Average cost of investigation, $13.78 per case.

"This work was done with an average force of sixty-four examiners less than were employed by Mr. Dudley. The result was the investigation under Mr. Black of 43,725 cases as against 17,283 cases under Mr. Dudley, a saving in traveling expenses alone of $190,271; a saving in total expense account to the Government of $86,865; a saving in each case investigated of $38.58. In other words, it costs under the present administration only 26 per cent. as much to investigate a special case as it did under Mr. Dudley. It seems to me that every honest man must admit by this comparison that both the soldier and the Treasury have been greatly benefited by a Democratic administration, as compared with the administration preceding it. I heard two Republicans now on this floor make the statement that every facility was offered under the present Commissioner for a speedy adjudication of pension claims. One of the best friends of the soldier in the United States Senate, a Republian, told me that during the fourteen years he had been in Congress the Pension Bureau had never been in so good condition, nor the ruling of the Department so liberal and just to the soldier as it is under General Black.

MORE EX-SOLDIERS APPOINTED TO OFFICE.

"If we turn to the record of appointments under the present administration of the Pension Bureau we will find the comparison is not to the glory of the Republican party. Of 416 appointments made by General Black from March 17, 1885, to June 30, 1887, 230 were soldiers or soldiers' kindred, and 186 were civilians-a net difference in favor of soldiers of 44, or about 24 per cent. General Black has appointed 29 ex-Union soldiers in excess of the total number dropped from the rolls by death, discharge, resignation, or otherwise; and this with 150 employes less than were on the rolls during the fiscal years of the previous administration would make a net difference in favor of the soldier of 179, or about 12 per cent. more soldiers, sailors, or their widows and kindred upon the pay-rolls than were ever upon the rolls in the history of the office. Three hundred and seventy soldiers or their kindred occupy the higher positions in the Bureau, paying $1,200 a year and upwards, against 292 civilians-a difference in favor of the soldier of 27 per cent."

III.

CLEVELAND AND THE SOLDIER.

AS MAYOR OF BUFFALO AND GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK HE NEVER FAILED TO REVERE THEIR MEMORY AND TO CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR COMFORT.

The record of President Cleveland shows that his interest in the soldiers who went to battle in defense of the Union, is not alone confined to words. He has never failed in any respect to give such assistance to the veteran soldiers as lay in his power, either as a public official or as a private citizen. When unable to give his sanction to the use of public moneys for the erection of a soldier's monument, as the chief executive of Buffalo, he led the movement for the procurement of the funds necessary for the purpose, by heading the subscription list as a private citizen.

When unable to sign an ordinance voting away public moneys for decoration day purposes without disregarding his official oath and violating the law, he individually headed a subscription for the purpose with a liberal sum, and, with a hearty co-operation of citizens approving his action, the desired fund was raised promptly without resort to public moneys.

As Governor of New York he promptly signed the bill passed in 1883 (chap. 247, N. Y Laws of 1883), entitled "An act to amend chap. 203 of the Laws of 1881,

entitled 'An act to authorize the burial of the bodies of any honorably discharged soldier, sailor or marine who shall hereafter die without leaving means sufficient to defray funeral expenses.'' This act took soldiers and sailors who died indigent out of the pauper class and gave them honorable burial at public expense, and a headstone to their graves.

He approved the acts of the New York Legislature giving ex-soldiers and sailors preference in public employment; providing for the completion of the records of New York volunteers of the war of the rebellion on file in the office of the adjutant-general of the State of New York, and for the safe-keeping thereof.

SPEECH BEFORE THE GRAND ARMY.

In the following speech is expressed the pride he takes in the achievements of the soldiers of the State of New York, and the regret over the lives of her sons sacrificed in the cause. It was the response of Governor Cleveland to the toast "The State of New York," at the Grand Army of the Republic Banquet, in honor of the unveiling of the Soldiers' Monument at Buffalo, July 4, 1884:

I am almost inclined to complain because the sentiment to which I am requested to respond is not one which permits me to speak at length of the city which, for more than twenty-nine years, has been my home. You bid me speak of the State, while everything that surrounds me and all that has been done to-day, reminds me of other things. I cannot fail to remember most vividly, to-night, that exactly two years ago I felt that much of the responsibility of a certain celebration rested on my shoulders. I suppose there were others who did more than I to make the occasion a success, but I know that I considered myself an important factor, and that when, after weeks of planning and preparation, the day came and finally passed, I felt as much relieved as if the greatest effort of my life had been a complete success.

On that day we laid the corner-stone of the monument which has to-day been unveiled in token of its completion. We celebrated too, the semi-centennial of our city's life. I was proud then to be its chief executive, and everthing connected with its interests and prosperity was dear to me. To-night I am still proud to be a citizen of Buffalo, and my fellow-townsmen cannot, if they will, prevent the affection I feel for my city and its people But my theme is a broader one, and one that stirs the heart of every citizen of the State The State of New York, in all that is great, is easily the leader of all the States. Its history is filled with glorious deeds and its life is bound up with all that makes the nation great. From the first of the nation's existence our State has been the constant and generous contributor to its life and growth and vigor.

But to the exclusion of every other thought to-night, there is one passage in the history of the State that crowds upon my mind.

There came a time when discord reached the family circle of States, threatening the nation's life. Can we forget how wildly New York sprang forward to protect and preserve what she had done so much to create and build up! Four hundred and fifty thousand men left her borders to stay the tide of destruction.

During the bloody affray which followed, nearly fourteen thousand and five hundred of her sons were killed in battle or died of wounds. Their bones lie in every State where the war for the Union was waged. Add to these nearly seventeen thousand and five hundred of her soldiers, who, within that sad time, died of disease, and then contemplate the pledges of New York's devotion to a united country, and the proofs of her faith in the supreme destiny of the sisterhood of States.

And there returned to her thousands of her sons who fought and came home laden with the honors of patriotism, many of whom still survive, and, like the minstrels of old, tell us of heroic deeds and battles won, which saved the nation's life.

When our monument, which should commemorate the sufferings and death of their comrades, was begun, the veterans of New York were here. To-day they come again and view complete its fair proportions, which in the years to come shall be a token that the patriotic dead are not forgotten.