Excerpt from Revolutionary Claims: Speech of Hon. R. E Fenton, of New York
After moving to suspend the rules to enable him to take up the bill to provide for the final settlement of the claims of the officers and soldiers of the Revolutionary army -
Mr. Fenton said:
Mr. Speaker: Early in the present session, I referred this bill to the Committee on Revolutionary Claims; and the committee, after a careful examination of its provisions, with entire unanimity reported it back, and it was placed on the calendar of the House. I had expected to reach it in the regular order; but as that is now impossible, I have adopted this, the only method of getting it before the House for consideration this session; and while I make an appeal to the friends of the bill, the friends of the heroes of our Revolutionary struggle, the friends of equity and justice, to aid in suspending the rules, I beg the indulgence of the House to briefly assign my reasons in favor of the passage of the bill.
It differs from that of the late distinguished Senator from South Carolina, Judge Evans, which passed both Houses of Congress at different sessions, in this: it allowed the half pay promised by Congress, from the close of the Revolution to 1826, and deducts the commutation certificates for five years' full pay, which the officers received, (although worth at the time one-eighth only of their apparent value, ) but does not deduct the pensions allowed the survivors by the act of May 15, 1828; nor does it make any provision for the soldiers; whereas my bill allows the half pay from the close of the war to the date of the officer's death, and deducts all the Government ever paid, by way of commutation, or as pensions, under the act of 1828. It also grants a quarter section of land to the surviving children of the soldiers - in other words, extends to them the benefits of the act of March 3, 1855, from which they are excluded by the word "minor," there being no minor heirs of the Revolutionary soldiers.
The committee, in their able report, have sustained the principles of this bill in a masterly and conclusive manner; and I cannot so successfully, by any argument of my own, make plain to the House and the country the great injustice of our refusal to pass this bill, as by including a portion of it in my remarks.
The committee say:
"That, since the Revolution, the claims of the officers of the Continental army for the half pay for life, promised them by various resolutions of the Continental Congress, have frequently been before the committees of this House, and received their favorable consideration. At the last Congress, a report was made from the Committee on Revolutionary Pensions, by Mr. Broom, (see House Report No. 31, first session Thirty-fourth Congress, ) in which the subject is so fully considered, that the committee deem it unnecessary to enlarge upon the views therein expressed, but adopt it as a part of their report, to be printed therewith.
About the Publisher
Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com
This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.