WRITINGS OF 5AM HOUSTON, 1858
144
I
j
annum to a single officer. Here the widow of Gaines is needy at your door. We are to refuse this pittance, or grant it with such restrictions as to incumber it. I feel ashamed for the Senate, and I feel humiliated in the presence of this august body as one of its representatives, that I should see such selfish restrictions imposed. I beg the gentleman's pardon; it was not selfish in him, but certainly it will in its character, so present itself to her. I do hope that the amendment will not be agreed to. [Later in the debate.] I can assure the honorable Senator from Georgia, that this is not an exceptional case in my support of this pension. In the first place, I think it is just and 1·ight; and apart from all personal considerations, I believe it to be due to the family of Major General Gaines. For that reason I have supported it. I have ·voted for every pension for every disabled soldier, or eve1-y sol- dier's widow, or orphan heirs who have come forward asking for a pension where he has died in the service. I have voted for pensions for volunteers who died in Mexico. Sometimes I have voted for them as high as twenty dollars per month; when, according to the general law, the parties would only strictly have been entitled to four dollars per month; but I knew that that was insufficient to support the individual, and to pay the incidental expenses arising from the attention of doctors, and for treatment of wounds yet unhealed. But to show that this is not an extra- ordinary case, and that it is on the very lowest footing, comparing all the circumstances together, I will state that a pension was granted at the last session of Congress to an individual who could have only claimed four dollars per month according to the general law. If Senators will look at the bill for the 1·elief of John Mitchell, of the District of Columbia, passed at the last session of Congress, they will find that he was placed on the pension roll at the rate of thirty dollars per month. If the honorable Senator from Georgia alludes to individuals in humble circumstances, who are neglected, and their voice not heard here, I have to say to him that I have always voted for the highest rate of pension where there was merit in the case. In the present instance, I regard the half pay of the deceased but a pittance, compared with the services rendered, a_nd the glory that he shed upon his country's arms. I am prepared to vote against this amendment. [The question being taken by yeas and nays on the amendment of Mr. Toombs to limit the pension of Mrs. Gaines to $50 per
l I I I ' I I
Powered by FlippingBook