return for personal services; and the Roman law of contracts was very seriously modified by the persistence of the idea down to the latest times. Circumstances seem to show that there was some truth in the notion; and yet we must have personal service, and it must be paid for, in default of slavery - the infinitely worse alternative which governed the ancient world. So long as the employer stood between guest and servant, taking the guest's money and therewith paying the servant, the connection between guest and servant was so indirect as to obviate many of the evils which the Roman instinctively feared, and the somewhat aggressive independence of the American servant did the rest. The system of tipping, bringing in a direct but surreptitious money connection between guest and servant, cannot but result in a steady degeneration of the servant's moral fiber. It gives the servant a mercenary mode of thought which is unhappily too familiar to most men to need much specification here. The worst of all results is that it corrupts the servant's whole conception of duty: duty is no longer something to which he is bound, but something which some one else is bound to bribe him to do. When such a conception of duty is daily borne in upon the heart and practice of a circle of servants, which is steadily extending from the employees of hotels to those of railroads, steamboats, and every conceivable variety of personal service, and when all these men are not only servants but voters, how can it be expected that we shall leave a man a virile conception of his duty as a voter while we corrupt him as a servant? He will not bring you a glass of water at a hotel table, or handle your luggage on a steamer, without an extra gratuity; why should he vote even the ticket of his own party unless he is tipped for his trouble? How far is democratic government compatible with the tip system? It is said that there is no remedy. There is none which will take effect without effort, but sincere and persistent effort could find a remedy. Some of our clubs have found already that the social evil of tipping, the sense of insecurity and inequality which it introduces among the members, is not "clubbable." They therefore pay the servants honest wages, and make the offer of any further tip or gratuity an offense against the club. Let us extend the club feeling and find in it the remedy. It was in the hotels that the evil began its vicious course, and in them the remedy must find its beginning. It would not be a difficult matter for a hotel to announce in its advertisements, in its offices, and on its bills of fare, that its servants are paid full wages, that any of them accepting tips will be dismissed at the end of the week, and that the guest is requested not to tempt the servant by offering him gratuities. Only a few cases of vigorous enforcement of these notices would be needed. The results would be profitable to the employers, and pleasant to those guests who do not tip, and to those who are coerced into tipping. They would of course be unpleasant to those few who wish to tip; but these are just the social pests who underlie the whole system and who deserve no consid. eration. We know of at least one hotel where the non-tipping plan was tried, we believe, with success. The Washington Memorial Arch. THEY were not mistaken who believed that the celebration in New York of the centenary of Wash ington's inauguration would not only stimulate the patriotism of the nation and of the city, but would increase, especially, the sense and pride of citizenship on the part of the inhabitants of the city itself. The most conspicuous and gratifying evidence of this has been given in the movement looking to the erection in permanent form, at Washington Square, of the temporary centennial arch designed by Stanford White. There has seldom been seen in New York a movement of the kind sustained so well by public opinion. The manner in which the various artistic, literary, and social organizations have responded to the suggestion is quite unprecedented in our history. Of course one reason for this is the fact that the public were not called upon to subscribe to an unknown object. They were assured by the very circumstances of the case that the monument would be a fit and beautiful one; that in its purity, simplicity, and majesty it would recall the character of the first President; that the form of the memorial would not be the dubious outcome of an anonymous competition. One reason, we say, that the scheme has not flashed in the pan is that the intelligence of the community stamped the monument at once with its approval. But another reason is that the "centennial" had helped to make the city "feel itself." There never was a time when so many public-spirited citizens were determined that New York should offer something more to the eye of the visitor than a rushing stream of humanity, "something more" for the contemplation of the rest of the world "than a swiftrunning mill which grinds the grists of fortune." The city's private architecture has improved strikingly during the past ten years. It has acquired a few notable statues and more are being added to the number. But the Washington Memorial Arch will be the first piece of purely decorative public architecture, of first-class importance, erected in New York. It will not only greatly add to the beauty and to the interest of the city, but is sure to be the beginning of a system of arches and public gateways at appropriate places throughout the metropolis. The more beautiful the city, and the stronger its appeal to the eye and to the heart of its inhabitants, the more apt will these be to see to it that our local gov ernment is not a reproach among the nations of the earth. THE OPEN LETTERS. Union Veterans and their Pensions. HERE are two national associations, having organized support throughout the North and West, which are engaged in advocating a service pension for every Union survivor of the civil war, and the Grand Army of the Republic, the largest and the strongest society of veterans, has an extensive machinery at work agitating for the support of pension measures both at the polls and at Washington. It is true that this machinery of the Grand Army is not strictly representative, but the State and national conventions of the order, made up of delegates elected annually, are in the habit of discussing and voting upon measures which are expected to be presented to Congress by a committee acting under authority of the whole body.1 Some of the measures indorsed by the Grand Army in the past have become laws. The Dependent Pension Bill, which was vetoed in 1887, originated in the pension committee representing the National Encampment. With a view to presenting the pension question as it stands, both as regards the allowances drawn at this time and the additional allowances to be asked for in the near future, I give below an abstract of the provisions already made for survivors of the service, and also the provisions of the bills proposed, and an approximate of the cost of these new measures. 9.75 10.00 10.25 10.50 10.66 10.75 11.00 11.75 25 38.50 I 8.25 11.25 11.33 11.33 11.50 12.25 According to the report for 1888 of the Commissioner of Pensions, there were then on the rolls 326,835 survivors of the war of 1861-65, 217,580 of the number receiving allowances not exceeding $8 a month.2 The 109,255 reported as receiving an excess of $8 a month include nearly all of the officers drawing invalid pensions (some of them are on the roll at a lower rate), and all of the enlisted men having extra disability, such as the loss of limbs, or eyesight, or hearing, or the equivalents. Out of the 217,580 reported at $8 or less, there are 32,007 at $2 or less, 103,556 at $4 or less, and 153,177 at $6 or less. Only 64,403 of the 217,580 in this class, and mainly those technically 13.12 known as the fully disabled, receive over $6 a month, and the remaining 153,177 are on at an average of $3.50 13.33%. a month. Since $8 was deemed a fair rate to support a dependent veteran in the simple times of the first half of the century, when that rate was fixed, the present allowance as it comes to individuals in the large class here considered is not much more than a pittance. The aggregate annual value of the entire list at $8 and under, as it stood in 1888, is about $13,888,000. The following table of ratings and of the number pensioned at each rate shows how the allowance is distributed among invalid survivors (war of 1861-65) on the rolls June 30, 1888: 13.25 13-33 13.50 2 388 I I Total disability in both hands. Total disability in both feet 50.00 31.25 72.00 36.00 30.00 24.00 36.00 Loss of one hand and one foot. Any disability equivalent to loss of hand or foot The rates for other disabilities are fixed by the Commissioner of Pensions. The law assumes that these beneficiaries received permanent injuries incident to service during the war, or, if the injury be not permanent, that the allowance is suspended whenever the effects of the injury disappear. There is justification for this enormous pension list of survivors, in the record of casualties and diseases. There were over 250,000 wounds treated in hospitals, and in all about 6,000,000 cases of wounds and diseases. Aside from the dead on the field over 200,000 cases proved fatal. Any reduction of this invalid list, which aggregated in 1888 an annual value of over $37,000,000, must be made by scaling the allowances of one or both of the two classes which I have distinguished, namely: the numerous class, which includes nearly all of the enlisted men, and where the average is $5.31+ a month, and the aggregate annual value is not quite $14,000,000 for over 217,000 beneficiaries, or the class where the average is greater and the number of pensioners less, the beneficiaries being 109,255, the annual value about $24,182,000, and the average $18.42+ a month. This higher class of pensioners, however, includes nearly all of the disabled officers, and all of the enlisted men who are severely maimed. Assuming that these pensions will remain as they are during the lifetime of the beneficiaries, what other classes of survivors, who are deserving, are unprovided for? First. Those who by reason of the hardships of service and old age combined are not able to labor, and who have no case under the invalid laws. Second. Those who are disabled by reason of injuries received in service, and who cannot prove their claims. Third. Those who have become disabled since the war, and whose faithful services entitle them to the gratitude of the nation. The number of these cannot be computed, but doubtless there are many thousands. Every Grand Army post has some cases of the kind on its relief list. The average age of survivors is about fifty years, and there must be a large number who have passed the age of activity. Very many who received permanent injuries in service, but were young and hopeful when the war closed, did not make application and secure evidence while the proper witnesses could be obtained, and cannot at this date prove their invalid claims. Still others had no well-defined disease when they were discharged, but have become disabled since and are now in want, and have no case under present laws. It was to benefit, ostensibly, the three classes not now on the list that the Dependent Pension Bill, which failed to become a law, was framed by the Grand Army committee. Immediately after the veto the committee prepared a modified bill called a Disability Bill, providing for veterans as follows: SEC. 2. That all persons who served three months or more in the military or naval service of the United States during the late war of the rebellion, and who have been honorably discharged therefrom, and who are now or who may hereafter be suffering from mental or physical disability, not the result of their own vicious habits, which totally incapacitates them for the performance of manual labor, shall, upon making due proof of the fact according to such rules and regulations as the Secretary of the Interior may provide, be placed upon the list of invalid pensioners of the United States, and be entitled to receive twelve dollars per month; and such pension shall commence from the date of the filing of the application in the Pension Office, after the passage of this act, upon proof that the disability then existed, and shall continue during the existence of the same in the degree herein specified: Provided, That persons who are now receiving pensions under existing laws, or whose claims are pending in the Pension Office, may, by application to the Commissioner benefits of this act; and nothing herein contained shall of Pensions, in such form as he may prescribe, receive the be so construed as to prevent any pensioner thereunder from prosecuting his claim and receiving his pension under any other general or special act: Provided, however, That no person shall receive more than one pension for the same period: And provided further, That rank in the service shall not be considered in applications filed thereunder. This section was left unchanged in a bill passed by the Senate at the last session. Meanwhile there had been introduced in both houses a bill known as the Per Diem Service Pension Bill (given in full, below), a measure which its advocates declared would benefit the three classes considered above, as being unprovided for, and the House committee of the last Congress reported the Grand Army Disability Bill, with Section 2 changed to provide as follows: A pension at the rate per month of one cent for each day's service in the military or naval service of the United States during any of the wars in which the United States have been engaged, and all persons who have served as aforesaid, and have been honorably discharged as aforesaid, and are now sixty-two years of age, shall also be entitled, etc. Further provision grants the same pension to all who attain the age of sixty-two. In this bill the three classes above considered are recognized as deserving, but the rate to be allowed is graded according to length of service. The bill was not voted upon. During the discussion of the Dependent Bill before and after the veto, a measure, known as the Lovering, or Eight Dollar Service Pension Bill, providing eight dollars a month to every survivor who had served sixty days or more, was brought before Congress. This bill would benefit the deserving classes to the extent of eight dollars a month; but as it makes only a slight distinction with regard to length of service, several rated service pension bills were discussed by the veterans, and finally the Per Diem Bill was formu. lated. It was introduced early in the session of 188788, and is as follows: A Bill to grant Pensions for Service in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps of the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to place on the pension roll of the United States the names of all persons specified in the following section, upon making due proof that they performed the service specified in said section. SEC. 2. That persons entitled as beneficiaries under the preceding sections are as follows: Any officer or enlisted man who shall have served in the army, navy, or marine corps of the United States, including regulars and volunteers, subsequent to the fourth day of March, 1861, and prior to the first day of July, 1866. SEC. 3. That the rate of pension for such service shall be at the rate per month of one cent for each day's service rendered in the said army, navy, or marine corps of the United States. 1 SEC. 4 That the period of service shall be computed from the date of muster into the United States service to the date of discharge, but no pension shall be granted under this act to or on account of any person who de; serted prior to July 1. 1865, until he shall have obtained a discharge from the service from which he deserted, and no discharge which was given to any person by reason of reenlistment as a veteran volunteer, or to enable him to accept a promotion, shall be deemed a discharge from the services within the meaning of this act. SEC. 5. That pension under this act shall be at the rate specified in section three, and shall be paid to the persons entitled thereto for the term of their lives from and after the passage of this bill. SEC. 6. This bill is intended as a service pension bill, and is intended as an addition to all invalid pensions which have been or may hereafter be granted for disa The three bills, the Dependent or Disability Bill, the Eight Dollar Bill, and the Per Diem Bill, were before Congress when the national encampment of the Grand Army Columbus, Ohio, 1888) was again called upon to meet the question. The committee on pensions reiterated the claims of the Disability Bill, and finally a resolation was adopted almost unanimously favoring a service pension of eight dollars a month for every survivor who served sixty days or more, and an additional amount of one cent a month for each day's service exceeding eight hundred. The bill has not yet been presented, but the Grand Army committee has been active in pushing the Disability Bull. However, the resolution of the encamp ment is an approval of the principle of service pensions, and is in harmony with the action of many of the State departments of the order. Upon the question of service pensions, the veterans in and out of the Grand Army are divided as to the following points: First. Shall the pension begin at once, or at sixty-two years of age? Second. Shall it be rated according to length of service, or be uniform? Third. Shall it be in addition to the invalid pension allowance in cases already on the roll? Fourth. Shall it continue to the widows or other dependent heirs? The number of survivors is estimated, in the departments at Washington, at about 1,350,000. It is asserted by the Per Diem Service Pension Association that the average term of service is about one year, and that the Per Diem Bill would allow an average pension of $3.65 a month. If 1,000,000 survivors called for the allowance, the cost would be less than $50,000.000 a year. The Eight Dollar Bill would cost $90,000,000 a year if 1,000,000 men should receive it. The Grand Army Service Pension Bill would cost, on the same basis, $96,000,000 a year, and an additional sum to every reteran who served over 800 days; that is, for three years' service, or 1095 days, $10.95 a month; for four years, or 1460 days, $14.60 a month; and at that rate for all terms of service of over 800 days. 2 For more than twenty years the Grand Army of the Republic throughout the Union has engaged in a vast and peculiar system of relief to needy comrades, and 1 Two years is a fair term of service in a long war. and $8 is the f pension established. But a soifier's service is not recorded in for years; it is from the day of actual enlistment to that of discharge. Therefore a rate of one cent a day, which would give Ship for a two-years' term, would give a proportionate sum for any length of service. The total disbursement for pensions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1983, was $18.773.861.ga, and nearly one-third of the amount was used in payment of arrears on new claims. The "The Use of oil to Still the Waves." the March number of THE CENTURY on "The Use HOVE, SUSSEX, ENGLAND George Gladstone. annual value of all the pensions on the roll was $56, 207, 220, 22, and out of this $18.648.373-50 was for pensions to the widows and ether dependents of three wars, and the survivors of 1812 and the Mexican War. On the basis of the amount on the rolls for 1838 the estimates for the Fer Diem Fill would increase the annual value of all pensions to something over $100,000,000, the Eight Dollar Bil would swell it to over $150,000,000, and the Grand Army Service Pension measure to a still higher sum. A Fence-Corner Oration. BRIC-À-BRAC. OMHOO, I hyah 'bout Ark'nsaw befo', An' all dat lan' out Wes', But heah ole Peter hoed es row, An' hit 's mighty nigh time ter res'. I knows de white folks roun' erbout, An' de ole uns all knows me: When hard-time comes dey he'ps me out, An' I hyah 'bout dat five dollers er day, But ter shovel dirt on er railroad track I seen some niggers be'n out deir An' I hatter gi' um meat an' bread Dey said dat rations pow'ful skearce, De hen roos' mighty high, An' 'possum des 'bout as hard ter ketch T'ings way off yonner look mighty fine, But des you git up close, Gwineter see sup'n' else dat 'll mek yer want Butt yer head ergin er pos'. An' 'bout de time yer tu'n eroun' good, An' see how fur yer come, Some t'ings gwineter look mighty fine Dis lan' ain't what hit used ter be - But hit 'll talk back ter de hoe, An' keep de chillun fat; An' sometime guano ain' gwine stick, Don't keer wher' yer got um, But when hit wash down off de hill, An' ef de crik git out an' wash Guano plum on down, Hit gethers some erway 'long up, An' sots hit on mer groun'. Yes, sah, I learned er heap er sense Sence freedom tunned me out, An' sho's yer born, Boss, hit 's all right; De Lord knows what he 's 'bout! When cotton short, de corn hit 's tall, I puts ner morgidge on ole mule, An' he wuk hit out bimeby. But yer can't learn dese young niggers sense, 'Tain' what goes in meks white folks rich, An' some niggers ain' gwine settle down, Dey c'n all put out fer Ark'nsaw, Ole Mars'er buried out yonner by de plums, An' my ole 'ooman ain' ve'y fur off, Don't mek no diffunce whar some folks put, But somehow I ain' wanter stray too fur Some er dese times, an' mebby 'fo' yer know, An' gwineter be er-stirrin' ev'ywhar en de lan', An' er heap er folks skeered, sho's born: An I wanter be whar / c'n sorter step eroun' She mighty good 'ooman, ole Miss was,- An' what she says es gospel law, I don't keer whar she at. Ef she lean fum de chariot er-rollin' frough de gate An' ses, "Sen' my nigger in ter me," De angeul gwineter lif es hat ter her, An' I ain' gwineter tell 'im I 'm free. Harry Stillwell Edwards. The Sensitive Visitor. THE night was bitter: Pride and I Sat gazing on it through the pane: Who can this gallant horseman be That at our casement draweth rein? We turn our faces, Pride and I; And yet the pleading and the pain Of that one look -nay, out of sight, He's passed into the night and rain. Who could the bold intruder be? Orelia Key Bell. |