In the same issue of the Times there is a
useful summary of the Report of the Commissioner of Pensions in the United States for the year ended June 30th. The sum paid, about £32,400,000, is the largest on record, and the heaviest item of expenditure on the national balance-sheet. The figures are truly formidable, the total pension roll containing 946,194 names. The increased expenditure is explained by the fact that Congress has kept on checking the natural decrease of pensioners by extending the limits and raising the rate of pay. It is calculated that up to the present .about £800,000,000
has been paid in pensions, a large proportion going into the pockets of those who have no need of help. Yet "in the general cry for economy,' no political leader has yet been found to advocate a reduction of the pension list.' Pensions, we may add, have proved the mainstay of the tariff. English papers of all opinions please copy.
