The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-04-27
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 81, 1870.
THE YMEN7 OF PENSIONS.

WE have frequently discussed the necessity
that exists for an entire change in the system
of paying pensions, and exposed the grievous
wrongs that are done to the pensioners by the
present arrangement for doling out to them
the pittance allowed by the Government, and
the newspapers throughout the country have,
almost without exception, united in calling
for radical reform. Various measures, and
some of them good ones, have been intro
duced in Congress, that if enacted would do
away with the evils complained of, and not
only secure to the pensioners the
prompt payment of all that is due them,
but would abolish the whole horde of
greedy agents and other hangers-on who
not only draw fat salaries from the
treasury, but who grow rich on the fees and
perquisites that they contrive to extract from
the pensioners. Congress, however, has been
too busy with other matters, and the influ-
ence of the Pension Bureau attaches has
been too great to allow any such measure as
this, that only involves question of JUS
tics to poor and politically unimportant
class of persons, to engage the attention of
our lawmakers. The consequence is that the
WuOl6 buUJoCt udS ldlloh lneo hoBloCty anu
there seems to be every probability that
nothing whatever will be done to put stop
to the present abominable system. The pen
sioners are mostly poverty-stricken men
and women, and many of them are aged or
manned, and consequently untitled for most
of the active, moneyamaking employments of
life. The amounts paid them by the Govern
ment are exceedingly small, and as they are
in recognition of such services as no pecu-
mary recompense can adequately repay, the
country has right to demand that they
shall receive every cent the law allows them,
without being obliged to submit to the extor-
tiops of the office-holders who act as the
agents of the Government.
That such extortions are made is notorious,
and a case has been made public within few
DAYS that, if all its features are as repre-
sented, demonstrates in very decided man.
ner the evils of the present system of pension
agencies, and that show how the agents man
age to grow rich at the expense of those who
are, in measure, dependent upon them for
the pitiful sums that the Government under
takes to pay them. Grave accusations have
been made against Colonel w. Il. Forbes, one
of the pension agents of this city, and the,
facts already elected are such as demand that
a strict investigation of all the affairs of his
office shall be made, and if he can be conclu-
sively shown to be in fault that he shall be
punished according to his deserts. It is al
legged that Colonel Forbes has been in the
habit of making advances to pensioners, and
charging them extortionately for the accom-
mediation, and that the funds of the Govern
ment have been used for this purpose, while the
profits have gone into the pockets of the
agent. 1t is asserted that frequent representa-
tions were made to the bureau at Washington,
but no attention whatever was paid to them
until few days go, when A. b. Newcomb
and Charles A. Sears, operatives in the secret
service division of the Treasury Department,
were detailed to make an investigation, under
the direction of the chief of the division,
Fl. G. Whiteley. These officers made report
based upon the statements and afidavits of
pensioners and of the former chief clerk in the
Office of Colonel Forbes, and they presented a
a mass of evidence that should receive the
serious attention of the Treasury Department.
Notwithstanding this report Colonel Forbes
is still retained in his position, and it is
asserted there is decided effort being
made to hush the matter up on account of
the political relations of the accused with
certain Congressman and his connection with
the Grand Army of the Republic. If that
organization attempts to use its influence to
shield such of its members as may be guilty
of malfeasance in Office, it will speedy fall
into contempt, and it will be abandoned by
all its decent members. This affair of Colonel
Forbes demands full and complete investi-
cation. The charges against him are serious,
and they should either be proved or disproved
emphatically. On no consideration whatever
should any attempt at whitewashing be per-
mitted, but the public should know all the
ins and outs of the case, and exactly what are
the grounds for the charges that have been
made.
Whether Colonel Forbes is in fault or not,
this whole affair is forcible illustration of
the evils that attend the present system of
management of the Pension Bureau and it
will be useless to expect any real reform
until complete and radical change in the
whole method of paying pensions is made,
and such checks upon the agents established
as will give the pensioners reasonable qua
rantee that they will not be plundered If
there are enough honest men in Congress, a
change will be brought about speedily in
spite of the political influence of the pension
agents, their hackers, and the Grand Army
of the Republic; and if Congress does
not move in the matter, the conclusion will
inevitably be that the members care more fol-
goodwill of the Pension Bureau attaches and