Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1875-11-17
PENSION PaAuDs.

PENSION FRAUDS.
II appears nom the report oil tho
Commissioners of Pensions. made up to
the close of the fiscal year, ending
June 80, 1876, that 234,s2 persons
are carried on the rolls, including army
and navy invalids, widows, and SUR
vivor Of tho War OF 1919. Most re.
markable Of oil in this aggregate is q
goodly number Of widows Of rovolu.
tlonary soldiers, who seem TO have
been blessed with exceptional eases OF
life, M some OF them are returned ns
having married before the year 1900,
and others not long after that date.
What Mr.. jefferson said about office.
holders never dying, might be applied
with equal truth to pensioners, for the
statistics exhibit singular longevity
and vigor on the part of class sup
posed to be enieebled by age, or ex-
baustcd by wounds and disease. Al
though we arc on the eve of the Con.
tennial, 1858 widows of revolutionary
soldiers are reported on the pension
lists while the War of 1912, which
occurred sixty-thrce years ago, furn-
ishes II ,620 survivors and 1912 widows
to draw pensions II IL very evident
that these survivors must be extremely
old now, or they must have been school
boys when they entered the service.
It costs abont thirty millions Of dol
lars . year to pay the various classes
of pensions, and, strange to say, the
aggregate expenditure grows year by
year, instead Of being diminished, as
would naturally be supposed. What
is gained to the Treasury by the death
rate is lost by special legislation, pro
cured through the lobby in the inter.
est of claim agents, who make ii O
business to work up the patriotism o.
Congress for their own profit.
In this, as in every other branch ol
the public service, frauds have moi
only become common, but form n very
large item in the account. On thii
point the Commissioner says;
"During the fiscal year, $50 claims we're In
vestigatci by the special agents Of this Office Gl
those cascs in which pensions had been paid,
SEQ were proved to he fraudulent
"Tho names Of these pensioners were dropped
from the rolls. resulting In saving Of s2 6o5 pc,
month, or ssi, 1859 annually
"rhe average amount Of accrued pension paid
by the Government In each fraudulent claim IL
estimated 10 be s51I 20. During the year ths
agents Of this Office recommended the rejection
Of 2is pending claims, supporting the recomncn-
daton by sworn testimony, which without tucl
investigation would probably have beea allowed.
II is thus officially admitted that
onc-filth Of the whole number Of pen
sion claims presented during the year
were absolutely fraudulent, and this
too, under the reform system which
has been introduced in that Office, and
with the more rigid rules applied since
Mr.. Atkinsin became Commissioner
The great bulk Of these frauds would
have been allowed had the old prac
tice which hourished while Baker held
the Office been continued
No doubt is entertained that million.
have been stolen since Grant came
into power, and that to-day thousands
of fraudulent pensioners are receiving
pay from tho Treasury who ought tC
be cracking stone in the penitentiary
A regular Ring was organized and il
successful operation while Delano pre-
sided over the department, and had J
H. Baker, now surveyor-Gencral o.
Minnesota, for his Commissioner Of
Pensions.
The business Of that Ring was tc
fabricate claims with forged testimony
and push them through the Office al
Washington. Success necessarily de.
pended on collusion with the officials
and that formed part of the machin-
cry for plundering the Treasury, which
was always certain when the oppor
tunity offered for division of spoils
In order TO ascertain the extent Of
existing frauds, ii will be necessary to
60 over carefully all the pension rolls
and TO scrutinizc the testimony with
the aid of experts. Well informed
persons who have given general at
tention to this subject, believe that
several millions could be saved by a
process of revision. This would not
only compensate largely for the requir-
cd outlay by purging the rolls, but
would protect the rights Of those who
served the country faithfully in its
hour of nccd.--N Y. Sun.