The National tribune., 1880-12-01


the spontaneous expressions Of the officers who
assume them as theirs.
The line of thought the character of expression,
the nature of the arguments, are all amliiar ana as
easily recognized as the Washington Monument.
There are many phrases in it repeated so often anu
so dreariy in every report, letter, argument, ana
evidence given by the Commissioner for four years
past, that the paternity is apparent 1.-The voice
is Jacobs voice but the hands are the hands oi
Esaun The signatures are the act of the othcers,
the ideas are those of Bentley.
Whether he wrote the order himself or not--lt is
certain that he inspired it, and inspired 1t so tnor
oughly that nearly every sentence has his earmark'
and the unmstakable odor of the Pension ounce
permeates the whole transaction, and for all the pur-
poses involved in the document itself 1t Is John a.
Bentley who usurps the function OF commander-ln-
chief and Acknowledgement of the G. A H., ana does
it for his own private purposes and to forward MS
own schemes So too the newspapers take up the
matter under similar inspiration and announced
before the ink on the order fairly dry, that the
Grand Army of the Republic was wheeling into
line in support of Bentleys measure, and this before
any Post had acted at sll on the matter
Again, in few days the same papers, under the
same inspiration announces that the Commlttee on
Appropriations in the House propose to put Senate
bill No. 496 as q rider on the Pension Approprla-
ton bill. Yet everybody knows that that commit
tee never did so propose and that such action wouiu
be direct violation of the rules of the House, and
could only be done by unanimous consent.
All and each Of these are steps In Mr.. Bentley $
method of creating or, properly, manufacturing
public opinion by indirect and unfair methods
He is known to have stated in Philadelphia that
the examiners provided for in his bill would have to
be in permanent session in that city, and it IS safe
to say that there were many other matters stated by
him quite as significant that are not known
But the evidence of deliberate and carefully ar
ranged plot prepared by Mr.. Bentley, are just as
clear from the negative side as from the Affirmative
In this General Order No. IL, so enthusiastically
the creature of the Commissioner there is demand
made upon the Posts to approve this new measure
the bill of the Senate Committeeman yet the bill
itself is not furnished for their consideration.
Only the first two sections of the bill are given,
out of the nine sections and those omitted are the
yery sections which give vitality to the whole,
which prescribe the manner of carrying the bill into
effect and which are most open to serious and fatal
objection
They do not give section I, which authorizes the
Commissioner on his own caprice pure whim to
investigate any and every case over again after a
pension has been allowed"
They thus deliberately deprive the very tribunal
they are addressing-the Posts of the g. A. R.-of
the opportunity of examination of the whole scheme
as reported, and practically ask blind and incon-
siderate Endorsement of unknown machinery, be-
cause the headquarters have been satisfied" by
Mr. Bentley, and have become his unconscious
agents to procure this Endorsement
If the Grand Army of the Republic desire to have
any weight or influence on this great question they
ought to know what they are passing upon, and
speak from such knowledge, and not as passive and
obedient instruments TO turn out ready-made opin-
ions to order
They ought to know the existing evils they