The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1882-09-22

he dared not then.
I was soldier during two years OF
the war, and in doing my duty, was
so injured that my name has been
placed on the pension roll. l am
also claim agent--yes, l am soldier
pensioner and claim agent, and of
such the "Stalwart" doctor says "they
are as devoid of principle as turkey
buzzard" and in his righteous indig-
nation exclaims!
ooh for whip in every honest mans hand,
To lash the rascals naked through the land"
Why don't the stalwart doctor and
his ilk take the whip in their own
hands and try the lashing, instead of
wishing honest men to do it for them,
or does he, with his six feet of hu-
manity, lack the moral courage now
as he did in IS6I-5? Why don't he
tell us these things or publish them
over his own name instead of using
go" and "Stalwart?" IT'S very
plain who he is, for having read his
articles so many times he is easily
recognized. His wit is sometimes
mistaken for wisdom.
He says pensions are obtained up
on proof that would not convict a
sheep thief when the court knew him
guilty, which shows that he knows no
more of what he writes about in war
claims than in other matters.
have helped to prosecute thous-
ands of war claims and never knew
one to be prosecuted with success
where the only merit was false affi-
davits of not over scrupulous friends
and quack doctors, as he claims.
His opinion of and advice to doc
tors may be all right, and he claim
ing to be one of them, has, l suppose,
a right to question whether they know
enough to tell whether claimant has
chronic diarrhea or only an over dose
of calomel or cucumber, as he says.
He is positive about it and says they
don't know the difference--that they
are perjurers ETC., but | can't believe
him, neitherdoes the Commissioners of
Pensions. Neither can | believe there
are so many frauds, either among
pensioners or doctors as he claims,
but as he furnishes good evidence of
fraud among doctors, it is but fair,
perhaps, to presume that the frauds
are not all in his profession, and that
some are among the soldiers of the
war of the rebellion.
An applicant for pension must
prove that he was a soldier, that in
the line of his duty he became dis
abled, that the disability continues
and to what extent, and should he at
tempt to prove this by false affidavits,
the records of the war department
and the certificates of Government
Examining Surgeons would at once
defeat him.
The soldier was examined before
muster-had to tell when and where
he was born, how old and of what his
parents and grand parents died, and
what diseases and injuries he
had sustained and his physi-
cal condition as then found and
said history all placed on file in full
detail. His company kept, his daily
record of duty, injuries or sickness
while there, his doctors and hospital
records too are all on file and are the
proofs for more to be relied upon by
Commissioner of Pensions than the
affidavits Of any friend or doctor in
the land. Doctors affidavits many
times are worth far less than their
maker values them. There are two
sides to pension case as well as the
case Of the doctors sheep thief. The
doctor sees but one side, as he does
in his practice, where in nine cases
out of ten he doses as he pleases, with
perhaps very little knowledge, thought
or care and without fear of results, as
if he make a mistake, and the patient
die, the doctors errors are buried,
not so in the practice before the De-
partments. If a fraud is perpetrated
or attempted, It's almost certain to be
detected, and the fraud exposed and