The National tribune., 1883-08-02
Call Them to Account.

Were it possible to trace the false and
slanderous reports concerning the preva-
Ience of pension frauds that so frequently
appear in the columns of the secular press
to their original source, it would be found
that IN nearly every case they proceed from
the pens of irresponsible penny-a-liners, who
are actuated simply by the desire to create
a sensation, an are either too lazy or too
INSCRIPTIONS TO ascertain whether or not
there is any warrant in fact for their reck-
less assertions. For instance, we find in the
columns of the Warren (Pa) Ledger and
Marshall {Ill.) Eastern IHtnoisqn, two letters
from Washington regarding pensions, which,
although purporting in each case to come
from the papers own correspondent, are
identical in language and differ only in the
date prefixed to them-one being dated June
29th and the other July 3dl-and the fact
that one bears the signature of Phone"
and the other is not signed at all. They
are clearly from the same pen, and it is to
be presumed that they were sent in mani
fold from the Office of some one of the many
pseudo journalists who exc out a living by
furnishing a weekly letter in duplicate to
as many country newspapers as are willing
to pay the Insignificant price charged for it.
But Of this the readers of the papers
which print the letter, of course, know
nothing They take it for granted that the
correspondent is member of the regular
staff of the journal, that his character is
known to the editor, and that his state
ments, therefore, are to be trusted as i'm
plicitly as those contained in its local col
umns. The consequence is that this spuri-
Gus correspondence is as potent to affect pub
lie sentiment as if it proceeded from respon-
sible source. In the absence of opportuni-
ties for personal inquiry, it is but natural
that the statements contained in correspond
ence of this description should be accepted
BY the subscribers to the newspapers which
publish it as essentially true. The corre-
spondent may be corrupt, INSCRIPTIONS
knaye, but SO long as they are ignorant of
his identity how can they be expected to
suspect the falsity of his charges?
Now, in the particular case to which we
have alluded, the correspondence abounds in
| falsehoods of the most scurrilous description
The writer of the Washington letter to the
Warren Ledger and Marshall Eastern Nj
noisan says, among other things:
at is evident that the restless spirit of Mr..
Dudley will never be at ease until he shall have
granted pension to every surviving soldier of the
civil war, and to the relatives of those who are
| dead. Alexander wept for more kingdoms to con-
quer, and MIR. Dudley weeps for more pensions to
| bestow."
This is equivalent to saying that Commits
sioner Dudley has been remiss in the con-
duct of his Office and has been granting
pensions without regard to legal require
ments in the proving of claims-a statement
| which is as malicious perversion of fact as
could well be concocted. It is calculated to
create the impression with the general pub
| lie, who are, as rule, entirely ignorant of
the methods of the Pension Office, that the
| rejection or allowance of pension claim is
altogether optional with the Commissioner,
and that his sole object is to make the pen
sion roll as long as possible, regardless of the
merit of individual claims; whereas the fact
is, that never since the organization of the
Office has the validity Of claims been moro