The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1883-08-23
MAGNOLIA, MISSISSIPPI, THURSDAY, AUGUST 23 1883

ney's fee for services in procuring u
pension to ten dollars in each case ever
evadedpn
"They get over that very easily. The
common way is to have the pen
sioner declare before witnesses that he
wishes to make his attorney present
of, say twenty per cent. In addition
to the ten dollars allowed This pre-
vents all trouble. Then again, any of
the dishonest LAWYERS have three, four,
and sometimes five so-called firms.
One will open correspondence with a
would-be pensioner, or one who desires
his allowance to be increased After
obtaining all the fee in advance for
necessary expenses long delay ensues.
Then here comes circular from an
other member of the ring stating that
he has special facilities for procuring
the passage of the claim, which is rep
resented to be hopelcssly shelved. In
case of favorable response the next
circular in the series is sent to him by
the third conspirator, and so on until
the list is exhausted, or the ens'oncr's
patience gives out As a matter of fact
there is no need for attorneys service
to procure pensions. Every facility is
offered by the office, and the applicant
has only to fill the blanks furnished
him and tell the truth in his story
of reasons for asking the bounty. He
must get all this certified to in accord
ance with instructions, and then his
case will 60 through and be acted on
just as speedily as though he had hired
Il dozen lawyers. OF course ignorant
men sometimes fail to comprehend the
simplest instructions, and much DELAY
and trouble is caused. Hence the en-
ployment of lawyer is rather favored
by those who have the cases to pass
upon, as less labor is involved as rule
in the cases prepared by professional
hands,
"Does all this exhaust the possibili-
ties of fraud by attorneys.
"By no means. Men will 90 into a
small town and, after getting the sigma
lures of leading citizens, look up the war
records for that neighborhood. Among
the latter are sure to be found the
names of men entitled to pensions who
have never applied for them Applica-
ton will be made out in these names,
and the signatures of the necessary
number of leading men of the place
forged to the certificate of service, etc.
The rest of the process is easier than
with a genuine case.
"Are these men never caught and
punishedPn
"They are, quite frequently. But in
nocent frauds are sometimes even more
severely delt with. Two cases / remem-
ber One was preacher, a man of
irreproachable character who had been
| a chaplain in the army, but with little
| knowledge of the world. In his first
steps to getting pension he consulted
with former comrades and neighbors as
to what facts they would swear to for
him. Then he got the necessary blanks
and went ahead. But he found that to
get his friends signatures to their
statements would cause considerable
delay. To obviate this he simply signed
the names himself and sent on the pa
pers. The similarity Of writing was de-
tected, and the result was the states
prison for two or three years, though
the men, whose names had been forged,
promptly expressed their readiness to
sign the papers, while admitting that
they had not done so.
"Another case having the same end.
ing was that Of man who kept copies
of his papers, which were afterward
lost in the Office He was requested TO
send another set, and, simple enough,
sent his copies, the names of which
were held to be forgeries, and he was
duly convicted and imprisoned. So
much for law and justice. - Washing
ton Post.
q -