Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1883-11-01
THE PENSION FRAUDS.
AN INTERVIEW WITH DISTRICT
ATTORNEY CORKHILL.

Samples of the Circulars Sent Out by
the Agents-HOw They ''Hnk" Their
Victims-The Large Fortunes ACQUIRED
in the Business-What He Proposed to
Recommend
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31.-Secretary Tel
Ter to-day modified the rulings Of former
Secretaries, so that pension attorneys un-
der charge of improper conduct shall not
be suspended from practice until action
is had upon the charges, and they are
either acquitted or disbarred.
Upon the subject of the investigation of
the pension claim business by District
Attorney Corkhill, now in progress, the
ashlngton Post of tomorrow will pub
! lIsh an article in which it SAYS: For
/ years the number of pension agents has
steadily increased, until it is esti-
/ mated there were, in round
! figures in the city Of Washington.
SIX months ago 1000 of them. Many of
them have no offices, merely lOck-box
| In the post office, and transact all their
| business at their rooms and through the
mails. Others have offices but no outside
| signs. Some who send out Haunting cir
culars are not even known at the Pension
! Ofhce by the names they use on their sta
| tiOnery. During the last IS months more
than 800 have been suspended from prac-
tlclng before the Commissioner, and
fully one-half as many disbarred.
The reliability and honesty of 300
more are now being examined
| into by District Attorney COrkhil and
his special assistants, and will be report
ed on in comparatively short time. If
| unfavOrably, they will be suspended by
! the Commissioner; and if sufficient evi-
dence of fraudulent practices is found
against them, they will be disbarred and
| indicted. n reporter of the Post called
on the District Attorney to-day, and
asked to be shown some of the circulars
that have been sent in response to his re-
quest for them published in the Associated
Press dispatches. For reply Mr.. COrkhill
| pointed to the table. which seemed
to be Uttered with them, and told the re
| porter to examine for himself. The cir
culars were in many cases from persons
never before heard of by the reporter, al
| though he is pretty well acquainted in the
city. Others were signed by we'll known
| names. Some were Ornamented by the al
| legged portraits of attorneys sending them
out, others by pictorial representation
OF soldiers at camp-freS or on picket duty.
A large portion of them were larded with
patriotic sentiments, mainly expressive
of the debt of gratitude (and money!
which the nation owes the soldier, 'as
debt that never can be paid
Ii half that these rhetorical circular
writer's have printed is true the nation
hasn't money enough to pay it.
care all these in response to the re-
quest you sent out a week ago" asked
the reporter.
AL of them replied Corkhill, 'and
dozen of them in Washington, or by any
other means, for love or money!"
1.-The pension agents send these circu-
lars to hundreds of thousands of soldiers.
soldiers widows and children whose ad-
dresses they have obtained through post
masters in small villages and country
settlements. You will see that accord
/ ing to these circulars almost every dis
order that the flesh is heir to is good and
sufficient reason for pensiOn.'
And are these representations fraudu-
ient?"
"In many cases they are. Some of the
| clauses state the law fairly, but in nearly
all of them there is an invitation to the
claimants to commit fraud upon the gov
ernment, and promise to help him on
the part OF the agent Take this case for
instance" said the District Attorney,
reading from printed paper which he
took from a drawer, "the pension attor-
ney writes: You are entitled to a pen-
sion for the slightest disability of what
ever nature You would be astOnished
to know how directly chronic disease can
orders incurred while in the army. Even
heart disease may be traced to diarrhma,
measles, mumpS and malaria. A hardship
even, if endured in the army, can easily be
shown to be the direct causes of many
broken down constitutions. Such cases
are as clearly entitled to pensions as are
those who were actually wounded in bat
tie. The rulings are far more liberal than
formerly. We endeavOr to successfully
handle any case of such disability in.
Cured while i'll the army regardless of
the manner. Many soldiers who have
drawn pensions have lost them on re-
enlistment or from other causes. We can
restore all such to the rolls, together with
| arrears. We particularly desire old or
rejected claims. We solicit all such cases,
being sure Of our ability to manage
Them"
Another circular suggests the value of a
little hard swearing. Another whom the
District Attorney describes as one of the
most reputable in the business words his
circulars so as to make it appear that he
is on intimate terms with the Commits
siOner of Pensions and especially favored
by him, shrewd piece ST business which
he supposed would never be known at the
department. After drawing their victims
into correspondence by means of
these circulars the dishonest agents
proceed to milk them, as the
process is described among rascally
attorneys. They write to them once or
twice and then ask for a dollar or two
dollars to detray postage and stationery
costs. If they have, as many of them do,
10000 names on their lists, milking of
this nature will bring in from $4,000 to
$30,OOO."
"Well, what next?" asked the reporter.
''The treatment varies. The postage
and stationery claim is always good.
mOny. That varies from So to $50 a case.
Finally comes the fee. They are allowed
to charge $40, and just as soon as they
think it safe to do so they draw or send
G.. o. ID. package by express for that.
The law allows them Only $40. That is all,
but it also allows them to collect it in ad-
vance. That clause was worked through
Congress short time ago, and is a regu-
lar bonanza, for whether the case is
good one or not, if any progress is made
in it the fee is collectable at any time.''
Chow much money do you estimate the
largest agents could draw in by such
meansT'
SIT is not easy to estimate it, but am
pretty reliably informed that one firm OBJ
tanned near $4,000 by one operation.
There are agents in this citv-sOme of
located in w ashington- who have amassed
large fortunes in few years."
"What do you propose to do with them?"
asked the reporter.
''Break them up. The Attorney General
| of the United States, the Commissioner of
Pensions and Secretary of the Interior
are determined upon it, and l have no
| doubt of being able to accomplish it, no
matter how reputable they appear to be
or how much money they have. Since |
commenced this investigation at least
twenty-five firms have disappeared from
practice; not by evidence that have re-
ceived, but from that which was on file
before the investigation took definite
shape. am sorry to say that if the rep
| resentations made to me are cor
rect and circulars sent me by
hundreds have been issued by the firms
now in good standing, that 1 shall recon-
mend their suspension to the Commits
sioner of Pensions with the rest. Some of
| them are men who stand very high at the
department. 1t makes no difference how
high they stand in public estimation, the
circulars which it was supposed would
never see the light will give the best indi-
cation of the character of the business
they have carried on, and by those they
must stand or fall"
GRAND LODGE, +. A. Nj.