News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-13
SECURING A PENSION.
WHAT Is EXPECTED OF AN OFFICER
TOWARD HIS ENLISTED MEN.
| He Must See the Unfortunate Soldier Suffer
| or Tell n Whopping Big Lie.
from the Milwaukee Sun. I


Not long ago a man who was in the
writer's company in the war applied for
a pension on account of varicose veins.
He came to this Office with an interpre-
ter-the applicant was German who
spoke no English-and the writer rec
ognized the man as a comrade. That
is all. He had no data to show how
long the man served as a soldier, or
that he was injured, or anything. All
the officer remembered was that the old
mans face was familiar, and that he
was a member of the company. The
officer made an affidavit that the man
was q member of the company, and
was soldier. He wished he c2uld
swear to more, to the effect that he re-
membered the injury the soldier re-
ceived but he couldn't, and to swear to
ANYTHING of the kind would be rank per-
jury. But the writer's name went on
to Washington as a witness in the
case of the soldier, and now comes a
letter from the pension office as follows:
'You appear as witness in the above
stated claim. With the return of this
letter and in your own hand writing,
please state how, when and where the
client incurred the alleged varicose
veins, and your means of knowing said
facts. Were you present at the time
said varicose veins were incurred? Did
you see said varicose veins upon his per-
son at or subsequent to the time it was
incurred, and while in the service. If
so describe its appearance, and state
circumstances connected with your see
ing said varicose veins.
Sc 1-o4&1o - G,l~ E.,
an officer who would like to do the
square thing by fellow soldier, but
who would not know a varicose vein if
he should find one in the road. The
government takes it for granted that the
poor German, when the varicose veins
appeared, went and hunted up this Off
Ger and exposed his pers on TO show the
veins in order to get a pension twenty
years afterward. urexperience is that
German soldier, who does not speak
English, does not go around among
officers complaining and showing his
little troubles every time he has an ache
or pain. The soldier might go to
doctor and ask for some medicine, but
he would not make a show of himself
all around camp. And so, because we
cannot swear that we saw those veins on
the little Bismarck, and cannot pescribe
what we didn't see twenty years ago to
the satisfaction of a commissioner of
pensions, the deserving little fighter,
who is now old and crippled, with a
family to support, may fail to get bis
pension, and he will go down to the
grave cursing the government, and he
will serve the government right.
OF course, if we were as big liar as
some people believe us to be, we could
sit down and write to the commissioner
of pensions, and say that on a certain
day in 1864, the claimant came to our
tent at Montgomery, Ala, at precisely
4 30 p. m, and asked US if we did no!
want mess of varicose veins, and on
being told that we were partial to vari-
cose veins he produced a large quantity
of them, and told us to help ourself.
That we examined the aforesaid varicose
veins, and we remember, now that the
matter has been brought up, that they
were as tine lot of varicose veins as we
ever saw, well developed and apparently
ripe. That one particular varicose vein
was about as big as a bologna sausage,
and seemed to be an able and conscien-
tious vein, acquired properly by the
soldier in the discharge of his duty.
We might explain where our little Ger
man friend caught his varicose veins,
and what he used for bait, and what
he said about it at the time, and what
we said, and we might paralyze the pen
sion commissioner by lot of Informal
ton such as they never received before,
and perhaps get pension for the sol
der. Bnt we would be laying the foun-
dalton for a reputation as single
handed liar that would certainly be
brought up against us when we run for
president, and besides, the commissioner
of pensions might go to studying up
varicose veins and find that we didn't
know any more about the case in point
than the alleged man in the moon So
it is deemed best to tell the truth and
shamethe government, though by telling
it the little soldier Lay have to hobble
around without pension. Some people
think it is mighty mean man that will
not lie to help a friend, but a lie to do any
good wants to be plausible, and we
couldn't tell q plausible lie on that vari-
cose vein subject without great deal
Of pra 3tice. If there is to be a change
in the pension department, let us have
man at the head of it who knows vari-
cose vein when he sees it, and when
soldier comes around with such a vein,
and says that he caught it in the army,
it will not be deemed necessary to get
the evidence of nine-spot officer who
never saw one, before the soldier can
sell his vein to the government aud get
his money, and Wisconsin can furnish
&C mmissioner who can tell when a sol
der is lying as quick as he sets eyes up
on him.