The National tribune., 1885-03-26

sh.i2 t,LAfsS os ofI St1IscioIe <aA oAsstA1 90
There is peculiarly malicious meanness
in The raid that has been made upon pen
sistently - yeheInendy, rather - assumed
/ that there is something radically vicious in
/ pension soliciting as business, and that all
who engage in il are necessarily bad and
dangerous men. There has been an at
/ tempt 10 carry the country over 10 this view
! iy perfect tempest of yituperati0n and de-
/ nUnciaiioR. 1t has all been screaming as
scrton, however, without one fact being
/ brought forward 10 sustain the wild talk
and give ii color OF reality. In a long
( journalistic experience We cannot recall an
! other instance in which there has been so
much said, aad with such intenlperanoe of
language, without any one pretending to
make 4 showing Of specific facts 10 bolster
up his statements. II there has been one
! hundredth pant Of the asserted wrong-doing
surely some one is in possession of host Of
instances and facts which illustrate and
prove the malefaction. But no one has
pointed out single one, and this omission
is most eloquent testimony to the Galsehocd
of the whole mass Of diatribes.
1t is monstDous to assume or assert that a
pension attorney is any more likely 20 be
h2d man than a lawyer, physician, or
merchant. 1t is hardly worth While TO say
that the business is just as honorable and
just as necessary as any other. 1t is just as
much the ez-soIdier's right to have kis claim
against the Government prepared by COM
petont man and pressed through to sue
cessful issue, as it is his right to be repre-
sented in 4 court Of justice by a counsel
expert in the law and i'll the method Of pre-
senting his case. If he has trial before a
Justice of the Peace, involving the price of
a horse or the value of COW killed by & To-
connective, his first step is to retain compe
tent counsel and pay him liberal fee. But
if he have g claim against the Government,
involving thousands OF dollars, fer a shat
tered limb or a wrecked body, he is debarTed
by law fron having any attorney except
those who Will undertake to work for him
for a pittance and these are loaded with
contumely, for no other reason than they
are aiding him to get his rights.
Also, il is just rs desirable from the Gov
ernment's standpoint that the men who
practice before the Pension Bureau should
be honest and experienced attorneys as it is
that The men who appear before Common
Pleas Court should have the education and
ability necessary to properly represent their
clients, and so facilitate the business of the
Court. Able pension attorneys facilitate the
business of the Pension Office immensely,
while incompetent or dishonest ones clog
and embarrass its operations.
The rancorcus meanness Of the raid against
pension attorneys is its lack Of discrimina-
ton. 1t is a denunciation OF a whole class.
1t attacks every one without regard to
standing or record. Undoubtedly there are
bad men among pension attorneys, as there
are in every trade ard profession which men
follow. The right way and the only way to
do is to vigorously expose and punish any
man who is guilty of any form Of dishonesty,
and to give to honorable men the praise
which is rightfnlly their due. No one will
have just cause for complaint if every man
is held to the strictest account for every act.
The raid has no foundation in the acts of
any Elan engaged in the prosecution Of pen
sion claims. Those managing are utterly
regardless of the standing or services Of any
man calumniated. What they want to do is
to break down tie whole body of pension at
torneys, and drive them from the business,
that the soldier may be deprived of their
services. They are opposed to pensions and
pensioners, and the most effective way they
can move against the objects of their aversion
is by breaking down and driving fnom the
business the experienced men who are aid
ing claimants to secure their rights.
1t would be grand victory for them if
every man now engaged in pension solicit
ing could be driven from it, and the soldiers
of the country be compelled to put their
claims into the hands of new and unskilled
men, whom it would take years to learn the
business. In those years thousands would
die with their claims unsatisfed, and thou
sands more would be wearied out and dis
couraged by the needless delay in getting
their claims acted upon by the Pension Office.
This is what is desired by those who be-
grudge the soldier his well-earned stipend,
and il requires no great cunning in them to
see that the best way to deprive him of it is
to drive off or disable his representatives
THE SONS OF VETERANS.
The Sons of Veterans are discussing the
addition Of life insurance feature. This
viii be a good thing if managed properly.