The Indianapolis journal., 1885-01-20
FEES TO PENSION AGENTS.
Hints of Corruption in Connection with the
Fitzgerald Transfer.


Fitzgerald Transfer.
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19.-For number of days
the House committee on payment of pensions
bounty and back pay, has been investigating the
cause of the delay in the Pension Bureau in
allowing pension claims The meetings of the
committee have heretofore been held with
closed doors, but the committee has now made
the investigation Tublic. In the course of an
investigation the workings of that portion of the
pension appropriation bill passed last session.
which provided for the payment of $25 fee to
claim agents upon making contract with
pensioner and filing it with the bureau, has been
considered The legislation in question was agreed
upon in congressional conference committee, and
adopted by both houses upon the report of the
committee AS originally agreed upon in the
House, the $25 fee was limited to claims filed
after passage of the act This was disagreed to
by the Senate. In conference a substitute was
adopted which made the provision apply also to
cases which had been fled prior to the passage
of this act and after the enactment of the law
allowing $40 fee.
George E. Lemon, Washington claim agent.
testified that with his attorney he went to the
Interior Department and argued in favor of the
substitute adopted by the conference committee;
that the substitute was prepared by Secretary
Teller and that he lLemon) individual
members OF the conference committee and urged
them to to adopt the proposed substitute
n. w. Fitzgerald, also of Washington who
was last year disbarred from practicing before
the Pension, Bureau, testified that the day prior
to the adoption of the substitute by the confer
ence committee he was reinstated as attorney
before the Pension Bureau, and, by the advice
of Secretary Teller, sold his pension business.
with his interest in about A, 600 pending claims,
to Lemon for $S, 600; that by his purchase and
by the adoption of the substitute Lemon was
enabled to make several hundred thousand dol
lars profit; that he endeavored to buy the bust
ness back from Lemon, offering bonus when
he discovered the action of the conference com
mttee that Lemon refused, and said it had cost
him more than $1,000 to get the substitute
through.
To-day, Mr. Foslyn, assistant Secretary of the
Interior, was examined by the committee He
explained number of official orders that had
been issued by himself to guide the Commission
er on Pensions in the allowance of the claims in
question He testified that Fitzgerald was rein
stated by the Interior Department in order that
he might transfer his business to Lemon The
testimony of Mr. Joslyn will be continued to-
morrow
In reply to an inquiry by reporter of the AS
sociated Press. Mr.. Joslyn said the bill passed
by the department was not Passed by Congress,
ment knew nothing, was passed Mr..
Fitzgerald was reinstated 80 that no
might sell out. He had papers in large
number of pension cases which he refused to
surrender, and the cases were so tied up that
nothing could be done in regard to them by the
Bureau Mr.. Joslyn said he was personally re-
sponsible for his reinstatement. The new law
IN regard to attorneys fees was working advan-
tageously. Under the old law hundreds of
thousands OF fraudulent or invalid claims were
gotten up by attorneys whose fee of $40 was not
contingent npon the result All this difficulty
had disappeared under the new law The Pen
sion ONCE had made mistake in connection
with the Fitzgerald Lemon matter, in holding