The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-08
PENSION OFFICE POLITICS.

PENSION OFFICE POLITICS..
The Dull Thud of Blacks Reform Rocket
The Pension Commissioners Pension.
Special to Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.
The efforts of Gen. John Charles Black, Com
| missioner Of Pensions, to besmirch the reputa-
ton of his predecessor, q Union soldier, who is
as badly wounded as he and as great q sufferer
from his wounds. and his ignominious failure,
have attracted much attention to him. General
Black not only used his annual report to make
campaign charges against General Dudley and
the bureau, and turning his official report into a
political campaign document, but reflected upon
his own subordinates with intimations that they
were not honest or reliable.
He stated out with the assertion that under
Dudley the Pension Office had been used as a
political machine, and he could prove it. When,
asked for his proof, he presented a list of per
sons who had received Offices and pensions be-
cause, he alleged. they were Republicans. The
next day he wanted to withdraw some of the
names, he having ascertained meanwhile that
they were the names of Democrats. There has
never been q more saddening flattening out of
anybody or anything than that of General Black
and his fierce reform. It has gone the way of
all the other performances of that sort by the
present administration, only more so.
After this is all over General Black will have
leisure to attend to the legitimate business OF his
Office. which is sufficient to keep any man busy.
without trying, at the same time, to run a Dem
ocratic political campaign through his official
position.
have a letter from Indiana asking me for a
statement of the amount of General Blacks
pension and the circumstances concerning It, In
accordance with this l give the following report
of the m on pensions, made in the Sen
afc IF tina Enrfu-Gffh (rnDracc hw Mn Roilov~
May 20, 1878:
REPORT.
'[To accompany Bill S. 1871
1.-THE committee on pensions, to whom was re-
ferred the petition of John Charles Black, late
colonel of the Thirty-seventh Illinois Infantry.
have had the same under consideration, and ask
leave to report:
THAT at the outbreak Of the late civil war Mr..
Black, just entering upon manhood, and having
recently completed q collegiate course, was en-
gagged in the study of law; but upon the call of
the President he enlisted as a private in Com
pany /, Eleventh Indiana Zouaves, a regiment
mustered into service for three months. Upon
the expiration OF this service he enlisted in the
Thirty seventh Illinois Infantry for three years,
and was elected and commissioned major of the
regiment. In 1862 he was promoted to the rank
Of lieutenant-colonel and afterward to the
rank of colonel. In 1864 Colonel Black
and his men re enlisted for the veteran service.
From November, 1864, until February. 1865, he
CoiutudDOeO II e OuTIn DFiSdOe IeS6TVe SOTpS,
Military Division of the Mississippi, and in
March, 1865, while in active service, was made
brigadier- general by brevet for gallant and mer-
itorious services in the field, and was mustered
out of the service in August, 1865.
I'm March, 1862, at the battle of Pea Ridge,
Lieutenant Colonel Black was shot in the right
forearm. the bullet passing between the bones
about three inches below the ulna, and injuring
the elbow joint.
I'm December, 1862, at the battle of Prairie
Grove ho was shot in tho laft rpnor r W Tho
bone being shattered, r~esection became necessary,
and from that time the arm has been permanent
ly disabled. The wound inflicted at Pea Ridge
apparently healed, but in December following
reopened and caused great suffering.
after he left the military service General
Black resumed his professional studies, was soon
admitted to the bar. and almost Immediately
upon his admission entered upon a large and
lucrative practice. which he continued to enjoy
until the year 1874, when, in consequence of the
great suffering caused by the we nd in his right
arm, his health became much impaired. his per-
son smaciated and he was constrained to
abandon his profession.
From the year 1874 until this day he has
been an invalid. The wound in his arm. has
caused the most intense suffering, and in 1876, in
order to save life, the elbow joint was resected.
He is now a physical wreck, MANNED and
diseased, incapable Of any effort, and much of
the time confined to his bed. y
From August, 1865, until 1877, General Black
was paid a pension of $50 per month. based upon
the injury to his left arm. In 1877 this was in
creased to $50 per month because of the loss of
the use of the other arm. He now asks that the
right to $50 per month be recognized from
August, 1865.
1.-THE committee is convinced that the claim is
we'll founded.
"A strong, healthy man, possessing fine tai
ents and great abilities, who would have gath
cred fame and wealth, has been stricken il his
country's service. He asks the country he served
SO we'll to give bread to himself and opportunity
to educate his children.
"The committee, however, respectfully sub
init that instead of granting arrears of pension
Congress should recognize the distinguished
claims of General Black and to grant him a pen
sion of 500 per month, and therefore they
recommend the passage of the accompanying
BILL"
General Black receives a salary of S., 900 a
year. making in all sc, 200 he receives from the
government annually. His pension is one of the
largest, if not the largest, paid by the govern
ment. / don't think anybody begrudges hin his
pension. for he was badly crippled for a long
time, but he is certainly not incapable of any
effort now. He was a gallant and deserving
soldier, and no doubt the fact as set forth in his
petition and in the report above, on which was
based the award of SO large a pension, were cor
rect at the time.
General Blacks discontinue at the discovery
that some OF the bad men he had on his list were
Democrats. and the general fzzling out of his
charges was completed by the DEVELOPMENT in
the course of the investigation that out of sew
enty-six appointments in his bureau he had ap-
pointed seventy two Democrats in his efforts to
purify the Office of politics.
The efforts to reflect upon General Blacks
personal honesty should be deprecated. His
record shows him to be an honest man, and in
his department he is a thorough gentleman. Said
Ben Butler, once on a time: Character is what
a man is; reputation is what some red -nosed ed
itor says about him. The "red-nosed editors
should give General Black no other reputation
than that in harmony with his character, which
is not impeached.
THE SAN FRANCISCO COLLECTOR.
The Chinese Minister Enters Complaint Com