The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1889-01-18

EnnG AGEa ~ l-E4L- ~ III @tA@8++E+ t@--@
Of the Peas5o1 Barean. TIE shelses reach
y tie ceiling. AID are baiis eut II sings
as IN = eroa ded library. Ga this shslEIDg,
properly jzcks;ed. belopg TIE papers IN
nezflT thfre-qaartess u 2 million passion
claims. saose tia. haze seen admitted 70
tie Pension OIce a. iass CLAIMS and tbe
claimants HusloosI What benHdeE
ing array. Tors d. tons 81 paper. from
heagy e-elsua4red Wer Department paper,
co7ered With Official reports. 30 tie cheap
no.e PAPER On xlleh tie soldier wrote
home from The front. lax now faded and
yelloa aitb age, and ink that vas faded
before It touched tie paper: Al ocean gf
ink.
Think Of tile almost inauwerzbie words
that are written upon the papers packed
away in this attic. If Adam ard Eve lad
been condemned shen driven o1t 81 Tie
garden Of Eden 70 copy . number Of words
eqazl to those here collected. and had been
expert copyists and had worked AZ The job
ever since every day. they would no. be
through yet. II a schooLboy were set to
work 70 merely count the separate aoeu-
ments and lived and toiIed 70 three score
and ten, death would find his work uuiin-
ished.
These rooms contain, however, but a
portion Of the official records Of the Pen
sion Bureau, though quite enough 10 be
/ food for speculation. There are records Of
gallant service and records Of ce1afaly de-
sertiors. There are cheerful iettefs from
brave soldiers written as they lay mangled
in hospitals, and whining letters from cheap
gcamps whose sole aim was to be ia the
hospital. Then there are millions Of aft
davis containing the testimony BIZ which
/ these cases were established.
That some Of this testimony is absolute
and unqualified perjury goes without say
ing; that a larger proportion Of it is not
uualIoyed truth is quite as certain. And
this is to be said no more Of the cases re-
Gently allowed than Of those admitted years
ago, as hundreds 0. ~ex-soldiers have filed
claims for serious gun shot wounds during
the last FIVE years, and an examination Of
Of War Department files has uncarthed
the positive record Of the wound in battle.
These are honorable scars. The class Of
claims where perjury is most rife is in the
claims Of widows on account Of the death
| Of husbands who died since the war.
The law entities the widow Of a last war
/ a1fdfgr - "a ro.u;Do Ctg, rr Ian 4tr eCHJfar
died Of a cause originating in service. In
the more remote and poorer districts Of
the country many an .ex-soldier is scarcely
cold in death before the widow has made
application FOR pension. No matter what
he may have died Of, q tree may have fallen
on him. he may have been drowned death
is IN any event attributed to service.
Sometimes the family doctor is most oblig-
ing with testimony, hoping that a pension
may secure bis fee. OF course, | speak of
exceptional cases. Twelve dollars per
month for life is u dream Of riches to the
| lone widow on some bleak hillside. twill
keep the cupboard full, repair the house,
silence tine dread OF tie p~eor-Louse, ard
make everything pleasant to the cnd Of
life. With her own efforts at q little gar
dening she can even be a woman Of sta
ton. ''Drst the woman" l heard one
housewife say Of another, s'there is 70
peace with her since she drawed that pen
sion; she thinks Of nothing but fashion"
Among the many commcndable features
Of our pension system nothing is more
creditable to our common humanity Than
the liberal allowance made to soldiers who
become blind or lose both legs or both
arms in service. The sun OF *72 per
month is, Of course, a poor compensation
for total blindness, bat it will respectfully
support a man. In this respect IKE do
things better than some other peoples.
| saw a sightless Frenchman on the streets
Of Chicago once, hat in hand, begging.
He was miserably clad, and his long hair
was thin and white. A French army
medal swung idly on his breast. learned
that his eyes had been injured in the ser
vice Of France, and that he had been PEN
stoned at a few francs per month, about
enough to keep him in tobacco, and now
the sight was totally ~extingnished. | con-
trasted his condition with that OF a blind
ex-soldier Of our own country. going down
TO a peaceful old age, warmly clad, well
housed, his cheerful old wife by his side,
honored by and honoring a grateful coun-
try. This is the bright side of pensiouing.
Then there is the dark side. Every in
habitant Of any country village knows tie
chronic pension claimant. IF his claim
for pension on account Of rheumatism was
allowed last month, he no sooner learns
| that the rate allowed for deafness has in
| creased, then he suddenly remembers that
he has been leaf ever since the battle Of
| Shiloh. He is a terror to examining sur
geons and a nuisance to his honorable
army comrades. lie shirked in the war
and he sbir>s nov. WESTON.