The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-04-11
A Needed Change.

EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: Could not
some method be devised by which pensioners
who are in feeble health could get their quar-
terly stipends without the delay or expense to
which they now often have to submit especi-
ally in inclement seasons of the year, or when
living at long distances from any civil officer
before whom they are obliged to execute the
afidavits required at the Pension Agencies
very large majority of the people know and
willingly acknowledge that pensioners are al
most always disabled in far greater degree
than can be measured by the few dollars and
cents they receive every three months from
the .. S. Treasury. Few persons of intelli-
gence have been blinded by the mendacious
and malignant talk of those people whose re-
gard for the safety of their persons and purses
far outweighs their patriotism who were the
Copperheads of war times, and who have been
led on and encouraged by the il-concealed
sneers contained in some of the pensiOn-veto
messages of our late Chief Magistrate, and who
pretend to think that a soldiers wages were
such munifcent return for all patriotic serv-
ices ever rendered.
President Harrison gave utterance to the
prevailing public sentiment in his inaugural
address when he said that our pension law
should give more adequate and discriminating
relief. Many pensioners are poor and largely
dependent upon their pensions, aud small as
the amounts generally are, the difficulty Of
obtaining them promptly after they become
due is an inconvenience that often amounts tC
a real hardship. Why could not the present Law
be so amended that those who should apply t.
the Pension Office for such relief 1.-THE necessity
for which could be easily established by proper
affidavits) could be allowed to sign the pension
voucher and duplicate receipts at home in the
| presence of witness or witnesses, one of whom
could then take them, with the pensiOnerS
! certificate, to the proper Magistrate and have
them completed. Possession of the pensioner
certificate by witness known to the Magis
trate, and offering to complete the voucher
| having the pensioners signature Ia specimen
! of which, written in the Magistrates presence
ought to be left in his possession for compari
| SOM, ought to be sufficient evidence of the cor
rectness of the transaction. There could be M
| object in applying for such relief unless it wa
needed, and the relief would be most welcome
| to all who have to wait for mild weather be
! fore they can venture out 10 or 10 or mOrt
miles to a Magistrates Office, or else pay him
| sum amounting to no ine0nsiderable percentag,
of a small pension to come to their homes anC
make out the voucher and receipts.
The grievance is real, and ought to be re
moved. If the way indicated is faulty OF cum
| bersome surely one could and ought to b.
found not open to any serious objection.
would not cause the expenditure of dollar o
| public money, and would be one genuine stel
| in the direction of more adequate relief, ant
/ would save to pensioners many dollars tina
now gointo the pockets of storekeepers who Civ
| credit while the pensiOner is waiting for
chance to get his money, or into the pocket o
the Justice who goes to the pensioners hom
to make out the voucher and receipts.-A Pen
| sIoNER, Armonk, n. Y.