The National tribune., 1891-02-05
"PENsIoNs RUN RIOT"

sons Administration the lying New York
Herald says:
Ihird-ln The matter Of pensions the Admins.
/ tration has run riot A carnival Of fraud has been
inaugurated, and sl3o,OOOOO0 are TO be taken from
| tie Treasury this year Hs an unparalleled bribery
fund with which 10 purchase the vote Of an army
| Of veterans We shall in 'gI pay more money TO
The men who fought 25 years ago than viii be ex-
pended on the immense standing army Of France,
/ Germany or Russia But we haven't reached the
end yet The pension list Is constantly increasing,
and If the present rate Of expenditure is kept up
we shall be called upoa in o. or 93 20 pay S1OO0Oo
+ GOO or more than the cost Of the combined armies
OF France and Germany.
Every sentence in the above extract is a
distinct and wilful lie. The Administration
has not run riot" in the matter Of pensions.
IT has simply gone much farther in the
direction Of Justice TO pensioners than its
4 predecessors have done. If there has been
any running riot" il has been in the dis
bursements TO the bondholders, which have
been many millions greater than those TO
the pensioners, as we have repeatedly shown
by figures from the Secretary Of the Treas
ury's report, which we have challenged the
Herald to deny.
There has been no carnival Of fraud"
There has been from the first a severe and
critical-too severe and critical, we and all
friends of the soldiers have held-of every
mans claims to a place on the pension roll
The charge Of carnival Of fraud is a
direct falsehood. If there was the least
ground for such a charge the country would
ring with specifications Of the frauds. The
pensioners are distributed through the
country, and each is well known in his
community. IL they were frauds we know
that the partisan papers in each locality
would not let pass such a splendid oppor-
tunity TO attack the Pension Bureau. On
the contrary, we see the papers in these
localities generally approving the pensions
granted TO those men whose merits they are
aware Of, while keeping up camor about
gross frauds perpetrated in some indefinite
places elsewhere.
The Herald knows, for ii has the Commits
sioner Of PENSIONS report within easy reach,
that n large proportion-about one-third Of
the total expenditure for pensions-is for
arrears, which have been accommodating in
the long years Of waiting for adjudication.
Commissioner Raum, with the help Of the
increased force given him, is making Wig
orous effort 80 remove this old scandal on the
Pension Bureau and clear of these cases.
His report for $50 shows that he allowed
a total Of 40 a53 invalid pension claims
against 30 ,g99 which had been the rule for
previous years OF the total amount Of
Sl06, 493e9Ol9 disbursed by his Bureau
during the year, the aggregate annual value
Of the pension roll was but SO. O52, 1919,
while So, 47S, Sails was used to make the
FIRST payments 10 those whose claims had been
pending from two to q years OF the total
Of i9,453 invalid claims allowed, 2s.79I had
been filed within the last five years leaving
20659 which had been pending FOR from five
to - years. When these long-standing cases
are once disposed OF, this great sum Of more
than S320O0OOO for arrears will disappear
from the report, and the total expenditures
be diminished by that amount
With these arrears out Of the road the
pension expenditures will then only be the
present annual value of the roll, plus the
additions made under the act Of June q,
1880. Assuming that the former is in round
numbers S72000,0O0, and that every living
soldier goes on the roll at an average Of So
month, the total expenditures cannot
exceed, even if they reach, Sl50,OJOOOO
a year. Half a million veterans at 50
a month-the estimated average under the
act Of June %, ls9O-would only be Sji,-
100000 a year, which, added 10 the present
81. 100000, would make but S126.OOO. 900
THIS would rapidly decrease. Thesoldiersare
dropping of from the roll now at the rate Of
10000 year, and this rate must rapidly
increase as they pass the meridian Of life.
The talk Of the Herald about a probable ex-
penditure Of S2O0OOO.0OO a year is therefore
supreme nonsense, and no one knows il bet
ter than the Hvald.
We have 50 often refuted by actual figures
the Hyalds lalsehood that our pension ex-
penditures are greater than those Of Ger
many, France OF Austria for their armies,
that a repetition seems vain. The Herald
never abandons lie because il is pointed
out that ii really is a lie.
SENATOR CARLISLE walls IN The T0yUy0