Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1892-05-05
TRYING TO DODGE.
Pension Officials SEEK to Divert the In
ycsti"t,.or.

Pension Officials seek to Divert the In
vcstint,:on.
When an accused person adopts the
advice of the old lawyer Ito abuse the
plaintiff attorney" one is apt to sus-
pect that the condition exists to which
that advice is applicable, namely. that
both the law and the evidence are
against the defendant The pension in
ve>ti@ation has conclusively shown that
Commissioner Rauu. has for months
been engaged in Il conspiracy to trap
Congressman Cooper. who has been ac-
tive in having the management of the
bureau investigated.
The organs of the administration
have also been Jealous in aiding the
counter attack on Mr.. Cooper. When
Hcrsey was found to have been carry
ing on a profitable business in expedit-
ing pension cases, they at once assumed
that Mr.. Cooper was his partner. and
commented with ghou!ish glee on his
being hoist with his own petard. and on
his having thrown a boomerang. They
were extremely anxious to divert atten-
ton from the real matter at issue.
which WAS the management of the pen
sion bureau. to the merits or dement's
Of congress smen who were not under in
vestigatIon.
Later Developments have shown that
the mirth Of the organs was premature.
Evidence has been introduced TO show
not only that Mr.. Cooper was not aware.
that Jersey was abusing his confidence,
but also that Raum knew it IN lths
ago. and instead of putting stop To it
IL
to- cntrap Mr.. Cooper. These efforts
met with ignominious failure. and Mr..
Raum appears as a baliied conspirator.
Even republican members Of the com
mittcc have fcl: Obliged 10 say that
they believe Mr.. Cooper guilty of no
wrong. and they no longer desire 10 see
the investigation diverted from the pur-
pos" for which il was began.
IL" evidence So far taken album !an'lv
shows that the pension c:Iicc is fall IF
men who are chiefly intent upon pro
noting their own interests. and that
official, prey not only upon the pubic
but upon Suborr::n&tcs and others.
borrowing money appears to be
f;.v0r.tc species If dissipation in the
bureau. The commissioner borrOws
Iar.rc sums from George r.. Lemon. on
tn. pledge Of stock Of doubtful value.
or perhaps Of no value. and it somehow
happens that nine on of ten of the
cases expedited under Il special order
are Lemons. Employees loan money
To- their subpr.linatcS and are promoted.
Other employees report abuses that
come under their observation, and are
discharged. Reporting any abuse i
sioncr. and the latter boldly says he
will discharge any empioyc that attacks
him. To round up this comfortable
system of running the Office as private
snap. every discharged einploye is de
nounced a. unworthy of credit, because
he has been discharged. In this way
the pension bureau il to b" made proof
against investigation altogether.
1t Is to he regretted. however. that
the investigation of pension abuses has
not gone somewhat deeper. II is obvi-
Gus enough that the management of the
office is bad. but if it were mad better
the relief of the country would be com
paraLively small. Tn" opinion prevails
almost universally that a large percent
4 re of the pensions paid go to the undc-
serving. Fraud and favOritism have
to swell the rolls beyond all
reason. and the pension burden will go
on increasing for years. There is need
of 1t general revision of the rolls for the
purpose of eliminating fraudulent pen
sioners. but the task Is probably too
great TO he attempted ut present with
reasonable chances ot success. So long
rs so many congressman fear to make
L
rcction of pension abuses. the agents
and the corTnorants are pretty like y to
have their own way.-Louisviile Cour