The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1893-10-26
WASHINGTON LETTER.

= ~
How Abe Lincoln Caused the
Crowd to Cheer When the
Band Played @tDixie.''
Who is the Northwestern POpu-
list Who so Speedily Saw the
- Light? 5
From the Unions Special Correspondent.
WASHINGTON, Oct. %, 1898.
That was a very interesting
statement which Secretary Hoke
Smith sent to the house of repre-
sentatives the other day. It was
the statement prepared by Com
missioner Lochren Of the pension
Office and it was not one upon
which he could be elected gov
ernor of Minnesota or United
States senator. The showing was
that in the four months since May
up to the first of September he
had made over ten thousand sus-
pensions of pensions, but what was
still more remarkable, up to Octo-
Der 18th, more than six thousand
had been reinstated. Here was an
acknowledgment that the pension
Office had suspended more than six
thousand pensions where it had to
own up that a great many more
than half we're unjustifable and
illegal acts, for suspensions under
such circumstances were illegal,
as when a pensioner is on the rolls
he is legally entitled to draw his
pension until it has been demon
strated that he was wrongfully
placed there. But here are more
than six thousand cases where the
pensions were arbitrarily cut off,
illegally stopped, and the pension
Office compelled to acknowledge
that it had perpetrated an outrage
upon the people and upon the
pensioners. It is not probable
that should Judge Lochren decide
to become a candidate for any Of
fee in Minnesota he would point
out that as the record which he
would like to have the people look
upon before they gave him their
suffrages. AS matter of fact, it
is marvellous that a man like
Judge Lochren, himself brave
soldier, could have sanctioned any
such proceeding, even to please
Grover Cleveland or the Georgia
Secretary of the Interior.
There are the possibilities of great
jobs in the large forest reservations
that have been made in various
portions of the United States.
AS in all gigantic steals there has
been behind it it's element of
patriotic honesty, the men who
are the dupes of designing schem-
ers, and while honest enough
themselves are the necessary. fools
to give countenance to the deeper
and more knavish proceeding
which their honesty and zeal are
made to cover up. The cranks
who are SO anxious to preserve the
forests of the United States, are
the veneer of a plan for the great
est of all jobs against the govern
ment lands. In the closing days
of congress in March, 1891, there
was put through even in the ex-
piring hours a very lengthy land
bill. I was watching the bill very
closely and [ did not know all
that there was in the measure, and
was in fact surprised when [ first
saw it in print to find that an en-
tirely new section had been added
to the bill. This was section 81,
which shows how long the bill
was, and was put in conference, by
some one who had the power to
hold up the whole bill and prevent
it from going through, so short
had become the time, and the
members who were so anxious to
have it passed let it go. This Sec
ton provided for the reservation
by proclamation Of the president
any tract Of public land that he
might designate. It was a ire
mendous power, and it was. so
easy to get the president to make
these reservations, If recon-
mandad Inv tho commissioners. .,e