Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1893-07-13
PENSION FRAUDS.
Evidences of the Loose Methods OF Be
publican OfAcials.

Evidences of the Loose Methods OF na
publican OfHciais.
The inquiries that have been set ON
foot with reference to the pension list
have, from the necessity of the case,
made no great progress; but they are
already bearing substantial fruit
Nothing else was to be expected. I'm
der Tanner and Raum the bureau was
avowedly run for the purpose of grant
ing as many pensions as possible
From time to time boasts Were pub
hshed that the office was beating all
previous records, and figures submitted
to demonstrate the correctness of the
claim OF course where it was well un-
derstood that the main object was to
issue as many certificates as possible,
there was small hope of protecting the
interests of the government against
fraud. The ingenuity of the treasury
raiders is SO great. their number 50 i'm
mense and their industry so untirina
that the utmost vigilance on the part
of officials is not always sufficient N
head them of. What, then, must be
the condition of affairs when the oil
Gals themselves are virtually in league
with the raiders?
How easy was the task of fraudulent
pensioners and their aiders and abettou
was well illustrated by the result of the
inquiry as to the pensionIfrauds at Nor
folk, Va, of which some account 70
Gently appeared in the dispatches w.
e. Drury was a pension claim agent
and had an Office specially constructed
to expedite fraudulent claims. His tive
sons occupied the Office with him, ane
were convenient for use as witnesses
o1e
OF all work in the Office. Drury't
nephew, Richardson, a notary public
also had = desk in the Office. He signes
declarations in blank, which Drury
used whenever they were needed. Ever
this did not satisfy Drury. for he otter
forged Richardson's name, rs he die
that of witnesses. This sort of thing
has been going on since 1890, but it wa.
not discovered until this year. Ths
government has paid one hundred an,
fifty million dollars in cases in which
Drury has figured, and but for the dis
covery would ultimately have paid. &C
cording to the estimates, some six hun
dred and fifty thousand dollars more.
1t is argued, of course, that the pen
sion Office was not responsible fol
Drury's frauds, which may be technical
ly true, though it is false in substance
and effect. The free and easy manner
in which the Office was conducted, the
avowed eagerness to grant pensions &c
every body who applied, If any pretexi
for it could be found, were so many in
vitations to claimants and claim agents
to try their skill in inveDting false pre-
lenses Drury had runners out scour
ing the country for fraudulent appli
cants- The same names constantly re
CURED as witnesses, and were otter
signed by Drury himself. The papers
were suspicious on their face, and if the
Office had been conducted with ordinary
care to prevent fraud detection woule
have come much sooner than it did.
The case of Drury Is valuable az
showing what was possible under snch
an administration of the pension Office
as that of Raum- OF course, there l.
every reason to believe that his case Ia
only one of many. His method may
have been more daring than those Of
most of the others, but they tended ts
the same end The number of unde-
served pensions obtained by him Is
trihing compared with the grand tota-
of fraudulent cases. And yet there IL
already an cutlery that these investigar
tions are intended to rob the pension.
ers of money which rightfully belongs
to them.
The position of the pension bureau
under its present management, is i'm
pregnable, and must command the ap-
prevail of every honest man not blinded
by prejudice or misled by misinforma.
ton 1t is simply that every man en-
titled to a pension under the laws shall
have one, and that those who do moi
deserve them shall be stricken from the
roll as fast as they can be discovered.
This is the dictate of simple honesty ano
common sense The pretense that
there is any patriotism in promoting
fraud is too absurd for serious consid.
eration.-LouisvilleC ourier-Journal