Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-06-30
MILLIONS CARELEssLY SWORN AWAY

MILLIONS CARELEssLY SWORN AWAY.
An Order by the Pension Commissioners That
May Save the Government Much.
To the Editor of The Evening Star:
That fully one-fifth of the 81 SOC, 900 900 that
have been expended for pensions since 1861
has been improperly expended have no doubt.
Three hundred millions of money is an enor-
nous sum- Absolutely fraudulent pensions
form but q very small portion Of the number
which has been improperly allowed The evil
has mainly arisen through careless or sympa-
thetic afidavits. "It's mean fellow who will
not make an affidavit for an old soldier" has
become a byword
Machine sfidavits, written by the claimant
or his attorney, have been placed before COM
rades and neighbours, who, oftentimes without
| reading them, still oftener without being ques-
toned concerning their knowledge Of the facts
! set forth, have signed them. and they have been
duly fled in the pension Office. Who're special
examiners have cross-examined these wit
nesses they have found that many Of them
| could recall almost nothing about which they
| had testified to with something Of detail, and
| In nearly every case the affiant was willing to
state that perhaps his affidavit was . little too
| strong Not one AFFIDAVIT in q hundred had
been written by the atlantis. They had some
vague ideas Of the claimants disease or injury,
| SO very vague that in q multitude OF cases they
could not, without seeing their affidavits, re-
| member whether 1t was heart disease or cpl
lepsy to which they had testified. The sppli-
can't had been q soldier. they knew. or be-
| lieved that he WAS poor and much under the
weather, had a large family, and, poor fellow,
| deserved pension.
| To this careless, easy sympathy we are mainly
indebted for our swollen pension list. And
these atlantis include some OF the best people
in the country. The affiuent manifested a
greater hberality in testifying than the poor,
! and the generosity manifested by public men
| and politicians proved that public life had not
impaired their sympathies. A surgeon, whose
memory could not furnish the details Of the
claimants with convincing afidavits would, II
he were q candidate, much weaken any party
ticket
CASE IN POINT.
To illustrate from my own experience as q
special examiner: Over %, 900 had been paid
out in claim for rheumatism, when suspicion
having been thrown upon the case it was sent
to me for special examination. It had been
allowed mainly on the affidavit Of Judge -,
a man Of exalted position. Of great ability. Of
deep sympathies and Of stern integrity. The
| claimant had hospital record for rheumatism.
SO the question at issue was his degree Of dis
ability since discharge. The judges affidavit
was comprehensive and detailed, and only four
years old. II that was correct, the sdmis-
sion Of ths claim would surely stand.
Knowing that the judges integrity
was Of the stern order, I hesitated to interview
him. for Lad become satisfied that carelessly
he had testified inaccurately. took his depo-
sition, and found that all he knew wns that the
claimant had good reputation a. a soldier
and had been ailing some since his return, and
that he had worked for him and was a steady,
fu,t f,,f cot, tn,
and had very nice family Of his own, and that
he had q hard task to exc out q living.
BY piecemeal / drew from him q negative
Of nearly every detail in his affidavit, leaving
1t almost worthless. Enjoying the situation,
/ then asked him il he did not think that some
times pensions were rather carelessly granted.
and, after listening to his stern denunciation of
pension frauds Cat that time the party in power
was not his party. asked him to read his
former affidavit His first remark was why,
I did not write this, - but, turning to the bold
signature, he added, ''Yes. that ia my sigma
ture." At first he seemed angry and then NOR
tifed and then said: II can't understand this.
Surely it was never read to me, and yet could
hardly have signed without reading II" then
asked him If his reading it had 80 refreshed
his memory that he wished to alter his present
deposition. but he stated that he did not.
l did not feel merciful. so 1 said to
him: "Judge, the pension office paid out over
81, 900 to this claimant. We inquired into your
intelligence and credibiiity and found them
gilt edged, and so felt safe to pay this claim,
and il the claim had reached up to $40 900,
with you for our hacker, we would scarcely
have rejected it." I left him profoundly NOR
tilted, so much 90 that pitied him. and after
exhaustive investigation finding that the claim
was a good one, / returned to him to cheer
him with the consolation that his careless
sympathy had brought no loss to the govern
ment.
AN ORDER THAT WILL STOP IT.
Commissioner Lochren has recently issued
an order that has attracted but little attention,
vet no more important order ever emanated
twenty years ago, and duly enforced, 1t would
have saved hundreds Of millions to the treas
ury. He simply says to witnesses in pension
claims: I'VE want to know whether YOU know
whereof you testify, so you must either write
out your own aft iavits in full, or they must be
written in your presence from your oral decla-
rations, and under your oath you must state
they were SO written, giving the time, place
and person, when, where and to whom you
made such oral declarations, and under that
same oath, you must state that your declara-
tons embody your personal knowledge, and in
making them you were not aided or prompted
by any person or by any statement prepared or
dictated by any other person."
That means the abolition Of ignorant. care
less and merely sympathetic affidavits. For
many years we have had lawyers. Of greater or
lesser experience. at the head Of the pension
bureau. but never before an able Judge
Lawyers are gifted in getting up ex-parte
affidavits which often tread perilously near the
line Of falsehood. and so careless affidavits
would not attract their attention; but the
analysis. comparing and weighing Of affidavits.
is especially Judicial task, and ''st chambers
forms a heavy part of q judge labors. The pen
sion office has long been in the habit Of send
ing printed blanks to atlantis, asking them
to state their means Of knowing the alleged
facts to which they have testified. but that has
not proved Of much avail, for after a man has
once filed sworn statement be will be apt to
fit his subsequent answers into that statement
The desideratum is to prevent persons whose
regulations cannot be impeached, persons who
would shrink from perjury as from murder,
from testifying to things Of which they have
by the claimant or his attorney.
Had this order been sent forth twenty-five
years ago the number Of affidavits filed in pen
sion claims would have been reduced one-half
Honest claimants would not have suffered by
| being held to greater accuracy Of testimony,
and thousands Of dollars would not have been
paid out in evidence that would not secure q Is
verdict before country Justice. The remedy
has been applied late, but as there yet on file
more than 700, 900 claims of different classes,
| it is not exactly a case of docking the stable
door after the horse is stolen" There are yet
| very many valuable horses to be guarded
Claim agents will agree with me that no other
| order from the Secretary or commissioner has
made il so difficult to secure the admission of