St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-07-18
TO WIPE OUT FRAUDS.
JUDGE L0cHREN THOROUGHLY CLEAN
ING THE PENSION 6UREAU
THE PRESIDENT is PLEASED.
Gen. Black Scarcely Met Expecta-
tions in This Regard-A Vigor-
Gus Message Is Expected-By-
mum Deserts the Free Silver
Crowd.

Gus message Is E1peCteQ-by-
mum Deserts the Free Silver
Crowd.
| Special to the Globe
WASHINGTON, July 1.-THE ener-
getic manner in which Judge Lochren
has taken up the work of reforming the
abuses of the pension bureau is highly
satisfactory to the president. The new
| commissioner possesses exactly the
! qualities demanded for the work. He
is fair, honest. and possessed of a mind
| that, while it may work slowly, always
arrives at correct decision. President
| Cleveland desires that every man justly
| entitled to pension shall receive it,
but he Is just as firm in holding that all
| who are not entitled to the bounty of
| the government shall be dropped from
the rolls.
In this connection it is no secret that
Gen. John G. Black, of Illinois, did not
| meet the presidents expectations dur
| ing the four years he held the position
| of commissioner of pensions. The Hill
nols man is personally liked by the
president, but as an official he entirely
| Failed to Inaugurate
| the work which is now under way. Of
course, at that time the dependent pen
| sion act was not on the statute books,
and while Gen. Blacks rulings were
Liberal" there was no violent miscon-
! struetion of the then existing law such
| as Tanner and Raum subjected the de-
| pendent pension act TO in their wild en-
deavor to please George E. Lemon and
| his fellow sharks" The forthcoming
| message of the president will hardly
| discuss the pension question, but later
| in the session, if it be a continuous one,
the work upon which Judge Lochren is
| now engaged will be made the subject
| OF vigorous communication to con-
| gress. This will not be new depart
/ ure for Mr.. Cleveland, as in three out
of four OF his annual messages during
his first term he called the attention of
the people to the abuses prevailing in
the pensloning of the old soldiers. In
his first annual message, sent to con-
greSS in December, 1885, he said:
No Fraudulent Practices
"While there is no expenditure of the
public funds which the people more
cheerfully approve than that made in
recognition of the services of our SOL
diers, living and dead, the sentiment
underlying the subject should not be
Initiated by the introduction of any
fraudulent practices. Therefore, it is
fully as important that the rolls should
| be cleansed of all those who by fraud
have secured place thereon, as that
meritorious claims should be speedily
examined and adjusted"
In the second message, sent to con-
gress in December, 1886, Mr.. Cleveland
took up the abuse of pensoning by
special acts. where the applicant was
! unable to meet the requirements of the
law.
CleVeIand's Second Message.
1.-THE men who fought side by side.'
said the president, "Should stand side
by side when they participate in a
grateful natIon's kind remembrance.
There are far too many neighborhoods
in which are found glaring cases of ine-
quality of treatment in the matter of
pensions, and they are largely due to
yielding in the pension bureau to i'm
than the pensioner, who are especially
interested, or they arise from special
acts passed for the benefit of individ-
uaIs.'
The veto of the dependent pension
bill IN February, 1887, was but the car
rying out of the doctrines and principles
laid down in the veto of numerous
special acts, but in his fourth annual
message, sent to congress in December,
1888, the following appeared:
The Fourth Message.
The laxity of ideas prevailing among
large number Of our people regarding
pensions is becoming every day more
marked. The princi Piles upon which
they should be granted are in danger of
being altogether ignored. and already
pensions are often claimed because the
applicants are as much entitled as other
successful applicants, rather than upon
any disability reasonably attributable
to military service. If the establish
ment of vicious presidents be contin-
ued, if the granting OF pensions be not
divorced from partisan and other I'M
worthy and Irrelevant considerations,
and If the honorable name OF veteran
unfairly becomes by these means but
another term for one who constantly
clamors for the aid of the government
there is danger that injury will be done
to the fame and patriotism of many
whom our citizens all delight to honor.
and that prejudice will be aroused UNI |
just to merltorious applicants for pen- |
sions."
In view of the grave abuses that have |
gone on unchecked in the pension |
bureau since Mr.. Cleveland sent his last |
annual message to congress there is no |
doubt that his forthcoming deliYerance |
will be emphatic in its advocacy of re- |
form along this line. By fall Judge |
Lochren will have the work OF the pen
sion bureau in such condition that it is |
expected he will be able to make
A Substantial Decrease
in the estimates for the next year. This |
will undoubtedly be a substantial de- |
crease, but not such as the opponents of |
pension reform are trying to persuade
the old soldiers to believe. By the
scrutiny of the rolls now going on
Judge Lochren may be able to save
Sl0,000,000 per year, not more; and the
reports to the effect that 100000 pen
sioners ara in danger of being dropped
has no foundation in fact. There is one
thing, however. that Judge Lochren can
do. and is doing. 1t is the stopping of
the Issuance of fraudulent pensions in
future.
When the report of the work now
going on in the pension bureau is writ
ten up it will make interesting reading
for the taxpayers of the country, who.
while they are willing to contribute to
the deserving of the old veterans, are
emphatically opposed TO the lavish and
indiseriminate waste of their substance
in the name of patriotism.
HALE AND HEARTY.