Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1893-08-10
ALL THE OLD SOLDIERS ARE SECURE

Abuse of Pension Privileges in issues Z,
Under tho Act of June 25th, 1890. :
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3.-Commissioner u
Lochren has addressed the following let =
ter TO the editor Of the National 1r30une: i
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BuREAuoF Z
PENSIONS, WASHINGTON, d. G., Aug. ], 1898. :
stu have not complied with your re- !.
peated request that | Should cause a list to !.
be made to show the number OF traudu- !
lent pensions by having LOCO cases drawn I
from the limited files and examined.
have not done SO for several reasons. I
/. Fraudulent cases, il any exist, cannot )
he discovered in that way. fraudulent !,
pension must ordinarily have been OBJ !
tained upon false or forged testimony, on
the face Of the papers such a case would
probably appear TO be well established and {
ineontestible.
.. No one whose opinion is entitled to
consideration has, as ! think, had the
hardihood to claim that the great mass OF
adjudicuted pension, cases Is permeatea
with fraud, open and plain on the papers,
so that the examination OF l,0o0 cases
would disclose an instance. And ! GER
tainly have far too high an. opinion
of my old comrades to believe that
scoundrels, who have sought and OBJ,
tanned pensions dishonesty. Especially 1
believe that the pensions granted TO sol
| dlers who did actual service III the neid'
| on account of disabilities of service, are
| usually honest and well deserved. NO
| doubt rests OH that class of cases, and no
| examinations of them are being made,
except where evidence is received tending
| to show that some particular case is fraud
| ulent or has been improperly decldeu.
Even among the twelve apostles there was
| only one who was unworthy and amongthe
| brave and true soldiers of the Union army
| it cannot be denied that there were a few
4 and who were OIL /
no credit to us, and of little deseryings, |
and who have been, perhaps, among the |
most eager for the place on the pension |
roll ut high rating. The investigations
as to the work of dishonest pension attor-
news at Norfolk, New Mexico and Iowa,
show the existence of local frauds OF large
extent.
But it would be far from fair to conclude
| from such cases that pension attorneys are
generally Inscriptions or dishonest, l
think, on the contrary, they are ordinarily
as honest, painstaking and careful as other
brought to the notice of the bureau by IN
formation from some source. If the in
formation is indefinite or appears 10 pc
J prompted by malice, 1t is disregarded. II
II seems to be trustworthy, the case is IN,
vestigated, the pension being suspended
during the investigation, according to the
uniform practice Of the bureau from the
Y beginning. Ii the pension is improper 1t
8 should not be paid; ii not shown to be i'm.
i proper the suspended pension is all PAID
G and the suspension enlsts the active Co
operation of the pensioner in furnishing
a evidence and reaching speedy result.
3. The examination of the June 9th,
1890, cases is made not because OF any
l fraud on the part of the claimants, but
because it was discovered that this bureau
had, by the adoption of an erroneous rate
IS for adjudication, allowed many pensions
Il not authorized by the law. Under prior laws :
# pensions were only granted ON account OF
n The disabilities of service origin. And the
:, acts of Congress had in many cases liked
specific rates OF pension for designated ln-
IS iliries or disabilities and provided gener-
:. ally that for inferior disabilities OF per
manent character proportionate ratings
lie | should be allowed; and under this general
!. provision the commissioner, with the ap'
70 proyal OF the secretary, had fixed schedule
y rates for such inferior disabilities OF ser,
% vice origin.
n AS said before, all pensions granted
t. under these former laws are presumed &c
tn have been properly granted, and they are
ne not being examined except on Information
showing fraud in some particular cases. al
ha il has always been the practice. But TINT
as law of June 9th, 1880, granted pensions
90 to persons who had served w days or more
ne if suffering from mental or physical dls
ISL ability of permanent character, not TN
of result of their own vicious habits, incapa
Gil citating them for the performance o
air manual labor in such degree
to render them unable to earn
H. support-such pensions not to exceed III
no nor less than Sc per month, proportione
i'll. to the disability to earn support by man
nd ual labor Under this act the disabilit
.p- need not be of service origin, but to b
nd pensionable at all the disability must II
capacitate the person from manual labol
ars so as to render him unable to earn SUI
oAS port. Specific disabilities as such were nj
pensionable at all under that act, nor Ell
TO- titled to consideration except as the
an might effect the capacity to perform mar
for uailabor But by Order 1854, issued Oct
TT Der 10th, 1890 the Commissioners, with u
/ is approval of the assistant secretary,
If rected that specific disabilities should
he rated under this act, the same as the
w would have been rated under prior lay
:. had the disabilities been of service origil
ut up to $40 per month.
use The effect of this order was shown
Ird, the Bennett case, which called attentls
to it. There the claimant, applying und
ard this act OF June 9th, 1880, was allowed
'iu ness not of service origin, and whit
by manifestly would scarcely interfere wi
on his capacity to perform manual labt
pre- On inquiry the medical referee
ported that acting under this ord
tro- lG4, the capacity of claimant under .
n
labor was not considered in adjudicati
the claim. II was clear, therefore, th
ater under that order the law was disregardt
wed with the necessary result of granting sol
APP pensions, like that to Bennett which We
EN- not authorized by any law, A board
, in revision was therefore constituted, OF
M ablest and most experienced men of
H. bureau to re,examine these cases and c.
mug out such as had no legal basis to rest up
lnce and with instructions to interfere with
ges. case whereby the most liberal constructs
was a right to the pension could be made to
pear, and in other cases where the pensi
anne could not be sustained under any law,
icial give the go days notice, according to ?
a,,,s vious practice, within which the pension
aa5 may furnish additional evidence, a
heu' show himself entitled.
nus- have, perhaps, written more thar
The ought, but my comrades are interested
COM understanding this matter rightly {
as it Is, the man generally misrepresen
a in. is the secretary who has in fact alw
IL, been more considerable and liberal tow
Si.y pensioners, than any of his subordina
lakes myself included. Yours, very truly,
Ter of WILLIAM LooaREi
tion. -~-
, law rs NOT DIR. RYER'S son.
a pnIigorniA COurt Kuies Out the III