The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-07-06
THE PENSION QUESTION.
HUMBOLDT, KANs. June @, 1S9t

HUMBOLDT, HANS, June q, 1891.
Hon CHAs. F. SCOTT lola, Kans
MY DEAR SIR Your virulence against the
present administration leads you to make som,
mistatements in regard to pension matters.
lam not quite certain whether you made then
willfully and with malice afOrethoueht OF
whether your intense Republcanism affects vol
with mental strabismus, affecting you in suct
away that YOU are unable to report them cor
rectly. have always given you credit for hon
esty in your articles in the REGISTER and be
lieved that you believed what you wrote, but
you are allowing your partisanship to cause yoT
10 waver in your obedience to the command
ment Thou Shall not bear false witness
against thy Neighbor." Or else it makes you
neglectful in investigating the truth of reports
which affect political parties, or rather which
would act TO the detriment of the present ad
ministration.
Can it be that you are afraid that veteran
may have his pension allowed or increased
under. the present administration? Can il be
that you are endeavoring, by misrepresenta-
lions TO keep old soldiers from meeting the re-
quirements of the department and in effect
making them cut of their own pensions?
Can it. o, can it be that you would wish their
pensions to come from a Republican source OF
not at all? You have always been such friend
to soldiers that fain would doubt it and vet
am led to these remarks by the items in the
REGISTER concerning the pensions of Mr. Con-
ley and Mr.. Crabb. These gentlemen each re-
ceived an order for examination TO determine
their physical condition.
The medical testimony on file furnished by a
republican board. was not Of such nature as TO
SHOW t0dI IQey were 1QCdDdc1tate0 Tor the per-
formance of manual labor
Their pensions were not shut off and they
were not required to furnish additional evidence
of disability as you stated in the REGISTER 1
explained this TO you once before in private
conversation which is the reason now doubt
your sincerity. l only ask for fair play. for the
facts TO be stated correctly and not distorted
Ihere surely can be honesty even in the par
dsan newspaper. Now, Mr. Scott, if you will
state things as they are will again believe.
Sincerely Yours,
J. F FLYNN.
Putting aside for the moment the
rhetorical solicitude, them direct insin-
uations, and the Pharisaical assump-
tions of lofty moral superiority in
which our good friend DR.. Flynn has
chosen to indulge, and coming down
to the specific charge he makes, we
wish to deny it with all the neces-
sary emphasis.
We did not say that Mr.. Conley's
pension had been "cut off," or that he
had been required to bring in addi-
tional evidence. We simply used his
own words and said that his pension
had "gone Democratic" Of course if
DIR. Flynn insists that it all means
the same thing, why we cannot dis
pute with him, because he probably
knows better than we do. But in
any event the phrase was Conley's
and not ours. We simply quoted
him. So if anybody is to be accused
oflying about it, it is he and not we,
and we guess he can stand it.
Neither did we say that Mr.. Crabb's
pension had been cut off. We said it
had been "Hokesmithed. And here
again we cannot help it if DIR. Flynn
chooses to regard the two phrases as
identical. If the doctor will insist on
jumping at conclusions why-we can
only congratulate him on being so
well acquainted with the man and |
the party to whom and to which he
owes his job.
In the case of Mr.. Crabb wedid add
that he had been notified that his
pension will be shut off if he cannot
furnish additional evidence of disa-
bility." Isn't that exactly what his
notification means? The notice or
ders Mr.. Crabb to appear before the
board of examining surgeons within
30 days to be examined for a pension,
just the same as if he had not been
receiving a pension. Now suppose
when he responds to this order the