New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-01-29
WAR UPON THE VETERANS.
TIE DEMOCRATIC PENSION POLICY
REVIEWED.
NOT A SOLDIER YET FOUND GUILTY OF FRAUD
uNJUsTIFIABLE COURSE OF COMMISSION
Err rOcHREN AND HIS ASSISTANTS
WORTHY CLAIMANTS DEFRAUDED
OF THEIR RIGHTS.
lBY TELEGRAPH 10 THE rEBrxEl

there was a disposition to use great haste III ~
moving the cover from the Pension burea" III oi"'
20 disclose the frauds that were SAID 10 le oo9V ~
he surface. From the 4th of March to the present
line there has been no increase OF prosecutions 'o
fraud against the ola soldier. He may nave Deeh
persecuted because he 4 pensioner or an APP
plicant for pension. but he has not been p'ose0 ,
The great fraudulent cases uncovered AT No'io''''
Va turned out be confined 10 lie" lsnoia''
co,ored people who had been duped into 1Iis Ia'So
claims by an INSCRIPTIONS claim agent Inc mex.
great underground system that was discovered
was In Northern Iowa. referred to as the van A-u-
ven frauds. These turned out TO be the "oiA Vi
q dishonest claim agent who able to find men
Of his own Tx who were members OF the examining
boards OF surgeons. by the payment OF cer'a'h
,um of money to these surgeons they would give
higher rating to applicants on medcaI eNan'ha-
ton The fraud in such cases is entirely the lau''
OF the attorney and the examining surgeons Inc
old soldier has yet been proved guilty OF fraud IN
any OF these cases lie may have been dupe' pnt
NOT n fraud He has not OF his own will planned a
way for securing money not guaranteed 10 MN uh-
der the law.
The next great frauds brought to light were in
Baltimore, where pensioners who were en-
,,oved on the oyster boats in Chesapeake Bay were
N the habit of having their pension cheeks sent
20 the care of certain persons to be heid for 'hem
until they should return from sea. The cry OF
fraud set up over this discovery was long ana loud
but when the facts were brought out nobody had
been hurt and no fraud was found at all
THE HUE AND CRY ABOUT FRAUD
All the noise made by the Administration against
he honesty Of purpose Of the veterans of the late
war has co far failed TO fix the crime of fraud upon
any Of them There has been a time since
the adoption of the present system OF granting PEN
sons that fraudulent practices have not been IN
duged in by different persons from different mo-
tives 1t has never been cOntended by the rank and
file of the veterans of the late that service and
honorable discharge certificate Of good char
acter to every individual There were many bad
men in the service and the fact Of their having
been In service did not change their characters III
is not denied that such persons have attempted
aIHa committed crimes against the Government
This Administration however, is no more dIigent
or thorough in the matter Of investigating these
frauds than every preceding one has been Inc
facts will show that the original data upon which
nearly every prosecution OF pension frauds has been
based by the present Administration were secured
during the former Administration. Some people
have been made to believe that all this is new
business" speak. The claim of the Commits
sioner OF Pensions that the saving to the Govern
is far in excess Of the cost of prosecution IS
no more for the period since March 4. leeS.
than for the corresponding period of any previous
year. The reason why the public has been made
to think that the present Administration is more
vigant in that direction is because the present
loquacious chief of the Law Division of the Pen
sion Bureau frequently manages to talk with news
paper men, with view TO the publication of facts
which has heretofore been considered good policy
10 keep secret and because of the further fact that
the minor details of a subordinate branch of a
bureau have been considered Of sufficient weight
to warrant the Presidents referring to them in a
message 10 Congress.
THE CRUSADE BEGUN.
Soon after Mr.. Clevelands inauguration. and
prior TO the appointment of Commissioner Lochren
d. !. Murphy appointed First Deputy Commits
soner OF Pensions. and such Acting Com
rofsc Tho 1afe ~ Mr. InChre
ment. Up this time the claims Of soldiers for
invalid pension under the act Of June % 1880. had
been adjudicated under the provisions Of order No
1884, which provided in effect that in arriving at
the proper Of pension 10 be allowed under the
new law. the rate would be allowed as was
granted for the same disability under the old law.
and that in fixing the proper rate of pension. the
different disabilities should be added to-
gether to make up the maximum to which the appli-
entitled. For example. If an applicant
found be disabled in a degree emitting him
10 81 month for rheumatism. & month for
injury TO hand and 81 a month for gunshot wounds
OF arm. he would be pensoned under the law
at IS a month for all disabilities combined.
The act of June q. 1890, grants a pension to every
honorably discharged soldier who served ninety
during the War of the Rebellion. provided
he is disabled for manual labor III degree emitting
him to not less than Sc month and he cannot be
pensioned at a rate in excess of sl2 month. The
law also provides that his disability must be due to
not the result of his own vicious habits.
MORE TESTIMONY REQUIRED
No sooner was Mr.. Murphy installed Acting
Commissioner than order issued which re-
auired the testimony of two persons should be
fled in every showing that TO the best of
their knowledge and belief the claimants dsabili-
lies were not due vicious habits. This order was
made to apply 10 over 1000 cases then pending be
fore the Board of Review and in the Medical Dl-
vision ready for final adjudication. What was the
effect Of this order? 1t practically suspended the
allowance Of all claims then pending before the
bureau From July l. 1890 10 March %. 1893. when
this order was issued the entire clerical force Of
the bureau had been almost exclusively engaged
upon the claims filed under the new law. As soon
as II became known that this order had been is
sued ali attorneys who were competent to protect
the interests Of their clients sent out calls for the
evidence in anticipation OF official requirements.
and as a result of this action it not many
lays before evidence came pouring into the bu-
reau in great volume. 1t was apparent that
something else must be done the claims would
have be allowed. The purpose of the order Is
apparent when stops TO consider that not one
Ease 1000 been is ever Will be rejected
on the ground OF vicious habits" 1t is clear that
the only object of the order TO suspend the
allowance of the claims
THOUSANDS or CLAIMS REJECTED
Closely following this order. N April. lSs3 and
before any Of the pending claims had been allowed
came another order requiring proof OF origin OF
.very disability claimed. The reason given by
Secretary Smith for making this order that 1t
was necessary enable the department 20 deter
mine whether the disabilities were due 70 vicious
habits The previous order requiring the testimony
OF two witnesses that the applicants disabilities
were not due vice also insisted upon.
Again the evidence pouring In. and II looked
a though claims must be allowed. In
order efectually to put stop to the allowance OF
all claims fled under the new law. the medical
referee authorized TO issue circular estab-
fishing rates This circular. issued June IL. 1893.
provided that 10 obtain pension OF IS month
Under the OF June q. 1880. the applicant must
De found upon medical examination to have some
one disability emitting him TO so rating under
the old law II he had two disabilities emitting
him to $40 for each. he would receive IS under the
new law, and IL he had three $40 disabilities n
pension OF SO "A month; hut where disability
would allow him rating OF $50 month under the
old law, he would receive $l2 under the law
Claims adjudicated under these rates rejected
by the thousands. the entire pension business
was stopped so far as the allowance OF claims was