The Red Cloud chief., 1894-03-09
An OPEN LETTER.
To the Commissioner Of Pen.
stOns.

SsOHsbs
Hon. VIM. Iochrsi.
CoMRADE: The press OF the conn-
try contains the amazing statement
that you propose to "save" from $l5,-
100000 to GIG, 900 from the cur.
rent years pension appropriation and
return it to the treasury.
We are reluctant to believe that
this can be SO. Of all men in the
Usited States you should be the most
deeply impressed with the intense
need Of that money by those to whom
it is lawfully and justly due. Of all,
you should be the most urgent to get
every dollar possible, and as quickly
as possible, into the hands of the men
and women to whom it rightfully be.
losgs. No man should ksow more Of
the overwhelming needs Of these men
and women; OF the sacred character Of
their claims, and of the wrongful de.
lays to which they have been subject.
ed in obtaining their rights. Your
bureau is crowded with mountainous
piles of evidence furnished by these
patient, lsng-suffering applicants for
justice. Tons Of sfidavits from Of.
acsrs, comrades, surgeons, physicians
and ueighbors are constantly added to
the other tons, under which the stout
floors Of the bureau bend and creak.
Statements, reports Of exami.ing Sur
s'ons, special examiners and others,
imploring letters from despsriug, al.
most desperate, men and women, anx.
ious letters from their friends and
neighbors, crisp, curt notes from sen.
ators and representatives food your
Office by every mail aud augment the
pigeon-holed wilderness Of papers that
gather the dust Of years and take on
the yellow hue Of age, while those to
whom they refer pass from weakness
or decrcpitude, and from d~ecrepitude
to death, in bitterness Of heart At the
nations ingratitude.
10 it possible, in the face Of al this
in the midst of documentary evi.
dence more voluminous thap would be
to prove the title to every acre Of land
10 the United States-you propose to
$l5. OOO,O 900 by with.holdipg
from the men and women who are
the rigbtful owners Of it7
1t is simply incredible that you
do 30. 1t is Numerically op-
posed to the hopes inspired when you
we're selected for your place, and the
representations made on your behalf
BY your friends, Then, We we're as.
sured with monotonous rciteration that
mo honest veteran need fear" and
that the appointment Of 50 genuinely
representative a veteran as yourself
was in itself an assurance ola Justly
policy toward the veterans.
But what possible agreement can
there b between these assertions and
assurances, and the return to the treas.
ary Of an unexpsnded balance Of SIS.
DOC, 900 while, according to your own
there was on July Z, 1893,
yer 100000 pending cases in your
bureau? How does it appear in con.
with your statement a few
ago that you had discovered
200 1000 cases under the old laws
which had been completed under Gen. {
administration and sidetracked :
y him in order to give precedence to ,
'ases arising under the act of June ~,
800? IL
What worse calamity could the de. I:
veteran have to fear than that
With his claim proved up long ago.
years since, after having lao.
'%risusly hunted up officers and com.
AIDES to the end of the country; hav.
Ing incurred great expense in furnish.
Ing proof; having undergone repeated
sxaminations-medical. legal and ex-
ira legal; after having endured the
miseries Of suspense and delay, and
knowing that death IL constantly
driving his dread approaches nearer
the citadel Of his heart; after all this
10 have it announced that the msnsy
which congress has placed in the
hands OF the commissioner Of pensions
10 pay his claim has been turned back
a%nexpendsd into the treasury.
Could there DO anything more ter
rihlo IN tho Dnor hroLo. Jm --