The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1894-08-19
EBB TIDE IN PENSIONS.
Pension Roll To Go Little Higher and
Appropriations Already Waning.

Appropriations ALREADY w aiming.
Washington City Letter in New York sun-
The official roundup OF the pension
roll. with its cost for the past fiscal year,
has yet 20 be made, but some facts already
known sufficiently show what the general
result Of the year viii be.
Foremost among these Is the indication
that high water mark on the pension roll,
81 least under existing legislation, is very
nearly at hand. and that the tide may
even turn before the close OF the present
fiscal year. On July 1. 1898. the number
OF pensioners was 966,0l2 Accordingly, it
seemed long odds that. with less than 34,-
90 needed 10 run up the score to an even
]. 600 900, or much fewer than half OF the
previous years net additions, the million
mark would be passed. Raum has figured
on going above IL by large margin, but it
at least seemed safe to say that the PEN
sion roll would be reckoned by the years
end in seven figures.
Exactly what the figures are for the
late fiscal year is not made known, but
there is good reason to believe that the
gross additions 10 the roll will be about
s., 600, or q little more than two-thirds OF
the year before. On the other hand. ii Is
quite certain that the droppings from the
before. The percentage of deaths among
the veterans is growing greater. The
droppings from remarriages must be reck-
oned in, and also the wedding out of the
rolls by Commissioner Lochren on the
ground of fraud, or of the granting of
pensions in violation of law. The number
of this last sort may amount to about
1900. Taxing the additions and the Offsets
from these deductions, il is probable that
q ~ - Is -.
somewhat but not very greatly exceeds
1000, 600.
When Commissioner Lochren began
work last year the tremendous rate at
which the certificate mill was running had
not yet been checked; but in due time it
began TO be understood that, while there
was to be no undue delay in examining
pensions, the ambition 70 break the
record" in the number hurried upon the
lists had ceased TO be operative. A declara-
ton like the famous one of Gen. Raum
that he was going to "hurry through and
dump $50. oO0 original cases upon the vari-
Gus agencies before the year is OUT and
his actual dumping OF over 10000 upon
them in one year, no longer were consid-
cred as standards for the pension bureau
10 live up to. Industrious work and care
full investigation seemed more appropriate
TO the needs OF the hour.
Another point to notice is that a careful
that they were incumbered by o great
number of applications that from various
causes were never likely 10 come to any
thing. In some there was q lack of the
necessary evidence; some had apparently
been dropped. Then there was the famous
decision of May q, 1898, in regard TO dis
ability pensions. In short, it is thought
that the claims likely to be successfully
passed may be reduced about a half from
Raum's estimates. Altogether. therefore,
IL seems likely that, unless congress makes
provision for admitting new classes of
pensioners the maximum OF the pension
rolls in number cannot DO very far Oft.
A still more noteworthy conclusion is
apparent in regard to the cost OF pensions.
On the estimate of Gen. Raum an appro-
priation of about sl65, 0O0, 900 was made for
the last fiscal year. Commissioner Loch-
rem found it necessary to erpend only
about $40, 000. 90. lie only asked for
about $3.50, 0o0. 900 this year, and there
is good reason for supposing that
there will be no need of expending more
than last year, or about $l40 000 600 This
great diminuition has resulted largely
from two causes. First, Commissioner
Raum figured upon continuing to rush
through pensions at his own prodigious
rate of speed, whereas IL seems clear that
his great record" was made by granting
applications in the cases most easily
proved, while many that had to be passed
by for various reasons remained to make
the work of his successor in this respect
much slower. Again, the decision of May
q. 1893. already spoken OF. revoking an
order made by Gen. Raum, and declaring
that disability. not of service origin, must
be such as to prevent the applicant from
earning support by manual labor, was
estimated as likely TO save between Si5,-
600 600 and $20. 600. 600 to the government.
Instead, then, OF the 500, 000. 600 which
had been feared as the goal of annual
pension expenditures, We are never likely
10 see the annual appropriation higher
than now, unless new legislation comes
in. The high water mark in appropria-
tions was probably reached with the sl6s,-
GO 0O0 of year ago. Ii is now doubtful
whether as much as $3.50, coo. 600 will again
be required.
10 TO this time the OUTLAWS for pensions
since 1861 must have exceeded 81. 100 000,-
oO0. BY the close of the year 1896 they
will doubtless have reached in the aggre-
gate more than 5000, 0o0. 600. Nothing
like IL ever was known in the worlds his
tory.