Middletown transcript., 1895-08-10

1
doctrine of single tax. 1t will not
prevail in Delaware.
IS 1T SLANDER?
Last week the TRANSCRIPT told the
story of an old soldier who tramped
from Shamokin, Pa, to Washington,
D. c., to see the Commissioner of
Pensions about his pension which had
been suspended. He succeeded in get
ting an interview with Judge Lockren
and after displaying the scars of his
wounds his pension was restored.
There are thousands of old soldiers
whose pensions have been suspended
under the plea of questionable grant
ing, many of them as needy and worthy
as was Mr.. Miller who travelled again
the road from Harrisburg to Washing
ton. In 1861 he "marched;" in 1895
he "tramped." These suspensions and
Investigations are in part under the
plea that extensive frauds have been
successfully practiced upon the govern
ment by old soldiers. The charge is
made in every community where the
subject of pensiones is discussed and
men and women are sincere in their
belief that it is true.
Corporal Tanner, ex Commissioner
of Pensions, has taken up this very
subject and has investigated it
thoroughly. He says:
"After S4OO, 900 had been spent in
investigation, there had been only 1876
convictions, and only 80 of these cases
were against old soldiers. With 966, 900
names on the rolls only 80 frauds were
proved against old soldiers"
This is a remarkable showing in
favor of the old soldiers. The inves-
tigators in these cases are experienced
men, attorneys and detectives, and
they are competent to ferret out fraud
where it exists. 1t may not be above
the average of cost in criminal cases
to pay So, coo each for conviction, but
that only one criminal is found in
every $4,000 pensioners on the list is a
complete refutation of the charges of
fraud against the old soldiers. 1t
must be great qualification to those
men and they owe to Corporal Tanner
a debt Of gratitude for bringing out
the facts. The ex-Commissioners is
himself pensioner and undoubtedly
shared with his comrades the mortif-
cation which the general charges of
fraud brought to every honest old
soldier. But no one can doubt the
justice of Mr.. Tanner pension or the
sincerity of the man; no one who has
known him. He lost both legs, one
below and one above the knee, we
believe, and yet he walks without
crutches and sometimes without a
cane. He is man of remarkable
nerve and will power, much maligned
when he was at the head of the Bureau
of Pensions, but as honest as the day
is long, and no man is more competent
to investigate the charges against the
old soldiers than Mr.. Tanner. The
result is not only a satisfaction to |
those who wore the blue but it must be |
a qualification to the people generally. |
That there are some bad men among
the old soldiers is not surprising. They
are found in every class, and some good
men go wrong under temptation. That
there are frauds in the Bureau of
Pensions, as elsewhere, not uncovered
no one doubts. The TRANSCRIPT
would emphasize its advice of last
week. that any one having any proof of
such fraud should report it Ito the
authorities at Washington. Simply
with the facts, Commissioner
Of Pensions, Washington, D. c. 1t
is special duty that old soldiers owe
each other to report all such cases of
which they have reasonable suspicion
of fraud. Those of us who are not
old soldiers owe it to them to report to
the authorities all such cases rather
than to grumble about them in private
and thus to throw a shadow upon a
class of men to whom the country
owes SO much. Is not the position of |
The TRANTcRIPT the correct one, and .
do we not SANDER the old soldier when
we charge that fraud is SO general in
he face of the facts brought out by
Corporal Tanner Let justice be [
lone. =,