The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-12-26
THE PENSION ROLL FRAUDS
A SAMPLE OF THE WAK IN WHICH
THE NATION III BEING ROBBED.

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Desc Of llS Ohio men who Are DrawipE PEN
siesr Now on Doctsrea Amdavits-The Fraud
Exposed by Bxnminers. bat Kept Up TOR
" Poiitical Reauens-The Greed for Pensions.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 25.-That the pension roll
should DO q roll Of honor all will admit. and
much ha1 boon said and written with this end
In view. Can It DO made suchi
The average politician, no matter to what
party no processes allegiance, has been and still
is willing to pay his political debts to his odd
soldier" constituency BY securing the enroll
mcnt Of their names on the list Of the nations
pensioners. To the brave and p~atflotic men who
left their families and homes in the earlier months
OF the var. before any pension bill had been
passed and before any bounties were paid, the
greatest praise and the highest honors are due.
Unfortunately theirs are not the names that
swell the pension list. There came o day
when the price of the substitute was quoted in
the market, and bounty jumping was added
TO the list Of crimes- In those days the substi-
tute broker fourished, and in Importance stood
at least next to the shoddy contractor. In
several Of the States the profits to those who
dealt in substitutes became 30 inviting that
jails and county infrmaries were invaded to
supply material for the market. Then. by
tickling the itching palm of the accommodating
examining surgeon, many an unsound recruit
was made to pass muster, MOTTO I'LL the vacant
ranks Of brothers gone BEFORE" but to take up
additional space in the already overcrowded
hospitals.
From the fall of 1864 until the close of the
war the amounts offered by towns and counties
as bounties ran from $500 to $1,000, and sub
stitutes for those who had been drafted brought
any from $500 up. Thousands Of ras-
Gals, under aliases, made frequent enlistments,
and bounty jumping became a profession. Many
thousand recruits, each one having received q
good bounty, were assigned to old regiments
that had become depleted during the cam
paigns and battles Of 1854. The writer recalls
the case of thousands Of these who had been
assigned to regiments under Gen. Sherman's
When they reached Nashville 1t
was discovered that they could not join their
commands by that route. as Sherman had cut
loose from Atlanta and was marching through
Georgia.
1t was determined to send them via louis
Vile and Cincinnati to Washington, and from
there to points further South, where their par
ticular regiments might be located. Thou
sands Of those men lay in camp nearW ashington
until Sherman's victorious army reached the
capital and joined in the grand review. Then
they Joined the companies and regiments to
which they had been assigned. That is, some of
them did, but many of them were not permit
ted to march in the review. Tho real veterans
were then proud of the history of their regi-
ments. and in hundreds of instances they re-
fused to permit the fresh fish, to march with
{ en-. They said to them:
damn you and your new uniforms and
bright buttons. We have made this regiment
what it is, and you can't have anything to do
with it." and they didn't.
There are many other facts that it Is well to
mention. From first to last. from 1851 to 1865,
100000 men were enlisted for the Union
Arnnu MANY man II thnu
=xice. Many had two and some three enlist
ments, and served in as many different organi-
cations. The records of the War Department
show that one man in every ten became q de-
.erter. 21O,000 having deserted during the war.
Sixty thousand Union soldiers were either
killed upon the field of battle or died from
wounds, and $40, 900 died of disease during the
four years struggle. The eleventh census
showed that in 1890 there were 1904, 073 sur.
vivors. Four out of every ten men who en-
listed in the Union army either did not leave
the States in which they were enrolled or did
not get south Of Mason and Dixon's line. They
never saw a Confederate flag or an armed reb-
oil. Many men getting large bounties did not
enlist until In February and even as late as
March, 1865. The surrender of Lee came In
April. while these thousands were yet in their
camp of rendezvous. Yet for these men poll
tiSians and pension agents get pensions.
Another class of soldiers consisted of the
emergency or one-hundred-day men. There
were more than 100000 Of these. Their SER
vice was from May 2 to August, 1864. They
were for the most part employed in forts and
barracks around Washington, and the following
is a sample experience that the Pension Bureau
has had vita this class of claimants:
BY a review OF many cases under tho ad-
ministration of Gen. John G. Black, 1t was dis.
covered that 1913 men, all former members of
two companies of the 164th Ohio, were draw.
ing pensions. This regiment was from Seneca
county. Ohio. 1t left Tifin on May A. 1864,
went to Washington, and there went into bar.
racks. where 1t remained until mustered out on
Aug. 81 following. In comparing the cases. 1t
was discovered that many of them at least were
built up on what seemed TO be doctored aft.
davits, and Gen. Black ordered that they be in
vestigated by special examiners in the field.
Old and competent examiners were placed In
charge. Before these examiners many of the
pensioners swore that they did not know what
they based their claim for pension on. They
swore furthermore that they did not know who
had testified In their cases. Many of the al
legged atlantis denied under oath that they had
ever made a sworn statement in reference to
the claims that had been allowed on what was
supposed to be their evidence.
The investigation showed that two claim
agents had done the principal work on these
claims. After inducing one of these men to
make a declaration of claim for a pension, the
agent would tell him that he-the attorney
would do the rest. Then, upon meeting a SOL
dier OF the claimants company. the attorney
would take him to his Office and tell him he
would like him to make Il statement for Com.
rade Smith, who had applied for a pension. In
most cases the testimony before the special OK.
aminer ran about as follows: The soldier
testified that he told the attorney that he
couldn't help Smith.
Il don't recall anything being the matter
with Smith while we we're in the service" he
would say.
Oh, well, you know he 10 not as good a man
now as he was in 1854" the attorney. would re
Fly.
oh. yes, l know that; none of us are"
We'll, that's all l want. Just sign this blank
and l will GIL IL ouI lust IA yon sny . the attnr