The evening times., 1897-12-23
AT THE MERCY OF FRAUDS.
Former Secret Service Chief Drum
nond on Pensions.


New York, Dec. a3.-A. L. Drummond.
for many yesr's chief of the secret ser
vice Of ths United States Governemnt, WAS
reminded by the recent exposure Of pen
sion frauds OF efforts which he had made
to induce Congress to provide the ma
chinery to eliminate these frauds from
the pens ioE rolls. With the Pension
Bureau III Its ordinary running Mr.. Drum
mond bad no, hing to do, but when there
was obvious fraud or glaring indications
uf suspicious circumstances a bout claim.
then the secret service was called upon
to make al investigation, and il was in this
work that the chief OF the service became
familiar with the conditions which breel
fraud through the aIi-inclusive pensions
flaws.
Years uf experience convinced Mr.. Drum
mun.i 81 the need of some sort OF protection
for the Government AMI people alike, and
for the soldiers as well. and he suggested
that Congress should csta blish a bureau
OF investigation in connection with the
Pension Emeau, the bureau OF investisa-
tion to look up every applicant for a
pens ioh and every claimant OF fOunty or
back pay. The bureaus detectives would
then hunt up the claimant and put him
to severe cross-examiIation.
''As il is, under the laws as they exist"
Mr.. Drun,mond said, the Pension BureaI
ha a ahsolntely no way offinding out whether
an applicant rcr n pension is a swindler or
or not Every Congressman to WHOM l
suggested the establishment of some sort
OF an inspection bureau To make sys-
teamtio Investigation OF all claims, or
rather Claimants, expressed the heaitiest
approval Of the plan. But they held up
their hands and said that anybody in
Congress who attacked the soldiers would
be slaughtered.
why. LorIr said I, 1T isn't II .at X
ling the soldiers: it is attacking the t''ims
and beats: its protecting the soldiers who
now arr suffering because of the critH;n us.
The soldiers Cannot he hurt Their place
is secure But the proposition to establish
,hebur-au was never broachedin Congress.
king of cas's Of fraud that had
come to his notice. Mr.. Drunmond said:
1--WE had one case a few Years ago or II
man who put in twenty-one applications
and was lis own principal and wi,n.sses
under different names n every one of IN I'm
And this fraud was detected only by the
mrrest accident. He had drawn one pay
ment of S:f5 etd. and there was nothing ins
the way OF more pa yments being made to
him on that claim. and undoubtedly the al
lowanca of other claims, when the accident
happened.
This urticuIsr fraud was discovered
merely because Two OF the mans applica-
tions happened to reach the fourth Gepury
auditor office so near the same time tcat
they lay on his desk side by side. and he
noticed that the handwriting on them was
the same. There was no attempt to dissu' e
II. Tie matter was turned over for inveSti-
CATION, and we found out what the man
had been doing. He was convicted in tie
United States circuit court. Someone fig
ured up what sentence the ma Simum pen
atty imposed for all the Offenses would
ent all. and it seems to me 1t was several
hundred years. Judge PcnedIict gave the
fellow six mol tbs. lie was so far gone ne
looked as Though he would fall TO pieces
before he got to Jail.
Il said to members Of Congress to whom
suggested an investigating bureau at
tached te the Pension, Bureau. that if I he
Congress would appropriate 100000 'or
its establishment and put me in charge OF
it-that w az when / wa In char ge pfthc Sc
cret Servioe-t had every confidence that l
would in the first year reduce the pension
payments S2O,OOO.O0O. One year would
show what the bureau could do. II il
saved s. O,OOO, 900, the Government "ould
afford to spend $4,000 on it the scr-
ond year; If it was necessary. If it oost
only $4,000. the money would revert
to the Treasury: for, of course, nothing
could be paid out except upon vouchers.