The Topeka state journal., 1897-12-10
Are Being Carried on the Pen
sion Rolls, it is Said.
RICH DEPENDENTS,T TOO
And Many Undeserving and
Fraudulent Ones.
The Entire Pension List to be
Published
As a Means of Purging the
Roll Of Honor.

Washington. Dec. ia bombshen is
about to burst in the pension office. which
will startle the country and forcibly direct
attention to the tremendous pension bur,
den which is today weighing down the fin
ances of the country. Quiet investiga-
tions have been in progress which point
strongly to the fact that thousands of
dead pensioners are being carried on the
rolls. Annually several millions of dol
lars are paid out by the government on
behalf of pensioners long since in their
graves. Fraud is rampant in certain di-
visions of the bureau, in spite of the pre-
cautions adopted. The conditions have
grown so openly fragrant that the country
stands the verge of a great national
scandal, unless prompt measures are
taken. Officials of the pension bureau,
senators, members of the cabinet and the
president himself know of the situation
and appreciate the imperat tive necessity
for 4 change.
Two measures have been suggested as
the necessary first steps. and these may
become effective at very early date
They are;
First-To publish the entire pension list
by state, county and township subdivis-
ions; to cut of the pensioners living in
foreign countries who cannot produce in
oontestabIe proofs of the validity of their
papers.
Second-To appropriate at least $4,000
for use in revising the rolls and to employ
army of men to investigate all dOubt-
full cases; and TO amend the pension act
OF 1890.
Secretary Bliss of the interior depart
ment has given the matter close atten-
ton He is in favor of publishing the
names of those receiving a bounty from
the government in such form as to be
identified with the locality in which the
pensioner lives. This would. 1t is con-
tended do much to check the frauds, the
existence of which on a mammoth scale
is not denied by anyone who knows the
facts.
Annually the government pays out in
pensions nearly as much as it derives
from the customs revenue of the country,
and countless thousands Of applicants for
admission to the lists still come pouring
into the department. Over 10000 cases
are now pending, of which at least 100000
Will be favorably passed upon
Careful investigation of the known
sources of fraud discloses the fact that in
several channels the doors are opened
wide and that at every point advantage is
taken of the government.
CLASSIFIED in the order Of their import
anoe in cost to the country the frauds
may thus be numbered:
1. Carrying on the rolls names of pen
sioners whose deaths have been conceal
ed from the bureau by interested parties.
.. Getting on the rolls under the de-
pendent pension act of 1890. 1t was en-
acted to help out the old soldiers with no
other source Of income. and to pension
the really dependent.
3. Securing pensions through forged pa
pers. false Endorsements and fraudulent
records.
In each of these three subdivisions
there is cumulative evidence to support
the statement that every year the gov
eminent pays out on spurious papers up
ward of 50. .000.00 1t may be much more.
Nearly every day the pension bureau is
confronted with a case OF a pension being
paid after the pensioners death. 1t is
one of the most prolific sources of fraud
in the bureau, and conservative officials
say that an estimate of 10000 dead men
drawing pensions would not be far out of
the way. There are 976.014 pensioners on
the lists. Last year out of this vast
number only 31,ScO deaths were reported.
Considering the advanced age of the vet
Grams. this is considered a very small per-
centage. Checks are sent quarterly. and
relatives or friends of the pensioner may
often conceal for years the fact of his
demise. and By forged Endorsements draw
the money. Only last week the depart
Inent discovered where a pension had been
paid for five years after the soldier
death.
To the dependent pension act of 1880
must be credited the greatest gateway to
fraud It has added annually to
the pension expenditures in six
wears s44. eos. .625 from army inva>
lids and SlA51o.04632 from widows and
children of soldiers: % 223. .41O19 from the
navy-a grand total of Sol -6S6. 1922 yearly
increase under the act. which was pri-
Taarily intended to give not more than
s12 per month to soldiers and their bene-
fciaries who were totally dependent.
There is growing feeling that the
pensions enjoyed by many thousands
Who are in fun health, and comfortably
fixed IN lsfe should be terminated, and
the government be thus enabled to
more nearly discharge It's duty toward
the helpless and the miserable.
If the pension list could be printed.
every community in the land would be
disguised with its revelations. Wealthy
men in large numbers would be found /
upon it. Thousands would he revealed
whose disabilities were only temporary,
and so long since disappeared. A small
army of men would be discovered to
whom their pensions are in no sense a
necessity. While this state of facts
would appear. it should not be forgot
ten that there are men in good circum-
stances. and many in public positions
of honor and emOlument, whose disa-
biIfties and persistent wounds are OF a
character for which no pension which
the law provides can ever approximate
". compensate. At every step they have |
&ounG themselves handicapped in the