The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-12-31

uss ne y tnat persuades the Appli-
I'm. 20 ME claim. leads him 10 beileye
. I'm sne government has his name ON the
roll, and only awaits his application J c,vss
MIN to understand that the attorney ~
reguiarly commissioned and authorized ana
especially empowered 10 hunt up TINS NE
ucuiar missing soldier; tells him mar
AL other soldiers have applied and obtained
tneir money, and adds that, II YOU don't
get yours, you're to blame Finally. after
m,uch persuasion. the soldier is con lnced
=, men ne IL told to sign this application;
bureau w 'ne
me pension attorney knows what is re-
au,red' lie alleges every disease that liesi
~ nelr 10. and TO some that never have W,
been discovered. The claimant protests Inn,
ne Is not so disabled. but the accomplished
pension attorney proceeds to prove In a
very learned way that no man who has
oeeh through the late civil war can be
iiee from some of these diseases that tbey
are IN the system, and, of course, il is due
~ pvstcrity That claim be filed for n
pensioh- Every honorably discharged sol.
uler, ne declares, lis expected l,y the pov.
erhment to thus have his name placed IN
tne roll OF honor Pension ATTORNEYS haye
Deen known TO draft the laws which con-
Sos passes Tor the pensioner. Fortunes
nave been mndn and are being made hy mi,
army of called attorneys. They prac-
ucaliy are so many drummers-s soliciting
assh's-that do nothing but hunt up claim,
ana claimants for the pension bureau.
=, me government has seen At To take
Them into partnership In the pension bust
ness ~ practically pays them bounty Ia
iee OF szo) Tor every pensionor that can be
induced to file claim which thew cnp prove
up and have admitted. II not proven snJ
auinitted no fee is paid. The laws nre
amended from time to time for the benefit
o. inns army of pension solicitors, 80 that
they can get more fees. They are busy now
hunting widows and orphans MANY sol.
diers that died within five. ten or fifteen
;y, aiter the close of the war, proud OF
their services to their country: proud az
having had an opportunity to defend the
nag of the Union, and too proud and pa-
Nlotic ever 10 accept a pension. have left
WIDOWS. The widows. having imbibed the
spirit OF patriotism and love of country
from their husbands. did not amply TO,
pensions. but. after years OF widowhooa.
remarked. Pension attorneys are now and
nave been for the past few years hunting
up such cases, persuading the good women
tiat IL amounts to an evidence OF dsloyaity
10 the government which the former sol
der husband helped to preserve 10 refuse
10 hle clalm for pensions for the periods
OF their widowhood
The report of the commissioner of pen
sions for 1897 shows that 1850 for other
causes were dropped from the rolls. The
report for 1896 shows there were over 5000
dropped for other causes Many OF these
were cases Of widows who we're taken up
and pensioned after they had remarked /
nave In my mind one case in which appl-
catlon mad not been made until twenty one
years after remarriage. Such cases fire
quently carry from $1,000 to $1,000 In
luinp The name simply is placed ON the
pension roll for one payment and then
dropped among the for other causes
Millions Of dollars are paid out each year
on this class OF claims The dependent
father. mother sister and other depend
ents are also ca, efully sought out by the
army of solicitors for the pension bureau
who pose as defenders Of the good name Of
the old soldier. After carefully prepared
legal opinion BIZ the duly constituted agent
OF the government, who has been especially
commissioned to look ,ip your case the
dependent is advised that 1t would be AN
outrage not to put in a claim for the pen
sion that awaits only your claiming
Then there is another class of claimants
urged by attorneys TO apply. They are the
orphans, now anywhere from 20 to 40 years
old. but once under Is years OF age. who
are the children of soldiers who died with
out applying for pension. The mother
may snce have died or remarried, but
never applied for a pension. The legally
authorized partner of the government lin
'ited to the patriotic duty OF securing bust
ness for the pension bureau, proceeds to
convince the orphan that It is his or her
duty to make application for the pension
that only awaits the claimant.
Thousands and hundreds of thousands
OF dollars are paid out monthly on the
orphan class OF cases. The patriotism Of
the pension attorney knows no limits. The
application for pension Is always accom-
panied with contract for the attorneys
fees. These patriotic pension agents have
their solicitors and agents everywhere
Charges recently were made and published
against the manager OF the soldiers home
at Togus. Me-. because he would not permit
the representative OF d pension attorney
in Washington TO go through the home and
solicit applicants for increases Of pensions
The agent was not to he baffed He set
up an office outside the limit of tho
grounds, he secured more than 100 appli-
cations.
The government has continued to pay
pension attorneys fer soliciting business for
thirty years. Enough of this has been done
A law should be passed that in future no
fee should be paid to any attorney or claim
agent for any claim filed for pensions
That would put an END 70 the pension
scandals. II. Clay Evans.
Commissioner OF Pensions"