The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-01-01

er Evans, as will those individuals who bit
and sle snarlsd and snapped at our neels ilon'
1861 to 1856.
But there is another class who will not
approve, who WILL in fact. earnestly pro
test and bitterly resent the venom or lLls
thing, if it is accomplished. l refer 70 .ilt
veterans and those who honor them. nos
with a hypocritical tongue only. They are
enough yet to be reckoned with. foI.ea do ,
census of 1890 showed, / believe, llo9,VVg
survivors of the Union armies, 1nousn - =
have not verified these figures. Ihey are
going fast, probably six thousand year
but they have numerous sons ana sohs 81 /.
law, and 1t is not extravagant 10 say lhet
in matters of vital interest to the veterans
and their honor two million men must DC
reckoned with them. Go slow, gentlemen
go slow. e.
1.-THE commissioner did me the honor, aft
er he had made his recommendatonS 70
Congress, to ask me what objection there
was to publishing the list, and l answered
him, as 1 would answer the President or
any one else, that. in brief 1t would De
damnable outrage.
These men served the nation in the hour
of its great peril; they suffered and 'hey are
on the pension roll of the Nation tnrouen
the operation of laws duly enacted by Con
gress Many of them were particularly dis,
abled by wounds, injuries or disease, gnu
it would be hideous to spread the i2cts pc.
fore public gaze-facts which, though IN no
way dishonorable to the pensioner, are none
the less humiliating to a proud spirit
This is no imaginative picture am
speaking whereof / know. l have in my
minds eye the statues OF two major gen
erals in this country before wnicn our our pea
pie stand in admiration and venerauon, ana
| know their surviving relatives would rain
er the statues be demolished than nave
those horrible facts OF the mutation tne
originals underwent made matter OF pup
What right has the government to pub
lish the pensioners over the country as 'ney
used to publish horse thieves where lived
when a boy? They are creditors OF tne
country under its laws. So are our pond
holders. Why not publish list OF the OWL =,
ers Of the registered bonds of the Unlted
States? What howl that proposition Woulo
raisel 60 80
glad at one time to sell the bonds OF the
United States at So cents on the dollar, anu
nv comrades dead and living, put an IN
dorsement of their hearts blood on those
bonds, which sent them to par ana prem
ium in the financial marts or the Worlo.
CORPORAL Tanner thinks that the corps OF
special examiners is sufficient to keep Gown
fraud in the pension roll: -,
Commissioner Evans he says, has at
his command at this moment an appropria-
ton of, | believe, $425OO0 for TINS year LOT
the division of special examiners, and covers
the country with netWorh OF II men I,s 20 I'M,
mand the forces of the United states CTS
trict attorneys and United States courts IN
any and all parts OF the country 1871 Oilie
enough?
Commissioner Evans is outrageousy mis-
leading in his declarations against attor-
news. He says the government pays the at
torney's fee. 1t does nothing OF the klnd:
IF the case be allowed, the fee speclhed
under the law Is WlIDuelu from bALS
payment of the amount found to be due the
claimant, and is sent by the United States
pension agent to the attorney NO matter
how much work an attorney may 40 on
case. if it is not allowed he gets no COM
pensation whatever.
He says that the government practicaflly
paws them (the attorneys a bounty, a Zee
of sos for every pensioner that can be in
duced to file a claim which they can prove
and have admitted. In this statement ne
got so excited that he lost his bearings on
the highway OF truth, for Commissioner
Evans knows as we'll as | do that the only
case where the fee of $25 is permissible is
where the claim arises from wounds
or disease incurred during the war, and then
only when the claimant has signed fee
agreement, contracting with full knowledge
so to do.
HE knows as we'll as I do that the act
of June q, 1890, specified that fee of only
$40 should be allowed in all cases arising
under the act. He knows as well as | do
that in case for increase the law limits
the fee to 81 only. To violate these provi-
sions is penitentiary offense.
~ do not say, and / do not believe, that
he deliberately misrepresents the facts in
these matters, but do say and know that
he absolutely misrepresents them