Arizona republican., 1898-01-14
A GENUINE ROLL OF HONOR.

There has been demand ill many places for a publication in the news papers of the list of names of men, women and children who are drawing pensions from the federal government as the result of the civil war. The New York Sun has printed nearly fir teen columns of the names of pension
 CTS, but only giving those who are re-
 ceiving $45 or over a month. This
 list includes the names of 3,56S per- sons and forms what the Sun calls the
 real ''roll of honor" When it is re- membered that there are nearly one million of names upon the pension roll it is obvious that many of them are receiving pensions for slight or imag- mary causes. In giving its reasons for printing this particular list, which is official, but not intended for pub,ica- tion, the Sun says:
 First, we wish to establish the prin- ciple that the pension list is a roll of honor, and that the pensioners whose name belongs there by right has noth- ing to fear, but much to gain by the publication of all the names. What ever frauds exist are practically cov- cred by the system of secrecy which has been the mistaken policy of the pension office for nearly third of a century. Secrecy is the cloak of a fraud in all the business, and under that cloak the list has grown to it's present enormous dimensiors s. The process of publication properly begins with the higher pensions.
 The fact must be kept in mind that in the list printed today there is prob ably the minimum percentage of fraud The specially granted pensions are here, such as the $5,000 year pen sions of Mrs. Grant and Mrs. Garfield; but the great bulk of the names in cluded are those of the veteran pri- yates whose injuries in actual mill ary service were so severe, and whose re- sulting disability was so nearly abso- lute that under the general pension laws they were clearly entitled to their $1O0 month, their $72 month, or their $50 a month. In the nature of things, this particular installment of the whole pension list represents the minimum of deception, of impo- sition, of mali1gering, of pension agents jugglery. That is why it ought to be put forth first of all. If any part of the list will withstand the severest scrutiny this part will. Here are the surviving patriots and heroes who suffered most for their flag and country.
 The Troll of honor" includes but little over one-third of one percentum of the total pension roll, representing only s2,900,OO0, or one-forty-seventh of the entire expenditure. To publish the entire list would take nearly fifty two complete issues of the Sun, of twelve pages each, or an aggregate of 1850 columns. This gives some idea of the length of the pension roll thirty-two years after the close of the war. It would cost the government at least one million of dollars to have the roll printed in all the leading pa pers of the country, an expenditure not warranted in view of the amount now being paid out for pensions.
 The only way to cure the evil is for congress to treat the subject upon a 1 business basis and honestly and fear lessly. No one questions the right of the pensioners included in the list all ready printed to receive aid and SUD- port from the government. There are also many thousands of others who are drawing smaller pensions to which they are fully entitled, but there are also entirely too many bogus widows and bounty jumpers" and coffee coolers drawing monthly stipends out of the treasury without any war rant whatever.