The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-09-16
and the Tidewater and Piedmont Country.

o 9 If her T. vorite sons, William w.
! Dddley, Was Commissioner of Pen
slon3 Ia the Arthur administration at
q time when the rolls were bsing
rap dly rounded out He knew every.
b dy 10 the state, was cordial and
kind hearted, and doubtless pushed
slDug to adjudication a larger uum
Der Of cl,lms than would otherwise
have received 1t ention. At lesst
this theory is advanced, and there Is
certainly something in the Indiana
statistics which calls for explanation.
The average pension there is
very high. The number of its
pensioners is 5000 below that
of Illinois, aud yet they receive 10
the aggregate 100000 more each
year. This may be due to traditions
of leuiency which have become es-
tablished among the Indiana Board
of Pension Examiners. Kansas, too,
can be accounted for by the peculiar
part which 1t took in bringing on
the war. One is prepared to believe
the statement of Gen. Frye that Kan.
sss furnished the highest percentage
of soldiers of any state, and that II e
percentage of death was also the
greatest.
When the soldiers came back from
the war they were more inclined,
evidently than other men to 90 West
and seek new homes They were
not established Ia business At home,
as we're their old neigb bors Hence,
ndepeuden of local CONSIDERATIONS,
the states which increased rapidly in
population in the decade folloWiDg
the civil war are the greatest pension
states. 1t is probable that if table
were prepared showing the pension
ers and disbursements according to
the states from which the men went
into the Union army such disparities
would not occur as those to which
attention has beer called Now,
Arkansas does not have much of a
record as a defender of the Union.
It's population has trebled since
1860, however, aud in this filling up
good many UuiCn soldiers have been
included, with the result that it gets
two thirds as much pension money,
according to population, as New
York or New Jersey.
Among foreign countries, Canada
has long led over every other. She
receives half Of the pension dis.
bursements which go out of the
United States Germany, Ireland,
and Eoglsnd come next. There is
one man in Portugal who draws
pension for service in the Uoion
army. BE gets So a month. There
is man at 81. Helena who gets $l2
a month; there are three in Uruguay,
five in Turkey, two in 'ahiti, one 10
Korea, aud sixteen in China. Ia all,
the United States sends out of the
country $633 309 70 per yesr, which
is about the amount that South Da.
ko'a receives.
An interesting table appended to
the report shows the annual value of
the pension rolls since 1890, and also
the number of employees in the bu-
resu, and the amount of their sslsr-
les. Ia 1873 there were 334 EN-
ployees in the Pension Bureau The
number steadily increased. until by
1891 it had reached 1909. 1t has
now dropped to 1,74l. During Com
missioner Dudlev's administration
The number increased from $50 to l.
$50, and remsinded at about that
figure until the commissionership of
Green B. Rsum. The amount now
appropriated for salaries is $2,006.-
2l0, which is an average of about ST..
200. In addition, $4OO, 900 is sppro.
priated for expenses on account of
special examinations.
Ever since Commission o. Dudley's
day $50 field examiners have heen
employed. Tuese positions are the
prizes in the Pension Office, for
though the salary is only about ST..
300, the examiners are entitled to a
"per diem" allowance Of SO, which is
paid to man who is stationed any
where outside of Washington. His
residence may be just as permane
in Brooklyn or Chicago as it would
be here, and entsiling no additional
living expense; yet the law allows
him what is substantially a bonus
of 81 900. Consequently, at the be-
ginning of a Republican administrs-
tion, field examiners with Democratic
influence are called back into the
Pension Office, while the l50 clerks
in the bureau who can command the
most Republican influence are sent
out to take their places in the
field. The opposite course msrks
the opening of Democratic admin
istration. Of course, both these prac-
tees are occasionally and to a
slight extent modified by an exami.
ner's extraordinary fitness for the
certain kinds Of field Investigations
which demand training and exper
fence.
ka - 20 al mi