Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-03
Attitude of the Commissioner of
Pensions.
JUST CLAIMS NEED NO ARGUMENT
The Bureau VIII Give Aid in Seek.
ing Missing Evidence.
U NSCRUP LOUS AGENTS

the pension office is the law denar,r,cp,
winch occupies the rooms I'm the southeast
corner Of the third floor of the pens,cr
ouiiuihg. Here are kept the records of ALI
those who have violated the pension laws
and in this department all OF the cases in
Nes,fsated by special examiners are made
up. Much of the work consists I'm recsi,,-
ing complaints. gathering evidence ana in
'esigating cases against pension attor-
heSs. The files of the office are fun NJ IN
stances where the government has been
systematically robbed through the efforts
OF these men
Ife system of prosecution OF claims no.
Iore the office is one which has been tho
subject of much unfayorable cri,tois,,, O..
Is productive of great amount of unneces.
sary annoyance The present commits
sioner of pensions is opposed to the sxste,, .
ana mas put himself on record as fayortng
the aooiltlon of pension ATTORNEYS In DO
ths ,,l, S, ne reels that he has the interest OF
me soldier at heart, for he is convinced
mar there Is no real necessity for an AT
oorHeS 10 prosecute a claim which has any
merit in it. my
hureau Will Help a Claimant.
Where soldier has been unable 70 fur
nish the necessary proof TO establish his
cialm Tor pension. the department Is NOT
only willing. but anxious, to give the SOL
uier the services of a special examiner.
whose entire time may be spent in hunting
up the necessary evidence II has bean
one OF the cherished plans OF the present
commissioner to so amend the law that
tnere could be appointed a travelling hoard
Mhich would sit at different points through
out the United States and hear testimonv
Tor and against claims This board wouId
weigh carefully the testimony. and. nm
prelualced and unbiased, would render an
honest opinion. This would save the an
phcant the fee which the law provides shall
go to the attorney. There is no doubt that
there are some attorneys who are Of com
siderable benefit to an applicant for PEN
sion, but IL cannot be denied that this same
benefit could and would be given by the
pension office il the soldier only knew how
TO go about IT. One of the great troubles
with the pension system has been the ap-
parent ineQuity of the law. One PEN
sloner gets IS month and another one
who seems to be similarly affected gets
SIG. OF course this makes the IS man in
ulgnant, ana If he cannot get an increase
he blames the commissioner of pensions,
and the attorney who has been unsuccess-
tul also has grievance.
Inscriptions Agents.
1t has been said that an unprincipied pen
sion attorney can do more harm than 100
dishonest applicants. A pension attorney
who has no interest at heart but the fee
from an applicant is not slow in criticising
those who are responsible for a just adj
tration knocks them out of fee. Con-
gress itself recognizes that there are dis
honest pension attorneys and has passed n
law to regulate the practice before the de-
partment. The act itself was the outcome
of impositions. irregular practice and gross
Preparations of fraud upon the soldiers
and children of soldiers by INSCRIPTIONS
and designing persons. The law speaks for
itself, and makes fine or Imprisonment the
penalty for its violation. and gives to the
Secretary of the Interior power to disbar
from practice those who disobey the pro-
visions of the act and violate the profess
sional ethics of the bureau and the depart
ment. Before a pension attorney can prose-
cute claim he is required to take an oath
of allegiance to the United States. to up
hold its laws strictly and adhere to the
rules and regulations prescribed.
Bitterest Enemies of the Soldier.
In the city of Buffalo 100 claims were
filed by a former empioye of the govern
ment acting as pension attorney.
This man paid no attention TO law, rules
or regulations, and compelled the young
lady clerks in his office 10 administer Uaths
when they had no power to do 50, and TO
sign papers attesting the signatures of
claimants they had never seen or had never
known 1t does not take very vivid imag-
ination to appreciate the amount OF In
jury such a man does. This class of attor-
neys are the bitterest enemies of the old
soldiers 1t has not been so very long ago
that a man who posed pension attor-
ney in Washington criticised the commits
sioner of pensions because of his alleged
unfriendlIness to the old soldier. This same
man in a letter to a client for pension
under the Indian war act said among other
things. that the whole pension business
a gigantic fraud, and that $780,
100000 was paid out annually chiefly
for fraud. He criticised also the republican
party and paid his compliments incidentally
to the Yankees of the NORTH, and sympa-
thized with the poor people of the SOUTH"
who had TO bear the brunt of the pension
taxation.
Disbarment of Attorneys.
The commissioner of pensions has been
criticised time and again for unjust dis
examinations against attorneys, and many
of the disbarments from practice before the
office have been laid at his door. But the
commissioner has not the authority to dis
bar man from practice, and the only or
der which provides for such a thing must
be signed and issued by the Secretary or
the Interior. The commissioner of pensions.
il is true, furnishes the Secretary of the In
terror with the information upon which ne
acts but the latter is careful to see that
every man is given a just hearing before
his means of livelihood are taken away
from him.
In the state of Iowa. according TO the
records of the law department. an unscru-
pulous pension attorney corrupted the ex-
aiming surgeons, with the result that
thousands of claims were foisted upon the
government that the claimants themselves
utterly repuddated when their attention was
called to them. There is a record of the
case OF a pension attorney in Rhode Island
who for years drew eighteen Illegal PEN
sons, and some $4,000 was pocketed by
this man. who posed the soldiers
friend. The records furnish hundreds OF
other such cases. OF course IL is not con-
tended. because there are many dishonest
pension attorneys, that the whole class is
corrupt. There are a great many men In
the practice of pension law claims who are
honest and reputable.
The friends of the commissioner of PEN
sions are awaiting with good deal of in
terest the result of the visit of the commit
tee from the Grand Army which will be
here in a few days to Investigate, al the
invitation Of the commissioner of pensions,
-. oft he