Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-03-02

pending In the law division of that bureau
fou can follow the reports Of the pension
commissioners back fer twenty years, as
nave done, and find the pension rolls hon
eycombed with fraud. 1 do not say it in
prejudice to the honest soldier, for whom [
nave the profoundest respect and admira-
ton l say it to let the demagogue in and
out of Congress know to what base uses he
mas brought, through political Iegisla ton
and administration, the rolls that contain
the names of thousands of splendid and
heroic men, Paying political debts with
pensions and granting pensions solely upon
political influence. as well as lax pension
legislation, have made the pension rolls the
soon and scandal of the passersby
But 1t might be said that the nation dur
ing the thirty-five years since the war has
grown less mindful of the deeds of the old
soldier and more carping and critical in the
allowance of pensions, hence the greater
showing and cry of fraud. The contrary is
true. Everybody knows that every year
since the war the pension laws have become
more and more liberal, and the interpreta-
ton of them has grown more liberal until
now every man. woman and child with a
shadow of right to a pension can get OH
the rolls. and thousands of frauds can walk
with them through the same open door and
thousands of these frauds are soldiers
Army Frauds.
In this army there were thousands of
scoundrels. Such mem were afraid to
apply for pensions during the first ten
years after the war. because they knew
their comrades memories would be fatal
to their claims. They waited till times
blur had effaced their records and
then they poured in their claims by the
thousands until. Grover Cleveland said:
Every community has its well-known
fraudulent pensioners" Away back in
1879, when Carl Schurz was Secretary of
the Interior and Bentley was commission
er of pensions. both honorable soldiers
and the soldiers friends. 1 find Mr.. Bent
ley writing to Secretary Schurz that our
pension system lis an open door to the
treasury for the preparation of fraud
In the same paper he says that the honest
soldier is often defeated in his claim by
the death or imperfect recollection of wit
nesses. while the fraudulent claimant can
under our pension system easily prove his
case. Commissioner Bentley says in his re-
port, page g. that the pursuit of medical
Inquiries in pension cases is little better
than farce" And yet the same system
Is still followed. He found that the local ex-
aiming surgeons were the tools of the
so diers who clamored for more pensions
Many doctors in Ohio Kentucky, Michigan,
Wisconsin and New Jersey have told me
that they might as well close up their Of
fees and leave town as to refuse to sign
any of the af1davits that the soldiers
bring to them. 1 have heard many doc
tor say: I will sign anything for old
soldiersr
In 1879 there were 242, 1856 pensioners
on the rolls. In 1899 there were 991 $40
pensioners on the rolls. In 1873 there We're
found in 800 cases of pensioners previously
dropped from the rolls that witnesses had
committed perjury, and 81 had COM
mitted forgery and that 1856 officers and .4S
comrades had made perjured affidavits. The
same report of a republican pension COM
missioner. who was also an honorable sol
der, shows that of the affidavits flied in
500 cases 20 per cent or 3.064 out of 1897.
were perjured. As the pension roll has in
creased four-fold since 1870. then of the
43. 1856 pensioners dropped from the rolls
last year there were at least 2.NN fraudu-
lent. If not criminal cases. in which were
filed (using the same proportion of affida-
Wits to cases as appeared in 1879 false at
fidavits of ,544 officers. 800 comrades. $3.50
civilians. total OF 1896 cases of perjury
and 36S cases of forgery.
The Proposed Court of Appeals.
Now word about the proposed court OF
pension appeals to supplant the present