The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1900-11-21
CHATHAM COUNTY SUFFERS.
OF PENSION FUND
WORKS STRONGLY AGAINST 1T.

AUhhH NAh1ff'e~@ ~NN+sN@efNA 80
ucnort of Pension Commissioner
evidence. the Fact That. In Pro-
nortion 40 Population. Chatham
receives n smaller Portion Of the
Pension Fund Than Almost Any
other County In the state-FuIton
Gets Nine Times M Much rs
chatham. Nib Nearly -Four Times
81. Much aud GwInnett Three Times
a.. neutrality-suspicious. From This
c,unty Have been systematically
Hefuscd.
An inspection OF the report Of Pension
,-l,,nissioner ]. W. Lindsey. a copy OF
us.eh has been received by Judge Hamp-
in 1 Ferrin. OF the Court OF Ordinary.
,,oWs that Chatham county. In proper
..r 10 population. receives less OF the
-.r..on fund expended by the state than
.rrast any other within the bounda-
r.ss II Georgia.
u is fals that INDECENT veterans be
come a charge on their more prosperous
,smrades. VINO are frequently cahed upon
b, assist them in sickness and in heai,h
ana 10 defray the expenses OF their fun
erals. when they are dead. Il Is a duty
rr which the Confederate soldiers OF
Savannah 10 not shrink. but as the state
Is. a.sumca me burden OF maintaining,
In par, 40 least. these MANNED and indi-
sem 'wearors OF the gray. It Is but fIir
thas ibis county. one OF the very few
url.h pays into the state treasury more
than il lakes out. should receive the ben
81, ~ the pensions This argument has
imr-sssed itself very strongly upon Judge
F.--A.. who called the attention OF
Morning News reporter to the facts shown
in tas Pension Commissioners report 10
a.. Governor.
rHe last census gives Chatham county
a population OF Il .239. and the amount of
pension paid TO residents of this county
ea-1 year is Als5. with population or
III .1 Fulton county receives x3g. rs from
pensions. Bibb county. with a oooula'ion
Of .1f5l. receives S3.5S5 Richmond. with
a population OF 53.7a5. gets tu.@15 from the
pers.ou fund; Spalding. with a population
OF 1853. receives 5000; Gwinuett. with
q population OF 255s5. has pensioners ~
the state who receive annually Si2si5.
Hail which has 20.T52 Inhabitants. has 0's-
trIoutcd among them each year Sll.aa in
pensions. Lumpkin, with population OF
T41. about one-tenth that OF Chatham.
receives annually in pensions A.lie. or
more than does Chatham.
and SO the story goes There may be
other counties which are IN worse shape
iu this respect than Is this but a compar-
ison with the census returns with the re-
port o. he pension commissioner does not
serve to indicate them with any degree
OF clcarness.
In the Civil War. as in every
other war through which the
state has passed. Chatham County
furnished It's fun quota Of troops. and
more than hcr full quota. II is not true.
either. hat there are not In this county
very many persons entitled 10 receive
pensions from the state. for the records OF
the Court Of Ordinary show that hundreds
o. petitions have been disapproved ana re-
turued from Atlanta. It Is not likely that
IN the matter OF rccopls pensioners or
prospective pensioners from other conn
ties can show better records than those
from Chatham.
Judge FerTill commented on the showing
made by the pension commissioner re-
port with indignation. He was not able
90 assign a reason for the apparent dis
elimination which has been shown against
Chatham. but that something vas wrong
~ submitted was seif-evideut PROPOSE
I'm.
The fault IS not IN this Office" said
Clerk Keilbach I'VE exercise the very
greatest care and pains IN seeing 90 IL that
Re do not forward TO Atlanta the claim Of
arvone not entitled to receive a pension,
end We forward the application Ia such
shape that "a literal compliance Is made
"a N an the requirements of the law Not
thstandine these facts We have had mp
gIlcaton after application returned. and.
despite dligent efforts. have never been
able 20 get them up TO suit the ideas Of
the pension commissioner.
'Somotimes. when there seems 20 be q
little portion Of the pension fund for dis
fribution. the pension commissioner viii
rte 10 Judge Ferrill and ask him TO ge-
lect from a dozen or more applicants the
one most deserving II must be that a
higher ratio OF grants TO deserving appli-
cations obtains In other counties OF the
state.
1T would seem that the camps Of Con-
tederate veterans In Savannah" contin-
ued the clerk OF the Court OF Ordinary.
would feel enough interest IN thls mat
Tor 20 institute an investigation. Compare
sons are odous ard appearances are not
always entirely trustworthy. Neverthe-
Jess comparisons show that Chatham
county Is not getting anything like It's
fair proportion Of the pension fund and
The appearances certainly are not good
d mny be that a perfectly reasonable ex-
plantation OF the apparent discrimination
can be furnished. but Il Is not furnished
% the report OF tho pension commits