The Sunday globe., 1901-05-19
THE PENSION OFFICE.
Decentralization, Drunkenness, Vice,
and Depravity under Evans.
THE CASE OF CAPT. F. C. JONES.

The Man Responsible for The Present Condition
Of Affairs Is Not Evans but MCklnIey-Ihs
Determinations Against Real eS-SOldIes Of
tho War in favor Of Hundrsd-Day Men and
the Descendants Of The Lost Cause.
When the Lincoln war drums were
beating up and down the length and
breadth of this great country Except
where the drums of Davis were dehantly
answering the challenge), and thousands
of high-spirited youth were rushing to
ioin the standard of their country, Com
missioner of Pensions Evans continued
the even tenor of his way, irresponsible
TO the appeal and unmoved by the pomp
and circumstance of glorious war;
Among the thousands, however, who
were thrilled with the long roll of the
drums and whose patriotism was aroused
by their appeal, mere youth named f.
c. Jones, of New York, enlisted as a pri-
vate soldier in the Sixty fourth Regiment
New York Volunteer Infantry. from
the day of his enlistment until shot
through the lungs at Spotsylvania Court
House, May 18th, 1864, hewas present ior
duty. on the march, bivouac, the picket,
the skirmish line, and the battle. He
had passed through all the grades ofnon-
com nissioned officer, and when he fell
i'm front of his men wore the straps OF
captain. Returning "hxed up" by the
rough-and-ready army surgeons OF the
period the following July, or within less
than three months from the perforation
of his lung with a minnie bullet, he saw
the thing through to Appomatox.
Meantime Commissioner Evans had
his sluggish blood warmed up to the
fighting or war fever point, and he, too,
went out to do battle to save the Repub-
lie. But eighty days were sufficient to
cool his patriotism and curb his Valor'
During the eighty days he saw thousands
of "rebels," but they were in Union
prison camps, were harmless, and could
not shoot. The Commissioner never had
his blood frozen by hearing that terrify-
ing "Rebel yell" as the reckless atd gal
liant Southerners swooped down with the
bayonet or charged over batteries, breast
works, and lines of dead in blue or lines
of dead in grey "who fighting fell"
By revolution of circumstances the
captain who fell at the head of his COM
pany in the sanguinary fight at Spotsyl-
vania, in Hancock's premier corps, be-
came a poor clerk in the department OF
which the eighty day soldier was the
head. The eghty-da soldier took nat
ural antipathy to the four-year veteran
of twenty battles, which eliminated IN
the discharge, three years ago, from the
Pension Bureau of Capt. f. c. Jones, ana
not all the kings men could or can get
him restored, Notwithstanding that he
was dropped from the list of employees
in violation of the law authorizing the
reduction of the clerical force, but ex-
empting honorably dischared soldiers.
Evans retained clerks-maybe the son of
the very man who shot the captain
whose fathers fought with Stonewall or
went headlong to death and glory with
Pickett on the bloody field Of Gettys-
burg.
Timeand again Captain Jones has been
promised restoration, only to have the
promises broken or absolutely denied as
Bliss and Hitchcock did, the former re-
storing the brother of the gallant Han
cock. a Democrat, and although not a
soldier himself, deserving enough by
reason Of the great services of the conf
mander of the second fighting army
corps. Bliss, although commercially de-
Tending this act of his in the publicpress,
had the gall, when appealed TO 10y Cap
tain Jones, to tell the veteran the palp-
able lie that he (Bliss) had no authority
to restore him. Hitchcock promised a
committee of prominent citizens, eX-
veterans with distinguished military
records, that he would give Captain
Jones the first vacancy, and when the
Captain knew that one existed he went
to his hotel to have the promise fulfilled.
Waiting an hour in the lobby while
Hitchcock and General Corbin dined and
wined he approached the Secretary after
his gluttonous repast and asked the ful-
fillment of his promise. Hitchcock in
dignantly deni d that he ever made such
promisel The committee hearing Of
his denial wrote him a sharp letter, to
which he never replied, and Captain
Jones is still tramping the streets, al
though he has wife and family TO sup
port and is more or less handicapped by
the wound in his lung
And vet there are Republican eX-
soldiers (the Captain is Republican,
who critise the course of the eX-soldier
editing The Globe in tearing the masks
OFF the Republican politicians running
this imperialistic government, President,
cabinet and heads of Departments. The
vitriol is not half strong enough to tip r
pen for their benefit. They have less
sympathy with real, genuine ex-soldier
who served i'm the field than the Demo-
cratic administration of Grover Cleve-
land exhibited, for the prejudice in his
administration was principally confined
to himself and did not permeate the
whole public service as it does now.
viii the old veterans and their sons
never learn any sense? Will they con-
tinue, like the unlettered ex-slaves, to
be the bulwark of these heartless, hypo-
critical gang of tricksters who mouth
patriotism and confine their sympathy
for The ex-soldier to platitudes, spoken
from the rear end of railway trains In
campaign times? They may, but the
editor Of this paper has had enough of II,
and ndintlmately kno wing the whole OUTFIT,
from Mckinley to Evans, he proposes
skinning, roasting and exposing their
hypocricy and double dealing towards
the old soldier, as vol as their organized
schemes to wreck the Republic.
The Pension Department has been no.
torious for its vices and immortality,
openly exhibited by certain members of
its male and female employees. Itcan be
established, and 1t is here deliberately
and publicly charged that male clerks in
a beastly state OF intoxication havs been
sent to their homes from the Office and
returned ON the time slips as Excused
from sickness"
That "blind tger' was conducted