Sunday morning globe., 1901-09-22

heBSlVe Statement In Petition to Congress.
The case Of Daniel Oberly is at once
one of the most remarkable and the
most glaring exhibition of injustice to-
wards a helpless soldier which has so
far come to the knowledge Of the sun
day Morning Globe Poor Oberly has
had drafted a petition, which he pro-
poses presenting to the Congress at
It's incoming session. Here It is:
"To the Honorable the Senate and
House Of Representatives Of the
United states Of America I'm Con-
gress assembled:
Your petitioner Daniel Oberly,
whose postoffice address is the Aims
house Hospital, Washington, District
Of Columbia, respectfully represents
that during the Civil War he served in
Company b, saith Pennsylvania Volun-
teer Infantry; that he incurred a gun
shot wound of the neck through the
treachea and oesophagus, interfering
with deglutition and speech; that from
time Of occurrence Of the wound up to
the present he has never been able to
perform a days work or partake Of
solid foods, and that for the past 28
years he has been paralyzed, and for
almost 20 years Of that period he has
been Nnable to lift either hand to his
head. More than 80 physicians, whose
statements are on file in the Bureau Of
Pensions, have pronounced his paralysis
to be the result of the wound of neck,
but this mass of testimony is mega
tived by the alleged opinion Of the
heretical referee, who holds that the
paralysis is not the result of the wound
and that he is unable to determine
what produced It,
In 1872, the Bureau Of Pensions ac-
cepted paralysis as the result Of the
wound Of neck and continued to do so
uD to about 1886, when il was held to
be the result of syphilis, but It being
subsequently established that such
holding was erroneous. the present ad-
ministration of the Department Of the
Interior refused to restore me to the
rolls upon the ground that ! commit
ted fraud In the manner above descriD-
ed, and that my pension Of $50 per
month should be retained to reimburse
the Government for money paid to me
as increase of pension. Each increase
of pension that ever received was af-
ter the most thorough and exhaustive
medical examination by Bureau exam
lining surgeons. and in each instance
my paralysis was pronounced genuine
and the result of my wound Of neck.
Physicians in the District of Colum-
bia and elsewhere have testified to the
frightful character of my wound; that
nv survival was miraculous; that re-
covery would hardly occur in more
than one out Of ten thousand similar
wounds.
The Secretary of the Interior de-
clines to reconsider my case, and be-
lieve for no other reason than because
OF the amount Of money involved in it,
leaving me no other opportunity for
relief and Justice than an appeal to
Congress. My claim is an honest one,
but for more than ID years l have been
deprived Of the pension the records OF
the War Department and evidence De-
fore the Bureau Of Pensions show me
lawfully entitled to and denied pay
ment Of 1t because the amount unlaw-
fully retained from me has reached
sum that the Bureau and the Depart
ment Of the Interior seems to think
should not have because Of the sus-
picion / would not handle 1t properly.
AS evidence of the feeling Of the
Commissioner in the matter, | quote
from his report Of 1898, page is.
I'm a report recently made by one
of the efficient special examiners Of
this Bureau, where the pensioner Will
get. as a first payment about $4,000,
the examiner sums up the case with
the suggestion that the man would be
better with a small pension than a
large one; that If he gets much 1t Will
be dissipated and 90 to those who
never served the cause of the Govern
ment and bring trouble upon the pen
sioner and those dependent upon him."
respectfully submit to your honor
able body that 1 presented my life In
defense Of the Government; that in so
doing / was wounded nigh unto death;
that since my discharge from the serv-
ice / have never been able to earn a
dollar, being a helpless cripple the
greater portion of the time; that l
have never committed fraud in obtain
ing any pension or increase of pension
granted me, and ! believe / am now
being deprived of the pension hereto
fore granted me because Of the desire
Of the Commissioner Of Pension and
the Secretary Of the Interior to econ
Omize and reduce pension payments
regardless Of right and justice.
l. therefore, charge that 1 am being
unlawfully deprived OF the pension due
me: that It is due to opposition on the
part OF the Commissioner Of Pensions
and the Secretary of the Interior to re-
funding to me the large sum that has
been unlawfully retained and accrued
during the past IA years, and for the
purpose Of sustaining their action they
set up a charge Of fraud, alleging that
] simulated paralysis while the testi-