Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1902-04-02
THE ROLL OF HONOR
That Is What Uncle Sans Pension
List Should Be.
Committee on Military Affairs IL
Doing Its Rest to Circumvent
the Little Schemes of
Treasury Vampires,
Especial Washington Letter.1

Especial Washington Letter.
lTHERE are tens of thousands Of
venerable men in our land to-
day who should be kept above
want by the government; the federal
government of the people, for the peo-
pie, and by the people; the government
which exists to-day, intact, because
those men, in their youth and young
manhood, barred their breasts to the
fire of battle in order that the integ-
rity of the union might be preserved.
There are tens of thousands of those
aged men who are not on the pension
| roll, because of some technicalities of
the laws on the statute books; laws
| which were well intended for the gen.
eral welfare, but which work hardship
| in so many individual cases. Many
thousands of the deserving veterans
have blamed the commissioner of pen
sions, when, as matter of fact, that
much abused and worthy citizen and
official is doing his best for all, under
adverse circumstances. He is carry
ing out the law, just as has been de-
sired by Mckinley and Roosevelt.
! While many thousands of deserv-
ing veterans of the union armies are
unable to secure the pensions to which
they ought to be easily entitled, there
are hundreds of men in Washington
drawing pensions for "disabilty" who
are doing clerical work in the execu-
tive departments, and drawing from
S72O to $4,000 per year for their serv-
ices, in addition to the money they
draw as pensioners for "disability."
This is manifestly. palpably and
| shamefully unfair.
The deserving veterans know also
that in almost every community there
| can be found a man. or men, drawing
pensions for alleged disability, who
should not receive any pension what
ever. There are hypocrites in all
churches, and rogues in all societies;
and so also there are men living who
never shed any luster on the union
arms, and who deserve nothing from
their country. Every fraud and
bounty jumper; every maligner; every
coffee cooler; every coward and
French leave" man who gets pen
sion takes just so much from those
who ought to have the support of the
government in their old age. This
letter will show the honorable old
soldiers. their children and grand
children, how other frauds are kept
out of undeserved pensions.
There are pension grabbers in
every state, and in every congress
sional district; men who never had
any right to pension, and who
never ought to have the nerve to try
to get on that roll of honor. But
they make all sorts of pretcnsions,
and. after they have been turned
down by the special examiners of the
pension office, they 60 to their con-
gressmen and ask for the adoption
| of legislation which will make them
eligible to be placed on the pension
| roll. Upwards of 1000 bills have
been introduced in behalf of these
smooth individuals, who ought to be
glad that they have their heads on
their shoulders, instead of asking
for pensions. They are so numerous,
and create so much suspicion, that
they delay needed legislation for
honest men. Many an honest old
soldier who wants to have his mil
*tary record corrected, and has a
right to appeal. to congress in that
behalf, is turned down and denied
justice, because his bill happens to
be only one in a great mass of bills
which the congressman know to be
fraudulent.
For example, there is an old SOL
der in your county whom you know