Sunday Washington globe., 1902-04-13

the veterans were induced" to falsely aver
Of service-origin in new disability cases.
How could he know that several hundred
thousand veterans scattered over the
United States were "inducedY" That is a
serious charge Of perjury for an official to
fabricate against the defenders Of the Re
public. II is brazen falsehood put ont by
Evans in aid Of his Southern school book
propaganda. He knew that the medical ex-
aminations in those FIRST claims never
touched unalleged diseases He knew that
often the veteran alleged only what he CON
sidered his worst disability in order that
the pension might be quickly allowed
Often the army record shows the new disa-
bilities. Evans made those wholesale false
statements for fraudulent purpose.
Take his efforts to get Congress TO con-
iscate the short accrued pension OF 6,ooo
heirs OF soldiers. He tried in his annual
report to convince Congress that these
children were never born at all. He says
there were always convenient witnesses
that happened to be 'on the back porch"
at birth 10 prove birth An official that will
resort to such low cunning to assert false
hood should be ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS out
of Office Those familiar with courts and
local history know that births can be proven
within a reasonable degree of apprOxima-
tion in all cases A birth is an event in the
neighborhood, and dates can be fixed by
other births and dates. Often family
records are kept A date is always APP
proximated so that the Government will
lose no money where the exact date cannot
be certainly fixed. The FIRST day of the
month Is taken where the day of month
- r1,c. ~ fha Gra Anrf of fba
year is taken where the month cannot be
exactly settled, etc.
Take his wholesale statements that no rate
is shown. and claimants constantly re-apply-
ing for increase of pension as soon as claims
are rejected. He has instructed his medical
referee to ignore the disabilities, and on
that he boldly asserts that there are no dis
abilities shown He has called back into
the bureau Lochren's old medical referee
Featherstonhaugh, man who devised the
plan Of requiring $50 degree Of disability
for a SI2 rate and has reappoinied him a
medical examiner at 81 800. He has kept
in as a medical examiner, Commissioner
Raum's old medical referee Ingram, who
turned against the Harrison administration
on this same question and furnished a con-
structively false statement to go into the
Bennett decision TO let il be inferred that
pensions were granted by HarrisOn's ad.
ministration without regard to disability.
Ingram gave an unqualified statement to
this effect; when the Weike decision 70 P.
d. shows it to be a fslsehood.
Thereupon Ingram was retained by LOch-
rem and Featherstonhaugh at a salary of
ST. 600, and put in charge Of thirty clerks to
revise, reduce and drop the 400, 900 pensions
which had been granted to the veterans
under Harrison by this same DR.. Ingram.
Ingram became a turncoat and falsiher.
Had he not been jockeying the case he
would have stated the facts in regard to the
practice but instead of that he made gen.
eral statement in the test case Of Bennett
which was to set the pattern, to the effect
that Hauison's administration did not con-
slider the degree of disability for labor. The
Weike decision at the time in print in 8 P.
D., showed that Ingram conveyed posi-
lively false status 10 the adiudications by the
Harrison administration. See GLOBE
March 10 and g. Ingram was after hold
ing his job at the expense OF the veterans
when he could have made a fair statement
and accomplished the same result, and not
have placed the Harrison administration in
a false light. But It was a sad day for the
veterans when Cleveland's administration
stepped down and Evans and the anti-pen-
sion junto took charge of McKinley's pen
sion department. The medical division un-
der Evans and Raub has almost doubled the
degree Of disability required in every non.
specific class of disabilities under the new
law since Cleveland's administration. In
stead of a $50 degree for $I2 rate, it now
is practically s72 degree for SI2 rate and
lower rates accordingly In a few specific
disabilities where they could be easily
caught, the requirements are not so much
increased, such as for a double hernia, the
the loss of limb, the loss of an eye, etc.
but in all cases of diseases and non-specihc
disabilities, the field is open for ignoring
as much Of the disability as the medical
referee pleases In these latter classes (by
far the greater number of claims) the
ratings are generally based on s72 degree,
$50 degree, $50 degree and &24 degree of
disability for rating respectively at SI2 SGo,
So and So A Congressional investigation
will prove these facts cOnclusively. Evans
at frst tried 70 work his frauds on the
legal" side of the adjudications, by pre-
tending to re-construe the pension laws so
as to cut out large classes Of claims. He
has been overruled on so many Of these
frauds that he has found they are detected,
and that he can't work one Ofthese games"
longer than about two or three years. But
in the medical field, by using the secret
form of pension certificate, and refusing to
give claimants any information whatever
about the diseases allowed OF those disal-
lowed, or giving simple notice of whole
claim re jected' that there is but little chance
of being brought to book for medical frauds.
He has, therefore, succeeded in foisting on
20 the veterans his medical order of June
30, 1900, for concealing diseases, and the
whole plant is in running order for new
frauds al KibifnRI.
I.ochren once started the work Of pre-
venting county medical boards from stating
the rates, but Congress passed the act of
March 2, 1895 Digest 1897. P. $40, Sec. I2),
which required him to return to the old
method Of having the county medical
boards state the rates. and Lochren at
once ordered the county boards to return to
rating each disease in 18th under Sec.
1000, which Evans has now set aside in aid
of wholesale frauds in his medical division.
Judge Rassieur in his address at the last
C. A. R. Encampment, said of Evans order