The St. Louis Republic., 1902-06-21
There Are 99S,3O3 Pensioners on
Role and New Claims Are
Pending.
WARE ANNOYED BY ATTORNEYS.
Claimants Follow Commissioner to
His Home in Kansas ana
Try to Influence Him
Through Relatives.

Washington. June 2-Eugent F. Ware.
the Kansas lawyer and poet. who succeeded
H. Clay Evans as Commissioner of Pen
sions. has not been in office long enough to
make up his mind just what policy TO pur-
sue toward veterans ard attorneys who
want him to o. X. all claims for pensions
or now to treat the wholesale advice he Is
getting TO adopt retrenchment and reform
as his watchword. MIR. Ware believes
soon reach the million mark. which is con-
strued ny some to mean that he is to be
neral IN considering the claims of veterans
Commissioner Wares belief In regard to
the ultimate size of the pension roll seems
10 be borne o"t by tie figures. which ipdi-
cate that the million point will be reached
In the course of the next wear. A speciaI
statement that was made up at the request
OF the Commissioner showed total OF $685.
the month Of April. The May reports are
not get III. but by the time the increases for
th3t month and June are added to the list
i Is thought likely that the total will be
We'll W in the last Thousand necessary to
make lCOO.0J0.
Spanish War List.
Should Congress adopt some legislation
favorable 10 pensions next year or soon
thereafter. there would be no way of te'lia;,
how many pensioners Uncle Sam would
have on his roll. Ii may surprise SCrle tu
Know that there are now pending in the
Pension Office ,55. $50 claims TCr pensi-ns OF
which S3.6ll are due to the war with Spain.
Commissioner Ware was asked Il he liked
his new Office. The Kansas man tipped back
In his chair, StrOked his cnin thCugntfully
and considered for a full moment. Finally,
in G hesitating and uncertain way. he SAID:
Yes. l guess l like Il about as much as
L would any government place. l have not
escaped any Of the unpleasant annoyances
that l used to think were reserved exclu-
siveiy for lawyers"
The new Commissioner is having 4 diff
cult time in trying not to lay down policy
for considering pension matters. He has
been pursued by perfect army of attor-
neys and Grand Army of the Republic men
and by people on the other side of the Ques-
ton. who want TO influence him one way or
the other. He says they actually follow
him out TO Kansas and try to reach him
through his wife anG even more distant
relatives.
VIII Let Policy Develop.
Mr.. Ware is finding out that lot of
whether he proposes TO administer the PEN
sion laws In a liberal or narrow spirit. He
proposes, however, TO let his policy Cstfelop
as he goes along with his work. AS he
says, he is merely sitting at his desk, dis
posing of cases as they come UP, and those
who want to know what his policy is will
have TO learn 1t by judging OF his action in
the various claims. Commissioner Ware
says that the magnitude Of the advice
offered to him by people who want TO infiu-
ence him in this regard is only equaled by
the volume of stuff that was printed at the
time of his appointment as successor to H.
Clay Evans.
II got hundreds and hundreds of clip
all. every one. l read until was tired, and
then l hired a professional reader. who
worked while l rested. 1t was awful big
job. but We got through with it. No. didn't
were printed about me, but accepted them
all. good and bad alike"