The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-03-25
IRISH ARE INDIGNANT Disclaim Any Fraud in
 Pensions. NO WnFUL WICKEDNESS Illegal Claims Filed Merely
 Through Ignorance. No One in Ireland VIII Fall to Give Every Possible, Assistance to
 the Treasnry's Inves-
 tigators. -.
BY TIMOTHY J. O'CONNOR.

BY TIMOTHY J. O'CONNOR. F Dublin. March 24-whatever con- sternation the Irish claims under the old age pensions act may have caused in England or in Parliament. it cannot be more Intense tfian tie ea, .1.a... | that has filled the hearts of the i'm questionable Irish people at the thought that they are accused, even by suggestion, of purposed or wide- spread fraud in putting forward illegal demands or supporting them by false statements.
 "The mere suggIestion does us | wrong" said a gentleman holding a leading public position, and he added No one in Ireland who is worthy of his country will fail to give every pos sible assistance to the treasury's in- vestigators who have been appointed to re-examine claims and demand bet ter evidence Of age and limited income than has so far been given"
 The spirit of the people has invari- ably been one of objection to the stig- ma implied in the suggestion and de- termination to end anything upon which it can fairly be based It, may indeed be declared that all indications are in the direction of proving that al-
 
 have been filed and money received up- on them. 1t has been chiefly through the absence of good evidence as to age. ignorance of the aged as to the exact year of their birth misunderstanding of thes.la and of the intentions of Parliament. and not through wilfui wickedness
 Fraud of a wholesale or organized character has not been the cause of the
 T-t- I~t- A. under the act. Roguery, perhaps, is the word just typical Irish roguery in which there Is no crime. because the criminal nature of the acts was not appreciated. A sample of what Is meant may be given from the opera tions under another kind of ben1kvo- lence.
 The Kings Bounty.
 The scene of the occurrence was County Donegal, where a wife had pre- sented her husband with triplets as q sequel to twins upon several other oe- casions. The husband pleaded his great family as a reason for empolyment on government works that had been com menced. The cause inquiries, and the government officer who was deputed suggested to the man that he should apply for the Kings bounty. He had some doubt about it's being granted as the triplets had arrived long time be- fore. However. it was resolved to ap- ply. and the kindly suggester loaned him s1s.
 The officer heard nothing of the bounty for a long time. and concluded that the grant was refused. Later however. he learned that the simple rustic had received $45 In all 315 ot which had been paid before the gov ernment officer called, $16 more having been sent upon his second application and the SIS voluntarily loaned him. Ii will be seen that the father neither lied nor borrowed. It was roguery oi a comparatively innocent type, and not fraud. That Is the Irish interpreta- ton. to which is added. For why should the poor creature have shut his mouth when Providence was pushing ripe plums in it7' A story Is also told of woman who welcomed the pen sion which she had succeeded In secur- ing, as it would Help to keep the baby." to which she had just given birth.
 The fact Is that it does not occur to peasants that there is anything more immoral in getting the better of the government in deal under the act than in beating competition in a castle or horse deal. "The best of the deal to the best of the dealers" is the for mula that fits such cases.
 An old Alibi.
 A friend of the chief official who told the triplets story was riding on g car in western county and was sur prised to hear from the driver that he was all right now that he had got a pension" though he admitted with a grin that he was only 55.
 But did the inspector not call ana see you?" asked the questioner.
 Sure he did, your honor. but it sc happened I was away from home at the time, so the people at home showed him 'an old alibI in bed and he thought It was me-"
 No doubt many an old alfbF has won the pension for some young wage-earn. ing or Income earning person in simi. lar fashion. Here again 1t will be no, ticed, no He was told. The man walk. ed In and asked for MT. -, went tc the bed without waiting for an answer assumed that he had seen the claimant | and retired satisfied. It Is a fact tha, the act itself and the arrangements | for its administration have imposed ar almost insupportable burden and i'm. possible task on all concerned, whether | government officials clergy. or loca government board officials who had tC deal with appeals.
 Amendment there must be, and one alteration should be the provision of q | definite and better test of Income thar l at present Some of the excisemen an. 1 pointed to administer the act had ah 1 solutely no instructions as to the hast, l upon which they were to decide what mans income was. When they ask. ed for advice they were told the, should estimate the incomes at three times the annual rent. and If tn, claimant had tu estimated at four times that. It is reported upon good authorit1 that inspectors are still working on tho rent basis, the absolute futilitv ot which the official returns of valua tior will show. In one district tenan, may be paying a few pounds for 10C acres. while another, a eittle way off pays live pounds for half-dozer acres. One man will have one COW or the holding; another on a similar acre. age can keep six or more. Values diff. 1 fer widely incomes from hold. ings. and all~-kinds of circumstance, enter into the arrangement of rent, SC that the rent basis of calculation must go.
 Priests Certificate. Acceptance of the priests certificate should also be abolished. What is q clergyman's certificate worth fatlins corroboration of an official character The claimant tells the priest that he Co, she) cannot remember when he Co, she) was born. and Is cross examined He remembers that he went to schoo at the same time as Patsey or Bridget ao-and-so. The other party's age may be known, so they average something from that. Then the claimant says he tor she) was a big lump of child when he left school. So they put that