The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1910-04-07
NO PENSION VOUCHERS.
4. ]. Dewitt FayOrs Payment Direct.
Iy TO Pensioners at Maturity.

~ 10 pensioners AT maturity.
T. J. Deavitt of this city has writ
ten he following letter to the No";h-
field No"s:
Nj EDITOR:
Tie President Of the Un;t.d States
can regulate the number of Pension
Agencies to the needs of pension
ers. President Cleveland at the close
of his last term in office issued an
order reducing the number of Pen
sion Agencies to take effect after his
term of office expired. His successor
in office promptly revoked the order
and restored the existing number of
Pension Agencies before it took eff
feet. AS the order was for political
the order was for political effect no
doubt President Cleveland anticipated
it's revocation by his Republican sue
cessor.
There are eighteen Pension Agen-
cies in the United States, each paying
on an average $S,500,00O in pensions
annually. The Pension Agencies are
maintained by annual appropriations
Ivy Congress. The appropriation for
the corning year provides only for
single Pension Agency, in effect cl IS
ing the doors of the other seventeen
If the motive of Congress is for econ
omy and not political, instead of re-
| ducing the number of Pension Agen-
cies, let it abolish the use of the pen
sion voucher in the payment of pen
sions, as briefly indicated in my pc
tition to Congress and it will accom-
| llish something worth while.
When the number of Pension Agen-
cies were fixed to accommodate the
survivors of the Rebellion, with the
patriotic deeds of the Union soldiers
still fresh in the memory, and the
! great and commendable things ac-
complished by the war duly apJrc-
ciated, there was a Pension Agent in
! almost every Congressional district
sioner could go to the agency in per-
son or by attorney and receive his pen
sion the day it was due. But as deeds
of the Union soldiers faded in the me-
mory and the things accomplished
by the war slipped away, although the
number of pensioners steadily in
creased, the Pension Agencies de-
| creased Now the pensioner is re-
quired to execute the pension vouch-
er, after the pension is due, send it
by mail to the Pension Agent where
payable and wait for the return of the
pension check in payment, causing
expense, hardship and delay. For
many years the pension voucher con-
tanned receipts to be executed by the
pensioners. The receipts are now
eliminated from the voucher which,
when executed, l submit, contains no
material fact not already on the rec
ords of the Pension Agency and is as
useless as red tape.
To pay million of pensioners four
times year requires four millions of
pension vouchers; and four millions
of envelopes and the addressing
mailing, transporting and delivering
| the same and four millions more of
| letters to return the executed vouch-
ers from the pensioners to the Pen
sion Agencies then it requires four
millions of checks to pay four mil
lions of vouchers, with their transport
tation through the mail.
The pension voucher reads as fol-
lows;
81, John Doe, make oath that | am
the !der teal person named in pen
sion Cor, iicate in my possession and
now exhibited; that | performed the
service upon which said certificate
vas issued; that | have not been en-
ployed or paid in the Army, Navy, or
Nsr.Ae Corps of the Unltei States
du'il1 eny part of the pef!o' for
which pension is therein provided or
is now due thereon; that l am en-
titled to and hereby make claim for
payment Of - dollars pension now
due"
Send the pension check in lieu of
the voucher or if there is any reason
for retaining the voucher attach the
check to the voucher and send vouch-
er and check so they will reach the
pensioner the day his pension is due.
The business world has come to re-
gard a check. endorsed and paid
through a bank, as one of the best
receipts. The pension check is en-
dorsed by the pensioner, paid by a
local bank and then paid by the
United States Treasury, every three
months. The Pension Bureau itself
has always paid attorneys fees by