iV'.jX" K'pfr ; f/1-- , . ( ' , " , " , " .
'Cbc Conservative ,
years after the war , uiider even the
present most liberal laws , a , million pen
sioners worthy of a pension. The Union
army at its greatest strength never ex
ceeded at any one time a million men ,
and according to the best estimates the
total number of individuals who enlisted
during the whole war , including the
short term men and all soldiers , whether
they went to the front or not , did not
much exceed 2,000,000.
During the past six years an average
of over 40,000 pensioners have yearly
been dropped from the rolls , "by reason
of death , re-marriage of widows , minors
reaching the ago of 16 , and for other
causes , " and for the thirty-six years the
number of pensions thus terminated
must aggregate a half million. These ,
with the million borne on the rolls and
the 400,000 cases still pending , though
many of the pending cases are for re-
rating and the like , will include the very
great majority of all the soldiers who
entered the war. There is no service
pension law , but the prodigality of the
existing laws and the liberality with
which they are administered practically
amount to a service pension law. It is ,
therefore , folly to raise the 017 that
justice is not being done to the old
soldiers by the present Pension Com
missioner ; but , on the other hand , it is
clear that thousands , or even hundreds
of thousands , of names are borne up
on the rolls which should not be there.
Under existing laws there appears to be
no way to prevent fraud. In the
August number of the Forum Mr. Fran
cis E. Leupp closely examines the sys
tem , and notes startling instances of
gross frauds in medical examinations ,
which are undoubtedly wide-spread. He
. , - says :
"The Medical Division of the Bureau
recently found that out of thirty-two
examinations made by one Board in one
week , all the claimants were described
as having organic heart disease-twenty-
six of them had a systolic murmur of the
heart and six a diastolic murmur. This
coincidence seemed so improbable that
twelve of the claimants were ordered tea
a second examination , but before a med
ical board in the next county. The med
ical referee , an ex-Union soldier and
medal of honor man , went on from
Washington to witness this test. The
second board was not advised as to what
disabilities the first had found , but was
instructed simply to make a thorough
examination and ascertain the exact
condition of each claimant. Heart dis
ease was not found to exist in a single
instance. For further assurance , the
referee , who , besides his other experi
ence , had served seventeen years as a
medical examiner himself , made a separ
ate examination of each of the twelve
cases , and confirmed the report of the
board that heart disease was not present
in one. "
Officers in the Pension Bureau favor a
change in the laws providing for a per
manent examining board of trustworthy
surgeons , who shall go from place to
place , but Congress could scarcely beget
got to take action in remedying pen
sion abuses which have grown to their
present strength through the apathy ,
demagogy and cowardice of Congress.
Fraudulent pensioners , in many
instances crowding out meritorious
claimants , will remain a bur
den for generations upon the treasury ,
and that the fraud will bo of
long continuance may be seen from the
simple calculation which the practice of
young women marrying aged pensioners
inspired a Grand Army man to make :
"A soldier 20 years old at the cud of
the Civil War becomes a pensioner and
dies at the age of 80 , in 1025. Just be
fore his death he marries a girl of 10 in
order to leave her a pension. She lives
to be 91 , and her pension does not ex
pire until the year 2000 , or 185 years
after the war. "
There are already filed in the Pension
Bureau 538,582 Spanish war claims , in
addition to those already on the rolls ,
The management of pension business
by the government is among the strong
est arguments in favor of peace. The
payment of liberal pensions to honorable
soldiers , who rendered valiant service to
their country , is a duty cheerfully and
gladly performed by every good citizen.
The money wasted on unworthy soldiers
is the smallest of the evils of a dishonest
pension roll , but the fraud , perjury , de
ceit , injustice and dishonesty which ,
sarrcn us a gigantic , rotten , pension roll
is a menace to the strongest nation.
Philadelphia Record.
DON'T WAKE THE MULE !
A tug lay hard by , and the captain
added his bit to my sociological nocturne ,
says Rolliu Lynde Hartt in the Septem
ber Atlantic , as I sat in the pilot house
and peered out on the water , where red
lights and green lights , with many of
yellow and white , dripped zigzag
fashion down from the wharves and
ships , "Where do you sleep ? " quest
ioned I. "Why , here , " he replied , "in
this very pilot house , on that nice
bxmk ' a-settin' an'
fluffy you're - on ;
sometimes I sleep at that wheel , a-
steerin' this boat , sir. Can't be helped ,
sir. The hours we work would stave in
a trained nurse , an' send a sentinel to
be shot. Why , man , I've seed the time
when I've stuck by that wheel twenty
grim hours at a stretch ; once it was
forty-two hours. 'And when you read
in the paper about towin' a big pro
peller clean through a dock , or jammin'
her into her next-door neighbor fer
keeps , don't you say us tug folks are
Johnnie Raws. Just say we're worked
and worked 'till we sleep at the wheel.
For that's God's truth , sir. " Trans
portation , then , is that golden hinge
upon which hangs the nation's wealth.
The hinge must be over ready. Even
canal boats run day and night , the night
mule working while the day mule
sleeps. Board such a boat , and no
doubt the skipper will lift a warning
forefinger , saying , "S-s-sh ! You'll waho
the mule ! "
THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER.
EDITOU CONSERVATIVE : :
In the discussion about prayer that
has been going on in your columns , it
seems to mo the true nature of prayer is
over-looked.
We behove that God is a real person ,
our loving Father our best and dearest
friend. Prayer is converse with Him.
It may be spoken or not. But if we
need anything , or are in any difficulty
it is as natural to express our feelings
to God as it is for a child to go with the
story of his little troubles to an earthly
father. He is infinitely wiser than we ,
and we are glad to have Him decide
what is for the best.
Now as to the ship question pro
pounded in your last. A man who has
the thought of God I have thus ex
pressed is far more likely to be calm and
steadfast in the midst of danger , and to
do his duty then and always than the
reckless and profane. At any rate that
is my experience. So far from relaxing
the sinews of effort this trust in God
and prayerful converse with Him
strengthen them , and often give stead
fastness and courage even to those who
are naturnJlvvpqk ar"l , 4/- l. .
" t
BVEHETT P. WHEELEU.
New York , N Y. , Aug. 25 , 1901.
THE YOUNG MAN'S CHANCES.
BY W. S. MCCARTNEY.
The thoughtful reader will be inter
ested in the able articles published in ji
late issue of THE CONSERVATIVE in
answer to the important question in re
gard to the chances for the young man
at the present time. The concensus of
opinion is that the chances were never
better than now.
But there are very important indus
tries that are not spoken of where the
chances for the young man of energy
and brains is equal , if not superior , to
professional or semi-professional careers.
I allude to agriculture , horticulture ,
stock raising and kindred profitable in
dustries , wliich offer inducements to the
bright , honest , industrious young man.
The time has passed when the rural
population is looked upon as ignorant
and their occupation a degrading one.
Indeed , it is one of the noblest callings ,
and the writer can recall many who start
ed as hired man , and who by f aithf -
uess and industry , have risen to be the
owners of palatial homes and were able
to set up their children in homes. The
place of the hired man on the farm is
preferable to the briefless lawyer or
the physician without a patient.
Syracuse ( Neb. ) Journal.
