The pension system had (at least) five important pillars: the pensioners, beneficiaries (widows, orphans, etc), pension attorneys, pension doctors, and the Pension Bureau.
At one time or another, all five pillars (but especially the pensioners, attorneys, and doctors) were subject to significant scrutiny and criticism for extensive fraud. Some of this was quite serious, but it also led to a significant amount of ridicule and humor in the late 19th century, a few example of which are below:
1) My favorite! A joke involving Bull Run, first published in Puck in 1887 and then widely copied in papers and magazines:
Pension Fraud: Bull Run.
Pension Doctor: Were you wounded there ?
Pension Fraud : I would have been if I had waited.
Pension Doctor : For what do you claim a pension ?
2) Potty (and private parts) humor was another staple as shown below (1893):
3) And a cartoon, also from Puck, which was particularly harsh in editorializing against pension fraud: