Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1889-10-02
TANNER EXPLAINS.

A special to the st. Louis Republic
from Caldwell, o., gives the following
letter, which explains itself. It's au-
thenticity is fully vouched for:
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, BU-
REAU OF PENSIONS, OFFICE OF THE
COMMISSIONERS, WASHINGTON, D. c.,
Sept. 10, 1881 ConfdentiaD. Hon. j.
NJ. Dalzell, Caldwell, o.: My Dear Dali
zell-I have yours of the 18th. think
have read all that has been printed as
coming from your lips or pen. For
your great warmth of good feeling l
thank you from the bottom of my heart
And now, once for all, about the depu-
tyship. want to say to you that the
president never said one word to me
about you. can not come out and say
that publicly, you must quote it, but it
is Gods truth. The one appointed first
deputy was from Mobiles state and had
lost two limbs. Of coure, / could not
kick. imagine that your keen eye has
caused you to discern and that you are
contemplating the effect in Ohio Of two
things recently done in the pension Of
fee. When say recently, mean
since practically went out. for while
am commissioner and will be until my
successor is appointed and qualified, 1
am taking no part in the duties of the
Office, holding myself on leave. While
commissioner issued two orders which
l thought and still think were mighty
good ones: First, that the 80, 900 men
on the pension. roll at less than $4 a
month should all, unless they had a
medical examination within the year,
be ordered for examination before their
home board, with view of putting
them up at least 81 per month pension,
or drop them off the roll, for it was and
is my opinion that for a man who is
worthy of any pension at all, 81 week
is small enough to consider a pension.
My second order was that thereafter. IN
the settlement of pension claim. the
word of a private, it he was man of
character and standing, shonld amount
TO as much in the settlement of the
claim as the man who had perhaps
worn the shoulder straps of a second
lieutenant. The acting commissioner
revoked both of these orders, according
to the Washington Post, but as he IS a
man who dare not say his soul is his
own, he did it under the instruction~of
Noble or Bussey. am told this after
noon that the order revoking my decis-
ion of the small pension cases has been
| rescinded, but you can SEQ what the
spirit is, and how under heavens are
they going to make the boys believe
that there is to be no change in the pol
icy? Smith also issued an order stops
pingall re-Patings. He did not object
to it UNI. had re-rated him up to SIP
for the loss of his arm anu leo. thereby
putting S6,0S5 in his pocket. held
and still hold that he was clearly enti-
tied to it, but is it not contemptible that
a man who had that done for him aud
who acquiesced in 1t cordially in his
own case should be so pronounced
against the re-rating of poor devils who
perhaps, from the effects of malarial
poisoning, chronic diarrhea, or some
thing of that kind, suffer as much as
man does from amputation. want to
say to you that did not resign until
the president and the secretary had
both said 10 me that the completed re-
port of the investigating committee