Connecticut western news., 1889-10-23
SEC. MOBILES LETTER.
What He Had to Say About Re. Rating.
He Tells Corp. Tanner That His Scheme Was Merely an Increase Without Statute Authority-Rushed Through to the Det- riment of Others.

WASHINGTON, D. C.-Secretary Noble's reply to the communication from Commis- sioner Tanner received on the 11th of last July, in which the latter raised the question of authority between the commissioner and the secretary in deciding rerated pension cases, has been given to the press. Secre- tary Noble's letter is dated July 24, and in it, after quoting the law which makes the sec retary responsible for the faithful adminis- tration of his department, he says:-
 The power claimed by the commissioner of pensions in his letter of July Il does not exist to the extent claimed by him. But it is the law that the secretary has the power to take action when to his knowledge abuses are developed in cases of the nature of those that have called for the inquiry which I have instituted, as regards the commissioners action in certain cases that are called Gre rating' cases, but which seem to be largely more increases of pensions allowed for long periods prior to the date of the examining surgeons certificate establishing the same under the pending claim for increase. In your letter you acknowledge them to be cases of increase of pensions, for the very statute you cite in your letter as conferring on you alone the power to call halt, speaks only of the increase or reduction of pensions, and sect. 469S distinctly says such increase shall not extend prior to the certificate of the surgeon under the pending claim.
 These cases referred to, and about which we.spoke, together, were 10 in number. In each one of these the claimant was all em- ployee (cerk or other) of the pension bu- reau, receiving salary sufficient for his comfortable subsistence, and at his work da daily: They were associated together; most former administration. But they did not then prefer their claims: they made them soon after the advent of the present admins tratioh. There was no reason under the ex- isting rules that their cases should be made special or. rushed through with
  the contrary there was then, and had been for some years, printed rule in full force that no cases should be made special, except in cases of destitution, or when the appli- cant was at the point of death, yet these cases were all hurried through by your order, while hundreds of thousands of other pen sioners were awaiting throughout the land the allowance for the first time of the bounty the government has promised them.
 The other pension claimants were, many of them, supported by no such salaries as these particular men were receiving, and the asso- citation together of these men whereby this preference in time seems to have been se- cured and the subsequent allowances ob- tained, Is in itself fact that causes suspicion of undue means to obtain their object, and that their purpose was to impose upon the commissioner. The further fact appears in each case, the increase was allowed prior to the surgeons certificate in the pending claim, and that the sums allowed aggregate over $IG.OOO.
 After analysing some of these and other similar cases, upon which he says he pro- poses to call halt long enough at least for inspection, the secretary adds:
 It may be that this government is strong and great, and has at it's command surplus that no other nation has ever had, but if sums of money to the amounts above men, toned may be granted without any further consideration of fact or law than seems to have been given in these cases, it will de- pend solely upon single officers disposi- tion whether the resources of the govern ment shall be sufficient for it's maintenance or not. There are more than enough of these applications already in the field and in- creasing daily to exhaust, indeed, the sur plus, of which so much has been said in con- nection with this matter, and I am informed that the applications for re-ratings are greatly on the increase, and now reach the amount of from 1000 to 5000 week.
 do not ask nor desire, so far as I am con- cerned, re-examination of these applicants but what insist upon is, that there sEail be reconsideration of these allowances on the record, and that any further allowances for them that may be made shall be made in due course of proceedings, upon new application, new evidence and without advancement of the cases before those of others equally meritOriOus.