The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1889-10-25
TANS HIM.

Once More Does the Ex-C0mmis-
siOner of Pensions Have His
Brief Little Say.
WASHINGTON. Oct 2O.-Ex- Commissioner
Tanner is out tonight in q long statement
in reply to Secretary Mobiles letter of July
"a on the subject Of rerating pensions of
pension Office employees Mr.. Tanner denies
at the outset that he defied Secretary Noble
on the sui ject Of rerating or on the question
OF denomin2te authority in the administra-
ton of the pension bureau Il did submit"
MI. Tanner says, ito him in an unofficial let
ter question which arose in my mind as to
whether the power to put TO the test pen
sion which might be under suspicion of hav-
ing been granted in excess rests in the hands
OF the secretary or of the commissioner,
ana quoted to him the section Of the Re-
vised Statutes which had raised that question
In my mind; put in submitting that question
to the secretary for his decision. did it in
the most courteous and respectful manner
OF which was capable" In this unofficial
letter, which is given out for publication,
and which refers to a number of rerated pen
sion cases of clerks in the pension Office, the
ex-commissiOner says:
1 do not propose. in any event, to have an
honorable lifetime smirched in the slightest de
gree at this period OF my existence. and where I
may hnd we'll founded reasons for believing
tnaS nave been imposed upon and misled I
shall be quick to recommend the condemnation
merlted by the parties concerned. simply de-
sire 10 add. furthermore. that since our inter-
view night before last have made a comparison
OF action in these cases with that taken by my
predecessor. and find that the comparison is
entirely favorable to the present administration
snail be happy 10 lay these cases before you at
any Time when it may suit YOUR convenience
AS TO RERATING.
Mr. Tanner Then, in commenting on the
great stress laid by Secretary Noble upon
section 4,698l2 of the law relating to rerat-
ing, says: cit is proper that should state
that when took Office as commissioner l
found that on the question of rerating the
office was, and had been since March %,
1886, operating in accordance with de-
csion rendered on that date by Hon. George
A. jerks, then assistant secretary of the in
terror, who in the case of Charles A. Watson
in broad terms declared:
If. in any case adjudicated under the act of
March g. 1879. the arrears of pension We're not
graded according to the pensioners disability.
neither section G9Sle nor any other provision
OF the law prohibits readjudication of the case.
The claimants contention was in part for
made no claim for that disability until tif-
teen years after lis discharge Mr.. jerks
states that, while the presumption from the
fact that he made no claim for pension on
account Of disability from sunstroke until
6fteen years after his discharge is not in
favor Of the view that the disability was
great. still he holds that he should have op-
opportunity to show the extent of his dis
ability during that period since his discharge;
and he adds It the evidence should show that
for any portion of the time since his dis
charge he has been disabled in q degree
greater than for which he was peneioned,
the pension for that per.od should be in
creased SO a. to correspond with the degree
Of disability. The legal contention leave
to those eminent gentlemen, Secretary
Noble and the late Assistant Secretary
jerks. Mr.. jerks ruling was lew through
the department until it was revoked, and
must say that in SO far as it permits man
who has been disabled in the service Of the
country to prove that ability and receive tho
compensation which the law provides I0m
in hearty accord with it. II Secretary Noble
sees fit to construe statutes SO as to make
them less iberol to the soldier than did hie
eminent Democratic predecessor the re-
sponsibllity must rest with him; and am
not willing that while so doing he shall, I'M
challenged. arraign me as operating without
reason and beyond the pale of the law"
AS TO THE INVESTIGATION.
Mr.. Tanner then relates the circumstances
preceding the appointment of the committee
20 investigate the rerated cases and which
led up to it. Gen. Bussey told him that the
secretary's suspicious were aroused as to the
correctness of action in the cases of ten en-
ployes and he had been instructed to investi-
gate. Mr.. Tanner said Gall right" and placed
the papers in nine Of the cases on Gen. Bus
sey's table within an hour, and those in the
remaining cases were sent over the next
morning Il then called his attention." Mr..
Tanner says, ito the fact that sew eral cases
were disease cases, and it did not seem to me
to be the thing to have them reviewed by
non-medical man. I told him, as I after
wards told Secretary Noble, that when first
took office there was mighty tide of hu-
manity surging into the pension Office, claim
ing my personal attention. and 1T the same
time good many cases were pressed on my
personal attention; that I sat there thor
oughlv imbued with the belief of what we
had expressed in the press and on the stump
in the late campaign as to the restrictive
policy of the pension Office on the soldier
claims; and that had thought that until 1
became familiar with the workings of the
bureau, so. long as l pursued the practice
laid down for me by men of experience in the
office, the last thing was in danger of doing
was of doing too much And so, when my
personal attention was requested to dis
ease case, I was in the habit of calling for
one or another of the medical division, ask
ing them to go through the case thoroughly,
and TO give me their opinion as to what l
ought in justice to do. If it was legal
question, I called some examiner of long ex-
perience in the Office and made the same le-
quest I stated that if I had been misled,
there was no one who
HAD AS MUCH AT STAKE
in knowing it nramntlY as I hud and no one