Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-10-21
TANNERS TROUBLES.
He Once More Rushes Into
Print.
HOW MR.. NOBLE SNUBBED HIM
History Of Correspondence Between
the Secretary and Commits
siener.
Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD.

Associated Press Dispatches to the HERALD. ]
WASHINGTON, October 20.- Ex-Com.
missioner of Pensions Tanner is out to-
night in long statement replying to
Secretary Mobiles letter of July oath last,
which was given in these dispatches on
Friday night. Tanner denies at the out.
set that he defied the Secretary on the
subject of re-rating or authority in the
administration of the bureau. He gives
out for publication the letter to which
Secretary Noble's reply was made. In
it Tanner says in part ''I do not propose
in any event to have an honorable life.
time smirched in the slightest degree at
this period of my existence, and where
l may find we'll founded reasons for be.
lieving that 1 have been imposed upon
and misled shall be quick to recon-.
mend the condemnation merited by the
parties concerned. I desire to state
furthermore that l hare made com.
parison OF the action in these cases
(meaning the cases of Pension Office en-
ployees) with that taken by my prede-
| cessor in similar cases, and find that the
comparison is entirely favorable to the
present administration"
Tanner, in commenting on the stress
laid by Secretary Noble upon the law re-
lating to re-rating, says waen he took
office he found that on the question of re-
rating the office had been, since March
%, 1886, operating in accordance with q
decision rendered by Assistant Secretary
Jenks, who in the case of Charles Wat
son, declared that if in any case Of adjudi-
Gated under the act of March 8, 1879, ar.
rears OF pension we're not granted accord
ing to the pensioners disability, neither
Section 4,69S1a nor any other provision
Of the law prohibits re-adjudication.
Watson's contention was in part for a
pension on account of sunstroke, but
he made no claim for that disability
until fifteen years after his discharge
Mr.. jerks states that while presumption,
from the fact that he made no claim
until fifteen years after he was dis
charged, is not in favor of the view that
his disability was great, still he holds
that the claimant should have an oppor-
tunity to show the extent of his disabil-
ity during the period since his discharge,
and adds: If the evidence should show
that for any portion of the time since his
discharge he had been disabled for that
period, his pension should be increased
SO as to correspond with the degree of
his disability.
eff Secretary Noble see ft," says
Tanner, "to construe the statutes SO as
to make them less liberal to the soldier
than did his eminent Democratic pre-
decessor, the responsibility must rest
with him, and am not willing that
while go doing he shall unchallenged
arrsign me as operating without reason
and beyond the pale of the law.
"Various statements have been pub
lished over the country about the vast
number of claims of employees of the
Pension Office, which have been acted
upon during my incumbsncy. The fact
is there were but thirty-three of them,
all told. There are nearly seven
hundred soldier employees in
the Pension Office, so that the public
can judge as well as how much founda-
tion there is regarding the point OF num-
bers for the criticism passed upon the
office ia that respect. Suffice it to say
that four gentlemen, men of long expert.
ence in the Office, of acknowledged char
acter and capacity, in their report to me
on twenty-four cases, broadly impeached
the correctness OF the action in one case,
whereupon / Immediately called for the
papers in that case, and finding that a
certificate had not yet been issued, can
celled all the proceedings taken in the
case.
"Of thirty.three cases they reported
that three were simply increase cases
and not re-rated cases; that the action
taken in two others was right in part and
that in one case Injustice had been done
the pensioner and that he had not been
granted enough. Six cases were reported
as having been wrongly favored. All the
rest were certified to as absolutely cor
rect.
"On the Goth of June came notice to
me of the. fact and that committee of
investigation was to be constituted,
When they appeared day or two after
ward, l instructed the chief clerk to
place the Office and all it contained at
their disposal if they desired it. That
terminated my association with the
Committee of Investigation right at the
beginning of it's existence. 1 never
heard the report of the Committee on
Investigation until the afternoon of the
day l resigned, when found it on a
table at the White House, ana was there
told by the President and Secretary
Noble that the report contained nothing
which would in the slightest degree re-
fleet upon my integrity, or impeach the
honesty of my action as Commissioner. !"
In regard to the Secretary's assump.
ton OF his insnbordination, Tanner pre-
sents letter which he sent to the Secre-
tary August 5th, in which he expresses
regret they had fallen apart and attrib.
utes the trouble to too little personal com.
munication. The letter goes on to say
II recognize that sit In position where
l have the opportunity of my life to serve
our comrades and our country. l desire
to serve them and it to the full extent
the law permits, and not one iota beyond it. |
l desire to help you to make this branch
OF the administration go popular with the |
veterans and patriotic people over the |
country at large, that in the future there
can be no question where the support of |
the men who served and suffered will be |
given."
Tanner said this letter was never an
swered and it closed all communication
him and the Secretary.
The investigating report proper, to
which ex-Commiseioner Tanner in his
interview refers, covers a little more
han eighteen printed pages and is dated
september 5, 1889. The report saws
here were no records in the Pension
Office showing gpecjallv the nunnhar M