The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1889-10-24

sition to proceed in any insidiOus manner.
People who are not extremely nerV-
Gus will be able to Judge whether, If
had desired 80 to proceed, ] would
voluntarily have reported in full to the sec
retary what | was doing" or the work and
report Of the committee which Mr.. Tanner
makes publ tonight Mr.. Tanner says: "On
the 2Oth of July came notice to me Of the
fact lhut the committee of DEMONSTRATION had
been constituted. When they appeared day
or two afteIward, | instructed the chief
clerk to place the office and all it contained
at TIER disposal if they desired it That ter
minated my association with the committee
CT hives cation right 1T the commencement
Of its existence l had no word from them;
was not asked to explain ANYTHING; l wa
not offered the slightest opportunity to de-
fend any action had taken. 1t was
A STAR CHAMBER PROCEEDING
to the uttermogt degree. In fact, the on'y
information had about the result of the
0pcrIf!Ona was when the honorable secEc-
tary himself one day, when | was in Il.
office. asked me II | knew what the com
mission said about the operations of the pen
sion burt an. l told him l had not been
favored in that respect in The slightest &c
gree He replied that they said thar l had
gELntGQ more pensions and paid GU: NOR
money in the same time than my dRtin-
guish, Predecessor DID l rep led that
hoped % God that change was true on the
,""t ri, for l had plastered Indiana viii
a1omses lasI fall hat that should be the
FAC if Gen. Harrison came into power 4
president | never saw the report Of tEt
committee Of investigation until tn
afternoon Of the day l resigned, whet
l found it on the table in the WHIT
House and was there told by the presden'
AMI the secretary that the report contained
nothing which in the slightest degree re
fected upon my integrity or impeached the
honesty OF nv acton as commissions
THE REPORT OF TIE COMMITTEE
appointed by Secretary Noble and which MIR
Tanner gives TO the press tonight is slgneU
by Ncssr+. Ewing, Campbell and Bruce, tEe
special board OF examiners" II presents q
taUul4ted statement, showing the total nun
Der of pension cases re1a,ed from and inciuH-
ing December, 1888. to July, 1880 The
n2mber Of yerdt ugs for each Of these
mont s was a follows:
December o., January 1873, February 237
Marcl ID April 10, May 2l5, June 2l5, Ju '
lisa substantial increase. the report saws.
from month to month. indicative Of what l. aE-
Ua'"n>lN Ill established policy Of he bureau.
ne result OF which if continued will be to read
Judica G and Ierate a large Fer cent OF the case
III the Admitted tiles
After explaining the mode Of procedure
generally in reratci cases during this period
the board a their report FAY:
1t becomes apparent that SO FAR as any rule OF
acti N prevailed, there was not. generally speak
ing. WiOe difference between the priuctpe>
which governed rrrating in December, 1883. aDC
those which governed in May. 1882.
The cases which are analysed aud cited n
the report are in ail important part1cu arr
substantially Of the same general character
as those ci:ed in Secretary Mobiles letter tC
Commissioner Tanner, da;ed July 81 las,
and published yesterday morning.
One thing seems manifest" the board say
The rule 'palpable error or manifest Injustice
in former adjudications has not, in any pr pc,
sense as applicable to deliberate official JUDI :
mcnt, cen matter OF fact, the c. ntrolling
prECinH in a majority Of the re-rat. cases.
however much ii may be urged 10 the contrary
A number OF cases are quoted to show that
tie practice Of rerating on mere opinion. on
the weight OF the evidence rather than upon
clear evidence of NANTES, and palpab.e
error, is contrary to decisions OF the depart.
rncnt while echurz, Teller and Lamar were
seCretali0s-
"FORTY-EIGHT HOUR" CASES
Dor. are slOwn to have been Endorsed either
by the commissioner or his former secretary
to the secretaries IS ~for-v-etght hour cases
That this term NAV be fully understood the
report states that they are cases in which an
order was made requiring in each case to
which 1t applied final adjudication within
forty eight hours from the issuance OF the
order.
This" the report says, seems TO have been
understood not only TO be an order for tnal &C
ton within torty-eight hours but an order fo1
final favorable action. The board is unable to
state, however. where the practice Of issuing
such orders originated. but it has, they say, an
existence covering the entire period OF the
investigation. The 'emplOye' cases the board
finds generally like many others referred to in
the report, in this respect, that in the ad-
Indication for re-atinc the rule 'palpabe error
or manifest injustice IN former rating, seem>
to have been utterly ignored and lost sight OF
They were, almost without exception, read
jus ed On mere opinion. the judgment Of TO-DAY
rendered years ago. and against which.
until recently, no protest had ever been
made by the pensioners. Some eases were
| referred by the commissioner or his private
| Secretary Squircs TO an examiner in the medical
| division for opinion, which proving favorable
| the cases were taken up. briefrd and rerstnG
| allowed. Why referred to q medical examiner
subordinate in the medical division. rather
| than to the medical referee. the official directly
in charge of the medical branch OF the office, does
| not appear aud is lett to be inferred"
The board in summarizing its conclusions
| saws:
| Substantially the same principles or rules
| have i'll general been followed. so far as the ap-
! pliCation of any principle or rule Of action car
| be di@CerneQ during the period of eight months
| beginning with December, 1883. covered by ouI
| inv, stigation. While the rule purports to bt
TINT which calls for the correction of pslpablt
| error by, reason Of which manifes'
not, rs matter of fact, been followed
in any proper sense or use Of The term palpabl,
| error" or manifest injustice" the actual prac.
ticc being the rerating OF pensions on the judy
| ment of to-day against that Of years ago whei
the claims We're deliberately and officially ad
| Indicated. The practice of rera.tnC pensions il
| cases the papers in which do not disclose an CT
ror in the original or former adjudication. whic!
| is patent. manifest and ralpable, thu
leaving rs the rea! basis for the re
! rating a mere opinion On the weight O
| the evidence as now viewed. and allowing tina
| opinion to annul and change a former adjudiCa
| ton based on the same evidence is violative O
| the spirit If not the letter of the law as con
| tanned in section 469Sl2 Revised Statutes; an,
even If this were not so is inconsistent wit!
good practice and contrary to well established
| rules of evidence The practice Of taking case
ont of their order and making them 4S-hou
case, that ls, directing that they he finally sd
! jud,Cated within forty-eEht hours, is special,
| miscellaneous. in that it is apt to be construct
as the equivalent OF an order to allow, and be
cause it NAV, for want of sufficient time, proven
the deliberate and proper consideration which
the case TO which it applies should have. TIL
decisions of the department are not always fol
lowed hv the pension Cttce they shoulI be il
| points of liw and practice. rule OF prac
tiCe furnish d by departmental! decision shoui'
he recognized and followed by the pension of
tlc long As it is not Overruled or modified b,
the authority which made it: and construc
ton or INTERPRETATION OF law by the dcpartmea
| shOuld &c accepted by the pension office a
| binding. aud applicable not only in cases il
winch il is made, but in all cases involving tn,
same leGal question.
A. result OF the investigation the boar
makes a number of recommendations, witt
view to the correction of errors which hav
crept into practice through the lax method
which are found to prevail in the pension
office.
| JuStrtiabte omiCidC.
BRANFoRD, Fla, Oct 20.-Dr. Elliott, mar
shal of Live Oak, quarreled with a colore
barber namod Chester Matthews here to-day