Fergus County argus. [volume] (Lewistown, Mont.) 1886-1946, 1889-08-08
WASHINGTON LETTER.
IFrom tmr Regular Correspondent
WAsHINGTON, July 26, 1889


The appointment by Secretary Noble oi
| II commission of three Ia inquire into the
| conduct III the pension bureau during the
last year. confirms what wrote you just
after Commissioner Tanners appoint ment
of the bitter feeling between himself and the
secretary. The principal objection urged
upon the president against the corporals
appointment WAS that h" would he too
liberal" II appears now, however, that
he had devel.ped - great talent for simple
laundering. When he appointed George r.
Squires, who WAS renewed in disgrace AT
the end Of eight weeks, his private secre-
tary, he followed the error by the scarcely
better mistake of appointing his daughter,
an inexperienced school girl, his private
secretary. Another personal appointment
of his WAS that Of Harry Phillips Of Brook.
lyn, as chief of u division. Phillips APP
pointn,ent was objected to by Secretary
Noble ON the ground that he seemed with
out sndorsers except the commissioner
himself. At last the appointment was
made and charged /" the commissioner.
That is only n little over two months ago.
and Phillips is already implicated in the
rcrating frauds that Secretary Noble'srom-
mission is investigating. The rerating
frauds, which are the principal subject of
the present investigation, are among the
most daring swindlcs ever pcrpetrated.
About a dozen pension office clerks who
have been drawing pensions for years got
together for mutual benefit. and agreed to
apply for rerating from the date of dis
charge. The combine invited prominent
Grand Army men To join them. but for
some reason only reached n hall dozen men
and they were in government employ.
Rerating is authorized by law only when
manifest err0r" is found to have occurred.
These men were old and experienced clerks
in the pension bureau, and had never be-
fore discovered that there was any error,
under the law. in their ratings. Still, by
the combination and by literally pressing
in the merits of each Others claims. this
combinatiO managed. every man of it,, to
secure from 81, 800 To 1000 each. M
claim was rejected, and while in several
instances six months Or year passes he
fore claims are reached for consiierat ion
after they are filed in the pension bureau.
these claims were all rushed through in two
weeks from the time they were filed. The
cha mpagne aupI,ers Of the visitors could
not be kept quiet. and the press soon got
possession oi the facts. The exposure fol
lowed.
For some reason Commissioner Tanner
paid no attention to the matter, and il re-
manned for the secretary to recognize the
scandal by discharging three members oi
the appointment Of this commission. No
body dare accuse Commissioner Tanner
Of dishonesty, or Of ~ guilty knowledge "i
these frauds, but his opposition I" the ap-
p~intmient Of the commission places him ia
n most unfortunate light. The secretary
i- also damaxed in the opinion of many by
the breach between him and the commits
sionsr. SoIue look upon it as an attempt
to restrict the liberal policy toward the
soldiers. Such is the substance of Gov.
Foraker's dispatch to Corporal Tanner
this week. The newspapers which dare
talk are full of the matter, only = few over
Jealous Republican newspapers of the
m,,sty order failing 10 recognize the import
ance Of the trouble.
The census work is shaping itself, and Mr..
Porter's desire to have the work limited I"
what is legitinately included in the bill Ia
provide for the work becomes evident. la
many branches the experts have already
begun work. The most difficult schedule
to arrange appears To hc that Of mannfac-
lures. \ table of this subject will he pre-
scented to Superintendent Porter next week.
and by him will he submitted to various
free trade authorities, as well AZ tn manu-
facturers with protective tendencies. The
other divisions will shortly present their
definite plans for work aud 10y October
progress may I've expected.
The secret service, that branch of the
government that the small hoy who faith
fully reads his bloody bones nickel novels
is given to admirins, is about to have "a
new chief. II is probable that the new man
will he Thomas Furlong, a st. Louis rail
road detective. Russell Harrison is ae-
lively supporting him. His appointment
has been delayed thus far by petitions sent
tio,s, including letter from Grand Master
Powdisrly, protesting against his appoint
ment ON account of tn st. Louis strikes. II
is stated to-day, however. that Mr.. Pow
derly has formally Withdrawn all oppe-
sition, and the protests are cancelled.