Butte semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1886-1890, 1889-10-23
NOBLE ON Tanner.
The secretary's First Letter to Commits
sioner Tanner rs Made Public.

thaue puDnc Tonight. 1t is dated ,July 2S
TIE secretary acknowledges the receipt {
Tanners letter Of July IL, marked uno
hcial, but which he could not receive q
, ything but an official paper, raising. q
it did, the question OF authority betwee
the commissioner and the secretary, an
asserting that OF the commissioner to b
superior as to the matter discussed,
Your position in your own language,
says the secretary, SIS that in the Who'll
that the secretary OF the interior has th
power to reverse the decions OF the commits
sioDer OF pensions on an appeal by claim
ant. against whom the commissioner ha,
decided. On the other hand, to offer an,
reason, it being held that the claimant ha.
been granted too much pension the com
missioner himself is the only person who
has the power to call q halt and reduc,
tho pension. Tie commissioner il
laboring under a great Misrepresentation
The secretary ha spower to control and
correct any abuses in the bureau OF pen.
sions or any other bureau in the depart
ment." The secretary, in support OF his
position, quotes copiously from the re.
vised statutes, and adds: 1T will not do
to say that the secretary may not inter.
fere and stop, by his power, the acceptance
of an orders obviously illegal and arbi.
trary. The secretary is responsible for his
| conduct" ...
The commissioner is bound to see that
the law is enforced; that the public treas.
ury is not unlawfully invaded, and that
any citizen entitled to right, whether OF
a p nsion or OF land, or anything else, is
not unduly preferred, either in the time of
hearing or in the allowance OF money.
The secretary takes up the rerating case
which, he says, seems to belargely increases
OF the pension allowed for long periods
prior TO the date OF the examining sur
geon's certificate, and establishing the same
under the pending claim for the increases.
In TACT, he says, the commissioner, him.
self, acknowledged them to be cases OF in
crease OF pensions. The secretary contin-
ues: "The cases referred to were ten in
number In each OF these the claimant
was an employe in the pension bureau, re-
ceiving salary sufficient for his comforta-
bic subsistence and at his work daily.
They were associated together, and most
OF them had been in their places
under the former administration,
But they did not then prefer their claims
until soon after the advent OF the present
administration. There was no reason
under existing rules that their cases should
be made special or rushed through in ad-
vance OF all others. On the contrary there
was then, and had been for some years, a
printed rule in full force that no cases
should be made special except in the case
RI afIfnfInn hap na%
At the point OF death. Yet these cases we're
all hurried through by your order, while
hundreds OF thousands OF other pensions
were awaiting throughout the land an al
lowance for thefirst time if the bounty of
tbs government promised them. These other
pension claimants were, many of them,
supported by no such salaries as these par
ticular men were receiving, and the
association together of these men,
whereby this preference seemed to have
been secured and the subsequent allowance
obtained is, in it's self, fact that their pur-
pose was to impose upon the commits |
siOner. Further, the fact in each case is /
that the increase was allowed prior to the |
surgeons certificate in the pending claim, |
and that the sums allowed aggregate over |
SIG, 900. Neither you nor / can afford to |
act upon personal considerations in mat |
ters of this magnitude. We are each bound |
ny Iue tdW III 1i tuiuSS, duO lU Is our QQGy |
to take the law as we find it. To fully ex-
ercse hat power given to either of us, and
abstain from the abuse Of it to any degree |
whatever.
The secretary refers to to the duties of |
the board OF review and says it ia an es-
tablished and well known rule that the de.
partment will uniformly refuse to disturb
an adjudication OF claim by former ad-
except upon the most conclu-
sive evidence that an error had been COM
mitted. When the question as to the pro-
privty OF giving ratings, one of the judg-
ments merely depending upon the weight OF
the evidence, the department will not allow
the opinion OF yesterday, an, furthermore,
old cases will not be reopened, reconsidered |
nor readjusted except upon the presenta-
tion OF new material evidence tending to
show the existence OF any palpable error
or mistake. The department does not en-
tertain the least objection to an increase
OF pensions, the increase to commence un-
der the pending claim as the law directs,
and upon evidence to support it.
The secretary then reviews at considera-
BILE length the cases OF three OF the pension
Office employees whose pensions were rerated
and concludes that the rerating was illegal
and unwarranted. He adds: II will not
60 into other cases. They are before you.
I have said enough, think, to show that
the secretary may well call halt
until these cases can be more
carefully examined. I notice you
say in your letter that you have
reputation that you will not permit these
cases to remain as they are. but will order
each OF the claimants for medical examina-
tion before men whose works upon medical
points will be unchallenged when stated.
The question is not what may yet and
hereafter be found out about these men.
The question is what should be done upon
their record az it stood when the judgment
was rendered. 1t may be that this govern
command q surplus that no other nation
ever had, bot il sums Of money to the
amounts above mentioned may be
granted without any further consideration
Of facts or law than seems to
have been given in these cases, it
will depend solely upon a single officers dis
position. whether the resources of the gov
ernment shall he sufficient for it's mainten-
ance O. not. There are more than enough
Of these applications already in the field
and increasing daily, ind are enough to
been said in connection with this matter,
and am informed the applications for re-
ratings are greatly on theiDcrease, and now
rea ach the amount OF from seven to eight
a week.
The secretary furth er says he intends to
have all these cases re-examined, and has
ordered an investigation OF the pension
office. Pending q report of the investigat-
pp board he will issue no further orders,
but expresses his belief in his authority to
control the abuses in his department by
,ny means he deems legal and expedient.
GIBLIN HAS COVE.