The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-10-19
lOBLE SCORES TANNER.
one OF THE FORMERS LETTERS
TO THE COMMISSIONERS.

Inclination by the SScreIary TO
r-eat a Letter from the Corporal
MARKED Unofficial" in the Manner
poouested-The Commissioner Told
plainly That he Was Subordinate
70 the Secretary.
WASHINGTON, Oct. IS. - Secretary
Nobles first letter TO Pension Commissioner
Tanner upon the subject of rerating
rarsons. is made public. 1t is dated July
q The following are extracts from it:
commissioner of Pensions:
SrR-I have heretofore acknowledged yours
"a Nc+ II marked unofficial, but which, ow-
VI, -. ~ very important matters therein dis
5ssed l5 7 could not receive as such, and there
t,re acknowledged as an "otflciaf' paper. The
Danar was official in tie highest sense
r. the term, raising question OF author
81 ;tv '- as between the commissioner and
secratarv. and asserting that 6Nthe commits
sioner 10 be superior as to the matter discussed.
I have since amid my many other duties, found
time to consider the question raised by your
letter and will now give you my reply in full.
Your position, in your own language,
i that hwhile the Secretary Of the Interior
has the power to reverse decisions or the
commissioner Of pensions on appeal by a claim
ant against whom the commissioner had de-
cided on the other hand, if for any reason it be
beId that the claimant has been granted too
much pension, the commissioner himself is the
only person who has power to call a halt and
reduce the pension.
BASIS OF HIS CONCLUSION.
This is yo4r position. You base this con-
cusion Oh section 3, act of June q. 1879, which
reads as follows: That sections All, 4772 and
4773 Of Revised Statutes of the United States
providing for biennial examinations of pen
soners are hereby repealed, provided that the
commissioner Of pensions shall have
the same power as heretofore TO order special
examinations whenever, in hisli Judgment,
the same may be ecessary, and to increase or
reduce pensions according to right and Justice,
but in no case shall pension be withdrawn or
reduced except upon notice to the pensioner,
and hearing upon sworn testimony, except as
10 the certificate Of examining surgeons" )" The
power granted the commissioner of pensions
by this section is expressly no
or reduce pensions according to right and JUS
tice. 1t would be, as you express it, mani
fest incOngruity" if the Secretary of the
Interior, who is responsible for your bureau,
had no power to correct obvious abuses, or
even call halt, and that if his inferior officer
did not act, nothing could be done. You re-
mark yourself this incongruity'' should be
remedied at the next session of congress.
LABoRING UNDER A MISREPRESENTATION.
The commissioner is laboring under a great
misapprehenson as to his relations to the secre-
tary IN this business. Congress has not com
mltted this incongruity, and it win not
be necessary for it to remedy anything
that now exists. The secretary has power to
correct any abuses in the bureau of pensions or
any other bureau in the department.
might assert my conclusions on so plain
and well settled q question and 80 leave it, but
due consideration for your Office leads me to
explain the ground on which this long estab-
lshed rule rests.
BACKING UP HIS STATEMENTS.
The secretary, in support of his position,
quotes sections 437, 161, AL, 470 and All OF
the Revised Statutes, and declares that the
commissioner Of pensions has no more
power in the section quoted in Commits
sioner Tanners letter than he had previously
under the direction of the Secretary of the
Interior, who is charged by the law with
the supervision of the public business re-
latng to pensions. 1t will not do to
say, he remarks, that the secretary
may not interfere and stop by his
own power the execution of any orders
obviously illegal and arbitrary. If it wer g
attempted by the commissioner of pensions
ID other than cases of permanent specific
disabilities to increase pensions, and to
allow the accumulated increase Of ten or
fifteen years to be paid over at once. and in
gross sum to the applicant, it would not do
TO say that the secretary could
only refer this back to the COM
missioner with a word of advice
and call his attention to the law, and take
10 steps either to recover the money thus
improperly paid out or correct the evil
thus attempted to be done; that he could
not even call a halt. The secretary is
responsible for the conduct of the commits
sl0ner, IS bound to see that the law is en-
forced, that the public treasury is not un-
AWlully invaded, and that the citizen
ehutled to right, whether of pension or
ano or anything else, is not unduly pre-
isrred, either in time of hearing or allow
ahce Of money.
THE SECRETARY'S POSITION.
Ihe secretary lays down the proposition
'lat he has the same jurisdiction over the
0ninissloner Of pensions as over the other
yfeauS OF his department, argues az some
'leVh IN support of it, and says that su-
Eelle courG decisions sustain him. The
yieIary then takes up the "reratiEg cases"
'llch, ne says, seem to be largely mere
acfeases of pensions allowed for long
pe'lods prior to the date of the examining
geon's certificate establishing the same
Iluer pendl G claim for increase: in fact,
says, the commissioner himself acknowl-
sou them to be cases Of increase of PEN
secretary Noble continues:
IN oosII cases reIerred TO were ten in number
povo Socn one OF these the claimant was an EN-
S.o5 o5e Ncefk or other) in the pension bureau.
,1b5i..ng salary sufficient for his comfortable
sSsoo;oenSe, and at his work daily. They were
a tbaj together, most of them had been in
lions piaces under former adminstra-
fer but they did not then pre-
b soon sftnI let claims. They made them
tor T Ter the advent of the present adninistra-
ruee ttaNIG t1IeIG was no reason under the existing
rusbaT JlaS a. ther cases should be made special or
E the cont.u .nIough III advance of all others On
soma 10 q J, there was then, and had been for
cases St5Is a printed rule in full force that no
,estitlt;ool olu 90 made special except in cases of
II point of ga dr or When an applicant was at the
vo4u HURRIED THROUGH.
Sour 'leSe osS cases were all hurried through by
#of otbef' While hundreds of thousands
81 thropotl9I pens oners were awaiting
of thu hui Ihe land allowance for the first time
&them Tb6lIy the government has promised
81 many ~ I1se other pension claimants were,
as t6eea ouel' supported by no such salaries
associsfipP9i P9i vcuiar men were receiving, and the
81 preferenccan together OF these men whereby this
W and snbsoo7 bso7 IN tlme seems to have been secured
b fac u,gaequent allowances obtained ia in itself
t0 Obtain ny y causes suspicion of undue means
was Ia iler sller object, and that their purpose
pose upon the commissioner.
Tho 'Dl ANcED WITHOUT CERTIFICATES
he incra1sdnoe sner TACT appears in each case that
5 eeFlasst-1i was allowed prior to the surgeons
s saloweG e ~ pending claims, and that the sums
# st @Nsregate over $4,000 Following is a
ans. f + ssatts, BUTTS, allowed and paid 90. ...s2196
vab II smith, allowed and paid ... i,236
, M p Doan, allowed and paid 3O22
n P baS lay g. allowed and paid (May 27) 1861
,llaBo 1aEia, allowed and paid June la 7yY
as COla,rill''lla 3es, allowed and paid 1874