Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1889-10-21
Too Early for Prediction.
CORPORAL TANNERS DEFENSE.
III , Replies to the Criticisms Made His
Pension A dtnin istration.

H Replies to the Criticisms Made on His
Pension A DUNN istrstion-
WASHINGTON CITY, Oct. 81. -Ex-Commis-
sioner of Pensions Tanner is out in a long
statement in reply to Secretary Mobiles let
te OF July -, ON the subject of re-rating
pensions OF pension Office employees He
begins by saying that at the outset of the
trouble he wrote Noble letter in which he
told him he had made a comparison Of
the action taken in the cases complained
of (rs-ratings) he had witt the action OF his
predecessor in similar cases, and that the
comparison was entirely favorable To his
(Tannerisl administration.
Matter of Law and Decision.
Mr.. Tanner then in commsnting on the
great stress laid by Secretary Noble upon
section 469S1S OF the law relating to re-rat-
ing says. at IL proper that should state
that when took Office rs commissioner,
found that, ON the question OF re-rating. the
office was, and had been since March %,
1856, operating in accordance with "a decision
rendered on that date by the Hon. George
| A. jerks, then assistant secretary OF the IN
| terror, who ia the case of Charles A. Wat
| son, in broad terms, declared that IL. In any
| case adjudicated under the act of March 3,
| 1879, the arrears Of pension we're not graded
according to the pensioners disability,
neither section 369Slf, nor any other provi-
on OF the law, prohibItsa readjudication OF
iIe case THIS decision. Mr.. Tanner says, he
agrees with, and whether 1t Is right or not
1t was law then and be was justified in fol-
| lowing It, which he insists he did
| That Investigation.
Referring to the investigation ordered into
the conduct of his office, Mr.. Tanner says
that when he was notified that it was to be
made he placed every paper bearing upon
the subject in the hands of the invest gat ors;
that he was never called upon for explana-
ton nor given chanoe to defend himself,
and never saw the report until the day he
| sent In his resignation, when lie was told
that il did not In the least reflect upon his
integrity He complains that the in
| quiry was star-chamber proceed
| ing He never heard hint OF what
the conclusions OF the commission were, ex-
cent in one case. when Gen. Noble told him
that the commission found that he had paid
ont much more money in the same time than
his predecessor had To this he replied that
hs bore TO God he had, for he had plss-
tered Iadiana all over with promises to that
effect during the campaign He conclude,
that the only charges in the report are that
hs was too liberal and too speedy, and these
he declares untrue IL tested by the law in
each case. He refors to the Gen. Powell
case as one Of re-rating, and again charges
that IL was attended to at Gen. Mobiles re-
quest, and in singular opposition to bis
course with reference to Tanner.
| Report of the Commission.
The report OF the committee appointed by
Secretary Noble, and which Mr.. Tanner
gives to the press with his letter, is signed by
Messrs Ewing, Campbell, and Bruce, the
special OarJ of examiners IL presents q
tabuiatel statement, showing the total mum
Der OF tension cases re-rated, from and in.
GLIDING December, 1855, to July, 1889, which
is a substantial increase, the report says
from month TO month, indicative of what is
apparently an established policy Of the
bureau, the result of which, IL continued,
will b. to roadjuiicate and re-rats a large per
cent Of the cases in the admitted files After
explaining the mode of procedure generally
in re- rated cases during this period, the board
In their report say; at bocomss apparent
that, so far as any rule Of action prevailed,
there was not, generally speaking, wide
difference between the principles which gov
erned rs-rating in Dscsmber, 1ess, and those
which governed In May, 1880"
One Rule Not Observed.
"Ons thing seems manifest" the board
say, "the rule 'palpable or manifest In
former adjudications has not, in any proper
sense as applicable TO DELIBERATE official judg
ment been, a matter of fact the controll
ing principle in q maj ority Of tho rs-ratet
cases, however much it may be urged to the
contrary" A number Of cases are quoted
to show that the practice of rs-rating on
mere opinion on the weight of the evidence
rather than upon clear evidence Of manifest
and palpabls error, is contrary to dscisions
Of the department while Schurx and Teller
and Lamar wsre secretarisA They