The great West. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1889-18??, 1889-10-25

was commencing myself to my superior BY
the spirit was acting In, and by tie zeal I
was exhibiting.
GREAT SURPRISE FOR TANNER
TO my surprise I received reply from
him under date Of Aug. /, in which he
stated:
You have endeavored to hasten. for your own
means. to get board to arrive 1t conclusions in
anticipation OF anything might do consider
10 the last degree, and I hereby direct you to
withdraw any cases have under consideration,
ana IN regard to which I have heretofore told
you that intended TO act, from the considers
tlon OF any persons whom you have selected to
antedate my action: and you will report your
immediate obedience Of this order to me. And
dertaken to form for the purpose Of investivat-
Ing business still in my hands, and upon which
am officially engaged.
Il replied at once, signifyinR, of course.
my obedience to his peremptory order. and
totally repudiated all thought of insubordi-
nation, dlsobecience, or the slightest dispo.
sition to proceed in any insidious manner
People who are not extremely nerv-
GUS will be able to judge whether. if
l had desired so to proceed, I would
voluntarily have reported in full to the sec
rotary what was doing" or the work and
report OF the COMMITTEES which Mr. Tanner
makes public tonight Mr. Tanner says: ION
the goth of July came notice to me of the
TACT that the committee of Investigation had
been constituted. When they appeared a day
or two afterward, I instructed the chief
clerk to place the Office and all it contained
at their disposal if they desired it That ter
minated my association with the committee
~ ir,U loot ;rrhk
of its existence I had no word from them;
l was not asked to explain anything; I was
not offered the slightest opportunity to de-
fend any action had taken. 1t was
STAR CHAMBER PROCEEDING
to the uttermost degree. In fact the only
information had about the result of their
operations was when the honorable secre-
tary himself one day, when I was in his
Office. asked me if knew what the COM
mission said about the operations of the pen
sion bureau. I told him had not been
favored in that respect in the slightest de-
gree. He replied that they said that I had
granted more pensions and paid out more
money in the same time than my distin-
guished predecessor did I replied that 1
hoped to God that charge was true on the
record, for I had plastered Indiana with
PROMISES last fall that that should be the
fact it Gen. Harrison came into power as
president I never saw the report of the
com mittee of investigation until the
afternoon of the day I resigned, when
l found it on the table in the White
House and was there told by the president
and the secretary that the report contained
nothing which in the slightest degree re-
Elected upon my integrity or impeached the
honesty of my action as commissioner.
THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE
appointed by Secretary Noble and which Mr.
Tanner gives to the press tonight is signed
by Messrs Ewing, Campbell and Bruce, the
special board of examiners" 1t presents
tabulated statement, showing the total num-
Der of pension casec rerated from and includ-
ing December, 1883. to July, 1889. The
number of reratings for each of these
months was as follows:
December 81, January 138. February 237,
March 135. April 20. May 215. June 215. July
from month to month indicative of what is ap-
parently an established policy of the bureau,
the result OF which if continued. will be to read
judicate and rerate a large Ger cent of the cases
In the admitted files"
After explaining the mode of procedure
generally in rerated cases during this period
the board IA their report say:
It becomes apparent that, SO far as any rule of
action prevailed, there was not. generally speak
ing. wide difference between the principles
which governed reratinR in December, 1888. and
those which governed in May. 1889.
4 nHlnber Of cases are quoted to show that
the practice OF rerating on mere opinion, on
the weighs Of the evidence rather than upon
clear evidence of manifest and palpable
error, is contrary to decisions Of the depart
ment while Schurz, Teller and Lamar were
secretaries
sFoRrY-EGHT HOUR" CASES.
A large number of cases cited in the re-
port are shown to have been Endorsed either
by the commissioner or his former secretary
TO the secretaries as @fortv-efght- hour cases
That this term may be fully understood the
report states that they are cases fI2 which an
order was made requiring in each case to
which it 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 final ac-
tion within forty-eight hours but an order for
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 adj
judication for re-ating the rule 'palpable error
to have been utterly ignored and lost sight Of.
They were, almost without exception, read
justed on mere opinion. the judgment of to-day
annulling and setting aside that deliberately
rendered years ago. and against which,
until recently. no protest had ever beer
made by the pensioners. Some cases were
referred by the commissioner his private
Secretary Squires to examiner in the medical
division for an opinion, which proving favorable
the cases were taken up briefcd and rerating
allowed. Why referred to medical examiner.
a 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 and is lett to be inferred"
The board in summarizing its conclusions
says:
Substantially the same PRINCIPLES or rules
have in general been followed. SO far as the ap-
plication of any principle rule of action can
be discerned during the period OF eight months
beginning with December, 1888. covered by our
Investigation. While the rule purports to be
that which calls for the correction of palpable
error by reason of which manifest