Evening journal., 1889-11-21
T ANNER'S LAST LETTER.
He Bitterly Arraigns the Pres.
ent Pension Office.
THERE IsABATTLE TO De FOUGHT

Ahbhh 10 a DAi llE iO HI EUlNnA
The Pension Authorities Seem to BE
Waiting for Death to Pay the Nations
Debt, lie says-His One Regret in His
Short Stay.
AUBURN, n. Y, Nov. 2l.--At meeting OF
Seward post, G. A. r., held October q, res
olutions denouncing the removal of Pension
Commissioner Tanner were adopted, and a
copy Of the resolutions was sent to tho ex-
ceived recently, addressed to MIR. b. +. An.
drews, adjutant Of Seward post. Mr.. Tan
ner says among other thing:
No Day was Long Enough.
"a few things desire TO say to the com
rades Of the post have known 50 long and
esteemed so highly: No day was long
enough to satisfy my personal desires to hsw
away at that mighty mass Of unadiudicated
claims-41,9OO unadjudicated claims piled
up in front OF me; comrades waiting, hop
ing, suffering and praying all over the
country for the justice all too long delayed
and yet, some gentlemen, in the coldness of
their hearts, have criticised me for undue
haste.n
But One Perfect DIan.
81 do not claim that was always right.
You and / never heard of but one perfect
man having been on this earth He, as you
will recall, was crucifed presume I did
make some mistakes, but you win not dis
agree with me on another point-namely,
that, If you come to even up or try TO even
up, those made for the boys and against the
boys, you will find mighty majority are
made against them.
The Newspapers Lied, He Says.
mot one expression out of hundred printed
on me in the newspapers ever had birth in
my mind or utterance from my lips There
are between 500 and i,609 employees in the
pension Office, and out Of that number there
are about 700 old soldiers. know there are
a good many more there now than when ]
first went in there for ] put every one in
that could make a hole for Out of these
200 soldier clerks just thirty-three had some
thing done 10 their pensions.
He Worked Late and Early.
Snow, bear in mind one thing-these mer
who are clerks there are familiar with the
pension laws; they know the rules and the
DItltutAtaf anu AlleN AnbN MiANu EdiEAr ttIf
just right, and you can rest assured tha
they will not allow their cases to be showed
along until they know they can stand al
the required tests, and so probably all O
those thirty-three cases took less time TO ad
judicate than any other thirty-three yol
can pick out will say this 10 you, that
whatever time it did take, personally NOR
than evened up by the fact that four night
out Of the week l was at work until
o'clock az night in that office.
A Battle 20 BE Fought.
81 happen to know talthough he does no
know that l knew it), that the president wa
bombarded with letters from the moneye'
men of the east, who viewed with alarm tn
fact that pension claims were being allowe
to a considerable degree They wanted til
surplus locked up in the treasury in orde
that they might find ready market an
much larger rates Of interest for theii
wealth: and you, boys, must be awake to th
fact that we have got TO meet some things i
the halls OF congress, and there's battle /
be fought There are, as | said, AZ 800 unad
/ iusted claims in that office, and it is a phys
ical impossibiltF for many Of them to be sci
/ tied in the lifetime of the claimants.
Pensions for Everyone.
sit is a cruel thing to have to say, but it'
a fact. that the powers that be seem to b
playing a waiting game, counting ON dealt
to save the funds Of the government TO tn
vaults of the treasury. It is wicked, bu
it's true. We have got to have som
general legislation. We have got to hay
the disab lity bill, which will pension ever
man who needs one, no matter whether ths
disability was received in the service or moi
so that it was not incurred through til
veterans own vicious habits We have &c
TO have a pension for the widow of ever
soldier wbo served his country, no matte
whether he died from the effects of ths
service or not 70 get it,
He shook Up the Dry Bones.
"Irepeat, we have got to have a battle, an
weak hearted men had better 90 to the real
desire to say to you that / look back o
my brief term only with tho regret that
was not longer, and regret it solely b.
cause of the fact that thereby my oppol
tunity 30 some Of my comrades was abridged
Personally have never worked as hard
my life, but fiatter myself that did eau:
the dry bones TO rattle somewhat and stirre
up feeling which will in the end be to II
general benefit Of tie comrades at large.
His Aching Heart.
"My heart aches when / think Of the fa'
that the Office is again at work grinding OF
the old time pensions of 81, 81, $3.50 an
$3.50 per month. The apothecary's scalI
have not been laid aside as yet. l sent thel
to the garret, but they didn't have muC
time for dust to gather on them.
mo legislation is needed to abolish then
only the determination on the part Of the q
hcials The law broadly and spesifical
| proyides that the ratings made shall be su
/ iect to revision By the commissioner, and Il
commissioner has the power in cases Of al
disability which is not specificallv provid
for to raise the pension to any sum up to
per month
81 hope for better things in the future.
shall be very glad to hear from you. We
truly yours, JAMES TANNER Z
WASHINGTON, Nov. -