The pioneer express. [volume] (Pembina, Dakota [N.D.]) 1883-1928, 1889-10-25
WHAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE

which might bc distributed, ILLEGALLY and sum.
Marty. to those who are not Is much entitled to
yet been heard. It may be that this government
10 strone and great and has at It's command
2 surplus that no other nation has ever had.
mentioned may he Granted Without 'i any fartber ee
consideration Of fact or law than seems to have
been given in the sc cases, 1t will depend solely
on single ofncer's disposition whether the re.
sources Of the government shall be sufiicient for
its maintenance or not There are more than
enough Of these applications alieady in the field,
plus. OF which 90 much has been said in counec.
ton with this matter, and am informed that
the applications for rcratings are greatly on the
seven to eight thLueand . week. do not ask
nor desire. so far as am concerned, re-cxami-
nation Of these applicants; but what insist
SHALL BE RECONSIDERATION
OF these allowances on the Record, and that any
further allowances for them that NAV be- r,ade
shall be mndctn due course Of pror. .dinRs upon
new new applicalion. new ev,a;nss and without any
sausy
that the pension board Of review reported that
out sas. 81. 81 t~enty-four cases re-rated one was
In connection with what have already pointed
out out 10 ~ these other cases indicates that there ia
tho a% s shess saa mss
ters than has been recently prac-
ticed for the public safety. But when it
UcSuMes question OF oHlclal authority and Of
fcial responsibility. and the good Of the people.
the preservation OF the treasury and the netting
out OF exact justice to oil and giving the pen-
sioner who Is abroad and unprotected the same
rights and same sums of money as to him who,
BY oh1ctRl influence, attempts to get his claim
preferred. shall act, as am doing In the pres
ent instance, reGardless Of personal considera-
forcement Of the law.
The secretary further says that he intends
to have all these cascs re-examined and has
ordered an investigation of the practices of
the pension Office and that he will defer any
further orders until tho investigating bonrd
reports The letter closes as follows: II
write this that you may be fully advised of
my views and purpose and my belief in my
authority to control all abuses in this de-
partment by whatever means deem legal
and efficient"
THE FIRST INsTALMEST.
Secretary Noble irtends in few days TO
give to tho press tho entire reports submit
ted by the board appointed TO investigate
Commissioner Tanners administration Of
the pension Office. The letter given to- night
is but the first instalment Of what is to be o
vigorous defense OF the position of the nd
ministration taken In relation to the man.
ngement of tho pension office under Tanner.
1t has been decided that the administrations
side Of the case shall be given to the public
In few days The annual report of the
fiscal year 1SSS-S0 Of tho commissioner of
pensOns has been submitted to the secretary
OF the interior. There wero ut the close of
the year ass, ,725 pensioners There were
added to tho rolls during the year tho names
of 81 .921 new pensioners, aud the names of
l.754 whose pensions had been previously
dropped were restored to the rolls, making
ap aggregate Of 53,G75 pensioners
udded during the year; 16,5O7
pensioners were dropped from the
rolls for various causes. leaving q net in
crease to the rolls of 81. 1853 nameA This
| average annual value Of each pension at the
| close of the year is shown to have been
$l3S IL. Tho amount paid for pensions
during the year was $SS. .275, ,1l32S. Tho
total amount disbursed by tho agents for all
PURPOSES was $50, 131. .OGs.44. Amount paid
as fees to attorneys. 81 1865, 1894 There
was disbursement Of $l4 4,515.72 for the
the payment OF arrears Of pensions i'll casea
where the original pension was granted prior
| to Jan. 20, 1879, and the date of commence
ment OF pension was subsequent to discharge
or death. In the aggregate l, PAS, 148 pen
sion Claims hive been filed since 1861, and
in the came period 7s9, 121 have been al
lowed. The amount disbursed on account of
pensions since 1861 has been 81 ,O52. .21S,.
I1317. The issue Of certificates during the
year shows grand total of 145,29S or
this number 1921 were original cc,,iti-
Gates
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS.
Commissioner Tanner recommends the es-
tablishment OF two additional pension agcn-
cies to relieve the overworked Offices at
Columbus Ohio; Chicago, Indianapolis and
Topeka. Kan. He recommends thut con-
gress lie asked to amend the uct Of June g.
1874, 70 as to extend the benefit OF oil pen-
sion laws as to rates to all pensioners whose
pensions have been granted by special
acts passed subsequent to said datc
and that the benefit Of pension te
granted to tho widows Of soldiers
who died from causes originating in the ser
vice prior to March 4, 1861, during the time
OF peace. He further recommends, as did
his predecessor. that the act of March 3,
1877. be amended 80 as 10 grant pensions TO
those who, havinc participated in the rebel
lion against the United States, subsequently
enlisted in the navy and were disabled
therein. The act referred to confines its op.
erations to those only who, under the same
conditions, enlisted in the army Of the United
States. The commissioner calls attention to
many Irregularities in the rates Of pen
sions Eighteen dol ars per month. it up
pears. is the highest rate of pension which
may be proportionately divided for different
degrees of Disability il such disability or dis
abilities are not equivalent to the loss of a
hand or foot. If, however. q rensioncr has
Loaf hand. for which existing law now pro-
vides the rate of $50 per month, and has
alao received In the service and line of duty
an injury OF the back, for example, which
would alone entitle him to pension of $2i
per month. he can receive nothing in excess
Of $50 a month for
THE COMBINED DISABILITIES
resulting from the loss of his hand md hfs
said injury, unless, by reason of them. he i.
totallv heInless or neoriv 40 os IN reomire
the constant aid md attendance If another
person. for which degree of disaiilitv tho
80 -, Srn ,nan.h ~, 80, M W. aDy s, 'Io w.
such case actually receives nothing for
entitled him 70 the rate ($SO), which is
the highest allowable rate under the
law Tor both disabilitieA Numerous other