The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1889-10-24
NOBLE TO TANNER,
Letter From the Secretary of the
Interior to the Commissioner of
Pensions.
His Method of Rerating Pensions
Shown to Be a Disregard Of
the Law.

WARRINGTON, Special.-The following is
the substance of Secretary Mobiles first letter
to Commissioner Tanner upon the subject or
re-ratiug of pensions, dated July "a:
have heretofore acknowledged yours of the
18th inst. marked unofficial, but which. owing
to the very important matters therein as
cussed, could not receive as such aud
therefore acknowledged it as an official
paper. The paper was official In the
highest sense of the term, raising question
of auI IhOrity as between the commissioner ana
the secretary and asserting that of the commits
sloner to be superior as to the matter dlscussed.
have since; amid amid my o0ns1Ssr many other tSs
question raised by your letter, and will
now give You my reply in full. Your position
In your own language, is that while the secre-
tary of the interior has the power to reverse the
decision of the commissioner OF pensions on ap-
peal bv q claimant, against whom the commls-
sioner has decided, on the other hand, II, Tor any
reason, it be held that the claimant mas Deen
granted too much pension the commissioner
him mself is the only person who has the power TO
call a halt and reduce the pension THIS Is your
owr statement. You base this conclusion on
section 3, act Of June 81. 1879 which reads as
follows:
That sections 4.771. 4,772 and 4,773 Of the
Revised Statutes of the United States. providing
for biennial examinations OF pensioners, are
hereby repealed: Provided: That the commits
sioner of pensions shall have the same power as
heretofore to order special examinations Wnen-
ever, In his Judgment, the same may be neces-
sary, and to increase or reduce pensions accord
ing to right and justice; but in no case snail
pension be withdrawn or reduced except upon
notice TO the pensioner and hearing upon
sworn testimony except as to the certificate OF
the examining surgeons.
WHO is RESPONSIBLE?
The power granted the commissioner OF pen
sions by this section is expressly no greater
than heretofore, and 1t Is to increase or reduce
pensions according TO right and Justice 1t
would be- you It, for
your bureau, had no power to correct obvious
abuses or even call halt, and that II his lnfe-
rior officer did not act nothing could De done
You remark yourself, this incongruity should
be remedied at the next session OF congress-.
The commissioner is laboring under great mis-
apprehension as to his relations to the secretary
in this business Congress has not committed
this incongruity, and 1t will not be necessary
for it to remedy anything that now exlsts Inc
secretary has the control 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 once
leads me to explain the ground on Wnlcn thls
long Established rule rests.
The secretary, in support of his position,
quotes sections 437, 161, 40 ard All, of
the Revised Statutes, and declares that the
commissioner of pensions has no more power
in the section quoted in Commissioner Tan
ner's letter than be had previously under the
direction of the secretary Of the interior, who
is charged by law with the supervision OF
public business relating to pensions.
THE sECRETARY's RIGHTS
It will not do to say, he remarks, that the sec
retary may not interfere and stop by his own
power the execution of any orders obviously
illegal aud arbitrary. If it were attempted by a
commissioner of pensions, In other than cases or
permanent specific disabilities, to increase pen
sions and to allow the accumulated increase OF
ter or fifteen years to be paid over at once and
in a gross sum to the applicant, it would not do
to say that the secretary could only refer this
back to the commissioner with word OF advice
and call his attention to the law, and take no
steps either to recover the money thus 1mprop-
erIy paid out or correct the evil thus attempted
to be done. that he could not even call halt:
The secretary Is responsible for the conduct OF
the commissioner; is bound to see that the law
is enforced: that the public treasury is not un-
lawfully invaded, and that one citizen entitled
to a right, whether Of pension or land or any
thing else is not unduly preferred, either in
time of hearing or allowance of money.
The secretary lays down the proposition
that he las the same jurisdiction over the
commissioner of pensions as over other
bureaus of his department., argues at some
length in support of it, and says that the su-
preme court decisions sustain him. The Sec
retary then takes up the "re-rating" cases,
which, he says, seem to be largely mere in
creases OF pensions allowed for long periods
prior to the date of the examining surgeons
certificate establishing the same under the
pending claim for increase; in fact, he says,
the commissioner himself acknowledged
them to be cases of
INCREASE OF PENSIONS
These cases referred to were ten in number.
In each one of these the claimant was an en-
ploye. clerk or other, in the pension bureau, re-
ceiving salary sufficient for his comfortable sub
sistence, and at his work daily. They were as
sociated toget her: most of them had been In
their places under the former administration
But they did not prefer their claims: they made
kIo1 1lvvay, 1f sho "A
ministration. There was no reason under the
existing rules that their cases should be made
special or rushed through in advance of all 9TH
ers. On the contrary, there was then and had
been for some wears printed rule in full force
that no cases should be made special except in
cases of destitution or when the applicant was
at the point .pLon of death The cases Were
while hundreds of thousands Of other pension
ers were awaiting throughout the land she al
lowance for the first time Of the bounty the
pension claimants were, many Of them, sup
ported by no such salaries as these particular
men were receiving, and the association to-
gether of these men, whereby this preference iu
time seemed to have been secured and the sub
sequent allowances obtained is in itself fact
that their purpose was to impose npon the COM
missioner. The further fact in each case Is that
the increase was allowed prior to the surgeons
certificate in the pending claim, and that the
sums allowed aggregate over $4,000 1t Is in
regard to such eases as these that you have
thought the commissioner alone can call halt:
and in regard to which
THE SECRETARY THINKS OTHERWISE
and proposes to call halt long enough at least
for inspection. I do not repel the expression on
your part that you would accept my construc-
tion of the statute quoted by you as Loyalty az
you would the official opinion of the attorney
general. But neither you nor can afford to act
upon personal considerations in matters of this
magnitude. We are each bound by law in al
things, great and small, and 1t Is our duty tC
take the law we find it: to fully exercise thai
given to either of and abstain fT0m
the abuse Of it to any degree whatever Oul
loyalty is due alone to the government OF The
United States and the people who support it.
Lest the commissioner may deem the SEQ
retary is Influenced hY a desire to magnify
his office, Mr.. Noble says that he has brought
| to his assistance the services Of others In the
depal tment, and that the opinion of the as
sistant attorney general Of the department
agrees in the conclusions reached by the sec
retary The secretary then says that there
| is board OF review in the department
| which assists him in the decisions of pension
cases taken up on appeal These decisions
| are the law of the department until reversed
or annulled by some authority higher thar
the secretary, and no one has ever main
tanned to the contrary.
ADJUDICATION OF CLAIMS
In these decisions It has been announcet
| MANY GlucS, dHO IL 10 buS cSbdDllSueu huu wei
| known rule that the department will uniforml,
! refuse to disturb an adjudication of claims by
| former administration, except upon the mos
| conclusive evidence that an error has been com
| mitted. When question as to the propriety o
/ a given rating ID one Of judgment merely. de
| pending upon the weight OF evidence, 1t will no
| allow the opinion OF to-day to overthrow tn
| opinion of yesterday, But where the incorrect
| ness of the former action Is so manifest upon
| review Of the evidence that is not matter o
! dispute. the department will not refuse to d
justice because the error is of long standing AM
| has been sanctioned by subsequent action
| Aud, furthermore, that old cases will not be re
/ opened. reconsidered nor readjusted excep
/ upon presentation of new and material evidenc
tending to show the existence of
| palpable error or a mistake, and which therefor
| tends to change the real status of the clsiman
| before the department. Such old cases ar
4 clearly within the rule of res adjudicata. 1t !
| to be distinctly observed that am now speak
| ing of cases only where there have been allow
/ anccs of sums arising from the increase of pen
sion, back for periods great er or less, prior :
| the date of the surgeons certificate under tn
/ pending claim. I do not say word or enter
| tain the least objection to an increase Of pen
/ sion, the increase to commence under the pend
ing claim as the law directs, and upon evidenc
| to support it. Nor do I complain OF these YER
Il ranai,t0arR whom 1 have mentioned having n