Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1889-10-24
TANNHR,s TROUBLES.


Secretary NObIe-s Caustic letter 10
Ex-Pensi0a Commissioner Tanner
WAsHISaToN, Oct IL "A synopsis has
been furnished of the letter of Secretary
Noble to Commissioner Tanner, dated July
Gath, on the subject OF rerating OF pensions,
which has been the subject Of 80 much
speculation, and which led finally to Mr..
Tanners resignation. The secretary taxes
tue commissioner sharply to task for as.
summing that the latter possessed inde-
pendent powers and could not be pre-
vented from increasing pensions, and says:
II would be. as you express 1t, "a mani
fest incongrui,y," II the secretary, who Is
responsible for your bureau, had no power
to correct obvious abuses, or even call
halt, and that II his Inferior officer did not
act nothing could be done. You remark
yourself, "thls iucongru'ty shou i be rem
edited az the next session OF Congress" The
commissioner Is iaporing under a great
Misrepresentation rs to bis ralltions to the
secretary In this business. Congress has
not committed this tneongruity, and 1t will
not be- necessar, for &c to remedy anything
that now exists. The secretary has the con-
troll to correct any abuses In the bureau OF
pensions or any other bureau In the de-
partment.
Referring to the ''rerating" cases. the
| secretary says they seem to be largely
mere Increases OF pensions allowed tor
| long periods prior to the date of the ex.
amining surgeons certificate establishing
the same under the pending claim for in-
crease. In fact, he says, the commissioner
| himself acknowledged them to be cases of
Incl ease OF pensions. The secretary con-
tinues: "These cases referred to were 10 In
number. In each one OF these the claimant
was an employee CLERK or other) Ia hs pen
| sion bureau, receiving salary sufficient for
his comfortable subsistence. and Il his
work daily. They were associated to-
l ~ Of fhn hod ban In fhatIr
places under the former administration.
But they did not prefer their claims; they
| made them soon after the advent of the
present administration, There was no rea-
son under the existing rules that their cases
should be made special or rushed through
In advance of all others. On the contrary,
| there was then, aud had been for some
years, a 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 OF death. Yet these cases
were all hurried through by your order,
while hundreds OF thousands OF other PEN
sloners were awaiting throughout the land
the allowance for the first time OF the
bounty the government had promised them.
These other pension claimants were,
many of them, supported by no such sal
aries as these particular men were receiv.
lug, and the association together OF these
men, whereby this preference In time
| HbBtnS TO nave DeBu HeCuF6u anu lub buuso'
quent allowances Obtained, Is In Itself q
fact that their purpose was to impose upon
the commissioner. The further fact In
each case is that the increase was allowed
prior to tho surgeons certificate In the
pending claim, and that the sums allowed
sggt egate over $4,000.
II Is In regard to such cases 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 In
spsetton.
do not repel the expression on your
part that you would accept my construc
tlon of the stetute quoted by You as loyal,
as you would the official opinion OF tht
Attorney general. But neither you nor
can afford to act upon personal consldera
tons In matters OF this magnitude. Weart
each bound by law In all things, great ant
small, and 1t Is our duty to take the law a.
we find 1t, to fully exercise that powe
given to either OF US, and abstain from th(
abuse OF 1t to any degree whatever. Oul
loyalty Is due alone to the government o
these United States and the people VIII
. support it.
The secretary continues: 1t is the estab
llshed and wall-known rule that the de
partment will uniformly refuse to disturb
an adjudication OF claim by former ad
? ministration, except upon the most con
, elusive evidence that an error has beel
committed. When the question as to tn
. proprlety OF given rating Is one OF iudR
ment merely, depending upon the weigh
9 OF evldeLce, tt will not allow the opinion {
3 to-day to overturn the opinion OF yesterday
Z But where the ineorrectness OF former aC
i ton is SO manifest upon review OF III
{ evidence that 1t Ia not matter OF dispute
. | the departments will not refuse to d
] Justice because the error of long etandin
J and has been sanctioned by suoseqlen
v action. And, furthermore, that old case
il will not be reopei.ed. RECONSTRUCTED nor re
" adjusted, excepted upon presentation {
a new and material evidence tending to sho
n the existence OF a palpable error or mi
take, and which therefore tends to chang
this real status OF the claiment before th
department. Such old cases are clearl
4 within the rule OF res adjudicata.
l. In concluding the secretary says:
?, at may be that this government Is stron
Y, and great, and has at It's command su
!; plus that no other nation has ever had b'
n II sdms OF money to the amounts abo'
); mentioned may be granted without al
); further consideration OF fact or law tht
D; seems to have been given In these cases,
d will depend solely upon single ofiloei
IL disposition whether ths resources Of Il
government will DO sufficient for its mai
tenance or not. There are more tht
enough OF these applications already In q
Held, and increasing daily, to exhaust
d deed the surplus, Of which so much d
been said In connection with this matte
TX and / ara informed that the applicable
for reratings are greatly on tho increas
- and now reach the amount OF from 1000
= 5000 "a week.
10 II write this that you may be fully d
IN vised OF my views and purposes and U
re belief In my authority to control all ubus
IN In this department by whatever means