The National tribune., 1892-03-10

out quorum, invade Ms. Secretary Whitney's
ballroom, the different clubs, the theaters and
churches, and reappcar in an incredibly short
time with sufficient recalcilrlnt members in
evening dress to start the wheels Of legislation
in motion. and it would be quite amusing to
hear these members beg to be excused for their
unavoidable absence on important business"
%.
Gen. Cyrus Bassey, Assistant Secretary Of .
the Interior, was before the Special Committee I
Of the House which is inyestig eating the Pen /
sion Bureau on Thursday, March ,. Gen. Bus I
sey related the circumstances connected with I
the resignation OF Green B. Raum, ir., and said
he had peremptOry Instructions from Secretary
Noble to carry cut the demand for young
lttum's resignation. Raum had denied the
charges made against him, and asked for q
chance to make q defense. Gen. Bussey would
not express an opinion as to whether it was
proper to give a discharged employee a months
leave with pay, as thai was IN the discretion Of
the Secretary Of the Interior, and no did not
propose to criticize his chief He bad no con-
nection with the alidavits fled against young
R4lun by Howard aud Engie, discharged en-
plOyes of the Pension Office, and he said the
Commissioner did not consult him IN relation
20 ghe dismissal OF those men lie said that
Gen. Raum did toll him that man named
Taylor was conspiring against him (Rauml and
Tor the good Of the Office be recommended his
discharge. Gen. Eaum told him that Taylor
was giving information IN regard TO the office
| 20 the newspapers. lie said ia answer to a
| question that 10 was often the ease that dis
charged employees were not given opportn-
nifty TO mako a defense. When asked by Mr..
/ EnIoe if he did not think injustice was done
! good men by this action, Gen. Bussey replied
/ that he did not make rules for the Department.
and was not responsible for them. He said
that the demand for young Raum's resignation
/ was not an act to shield higher in au-
/ thOFity. At the request OF Mr.. Enl0e. Cen.
I Bussey explained his part OF the rerating cpl
/ sode. On first coming into Office, he found
I that there was violation Of the law ia the re-
/ rating cases. and an investigation followed
which showed that evil existed. The clerks
/ who filed application for rerattng were not the
ones To blame, but few only who had the work
in charge. The discharge Of f. A. Butts, the
chief of division, was called up by Mr.. EnlOe.
Gen. Bussey said that he was discharged be-
for rerating, and for completely in this viola
ton Of the law. Gen. Bussey stated that 10 re-
rated pensioners received on an average
| Of $1,000 apiece and some Of them
had been rerated several times. This
began under the administration of Com
missioner Black, and was continued under
/ Tanners administration. Upon his (Bussey's)
coming into Office the investigation was held
and the practice was stopped, and there has
not been an Illegal case of reratng under Com
missioner Raums administration. If the sys-
tenn Of rsratiug had continued it would have
cost the Government 100000, 900 to have re-
rated all pensions. Con. Bussey stated that
there were 1,70O rerated cases under Conn.,
missioner Black and ] 300 under Commissioner
Tanner, aud the practice was growing. After
a case is adjHdicatod, said Gen. Bussey we
have no power to recover any money that has
been oyerpaid % any peusioner. He said he
had never used his office for political purposes,
and did not see how it could be converted into
a political machine. His orders were that all
pensioners should DO treated alike He be-
lievsd that Gen. Raum had managed the Pen
sion Office with efficiency and integrity, and if
an investigation proved anything to the con-
trary he would be glad of an opportunity to
remedy matters When asked if he approved
the practice Of giving pensions to persons Of
means, Gen. Bussey replied in the negative,
and said it was prohibited by recent law, and
that his Office was constantly investigating
violations of the law. Gen. Bussey gave long
explanation of a recent order known the
completed files order" which, it was claimed,
had been issued at the request of Capt. Lemon,
a pension attorney, and which gave him con-
siderable advantage He said the order facili-
tated the adjudication Of claims. but he did
not know with whom the order originated. He
said Capt. Lemon may have suggested it, but
he believed it WAS q fair, just good order.
When asked If hs had heard that Capt. Lemon
had Endorsed a note for Gen. Raum the day
before the completed files order was issued, be
replied that he had no personal knowledge oil
the matter He said Capt. Lemon had given
; the Pension Ofice less trouble than any Other
attorney He told Mr.. EnlOe, in answer to q
! question, that no employee who testified before
the committee need fear of having his official
head chopped of for any statement he might
make, provided he confined himself to the
truth. Gen. Bussey said in answer to q ques
| ton that ne OlfcClcu the WOfh Oh JIG u
Appeals. When asked by Mr. EnlOe if any
persons practieing before that board were rela
: tiyes of its members, with considerable warmth
Gen. Bussey protested against the prompting
of a man who sat back of Mr.. EnlOe. Mr.. En-
: Ioe said be did not know that it was any of Mr.
Bussey's business, and the Secretary replied by
, saving he did not care to have any reflections
east upon his Board of Appeals. The COMMITTEES
then adjourned.
: Senior Don Pedro MOntt, Chilean Minister Il
the United States, about whom so much ha
been said and written during the past fou
o months, has notified Secretary of State Blaine
that be will shortly resign his Office to accept
seat in the Chilean House OF Delegates, Il
. which he was recently elected. The under
. standing is however, that Minister Montt viii
remain in Washington until his successor ar
& riyes. 1t is believed that this change will b
u highly agreeable to the Chilean Minister, 70
it is said that the letter which Mr.. Blaine wrOt
: 10 Senior Montt, correcting him in certain
statements he had made regarding the Chilean
T" controversy, wounded him grieyOusly, AM
u since that time the relations between the Sec
70 rotary of State and the Minister have been il
a measure strained. 1t is also said that MI
. Fqan United States Minister, has asked for