Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1894-05-30
INJUSTICE T0CLAIMANTS
1t is Generally the Fault of the
Government
That They are Unpaid when Congress.
men do Their Duty.

The tragic and pathetic case of the
late William McGarrahan serves to
illustrate one of the peculiar and by
no means creditable practices of our
Government. We are in the habit of
pointing with pride to our splendid
national credit, which Is the best vim
dication Of our national solvency. The
men who hold our bonds do not have
to wait for their interest, and are never
IN doubt as to the payment of the prin-
cipal. But the Government is not SO
considerate of other creditors and
claim ants, and does not hasten to ad.
just ordinary personal demands, even
when they are manifestly just and
proper. On the contrary, such things
are systematically evaded, resisted and
postponed. The process of securing
final action on private claim of any
sort is most tedious and unsatisfactory.
ltseems to be assumed by the officials
that it is their duty to delay rather
than to expedite settlement, meanwhile
putting the interested parties to as
much trouble as possible in the prepar-
alton of testimony and the observance
ot technical rules and regulations.
This has been the experience of thou
sands of creditors of the Government,
and of citizens seeking rectification of
wrong implying legal responsibility on
the part of the Government The rec
ords of the proceedings of every Con-
gress include many reports on cases of
this kind, to say nothing of the infin-
ltely larger pumber which have been
dealt with exclusively in the different
executive departments.
1t was over thirty years ago that Nc.
Garrahan first presented his claim at
Washington, having previously prose
cuted it for several years in the courts
of California. He was then young,
energetic and well to do, and he did
not dream that he was engaged in a
contest which would last all the rest of
his life and finally send him to his
grave broken heartsi and poverty
stricken, because he could not get
simple justice from the Government.
There was never any reasonable room
for doubt about the validity of his
claim, and he asked nothing but the
confirmation of his title to a piece of
property that he had acquired by le-
gltlmate purchase, but which had been
seized by a wealthy corporation on
account of the discovery that it was
rich in quicksilver. The facts have
been fully and repeatedly investigated,
and the decision has invariably been
in his favor but something has al
ways intervened to prevent conclusive
action. 1t is estimated that the fees
paid to lawyers in the case have
amounted to $4,000, 900, and the lob
byists have probably received n great
deal more than that. The corporation
In possession of the property was con-
stahtly deriving large income from
it,and thus was enabled to spend money
freely for the defeat of the man to
whom it fairly belonged. A bill for
his relief passed one or the other
branch of Congress at different times,
and and in the Fifty Second Congress
both branches passed it-and then it
was beaten by Presidential veto.
Poor McGarrahan never recovered
from that stunning disappointment
just as his long deferred hope of sue.
cess was upon the point of being rea-
lized; and now he is dead, and the
claim is still pending.
This is only one of many such in
stances, varying only in degrees of
personal injury and public reproach
and the Government is to blame that
such things are allowed to happen.
There are numerous claims now being
urged by the grandchildren or great
grandchildren of the original claim
ants, when there is no good reason
why they should not have been settled
long ago. The fact that they are yet
pending goes to show that they are at
least presumptively meritorious, since
they would have been rejected at an
early stage of their career If they had
been fraudulent or otherwise fatally
defective. All the trouble lies in the
dilatory and unfriendly methods bA
which these obligations are avoided,
when they ought to be met in a spirit
of decent regard for the interests of
those who are taught to believe that
the Government can do no wrong even
to the humblest citizen. Only a few
days ago, when bill was about to be
put on its passage in the House grant
ing pension to the widow of soldier
of the war of 1912, woman ninety six
years old and totally blind, the Speaker
was informed that the measure could
be laid aside, as the old lady had died
since it was reported. "There was a
moment of silence" we are told, when
this announcement was made, and
certainly there was cause for such re-
cognition of the bitter irony of relief
withheld until it was no longer service
able. The Government is a relentless
creditor, and the man who owes it
dollar gets no indulgence. That is all
right, perhaps; but the same theory of
justice and fitness should be applied
when the Government is a debtor. or