The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1900-11-29
NEED OF THE COURT OF PENSION ar

NEED OF THE COURT OF PENSION AT
PEALS
To any man who thinks upon the sub
ject the absolute necessity of some sucl
tribunal as the proposed Court of Pen
sion Appeals is at once strongly apparent
No other official of the Gorernmcnt-no'
even the President himself-has such lin
itless, uncontrolled, unchecked power ovcl
so many people, and the expenditure OF
such q vast sum of money. as the Com,
missioner of Pensions. When one looks
over this he is simply amazed that in Il
Government which has such careful guards
and checks on every official, there should
he such a yaStness of arbitrary power
| lodged in the hands of any subordinate.
| There can be no question that no official.
of any degree should have in his hands,
with So little check or restraint, the
power to so strongly affect and influence
the very lives and happiness Of so many
people, and the unchecked handling of
| such 4 sum of money.
The Commissioner of Pensions has at
his discretion the $4,000 men and women
now on the pension roll, and the control
of the money which is paid to them. For
any reason that may seem to him suf-
ficient he may drop any one of these from
the roll, take away from him or her the
main part if not all of his or her means
of support, and he or she is practically
without recourse against his arbitrary
act.
He has the same amazing plenitudc of
arbitrary power over those who are APP
plying for pensions. He is law unto
himself, and the end of the law. so far as
they are concerned. He can make what
rules and regulations he pleases as to
what constitutes proof. what makes de-
serving, and after he has made his rules
and regulations he can interpret and cx-
ecute them absolutely as he pleases. He
may say that his rules apply to John
Smith, and not to Peter Jones. He may
say that VIM. Brown, with very little
proof, shall have his pension today, but
that James Black, with the most absolute
and unQuestionable proof, shall he reject
ed. or at least wait for years. And there
is positively no help for them.
1t is true that there is a nominal right
of appeal in all these cases to the Secre-
tary of the Interior, but this is the most
shadowy of remedies. The Secretary of
sion Committee that he knew nothing
whatever of the practices under the Pen
sion Bureau, but left all that to the Com
missioner of Pensions There is Board of
Pension Appeals, which is supposed to
consider appeals for the Secretary. But
this Board is made up of other clerks of
the Interior Department, most generally
appointed at the instance of the Commits
sioner of Pensions, and under his influ-
ence. 1t practically amounts to one set
of his clerks reviewing what another set
has done. Still worse, this Board is now
more than 10000 cases behind with It's
work, is getting farther behind every
week, and it is idle to hope that the great
proportion of the cases now before it will
be reached during the lifetime of the APP
pellants.
We earnestly contend that this arbi-
trary power is entirely too vast and i'm
portant to be lodged in the hands of any
one man, no matter how good and able he
may be. 1t is in the highest degree I'M
American to put both the Interpretation
and the execution of the laws so deeply
affecting SO many people into the I'M
checked power of any man.
There ought, beyond all question, TO be
power somewhere which will supervise
him, interpret the law for him, admonish
him, and correct him when he trans
crosses its intent and purport, and be
ready and real recourse to any man who
feels aggrieved by his acts, and not n
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