The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1901-08-01
EyANS'S RECORD.
A Veteran and Former Pension Officer
Tells of Ii.
Soldiers as Suspscts-They are Held to Be
Guilty Until Proved to Be Inuoesnt-oftce
Methods Denounced.
(Pittsburg Leadcr.)

(Pittsburg Leadcr.)
Editor Leader: The correspondent OF
the New York Evening Post, whose let
ter the Leader reproduced IN last Fri
days issue, rehasheS the ingeuinuSly-
wOrdcd gcueralities by which the present
Commissioner Of Pensions has kept him
self in the public eye. always posing as
the protector of the poor dpwntrOddcu
taxpayer and the keeper Of the honor
good name, integrity and lofty patriotism
of the Union soldier"
This correspondent declares that no
man runs Mr.. Evans; the attorneys have
failed, after trying it; the President OF
the United States hasn't tried It. aud
knows it would he useless even if he felt
so disposed. There is no more truth in the
statement that the attorneys have at
tempted to run MIR. Evans or any one OF
his predecessors than there is in the state
mcnt that the President of the United
States is afraid of Il petty bureau officer
of his own selection. Surely the Post
man has read whole heap about the
Presidents anglc-wOrm backbone and be-
licycs it all true.
Let me recall some ancient history
In June, 1876, the Republican COnven-
ton at St. Louis, Mo, declared;
The veterans Of the Union armies de
serve and should receive fair treatment
and generous recognition. Wherever
practicable they should be given the pref
crence i'll the matter of employment, anG
they are entitled to the enactment Of sucl
laws rs are calculated TO secure the full
lilment of the pledges made to them in the
dark days of the cOuntry's peril.
We dcnOUncc the practice i'll the Pen
sion Bureau, so recklcSsly and unjustly
carried on by the present Administration
of reducing pensions and arbitrarily drop
ping names from the rolls, as deserving
the severest condemnation of the Ameri
can people"
That plank in the platform upon which
Mckinley and Hobart were elected was
unquestiOnably the expression of the hon.
est opinion of the majority of the Ameri
can people. But, alas, in the sight Of sub
sequent action, the command was unheed
cd and the belief established, according tC
the Evans theory, that by some inadvert,
cnce the sentiment contained in the fore,
going paragraph was sneaked into the
platform at the instance of that class OF
political buccaneers now better known as
pension sharks" or pension attorneys
Men who now attempt to shield Mr..
Evans in his nefariOus and heartless
schemes to rob the soldier and try to de-
fleet the publics attention by blatantiy
pointing with pride to the fact that
this great and good friend is disbursing
$l4oUOO,OOO year, are in many instances
the same men who i'll the strongest terms
they could employ, denounced the last
Administration as being ruthlessly OPP
posed TO the interests of the Union sol
dier. When, as a matter of fact, which
can easily be verified, Mr.. Eyanss imme-
date predecessors exceeded his payments
by millions of dollars more than his sys
TEN has discussed, and he has depre.
ciated the honor, good name, integrity
and lofty patriotism Of the Union sol
der, to an extent never attempted by
any of his predecessors.
Under his direction it has ever been
the Unwritten rule of practice to treat
all claimants as suspects, thus reversing
the established rule of law which pre-
SumeS all innocent until proven guilty.
Early in his game of duplicity his Elk
aminers We're given to understand that
their first duty was not to seek for merit
IN case, but to bend their energies in
trayerslng every possible avenue for rea-
sons or excuses to reject or at all events
delay final action. Under the heartless
rules of practice inspired by this immacu-
late Commissioner, no claim carrying any
considerable amount of accrued pension
was allowed to be accorded final action
until after two or three special examina-
tons and three, four or FIVE reviews and
re-revlews, thus neceSsitating months and
even years of delay, and more often re-
Jected than admitted. Thousands and
tens of thousands of claims have been re-
Jected during the last four years upon the
ground of no pensionable disability
from causes alleged, and a few weeks
later, when the widows claim was filed.
many cases hundreds and thousands
disclosed the fact that at the very mo-
ment when Mr.. Eyans's Medical Ref
cree was declaring the non-existence of
reasonable disability the veteran who Il
lew years before ii was declared should
receive fair treatment and generous rec
ognltion' was sleeping his last long sleep
IN the "wIndowless palaces of the dead"
ms death due to the very causes upon
which he had based his claim for pen
sion.
In the files of that bureau will be
found the papers in thousands upon thou
sands of cases like the following. in
winch hnal action has been taken during
the last four years. The applicant under
the act OF June %, 1890. was directed
to appear before the Local Board of Sur
seons nearest his home for medical exam
nation: HIS claim is based, it may be,
upon disability due to rheumatism of
heart and disease of stomach. The Board
lInd rheumatism existing and rate 81;
heart complications and rate 81. and dys-
pepsla and rate 81, or total of So per
month. The members of the Board some
times remark and frequently in the hear
ing of the soldiers, No use giving n
higher rating, as that is the limit of the
law That certificate reaches the of
lice, and with the other papers in the case
are referred to the Medical Referee"
who in obedience TO the unwritten rules
Of practice inspired by Mr. Evans. the
very gracious and ever-smiling keeper of
the good name, honor integrity and
lofty patriotism of the Union soldier" re-
jects the claim on the ground of no pen-
sionable disability within the meaning of
the act of June p, 1890, because, for
'ooth, the Board of Surgeons have given
no higher rate than 81 for any one dis
ease. Take that certificate to the Board
who made 1t, ask them how much pension
hey intended that paper 10 warrant, and
hey Will unhesltatingly tell you SD per
month.
These, Mr.. Editor, are some of the
thousand and one reasons causing this
discomfort upon the part of the
men whom it was declared were entitled
TO fair treatment and generous recogni-
ton" for the part they took in that awful
time which tried mems souls" the sue
ress of which gave spur to the worlds
advancement second only to that which
followed the coming of the Saviour of
mankind. These are some of the reasons
which have operated in urging the rep
-esentatives of the Grand Army of the
Republic in their State and National I'm
'ampments to file their unanimous pro-
est against continuing Mr.. Evans in his
present position. Surely no reasonable
nan Will for IL moment believe that such
men as Gen. Sickles Gen Hudson. of
Corpl Tanner, Col COultpr