Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-09-13
AFTER THE COMMISSIONER
Commanders In Chief Rassieur Takes B
Fall.o Of the Head Of the PEN ~ ~
1 ..%. y. ~ sion Bureau.
Suggested that thes.l s.lGrand Army PEN
sion Committee be Instructed 70
@l.: 5@:. Prefer Charges.
Conservative Members Of the Conven-
ton Led by John H. Palmer Oppose
81 \ s: .a%: Radical Action. 55$ 81

~ Cleveland Sept. 13.The national II
convention; of the Grand Army Of the.
Republic opened during the morning
at the Euclid Avenue Opera House
with a large attendance. The annual
address of Commander-in-Ch Chief Ras.
sieur was the principal event OF the
morning session. Il; M 5,:$s:
The commander-in-chief devoted a
large part of his annual address to the
matter of pensions. I Without any ef-
fort, Z he said, Hon the part Of the orr
pension problem any undue promin-
ence, that subject has overshadoWed
all others and has called for more
attention and thought IN the past year
than all other questions which concern
u.s." - 3$s
He criticized the administration OF
the pension bureau and demanded "the
honest and fair administration of laws
which are already on the statute
books" Continuing, he said: IF an
officers lawlessness, recklessness and
holdness go to such extreme length as
to lead him to override and ignore a
pAdAu luu uuAllSL1hS6lUlGEl llu0l, lAo1r
eating the line Of his duty, under the
law, coming from his superior officer,
the secretary of the interior, what can
the poor and helpless old soldier ex.
pect at his hands when he is claiming
| to exercise his discretion under that
law. The exercising his discretion
cannot possibly result in anything else
| in most of the cases than positive
denial Of the benefits prescribed by
| the law" g,s : ~. - essa. .s.sa. .ys #
| ~s---7 Demands an Investigation. ~
| Commapder-in-C Chief Rassieur made
| a supplemental report to his address
/ in which he made a sharp attack upon
the officers of the pension bureau at
Washington. He stated that since he
had prepared his annual address he
had seen the report of the pension
committee and that it had made no
suggestion for a remedy for the exist
ing evils. He therefore suggested that
the committee be instructed to prefer
| charges against the pension commits
! sioner and that these charges be pre-
| sented to the president, asking for an
investigation of the same. 81
! Senator Hawley of Connecticut was
then presented and spoke at some
4 ASASSh oh IAS pSho1ou quSoL1oA~ IlS
recommended that no formal protest
be made against the present admins.
| tration Of the pension bureau. Sem
ator Hawley was loudly applauded.
| John H. Palmer OF New York, one of
/ the leaders of the conservative ele-
ment in the convention, declared to a
newspaper man that General Ras-
| sieur's suggestions relating to the pen.
| sion bureau would not be accented
It would be unwise, he said, for the
G. A. R. to take any such radical steps
at this time.
The report of the adjutant general,
F. M. Sterrett, showed that the total
membership, June 80, 1891, was 269,.
507, in 6,67S posts. The gains during
| the past year were 30,019, and the
losses 37,172-by death S,166, and by
suspension 16,2b2. The number
dropped from the rolls, having been
| previously suspended, was 7,722. The
number On the rolls June 80, 1901, in.
cluding 25,550 suspended, was 2e5,057.