The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1901-07-13
H. CLAY EVANS AS He Is
HIS Personal CHARACTERISTIC
AND HIS PUBLIC RECORD.
Independence of Thought and Action
One of Pension Commissions
er's Leading Attributes.


To read the letters OF aspirants for office
BY the soldier vote. like Sickles. or listen
TO the mouthings OF orators like Tanner.
who make a living off the misfortunes of
their dear comrades" one would fancy
that a portrait Of Henry Clay Evans would
require the pencil Of a Dore. Mankind 1t is
true, has got past the point Of believing
that everything monstrous or irredeemably
wicked must wear horns and a tail or this
superstition would be drawn upon 10 ac-
count for the Partially shown by the pres
ent commissioned Of pensions for a high
crowned hat and the conventional frock
coat: but at least he must have the red
face Of a butcher. the swagger Of a bully
and the hoarse bass voice of an ogre and
spend his time in a chamber of rock and
steel with a double-barred gate so that his
victims cannot get at him with their re-
monstrances or prayers.
Let Us have a peep at this dreadful crea-
ture- We approach his lair on tiptoe. II is
a plainly furnished. not too inviting cham
Der on the second floor Of the pension
building. The door is wide open, with the
air of standing so all the time, and no
sentinel challenges our right to draw near.
Behind a fiat writing table. with a portable
telephone at hand so that he can respond
TO every ring in person, sits the grim
wrecker Of bogus veteranship. His profile
Is defined against the light of a west win
dow. To our surprise there Is nothing
gross about II. The nose is not Dubious,
but straight, clear cut and somewhat sharp
In outline. The mouth is large, but the
lips are too thin for those Of a cannibal.
The chin is prominent and betokens firm
ness or will. The whole profile suggests a
medallion. The complexion we discover as
we get a better view of il is pale. almost
sall0w, rather than ford. AS he acknowl-
edges our salutations we observe that his
voice Is high pitched and distinctly nasal,
and has an infection never separable from
good numor. Can this really be the tyrant
of whom We have heard so much? He is
too fine looking to be repellant, his six
feet Of bony frame and sparse muscular
tissue hint nothing of the overbearing
giant and his eyes twinkle with unaffected
merriment as he throws a jest into his
greeting. II this man Is all his enemies
have described him nature has cast him
In a most deceptive mold.
THE PRESSURE ON THEM.
The truth is that every commissioner of
pensions who has held office since Presi-
dent Grants Inauguration has been SUBJ
jected by a gang of thieves and plunderers
to the alternative of being used or being
abused. 1t is to the everlasting credit of
most of them that they have taken the
abuse rather than yield the use, but some
have made short stays. Van Aernam, of
New York. held the place for two years.
Atkinson. CT Nebraska. for less than one.
Gill, of Nebraska, for seven weeks, Clark.
of Rhode Island. for four months. and
Murphy, of Pennsylvania, for ten. No
note is made here of Tanner, who let the
claim agents run him into such extremes
of folly that President Harrison had to
get rid of him inside OF seven months to
save his own administration from wreck.
NOBODY runs Eyans-that's what's the
matter with him. The attorneys have tried
1t and failed; the President of the United
States hasn't tried 1t, and knows that 1t
would be useless even If he felt so dis
man alive and deny his mastership. Bet
ter still, he can step before a mirror and
Is more than some of his traducers can do
without taking something TO steady their
nerves. The films is thrown at him through
the hired newspapers that he was not d
soldier in the civil war, and therefore cam
not sy~mpathize with soldiers in their dis
tresS- As a matter of fact he was an
enlisted man in the Forty-frst Wisconsin
Volunteer Infantry. What is more he
has made his own living in legitimate bust
ness ever since, instead of lobbying vicious
pension bills through Congress-, drumming
up claimants under these bills, subOrning
perjury to support the claims. and cutting
q big chunk out OF the first payment Of
his clients with which to line his own
pocket. If the roll OF pension shysters
were searched for men who could say as
much, there would not be names enough
In the list to I'LL a good-sized visiting card.
NOT A REFORMER.
The Idea that Evans is a reformer in the
ordinary sense Of the term is as far from
the truth on one side as the charges of
Tanner and his mob are on the other. He
Is as practical a politician as McKin-
ley himself. though not so successful,
largely because his yes is always yes, and
his no. no He was not. in his brief career
as a member of Congress, particularly
friendly TO the civil-service law. AS first
assistant postmaster general he placed and
displaced public functionaries after the
manner for such cases made and provided.
After he became commissioners OF pensions
he oserhauled certain parts of the field
service with a freedom which drew pro-
tests from the friends of civil-service re-
FORM But II Is not charged against him
that he put bad men knowingly into good
mems places, or that he eyer prostituted
his party or its own damage. Indeed, il
Is his persistent refusal TO appoint men of
weak character or Indifferent honesty to
important positions under him which has
added some outwardly respectable recruits
10 the Tanner crowd. These last. including
senator's, representatives and other hold
ers of important offices would be Mortified
at a suspicion that he would lend a hand,
even Indirectly, to any form of robbery of
The government. All they wanted. OF
course. was TO give responsible places to
men of their own choosing, who. they felt
sure, would bear down Just a little less
hard in the enforcement o. laws. But,
when Evans called to thank the President
for the honor OF his appointment, and was
told that the best form his gratitude could
take would be a hrst-rate administration
he accepted this statement at its full face
value. and has lived up TO his side of the
understanding both in letter and in spirit.
n SINCERE MAN.
Evans was in Congress also a champion
of the force bill. a Pennsylvania by birth.
educated in Wisconsin. and a settler in the
South after the civil war. he came to the
conclusion that negroes who wished 10 edu-
cate themselves and improve their condi-
ton offered more promising material for
citizenship than white men witout ambi-
tion for either knowledge or property, and
did not hesitate 10 say so; and If the laws
of the State could not be made TO protect
the negroes in the exercise of their either
rights. he demanded that the general gov
eminent should step In and make good the
default. Whatever one may think OF his
logic, no one could have discussed the sub.
tect with him at that time. as did the
writer. without being strongly impressed
with his sincerity. He had had q taste OF
the ~highhanded methods of his Democratic
~neighbOrs IN handling the ballots when ht
ran for Congress and came near beins
counted out; a few years later. when :
was treated TO another and ruder specimen
OF IL. being actually elected beyond a rea-
sonable doubt, but denied possession OF IN,
office This was the more CALLING because
though a Northern settler. he was no car
pet-bagger. he had brought his ali will
him 10 the South. resolved TO stay Their,
and become a loyal son OF his adopted