The National tribune., 1901-07-04

of Pensions, Washington, d. c.
,"OD May % l wrote the General thank
ing him for his kindly expressions, and in
return he wrote me the following en-
couragfng letter, viz:
"'23 Fifth Avenue, New York City,
June 10, 1899.
"'My Dear Governor Evans: l have
carefully read the enclosure in your recent
letter, and l am not surprised to see in
it ample. clear, and convincing statements,
showing the admirable administration of
your Office. l have written an earnest let
ter to the President, in which l have ex-
pressed the utmost confidence in you, and
the same measure of contempt for your
ID. E. SICKLES.
"'Hon. Henry Clay Evans, Commissioner
Of Pensions, Washington, ID. c.
81 have other letters from the General
equally as strong in commendation of my
administration of the bureau.
Mr. Evans then proceeded to pat him
self ON the back for his wonderful manage
ment of the Bureau, saying in conclu-
sion:
There have been no defalcations, no
misapplication or misappropriation of pub
lie funds; there have been no bounty land
scandals or charge of squandering public
funds; there has been no selling of ap-
pointments or promotions. Can more be
| askedF'
1t is difficult to understand what he
means by this fling at his predecessors.
There were certainly none of these things
under Commissioners Murphy, Lochren,
Raum, Tanner, Black, or Dudley which
carries the history OF the Pension Bureau
back 20 years.
ANOTHER MISLEADING STATEMENT.
Later, Mr. Evans gave out the follow
ing to the Evening Star:
But friends of the Commissioner in
sist that the turning point of Gen SickleS'
friendship and support of Mr.. Evans can
| clearly be defined, and that it occurred
when the Commissioner declined, about a
| year ago, to allow Gen. Sickles to construe
a law for the bureau, and insisted on fol-
| lowing the construction placed upon the
statute by the Attorney General. 1t is
| said at the bureau that there were many
evidences to show that this was the oc-
| casion of ''scene," although it occurred
| in the private room of the Commissioner.
| Congress had passed an act, approved
| May 9, 1900 in amendment of sections 2
and of the pension act of June %, 1890.
| This act provided for invalid pensions of
| from Sc to So per month, and contained
this clause, and such pension shall COM
mence from the date of the filing of the
| application in the bureau of pensions,
after the passage of this act etc. Gen.
| Sickles told the Commissioner that the
| expression, after the passage of this act
| did not refer to the act of May 8, 1900,
but to the act of June q, $780, of which
it was amendatory. Mr.. Evans thought
ho nf thn arf 10 rafn -.
pension claims filed after June o, 1900.
Had Gen. Sickles' construction of the Ian
guage of the law been accepted by the
| bureau it would have allowed many claims
| to 90 back from one to ten years, and have
| caused the payment Of much back pension
money. Gen. Sickles resented the attitude
| of the Commissioner in opposition to his
| views, and it is understood he declared:
"'Well, the Grand Army drew this act
and it should be allowed to interpret it,
Commissioner Evans determined to let
/ the Attorney General construe the Ian
| guage of the act, which was done, and
| that law officer, whose duty it is to act
1 as the legal adviser of the Commissioner
| on such occasions, construed the act to
mean what Mr.. Evans supposed it meant,
! and that construction was adopted by the
! bureau.
Officials of the Pension Office say that
/ from that day to this General Sickles has
not called on the Commissioner, and that
/ he has since Joined the army, of critics of
| the Commissioner.
The facts are that when Congress
passed the act Of May 9, 1900, the G. A.
! r. Natio7al Pension Committee, held that
| it was merely amsndatory of the act OF
June 81, 1890, and that the words "after
| the passage of this act" referred TO the
/ . Inv t. IL .I,.4 :.
was a new law, and the result of his claim
would have been to compel every claim on
file under the act of June 81, to be refiIed,
and thus put claimants to a world of
| trouble, delay adjudication, and cut off all
arrears. The matter was finally decided
against Evans, and not In his favor, as
| he claims, and the new law was declared
merely an amendment Of the old, and all
claimants preserved their rights.
GEN. sIcKLEs's STATEMENT.
Gen. Sickles gave out the following
statement to the press:
My impression was be was endeavor-
| ing to discharge his duties faithfully. Sub
sequently, in the Autumn of 1899, I was
appointed by the National Encampment
| at PHILADELPHIA one of the Pension Com
| Iulllttp Will IlslA uIllOHS 10 investigate
the action OF the Pension Office. | have
been a member of that committee now for
two years and it has been my duty to in
form myself on the subject.
II have reached the conclusion, COM
mon with my colleagues of the committee,
that the reappointment OF Commissioner
Evans would not be expedent The vet
erans of the country-90 out of every 100
of them at least, including soldiers
widows-are convinced that Commissioner
Evans is unjust TO them. Commissioner
Evans endeavors TO make it appear that
the objections TO his reappointmcnt come
from pension agents only, and he has sue
ceeded in making the newspapers believe
this story.
This is q grave mistake. Commits
sioner Evans has, unfortunately, so ad-
ministered the duties of his office az to
create u general impression among, those
who have occasion to transact business
with it that he is not fair; that
he is too technical in the construc-
tion of the statutes; that he is un-
reasonable and over-fastidious in his de-