The Washington times., 1901-07-01
sickIer yerru. Exams.


In referring to the demand of General
Sickles for the RENEE al of Pension
Commissioner Evans. The Times has
heretofore refrained from expressing
any opinion as to whether or not the
Commissioner should be removed, con-
filming itself to commentary upon the
very peculiar position which General
Sickles occupies in the matter. This
course has been pursued because a full
and fair discussion of the main question
upon its merits requires full knowl-
edge of details. General Sickles, how
ever has been very insistent in his de-
mand, and has carried the controversy
to a point which gives the affair a ma
tional significance. The administration
of the Pension Office concerns. the whole
country mot merely the Grand Army of
the Republic, as General Sickles seems
to imagine). and therefore a glance at
the real merits of the issue as it has
been presented, is altogether timelyand
certainly not improper
At the outset we are met by the fact
that General Sichles has taken the af-
frmative position that the Commission
er should be ousted: and it is a recog-
nized rule both in logic and law that
the burden of proof is on the party
holding the affirmative of the issue.
Hence it is incumbent upon General
Sickies to show good and sufficient
cause for the removal. Has he done So?
The Times thinks not.
To begin with, we have it as a mat
ter of record that tSo years ago, after
Mr.. Evans had been in charge of the
office about two years, General Sickles
wrote him, strongly commencing his
administration. and coupled with this
we have the generals admission that
even now he believes the Commissioner
to be an honest, well-meaning man.
Here are two material and substantial
points in the Commissioners favor.
What, then, has transpired since
Sickles was so cordially endorsing the
administration of the Office; and if the
Commissioner is an honest, well-mean-
ing man, in what way has he shown his
unftness for the place? On both OF
these points we are left completely in
the dark. The general shows no change
in the policy of the Commissioner dur
ing the last two years, and the charges
against his administration are of the
most general and indefinite character.
They are, in brief, that the Commits
sioner has been narrow and iIliberal in
his Interpretation of the pension laws,
and that a system of espionage has
been maintains for the purpose of as
certaining whether or not pensioners
now on the list are entitled TO the pen
sions which they are receiving.
Without something in the way of
specification, the mere statement that
the Commissioner is narrow and iIlib-
eral in his Interpretation of the laws
has absolutely no value. II is a charge
that could be made by anybody who
does not happen to like Mr.. Evans. and,
at the worst, it means no more than
that the Commissioner construes the
law as it is written. AS a rule, this is
not a bad fault in a public official, and
there is no case in which it is more de-
sirable than in dealing with the pen
sion laws. In the Pension Office there
is much greater danger of improper
laxity than of undue strietness. The
Commissioner can gain nothing by
throwing obstacles in the way OF hon
est claimants. On the contrary he has
much 10 lose for he at once incurs the
hostility of the whole body of pension
ers, as well as of the Grand Army of
the Republic. which General Sickles
comes very near giving the character
of a great political organization.
1t is far more likely that pension
claimants are Unjust and exacting in
their demands than it is that the Com
missioner is too rigid in his attempts
to guard against fraud. In this con-
nection it is well to recall the fact that
General Sickles himself admits that
abeut five per cent of the claims are
fraudulent. OF course, this admission is
based upon the frauds actually discov-
cred. How many more there may be
hidden out of sight we do not know,
but II is clear enough that the Pen
sion Office has. in the aggregate, a vast
amount of fraud to deal with. and it's
tendency is TO make a conscientious
Commissioner exceedingly careful
Coming back. then, to the original
proposition, we repeat that General
Sickles in his public statements makes
no showing Of any cause for the Com
missioner's removal. The demand is
based upon the assertion that the pen
sioners and the Grand Army of the
Republic object to Mr.. Evans. and that
Ike Republican National Committee
promised that the present Commits
sioner should not be allowed to hold
the office af. ,r the expiration of his
first term. 4k
The objections of the old soldiers
should carry no weight unless they rest
upon good and sufficient grounds That
such grounds do not exist is fairly 10