The Washington times., 1901-11-25
MR.. HITCHC0CK'S ANNUAL REPORT
Conduct of the various Branches of
the Interior Department.

! e"iiiiAeuL upon the practices winch nave
led to the enormous expenditures of the
United States Government on this &C
count, is the feature of the annual report
to the President by the Secretary of the
/ Interior, for the fiscal year ended ille
80. The report. which is made public this
morning. covers 257 octave pages. and de-
scribes with great minuteness the work
ings of all the bureaus under this depart
ment's supervision.
The subject of pensions. which has been
/ prominently before the public during the
/ past year through the attacks upon II.
| Clay Evans and mis- administration of the
| office, receives especial attention from
Secretary Hitchcock. Despite the charge
| that the Commissioner has been unfair
to the old soldier in his Interpretation of
the pension laws. the figures show that
there are at present over 1900 pension
ers more than in any previous year, the
total number now being 99T, ,735.
To what limits the list would havs
grown had not Commissioner Evans stricL-
ly enforced the existing laws, cannot be
estimated. He strikes at the root of the
evil in a paragraph, which Secretary
Hitchcock quotes, with his own comment,
as follows:
THE Commissioner states that 4 am not
prepared to believe that those who en-
gagged in the war with Spain, many of
them sons of the veterans of the-ciyil
war were less patriotic than their ances-
tors. or that they are mere covetous, but
In my opinion, ii is the fault of the sys-
TEN OF pensioning with its active army OF
md ,frtr
ticaIly employed and licensed by the Gov
ernment to solicit ahd secure applications
for pension with the promise of S25 for
each claim that is secured and allowed
No blame or criticism should be attached
TO the soldiers, as they are importuned
and persuaded that it is their duty to file
claims. whether disabled or not
The absence Of any signs of disability
at discharge says MIR. Hitchcock does
not prevent many soldiers from filing ap-
plications for pension through the solici-
tation of claim agents located at the
place of muster out in which a number of
disabilities are set up as a basis for
pension. Many letters, the Commissioner
states, are often received from these
claimants stating that they did not wish
to file the applications, but were per-
suaded to do so by the claim agents.
The report specifies in detail the de-
fects in the present system Of adjudi-
eating pension claims. both with respect
to the legal as well as the medical proofs
submitted to the bureau. and makes
special reference to the unsatisfactory
conditions which result from the present
system of medical examinations
TO obviate the difficulties and dangers
of the present system of adjudicating
claims for pension and to secure unbiased
reports showing the physical condition of
claimants for invalid pension, the Com
missioner recommends that travelling
medical boards be constituted. each board
consisting of two skilled medical examin-
ers, one attorney, and one stenograpber
and typewriter. The movements of these
boards would be under direction of the
Commissioner, and they would meet at
the county seat Of each county a stated
periods, as the demands OF the service
would require, all applicants being noti-
fed fifteen or twenty days in advance of
the sitting Of the board. If the claim IS
for original pension. the claimant would
appear before the board and all the facts
bearing upon his claim would De gathered
by the attorney while the medical eX-
aminers would ascertain the degree of his
disability. and the claim would come to
the bureau made up in such shape as
would give it credit
Secretary Hitchcock urges that the leg
islation initiated at the last session OF
Congress be revived to authorize the sale
and use OF timber on the unappTopriated
and unreserved public lands. THE need
OF the passage of such an act is so
imperative" he says, that I earnestly
recommend that the bill, with the amend
ment suggested by the Acting Attorney
General, become a law at the earliest
possible date" In this connection the
forest reserves are touched upon and
Legislation asked to stop abuses in rhe Ak
change Of lands in the reserves for other
lands outside.
Regarding the Patent Office. it is stated
that the work has reached unprecedent-
ed proportions, necessitating more work
from examiners and clerks who resign in
consequence. where other opportunities
come to hand. To meet this state OF af-
fairs. higher salaries are recommended
for the former.
The Twelfth Census is compared with
previous work of the same sort. and its
progress, with reasonable CELEBRITY" re-
ported. Because OF the necessity of com
pleting the records on time, no reduction
Of the force is likely the report saws.
until after January 1. 1902.
The Geological Survey, in it's four prin-
cipal divisions Of work. Is described, and
irrigation is mentioned in these words:
The Investigations which have been
carried on demonstrate that, looking at !
the matter from all sides. there is no one /
question now before the people of the /
United States of greater Importance than /
the conservation Of the water supply and /
the reclamation of the arid lands Of the /
West and their settlement by men who .
viii actually build homes and create com
The Secretary reviews the expenditures |
and income Of the Indian service. educa-
tion Of young Indians, the cutting off Of /
rations to Indians able to provide for .
themselves. leasing of lands for grazing,
farming and mining, and logging and ir- |
rigation on reservations.
Fifteen and one-half million acres of |
public lands were disposed of by the De- /
partment during the year for over four
million dollars
The Alaskan land Offices show very
large expenditures and practically no re-
ceipts, the latter. when collected at
all are purely nominal. The cost of
coal at St. Michae}'s. for instance. is from
$40 to $75 a ton. The abolition of all .
these Offices with the exception OF that
at Stka. is recommended
The eleemOsyuary institutions in the
District OF Columbia are referred to at
considerable length and their work ap-
proved
Education is thoroughly reviewed from
the report of Commissioner Harris; the
issuance of reports from the Public Doe
uments Division recorded; the subject of
railroad affairs and government of the
Territories described in detail. with es-
pecial attention to Hawaii and Porto
Rico. The national parks and reserva-
tions are also eXhaustively treated: a hall
Of records for the preservation of valu-
able documents recommended; the De-
Dartment exhibit at the PanAmerican
Exposition described Reports of the
Columbia Railway yOmpauy of Wasbfnc /