Sunday Washington globe., 1902-05-18

Pension commissioner Evans mas HoOded
the newspapers of the United States with
another batch of bold lies denying that he
was forced to resign, and claiming that his
resignation () was voluntary. (See news
papers of May 10 and ID In November
he was publishing Hitchcock's false praises
and telling what he would do to pensions if
he was permitted to hold his Office the rest
Of his eight years. He was also saying in
similar advertisements of himself, pub
lished in the guise of news, that he OBJ
jected to being forced out. (See GLOBE
Dec and IS; Washington Star Nov. 26,
and Times about that date.) In the Star
advertisement of himself in November he
imputed fraud to the Harrison administra-
tion, and proclaimed in effect that at the
end of Evans eight years no administra-
ton would ever dare to lawfully execute
the pension laws again, but would be com
PEELED to resort to the frauds which he has
instituted.
Another bold lie in Evans May articles
or interviews, is the old statement which
he has been harping on as his cry of stop
thief" by saying, There have been no
scandals connected with the service or any
branch Of it." (See Post May Io) His
administration of the pension laws has been
the most scandalous in the history of the
United States Under Evans and the Hanna
anti-pension syndicate of corruption, law
lessuess has reigned supreme in his Office
under the protection of Congressman and
the President Never before in its history
have such specific complaints gone up from
the veterans year after year, and the vol
umes and pages of the records cited prov
ing up the most gigantic and boldest frauds
ever perpetrated before in the administra-
ton Of any law. He has to turn only to
the pages of the GLOBE for the past six
months for a history of fraud in his Office
the most daring and scandalous in the
annals of America. The only defense he
offers is to pretend to ignore them, and
issue bold statement of clean sheet" and
approval by the administration Rath-
bone and Hanna are making the same kind
of defense.
Now, if his statement of 'no scandals"
is intended as an admission of his bold and
premeditated frauds against the pension
laws, and to imply some other kind of cor
ruptiOn in other administrations, Evans
has a record of nepotism and Of the sugar
plantation scandal in his own Office. He is
a stockholder in that concern; and his chief
of appointment division is a director and
vice-president of the concern, soliciting
discount stock during Office hours at every
desk in the building at Uncle Sans ex-
peuse among the very men whose promo
tiOns in salary and work depend upon the
grace of the stockholder- Commissioner and
the vice -president-di director appointing chief.
Evans is too bold to see any harm IN that
condition Democrats who never contrib
uted a vote or a dollar towards his election
or the election of the party in power. are
promoted over the heads of Republicans
who to say the least, are just as competent
and deserving as clerks and who are justly
entitled to promotion, not having been
promoted during Cleveland's administra-
tion, and have year after year contributed
their vacations to go home and vote, and
have contributed the expenses thereof and
money in addition towards electing these
same gangs that are now downing every.
thing that does not take sugar, or has an
honest word for the Civil War veteran and
the supremacy of the laws Of Congress.
Do the Republicans think the Hanna anti
pension syndicate of corruption can win
out on the Southern school book propa-
ganda? "The best laid schemes Of mice
and men oft gang a-gley," Wait until the
veteran, his SONS and sons-in-law and
Spanish War veterans have been heard
gressmen.
Among Evans falsehoods in his pub
lished statement in the newspapers, May 10
and II, he boldly brags that he has reduced
the claims from 5000 to 10000 during his
hve years. He states bold lie, for ne pur-
posely omits those goo, 900 unadjudicated
claims on what he Is pleased to call his
abandoned files" Black put 100, 600 claims
on that kind of files created by him, and
Harrison's and Cleveland's last administra-
tions reopened them as unlawfully rejected.
Evans has resorted to a similar trick under
another name, for the purpose of delaying
the claims and making the above false
statement in his annual report of 1902; but
having been driven from Office by the power
and pressure of the G. A. R. he now gives
publicity to the lie prepared for his next
annual report that was to be. What public
man worthy Of an international consulship
would have made that unlimited statement,
knowing the trick on which il is based?
An honest man would have scorned such
statement and told of the hOld.up of 3oo,-
900 claims, making 100000 claims awaiting
adjudication, or 5000 more claims than ave
years ago. Now, remember he claims that
these abandoned files" are still pending
claims Just as handy as If in the adjudicat-
ing divisions. annual Report, 1901, page
IA.) Why does he omit them from his
published statement Of claims unadjudi-
cated2 Evans has merely delayed the bust
ness of the Office, and got it in a tangle such
as the business was never before in. Yet
he comes out in fulsome eulogy of him
self, stating the great satisfaction he enjoys
at the improved condition of the work. He
said nothing about the other thousands of
claims being held up on pretext of waiting
for legal construction which could be had
from the Attorney General in three days |
The truth is Evans knows what the Attor-
ney-General would decide in each held.up
class. Former attorney-generals have pre-
viously decided the same points against his
trick; and he is not going to take any such
course. II is bold fraud, and so intended /
by the Pension Department and the Hanna
syndicate Of fraud against the pension |
laws.
Evans has succeeded in reviving many Of |
Blacks unlawful schemes for rejecting /
large classes of claims, some classes running .
up into I5o,o 600 claims and 900 600 claims, /