Sunday Washington globe., 1902-05-18

ful ground for rejecting or sidetracking
claims. (See GLOBE, April 8; March q and
~ In 1900, Evans took 2rS,69o claims from
the pending files in the adjudication divi-
sions and transported them to the loft of the
building at one time, and stamped them
abandoned" without notice to the claim
ants This was worse treatment than Black
gave claimants for what he called neglect"
Black stamped them rejected for "ne-
glect, " and notified the claimant There is
no legal difference between the two me-
thods. Blacks method was open; Evans
method secret, and delays the claim from
one to three years longer than Blacks
illegal method. The only way that these so
called abandoned" claims can be reached
by the claimants is to write his Member of
Congress and request that he call up tile
claim for status. Call ups Of claimants and
attorneys are ignored in the abandoned"
loft. Evans prepared in advance for head
ing off calls by Members Of Congress in
abandoned" claims, by illegal orders 2I
and ~, attorneys rules making it a crimi-
nal offense for an attorney to suggest to
claimant to get his Member of Congress to
call for status in claims which have stuck
fast somewhere. The rules 2I and q also
punish an attorney for requesting a Mem
Der of Congress to call up the case. The
attorney is to lose his fees and be disbarred
for either offense. The rules are unconsti-
tutionai and void, if ever attacked in court
The Constitution guarantees full and free
communication between Congressman and
all citizens without pains or penalties.
tyrant could stop the wheels of government
by extending such rules. If the President
can do that thing in one case or instance,
he can do so in every class of business and
matters before the Government and Con-
gress. The War Department has recently
tried it with army officers and men before
Congressional committees. In the Philip
pine inquiry the hunkey Senators have
tried to stop the mouths Of witnesses by
army rules that interiors must not testify
against superior officers. The truth is 20
be concealed. So in these 100000 pension
claims which Evans has taken to the Pen
sion Office loft, attorneys who are the only
persons likely to know the trouble, are to
be punished IL they suggest to claimants
the only method of reaching the cases and
getting status. The Members Of Congress
are furnished with printed blanks for call
ing for status in pension claims These
slips are in blue or green colored ink and
uniform in shape, and known at sight with
out reading them. They are special under
the rules Of the bureau, and every one
brings out the claim called up within three
days after the slip reaches the bureau. The
status is given by letter to claimant through
the Member of Congress calling up the
claim, and an envelope addressed to claim
ant is enclosed with the letter 10 claimant
in the envelopes to the Member Of Congress,
This enables the Member of Congress upon
opening his mail to renal the letter to
claimant in the envelope addressed to
claimant. This has been the practice for
over fhir'- years Evans, for the first time
in the history of the Government, has is
sued these orders n and "a, making it
crime for attorneys to give the claimant the
information necessary to enable him to
protect himself. Many claims get side
tracked accidentally, and many like the
6.ooo claims of minors now for FIVE years
illegally held up, and she 100000 claims
illegally thrown on the so-called "aban-
dOned" files, can not be reached in any
other way than by these Member of Con-
gress callups. Evans wants the law and
practice chained to the Goddess Of Liberty
on the dome of the Capitol.
The anti-pensiop syndicate is not con-
fined to one party. The Unlawful suppress
7AlAA VI llCuHADM laws w 4AubuL ndNlAk ~ kO
into Congress with open bills TO repeal or
reduce the laws, is the great code of the
anti-pension syndicate; and it has its fangs
in both political parties with sufficient
strength to smother every effort to investi-
gate them. The syndicate is stronger than
the beef trust, which has been faced by
Attorney General Knox with charges and
an investigation.
A.. Fat tr, ode,
a singing rebuke TO the party in power in
Congress, pension laws will be suppressed
to the extent desired by the Hanna syndi.
cate, but let the veterans change the polih-
raj majority of Congress at each election
land they can do it at the polls), it will
cease to be popular in administrations to
ignore, suppress, and violate the pension
laws and reward the chief tool with big
promotion in proportion to the magnitude
Of the frauds.
Take Evans case Of suppressing pension
laws to the tune Of S. 900, 600 annually, and
his reward for it. An ignorant carpet-bag
boss of ex-slave voters getting position
overreaehing the salary of judgeship Of
the Supreme Court, the highest class of
learning, ability, and professional knowl-
edge required, obtained only by lifetime
of study and arduous practice in the courts.
Evans has received the fruits of his
frauds His promotion is the fruits Of his
frauds against the veterans. Evans pro-
motion to big salary was planned by the
Hanna anti-pension syndicate of corruption
as a reward for Evans frauds against the
pension laws, to both encourage future
officials of the Pension Department in re-
sort to similar suppressions of the pension
laws in hopes Of similar re wards and to
intimidate future officials by a bold slap at
the Harrison administration which followed
the legal construction and enforcement Of
the laws as passed by Congress. The pro-
motion Of Lochren to a life position, and
the promotion of Evans 10 life position, as
much better as Evans has proved to be more
lawless than Lochren, establishes a vast
contrast to the treatment awarded all for
mer com missioners, each Of whom has been
laid on the shelf, except Black who was re-
warded by a marshalshio, small short
lived Office, about in proportion to the diff
ference in Blacks suppression Of the laws
The frauds have graded upwards in magn!-
tude from Blacks during Cleveland's FIRST
term, to Evans during McKinley's and