Sunday Washington globe., 1902-05-25

The established practice of the bureau"
page 13.)
There are two prominent falsehoods in
Evans sentence in those few lines. In the
first place several Of Davis decisions re-
versed whole classes, consisting Of from
1o. 900 TO 100, 900 claims in a class; but only
one case was tabulated as reversed. Evans
uses this condition to deceive and make
false, statement for his report. Evans re-
iected r2s,ooo claims for the year ending
Iune 30, 1898, but this was only the number
tabuiated not the actual reflections. He
also adhered to the reflections of those H.
ssz cases. In thousands Of claims Evans
ignored one-half of the claim, taking no
account of it in any way such as claims for
rerating under the act of March g, 1896
Also cases Of partial rejection by ignoring
part of the diseases. None of these reJec-
tions are tabulated or counted Again only
a few cases are appealed, the veterans not
knowing what the practice is or how to
secure justice. They generally file a new
claim. as the only way. This is shown by
the above figures, a total of appealed cases
of only 12,o57 out Of I25,ooo rejected, as
tabulated, and say 100000 previously re-
jected by Evans and Lochren, but Just ap-
pealed.
But the boldest part of Evans lie in that
sentence is his declaration that no change
was made in his practice by these reversals.
That report was made in September 1895.
for use as his official report for Iuue 80, 1898,
Now turn to Instruction" P. D.. SO, and
you will see that Davis on July 28, 1897,
within the period covered by that report and
more than a year before that sentence was
written by Evans, entirely reversed the
whole of Evans bureau practice on uew-law
invalid claims, and compelled Evans to re-
turn to the practice instituted by the Harri-
son administration That decision alone
reversed the practice in at least 100000
cases. The decision was the storm-center
about which Evans struggled with Davis for
the rest Of the year, trying to down Davis,
and ignoring the decision as printed. Davis
started out to revive the legal construction
of the new law by substituting Order I64 of
the Harrison administration for rating the
new law the same as the old law, in place Of
Order 225, under which Evans was working,
requiring illegally three times the legal dis
ability required by the new law. The
Hanna syndicate rushed to Evans relief and
divided the contention by making Evans
pretend TO accept the ruling, as printed for
completing unalleged disabilities and ac-
cepting applications, and making Davis cut
out Order I64
This Order I64 has stood like the ghost of
the murdered law hacked with bolos point
ing with the finger of scorn at Evans ever
since. It got him into that corrupt and
scandalous agreement with that G. A. r.
committee of IS99-Iooo for buying up the
G. A. R. committee by fraudulentlY pension
ing rich widows (See GLOBE, May I8). 1t
has been the ghost in his closet ever since.
Il has appeared in his Nightmares, at his
banquets, in his office; and, like Banquo's
ghost, it won't down. Not that Evans has
any conscience to be troubled. He is never
troubled that way 1t is the fear that the
gross violation of that law will so outrage
the veterans that they will again demand
the enforcement of the law as correctly con-
strued by Hairison's administration in
Order l64, under which order 100000 veter-
ans were pehsioned. Evans has never dared
to submit Order 225 to any attorney-gene
for decision Order 225 won't bear legal
construction. Evans refused TO permit the
differential words Of total inability" in
Order 22S TO be put into the statute. The
matter was up before the President and
Evans told the President to ignore it (See
GLOBE, March 10, Ieo2) The word total"
is not in the statute. Had Evans permitted
Congress to put it in the pretended amend
menl of section 2 on May 9, 1900, the con-
struction would thereby have been legalized
and Evans would have found himself out Of
job of being the great law expounder; but
there would have been more respect for the
Republican party among its friends at least
among the law-abiding and law-loving por-
ton of its friends
Evans kept up the fight against the de.
cisions of Assistant Secretary Davis and Of
Assistant Secretary Campbell to the day of
his removal from Office. The Hanna syn
dicate protected Evans in ignoring both
the decisions aud the acts of Congress.
Take his scandalous violation Of the act of
March 9, 1896, by which, in violation of the
explicit language of the act itself, Evans
required an application claiming the bene-
fits of that act. That act Of Congress ex-
pressly provides that no separate or explicit
or implied application shall be required to
entitle the original claimant to the benefits
Of that act upon filing a new claim for PEN
sion. The act was passed by Congress to
secure the rerating of rejected claims re-
iected under the June or new law as not
ratabe; and provides that upon new claim
for pension the rejected claim shall be
rerated. Evans and the Interior Depart.
ment try to make a distinction between re-
rating and commencing the new claim from
date Of the FIRST claim; but they are hum.
bugging However, even if such a diff
ference existed il makes the fraud palmer
against Evans book. In his book he re-
quires the application to specifically make
a claim for benefit of that act. If claimant
puts new disabilities in with the claim for
the benefit of the act the whole claim may
be rejected, although the soldier has maxi.
mum new-law SI2 rate. The claim for the
benefit of the act of March 6, 1896, may be
rejected on the old evidence because Evans
refuses to hear or entertain new evidence;
and the part of the claim for previously
unalleged disabilities would be rejected as
informal because joined with the claim for
the benefit of the law for rerating. The
fact that half the claim is thus merely
ignored, without giving claimant any notice
or chance to amend, shows the purpose Of
the rule. In pension claims everything
wanted is called for. If Evans wanted to give
the soldier an honest chance to complete
hia claim he would uotffv fha xyetarop aud