Middletown transcript., 1905-04-29
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER

beginning has been once more exempli-
fed by Secretary Hitchcock's acceptance
OF the designations of the ten members of
the Board Of Review of the Pension
Office. 500" after Pension Commissioner
Vaspasian Warner entered upon the
duties Of his Office he discovered, quite
by accident, that certain members of
what was known as "the McLane Penn.
sylvania Regiment" had been granted
pensions to which they were not entitled.
Investigation revealed the fact that this
organization had been recruited at the
beginning of the Spanish War by "Col-
onel'' McLane, but that it had never been
mustered into the regular army and had,
OF course, seen no service. Under the
pension laws there was not the slightest
authority for granting pensions to any OF
tie members ef this purely volunteer or
ganization, but several were found on the
pension rolls. Further inquiry showed
that the Board of Review of the Pension
Office was responsible for this violation
of the law but tefore the Pension Com.
missioner had verified the facts to an ex-
tent which would warrant his recom-
mending the dismissal of the Board, the
members all handed in their designations
and they were promptly accepted. The
investigation was then dropped and it is
not charged that the members were
guilty of dishonesty of purpose but of
wilfu violation of the law.
~
Under less strict administration the
Secretary of the Interior would have felt
it necessary to consult the President and
probably to inquire what political infiu-
ence was back OF the members of the
Board. With Theodore Roosevelt, Sec
retary Hitchcock knew there was no such
necessity. A simple verification of the
chargethatthese men had granted pensions
without authority of law, had given away
a part of the public funds without the
sanction of Congress. the Secretary knew
to he all that the President would wish
to know, and that knowing that he would
Immediately approve the prompt accept
ance of their designations. 1t has been a
lack OF the knowledge that the President
would turn deaf ear to every political
appeal which has led former cabinet off,
GERS to deal so leniently with their SUBJ
ordinates as, practically, to encourage
disrespect for the law and even to pave
the way for dishonesty. And the laxity
with which former cabinet officers have
treated such mistakes" is largely &C.
countable for the various species of graft
in the government service which have
been brought to light since Theodore
Roosevelt became the Chief Executive.
80
The immensity and intricacy of the
federal establishment renders it impera-
tive that every indication of dishonesty
be probed to the bottom and that every
proven case of Willful or careless disre-
gard of the public interests be visited
with summary punishment. With the
sort of administration dealt out by Perry
Heath, when he was First Assistant Post
master General, and the laxity of other
officials OF former administrations the
weak kneed and the careless grow more
so and the dishonest thrive. With that
determined effort on the part of every
high official to secure honest and efficient
discharge of public duties which charac-
terizes the present administration, from
the President down, the entire federal
service is certain to impr We in every way
and while the public may be somewhat
scandalized by the exposures of the
present, President Roosevelt will leave
no heirlooms OF graft and incapacity to
be discovered and made public by his
successors.
One other "mistake" has been dis
covered by Commissioner Warner. In
some instances, the famous Pension
Order rs has been construed as being re-
tractive. This appears however to be an
error of judgment chargeable to former
administration of the Pension Office, and
as the men who began to draw their pen
sions too early as result OF this error are
all alive, the government need only to
withhold their monthly stipends until
the books are balanced again and moth
ing will be lost to the government. The
pensioners may be seriously inconven-
fenced by the temporary Withholding of
their pensions but that cannot be helped
and, too, it is more than likely that they
contributed to the error by bringing
political influence to bear.
M
The extent to which improperly, to
use mild word, was permitted to 60
under former administration is exempli-
fed by the fact that it has recently been
discovered that one dishonest official OF
the government had secured places in the
public service for thirty-nine near rela-
tives, making an even forty including
himself This official, who occupied
high and responsible position, has now
been indicted and will probably land,
eventually, in the penitentiary, while
several of his kindred are under surveil-
lance and may accompany him to the
same goal Such nepotism was of course,
effected under the spoils system and not
under civil service, the regulations OF
which prohibit more than two members
of single family from serving the govern
ment in the same department. OF course
the presence of SO many relations rend-
cred this official doubly bold in his raids
on the national treasury.