Ceredo advance. [volume], November 10, 1909, Image 3

About Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939

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V
HE RED TAPE trust ought to
be rich. Its mills are kept run
ning overtime to supply the
Washington demand. The com
mittees on claims are tied up
In red tape and any claimant
Bets his legs tangled up in it
before ho has progressed a foot.
The tape is of the right color; it
turns to anarchy the thoughts
of the claimant who tries
through the disappointing years
to thread the devious course of
Its windings.
The house of representatives
once had submitted to It by the
members of the committee on claims a report
recommending that Major Lawson M. Fuller
°f the army he paid for some articles—many
‘ afllcT&s In fact—which the government lost for
him nine years ago.
An army officer's pay is small at the best,
and ten years ago, when Major Fuller’s be
longings were lost, his pay was somewhat
smaller than it is to-day. Nevertheless, he had
to expend 11,325.35, as he could save it from
time to time, to replace the absolutely neces
sary articles which were lost “without fault
or neglect on his part and with equitable re
sponsibility by the United States," as the find
ing of one of the investigating officials had it.
Major Fuller’s belongings comprised pretty
nearly everything that he had in the world,
from "one pair of Romeo slippers” to a civilian
dress suit, “evening, satin-lined," “one sack
suit from New York” and "one sack suit from
Baltimore.” The major made affidavit that ev
ery article enumerated in the list of his losses
"was necessary and would have been used had
tne consignment ever reached its destination."
The consignment went to the bottom of the
sea with the wreckage of the transport Mor
gan. The major added to his affidavit the
statement that every article would be replaced
as soon as he w'as financially able to replace it.
The goods were lost 10 years ago. A glance
at the army pay table makes it appear that by
the practice of rigid economy Major Fuller by
this time may have succeeded in duplicating
his wardrobe of the late nineties.
The end is not yet. The committee on
claims, after many years, reported Major Ful
ler’s case favorably to the house. The house
was busy with other things. It Is not hard for
the representatives to overlook claims. They
are used to It and hardened to It. Then the
senate must act and finally the president Ma
Jor Fuller may get his money at a time coinci
dent with his retirement at the ago limit, and
he Js yet a young man.
There Is no means at this present moment
of finding out whether Casper H. Conrad, of
the Third United States cavalry, has succeeded
In finally wresting from Uncle Sam's grasp
$32.85, which the usually amiable uncle took
from the officer’s pay practically by force of
arms some 10 years ago. At last accounts the
cavalryman was still pegging away trying to
get his money back, for it bolonged to him and
no one has ever Intimated that it did not be
long to him, but claims proceedings are greater
laggards in their pace than were the Jarndyce
„ proceedings In chancery.
If Capt. Conrad has not recovered his 132.85
he Is still hopeful, for the most hopeful people
-on earth are those who have claims, and the
deferring of hope seemingly never makes their
hearts sick. This Is one of the compensations
which nature grants to ofTset the iniquities of
claims proceedings In congress.
Capt.. Conrad, as an acting quartermaster,
paid $32.83 extra duty money to certain en
listed men. A government regulation which
has existed for years-authorized, in fact or
dered, the captain to pay the money. After
he had paid it he found that the government
had revoked the extra-pay regulation, but no
one had seen fit to notify the quartermasters of
the change.
Uncle Sam immediately stopped $32.85 out
of Capt. Conrad’s pay and practically told him
that he should have known in some mysterious
way that the government had an order stowed
away in a vault somewhere to ths effect that
extraduty pay had been cut out.
Conrad comes of an army family and he
stuck to his task of getting his money back
from the government like a good fighter, and
he is sticking at it to-day, unless within a very
abort time the almost impossible has hap
pened and his money has been returned to him.
It took him five years to get permission
from the secretary of war, the lleutenant-gen
eral of the army and the
quartermaster - general to
make the attempt to Ret a
bill passed by congress to
reimburse him for the
pocket-picking outrage per
petrated by Undo Sam. He
had to do a lot of work be
fore he succeeded in reach
ing the action permission
stage of the proceedings.
To be sure there was only
$32.85 in money involved, but
the principle was worth
something, nnd the soldier
who won’t fight for a prin
ciple won’t fight well for
anything else.
Of course only a part,
very likely a small part, of
the claims entered against
the government have justice
as a basis. In order to find
out the truth of things the
government occasionally is
obliged to spend many times
the amount of money in
volved.
One of the most curious
claim cases ever known to
congress was that of Senora
Feliciana Mendiola, who
lived at Angeles. Pampanga,
Philippine islands. The Se
nora rented a house to Un
de Sam for the use of some
of his teamsters. When the
mule-driving contingent
moved out of the house after
a Bhort occupancy the se
nora declared under oath
that some of the siding
boards were missing from
the kitchen wall, and she
asked for $200 in gold to re
pay her for the damage to
her property.
This case of Senora Felici
ana Mendiola fills M pages
of a house of representatives
document. It contains a
long letter from the secre
tary of war on the question
of the value of kitchen sid
ings. another letter from the
quartermaster-general of the
United States and 53 com
munications from army offi
cers and civilians of various
ranks and conditions.
a noard of officers was
convened to pass on the va
lidity of the senora's claim.
The board was In session for
days many of its members coming from a
on* distance to attend. One tearaster^VH
llani'Langworthy by name, swore that the se
nora s kitchen sidings were chewed up and
^ jo”*" T«kraater Summerville
nZ h, ,nKh,sv°P,n‘°n *be boards dropped
pf* ?f Sff* .5?Kthe w OWn wo,«ht- Teamster
fickle said. Them hoards was punk"
#K ThK. ^rmy b°ard Wh,ch Bat on the case
hought It was very doubtful In strict Justice
If Senora Feliciana should he allowed any
money, but finally the members granted her
the sum of $30 in gold. This action, of course
was not final, but the committees on war
claims in house and senate approved the find
ings.
The senora received $30 and doubtless it
gave her some satisfaction to know that Uncle
Ham had spent about $1,000 to get authority
to pay for a kitchen siding which went to de
struction either by way of a teamster's foot
or a red ant’s stomach.
The Inventor’s Rocky Road.
There comes to Washington occasionally a
man who perfected an invention, an engine of
war. which Is now in use by nearly every civi
lized government on the face of the earth, in
cluding the government of the United States.
This man recently talked reminiscently. He
said some things in the course of his conver
sation which may be Interesting to inventors
present and prospective/, and which may also
dishearten those of thefn who have not wills,
physiques and courage* of iron.
It must be remembered, of course, that this
Inventor Is a man who finally made good and
who to-day talks from the hilltop of success.
He said:
"Let
tion In
every man know If he has
which hfc believes and in
V
an inven
which he
trusts that the government will find merit
that he must prepnre himself at the outset to
be treated In turn like an Imbecile, a lunatic
and a criminal by the department officials to
whom he tries to present his Ideas.
“Every Inventor who enters a department
of the United States government with a view
to Interesting the officials In something which
may be and often proves to be of service to
the government is set down as a matter of
course as an Idiot. This is at the outset.
There Is In most of the departments, and cer
tainly in the one with which I had to do busi
ness, a set of officials whose business it Is to
get rid of Inventors and to get rid of them
without loss of politeness and without loss of
time.
“The regular plan Is to pass the Inventor
from one to another, each one having an In
creased chilliness of manner, but yet wearlrg
the semi-indulgent smile with which one listens
to the prattle of a child known to be mentally
deficient.
May Never Return.
“The last official get* rid of the inventor,
who, if he ha* not an indomitable persever
ance and a mental poise which enable* him be
cauae of an inner consciousness of right to
overlook insult, goes away probably never to
return, and the chances are that because of
the sensitiveness of some men this govern
ment has lost to its use many inventions
which would have r.ddod to Its power.
“The second stage of the inventor's pro
gress, for I am speakitg only of those who
make progress, is that of the lunatic, for so
he comes to he viewed. The idiot is practi
cally harmless and may be treated as a child;
the lunatic is apt to be dangerous, and so when
the inventor, conscious of the worth of his la
vention, perseveres In Attempting to
nee the officials, ho Is looked upon as
the man with ‘a glitter In his eye.’ and
the blue-coated officials with police au
thority nre given warning thnt he la
not to bo admitted to the presence of
official greatness.
"Occasionally Influence, which the
real Inventor hates to bring to benr, en
ables him to get an audience with the
highest official In the department. He
hns reached the criminal stage by this
time, for he hns taken to the chief that
which courtesy and custom require
should have been taken to tho under
ling.
"The three stages of suspicion are
gone through again by tho persistent
Inventor—Imbecile, lunatic and crimi
nal—and occasionally bis persistence
wins out, for In passing through the
degrees ho may happen to hit upon !
some official, also regarded aB a lunatic
by his colleagues, who takes In that
which other lunatics produce.
"Such was my case, and I won out.
The officials to-day who treated me
with something worse than scorn are
taking credit to themselves for discov
ering the merit In that which I had to
offer.
55*
Different In Europe.
l| "On tho continent of Europe thing*
Jl are different. There the Inventor 1*
Jm not treated ns If he were fresh from an
wm asylum for the feeble-minded, but 1*
turned over at once to the official
whose duty It Is to examine Buch
things ns he lias to offer, and the exam*
Ination proceeds forthwith. Tho conti
nental governments take Interest In ev
erything that Is new, especially If it
pertains to warfare, and the Inventor la
treated llko whnt he Is In most cases—
a gentleman. The United States gov
ernment when It gets a thing gets It
by accident after having exhausted ev
ery means likely to disaournge a roan
whose brain has produced that which
finally is found worthy by thoso who
had met It at the outset a 1th a sneer.”
It may bo after all that truth Is
stranger than fiction, though people are
given to a doubt of the old saying.
After hearing of what this inventor had
said, a character In one of Charles
) Dickens’ novels came to mind and I
looked him up to refresh the memory.
Tho American said that the continental
European governments were interested
in all the schemes of inventors. H*
laid nothing about Great Hrltaln. It
♦nay be that Edward's government has
reformed, but In "Little Dorrlt,” as
anyone way find who chooses to look, Daniel
Doyce, Mr. Meagle's friend, had an experience
with officialdom much like that of the yankc*
Of Doyce Mr. Meagle said:
"This Doyce Is a smith and engineer. . . ,
A dozen years ago ho perfected an invention
(Involving a very curious secret procoss) of
great importance to his country and hi* fellow
creatures. I won’t say how much It cost him,
or how many years of his life he had bden
about it, but he brought it to perfection a
dozen years ago. . . .
Becomes a Culprit.
"He addresses himself to the government.
The moment he addresses himself to the gov
ernment, he becomes a public offender! . . .
He ceases to be an Innocent citizen nnd be
comes a culprit. He is treated from that
Instant as a rnan who has done some infernal
action. He is a man to be shirked, put off,
brow-beaten, sneered at, handed oter by this
highly connected young or old gentianrian to
that highly connected young or old gentleman,
and dodged back again; he Is a man with no
rights In his own time, or his own property;
u mere outlaw, whom It is Justifiable to get
rid of anyhow; a man to be worn out by any
possible means.”
me inventor wno nan some tnings to say <
about the manner 1n which he was treated by ;
the American department officials when he !
asked them humbly to look at hla Invention !
stated also that once upon a time ho had an
appointment, with a cabinet ofTlcer and that
he salted beyond the tlm» net for two hours
before he had his Interview, which last«d Jess
than ope minute.
It muat be borne In mind that, this was
some years ago and no present cabinet official
la Implicated.
It might also be borne in mind by present
officials that at least six governments of the
world are each spending millions of dollars
annually In adding to their store of weapons
of offense ano defense the invention which
this n^n had perfected years before he could
get t <e officials of the government of his own
country to look upon it with anything that
« smacked of Intareet.
m Honsuotui
P- H- NAPIEb,
Attorney-at-Law
WAVn*, w. VA.
«!««■. a-.
gikske,
*«MOO, W. WA.
OW«, «| H—rj Brick.
J‘ C pGei«rer, M. D >
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