Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1862-08-30

Sect. Z. And be it further enacted, that
any agent or attorney who shall, directly or
indirectly, demand or receive any greater
compensation for his services under this act
than is prescribed in the preceding section of
this act, or who shall contract or agree to
prosecute any claim for pension, bounty, or
other allowance under this act, on the condi-
tiou that he shall receive per centum upon,
or any portion of the amount of such claim, or
who shall wrongfully withhold from pension
or other claimant the whole or any part of the
pension or claim allowed and due to such
pensioner or claimant, shall be deemed guilty
of high misdemeanor, and upon conviction
therefor shall, for every such offence, be fined
not exceeding three hundred dollars, or i'm
prisioned at hard labor not exceeding two
years, or both, according to the circumstances
and aggravatons of the offence.
Sect s. And be it further enacted that the
commissioner of pensions be and he is hereby
empowered to appoint, at his discretion, civil
surgeons to make the biennial examinations of
pensioners which are or may be required to
be made by law, and to examine applicants
for invalid pensions, where he shall deem an
examination by a surgeon to be appointed by
him necessary; and the fees for each of such
examinations, and the requisite certificate
thereof, shall be one dollar and fifty cents,
which fees shall be paid to the surgeon by the
person examined, for which he shall take a re-
ceipt, and forward the same to the pension of
flee; and upon the allowance of the claim of
the person examined, the commissioner of
pensions shall furnish to such person an order
on the pension agent of his state for the am
cunt of the surgeons fees.
Sect. 8. And be it further enacted, that the
commissioner ofpensions, on application made
to him in person or by letterby any claimants
or applicants for pension, bounty, or other al
lowance required by law to be adjusted and
paid by the pension office, shall furnish such
claimants, free of all expense or charge to
them, all such printed instructions and forms
as may be necessary in establishing and OBJ
tanning said claim; and in case such claim is
prosecuted by All agent or attorney OF such
claimant or applicant, on the issue Of certi-
ficate of pension or the granting of a bounty,
or allowance, the commissioner of pensions
shall forthwith notify the applicant or claim
ant that such certificate has been issued or al
lowance made, and the amount thereof.
Sect. 10. And be it further enacted, that the
pilots, engineers, sailors, and crew upon the
gunboats and war vessels of the United States
who have not been regularly mustered into
the service of the United States, shall be enti-
tied to the same bounty of persons Of cores
ponding rank in the naval service, provided
they continue in service to the close of the
present war; and all persons serving as afore-
said, who have been or may be wounded or
incapacitated for service, shall be entitled to
receive for such disability the pension allow
ed by the provisions of this act, to those of
like rank, and each and every such person
shall receive pay according to corresponding
rank in the naval service: Provided, that no
person receiving pension or bounty under the
provisions OF this act shall receive either pen
sion or bounty for any other service i'll the
present war.
Sect. IL. And be it further enacted, that the
widows and heirs of all persons described in
the last preceding section who have been or
may be employed as aforesaid, or who have
been or may be killed in battle, or of those
who have died or shall die of wounds receiv-
ed while so employed, shall be paid the boun-
ty and pension allowed by the provisions of
this act, according to rank, as provided in the
last preceding section.
Sect. u. And be it further enacted, that the
secretary of the interior be and he is hereby
authorized to appoint special agent for the
pension office, to assist in the detection of
frauds against the pension laws, to cause such
persons committing such frauds to be prose-
cuted and to discharge such other duties as
said secretary may require him to perform;
which said agent shall receive for his services
an annual salary of twelve hundred dollars,
and his actual travelling expenses incurred in
the discharge of his duties shall be paid by
the government.
Sect 49, And be it further enacted, that all
acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the
provisions of this act be and the same are
hereby repealed.
Approved, July IA, 1862.