The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1873-07-24

| her DEATH, to payi or cause to be paid to sucf
pensioner, or other person, all such arrears O.
| pension as the pensioner may be entitled to, OF
| (if dead) would have been entitled to under the
provisions of said section mad he or she survived
and no claim agent or other persons shall be en-
titled to receive any compensation for services II
| making application for arrears Of pension.
| SEC. 18. That the provisions of this act in
respect to the rates Of pension are hereby extend
! ed to pensioners whose right Of pension accrued
! I'm der general acts passed since the war Of the
Revolution and prior to the fourth Of March,
eighteen hundred and sixty one. to take effect
from and after the twenty fifth day Of July, eigh-
teen hundred aad sixty six; and that the widows
of revolutionary soldiers and sailors receiving
less sum shall be paid at the rate of eight dol
lars per month from and after the twenty seventh
day of July, eighteen hundred and sixty eight.
SIC. 10. That in all cases in which the cause
| of disability or death originated in the service
prior to the fourth day of March. eighteen hun
dred and sixty one, and an application for pen
| sion shall not have been filed within three years
from the discharge or death of the person on
whose account the claim is made, or within three
years of the termination of pension previously
granted on account of the service and death of
the same person, the pension shall commence from
the date of filing by the party prosecuting the
claim, the last paper requisite to establish the
same: Provided, That no claim allowed prior to
the sixth day of June. eighteen hundred andssix-
ty.six, shall be affected by anything herein con-
tanned.
Sec. 20 That nothing in this act shall be so
construed as to allow more than one pension at
the same time to the same person or to persons
entitled jointly: but any pensioner who shall so
elect may surrender his or her certificate and
receive, IN lieu thereof, certificate for anv other
pension to which he or she would have been en-
titled had not the surrendered certificate been
issued: Froplded That all payments previously
made for any period covered by the new certiti-
cate shall be deducted from the amount allow ed
by said certificate.
SEC Il. That declarations of pension claim
ants shall be made before court of record or
before some officer thereof having custody Of its
seal, SAID officer hereby being fully authorized
and empowered to administer and certify any
oath or animation relating to any pension or
application therefor: Provided. That the Com
missioner of Pensions may designate, in localities
more than twenty five miles distant from any
place at which such court is holden, persons duly
quallhed to administer oaths before whom declara-
LIONS may be made and testimony taken, and NAV
accept declarations Of claimants residing in for
eign countries. made before U. S. Minister or
consul, or before some officer of the country duly
authorized to administer oaths for general pur.
poses, and whose official character and signature
shall be duly authenticated by the certificate of a
United States Minister or CONSUL; declarations
in claims OF Indians made before United States
agent; and declarations in claims under the a,t
OF February fourteenth, eighteen hundred and
seventy one, made before an officer duly author-
lied to administer oaths for general purposes.
when the applicants, by reason of infirmity of
age are unable to travel: Provided, That auv
declaration made before officer duly authoriz-
ed to administer oaths for general purposes shall
be accepted to exempt claim from the Limitation
as to date of filing prescribed in the fifteenth
section of this act.
SIC. %. That the Commissioner of Pensions
on application being made to him in person or by
letter by any claimant or applicant for pension,
bounty land, or other allowance required by law
to be adjusted or paid by the Pension Office, shall
furnish such person, free of all expense to him
or her, all such printed instructions and forms
as may be necessary in establishing and obtain
ing said claim; and on the issuing of certificate
of pension, or of bounty land warrant, he shall
forthwith notify the claimant or applicant, and
also the agent or attorney in the case, if there
be one, that such certificate has been issued, or
allowance made, and the date and amount there
of.
SEC. 3d. That money on account of pension
shall be paid to any person, or to the widow,
children, or heirs of any deceased person, who
in any manner voluntarily engaged in, or aided
or abetted, the late rebellion against the author
ity of the United States.
Sec. "a. That no claim for pension not prose-
cuted to successful issue within five years from
the date of fling the shall be admitted
without record evidence from the War or NAVY
Department of the injury or the disease which
resulted in the disability or death of the person
whose account the claim is made: Provided,
That in any case in which the Limitation prescrib
ed by this section bars the further prosecution
of the claim the claimant may present, through
the Pension. Z Office. tn the Adiutopf lap of
the army or the Surgeon-G General of the navy,
evidence that the disease injury which resulted
in the disability or death of the person on whose
account the claim is made, originated in the SER
vice and in the line Of duty; and if such evidence
is deemed satisfactory by the officer to whom it
may be submitted, he shall cause record of the
fact SO proved to be made, and copy of the
same to be transmitted TO the Commissioner of
Pensions, and she bar to the prosecution of the
claim shall thereby be removed.
Sec rs. That if any pensioner, or any person
entitled to pension, who during the tendency
of his application therefor has died since March
fourth, eighteen hundred and sixty one, or shall
hereafter die, his widow, or if no widow, his
child or children, under sixteen years of age at
the time OF his death, shall be entitled to receive
the accrued pension to the date of death. such
accrued pension shall not be considered az part
of the assets of the estate of deceased nor liable
to be applied to the payment of the debts of said
estate IN any case whatever, but shall inure to
the sole and exclusive benefit of the widow or
children; and If no widow or child survive. no
payment whatever of the accrued pension shall
De made or allowed, except SO much as may be
necessary to reimburse the person who bore the
expenses OF the last sickness and burial of the
decedent, IN cases where he did not leave suffi-
clent assets to meet such expenses.
SEQ. 26 That the failure of any peusiouer
to claim his Or her pension for three years
after the same shall have become due shall !
be deemed presumptive evidence that such
pension has legally terminated by reason of
the pensioners death, remarraige, recover
from the disability, or otherwise, and the
pensioners name shall be stricken from the
list Of pensioners, subject to the right of res
torat!on TO the same on new application by |
the pensioner, or, if the pensioner is dead by |
the widow or minor children entitled to re- |
ceive the accrued pension, accompanied by |
evidence satisfactorily accounting for the fail
ure to claim such pension, and by medical |
evidence in cases OF invalids who were not |
exempt from biennial examinations az to the |
continuance Of the disability.
SEQ II. That when the rate, commence
ment, and duration of a pension allowed BY |
special act are fixed by such act they shall |
not be subject to be varied by the provisions !
and limitations of the general pension laws, |
but when not thus fixed the rate and contin- !
uance of the pension shall be subject tn 70. /