The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1879-06-25
WHAT WARS COST.
The Money Paid Out by tho United States
Government to Pensioners.

This government, says asnlngton
letter, has paid more money proportion
ately in the aggregate, and in all ways
to its soldiers and sailors and their heirs,
than any other government on the face
of the earth. Since the formation of
the government it has paid directly as
pensions 1886, 1855, ,727.27. Of this amount
1885,. .4sO,6 1854 have been paid out since
1864, or for the soldiers and sailors OF
the late war. Since 1868 the annual pen
sion bill has averaged $50, 600, 600. On
the top of all this, last March there was
an appropriation Of 1926, 100000 for the
arrearages of pensions to soldiers on the
rolls who,have been taking the S30'09c,-
900 each year. There have been filed in
the Pension Office 56,2 200 claims by pen
sioners already on the rolls for the bene-
fit of the arrearage act. Under the
same act, thousands of claims of per-
sons never before on the pension rolls
are coming in, and they will have to be
provided for-that is, those who can
make out q good case. For instance, a
man who lost finger and never before
thought it worth while to get a pension
of two or three dollars a month, now he
comes in because his arrearages would
give him three or four hundred dollars
at once. There were on the rolls last
year 206, 1880 army pensioners and 3,S46
navy pensioners. Besides these were
10, ,407 pensioners and 3,725 heirs of pen
sioners of the war of 1912, each pen
sioner drawing eight dollars month.
It is estimated that for the 209, 1866 pen
sioners on the rolls for the civil war, it
will require the 1926, 5,000,000 appropria-
ton to pay the arrearages of those who
did not begin drawing pension at the
date of disability, as the new law now
provides they ought to have done.
These cases are being adjudicated very
rapidly at the department. in fact much
quicker than the certificates are being
issued, as the Secretary of the Treasury
says he can only pay about $4,000, 600 a
month. When the certificate is issued it
is sent to the pension agent in the dis
trict of the pensioner and notice for
warded to the pensioner that on appli-
cation to that agency he can get his GER
tifcate and what it calls for. The GER
tifcates are not being issued in the order
of the receipt of application, because all
the first applications came from the i'm
mediate vicinity of Washington. They
are therefore sent to agencies in pro-
portion to their lists of pensioners.
The number of pensioners at the diff
ferent agencies, and the territories COM
prised by them, are as follows:
Boston, comprising Massachusetts,
Connecticut and Rhode Island, has 1880
pensioners.
Canandaigua, N. Y, comprising all of
the State excepting New York city, has
5000 pensioners.
Chicago, comprising the State of 1lli-
nois, has 1900 pensioners.
Columbus, o., comprising the State Of
Ohio, has 90, 400 pensioners.
C, ncord, N. H., comprising New
Hampshire, Maine and Vermont, has
1880 pensioners. 49,.
Des Moines, 1a., comprising Iowa and
Nebraska, has 900 pensioners.
Detroit, Mich, comprising the State
of Michigan, has 10000 pensioners. w.
Indianapolis, Ind, comprising the
State of Indiana, has $4,000 pensioners.
Knoxville, Tenn, comprising ,Vir-
ginia, West Virginia, North Carolina,
Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisi-
ana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South
Carolina and the Indian Territory. has
1900 pensioners.
Louisville, KY, comprising the State
of Kentucky, las $500 pensioners. '.-
Milwaukee, Wis, comprising Wiscon..
sin, Minnesota and the Territories of
Dakota. Montana and Wyoming, has
9,400 pensioners. ..,... -
New York city, comprising the city
and immediate vicinity, has 1890 pen
sioners. .' ....
Philadelphia, comprising the city and
eastern part of Pennsylvania, has l4,7Oo
pensioners.
Pittsburgh, Pa, comprising Western
Pennsylvania, has 1000 pensioners:
St. Louis, comprising Missouri. Kan
sas, Colorado and New Mexico, has H.
" Washington, D. G., comprising Dis
trict of Columbia, New Jersey, Della
ware, Maryland and all national homes
and foreign pensioners, has $1,000.
The district comprising California,
Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington Ter
ritory and Arizona has ], 400 pensioners.
Of course, it does not follow that all
the pensioners on the rolls at these points
get arrears, for, out of over 10000 pen
sioners. it is estimated that only about
AZ mn n ro on tit fod to arrparS