The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-02-11
rms ARREARs OF PESsIoSs BILL.

THE ARREARs OF PENSIONS BILL.
|
onieial Report OF the Secretary Of the
InterloF- Estimates OF Amounts Re.
quired 10 Carry Out the Provisions Of
the RlIl.
The Secretary Of the Interior forwarded
TO Congress on Saturday the requested In.
formation on the subject OF the arrears Of
pensions bill. The communication con.
sists Of letter Of transmlttal, enclosing a
letter from the Commissioner OF Pensions.
The Commissioner says that there will be
required to pay the arrears OF pensions
due. In cases which had been allowed pre-.
yious to the date Of the passage Of the act
the sum Of $4,000 0O-sGO0, 900 Of which
will be required for the arrears In the navy
cases. It is estimated that the round sum
Of $2,50O,0O0 will be required to pay the
pensions Of the current year, Of which
$4,000 will be required for the navy PEN
Fions. Five million dollars may be set
down as the amount which will be required
for pensions during the fiscal year ending
June 80, 1880. The estimate OF $94, 900 600
Is not the result Of actual calculation in
oil cases, but averages were obtained BY
calculating the amounts due upon large
blocks Of cases adjusted in each Of lie
years from 1903 TO 1877, inclusive; the re.
mainder to january l., 1870, being esti.
mated. The aggregate obtained for invalid
cases Is $25, ia, 435 40; for widows cases,
g, 76S,06S so; total, SS,872, SOP 20. The
balance to make thirty.tour millions Is
added to correspond to the arrearages
from January LIST TO the date OF the pas.
sage Of the act.
As the Commissioner in making these
estimates necessarily Interpreted the act
and rs his construction Is subieCt 10 review
and approval or disapproyal, he submits
some observations touching the import
and effect Of the act and the practice which
should be adopted in the adjustment OF
the arrears claims in some Of the classes Of
cases which come within It's provisions,
and adds some suggestions in rela.
ton to amendments OF the act and Of tho
laws touching the methods Of settling the
claims In the Pension office. The Com
missioner holds that the object Of the act
was to place as nearly as possible upon
the same footing all pensions for disa6ili-
ties which originated during the war OF
the rebellion. He concludes, conseouent-
~, that TIE proviso, declaring that arrears
in cases where claims were filed more than
Eve years after discharge and allowed prior
to January Is, 1879, should be computed
at the rate per month which the pensions
all all In -.
ply TO facilitate the settlement OF those ar
rea-s without subjecting them to the pro-
cess Of re.opening and adjustment upon
uncertain data, and that this is the only
Office performed by that provision.
He calls attention to the fact that the APP
plication OF the rule in regard to invalid
pensions TO claims filed more than five
years subsequent TO discharge will be ac-
rompanied with difficulties OF great pro-
portions owing TO the fact that in these
cases little attention has been paid to the
determination Of the preceding degrees OF
disability because this Is comparatively un-
important until the title TO pension had
been otherwise established. In most cases
Of invalid claims, then, the rating will
necessarily be upon some arbitrary rule or
guess work" at an average equitable rate;
and such an administration, he says, will
of necessity give rise to great dissatistac-
ton. 49, Fix. H
Numerous illustrations are given 10
show the inadequacy Of the act as m
equalizer OF pensions between claims 10 be
admitted which have been allowed, but
din not come within the five years limita-
ton on the one hand and those which
have been admitted and fell under that
limitation on the other. The imaginary
case Of two soldiers, who each lost an arm
above the elbow, and were discharged
June 20, 1854, is cited. No. ! filed claim
June2S, 1853, and It was allowed January
"A. 1879, the day before the arrears bill be-
came O law. No. 2 filed claim June 80,
1859, and the pension was allowed the
same day. The total pension for each on
the day Of the passage OF the act was, 49,
032 Is for No. and so cents for No. 2. By
the passage Of the act the pension OF No. l
became s., 032 % and the pension OF No. 2
s., 1856 20; an inequality in favo- OF No. 9 to
the amount Of s., l62 25. The aggregate
amount which will be paid to pensioners
over and above what they would have re-
ceived for their disabilities from the date
OF discharge had their applications been
filed within the five years Is put at several
millions Of dollars, aflIt
The Commissioner recommends that the
proviso in the first section OF the act be
stricken out, and that the following be
substituted: 1.-THE rate at which the ar
rears OF an invalid pension shall be al-
lowed and computed shall in no case ex-
coed one-halt OF the total pension OF the
soldiers rank for the period previous To
fling the application, except In case OF
disabilities which are Of record and which
have been permanent in degree in excess
OF one.half from his discharge" The
adoption OF this provision would, it is
thought, result in the establishment OF a
general equity among the pensioners, and
would establish q landmark for the adjust
ment Of the rate at which the arrears
should be computed in cases which are
obscured by their nature or through lapse
OF time.
It Is also recommended that the section be
amended in accordance with the intention
with which II was passed, so as to include
under It's provisions claims on account Of
death or disabilities incurred after the
historical date OF the close Of the war, by
those who enlisted beioreit It's close, especial
ly for service therein.
Inasmuch as the repeating clause OF the
act Is unnecessary to the accomplishment
OF the declaring sections OF the act. be-
cause being the latest enactments their
provisions are controlling, the repeal Of Sec
ton five OF the act Is suggested, and de-
claration that all statutes shall stand with
the same force as they would have had II
section five had not been enacted, in order
to avoid the danger, arising out otth com.
plicated condition OF the pension laws,
that II may be found that the section re.
peals provisions which were not intended
10 be affected by the act. The adoption OF
these recommendations would, Il is est.
mated, reduce the amount necessary Tor