The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1880-10-13
Pensions and Pension Claims,
FULL TEXT or COMMISSIONER BENTLY 5
SPEECH ATALToONA, SEPTEMBER .,
1880.
lLc. Chairman and Gentlemen !:

1880.
III. Chairman ard Gentlemen:
| thank YOU for your cordial re,
ception as indicated by your demon
stration Of approval and also by
your staving so late to hear few
words from me. | have come up
here to-day at the invitation of two
OF your townsmen-eX-soldiers-to
explain to them and their comrades
the causes Tor the delay in settling
the pensions.
The subject is one of very great
importance. Twice before have |
received a similar invitation from
/ no lsylyania soldiers: one year ago
at Die Grand Army .leblation and
aIterward-only a lew weeks since
al Pittsburgh. On both occasions |
have endeavorcd, as well as | could,
to make the explanation and give
the information desired. Now, in
the outset, lest there be some here
who misunderstood my purpose, |
wish 'o say that the subject about
which 1 have been invited to speak
is in no way political, whatever poll
ticians ma, do with 1t. 1t is slmp-
4 " a matter OF business.
am not here to make political
or campaign speech, but come To
respond 10 the interest which you
have manifested upon a subject in
which | have been interested for
four years and a half-one which |
have studied and which | have pre-
scnted in one form or another TO
+ Congress, III my annual reports and
on every other proper OCCASION.
say this Is a subject In which l
have endeavored tor the last four
years to interest the soldiers, and
they are Just beginning to be inter
csted in il. They hnd there are
DELAYS in the settlement OF pensions
which seem to them unnecessary. and
unjust, and therefore they are dis
satisfied and make complaint. Now
let Us 20 directly into the subject.
| cannot give you the explanation
YOU ask unless you get Il perfect
foundation, a history OF the filing
aad settling of pension claims from
1862 down to the present time. You
will not expect anything like oratorv
or cloquence, but must expect to
listen to facts and figures which can
not deceive.
On the 18th of July, 1862, the act,
which Is the foundation OF the pen
sion system under which the soldiers
of the war of the rebellion were
pensioned, was passed. Since the
passage of that act there have been
more than fifty changes IN the pen
sion laws of one kind or another. L
mean general changes which effect
classes of the soldiers, greater or less
in number. When the war OF the
rebellion broke out there were very
few pension claims coming forward,
and the entire pension roll consisted
of only 1O.500 names, and the num-
Der was fast decreasing. After the
passage of this act the pension claims
began to come in with great rapldl-
tv. and from that time down TO the
30th OF June last there have been
693. $50 original pension claims for
pensions filed in the pension office.
There were during that time 362, 800
original claims settled. You see
this left a very great margin, some
thing near 100000, that are unallow-
cd. These consist OF what WE call
live pending claims and about i5,-
coo. which represent claimants who
died before their claims were settled
or who had abandoned the prosecu-
ton Of their claims, and we End
that there were pending on the Both
of June last not less than 29O,OOo
claims for pensions. There are upon
the pension rolls 245.O0Opensloners,
and there are 10000 persons who
are now claiming pensions and
whose pensions are unsettled, and
this number is increasing daily.
have a table here in my hand
which shows the number which
have been filed from 1862 down to
the present time; the number OF
original claims which have been
allowed year by year down TO the
present time and the amount OF
money which has been paid out
yearly for the salaries of the clerks
and officials who are engaged IN the
pension office in settling the claims.
If YOU will bear with me while i
call your attention to some OF the
characteristics of the pension bust
ness as shown by this table you will
observe that it is condensation of
the history of the filing and settling
of pension claims from 1862 to the
present time, and if you examine
The column which shows the num-
Der of claims filed YOU will find that
there was a great rush OF claims
coming in down to 1866. You Will
find in another column that the
settlement and allowance of claims
went forward with great rapidity
down to 1866: then if you will re-
fer To the column of claims filed
YOU will find that from 1866 to and
including 1874 (S years thenumber
of claims filed gradually dropped off
wear by year from 1866, when there
were 60. $50 to 1924 in 1874. If
YOU look in the column which rep
rescnts claims that we're allowed.
Won will find that from 1866 TO 1876
the number of claims allowed elloff
lust as regularly and certainly as
lid the number OF claims filed.
Then if YOU look at the column
which shows the appropriation for
clerks and officers whose business IT
Is in the pension Office to settle these
claims. YOU will find that from 1866
down 10 1876 inclusive, there was a
Gradual and constant increase In the
money that was appropriated Tor the
clerks and officers in the office. In
1876 there were in round figures APP
propriated s4S5.000. which was
great increase in the number of
clerks. In 1866 the office was able
J.. ,.a..la ,,-;,l SoaS uDD \ 17f ori0in-