Daily Republican., 1881-12-07

| '''' "'iN W tNslli hEdlHSb lltI luSbiIl,
In Prosecutions for bigamy is recon
mended AS one aid in the suppressio,
OF the remaining twin relic of barba
rism;' and the President declares hi
determined purpose to cooperate in al
proper ways for its suppression. Tha
most imprOvident piece OF legislation
the Pension arrears bill, the presiden
tells Congress, will cost six years of la
bor in the Pension office to get up til,
Arrears unless two or three huudrec
more clerks are Employed; and in an,
event Congress will have to look for
ward to an additional expenditure of
$2@5, 900, 900 on this account
Following these subjects the message
contains a long passage on return in
the Civil Service in which the Presi
dent real'iFns a strong passage in his
letter OF acceptance. NO man. he
says "shou.d be the incumbent of an
| office the duties of which he is, from any
cause, unfit to perform; who is lacking
in the ability, fidelity aud integrity
which a proper administration Of such
office demands"
1t appears from the report OF the
Commissioner OF Pensions that since
1860, 7s9,O63 original pension claims
have been filed; 450,9i9 of these have
been allowed and inscribed on the pen
sion roll, II, $50 have been rejected and
abandoned, being 10 plus per cent. OF
the whole number OF claims settled.
There ara now pending for settlement
265. .57j original pension claims, 237 ,OiO
of which were filed prior to July |,
1880. These when allowed, will in
volve the payment of arrears from the
date of discharge in case of an invalid,
Of a prior rightin all other cases. From
all the data obtainable 1t Is estimated
that IS per cent. Of the number of
claims now pending will be rejected or
abandoned. This would show the
probable rejection of "a O4O cases and
the probable admission Of about 1913, 900
claims, all of which Involve the pay.
ment of arrears of pension. With the
present force employed the number of
adjudications remaining the same, and
no new bushes, Intervening, this mum.
Der of claims (la3,OOt) could be acted
upon in u period of SIX years aud TAX
ing January /, 1854, asa near period
from which to estimate in each case an
average amount of arrears, it is found
thai every case allowed would require
for the first payment upon it the sum
ofSl3jO Multiplying this amount by
the whole number OF proboble ahm.s-
sions, gives $50, ,OOl 900 as the sum re-
quircd for first payments.
This represents the sum which must
be paid upon claims which We refused
before July |, 1880, and are now pend
ing and entitled to the benefits of the
arrears act. From this amount $780,
600, ,O0O) may be deducted from ten 70
fifteen millions tor cases where the
claimant dying there is no person who
under the law would be entitled to sue.
coed 20 the pension, leaving S23j, 900, 900
as the probable amount to be paid.
In these estimates no account Ii - been
taken of the 80, 800 cases filed since
June Both, 1880, and now pending, which
must receive attention as current bu 81
nrss, but which do not involve the pay
menf of any arrears beyond the date OF
filing the claim. Of this number it is
estimated that 81 per cent. will be al
lowed AS been stated with the pre-
sent force of the Pension Bureau, so
clerks 1t is estimated that it will take
six years to dispose of the claims now
pending.
1t is stated by the Commissioner of
Pensions that by an addition of 2j0
-. al 50 a / n "
force rather than the mechanical) J,
double the amount of work could be &C
complisled, 50 that these cases could
rs acted upon within three years. Aside
from the considerations ofjustice viii n
may be urged for IA speedy settlement
rf the claims now on the files OF the
Pension Office, it is no less important
on the score of economy, l"asmuch as
mlly one-third of the clerical force OF
the offices now wholly occupied in civ
lug attention to correspondence with
the thousand Of claimants whose cases
have been on the files for the last
eighteen years, the fact that a sun so
enormous may be expended by the
Government to meet demands for arrears
of pensions, is an admOnitiou to Con-
gress and the Executive to give eau
uous consideration to any similar pro
ject in the future. The great teinpta-
tion to the presentation OF fictitious
claims afforded by the fact that the
average sum obtained upon each appli-
cation is 81, 800 leads me to suggest the
proprieiy of making some special ap.
preparation for the prevention OF fraud.
y X Il