The National tribune., 1882-06-17
Victory in Sight.

Thursday, June 6th, was a red-letter day
for our ex-soldiers and sailors. On that day
the House OF Representatives took up and
passed without the formality of roll call,
the bill to increase the pension of those who
lost an arm, hand, leg, or foot, or sustained
an equivalent disability in the service, from
tventy-fcur to forty dollars per month, and
at the same sitting the House began the
consideration Of the Legislative, Executive
and Judicial appropriation bill, in which, as
( we have heretofore stated, provision has been
made for the long-desired increase IN the
clerical force of the Pension Bureau and
/ kindred Offices Elsewhere in our columns
viii be found a full presentation Of the fig
ures and facts upon which this increase is
| based, and we advise our readers to study
them attentiyely. In opening the discus
sion, BIr Cannon made very franl. and
straightforward explanation Of the necessity
for the increase recommended by the Com
mittee on Appropriations, and his statement
of the matter leaves little or nothing for us
to say.
The amount appropriated for the purpose
by the bill is S17I2, $50, and it is distributed
rs follows: for SIT additional employees in
the Pension Bureau, 1,013, 400; for 166 adj
ditional employees in the Surgeon-Generals
Office, 1924 290; for 167 additional employ
ees in the AGiutant-General'sO Office, S200,6G0;
the balance being divided among the Second
and Third Auditors, Second Comptroller's,
and Secretary of Wars Offices in the proper
ton necessitated by the increase of work in
the first named Offices. II is expected that
with this enlargement of its resources the
Pension Bureau will be able to adjust all
the pending claims-which numbered on the
1st of April 268,554-as well as all new
claims that may be filed from day to day,
within three years from the 1st of July.
Some of our readers may be disposed, per-
haps, to ask why the committee, while the
matter was under consideration, could not
Just as well have made provision for the set
tlement of all claims within one year as in
three. The reason is that they found that
to be physical impossibility. It is unfor-
tunately the case that there is but one hos
pital record in the Surgeon-G Office
and not arranged in alphabetical order at
that-and ii is in such bad state Of preser-
vation that even with the aid of photo-lith-
ography it is impossible to make additional
copies of it. Consequently only limited
number of clerks can be employed in search
ing it at one time, and it has been ascertained
that with the maximum force at work on it,
it will require fully three years to complete
the examination. We do not know whether
or not the committee considered the practi-
cability Of employing a night force in addi-
ton to day force; that would double the
working power of the Office, and, if possible,
should be adopted.
OF course the expediting of the business
of the Pension Bureau will render it neces-
sary to make much larger annual appropria-
tions on account of pensions for the next
four years, but the ultimate cost to the
Government will not be increased thereby.
According to Commissioner Dudley's esti-
mate the following appropriations will be
necessary TO meet the payments on account
of pensions for the next four fiscal years: