The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1888-11-28
Budget Questions Answered.

S. G.. CovENTRY.-A dependent mother of
a soldier is not entitled to pension if a
widow survived him, even is she died or re-
married soon after the death of the soldier
To allow dependent relative to obtain
pension, the soldier must leave no widow
or child under sixteen years of age.
S. S. c., BARRE.-The surgeons compos-
ing the boards for the examination of appli-
cants for pensions receive 81 each for the
first five examinations in day. If the
number of examinations exceeds that num-
Der the fee is 81 to each surgeon. The sur
geons are paid by the government. The
boards meet only once week. The aver
age annual pay of such surgeons, as shown
by the record at Washington, is $500 each.
f. s., BURLINGToN.-The claim that w.
w. Dudley the ex-commissioner of pensions
is giving his personal attention to prose-
cutting claims for increase of pension is a
fraud on the pensioner The circulars and
applications in his name are sent by two
Washington attorneys, Britton and Gray.
While Dudley himself has been in New
York city and constantly employed in other
work except while he was sick. We are
not informed whether the printed circulars,
etc, are issued with Dudley's knowledge
and consent. Besides, Dudleys relations
with the commissioner of pensions are not
cordial We do not advise you to employ
any Washington claim agent. You would
be better served by some competent attor-
sionally confer
L. NJ, BRATTLEBoRO.-Pr President Cleve-
land did not veto the bill granting pension
of 800 month To the widow of General
Stannard and she is now receiving $500
every three months, from the United States
as pension. She was not pensioned, nor en-
titled to pension under the general pension
law for the reason that General Stannard
died of pneumonia, a disease not contracted
in the service. He was pensioned for the
loss of an arm. The bill to pension Mrs.
Stannard was first introduced in the senate
by Mr.. Edmunds, before General STANDARDS
body was inferred 1t Immediately passed
the senate but was delayed in the house of
representatives where il was amended by
striking out 500 and inserting $50 month.
The president signed the amended bill or
allowed it to become a law without his
signature. Last winter bill passed con-
gress increasing Mrs. STANDARDS pension
from $50 to 500 month. The statement
in the speech recently published in the BOs
ton journal that President Cleveland vetoed
Mrs. Stannard's pension bill is not true.
b. H., RUTLAND.--We think the demo-
cratic claim that General Black has been
more liberal in granting pensions than any
republican commissioner, is not supported
by the facts. We cannot recall a single
original ruling of his that is more favorable
to pension claimants than the rules that eX-
listed when he became commissioner. On
the other hand he has reversed many of the
favorable ones and rejected thousands of
claims that would have been allowed under
the old administration. For twenty years,
the government has found no difficulty in
granting honorably discharged soldiers or
their widows pensions even If there was,
somewhere in the history of the soldiers
service record of desertion from some hos
pital or absence without leave from some
winter quarters. But General Black re-
fuses pension in every case of this kind,
and thousands of claims remain rejected
because such record exists. In many
claims the soldier never knew of its exist
ence until the claim was rejected or sus-
pended. The number of appeals from the
unfavorable action of the pension Office
that never exceeded three hundred a year
under a republican administration, in
creased to twenty-five hundred year I'M
der the democratic administration, and the
applications to congress for pension, by
claimants who could get justice neither in
the pension office or from the secretary Of
the interior, increased in greater degree.