The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-11-06
How VermOnters Secured Rerating
of their Pensions.

When General Sedgwick desired to make
forced march in the rebellion, he gave the
order, " Put the Vermonters to the front
and keep the ranks well closed up" And
the Vermonters have occupied the place in
army matters at the head of the column
ever since. They have erected the most
imposing monuments on the great battle
fields of the war. They have established a
soldiers home, large enough to give every
one of her needy heroes free and com
Portable home-maintenance in an institu-
ton that is viewed by sister states as a
model, They have secured pensions for her
soldiers who, by reason of the casualties of
war, were in any degree disabled for the
continuance of those forms of labor or those
duties of life. which they abandoned at
home for the purpose of taking up arms, and
for the widows and dependent relatives of
those who died in the service, until the num-
her OF pensioners in many of the towns in
the state exceeds the number of other sur
viving soldiers.
The Vermont pension cases stand high at
Washington as authority in adjudicating
claims. The case of John II. Lundervile
published in another column in which Com
missioner Tanners famous order making $4
month the lowest rate of pensions was
ridiculed, was Vermont case. And in
Tanners recent statement on reratng pen
sons he refers to the decision in the case of
Charles A. Watson of Calais, VT, as fur
nishing full authority for the rerating of
pension while he was commissioner. He
says when | took the Office | found that
on one question of rerating the Office was
and had been since March, 1886, operating
in accordance with a decision rendered by
the assistant secretary of the interior in the
case of Charles A. Watson" There is
great interest in the Watson case, since it
bears upon the controversy between Cor
poral Tanner and his superior officers on
the question of rerating pensions. L. j.
Deavitt Esq, the attorney in the case, has
furnished us copy of the decision for pub
lication
Mr.. Deavitt always contended that the
arrears act of 1879 authorized the granting
of different rates of pension according to
the extent of a soldiers disability, from time
to time, since his discharge from the ser
vice, in all applications filed before July,
1880. To illustrate his meaning: If there
was any year that the soldier was laid up,
unable to labor, on acc count Of "A disability
contracted while in the United States SER
vice, he was entitled to the full pension
given for total disability (S24 or $50 a
month"; while his disability both before and
after the year named might be so slight as
not to entitle him to more than So or S4 a
month. Mr. Deavitt succeeded in his view,
and secured reratings for a number of Yer
mont officers as well as private soldiers,
with large sums OF arrears. In 1885, when
John &. Black became commissioner of
pensions, he ruled against rerating, and re-
ferred to section 469Sl of revised statutes,
which is No increase of pension shall be
allowed TO commence prior to the date of
the examining surgeons certificate estab-
fishing the same, made under the pending
claim for increase" Mr.. Deavitt took eX-
ceptions to the ruling in the Watson case
and appealed to the secretary of the nte-
rior and filed an elaborate brief in support
of his view of the law. The secretary de-
cided as follows:
con the 10th of June, 1880, Watson applied
for pension on account of sunstroke, hay
ing been previously pensioned for wound OF
foot. He alleged that he was sunstroke at
the battle of the Wilderness May 3, 1864
In August, 1884, a certificate was issued al
lowing 50 per month additional pension
from the 10Th of July, 1865, on account of the
additional disability from sunstroke. On
appeal it is claimed that the pension should
have been allowed at higher rate. This
case was before the department on the 2lst
of July, 1885, on the appeal now pending.
1t was suggested at that time that another
medical examination of the applicant should
he made. An examination was made by
the board of surgeons at Montpelier, Yer
mont on the Goth of August, 1885. They
rated the disability from the wound OF the
foot at one-third, and disability from sun
stroke at two-thirds, of that which would be
caused by the less OF a hand or foot In
your letter the commissioner OF pensions)
OF the 9th OF October last concerning the
case, you state you were of the opinion that
Increased rating should be allowed claimant
for wound OF left foot but that he is barred
by Section 4698A from any increase for sun
stroke. The appeal so far as regards the
disability from sunstroke appears to be
from the original rating allowed. The case
comes in this respect under the provision OF
the Act of March Sd, 1879, which directs
that the rate at which the arrears Of invalid
pension shall be allowed and computed in
cases which have been or shall hereafter be
allowed shall be graded according TO the
degree OF the pensioners disability from
time TO time and the provisions of the
pension laws in force and the period
for which arrears shall be computed