The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1889-01-16
Questions Answered.

S. f. D., WHITE RIVER JUNCTION. The
reason for the return of so many examin-
alton papers by the pension board of
surveyors, on account of the failure of the
applicants to appear is, no doubt, that the
applicants, preferring some other board,
succeed in getting their orders changed, al
lowing them to be examined elsewhere,
G. p. s., PALMER, MAss.-In making APP
pication for increase of pension you ought
to include rheumatism, on which you
were not rated, as well as dyspepsia, for
which you are pensioned. 1t will not re-
Quire much, if any, testimony besides the
medical examination to secure pension
on your lameness, after filing the amount
Of evidence which you did in the first appi-
cation. If you succeed you will also he en-
titled to arrears. If you are ordered to re-
port to the medical board which you name
you could get the order changed to report to
some other board for the reasons you state,
w. S, NoRTHrTELD.-There has been talk
before this OF the state paying an attorney
for prosecuting the pension claims of all
Vermont soldiers, so that the applicant
would receive the full pension without any
deduction for fees. The trouble would be
that the state would not employ the best
attorney 1t has been tried in other states,
and usually "A politician he's been given the
office to reward him for some party work.
and soldiers have preferred to employ and
pay first-class agent rather than have
less competent attorney handle their cases
for nothing. The annual report of the Mas
sachusettS agent, made January 1, shows
that he is doing very little work for Massa-
chusetts soldiers. T. j. Deavitt of Mont
pelier probably proseCutes more claims for
Massachusetts soldiers than their own state
agent.
a. f. NJ, UNDERHILL CENTER.-This cor
respondent was pensioned in 1865 as a SOL
dier's widow, but soon married, leaving
child five years old. The child received So
a month, from the remarriage of the widow
He became sixteen, but did not receive the
- a month additional, under the act of July
1866. The question is, Who is entitled to
this 50 month, the mother who cared for
the child or the child HIMSELF" Answer
The child is entitled to it and not the mother
since after her remarriage the mother is no
more entitled to the 81 than she would be to
the IS. Her right to any pension ended at the
date of her remarriage, If the son is dead
or has not been heard from for six years it
would make her claim no better. Pension
is not inherited by relatives, like other
property but is paid in strict compliance
with statute law.
j. S. T., RoCHEsTER.-Th examining
surgeons are required to rate the pension.
Their rating, however is not conclusive.
1t may be changed in the adjudication of the
claim in the pension office when considered
in connection with the testimony A rating
is sometimes given on the testimony alone,
when the surgeons report no disability.
You could not ascertain the surgeons rating
by writing the commissioner of pensions.
If you appeal to the secretary of the in
terror for higher rating he would be likely
to give in his decision the rating of the
different boards that have examined you.
Each of the disabilities for which you claim
pension is rated separately. The amount
of the different ratings is the rate of your
pension. For example, suppose you We're
rated 81 month on rheumatism, 81 on the
wound and 81 on diarrhHa, your pension
would be $40 month.
y. s., WEST RANDoLPH.-In accordance
with the act of the Massachusetts legisla-
ture of 1854 the payment of state aid to in
valid pensioners and their dependent rela-
tives will cease, in that state, after January,
1890, unless the Legislature makes provis-
ion for continuance. The governor, in his
recent message, said: "This aid has been
rendered with great care and excellent
Judgment, and most of those whom it has
reached are worthy objects of assistance.
The legislation under which it was granted
should be renewed, as there are still very
many who are in necessitOus circumstances
because of what they did for this common
wealth and for the country during the wal"
| The Soldiers Home at Chelsea is being en-
| larged to accommodate a hundred needy
veterans. Massachusetts has paid millions
of dollars for the care OF her needy soldiers
where Vermont has paid thousands, and yet
the newspaper published in your village
complains that Vermont is doing too much
| for the Soldiers Home. Nermont's entire
appropriation for the care of the soldiers
since the war is $4,000. She has also a
Soldiers Home and property connected
with it that could not be duplicated for
less than 100000, and the care Of seventy
five or one hundred old soldiers is provided
for during the next two years. 1t is great
source of satisfaction to every soldier to
know that if he ever comes to want, there
is home provided for him. The Grand
Army posts give more every year for the
care of needy comrades than the state. You