The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1889-09-12
THAT DECISION.


in full the decision of Assistant Secretary |
Bussey to the effect that dishonorable dis |
charge is no bar to pension, about which
the Democratic, Mugwump, and some of the
Republican press are making such pother.
It is singularly able document clear, logi-
cal and unanswerable, and its preparation
has involved much more painstaking study
of the whole pension question than the
editors who are screeching against 1t have
made in all their lives. Its length, however,
precludes its publication in full in our over
taxed space; since, set up in small type, it
would occupy nearly page Of our paper.
The case which brought about the decis-
ion was that of Daniel B. Kaufman, who was
mustered into the service Sept. II, 1861,
as Captain of Co. A, 48th Pa, and dismissed
by sentence of general court-martial, pro-
mulgated from Headquarters, Army of the
Potomac, Aug. /, 1864. June 7, 1880, Kauf-
man filed an application for pension, alleging
that he incurred hernia and piles in the
service and in line Of duty. His medical
and other evidence was complete, and the
reviewer, who examined the case in the
Bureau of Pensions reported under date Of
May z, 1887, that
Aside from questions OF dishonorable discharge,
claim Is admissible. Soundness aud origin proved
The claim was rejected on the ground
that the claimant was dishonorably dis
charged from the service" The claimant
appealed from that decision, and Assistant
Secretary Bussey reversed the decision of
the Pension Bureau, deciding that the claim-
ant was entitled to his pension, his dishon-
orable discharge not having deprived him of
rights which he had earned by previous
good service.
Gen. Bussey asserts that this ia not q ques-
ton of feeling or sentiment, but purely
matter of law, and the law alone must be
consulted in the adjudication of it" In this
assertion he is entirely right. Everyone
must admit Mt once and without question,
that the granting of q pension is not mat
ter in which the personal feelings, wishes or
preferences of the Secretary of the Interior,
the Assistant Secretary, the Commissioners
of Pensions, OF any other official, have the
slightest part The sole duty of those OFF,
cials is TO find out exactly what the laws
passed by Congress intend to give, and then
whether the claimants case fnlfills the re-
| quirements Of the laws. II he has satisfied
the requirements of the law, then they have
no option bnt TO give him what the law says
| he shall have. For them the letter and
meaning Of the law are absolute. They
have not the least authority to change either
in the slightest degree.
Gen. Bussey makes an exhaustive exami-
nation of the law and the practice under it
from the foundation of the Government He
finds that the whole pension system is based
upon statute passed for the benefit of those
who served in the war of the Revolution,
and which conferred pension for "any
wound or injury or disease contracted while
in the service Of the United States and in
the line of duty" This ut first did not in
clude the militia, but it was subsequently
amended as follows:
III my person. whether officer or soldier be-
| longing 10 the militia Of any state and called out
into the heryiee Of the United States. 10 wounded
/ or disabled while ia actual ecTvice. lac shall be
taken care Of and provided for al the public ex'
peHse.'
From this Assistant Secretary Bussey ar
rives at this conclusion:
it thus appears that la the beginning. tho right
| 10 pension depebded upon only one condition, viz.
the Dcurrepcs of The peusionahlr disability ia the
service and line Df duty Upon proof 81 thai con.
dition. tho claimant 10 ts taken care Of aud
provided for at the public eHpesse."
So far there was no hint that an honora-
bic discharge was essential.
In the statutes passed for the benefit OF
the soldiers of the war of 1912 and with
Mexico, the words honorable discharge
appear for the first time. Gen. Bussey says:
There IL important reason for and meaning
] ia that mobilization. The of the Revolution
| like the late war for tho Union was a struggle
between life aud death" IL were: and
the pension laws enacted viii, reference To both
/ waFB very brGRd-cK extraordinarily liberal n
| their provisions. They differed from tho HAtuirr
relating Ia the war ol 1912 and the war with 5iex
ico, inaAmuch hE they contain neither prefix MOI
a sufhS 10 the word " discharge"
Even in these statutes the lack of an hon.
orable discharge was not bar TO pension
T, II Is observed that the expTeasIon honorable
dischaTEe" la the foregoing sbction s coupled
with negative, nor with any term 81 Inhibition
ia
have received An honorable discharge" The OK
D preston is not used essential prerequisite Il
pension; nor does tlie section mean thai "a soldier
2 who has mel obtained or received an honorable
discharge" shall moi be pensoned. On the contra
: ~, properly Construed II simply says and mean,
that man who has an honorable diHcilaFge'
shall by virtue Of That fact alone be regarded M
! having been properly discharged {" from the sery
ice, aud occupying therefore a status which
,r JJrfBn tdcas, enables him To claim pension n
y cordaDce with Law, for "a wound, for "a disease o
for injury alleged To have been incurred ia ia,
service and line o duty. The language of the stat
= | ute simply imposes the soldier who may to
have an honorable discharge" the duty and ne
cessty Of pr0pfsg not only that lac the serv
Ice. but that lac LAS been actually separated from
@ ib--honorably. perhaps but diGLGHOFnbly, /
need be, IL may he further stated that the expires
e sion honorable discharge was put in the sthtu
partly for the purpose of simplifying and faeili
tatiDg The adjudication Of pension claims by tn
- Commissioners of Pensions by the Secretary q
- the ln.erior tie statute virtually saying a claim
p ant: =" II you can bring forward - paper propcrl,
authenticated, showing that you were 'honoTab
discharged that paper shall he accepted Ia ilse
proof of the fact alleged without further evidence
l. without further investigation without further IL,
quiTy-prOof, Ia fact that you not only la th
re service but that you separated from an