, 1890-03-27
A nn!G UNDERTAKING.
All Pension Claims to BE
Adjudicatod.
HOW GEN. RAUM WILL DO IT.
He Has Made Wonderful Strides
and Is Tireless in the
Work.

General Rnum, the commissioner
OF pensions, has undertaken the
greatest official task ever begun by
any man that has occupied his
position. He proposes to adjudicate
every pension claim pending within
the next eight months. lie has
notified the senate committee OF
pensions to this effect. shortly
after General Raum entered the
pension office he began u complete
overhauling of the routine oper-
ations, aud few months ago
perfected a thorough organization.
He then determined TO rigidly
enforce the rule of the Office which
prohibits the making of II case
special unless AN affidavit of rep
utable citizen Is produced showing
that the applicant is either u pauper
and maintained by public or private
charity, or l. I'm "a critical physical
condition. This gave him n large
amount OF time from his clerical
force, which has been occupied
In answering lcttcts rciat-
ing to making cases special. To-day
members of congress began tn rc-
ceiVe copies of circular letter In
answer to their requests to have the
status of pension cases given for the
Information of claimants. 1t has
been customary for almost every
person who has u pension claim
! pending To write to his or her repre-
sentative in congress quite trcqucnt-
ly requesting congressional Inilu-
cnce for the purpose of usccrtainiug
| the status ol pension claims. This
correspondence has become very
large at the pension Office. General
| RAum says that during the week
March there wcrc received l,OD
calls of this character from claimants
through their member of congress,
and attorneys during the same
period asked for the status 2O,6ON, u
total of 25,BOI calls for the status Of
claims In one week. Commissioner
Raum says that to answer
the calls made by members
of congress alone would require.
THE ENTIRE TIME
OF over one hundred examiners, and
to answer the requests relating to
calla from congressman aud attor-
neys would take the time of over
five hundred men. lie announces
that In the future he will refuse to
answer the requests of either claim
ants, attorneys, or members of con-
grcSs. He THINKS that II Is time
thrown away to answer these letters,
because the claimants asking for the
information will be made aware OF
amy testimony that may be needed
to make his claim perfect at the
time 1t il taken up for adjudication,
and that then plenty of time to fur
nish the necessary proofs Will he
given.
Referring to the chronic habit of
cOnl;ressmen requesting the status oi
cases, the commissioner says: 'l'o
make the proper reply tn these con-
gressional calls, and To give the
status In all cases ~ requested,
would be such an interference to
other business of the bureau as Ia
almost suspend the work Of adJudi-
eating clalms.n
tbillltll~NhOlitl flhllil~
ants to apply To him to have their
claims placed upon the list Of "cOni-
pleted files" for Immediate consider
alton. Such
APPLICATIONS
may be made by the claimants or
their attorney of record and shall
set forth:
First-That the declaration has
been made In due form stating the
services of the soldier and the fact
as to the occurrence of the disability
and his discharge from the service.
Sccond-That the proof shows
that the disability named In the dec.
laration was incurred Ia the service
and In the line Of duty.
Third-That the proof connects
the present disability for which the
pension Is claimed with wound or
disease incurred in the service and
establishes the fact OF disability.
FOurth-That the claimant has,
with the authority of the burcau of
pensions, had II regular medical cx-
animation In respect to the disability
described and claimed In the dcciar-
alton.
Flfth-That In the opinion of the
claimant the claim Is hIlly made out
and completed.
In the claims Of widows II must
be alleged and proof made showing
that the soldier died of an injury
or disease contracted In the service
and that claimant is the soldiers
widow. In the case Of
DEPENDENT RELATIVES
1t must be stated that the proper
prof of dependence has been filed
In the claim and that the soldier left
no widow or minor children. If the
application is made by the attorney
of record, In addition To other state
nients required, he shall certify that
after II careful investigation of the
case he Is of the opinion that the
case is completed. Claims place d
upon the list of completed files In
the regular order will be considered
In the order of the date. This
order does not apply TO adjudlcated
cases. When u claimant or his
attorney will certify In accordance
with the requirementsa above ordered
that claim IL complete 1t will So.
cure Its cons Iteration within few
days. All claims in which the call
for facts has been complied with will
be very soon reached for settlement.
To act promptly upon all completed
cases requires that no unnecessary
work be done. The bureau IL now
adJudicating considerably moro than