The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-03-22
MUST AWAIT THEIR ORDER.

1880 =..-tEE-
Commissioner Raum VIII not Make
Statements OF the Conditions OF
Pension Claims out Of Their Regu-
lar Order. ! ,..9
WASHINGTON, Special.-The pension Of
flee has recently taken Q new departure in
The treatment Of cases which members of
congress ask to have especially considered.
The commissioner believes that the general
pension business will be facilitated and
that justice will be done all claims by con-
sidering each in its turn, and for this reason
does not make statements OF the condition
of claims out of their regular order on the
requests of congressman. Representative
Hall of Minnesota was n of the first to
get one OF the commissioner circulars an
nouncing this ruling. He asked for q state
ment Of the condition of the claim of
Charles Shea of Lexington, Mimi, in re-
Spouse to a request from Mr.. Shea. The
commissioner replied:
There Is. no sufficient reason shown why the
riaim should be taken out OF its turn for settle
ment. 1t is found to be impraeticable to give
Immediate attention to this inquiry and Others
like Ii, without seriously interfering with the set
Element OF claims.
The commissions says'that in the single
week ending May /, the number of calls
from congressman. was 1896, and the num-
her Of similar calls from claimants and at
torneys during the same week was 25,604.
This gives an idea of the magnitude of the
business done at the pension bureau-of the
vast amount of work that is donein a single
department of the governments pension
building. To make 3 proper reply to these
congressional calls alone would require the
time OF one hundred examiners, and to give
the staius to claim agents and to claimants
themselves would require at least five han-
bred clerks. 1t would SO interfere with the
business oil the bureau as to almost suspend
the regular work.
An order has been issued that claimants
are authorized to have their. claims placed
on the list of completed files for immediate
action oh compliance with certain condi-
tons. Ill nlIlsk, be shown that the. declare
lion has been made in due form, stating the
Droper service OF the soldiar and the facts
as to the incurrence of disability In, and
his discharge rom the service. also that the
proof establishes that the disability was in-
Cured in the service in line of duty; that
the proof connects the present disability
with wounds or diseases incurred in the
SERVICE; that the CLAIMANT has had q regular
medical examination as to disability, and
that the claimant believes the claim to be
fully made out and complete.
III claimants certify to the above condi-
tions the claim will be consideredin q few
days. Commissioner Ranin says thatthe
bureau is now adjudicating more than To-
900 cases aanontil. and calls are now being
sinadeirf $4,000 cases a month for evidence
10 complete the claim. There are about
$50, 600 original cases now pending in the
bureau, SO that at the present rate all cases
will BE reached in about three. months.
The calls Tor evidence are 10Y made in the
order in which the claims were filed with
the bureau, and this the commissioner re-
gards as fair to every claimant, and hesdoes
want to disturbthe regular order except
iii Acknowledgements. LIB. Ii.