, 1890-10-09
THE PENSION BUREAU
Report of the Commissioners
Made Public.
THE DISABILITY PROVISION.
More Work Accomplished Than
Ever Before During the Same
Length of Time.

WAsHiSGroN. Oct. 6--The annual re-
port of Pension Commissioner Raum
shows that there were at the end of the
last fiscal year 537, 0ii pensioners upon
the rolls, classified as follows; Army in
valid pensioners, 302, 500; army widows,
minor children and dependent relatives.
lO4, 456i navy invalid pensioners, 6,27ii
navy widows, minor children and de-
pendent relatives, 2,460; survivors of the
war, l,Si2,4l3; widows of soldiers of the
war of 1879, s,6l0; survivors of the Mex
lean war IL, 1885, widows OF soldiers of
the Mexican war, g. 764.
There were 66,037 original claims al
lowed during the year, being a. 7l6 more
original claims than we're allowed during
the fiscal year of 1889 and e,3S5 more
than were allowed during the fiscal year
Of 1888. The amount of the first pay
nicnts in these 66637 original cases
amounted to $32, AIS, ,041, being Sl1, 036,-
402 more than the first payments in the
original claims allowed during the fiscal
year of 1885, and $40, l7022 more than
1888.
OF the system of completed files
organized by him the commissioner says
in part: "Under the system of COM
pletea files the claimant has the right,
upon proper certiiication that the
claim Is complete, to have 1t immediately
placed upon the completed files anu
ta ken up in order for adjudication. The
clai ms placed upon the completed files
are taken up within a week for action,
and IL found complete are Immediately
allowed. If the proofs are lacking, II
call is Immediately made upon the
claimant - supply the deficiency, and
upon the receipt OF the required evidence
the claim is again taken up for consid-
Grafton.
"Up to the last day of June, 80, 76l
claims were placed upon the completed
files upon requests made upon behalf of
claimants. This system has mad the
efiec, of enabling many thousand claim.
ants whose claims have been pending
from five TO twenty yeurs to bring their
claims to the attention of the bureau for
adjudication and allowance, and the
complaint OF delay AS been reduced to
minimum. This system throws the re-
sponsibility upon the claimant and his
attorney OF having the claim adjudi-
Gated, and has proved more satisfactory
than the old system OF leaving the selec-
tion of claims for adj Indication TO the dis
"As the result of these changes in the
business methods OF the office, more
work is accomplished in a given time
than was ever performed beiore. On the
2lst o, October, 1859, when l took charge
OF the office, the work OF adjudicating
claims and issuing certificates had dur
ing the period from July !, 1889 fallen
far behind the same period for
the previous fiscal year, while from
October 20, 1880, to June 30 1890 there
was an increase in the adj udication of
claims and issuing of certificates greatly
in excess of the same period OF the pre-
ceding fiscal year.
"This is shown by the following state
nlent OF the work done: Total number
of certificates issued for the year ended
June 80, 1880 l6l, ,65s total nu IN Der of
certificates issued for the year ended
June 80 1889, l45, 292; increase in 1890
over 1889, @, 366; total original certificates
issued for the year ended June 30, 1880,
66,637; total original certificates issued
for the year ended June 80, 1889, 5l, o96;
increase, Ia, TAI.
This great amount of work has been
accomplished by distributing clerks who
composed the board OF review among
other divisions and calling for special
examiners from the field, thus adding
eighty persons to the force engaged in
the adjudicating OF claims, and particu-
larly by concentrating the work of the
office for five days in the week upon the
ad ju dication oil claims as provided for
in order No. l49, creating u system of
completed files. In June last / detailed
1l6 persons as AN additional force for
special examination, masking In all 1888
on duty in the tleid. As a result of these
efforts the number OF cases now in the
hands of the special examination divis-
ion has been reduced from Ia, 252 to
7S24. OF these, only about 1900 are in
the hands of special examiners, the
others being in transit to and from the
office"
The commissioner invites attention to
the difference in amount between the
rate of $50 per month, granted by the
act of March 3, 1888, 10 pensioners so
disa hled as to be incapncitated for work
anu that granted to customers who re-
quire regular aid and the attendance of
another person. They are many claim
ants entirely incapacitated for manual
labor and who periodically require the
aid and attendance of other persons, but
who are unable to establish the fact of
constant aid and attendance. He
recommends that q rate OF $50 per
month be created for them.
There have been received, the report
says, 460, 2S2 claims up TO September 30
under the disability pension act OF
June 27.
The care of such an enormous num-
ber of claims received In SO short time
necessarily taxed the resources of the
Office to its full extent. The work of
the mail division ran up to more than
81 900 pieces of mail per day, to be
opened and class fled and properly dis.
posed OF. AT this writing, October l.
the division is handling 10000 claims q
day. 1t is believed that there are prob
ably 100000 claims in the office which
can be properly allowed under the pro-
visions of the regulations approved of
Septe mber g. 1890.
In conclusion the com missioner says:
"The act OF Juno 81, 1880, Is the first
disability pension law in the history of
the world which has been granted to
soldiers ind sailors-psnsions Tor dis
abilities not proved to have been in
CURED In the service and line of duty.
This law recognizes higher obligations
of the people to their disabled veterans
than were ever formulated into law be-
fore. Nothing shall be lett undone by
this bureau to give effect to this latest
expression OF gratitude Of the American
people to the soldiers who saved re-
public"