The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1890-10-07
A PENSION REPORT.
Commissioner Raum Details the
Bureaus DOings.
THE NUMBER OF PENSIONS
On the Rolls on June 30 Was Five Hundred
and ThirSy-seven, Nina Hundred
and FOrty-fOur.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6.-The annual re-
port of Pension Commissioner Raum shows
there were at the end Of the last fiscal
year 537, 944 pensioners upon the rolls,
classified as follows; Army invalid pen
sioners, 392. 500; army widows, minor
children and dependent relatives, 104 ,456;
navy invalid pensioners, 5,274; navy
widows with children and dependent rela-
tives, 2,460; survivors of the war of s12
4l3; widows of the soldiers of the war of
1872, 500; survivors of the Mexican war;
17,15S; widows of the soldiers of the Mex
lean war, $751; There were &C, 647 original
claims allowed during the year, 1,476 more
original claims than were allowed during
the fiscal year 1889, and 6,3S5 more than
were allowed during the fiscal year 1888.
The amount of first payment on the
66,637 original cases amounted to SO 49,
OIL, being 81, 036, 1872 more than tho first
payments on the original claims allowed
during the fiscal year 1889, and $40, l19,225
more than 1885
OF the system of complete files"
he says that under the system of com
pleted files claimant has the right, upon
the proper eertiication that the claim Is
complete, TO have it Immediately placed
upon the Completed files and taken up in
order for adjudication.
Claims placed upon the completed files"
are taken UP within a week for action and,
If found complete, are immediately allowed.
If proofs are lacking. call is Immediately
made upon the claimant to supply TIT de-
ticiency. and upon the receipt of the re
quired claim it is again taken up for CON
sideration.
Up to the last day of June, 997 SIT claims
were placed upon the completed files"
upon requests made upon behalf of claim
ants. This system has had the effect OF
enabling many thousand claimants whose
claims had been pending from five to
twenty years to bring their claims to the
attention of the bureau for adiudic ltlon
and allowance, and the complitnt OF delay
| has been reduced to minimum.
| This system throws the responsibility
upon the claimant and his attorney OF hay-
ing the claim adjudicated and has proved
more satisfactory than the old system OF
leaving the selection of claims for adjudica-
ton to the discretion of file clerks. As a
result ole these changes in the business
methods of the office more work is accom-
plished IN a given time than was ever per
formed befcre.
"On the 21st of October, 1889, when
took charJe of the office, the work OF ad
Indicating claims and issuing certificates
had during the period from July /, 1899
fallen far behind the same period for the
previous fiscal year, when from October
20, 1889, TO June So 1890, there was an in
crease in the adjudication of claims and is
suing of certificates greatly in excess Of
the same period during the preceding fisca
year .aEi5 is shown by the following
tstatement of work: Number of certificate:
issued during the year ended JUNE
80, $780, 151 $50. Total number of certffi
Gates issued during the year ended June
80, 1889, 142 ,292, an increase in 1890 owe
1889 of 6,366. Total original certificates is
sued during the year ended June 30, 1890
66, 537. Total original certificates issuet
during the year ended June 80, 1899, 81 1896
increase IA III.
,'Thus a great amount of work was &C
complished by the distributing clerks, VIII
composed the board of review amongs
, other divisions and by calling in fort
special examiners from the field, thus ado
ing eighty persons to the force engaged o
the adjudication of claims, and PARTICULAR
by concentrating the work of the Office fo
: five days in the week upon the adjudication
OF claims, as provided for in order No. IA!
} creating system of completed files"
| tin June last, detailed ll6 persons as a
additional force for special examination
) making in all 1888 on duty in the field. AS
7 result of these efforts the number Of CASE
. now in the hands of the special examine
tion division has been reduced from IA 2:
to 1924. OF these, only about five thousan
D are in the hands of special examiners, u
5 others being in transit to and from IL
office.n
8 The commissioner invites attention I
Y the difference in the amount between ii
!, rate of $50 per month drawn, granted
!, the set of March 3. 1888, to pensioners
e disabled as to be incapacitated for manu-
labor at rate of S1z per month granite
by the act of March 4, 1890, al
to pensioners who require regular aid ar
] the attendance of another person. The
|, are many claimants entirely incapacitat'
- for manual labor, and who periodically r
d ouire the aid and attendance of other pc
It sons, but who are unable to establish t
It fact of the requirements of constant aid al
II he recommends that a rate of $50 per mon
Y be created for them.
,e There have been received 400, 2S2 CLAIM
g up to September 30, under the disabili
is pension act of June 81. The care of su
d. an enormous number of claims received
so short a time necessarily taxed the I
sources of the office to the fullest eXter
re- The work of mailing ran up to more TIL
:, thirty. two thousand pieces of mail per d
- to be opened, classified and properly d
posed of. At this writing October y t
Is division is handling 10000 claims day.
le is believed there are probably one hundr
d thousand claims in the Office which can
a properly allowed under the provisions
lie the regulation approved September 16. Is.
le In conclusion, the commissioner say
As ''The act of June 81, $780, is the first
e. ability pension law in the history of
E. world which granted to soldiers and sailC
he pension for disabilities not proved to ha
al been incurred in the service and line
IN duty. This law recognizes higher oblil
tion of the people to their disabled vetera
than was eyer formulated into law befo
Nothing shall be left undone by this bure
r. to give effect to this latest expression
. the gratitude of the people to the soldi,
~ who served the republic
b.