The rustler., 1891-09-25
ABOUT PENSIONS

gtmisss n~fors the Dspartm~uG
NAsnISGroN. sept ia-t;en W. IL
Enochs. member of congrrss elect from
the Twelfth Ohio district. came %
Washington for the purpose Of consult
ing with the commissioner Of pensions
as TO the seeming delay In the settle
meut of pension claims. aud especially
as 10 the answers Of the pension bureau
on calls made hy him a. 30 the status Of
claims. some Of them seing answered
promptly and others not for months. N
at all In answer Commissioner Raum
has written as follows
Hon "a. "a Enochs Canton. o.
bKrAHTnENr or fHE HuRKAU uF fMsstoys
oFFtcE ~ rHE COMMISSIONER. wksHfSoros.
sept il-D-ar General. In compliance With
/ Your request Of this date IN regard 10 certain
matters connected with the business Of the
I pension once beg Co advise you that
have been and am nov doing all ! can To
securs the prompt adjudication OF all claims
I pending In this bureau
TN July there we're a7a.TG claimants pros.
seutiuE eases before tire bureau vito have
never been pensioned. and there we're 80 o,s
/ claims pending IN the shape OF claims for In.
crease of pension and duplicate claims un-
I der different laws making a Grand total OF
sH,tD pending claims. ft viii be obvious
from this statement 81 the volume OF busi'
ness here that IL Is practically impossible 20
/ bring all those eases 60 immediate settle
I meni-they cannot all be taken up NJ once.
have adopted certain rules for the gov
ernment uf business Of the office whereby
claims which are complete shall have the
/ right of way and be hurried TO the earliest
I po.s bile settlement. / have felt, too. that
whcr. claimants are already receiving
considerable pension they are not entitled
to a. great a proportion of the official force
working upon their claims for Increase Of
pensions ns those claimants. old soldier.
aud widows. who are not drawing pensions
The oficial force i 80 divided that both
classes of work Is steadily going on. but the
larger portion of the official force ts upon
orig nal work Now the objective point of
ali toe labor Of the ofiicc {. the adjudication
of the pension claims and the issuing of
certificates ANY Interference with this n
an impcdlmcut which should be avoided n
possible.
Now ln addition to letters OF members OF
congress the ofiirc last year received l,l7o,'
/ Go communications from claimants, their
friends aud attorneys, making inquiry rs
to the condition Of these claims. These
communications poured In nc the rate OF
more than $50 per day. Their receipt wa,
acknowledged and the letters sent TO the
claims. but Il was physically impossible TO
draw the eases to which thcy related and
give the condition OF the same.
You ask why Is one congressional call an.
swcre1 sooner than whom they are both filed
at the same time. Your call. are answered
when the claims are reached Ia their turn.
Consequently II you ilc twenty calls for
status to-day they viii be- sent to claims
Some Of them may receive immed late atten.
tion because the cases are ready. while
others may not be taken up for some time TO
come.
By directing the force Of the office 20 ad.
judlcatlon Of claims and keeping the force
stoadily at work upon that business have
at last brought the Office To the adjudication
of 5000 claims per month. ] believe that
this can De kept mp during the present fiscal
year which will be an increase Of 10 .u0l over
the WORK OF the last year and the work OF
, the fiscal year Just closed tJuno t0l showed
an increase OF nearly 10000 certificates over
any previous year.
During the past fiscal year there were ro.
ccived in the office tA.sl7 communications
from members Of congress in regard to pen
sion claims. Nearly all the members Of both
houses are Ia correspondence with many
; claimants, and you viii observe that an
average OF more than so applicants per
day FOR status were received during the
, past fiscal year To draw the claims To
which these letters relate and have
the examiners from day 60 day give the
: status Of claims a. requested by members
} would be such an Interference with the other
bu-iucs. Of the bureau that it would be q de.
niH1 Of Justice to probably - COO or 70 0y0
pensioners per auuum VINO would otherwise
: receive ccrtluestes upon adjudication OF
, their claims Where member of congress
, IL cognizaut OF the fact from knowledge or
accurate Information that an old soldier Is
in such condition physically or financially
: as TO render Il important that his claim
= / should have immediate attention, and that
/ fact IL brought to the notice OF the ofiicc
| do not hesitate to have the case called un
| examined and the status given. and in such
: eases would be glad to respond to your let
!. tiers.
= As a member of Congress you will o.
course, be Interested tu know this great In
crcnsc in the rolls proposed by the issuance
of $4,000 certificates during this tiscd yea
n will not create II deficiency In the appropria
[ ton. The appropriation for this year, mad'
. by the last congress Is Ss8.i53 -. l an
fully satisfied after a careful animation %
the subject that the work which will bi
l. done by the office during the fiscal year vii
h not cause deficiency upon that appropria
"a ton
II seems to me that when tho veterans o
. the war who are your constituents under
u stand the condition OF things tat the bureal
S and the efforts that are being made to dis
a pose OF this business, they will counsel pa
tience on all sides. The important thing TO
every claimant Is to- obtain and furnish tn
, necessary evidence to complete their claims
l. when this IL done they must give notice o
g the fact OF completion and the claim will b
taken up promptly and disposed OF us 500
- as possible Very truly yours.
o GREEN II RAUM Commissioners.
5, THE JUvEnAL POISONING.