Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-05-29

tou,OOO and So
noo 600 I, in gOKE SMITH.
wolves the repeal of an order passed 10y
General Raum and approved by Assistant
Secretary Bussey and Il return to the Ian
guage of the statute requiring the diSabil-
ity not OF service origin to be such as to
prevent the applicant from earning sup
port by manual labor. Secretary Smith is
the author of the opinion, which is con-
Cured in by Attorney General Olney and
Pension Commissioner Lnch-eu.
Statement of the Case.
The decision i in the case of one Ben
nett. who sought a pension under the old
law, alleging that when in the service at
Raleigh, y. c, he was Frustrated by
sunstroke which resulted in partial deaf
ness in both ears. His application was
denied on the ground that while the appli
cant has slight deafness as alleged. it was
not of sufficient severity to warrant any
rating. The testimony showed that Ben
nett could hear a watch tick at distance
of half an inch from either ear. Bennett
subsequently, applied for and receive Il
pension Of 81 a month under the act Of
june %, $50. This act allows a pension
ranging from 50 to Si2 month to eX-SoI-
diers or sailors suffering from any disabil-
ity of a permanent character not the result
OF tlelr own VICIOUS DdDiiS NlllCA lnCiDttl-
tates them from the performance of man
ual labor in such n degree as to render
them unable to earn Il support. The ina
bility to earn support is therefore made
the basis OF the law.
Eau,n's Famous Order No. 164.
During Commissioner Rium's admins
tration an order was issued known as
"Order No 1874" which directed that all
claims for pension under the act of JUICE
Oh hsa ra-a ba like
disabilities of service origin, and that all
cases showing n penSio1ahe disability
which, if OF service origin, would be rated at
or above S12 month, should be rated at 81
a month. The only requirement to obtain
pension under the law applicable to pen
sions of service origin is disability by rea-
son of wounds received or disease con-
tracted while IL the service and in line of
duty.
The Proper Standard Not Used
"Incapacity to perform manual labor"
says the secretary, (which is the founda-
ton to the right to pension under the act
of June -. 1890, fixes an entirely different
standard of disability from that just men
toned, contained in the revised statute,
covering injuries Of service origin. Disa-
bilities incurred while in actual service
and incapacity coming upon an applicant
long after service ceased are made by the
law to stand upon an entirely different
footing. Those incurred during service
and in line Of duty are peusionahle with
out regard TO capacity to earn u support,
and are graded without reference to this
condition. Disabilities resulting from
causes other than of service origin are only
pensionable when incapacity to labor joins
with incapacity to earn support. and the
grades of rating are dependent upon these
two conditions.
Departed from the Terms of the Act.
"When by order No 1G4 it was declared
that disabilities under the act of June %,
1890 should be rated as if of service origin,
the very principle which governed the rat
ing under the act of June %, 1890, was dis
placed and a rule applicable to a differ
ent act was substituted. This case
illustrates the effect of the departure OF
your bureau from the terms of the act of
1890. The application was for slight deaf
moss not of service origin, S12. The award
was made under the act of 1870, which re-
quired the rate for deafness of both ears to
be graded from Sc to So The highest
amount was only to be allowed in the
severest cases of deafness.
Inability Not Considered
at was given by your bureau for slight
est deafness because under an entirely diff
ferent act, applicable to disabilities of SER
vice origin alone, ST. was the lowest rating
for slight Deafness The inability of the
not taken into consideration. Yet the act
of 1890. under which the applicant sought
and was allowed pension, made inability
of the applicant to perform manual labor
in such degree as to prevent him from
earning support the foundat alton of his
claim.
Superseded Law of Congress.
at is, therefore, clear that the rating I'M
der the revised statutes for disability of
service origin was substituted by order No
164 for the rating provided Under the act of
1890. The order having resulted in one eT n
ror a second error naturally followed, q VI
the inability of the applicant to perl VI
manual labor was not taken into consoles "a
ton. In a word, the act of June %, 1910.
was changed and superseded by order No.
164, as construed by your office and by a
practice that neglected to take into consid-
Grafton the ability of the applicant to per-
form manual labor.