Evening star., 1894-01-10
LIKE THE LONG CASE.
An Appeal From the Pension Office Sus-
tanned by Judge Reynolds
A Decision Regarded as Important
by AttOrneys-What Constitutes
Total Helplessness.

Assistant Secretary Reynolds Of the In
terror Department recently rendered an
opinion in a pension case-and which has
not yet been officially given to the public
which attorneys consider of great i'm
portance, as it is not only a reversal of
Commissioner Lochren's decision in the
case under consideration, but also, because
the case Is analogous to that of Judge Long,
Some attorneys think this opinion indi-
Gates that If appealed to. Judge Reynolds
would restore Judge Long to his former
rating.
The case is that Of Capt. Edwin o. Beers
Of Elmira. N. Y, who was in the fiftieth
New York engineers. His claim is docketed
number 1887. and his certificate is number
26s3l. Shortly. the history Of his claim is
that up to '0l he received first so a month";
then $50. being examined by various boards
and his disability always being found to be
increasing. In 81 he filed through his at
torney, William L. Goodlove, a claim for
$I2 month. At the time Assistant Com
missioner Davidson wrote to j. Sloat Fas-
sett, who Is much interested in the case
tnat ne thought the claim just one, and
that II would probably be allowed shortly
But II was not fully allowed. Commissioner
Raum granted MIR. Beers $50 per month on
october II, 1891. He was not satisfied with
this. however, and made another claim for
$72. This. Commissioner Lochren. when he
came in refused.
The Decision Reversed,
Mr.. Beers appealed to Secretary Reynolds,
and last week. on January 4, his pension
was increased to $72. The similarity of this
claim to that Of Judge Long. in so far as
the questions Of requiring outside aid are
concerned, Is shown In the opinion of the
secretary, quoted below. This opinion was
given last month. but has not vet been
printed. Secretary Reynolds having withheld
1t FOR some reason. An application for the
opinion was also made at the pension office
but the commissioner was not to be seen
To-Day, and IT was stated that the decision
would influence the future policy of the
once and could not be made public without
opinion, filling fifteen typewritten pages
was at last secured from an outside source
1t cites all the evidence In the case and fully
reviews its history.
The secretary quotes from the attornev's
letter OF appeal in the case as follows: ut
Is matter Of fact that manifest Injustice
mas been done him (Beers) in the attempt to
keep ms rate down and to deprive him OF
that to which he Is legally entitled. The
appellant declines to accept and hereby re-
turns his certificate"
Defining Total Helplessness.
The opinion closes as follows: "As al
ready intimated, l am of the opinion that
the total permanent helplessness Of soldiers,
requiring the regular personal aid and at
tendance Of another person, is fully and
fairly established-frst. by the lay and ex-
parte medical testimony, and, second, by
the certificates Of the medical boards who
have examined the soldier. The law does
not require a degree of permanency. that
excludes all possibility Of recovery, and 10
danger can result from such construction,
as, in case of partial or total recovery, the
remedy Is all in the hands Of your bureau
to regulate the rate of pension according
to the facts. Neither does the law require
that degree of helplessness that exists IN
case of infancy, nor do the words totally
and permanently helpless necessarily I'M
ply an enfeebled condition of the mind.
The degree of helplessness is defined by
the statute to be such as to require the reg
ular personal aid and attendance of an
other person. The law does not require
that the attendance must be constant,
but II must be regular from day to day,
not simply periodic or at stated or regular
intervals, and II must be continuous in the
sense that 1t must be at the command and
service Of the person so disabled; and the
disability which is entitled to such aid Is
an incapacity to perform the ordinary and
necessary functions Of daily life, such as
eating, drinking. dressing, walking. rising,
sitting. moving about and in general caring
for oneself. In order to entitle a person to
the rate of So there must be shown 10 ex-
tst a disability resulting in such total per-
manent helplessness' as to require or nee
essitate the aid and attendance of another
person in the exercise Of the ordinary tunc-
tons Of daily life. The condition Of claim
ant for the past two or three years, or from
the spring Of 1891, brings his case within
the statute and In the language Of the act
he Is entitled to receive a pension Of $72
per month from the date Of the certificate
Of the board of surgeons showing such de-
gree Of disability. and such certificate in
this case bears date February g. 1892
''The action of your bureau appealed from
Is accordingly revised. and unless there IS
reason for discrediting the testimony of
claimant and his witnesses you will in
crease his pension in accordance with the
foregoing opinion