The National tribune., 1895-11-21
OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

Correspondents should write each question on
a separate sheet Of paper, give full name and adj
dress and it Correspondents Column" No
attention will be paid to communications not ae-
companed with name and address of writer. 1t is
requested that a stamp be incosed for reply by
letter. Postal cards will he replied to by mail
only. Replies by mail will ordinarily be made
within n week. and ii in this column within three
weekS.L
j. W., Hagerstoscn, Md.-WilI you kindly
oblige subscriber by answering the following
questions: l. What amount of pension am en-
titled to for left inguinal hernia, passing outer
ring and total deafness of right ear? 2. How
much additional ought to receive for slight
deafness of left ear also2 3. Should the service
pension bill ever become law, would il be of any
benefit to those already pensioned for disabili-
ties? Answer. !. Both of these disabilities are
ones for which a specific rate of pension is pro-
vided viz, $40 n month for each, but in
rating pension for such disabilities specific
ratings cannot be added together, and in deter
mining the rate to be granted in excess OF $40
for the said specific disabilities. their disabling
effects would be the criterion. 1t might be that
$40 a month would be regarded as full rate for
the Two disabilities. In any event, it would be
a sum less than $50 month 1.-THE sum of the
ratesl. g The rate for total deafness of one
ear and slight of the other is $50 per month,
aud the fact of your suffering from tho said
hernia, though of conceded service origin.
would not enttle you to a rate in excess of 500
d month. The $50 rate for the degree of deaf
ness stated is a specific rating. 3. No such
question can be now answered, since we do not
know in what shape, if any, the service bill
(Which is not yet introduced in Congress) will
pass. 1t is obvious that the rate Of pension one
draws, and the conditions prescribed by the
service-pension law, should it be enacted will
determine whether any particular pensioner
will be beneficiary under it. A service PEN
sion, if granted, will not be in addition to dis
ability pension, but in place of it. and neces.
sarily those drawing a disability pension, the
rate Of which is in excess of the rate that may
be provided by the service pension law, will not
be benefited by the latter.
C. n. G., 81. Louis, M0.-Will you be kind
enough to give me the number and nationality
of the volunteers of the civil war and deser-
lions of the same? Ans,per. There were in the
aggregate 2,859132 men furnished for all
periods of service-from three months Co three
years time. Reduced to three years stand
ard, the number is $500 272; TIC 500 men
were drafted. of which 16l, 244 failed to report,
315,509 were exempted, 16O, 331 furnished sub
stitutes, while 463i7 were held to service.
There were 100000 enlistments of foreign
birth. OF these 175. 600 were Germans, 150, 900
Irish, $4,000 English, $4,000 British America
$4,000 other foreign countries. As to deser-
tions, many such charges were enormously
made, but tho report of the Committee on In
valid Pensions, made in March, 1890. shows the
number of assertions to have been 12l, 1896. OF
the volunteers. only about six percent. deserted.
There are no figures as to the number of de-
sertiOns among the 500 900 enlistments Of for
egn birth, and not likely to be, % compila-
tion of any snch statistics would involve
immense labor,