The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1895-08-22
OUR CORRESPONDENTS.

| Mrs. G.. @. T.. BraiRerd, MiaH.-If woman
! gets divorce from her husband, and later the
man from whom she divorced dies. and Il
! is discovered that the divorce is not legal, on
( the eround that it is not paid for. can the
| woman get pension, it being fact that the
soldiers death was due to his service? ARswer.
/ She can, If the Commissioner OF Pensions or the
Secretary Of the Interior will couccde that the
decree OF divorce is nall aud void. We doubt
whether on such showing OF facts il would
| be conceded that the decree WAS null and void.
| j. N T.. AerideI. Gonna soldier pensioued
under the act juno -, 1890, dies on Aug. 3,
| lo9o. tho day before his quarterly payment be-
| came due; can his children draw tho accrued
| pension 10 defray the expenses Of his last ILL.,
| ness? AnstTsr II he left surviving no widow
and no children under the age Of I6 years, and
| IL he left assets insufficient assets to de-
| fray the expenses OF his last illness and burial.
| and if the children did bear such expense they
may recover tho amount so expended by them
not 10 exceed the amount OF accrued pension.
| The Auditor for the Department of the Interior.
| United States Treasury Department. is the
officer charged by law with the settlement OF
such claim.
j. s. H., Soldiers Home Titon, " H.-Please
advise me whether Congress has passed a law
relieving an applicant for pension from proving
that he was sound when ke enlisted? .inscer
Congress, by act of March 3, 1885, enacted that
all applicants for pension shall have been pre-.
sumed 20 have had no disability at the time OF
enlistment but that such presumption might
be &c butted. This leaves it free for the Com
missioner Of Pensions to require proof of prior
soundness in such cases he may think de-
mand il.
l. ". c., Mira, Iowa.-Please inform me
whether q pensioner who is drawing q pension
under tho old law for hernia would be en-
titled to a continuance of pension if he should
be cured of mis- hernia There are doptorS hat
guarantee cure or no pay. Answer A PEN
sion is given for disability due to certain es-
tab!ished causes. and IL the cause oil disa-
bility be removed then the disability is gone
and there is no title to further pension there
for. If your hernia should cease to exist your
title to pension therefor would from that mo-
ment terminate.
d.. W., MarysriHe. O-Has the child of a
soldier dying in 1872 (the child having been
born an IDIOT title to pension2 The mother
remarked about two years after the death
OF the soldier; has applied for pension
but has not been able to establish her claim
the Pension Bureau not couceding that the
soldier died of disease due to his service An
sCer. The child has title unless the death
of the soldier will be conceded by the Pension
Bureau as sdiEect result of his military service
s. T., Sunbury. Pa.-Pleass state what per-
centage of the reissues are made TO reduce rate,
and is there any lil;elhoo that the reductions
are about over? AHs,rH. We do not know the
percentage; it must be large. The reductions
will cease when the material is exhausted. We
believe that about all the new law invalid PEN
siOns adjudcated during Gen. Raum's term have
been revised and as il is not likely that those
allowed during the present Administration will
now be revised. il would appear that reissues to
reduce would bo less frequent hereafter than
they have been heretofore.
T. b. p, Dayton, GA widow pensioned
under the act of June 81. 1890 remarked, and
afterwards found that the second husband had
living wife from whom he had never been
divorced; if by order Of the court her re-
marriage is set aside can she again be PEN
stoned? AnsWer. She can if the Pension
Bureau will concede that the second marriage
was void from its inception; that is was no
marriage at all, and the fact Of living legal,
undivorced wife on the part of the second hus-
band would go render the marriage to the
widow.
Inquirer, Malone, I0wa.-In discussing the
foreign element it is claimed by one that in some
of the Western States. such as Indiana, North
and South Dakota, that in local elections aliens
who have declared their intention to become
citizens can vote, while the other party claims
that no person not citizen can vote in any
election. Who is right? Ansrer. In the States
mentioned aliens who have declared their in
tentiOns to become citizens and who have re-
sided within the County and State and voting
precinct the required time, may vote at local
elections. This is so in most of the Western |
States; c. e., Kansas Michigan, Minnesota,
Nebraska, Oregon, South Dakota, and others.